Dr. Ren Park

''“We call paradoxes paradoxes for a reason: no matter how plausible they seem, they can never really happen. But even so… I think I had a glimpse of one that night.” - Dr. Ren Park, "Beyond the Reach of Human Thought."''

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Dr. Ren Park is a Physicist at the Institute for Stellar Propulsion, Heuristics and Aeronautics (ISPHA). He is a friend of Horror Author/Paranormal Investigator Anna Sheridan. Ren appears to have been involved with Annas exploits to hunt the supernatural.

History
Dr. Ren Park was born and grew up In Cape Canaveral, Florida. Watching Shuttle launches as a child sparked a life long obsession in them driving them to pursue Aerospace Engineering and Physics.

Quentin Aerospace
Dr. Ren Park met Anna Sheridan on May the 4th, 2014 when Dr. Ren Park was working at Quentin Aerospace. Anna had requested a scientific consultation to help with her next novel and Dr. Ren Park, burnt out on his current project volunteered. He and Anna quickly became friends.

Later that evening, when working late in the lab, Dr. Park was struck with a strange bout of inspiration and was able to make progress on a project they had been struggling on for months. Ren believes that he was receiving answers from the future - claiming to know the solutions to his equations before their computer could finish calculating them. Eventually the the computer he was working on crashed trying to run a program Ren made to check his equations, tripping the lab’s breakers. When trying to check them, Ren's legs cramped and he blacked out from hitting his head on the floor. When they came to, they were faced with a black hole manifesting in the center of the lab. As the room started to heat up they fled, hearing a strange hissing noise that they described as sounding "almost human". When it ceased they checked lab to find no evidence of the black hole other than some scorch marks on the tables.

They later discussed this with Anna. She told him "when we look into the void for too long, we find the monsters instead"

Season One
What would you do.... to save yourself from spoilers!

This section contains spoilers for season one.

In TST Ep. 006 Dr. Park calls Sam Bailey for a phone interview. During this he recounts his first meeting with Anna and the strange events at Quentin Aerospace. They note meeting Anna in Arrowhead prior to her disappearance, claiming she wanted advice on her upcoming sci-fi novel, though in the cold open for "In Deep Shadow" it is revealed they were meeting to discuss supernatural findings in the area.

In [https://homesteadonthecorner.com/2020/09/11/tst21/ TST Ep. 021] "Cumulous" Ren is preparing to give a lecture at Stanford College. He practices his lecture by recording themself, going over a lecture on mycology, fungus, entropy and it's relation to time.

Season Two
What would you do to.... save yourself from spoilers!

This section contains spoilers for season two.

In the cold open for TST Ep. 33 "Priestly Altar, Saintly Grave” Ren is heard in an undisclosed location, presumably a lab, on the phone arguing with Doctor Caldwell. They appear to be discussing a something Ren refers to as "Foribus Oraculi".  What this is is unknown as of now however it is made clear Ren is monitoring an individual or individuals in relation to this.

Physical Description
It is implied that Dr. Ren Park enjoys dressing like a "dad" as in TST Ep.21 ""Cumulus" he refers to the style he was going for on a video recording as "Cool Science Dad."

Personality
Dr. Ren Park is bubbly, excitable and friendly. He appears to have a tendency to ramble when talking and doesn't necessarily think before speaking as they almost share information on a classified project he was working on before narrowly catching themself. He often tends to become philosophical and existential, frequently vocalizing his contemplations of humanities place in the universe and our future as a species. They claim to be a "solitary" person, something they share with Anna. They also claim to be very fun at parties (TST B-Sides "Space")

According to Anna he is the "Smartest person she knows." They also seem to, despite their experience with the black hole, be extremely skeptical of the supernatural/paranormal. They have stated to have a distaste for horror and supernatural literature, preferring science fiction instead.

He appears to have an addiction to energy drinks and is prone to working at odd hours and late nights.

He collects Pogs and enjoys playing video games.

Ren uses He/Him and They/Them pronouns interchangeably and according to Trevor on an AMA, Ren is pansexual.

Relationships
Anna Sheridan: Anna and Ren were close friends. They met several years back on May the 4th. Ren and ISPHA have worked with Anna on her "investigations" going as far as to lend her equipment. Ren and Anna may have been tracking something together before she disappeared.

Adam Ainsley: Adam is Ren's love interest. They first meet in "B-Sides: Space" where they are set up on a blind date with each other by Anna some time before her disappearance. Adam does not realize Ren is his date at first until after they share an interesting conversation on the meaning of life. They hit it off and it can be assumed they go on to have a long term romantic relationship.

In HOTC Story 02: "Music of the Spheres" set several years in the future, Adam notes that Ren broke up with him to encourage Adam to take on a deep space mission for ISPHA that he would not return to Earth from. Despite not having seen Ren in several years Adam expresses that he still loves them and regrets not fighting harder to stay with him.

According to Adam in "Music of the Spheres" Ren's family was unaware of their relationship because "they wouldn't understand."

Trivia

 * Dr. Ren Park's Starbucks order is a "unicorn Frappuccino with extra caffeine".
 * They hate rye bread.
 * Ren is a Leo.
 * His favorite energy drink is Monster energy.
 * Ren is lactose intolerant. Though that will not stop them from eating what they want.
 * If Dr. Ren Park was an animal he'd be a rat terrier.