Dr. Wesley Moss

**Dr. Wesley Moss** is a character created by Nicolas Sequeira. She is the star of the series *Dr. Wesley Moss: Psychedelic Physicist*, and appears in the Hypnagogic Archive and Filthy Treatise ARGs.

## Dr. Wesley Moss

Dr. Moss as she appears in an Agarico ad.

## History

Dr. Moss was initially created for the short story "For Better Or Worse" in 2019, and was described as a quiet, reserved scientist in the near future and the creator of the "Moss Scale," a system created to arrange all conceivable alternate timelines on a scale from 0 to negative and positive infinity, with positive infinity representing more desirable realities and negative infinity representing less desirable realities. Several characters within the NCU have used the Moss Scale to refer to their timelines. Our timeline is 0 on the Moss Scale, indicative of mediocrity.

Dr. Moss' next appearance was in the short story "In Austere Remembrance Of Redline," where she was described as a mysterious figure in the filmography of a reclusive filmmaker in Trinidad. Her description here was seemingly contradictory with her appearance in "For Better Or Worse," being described by the story's protagonist as a period-accurate 60s type figure. Both these stories were published in 2019 in the short story anthology "Graffiti On The Walls Of Pierce Brosnan's Garage".

Dr. Moss' next appearance was in 2022, in the music video for "Line In And Line Out," an early single where she is credited as "Agarico-Chan" (a name coined by users of 4Chan) as well as a background cameo in the final scene of The Divine Tapestry. She also appeared in several ads for the fictional computer software company, Agarico, sporting her now-iconic outfit.

On September 22, 2023, Nic announced the creation of a brand new series, "Dr. Wesley Moss: Psychedelic Physicist," featuring Dr. Moss on brand-new sci-fi themed adventures. The first issue of the series attempts to reconcile the nerdier version of Moss and the spunkier, more energetic version as two separate incarnations of Moss from separate realities. It is set a few months prior to the events of "For Better Or Worse" and features Dr. Moss' trusty assistant, Janet the lab technician.

## Appearance

Dr. Moss is in her thirties, and sports a distinct outfit consisting of purple striped tights, a pixie cut, one pearl earring, and a long red leather coat with two sets of triangles on either side near the top and rising curls near the base. While the color of her coat is never directly referenced in the comics, supplemental material confirms that it is canonically red. She also typically carries around her "electric ray-" a compact weapon inspired by the phasers of Star Trek with a seemingly limitless energy supply, and her Phase-O-Tron, a watch-like device which enables phasing.

Sequeira has stated that her gaudy 60s appearance is meant to call to mind the many colorful heroines of the period- Teri Garr as Roberta from "Assignment: Earth," Barabara Feldon as Agent 99 from "Get Smart," Honey West, and The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. have all been cited as influences on Dr. Moss' fashion style.

Her nerdy Timeline 0 incarnation looks relatively similar, but has square glasses and silver hair as opposed to being a brunette,

## Personality

Dr. Moss is a hedonist who lives purely for adrenaline and reckless adventure, much like Jason Statham's character in Crank. Dr. Moss typically occupies Dimension X, a region beyond the confines of the normal world which is markedly distinct from The Space Between in that it is not a subconscious manifestation. The main Dr. Moss, as stated by herself, is not an alternate version of the Timeline 0 Moss- rather, she is the Platonian ideal of who Dr. Moss can aspire to become.

Dr. Moss' pursuit of thrills and new stimuli tends to put her in danger and make her unpopular with others. However, she is generally morally reasonable and is even aware of her hedonistic temperament, citing her lack of balance as a flaw. She is quick-tempered and hyperactive, and suffers from a superiority complex, resolving any potential conflict with absurd immediacy.

Her Timeline 0 variant is meant to illustrate the differences between the archetypal free-spirited adventures of fiction and the mundane life of an actual scientist. The series can therefore be viewed as a critique of the discrepancies between the interesting thought experiments science fiction is able to explore when unconstrained by scientific accuracy, and the failures of STEM to provide humanity with a meaningful life. Dr. Moss rarely investigates any actual physics while in Dimension X, despite technically being a physicist.