TJ Hess

**Main Page**
Gallery

* Echo
* As a Child
* Route 65

— TJ and Chase in TJ's Route

**Tobias Jedidiah "TJ" Hess** is one of the main characters in Echo. He is a close childhood friend of protagonist Chase Hunter and the other members of the group, and the youngest of the main cast.

## Appearance

TJ is a lynx with thick grey and white fur with black markings on his cheeks and ears. There are thick tufts of soft fur on his head and on the sides of his face.

The lynx has a lean, athletic body, the result of his years of playing soccer. Despite this, he is not exceptionally muscular and is the second smallest member of the group (ahead of Jenna).

He wears a red and black polo shirt tucked into tan pants and a chain bearing the symbol of the cross around his neck.

## Personality

Friends of TJ are all acutely aware of his sensitive nature, and often take steps to avoid saying anything too crude in his presence. He is also prone to fear and crying while under moderate amounts of stress. As a child, he had anxiety disorders for which he took medication. The anxiety has lingered into his adulthood, but it is unknown if he still takes medication for it.

His normal demeanor, however, is happy, optimistic, and charitable. This sometime leads to the lynx's kindness being taken advantage of, and he can come across as quite naïve.

TJ's altruistic nature falls in line with his fierce devotion to Christianity; he regularly attends church and events arranged by his faith community. Despite his religious beliefs, he fully supports all sexualities, believing that judging people is just an excuse to be hateful. His own sexuality has not been revealed.

#### Early Life

TJ was born 19 years before the events of Echo in Wasatchua, a small town in “The Great White North,” likely a stand-in for Canada. He moved to Echo in 2001 when he was six years old, after his father got a job surveying the land or wildlife in the area. TJ was an anxious and sensitive child, and Chase describes him as having cried nearly every day when they were growing up.

Integrating into Echo after his family's move was sometimes difficult for him, and he actively worked to adjust his pronunciation of words like 'sorry' in order to avoid being made fun of by Chase, who teased him frequently. TJ was also bullied by Jeremy and Clint for much of his early childhood, until Leo moved to Echo and began standing up for him and their friends.

In 2003, TJ was the sole eyewitness when Sydney drowned in Lake Emma, and he has carried deeply traumatic memories of that day into adulthood despite talking to therapists, counselors, and youth group leaders about it.

For much of his childhood TJ went by Toby or Tobias, but by high school he was known to all his friends as TJ, which he seems to strongly prefer.

#### Route 65

TJ mistakenly assumes that the Day of the Dead party at the Parson's Manufacturing building is a costume party, and so he arrives wearing a last-minute homemade ghost costume consisting of a white sheet with two eye holes cut out of it. He continues to wear this costume throughout the night.

If Chase texts TJ in an attempt to come out to him, TJ is the one to invite him to the party, but Chase then quickly ends up in an embarrassing conversation with TJ's mother instead.

TJ surprises Chase and Carl outside the Parsons building, startling Carl with his costume. TJ says his mother heard about an event in town and encouraged him to go, but she apparently misunderstood the nature of the party and TJ is horrified at the possibility of there being drinking and smoking occurring. Inside, TJ sees Heather and tries to hug her but she is frightened by his costume and his forwardness and pushes him to the ground. The situation escalates as the partygoers misinterpret TJ's intentions, leading to TJ getting a drink poured on his head and then curling up and crying on the floor. Chase steps in to defend TJ but is punched in the head by a drunk coyote named Darick and passes out not long after.

Leo brings an unconscious Chase to an infirmary in the building, then viciously fights off a fox who has been harassing TJ. If Chase intends to come out to TJ, the lynx is present when he wakes up. TJ regrets not standing up for himself and gives Chase a mango to help him recover. When Chase admits he is gay, TJ is earnestly supportive and brings up a bisexual youth pastor in his church. Later, Leo admits he overheard Chase's conversation with TJ and seems offended that Chase would come out to 'naïve TJ' first instead of him.

In the other routes, TJ is not seen again after Chase passes out, but Leo mentions that he has called TJ's mom and she is on the way to pick him up.

#### Later High School Years and College

Early in high school, TJ briefly dated Heather. According to Chase, TJ most likely befriended Heather to help her fit in at school and Heather inferred romantic intentions where they may not have been any. Even though the relationship was awkward for both of them, they remain on cordial terms with implications of lingering romantic feelings between them.

In November of 2010, TJ attended a dance at a church in Payton with a girl named Sarah. TJ left the dance in search of Chase and Leo, but after a fight with Chase he took a walk along the highway and had a possible encounter with a mysterious entity in the darkness.

As the youngest of his friends, TJ stayed behind in high school after the rest of the group graduated and made some new friends outside of the main cast, including Julian, whom he reconnects with during his route. TJ started a Bible study group at his school, but it attracted very few members other than Julian.

After high school TJ enrolled in CCU, a Christian university several hours away from Echo. He is currently studying athletic training and is a member of the school soccer team as well as a Christian singles club.

**Plot**

#### Prologue

TJ is arguably the one most excited for the 2015 spring break get-together, eager to reunite with friends he hasn't seen in years. After arriving in Echo with Chase and Jenna, he settles happily into the group's old routines, including cringing at their crude jokes and being playfully teased by Flynn.

However, cracks in his cheerful demeanor begin to show the next day when the gang visits an amusement park in the town of Payton. TJ is uneasy at the idea of riding a rollercoaster but is pressured by Flynn to go through with it, and also feels determined to prove to the others that he's grown up since they last saw him. He sits beside Chase, who tries to reassure him, but the ride brings TJ to tears and he grips Chase's arm with enough force to draw blood with his claws. Chase helps TJ overcome his humiliation and excuses him from any more rides with an invitation to sit down with him and Carl to watch some live performances. The outing is ultimately enjoyable for everyone, but it becomes more clear that TJ has not fully outgrown the anxiety that defined much of his childhood.

On Monday, the main cast gathers for a picnic at a riverbank near the lake where Sydney drowned. Flynn is immediately bitter about revisiting the spot, and when his friends try to defuse the situation he lashes out at each of them in turn, except for TJ. Instead of belittling or insulting him, Flynn acts on his deeply held suspicion that TJ is hiding something about the circumstances of Sydney's death, and presses the lynx for an honest account of what happened that day. TJ stays stoic under the scrutiny until Leo physically intervenes, knocking Flynn down, and TJ, now in tears, quickly flees as the group splits apart.

#### TJ's Route

TJ's route explores the consequences of Flynn's accusation at the riverside that TJ is keeping secrets about Sydney's death, as well as TJ and Chase's relationship. However, Chase's perspective soon becomes warped by an entity that influences his behavior, affects his mood, and reshapes the way he views TJ's actions, so it can be difficult to disentangle TJ's characterization during the route, especially his level of attraction towards Chase, from Chase's increasingly biased interpretation.

TJ and Chase go hiking on Tuesday to try and salvage their vacation. TJ makes sure Chase stays hydrated while the two exert themselves in the heat. He also pranks Chase with a fake tarantula at Jenna's behest in a rare display of mischief. After they break for lunch, TJ gets a text message that obviously hurts his mood but he lies to Chase to avoid discussing it. It is later revealed to be from Flynn, who begins asking TJ for details about Sydney's death in a series of texts that TJ continues to receive over the following days. Later, TJ and Chase meet up with Jenna at the diner, where TJ's helpful nature leads him to volunteer himself and Chase to help Janice with her spring cleaning. TJ draws a stick-figure picture of Chase reacting to his prank on a diner napkin, foreshadowing the pivotal role that a very similar drawing of Chase and TJ will play at the end of the route.

On Wednesday, Flynn confronts TJ in the basement of Carl's house to apologize for his behavior, including sending the text. Chase interprets Flynn's actions as overly confrontational and TJ seems badly distressed by the interaction, but tries to hide this. TJ and Chase leave and, despite having witnessed her apparent breakdown on the side of the road that morning, they spend the rest of the day cleaning up Janice's yard. As they work, TJ has some mildly flirtatious interactions with Chase, but it is ambiguous to what degree they are simply being interpreted that way by Chase's narration. When Chase suddenly collapses, TJ frets over him and brings him into Janice's house to recover, which leads to TJ promising Janice that they will return for more work the following day. At the diner that evening, TJ reconnects with Julian, a high school classmate who now waits tables in Echo. When Chase suggests to TJ that the group come up with a way to find peace over Sydney's death, TJ seems ambivalent but open to it.

In the morning, TJ and Chase accept an invitation to spend time with Carl. On the way Chase criticizes TJ for his passivity, but TJ says he likes being helpful because it 'makes him feel better about a lot of things.' Carl is worryingly drunk and high, and the three play a game of 'Never Have I Ever.' In response to TJ asking a series of questions, mostly directed at Chase, that insensitively target Carl's drug use, academic underachieving, and even his nearly fatal car accident the previous year, Carl uses his own turn to accuse TJ of directly causing Sydney's death. Carl then reveals that in his basement crawlspace he has found an old letter just like the ones Sydney used to write when he planned treasure hunts for the group. When Carl expresses a desire for the truth about Sydney's fate very similar to Flynn's, TJ walks out and Chase follows. TJ is uncharacteristically angry at Carl and Flynn's continuous accusations, revealing more of the assertive side that he has shown glimpses of during the route, but he then breaks down into tears before hugging Chase. The two spend the rest of the day working for an obviously unhinged Janice. TJ then sets up the rest of the route by proposing that the group, excluding Flynn and Leo, should finish the treasure hunt for Sydney as a way to get closure for his death.

TJ, Carl, Jenna, and Chase read Sydney's letter at the diner and are directed to Echo's small forest to look for a clue in a birdhouse, which TJ finds first. The ensuing treasure hunt notably changes TJ's demeanor: he takes charge, acts curtly and confidently, and remains insistently committed to following the trail of letters even as his friends raise concerns about the unlikeliness of the clues still being intact and in place so many years later. TJ also shocks the group by showing no concern about breaking the law when the hunt sends them to trespass in the abandoned Echo school. Once they are in the school, TJ even slaps and curses at Carl for trying to startle him, causing Chase to remark that he's never seen TJ so indignant.

On Friday morning, TJ goes on a hike by himself and is found barely conscious near the entrance to the mine by Chase and Julian. TJ tries to downplay the state he's in and deflects questions about what he's doing there. In Chase's opinion TJ seems much more typically cheerful compared to his unusual behavior the previous day, although he still apologizes to Chase for ruining the reunion. The hunt resumes and TJ once again takes a commanding role in finding the clues, including seemingly guessing the exact location of one hidden in a closet in Sydney's old house. To reassure Chase, who feels increasingly targeted by the clues and suspects the whole thing may have been staged, TJ asserts that the letters authentically reflect Sydney's teasing nature. When Chase confronts TJ about Flynn's texts, TJ calmly defends Flynn and denies the possibility of his involvement in the treasure hunt.

On Saturday, when the group finds Chase's forged final clue at Lake Emma, TJ is shocked at the note's apparent implication that Flynn has set up the entire hunt to once again interrogate him about Sydney's death. TJ observes that the paper used does not match the other clues, but ultimately seems convinced enough by Chase's version of events that he turns on Carl for possibly abetting Flynn's scheme. In a 'wild, feral' state TJ lunges at Carl, causing Carl to fall and break his ankle. After being comforted by Chase, TJ is overcome with remorse. Afterward, when TJ, Chase and Julian see Janice stranded with a flat tire, TJ and Chase step away into a secluded area while Julian fixes her car. TJ is horrified when Chase tries to kiss him, and as Chase becomes enraged by the rejection TJ hits him to get away, before driving off with Julian.

TJ spends the night at Julian's and then accompanies Flynn to Lake Emma the next day. He remains impassive until Chase arrives and reveals the original final clue that he replaced: a childish drawing of Chase drowning Sydney while a crying TJ watches. Flynn begins strangling Chase in fury, but TJ announces that he was actually the one responsible for pushing Sydney into the water and causing his death. This distracts Flynn and gives Chase the opportunity to tackle him into the lake, where Chase is able to drown Flynn while TJ watches from the shore. When Chase resurfaces and explains that Flynn had it coming, TJ is confused and anguished but then seems to listlessly accept Chase's protection and agree to, once again, keep this secret for him.

#### Carl's Route

During Carl's party on Wednesday TJ is teased by Flynn, which causes Jenna to step in to defend him. That night, Chase dreams of a moment from his childhood when he, TJ, and Carl were bullied by Clint and Jeremy. Chase sends TJ to go find Leo, who soon arrives and defends the group.

TJ is present on Saturday when the group reconvenes at the shore of Lake Emma to try and talk about Sydney's death. When Chase wades into the lake to try and interrupt the argument that quickly erupts, TJ follows into the shallows with Jenna. After Chase nearly drowns and awakens on the shore, TJ says he needs to go. He tries to leave but Flynn chases him, grabs him, and throws him to the ground before being tackled by Leo. As the Hysteria begins to grip the town, Chase leaves the lake with Carl and TJ is not seen again for the rest of the route.

On Sunday, Jenna mentions that TJ became paranoid and eventually attacked her the previous day, and that he started seeing visions of Sydney pursuing him after the incident with Flynn at the lake. She explains that TJ ran away from her and she came to Carl's house in search of him, which is what led to her being pulled into the hallucination.

In the epilogue, Chase recalls with regret that whatever TJ went through while the Hysteria afflicted Echo was particularly traumatic, and that TJ is no longer in touch with the old group.

#### Leo's Route

TJ comes along to shop for Carl's birthday gift on Tuesday. Chase describes him as being 'in a bit of a mood' because he wasn't able to go for a hike that morning like Chase had promised. Leo drops off TJ and Jenna on a hiking trail on the way back into Echo, and TJ is not seen again until the group meets up for Carl's party the next day. When it becomes clear that Carl is missing, TJ and Jenna stay at Carl's house while the others go out to search, but they eventually give up and go back to the motel.

On Thursday, Leo mentions he has promised to hang out with TJ in order to cheer him up, and Chase, Leo, and Kudzu play soccer with TJ in a field near Payton. TJ initially seems melancholy and confesses to Chase that he regrets coming along for the reunion, but cheers up during the game. When TJ and Chase catch up afterward, TJ expresses his regret that Chase will continue to be too busy with his project to spend more time with his friends, but Leo quickly interrupts before Chase can respond. If Chase checks Leo's texts on Friday, he learns that Leo has intentionally been keeping him distant from the rest of the group and is especially disturbed that Leo has been lying to TJ.

As the Hysteria begins to affect the town on Saturday, Chase looks out the diner window and sees TJ running down the street. Leo assumes he is just out for a jog, but Chase remarks that he looks afraid and seems to be swiping at something. Later, as Duke interrogates Chase about the cause of the Hysteria, Chase immediately thinks of TJ when Duke asks whether any of his friends might know what secrets are haunting their group. When Chase reunites with Kudzu, the raccoon mentions that he briefly met TJ, who said that someone was after him and quickly ran off.

TJ is finally found by Chase, Leo, and Kudzu on Sunday, crying and traumatized under a bed in the motel. He is frenzied and lashes out at them but is able to calm down with their support. TJ explains that he ran away from Jenna and has been trying to escape a vision of something pursuing him, and urges Chase and Leo to find the rest of their friends before they try to leave town. TJ suggests that they look for a getaway car at Carl's and helps Carl recover from his own hysteria after the group finds him in his house. During the ensuing attempt to drive out of Echo, TJ nearly drowns when the Socket Man sends the car into Lake Emma, but Chase is able to save him. TJ expresses horror about Sydney's drowning after his own close call in the lake, and Chase helps him relax but observes that something in him has 'snapped.' As a result, TJ spends the rest of the route numb and emotionless. When the group ultimately decides to hop a passing train to escape Echo, TJ is the last one to get aboard before Chase's attempt.

#### Flynn's Route

Flynn's primary motivation throughout his route is to get a moment alone with TJ to interrogate him about Sydney's death.

After their fishing trip on Tuesday, Chase and Flynn meet up with TJ and Jenna. TJ is still recovering from Flynn's accusations at the lakeside the previous day, and Jenna prevents Flynn from speaking to him. The following day, Chase observes that TJ seems much more cheerful but notes that 'sometimes it's hard to tell with TJ.'

Flynn reiterates his suspicion of TJ to Chase that night and says he intends to question TJ again on Saturday. He asks Chase not to intervene when it happens, a promise Chase initially makes but later betrays. If Chase dances with Jenna and TJ at the barbecue on Friday, he steps on Jenna's foot and TJ helps take care of her. Later at the motel, TJ and Jenna mention that they didn't get much sleep the previous night because someone, later confirmed to be Clint under the effects of the Hysteria, was shouting outside their motel window.

On Saturday, TJ arrives at City Hall, wary and guarded but determined to settle things with Flynn, and is surprised to see Chase there as well. TJ begins to give his account of the day Sydney died, but Chase interrupts and soon Jenna and then Leo arrive at Chase's invitation. After the ensuing conflict between his friends escalates into violence, TJ shouts at them to stop and then says that Flynn deserves to know the truth. TJ admits that the day Sydney died he saw the tall, charred figure of the Socket Man at the lakeside, a detail that he has only reluctantly revealed before to therapists and counselors and that no one has ever believed. He then implicates Chase in Sydney's death by confessing that he saw two brown-furred bodies in the water that day, undulating together.

TJ is silent and withdrawn for much of the rest of the route, but describes the Socket Man again to the rest of the group at Flynn's house, leading several of them to realize they have also encountered it throughout their lives. As the group attempts to drive out of Echo on Sunday, TJ works to help soothe Carl's nausea. When the Socket Man appears and sends their car into Lake Emma, TJ is desperate to get out of the water because of what might be in the lake with them. He makes it safely to shore but then separates from Flynn and is not seen again afterward.

When Flynn revisits the day Sydney died during his transformation into the Socket Man, a younger TJ sees him from across the water and screams.

#### Jenna's Route

If Chase stays with Jenna, she immediately leads him to find TJ so they can cheer him up after Flynn's outburst, and the three spend the next few days together. On Tuesday, TJ is thrilled to have Chase and Jenna both join him on a hike. Later in the diner, Chase glances at TJ's texts and realizes that TJ has invited Leo to join them, which Chase and Jenna seem ambivalent about. TJ spends much of the early part of the route trying to navigate the growing tensions between Chase, Jenna, and Leo. The next day, TJ goes with them to the mall in Payton and is disappointed to find that the record store he had hoped to visit has closed down. Along with Jenna, he later catches Leo grinding on an uninterested Chase in the Familyplex. Leo smashes a pinball machine as he storms out, and TJ quickly starts picking up the pieces of broken glass with Jenna's help.

After the group realizes that Carl is missing, TJ helps search Carl's house for any sign of where he might be. When TJ and Chase check Carl's computer, TJ asks Chase to respect Carl's privacy, and stops him from reading the communications between Carl and Flynn. They discover that Carl's browsing history stopped just before midnight, around the same time that the photo of a mysterious figure, later revealed to be Micha, was taken by his phone. TJ is then instructed by Flynn to spend the day checking the hills and nature trails in the area for Carl, to no avail.

TJ is awoken by Chase early on Thursday morning and mentions having some unusual dreams. On Friday, he plans to have breakfast with Jenna and Chase, but they are kidnapped by Brian before they can meet him. TJ appears briefly in a flashback of the party from Route 65 that Chase has after Brian knocks him out.

On Monday, TJ reappears in the brush near Heather's house in a disheveled, hysterical state, apparently fleeing from Flynn. He slashes at Leo and insists that something is following him, but is able to gradually calm down. He expresses concern for Heather while the group searches her house to find Carl. After Heather flees, TJ is tearfully relieved to see Carl safe and uses his sports medicine knowledge to help bandage everyone's injuries.

At the dam, TJ stays behind in Flynn's truck while Jenna and Micha dissuade Heather from flooding Echo. Afterward, TJ cries at the pancake house in Payton, but expresses relief that he and his friends (especially Heather) have made it through their ordeal.

## Relationships

### Chase

TJ and Chase don't have very much in common during their adult lives and have only infrequently been in touch in the years since they moved away from Echo, but they return to familiar dynamics once reunited and are comfortable enough with each other to share a motel bed.

TJ was deeply affected by bearing sole witness to Chase's actions in the lake the day Sydney drowned, and has either subconsciously or willfully suppressed the knowledge he has of Chase's culpability. It is ambiguous whether this is due to a desire to protect Chase, a mental block due to the trauma of the experience, or some combination of both.

Chase is strongly indicated to have some level of attraction to TJ, which becomes the focus of their interactions during TJ's route. Whether TJ reciprocates during the route is unknown, as even his sexuality is left ambiguous, but he is repelled by the possessiveness Chase soon exhibits.

Chase describes himself and Carl as having been “especially cruel” to TJ for a few years during their early childhood. Chase often took advantage of TJ's trust when they were children, including manipulating him into doing chores Chase wanted to avoid.

### Jenna

Jenna seems to have a deeply internalized sense of TJ's vulnerability, and shields him from conflict and distress whenever possible. TJ is grateful but often embarrassed for the way Jenna indulges him.

TJ and Jenna are the two most studious among their friends, and they share a common passion for their respective fields of study. Additionally, despite both seeming uptight to the rest of their friends, TJ and Jenna tend to bring out more relaxed aspects of one another, with Jenna more able to lower her guard and indulge her mischievous side and TJ more willing to loosen up and play along with her pranks.

### Leo

As a child, TJ was welcomed into the group by Leo, who befriended Jenna and Chase first and believed that all the kids in Echo should be friends with one another.

Leo tends to treat TJ delicately, standing up for him against Flynn and accepting his silence on the topic of Sydney. TJ is occasionally frustrated by Leo's tendency to view him as somewhat of a child rather than a mature adult.

Leo's antipathy towards Christianity does not extend to TJ's beliefs, and in fact Leo considers TJ a positive example of a Christian who truly lives by the principles of the religion.

### Flynn

TJ and Flynn can be good friends in the best of circumstances, but their relationship is frequently strained by Flynn's deeply-held conviction that TJ knows more about the day Sydney died than he lets on.

In contrast to the rest of their friends, Flynn treats TJ with very little extra consideration, routinely cursing around him and teasing him rather than catering to his sensitive nature. This behavior is usually playful and good-natured, but can take on a harsh edge whenever the topic of Sydney is raised. Flynn seems to bear no specific grudge against TJ, but badly wants closure for Sydney's death and is willing to put TJ through significant emotional distress to get answers.

### Carl

TJ's supportive nature means he frequently takes a genuine interest in Carl's well-being, even if his suggestions for healthier living, such as smoking less weed, are often exasperating for Carl.

Likely due to Flynn's influence, Carl seems to believe that TJ knows more about Sydney's death than he has let on. Unlike Flynn, Carl usually does not bring this up, although during TJ's route he drunkenly accuses the lynx of having contributed to Sydney's death directly.

### Sydney

Sydney is mostly characterized as having terrorized TJ when they were children, with TJ's smaller size and sensitive nature making him an easy mark for Sydney's mischievous and even vindictive inclinations. Notably, it was Sydney's extremely brutal treatment of TJ in Lake Emma that caused Chase to intervene on TJ's behalf, with lethal consequences.

In spite of Sydney's outward behavior towards TJ, Flynn recalls in his route that Sydney admired TJ for his faith, and TJ's route reveals that TJ and Sydney were starting to get along to the point of playing together until the event at the lake. This seems to suggest that they were still friends to some extent.

### Julian

TJ and Julian became close friends in high school, and TJ is happy to meet up with Julian again unexpectedly in Echo. Julian says they hung out all the time but lost touch after TJ left for college.

### Heather

TJ and Heather dated in high school, although it seems like they never had very much in common and the relationship fizzled quickly. Nonetheless, TJ shows deep concern for Heather's wellbeing during Jenna's route and the two seem to be on good terms. At the end of the route, he is greatly relieved when she is okay; claiming that he would always value her, heavily implying he still harbors deep romantic feelings for her.

## Trivia

* During his early childhood, TJ had a nervous tic that caused the corners of his mouth to twitch uncontrollably. He mostly suppressed it by middle school, but Chase observes that it still recurs in moments when TJ is under significant stress, such as while contemplating riding a rollercoaster during the prologue.
* TJ's route is the storyline with the smallest amount of narrative variation; there are no 'good' or 'bad' endings and nearly everything occurs the same way regardless of player choice.
* TJ is infamous for taking extremely long showers. Presumably this is due to his long, dense fur requiring it, but he is also shown to be highly fastidious with his grooming.
* TJ is gluten intolerant and always asks that the bread from his sandwiches be replaced with lettuce instead. However, he is not a vegetarian; he eats meat several times throughout the game.
* At some point after his high school graduation, TJ's parents moved back to their country of origin, making him the only one of his friends besides Chase with no family ties within or near Echo.
* TJ's route contains a few extra descriptive lines that have been adjusted not to appear during Echo but can still be accessed by viewing the script of the game. In this deleted portion, after finding TJ unconscious near the entrance to the mine Chase glimpses a monstrous face within the darkness and sees a withered hand reaching out to ruffle TJ's fur 'almost affectionately.' A voice then tells Chase that someone is on to him. These lines seem to have been intentionally removed from the text of the game, but remain as a curiosity.
* TJ enjoys ska and classic rock, and one of his favorite bands is called Cherrybloom.