Dale Fink

## Background

*Dale Fink is a 30-something, white male whose sense of fashion could best be described as "Unabomber chic". Once you've hung out with Dale for more than a couple days, his limited wardrobe becomes pretty clear: khaki cargo pants, olive drab wool shirts, and a black, EMF-shielded trenchcoat. He keeps his rusty red hair pulled back into a tight pony tail, and a custom-made set of lab goggles sit on his forehead. His thin frame, lanky build, and sharp features are reminiscent of a greyhound somehow stuffed into human form.*

*Dale himself is a bundle of nonstop, nervous energy. Regardless of his whereabouts, he never seems to completely lower his guard. His inquisitive eyes are always searching, and his hands can never seem to stop fidgeting. Each of the dozen plus pockets in his trenchcoat and cargo pants seem to contain a different notebook - each with its own purpose - and whenever Dale's hands aren't otherwise occupied, they're busy scribbling down frantic notes.*

Dale's usual reaction to any type of questioning is to ask back: *Who's asking?* He also often introduces himself as *Anthony*. Anthony is actually the name of a bully who terrorized Dale in High School and is now married with two children.

Dale doesn't hesitate to steal information that could prove valuable. His favorite ability is *Exception*, which he uses in every battle.

## In the Wasteland

Dale manages to persuade some of the simple-minded goons among Agusta Lupe's followers that he is *The Oracle*. It is not clear that Dale is not himself persuaded to be an Oracle.

## In Hades

Dale's collection of files follows him in the ancient Greek Underwold-based recursion referred to as Hades, but as a huge collection of parchments he needs to shuffle through to find anything.

## Transformations

In the Jungle of Oqaineya, Dale slowly changes into a lizard person, as he scratches his itching skin and it turns into scales.

In the next translation, Dale immediately turns into a stone golem. This is the first time it occurs to him in Ardeyn.

## Dale's parents

Dale's experience of turning into a lizard in the Jungle recursion leaves him concerned about where he is from.

Laura Wilson tells Dale he is not from Earth. Dale calls his parents — a paranoid father with a tinfoil hat collection and a an overprotective Jewish mother from New York — from a payphone that can't be tracked.

His mom confirms Dale's hunch that he was adopted:

> *We got you when you were a couple months old. I don't know where you came from, but you were looking so sad and scrawny, I just wanted to take care of you. Like a drowned lizard or something, that's the expression.*
>
>

Also, they’ll have mutton for Thanksgiving, because that’s what dad likes.

## Saving Sanzut

After Oz's multiple wedding ceremonies, Pine and Dale act on the plan they hatch earlier, and Quake grudgingly follows: Dale, who fancies himself as the Savior, will be Sanzut's new Sage, the one whose arrival was promised. Through his speeches and thanks to the books he brings with him in a chest, Sanzut's people will create a new recursion full of *them*, and these *them* shall in turn *battle the Badness, the Evil, the Darkness*.

## About Dale

As Dale is taking precautions against the September Project psychics they're bringing back from Atom Nocturne to Earth, Lauren agrees that:

> *You're Dale, you always have foil.*
>
>

## Notes

1. ↑ Description courtesy of Banzai.
2. ↑ See Ep 21. Contrary to Claudia’s suggestion, Anthony hasn’t *given up on life* — yet.
3. ↑ See Ep 14.
4. ↑ See Ep 15.
5. ↑ See Ep 14.
6. ↑ See the hilarious scene of the phone call in Ep 17.
7. ↑ See Ep 21.
8. ↑ See Ep 21.
9. ↑ See Ep 21.