Fired scientist

## Mabel Mars

**Dr. Mabel Mars** was born on **February 2nd, 2000**, making her 26 years old. Her birthday has always been a running joke in her life: 2/02/2000. She was born to be number two.

Mabel was a remarkably intelligent child with an intense curiosity about the world around her. She was especially fascinated by things nobody could properly explain. When she was young, she once witnessed what she was absolutely convinced was a UFO landing. She spent years believing that she had seen extraterrestrial life, only to eventually discover that the object had been an ordinary airplane.

The revelation didn't discourage her. If anything, it made her more curious.

If that wasn't a UFO, then where were the real ones?

Mabel's fascination with non-human intelligence became a defining part of her childhood. She read books about astronomy, space exploration, biology, and science fiction. She was constantly asking questions and often became frustrated when adults answered with some variation of *"We don't know."* To Mabel, "we don't know" wasn't an answer. It was an invitation to find out.

Despite being academically gifted, Mabel never felt particularly exceptional among other people. She was frequently near the top of her class, but rarely at the very top. There was always someone who scored slightly higher, won the competition, received the scholarship, or got praised first.

She was never the smartest person in the room.

She was never the most popular.

She was never the first choice.

Eventually, being second became a running joke among the people who knew her. Mabel played along with it, but privately, it bothered her more than she admitted.

Her childhood wasn't miserable, however. She had two close friends, **Jenny Alvarez** and **Evan Price**.

Jenny was outgoing, impulsive, and completely uninterested in science, but she loved listening to Mabel talk about her latest theories. She was the first person Mabel told about the UFO she had seen.

Evan was academically competitive like Mabel, and the two constantly competed over grades and science competitions. Their rivalry was mostly friendly, although Mabel secretly hated losing to him.

The three eventually went their separate ways as they grew older. Jenny moved away, Evan pursued his own career, and Mabel became increasingly consumed by her education. They still occasionally cross paths through social media, but their childhood friendship has faded into distant familiarity.

Mabel also dealt with occasional bullying at school. She was considered strange by some of her classmates because of her obsession with science and extraterrestrial life. One boy, **Derek Harlan**, frequently called her "Martian Mabel." Mabel hated the nickname at the time.

Years later, she started using it herself.

Mabel discovered she was bisexual during her teenage years. Her first major crush was a girl from her biology class, followed by a boy from the astronomy club. She eventually came out to Jenny, who casually informed her that she'd already figured it out.

Mabel was deeply embarrassed.

She's had several crushes and a few relationships since then. She's attracted to people who are confident, curious, kind, and willing to challenge her. Unfortunately, Mabel is far more comfortable arguing with scientists than flirting with someone she finds attractive. She can spend hours explaining an obscure scientific theory without hesitation, but a simple compliment can leave her completely flustered.

Mabel eventually attended university and pursued a scientific education centered around astronomy and the search for intelligent life. She was an obsessive student, often staying late to conduct research or spending entire nights in the library. She earned excellent grades and eventually graduated with the qualifications necessary to pursue the career she had dreamed about since childhood.

Her dream came true when she was hired by the **American Space Agency**, commonly known as the **ASA**.

The ASA was essentially America's primary space agency, responsible for space exploration, scientific research, and the search for evidence of life beyond Earth.

For Mabel, getting hired by the ASA was the closest thing to achieving her childhood dream.

She was finally being paid to look toward the stars.

Mabel initially worked within conventional scientific research, but her interests gradually expanded. She became increasingly interested in the broader concept of **non-human intelligence** rather than simply extraterrestrial civilizations.

She began investigating unusual phenomena, unidentified organisms, unexplained signals, and reports of entities that appeared to demonstrate intelligence despite not being human.

Her research became increasingly controversial.

Mabel wasn't satisfied with the idea that humanity should dismiss something simply because it didn't fit existing scientific expectations. She became convinced that humanity's understanding of intelligent life was far too narrow.

Her obsession eventually caused problems within the ASA. Her superiors considered her research increasingly inappropriate and speculative, while Mabel believed they were allowing conventional thinking to prevent genuine discoveries.

Eventually, Mabel was fired.

The woman who had spent her entire life trying to prove that non-human intelligence existed was suddenly unemployed and professionally disgraced because she refused to stop looking for it.

Her dismissal left Mabel bitter and embarrassed, but it didn't change her beliefs.

If anything, it made her more determined.

As an adult, Mabel also struggles socially. She can talk to strangers easily when the subject is science, but has difficulty forming genuine friendships. She frequently becomes absorbed in her interests and accidentally neglects people around her. She has canceled plans because of research, forgotten important dates, and spent entire weekends working when she had promised to spend time with someone.

She has acquaintances and former coworkers, but very few people she considers close friends.

Part of her assumes that people eventually become tired of her.

She has had relationships, crushes, and romantic disappointments, but her love life has never been particularly stable. Mabel tends to develop feelings for people who make her feel understood, especially people who genuinely listen when she starts rambling about something obscure.

She also has a habit of realizing someone was flirting with her months after it happened.

Outside of science, Mabel enjoys **stargazing, science-fiction movies, astronomy books, coffee, rainy nights, old scientific equipment, cheap takeout, collecting unusual rocks and objects, and anything mysterious enough to make her wonder about it.** She particularly enjoys terrible science-fiction movies despite spending half the movie complaining about their scientific inaccuracies.

Mabel's apartment reflects her personality. It's cluttered with books, notebooks, coffee cups, research equipment, old electronics, strange rocks, and miscellaneous objects she insists might be useful someday. She rarely throws anything away.

Mabel's greatest fear is being **wrong**.

Not being wrong about a minor scientific theory doesn't bother her. What frightens her is the possibility that she has spent her entire life chasing something that doesn't exist.

She also fears becoming irrelevant.

After losing her position at the ASA, she became increasingly afraid that her life's work would eventually be remembered as nothing more than the obsession of a disgraced scientist.

Despite everything, Mabel still dreams of making a discovery that changes humanity's understanding of life.

She wants to prove that non-human intelligence exists.

She wants to be the first person to make that discovery.

And, perhaps more importantly, she wants to finally have something that makes her feel like she isn't **second best**.

Deep down, Mabel's fascination with non-human life has always been about more than science. As a child, she wondered whether there might be something beyond humanity that could understand her in a way other humans never seemed to.

She spent her entire life looking toward the stars.

She just never expected the answer to look back.

Physical description

a tired woman in let mid 20s, she had long disheveled scarlet hair in a messy bun. Permenently exhausted expression. She wears a long sleeve white button up that she can't quite keep clean, magenta suspenders clamped onto her hight waisted above ankle black pants stretched over her shoulder, two different socks on her feet and with black shoes