Robert Anderson
“Everybody sees something. The problem is figuring out what matters.”
Overview
Robert Anderson, commonly referred to as Detective Anderson, is a PCE investigator known for his unusually high case resolution rate, persistent investigative methods, and eventual transformation through an ancient Elysarian Ascension Chamber on Nerevos.
Before his Ascension, Anderson was regarded as one of the more capable detectives within the PCE, particularly in unusual or difficult investigations.
His final major case as an ordinary human began as a missing-person investigation.
It ended with Anderson becoming something far beyond one.
Despite his transformation, Anderson retained much of his original personality, memory, and identity.
Rather than abandoning his former life entirely, he continued to identify strongly with his role as a detective.
Quick Facts
- Full Name: Robert Anderson
- Known As: Detective Anderson
- Species: Human / Ascended Human
- Gender: Male
- Age at Ascension: 29
- Height: 5’10”
- Faction: Protection and Crime Enforcement
- Division: Criminal Investigations / Crime and Evidence Division
- Occupation: Detective
- Ascension Type: Elysarian Ascension
- Ascension Location: Nerevos
- Ascended Title: Unknown
- Status: Active / Unknown
- Archival Designation: Data File Sixty (60)
Appearance
Prior to his Ascension, Anderson appeared largely unremarkable compared to many military and anomalous figures operating throughout the Omicron Galaxy.
He maintained the practical appearance of a working investigator rather than a heavily armed operative.
Following his Ascension, Anderson’s physical appearance remained surprisingly close to his original human form.
Unlike many known Ascended individuals, he did not undergo an extreme outward transformation.
The most noticeable changes occur in his eyes.
When his abilities become active, Anderson’s irises display unusually complex internal structures, appearing layered or concentric from certain angles.
The effect becomes more pronounced when he is concentrating on anomalous phenomena.
Outside these moments, Anderson can still appear almost entirely human.
Personality
Anderson is observant, persistent, inquisitive, and generally calm under pressure.
Despite years of exposure to violent crime and unusual incidents, he is not emotionally detached from the people involved in his investigations.
He generally prefers conversation over intimidation and frequently attempts to calm frightened witnesses, victims, and suspects before questioning them.
This approach extends even toward anomalous individuals.
Anderson does not automatically consider unusual biology, abilities, or behaviour to be evidence of hostility.
Behaviour matters more to him than appearance.
He is also naturally suspicious of convenient evidence and rarely accepts an explanation simply because it appears obvious.
Coincidences interest him.
Repeated coincidences concern him.
His greatest weakness has always been curiosity.
Once Anderson becomes convinced that something about a case is wrong, he finds it extremely difficult to leave the question unanswered.
This tendency has repeatedly placed him in situations where a more cautious investigator would have withdrawn and waited for specialist support.
Anderson does request backup.
He does not always wait for it.
His humour is generally dry and understated.
The stranger an investigation becomes, the more likely he is to quietly swear, take out his notepad, and continue working.
Investigative Career
Anderson built a strong reputation within PCE through a long series of successful investigations.
Older records and later retellings frequently claim that Anderson solved approximately 95% of all cases assigned to him.
Whether this figure was ever literally accurate is uncertain.
His reputation was not.
Anderson’s effectiveness came less from perfect forensic analysis and more from his ability to notice details that did not fit the expected explanation.
He was particularly skilled at identifying inconsistencies, unusual behaviour, contradictory evidence, and apparently minor details ignored by other investigators.
Most of these details led nowhere.
Some solved cases.
One eventually led him to Nerevos.
Equipment
Before his Ascension, Anderson regularly carried relatively standard investigative equipment.
P11 Pistol Mark One
Anderson’s primary sidearm.
A reliable service pistol carried throughout many of his investigations.
PCE Data Phone
A specialist PCE-issued device providing access to:
- Evidence records
- Case files
- Backup requests
- Criminal databases
- Internal police systems
- Field communication
Notepad and Pen
Despite access to advanced digital systems, Anderson frequently used a physical notepad during investigations.
The habit continued after his Ascension.
Cigarettes
Anderson was a regular smoker and frequently carried cigarettes while working cases.
The Mick Holder Case
Anderson’s final major investigation before his Ascension began as a missing-person case involving Dr. Mick Holder, a researcher operating on Nerevos within the Aegimius System.
Holder had been studying the remains of Nerevos’s abandoned civilizations when he disappeared without explanation.
Much of his personal equipment remained behind, and no confirmed record indicated that he had left the planet.
During the investigation, Anderson discovered that Holder’s research had increasingly focused upon unusual archaeological structures buried beneath known ruins.
Following Holder’s notes and movements eventually led Anderson deeper beneath the abandoned settlements.
There, he discovered evidence of an ancient Elysarian facility.
Contained within was a damaged Ascension Chamber.
Holder’s ultimate fate remains unknown.
The investigation into his disappearance was never solved.
Ascension Event
The exact circumstances surrounding Anderson’s Ascension remain partially unclear.
During his investigation beneath Nerevos, Anderson entered or activated a heavily degraded Elysarian Ascension Chamber.
The structure was ancient, unstable, and only partially functional.
Unlike many other known Ascension Events, the chamber was not influenced by a powerful regional elemental force.
Instead, the transformation appears to have interacted primarily with Anderson himself.
The chamber altered his perception, neurological processing, and relationship with physical reality.
Rather than granting a single elemental or destructive ability, Anderson emerged capable of perceiving information normally inaccessible to ordinary biological senses.
His Ascension effectively transformed his greatest investigative strength into an anomalous capability.
Anderson did not simply become more intelligent.
He became capable of seeing evidence that others could not.
Ascended Perception
Anderson’s abilities are collectively referred to as Ascended Perception.
Their exact limits remain poorly understood.
His abilities do not provide automatic answers.
Anderson still has to interpret what he perceives.
This distinction remains extremely important.
Trace Perception
Anderson can perceive residual traces left behind by movement, energy, biological activity, and anomalous phenomena.
These traces are not perfect recordings.
Their clarity depends on numerous factors including age, environmental disruption, intensity, and the nature of the event.
Older or weaker traces may appear fragmented or misleading.
Dimensional Sight
Anderson can detect distortions in physical space that remain invisible to normal senses.
This may include:
- Dimensional breaches
- Spatial instability
- Concealed anomalous structures
- Objects existing partially outside conventional space
- Residual effects of interdimensional activity
This ability makes Anderson unusually effective when investigating locations affected by reality instability.
Anomaly Recognition
Different anomalous forces appear to produce distinct perceptual signatures.
Anderson may identify contamination or influence before conventional equipment produces a clear result.
This does not mean he automatically understands the phenomenon.
Recognition and understanding remain separate.
Structural Perception
Anderson can sometimes perceive hidden relationships within advanced or anomalous structures.
Ancient machinery, sealed systems, damaged dimensional architecture, and Ascension-related technology may reveal patterns invisible to ordinary observers.
However, seeing how something is connected does not mean Anderson understands how to operate it.
Enhanced Pattern Recognition
Anderson’s transformed nervous system processes relationships between observable evidence at an extremely advanced level.
This allows him to connect information rapidly and identify unusual patterns.
It remains deduction rather than omniscience.
He can still reach incorrect conclusions.
Residual Perception
Extremely significant events may leave deeper impressions upon reality.
Anderson occasionally perceives fragmented remnants of these events.
These may include:
- Movement
- Shapes
- Sound-like impressions
- Energy disturbances
- Partial environmental echoes
These impressions are incomplete and unreliable.
They are not literal recordings of the past.
Limitations
Anderson’s abilities come with significant disadvantages.
The more information present within an environment, the harder it becomes for him to isolate useful evidence.
Large battlefields, heavily corrupted regions, mass casualty sites, and areas affected by multiple anomalous forces can become overwhelming.
In extreme conditions, Anderson may experience:
- Severe headaches
- Disorientation
- Visual distortion
- Sensory overload
- Difficulty separating present events from residual traces
- Loss of concentration
- Physical exhaustion
Some locations are actively dangerous for him to observe.
Regions such as The Veil may contain more perceptual information than even Anderson’s altered consciousness can safely process.
Certain entities and phenomena may exist beyond his ability to interpret at all.
Anderson has also encountered situations where he knows something is present but cannot perceive it clearly.
These cases disturb him more than almost anything else.
Psychological Effects
Anderson retained his personality and memories following Ascension.
However, his relationship with reality changed permanently.
Ordinary environments may now contain information that other people cannot see.
Objects, locations, and individuals can occasionally appear layered with traces, distortions, or structures invisible to everyone around him.
Anderson gradually learned to suppress or ignore much of this information.
He cannot completely remove it.
His greatest pre-Ascension flaw therefore became significantly more dangerous.
Anderson spent his life searching for answers.
After his Ascension, he learned that some answers are better left unseen.
Continued Identity
Despite becoming Ascended, Anderson continued to strongly identify as a detective.
He retained many of his previous habits.
He still carries a sidearm.
He still takes notes.
He still investigates evidence rather than assuming his abilities provide the truth.
And he still prefers being called:
Detective Anderson.
This has made him unusual among documented Ascended individuals.
Where others became rulers, symbols, weapons, or cosmic figures, Anderson remained connected to the profession and identity he possessed before transformation.
Data File Sixty
Older PCE records concerning Anderson occasionally identify his personnel or archival record as:
DATA FILE SIXTY (60)
The reason for this designation is currently unknown.
Known Quotes
“Fuck.”
— Anderson upon encountering yet another development that made an investigation significantly more complicated.
“I don’t know what it is yet. I only know it shouldn’t be there.”
“Seeing something doesn’t mean understanding it.”
Unknowns
Several major questions surrounding Robert Anderson remain unresolved:
- What happened to Mick Holder?
- Why was an Elysarian Ascension Chamber located beneath Nerevos?
- Was Anderson’s Ascension accidental?
- Was the chamber operating as originally intended?
- Why did the chamber respond successfully to a human subject?
- What were Elysarian Ascension Chambers originally designed to create?
- Did Anderson’s transformation preserve his original consciousness completely?
- Is there a limit to what Anderson can perceive?
- Are there entities capable of deliberately hiding from his perception?
- What is Anderson’s true Ascended title?