| “ | For who among us has touched the foundations of this world and deemed them solid? | ” |
— Dr. Theodore Ash (quoted on a wall in Central Research) | ||
Dr. Theodore Ash, Jr. was the Head of Research at the Federal Bureau of Control. He initially held the title under the tenure of his father, Director Theodore Ash, Sr., and was succeeded by Casper Darling in 1995.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Little is known of Ash's early life, only that he described it as "stranger than I'd like." Ash's father, Theodore Ash, Sr., served as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Control, and under his tenure, Dr. Ash was made the Bureau's Head of Research. Dr. Ash described himself as a "bookworm" and a coward, and constantly lived in the shadow of his father; Director Ash was an avid explorer of the paranatural, and dedicated much of his life to searching for sites of power.[1]
Discovery of the Oldest House[]
In late July 1964, Director Ash died, and was succeeded by Broderick Northmoor. A week later, on August 4, 1964, agents of the FBC investigated a suspected Altered World Event case in the subway tunnels of New York City. Through the tunnels, they found their way into the Oldest House, which then became perceptible to them from the outside. Dr. Ash was among these first explorers, and made the first recorded observations of the building's shifting and mysterious nature. He regarded it as ironic that his father had died a mere week before the discovery he'd been searching for his whole life was made. Shortly after the discovery of the House, Director Northmoor arrived in New York from Washington and joined the explorers.
The explorers initially had trouble navigating the Oldest House due to its constantly shifting nature, but eventually found their way into a structurally predictable cavern. They discovered a strange ebony pillar at its center, where a pistol suddenly appeared on a stone pedestal that had not previously been there. Northmoor discovered the pistol, and immediately began to say that the "Board" had chosen him to be the Director, and that his predecessors were frauds. Northmoor was the one to first call the building "the Oldest House." Ash and his men established a permanent research base next to the ebony pillar, which Ash continued to study. He eventually discovered that various paranatural energies (or "leylines") converged on the pillar. Through this, Ash developed a means of controlling the junctions of these energy lines, "inventing" Control Points which were placed on these leylines and used to stabilize the Oldest House.[2]
The Id[]
During his explorations of the Foundation, Ash encountered a population of peaceful humanoid entities which he dubbed "the Id." He began spending frequent time with them and gave names to them, including Hercules, Adam, Lilith, Copernicus, and Mabel. Some time later, Northmoor ordered the agents of the FBC to search the House for objects similar to the Service Weapon. He had become obsessed with joining "greater causes," and frequently mentioned an inverted black pyramid, which Ash observed was also present in drawings on the walls of the Foundation. Ash made the connection that an inverted pyramid represented conflict and stagnation, observing that Northmoor viewed the pyramid from below, and wondered who might view it from above.[3]
On October 29, 1964, the Id suddenly turned hostile, killing two agents. Mabel was also killed. As a result, the FBC abandoned the Foundation, transferring their resources to the upper floors, as Ash's Control Points had secured the building. However, Ash refused to leave the Foundation, believing that there was a presence there that needed him, and resenting Northmoor. Over time, Ash became so acclimated to the Foundation that he no longer required equipment to measure the energies in the Oldest House. The Id began hunting Ash, under the control of the pillar. In spite of this, Ash felt a deep connection to the Oldest House, and came to believe he had found his place there in its esoteric world.[4]
Ash appeared to regard the control of the Board as a "parasite" which had taken control of Northmoor, the Id, and the Federal Bureau of Control. Eventually, Ash returned to the upper levels of the Oldest House, resolving to do his best to steer the Bureau in the right direction, and ultimately thanking his father for setting him on his path.[5]
Later career[]
Dr. Ash may have had a role in the creation of the Ash Act, a Bureau research ethics regulation created during his tenure as Head of Research, sometime shortly after the accidental creation of the VHS Cassette Tape Altered Item in November 1978.[6]
Ash was the first researcher to discover Formulas, certain sequences of words which seem to elicit reactions from Altered materials. He made this discovery after experimenting on the Holiday Memories Tree Altered Item which was recovered by the FBC on June 2, 1980: the tree is able to speak, but would not say certain words; these words were the origin of the first Formula.[7]
Ash served as the Head of Research until 1995, when he was succeeded by Dr. Casper Darling.[8]