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Short Fiction · Character

Unknown

Dixon Wells, a wealthy, chronically tardy heir who keeps getting pulled into van Manderpootz's reality-bending experiments — and keeps falling in love with the wrong women.

major

Also known as I, mine, myself

First appearance: a martian odyssey

As a major figure in Short Fiction, Unknown is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

First-person narrator in the opening dialogue with van Manderpootz, later identified as Dick Jarvis in the conversation about time travel.
In the storyThe Worlds of IfOpen this moment free

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He's the first-person voice of the van Manderpootz tales, a rich man's son who can't reach his desk on time but can be counted on to volunteer for any device that scrambles perception. Twice burned by inventions — once…

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See Unknown in a martian odyssey

Character Web

21 connections

A slice of how Unknown sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

VMVan ManderpootzTWTweelCACarterPLProfessor LudwigDBDan BurkeUNUnknown

Relationship types

  • Other

Character groups

  • Protagonist
  • Expedition and inventor core
  • Key figures and companions
  • Central characters and beings

+16 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

SetupEscalationClimax
  • Setup
  • Escalation
  • Breaking point

This is the story's dramatic climax because van Manderpootz’s emotional peak—his eruption of wounded pride ove…

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In the story

Unknown appears across 1 companion beat. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Unknown unlock in the free preview.

See Unknown in a martian odyssey