Don is Shatner Barnes’s crucial partner and technical anchor within the Time Retrieval Office. He serves as the primary information broker, the moral reality check, and the most knowledgeable expert on the mechanical and technological side of their illicit operations.
Don is presented as the essential, behind the scenes operative who manages the most complex aspects of their missions.
The Technical Specialist: Don is responsible for running the retrieval pod and the complex algorithms required to set the map updates and ensure a clean extraction. He is physically tied to the technology, working from the future to guide Shatner in the past.
The Resourceful Operative: He is quick witted and pragmatic, relying on ingenuity to survive. This is highlighted by his use of a “Hooker Phone” (a burner phone) to communicate with Shatner in secret, showing he is prepared to break agency rules to ensure their safety and mission success.
The Pragmatist: He is less emotionally entangled with the moral weight of the retrievals than Shatner is. When Shatner is distraught over the timeline shift, Don remains focused on the practical steps needed to survive and fix the problem, acting as Shatner’s immediate grounding force.
Don’s personality is defined by his intense loyalty, his technical expertise, and his unwavering belief in Shatner.
Unquestioning Loyalty: Don’s most defining trait is his trust in Shatner. When the timeline shifts and Shatner is erased, Don is the one who steps out of the safety of the Retrieval Center to communicate the truth. He trusts Shatner’s word implicitly, particularly regarding the need to stop Ramses.
The Intellectual Anchor: He is the more cerebral of the two, handling the complex logistics of time travel. He is shown to be highly analytical, capable of processing the catastrophic change in reality and determining the exact point of divergence. He is the person who conducts a “full interrogation of Shatner’s memories” to truly understand the alternate reality.
Deep Moral Compass: While pragmatic, Don is not amoral. He and Shatner previously filed reports against Ramses, exposing the ethical violations within the retrieval program. This shows that his loyalty extends beyond his partner to a shared sense of justice against corporate corruption.
Don’s challenges center on his role as the keeper of forbidden knowledge and the technical gatekeeper to a collapsing reality.
Surviving the Shift: His primary challenge is immediately after the Ripple Effect. He is tasked with communicating the terrifying truth to Shatner, that his previous self is dead, and the world has been rewritten by Ramses, all while being under the direct surveillance of the corrupt Time Retrieval Office.
Custodian of Truth: Don holds the most dangerous information: the knowledge of the timeline before the shift and the proof that Ramses is responsible for the massive, criminal change. This makes him a direct target and forces him to operate completely outside the law of the new reality.
The Technical Gauntlet: He must constantly use his expertise to secure technology (like a clean Drive to store memories) and communicate secretly, always aware that the sophisticated systems he helps maintain are now working against him and Shatner.
