Paul Smith was walking home from his college orientation. He is one of the lucky few who happens to live near by a community college. That means no dorms... yeah.
He sorta got bored of life and what it has to offer. Sure, he is going to college in a couple of months but... nothing is unexpected. If high school couldn't help spice up life, he doubt college would be any better. Ever since he was a kid he always felt there was something more then what he can see or understand. So far... he hasn't found that something yet.
Paul is 18 years old and 5 ft. 6 in. tall. Through out most of his life, he found himself wearing conformable zip-up hoodies all the time. No matter the season, jackets, sweaters, hoodies or anything that fit those categories has always been his thing.
In terms of looks, he's an average looking guy who's muscle tone is not that of a jock's nor that of a geek's. He's more of a balance between the two. He has the GPA and physical feats to support his appearance. Overall, he's more or less a jack of all trades. He's very capable of doing a lot of things but never finds the motivation to commit to anything. Despite his efforts to try new things, nothing seems to interest him. Well... maybe except for one thing...
Ever since he was a kid, he always wondered what it would be like to have the power to shape shift. The idea of experiencing an different body part always intrigued him. How can someone operate a wolf's paw... Or how will someone's sense of touch be like with an octopus tentacle. He even went as far as drawing chimera-like creatures with miss-matched body parts in his journal as a kid. Years later, he happened to be wandering the internet when he happened to find some transformation art. That was when he realized there were others out there who share his interest in shape shifting... well, kind of. He never cared for the 'sexual' part of TF's, only the transformation and 'getting used to the body' part. Yet, after reading and viewing all kinds of TF related works... even that became boring. It's always the same old 'person gets a thing and starts transforming people without a care in the world' kind of thing. The scenarios started getting so similar that Paul began to wonder if he will ever find a TF story interesting enough to invest himself in... Unbeknownst to him, he will soon walk in on a real life one.
On the way from the community college to his house is a huge hill. He usually walks around it to avoid putting effort in climbing that steep incline. This time, he decided to get home faster by cutting through the hill. The sun is raging on him today and the less time he spends outside is less the chances of getting skin cancer.
...Wow. The climb was a lot easier then he thought. He should take this route more often. But as he reached the peak, he noticed a bunch of weird looking vials covered with dirt just sitting on the ground. Squatting down, he noticed the vials are each in different shapes and sizes with their own signature symbols.
His mom has occasionally called him a pack rat... and she is probably right. Every so often, when Paul sees something new and interesting he would pick it up and put it in his pocket. These vials are not a exception. It's not like he's actually going to DRINK them. Who knows what these things are. They could be poisons for all he knows. He just likes the looks of them. He better walk carefully so they don't break.
Paul continues his walk home...