Dr. Patel

Dr. Patel is a mani specialist who leads the Grands Arbres Town mani center, and protagonist of The Dhavas. Despite not being a direct caretaker at the center, Dr. Patel often cared for Dante during his life at the center, providing Dante with books and paper, and letting him use his office when he would go off on research trips throughout Northern Arberre.

Biography
Born in another town in Northern Arberre, Dr. Patel has lived most of his life in Grands Arbres Town, although he attended college in Alexandria, the regional capital. Patel, as the head of the local mani center, is effectively the local representative of the MTA. As a specialist, he often embarks on research trips, and has published many renowned books, mainly catalogs of manis in Northern Arberre. His research on Northern Arberrian manis has won him numerous awards, and he is considered the most knowledgable authority on the subject.

Dr. Patel has been the director of the center for roughly twenty years; however, five years into his tenure, he survived a terrorist attack and hostage situation at the center which would later become a key event in the town's history. He survived by hiding in his library, which was largely overlooked by the criminals, and then escaping once the building was set on fire at the end of the crisis. He generally avoids talking about this incident, other than to new tamers as a lesson on the dangers involved in the world of mani taming.

Role in The Dhavas
As the director of the center, Dr. Patel gives the monthly class of new tamers (this time including Michael) a tour of the facility, and then helps other center staff in assigning agrimas to the children.

At the beginning of the story, he remembers Michael from his previous interactions with center staff, including his attempts at saving a mani that had been struck by a car. After interacting with him, Dr. Patel sees Michael as the perfect candidate to be Dante's tamer, and even brings Dante out of the office to the selection room, but just before he enters, Dr. Woods, the assistant director, dissuades him from doing so. She believes such a move to be unfair to the other children and placing too much of a responsibility on Michael. Dr. Patel reluctantly agrees with Dr. Woods, not noticing at first that Dante has run away.

However, when Dr. Patel rushes out of the center to the scene of the initial battle between Michael's agrima Five and Stone's agrima Brimstone, he sees Dante, having just fought Brimstone before he and Stone escaped. When Michael explains what had happened, Dr. Patel tells Michael that he ought to accept Dante as his agrima. As center staff take Five away for medical treatment, Michael accepts, but feels guilty that he is abandoning Five after its injuries.

After Michael sets off, Dr. Patel has a recurring role as Michael often calls him via video chat at local centers throughout Arberre, typically wishing to see Dante and check on his condition. However, Michael's calls grow increasingly sparse.

Personality and Life
Dr. Patel is amicable and passionate about his work, but tends to be somewhat forgetful and scatter-brained about most things that he isn't interested in. He is constantly busy, either managing the center's operation or continuing his research. He frequently goes on research trips throughout the peninsula, many of which are impromptu. He is regarded by many as an eccentric due to his abnormal interest in maniology and insistence on working in Grands Arbres, but is approachable and down-to-earth in conversation.

He is unmarried and has no children, but has nephews and nieces who frequently visit from a nearby town. Despite making a large wage, he puts most of it into his research or back into the center; he lives in a small apartment in the town but frequently sleeps in his office at the center.

Due to the importance of his work in the maniology of Northern Arberre, he has been offered, ad nauseum, positions at universities, mani-related companies, and MTA boards. However, he has turned them all down and has insisted that he will work at the Grands Arbres Town Mani Center until the day he dies.