What’s Wrong With Paul?
Paul Serene is sick. It’s why he has trouble controlling his time abilities at times and why he’s on edge so often. He has something called Chronon Syndrome. When exposed to large quantities of Chronon particles, a human’s body is changed. The first time it happened to Paul, he was given the powers he has; the same ones that Jack Joyce employs. The second time he was exposed, he was made very sick.
This sickness causes the Chronon particles within his body- the same ones that give him his abilities- to become unstable. This pushes him closer and closer to the Shifter state. As time moves on and Stutters become more frequent, his body is losing its connection to the world as we know it.
As the syndrome progresses, the inflicted begins to transition to a state of quantum superposition. In other words, they live like Schrodinger’s cat, both alive and dead. It’s why you see his features start to slide and “shift” towards the end of the game.
Some other side effects are the ability to see multiple timelines at once. You’ll notice, specifically during the live action episodes of Quantum Break, that Paul sometimes sees other things happening in front of him. This is his mind seeing multiple possibilities at once making it difficult for him to make sense of what is actually happening. It’s nearly impossible for him to focus solely on his current existence in these moments, and that makes him exceedingly dangerous.
