The Mandela Catalogue: Burbank

Tyler Burbank (born January 12, 1982) is a billionaire playboy, businessman, scientist, environmentalist, artist, entertainer/performer, former baseball player and Army veteran from Mandela County, Massachusetts. He is the owner of Burbank Initiatives, a conglomerate company based in Mandela, having inherited the company from his late father in 2008. He played for the Bythorne Bluejays for a total of ten years and had served his country in the Army for four years during the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan.

Born and raised in Mandela County, Tyler is a son of EGOT winning actress, singer and dancer Mary Archer (born September 8, 1955), and artist-politician Henry Burbank (June 28, 1953 - January 28, 2008). His father created Burbank Initiatives in 1978, running the company with his younger brothers and sisters until his death. Tyler enjoyed playing and watching baseball as a child, and was a star player and captain at Mandela County High School. He was nicknamed "Tybur" by friends and teammates, a portmanteau of his name and "tiger." He was known to hit a home run for almost every ball as a batter, and as an outfielder, he caught the ball even in the most bizarre places, such as from barely outside the fences. Tyler was also an active, enthusiastic community member, performing community service to help the environment. He was also a talented student singer, dancer and actor, having been taught by his mother.

After graduating from high school in 2000, Burbank made himself eligible for the pro baseball draft, and joined the Bythorne Bluejays as both a batter and an outfielder. In every game he played, whether a loss or win, he hit a home run for each of his first pitches, and he always caught the ball in the outfield. On May 31, 2004, after four years of playing, Burbank announced his first retirement from baseball to enlist in the US Army. He completed basic training in September and was assigned to Fort Gabriel. In the late year, he was among the soldiers selected to be part of the Iraq Military Transition Teams.

Subsequently, Burbank was redeployed to Yemen to assist allies in the ongoing Al-Quaeda insurgency. On the morning of April 22, 2006, he was initially reported to be killed in action by a Yemen allied soldier who was also killed. However, it was revealed that late afternoon that Burbank, his platoon leader, First Lieutenant Luke Thatcher (born July 4, 1972), the older brother of Mandela Police Department Lieutenant Davis Thatcher (born June 9, 1975), and the ally had been kidnapped and brutally tortured by one of his platoon members, 21-year-old Max Archangel. While Max had killed Thatcher and the ally, Burbank had survived and escaped, badly injured, but miraculously not enough for limb amputations. Max was apprehended by the CID, but committed suicide in prison on October 25, before he could be tried in November, allegedly in the style of Robert Ley from the Nuremberg Trials. The motives for the murders of Thatcher and the ally remain mostly a mystery, though Max claims in his suicide letter that they and Burbank were Alternates. Burbank has since denied these claims.

Several months before Tyler was honorably discharged, Henry was assasinated on January 28, 2008 during a Senate meeting that discussed federal and state actions on elctoral technicalities, environmental and social issues. The perpetrator(s) have not yet been found. As part of his father's will, Tyler inherited Burbank Initiatives as the sole owner. An impressive multi-tasker, he was able to run the company while attending Mandela County University, majoring in Environmental Science, Economics, and Natural Resources and Conservation. He also played for the college's baseball team and landed some lead roles in school plays and musicals.

In 2012, after graduating university at the age of 30, Burbank accepted another contract from the Bythorne Bluejays. Still possessing his skills from his first four years, albeit slightly stronger from his army service, he helped the team win the World Series for 2014, 2016 and 2017. In 2018, at age 36, Burbank retired for the second and final time, having spanned a total of ten years in baseball. Aside from continuing his work and research at Burbank Initiatives, he also coaches the Bluejays.

Burbank is close friends with elementary and middle school classmate Sarah Heathcliff, the younger sister of Mark Heathcliff, who had been reviewed by agents of the Department of Temporal Phenomena until his suicide. Sarah has rarely disclosed any information regarding her life from high school to the present.

In his freshman year of high school, Tyler met Rachel Blackburne (born May 5, 1983), the daughter of fashion designers and theater directors James and Holly Blackburne. Tyler helped her study for difficult assessments, and their first date was a student baseball camp at Doppelganger Stadium. After six years of dating, they married in 2002 when Tyler was 20 and Rachel was 19 and in college. Tyler was able to afford their wedding, honeymoon and home with his sports earnings. Blackburne is an English teacher, writer/author, bookkeeper, restaurant worker (potential manager) and transportation/service dispatcher.

Tyler and Rachel have three children together, two sons, Simeon Burbank (born May 12, 2006) and Tyler Burbank Jr. (born June 4, 2012) and a daughter, Hannah Blackburne (born August 7, 2009). While both Simeon and Tyler Jr. share the same interests as their father, aspiring to follow in his footsteps (though still choosing for themselevs), Hannah aims more toward medicine, psychiatry and psychology, which Tyler accepts graciously.

On June 9, 2021, Burbank Initiatives declared their investigative research regarding footage centered on paranormal encounters and religious, biblical legends. The series of videos has been appropriately named "The Mandela Catalogue," as the films appears to take place primarily in Mandela County. Burbank has attempted to come to at least one logical explanation for what had happened, but he has been unable to explain the findings in his research.

On January 18, 2022, while research on the latest footgae contained in "Vol.2" was underway, Tyler's friends and family reported that he had been missing since the late night of January 12, after celebrating his 40th birthday. Coincidentally, that day was also the first of the three night paranormal investigation by Adam Murray and Jonah Marshall, founders of the Bythorne Paranormal Society. Adam and Jonah had both died on the third night under mysterious circumstances, Adam in the house of the "cat woman" Alternate, and Jonah on the side of a highway. As of January 19, the Mandela PD is conducting an investigation, led by Davis Thatcher.