APPLICATION

[chromosomes]

WARNING: THIS APPLICATION CONTAINS MENTIONS OF GORE, SELF-HARM, CONTEMPLATIONS OF SUICIDE, DRUG USE, RELIGION, NUDITY, ANIMAL DEATH, MONSTERS, FOUL LANGUAGE, LOTS OF PEOPLE DYING, AND PROBABLY OTHER THINGS I HAVE FORGOTTEN TO MENTION HERE. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.


PLAYER INFORMATION
Your Name: Gadgets
OOC Journal: fiercesunshine
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: --
Email + IM: felidae.tigris@gmail.com | gadgetsandgears on Plurk and AIM | stripedgadgets on Y!M
Characters Played at Ataraxion: Jaye Rinnark :: Original & Elizabeth Ross :: MCU, apping Carolyn Fry from Pitch Black

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: John “Reaper” Grimm
Canon: Doom (film). As a note, I have used some material from the film novelization to try and flesh out my interpretation of Reaper, but there are several inconsistencies with the movie – in those cases, I have gone with the movie as canon.
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: The end of the movie, in the elevator with his sister in his arms.
Number: 065

Setting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_(film)

Not mentioned in the link are the technological advances that have made, likely as a result of discovering alien technology. These include advances in weaponry, medicine (Pinky has a wheelchair grafted to his spine) nanowalls (you can change these from solid to something you can pass through with the push of a button), and computer-controlled vehicles. In addition, the UAC is essentially the United States government in all but name. The Privatized Marines (or “Privines”) that the RRTS belong to work for them to fight their enemies, often guerillas whose homes have been destroyed or heavily polluted by the UAC.

History:

“In the year 2026 archaeologists working in the Nevada desert discovered a portal to an ancient city on Mars. They call this portal the Ark. Twenty years later, we're still struggling to understand why it was built and what happened to the civilization that built it.”
John Grimm was born to two scientists two minutes behind his twin sister. When John and his sister were children, their parents led the first team of archaeologists to Olduvai. Unfortunately, they died in what was said to be an accident at the side, leaving their children orphans. John had already had a bad feeling about Olduvai, having seen a demonic face in one of the digs that his father had said was just a mirage, but his parent’s death only cemented it. He and his sister went their separate ways; John went into the military while his sister followed in their parents footsteps.

Before the events of the movie, Reaper led a team in South America. It went south, guerillas having decoyed them and UAC having given them untested weapons that continued to jam. A man called Jumper, who had been with Reaper since bootcamp, was killed. Once they came back, Reaper was ordered into memory therapy.

“This is Dr. Carmack at Classified Research, Olduvai! ID 6627! We’ve had a level-five breach, implement quarantine procedures immediately! Implement quarantine procedures now!”
Back on Olduvai in the year 2046, something has gone Very Wrong. A research team working for the UAC is there, but they’re running from something – something big, strong, and growling. Dr. Carmack, the head of the team, manages to get into his office. Another one of those on the team gets her arm stuck in the door as he closes it, and the door severs it as something grabs her from the other side and pulls her up. Carmack sends out his distress message as whatever is outside begins to try breaking through the door.

“Listen up, men! Leave is cancelled.”
And now back to Earth! The RRTS Hellfighters are waiting at their headquarters in Twentynine Palms, California to go on leave for the first time in six months. Goat is reading the Bible, Duke is playing video games, Mac and Destroyer are playing baseball with fruit, the Kid is cleaning, Portman is wearing a Hawaiian shirt, and last but not least, Reaper is reassembling guns. Sarge then shows up with some bad news – leave is cancelled. They have a mission. However, when John approaches, he says that they can do it without him – the mission is on Olduvai, the place John’s parents died. Sarge recommends that John take the leave and says he’ll see him when he gets back.

Everyone else suits up and goes to get on the helicopter. Right before the door closes, however, John appears, suited up and ready to go. He’s coming with. Portman mentions something to the Kid about how he asked Sarge for a little pussy and the Kid was then brought onto the team, and Reaper interrupts, telling Portman not to give him an excuse because none of them will miss him. It shuts the corporal up. Sarge then proceeds to show the team Carmack’s message and tells them UAC has shut down the lab. They’re to go up there, locate the team, eliminate the threat, and secure the facility.

On the flight to Papoose Lake, Nevada, Sarge asks Reaper how long it’s been. His response is ten years, but when Sarge asks if he’s sure “she” is still up there, Reaper says yes and says “I guess you gotta face your demons sometime.” Sarge slaps his shoulder and then it’s time to land and head down the surface elevator to where they keep the Ark. They are being given a standard quarantine of six hours once they get through the Ark to Olduvai. Then they head through.

“Is it always that rough?”
Once they get to Olduvai, they meet Pinky, a man who “went to one galaxy, [and] his ass went to another”. He answers some questions and activates their kill cams. Mac is told to stay with Pinky and secure the door, while everyone else heads further in. There are employees and their families there, including “she” – Dr. Samantha Grimm, the UAC science officer assigned to retrieve data from the lab.

John tries to argue that they don’t have room for passengers, and Sam argues back that she has orders. Reaper says they’re not there to retrieve her science homework, only for Sarge to confirm – their orders are to contain and neutralize the threat, protect the civilians, and retrieve UAC property. Sam leads the way and Sarge reminds Reaper that he chose this and asks if it’ll ruin his day; John denies it. Duke then asks Reaper if he let a “fine looking piece of ass like that” get away from him, to which Reaper reveals that Sam is his sister.

Samantha informs them that there were only six people inside (Dr. Carmack’s team) when it was shut down. She also reveals that there was a phone left off the hook in one of the carbon dating labs. The only thing it reveals is screaming and growling. Using her badge and the code, Samantha opens the door, and Portman and Goat lead on. They’re shut inside the airlock and Pinky gives them a schematic of the facility. The team is split up into pairs, and Reaper is sent with his sister to keep her safe.

“Five bucks says this shit ain’t nothin’ but a disgruntled employee with a gun.”
The facility is almost entirely dark inside, and unbeknownst to the team, they are being watched. They’re to mark rooms that they’ve cleared with fluorescents. Inside genetics, Goat and Portman discover a beating heart in a jar, as well as cages full of animals that are presumably for experiments. Elsewhere, the Kid and Destroyer are looking around when they find part of a bloody lab coat. Elsewhere, after making sure the room is clear, Reaper looks around while Samantha gets to work. She says she’ll only need thirty minutes. Goat and Portman continue on past genetics and discover a holding cell with electrified walls. Sarge and Duke find the armory, including the Bio Force Gun (BFG), though it’s locked. Genetic access has to be given, and despite’s Sarge position as the head of RRTS, he can’t get to it. Sarge fills Duke in on Reaper’s history with his sister, saying Samantha followed in their parents’ footsteps and John didn’t. In a dark hallway, Destroyer and the Kid are looking around. Nervous, the Kid startles when a hose falls and shoots at it. They’re the first shots fired. They won’t be the last.

Back with John and Samantha, Sam makes fun of Reaper’s nickname – “Reaper? As in Grim?” to which John defends his comrades, saying “They’re Marines, Sam, not poets.” He then notices the humanoid remains, a female and her child, that Sam introduces as Lucy (only to introduce John as “another creature from the long lost past”). John realizes that Sam has reopened the dig when she says they’re bringing out more every day. Sam says she knows she should have told him but that she didn’t think it was the sort of thing she “could jot down on a yearly birthday card”. She also says that the dig has been stabilized, to which John replies bullshit, and they get into an argument over how dangerous John’s job is. When Sam says that she’ll go where the work is and John asks if that’s the only reason she’s up there, she pulls up some information to show him why she’s up there. She shows him Lucy’s chromosome profile and that she has 24 pairs of chromosomes, where humans only have 23. The extra pair, Samantha explains, makes her superhuman. The fossil record indicates that these people were able to conquer disease, but that they weren’t naturally superior – it was a synthetic chromosome. Sam tries to turn back the conversation, asking if it ever bothers John that he “could have spent [his] life looking down a microscope instead of a sniper scope”, only for John to ask his own question – “If they’re so smart, why are they so dead?” Sam reveals that they don’t know, saying they may have just gone with time, but John looks at the position of the skeletons and disagrees. “You don’t shield a baby from time.”

Just then, Portman comes over the comm. There’s movement. Reaper instructs Sam to stay behind and lock the door and he heads out to join his teammates. Goat and Portman find Carmack’s office, where the door has been ripped open. It’s a mess inside; tables and lab equipment have been overturned and strewn about. Something jumps down behind them, making strange noises. They shoot but miss and give chase. The other team members also miss as the chase it. Reaper goes ahead, instructing whatever it is to drop its weapon if it has one. Surprise, it’s Dr. Carmack, bleeding and holding a severed arm! Samantha, having ignored her instructions to stay behind, comes up and attempts to approach because Dr. Carmack knows her, and he does in fact drop the arm. She asks where the others are but Carmack keeps twitching and making tiny animalistic noises as he sinks onto the ground, even as she tries to soothe him. Carmack… proceeds to rip off his own ear.

“Let’s see if we can find the body that goes with that arm.”
Duke and Samantha take Carmack to the infirmary on Sarge’s orders. Likewise, Portman and Kid go to the airlock. Portman starts to play on the Kid’s nerves, leading the Kid to ask if Portman “has any”. He says he’s shaken up and needs to get his game face. Portman pills out a pill bottle full of what appears to be green Skittles, though it’s actually some sort of drug, and the Kid takes them.

Goat and Reaper have been paired up, continuing to explore the facility. It’s quiet up until Goat’s foot runs into a canister and knocks it over and down the stairs, prompting him to say “God damn it.” Reaper starts to move on, but Goat pulls out a large knife and pulls up his sleeve. He has cross-shaped scars on his arm and begins to carve in a new one. When Reaper gives him a questioning look, he replies with “I took His name in vain.” John shakes his head slightly, but they move on.

Portman and Kid head through what appears to be a locker room. Portman sees something around a corner and directs the Kid to be quiet and come look, obviously pleased about something. A naked woman has her back to them, busy doing something with her arm. Kid clears his throat and the woman stiffens. When she turns, her teeth are bared and she looks like some sort of zombie, making animalistic noises and trying to attack them. They shoot her and Portman notices that she wrote “SUFFER” on the lockers – in her own blood, as she is the one the arm belonged to. They contact Sarge to let him know.

Samantha, Duke, Carmack, and a doctor who is married to one of the missing scientists head through a nanowall (much to Duke’s displeasure) into the infirmary. The doctor is okay, though obviously worried about her husband. Samantha tries to reassure her, though they both know she’s probably lying. While they’re trying to take Carmack’s blood pressure, he lunges up and grabs onto Sam, saying “shut it down” and then “it’s inside”.

Reaper and Goat hear something in genetics and head back inside. All of the animals are gone, cages ripped open, with blood and entrails strewn about. They keep looking and come across a scientist digging through a cage. He turns around, only to bite the head off a rat. Reaper replies with “oookay” and the scientist charges, forcing them to shoot him. Sarge informs them not to bag and tag them and continue their search.

Sarge and Destroyer, still walking, hear something moving in the airways. They push the vent open and Destroyer looks up, only for something to pop up in his face. He shoots it as he falls back, only to reveal that it was some kind of monkey. However, the blood dripping down isn’t normal – there’s black in it.

In fact, it’s the same blood that is being withdrawn from Carmack back in the infirmary. Something is happening to him.

As Reaper and Goat go to close genetics, something large jumps down. They shoot at it and give chase, shouting through the comms that they’re chasing something.

“Something big! Not human!”
Whatever Reaper and Goat were chasing went into the sewer, and they call for the rest of the team to join them.

Duke stays with Samantha in the medbay, and she sends the doctor away to be with her daughter. Carmack is visibly changing, and they can’t find a match to his blood. Samantha goes to check on Carmack, only to find that he’s disappeared from the gurney, his hospital pants ripped in two.

The team is in the sewer, despite Portman’s protests (“I thought being in the shit was a figure of speech.” “Get in the goddamn hole, Portman!”). Pinky gives them directions and Destroyer stays to cover the exit. They find a lab coat floating in the water, the nametag revealing it to be the husband of the doctor who was working with Samantha. Reaper thinks he hears something but when he turns, there’s nothing there, and they continue on.

Goat begins quoting Bible verses, which freaks Portman out – just in time for him to fall into a hole. The rest of the team has to pull him out, thinking something got him. Sarge yells at everyone to watch their goddamn footing and they continue until the sewer tunnel splits. Goat is sent ahead, Portman goes with Sarge, and Reaper goes with the Kid to the right. Unfortunately, the light on Goat’s gun starts to go dead.

Reaper hears something again, but once again, there’s nothing there. The Kid starts talking to him about how he lost his parents, despite Reaper telling him to shut up because he’s giving away their position. Pinning him against a wall, Reaper notices that Kid’s pupils are dilated – he’s high. The Kid tries to say he has a condition and Reaper says that he doesn’t give a damn and will shoot him if he takes one more shot. Then he forces him down, because there’s something moving -- and it heads toward Goat, whose light goes out completely. Pinky can’t see anything on his gun cam and while Reaper goes to try and help him, he doesn’t get there before a massive creature with multiple eyes attacks him, biting Goat’s neck and injecting something in there with its tongue. Reaper shoots at it, but Goat is down, the tongue falling out of his neck and swimming away.

In pursuit, Reaper moves slowly, only for the monster to come around a corner and bat his gun away. This doesn’t stop him, as he proceeds to punch it in the face and shoot it anyway. He brings it down and they take Goat and the monster’s body to the infirmary, ordering everyone else still on Olduvai to the Ark and back to the facility on Earth. In the infirmary, the team gets to work on field medicine as Sam asks what happened. Portman is the only one who really answers, saying that Goat was talking about devils and good vs. evil. Sarge realizes Carmack is gone and Samantha says he disappeared. Unfortunately, despite everyone’s best efforts, Goat flatlines.

Sarge then begins to ask Samantha what they were working on, showing her the body of the monster. They haven’t found anything like it on their archaeological digs and the planet is completely dead and can’t support life, though Portman thinks it might be an alien – which prompts Sarge to shout that he needs to shut the fuck up. Reaper interjects, though. The monster that they have isn’t what he and Goat shot at in genetics. Destroyer, Kid, and Portman are sent to the entry door. Mac gives Pinky a weapon and grenades and seals the Ark door (much to his protests). There’s one more door, though – the entrance to the dig.

Once everyone else has gone, Samantha begins an autopsy on the monster. Duke again stays behind and helps her after she drops her penlight down its mouth, holding it open for her after she tells him not to be a wuss. Samantha tells him that John was a talented student who was empathetic and sensitive. Duke tells her about his family in return – or, well, he tells her about Destroyer. Duke also flirts with her, which Sam uses to her advantage when her scalpel breaks and she needs someone to get her a power-bone saw.

With the others, Sarge informs them that they’re going back through the air lock. Portman asks if they’re calling in backup, to which Sarge says that they are the reinforcements. Sarge says they aren’t heading back until everything is dead. An announcement then comes on saying that all UAC personnel have been evacuated to Earth.

The lights begin to go out on Samantha, so she heads through the nanowall to see where Duke is. She runs into him and screams, but he calms her down, saying it’s just a power surge. He asks which one of the siblings is the oldest, and Sam reveals that it’s her by two minutes. While they talk, they hear something and Duke picks up his weapon. A dog is snarling, vicious, and Duke tells Sam to get back into the lab. Suddenly there’s another growl and the dog whimpers and runs off. There’s a monster behind Duke. Samantha screams and it attacks, slashing into Duke’s shoulder. Duke fires and heads back into the lab, the nanowall closing so that the monster is stuck inside of it – partially in the lab, partially outside of it. It ejects its tongue at the two of them but misses, and Sam, frightened, buries her head in Duke’s chest for a moment before Duke says that’s why he doesn’t do nanowalls.

Sarge, Mac, and Reaper head for the archaeological dig. They move forward, lights shining on the equipment, including diamond-tipped chainsaws. Reaper again thinks he’s heard a noise, only for some rocks to fall. Moving forward, he has a flashback from his time on Olduvai as a child and the accident that killed his parents. As he looks out at the planet, Sarge asks if this is where it happened. He doesn’t answer, asking if Sarge found the door. Sarge moves on before calling him forward; there are two dead scientists by the door. He then says they weren’t trying to stop something from getting in – something stopped them from getting out. While Sarge asks for Destroyer’s report, which states that the door he was sent to is secure, a monster takes Mac’s head off with one swipe.

Reaper and Sarge find his body, and the monster moves past, prompting Reaper to shoot at it and the both of them to pursue. It’s big and heading back towards the lab complex. They meet up with the others (minus Duke and Sam) and Sarge informs Pinky that if anything gets through the door, he’s to use an ST grenade so it won’t get back to Earth. Portman protests, because that would blow up the Ark and leave them stranded. Reaper and the Kid go to sweet while Portman and Destroyer shut the airlock. Sarge heads for the armory – but first, he finds the severed arm Carmack has.

“Dogs got kidneys, right? Pigs got kidneys.”
During the autopsy, Sam reveals that it has the same organs a human would have and that the monster had its appendix remove. In the bodybag behind some glass, Goat begins to move, despite the fact that he’s dead. He stands up, makes the sign of the cross, and then rams into the wall until he’s killed himself a second time. Looking at the physical changes, Sam realizes something. “Goat knew he was turning.” Turning back to the body, of the monster, she continues; she doesn’t think the monster killed the missing Dr. Willits – she thinks it is Dr. Willits.

Back at the airlock, Portman tells Destroyer that he has to go to the bathroom. He heads off.

Sarge uses the severed arm to give DNA verification to get the Bio Force Gun (or Big Fucking Gun, as he calls it) from the armory, since he thinks they’ll need a little more kick.

In the bathroom, Portman checks to see if it’s clear before going into one of the stalls. When Pinky says he sees wall and floor, Portman replies that he’s “taking a shit, you fucking gimp”. Portman changes the channel on his comm.

Having heard something, Destroyer moves away from the airlock and finds the holding cell. He’s suddenly attacked from behind, picked up and smashed into piping before he’s thrown down into the cell, hanging chains breaking his fall. Pinky reports that Portman’s lost on comm and that all that he’s got on Destroyer is a wall, and Sarge goes looking. Back in the bathroom, Portman sends out a distress message, a request for reinforcements. Destroyer begins to fight with the monster. His gun gone, he uses the equipment in the holding cell, along with its electric wall. Unfortunately, the monster has the same idea. A fight scene ensues, and Destroyer attempts to climb out of the cell using the chains after pinning the monster to the wall with a pipe. The monster frees itself and pulls him down, and Destroyer dies.

In the bathroom, Portman doesn’t know what’s going on, but he hears something moving. Sarge is looking for him and Destroyer but Portman has taken out his earpiece. In addition, his clip is empty, and when he goes to reload he drops the fresh ammo under another stall. He crawls beneath the stalls to get it while Sarge discovers Destroyer’s body – and no monster. Portman gets his ammo and heads out of the stall, looking around, but nothing’s outside save for a rat crawling by. Relieved, he steps back into the stall – only for the monster to grab him out of the ceiling, his comm device turning back on. Pinky says he can’t see him when he can as payback for earlier and the others come to try and rescue him, shooting the monster so it drops him until Sarge uses the BFG, which basically melts what it hits. They don’t get there in time, though – Portman’s dead.

They bring Portman and Destroyer’s bodies back to the infirmary, where Samantha has set up an IV on the monster in the nanowall. Duke is obviously emotional over Destroyer, but when Sarge asks about Goat’s blood, he backs up Samantha’s explanation – that Goat was changing into a monster and killed himself. Samantha asks if there were open wounds on the necks of the dead scientists, but no one checked. Sarge asks if Carmack has shown up yet and Samantha has him look at the left ear of the monster on the nanowall – it’s been ripped off. Sarge asks what they’re working on again and Samantha says they aren’t doing anything like this, that it must be a genetic mutation (either envioronmental or viral) and that it may be reversible. Sarge says it isn’t and proceeds to shoot monster!Carmack in the head before sending Kid and Duke back to the dig to see if the dead scientists are actually dead. Sarge advances on Sam and asks what the UAC is experimenting with. Sam keeps insisting it’s an archaeological research center, but Reaper interrupts, asking what the UAC sent her to protect. She replies “the research data” and he asks what the research was into.

“I have my orders and so do you.”
Sam brings up one of the memory sticks of data and opens it up. It’s a video, the scientists experimenting with the synthetic chromosome, C24, on a human subject. The subject was put in the holding cell for them to observe. He was a man named Curtis Stahl, a criminal who had murdered multiple people and was condemned to execution. The video captures his mutation and Reaper pulls the data stick out, saying Sam was used and that Olduvai is Hell. He then says that they need to destroy the disks, but Sarge says it’s UAC property and that they need to take the data back. He then says “I didn’t see shit, and I ain’t paid to see shit” and that he has his orders. Samantha has to download three more, and Sarge sends her to do it.

Duke and the Kid find one dead scientist and make sure he’s dead, but the other is missing. Sarge makes Reaper come with him, but Reaper gives Sam Portman’s comm so she can call if she needs help. Sam says she’ll be fine and Reaper says he’ll see her soon. Pinky, however, then comes over the comm – something is coming through the Ark door. The men head for the Ark and hear it countdown, but despite Sarge shouting for Pinky to use a grenade, he doesn’t do it. He and the monster head back to the Earth, and the system reboots. They have five minutes until it’s back and they are instructed to get all the weapons and ammo they can. Sarge gives Reaper three minutes to go and get Sam when she doesn’t answer the comm.

Reaper runs to find his sister only to find her experimenting, asking why the monsters took Goat and not Destroyer, saying that Lucy had the 24th chromosome but died defending her child, not eating it. She makes Reaper give her ten seconds, and she holds brain matter from Portman over the monster’s tongue. It reacts. Then comes brain matter from Destroyer. The tongue doesn’t move. The monsters are choosing who to infect, and she thinks it’s picking up on genetic markers for psychotic and violent behavior. She then says 10% of the human genome is still unmapped and that it could be the genetic blueprint for the soul. It’s picking people who are evil, and it could explain why people had to build the Ark in the first place – they had to escape. Reaper then realizes that they have to go, because Sarge is going to kill everyone quarantined, even if they aren’t infected.

Back at the Ark, Sarge is telling Duke and the Kid that they uphold quarantine and that nothing gets to the elevator because they can’t let the monsters get to the surface. “If it breathes, kill it.” Then he heads through back to Earth. It’s there that Sarge, Duke, and the Kid notice Portman’s transmission for reinforcements, as well as a great deal of dead bodies. There are 58 minutes until the auto-lockdown ends, but it can’t be reset for another six hours – it’s been disabled by the monsters. They start moving through the facility, shooting each body in the head. The three of them end up coming across a great deal of transforming humans feeding on other humans. When they attack, they’re killed. Some of them are using tools.

Reaper and Sam come through the Ark and Reaper asks for Sarge’s position. He then tells him that not everyone is infected, and while Sarge says he copies, nothing changes – he shoots a man pleading for help right in the head. He orders the Kid and Duke to clear the rest of the sector and meet him back at the Ark chamber. Duke finds Pinky in a pile of dead bodies as he shoots them in the forehead, shaking his head. The Kid, however, finds a bunch of survivors, including children, hiding in a storeroom. The doctor who helped Sam asks him to help them.

Back at the Ark, Sam is explaining that not everyone is capable of being infected. Sarge says they have orders to contain the place by any means necessary, and Reaper suggests evacuating the uninfected and blowing the rest of the place to hell. Sarge then says they also have orders to protect the facility, but Reaper says they don’t have orders to kill innocent people. Sarge then just says “by any means necessary.” Sam checks Pinky for a wound on his neck when he and Duke come up and says he’s clean. Sarge then says that he says who’s clean and who isn’t. Pinky is saved from getting shot by the Kid’s arrival and news about the storeroom. The Kid told the people to stay put, saying they’re okay. Sarge, however, says “We kill them all. Let God sort ‘em out.” The Kid protests, saying it’s wrong, and Sarge orders him not to think and kill those people. The Kid says no and tells Sarge to go to hell – so Sarge shoots him in the throat. Reaper and Sam try to help him but it’s too late, and Sarge says mutinous insurrection is punishable by death. Reaper shouts that it was the Kid’s first mission and Sarge replies that it isn’t going to be his last and that he doesn’t need anybody but soldiers.

Reaper stands after closing the Kid’s eyes, and he and Sarge stare each other down, lifting their weapons. That’s when Pinky holds up his handgun and tells them all to drop their weapons, saying he won’t be killed by a madman. Unfortunately, there’s a monster behind him, which proceeds to grab him and toss him around. The remaining members of the RRTS shoot at it and follow it as it drags Pinky down the hall. Reaper orders Duke to get Sam and he does, Sarge and Reaper working together to try and find the monster – only to be rushed by a bunch of partially transformed people. They withdraw behind the nanowall, but the nanowall glitches, refusing to close entirely so they have to keep shooting through it. Something grabs Duke through the vent he’s standing on and pulls him down through it, killing him. Distracted, something else grabs Sarge and the BFG through the nanowall, Sarge saying he’s not supposed to die. Reaper keeps firing but then the nanowall closes enough for a bullet to ricochet and hit him in the stomach. He and Sam find another room and he barricades the door, but it won’t take long for the monsters to get through. Sam helps him to the ground and tries to help him. Reaper gives her an ST grenade to blow up when the monsters come from.

Sam, however, has another idea. She goes to inject him with C24 that she took from Carmack’s lab. Reaper doesn’t want her to inject him with it, but Sam says it could save him, as he’s bleeding to death. Reaper thinks it will turn him into a monster though, saying he’s done bad things. Sam disagrees, saying she knows him. When Reaper says she doesn’t, she replies “You’re my brother. I know you” and goes to inject him. He makes her wait again, giving her his sidearm in case he starts to turn, telling her to shoot him through the heart and the head and not to hesitate. Sam says she won’t need to and injects him, and John passes out.

When he wakes up, the movie has decided to be in first-person. Sam is gone, but there’s a mirror. All of Reaper’s wounds have healed, and he heads out in search of his sister, killing every monster that gets in his way – the half-turned and the fully turned. He’s faster, stronger, smarter, more observant, and with better reflexes than he had been as a human; he’s even able to leap over some of the monsters. As he travels, he keeps calling for his sister – quietly, but continuously. There’s no answer. He does, however, come across a transformed Pinky. He’s knocked into a wall and the screen goes black, only for Reaper to hear Sam’s voice saying “John” and see a white light. He wakes back up and kills monster!Pinky.

The next door he goes through reveals more dead bodies and damage from the BFG. It also reveals the countdown to the quarantine lockdown – less than two minutes are left. Reaper keeps moving and finds Sam crumpled on the ground. She’s alive, but injured, and obviously relived to see him. However…

“Last man standing, Reaper.”
There’s Sarge. He comments that he thinks Sam needs medical attention, but Reaper notices the wound on Sarge’s neck and tells Sam to try to get to the elevator. He moves forward and asks the Sarge where the survivors the Kid found are. Sarge killed them. When Reaper points out that Sarge killed the Kid, the man says they’re all killers, that it’s what they pay them for. He’s transforming, as well; Reaper can hear Sarge’s bones rearranging themselves as they split through his gloves. Sarge suggests going outside and getting some fresh air, and Reaper points his gun at him.

“You going to shoot me?”
“Yeah, I was thinking about it.”
“Whatcha got left?”
“Half a clip. You?”
“I’ve got one round.”

Sarge then uses that round, but Reaper uses his new speed to dodge, firing back. Sarge disappears and they start a game of cat-and-mouse. Reaper uses up most of his ammo during this, while Sarge attempts to bludgeon him and dodge before breaking through some glass, where he proceeds to say the most ridiculous line in the movie: “Semper Fi, motherfucker!” Sarge removes his belt and John puts down his gun, now empty, and his own belt, and they start having a superpowered fistfight. It’s brutal; there is throwing, choking, and bending steel with their bare hands. Sarge uses that steel to reinforce his fist, wrapping it around his hand. Part of the steel gets unwrapped and is used as a makeshift dagger, which ends up going straight through Reaper’s hand when he tries to block it. Sarge shifts even more, his eyes turning yellow, his teeth and ears growing more pointy, and he snarls as he tries to finish the job. The machines then go off, saying “STANDBY”, and Reaper quickly moves the steel to keep it in his hand before activating the Ark. He pushes them both back toward it and throws Sarge up until his legs are sucked in. As the Ark counts down, Reaper holds him there using the steel through his hand before releasing his fist, letting the steel cut up through his hand and fingers. Sarge goes through the Ark and Reaper’s hand heals more or less instantly. He then grabs a grenade that was discarded from his belt and throws it in, saying “Like the Kid said – go to Hell.” It blows up and takes Sarge and Olduvai with it.

John and Sam then get into the elevator, Sam in her brother’s arms. The last words of the movie come from when John looks down at his sister and says “Almost home.”

Personality:

John Grimm is a man who is hiding from himself and hiding himself from the world. On the outside, he’s all military. He doesn’t look forward to leave, he looks forward to the next mission. When he has downtime, he spends it dissembling and reassembling his weapons, wanting to do it better and faster. He follows orders and he gives orders, and he’s earned the nickname his unit has given him – “Reaper”. He’s a hardass with no patience for bullshit who does what he has to in order to get the job done and get out alive. Reaper doesn’t talk about his family, doesn’t have close friends, doesn’t let himself get too attached. It’s all about the job.

On the inside, though, it’s not all about the job at all. On the inside is a man who cares for his teammates, even the ones he doesn’t exactly like. Will he threaten them? Yes. Would he actually have blown holes in the Kid if he took more drugs? Probably not. Inwardly there’s a man who looks at things and sees how they work, his love for science that existed as a child still there, just hidden to make things easier. John does a lot of hiding, really. He hides the way he truly feels when he comes out of his memory therapy, saying he feels okay instead of that he wants to kill the therapists and everyone else in the room. He hides the way he feels about his sister, making Sarge think Reaper will back him up over Sam. He hides his past, making Sarge and Sam the only people who knew about what happened on Olduvai when he was a child until Duke asked and the only people who knew Reaper even had a sister.

For Reaper, it’s easier to hide things. He pushes his emotions and thoughts about things that aren’t the mission aside because if he doesn’t, he’ll be consumed with guilt. He’s done bad things, he tells Sam; he’s not a good person. Sam, though, is the one who sees right through his masks because she knows him – she’s his sister and he’s her brother. She believes in him, and as it turns out, she’s right; beneath his tough outside, John Grimm is still the sensitive and empathetic person he once was. He’s still a good man, a man who seeks justice when the Kid is killed in cold blood, a man who refuses to kill innocents if there’s another way. He’s a protector, not just a fighter. He’s unselfish and reasonable instead of selfish and hungry, and it’s why C24 doesn’t turn him into a monster and makes him superhuman instead.

A marine, Reaper is protective and loyal to members of his unit, people he trusts to have his back even if he doesn’t necessarily like them. It is only when they step over Reaper’s personal lines that he takes action against them. Sarge was willing to give data that created monsters to the UAC, which was tense, but it was only after he killed the Kid that Reaper actually acted -- and even then, it was after he and Sarge worked together in order to survive. John’s protective instincts also extend to his sister and other perceived innocents – it wasn’t their fault that the research team did human studies and it wasn’t their fault that they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. While Reaper isn’t exactly warmer to any of them than he is to his teammates, he does go out of his way to give Sam a means to communicate with him and, later, to defend herself. It’s more than the others do for anyone, their concerns being over keeping the threat contained. Reaper and the Kid are the only ones who disobey orders for unselfish, moral reasons; Portman disobeys orders, but it’s because he doesn’t want to die. Reaper and the Kid do it knowing that they might die but also knowing it’s what’s right.

There are two major emotions in John Grimm’s life. John feels tremendous amounts of guilt about what happened to his parents, even though it wasn’t his fault, and his actions afterward toward his sister. He doesn’t know how to make up for ten years of next to no contact, so he tries to push his emotions toward his sister aside to focus on the job, only for Sam to bring them out again. He doesn’t know how to reconcile with the fact that he should have been a better leader, should have refused to use untested weapons, should have known the setup in the jungle that killed Jumper was a trap. In the Ark, his mind feeds on this, the guilt nearly devouring him to the point that Reaper despairs and nearly kills himself because it might make things right. The things he’s seen and done haunt him, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder a part of his life that he has to deal with – and he deals with it by going to therapy he doesn’t want and by avoiding thinking or feeling too much when he can.

His PTSD is part of why he’s so angry, why he reacts so loudly to things that could kill them all. Portman’s trash-talking negatively effects morale and the thought processes of the others on the team, so John steps in to defend the Kid, saying that he’ll kill Portman and no one will miss him. Likewise, the Kid being high in the middle of the mission is giving away their position and making the Kid’s nerves rattle, making him a hazard, so John threatens to shoot him if he takes any more. When he can’t revive Goat, he blames himself; he should have moved faster, should have gotten there, should have done something to keep his teammate alive. But he didn’t, so he kicks something. Above all, John is angriest at himself for his perceived failures.

When the anger and the guilt aren’t present, having been pushed aside, Reaper tends to be pretty unphased by most things. Goat pulls out a hunting knife and carves a cross into his skin for taking the Lord’s name in vain? Reaper just stands there and waits for him to finish with a slight roll of his eyes. A crazed, half-transformed scientist bites off the head of a rat and then slurps it up? Reaper just says “ookay” and waits for him to swallow it. He doesn’t leap into action unless he has to, unless there’s a threat or a reason for him to do it. He doesn’t let fear take hold of him because he’s better than that. There’s survival, there’s looking at the weird and moving on unless it tries to harm him, and John Grimm is excellent at both.

John also has his own, somewhat dark, sense of humor. He’s very sarcastic, dryly stating that his molecular genetics is a little rusty when Sam shows him Lucy’s chromosome profile. He explains some things using dry humor too, such as when explaining to the Kid that Pinky went to one galaxy and his ass went to another. He’s not going to tell you knock-knock jokes and make you laugh hysterically, but once in a while, he might make you grin.

Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:

SUPERHUMAN: Toward the end of the movie, John is injected with a synthetic chromosome by his sister. This chromosome makes him superhuman – he is super strong, fast, fit, healthy (those with C24 cannot catch diseases), and intelligent with enhanced reflexes, senses (sight, smell, and hearing), healing factor (almost instant, cells dividing fifty times faster), and psychic sensitivity (basically gut feelings, in this case). It’s all very new to John, however, and the enhancements can be as much of a disadvantage as an advantage. Loud sounds become deafening, and a deadly reflex that John may once have been able to stop may be unstoppable. In addition, John cannot naturally spread the chromosome the way the monsters can.
MARINE: A member of the RRTS Privatized Marines, Reaper has a great deal of experience in armed and unarmed combat, first aid/battlefield medicine, and following orders. He’s likely to fall back on his training.
MORALITY: Unlike Sarge, who follows his orders without question, John is willing to disobey orders to do what’s right. He doesn’t want to bring the data that has caused so much chaos back and he doesn’t want to do whatever is necessary if it means killing innocent people. He found the fact that Sarge killed the Kid important enough to mention before fighting him, despite knowing he would have to fight Sarge anyway.
AVOIDANCE: John pushes away many of his inward thoughts and feelings regarding his sister and the situation they’ve found themselves in. Part of it is an attempt to keep his head in the game, but he’s unlikely to think on it elsewhere, either. John spent ten years avoiding his sister and the planet that killed his parents because he didn’t want to relive those memories, and around Sam, everything reminded him of the past.
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER: In addition to the events of the movie, John has spent most of his life haunted by the death of his parents. Six weeks before the mission to Olduvai, he was in charge of a mission that went wrong and he blamed himself for it. He was distressed by this to the point that he believed he would end up in prison if he went out among civilians and got drunk on leave, and the military ordered memory therapy on him so he wouldn’t screw up in the middle of a mission. John’s anger issues are likely a symptom of his PTSD. In addition, in the novel, traveling through the Ark often makes people see strange things. When John travels through the Ark on the way back from Olduvai, he sees his team blaming him for everything bad that’s happened, saying that he should kill himself. Once he’s through, John actually contemplates killing himself and Sam, thinking it would be easier, that maybe it would make things okay. While he doesn’t do it, he doesn’t work through it, either – he uses that method of avoidance to shove the thoughts to the side, even though it’s added to his guilt.

Inventory:

1 Heckler & Koch G36 (modified) + ammo
1 Heckler & Koch USP + ammo
1 silver chain + dog tags
1 pair combat boots, black
1 pair fingerless gloves, black
1 pair RRTS uniform pants, black
1 RRTS uniform shirt, long-sleeved, black
1 utility belt, black
2 thigh holsters, black
1 combat vest, black
4 sets padding, 2 elbows & 2 knees, also black
1 pack of gum

Appearance:
Reaper is played by Karl Urban. He has dark brown/black hair, hazel eyes, and is 6’1”. He has a tattoo of the Grim Reaper (hurrhurr) on his left forearm. Due to not having the ‘evil’ genetic markers, the synthetic chromosome has kept his appearance human. He is seen here in full uniform alongside his sister, Samantha.

Age: According to the book, 26. However, he’s also a different rank in the book, so to match with his movie rank and Karl Urban’s age/appearance, I’d say he’s in his thirties. I am, of course, willing to work this out with anyone who might want to app his twin sister.

AU Clarification: n/a

SAMPLES
Log Sample:
The last thing Reaper remembers is standing in the elevator, Samantha in his arms, covered in blood and heading up to Earth. He didn’t know what would be waiting for him up there – reinforcements, maybe, or maybe it would just be the two of them. Either way he’d have to answer questions about what the hell happened down there, and the UAC would likely try to make both himself and Sam disappear. He was preparing himself for that, was getting ready to fight for his sister and for the memories of the good people that had been killed. He’d blinked… and suddenly, here he was, surrounded by blue with a tube shoved in his throat. It reminds him of being below the glass during the memory therapy and he thrashes, panicking, just in time for the chamber to open. There’s no intern to help him out this time and no guards (though that didn’t rule out the possibility of the UAC having gotten to him). There are, however, other people – each one naked, each one with a number on their arm that he reads automatically.

The air is stale – recycled, and he tenses, because it reminds him of the air on Olduvai. The lights are bright but not too bright, the goo mostly scentless, though it’s clinging to him. The blood is gone now, at least – but so are his clothes, his weapons. He glances down at his arm; sure enough, he has a number now to match the Grim Reaper adorning his skin. Then it’s back up at the others, looking around. Plenty of them seem experienced and most are following their lead, so John joins the crowd. There isn’t much conversation so far and he keeps quiet, keeps his head down but glances around the crowd. There are no familiar faces, no familiar scents – and, reassuringly, no monsters. The water smells clean and he showers, scrubs down with the supplied soap, doesn’t take his time; he’s military-efficient without thinking about it, without thinking about how that might send signals out to anyone watching closely enough. Then it’s out to the locker room. The number on his arm says “008” so he goes to find that section, watching out of his peripherals as other people open their lockers, pulling on jumpsuits.

He isn’t sure what he expects to find when he opens his, but what he does find makes Reaper’s lips twitch into a grim smile. There’s his modified H&K G36, and he grabs it. The monotone voice of the computer clicks on. “RRTS Special Ops clearance verified. Handle ID: Reaper.” It’s nice to have a familiar voice, but the H&K is set down so he can pull on his dog tags and then get dressed. The jumpsuit is glanced over and he briefly considers pulling it on to blend in before deciding that his weapons are going to make him stand out anyway. Instead it’s his mission gear, all black, familiar and safe even if John doesn’t have to worry much about injuries anymore, not when his cells regenerate at… what had Sam said, fifty times faster than the normal rate? He can see why the scientists wanted to use C24.

It’s why he holsters his sidearm, an H&K USP, doublechecks his belt (no grenades and no mines, and that gets a quiet “dammit”), and picks up his assault rifle. The noise is starting to pick up in here and it’s grating on his nerves, threads of conversation that he shouldn’t be able to pick up perfectly clear. He tunes them out and turns, shoulders his weapon. It’s time to find some answers.

Comms Sample:
[ The man who comes on the screen looks a bit like one Doctor McCoy. The haircut is different, however, as are his clothing; all black, ready for combat. The accent is also different, voice hard instead of just grumpy. ]

I’ve heard there have been sightings of monsters on this ship. Humanoid ones.

[ There’s a pause, the man’s eyes flickering off-screen for a moment before returning. ]

I need to know what you saw.