Reflections of Insanity

Name: Jonathan Robert Grimm – Captain, RRTS Marine Corps; Handle ID – “Reaper”

Age: 32

Race: Born human – DNA altered after incident on Mars station “Olduvai”

Occupation: R.apid R.response T.actical S.quad Marine Corps Captain

Abilities: Superhuman strength, endurance, speed. Cells have almost instantaneous regeneration ability, allowing him to recover from the most horrible damage with no detrimental results. Elite trained Marine – tactical ops commander, skilled in all weapons soldiers use in day to day combat. Lethally trained marksman and hand-to-hand combat soldier.

Weaknesses: Dangerously high metabolism. Due to its altered state, his body burns through energy at an alarming rate, forcing him to eat and rest nearly twice as much as would a normal human. One sister – Samantha Grimm. Ex-lover/girlfriend – Dr. Jessica Crites.

Brief History: It's been two years since Olduvai. The UAC wasn't all that thrilled that their precious Mars-base station got obliterated, but I don't regret it. Not for one second. I can live with those black marks on my record, but I doubt Earth would have survived if that monstrosity had gotten loose down here. Still…too many nightmares up there. For me, anyway. Duke, Portman, Goat…the entire team dead. Destroyer, Kid, Mac, even Sarge. Still wakes me up at night, seeing my commander mutating into that thing. But I'm trying to get over all that horror.

Thanks to Sam's intervention and that damned 24th chromosome, I managed to keep the infection from breaking loose and ravaging the planet. The aftermath of that's been a bitch. Naturally, the Corps wanted a full briefing, but I couldn't do it. There was no way in hell I was going to try to explain what happened up there, along with Sam's theory. Granted, it saved my miserable life, but I figure the less folks know, the better they are.

So, my superiors weren't all that thrilled with me, so I've been on "informal leave" for about six months now, with a recall to active duty the first of the month, along with a very ironic promotion. I'm still a soldier, though, and I'm very, very good at it. Even moreso now. My physicals are nothing short of astounding and my reflexes the same. The base doctors are stunned; they keep trying to pry information out of me. But I ain't talking. Sam and I agreed on that one. I had to threaten her about it, but she finally admitted that it was better left undiscovered. She's back in California, working on another archeological dig. I hear from her about once a week or so, but I'm still not ready for the whole "family bonding" thing.

I wonder about going back to work. Granted, I've been a Marine for about seven years now, but it's strange. Going back and knowing that I won't see them again. It'll feel…empty, but I suppose I should be used to that now. The rest of my life's been exactly the same way. It's my own fault, I suppose. But the memories are just too painful to try to settle. Besides, I'm a soldier. Soldiers only know two things: to kill and survive.