| “ | Don’t flatter yourself, kid. You’re only good for one thing. You’re not Courageous Jack or Fighting Jack or even Lover Jack, although I know you have your sad little fantasies. You’re Computer Jack. Sam won’t let you do what you can do. Caine will. | ” |
—Diana to Jack |
||
Jack, common referred to as Computer Jack due to his skill with technology, is a character appearing in all the books set in the FAYZ. Originally allied with Caine and Coates Academy, Jack joins Sam's side and becomes a trusted ally of Perdido Beach. Despite resenting it at first, Jack eventually learns to accept and use his power of enhanced strength for his side until, as he tries to save Sam from Gaia, Jack is killed in friendly fire.
Description[]
Jack is a short, stout, pale boy with messy blond hair and crooked glasses. Sam doubts that Jack "has a single mean bone in his geeky body". He has shown himself to be a nervous, oblivious, pedantic and naive person, and he also has feelings for Brianna. As Jack claims to Astrid and later proves to be true, almost nothing is impossible or even hard for him when it comes to technology.
Power and abilities[]
Jack has the two bar power of enhanced strength. This increases his strength largely in all parts of his body, allowing him to lift enormous weights, tense his muscles to resist being choked, and jump large distances at a time. However, Jack is not a fighter, and even with this power he is no match for others such as Drake or Gaia. Jack's power seems to improve as time goes by, as he was shown not to be able to even break one of Drake's ribs when punching him three months after developing his power, but ten months after that, he was shown to have the capability to rip off limbs with no apparent effort.
Appearances[]
- Before the FAYZ
Jack received his first real computer for Christmas when he was four. He would spend hours on the machine without rest. By five he could easily install programs and navigate the web. By six he began aiding his parents in using the computer. By eight he had his own website and acted as tech support for his school. After an incident in which he hacked into the computer system of a police station, he was shipped off to Coates Academy.
Jack grew scared of kids such as Benno and Drake, but after Caine realized how smart Jack really was, Jack was given protection. In return, he studied the kids developing powers. He noticed the power was channeled through hands.
- Gone
Jack is Caine's tech expert. It is his job to keep a list of children with powers and their bars according to Diana's readings. While Caine controls the town, Jack's job is to set up a cell phone system. He was not successful until he converted to Sam's side in Hunger.
Later, he is asked to record Andrew's poof. Jack remembers during the trip to Coates that it was his discovery that powers are concentrated through the hands, and blames himself for the fates of those whose hands were encased in concrete by Drake.
Diana sends Jack to town with orders to tell Sam about how to beat the poof. He does not reach Sam in time, although Sam manages to survive the poof on his own. Jack decides to defect to Sam's side anyways, abandoning Caine.
Right before Andrew's poof, Diana manages to get a reading on Jack. He developed powers late, and is revealed to be a two-bar. His power is superhuman strength, although only he and Diana knew this at the time.
- Hunger
Jack is living in Perdido Beach. He was finally successful in setting up the cell phones, but Sam ordered him not to turn it on yet, because Caine could use them as well. This causes Jack a lot of frustration, because everyone kept asking him when he was going to get it done, and he felt like a failure.
Brianna has been hanging out with him, asking him to shoot a gun so she could test her speed against it. Later, she invites him to Albert's club in the McDonald's, and he reluctantly accepts. Here, he sees Diana, and rejects Brianna's offers to dance because he wants to talk to her. This irritates Brianna, and she stomps off in a rage, claiming that he is "afraid of girls".
After Diana talks to him and convinces him to come back to Caine's side, Caine takes Jack, along with Diana, Drake, and a few soldiers, to the power plant. Jack is ordered to shut down Perdido Beach's power, and is finally successful. Meanwhile, Drake sets up wire traps in order to kill Brianna if she tries to run in. Jack forces Drake to take the traps down, revealing his crush on Brianna, although it is mentioned that they are not actually going out.
During Sam's attack on the power plant, Drake tells Jack that Brianna was killed in a hidden trap. Jack attacks Drake in anger, until he is finally told that Brianna is still alive and Drake is lying. At the end of the novel, Jack is back on Sam's side.
- Lies
Jack plays a much smaller role in Lies. He is noted to have caught the flu, and moved in with Brianna so she can take care of him. However, after he recovers, Brianna catches the flu herself. He is still living with her at the end of the book.
Jack also helps put out the fires Zil and the Human Crew set, along with, Orc, Howard, Dekka, Ellen, and Taylor.
- Plague
Jack plays a much larger role in this novel and is one of the people Sam takes on his journey to find water, along with Taylor and Dekka. He is horrified by the death of Hunter. Later, Jack helps find Toto, and the computers, weapons, and food in the train. He is overjoyed with the discovery of the laptops and almost cried when he discovered they had some battery life left, and only leaves when there is soda, a rarity in the FAYZ.
During the battle with Drake and the bugs, Jack helps crush the parasites with large rocks. However, he is not as effective as Caine or Brianna when killing the bugs.
Sam sends Jack to go kill Little Pete in order to stop the FAYZ, but he does not follow through, and instead, Astrid gets rid of Little Pete. Jack goes with Sam when they divide.
- Fear
Jack goes with Sam and Dekka to check on the missiles left behind in the last book. On the way there, Jack mentions that Brianna had been trying to make out with him, much to the irritation of Dekka. When they get to the train car with the missiles, they discovered that someone had already taken them, and left a booby trap behind.
When Drake is bringing Diana to the Gaiaphage, Orc, Dekka and Jack are sent by Sam to catch Drake and Diana and bring them back to Lake Tramonto. Dekka and Orc realize they will not be able to catch Drake. Jack however, out of character from his usual cowardice, uses his extreme strength to run and jump faster than Dekka and Orc and finds Drake. Drake attempts to strangle Jack but Jack finds that by tensing all the muscles in his neck he can resist this. Drake also realizes this and uses the tip of his whip to slit Jack's throat. Dekka and Orc discover Jack, mortally wounded with blood pumping from the wound in his neck. Orc manages to slow the bleeding by applying force to Jack's neck with a rag. Dekka and Orc opt out of following Drake and leaving Jack to die, as Dekka knew all things considered they should have, and instead take Jack back to Lake Tramonto. With great difficulty, Roger manages to suture the slit in his neck closed, although whether Jack had survived or not was unknown. Jack interacts with no other character for the remainder of Fear and it would be believable to think he died - even Caine thought so.
- Light
Jack has a more minor role in Light. It is confirmed that he is alive and has made a full recovery from the injuries he received in Fear. He refuses to fight Gaia, scared that he will die. He is awkward and understandably sad at when Brianna died, as they had been in an awkward sort of relationship for a few months. At her "funeral" of sorts, he simply watches from a distance, not knowing how to react. During the battle against Gaia, where Jack, like Dekka, seeks to kill her due to Brianna's death, Jack comes to Sam's aid, who is seriously injured and tied up in chains. He tries to carry Sam to safety but is shot in the back accidentally by one of Edilio's soldiers. As he dies, he uses his super strength to break Sam's chains.
Relationships[]
- Brianna Berenson
Jack has feelings for Brianna, and describes her as cute. He cares so strongly for her that when he believes she is dead at the hands of Drake, he goes all "Aragorn" on the latter and almost kills him. The two form a relationship and care for each other, but in Plague, to Sam's surprise, Jack does not tell Brianna about his secret mission. After discovering Dekka has feelings for her, Brianna makes an effort to be nice to Jack, although the latter has no idea what is going on. However, Jack mentions later that they have fallen out, and Brianna later admits to Dekka that although she views Jack as kind and sweet, she doesn't believe their relationship will work out. They break up, as Brianna is too violent for Jack and Jack is too weedy for Brianna, but when Brianna dies, Jack is driven to joining the battle against Gaia.
- Dekka Talent
Before Jack and Brianna begin dating, Dekka does not like Jack, as she believes he has no moral center whatsoever and comments to herself that all someone had to do was wave a keyboard under Jack's nose and he'd do whatever they wanted. After Jack and Brianna formed a relationship, however, Dekka's dislike for Jack greatly increases, although she is seen talking to him as a friend a few times before Dekka confesses her feelings for Brianna. After this, Dekka ignores or insults Jack, although he doesn't notice, until Jack tries to stop Drake from capturing Diana Ladris and Justin. Although determined not to like Jack, Dekka begins to respect him, and even confronts Brianna when she begins to suspect the latter does not like Jack. The two rarely interact after this, but Jack seems to remain oblivious to Dekka's mixed opinions of him.
- Diana Ladris
At Coates Academy, Jack develops a crush on Diana, which she immediately notices. She often orders him around in the early days of the FAYZ, but also covers for Jack when he slips up and calls him by his real name. When she discovers he has a power, however, she threatens to tell Caine if Jack does not do whatever she says in the future. Later, Diana offers Jack a place in Caine's crew, as they need him, and Jack reluctantly accepts when he learns technology is involved. Diana keeps sticking up for Jack, although she continues mocking him. After this, the two do not meet until the Big Split, and do not interact with each other after this until Jack tries to save Diana and Justin from Drake. Diana is horrified when Jack seemingly dies doing this, although when she meets him again and he refuses to fight Gaia, Diana is disgusted. She does not mention his death, but puts flowers on his grave like she does with all the others.
- Drake Merwin
Drake dislikes and scares Jack at Coates Academy and in the early days of the FAYZ. After Jack returns to Caine's crew, Drake views Jack as weak and pathetic, and threatens to torture him later on. When Drake goads Jack and claims Brianna is dead, Jack attempts to kill him and nearly succeeds. After the resurrection of Drake, the two meet again at Coates, although Drake no longer scares Jack. Jack once again tries to kill Drake, but this time Drake nearly kills him. Jack returns to fight Drake one last time to save Diana and Justin, but Drake cuts his throat open and leaves him to die.
Caine Soren
Jack is Caine's "brain" of the Coates group. When the FAYZ began, Jack was on Caine's side. At first, Jack was tasked with the cell phone system. Caine is unaware of Jack's power, and Diana takes advantage of that by threatening Jack. However, in Hunger, Jack moved to Sam's side. In the middle of hunger, Jack was back with Caine when Diana told Jack there was an "ultimate technological challenge" for him. Caine told Jack to turn off the power for Perdido Beach. But in the end, Jack moves back to Sam's side again. Then Jack had doesn't have any interactions with Caine anymore.
Notes[]
- Jack is based on Michael Grant's son, Jake.[1]
- After a year and a half at Coates Academy, Jack aged two and a half years.
- A computer jack is a port that parts of the computer - e.g., the keyboard - are connected to. Many fans do not get the play on words.
- A computer jock is someone obsessed with computers. This may be another reason for his name.
- Gaia sees Jack's power as unnecessary most of the time, as she has already enhanced strength.[2]
- She mainly uses his power for enhanced leaps.
References[]
| Coates students |
|---|
| Caine Soren | Diana Ladris | Drake Merwin | Dekka Talent | Brianna Berenson Brittney Donegal | Taylor | Computer Jack | Bug | Penny Andrew | Frederico | Mallet |