Thereās a short story thatās a prequel to The Martian called āDiary of an Ass Canā and um⦠idk about you but Iāve never seen anything more Johnny coded than that title.
Also- since Markās mission role is mechanical engineer (botanist is his science role), I feel like that fits really well for Johnny too!
Johnny isnāt a botanist in this AU though. I could not see him giving a fuck about plants for the life of me. Plus, as someone majoring in botany- botanists have a very specific vibe to them (queer). Johnny dose not have that vibe. He gives off offensively straight vibes, even if he's not.
As for the rest of the crew-
Price would obviously take the place of Commander Lewis. I can kind of see Price as a rock guy so⦠I think geologist kinda fits him.
Kyle is the missionās pilot. Iām not sure why I decided that fits best for him, but I did. In the movie, Martinez is pilot and MDV/MAV specialist (mars descent/ascent vehicle specialist) and Iām making Kyle take on both of those roles- plus systems operator (which was Johanssenās job originally).
Simonās mission role is kind of a mash up of the remaining Ares III crew members. First of all, I'm actually making him the botanist, not Johnny. But, heās also the crewās EVA specialist and medic. He didnāt have any real medical experience prior to this, but neither did any of the others, and I think they kind of just of decided that out of all of them, his background kind of meshed the best. they more or less just gave him a fuck ton of intensive medical training, hoping to make up for the fact that there wasn't a doctor in the Ares III roster.
To elaborate of what Johnnyās mission role even was- he was the crewās engineer and reactor technician.
Rather than growing potatoes like Mark Watney did, Johnny's first course pf action upon realizing he was left behind was to attempt to signal the Hermes... and NASA. Mainly NASA, really, but it'd be nice to let his crew know he wasn't dead.
At no moment did he consider trying to do anything else. by Sol 8 (and for reference, the rest of the Ares III crew had evacuated on Sol 6) he was scavenging the corpse of the MDV for parts. Major stomach wound be damned, Johnny knew that the sooner he acted, the better his chances were. Hell, there was even a chance the Hermes was still hanging around in upper orbit. He doubted NASA would demand what's left of the Ares III crew to work right after loosing one of their own.
(Well- NASA might try, but Kate would let hell freeze over before that command would be given.)
Also- in the book, if the resupply probe had failed, all of the Ares III crew members except Johanssen were going to fucking kill themselves and have her canabalize their bodies so she could save Mark (since it would be too late to go back to earth at that point) and get them both back to earth which isā¦. Fucking insane. But Iām going to say that I think Price and Simon agreed to do the same but didnāt tell Kyle. They knew he would never let that happen so they were going to essentially guilt trip him into not letting their bodies go to waste so at least he and Johnny would be saved.
I think Johnny getting left on Mars wouldāve went down a bit differently than Mark being left on Mars went.
For one, I think Simon was the one who refused to accept it.
Price loves Johnny with all of his heart, but I think that once Johnnyās suit went offline and they lost his vitals and location, Price wouldāve made the call to leave. He wouldnāt have let himself hope.
In that moment, all he knew was that a piece of equipment torn loose by the storm had hit Johnny with enough speed and force to breach his suit and send him flying through the air. Even if the hit hadnāt killed him, Price knew Johnny only had a minute or two to live after his suitās loss of pressure.
He knew Kyle was doing everything trying to keep the MAV upright, but the winds were only getting worse and the ascent vehicle was dangerously close to tipping- leaving them all stranded and as good as dead.
When Kyle told him theyād lost Johnnyās vitals and position, his heart sank. Visibility was at zero- he could hardly see Simon where he stood just three feet in front of him, and heād seen how far Johnny flew.
If it was only his own life at stake, Price wouldāve done it in an instant. He would rather die trying to save Johnny (or even just retrieve his body) than leave him there.
But it wasnāt just his life- it was Simon and Kyleās too. Heād already lost one of his partners that day, and his mind would immediately go into making sure his didnāt lose another.
Afterwards though? It would absolutely tear him up. Knowing (or thinking) that heād left johnny behind would destroy him. Every time he closed his eyes, heād think about how Johnny maybe felt in those last moments. Heād wonder if Johnny had still been clinging onto life in those last moments and heard him make the call to leave. Heād wonder if that was the last thing Johnny had ever heard- his captain telling the rest of his crew to leave him. Heād think about Johnnys body- about how it would never decompose. How it would just lie there, frozen in time.
(Honestly, Price would probably have half a plan to kill himself the moment Simon and Kyle were safe back on earth.)
Simon had to be physically dragged into the MAV by Price. The moment Price gave the order to continue with the abort, Simon felt something break inside of him.
Heād been the one to feel Johnnyās hand yanked away from him as the communications disc hit him. Heād been the one whoād seen it coming and had tried to pull Johnny out of its path. Heād been the one whoād seen the look of pain and fear on Johnnyās face as the glove of his suit slipped from Simonās.
The look of betrayal on Simonās face as the MAV lifted off Mars broke Price. He couldnāt look at Kyle or Simon after that- wouldnāt speak aside from clipped, gritted out orders to the other two until after nearly a day back on the Hermes.
Kyle was the one who did the most convincing job of holding it together out of the three. He grit his teeth and refused to let himself think about it. Every time his eyes drifted towards the empty seat where Johnny was supposed to have been sitting, a wave of nausea pulsed through him.
No. No this canāt be happening. Johnny canāt be dead- they couldnāt have lost him. Heād just been joking with him not even 15 minutes ago. This canāt be happening.
Heād have to tear his eyes from the empty seat and force himself to focus on piloting the MAV. He told himself heād have time to grieve later. He had to.
When they finally got back to the Hermes, all Kyle managed to do was strip himself of his EVA suit before he was barreling towards their sleeping quarters. The moment he slid into his bunk he began to shake. The full weight of whatād happened came crashing down on him.