#ps3 prototype

[headcanonfiringrange]

I know that it's a widely accepted fanon that Alex Mercer can flawlessly impersonate anyone he's consumed, but I'm gonna drop a hot take here: he's actually a terrible actor. He can memorize lines just fine, but he can't convincingly deliver anything except for bland military comms like "Roger that, this is squad delta niner-niner, we are currently en route."

The only reason why Alex was able to get away with his terrible acting while infiltrating military bases in Prototype was because he didn't need any acting skills to accomplish his objective. As long as he appeared "in uniform," used the correct military jargon & followed (or pretended to be following) orders, nobody looked any closer.

Alex never even had to affect any kind of persona (other than basic military professionalism), because his own brand of "terse & constantly on edge" fits right in with the miasma of stressed, exhausted masses that are military personnel on the front lines of war.

In the game, there's an escort mission where Alex has to go undercover as helicopter pilot. I failed that mission SO many times, but I'm actually glad I did because on one of my many retries I got to hear the following line of dialogue:

Mercer (psyching himself up before responding to a radio hail): "Okay, okay. You can do this! Just play it cool..."

This man could be absolutely cooked in any espionage setting that requires real, actually convincing acting skills & not just memorizing all the words/phrases used in military comms.

[headcanonfiringrange]

Headcanon time: Alex Mercer's instincts as a virus include the urge to dominate/destroy other pathogens.

On a primal level, his instincts see other pathogens as competition for the same food source. Competitors must be eliminated for the sake of survival.

On a cognitive level... Alex finds The Infected even more disgusting than humans do. Seeing one fills him with a sense of oh god KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT WITH FIRE - similar to the instinctual "squick" that humans feel when they encounter a large spider - which is why Alex prefers to smash Infected into unrecognizable paste when he fights them.

Alex's "Infected Vision" power continues to evolve even after the outbreak is over, turning into a sixth sense for pathogens in general. Alex automatically detects the presence of non-blacklight pathogens in the area and can even identify specific strains if he's previously consumed them... And it irritates the hell out of him. Alex HATES sharing space with other pathogens, even the non-sapient microscopic ones.

Alex develops new powers to deal with them accordingly: any microscopic pathogen that comes in contact with his body automatically gets absorbed into his biomass and consumed... Which technically makes him a walking air purifier.

Dana finds the irony hilarious. Alex does not.

[headcanonfiringrange]

Alex: "hold on- you know?"

Dana: "...that my older brother pulled a Frankenstein to make you?"

Alex: "that's not... Okay, that's technically what happened, but-"

Dana: "It totally is! He made you by using Mad Science to rez a corpse!"

Alex: "IT WAS HIS OWN CORPSE, DANA"

Alex: "so... You don't hate me for being a man-eating sentient virus wearing your brother's face?"

Dana: "..."

Dana: "To be honest, I'm more focused on all the Big Sister Privileges I'll finally get to lord over you."

Alex: "???"

Dana: "As a science baby that my older brother created, that makes me either your big sister or your aunt. Since there's no way I'm ready to be called "aunt dana" by someone who looks older than me, that only leaves the first option."

Alex: confused virus noises

Dana: "for starters, I'm claiming permanent dibs on the tv remote."

Alex: "o...kay?

Dana: "You have NO idea how long I've been waiting to say that."

[headcanonfiringrange]

After having a few years to sort through the tangle of stolen memories, Alex settles on a very "wise beyond his years" outlook on human nature. Consuming so many humans has given him plentiful references to choose from, so it's not all that hard for him to figure out people's reasons for acting the way they do.

His verdict on humanity: humans are just.... People. They do stupid stuff when they let their baser instincts drive, but at the end of the day they're just trying to get through their lives in one piece like any other organism.

He'll still tear you in half if you try to attack him. But as long as the situation doesn't escalate to violence (or biological warfare), Alex is suprisingly patient with people.

....however, being patient with people and being good at interacting with them are two VERY different things for Alex Mercer.

Alex may understand how people work, but that doesn't mean he's willing to mediate or play therapist. When put in front of someone who's acting like a turd (not being a threat, just a pain in the neck), Alex prefers to simply sit back and watch quietly with what he thinks is a neutral gaze.

His attitude could almost be described as "calm & unflappable," if it weren't for the fact that he often forgets to blink and stares like a creepy possessed doll.

[headcanonfiringrange]

Alex Mercer isn't a judgemental person. He doesn't see the point in getting worked up over most things when he's got a lot of secondhand experience in disturbing hobbies from his victims, and is keenly aware that being a man-eating virus gives him very little moral high ground when it comes to committing crimes.

However, the few things he does judge is more than enough provoke him into Kill Mode.

At the top of the list is:

Threatening Dana, being willingly involved with biological warfare, threatening Dana, unethical human experimentation, threatening Dana, direguarding quarantine procedures during a deadly outbreak, threatening Dana, and people who cause unnecessary fatalities.

Oh, and threatening Dana.

Note the specification of unnecessary fatalities. Alex is fine with killing anyone who attacks him, and/or wiping out any number of people if it's necessary to prevent even greater loss of life down the line... But it's precisely because Alex has so much experience being the lever-puller in The Trolley Problem that he hates the idea of being wasteful with lives that were never on the tracks to begin with.

[headcanonfiringrange]

Alex Mercer uses his claws to chop vegetables... Very carefully.

The first time he tried it, Alex used a bit too much force and accidentally chopped Dana's cutting board (and the kitchen counter) in half.