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〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Jenny
AGE: 25
JOURNAL:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
2wag
IM / EMAIL: proditiones [aim], inexstinctus@gmail.com
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celestian
RETURNING: N/A
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Newt | The Glue
CHARACTER AGE: Most likely 16 or 17
SERIES: The Maze Runner series
CHRONOLOGY: Book 3, The Death Cure, end of Chapter 55
CLASS: Hero
HOUSING: random is fine!
BACKGROUND: In short, the world Newt comes from sucks. The long of it is just a bit more complicated. It's a futuristic Earth that's been ravaged by severe sun flares around the equator (but almost everywhere has been affected by it), but that's not the worst of it. The growing danger in the world is a disease called the Flare. It was believed to have been released accidentally from containment when the sun flares hit. At least, that's what they want the public to believe here. The Flare is actually a man-made virus intended for biological warfare. In the wake of the sun flare disaster, the remaining governments of the world decided it would be a great idea to release it on the general populace as a means of population control during the catastrophe. And if that doesn't seem like a bad idea in and of itself, it might be a good time to mention that they did this without having a cure for their own man-made disease. This disease is a nasty piece of work, and almost definitely caused the world even more problems than it had before with just the sun flares to deal with. It's important to know what this disease does to understand what's going on in the books. The Flare targets the brain, or the "Killzone", specifically the emotional centers. It starts with delusions, and then animal instincts begin to overpower human ones and consumes them, eventually destroying their "humanity". Basically, what this means is that an over-stimulated Killzone will deteriorate far quicker than one that has standard stimulation or under-stimulation (an affect that can be achieved by a drug called the Bliss). But that's not all the Flare does to a person. In addition to completely losing yourself to irrationality and anger, there are some harsh physical effects as well. Cranks (the term for people infected with the Flare) who have advanced stages of the disease, or are "past the gone", are described to have bloody sores, welts and scabs on their bodies, a result of their body deteriorating in a similar way to their minds, likely a result of them being unable to properly take care of themselves. All in all, Cranks are more than a little unpleasant.
The Flare ends up drastically numbering the remaining population on the planet, and in a last ditch effort to preserve mankind, the remaining governments of the world (the ones that originally released the virus, mind you) unite to form an organization called WICKED. Ominous, right? It stands for World In Catastrophe-Killzone Experiment Department. Doesn't sound much better, right? Surprisingly, they're actually the good guys. Sort of. It's complicated. WICKED's job is to find a cure by performing experiments on people that have proven to be immune to the disease. These experiments stimulate the brain so they can form blueprints from the "Killzone patterns", because the general belief is that these people are immune to the Flare because of something in their brain. Of course, though, with every experiment you have to have a control group too, which means not everyone in these experiments are actually immune to the virus (though they don't have it yet).
These experiments are called the Trials. WICKED conducted two different sets of Trials, one with a group of boys plus one girl and another with a group of girls plus one boy. The series follows the trials of the boy's group, Group A. These trials begin with minding swiping each person in the trial, leaving them with only their name. Unsurprisingly, these names they remember are not actually their own names but monikers they were given by WICKED scientists. Each name is supposed to be a hat tip to someone famous from history. Newt was named after Isaac Newton, Thomas after Thomas Edison, and Minho after some scientist from the future that doesn't actually exist yet. Removing their memories not only acts as a variable in itself but also provides a blank canvas to start their Killzone blueprint.
So, what are the trials? Well, Phase One is the Maze which changes on a daily basis. The trial began with WICKED dropping a few dozen boys into a maze. More specifically, they're dumped in the center of that maze, in a place called the Glade. It's described as being about the size of a football field, with a small woody area (called the Dead Heads) in one corner, farmland in another corner, a slaughterhouse (the Blood House) in another corner, and lastly a house (called the Homestead) in the final corner. At the center of the Glade lies a vault, and an elevator shaft in the ground. The elevator is how WICKED sends new subjects into the Glade, and also how they send supplies. How thoughtful of them, considering they're torturing them for science. Phase One of the trial lasts two years, and the book starts at the end of those two years, when Thomas and Teresa arrive in the Glade. Newt is one of the original Gladers to arrive in the Maze along with Alby and Minho, but I'll get to Newt's history in a bit. Phase One is a way to test the resiliency of the test subjects to survive and build a life around them, allows them to test their responsiveness to danger out in the Maze (danger in the form of creatures called Grievers, which attempt to kill them if spotted), and also a test of their wits. The Maze that surrounds the Glade is actually a code. Specifically, it is the code that will allow them to shut the Maze down and leave. It is when Thomas and Teresa arrive that the Maze is finally figured out, and the subjects are able to escape.
That's the end of Phase One. Phase Two is the Scorch Trials, and here's where the subjects actually find out that they're part of a trial. This is also when they are given the Flare if they aren't immune, though at this point in time they all are to believe they have the Flare. The Scorch Trials is a time trial for the subjects to cross a desert to get to a safe haven and be given a cure for the Flare. A cure that doesn't exist yet, mind you. Newt is from before this trial really gets underway, just before learning he has the Flare.
So let's actually talk about Newt. Newt has been in Phase One from the very beginning. He was part of the first group of subjects sent to the Glade/Maze along with Minho and Alby, which means he's had plenty of time to get used to the Glade life. He's also part of the control group, which means he's not immune to the Flare. From early on in his time in the Glade, Newt was a Runner. This means he was part of a group tasked with going out into the Maze every day to make maps of it and to find a way out of it. But Newt hated it as much as he hated the Glade and the Maze, and after a while he eventually attempted to take his life by jumping from one of the maze walls. He didn't succeed, and was found by his best friend Alby who brought him back to the Glade. This attempt on his own life left him with a permanent limp, and he became second-in-command of the Glade instead of continuing as a Runner since he no longer had the physical capability necessary.
As second-in-command, Newt makes sure the Glade runs smoothly, assists in showing newbies around, participates in Glade meetings, and is usually the voice of reason among the Gladers. Newt is sort of the rock for everyone else after he becomes second-in-command, the one that everyone else can rely on to be level-headed and pacifying. A pretty big difference when you think about how bad off he was before that, but he strives to do his part in the Glade instead of being an inconvenience. It’s not stated how long Newt has been the second-in-command exactly, but it’s implied that he’s experienced with that position even by the time Alby becomes leader (which happens a little before the book actually begins). With Alby as the leader of the Glade, Newt is always his pacifying force since Alby is anything but mild-tempered.
When Thomas arrives in the Glade, Newt is one of the three people that shows him around the Glade, the other two being Chuck and Alby. Newt shows Thomas his first glimpse of a Griever, and gives Thomas the basic rundown of the Maze and the Glade. He is also the one that stresses the rules of Glade as being the most important part of life there, because it means everyone does their part. It’s clear that Alby saving him in the Maze made a huge impact on his views.
After Thomas arrives in the Glade, things begin to change very quickly in comparison to the day to day life the Gladers have established over the past two years. For the first time ever, a girl arrives in the Glade, delivering with her two ominous messages. “Everything is going to change” and a note that says she’s the last one. Ever. The girl, Teresa, is another variable sent by Wicked to trigger the end of Phase One. And it seems she knows Thomas, much to every other Glader’s alarm and suspicion. Even Newt, who always tends to listen to both sides of a story, is skeptical when Thomas says he doesn’t remember her or that he’s never met her before. And there’s also the fact that two other Gladers, Gally and Ben both claim that they’ve seen Thomas in visions they had of the Changing and that he’s evil. Ben goes so far even as to make an attempt on Thomas’ life, which leads Alby and Newt and others in charge to hold a meeting and decide his punishment. That punishment is banishment into the Maze when the doors shut, which is a guaranteed death sentence because Grievers run rampant in the Maze once the doors close. These boys really don’t fuck around when their rules are broken.
A Griever is also found “dead” in the Maze, something that’s never happened before, and Alby and Minho go out to inspect it. Turns out that Griever wasn't as dead as they first thought, and once they’re close enough to it, it lashes out and stings Alby. Newt is concerned when Minho and Alby don't return in the anticipated amount of time, and watches the doors diligently through out the day. When night falls and the doors begin to close, Minho and Alby finally show up, but not quick enough to enter the Glade. Thomas, in a stunning display of stupidity and bravery, runs out into the Maze to join them, much to Newt's horror. But he remains vigilant and waits by the Door, even though he knows a night out in the Maze means death. Though he knows it's not logical, he still holds out hope for the impossible.
When the doors open, by some miracle and some serious parkour, the three boys return to the Glade, and Alby is administered the serum for the Griever sting. Griever stings are dangerous in that they cause the victim to go through something called the Changing. It’s an intensely painful experience wherein the victim is also privy to memories that have been erased. No one has ever completely gone through the Changing though, since WICKED conveniently sends them a serum to stop it. Even with the serum though, it’s described as being pretty much the most painful and violent experience you can imagine. And with Alby going through the Changing, Newt is tasked with being the leader, something Newt seems neither comfortable or happy with.
While Alby is out of commission, Newt calls for a Gathering to discuss Thomas' disregard for the rules and what the Gladers should do about it. It's apparent here there that Newt doesn't like to directly take the lead of others, but he makes do, though is pretty irritable and sarcastic about the entire affair. He votes to punish Thomas with one day in the Slammer - the Gladers' form of jail - and to elect Thomas to be a Runner with Minho. During the Gathering, Alby comes to his senses and begins asking for Thomas. This makes him the third person who has gone through the Changing that has remembered Thomas from before the Maze and the Glade. When he tries to explain what he saw, he inexplicably begins choking himself, but is stopped by Newt and Thomas before he can really hurt himself. The Creators of the trials have implanted a chip in every test subject's brain that they can use to block their memories and to control them. They really don't look like good guys, do they? At any rate, Alby tells them to protect the Maps made by the Runners, which leads Newt to eventually hide the Maps to keep them safe.
Newt implores Thomas to tell him anything that might seem familiar to him about the Glade, the girl, anything that might answer why things have been so crazy since he arrived. Thomas can't tell him much, just that he had an intrinsic need to be a Runner and that he felt like he'd been there before. This obviously makes Newt suspicious, but he doesn't cut to accusing him immediately. Afterwards Newt and Thomas go to see the girl that arrived, who is still comatose, but manages to communicate with Thomas telepathically despite it. This telepathic ability is a direct cause of the chips that were implanted, though they don't find this out until later.
Naturally, the telepathy thing freaks Thomas out and he high-tails it out of there, leaving Newt confused and even more suspicious of him. But at least they learn one valuable piece of information from this, the girl’s name is Teresa, and somehow Thomas knows her. The next day is Thomas’ punishment, where Newt puts him in the Slammer and continues to lead in Alby’s place, though Alby is finally able to leave his bed and start taking back his duties by the end of the day, which includes letting Thomas out of their makeshift jail. And everything seems to be back to normal the next day, but it's all a ruse. Teresa makes contact with Thomas again telepathically, saying she triggered the Ending, and all shit hits the fan.
The sky disappears from the Glade, replaced by a grey ceiling and the doors no longer shut every night to keep the Grievers out in the Maze. And to top it all off, Minho and Thomas run into a Griever almost as soon as they go into the Maze that day, only to watch it throw itself off of the Cliff at the end of the Maze and vanish. After a lot of rock tossing, they find that there's actually a 3 foot by 3 foot square there that's being masked by some sort of hologram. They call it the Griever Hole, and aren't keen on exploring considering it seems to be where they go when they aren't in the Maze. They go back and report these findings to Newt and Alby, and Teresa finally wakes up from her coma and sends Thomas some more telepathic messages. This time it's about the Maze being a code. Alby is quick to throw Teresa in jail as soon as she admits to triggering the Ending, and though Newt does try to pacify Alby's anger, he still rationalizes that it's the best thing to do for now. And while she gets tossed in the Slammer, the Gladers try to poorly fortify the Doors to keep the Grievers out which of course doesn't work at all.
The Homestead is attacked by Grievers, and also Gally who finally makes a crazed reappearance after running off at Thomas' Gathering, screaming about how the Grievers will kill one Glader a day until everyone is gone before he throws himself into a Griever as the first sacrifice. Yeah, like I said, shit has hit the fan. And if that isn't the worst of it, the Gladers find the Map room set on fire. Though Alby doesn't admit it this point, he's actually the one that set it on fire and knocked himself out. Luckily, as mentioned before, Minho and Newt hid the Maps after Alby's warning, so they're safe to be studied for this code. After the Grievers retreat with Gally, Thomas meets with Teresa at the Slammer, and they brainstorm what the Maps really are. After some arts and crafts with the Maps and some tracing paper, they have six words spelled out. These are codes to be inputted on a terminal that they don't know exists yet. Unsurprisingly, this terminal is found in the Griever Hole. At a loss for what this could possibly mean, and the prospecting of losing more Gladers, Thomas decides to get stung by a Griever to unlock his memories.
This is when the Gladers get the 411 on the Glade/Maze being one giant trial that they're meant to pass, and that they've been having Variables thrown at them, all the while convinced to search for a solution to a puzzle that doesn't exist. Really great people at WICKED, seriously. After a good deal of debate, the Keepers decide to leave the Maze instead of taking their chances stay in the Glade, even if it means having to fight every Griever on the way to the Griever Hole. Newt is the one that goes to bat for Thomas' plan, to try to convince everyone else to go along with it, because he believes in Thomas. Trusts the look in Thomas' eyes and banks his loyalties on it. When Alby isn't keen on being the leader on this expedition, and Newt ends up being the one giving pep talks to the Gladers, rallying them. He makes a pretty good leader, even if he doesn't want to be one, and even if he's terrified of facing the Grievers.
The fight to the Griever Hole is a bloodbath, starting with Newt's best friend Alby sacrificing himself to the Grievers, and Newt almost loses it. However, he pulls it back together enough to fight with the other Gladers to get Thomas and Teresa to the terminal to punch in the Maze code, but he wants Minho to lead instead now. Starting with a total of 41 Gladers going into the Maze, only 21 survive by the time Teresa is able to kill the Maze. And they finally get to meet the Creators, but unbeknownst to them this is still just another part of their Trials. More Variables. Gally makes a reappearance (he's like a roach, isn't he?), and is forced to try to kill Thomas by the Creators, but Chuck jumps in the way of the dagger. There isn't much time to mourn Chuck at this point, because "rescuers" infiltrate the compound and kill the Creators, effectively saving the boys. But again, this is just more Variables, and they're still being monitored by WICKED. These "rescuers" are actually transporting them to Phase Two - the Scorch Trials, and the Gladers get their first glimpse of the world and Cranks. This is where they learn about the Flare and the sun flares that have left the world the way it is now. And though the world seems to be in a pretty bad place, the Gladers get a brief moment to believe that they might actually be safe.
Until Phase Two really begins. They're transported to a dormitory where they're fed and clothed and finally have a chance to rest with no impending doom pressing upon them or urgency to try to solve a puzzle with no answers. But it's not long lived. They wake up in the morning to shattered windows with bars on them and Cranks on the other side, trying to get in. The door to their room is locked, but Newt busts the lock with a fire extinguisher and the Gladers pour into the common room. Only to find, when the lights are on, that their "rescuers" have been killed and hanged from the ceiling. Teresa is missing, but her room has been labeled with "Teresa Agnes. Group A, Subject A1. The Betrayer.", and in her room is another boy named Aris, who isn't one of the Gladers. From their group, anyway. He's from Group B, a group of all girl Gladers and one boy.
Shortly after meeting Aris, they discover sometime in the night they were each branded by WICKED with a tattoo and their supposed designaton. For Newt it's "Propery of WICKED. Group A, Subject A5. The Glue." and Thomas theorizes that it's because Newt is the glue that holds the Gladers together as a team, but in actuality it is WICKED's way of labeling him as the control group, the non-immune. Because according to WICKED the control group is the glue that holds an experiment together. An alarm goes off, and they're locked in this room next, but only for a few minutes before the door opens and the lights are off again. Once they have the lights turned back on, the bodies hanging from the ceiling are gone, and look like they were never there to begin with. They were, of course, just Variables. It's no surprise that WICKED can cause them to see things that aren't there with those chips in their brains, but they don't know this yet. And upon entering the other dorm room they'd woken up in, they find that all of the windows have been bricked up in a matter of 20 minutes, their old clothes are missing, their beds have been made, and new clothes have been left for them in the dressers. And to top it all off, Teresa's room now has a sign for Aris (Aris Jones, Group B, Subject B1, The Partner).
They're left there for three days with no food, only water from the bathrooms, before they finally wake up to find a huge pile of food waiting for them in the common room, along with a man behind a magic wall. This man is Jansen, and he's there to start the Scorch Trials. The Scorch Trials is, as you can probably guess, the second Trial that the Gladers are put through by WICKED. Jansen, a representative of WICKED, gives them a general rundown of the second trial and also informs them that they've all be given the Flare as an incentive to complete the trial. Really awesome of them, right? At this point no one knows that most of the group is Immune, or that Newt is one of the few that isn't. So Newt at this point has actually contracted the Flare, and this begins his downward decent.
They're given two weeks to cross the Scorch and reach the "cure" or they'll all die. They enter the Scorch by means of a Flat Trans, which is a transporter and probably the most magical thing in their world. But it doesn't drop them straight in the Scorch, it drops them in an excessively long hallway with no lights and murderous metal morph-y balls that eat peoples' heads. They lose a Glader this way, and almost lose a second but Thomas swoops in to save the day. One excessively long hallway later they reach an excessively long staircase which finally leads them into the Scorch. And the Scorch is basically hell on Earth. They can't even step out in the sun without covering their faces and bodies because it's that hot. It's a miserable trek to the first "city" in the Scorch, only broken up by a meeting from Teresa and a couple of Cranks and a lightning storm so awful that it makes you never want to go outside in the rain again. This city is basically just the shell of a city left, not functioning in any other way except for shelter for the Cranks.
Once they enter one of the buildings to use as shelter from the storm, they are confronted by Jorge and Brenda (self-proclaimed Cranks) and a group of other Cranks, that aren't completely taken by the Flare yet. Jorge and Brenda devise a plan to get the Gladers out of the City with the promise that the Gladers would also provide them with the Cure. Thomas and Brenda are separated from Newt, Jorge, and the other Gladers on the escape, as they take the underground and Newt and co. cross the city above ground. Once through the city, they spread out to start looking for Thomas and Brenda, only to discover they've been taken hostage by a group of Cranks in a club. The Gladers swoop in on a recovery mission, do a pretty sound job of beating the hell out of the Cranks, and rescue Thomas and Brenda. Not before Thomas gets shot, though, and gets lifted off in one of WICKED's Bergs (an airship). WICKED returns him to the Gladers once the bullet's been removed, and they continue on their way to the safe haven.
But things can't be that simple, ever, because Group B finally makes an appearance. Group B is WICKED's other experiment group, a group of all girls and one boy. They are now headed by Teresa, surprise surprise, and armed to the teeth. They take Thomas hostage, which is becoming a terrible trend, and threaten the Gladers not to follow or they'll aim to kill basically. Aris ditches and this whole betrayal thing goes down with Teresa, Aris, and Thomas while the Gladers continue to the save haven. After they arrive, they form an alliance with Group B and reunite with Thomas, Teresa, and Aris. And despite this being a so called "safe haven", they are immediately ambushed by canisters coming out of the ground that contain horrors that might actually be worse than the Grievers. It's a close tie, really. They take down the freaky bulb monsters and Berg swoops in to pick them up, returning them to WICKED's care. And that's all for The Scorch Trials, so onward to The Death Cure.
The Death Cure starts out with the ever uplifting list of who is and isn't immune to the Flare. Newt is among the ones listed that are not Immune, which means he's been infected with the Flare since the beginning of The Scorch Trials, and everything is terrible. This is when he really starts getting temperamental and snappy, though it happened on a few occasions in The Scorch Trials. But The Death Cure is where he really starts his deep descent into insanity. Jansen informs the group that they're now free to decide if they'd like the Swipe removed or not, which would give them their memories back. Newt, Thomas, and Minho refuse very adamantly, at which point Jansen is basically like WELL TOO BAD WE NEED YOU TO REMEMBER and tries to force it on them anyway. Fat chance there, with these stubborn guys. They end up staging an escape with the help of Brenda and Jorge (who they learn are Immunes and were working with WICKED). During this escape, Newt shoves a note at Thomas and tells him to read it "when the time is right". By now he's already starting to really show symptoms of the Flare, and Thomas likens it to the glue that once held them all together was now tearing them apart. Awful. Anyway, they jack a Berg to take to Denver, a sort of safe haven for Immunes and one of the few cities that wasn't completely wrecked by the catastrophe of the sun flares. Denver is super paranoid about who it lets in their walls, so they have to leave Newt behind in the Berg because he can't pass the Immune breathalyzer test.
And this is where Newt is separated from everyone. While in the Berg, a group of people called the Red Shirts, not to be confused with the unfortunate souls from Star Trek, break in looking for Immunes. Instead, they find Newt, and whisk him off to the Crank Palace. It's a place not far from Denver where they shove all of the Cranks no matter how infected they are. The living conditions are awful and they're basically left there to die or kill each other in fits of insanity. Before leaving the Berg, Newt leaves a note for Thomas and Minho that he was being taken to live with the other Cranks and that it was for the best.
Of course, Thomas and Minho being the stubborn bastards they are, can't just leave Newt to his fate at the Crank Palace. With Brenda and Jorge in tow, they go to the Crank Palace to find Newt in a bowling alley. He looks terrible, filthy, and like he's gotten into a few too many scuffles. He's also packing one of the lightning grenade launchers that he somehow obtained from a guard that made him... unhappy. By now, Newt is definitely losing it. He has to put in a great deal of effort to try to stay levelheaded while his friends are there, because he doesn't want them to see him losing it. He tells them to leave, repeatedly, and reproaches Thomas for even showing his face in front of him after everything. Thomas is completely dumbfounded, because this idiot hasn't read Newt's note yet. If you're curious, that note is a plea for Thomas to kill him. Thomas and co finally leave the Crank Palace once it seems obvious that Newt isn't coming with them.
Once Newt is left in the Crank Palace, he joins a group of Cranks that plan on breaking out of the Crank Palace and heading to Denver. He doesn't really have any motives as far as joining them aside from the familiarity of feeling like a group working towards something together. It's something that makes him feel less alone, when he has his moments of clarity, anyway. While Newt is banding together with this group, Thomas and company is joining the Right Arm, a rebel faction set on taking WICKED apart. It's during one of these missions with the Right Arm that Thomas meets Newt again, now on his way to Denver with the Cranks.
Thomas tries to play hero and save the day again, convinced he can take Newt back with him until they can find a way to cure him. At this point Newt is definitely... No himself. He's looking even more haggard now than in the Crank Palace, missing chunks of hair/scalp and looking like he's stopped eating. And while Thomas has it in his head to save him, Newt is begging Thomas to kill him in his moments of sanity - which are getting harder to come by. He's agitated and belligerent, and when Thomas argues with him Newt becomes outright violent, attacking him and blaming him for WICKED and the Flare and the Maze and basically Everything. In one final moment of complete clarity, Newt forces the barrel of Thomas' gun to his head and implores Thomas to kill him before he loses the rest of himself to the Flare. Thomas finally realizes this is the last thing Newt will ever ask him for, and shoots him point blank, killing him on the spot. Newt will be coming in post death.
PERSONALITY: At first glance, Newt appears to be the epitome of calm and collected – a guy who has got his shit together and all of his ducks in a row, despite the circumstances of the situation. He’s the pacifying force for Gladers with short tempers, especially when it comes to their leader Alby, and it’s clear that he’s part of the reason that the Glade runs as smoothly as it does. He’s second-in-command, and almost no one seems to challenge his authority, with the exception of Gally (who challenges everyone). However, calm and collected? Well, he certainly tries to reflect that demeanor, and he does a good job of it. Most of the time. But we’ll get to those faults of his in a bit.
There’s no arguing his sensibility, though. He’ll listen to all sides of an argument before making his decision, no matter how stupid he might think it is. This is seen best when he calls a Gathering in Alby’s stead, listening to each Keeper’s opinion on how to proceed with Thomas for breaking the Glade’s rules – what sort of punishment he should receive, if any (since breaking those rules did save two lives). That doesn’t mean his decisions are always the best, but he tries to make decisions that will keep the most people safe at any given time. He doesn’t want unnecessary sacrifice, even if it means abandoning a friend out in the Maze at night to keep more people from dying. And though it could be seen as callous or harsh, it’s a way of life that the Gladers have all agreed to, that they’ve all sworn an oath for. It doesn’t mean he’s any less torn up when he has to make decisions like that. The night he has to leave Minho and Alby in the Maze with Thomas, who ran out to help them, he spends the entire night awake and vigilant at the Doors. No matter that that it seems impossible that they could survive, he holds on to some small hope that they will. As you can see, rationality doesn’t necessarily always fuel his every action.
Newt also isn’t the kind of guy that sugarcoats things. And though he gets along with most of the other Gladers, he doesn’t go out of his way to be friendlier than he is by default. He’s very much a “what you see is what you get” type of person. And if he doesn’t like you? Well, you’ll definitely know about it, because he doesn’t deal in formalities. He tries not to let personal biases cloud his judgment in a situation, though he’s not always successful, but he’s also sensible enough to step back from that situation and hand it over to someone that’s more capable. You see this happen with Alby’s death, when he turns leading over to Minho because he realizes he’s not in any state of mind to lead a group of boys into battle. In the same vein, if Newt does like you, and trusts you, it’s one of those situations where it’s a friendship for life. Once you gain his trust you have it, and he’ll stand with you through thick and thin. He’ll face overwhelming odds for friends, even if it scares him to death.
However, a lot of the things that make Newt who he is are a direct result of an earlier incident in the Glade. There was a time where Newt hated the Glade and the Maze so much that he couldn’t stand being there another second and attempted to take his own life, despite the rules of the Glade that he’d sworn to follow. The attempt failed, leaving him with a slight limp, and, ironically enough, a reason to live. He’s found by Alby and brought back to the Glade and forced to face the fact that he’d tried to become one of the unnecessary sacrifices that they were trying to avoid. That all he’d caused with this attempt was suffering for himself, his best friend, and the inconvenience of being down a Runner for the Gladers.
It’s after this that Newt becomes one of the fiercest defenders of the rules, becomes steadfast and reliable. He holds himself accountable for his own actions, and he holds every other Glader accountable for theirs. It doesn’t matter that he had felt the same hopelessness that they had, it’s about surviving with the least amount of casualties and needless death. Newt tries to be the rock that other Gladers can rely on, so that maybe they won’t try to do the same thing he did. He tries to be that pacifier, but beneath all that is a still a boy that sometimes finds their life meaningless and their struggle pointless. And when faced with people that question the way they’ve done things, like it hasn’t been good enough, he can get irritable and temperamental, though he does make a conscious effort not to be. But there’s more than once that he snaps at Thomas for fighting their methods. It's clear always being the guy that's the voice of reason and dependability wears away at him, especially as he sees friends die or sacrifice themselves. Watching Alby simply give up the way he had and walking into Griever, effectively committing suicide, affects him deeply since Alby was the one that brought him back from the end of his rope.
But Newt continues to fight, continues to live with the will that Alby instilled in him, pushes back and never gives up no matter how hopeless a situation. If there’s a way to persevere, to save the Gladers, he will fight for it without hesitation. There’s no such thing as giving up for him anymore, no matter how dire the circumstances. When so many others would call it quits or let their nerves get the better of them, Newt will be the guy giving inspirational speeches and rallying everyone together in his blunt and un-sugarcoated way. While he’s not necessarily the best leader, he is the best support they’ve got. He’ll hold everyone together and use whatever means necessary to get them through those trying times. In a lot of ways, Newt is the bond that holds the Gladers together. He’s the glue.
Of course, Newt has a disease called the Flare, which is eating away at his sanity. For many, the Flare takes a long time to really affect them, due to their brains either being under-stimulated or just regularly stimulated. Newt, however, has an incredibly over-stimulated brain due to his participation in WICKED's high intensity trials. This means that the Flare hits him fast and quick, and over the course of a few weeks (the time frame of The Scorch Trials and the Death Cure), Newt is almost completely unrecognizable as far as his personality goes. Newt becomes irrational and prone to anger and violence, things that are basically the opposite of how he is portrayed in the Glade.
However, he'll be coming into the game uninfected by the Flare, and these radically different personality traits would would fade with the loss of the Flare. While he might suffer minor symptoms of paranoia and struggle with having his mind back in tact, Newt's personality would basically return to what it was before he was infected. He may be a bit more subdued, due to his previous history in the game and from spreading the Flare before. However, in the wake of dying, Newt would strive to try to become the rock people depend on again and return everything to the way it was so he can try his hand at normalcy.
POWER: He has no canon powers, so I'll be re-using the ones I gave him last time. I've modified the second one a bit from what he had before.
Adhesive - He'll be able to stick to things, much like glue. This would let him be able to climb walls and ceilings, but not much else.
Liquid Stitch - Not to be confused with that stuff you use to stick fabric together. As far as the power goes, it will be a healing power that stitches wounds back together with a glue-y thread like substance. Or if it's like a burn, then it would have the ability to build "skin" back over it. Sort of like liquid bandage, but with actual healing properties. Depending on how quickly Newt would be able to tend to an injury, he could potentially reattach a missing limb or mend broken bones. He would need to get to it within 30 minutes or so of it for it to have any proper affect.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE: This song and dance again, huh? Thought I'd be about done with appearin' in random bloody places, considerin'.
[ Considering what? Well, Newt isn't elaborating. ]
Guess the upside is I actually remember bein' here before. I can't imagine going through that Porter process again as a Greenie, losin' my head over being taken again. [ He gives a lopsided smile, shifting the camera as he walks. ] Sorry, rambling. I had to a point to all this.
I'm lookin' to see if my klunk for brains friends are still around. Know a few of 'em were gone before I left, but I figure if I'm here again there's a chance they are too. Names're Alby, Minho, Tommy. [ There's a pause before he adds: ] Teresa. [ It was strained back there, but he remembers being on better terms with her here. ]
Oh. Guess I should introduce myself too, in case there's a whole lot of new shanks around here. Name's Newt. Anyway, if you've seen any of them around, or anyone calling themselves a Glader, let me know, yeah?
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE: I'll be using previous posts/threads with him from his last stint in Mask or Menace
ex. 1
ex. 2
ex. 3
ex. 4 - with the flare in game
ex. 5 - post flare in game
FINAL NOTES:
NAME: Jenny
AGE: 25
JOURNAL:
2wagIM / EMAIL: proditiones [aim], inexstinctus@gmail.com
PLURK:
RETURNING: N/A
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Newt | The Glue
CHARACTER AGE: Most likely 16 or 17
SERIES: The Maze Runner series
CHRONOLOGY: Book 3, The Death Cure, end of Chapter 55
CLASS: Hero
HOUSING: random is fine!
BACKGROUND: In short, the world Newt comes from sucks. The long of it is just a bit more complicated. It's a futuristic Earth that's been ravaged by severe sun flares around the equator (but almost everywhere has been affected by it), but that's not the worst of it. The growing danger in the world is a disease called the Flare. It was believed to have been released accidentally from containment when the sun flares hit. At least, that's what they want the public to believe here. The Flare is actually a man-made virus intended for biological warfare. In the wake of the sun flare disaster, the remaining governments of the world decided it would be a great idea to release it on the general populace as a means of population control during the catastrophe. And if that doesn't seem like a bad idea in and of itself, it might be a good time to mention that they did this without having a cure for their own man-made disease. This disease is a nasty piece of work, and almost definitely caused the world even more problems than it had before with just the sun flares to deal with. It's important to know what this disease does to understand what's going on in the books. The Flare targets the brain, or the "Killzone", specifically the emotional centers. It starts with delusions, and then animal instincts begin to overpower human ones and consumes them, eventually destroying their "humanity". Basically, what this means is that an over-stimulated Killzone will deteriorate far quicker than one that has standard stimulation or under-stimulation (an affect that can be achieved by a drug called the Bliss). But that's not all the Flare does to a person. In addition to completely losing yourself to irrationality and anger, there are some harsh physical effects as well. Cranks (the term for people infected with the Flare) who have advanced stages of the disease, or are "past the gone", are described to have bloody sores, welts and scabs on their bodies, a result of their body deteriorating in a similar way to their minds, likely a result of them being unable to properly take care of themselves. All in all, Cranks are more than a little unpleasant.
The Flare ends up drastically numbering the remaining population on the planet, and in a last ditch effort to preserve mankind, the remaining governments of the world (the ones that originally released the virus, mind you) unite to form an organization called WICKED. Ominous, right? It stands for World In Catastrophe-Killzone Experiment Department. Doesn't sound much better, right? Surprisingly, they're actually the good guys. Sort of. It's complicated. WICKED's job is to find a cure by performing experiments on people that have proven to be immune to the disease. These experiments stimulate the brain so they can form blueprints from the "Killzone patterns", because the general belief is that these people are immune to the Flare because of something in their brain. Of course, though, with every experiment you have to have a control group too, which means not everyone in these experiments are actually immune to the virus (though they don't have it yet).
These experiments are called the Trials. WICKED conducted two different sets of Trials, one with a group of boys plus one girl and another with a group of girls plus one boy. The series follows the trials of the boy's group, Group A. These trials begin with minding swiping each person in the trial, leaving them with only their name. Unsurprisingly, these names they remember are not actually their own names but monikers they were given by WICKED scientists. Each name is supposed to be a hat tip to someone famous from history. Newt was named after Isaac Newton, Thomas after Thomas Edison, and Minho after some scientist from the future that doesn't actually exist yet. Removing their memories not only acts as a variable in itself but also provides a blank canvas to start their Killzone blueprint.
So, what are the trials? Well, Phase One is the Maze which changes on a daily basis. The trial began with WICKED dropping a few dozen boys into a maze. More specifically, they're dumped in the center of that maze, in a place called the Glade. It's described as being about the size of a football field, with a small woody area (called the Dead Heads) in one corner, farmland in another corner, a slaughterhouse (the Blood House) in another corner, and lastly a house (called the Homestead) in the final corner. At the center of the Glade lies a vault, and an elevator shaft in the ground. The elevator is how WICKED sends new subjects into the Glade, and also how they send supplies. How thoughtful of them, considering they're torturing them for science. Phase One of the trial lasts two years, and the book starts at the end of those two years, when Thomas and Teresa arrive in the Glade. Newt is one of the original Gladers to arrive in the Maze along with Alby and Minho, but I'll get to Newt's history in a bit. Phase One is a way to test the resiliency of the test subjects to survive and build a life around them, allows them to test their responsiveness to danger out in the Maze (danger in the form of creatures called Grievers, which attempt to kill them if spotted), and also a test of their wits. The Maze that surrounds the Glade is actually a code. Specifically, it is the code that will allow them to shut the Maze down and leave. It is when Thomas and Teresa arrive that the Maze is finally figured out, and the subjects are able to escape.
That's the end of Phase One. Phase Two is the Scorch Trials, and here's where the subjects actually find out that they're part of a trial. This is also when they are given the Flare if they aren't immune, though at this point in time they all are to believe they have the Flare. The Scorch Trials is a time trial for the subjects to cross a desert to get to a safe haven and be given a cure for the Flare. A cure that doesn't exist yet, mind you. Newt is from before this trial really gets underway, just before learning he has the Flare.
So let's actually talk about Newt. Newt has been in Phase One from the very beginning. He was part of the first group of subjects sent to the Glade/Maze along with Minho and Alby, which means he's had plenty of time to get used to the Glade life. He's also part of the control group, which means he's not immune to the Flare. From early on in his time in the Glade, Newt was a Runner. This means he was part of a group tasked with going out into the Maze every day to make maps of it and to find a way out of it. But Newt hated it as much as he hated the Glade and the Maze, and after a while he eventually attempted to take his life by jumping from one of the maze walls. He didn't succeed, and was found by his best friend Alby who brought him back to the Glade. This attempt on his own life left him with a permanent limp, and he became second-in-command of the Glade instead of continuing as a Runner since he no longer had the physical capability necessary.
As second-in-command, Newt makes sure the Glade runs smoothly, assists in showing newbies around, participates in Glade meetings, and is usually the voice of reason among the Gladers. Newt is sort of the rock for everyone else after he becomes second-in-command, the one that everyone else can rely on to be level-headed and pacifying. A pretty big difference when you think about how bad off he was before that, but he strives to do his part in the Glade instead of being an inconvenience. It’s not stated how long Newt has been the second-in-command exactly, but it’s implied that he’s experienced with that position even by the time Alby becomes leader (which happens a little before the book actually begins). With Alby as the leader of the Glade, Newt is always his pacifying force since Alby is anything but mild-tempered.
When Thomas arrives in the Glade, Newt is one of the three people that shows him around the Glade, the other two being Chuck and Alby. Newt shows Thomas his first glimpse of a Griever, and gives Thomas the basic rundown of the Maze and the Glade. He is also the one that stresses the rules of Glade as being the most important part of life there, because it means everyone does their part. It’s clear that Alby saving him in the Maze made a huge impact on his views.
After Thomas arrives in the Glade, things begin to change very quickly in comparison to the day to day life the Gladers have established over the past two years. For the first time ever, a girl arrives in the Glade, delivering with her two ominous messages. “Everything is going to change” and a note that says she’s the last one. Ever. The girl, Teresa, is another variable sent by Wicked to trigger the end of Phase One. And it seems she knows Thomas, much to every other Glader’s alarm and suspicion. Even Newt, who always tends to listen to both sides of a story, is skeptical when Thomas says he doesn’t remember her or that he’s never met her before. And there’s also the fact that two other Gladers, Gally and Ben both claim that they’ve seen Thomas in visions they had of the Changing and that he’s evil. Ben goes so far even as to make an attempt on Thomas’ life, which leads Alby and Newt and others in charge to hold a meeting and decide his punishment. That punishment is banishment into the Maze when the doors shut, which is a guaranteed death sentence because Grievers run rampant in the Maze once the doors close. These boys really don’t fuck around when their rules are broken.
A Griever is also found “dead” in the Maze, something that’s never happened before, and Alby and Minho go out to inspect it. Turns out that Griever wasn't as dead as they first thought, and once they’re close enough to it, it lashes out and stings Alby. Newt is concerned when Minho and Alby don't return in the anticipated amount of time, and watches the doors diligently through out the day. When night falls and the doors begin to close, Minho and Alby finally show up, but not quick enough to enter the Glade. Thomas, in a stunning display of stupidity and bravery, runs out into the Maze to join them, much to Newt's horror. But he remains vigilant and waits by the Door, even though he knows a night out in the Maze means death. Though he knows it's not logical, he still holds out hope for the impossible.
When the doors open, by some miracle and some serious parkour, the three boys return to the Glade, and Alby is administered the serum for the Griever sting. Griever stings are dangerous in that they cause the victim to go through something called the Changing. It’s an intensely painful experience wherein the victim is also privy to memories that have been erased. No one has ever completely gone through the Changing though, since WICKED conveniently sends them a serum to stop it. Even with the serum though, it’s described as being pretty much the most painful and violent experience you can imagine. And with Alby going through the Changing, Newt is tasked with being the leader, something Newt seems neither comfortable or happy with.
While Alby is out of commission, Newt calls for a Gathering to discuss Thomas' disregard for the rules and what the Gladers should do about it. It's apparent here there that Newt doesn't like to directly take the lead of others, but he makes do, though is pretty irritable and sarcastic about the entire affair. He votes to punish Thomas with one day in the Slammer - the Gladers' form of jail - and to elect Thomas to be a Runner with Minho. During the Gathering, Alby comes to his senses and begins asking for Thomas. This makes him the third person who has gone through the Changing that has remembered Thomas from before the Maze and the Glade. When he tries to explain what he saw, he inexplicably begins choking himself, but is stopped by Newt and Thomas before he can really hurt himself. The Creators of the trials have implanted a chip in every test subject's brain that they can use to block their memories and to control them. They really don't look like good guys, do they? At any rate, Alby tells them to protect the Maps made by the Runners, which leads Newt to eventually hide the Maps to keep them safe.
Newt implores Thomas to tell him anything that might seem familiar to him about the Glade, the girl, anything that might answer why things have been so crazy since he arrived. Thomas can't tell him much, just that he had an intrinsic need to be a Runner and that he felt like he'd been there before. This obviously makes Newt suspicious, but he doesn't cut to accusing him immediately. Afterwards Newt and Thomas go to see the girl that arrived, who is still comatose, but manages to communicate with Thomas telepathically despite it. This telepathic ability is a direct cause of the chips that were implanted, though they don't find this out until later.
Naturally, the telepathy thing freaks Thomas out and he high-tails it out of there, leaving Newt confused and even more suspicious of him. But at least they learn one valuable piece of information from this, the girl’s name is Teresa, and somehow Thomas knows her. The next day is Thomas’ punishment, where Newt puts him in the Slammer and continues to lead in Alby’s place, though Alby is finally able to leave his bed and start taking back his duties by the end of the day, which includes letting Thomas out of their makeshift jail. And everything seems to be back to normal the next day, but it's all a ruse. Teresa makes contact with Thomas again telepathically, saying she triggered the Ending, and all shit hits the fan.
The sky disappears from the Glade, replaced by a grey ceiling and the doors no longer shut every night to keep the Grievers out in the Maze. And to top it all off, Minho and Thomas run into a Griever almost as soon as they go into the Maze that day, only to watch it throw itself off of the Cliff at the end of the Maze and vanish. After a lot of rock tossing, they find that there's actually a 3 foot by 3 foot square there that's being masked by some sort of hologram. They call it the Griever Hole, and aren't keen on exploring considering it seems to be where they go when they aren't in the Maze. They go back and report these findings to Newt and Alby, and Teresa finally wakes up from her coma and sends Thomas some more telepathic messages. This time it's about the Maze being a code. Alby is quick to throw Teresa in jail as soon as she admits to triggering the Ending, and though Newt does try to pacify Alby's anger, he still rationalizes that it's the best thing to do for now. And while she gets tossed in the Slammer, the Gladers try to poorly fortify the Doors to keep the Grievers out which of course doesn't work at all.
The Homestead is attacked by Grievers, and also Gally who finally makes a crazed reappearance after running off at Thomas' Gathering, screaming about how the Grievers will kill one Glader a day until everyone is gone before he throws himself into a Griever as the first sacrifice. Yeah, like I said, shit has hit the fan. And if that isn't the worst of it, the Gladers find the Map room set on fire. Though Alby doesn't admit it this point, he's actually the one that set it on fire and knocked himself out. Luckily, as mentioned before, Minho and Newt hid the Maps after Alby's warning, so they're safe to be studied for this code. After the Grievers retreat with Gally, Thomas meets with Teresa at the Slammer, and they brainstorm what the Maps really are. After some arts and crafts with the Maps and some tracing paper, they have six words spelled out. These are codes to be inputted on a terminal that they don't know exists yet. Unsurprisingly, this terminal is found in the Griever Hole. At a loss for what this could possibly mean, and the prospecting of losing more Gladers, Thomas decides to get stung by a Griever to unlock his memories.
This is when the Gladers get the 411 on the Glade/Maze being one giant trial that they're meant to pass, and that they've been having Variables thrown at them, all the while convinced to search for a solution to a puzzle that doesn't exist. Really great people at WICKED, seriously. After a good deal of debate, the Keepers decide to leave the Maze instead of taking their chances stay in the Glade, even if it means having to fight every Griever on the way to the Griever Hole. Newt is the one that goes to bat for Thomas' plan, to try to convince everyone else to go along with it, because he believes in Thomas. Trusts the look in Thomas' eyes and banks his loyalties on it. When Alby isn't keen on being the leader on this expedition, and Newt ends up being the one giving pep talks to the Gladers, rallying them. He makes a pretty good leader, even if he doesn't want to be one, and even if he's terrified of facing the Grievers.
The fight to the Griever Hole is a bloodbath, starting with Newt's best friend Alby sacrificing himself to the Grievers, and Newt almost loses it. However, he pulls it back together enough to fight with the other Gladers to get Thomas and Teresa to the terminal to punch in the Maze code, but he wants Minho to lead instead now. Starting with a total of 41 Gladers going into the Maze, only 21 survive by the time Teresa is able to kill the Maze. And they finally get to meet the Creators, but unbeknownst to them this is still just another part of their Trials. More Variables. Gally makes a reappearance (he's like a roach, isn't he?), and is forced to try to kill Thomas by the Creators, but Chuck jumps in the way of the dagger. There isn't much time to mourn Chuck at this point, because "rescuers" infiltrate the compound and kill the Creators, effectively saving the boys. But again, this is just more Variables, and they're still being monitored by WICKED. These "rescuers" are actually transporting them to Phase Two - the Scorch Trials, and the Gladers get their first glimpse of the world and Cranks. This is where they learn about the Flare and the sun flares that have left the world the way it is now. And though the world seems to be in a pretty bad place, the Gladers get a brief moment to believe that they might actually be safe.
Until Phase Two really begins. They're transported to a dormitory where they're fed and clothed and finally have a chance to rest with no impending doom pressing upon them or urgency to try to solve a puzzle with no answers. But it's not long lived. They wake up in the morning to shattered windows with bars on them and Cranks on the other side, trying to get in. The door to their room is locked, but Newt busts the lock with a fire extinguisher and the Gladers pour into the common room. Only to find, when the lights are on, that their "rescuers" have been killed and hanged from the ceiling. Teresa is missing, but her room has been labeled with "Teresa Agnes. Group A, Subject A1. The Betrayer.", and in her room is another boy named Aris, who isn't one of the Gladers. From their group, anyway. He's from Group B, a group of all girl Gladers and one boy.
Shortly after meeting Aris, they discover sometime in the night they were each branded by WICKED with a tattoo and their supposed designaton. For Newt it's "Propery of WICKED. Group A, Subject A5. The Glue." and Thomas theorizes that it's because Newt is the glue that holds the Gladers together as a team, but in actuality it is WICKED's way of labeling him as the control group, the non-immune. Because according to WICKED the control group is the glue that holds an experiment together. An alarm goes off, and they're locked in this room next, but only for a few minutes before the door opens and the lights are off again. Once they have the lights turned back on, the bodies hanging from the ceiling are gone, and look like they were never there to begin with. They were, of course, just Variables. It's no surprise that WICKED can cause them to see things that aren't there with those chips in their brains, but they don't know this yet. And upon entering the other dorm room they'd woken up in, they find that all of the windows have been bricked up in a matter of 20 minutes, their old clothes are missing, their beds have been made, and new clothes have been left for them in the dressers. And to top it all off, Teresa's room now has a sign for Aris (Aris Jones, Group B, Subject B1, The Partner).
They're left there for three days with no food, only water from the bathrooms, before they finally wake up to find a huge pile of food waiting for them in the common room, along with a man behind a magic wall. This man is Jansen, and he's there to start the Scorch Trials. The Scorch Trials is, as you can probably guess, the second Trial that the Gladers are put through by WICKED. Jansen, a representative of WICKED, gives them a general rundown of the second trial and also informs them that they've all be given the Flare as an incentive to complete the trial. Really awesome of them, right? At this point no one knows that most of the group is Immune, or that Newt is one of the few that isn't. So Newt at this point has actually contracted the Flare, and this begins his downward decent.
They're given two weeks to cross the Scorch and reach the "cure" or they'll all die. They enter the Scorch by means of a Flat Trans, which is a transporter and probably the most magical thing in their world. But it doesn't drop them straight in the Scorch, it drops them in an excessively long hallway with no lights and murderous metal morph-y balls that eat peoples' heads. They lose a Glader this way, and almost lose a second but Thomas swoops in to save the day. One excessively long hallway later they reach an excessively long staircase which finally leads them into the Scorch. And the Scorch is basically hell on Earth. They can't even step out in the sun without covering their faces and bodies because it's that hot. It's a miserable trek to the first "city" in the Scorch, only broken up by a meeting from Teresa and a couple of Cranks and a lightning storm so awful that it makes you never want to go outside in the rain again. This city is basically just the shell of a city left, not functioning in any other way except for shelter for the Cranks.
Once they enter one of the buildings to use as shelter from the storm, they are confronted by Jorge and Brenda (self-proclaimed Cranks) and a group of other Cranks, that aren't completely taken by the Flare yet. Jorge and Brenda devise a plan to get the Gladers out of the City with the promise that the Gladers would also provide them with the Cure. Thomas and Brenda are separated from Newt, Jorge, and the other Gladers on the escape, as they take the underground and Newt and co. cross the city above ground. Once through the city, they spread out to start looking for Thomas and Brenda, only to discover they've been taken hostage by a group of Cranks in a club. The Gladers swoop in on a recovery mission, do a pretty sound job of beating the hell out of the Cranks, and rescue Thomas and Brenda. Not before Thomas gets shot, though, and gets lifted off in one of WICKED's Bergs (an airship). WICKED returns him to the Gladers once the bullet's been removed, and they continue on their way to the safe haven.
But things can't be that simple, ever, because Group B finally makes an appearance. Group B is WICKED's other experiment group, a group of all girls and one boy. They are now headed by Teresa, surprise surprise, and armed to the teeth. They take Thomas hostage, which is becoming a terrible trend, and threaten the Gladers not to follow or they'll aim to kill basically. Aris ditches and this whole betrayal thing goes down with Teresa, Aris, and Thomas while the Gladers continue to the save haven. After they arrive, they form an alliance with Group B and reunite with Thomas, Teresa, and Aris. And despite this being a so called "safe haven", they are immediately ambushed by canisters coming out of the ground that contain horrors that might actually be worse than the Grievers. It's a close tie, really. They take down the freaky bulb monsters and Berg swoops in to pick them up, returning them to WICKED's care. And that's all for The Scorch Trials, so onward to The Death Cure.
The Death Cure starts out with the ever uplifting list of who is and isn't immune to the Flare. Newt is among the ones listed that are not Immune, which means he's been infected with the Flare since the beginning of The Scorch Trials, and everything is terrible. This is when he really starts getting temperamental and snappy, though it happened on a few occasions in The Scorch Trials. But The Death Cure is where he really starts his deep descent into insanity. Jansen informs the group that they're now free to decide if they'd like the Swipe removed or not, which would give them their memories back. Newt, Thomas, and Minho refuse very adamantly, at which point Jansen is basically like WELL TOO BAD WE NEED YOU TO REMEMBER and tries to force it on them anyway. Fat chance there, with these stubborn guys. They end up staging an escape with the help of Brenda and Jorge (who they learn are Immunes and were working with WICKED). During this escape, Newt shoves a note at Thomas and tells him to read it "when the time is right". By now he's already starting to really show symptoms of the Flare, and Thomas likens it to the glue that once held them all together was now tearing them apart. Awful. Anyway, they jack a Berg to take to Denver, a sort of safe haven for Immunes and one of the few cities that wasn't completely wrecked by the catastrophe of the sun flares. Denver is super paranoid about who it lets in their walls, so they have to leave Newt behind in the Berg because he can't pass the Immune breathalyzer test.
And this is where Newt is separated from everyone. While in the Berg, a group of people called the Red Shirts, not to be confused with the unfortunate souls from Star Trek, break in looking for Immunes. Instead, they find Newt, and whisk him off to the Crank Palace. It's a place not far from Denver where they shove all of the Cranks no matter how infected they are. The living conditions are awful and they're basically left there to die or kill each other in fits of insanity. Before leaving the Berg, Newt leaves a note for Thomas and Minho that he was being taken to live with the other Cranks and that it was for the best.
Of course, Thomas and Minho being the stubborn bastards they are, can't just leave Newt to his fate at the Crank Palace. With Brenda and Jorge in tow, they go to the Crank Palace to find Newt in a bowling alley. He looks terrible, filthy, and like he's gotten into a few too many scuffles. He's also packing one of the lightning grenade launchers that he somehow obtained from a guard that made him... unhappy. By now, Newt is definitely losing it. He has to put in a great deal of effort to try to stay levelheaded while his friends are there, because he doesn't want them to see him losing it. He tells them to leave, repeatedly, and reproaches Thomas for even showing his face in front of him after everything. Thomas is completely dumbfounded, because this idiot hasn't read Newt's note yet. If you're curious, that note is a plea for Thomas to kill him. Thomas and co finally leave the Crank Palace once it seems obvious that Newt isn't coming with them.
Once Newt is left in the Crank Palace, he joins a group of Cranks that plan on breaking out of the Crank Palace and heading to Denver. He doesn't really have any motives as far as joining them aside from the familiarity of feeling like a group working towards something together. It's something that makes him feel less alone, when he has his moments of clarity, anyway. While Newt is banding together with this group, Thomas and company is joining the Right Arm, a rebel faction set on taking WICKED apart. It's during one of these missions with the Right Arm that Thomas meets Newt again, now on his way to Denver with the Cranks.
Thomas tries to play hero and save the day again, convinced he can take Newt back with him until they can find a way to cure him. At this point Newt is definitely... No himself. He's looking even more haggard now than in the Crank Palace, missing chunks of hair/scalp and looking like he's stopped eating. And while Thomas has it in his head to save him, Newt is begging Thomas to kill him in his moments of sanity - which are getting harder to come by. He's agitated and belligerent, and when Thomas argues with him Newt becomes outright violent, attacking him and blaming him for WICKED and the Flare and the Maze and basically Everything. In one final moment of complete clarity, Newt forces the barrel of Thomas' gun to his head and implores Thomas to kill him before he loses the rest of himself to the Flare. Thomas finally realizes this is the last thing Newt will ever ask him for, and shoots him point blank, killing him on the spot. Newt will be coming in post death.
PERSONALITY: At first glance, Newt appears to be the epitome of calm and collected – a guy who has got his shit together and all of his ducks in a row, despite the circumstances of the situation. He’s the pacifying force for Gladers with short tempers, especially when it comes to their leader Alby, and it’s clear that he’s part of the reason that the Glade runs as smoothly as it does. He’s second-in-command, and almost no one seems to challenge his authority, with the exception of Gally (who challenges everyone). However, calm and collected? Well, he certainly tries to reflect that demeanor, and he does a good job of it. Most of the time. But we’ll get to those faults of his in a bit.
There’s no arguing his sensibility, though. He’ll listen to all sides of an argument before making his decision, no matter how stupid he might think it is. This is seen best when he calls a Gathering in Alby’s stead, listening to each Keeper’s opinion on how to proceed with Thomas for breaking the Glade’s rules – what sort of punishment he should receive, if any (since breaking those rules did save two lives). That doesn’t mean his decisions are always the best, but he tries to make decisions that will keep the most people safe at any given time. He doesn’t want unnecessary sacrifice, even if it means abandoning a friend out in the Maze at night to keep more people from dying. And though it could be seen as callous or harsh, it’s a way of life that the Gladers have all agreed to, that they’ve all sworn an oath for. It doesn’t mean he’s any less torn up when he has to make decisions like that. The night he has to leave Minho and Alby in the Maze with Thomas, who ran out to help them, he spends the entire night awake and vigilant at the Doors. No matter that that it seems impossible that they could survive, he holds on to some small hope that they will. As you can see, rationality doesn’t necessarily always fuel his every action.
Newt also isn’t the kind of guy that sugarcoats things. And though he gets along with most of the other Gladers, he doesn’t go out of his way to be friendlier than he is by default. He’s very much a “what you see is what you get” type of person. And if he doesn’t like you? Well, you’ll definitely know about it, because he doesn’t deal in formalities. He tries not to let personal biases cloud his judgment in a situation, though he’s not always successful, but he’s also sensible enough to step back from that situation and hand it over to someone that’s more capable. You see this happen with Alby’s death, when he turns leading over to Minho because he realizes he’s not in any state of mind to lead a group of boys into battle. In the same vein, if Newt does like you, and trusts you, it’s one of those situations where it’s a friendship for life. Once you gain his trust you have it, and he’ll stand with you through thick and thin. He’ll face overwhelming odds for friends, even if it scares him to death.
However, a lot of the things that make Newt who he is are a direct result of an earlier incident in the Glade. There was a time where Newt hated the Glade and the Maze so much that he couldn’t stand being there another second and attempted to take his own life, despite the rules of the Glade that he’d sworn to follow. The attempt failed, leaving him with a slight limp, and, ironically enough, a reason to live. He’s found by Alby and brought back to the Glade and forced to face the fact that he’d tried to become one of the unnecessary sacrifices that they were trying to avoid. That all he’d caused with this attempt was suffering for himself, his best friend, and the inconvenience of being down a Runner for the Gladers.
It’s after this that Newt becomes one of the fiercest defenders of the rules, becomes steadfast and reliable. He holds himself accountable for his own actions, and he holds every other Glader accountable for theirs. It doesn’t matter that he had felt the same hopelessness that they had, it’s about surviving with the least amount of casualties and needless death. Newt tries to be the rock that other Gladers can rely on, so that maybe they won’t try to do the same thing he did. He tries to be that pacifier, but beneath all that is a still a boy that sometimes finds their life meaningless and their struggle pointless. And when faced with people that question the way they’ve done things, like it hasn’t been good enough, he can get irritable and temperamental, though he does make a conscious effort not to be. But there’s more than once that he snaps at Thomas for fighting their methods. It's clear always being the guy that's the voice of reason and dependability wears away at him, especially as he sees friends die or sacrifice themselves. Watching Alby simply give up the way he had and walking into Griever, effectively committing suicide, affects him deeply since Alby was the one that brought him back from the end of his rope.
But Newt continues to fight, continues to live with the will that Alby instilled in him, pushes back and never gives up no matter how hopeless a situation. If there’s a way to persevere, to save the Gladers, he will fight for it without hesitation. There’s no such thing as giving up for him anymore, no matter how dire the circumstances. When so many others would call it quits or let their nerves get the better of them, Newt will be the guy giving inspirational speeches and rallying everyone together in his blunt and un-sugarcoated way. While he’s not necessarily the best leader, he is the best support they’ve got. He’ll hold everyone together and use whatever means necessary to get them through those trying times. In a lot of ways, Newt is the bond that holds the Gladers together. He’s the glue.
Of course, Newt has a disease called the Flare, which is eating away at his sanity. For many, the Flare takes a long time to really affect them, due to their brains either being under-stimulated or just regularly stimulated. Newt, however, has an incredibly over-stimulated brain due to his participation in WICKED's high intensity trials. This means that the Flare hits him fast and quick, and over the course of a few weeks (the time frame of The Scorch Trials and the Death Cure), Newt is almost completely unrecognizable as far as his personality goes. Newt becomes irrational and prone to anger and violence, things that are basically the opposite of how he is portrayed in the Glade.
However, he'll be coming into the game uninfected by the Flare, and these radically different personality traits would would fade with the loss of the Flare. While he might suffer minor symptoms of paranoia and struggle with having his mind back in tact, Newt's personality would basically return to what it was before he was infected. He may be a bit more subdued, due to his previous history in the game and from spreading the Flare before. However, in the wake of dying, Newt would strive to try to become the rock people depend on again and return everything to the way it was so he can try his hand at normalcy.
POWER: He has no canon powers, so I'll be re-using the ones I gave him last time. I've modified the second one a bit from what he had before.
Adhesive - He'll be able to stick to things, much like glue. This would let him be able to climb walls and ceilings, but not much else.
Liquid Stitch - Not to be confused with that stuff you use to stick fabric together. As far as the power goes, it will be a healing power that stitches wounds back together with a glue-y thread like substance. Or if it's like a burn, then it would have the ability to build "skin" back over it. Sort of like liquid bandage, but with actual healing properties. Depending on how quickly Newt would be able to tend to an injury, he could potentially reattach a missing limb or mend broken bones. He would need to get to it within 30 minutes or so of it for it to have any proper affect.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE: This song and dance again, huh? Thought I'd be about done with appearin' in random bloody places, considerin'.
[ Considering what? Well, Newt isn't elaborating. ]
Guess the upside is I actually remember bein' here before. I can't imagine going through that Porter process again as a Greenie, losin' my head over being taken again. [ He gives a lopsided smile, shifting the camera as he walks. ] Sorry, rambling. I had to a point to all this.
I'm lookin' to see if my klunk for brains friends are still around. Know a few of 'em were gone before I left, but I figure if I'm here again there's a chance they are too. Names're Alby, Minho, Tommy. [ There's a pause before he adds: ] Teresa. [ It was strained back there, but he remembers being on better terms with her here. ]
Oh. Guess I should introduce myself too, in case there's a whole lot of new shanks around here. Name's Newt. Anyway, if you've seen any of them around, or anyone calling themselves a Glader, let me know, yeah?
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE: I'll be using previous posts/threads with him from his last stint in Mask or Menace
ex. 1
ex. 2
ex. 3
ex. 4 - with the flare in game
ex. 5 - post flare in game
FINAL NOTES: