Jérôme embarks on the Kerberos to confront his past. He's on a path of revenge and is searching for someone who betrayed him and who may be on the ship. While trying to avoid being noticed by anyone else on board, he is, however, drawn to outsider Olek and newlywed Clémence.
Biography[]
French war[]
Jérôme and Lucien were war buddies who found themselves taking refuge in a trench. With their commander for two days now dead, Lucien devised a plan to steal his identity and walk to the nearest military post, posing as a wounded lieutenant, but Jérôme feared the consequences of deserting their Legion. And so, Lucien knocked Jérôme unconscious, locked him up, and went forward with his plan. While he could not set Jérôme free, he does give him the commander's medal. When he reaches the nearest military post, he'll tell them that Jérôme was a deserter. But Jérôme at least be able to trade the medal in prison. When Lucien turns his back, Jérôme grabs him from between the bars and tries to choke him, but Lucien breaks free and punches Jérôme.[1]
Sneaking onto the Kerberos[]
Jérôme has sneaked onto the Kerberos and hidden in the coal bunker in the engine room. Dirty and without shoes, he creeps through the ship before finding a closet filled with sailor's uniform and boots. Posing as sailor, Jérôme crosses paths with Olek, who gives over his food to a clearly starving Jérôme. Later that night, after a brief interaction with Franz, Jérôme is instructed to join the captain and several others as he voyages over to the Prometheus, which has been lost for four months and appears to be abandoned. On the ship, they find a young boy locked inside a cabinet.[2]
Imprisoned on the ship[]
Jérôme breaks into Lucien's room, unaware that Clémence is making her way back, forcing him to hide under the bed after carefully placing a war medal on Lucien's desk. After she enters the bathroom, Jérôme climbs from under the bed and exits the room, only to later approach Clémence on the deck. He is dressed as a crewman, but he doesn't exactly look like a crewman, Clémence remarks. Admittedly, people shouldn't judge by looks, but it's impossible to do so. She's certain that he had made his mind up about her before he even approached. But assuming he is who he says he is, Clémence compares working on a ship to being in a prison, to which Jérôme replies that they're all in a prison one way or another. Jérôme then confesses that she was right and that he had made up his mind about her from the moment he saw her. He makes his way back inside, where he is confronted by Franz and several sailors. Cornered, he is left with no one option but to fight. Jérôme holds his own against the four attackers, but is ultimately overcome and knocked unconscious by Franz, who had learned that someone stole a crew uniform the day prior.[3]
Jérôme dreams of his time at war with Lucien, who devised a plan to steal their commander's identity and walk to the nearest military post, posing as a wounded lieutenant, but Jérôme feared the consequences of deserting their Legion. Jérôme then awakens from a voice telling him to "wake up" and finds himself back in the cellar with Eyk, Ramiro, and Olek. Franz enters and takes Jérôme and Olek to the upper deck, where he instructs them to get rid of the dead bodies. With the guards distracted, Jérôme makes an attempt to sneak away, but they spot him and open fire. Fortunately, he evades the gun fire and makes it back onto the ship. With the guards on his tail, Jérôme knocks on the door of Clémence's cabin. She offers him refuge and agrees to help him free the captain. However, they are cornered by Franz and his crew, who demand they hand over the boy. Refusing to allow the boy to be sacrificed, Jérôme rushes for the hammer on the ground and is shot by Franz.
When Jérôme awakens after dreaming of his time at war and how Lucien betrayed him, he takes out two guards outside the third class barracks and free the prisoners inside. He embraces Clémence and explains that it's up to them to stop the mutineers, which leads to an all out brawl on the upper deck, where the boy is thrown overboard and Jérôme comes face-to-face with Lucien, who has his gun drawn and retreats with Clémence.[1]
Saving Lucien[]
With a ticking sound throughout the ship causing passengers to jump overboard, Jérôme breaks into Lucien and Clémence's cabin, where he unarms Lucien and instructs Clémence to tie him up to the bed frame. He then ties Clémence up before restraining himself to ensure none of them jump overboard. When the ticking finally stops, Jérôme frees himself of the restraints and then unbinds Clémence before leaving.[4]
As they shovel the coal into the furnaces to get the engine back on, Lucien apologizes to Jérôme for turning him into a deserter. Additionally, Lucien reveals that contrary to what it may seem, he did not get what he wanted. He got what he deserved. He is seizure prone and may only have a few days to live, which is why he was headed to America. While his feelings for Lucien remained, it would seem all their shoveling together was at least worth the effort, as the engine cuts back on.[5]
Jérôme and Clémence are forced to carry Lucien from the engine to their cabin after he begins seizing. However, by the time Jérôme and Clémence reach the cabin, Lucien has died.[6]
After learning that they're all trapped within a simulation, Jérôme and Clémence join forces with the other passengers in an attempt to find a way off the ship, but when the virus begins spreading and doors start disappearing, they go searching for Maura and the captain, but instead end up in Ling Yi's memory, where the virus continues to grow at a rapid pace. They eventually make their way back onto the ship with the other passengers, where they watch as the countdown begins for the deletion of the corrupted simulation.[7]