Handsome Jack has a vision.
He wants to transform Pandora, a lawless, hazardous planet, into his utopia.
Handsome Jack is the sort of guy who vents employees out of airlocks with manic glee. Handsome Jack is someone who enjoys living in a H-shaped satellite orbiting Pandora. He is the kind of man whose version of fun is obliderating settlements with moonshot blitzes, and later going online to tweet about it.
My name is Timothy Lawrence, and Jack is my boss. I'm his body-double, which means we look and sound the same. I possess his chiselled jaw, his heterochromatic gaze, his high cheekbones, his coiffed hair, and the same mask that he owns. There is a mask clip on my chin, and one at each of my temples, and I know the colour shading is off. It's too light.
But that's where the similarities end.
I am in my private quarters, too vast and too hollow for my liking, when I get a ping on my ECHOcomm. Jack has new orders for me.
"On Pandora?" I repeat, waiting for the meaning of his words to sink in.
"Yea-huh. You're gonna love it, pumpkin. You will be the king of Opportunity, baby! It's amazing, duh 'course it is, it was designed by ME! So, pack your bags, get that Jackaboy smile on, you - "
"Opportunity, sir?" I am confused, and Jack isn't pleased with my questioning frown, judging by his disappointed expression.
"Yeah, Opportunity! The Hyperion City of Pandora. It'll be the first of many, Jack. 'S a template, see?"
I mouth 'ah' in understanding. Jack goes back to being ecstatic. He hasn't snapped at me for interrupting him, which means today he is especially excited. From my experience, Jack is only in a good mood if a) he just recently saw Nisha, his Pandoran Girlfriend, b) he blew a bandit camp or half a dozen of them, c) he took someone to strangulation town, or d) his genocidal dream is ever closer to reaching fruition. "You," he points at the ECHOcomm camera, at me, "are going to be mayor of Opportunity. Now, c'mon pumpkin, show me that Heroic Smile, already."
He grins at me, almost expectantly, and I have no other choice but to obey. I pull the corners of my mouth upwards and bear my teeth, tilting my head in what perfectly mimicks a sneer that Handsome Jack is only capable of. "Sounds exciting, kiddo, can't wait," I tell him with his own voice. When I'm speaking with Jack, it sounds like a conversation I'm having with myself. It grates on my nerves.
"Ye-es! You know I love enthusiasm like that, me. Get going already. Your shuttle is waiting in the hangar. See ya." He terminates the communication, and I'm left alone to prep for my transfer from one hell to another.
It's an act. Every day is an act.
