Dark Matter

Jason2 (also named Jason Dessen) is the novel’s antagonist and an alternate universe version of Jason. He is chief science officer of Velocity Laboratories and the inventor of the box that allows people to travel between worlds. Like Jason, he is a quantum physicist, but he decided to leave Daniela after getting her pregnant. He went on to have a brilliant scientific career, but like Jason, he was obsessed with the path he didn’t take. Despite his success, he regretted his decision to leave Daniela. His obsession led him to build the box, travel to Jason’s world, abduct him, and take over his life.

Jason2’s character type is the Unbeatable Enemy. Not only is Jason2 more accomplished than Jason, but he also outpaces Jason in every way: He is more ruthless, more resourceful, and a better lover. He has better personal habits and is more energetic; Daniela finds him irresistible. While the box Jason worked on was a one-inch model, Jason2’s box is 12 feet tall, emphasizing his masculine superiority. Though dozens of Jasons flock to Jason’s world to win back Daniela, Jason2 lives with her unmolested for a month. He is the smartest version of them, and only by literally and metaphorically thinking outside the box can Jason the protagonist beat him.

Jason2 proves that he is willing to kill to get what he wants; in Chapter 15, he almost shoots Jason in front of Daniela and Charlie. This drives Jason to reciprocal violence. In his last moments, Jason2 acknowledges Jason as the “victor.” By returning Jason’s wedding ring and informing him of the ampoules in the car, he gives Jason the final key to escaping his impossible problem. Having experienced “both” lives—the successful scientist and the happy family man—Jason2 can die in relative peace, knowing he succeeded, even temporarily, in getting everything he wanted.

Daniela Vargas-Dessen is Jason’s wife of 15 years and Charlie’s mother. She is attractive, with dark hair and “dark, Spanish eyes” (2). When Daniela met Jason, she had a promising career as an artist: “She had a studio in Bucktown, showed her work in a half-dozen galleries, and had just lined up her first solo exhibition in New York. Then came life. Me. Charlie. A bout of crippling postpartum depression” (2). Along with Jason, Daniela chose family life over career. When Dark Matter begins, she is a private art instructor for middle-school students.

Like Jason, Daniela wonders what her life would be like if she’d made different choices. In Jason2’s world, Daniela is a successful artist. When Jason tells her about their life together, she cries and says that in her world, Jason left her the day after she told him she was pregnant. She implies that she had an abortion: “And yet here we are tonight. Not married. No children” (98).

Daniela’s character type is the Damsel in Distress, the sacred, idealized woman that Jason sacrifices himself to protect. Their first meeting establishes this dynamic: Jason’s first words to Daniela after he interrupts her conversation are “I’m sorry to interrupt, but it looked like you might need rescuing” (245). Daniela does not have the option of choosing another life path as Jason does, and lacks a distinct character arc of her own. She is devoted to Charlie and Jason, and she trusts Jason unquestioningly, going along with his actions with minimal resistance. Though she objects in Chapter 14 when Jason proposes to “raffle her off” (314), she ultimately submits to the decision, offering no alternative solutions.

Chapters 4, 6, and 9 are told from Daniela’s point of view as she comes to realize that the Jason she is living with is not her husband. Chapters 4 and 6 end in Daniela and Jason2 making passionate love, and Chapter 9 ends with a flirtation, even though Daniela suspects Jason2 is hiding something from her. Daniela chooses not to act on her instincts. To a point, this showcases her love for and trust in Jason, but it also symbolizes her lack of agency; she only acts on her doubts when she’s reunited with her own Jason, and she passes the decision-making authority to him from then on.

Charlie Dessen is Jason and Daniela’s 14-year-old son. His birthday is October 21, and he was born prematurely at Mercy Hospital, weighing only 1 pound, 15 ounces. He attends high school and has a good relationship with his parents. When the novel opens, he is sketching in a notebook while Jason and Daniela make dinner.

Jason describes Charlie to Daniela2: “He has dark hair like you and a wonderful sense of humor. Solid B student. Very right-brained, like his mama. He’s into Japanese comics and skateboards. Loves to draw these crazy landscapes” (97).

Though Charlie rarely appears in the narrative, Dark Matter is his coming-of-age story. Toward the end of the novel, Charlie turns 15. When it is time for the family to choose their final destination in the box, Jason gives the decision to Charlie. Although Charlie is uncertain, he steps up to the challenge: “Just before he opens it, he draws a breath and glances back at us, as brave and strong as I’ve ever seen him. A man” (339).

Charlie represents hope for the future. Unlike his parents, he is not burdened with failures, regrets, and lives lost. His youth and optimism allow him to open a door into a world where his family can start fresh.

Ryan Holder is Jason’s friend from graduate school. Ryan is a neuroscientist, and when the novel opens, Ryan has won the prestigious Pavia Prize for his work in identifying the prefrontal cortex as the generator of consciousness.

Ryan is a character double for Jason because he represents Jason’s path not taken. In Jason’s world, Ryan is smug, confident, and polished. He represents everything Jason gave up, and Jason envies him. Ryan does cutting-edge research, has lectured at MIT, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins, and wins prestigious awards. He sees himself as “a man pursuing answers to fundamental questions” (8). Ryan is angry with Jason for leaving the scientific profession because he knows Jason is capable of making groundbreaking discoveries. Ryan is also a sexual rival because he has always liked Daniela, and Jason sees him as a threat.

In Jason2’s world, Ryan’s position is reversed. When Jason sees him at the art gallery, “his hair is graying, and he’s paler and less fit” (87). Ryan2 is dating Daniela2, but their relationship is not serious. In that world, Jason2 won the Pavia Prize, and Ryan2 is the struggling scientist.

Ryan is a flat support character. In Jason’s world, Ryan is a vector for Jason’s jealousy and has no narrative agency. Ryan2 creates the psychoactive compound for Velocity Laboratories that allows a person to go into superposition in the box, but he is only a contractor, not an employee of the company. When Ryan2 reports Jason’s location to Leighton Vance, he expects a reward, but instead, Leighton has him killed. Ryan does not appear in the narrative when Jason returns to his own world because by that point, Ryan’s role as a rival is irrelevant.

Amanda Lucas is the psychiatrist at Velocity Laboratories in Jason2’s world. She is 41, short, with black hair and eyes that are “kind and penetrating” (38). She is Jason2’s therapist, so she knows everything about Jason’s life, which helps them figure out that the box is connected to a person’s subconscious.

Amanda becomes a pivotal character when she is called in to interview Jason a second time, after Leighton has captured him and brought him back to the laboratory. Amanda is loyal to Velocity Laboratories until she learns that Leighton killed Daniela2: “I didn’t sign up for this shit. What they did to Daniela. To Holder. What they’re about to do to you. They crossed lines that shouldn’t be crossed. Not for science. Not for anything” (143).

Amanda is a support character whose function is to help Jason return to his world. She provides key insight regarding Jason2 and his life, and she helps ground Jason when his grasp on reality slips. In Chapter 8, when they spend the night in the blizzard world, Amanda tells Jason: “I had a career. An apartment. A dog. Friends. TV shows I liked to watch. This guy, John, I’d seen three times. […] I’m never going to see any of that again, am I?” (173). She decides to stick with Jason because he has a destination while she does not. Her alternative version of Chicago represents “a good time to be alive” (187); it is beautiful and futuristic, but ultimately alien to Amanda and Jason.

During Amanda’s time with Jason, she becomes attached to him. He reciprocates her feelings, but his goal of reuniting with Daniela keeps him from acting on them. She leaves in Chapter 12, because she needs to determine her own fate and wants to free Jason to pursue his. Whether she returns to that futuristic Chicago or finds her way to a new reality remains unanswered.