Jessi Gibson

**Jessi Gibson** is a fictional character and protagonist of Nathaniel J. Nelson's 2017 horror novel *Quantum Flight 888*. At first a minor character, Jessi becomes more important to the storyline and eventually has her own flashback sequences.

## Biography

### Early life

Not much is known about Jessie's early life, other than that she was raised by her wealthy father, who was apparently incapable of providing properly for a young child. Some of her earliest memories include Brian reading her a picture book that involved a demon clown, the illustrations of whom terrified her; despite this, Brian continued to obliviously read the book to her, leading to her lifelong caulrophobia.

### High school

In high school, Jessie enjoyed some popularity due to her wealth and outgoing nature. She pursued David Gosselin, a male classmate of hers, and finally secured a relationship with him when his previous girlfriend broke up with him. On a date, they went to see a traveling circus, including a performance by a mysterious clown who apparently used psychic powers to hypnotize his audience, resurrecting Jessie's forgotten caulrophobia.

Shortly after this, Jessie lost her virginity to David, who immediately broke up with her, turning her off relationships. Due to her friends' influence, she began assuming an identity of victimhood. At an unknown point in high school, a friend of Jessie's from middle school protested the school's inclusion of *Peter and Wendy* in its curriculum, due to the book's stereotypical depiction of Native Americans. Winning this debate, Jessie's friend changed her name to Tiger. Similarly, Jessie soon dropped the **E** from her name and fed into the current trends by dyeing her hair blue-green.

### College in Boston

Jessi and Tiger both attended freshman and sophomore year at Boston College, where Tiger led several protests; Jessi was always behind her on these causes, but felt self-conscious and insecure about spearheading the events. At least twice during her sophomore year in 2016, Jessi found herself in a disciplinary situation with the school. During the second semester, Jessi, Tiger, and the other protesters were suspended for blocking traffic while protesting the school's handling of a rape case. Brian took this opportunity to pull Jessi from Boston College, deciding to send her to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where she would live with her aunt.

### Aboard Flight 888

On June sixth, 2016, Jessi boarded Quantum Flight 888 from Boston to Los Angeles. Sitting in the Front-Facing Business cabin, Jessi ran into Delilah Arain, a YouTuber who Jessi had been following for several years. When Annie Moreland died unexpectedly, Jessi protested the pilot's decision to keep flying, demanding they turn back and treat Annie's body with respect; however, her protests fell on deaf ears.

After the death of Olivia Lillee, Jessi moved to the Premium Economy cabin to sit with Delilah and Joshua Teller. They theorized about the deaths, and later Jessi and Delilah interviewed Neil Munster, who was losing his mind. When Neil was tied down by the flight attendants, Jessi continued interrogating him, discovering his insanity was tied to his copy of *Gulliver's Travels* and someone named Maryanne.

When Joshua, Delilah, and Joan moved Eva's body to the galley, Jessi was trapped in the galley with Craig Bennecker and the Premium Economy passengers. She used her phone and the plane's WiFi to alert the Internet to the night's events, using the hashtags #FuckQuantumAirlines and #SaveQuantum. Jessi was the first to notice that reality was being distorted, when the text in *Gulliver's Travels* changed to reflect her own story. Seeing Caleb Munster leaving the cabin, Jessi followed him and found him crying; Caleb revealed he'd been sent by someone named Maryanne Henry Poore. They were approached by Neil Munster, now understanding that Caleb was his son; Jessi was able to see Maryanne as she killed Neil. As Caleb experienced a nervous breakdown, the plane began melting away, all the passengers sinking into a fantasy world.

Jessi's fantasy world consisted of a festival in colonial America, complete with tents and games and vendors. She was guided by Justina, a woman she believed to be a manifestation of her unknown mother. Justina took her to a book vendor, who showed her copies of *The Scarlet Letter*, *The Witch of Blackbird Pond*, *Gulliver's Travels*, and *The Mile-High Murder Club*; she then took her to a flower vendor, who gave her a tiger lily. Jessi was forced to enter a tent containing the demon clown from her childhood book, who she now realized was a manifestation of her own insecurities.

### After Flight 888

After Caleb managed to land the plane, Jessi was one of the few uninjured survivors. She kept Neil's copy of *Gulliver's Travels* and rescued what remained of Joshua's terracotta hand, giving it back to him. Jessi was approached by government agents, who rebuked her for talking about the night's events on social media. They told her they had ways of covering up incidents such as these, and that she would be wise not to press the issue.

Jessi was allowed to leave Los Angeles International, and apparently went to live with her aunt as planned, though it is unknown whether or not she enrolled at USC. Six months after Flight 888, Jessi still lived in LA and regularly attended a paranormal survivors' group, which she considered beneath her. Thanks to her time in the fantasy world, Jessi learned to no longer see herself as a victim, and was now frequently angered by the "survivors" in her group who lived in self-pity.

## Appearance

Jessi is described as tall and very skinny, near-anorexic according to Delilah. Her hair is straight, shoulder-length, and a tealish color, though by the time of her flashforward scene it has grown out, now appearing half teal and half its natural brown. During Flight 888, Jessi wears a long sweater with a Bernie 2016 pin, and a peace sign medallion. She also wears a T-shirt from the TV series *Steven Universe* – it is implied that Caleb, a *Steven Universe* fan, subconsciously inspired her to wear the shirt.

## Personality and traits

Jessi is confrontational, quick to anger, and judgmental, especially with those she considers to be judgmental towards others: she (to a lesser extent that Tiger) is an archetypical 2010s social justice warrior. She frequently disrupts Joshua's good-natured flirting with Delilah, insisting that Delilah "doesn't like it." Although Jessi does hold very strong beliefs and leftist attitudes, her confrontational attitude and quick irritation stem from a place of insecurity, due in part to her father's and David's treatment of her: she sees herself as a sort of "clown," as exemplified in her fantasy world.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.natnelson.com/gallery?lightbox=dataItem-kbvsegos2
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social\_justice\_warrior