Peter Cross is the central protagonist of Worlds Apart, serving as the character who traverses the most significant physical and psychological distance. He is initially presented as a cog within the oppressive system who must undergo a radical transformation to reclaim his identity and escape the false reality.
Peter Cross begins the story displaying a personality of controlled compliance and professional competency, traits necessary for surviving within the strictly regulated, medicated society.
The Competent Insider: He is a staff member at the institution, placing him in a position of authority and responsibility. This suggests he is intelligent and capable, trusted by his superior, Dr. Filmore.
The Medicated Man: Peter is a lifelong recipient of the mandatory medication, having been given a specialized prescription since childhood to manage his perceived schizophrenia. This conditioning renders him outwardly stable, composed, and compliant. His ritual of self injecting his medication shows a practiced, detached conformity to the state’s chemical control.
The Suppressed Seeker: Despite his outward conformity, Peter’s decision to stop his medication shows he possesses a deep, underlying need for truth and authenticity. His initial schizophrenia was merely his mind’s unmedicated reaction to a suppressed reality. When he skips the drug, he reveals a personality that prioritizes truth over the manufactured peace offered by the state.
Peter’s challenges are primarily internal, driven by his forced awakening into a new, terrifying reality.
Challenging Identity: The core conflict begins with the realization that his entire life, including his career and his diagnosis, was a calculated deception. He must confront the fact that his “schizophrenia” was not a sickness but a window into the truth.
The Threat of Reality: Once off the medication, the world becomes genuinely terrifying. He faces the physical threat of the droids (who can detect his unmanaged pulse) and the absolute certainty of execution if caught. He must quickly learn to navigate a world that is no longer chemically filtered and is actively hunting him.
The Burden of Knowledge: Peter must reconcile his newfound knowledge of the multi world hypothesis with the simple, medicated existence he left behind. The journey forces him to “absorb” the complex truth of their existence. This is highlighted by his statement that the trip brought him “closure,” indicating the profound psychological resolution he finds in understanding the mechanics of their universe.
Peter’s narrative arc is defined by his shift from an enforcer of the lie to a pioneer of the truth.
From Compliance to Resilience: His early actions are defined by conformity, but his escape and evasion of Captain Beel and the droids demonstrate resilience, quick thinking, and resourcefulness. He sheds the persona of the medicated staff member to become an assertive, truth driven fugitive.
