- For other uses, see William.
- "If your calculations are correct, we will have immediately achieved more than those Nazi bastards ever did."
- — Peck talking with Aleksandra Valentina
Doctor William Peck is a character featured in the Dark Aether Saga of Zombies mode. Peck first appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War as antagonist. He is a former member of the Department of Defense who defected to the East, becoming the Lead Scientist of Omega Group's Exoscientific Phenomena Research.
Peck returns in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 where he is a support character in the Zombies maps Terminus, Citadelle des Morts, and Shattered Veil.
Biography
Early Life
Born in 1940, Peck graduated with a Doctorate in Theoretical Physics at only 20. He became Program Manager in the Department of Defense and was in charge of the Directed Energy Weapon laboratories. With an IQ of 179, Peck was exceptionally intelligent, but was hard to work with and displayed a lack of empathy (which bordered on an undiagnosed sociopathy disorder), causing him to be passed on for promotion several times. While he was still in the United States, Peck was engaged to a woman named Martha.
He was deemed an excellent gain for the Soviet Union by Doctor Aleksandra Valentina of the Omega Group who saw him as an exemplary candidate for their Exoscientific Phenomena Research Lead. Peck would soon join Omega Group in said position, defecting to the East.
Operation Undertaker
During Omega Group's "Operation Undertaker" and capture of the Projekt Endstation facility in Morasko, Poland, Peck and Valentina were sent to oversee the capture. While there, they overlooked the abandoned Nazi technology and intended to repair the damage done by the previous Soviet forces in 1945. After two months of work, Omega Group were able to restore the facility to an operational condition, and were prepared to reactivate the cyclotron to recreate a gateway to the Dark Aether. Operation Undertaker turned out to be a success, with Omega working on the weaponization and development of new technologies using Aetherium.
Aetherium Research and Outpost 25
A week after the reactivation of the Endstation cyclotron, Omega Group was granted permission by Vietnam through use of a pact to establish a base on their territory called Outpost 25, which would be built on the former site of Firebase Ripcord. Construction began on November 11th, 1983, with Peck being named as the facility's lead scientist.
On December 8th, Peck designed the Omega Portal Chamber, a large dome-like structure for a stabilized gateway and a month later, on January 8th, 1984, Peck and Doctor Dimitri Kuhlklay managed to create a new and stable rift to the Dark Aether using an Aetherium sample recovered from Projekt Endstation. Teams of Omega Group soldiers were now sent daily to the Dark Aether to collect Aetherium crystals using canisters specifically made to contain the radiation; biological, botanical and geological specimens, as well as liquid samples, were among the various otherworldly commodities being harvested. Peck noted that Aetherium could yield massive amounts of energy and could be used as a sustainable power source, and soon designed an Aether Reactor using refined Aetherium as fuel; by early February, Outpost 25 was entirely running on three separate Aether Reactors.
Unfortunately, excursions in the Dark Aether proved extremely dangerous and Omega Group suffered heavy losses among their ranks. To address the problem, Kravchenko requested the conscription of Aetherium miners, dubbed "Aethernauts". The request was approved, and by early March 1984, prisoners from work camps started to arrive at Outpost 25, comprised of common criminals, political dissidents, foreign prisoners, and intellectuals from both the Soviet Union and Vietnam.
As more Aethernauts were sent to the Dark Aether, the collection of Aetherium crystals was up 237%. Excursions, however, were still incredibly dangerous, with a quarter of Aethernauts sent to the Dark Aether never coming back. Side effects from journeys in the other side also started to appear. Effects varied from individual to individual, with some people staying healthy while others exhibited mild radiation poisoning or returned fully necrotized. Multiple and/or prolonged excursions in the Dark Aether increased the likelihood and severity of the symptoms, especially for miners who encounterd hostile creatures or consumed food or drinks found in the other dimension. Kuhlklay also noted that some individuals suffered long-term memory losses. To circumvent this, Peck developed a memory transference machine, hoping it would restore the fractured minds of their conscripts. Peck also developed a truth serum to help recover memories and debunk conflicting reports.
On March 14th, Peck and Kuhlklay created the blueprints for the Red Soldier Mechanized Armor to help assist in the protection of Aethernauts, though Kuhlklay is later discredited by Peck and removed from the project. On April 8th, Kuhlklay developed an Aetherium-powered assault rifle, the RAI K-84, but was scolded by Peck for wasting their time. In early May, Peck and Kuhlklay performed an autopsy on a Dark Aether creature which was captured a few days prior, though it was soon terminated when it tried to escape containment after turning itself into a rifle.
Eye for an Eye
- "Tell me, Doctor... which is your better eye?"
- — Lev Kravchenko to Peck
On May 14th, after a visit from Gorev, Peck became aware that Samantha Maxis, a former agent of the BND and current ally of Requiem, wished to expose Omega Group and was going to meet a secret mole, Sergei Ravenov, from Outpost 25. However, before the two could meet, Maxis was captured in June. She would be brought to Outpost 25, where Peck personally tortured and interrogated her to learn the identity of the mole. Maxis refused, and under secret orders of the Director of Requiem, threw her into the Dark Aether. Soon after, the gateway in the Omega Portal Chamber released a massive burst of Aetherium which contaminated the entire facility. As the infection spread quickly, a phasic barrier started to surround the base, which led to the death of anyone trying to cross it. Various temporary dimensional breaches also appeared around the facility, releasing large quantities of the undead. Peck soon sent a distress signal to Omega Group HQ, believing to be the sole survivor, as he was unaware Ravenov also survived.
On June 15th, 1984, Peck would come into contact with a Requiem strike-team attempting to rescue Maxis. Peck was able to trick Requiem into allowing him to transmit his data back to Omega Group. By the time Requiem left Vietnam, Omega Group soldiers led personally by Kravchenko and Valentina arrived to extract Peck; as a test to prove his commitments to Omega and as punishment for letting Outpost 25 fall, Kravchenko stabs out one of Peck's eyes.
Ural Mountains
Following the loss of Outpost 25, Omega Group shifted its primary interests to the Ural Mountains, the site of the world's largest Outbreak Zone that has been loosely contained since the activation of the cyclotron. On July 8th, Kravchenko assigned Peck to the Ural Mountains to assess the applications of the Aetherium crystals present at the site under the direct supervision of Gorev. Three days after arriving, Peck deduced that the Ruka site and the unique specimens present around the zones would allow Omega Group to advance Operatsiya Inversiya and develop the specialized warheads needed for it.
On July 14th, Peck created the blueprints for the Reality Inversion Warhead for Operatsiya Inversiya, which could generate dimensional breaches up to 500 meters, creating an estimated Outbreak Zone the size of 800 kilometers; using Tempests infused onto the heads of each missile, Omega Group would utilize their electromagnetic abilities to bypass Western warning systems to allow the missiles to reach their targets unimpeded, ensuring maximum damage that would be the catastrophic deathblow to the West. Over the next few months however, Omega Group began to learn of higher otherworldly entities within the Dark Aether seemingly building up their forces; during an examination of a destroyed Krasny Soldat, Peck discovered that the armor, while of his design, was being altered and upgraded by unknown forces within the Dark Aether. Omega Group would come to know this as the work of The Forsaken, a highly-powerful entity which ruled over the Dark Aether and oversaw the Dark Aether invasion into their reality.
On September 3rd, Peck detailed some of the few bizarre occurrences happening throughout the zones, one being the appearance of a strange computer. On the other end of this computer was a mysterious stranger named Kazimir Zykov, of whom Peck would frequently talk to, asking it questions regarding the Dark Aether. He had, months earlier, been chastised by Valentina for his interaction with this computer. Omega Group's ambitions for Operatsiya Inversiya would not come to pass (and Peck's work going to waste), however, as the Requiem strike team, as well as Maxis and Ravenov undertook a secret operation to dispose of the Inversion Warheads.
The Forsaken Threat
- "We're going about this the wrong way. We shouldn't be trying to kill the Forsaken. We should be trying to capture it. Think about it. This could be the most powerful creature from their reality. It is an Elder God. It has power beyond anything we can comprehend. Who knows what could be gained from harvesting it. Zykov says he can help. All he wants from us is to break him free. We should act fast before Requiem takes him upon his offer."
- — Peck to Kravchenko
In response to their derailing of Operatsiya Inversiya, the Requiem strike-team, alongside Requiem pilot Raptor One would be captured by Omega Group. Weeks afterwards, Omega Group began directing it's attention towards stopping the Forsaken. During this time, Peck (with the help of Zykov) developed the LT53 Kazimir, a tactical device capable of sucking enemies into the Dark Aether; Gorev would come to find the blueprints, and decided to rebrand them as weapons.
In January 1985, Valentina broke off from the Omega Group, revealing herself to be Angelika Vogel, daughter to Projekt Endstation lead Ulrich Vogel. She would open a portal beneath Berlin in an abandoned Projekt Endstation facility, allowing the Forsaken to lead an army of the undead into the city. However, thanks to the captured Requiem strike-team (who would go on to escape Berlin and Omega), she would be defeated and the portal would be closed. During this time, Peck began attempting to convince Kravchenko that the Forsaken could be weaponized with the help of Zykov.
After Valentina's betrayal, Omega Group would begin work on "Operatsiya Izbavitel", which was dedicated to freeing Zykov from the Dark Aether in hopes he would help them capture the Forsaken. On February 9th, Peck reported to Kravchenko that he had identified Zykov's position in the Dark Aether, adding that Test Site Anna, a former Operatsiya Inversiya facility, would best suit the construction of a primordial Aetherium-powered machine designed by Zykov needed for Operatsiya Izbavitel. On April 18th, Peck suggested to Kravchenko that all Omega Group departments halt operations and focus their attention on Operatsiya Izbavitel. A desperate Kravchenko reluctantly agreed, with all of Omega's attention going towards Operatsiya Izbavitel.
On June 4th, Requiem's strike-team infiltrated Test Site Anna as Peck and Kravchenko prepared to release Zykov from the Dark Aether, watching from the Observation Tower. They had seemingly succeeded, until Zykov revealed himself to be none other than the Forsaken himself - transformed by forty years in the Dark Aether (which he had experienced as four centuries). As the Forsaken prepared to make way for the consumption of the Earth, Peck attempted to explain himself to Kravchenko, who in turn slapped him to the ground in anger, calling him a "fucking fool" and saying that he had doomed them all. A group of zombies then broke into the Observation Tower, where the two were forced to hold off against the undead. Kravchenko's patience with Peck was now completely gone, with Kravchenko threatening to kill him and end his scientific career, all the while still demanding to find a way to capture the Forsaken for the Soviet Union's use. In turn, Peck told Kravchenko to "blow it out his ass", and assisted Requiem in building an Aetherium Neutralizer to head to Main Street and face the Forsaken. As Requiem constructed the Neutralizer, Peck accidentally shot a gas-line in the Observation Tower, causing the room to explode - seemingly killing Peck and Kravchenko.
Terminus
- "All of us here have a common enemy. The guy who locked you up. The guy who... stole my life's work. Edward Richtofen. What do you say we find him and kill him?"
- — Peck convinces the former Requiem group to work together
Peck managed to survive the disastrous events at Test Site Anna, though his face was scarred as a result of the gas line explosion. After having spent a year recovering from his injuries, Peck learned what became of Requiem and its senior staff and sought vengeance against Requiem's director, Edward Richtofen. He eventually learned that Richtofen had a research facility located in Terminus Island, near where his Inversion warheads sunk. At some point, Peck ended up in Subic Bay, Philippines, where he got into trouble, and was saved by a local smuggler, Maya Aguinaldo. Learning that Maya was looking for her brother Nathan, who was also shipped off to Terminus, Peck and Maya struck an alliance.
In February 1991, Peck visited a boat rental house in Japan and asked to chart a boat to Terminus. When asked about his purpose of travel, Peck responded that he was looking for some "old friends". Peck, accompanied by Maya, set off for Terminus, where they broke Requiem out of containment, then gave them clothing and weapons while proposing they go after Richtofen and kill him in retaliation. However, a zombie outbreak occurred at that exact moment, forcing the crew to take action. Peck was tasked by Weaver to accompany Strauss and secure the guard station, while he, Maya, Grey, and Carver battle the undead forces and attempt to find Nathan.
While digging through Terminus' database, Peck learned that Project Janus had hired Revati Modi, a ruthless scientist who had performed many unethical experiments, and that she was in possession of the Inversion warheads. He also learned about the Synaptic Algorithm Module (S.A.M.), an artificial intelligence system that Richtofen designed himself, and urged Requiem to find it to help them all get off the island. Eventually, the team found a horrifically mutated Nathan, and was forced to kill him to end his misery. They then reestablished connections around the island, allowing S.A.M. to communicate with them. With S.A.M.'s help, the team managed to pull Modi's submarine back to Terminus, but as they were ready to confront Modi, her submarine was devoured by another of her experiment that roamed the island - Patient 13- alongside the inversion warheads (to much of Peck's dismay), which further mutated it into a gargantuan monster. After Requiem defeated Patient 13, they learned from S.A.M. that Richtofen was obsessed in researching the Sentinel Artifact and something called Prima Materia, and pointed them toward Principality of Avalon, where the Artifact might be located, and where Gabriel Krafft, a man specialized in demonology, may know its more precise location.
The Quest for the Sentinel Artifact
With no further purpose for his cause due to the consumption of the inversion warheads by Patient 13, Peck decided to join the ex-Requiem crew in their quest for the Sentinel Artifact, with their first stop being at a citadelle in the province of Avalon, which was where they had previously known from S.A.M.'s intel that the Sentinel Artifact could be, as well as Ravenov, who was at that time working for the French Syndicate.
The team arrives at the citadelle a few days later and meet up with Ravenov at an apartment near it. Ravenov immediately points a gun towards Peck when he sees him, taken aback by for what reason was an enemy of theirs accompanying them, and called him a "rat bastard"; but the confrontation is quickly defused by Weaver, who asked him about Krafft, and Grey explaining that Krafft may know where the Sentinel Artifact is located. Just after this, a zombie outbreak occurs and a zombie jumps through one of the apartment's windows, attacking them and Peck. Peck is saved by Ravenov after shooting one of the zombies in the head, though Ravenov visibly wished differently. The ex-Requiem crew then leaves the apartment and sets off to find Krafft, while Peck and Ravenov stayed on comms.
As the ex-Requiem crew explore the citadelle and the castle within, Ravenov and Peck bicker with each other constantly, often exchanging insults and even death threats. At certain instances, Peck communicates with Maya on a closed channel asking her if she has grown fond of the ex-Requiem crew, and if that should not disturb her judgement should things go wrong, as Peck insists that he had her back if she had his.
When the ex-Requiem crew defeats The Guardian and obtain the Obscurus Altilium, Peck then travels with them to an excavation site nearby, as indicated to them by a dying Gabriel Krafft, who had been mortally wounded by zombies shortly before. There, the crew explore the dig site and eventually discover the Sentinel Artifact and obtain it, after completing a trial that had been initiated when the ex-Requiem crew interacted with it. With the Artifact in their possession, Peck and the rest of the crew then hear intel from S.A.M. explaining that to activate the Sentinel Artifact they need to obtain a specific material that can be found in Liberty Falls, and thus travel there.
S.A.M.'s True Goal
Three days later, Peck and the crew arrive at Liberty Falls, and the ex-Requiem crew make their way to Sam Colton Hall, which is where S.A.M.'s true form is located and where Prima Materia could be obtained. Once inside the mansion, the ex-Requiem crew collect the Prima Materia for S.A.M. and infuse it with the Sentinel Artifact, activating it. They deliver it to S.A.M., only for her to betray the ex-Requiem team and send them to a room in a different dimension, where Richtofen also happened to be trapped shortly after the Liberty Falls dimensional breach. Richtofen and the crew escape the room and teleport to the mansion yet again, but are faced with defeating a mutated T-Rex that had come to life. They promptly defeat it and join forces with Richtofen to stop S.A.M. from achieving its true goal: to recreate Samantha Maxis' body and inhabiting it with her consciousness. They then head off to the nearby Janus Towers, in hopes of stopping her goal.
Personality
- "You will construct an inversion warhead? Clever idea, I am not surprised that it was Peck's -- he needed to be the smartest person in the room."
- — Valentina
Peck can be described as a narcissistic sociopath. He has a near complete lack of empathy, and is highly condescending to those he looks down upon (such as Dimitri Kuhlklay and the Requiem strike-team throughout Firebase Z and Mauer der Toten). He is highly dedicated to his work, eventually becoming obsessed with freeing Kazimir Zykov from the Dark Aether. He is, however, easily intimidated - especially by his superiors Gorev and Kravchenko.
Despite his sociopathic nature, he displays at times some sentiment of gratefulness and cares somewhat about how people talk to him, namely when he mentions how Maya saved him in Subic Bay and how when Carver belittles him, respectively. Besides this, he is highly intelligent and displays expert knowledge on Aetherium-based technology, single-handedly developing the Aether Reactor, as well as many other pieces of tech. He is aware of his intelligence, and constantly gives himself praise for it. Despite his genius, he seems to like to inflate his ego by taking sole credit for work that he co-developed, chiefly the RA-I K-84 and Red Soldier Mechanized Armor.
He is generally disliked by both his fellow Omega Group members and Requiem alike, with many of his superiors being quick to threaten him when he says something they don't like.
Appearances
Gallery
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
_BOCW.png "William Peck (Spectral) BOCW.png (1,009 KB)")
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Trivia
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Peck's voice in the Die Maschine Spectral Reflections is noticeably more calm and reserved than how he is portrayed afterwards.
- His voice is also less scruffy when compared to his voice in later maps.
- According to a quote in Mauer der Toten, Peck owns a dream journal.
- Peck hates the photo used for his Omega ID.
- Peck's codename when speaking with the Director of Requiem, "Codename Whiskers", is a reference to his pet cat, Captain Whiskers.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- The Terminus cinematic was originally released on YouTube featuring the voice of Zeke Alton as Peck. However, in the final version of the map and subsequent Black Ops 6 maps, Alton was replaced by a yet-to-be-identified actor.
References
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