John Calderas

[Astronut]

John Calderas 38, born to Angelos and Debie Caldera, is the second son of the family. As a kid, John was a quiet person, which made him quite a target for bullies at school. The bullying was so intense that he spent most mornings in the school doctor's office trying to get a pass to return home. The situation escalated at the senior prom night where his bullies tried to provoke him into a fight and eventually succeeded, resulting in John breaking of of his attackers' nose before being jumped on by the rest of the group. The next day the school decided to expel John, but give a mere warning to his attackers. Something that really angered John who punched the Director in the nose too before exiting the office. The police was called and eventually John was arrested and charged for battery at the age of 17. His parents bailed him out and tried to ask the Director not to press charges. He accepted in return of John moving to another school as he was "quite a provoking insolent child". His parents eventually enrolled him to another school, more closer to home. That whole ordeal was John's first encounter with injustice and it angered him that he was punished while the real culprits were just given a pat in the back. Still he decided to not allow his previous experience ruin his chances at the new school, meanwhile keeping tabs with his friends from the old school.

 

But John was not out of the woods just yet. Although he tried to forget his past experiences at school, he had developed PTSD which led him to many alcohol filled nights with friends, perhaps more than what was acceptable for his age. Eventually a teacher named Mr Robins noticed the steady decline of John's performance at classes and decided to talk to him. He was in his early 30s and having had a problematic childhood himself, he recognized signs exhibiting in Johns behavior. He suggested John to visit a therapist, but he was not inclined to "have shrinks fiddle with my brain, Im not crazy", to which mr. Robins replied "No, you are broken". As an alternative mr Robins suggested him to start an extra-curricular activity and being a volunteer at the local dog shelter himself, he suggested John to join in as well.

 

As a kid, John always brought home a kitten or a puppy and although his parents were against it, eventually they grew to accept it. John decided to join a dog shelter group as a volunteer and eventually adopted a dog named Romeo, a dog who none would walk due to its strength, bulk and clumsiness. Having spent time with stray animals John managed to work on himself and get over his PTSD. His character changed, becoming more calm as a person as well as patient, which is how he learned to handle even the wildest dog (earning him, ofcourse, a lot of bit marks, he affectionately calls love bites). In time Mr Robins recognizing John's passion for helping animals, he gifted him a dog trainers school enrollment for his birthday, further cultivating John's discipline and dedication as integral parts of his character. In the meanwhile his grades improved tremendously and it wasn't long before he finished school with honors.

 

As the years passed, John went to college and graduated and started working as a PC technician, but he still dedicated his free time at the dog shelter and it wasn't long until he became one of the shelter's best volunteers and rescuers, exhibiting enormous amounts of patience, dedication and smart thinking in approaching animals, looking after them, training them and caring for them. From a very young age John had an affinity for technical stuff from watching his brother put the family computer together during weekends and dismantling it come Monday (back then computers consisted of fewer components), watching and helping his father fixing house appliances, electronics and building things that required craftsmanship, like a very small cement fountain-lake at the family's country house (the man was a gynecologist but he was a craftsman at heart). It was a no brainer that John would grow up and put this affinity of his to good use both professionally and in repairing things around at the dog shelter, as well as crafting dog tags for each dog, something the shelter could not afford at the time.

 

Meanwhile a few  years have passed and his friends from his old school invited him to the school reunion. There he saw his old classmates again, all grown up. It was at that moment when he also came across his bullies and many thought that it would end up in a fight. Fortunately that wasn't either John's or any of the others intention who apologized to him for all those years back. John could never hold a grudge, his gentle and compassionate aspects of his character were too strongly developed for that, thanks to that old -now- teacher who saw John's potential.

 

One day John was doing a shift at the dog shelter, training a middle-aged  Belgian Malinois named Alfy. A strong and vibrant dog that despite its age was full of energy. A fellow volunteer came into the training yard, followed by someone dressed in what looked like police uniform. The man was introduced as Officer Prado and had dropped by in his break to ask for a puppy as a gift for his daughter. John rolled his eyes and mentioned that dogs are living beings, not items to be gifted. Officer Prado was taken aback from the reply, but nodded in understanding. Then his eyes fell on Alfy who was about to come closer to the man. John then  snapped his fingers twice and Alfy stopped dead in his tracks and just sat down. Officer Prado smiled, impressed from the direct communication between John and Alfy, and began to ask questions about the dog and its history, as well as the type of training it had received. As they talked John explained how he tries to develop a number of different ways of communication to the dogs he trains, so that they can be easily adaptable to slight changes from their adoption parents. Officer Prado was in the city's K9 unit before his four-legged partner was lost in the line of duty, where he left the unit in order to work in a police desk position. John noticing how the man seemed taken with Alfy, snapped his fingers once and gestured to Alfy to go forward, which he did, although hesitantly. As Officer Prado knelled infront of the dog he outstretched his hand to allow Alfy to get to know him. John mentioned as a matter of factly that Alfy was already two years in the shelter. Officer Prado realized what that meant and looked as Alfy approached closer and leaned its body on him, leaving a trail of hair and saliva. "I dont care....I'll take him...where do I sign?". John smiled and nodded. A few days later, after the evaluation period and training of Officer Prado was concluded to John's satisfaction, Alfy passed through the door of the local Police Department. He wasnt to be in active duty, but he was to be a constant companion to the veteran police officer. Impressed with the professionalism and effectiveness, Officer Prado asked John if he would be interested in joining the police force K9 unit, as a dog trainer. John knew that training a police dog is completely different from training dogs to follow simple commands, but he really wanted to give this a try. He was to go through evaluation and training himself, which could mean he would have to unlearn somethings he learned, but that didnt deter him. It was one more challenge he had to face, as the many others he had in his life that helped him grow as a person.....(and this is where his story begins in game)