theorem: application.

[blyat]

IC

Character Name: Cain, real name "Alexei"
Canon: Starfighter
Canon Point: Ch 5, pg 75 (right after being shot and losing consciousness)
Character Age: 22
History: There are five finished chapters of the Starfighter comic by HamletMachine, which you can find here. Wiki is here. As those links don't have much, I've written a detailed version.

Little is known of Cain before he becomes Abel's partner, team of the starfighter Reliant for the Federated Alliance fleet. Part of the story is driven on this mystery of who Cain is, and especially who he was prior to joining the program as a fighter. Some details can be scraped from the narrative, however, despite its focus on Abel's limited perspective. We know the Alliance is a human military force in a desperate battle against Colterons, insect-like aliens hellbent on domination. Within the Alliance is a special program of elite soldiers, where units are divided into teams of fighters and navigators. The fighter-navigator pair operate the starfighter together, relying on this bond to survive. Think Pacific Rim, but with more arguments and less mind-melding (and they have sex). The fighter attacks by using the starfighter's weapon systems, while the navigator takes control of the ship, piloting and directing the fighter.

The Alliance's goal is to defend Earth, as well as Earth's many different colonies. The story takes place in a highly futuristic setting. Cain himself comes from one of Earth's colonies on Mars, glimpsed in a dream to be an extremely cold, wintry place with few comforts. He is enlisted into the fighter-navigator program after an incident — it's described that he was "in over his head in the colonies," and later it's found that he was arrested and incarcerated on a trespassing charge. Thus, Cain is forced to join the recruitment program on a special task given to him by his direct commander, Bering. As of chapter five's reveal, the gritty details of Project Thebes have gained clarity. We know he is supposed to "seduce" his assigned navigator in order to form a close relationship, wherein the navigator will want to protect Cain during battle and activate the Colteron technology embedded in the ship. Basically, a honeypot mission with extra sci-fi. Cain has two navigators before Abel is assigned to him. The first immediately rejects him, while the other is injured and receives medical leave. Abel is Cain's last chance — if he isn't successful, he will be sent back to prison in New Volga.

The story follows their relationship from the moment they meet. Cain attacks Abel with violence, scarring his lip to show that Abel belongs to him. This doesn't put them off to a good start. They quickly face their first mission, which is successful only when Abel pulls a risky move to save another starfighter in the battle. At the end of the fight, Abel catches Cain masturbating from the thrill of survival (lol). This sets their dynamic into motion, because soon after that encounter, they have sex. It's pretty clear Cain is seducing Abel, but in the end Abel is just as willing to be seduced. After this, Abel wakes up in bed alone because Cain is reporting to Bering. He declares that he was successful in his seduction efforts.

The relationship between Cain and Abel becomes gradually more complicated. They've established a physical relationship and although Abel is still wary of him, they have sex again later in the Reliant. Meanwhile Cain is using Deimos, another fighter, to spy on whatever Abel is doing when they aren't together as a way to ensure Abel doesn't make connections with other people and jeopardize his secret mission. When he discovers that Abel spoke to Praxis, a fighter with a crush on Abel, he engages him in a fight. Cain pulls a knife on him but they're interrupted before it can go further. He doesn't tell Abel what happened, and he soon learns that Abel has volunteered them for a new assignment (which Cain calls a "suicide mission") against the Colterons.

Later story shows Cain and Abel getting closer and more familiar, though Cain still doesn't share anything about himself. They both have to adjust to life on the Sleipnir with their reassignment. Cain spends most of this time fighting and proving himself to the other fighters, as well as speaking with Bering about his secret mission. Cain and Abel are once again thrown into a battle, and this time Abel fulfills his potential when he unknowingly uses the special Colteron technology to trigger the "jump drive" in the engine — seen when the Reliant disappears after an explosion and reappears unharmed. To celebrate their victory, Cain and Abel naturally have sex, although this time there is intimacy and trust involved.

In the final chapters, the plot gets more involved with the supporting characters in the story. It's uncovered that Cain is only participating in the mission to seduce and lie to his navigator in order to serve the Alliance with the hope of clearing his record and returning home. He tells Abel that it was "me or you," although he claims his motivations have changed since actually getting to know Abel. The weapon created by their bond is said to be fueled by an intense passion to protect. Originally it comes from the Colterons, who powered it using their religious fervor, but the first human fighter/navigator couple were lovers. When one of them died, the weapon became useless. This explains the Alliance's motivation to find (or force) another pair of lovers so it would be possible to use the Colteron technology in the war once again. This is all revealed to Abel from two secondary characters, not from Cain himself. Once Abel realizes he was used, the two of them have an argument prior to a large battle, and Abel tells Cain he's done with him.

Cain will come directly after this moment under the assumption that he's failed his mission and Abel has ended their relationship due to his deceit. They are in the middle of treason when Cain is shot.

Division: Security. Cain would jump at the chance to enlist himself in this Division, since it is the most seemingly action-oriented of all of them and thus more similar to his role as a fighter. It will be natural for him to take up this responsibility as they visit new planets.

Edict: The Empty Machine. Given the circumstances of his upbringing and blackmailed enlistment by the Alliance, it becomes clear that Cain's motives have always been for something more. At first, this was to get out of the colonies and give the Colterons a taste of their own medicine, but this goal is a little more murky once he realizes what it's actually like to be a soldier caught in an intergalactic war. It doesn't take long for Cain's desires to shift toward going back home. But even this doesn't promise to satisfy his wanting — because Cain himself isn't sure what he wants. He has, so far, only been a tool in someone else's big plan. Yet at the same time, he does strive to improve himself and be the best that he can be because that skill is all he really has. There's something inherently desperate to his actions at all times; survival pushes him, but not out of choice. He strives for more, but he's continually stuck one step behind.

Powers: Cain has no special or supernatural abilities. However, he is an extremely skilled fighter, which is remarked upon several times, including that he's considered the best fighter in the entire program. This means he's talented in hand-to-hand combat as well as using the weapons system on the starfighter ships. He fights like he's trying to survive and isn't afraid to play dirty to win. His street smarts are an important asset in this respect, most likely attained during his time in the colonies. He also speaks Russian. Otherwise, he is just a normal human.

As the Ascendants deemed your character worthy of being on this exploration voyage, what qualities did they observe in your character that they found appropriate for the mission?

At first glance, it might be puzzling why the Ascendants would choose someone like Cain, because he doesn't sell himself very well from a first impression. However, there are a few things more immediately obvious that make him a good candidate for these missions — mainly, that he's accustomed to space-faring voyages and all its inherent dangers. He has been traveling in space for a while now, and he's even a soldier for his own version of the Alliance, although his is limited in that it only includes Earth and Mars. It is also mainly a military operation created to repel the specific alien race called the Colterons. Still, it means that Cain will have little issue making the mental adjustments necessary to explore space and other worlds, seeing it almost as an extension of his current life with a great deal more independence and freedom. Sign him up.

Deeper than this, then, is Cain's actual capability as a Wayfarer. Despite all of his rough edges, Cain is a dedicated soldier. He trains hard and polishes his skill so that he will excel even beyond the expectations set for him. It's not uncommon for him to be underestimated, but Cain takes pride in his abilities and will do what it takes to see things through once he's set his mind to it. He may not want to go on any kind of suicide mission, but that risk of survival is not unfamiliar to him — he enjoys risk, and likewise he'll appreciate the mission in a new light, knowing that he's been chosen for it. If you can get past his rough and arrogant exterior, Cain is a very proficient soldier and worth having on the Theorem.

What is your character's best quality, what is their worst, and how do these two qualities affect each other?

Cain's worst quality is how quick he is to become angry and violent. Aggression defines much of Cain's personality as a fighter born out of the colonies on Mars. He shows no hesitation getting rough with people, highlighted when he pulls a knife on Praxis, or when he's in physical disputes with other fighters. He tends to try to solve many of his disagreements this way, such as wanting to punch Phobos in the cafeteria or as he's handling Deimos' clinginess. This lends toward recklessness and poor planning in many situations. It is also further exacerbated by the task assigned to him by his superiors, making him touchy and fearful of discovery, resorting to manipulation in many cases with Deimos and Abel.

His best quality is his capacity for affection and thoughtfulness. This side of Cain is revealed as he begins to open up and develop a genuine attachment to Abel. A lot of Cain can be read through his actions and body language, since the story is not told through his perspective, so much of his affection is illustrated during their intimate moments. He becomes worshipful and praises Abel, wants to sleep close together, and even appears to be a cuddler. While he may not be able to communicate how he feels well, he does show it through his treatment of Abel in the final chapters. He also demonstrates his thoughtfulness when he rescues Deimos from a group of fighters, displaying concern despite the fact they'd never met before that moment. He's a decent(ish) guy beneath all of his destructive behaviors.

Truthfully, these qualities feed into each other throughout the entire story. Cain's tendency toward aggression is offset by how caring he can be, so in a sense his aggression arises as a defense mechanism for how soft he really is at heart. His world has shaped him to be rough and respond violently, but if he can ever figure out who he wants to become, it won't be that.

Your character's Edict appears in front of them, and agrees to grant them one wish: what does your character wish for?

To go home.

Cain's longing for the colonies of Mars — or colony number five, if we're being specific — is a tragic result of his circumstances. He states that for most of his life growing up, all he's wanted is to leave and see something more, and he's excited by the prospect of fighting against the Colterons who famously attacked his home planet. Yet when he does obtain the opportunity to join the Alliance and leave Mars, it's under duress, and he quickly realizes that his new reality isn't much better. Sure it may be better than prison, which is currently his only alternative... But what he wants more than anything is the peaceful, uncomplicated life he had with his family and friends before he lost it all. In some sense, this is an idealized version of what it was like for him back home, but it is far better than what he's living as a fighter under the Alliance's thumb.

So for better or worse, this is what he would ask The Empty Machine, with a kind of desperate longing that might be well understood by the Edict.

The Theorem has broken down, and is drifting toward a black hole. There is very little hope of outside rescue. What does your character do?

The answer to this question would heavily depend on the people around him at the time. By nature, if Cain is on his own without allies or people he can trust, he would isolate in this situation. The most likely scenario is that he'd gather a lethal amount of alcohol and basically drink himself to death/wait for the end. Even as someone focused on survival, he would recognize that there's little hope to be found — and he's not someone to believe in false promises of salvation, so he'd face the facts early. He's not necessarily afraid to die, but he won't be looking forward to it. Hence getting absolutely blasted.

On the other hand, if Cain has people around him that he trusts and cares about, his reaction would be much different. He would exhaust all options to see if there might be a solution, or he'd at least try to band together and figure it out with others on the ship. He does care about people, deeply, so this sort of situation would push him into evaluating what actually matters. He would try to go out fighting and protecting them, if there was a way, any way. There's great potential for Cain to be selfless, he often just needs to be pushed into a corner so he'll allow himself to demonstrate it, which this would very much accomplish.