Caine Reyes

Caine Alon Reyes is the protagonist of Under the Electric Stars and a member of Zero Zero. They are the fastest driver in Metropolis West and work alongside Zero Zero in a revolution against POTEN Co.

Appearance
Caine Reyes is a Filipino character who is depicted with brown skin, short dark hair with a grey streak in front, and buckteeth. Their official art shows them in a black and white a sleeveless shirt with six studs on each shoulder, dark leggings, a plasma knife holster on their thigh, and dark purple sneakers. Caine is described as wearing a long checkered scarf that used to belong to Sebastian Reyes and keeps their arms bandaged from the palm to the elbow.

Early Life
Caine Reyes was born an Epsilon in the Tollbooth to Benjie Reyes and Maricel Reyes, the third child after Sebastian Reyes and Valeria Reyes. Benjie and Maricel's work as Ansible radio disc jockeys meant they occasionally sent messages to their children on air, sometimes having them on air. Their family lived in the same apartment for their entire life. At eight years old, Caine met Dax Pastore, a man who bought the apartment building from the original landlord. Around the same time, the Reyes parents placed trackers on all of their children.

Caine was particularly close to their siblings, spending a majority of their childhood chasing after Sebastian and spending time with Valeria. They were a notorious hothead as a child, getting into fights with Correctors over injustices and causing their parents to worry. They showed an interest and knack for driving, even before the legal driving age. After many discussions with Sebastian about escaping from Metropolis West, he asked Caine to help him leave, which they refused out of confusion. As a result, Caine felt partially responsible for Sebastian's disappearance. During that time, Caine found Jettison Reyes and refurbished him. A year after Sebastian disappeared, Valeria, Benjie, and Maricel also disappeared. Since Caine was still a minor, Dax manipulated them into declaring their parents dead and allowing him to take control of Caine. This caused Caine to also accrue all the debts of their family, which Dax leveraged to force Caine to work for him as a courier.

Season 1
Caine continued their impulsive behavior into their adulthood, continuing to pick fights with people over unfair conditions but managing to get away due to their honed driving skills. Though Caine was allowed to live in their old apartment, Dax garnished their wages and essentially kept Caine in servitude.

Dax broke Jet's specialized power core after an unsuccessful delivery, forcing Caine to consult Rossum for help. Rossum would then send Caine to a Celadon Carbonate warehouse, a branch of POTEN Co.'s mechanical manufacturers. While attempting to steal the core, Caine ran into Su-jin Yi, who also required the core to power the systems at the Zero Zero base. Caine and Su-jin escaped with the core, but were spotted on the security cameras, which prompted Su-jin to bring Caine to the base in order to erase their images from the tapes. Caine would then meet Vic Vass and Lola Sunn. Lola Sunn told Caine about the tenets of Zero Zero, which reminded Caine of Sebastian's dreams, convincing them to join.

Caine was then sent on a mission with Vic in order to retrieve map coordinates from a secret place in the Kvadrata. Vic and Caine had an antagonistic relationship due to Vic's cavalier attitude. After they retrieved the coordinates, they discovered Jet had been stolen by junkers. Vic and Caine got into an argument where Caine accidentally revealed their dislike of Dax and his attempt to "replace" Sebastian in their life. Vic admitted his wrongdoings and the two of them sought out Jet in the marketplace, eventually finding him in Indra's possession.

After spending some time with Su-jin, Lola assigned the two of them to install the haustoria, a device that Su-jin built to siphon power, into a station in the Numitron Tube. Following a large cave-in and Caine getting mildly electrocuted, the two were forced to cut through Station Faradize, a supposedly haunted area. Caine's body was still electrically charged and they accidentally powered on Arcadia, a video game that manifests memories. While Caine was trapped inside Arcadia, they encountered their memories of Sebastian and Valeria, who encouraged them to escape and continue to live their life. Su-jin rescued Caine and installed the haustoria, but asked if they could return a piece of equipment they stole from Gamma. Instead, they found Gamma mortally injured by Indra. In a bid to protect Su-jin, Caine fought with Indra and accidentally damaged their cardioplate--however, Lola and Vic had arrived and enabled them to transport Indra back to the base.

Caine was required to head back to their old apartment so as not to arouse suspicion in Dax, but they had frequently stolen parts from his warehouse. Dax confronted and locked Caine in their apartment, which was retrofitted with a metal door that was unpenetrable by Caine's plasma knife. After Su-jin called to check in on Caine, Caine used their experience with cutting cassette tapes to unlock the voice lock Dax had set and escape their old apartment.

Afterwards, Caine was given a room at the Zero Zero base before Zero Zero went on a mission to Windowpane to return the haustoria prototypes to their previous informants. During their navigation there, an explosive was set off near their car, which caused Caine to pass out. When they came to, Caine and Indra snuck into the upgrading ceremony to return their prototype. However, disaster struck when the informant tried to unmask Lola. When they returned to the base, Vic was convinced that one of the members was a spy.

Eliminating all other possibilities, it was discovered that Caine had unintentionally fed information to the outside: the tracker in their arm was charged when they touched the haustoria and then began to feed data to Dax. Vic continued to accuse them, causing Caine to shut down and seek help about the tracker from Rossum. Rossum confided in Caine that she was unable to pull the tracker out of Valeria and would be unable to to do it for Caine. Rossum mistakenly believed that Dax had put the tracker in them based on the timeline, an assertion Caine believed after Rossum protected them from Dax searching for them in Rossum's shop. Lola and Su-jin confirmed that Caine would be unable to remove the tracker physically, but would be able to steal the controls from Dax. This was a task that Caine decided to do in order to confront Dax.

Caine's old apartment was swarming with Correctors, but they managed to sneak in. In the process, they discovered that the elevator shaft actually led up to a secret ninth floor--one that Caine and Jet managed to make their way to. The ninth floor was a secret room where Dax kept some of Valeria's old items, including a log where she revealed that the Reyes parents had actually installed the trackers on their children.

Dax offered that Caine use the tracker information to lead Correctors to the Zero Zero base, where they would apprehend Lola Sunn in exchange for Dax's upgrade and ability to free Caine. Caine was very nearly tempted by the idea of being reunited with their family, who they had just discovered were alive again, but was convinced otherwise by Zero Zero, especially Su-jin. As they tried to escape Dax's grasp via Su-jin's grappling hook, Dax attempted to hold onto Caine, which would have dragged both of them to their deaths. Jet then released an electrical shock which caused Dax to fall to his death. After they had been rescued, Caine recognized that their tracker could lead them to Sebastian, who had actually made it to one of the outposts beyond Metropolis West.

Season 2
Caine was mildly apprehensive about leaving Metropolis West, but was the sole driver of the group when they made their way to Cair Mallplex. On the way, they followed a truck on the primary road called the Torpedo in order to maximize their chances of survival. The truck spotted them as a wildfire broke out, referring to Zero Zero as bandits. However, Nell Palomo, Ganymede Moreno, and Tari de Whitte ended up attacking the truck for supplies. To escape, Caine drove their car through a fire, which destroyed the engine of their car. Ganymede and Nell introduced themselves and Ganymede offered to have Cair Mallplex's mechanic fix it.

Tari introduced Caine to the mechanic, who turned out to be Sebastian Reyes. The two of them had a difficult time adjusting to seeing each other again after six years of estrangement, especially because Sebastian left when Caine was still a teenager. Ganymede requested that they scour Cair Mallplex for the correct part for Caine's car, which they could not find--eventually, Caine deduced that Ganymede's husband, Ronan, had taken the necessary parts. Sebastian offered to fix Caine's car since it used to belong to his family, and the two fixed the car together.

Caine found it difficult to contend with the fact that Tari and Sebastian had grown so close over the past six years, feeling as if they had been replaced. However, Caine and Su-jin were tasked with getting intel on Tari and seeing if ey were interested in joining Zero Zero. Because the reputation of new outsiders was largely negative, Tari intended to build up their cred, taking the two shopping and running into Astra, Katz, and Harlan, who inspired Tari's decision to make Caine and Su-jin play in a makeshift band and up their cred. Caine doubted if Tari was interested in Zero Zero, but after they played a song together, Tari expressed that ey were interested all along and Caine accepted em.

When a sudden power failure occurred, Sebastian volunteered Caine to help him fix the generator, a move that made Caine uneasy. The two fought over the fact that Sebastian left without warning, while Sebastian argued that he was waiting for his family to come to him. Due to a sudden earthquake the two were separated, and Caine left to fix the generator on their own, which potentially could have proved fatal. They were rescued by Sebastian, Ganymede, and Jet, who split the charge of the generator between all of them.

Jet began to experience more severe glitching after receiving a large electrical shock. Caine realized that he was copying their tendency to hide their problems and asked if Tari would help him after they learned Tari knew one of the people who initially programmed Jet. Su-jin and Caine were responsible for manning the radio station in the meantime and received a signal from Kaleo Hale and Ava Jafari, who were accompanied by Gamma and Elizabeth Haven.

When Haven officially arrived, Nell tasked Su-jin and Caine with taking Kaleo and Ava to safety. Once Ava had been treated for her coughing fits, she revealed that she had been chasing down Zero Zero's voices after the radio broadcast on 103.7. She also revealed that she and Kaleo had come to Cair Mallplex to warn them of Haven's plan.

After a few weeks of a dust storm trapping everyone inside of Cair Mallplex, Jet let Caine know that he was ready to handle the major glitch he had been having--one that was triggered by the memory of Dax's death. Caine admitted that they also had been dealing with the repercussions of that time and tasked Vic to help them. Using an augment-like device, Vic linked Jet and Caine's memories so that they could process the aftermath of Dax's death, since he was, at the time, their only remaining "family."

That same night, Caine, Vic, and Jet were trapped in Vic's room because Haven had escaped. Caine used their plasma knife to cut through the door and rejoin Su-jin and Nell. Nell requested that Caine, Vic, and Jet help look for Indra and Lalitha, who had gone missing.

Personality
Caine is an impulsive and temperamental character who comes off as particularly cynical of the world until they meet Zero Zero. Their anger is often fueled by and directed at wrongdoings in the world. Caine has a tendency to act on instinct, often making snap decisions, especially in life or death situations. They also speak quickly, sometimes seemingly uncontrollably when they are anxious, a cadence called "patter-talk" in the transcripts.

They are the most comfortable behind the wheel of their car, often sounding more confident. They highly value the objects given to them by their family for their sentimental value, which is why they treasure their car, their knife, their scarf, and their radio so highly. Caine has a strong connection to family and finds comfort with both their blood family and their found family.

Caine seems rather flustered by romantic advances, frequently expressing discomfort or surprise when it's brought up, especially regarding Su-jin.

Abilities
Caine is the fastest driver in Metropolis West, able to escape many situations that normally would result in a catastrophic crash. Their experience comes from both their interest in cars and their years working as a courier. Caine learned to knife fight from Valeria, who gave them the plasma knife for their 14th birthday. They have survived a fight with Indra, who, when uninjured, was able to incapacitate or kill xir foes with ease. They have also successfully used their knife to open doors. Caine has an almost preternatural ability to sense when things are wrong, using it unconsciously to sense that an electropulse reactor was going to go off, to drive with high accuracy, to recognize that Ronan had taken mechanical parts , and so on.
 * Driving
 * Knife fighting
 * Heightened senses

Jettison Reyes
Jet and Caine are extremely close, as Caine was responsible for putting Jet back together after they found him discarded. Jet served as Caine's navigator and only friend for five years, though he was only able to speak in short phrases, sometimes copying Caine's words to communicate. The two considered each other family. During the course of those five years, Caine wrote and added sections to Jet's personality code, though he was also able to modify it himself--Caine encouraged this as it represented his autonomy. Jet's development as a person does not seem to phase Caine, who continually guides him through the larger, more complicated feelings that he experiences. Caine considers Jet extremely smart and is proud of his accomplishments, while Jet serves as a moral and emotional support to Caine.

Sebastian Reyes
Caine was particularly close with Sebastian, often modelling themselves after him and inheriting his objects, including the aforementioned scarf, radio, and even his guitar. Caine idolized Sebastian and followed after him, much to Sebastian's general bemusement. Though they have a significant age difference, Sebastian also spent a lot of time with Caine and instilled in them his beliefs about a better world and leaving Metropolis West. Sebastian trusted Caine with his life, even suggesting that they leave the Metropolis together. When Sebastian left, it tore the family apart--especially Caine, who felt abandoned.

When the two reunited, they hit a rocky patch in their relationship. It eventually resolved with Sebastian's apology and Caine's recognition that they had put him up on a pedestal, and the two began to repair their relationship.

Valeria Reyes
Valeria and Caine were close siblings, with Valeria teaching Caine much of their practical skills. Valeria looked after Caine like a mother, especially after Sebastian's disappearance. She was generally the voice of reason among the siblings, though she also daydreamed of leaving the life they were living. Valeria and Caine were split on their opinions of Glasshouse, with Valeria wanting to take Caine with her and live there, while Caine rejected the idea completely. Valeria was particularly protective of Caine and tasked several people to watch after them when she wasn't around, including Dax and Rossum both. Caine still misses Valeria over the course of Season 1 and Season 2, though their emphasis on missing her is stronger in the latter season.

Dax Pastore
Caine had a largely contentious relationship with Dax, who antagonized and demeaned Caine constantly. Dax made or suggested physical advances on Caine, denied them food or shelter, trapped them in their apartment, and financially, physically, and verbally abused Caine. There were occasions where he would act protective or sympathetic to Caine, though whether or not those moments were genuine is unknown. Caine felt as if Dax was trying to replace Sebastian in their life, as he stepped in more frequently when Sebastian had disappeared. Caine was uncomfortable with the idea that Dax owned them, a fact that Dax lorded over them until his death. After his death, Caine felt both relieved and guilty, a feeling they eventually resolved along with Jet and Vic.

Su-jin Yi
Su-jin was the first person that treated Caine with respect after they had been living with Dax for five years. The first time they met, Su-jin instinctually protected Caine and worked alongside them, which Caine warmed up. Caine and Su-jin have a close relationship and are referenced hanging out outside of their work in Zero Zero. Caine trusts Su-jin far more than any other member of Zero Zero, even going so far as to jump off a nine-story building because Su-jin said they would catch them. The two have saved each other's lives on multiple occasions. Caine often seems flustered when people point out their preference for hanging out with Su-jin, but they have also admitted that Su-jin is the only person they would want to sit in the passenger's seat of their car. Su-jin often interacts physically with Caine, doing their makeup or holding their hand. The two appear to be mutually attracted to each other, but are not in a relationship.

Trivia

 * Caine's middle name, Alon, means wave in Tagalog.
 * Caine was based on Neon Nova, a Killjoys self-insert that Eli Ramos created in high school.
 * Caine's appearance is very close to Ramos' appearance when Ramos created the show. They have stated that Caine is "transparently a self-insert" as the show's initial premise was creating a cyberpunk world where Asians were the protagonists.
 * Caine's hair was originally half-grey and half-black, then grey with a black streak in front, before finally becoming black with a grey streak.
 * There is a running gag that Caine does not like how they look in goggles.
 * Much of Caine's patter-talk is improvisation by Rhea Anne.
 * Of all the characters in UTES, Caine's dialogue is most often replaced by improvisations from Rhea Anne.
 * Caine drives a 1970 AMC Rebel.