Charlie

Charlie was a Worker who resided in the cafeteria section of the Recreational Areas. He was officially known as "CH" (likely short for "chef"), but his more familiar moniker was used by the Numbers.

## Appearance

Charlie's appearance was unknown, as he was constantly hidden behind a glass pane in a kitchen behind the cafeteria. While it was initially unclear whether or not he dressed the same as the other workers given his limited role of making food for the prisoners, it is revealed later on that he wears the same bottoms but keeps a coat tied to his waist, likely in the case he might ever have needed to be of use elsewhere.

Charlie's only features of note seen later on are a drooping, thin ponytail of frizzy dark hair, and arms that were once muscularly toned but lost their luster, likely after so long of Charlie's imprisonment and repeated abuses.

## Story

Not much was known about Charlie's past before becoming a Facility worker. Like most workers, he remained shrouded in mystery. He may or may not have known who he used to be, but it has never been stated.

In earlier chapters, Charlie, like most all workers, remained in the background, silent. It's been established that the Numbers were all fairly unsettled by the fact that all workers had to be kept in the background, quiet and observant unless given orders. However, in Chapter 53, Charlie changed the view Numbers had of workers.

In the chapter, Ten goes to the cafeteria to get food, but is given a bowl of rice with a smiley face drawn in sauce. Curious about the gesture, Ten opts to approach Charlie (then still only known as a "cafeteria worker"). She attempts to communicate with him using pencil and paper, a method Charlie is respondent to.

During the interaction in Chapter 53, Ten was able to gather the following:

* Charlie "lives" in the facility and in his little area, and is not happy there. He is bitter about his and the other workers' positions
* He had been watching the Numbers for some time, and even witnessed Yosuke's and Ten's "date"
* He feels bad for Ten having observed this, which is why he drew her the smiley face on her rice
* Workers can't write or talk
* Despite knowing things of the Numbers and workers, Charlie cannot divulge information to the other prisoners (he is shown to be cautious about this, stopping Ten when she gets too curious)
* "C" and "H" are circled when Ten gives them a note of letters, which is how she discovers his title
* Charlie is male
* Charlie confirms there was another cafeteria worker before him, something also hinted at back in Chapter 42

The twins were, in part, responsible for helping Charlie get his name. Ten had been in the cafeteria with Two and Three discussing on what title to give him other than just "CH", and after some debate, the worker found that he preferred the name "Charlie" and stuck with it.

The other Numbers, after later being introduced to Charlie, came to take a liking to him after realizing the workers were in the same position as them, and that despite his overall silence, Charlie did small good deeds such as giving candy or sweets to the prisoners. Evidently, he cared about the others even though he couldn't quite do much else for them.

It's unknown how long Charlie was at the facility by that point, though it's speculated not to have been a long while since he was still able to function, use his motor skills for writing/drawing, and communicate overall. Mistakenly, it was assumed that the effects of Red Valentine thus hadn't damaged him heavily yet.

## Death

Charlie's state proved to be worse than initially thought, however. While Ten assumed he had always been okay, it was made clear by Lucius that he was only suppressing the severity of his budding symptoms for a long time. Throughout several chapters, Charlie began to slip in small ways, such as leaving bones in food, not flavoring food properly, writing less and with worse quality, and taking longer to respond. His sickness boiled over in chapter 90, where Ten and Two witnessed the aftermath of Charlie's murder by Lucius' hand. This reportedly came in response to realizing Charlie was hiding his symptoms until he was unable to anymore and accidentally poisoned a few prisoners with his meals. While his death was not seen, he apparently fought for his life and attempted to flee from Lucius, who missed his initial shots.
Ten and Two failed to get a response out of Charlie while waiting for food, prompting Ten to go get help from a doctor in the case that something happened to him. This only led to the discovery of the other Numbers being put to sleep, likely because the situation was too sudden for them to have been called out. Upon returning, she pleaded Two to leave, but failed to save the situation and was cut off by the sounds of Charlie banging on the door next to the counter. Ten later on noted that she wasn't sure if he was banging on it for help, or if he was trying to warn her and Two to get away.
While Ten never saw Charlie's face, she and Two both witnessed his body fall to the floor and pool with blood in much the same way as Jay, prompting Ten to draw parallels to her first witness of a murder. The incident was one of the only times during Ten's stay in the facility that any Number other than Ten has ever directly seen a death, or Lucius himself.
## Relationships

### Ten

Ten was at first quite cautious around Charlie before knowing him, and found the idea of a worker watching in silence from behind the counter quite unsettling. She does eventually start to notice that he gives the other Numbers treats now and then, and when she later realizes that he was trying to cheer her up after her "date", Ten was better able to drop her hesitancy toward him. She developed a liking to Charlie, and has a lot of sympathy for his position.
After learning the true nature behind the workers in Chapter 62, Ten grows increasingly more concerned for Charlie's wellbeing, despite not being able to do anything to help it. Having read Six's journal and witnessed firsthand the effects of the addictive drug, she comes to realize that he is inevitably going to die like the other workers. Even so, it takes her a while to fully process the loss of a dear friend, and she even initially refuses to believe he was ever sick because he had interacted with her so often.
Before Charlie's death, he expressed to Ten that he loved her and all the other Numbers.
### Two

Charlie is not someone Two ever showed direct affection for, but who he has expressed care for only after he was killed. He regularly cracked jokes around Charlie or even at his expense, and engaged with him as a member of the group as many of the others did. It's not until he speaks with Ten privately later after losing Charlie that he admits missing him dearly.
### Lucius

All of the workers directly answer to either The Overseer, or Lucius. However, more often than not, it's Lucius making a lot of the calls when it comes to ordering the workers around, something that's learned during Ten's confinement. Thus, this makes Lucius Charlie's "boss", so to speak. Charlie likely gets regular doses of the Red Valentine due to his position at the Facility
After Ten returns to the Numbers and her doctor, she encounters Lucius in the cafeteria and has her wrist grabbed from behind the counter. She comes to realize he appears there whenever it's time to dose Charlie with more Red Valentine, and that it's possible Lucius was the one watching the Numbers in some moments. Given that Lucius is known to abuse workers sexually, it's more than likely that he uses Charlie whenever a dose of Red Valentine is administered.
## Trivia

* Charlie is currently the only worker to have ever been given a "name"
* Even though there was another cafeteria worker before him, his first known presence was during Yosuke's and Ten's date. Whether or not he was present in the previous number's encounter with a cafeteria was him is not confirmed