Xander Cale

art by Vadvivon

Xander Cale is a biologist dedicated to discovering a way to perform extreme flesh and body manipulation. They are a main character in The Broken Cyborg, and they are voiced by Paul Shapera.

## Biography

Xander's mother and her sister had grown up in a desperate lifestyle in the Shopogopolis until they were recruited into joining a cult. This cult believed in chastity, in preparation for cosmic angels who will come and carry the pure to a blissful life in outer space.

Xander and their twin sister Macayla grew up in this cult until Macayla developed a serious illness that the cult refused to treat. Xander urged their mother to leave, and they did. Their mom found work at the Shopogopolis, and medical treatment was sought for Macayla, but the doctors could not save her. Xander swore to help their sister, but Macayla's condition never improved and her mind slowly continued to bend until she became a sad, insane, flesh statue.

Motivated by their sister's condition, Xander went to study biology in college. In their eagerness to master bio-manipulations, their experiments went too far and they were expelled. They then moved to The Shanty Town, and earned a reputation as a real life mad scientist who could provide cutting edge cyber modification and trans human enhancements.

Among those who came looking for Xander's biotech expertise were Meme and Rebecca, who asked them to create a child forged from Meme's bioessence and Rebecca's DNA. Xander was thrilled about the challenge and pushed all other work aside for the next year, and Jane the Cyborg was born.

Jane and Xander had a very close and loving relationship, and Jane helped out in Xander's lab, and they taught Jane how to perform body modification. Although Xander was the best in the field, they couldn't attain their dream of wildly sculptable flesh and body shapes, and began to believe it wasn't possible.

After receiving a message from The Dwarves, The Mayor feared that Xander's bioexperiments would lead to a new era that would be disastrous for the city. She ordered the Blood Red Dogs to attack the park, with Xander as the main target. Xander escaped through the tunnels, but Jane was very badly wounded in the attack.

The shanty town refugees left the park and traveled to The Albinos and then to the city of Victoria in the Fairy realm. Xander was desperate to save Jane, and they begun studying fae magic in hope that it would provide them with new insights. It did, but at a cost. The logic behind fae magic was not meant for human minds, and Xander had to twist their thinking in order to grasp it, and went incurably mad. New flesh was also needed to repair Jane's broken body, and having no time to grow new ones, Xander used their own limbs. By the time Jane woke up, Xander was a laughing, insane torso, devoid of legs and all but their right arm.

Xander had written down their new bio-science in careful detail, with a warning not to study beyond chapter seven. Jane used the extreme flesh manipulation to bio-alter the refugees, and with the new enhancements and allies they reclaimed the park, naming the new independent colony Xandoria in honor of Xander.

## Trivia

* The Mayor and the Blood Red Dogs misgender Xander in Bio4 市长 and Bio6 突袭, calling them by male pronouns instead of nonbinary ones. This was written intentionally by Paul, as The Mayor and the military were basing their knowledge off of outdated college records, and they weren't terribly concerned by addressing Xander by the correct pronouns while attempting to kill them. The Meme misgenders Xander in No Point Being Extra About It: New Albion 11, but at that point they were still in college and the Meme didn't know about their preferred pronouns yet. Jane also misgenders Xander in Ljiqnmnhodjin and Ejin Hhfnn Cnm Knhln, and those cases appear to be accidental slips in lyric writing.
* Henry the Alchemist is Xander's cousin, and grew up in the same cult that Xander did. Henry fled before Xander left the cult.
* Xander sacrificing themselves to save Jane continued to weigh heavily on her, until she finally realized why they did so in Ejin Hhfnn Cnm Knhln