Cyril

"I'm whatever you want me to be, a kind of jack-of-all-trades." - Chapter Seven Cyril may appear to be a harmless tram conductor, but in truth, he's a skilled jack-of-all-trades mercenary man who takes no side but his client's. He causes quite a bit of trouble around Melbourne whenever he takes a job from Mr. Gabriel to capture a member of the Violet Investigation Unit. As a tram conductor, he's apparently known as "Caleb".

Appearance
Cyril is a fair-skinned and slim male and seems to be quite tall. He has short and somewhat messy black hair and black eyes. His conductor uniform is made up of a blue and red vest, blue pants, and a blue and red hat with yellow buttons and adornments. His typical fashion for his mercenary work is a white shirt, red suspenders attached to brown pants, and a tan hat with a red stripe. He's very rarely seen in anything else.

Personality
Cyril can be described as a dangerous charmer, as he has a way with words that can easily intimidate others, but have likely been used to impress the ladies. It's possible that he may be open with his sexuality, considering his teases and cute names to both females and males, once asking a fellow employee to kiss him if he agrees to help him with a task. While sarcastic, silly, and even a bit overdramatic, Cyril has a way of appearing all business whenever he's approaching a possible client, such as when he speaks to Elijah. He has a very carefree nature and isn't very mindful of what he says to others, considering that he implies of him possibly pushing himself onto Petunia if Todd refused to accompany her to his place. He also seems to have a lot of self confidence, almost to a point where he could appear self absorbed, shown with his conversation with Elijah when he smokes with him outside the Parliament building. Whenever he feels verbally or physically threatened, he can transform from a very confident and cool customer to quite a terrifying individual, such as his encountering of the other hired mercenaries at the warehouse.

Cyril isn't very open to sharing personal information about himself, as he tells Elijah and Meredith that he is just an employee and nothing more, and it's further demonstrated whenever he tries to cover up an injury that Todd discovers on him. He also seems to be angered whenever Petunia finds a personal photograph of him and another individual at the Eighth Lagoon.

Background
Not much is known about Cyril's past, other than it's likely that some dark events occurred in his life that led him down the path to becoming a lawless mercenary. It's possible that this dark past may have involved an issue with the government, considering his willingness to go against it. It's unknown if he has a family or any true friends, or what exactly his relation is to the man seen in a personal picture in his room.

History
'''*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION!*'''

Chapters 1-5
Cyril appears very briefly in the first chapter, calling for Petunia and Todd to get on the tram if they're going to ride. He also appears before Elijah and Meredith, his clients, to discuss his terms of work with them. Although Meredith is very untrusting of him, Elijah claims to like his style.

His true introduction puts him as a somewhat concerned conductor who recognizes Todd as a regular on his tram, and after he misses his stop, offers to draw him a map in order to get to his stop. However, the map is a trap, as there are several mercenaries waiting for him on the path and knock him unconscious. While he's making sure the crime is played out, he notices Petunia has witnessed the crime and takes her as a hostage back to his boss, though he assures her that he'd never shoot a girl like her, unless if his boss asked him to. When he takes her back to Elijah, he discovers that the girl he has captured is his younger sister, and is forced to take her on as a "mistress" to stop the crime from being completed and free Todd. He finds Petunia entertaining and questions her about her intentions to rescue Todd, as it's apparent that she doesn't trust the government, yet wants to rescue a government worker.

Upon arrival at the warehouse, he gets the location of Todd's whereabouts before proceeding to kill the team of mercenaries that were hired with him to kill Todd. Petunia slips away from him and goes on ahead, leaving him with a close call from some of the mercenaries, and violently kills them. When he comes to the room where Petunia and Todd are, Elijah and Meredith meet up with him and the latter demands that he needs to get in there and help them, but he and Elijah are willing to see what Petunia can do with her pistol before heading in to help. Upon the sound of Petunia's gun, Cyril congratulates her on the kill, sounding somewhat impressed. When Todd comes face to face with him, he's revealed to be the tram conductor, which scares Petunia as well.

Chapters 6-10
Following the strange incident at the warehouse, Cyril tracks the pair down to the Rainbird Cafe, where he makes his acquaintance with Hana and asks her for Todd's presence. He notices Todd and Petunia in the back, and takes them outside, after threatening to snap Todd's shoulder when he makes verbal threats. He invites the pair over to the Eighth Lagoon for drinks and to discuss their situation. Todd refuses, insulting him, prompting Cyril to threaten to reveal Petunia's knowledge of the crime if she does attend, and Todd agrees to go so that she won't be alone. He leaves a threat that if they try to skip the meeting, he will come find them.

He's late to the meeting, and only arrives in time to see Petunia peeping at a personal picture of his, and he scares her out of the room to head back into the main room of the Eighth Lagoon. He gets a bottle of alcohol out, and sits with Todd at a table to discuss the matters of the kidnapping fiasco. He tells him of his occupation, and how he would like to neatly end their connection, but Todd surprisingly doesn't agree. He instead asks for Cyril to work for him, which Cyril protests against the idea. They're almost at each other's throats when he gets a call from a client, and simply leaves with a warning for Todd to take the manner of hiring him seriously.

In the flashback chapter, Cyril still works as a conductor, and seems to have the same sort of attitude about him - teasing his coworker, Maxwell, about buying him drinks if he helps him with counting out Petunia's half-pennies she uses for payment. He seems to take a bit of an offense to Todd ridiculing Maxwell's inability to accomplish his job correctly and for wasting his time, though not as noticeable as Maxwell, who agrees to drinking after Todd leaves.

Chapters 11-15
After thinking over Todd's proposal, he goes over to Todd's apartment and breaks in. He's discovered by Petunia, who goes over trying to apologize and thank Todd for what he has done for her, but he stands at the door instead. When Petunia tries to flee, he traps his foot in the door and says that he'll forgive her if she gives him what he wants. They end up in Petunia's apartment, where Petunia is serving him tea. She eventually breaks down and asks why he's here, causing them to argue, until Petunia claims that she owes him something for keeping his word and allowing her and Todd to escape the warehouse alive. He disagrees, and chokes on the tea that Petunia gives him, leading him to lay down in Petunia's bed to recover. When he reveals that he hasn't eaten in two days, Petunia offers to make him porridge, and he refuses and gives her money to go buy him something. When he calls for her to get him a bottle of wine, Todd is made aware of his presence and that he was the one to break into his apartment.

He's moved over into Todd's apartment and given a herbal remedy for him to help with his health. When Todd flashes a smile at Petunia, Cyril finds himself uncomforted by it, and demands to know if Petunia's aware if he's ill. Todd reveals that he knows why Cyril has come to see him, and they begin to talk about the work that Todd wants him to do, seeing that Cyril has changed his mind about the employment. Todd asks him to steal a neurotoxin called Spiridium, but even so, Cyril still remains unclear if he's actually going to the do the job or not. Todd grasps his shoulder in frustration, revealing that Cyril has been badly injured and has unsightly bruises on a large portion of his chest and likely other parts of his body. He gets up to leave and after Todd and Petunia protest their worries about his health, he implies that he's had injuries far worse, and says that he'll take the job.

Cyril is summoned by Elijah once again, this time to receive an extra payment for the situation about the Violet Investigation Unit kidnapping, and Elijah invites him to sit and smoke with him. He questions Cyril about his thoughts on dying, to which Cyril says that he doesn't worry about it, since it happens to everyone. He adds a somewhat bitter thought that people try to hold onto things that can "save them from the grave", but he remarks that everyone ends up rotting in the ground. Elijah muses that he never expected such a personal thought from him and teases him, causing Cyril to get up and leave. However, before he takes off, he sees Meredith waiting around the side of the building where they're at, listening to their conversation, and Cyril calls him a dog for following Elijah around everywhere.

At the end of the second flashback chapter, he is seen groaning about how he is short fifty pounds in tram fare. Maxwell, his coworker, stumbles out, a nervous wreck about learning how to drive the tram. Cyril tells him to relax, as he's the best teacher around, only managing to make him more nervous. However, all goes well until Petunia and Todd cut in front of the tram, in pursuit of a thief, and Cyril is forced to stop the tram. He later meets up with the thief, laid out on the ground, and collects the stolen fifty pounds from him.

Chapters 16-20
Cyril bumps into Petunia when she is coming back from visiting Dylan, Marcus, and Roland, and asks her who Dylan is, almost in a possessive fashion. However, he soon tells her to sit down, but Petunia claims to have business with him and takes a seat at the front of the tram. Petunia attempts to offer him the money that he once gave her to buy him food, and he says that he doesn't want it - saying that she should just keep it because she's poor. He goes on to ask why Elijah's so rich, yet she's so poor, which offends her. When she declares that she's not afraid of him, he proceeds to laugh and comment that she's a bad girl as well, and they all have their secrets. She calls him the worst kind of man, and he proceeds to look somewhat offended and confused as she mentions that she's seen a real gentleman before, yesterday. As she's getting of the tram, Petunia looks back and smirks at him - revealing that she had slipped the money back to him.

Later, on the job, Cyril is working out his schedule with clients, saying that Todd's job is the next on his list to do. While he apparently gives off a negative vibe to his other coworkers, Maxwell still treats him kindly and invites him out to drinks later on that evening. He thinks about a person from his past, which startles himself and Maxwell, but he simply replies that he drank too much and thinks that he was just seeing a ghost. That night, Cyril arrives at the botanical gardens where he is scheduled to meet with Todd Allison, only to realize that Petunia Elkwood has been brought along as well. This instantly annoys him, and the two begin their usual banter, only to be stopped by a naughty smile from Todd. Then, when the redhead offers Petunia the opportunity to work for him as his assistant, Cyril gives her a sarcastically bored expression, but is utterly surprised when she emotionally accepts, and Todd immediately becomes ecstatic. He suddenly gains a panicked expression, as Todd swivels his head towards him.

Todd Allison
Todd starts out as a target for Cyril's capture, under his employment of Elijah. He has no feeling towards him and simply captures him in order to accomplish the job at hand. However, at his order to get Todd free from the warehouse, a whole different relationship is struck between the pair. Todd is very frightened of Cyril, but isn't afraid to stand up for his personal rights and will refuse to comply with what he wishes. However, he has seen the efficiency of his work and finds it powerful, leading him to ask Cyril to work for him, and continue to persist until he accepts. It doesn't seem like he holds any real feeling for Cyril, but he does grow concerned whenever he discovers that Cyril was injured badly, and is quite thankful after Cyril agrees to take on his job. Cyril seems to just find Todd as a troublesome man, and often an annoyance.

Petunia Elkwood
Petunia starts out as a mere hostage to Cyril, but her presence at the fateful crime against Todd begins a strange relationship between the pair of them. Cyril is interested in Petunia, for her naive and strange answers to his questions and actions, and with her being uncomfortable with the thought of government. However, he may have some sort of affection for her, which he may have gained whenever he witnesses her shooting a mercenary at the warehouse, implies to Todd that things could happen between them if he doesn't accompany Petunia to the Eighth Lagoon, and refers to her with titles, such as "Lady Petunia", while she just seems to be afraid of him. Whenever she spots him at Todd's apartment, he grows annoyed with her because of her food options and her concern about his health, but he still seems to enjoy teasing her. He has also made some observations of her, such as questioning why her brother seems to be so rich, but she's so poor.

Landon
Landon is a tenant of Cyril's, who stays in one of the rooms at the Eighth Lagoon by working as a cook and waiter for him. Landon has a high admiration for Cyril, and it's possible that he may have some sort of attraction to the man. Cyril relies on him to take care of the place, which may show that Landon has proven a trustworthy person to him, as evident by him being allowed to overhear the plans of employment between Cyril and Elijah - ones that likely went against the government. This is also shown whenever Landon comes to slip Todd a note about Cyril's employment, and even almost asks him about Cyril's state of being to Todd.

Elijah Elkwood
Elijah is the client of Cyril, who hires him to kidnap and kill a member of the Violet Investigation Unit in order to send a message to Parliament. Elijah has an admiration for Cyril's line of work, and finds him quite useful, though Cyril may find him a tad frustrating to work with at times - especially when he recalls the order of killing the target of capture. He also calls him posh, insulting how tired he was after meeting with Mr. Brampton. Elijah also gets under his skin, after he claims that his opinion on death is quite personal and laughs about it. Cyril may get this irritation from Elijah's refusal to just treat him as a stranger who is working for him.

Meredith Elkwood
Cyril has a very business-like relationship with Meredith, really only because he is the guardsman to his client. Meredith and Cyril haven't had much interaction, but Cyril did tell him a story about a former lover of his, though it may or may not have been true. Meredith clearly doesn't trust Cyril, warning Elijah about him when they first meet, and considers him reckless and wicked for leaving Petunia vulnerable to an armed threat at the warehouse. Cyril also doesn't have the best feelings towards Meredith as well, as he insults him for being "Elijah's loyal dog" for following him around everywhere.

Maxwell
Maxwell is a fellow employee of Cyril who works as a conductor for the tram system in Melbourne. He appears to be the frequent subject of Cyril's teasing, since he seemed to not be fazed whenever Cyril comes out of the restroom and claims he fell asleep. Cyril also seems comfortable skipping out on his shift and asking him to buy drinks, which could show that they're frequently working together on the job. Maxwell is the only one in his company that has been seen interacting with Cyril in a nice way, and worries about him when they go for drinks and he looks disturbed. Cyril, apparently, is the one who taught Maxwell how to drive the tram, as shown in Chapter 15. Maxwell doesn't seem to know about Cyril's other job, and refers to him as "Caleb".

Quotes
''"'Slowly bleed to death'...isn't how I do things!" ''(about Elijah Elkwood, Chapter Five)

"You haven't got a clue what's going to happen." (To Todd Allison, Chapter Seven)

''"You don't owe me. I never did a single thing for you." ''(to Petunia Elkwood, Chapter Eleven)

''"What a stupid thing to worry about...everyone dies. People think that money can save them...family, friends, lovers...you can't take any of that to your grave. Whether you're rich, poor, ugly, dirty, or beautiful, in the end we're all just skin, meat and bones! We'll all bleed and we'll all rot!" ''(to Elijah Elkwood, Chapter Thirteen)

"I don't have time for tiny rude girls." (To Petunia Elkwood, Chapter Sixteen)

Appearances in other media

 * He appeared as a guest character in the webcomic THIS IS NOT FICTION.
 * He also appeared as a cameo in the webcomic BFF (Best Friends Forever).