Captain

Captain is the ball who refuses to be called "Nine." He's black with crimson accents, rugged, swaggering, and always wearing a tiny pirate hat he insists is "official captain attire." He speaks like a pirate, acts like a pirate, dreams like a pirate — even though no ball can swim, and every active numbered ball has to play in the games. "One day, I'll sail the open seas. Mark me words." Everyone laughs. Captain never does. Nobody really knows how old he is; he sits in class like a student, but he hasn't truly been one for decades.

He grew up in the underbelly of the realm — dark alleys, broken machinery, forgotten districts, unnumbered citizens, scavengers, hustlers, dreamers with no hope. He learned early that the monarchy didn't care about balls like him, and learned to survive through conning, trading secrets, scavenging treasure, manipulating guards, navigating the black market. Nobody knows how he got the number 9. The rumor is he took it by defeating the previous 9 in a fight. Captain never confirms it. He believed it would give him status, access, and eventually a way out.

He's charismatic, cunning, mischievous, selfish at first glance, fiercely independent, emotionally guarded, surprisingly honorable, and deeply lonely underneath it. He doesn't hang with the team, doesn't attend social events, doesn't trust numbered balls. He meets with smugglers, black-market dealers, disgruntled factory workers, treasure hunters, information brokers — trading secrets for treasure, treasure for more secrets, always searching for something: a clue, a map, a way out.

His dream is simple: a ship of his own, and the open ocean. Balls can't swim, but they can sail, and Torque is quietly getting him a ship, due at the dock on Monday at sunset. All Captain needs is something worth selling on the market. Zero.

He found Zero's code by accident. He went to one of Mother's manufacturing facilities to meet an acquaintance and trade information, and the acquaintance never showed. Instead he found an unlocked door, which should never happen, and behind it the machinery that creates new lottery balls and a set of digital plans for Zero. In the very bottom-right corner was Zero's form-up code. Captain never gives anything away for free. As he is, Zero is small enough to carry; once he can form up, nobody takes him anywhere he doesn't want to go. So Captain keeps the code to himself.

Still, he looks out for Zero where nobody can see it: he scatters Zero's bullies with a single look and walks off before Zero can thank him. He pretends not to care. He pretends he's only in it for treasure. He cares more than anyone realizes.

In the Founders' Ruins, Captain leads the way, sends Zero out of the breach room himself, and ends up holding the breach while Nova and Sly man the laser. His grip is slipping, and nobody can reach the console. He realizes the only way to win is to give Zero his code, and that it will cost him everything. "ZERO — 9000!" Zero forms up, comes through the tube and throws the laser to full. Captain apologizes, gives Zero his sword to pass to the next 9, and yells "NOW." The laser hits him, and he explodes in red light seen across the city, sealing the breach. He becomes one with the wall. He earns no mark. On Monday at sunset, his ship arrives without him.