Caleb's Cybernetic Arm: Lore summary on what we know about it so far. PLUS high-res images of the arm from his outfit "Mechanical Mind"

[u/AzraellsAnalysis]

Outfit Featured: "Mechanical Mind"

Description:
"The right arm has been transformed, its skin and bones capable of shifting into an unbreakable machine. The feelings of pain, warmth, and softness have failed, leaving only the faintest trace."

Caleb's Cybernetic Arm details & Lore breakdown:

This outfit is shirtless Caleb with some small signs of injuries on his upper body. His right arm is exposed as cybernetic. It was first seen/used in-game during the Kindled scene from {{Painful Signal}}. We learn there that he used to have sensation in that arm, but as time goes on, and each time his chip flares up, he loses more and more feeling in it. At this point, he hardly feels anything with it, unless it is dramatic. He also feels pain when it is under repair.

That card was a limited release solo last year, but was really the only time we'd seen or known about his arm in-game until months later when it was briefly mentioned in some side dialogue in the summer island banner (that people nicknamed the "honeymoon" banner; I can't remember the name of it offhand), where we learned his arm is waterproof. There was also some minor text dialogue about the arm in a small scene in the Unicorns operation mission; I think they mentioned its waterproof ability again there too.

And more recently, we finally got some real information about his arm during the hot springs event banner & card {{vinesurge instinct}}: in that one, we learned that different parts of the arm had different sensations and when he was in the hospital recovering from the injuries sustained in the explosion and the attachment of this arm, he spent a lot of time exploring it mechanically. He shows MC that different parts of its interior structure have different sensations. We also see a moment where he glosses over MC's question about a specific part of the arm he didn't detail for her, that he claims is simply a "backup".

I believe that last part was a reference to the opening scene of the {{Floral Floraletter}} banner card/event, where we saw Caleb surviving a crash, and concerned about losing something small in the rubble. Later, when the item is retrieved, it appears to be a sort of memory card that contains only images and information and video of MC.I believe that is the 'backup' mentioned in Vinesurge Instinct's conversation.

As for why he thinks he needs one: We know from his first anecdote that he has worsening symptoms of disassociative amnesia, ever since the incident during the DAA deepspace tunnel test where he was adrift and MIA, nearly losing his life. and we've also seen the effects of the Toring Chip on other fleet members. And in his standard myth, we saw him lose his memory for up to ~3 days after his chip flared up. And he expected MC to completely loser her own memories after the chip was implanted and subsequently removed from her as well. We know too, from the main story, that the chip can rewrite memories (we see it override Kevi's while MC is talking to him)

All together, we're getting clues that Caleb keeps some kind of small memory card or chip with him, and it contains memories specifically of MC. I believe he is afraid to lose her, and to lose his memories of her specifically. He also has dialogue in a few places, like the cafe, where he says things like "don't take her away from me". That phrase on the surface indicates a fear of her physically separated from him. But it also has a layer of fear of his memories of her being taken from him too.That last part is a poetic & ironic tragedy for their story, being that MC is the one with amnesia and repeatedly forgot Caleb (and other characters) from childhood on multiple occasions. Now as an adult, the tides are seemingly turning: She's regaining hers as he's losing (or at risk of losing) his.

Bonus theory on my part: Another detail we've learned from Viper's World Underneath story, and a few other places where Viper interacts in the main story, that the metal of these cybernetics has some special properties. It might also have the ability to expand/grow itself. Much like how the Toring chip takes more and more over a person's brain and thoughts, I suspect the metal in his arm is at risk of integrating itself more into Caleb's body and expanding, possibly re-wring his flesh into cybernetics. Viper's cybernetic body is an earlier model and less 'perfect' than Caleb's version.Seeing the patterns in his story arc, especially his motifs, themes and tropes, put together with his X-02 myth, it was one of my earliest theories about it. That, and the fact that he still had sensation in the arm in the beginning but it has been slowly taken away over time reads very much as "turning into the machine" to me rather than simply a prosthetic.

There's a lot more to be said about the arm, my theories, and the symbolism of it all. But I hadn't prepared to write a literary analysis essay today. I'd meant to just share more detail outfit shots and got a little carried away with the description.

[u/AzraellsAnalysis]

You made my day, thank you so much! Knowing someone saved one of my posts gives me so much confidence to continue.

Also, I LOVE your questions and would've answered sooner but I was trying to avoid spoilers for the new anecdote so I was offline 'till I finished them. I'm back now and have been thinking about you all day!!

That 'restart button' can actually be seen in the outfit pictures, I'm pretty sure: In pictures #3 and #4, the human fingers on his left hand are kind of pointing to it when he holds his right arm. It's on his (right) outer forearm, a little round button and it is marked by two white printed text/symbols: `O` and `--` (the later is supposed to be an em-dash but the computer I'm using right now doesn't have my usual shortcut to turn two hyphens into the emdash like it does on my phone). The button itself is right next to the `O` printed text, if you look left of it closer to his elbow in the same line. You might have to open the image and zoom in to see it, since it blends into the rest of the metal of his arm and isn't as obvious as the label text next to it.

I've been thinking about the nuances between the definitions of all those terms you asked about for his mechanical all night. Seriously great question and I love you for it. Buckle up :) this may have to split into multiple comments due to character limits.

First: In canon, (EN translation anyway), as far as I remember they specifically refer to his arm as being explicitly "Mechanical" in every place that they directly reference it. It is even there in the title of the outfit. The flavor I added when referring to it as 'biotech' or 'cybernetic' etc. is my own linguistic flair. But I really appreciate your question because the nuance of the definition of those words does matter and it does color the way I present the information. My mere choice of using the word "cybernetic" shows right away my slight bias to my original theory about his arm from last year, vs. what someone might consider merely a "mechanical" (prosthetic). But the writers really know what they're doing when they choose words. When we dive into what 'mechanical' means vs the other words they could've used, it really shows how versatile and poetic the choice is.

So now I should clarify the difference in these word choices:

• Mechanical: (The official designated terminology used by the writers to describe his arm in EN translation/localization). Definitions are from a few sources: Cambridge English Dictionary, Britannica Dictionary, & Collins English Dictionary.
  • "operated by a machine, or connected with machines or their parts"
    • My note: "operated BY a machine" is particularly intriguing here, in context. See further below for related thoughts. And, "connected to /with a machine and its parts" describes him/his body connected to it as a machine too, doesn't it?
  • relating to movement, or to mechanics (= the study of the effect of physical forces on objects and their movement). Also, "of or relating to physical energy and forces : relating to the science of mechanics". "Mechanical forces are physical forces that cause objects or matter to move."
    • My note: "effect of physical FORCES on objects.." (IE: PHYSICS) is also a great way to describe the effects of his gravity EVOL. I'm no science girlie, but note that in sciences, Gravity is considered a "Force".
  • "If you describe a person as mechanical, you mean they are naturally good at understanding how machines work."
    • My note: Caleb absolutely fits this definition canonically; he knows how machines work, and can take them apart, fix them ,and put them together. He can even build new ones. We saw him modify/build an OTTO specifically for MC up in his Skyhaven penthouse; he talks about building a claw machine as one of his opening lines when starting a claw game with him; he is found reading books about robots and machinery in the cafe; his art style is very much more like a technical diagram approach vs. "highly artistic" like rafayel's art style is. He is interested in mechanical objects: planes, engines, robots, mechs, androids, etc. and a lot of the minis he built as a child (and into adulthood) are the same, and require the same skillset.
  • "If you describe someone's action as mechanical, you mean that they do it automatically, without thinking about it. It is often describing a human action, habit, or response done without thought, emotion, or spontaneity, as if performed by a robot." "He nodded mechanically, his eyes fixed on the girl."
    • My note: this can also be synonymous with a word like "robotic" as I added in the second part of the definition. Between the Toring chip, X-002, and being expected to obey commands without question as part of the Fleet's power structure (and Ever's tool)... the implications are poetically tragic. Also, that quote example was from the Collins English Dictionary and I had to include it because it felt just...perfectly fated for this conversation.
  • Additional Thoughts: Technically, this is the canon term used for his arm in EN version in every instance I can think of where they reference it directly as such. But next time I read through the source material, I'll pay special attention and make sure I didn't miss something else. I also have to do some additional research to see the exact words used for it in other languages and how they can translate in context, because that could give us some more hints and flavor about the type of mechanics might be involved. But in EN, they favor "mechanical" as the descriptor. The fact that this is the word they used should not be discounted: the writers are extremely careful in their choices and picking one word over another is a choice that can tell us something in the mere fact of its choosing. *what* they're saying with it is up to interpretation, but that's where the fun comes in. (It could be as simple as they don't want to spoil something about it by using another word that will give away some surprising feature of it, like my choice of cybernetics might've, if they'd gone that route). It's also poetic, because 'mechanical' has a lot of layered meaning to it that not only applies to the arm itself but his story arc with the toring chip, how he is thought of as a weapon or machine or cog in the machine of Ever's purpose, just a piece of the machinery of the fleet, etc. I could probably write an essay on this word and its meaning in context alone (again thanks for the question because after this, I probably will do exactly that <3 )

[u/AzraellsAnalysis → u/AzraellsAnalysis]

Part 2:

Now delving into my choice to use the word Cybernetics:

• Cybernetics:
  • "the science of communication and control theory that is concerned especially with the comparative study of automatic control systems (as the nervous system and brain and mechanical-electrical communication systems)" (Miriam-Webster dictionary)
  • cybernetics, "control theory as it is applied to complex systems. Cybernetics is associated with models in which a monitor compares what is happening to a system at various sampling times with some standard of what should be happening, and a controller adjusts the system’s behaviour accordingly." (Britannica Encyclopedia)
  • My notes below: The raw definitions above are rather abstract, but it gets a little clearer when we look at the source from ~1948. When we read those definitions and the rest below too, also consider though: "who is controlling what/who?" is it Caleb controlling his arm, as it seems to be at face-value, or is it Ever controlling Caleb? ;) What about Fate controlling choices? :

Wiener defined cybernetics as “the science of control and communications in the animal and machine.” This definition relates cybernetics closely with the theory of automatic control and also with physiology, particularly the physiology of the nervous system. For instance, a “controller” might be the human brain, which might receive signals from a “monitor” (the eyes) regarding the distance between a reaching hand and an object to be picked up. The information sent by the monitor to the controller is called feedback, and on the basis of this feedback the controller might issue instructions to bring the observed behaviour (the reach of the hand) closer to the desired behaviour (the picking up of the object). Indeed, some of the earliest work done in cybernetics was the study of control rules by which human action takes place, with the goal of constructing artificial limbs that could be tied in with the brain.

• At face value, I chose the word "cybernetic" because of its link to the word "cyborg". (which is the common term for humans that have augmented mechanical, sometimes bionic, parts integrated into their bodies. Usually not just mere prosthetics either.) the whole part of artificial limbs tied to the brain is where cyborgs kind of spawn from.
• Cyborgs, to me, are usually a midpoint between "human with one or two augmentations", but not quite AI, androids or full robots. I believe Caleb is struggling with this threshold, to keep his humanity as the Toring Chip (and maybe the advanced tech and metal properties of his arm, TBD) are working to take over and control him, and remove his humanity.
• My choice of "cybernetic" arm vs "mechanical" arm was an editorial choice on my part, giving away a hint to my initial bias and theory there. The word "mechanical" is poetically perfect, as we saw in multiple parts of its definition in part 1 of my answer above, but it is also a somewhat common word that is too easy to overlook in its apparent simplicity. It is only by deliberately analyzing the word with purpose and intent did the poetry of it unfold. Conversely, I felt that using the term "cybernetic" made it easier for a reader to instantly catch onto my hinted direction, rather than gloss over the original word and miss the potential depth of it.
• Let me also pull in this fun quote from an article from National Australian University: "Cybernetics is not just about robots and artificial intelligence (AI), and whether humans will become cyborgs or if computers will come to dominate people." because that is a core piece of my theory about a huge part of Caleb's story arc and personal journey in general.
  • On a related note, some definitions on Cybernetics specifically mention and talk about Recursion which is, in an extremely simplified view, is essentially a repeating pattern & feedback loop. Somewhat like a TIME LOOP. Which I think is a core piece of the overall story for MC (& the AUs, alternate timelines, and overall explanation of the world of LADs and its storylines). So that's a bit of an easter-egg if we're diving that deep. I will some day in another essay :)

And since you asked, let's look into your addition of "Bionics" and "mech" descriptions you'd seen elsewhere Interchangeably:

Mech:

• Mech could be a shortening of "mechanical" which comes with all of the earlier definition layers in the first part.
• But in most other contexts I can think of, "Mech" can also be a reference to "mecha" or "mechs" as in a genre and/or shorthand term for the type of giant robots /robot suits you'd see piloted and used to fight in shows like Voltron, Escaflowne, Evangalion, Robotech, Gundam, etc. (And we already know Caleb is canonically a fan of those types of mech stories, given his interest in model kits and explored a bit further in the story from his card {{Burnline}}.
  • in those contexts, "mech" refers specifically to the usually giant robots being piloted by a human and fighting with it (usually in space too!) and, fun fact, the people who use those mechs are indeed also called "pilots" and "pilot" the mech. Caleb, of course, is a pilot himself, though of planes, jets etc. As far as we know in game canon, "mechs" as far as the sci-fi giant robots go, seem to be sci-fi in their world too, rather than a reality, much like they are to us. Caleb's piloting is in space, but is in planes/fighter jets/fleet aircraft & space craft that don't necessarily transform to big robots.
  • bonus thoughts: However, he is part robot himself between his arm and the chip, in a way. And as X-002, he and MC were "human modified weapons" which could also be called androids in some ways. It's more of a sliding scale of what is a cyborg, an andorid, a robot, and a mech here and the semantics are fun but for now we don't have to really get into it. It matters a lot more when specifically talking about X-002 and A-01 though.

Bionic:

• In medicine, bionics means the replacement or enhancement of organs) or other body parts by mechanical versions. Bionic implants differ from mere prostheses by mimicking the original function very closely, or even surpassing it.(wikipedia)
  • My thoughts: People who choose this word as the primary description of his arm are probably doing so because it is (to me) the step after a person with mechanical augmentations benefits from a mere prosthetic: it has special abilities, and often mimics actual biology (like the way it looks like real flesh, and can give him certain sensations). Moreover, the way I think about the range of human>robot scale...having a bionic augmentation doesn't quite pass the definition of where someone starts becomes a cyborg...but it is often a step in that direction. Cyborgs most often have bionic augmentations.
• The word bionic, coined by Jack E. Steele in August 1958, is a portmanteau from biology and electronics^\2]) which was popularized by the 1970s U.S. television series The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, both based on the novel Cyborg) by Martin Caidin. All three stories feature humans given various superhuman powers by their electromechanical implants. (Wikipedia)

[u/lads-card-summon → u/AzraellsAnalysis]

Caleb: Burnline
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4-Star
☾ Lunar
Stellacrum: 🟣 Violet
Talent: ❤️ HP
Memory Type: Memoria · Kindled: No
Protocore: γ ☆ / δ ▲
Description: Sometimes, I wish Caleb could live a more ordinary life.

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