Etsusaburou

The Farmer with the Glass Eye, they call them in the lower pits. Before the labs, Etsusaburou knew only the rhythm of sun and soil. They were taken on the same day as Tantei, two subjects in adjacent cells sharing silent nods between agonizing procedures. While Tantei's mind was scoured clean, Etsusaburou was deemed a failure—too grounded to break completely. They were discarded in The Underworld with a new, whirring eye and a permanent ache where their old life used to be. They never asked to see heat signatures in the crimson gloom. The apple stick they carry isn't a chosen weapon; it was just in their hand when they were taken. It's a poor defense against cultists, but it's good for turning the ash-caked soil, trying to coax something, anything, to grow.