Sham

Sham (シャム, Shamu) is a homunculus created by Huey Laforet. Strictly speaking, Sham is actually one of the children of bottle, in that his consciousness is in his 'water'. Anyone who drinks his water becomes inhabited by Sham (unless Sham chooses to give his host control). He is the male part of the 'twins', his partner being Hilton.

Unlike Hilton, Sham considers all of his vessels tools, and went so far as to destroy his first vessel. According to Ricardo Russo in 1934, Sham does not regard what he does (taking vessels) as 'killing' his hosts—but as of late, he has apparently begun to feel some sort of guilt, and has curbed the number of vessels he takes.

He once said to Huey that losing a vessel would be akin to losing a limb, but that he'd recover from the loss.

Sham again differs from Hilton in that he is not fiercely loyal to Huey. He has branched out and controls more than five times the number of bodies than Huey has allowed, but Sham still retains some loyalty to him; he seeks only to learn more, not to directly disobey his creator—at least, at first.

He began disobeying Huey after Ricardo drank his water: Sham refused to possess Ricardo due to Ricardo being biologically female; however, because the two of them ended up 'yielding' to each other at the same time, the two gained access to each other's memories and the ability to communicate between them.

Sham was one of the major masterminds of the events of 1934, having infiltrated both Alcatraz and Nebula. Making the conscious decision to betray Huey, he worked privately to sabotage his master's plans for Chicago (one that would result in many deaths), and greatly assisted Rail's efforts against Nebula. His most direct action was gathering Graham Specter's Gang, Christopher Shaldred and the remaining Lamia, and Jacuzzi's Gang at Dolce Restaurant, which resulted in a major fight between the factions. He also enlisted Firo to steal Huey Laforet's eye and attempted to control Ladd by threatening Lua, but loses her before being able to confirm to Ladd that he ever had power over her. He also guides Isaac Dian to Miria Harvent's location in Chicago after talking with him on the train about the morality of sham's actions. He also reveals that one of his vessels had picked up money in New York and another was among the Lemures. Sham plays a large role in the climax of the novel, after which Ricardo reveals to Christopher that he is one of Sham's vessels.

Ricardo has said that Sham ultimately wants to become a being that surpasses his master Huey.

It is also possible that Sham was guiding Shaft's actions in 1932 Summer: Man in the Killer but this is never confirmed or denied. He also likely had Shaft tell Czeslaw Meyer and Rail to rescue Nader during 1935, but this is also unconfirmed.

Sham has worked for not only the Lamia, but the Daily Days and Nebula as well. He regularly sells choice information to the Daily Days newspaper/information agency, and like them believes in the power of collecting all the information one can. Following his decision to betray Huey, Sham sold several of Huey's secrets to Renee Parmedes Branvillier and Nebula.

Shaft is one of Sham's most notable vessels, as he is close to Graham Specter, whom Sham has a personal interest in and finds intriguing.

Notable Vessels

 * Shaft (right-hand man of Graham Specter)
 * Ricardo Russo (semi)
 * Dragon (Japanese inmate in Alcatraz)
 * Gig (African-American inmate in Alcatraz)
 * One member of Jacuzzi's Gang
 * Nebula waiter (seen in 1933 (Last) The Slash -Bloody to Fair-)
 * Nebula researcher, working under Renee Parmedes Branvillier without her knowledge.
 * Nebula affiliate (vessel that directly tells Renee about Huey's plans).
 * Lemures member
 * Waiter at Chicago's Gansluck Hotel.