Cal Muybridge

"All of life is just one big ruckus! Accept it or fight it, but all of our fates are intertwined! Such a power — we humans can’t fight it! Even if it’s just one person, they’re already involved……and if they challenge us, well, then the only proper way to respond is to risk it all and fight back, isn’t it? Otherwise, it just wouldn’t be interesting!"

- Karl to Rubik

Karl Muybridge (カル・マイブリッジ Karu Maiburijji) is the founder and chairman of the Nebula corporation.

Appearance
Karl is older than Bartolo Runorata and appears as such with an aged wrinkled face, but unlike Bartolo and his more dignified demeanor comes across as a kindly and mischievous old man. He often has a smile on his face, like that of a small child playing a prank.

Personality
Karl has an air about him that instantly puts people at ease, cheerful and disarming all at once. He enjoys the odd coarse joke or two and is usually good-humored when talking with his employees; still, when the situation requires it, he will impart one or two well-placed words of gravitas to remind his employees of whom they are really speaking with: a powerful and wealthy entrepreneur who built the Nebula corporation to its current grand standings in a single generation.

He is sharp and clever when it comes to handling money, and appears to have a solution to everything. As a young Ladd Russo once observed, does not particularly care as to when he will die. This is evident when he invites the Runoratas to shoot him in the conference room if they want; to gamble away his own life means that he has run out of all other bargaining chips, and Karl is indifferent to the fact that his last chip is his own life.

He has a mild Chicago accent.

Pre-Series
Karl founds Nebula around 1924 AD when it is only a chapter of an entertainment company, in which Nebula makes amusement park equipment and devised plans for public events. Karl manages to expand Nebula into a wide variety of businesses while profiting massively from investing in stocks. Thanks to Karl, Nebula reached the national stage in an impressively swift period of time.

At some point during the early years of Nebula's founding, a boy called Ladd Russo breaks into Karl's office with the intent to kill him – only to decide against it after concluding killing Karl would be boring. Karl learns through questioning that Ladd had broken into the building on a dare and bet with a friend, though he personally believes that Ladd was likely just hoping to cause trouble for Nebula.

1934: Street Episode Alice in Jails
In an unpublicized conversation, an unidentified individual asks Karl if he is familiar with his employee Renee Paramedes Branvillier. It takes Karl a moment to remember her, but once he does he comments on the length of her name and her sensual figure. He advises the individual not to approach Renee, who is currently researching the immortality elixir and rumored to be kidnapping people to use in experiments for said research.

Karl says that he is at a loss at what to do since they have no evidence for the rumors and there is no way they can intervene. Furthermore, Renee's popularity with the male employees means that he cannot easily relocate or fire her. He admits that he has a rough idea of everything she's up to, and that he is using her, but points out that it is equally possible that he and the other employees at Nebula are lab rats to her. Nonchalant, he asks the individual if they want to bet on whether or not Karl is being used and walking to his doom, or if Renee will make things interesting while still being under his control.

Karl confides that he actually had all of his employees bet on the wager, and that after tallying the results it seems that 99:1 assume that Karl will be defeated.

In December 1934, Karl greets Gustav St. Germain and Carol in the rooftop garden of Nebula's Chicago headquarters, where he has a thirty minute conversation with Gustav before Gustav and Carol return to the ground floor of the building.

1934: Peter Pan in Chains
The morning after Rail repeatedly bombs Elson's Hill, Karl calls one of the employees under Renee's supervision and orders the department to smooth things over with Rail before they continue adversely affecting other departments. When Gustav, Carol and Lua Klein make it into his office after fleeing from a series of explosions rocking the HQ building itself, Karl greets them warmly and advises that they stay with him for the time being.

Karl asks a nervous-looking Carol if she is feeling better since the first time they met, and then asks Lua if she is all right considering that Placido Russo held her hostage. Recalling that she is Ladd's girlfriend, Karl reminisces over the time Ladd tried to kill him many years prior before suggesting that they temporarily hide in the staff's living quarters until the situation calms down. He leaves the three in Rubik's hands before exiting his office.

Karl heads for one of Nebula's conference rooms, where Bartolo Runorata, surrounded by his subordinates, is currently interrogating Rail and Nice Holystone over their explosives. Karl cheerfully remarks that it has been "a long time" to Bartolo and asks how his grandson Cazze is faring. Bartolo's indication for silence and the ominous atmosphere do not deter Karl in the slightest, who observes that the interrogation in front of him must have been happening for some time. He asks if the child (Rail) is the guest Bartolo had told him about before, only to notice that both Rail and Nice have scars - which was a key factor in the description of the bomber responsible for bombing Chicago and Elson's Hill. He wonders which one is the true bomber.

Bartolo asks Karl to consider the situation, but Karl points out that the situation involves Bartolo using a large amount of men to terrorize a girl and child. He tells Nice and Rail that there is no need to be as tense as they currently are, and calls for Rubik – who had joined him after seeing Gustav, Carol, and Lua – to bring him tea. As Rubik does as instructed, Karl beams at Bartolo and exclaims that he had had no idea Bartolo would drop by Nebula, and Bartolo mutters that he hopes Manfred Beriam has not been talking where he should keep quiet. He admits that he was surprised when Rubik explained 'it' to them, having not expected that 'that' would be on the same floor as him and the rest.

Karl replies that Beriam has apparently been stuck in Chicago for the past two days, dismissing Bartolo's suspicion, before noticing that Rail is struggling against the ropes binding them. He strides over and immediately frees Rail from the ropes, throwing Rail into confusion. Still smiling, Karl apologizes to Rail for the trouble his subordinates have caused him, and then asks if Rail could forget about Huey Laforet and come work for him instead.

The door to the room opens and in walks Renee, who asks if Karl needs her for something. Everyone in the room tenses as she recognizes Rail - except for Karl, who continues smiling - and Rail reaches for their bag. One of the white-coated researchers who followed Renee into the room points a gun at Rail, causing one of the Runorata mafiosi to point his own gun at the researcher's temple. Rail seizes the bag while they can, and another mafioso's attempt to lunge at him is aborted by the researchers' presence. The first researcher's gun goes off, as does the gun aimed at his temple; the first bullet ends up grazing Rail's nose and tearing through the armed mafioso's hand. Rail grabs one of their bombs, pulls its pin, and throws it at the researchers. The bomb lands in the hallway instead, where it ignites seconds later.

The Runorata mafiosi immediately shield Bartolo from the impact, but their efforts are not enough to stop half his eyebrows from singing off. Nice and Rail in the confusion, unimpeded by the knocked down researchers. Karl, completely unharmed, smiles and waves a hand in apology over the bomb. He says that the incident is completely Nebula's fault, claiming that if his employee hadn't been so hasty to fire the incident never would have happened. He tells the mafioso with the injured hand that he will be happy to provide compensation for him, and volunteers to contact the first floor clinic to alert them of the mafioso's injury.

Bartolo accuses Karl of changing the subject, pointing out that if Karl had been just a little more careless Bartolo could have lost many important men. Karl asks if Bartolo values his men's lives over his own, and Bartolo replies that finding replacements for his men would be more difficult (whereas if he dies, he does not need to worry about a successor). Karl takes this to mean that Bartolo is "no longer" afraid of dying, and Bartolo says that he and Karl have long since reached the age where death ceases to be a concern.

Karl calls Bartolo's response "unpredicted" and promises to "make it up" to him. Completely serious, Karl invites the Runoratas to shoot him if they so desire. Bartolo dismisses such an action as "meaningless" and prepares to leave the room. At that moment, Begg Garott rises from his position near the doorway; in a wavering voice, Begg stutters to Bartolo that "those people" are probably immortals, potentially incomplete - and then he sprints out of the room. Bartolo announces his intention to leave for lunch before the police arrive.

Ten minutes after the showdown on the rooftop garden between Renee and her researchers and the temporarily allied Graham Specter and Christopher Shouldered and the subsequent escape of Jacuzzi's Gang, Karl and Rubik arrive on the now deserted chaos-strewn rooftop to survey the damage. Karl starts laughing out of merriment, at which Rubik reminds him that this is nothing short of a disaster for their employees and the company.

Karl smiles anyway, and wonders out loud what will happen next. Again, Rubik presses the point that for Nebula this has been a huge loss, but Karl more optimistically points out that now they know a little more about what Huey and his followers are up to. This in itself is something Karl believes is a 'victory.' Rubik sharply asks what good will come of involving themselves in Huey's games, and Karl spreads his arms and exclaims that life is one huge ruckus and that everyone's fates are intertwined. If someone challenges them, then they have to risk it all in fighting back - otherwise it wouldn't be interesting.

Rubik coldly asks Karl to gamble with his own life only, and begins masticating sugarcubes in frustration. Karl watches him for a moment and asks if he can try one of the sugarcubes Rubik seems to like so much, but Rubik immediately shoots him down.

1935-B: Dr. Feelgreed
A month or two later in 1935, Karl follows a younger employee into a laboratory that has been thrown into chaos, with incomplete immortal researchers rushing this way and that in frantic search for their direct superior Renee, who has gone missing. The younger employee informs the researchers that Renee left a note at the front desk, but the receptionist didn't understand the note at all. The researchers ask how the younger employee found the note and if it mentioned their specific department, causing the younger employee to hesitate.

Karl finally decides to step in, popping into view and explaining that the note was addressed to him personally. He had judged that the note contained what was essentially top-secret information, and elected to deliver it to the researchers about it personally. Without further ado he hands the letter over to the researchers, who are taken aback at its contents: in the note, Renee apologizes to Karl and explains that she is going to see her children and a former student (Huey) of her. She thinks she could be gone for anywhere between a few days and a few months, and requests that Karl ensure her subordinates are not too angry with her.

The researchers immediately burst into complaining, including regarding the surprise that Renee has children and that Renee is brazenly doing things that would normally get one fired. Karl lets them grumble and complain for a few minutes before clapping his hands to get their attention. First, he says that it should be clear to them that Renee is flying to England on his orders, claiming that the letter indicates as much, and brushes the incident off as him and Karl playing a "little joke" on the researchers. He asks that the researchers just go back to work for now, and say nothing more about what's happened even when Renee comes back.

When the researchers hesitate, Karl narrows his eyes and lowers his voice, asking for confirmation in a weighted tone. The researchers gulp and agree that Renee is without a doubt in England and that they hope she brings back a souvenir, satisfying Karl. The heavy atmosphere vanishes, and Karl remarks that he hopes that the souvenir is something sexy. He waves at the researchers as he leaves, laughing at his own coarse joke.

Trivia

 * In the original Japanese text, his mild Chicago accent is represented through the Kansai dialect.
 * His first name has alternatively been written as "Karil."