Agent McCabe

R.J. McCabe (also known as Agent McCabe), full name Rylan Josephine McCabe, is a former agent of the IGR and a current crew member aboard the Iris II. They are first introduced in Episode 4 as Agent Park's "new partner in this case", with the rank of Junior Agent.

The Rumor case is McCabe's first assignment, and they are initially eager, enthusiastic and naïve; the script notes for Episode 4 state that, "This is their first real case and the job hasn’t crushed them yet." However, they later become much more guarded and cynical after their superior, Agent Park, is taken away to Zone Z, suspected of being a double agent and leaking information from the Rumor recordings to outside parties. McCabe is subsequently promoted to the rank of Agent in Park's absence, and takes over his role in introducing and closing the recordings from the Rumor.

McCabe later defects from the IGR during the Rumor crew's infiltration of ADVANCE labs, making a split-second decision to do so after they discover that they are already considered a traitor to the Republic because they are presumed to have assisted Park in his own defection. They are currently a crew member aboard the Iris II.

McCabe can speak French, as it is commonly spoken on Martineau, where they grew up.

Early Life
At 23 years old, McCabe is very young for a Junior Agent (and later Agent) in the IGR. They later talk about having "set records" as a "champion sniper" and presumably having risen through the ranks very quickly due to their skills. They mention having attended "the Academy", which is presumably a school or training facility for would-be IGR Agents.

McCabe has a brother in the military. They are from a planet called Martineau, whose location is as yet unknown, and on which French is commonly spoken.

Time as an IGR Agent
McCabe's first assignment as a Junior Agent is as Agent Park's partner on the Rumor case; they are initially very enthusiastic and eager, expressing in the introduction to Episode 4 that they are looking forward to working with Park, and thanking General Jahansooz for trusting them with the opportunity "to help defend the Republic".

McCabe is diligent and thorough in their approach to their job; they talk in Episode 10 about having "logged a lot of time listening to [the Rumor] files", and insist on listening to sections of the twelve hours of audio that Junior Agent Goodman insists is unusable, wanting to "be safe" and verify this for themself. As a Junior Agent, they look up to authority figures in the IGR, and are described in the script notes as "star-struck" when Major General Frederick calls them both by name in Episode 7. Despite this respect for authority, they still defend Park's loyalty to the Regime when Major General Frederick calls it into question, and later question the Major General's orders in ADVANCE Labs when they are ordered to kill Krejjh, which would be a violation of the Treaty with the Dwarnian Empire.

After Agent Park is taken to Zone Z, McCabe seems nervous and a little unsure of themself as they settle into their new role as Agent. They have a fractious relationship with Junior Agent Goodman, threatening to write him up for insubordination when he sarcastically responds to them questioning why he has deemed twelve hours of audio to be "unusable". They refuse to be led by Goodman into questioning the IGR's arrest of Park at the end of Episode 8, saying that "any enemy of the Republic is an enemy of mine."

However, McCabe seems happy to see Park return during Episode 10, and appears to be questioning his arrest, repeatedly saying that Park "didn't do anything". They are quick-thinking, realising that the Rumor crew must have someone on the inside if they are able to hack the IGR systems (although not realising that the double agent is Park). They work out almost immediately that the apparent sound of singing from the Rumor cockpit is a recording and that there is a trap on the ship, and also manage to work out that the Rumor crew must have recalibrated their still for moonshine to turn it into a bomb, as well as the fact that Brian Jeeter must be near to the ship in order to have set off the explosion. However, their insights are repeatedly dismissed or overridden by senior figures in the IGR.

As Krejjh is clearing the hallway of guards during the Rumor's infiltration of ADVANCE Labs, McCabe successfully disables them by shooting them in the knee. They then question Major General Frederick's order to kill Krejjh, pointing out that Krejjh is a relative of a high-ranking Dwarnian diplomat. When Major General Frederick tells them to follow orders, Park takes over from McCabe, who is presumably still unwilling to fire the shot. Although McCabe would have witnessed Park missing Krejjh and know that he had deliberately gone against orders by not killing them, they do not audibly give Park away, which enables Krejjh to escape and Park to aid the Rumor crew in carrying out the rest of Plan B.

Defection from the IGR
McCabe attempts to confront Park, along with Violet, Krejjh and Arkady, as they escape room 1013 and make their way towards Lab 1032. They are clearly torn about which side to take, not wanting to commit treason by disobeying orders but also unwilling to turn on the Republic. After hearing Agent Goodman name them and Park as "suspected defectors" over the comm, they panic, but find it difficult to accept that the IGR could really be trying to start another war with the Dwarnian Empire.

On hearing that the other IGR agents have orders to shoot to kill them or Park on sight, McCabe makes a snap decision to join Park and the Rumor crew, helping them by taking out an agent who has spotted them. They then accompany the group to Lab 1032 and onto the Iris II as they escape.

Aboard the Iris II
McCabe is initially prickly and hostile towards the rest of the crew. They are unwilling at first to trust the others, and doesn't know why the others trust them. They are convinced the IGR will catch up to them eventually. Captain Tripathi offers to set McCabe up with a respectable job to allow them to leave the Iris II and support themself, if they want. Later, McCabe has a discussion with Park, in which he insinuates that McCabe will try to sell out the Iris II crew to get back in with the IGR; McCabe refutes this, though admits they are unhappy and feel like a prisoner aboard the Iris II.

McCabe reluctantly begins to help the Iris II crew's mission by doing background research on the Echoes and Max Gavins, because "It was an interesting challenge". They eventually begin to open up to Brian by helping to translate the French recording in the background of the Dwarnglish arms deal audio. McCabe also their knowledge of IGR protocols to determine that the coordinates in the recording are in Eagan Orientation, and gets excited to explain about different coordinate systems until they realize that this means the guns are going to Telemachus.