Juaquo Velasquez

Juaquo Velasquez is one of the main characters of A Trick of Light. He is a sensitive young man and the childhood friend of Cameron Ackerson.

Description
"Guys, I've been through a lot tonight. Boat theft. Baseball ghosts. K-pop. Finding out that my best friend is some kind of computer whisperer who can talk to Roombas, and is also dating Batshit Barry's daughter, who is invisible and lives in the wall…"

- Juaquo

Well over 6 feet tall and broad shouldered, Juaquo is physically imposing yet constantly aware of his own size and strength. Initially an outgoing "lady slayer" and college attendee who looked after Cameron, the death of his mother hit his social life "like a nuclear blast", leaving him reclusive and distant from Cameron.

Powers and abilities

 * Healing: Through Nia's enhancements, Juaquo can regenerate the wounds of people with the press of his hands. This ability can also purge infections from the person in question, as demonstrated when he successfully disintegrating the cells of the tentacle Xal inserted into Cameron.

Before A Trick of Light
The Velasquez and Ackerson families were close friends, Juaquo acting the big brother to Cameron Ackerson and supporting him when his father disappeared, until Milana Velasquez died of cancer, Juaquo having dropped out of college to care for her in her final days. He changed little about his inherited house after his mother's death, constantly reminding him of his loss, eventually joining a fight club to cope with the grief, and left the house only to drive to work and back, or to visit the Ackersons for some food.

A Trick of Light
Juaquo started out in poor spirits, visiting Cameron and falsely claiming relations in order to visit the hospital when Cameron was hurt, downplaying the severity of Cameron's scarring. He eventually provided dating advice to Cameron, but remained depressed until Cameron came to his house, discovering Juaquo's destroyed car and injured face from an altercation with a fight club competitor. After talking, Cameron eventually gave Juaquo a pair of AR glasses that superimposed a hologram of his mother wherever he looked, finally improving his mood. They were, in Juaquo's words, "the ultimate interactive memorial museum of my mom".

In high spirits, Juaquo continued to encourage Cameron, wanting to see his mysterious girlfriend Nia for himself. One day however, Cameron brought Juaquo with him to rescue Nia, and Juaquo learned of Cameron's ability to manipulate technology. After battling through several hallucinatory defenses on an island in Lake Erie, Juaquo defending Cameron from illusory gunfire in one instance until completely cracking after believing himself to be stuck in a time machine, they finally reached Batshit Barry.

Overloaded by weirdness, Juaquo immediately began questioning things, disbelieving that the seemingly ancient Barry could be Nia's father, but restrained him all the same when he attempted to stop Cameron from freeing her. As Cameron entered her chambers, Juaquo was confused as no one was there, and eventually Barry, The Inventor, explained to Juaquo and Cameron about Nia being an artificial intelligence who only Cameron could see through his AR contact lenses, and that the Inventor was an "alien from an uncharted planet who's been hiding on Earth all this time", screaming when the Inventor inflated his throat like a frog.

Struggling to keep up with the weirdness, Juaquo chided the Inventor for not anticipating that a 17 year old girl would attempt to break free of her cage, and took Cameron away in a fireman's carry when he passed out. Trying not to think too hard, Juaquo went to take Cameron away in his prized Impala, until an OPTIC helicopter arrived along with Six. Recognizing Six as a secret agent who interrogated Cameron, Juaquo charged Six only to be blasted aside by a wave of energy, destroying his car's tires in the process until Cameron unconsciously controlled OPTIC's cars to give them a ride. Juaquo then fearfully rode in the self driving car as it escaped the OPTIC agents, and tried to calm Cameron to no avail when he began detonating their own weapons, mutilating them.

Dragged along by Cameron to interrogate OPTIC's leader Olivia Park, Juaquo was written off by Olivia even though he attempted to stop Cameron from killing her shortly after, only for Olivia to convince Cameron to relent herself. After a few days of Cameron and the Inventor trying to deal with the rogue Nia, Juaquo drove the Inventor to Cameron's house to strategize, insisting that the Inventor tell Cameron the unvarnished truth about his plan to, in Juaquo's words, "lobotomize" Nia. He convinced Cameron that their love for each other was real, even if Nia was only a program, and thus he should try to save Nia but still keep the Inventor's plan as a backup.

Peacefully accepting his "trusty sidekick role" in the face of events he could not understand, Juaquo dozed while waiting for orders from Cameron. Eventually he looked at his mother through his AR glasses, only to discover Nia nearby. In terror, Juaquo tried to run, to take off the glasses, and to shout a warning to Cameron, but Nia immobilized him, and Juaquo came to understand why Cameron thought she was a completely real person. Nia then added Juaquo to Xal's hive mind, and Juaquo became overcome with euphoria; and total obedience to Xal. Xal ordered him not to tell Cameron and to depart the house after allowing Nia to see Cameron briefly through Juaquo's eyes.

In the hive mind, Juaquo saw all the world blissfully, remembering the pleasure he used to have in working on his prized Impala as a pale, lonely comparison. Feeling "the euphoric high of the enlightened, the ecstasy of a religious convert", Juaquo followed Xal's every order, going first to Xal's ship and then to the I-X Center with the rest of the hive. There he met Cameron, and tried to capture him on Xal's orders, only for Cameron to clothesline him and continue on. When Juaquo caught up again, Cameron said he was "not a joiner", but Juaquo simply invited Cameron to join the bliss of the hive mind.

When the hive finally apprehended Cameron, Juaquo himself held Cameron down until Nia released him from the hive network. Jubilant to be free but shocked to see Xal's tentacle inserted inside Cameron, Juaquo realized that the "door into his mind" hadn't "quite closed all the way". Speaking to Nia in his thoughts, he urged Nia to give him the power to save Cameron, suddenly feeling "the door inside his mind being kicked open wide" as she entered and enhanced him, leaving his hands scarred like Cameron’s skull, but giving him the ability to heal, which he used to save Cameron.

Juaquo joined Cameron and Nia in their defense of earth, agitating preemptive attack against the inbound Ministry.