Spoilers for Caleb's story below. As well as my opinions for the story. If you don't agree, that's totally fine! I just want to give my perspective on it.
I honestly feel that the parallels between the little boy and Caleb are too in your face to be coincidence. Caleb has definitely participated in the same modifications and experiments as the kid maybe even more so. The professor has some kind of control over him and the others in my opinion. It seems like Caleb went down a slippery slope in order to get back to and protect MC. However, just like we see with the boy there are side-effects to the modifications- the body seems to be obsessed with the bird, his simple "like" turning into something akin to "obsession". His real personality is being altered by whatever the Professor had done to him. Since this is true for the boy, it could also be true for Caleb. Whatever modifications Caleb has endured, could be the reason he is acting the way he does in the story and in some of the cards. Maybe his true feelings of love and protection has been twisted to this point because of the modifications, and the glimpses of Caleb being like he used to be are the times where he is able to fight back against the modifications. The professor definitely has nefarious plans in store for him and right now we don't know how this is going to end, but hopefully, he gets the help that he needs to heal from the pain and trauma he has experienced. I honestly just felt really bad for Caleb during the story, as he is a puppet trying his best to fight what may be inevitable. I honestly can't wait for more to come out about him.
While I personally may not have the same attraction to this character as I do others in the game, I felt much more empathetic to his situation. He looks like he has all the power and control but in reality he has none.
Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk!
