MUTANT: project divinity - 003 (Patreon)
Content
003, the 4th full creation, and the 3rd of the perfected superbeings.
all of the numbers have their blood match their eyes and their stripes. so 003 has greenish blood, 001 has gold blood, 002 has pink, so on and so forth. zero on the other hand... it is likely black with the rainbow shine that gasoline does when in contact with the sunlight. in areas of scars, it usually matches the skin, but blood itself? im thinking its black. (maybe?)
unlike 003's appearance, he is a sensitive and emotional person from the get go. the moment his body was formed and he awoke, he started to cry.
he either matches or usurps 001's size, with none of the fortitude. his personality was unwanted, being so delicate is not the purpose of this project, after all. so they attempted to squash it and mold it. forcing him to kill things he didn't want, hurt and treat things with violence rather than care, and ripping any sort of gentle coping mechanisms he developed. they wanted a killing machine. especially because 003 was so large and intimidating like 001, they expected this.
003 was a hard one to handle, his emotions are intense and his voice can project with the weight of plane jet engines. because they kept trying to control his personality, wants, and feelings, he developed the only think he could have, violence. the only thing that made them quiet, was for him to be violent, rampage, and scream. even though after such an episode, he would be in tears, never wanted to create such a scene in the first place.
the little comforts he had was the others, 000-001-002, they could at least speak to him, with the gentle tones he wanted so bad. besides having to navigate a mental battle with humans, he had to navigate his emotions. but because he wasn't allowed to express his fragility to the extent he needed, it only made it harder. he is wrought with guilt and anger. he just wanted it to stop.
they never were able to 'fix' that personality of his, they only made him worse. he has outbursts of emotion, his responses can get too violent for even the smallest of issues, then simply go into a state of inconsolable tears of regret. 003... it was hard to place him somewhere. he was skilled and intelligent, but highly emotional, making applying such skills difficult. killing, disarming, interrogation, all forms of violence and violent tactics, didn't sit well with 003.
at the end of the day, 003 did what he was ordered to do, even if it hurts. if he did what they wanted, maybe they could just let him be for a little bit. atleast 003 had other uses. despite all the numbered hating humans to a degree that being violent in the presence of one was normal, 003 on the best of days, wouldn't even think of hurting people.
he was good to go on rescue missions and disaster relief, even though these things were hard pre-freedom, post-freedom, 003 was quite the reliable helper. the thing 003 liked the most was to fix things, was to care for things, and to let him feel all his emotions. pre-freedom 003 had emotional dysregulation, that still affects him to this day. hell still cry at the smallest of issues, and can raise his voice or break things unintentionally out of a fit of anger, frustration, or just by simply attempting to suppress his emotions. anything he did had a consequence, so it always made him feel guilty. he felt like he couldn't live up to anyone's expectations, even himself. he has very low self esteem, and can get very self-destructive, because of these spiraling thoughts.
the smallest of rewards makes him happy, which was definitely a weakness that the humans would discover and make great use of, as a way to get around his reluctance to fulfill violent missions or tasks. the more bad things he did, the worst guilt he got, the harder it is to suppress his emotions, and the bigger his outburst will get. it was a vicious cycle. unlike the other numbered, 003 did do the least of the violence, but he was fraught with a large blow to his mind as a consequence. between ordering to kill to get kindness, and being guilty because he killed at all, he was weighing these two options every moment.
he was afraid of people just as much as he wanted to help people. they hurt him so much, but he likes to care for the little things, and humans are o so little. tiny tiny things that his hand can wrap their whole head. he always wondered why me, why do you want to make me do bad things so much? can't i do something else? can't i just help? why must i be the enemy..? things like that.
003 found some creative ways to circumvent the violence, albeit small in chances to do so. in missions he can take the hits of the opposing team, offering an immutable defense, while the little people did the difficult stuff. he can carry loads and traverse faster than many vehicles if need be. if he could just... do something else, then he wouldn't mind getting to 'work'. but it would defeat the real purpose of his creation, a misplaced use of his skills, a waste of money to make him a lil assistant.
he didn't get many of those chances. they preferred to just manipulate him into doing the things he hated the most, all for the sake of a little pat on the head, a 'good job', or you get some alone time now. they were also talking down to him alot, because they viewed him as lesser than the other numbered for his sensitivities. it greatly frustrated him that they spoke to him in such a way, despite having no issues understanding what they said, what they meant, and what they really want. he was aware! it was just hard for him to not cave, because he had such low-self-esteem.
post-freedom, these issues propped here and there. he broke down alot, finally decompressing the damage they did to him. yes he was teased for his fragility, sometimes they went to far and mocked him. but living together made everyone decompress, and over time 003 was being treated with the care he needed. especially 007, who was the worst offender at making fun of 003, got what was coming to him, when 003 attacked him. 007, also having his own issues, chose to ignore them and felt weirdly jealous that 003 can express so much. 007 took a good dose of reality, learning that this was going too far. he was ruining his relationship with 003, because despite his fragility, 003 was a loving person. 007 never really getting such outward shows of love, he both wanted it and was repulsed by it. 003 was always unable to express himself in gentler ways, but he was finally able to do it now. with all his problems, 003 still was a sweet and gentle person on the inside.
unlike the other numbered, who found ways to completely suppress or isolate their most visible of vulnerabilities, 003 was open. 003 couldn't hide those things, at the detriment to his mind, but because he could show them... he was leagues above the others in terms of getting better.
it made 007 confused, a little angry, even jealous. trying to justify his own walls, belittling the delicate nature of 003. after receiving such an explosive blow during these moments, where 007 was especially hard on 003, it took some time for 007 to process how much damage he actually did. for the first time, 007 felt truly guilty, and as time went on, felt worse just by thinking of every moment. 003 was always taking these hits, yet still loved 007. he finally crossed a line.
one of the first relationships to break and meld was 007 and 003. a trickster and a softie. when it broke it was bad, since all the numbered had their own thoughts on this, both confused, expected it, or angry at the whole fight even happening. it was truly up 007 to meld it and start anew with 003. 003 avoided 007 like a plague for a while, needing to process it. inadvertently 007 played into 003's fears, and low self esteem due to his emotional self. he wonders why he's so different, and if it was really all his fault for taking it too seriously. he didn't want to hurt 007, and felt like the world ended when he did.
in a way he ran off, and was just a mess. he broke a lot of things and caused some property damage, but he mostly did just cry in circles. with some comfort by 005, who despite it all, was the person that can identify people's state of mind the best (being a strategist and learning all the ways to identify and use people's emotions fears and wants against them, he had a good eye for figuring people out). 005 had deduced a few things, just by observing from the years, but also by piecing these things together over the past few days. he says that 007 is likely going to come 003 first. 007 will likely stumble on his words, and be quite an ass at explaining himself but he will say sorry. and 007 will mean it. 007 is devastated at this realization, being an actual bully, rather than someone who could lighten up all his comrades day.
he doesn't want to to lose 003, and 003 doesn't want to lose 007. after all, they did have a better relationship before it started to get toxic. 007's jokes were enjoyable, 007 teased only the lightest bit, 003 was affectionate and 007, even though he didn't know how to react per se, didn't stop 003 at all. over time it went wrong, and the worse 007 showed up, from the envy, and unwillingness to reflect and re examine himself, while 003 was essentially getting better bit by bit.
what 005 suspected, happened. 007 was the first to go to 003. even though 003 was trying to apologize for attacking and blowing up at 007, since he never ever wanted to hurt his friends. 007 would interject and say that the fault is not 003. it was just what 007 deserved. he doesn't want 003's forgiveness, less to forget. he slighted 003, and should make up for it. 003 was already willing to forgive, simply because he wanted to be with all his comrades, including 007 (even if he was an asswhole later on, 003 still believed in their bond) but 007, with the advice of and earful of the others, wanted and should work on himself, for the sake of being a better person, but also for actually forming a healthy bond with 003.
they spent a lot of time together, sometimes awkwardly, other times happily, kinda going into a fun rhythm of jokes and affection. 003 was able to be himself and slowly but surely, fix what the human's broke. he no longer has to be violent, aggressive or suppressed. he can simply be happy, emotional, and helpful in a way that he likes the most.