Twos

ABOUT

Known only by his specimen number, or more generally his nickname, Twos has never known a life outside of the science vessel he was born in captivity on. He's never seen his parents, and doesn't even understand the existence of them. Friends, family, love: all of these are foreign concepts to Twos. Of course, this is entirely orchestrated by the scientists who run the station; keeping the living experiments perpetually in the dark about a better life that they'll never have is how to keep the operation running smoothly.

Twos' species are from a planet where gravity is so low that it might as well not exist. Being on a vessel with artificial gravity and filled with hard surfaces, Twos is constantly banged up and bruised, and suffers even more from all of the needles and instruments being jabbed and poked into his body on the daily. His species are also slow healers, so most of his bruises last for several weeks; anything that bleeds will definitely be around for more than a month. Twos' genetic makeup is being used for research that focuses on developing healing agents; if anything could exist which could boost his own body's slow healing processes, who knows what it could do for species who have more normalized ones. It would bring in money, the scientists know. And that alone has sealed Twos' fate on board the vessel.

In addition to having his body subjected to needles, prods, and other such things, a lot of the scientists enjoy using Twos as a stress-relieving punching bag. They justify it by claiming that having more bruises gives them more healing process to document, and Twos can't do anything about it. He is also the unfortunate victim of sexual exploitation by a group of scientists who find him irresistibly cute, and so he routinely suffers injuries from these instances. He is seen less as a living being and more of just an object to be used and studied, and no one has any qualms about causing injury to him.

In spite of all of this torture, Twos is an incredibly docile, well-behaved individual. His passive nature and quiet temperament has earned him several privileges on the station, including being able to free-roam at his own leisure. The station is crammed full of holding cells and places that need constant security for the more volatile subjects, so not every specimen on board can be constantly monitored or guarded. The more easy-going ones like Twos who don't make trouble are allowed to walk the halls, visit the cafeteria, and have their own free time. However, the caveat constantly looming over their heads is that if they ever dare to misbehave or step out of line even once, those privileges will be taken away, which only gives Twos and others like him all the more reason to remain on their best behavior at all times. Twos mostly keeps to himself, having had seen more than a few times that if someone in a group makes trouble, the whole group gets punished, and he wants no part of that. He prefers to visit the cafeteria when it's quiet; he has a fondness for unfrosted donuts, and eats one every day. There's not much else he knows to do in his free time; there are no screens to watch, and he doesn't know how to read, so if he's not idling at a table in the cafeteria, he's padding gently up and down the halls, looking at other captive specimens, always fascinated by other species and such.

His own room is just a small 4x4 box, with nothing but a small set of drawers for his clothing, and a bed with a vinyl-covered mattress on it and nothing else. The scientists tell him that if he keeps behaving well, someday he'll get a vinyl pillow to match the mattress, and someday, perhaps a blanket. Twos is incredibly excited about the potential of receiving these things, and that also helps to keep him on his best behavior.

DESIGN NOTES

• Bruises are never exact
• Hair is very thick and feathery
• Has pink toe beans!