4∅4's Comments

3. Describe their family. Who raised them, and who had the most impact on them? Did they have any siblings? Who were they closest to? What were the family dynamics like?

4∅4 doesn't particularly have a traditional family or family dynamic. There's the others of his line who came before him, but none are particularly related (in fact, all of them fall into entirely different species should the augmentation and cybernetics be removed from the picture. 4∅2 is only distantly related as both being leporids). Deirdre, also known as 4∅1, is the one who did most of the 'rearing.' 4∅∅ (Atlas) and 4∅2 were teachers at best if you'd like to stretch the definition. 4∅4 views Atlas as the steward of his line, not much in the way of a paternal figure— but Deirdre was like a mother to him and she played a massive role in the first twenty-three years of his life, and her death brought a lot of change. In the way of siblings there was ∅2 and ∅3, and in the distant future 4∅4 will likely hear of an ∅5 and ∅6. He scorns ∅2 since they're both so antagonistic to eachother, he never got a chance to meet 4∅3 as she passed not too long after he was brought 'home," and as for the last two— 4∅4 would likely be out of the picture by the time the twins are created but if he did meet them he'd probably experience a lot of "crap- gotta protect these kids— they're my precious little siblings!" type emotions.

19. What is their current relationship with their family?

For his line: all he has now is Atlas and ∅2, neither of which he is close to. In fact he's actually rather scared of the pair for a myriad of reasons.

As for the family he's slowly began to build for himself? 4∅4 is totally starstruck whenever he sees his (future) husband— the pair is literally inseparable when they're off work-hours and spending time together. He also has a kinda-but-not-really son that Markov started letting live in his apartment one day which 4∅4 initially pitied but grew on. He's low-key more of an older brother than a father to the teen, as neither of them are mature enough not to wreak havoc via prank or something. TL;Dr has a great relationship with the family he's built but a terrible one with the "family" he grew up in.

35. How do they feel about getting older and eventually dying?

4∅4 is a VERY long lived individual. His status as a protogen ensures he'll push into at least a few centuries so he's not too caught up on mortality just yet. His first real glimpse into the real world and mortality was his mother's untimely death— which cultivated the fear of being murdered more than it did the fear of dying. I think it doesn't quite click in his mind. He's not so much concerned with death as he is with how he goes. He could be struck down the moment he steps out his door or living however long until his body fails and he couldn't care less about it. All that matters is if someone was out to get him specifically.

4. What was the most common argument between them and whoever raised them?

I don't really see him arguing all that much as a child. Questioning the motives and reasoning of his guardians was pretty frowned upon (at least by Atlas) so he probably held his tongue more often than not. If he finally grew tired it was probably over petty things with Deirdre. Stuff like: "Why can't I go play out in the snow?" or "Why can't I go out with you? Where are you going?" All the sort of question that when he looks back in hindsight he realizes his mother was just trying to protect him from what she could, be it his inability to regulate his body temperature or keep him out of trouble and away from the cruel way his home city really functioned.

5. Where did they grow up? What was it like? Were they happy there?

4∅4's city doesn't have a name yet, meta wise. All I really know is that in the headworld there are several cities which function relatively autonomously to eachother and it's not common for common folk to intermingle (which would make the romance between him and his husband quite the tragic, "romantic" story should it reach the public eye— getting up and moving to a new territory is rarely heard of and considered quite the grand gesture for a lover to do. Assumedly throwing their old life away and all that). Cities on the surface are refuges of the people from an otherwise wartorn world, but in truth they get rather corrupt underneath all that pretty flaunting. 4∅4's childhood was considerably privileged. He had a warm home that never missed a(n expensively tailored to his diet) meal, was afforded the opportunity to receive an incredibly rigorous education, and he was quite literally created for his work so there was never a fear of poverty. He was happy, in his own way— until he wasn't. A lot of his contentment was born from naivety and ignorance that slowly peeled back as more and more was revealed to him. Little things at first, like how a fruit vendor he often visited looked so worn thin yet looked at him with pity (he'd often wonder what old Jacobi knew that he didn't) or how in the deep maze-like alleyways of his home there was always someone out of sight, watching hungrily. He had an inkling of it by his early twenties, becoming increasingly uncomfortable as the years passed and stuff stopped seeming to pristine and sanitized. Of course once his mother was lost to the city he was forced to realize that he wasn't so far removed from all the dirty odds and ends as he had foolishly (desperately) been trying to make himself believe. Lot of stuff from his childhood is marred and ruined by hindsight.