The Difficult Task of Raising a Weapon

G.U.N. Commander Abraham Tower: Changing My Outlook

"Topaz, I need to have a word with you," I call, stopping my agent as she walks out of the meeting.

"Yes, Commander?" She asks, turning around and saluting. "What is it you would like to talk to me about?"

"It's about Project: Shadow. I want to know more about it on a personal level."

"You do, sir?" She questions, seeming caught off guard by the request.

"Yes. I will need to be able to understand it better if I am to direct it properly in its training. I would like you to tell me everything you think could be of any importance about it."

"Okay, sir," She begins, pausing for a moment to think of things to say. "Well... Shadow, to sum him up, is a naive and friendly boy. He is hardly wary of new people, and he gets attached quickly. He's very trusting of people after short amounts of time spent with them and warms up especially quickly to females. He seems to be a bit less considering of males as possible 'friends,' something I would guess comes from his time spent with Gerald's granddaughter." Well, that's no surprise. Even if I didn't already know that, I could have guessed it.

"He does not appreciate having his personal space 'invaded' by people he doesn't know or doesn't like, especially if medical instruments are involved. He will only submit to things he does not enjoy after a confrontation, but he never puts up an undue amount of resistance. On a related note, he only ever continually resists an action when he's scared of it, an example being his capture. He aims to please, but seems to derive pleasure from causing his caretakers--myself included--annoyance. If he ever causes his caretakers real stress, though, he will apologize and show remorse." I've seen that in action, too. Is there really not much more I can find out about Shadow?

"Shadow is sensitive to voice tone and word choice, and can be easily upset by either. He can also be easily soothed by either. In short, he's very attuned to people he interacts with. However, he does not seem to be particularly interested in people he's not interacting with. If people are just going about their business around him, then he will only pay attention to their actions if he is unoccupied by anything else at the time." Hmm. Now there's something I didn't know. That could be a useful thing to remember. She pauses, looking a bit stumped on whether she should continue.

"Do you have any particular questions about him, sir?"

"Yes, in fact. I've noticed that Project: Shadow seems to be touchy when it deals with people who treat it openly as a subhuman. Am I correct in that assumption?"

"Well, sir, if by 'touchy' you mean Shadow showing hostility through glaring, growling, and scowling, then yes. Shadow has an...issue with being treated as if he is less than sentient by others. He despises being thought of as a lesser being, though whether he is only angered by this or truly hurt I'm not sure. One of his largest pet peeves is when people talk about him in front of him, but he also hates being referred to as 'it' to his face. He knows his place, and he won't complain about the pronoun, but he seems to hold a grudge against whoever treats him as such. I find the easiest way around this problem is to think of him as a person, as doing so keeps me from offending him. Using his name also helps." The creation is really so set on being treated as a human? I don't understand why, but I'll have to keep that in mind.

"Interesting... Tell me, how does Shadow communicate his grudge against the people who treat him so?"

"Shadow's mood will darken when he's brought in contact with someone who has offended him before, and he will be short with the person if forced to interact. Even if the person refrains from acting insultingly towards him, Shadow will retain his abnormally cold and hostile demeanor until the certain someone leaves. I believe he would reconcile with someone he doesn't like if he was encouraged, but he doesn't seem too inclined to do so on his own. May I ask why you're interested?"