149253 "Angel" | Avox | Fin

Mirrors

...Description of test subject 149253, referred to by some as "Angel"
Angel is surprisingly dark skinned, given his almost total lack of exposure to the sun. Despite this, his skin appears slightly sickly on close examination, and the blood never gives his cheeks the rosy hue seen in many other children. He is unlike a child in the look on his face as well. His brown eyes, despite often being lit by kindess, always carry within the haunted look of a boy who has never been allowed to be carefree. A lifetime of pain and sadness is written all over his face, which only begins to fade when he tries to take that same burden away from others; even so, it always retakes the surface quickly.

His build is frail, with just enough meat on his bones to support a functional muscle mass. There is not an extra calorie in his entire body, due to the careful dieting administered by the doctors while they wait for him to get old enough for real testing. But calculated caloric intake can't replace the will to move, and he will sometimes simply lie down on the floor wherever he happens to be, too tired from the pain surrounding him to move, even if he can't fully understand it.

When it comes to his hair, Angel doesn't style it on his own, letting it fall where nature intends, brown and straight, or lets the others try to style it. He doesn't particularly care, since the others are usually to caught up by the testing with the doctors they don't seem to care.

Like all avoxes, Angel has had his tongue taken, and is unable to speak.

Actions

...Log 27, Subject 149253, Observations
Angel shows a great kindness for one with so little joy in his life. Whenever the subjects complete an arduous test, Angel always gives them a smile and a kind touch. His care for the other subjects is remarkable given his unique living environment. Even though the other subjects stand on the brink constantly, Angel often displays an ability to take the best out of his limited situation.

Despite his kindness to the others, however, Angel is clearly affected by his unique living environment. When no other subjects or doctors are present Angel is often seen on camera to collapse where he stands, silent tears streaming down his face and a dead look in his eyes. He knows his own mental state is dangerous for the other subjects, and attempts to help them by hiding his sadness from them. Given the despair around him, and his lack of understanding of the tests, this result is not totally unexpected, but it would be useful if he continued to keep his own sadness from the other subjects.

...Log 14, Subject149253, Observations

Angel is an intelligent child, who reads far beyond what his age would understand in a normal living environment. This is especially impressive given the emotional trauma of his environment, but being able to speak with the doctors may be helping him retain his curiosity in the face of despair. It will be interesting to see how his operation in a few weeks changes him, since that particular avenue of relief will no longer be available to him

Past

...File of subject 149253, aka "Angel"...

The subject was born in the testing facility to subject 197863. The father is an intern in the facility, sometimes known as "The Real You". There was much discussion about what should be done with the child of a subject, but eventually it was decided this child would become an additional subject, to undergo basic observation until he comes of age to undergo official testing. It was also determined that subject 149253, later dubbed "Angel", should be allowed to go through early child-hood before the avox operation, so that he could more easily learn language and learn the basics about the world he lives in.

Angel was a quick learner, and some became concerned with his rapid assimilation of information. Any information he could get, he quickly devoured. The one thing he never learned about was his environment. The doctors didn't tell him about the tests being performed on the other subjects, and the other subjects were, of course, incapable of telling him. This led to a great deal of confusion in him when he was allowed to interact with the other subjects. (He was often kept separate in the days before his operation, to minimize possible emotional trauma in his earliest developmental stages.)

When the doctors decided that Angel had learned enough of language and the world that he could operate without speech, at the age of ten, he was given the avox operation. He was also moved into the living quarters with the rest of the subjects. In this time Angel went through a bout of severe depression which was obvious to all, characterized in a lack of responsiveness and a reduction in self-preservation instincts when it came to nutritional intake. In a few months it seemed he had recovered, but cameras in the subject's living quarters revealed that he had simply begun to hide his depression from the world.

His primary actions in more recent times are primarily made up of comforting the other subjects, and continuing to come to grips with his inability to vocalize. He will still occasionally forget his status, and try to speak with the doctors, resulting in minor frustration, and later occasionally results in bouts of crying, although he hides these from all people.

Text is thistle, headings lavender (for my own reference )