a story of fame & fear

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atlas tula-fish

Any pronouns. Age 15. Score: 0.7. Reasoning: his tentacles, slimy skin, naturally unnatural hair colour and eyes/vision.

Generous, with an artistic flair that shows in visual arts—especially through cartoons or other animation. Street smart, sneaky, but turns into a hopeless and clingy wreck when he likes someone. Borderline mutism that only breaks when he is in danger, i.e. someone he cares about is angry. In which case he fawns, and helps, and lets his personality shatter just to patch theirs up. Favourite food is watermelon doused in salt. Especially good with children and people of 0.6 or lower; they must be attracted to his gentleness. Has an instinctual understanding of medicine, healing and survival.

lou wang

He/him. Age 15. Score: 0.9. Reasoning: rooster comb in his hair and unconscious tendency to "pluck" the hairs on his body.

Lou hates himself more than anything on the planet. Part of this is because he is not a "1" and the other part is because, despite his rabid desire to be a regular human, he never felt special enough growing up. He hides his comb under dyed hair, and obsesses over his appearance until it hurts his brain. He is a bully at school, and gets physical about it because it feels good to make his classmates look and feel like such shit around him that they can't muster enough strength to be better. Extremely jealous of Atlas and is afflicted with traumatic, obsessive thoughts about murder, death and self-mutilation.

In this universe, the main survival tactic and defining trait of a human is their ability to breed with almost every other animal species. They're kind of like parasites. Their reproductive organs are built to adapt to other animals', which has given humans a cruel reputation, a massive ego and a powerful status. They can create children with the limbs, skin, eyesight, and unique abilities that other creatures have, even if it comes at the expense of their regular human functioning (being bipedal, having superior intelligence, the ability to breathe above water, etc.). Usually, human traits are dominant, and the other animals' are recessive, just add-ons or changes that enable better survival. But not always. For example, a human who breeds with a bluebird may produce an offspring who is born with wings instead of arms which enables them to fly (most likely), or a human-looking child with the mental capacity of a bluebird (about a 30% chance), or they just give birth to a pure bluebird (extremely rare, but has happened).

In the current century, there is a medical/social test taken every five years that determines how "human" you are. The scale is on a line from 0-1. About 45% of the population is now at 1, meaning they are totally, indisputably, wholly human. 35% are in the 0.7-0.9 range, meaning they may have small visible features but overall are functioning and looking like a stable human. 19% are still visibly and mentally 0.3-0.6. The final 1% are those with a score of 0.2 or lower; they are considered "non-human" due to their mental functioning or appearance, and, even if they are welcomed and supported, they just cannot fit into society.

People with a score of 0.6 or lower are required to attend special schools that provide support (some schools are better at this than others) for their varying animalistic qualities/needs/desires. Above 0.6, are the people who can attend regular schools or, if desired, schools that are structured for people who still have that little bit of animal blood but don't require counselling, medication or behavioural therapy regarding the animal parts.

I won't get into the nitty gritty details here (class, schooling, mental health, politics, biology, etc.), because this is all the information necessary to understand Atlas and Lou's places in society, and their feelings towards others.