Compound 73A-SU3

**Compound 73A-SU3**, or **Asue**, is the deuteragonist in My Life.

It's a genderless, synthetically constructed human being who had to endure the neglectful behaviour of its creators, leading it to question its own value and future.

Asue was conceived on May 7, 2023, and Wiki exclusive artwork made public at Tumblr on November 26.

## Backstory

> Asue is the 73rd lifeform created by BIRTH -an organization devoted to creating artificial humans to carry on mankind's legacy in the face of its impending extinction. Thanks to Dr. Axley's efforts, Asue became their first stable specimen and their excitement made them decide to release it prematurely to see it in action.
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> Asue remained unresponsive for weeks, and with BIRTH's staff not seeing an actual person in the test subject, it was treated as only a test subject. Axley felt disturbed by the emotional neglect and constant badgering, and would take it upon himself to watch over it. His self-appointed role as its guardian was seen as meddling by many of his colleagues, affecting his relationship with them.
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> Though it seemed a pointless endeavour at first, Axley's care for Asue produced results and led to others also changing their ways, if only for the sake of the project. Asue began gaining control over its body, learned to speak, and eventually reached its full potential, though this still didn't convince the head scientist it was worth preserving.
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> Nevertheless, Terneuzen was swayed by its human appearance and behaviour, and broke many rules by turning a blind eye to Axley's unauthorized use of resources to help its body reach some semblance of completion.
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> Asue and Axley had fallen in love with each other during their time together, and in order to evade Asue's planned extermination, they fled the facility to live as a family, together with a baby constructed out of their DNA.
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> Terneuzen found them 5 years later, but could not find it in himself to persecute a happy couple in a dying world, and so, helped them escape once more.
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## Personality

Asue is more of a listener than a talker, yet a fairly assertive person who pursues its wants, with the only thing holding it back being its limited understanding of the world. Though it didn't seem like Asue recognized Dr. Axley's kindness at first, or could, it became quickly attached to him and would convey as much, even in its compromised state. Eventually, it learned to speak, whereafter it confided in Axley, and its more complicated feelings for him were explored.

Though he is its only friend, there isn't anyone or anything else it cares to engage with. His presence evokes a sensation in its brain that's hard to replicate through other means; and to see or hear him happy hits so hard on the senses, it's mesmerizing.

Asue struggles to see the point in most things that come naturally to living beings, especially after it came to understand nothing's forever. Even though BIRTH's staff had their worries -Asue is not a hostile person driven by a dangerous disregard for life, though its meekness is also thanks to its lack of "human curiosity". It never joins in on conversations that are not directed at it and will keep to itself, unless explicitly asked for a response. Even so, it picks up on comments that involve it and takes criticism seriously enough to want to discuss them with Axley.

Asue never physically touches others, though doesn't mind being handled and let its creators push, poke, and throw it around as they saw fit. Axley wished it would set boundaries against its bullies, but in the end, has always done it for it. Asue didn't understand and see a reason to until it and Axley became more physically involved with each other.

Seeing him interact with others bred some negative traits as well, and Asue would admit to him to feel very possessive over him, even if its relaxed demeanour doesn't seem like it.

Since Axley tends to run his mouth, it learns plenty about life and death and how they could be interpreted, though Asue's own existence makes both subjects more dreary and complicated than intended. Nearing its last educational stages, Asue begins to feel miserable over its incompletion, knowing it'll never be properly human. It was made no secret BIRTH planned to replaced it with an improved specimen and Asue knew it ran on borrowed time, but not until Axley returned its love did it grieve its fate.

Since its conception, Axley saw a female in Asue and couldn't help but address it as "she" -something he fully committed to after a month or so. Asue was willing to have its body adjusted to look female for him, but Axley suggested it shouldn't placate others, whereafter it quite casually decided to want "the same body" as him.

Asue doesn't understand or is able to figure out the concept of gender in terms of identity, and as such, doesn't care for it and is fine with Axley's interpretation, even if its choice of body conflicts with it.

## Appearance

Asue is tall, has dark eyes, pale skin, and sandy-blond hair. Its appearance is that of someone in their 20s. Though considered beautiful, it rarely blinks and its face usually carries a bland, indecipherable expression, making many feel uneasy.

Its androgynous face and voice were purposely tailored to be so, as its gender was given little priority and to be decided on later in time. As such, Asue has no sex chromosomes, and since its development has been aborted, can never have functional reproductive organs.

Another feature that can't be added anymore is a completed nervous system, forever putting Asue at risk of not detecting physical damage on time.

At the beginning, Asue was given no clothes to wear and Axley had to buy it some. Initially, he purchased an equal amount of men's and women's clothing for it to try, but would soon dress it to match his own perception of Asue being female. After a while, he fully committed to it and only bought women's clothing.

Even after Asue's male sex operation, it continues to dress itself in these clothes and rarely goes for a more unisex outfit.

## Homunculus flaws and benefits

As a human built with synthetic DNA, who had its development process aborted, Asue has many intended and unintended features:

> InorganicThough undeniably a living creature, plenty of Asue's body parts are (partially) not organic, which allows it to stay alive with defective and missing features that would instantly kill a normal human being.
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> Its skin has an indescribable, foreign feel to it, though looks unsuspicious at first glance. Its fully synthetic properties create an impossibly flawless look, but is very flammable and and not very responsive to irritation. Redness and scabs rarely form. It doesn't produce sweat and is imbued with a natural cooling solution that ensures the body doesn't overheat, making it also unnecessary for Asue to take showers, generally speaking.
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> Asue's blood is -though reddish of colour- notably more pink, and also a chemical with different properties than regular blood, though it serves the same purpose.
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> Its eyes are not entirely made from the same substance eyes normally are, and as such, are sturdier and can endure dryness. Asue had to be taught to blink for aesthetic reasons, not out of necessity.
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> IncompleteAsue has a doll's body in the sense it has no nipples, navel, and its lower half is completely devoid of the usual components. Its hair follicles are undeveloped as well and don't stimulate the growth of its hair, unless washed with a lab-made brew for that one purpose.
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> Asue also doesn't have most internal organs, with its brain, lungs, and heart being the only major ones that are fully developed. Its oesophagus ends early and there's a complete absence of organs in its lower abdomen.
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> Because it can't eat, since it has no digestive system or even an exit, it needs an expensive chemical concoction injected into its bloodstream every 3 days or so.
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> After Axley operated on it, Asue received most of its organs, nonfunctional male genitalia, but a working orifice thanks to the fully developed muscles it already had. A small hole was made in its stomach to simulate a navel, but nipples appeared impossible to properly attach and are still missing.
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> Because Asue has no sense of touch, a device was attached to its bladder and intestines to signal whenever a bathroom break is in order.
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> Numbed sensesAsue has no nerves, and besides the inability to feel pleasure and pain, it can't taste or smell.
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> While its brain was given the most attention during development, it produces little to no dopamine, and with so many stifled senses and having to deal with its living circumstances, Asue hardly responds to even the wildest, most exciting activities and concepts.
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> Auto-safety systemAsue long feared the dark and would run towards the nearest, known light source whenever the lights were switched off, which was later guessed by Axley to be some kind of preservation response from the body to test and confirm its eye sight is still in order.
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> Asue has exaggerated "instinctual" safety measures programmed in that will cause it to act a certain way in the face of uncertainty, without understanding the reason or having much control over it. Nevertheless, it can steer itself into adapting a different response if the current one causes issues.
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> Ingrained intelligenceThough not perfect, Asue was given ingrained intelligence. Certain things it already understands or are easy to grasp upon first introduction.
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> Matters it can't recognize itself in or don't have one answer, like moral, spiritual, and cultural subjects, require proper teaching.
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> Perfect buildAsue is fairly strong for its appearance; and has perfectly developed bones and muscles. These are fully organic without any unusual substitutions.
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> They're sturdy, healthy, and have a near-impossible risk of disease. Asue could suffer a nasty fall and not end up with too many fractions.
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> Energized by foodThe intake of sustenance, whether it's an injection or proper food, allows it to stay awake.
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## Trivia

* Asue's initially planned design drew heavy inspiration from The Once-ler from The Lorax reboot;
	+ The first codenames entertained for it were variants of Once-ler's real name, like "73RON" and "73-RON-S".