Twelve

*"Words mean nothing. If you people are really as innocent as you claim, then either let me out of this cuff, or stay the fuck out of my way.*"

## Physical description

### First Mentioned

Chapter 66: Adapt (mentioned)
Chapter 85: Rest Thirty Five - Problem (physical)

Twelve (better known as Tanner) is a prisoner in Ten's group at the facility. Currently, not much is known about him.

## Appearance

Twelve has short, golden, yellow-blond hair, emerald eyes, and peachy skin.

Like all the male prisoners, he dons a colored pants and shirt set — tan, in this case.

## Story

### Past

As the newest prisoner of the group, not much is known about him aside from when Ten overheard The Overseer and Lucius mention of bringing in a "brat" during her confinement in Chapter 66. She'd also overheard that he was already resilient in fighting back as even The Overseer received injuries in the form of deep cuts on his back while attempting to bring Twelve to the facility.
It was likely Twelve who was being tended to in the bed near Ten's when she awoke at the end of her confinement, though he was hidden away behind curtains.
Later on, as the main group gets to know more about Twelve through his despicable actions, Eight theorizes that he must have been a subject of abuse and likely carried that part of his personality through to the facility, the way some people had carried their talents and interests. As a subject of similar abuse himself because of Lilah, he admits relating to that part of Twelve.
In chapter 91, after days being drugged and bound while in the recreational areas, Twelve finally admits that he's losing his touch and aggressive capacity. He claims this is the only reason for talking openly to Ten (and Eight, by extension), though he is drilled into by Eight who lays out every single flaw in Twelve's personality while also advocating for positive change, stating his own experiences and the risk of isolation and death as a reason for opening up and being smarter about the desire to leave the facility. Twelve constantly deflects and dodges many of the readings of his personality, but does appear to keep a lot of things in mind judging by his willingness to hear more about the facility's horrors and the history of the previous Number group. The entire conversation culminates into Twelve admitting he wants to be called Tanner by the Numbers.

### The Facility

Twelve is overseen by Lilah Valentine and was introduced to the Numbers in restraints when he was brought to the rec room. His initial impression on the Numbers is currently negative, as he is distrustful of everyone, even his fellow prisoners. He is shown as quick to physically retaliate, even if without a good reason. His first introduction was laden with poor behaviors, including headbutting Cyrus when he tried to help Twelve, insulting Lav, hitting his head against the window Charlie was behind, and later kicking Eight.
Twelve's initial distrust of others leads the Numbers to, in turn, distrust him. Lav is one who distrusts him the most, and is exceptionally irate about his bitter and crude personality and willingness to throw insults despite her and the others' initial desire to help him. Though Twelve is dangerous, he does seem to hold back on occasion for unknown reasons. Particularly, he will hesitate to continue his destructive behavior when he catches sight of Three fearfully cowering because of him. On some occasions, he has simply become frustrated and left the room. But in chapter 89, he fought his frustration and instead confronted Three directly. Whether he intended to hurt her or not, he merely ended up grabbing her arm and prompting Two to rush to protect her. The action only led to Twelve standing down and freezing up in response.
Twelve prefers to idle on his own, separate from the others. His only focus at first is on escape from the facility, and he is stubborn in every action he initially takes to make that happen despite everyone around him telling him it's impossible and dangerous. Regularly, he tries to run or destroy things to attempt making a path through the gate, but he has yet to succeed.
When he eventually wills to talk to the others, he makes it clear that he has no intentions to be social, but mainly wants to direct his anger towards the doctors.
## Personality

Since his formal introduction, Twelve is seen as bitter and resentful of his situation. Even before his emergence into the recreational room, he was already known to fight back. The Overseer and Lucius discussed him as a fighter in Chapter 66), since he attacked both men who were trying to capture him and even managed to successfully injure The Overseer.

Twelve is antagonistic and easy to enrage. He regularly attacks people with words or violence, though he is said to occasionally hold back on aggressive behavior in certain moments. At best, it's when he makes the decision to call things even as he had once done with Lav the first time she let him free from his cuffs. At worst, it's because he freezes up. Particularly, when he sees Three shaking in fear of him, Twelve decides to leave the confrontation he caused and go elsewhere. Later on, when he threatens Ten, he seems shaken to see her start crying. It's pointed out by Ten that this is a recurring behavior of his, especially in regards to Three.

In Chapter 89, she notices that he hesitates with Three in her frightened state, and again when her brother protects her from him. Twelve seems unable to understand his own hesitations, and becomes irate.

Twelve claims to hate everyone and himself, and cares very little for the people he hurts or what the consequences of his actions are. He is said to act first before thinking, which can often be seen in his initial behaviors of accusation and attempting to run away. However, it's shown he occasionally knows when to lay low, especially if he knows he's outnumbered.

It is debatable to Ten whether Twelve is capable of feeling remorse for the things he does. As Ten describes him, he is "monstrously hard to understand". His frustrations also lend way to very destructive behaviors, and he is continually embittered watching the other Numbers function as a group. Mistakenly, Twelve believes everyone to be accepting of their captive situation and thinks lowly of them as a result.

While Twelve is severely misguided, he occasionally makes brutally correct observations such as the fact that there are cameras in the facility. He challenges The Overseer (who he does not know is watching) often through the cameras, confident that nothing will come of it and that whoever is in charge will see it as an empty threat.

In chapter 89, his fury results in the destruction of the music room and crafts room, leading to Eight and Three both being crushed. While Twelve shows no remorse to Eight, he only backs off and acts hesitant toward the others when he sees he's severely hurt Three. The incident causes Twelve to continually be restrained and drugged by Lilah (and Milos, as it is revealed later), causing him to lose his luster and the ability to fight back.

The destruction and his punishment also results in Twelve talking with Ten, though the first time he does, he refuses to admit to any of his faults and continues to insult her and everyone around him. Only upon the second talk they have in chapter 91 alongside Eight does he finally start to show regret for the group's situation after sitting down and listening to everything, though he refuses to acknowledge it blatantly. Eight also drills into Twelve harshly, stating his hatred for him and yet his desire to follow the group's will and help keep him safe. This only shows another fault of Twelve's--a tendency to ignore things that are said directly to him if he doesn't like what he hears. He ignores Eight's criticisms of his character and constantly deflects them.

However, there seems to be an underlying human side to Twelve that he buries beneath pride. He refuses to hurt Three despite claiming he could, and he wills himself to hear Eight and Ten out only after fighting with them long enough that he's too tired to anymore. When he talks with them, he finally admits he wants to be called "Tanner" instead of by his number, and though he fights Ten on apologizing to the group, he finally does it anyway, if in his own way.

## Sexuality

Currently, Twelve's sexuality is not explicitly known.

## Relationships

### **Lilah Valentine**

Lilah had been itching for a "new toy" for a long while due to being bored with her previous number, Eight, for passing out during most of her visits. Twelve has the tendency to bite back, which seems to be more catered to her tastes. It seems she had already visited Twelve prior to his introduction to the numbers due to the welts on his skin, but it's been said he also encountered [[Milos Simanek}Milos]] at some point too.
At the end of Twelve's first day in the recreational area, Lilah was quick to bash Twelve's head on the wall and verbally insult him. From the get-go, Lilah is seen abusing him. While in most cases her scars are seen on Numbers later, this is the first instance we see her openly being cruel to a Number in front of other prisoners.
Twelve has a disdain for Lilah as he does all other doctors. It's not known how the two interact, as most times she has been near Twelve has been to subdue him or "put him in his place". As Twelve is mouthy, one can only assume he's made comments to Lilah at most, as she tends to subdue and restrict his body often to keep him from acting out around her.
### **Eight**

When they first met, Eight tried to reason with Twelve's clearly agitated state and mentioned that he used to have Lilah as his doctor. Twelve did not much respond to him, but later that day, he sought out Eight while alone in the music room. According to Eight, Twelve was told about his position in the facility, which Twelve bitterly rejected and responded with by physically kicking Eight enough for him to be bruised on his cheek and be sent to the infirmary at the end of the day.
Eight seems willing to read Twelve openly because he sees much of himself in Twelve. However, after the destruction of his violin and Twelve's hurting of his friends, Eight proclaims Twelve to be his most hated enemy and spares no sympathy for him. Despite this, he does not betray the group's trust by doing anything less than what they all collectively want, and he does not try to sabotage Twelve. When he speaks with him in chapter 92, he makes it clear he hates Twelve, but also points out all of Twelve's flaws in front of him without hesitation.
Twelve is someone who brings out the worst in Eight, as is the same case with Lav. While Eight is usually the collected type, Twelve's constant bitterness and biting remarks irk Eight enough to yell back at him. Twelve in turn finds Eight stubborn and annoying, yet constantly winds up talking to or seeking him out anyway. It is likely because of their similarities in personality and situation that he does, though he never admits to it because of his own pride.
### **Ten**

Twelve has a disdain for Ten initially, accusing her of being a "plant" as he does most everyone, and being generally crude toward her. He seems to think she's comfortable living in the facility and cozying up to the doctors despite Ten trying to make it clear that's not the case.
Though their interactions have been few, Twelve is antagonistic toward Ten. He was willing to speak with her once only while he made an attempt to pry the gate open, but became irate and took his anger out on her by threatening her. This later turned into him having to deal with her doctor, who hurt him in retaliation.
Twelve shows little remorse or sympathy for Ten's situation, constantly brushing her off or insulting her. She in turn cannot stand Twelve, yet finds it necessary to attempt to keep herself together and not do anything stupid that might lead to him not trusting her. While she tears herself up doing so, Twelve relishes in her frustration. The two only really come to some form of compromise when Ten talks to him in chapter 91 and drills into him with Eight's help. Moreover, she is the one who pushes Twelve into finally apologizing for his actions prior, and is one of the first people to hear his preferred name of Tanner.
## **Trivia**

*Most of these are pulled from asks featured on the author’s tumblr*

* (To be edited)