03 attacking me caught me off guard. He punched me in the chest and said "Let's spar!" It was apparently a side mission for 03. I looked like I had gained his interest at some point during the day. He was now wearing an orange boxing outfit. I obviously kicked his ass. Once he was done, I was done. I picked him off the floor and brushed him off. I decided to lay it on thick now that I had his attention. "That was a great fight, 03. Thank you for hanging out with me. I thought you guys all hated me because I was human." 03 rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I don't know if we don't like humans. Leader doesn't let us talk to them. The PEP units are the only ones that can be trainers." I let that sink in. "You humans are kind of weak, lazy, wishy-washy, greedy, boastful, nasty, and gross. We have to clean up after you, you know!" he continued talking. I could see that being true if patrons were fucking in locker rooms. "Some humans are like that, but-" was all I could say before he gave me a piercing look. "Lot's of humans have negative traits. Lot's have positive qualities." "But we're better." he added.
Cyborg supremacy at its finest. "Cyborgs are better than humans at some things, but not everything. And that's okay." I said. He furrowed his brows. It was like he could not believe there was a single thing that he could ever be inferior to a human at. "I've noticed that PEP units lack appreciation for the arts due to a lack of creativity." I offered. He shrugged it off. "I can paint, draw, sculpt and act better than any human." he said with full confidence. I asked "Could you draw something from your own imagination? For example, if I asked you to draw butterflies resting on the dumbbell rack, could you do it?" "Why WOULD I do it? There are no butterflies there." he frowned. I smiled and said "See? If you asked me, I would say yes. I'm not as precise or as accurate as a cyborg, but I can imagine things that are not real or currently happening and draw them." That made 03 pause. "We're still better at everything that matters. You just are... a special human." I smiled. "A special human." I repeated. I saw him nod. "Only special humans can become engineers." he said. In a sense it was true.
For a human to be an officer in a PEP unit clan, something special must have occurred. Either the human was directly related to one if not more members in some way or was the one that was doing a substantial amount of the work getting them together in a stable area. It was not impossible for a human to join a clan. Clan Ghost proved that. But to be an officer instead of a regular member showed a very high amount of trust in their skill and loyalty. I made the clan with my friends and then let low tier units join in as we found them. "We are better than normal humans. And there are so few special humans, that they don't even need to be mentioned. That's why, when the progenitors come, we're going to conquer the humans and make them listen to us." he said with a happy expression. He was in a Conqueror area. That outlook on things was to be expected. I said "I think it might be nice if the progenitors were nice and allowed humans to live peaceful lives while keeping a hands-off approach. I would love that." 03 stuck out his tongue. "Nope. Humans need to be guided. They suck!"
Reasoning with 03 was probably beyond my means at the moment. He was part of a different clan and a different faction. The fact that he had stopped trying to hurt me after losing the sparring match was progress enough. He saw me leaving and asked where I was going. "I have to hunt down 10-001 and 05-001. They are genocidal. I wish I was just being hyperbolic when I said that. I wouldn't put it past them to want to kill all the humans in their territory." I told him. 03 grabbed me by the arm. "Wait. I have not shown you everything yet." he said. I looked at him. "You want to give a tour of the building?" I asked, confused. He shook his head. "I need to show you how much better than you I am. 10-001 and 05-001 are really strong and I don't want you to get hurt. You're weak. Let them go." 03 said. I just pat him on the head. "Thanks for worrying about me. Let's be friends." He swatted my hand away. "You need a friend if those PEP units you came with are your idea of protection. They are worse than our grunts." he said snidely. I shrugged. "Can I count on you?" I asked. He shrugged back.
