OKAY SO. SCAPEGRACE 049 & 096 LORE.
Following the death of Dr. Hamm, there was a spike in hatred and mistrust towards Lucien, resulting in putting him in more dangerous situations. And so, while Lucien was fatigued and mourning the loss of a colleague, he was eventually paired with 096.
Their meeting is somewhat similar to TiCiNSTiBiNK and Beneath the Surface; 049 was a part of the termination program, having occurred just after the failed attempt with 682 and the unintended pairing with 106. The Foundation had their doubts on Lucien's ability to kill the thing, but with the deep-seated frustration towards the doctor and 096's failed terminations, they figured they should at least try.
So, they kinda just... threw him in without any information and hoped something would happen.
Lucien caught on pretty quickly about the whole face thing, however, and he was able to avoid death in that regard. Really, what concerned him the most was the absolute state Cyrus was in. Throughout the whole pairing, he was given no acknowledgement, and nothing he did seemed to get him out of catatonia. It's clear to him that this thing does have a consciousness, but it's been incredibly stunted under intense anxiety. Immediately, something is wrong, and he wants to help.
He's eventually removed after the two failed to do anything to each other, but 049 couldn't stop thinking about the creature. It took many weeks of good behavior and debating for him to finally be given a scheduled pairing (under the guise of aiding in their attempts, which, to an extent, wasn't really a lie).
Following this, he makes an effort to try to get 096 out of his dissociative episodes, both via medication and interaction. Cyrus initially takes no notice of Lucien, partially because he's so far gone, but also because he doesn't believe it's real.
Until, he starts coming back, and Cyrus begins to become more and more aware of his surroundings.
And instead of being happy... Well. It goes quite poorly.
Being aware means he remembers more of what happened to him, both recently and back then. He gets scared, and he gets violent. His speech is broken, and his body is awkward, but he makes it known that he doesn't appreciate the doctor's presence. This goes on for some time, getting progressively more violent and troublesome despite Lucien's efforts.
Then comes the attempt with 173. (Basically, the Consequences and Collarbones attempt, if it had failed and resulted in a few casualties). Again, another spike in hatred towards 096, especially with Dr. Daniels, who refused any more meetings with 049 out of frustration. They don't meet again until a containment breach occurs a month later, where the doctor takes a chance to find Cyrus.
To his surprise, this time, he gets no resistance.
The whole ordeal with 173 was very traumatic for 096, but it was the isolation that followed that really messed with him. He was more lucid than he ever had been, and keep recalling painful memories from his childhood, which resulted in a lot of distress. His fear, his tendencies, his rage, were just natural to him, but now that he knew why he was the way he was, it destroyed him. He could've been anyone else, but circumstances guided him into a terrible direction, with no way to go back. It wasn't fair, and it felt like it was his fault for being so stupid, for just existing and not doing anything to help himself, despite the fact that he didn't know any better and had such a rough upbringing. Lots of self-harming and panic attacks followed.
Lucien finds him during one of these episodes, and for once, Cyrus doesn't lash out. Here was the only person who had ever cared about him, who had done nothing but tried to make life easier for him, despite how much he pushed back. Nobody had taken the effort to understand him like he did. He still hated that he had seen him in this vulnerable state, but after all that had happened, he didn't have the mental strength to hurt him.
He wanted comfort. Wanted to feel... something. And he knew Lucien was the only person he could trust.
Andddddd that's how they became besties :3
