♥ Have they ever acting out of heartlessness?
Yes. To say Rhys hasn’t acted heartlessly would be a lie. Whether he did it consciously or not is another story. For example, his Eridium deal likely hurt a lot of people. He was likely aware that it would hurt a lot of people, and he did it anyway. Because he needed to move up in Hyperion and that’s what Jack would have done.
Helios crashing? That was another heartless act, but it was one he did on a whim. Something to protect himself, sure, but he didn’t think of all the other implications. Of the people he would also kill bringing the AI down with the ship.
It is these events that have caused Rhys to grow and to vow to help people. He does not believe in hurting anyone, will never dare to if he can help it. His main goal is keeping people safe. Unfortunately, being a weapons manufacturer, he does know that his guns get into the hands of bad people. But his goals are still sound and he’s working towards other means of protection while building Atlas back up.