The first time she killed someone, it was by accident.
She could remember her shock as Marcie's blood splattered across her face, the metallic smell of blood hanging in the air. Deathtrap floating next to her, blood-soaked, waiting and ready. The screams of the teachers and the students and the judges and the parents as they scrambled to get as far away from her and her robot.
Gaige didn't mean for Marcie to die, she really didn't. Sure, she hated the girl, but she didn't want to kill her.
Deep down, the mechromancer knew she would never be able to wash the blood from her hands. She would never be able to wash the blood off of Deathtrap, not really. Nothing was going to be the same again. She killed someone, accident or not, Deathtrap or not, and that was never going to change.
When she recorded her next ECHOcast, she pretended that it didn't bother her. She said that it was awesome. She didn't feel awesome. She felt frightened.
Most of all, she felt guilty.
The first time he killed someone, it was on purpose.
He could remember the excitement coursing through his veins as he pulled the trigger. Relished the feeling as he saw his first kill drop dead. It was so easy for him to kill. It wasn't a challenge at all. His employer was pleased, patting him on the back and smiling.
Zero didn't care for the person he'd killed, he really didn't. Of course, he didn't know his target, but his employer did give him a fair amount of money for the hit.
Deep down, though, the assassin knew that he would never be the same again. There was always something different about one who had actually killed another human being. He had been told that one could look into another's eyes and know.
After that, he began wearing a mask. He didn't want anyone to see his eyes. No matter how pleased he felt about his kill, he was afraid.
Afraid of what others would see.