Jackal is not one, but two minds fighting for control over the same body. They are a true automaton from the Jistka era, created and bound to the machine in the last death throes of the empire, when morals and boundaries were second to saving the Jistka legacy.
However, Jackal has little to no memories of this time. They can remember they were bound to the core, and sentenced to fight in the war, alongside a similar Automaton, The Hyena. They know they suffered an injury, then nothingness.
Their next earliest memory is from only mere months before arriving in First Landing, the sensation of blood feeding their core, reawakening the soul within the core. It only lasted mere moments, but it returned, again for only seconds. This happened again and again, and each time they remained for a little longer. They were in an arena, they were still with Hyena, they were being watched, they were forced to fight for their life.
They would be returned each fight to a cage, forcefully and violently shocked into submission by their handlers. These people claimed to have found The Jackal and The Hyena in some Jistka ruins south of a strange name, "Cheliax". Jackal had no memory of this place. These handlers had other taking "bets" on Jackal and Hyena for these fights. Using them.
They were confused, they were two minds. One fearful, one wrathful. One wanting answers, one craving more blood. Each claimed to be the original human soul, rejecting the other, yet neither had proof. Yet they each could agree on two things.
First, blood. Both minds could feel the thirst, only one enjoyed giving into it. And as they fought, their body and minds would weaken until this thirst would be satisfied. Both are afraid of letting this thirst for blood go unfulfilled for too long. They were able to conclude that their core uses blood as some sort of fuel, their earliest memories collaborate this claim.
Second, Hye. Both recalled memories of her from before, both were glad to see her again, and both want to protect her at any cost. They needed to get her, and themselves, out.
These handlers think Jackal and Hye are mindless beasts, so Jackal learned to play the part. The two minds came to an agreement, letting the less impulsive of the two take the lead, waiting for the right moment to make their escape when the handlers got careless with the keys, and breaking out of their confines with Hye, running far away. To a land Hye overheard, First Landing.
A place to begin their new lives.