I was trying to use a color change string control code to have a differently colored number as the very first character in a string. However this is currently impossible.

My color change code:
\1\8\6

Now if I want a "5" in that color as the first character in a string I would need to do this:
\1\8\65
That makes the whole string black though.

This won't work either, because then I have a space that I don't want:
\1\8\6 5

My solution would have been to use an ASCII string control code. This here makes a 5:
\52

So I tried this:
\1\8\6\52

If I do that it looks just how I wanted it in the preview section of the message. However, when I press OK, the ASCII string control code for the "5" gets automatically replaced by an actual "5", putting me back to the original problem.