The walls felt more suffocating with every step.
They walked in a line, surrounded by armed guards. Not a word. Not a scream. Just Jem's muffled whimpers and Lina's wheezing breath.
The Mute moved forward with that same tautness in his neck. His gaze was blank, but his mind churned. Something dark was taking root inside.
They reached a massive reinforced door. A beep sounded. The door slid open with the hiss and clank of mechanical locks.
And then the smell hit them.
Not disinfectant. Not this time. The smell of hot blood. Burned flesh. A vast operating room with metallic walls. Mechanical arms hung from the ceiling. Steel tables, streaked with red. Flickering screens filled with anatomical diagrams.
And in the center… the Professor.
He stood like an actor on stage, arms wide, bathed in harsh white light. His eyes gleamed with feverish madness. He waited not for applause, but for screams.
- Come in, my dear children. Today is a very special day.
He walked toward them, his white coat now soaked in deep red.
- You've made it past the first stage. Congratulations. Your bodies survived the injection. But that's not enough. No, no, no…
He stopped, then clapped his hands.
- Today is a celebration! To thank you for surviving the injection… we're going to open you up. Like beautiful surprise packages. And believe me… the truth lies in the guts, not in words.
A shiver of panic swept through the room. Jem stepped back, wide-eyed. Lina clenched her teeth, her fists trembling. But the Mute he felt his heart pounding harder than ever… and smiled, just slightly.
- What I'm trying to achieve goes far beyond simple testing. This is a breakthrough. A feat no one has ever dared before. I will be the first to successfully integrate a Primordial Fragment an ancient power denied to mankind for millennia. Of course, this Fragment is a parasite. It needs a host… enhanced. Reinforced. Sculpted.
He pointed to the steel tables.
- You will be altered. Bones and organs reinforced. Nervous systems recalibrated. And some of you… will get direct neural grafts to prevent overload. Who knows, maybe one of you will even survive intact.
An assistant approached, wheeling a cart covered with a sheet. He pulled it back.
Scalpels. Saws. Clamps. Cyber-organic implants. Tubes of thick black liquid, pulsing slowly.
- GOOD! Let's begin.
They were dragged out one by one.
The Mute was strapped onto a table. Mechanical arms sprang to life and pinned him down. He stayed calm.
- No anesthesia for him,
the Professor said to an assistant.
- I want to see how he handles it.
- But Professor… the protocol
- SHUT UP!! That boy is different. I can see it in his eyes.
The scalpel broke his skin slowly. A blinding, acidic pain exploded through his body. He screamed or tried to. No sound came out. Just a strangled gasp.
The Professor leaned over him.
- Feel that? That's not pain, my boy. That's transformation. Your body resists but it will yield. You were born for this.
He made a gesture, and the machine continued. His torso was split open. Metal plates were inserted around his ribcage, fused directly to the bone.
- Reinforced skeleton. He'll withstand greater pressure.
Next, the Professor jabbed a needle into the back of the Mute's neck, injecting a black substance that seemed to ignite beneath the skin.
- Nano-connectors. So the Fragment… can speak to your nervous system.
The Mute trembled, every muscle locked in agony. His blood-red eyes flared open, drowning in pure suffering. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks. But against all odds… a strange smile crept onto his lips a smile not of fear or surrender, but defiance. As if, deep down, he knew he'd emerge from this not just changed but stronger.
Elsewhere in the room, Lina was screaming too. Her abdomen lay open. Her arms were pinned by metal grips.
- She's too weak!
An assistant shouted.
- Inject more solution. If she dies, so do you.
Jem, strapped down, sobbed silently, eyes locked on the surgical light above.
The Professor chuckled.
- What you feel… it's not mere pain. It's the cost of power. The one truth humanity has always refused to accept: real evolution demands dismemberment, the destruction of the self, and rebirth through agony.
He grinned, a mad rictus, then whispered coldly:
- You'll learn… just how long the body can scream before it breaks.
Then the hours dragged on, stretching into an unbearable eternity. Time seemed to tear itself apart. Pain filled every corner, a muted, endless symphony until, at last… everything stopped.
Silence fell. Heavy. Deafening.
The Mute opened his eyes. He was lying in a cold bed, his body wrapped in bandages. His chest, etched with raw red scars, told the story of what he'd endured. On either side of his spine, strange black plates sat beneath the skin. His neck burned with a low, smoldering fire.
He moved slowly, cautiously rediscovering the body that was no longer the one he knew.
Something was vibrating inside him.
Lina was on his left. Her eyes were open but lifeless. Her breathing shallow. But she was alive.
Jem, on his right, still slept. Or maybe he'd passed out. A vein on his temple pulsed, swollen and unnatural.
Then the door opened.
The Professor stepped in slowly, hands clasped behind his back.
- My children. You are ready. Your bodies are nearly complete. There is only one thing left… to connect the Fragment.
He stopped in front of the Mute. His eyes gleamed with something close to awe. Almost… tenderness.
- You don't know it yet… but you've been chosen. A lucky little soul.
The Mute stared back at him, then slowly closed his eyes.
What none of them knew was that, deep within the silence, a shadow was stirring. A presence without form, whispering softly… like a breath from another world.