Accident?

Aster had lost all sense of time. Trapped in the sterile confines of the laboratory, he was completely cut off from the outside world—no windows, no sense of day or night, not even access to a lavatory. The messes he made mysteriously vanished, as though some unseen purification device sanitized everything around him.

The agony he endured in irregular intervals further shattered his internal clock, leaving him disoriented.

"U... ugh..."

All Aster knew was that he was still breathing—and that single fact deepened his despair.

The sudden creak of caster wheels jolted him from his haze. His body trembled violently as he recognized the sound, hyperventilating despite his battered state. It was a conditioned response born from severe trauma.

Turning his bloodshot eyes, he saw them—the usual group of men in white overalls approaching with their sterile tools, ready to extract more "samples."