A Very Tired One
She then manipulated each finger, adding microfibrils to thicken the skin and enhance the joint creases, imitating the wear of constant use.
As they neared completion, Arthur revisited the face, carefully creating minor crows' feet at the corners of the eyes and deepening the nasolabial folds. He worked the underlying orbicularis oculi with the skills of the world's top surgeon, employing a dull needle to emphasize the age lines and texture variations of the skin.
Brie looked over her shoulder at Arthur, nodding slightly as he finished. Their work transformed the corpse into a compelling representation of the inevitable passage of time.
But they were far from finished.
As Brie worked diligently on the task of stitching the organs together, she started doubting herself.
The way the organs needed to align perfectly felt like an impossible task for her to do. Each time she tried, they drooped towards other organs and wouldn't stay in place.
She could feel the tension mounting in her hands and the hesitation creeping into her thoughts. She knew that her limitations as a surgeon were rapidly approaching, but she didn't want to admit it.
Just as she opened her mouth to express her frustration, Arthur abruptly commanded her to remove her hands from the body for a moment.
Surprised, yet compliant, Brie followed his instruction.
In that instant, something extraordinary unfolded; she noticed a green ethereal glow emanating from his hand.
Brie's eyes widened as she watched, enthralled, as the lifeless body before them began to react—the dead cells were responding to the light. Each one was sticking to one another as if invisible threads were pulling them.
Unlike traditional surgical techniques that normal doctors like her relied upon, Arthur possessed a skill that transcended mortal limitations: the healing technique.
No longer agitated by her limitations, she moved on to the next body part—the chest.
The breast tissues needed to be modified for accuracy. Carefully, she made an incision along the inframammary fold, slicing through the skin where the subcutaneous fat would be.
The distinct layers peeled back, revealing the underlying glandular tissue. She noted there was hardly any elasticity—meaning Rin's breasts were small.
With nimble fingers, Brie massaged the breast to promote the gradual integration of synthetic silicone spheres designed to mimic the addition of volume over time. This would help make them appear a tad bigger.
"How do double D's work?" she said, eyeing Arthur. Arthur gave her a narrowed look, uninterested in her weird behavior. "I was just kidding…"
As she worked, she infused the tissue with a specialized saline solution, creating a more sagging appearance that reflected age-related changes.
A few millimeters of atrophy around the areola brought her one step closer, and she artfully adjusted the pectoralis major, reducing its fullness to create a flatter contour.
She then focused on ensuring the skin looked appropriately thin and slightly deflated, while the retro-mammary space was skillfully compressed to re-establish an aging profile.
After securing the layers back into place, she paused to examine her work. The breasts no longer displayed youthful pertness; they now looked like that of a woman—an average cup size of B.
Across the table, Arthur's attention was on the hair. Rin's hair was quite short, too short for a woman to be exact.
It would be better to lengthen it as far as he could. And based on the supplies he brought, he could perhaps get it to shoulder length.
He made a series of small incisions along the crown, carefully lifting the skin in a flap to expose the follicles beneath. With a specialized instrument, he extracted the remaining hair strands, knowing they would need to be replaced to emulate lost luster.
Using a surgical tweezer, he implanted fine strands of aged synthetic hair—each strand a shade darker with no touches of grey.
This was truly the longest part of this operation.
Arthur arranged them in a less dense pattern consistent with natural thinning, observing how the follicles only slightly receded at the temples and crown. He then had to gently massage the scalp to ensure the new follicles were seated securely, aiming for a natural fall rather than a forced placement.
After completing the hair restoration, he crafted small pockets of scar tissue along the edges of the incised area, replicating the gradual damage from years of hair styling and environmental exposure.
The result was perfect.
Brie couldn't help but admire his work. She had been working on cadavers for years, but she had never seen anyone do what he did.
Each detail contributed to a narrative of aging. The transformation was nearly complete; the synthesis of age and experience was now evident in almost every aspect of the body.
After many more adjustments, fatigue began settling in on Brie. Yawning, she stretched her back and fidgeted with her gloves, conscious of the ache in her legs and how her eyelids felt heavier with each passing hour.
"It's time for the chakra infusion," Arthur directed, still calm as ever. "We'll layer the chakra over the skeletal structure before we begin further manipulating the tissue."
Brie gazed at him in awe, wondering how he maintained such a firm demeanor.
"Don't you ever get tired?" she gawked. "I mean, we've been at this for hours."
The reminder spurred her back into action, diving back into the corpse.
The two days passed—an endless cycle of manipulation.
Brie had actually asked for a break yesterday, going to the nearest bench to "close her eyes." It didn't even take five minutes for her to fall asleep.
Arthur let her be, sculpting new contours on the corpse's frame while altering the bone density and layering in more chakra with each reconstruction.
As Koko animatedly explored parts of the lab, she spotted the sleeping Brie and bounced on her.
Brie jolted awake, unable to stave off her exhaustion. Then she yelled, "What the heck are you doing?!"
"You fell asleep!" Koko squealed. "Since you're not helping daddy, help me build something instead!"
"No, Koko," Brie retorted. "We have important work to finish…"
Although she said this, her eyes were clearly bloodshot, and her head began tilting to get more sleep.
"Oh, come on!" Koko insisted, jumping up and down. "This is boring! Just stop pretending you're a doctor and let's play!"
"I am a doctor," she said, resting her head again, "Just a tired one… a very tired one."
"Hey!" Koko said, poking at her face. "Are you going back to sleep again?"
Before she knew it, Brie was already knocked out.
Arthur not once looked in their direction. He honestly couldn't even hear them, too focused on ensuring this corpse's perfection. One mistake and Rin may as well be a walking zombie with no skin.
Another twenty-four hours passed.
They were in the final stretch of their transformation process. Arthur and Brie worked tirelessly, manipulating muscle fibers and skin texture, defining the contours of what Rin would have become had she aged with those from her generation.
They spent every ounce of energy layering the fine threads of chakra into the skeletal structure they had carefully renovated over the course of the past two days.
Finally, after painstaking effort, the change was nearing completion.
The once-girlish form began to look like that of an adult, startlingly close to the age of Kakashi, Obito, and Might Guy. Even if it wasn't exactly their age, being just a tad younger, she could easily blend in perfectly.
"We're almost done!" Brie tiredly announced. She could hardly catch her breath, trying to take in the culmination of their work. "Wait until the others hear about this." Arthur looked in her direction, not needing to say a word. "I'm kidding!"
It was then that Rin's body began to slightly glow. Each feature they had sculpted came into being in a unique way as strands of chakra coalesced into the contours of her face, the cracks on her skin losing their intensity, morphing into a linear visage.
They stepped back, Brie captivated by what they had accomplished. When Koko spotted the final result, even she was absorbed in wonder.
"She looks like a princess now!" Koko exclaimed.
Brie turned to Arthur, who merely nodded, the shadow of contentment crossing his face.
They had sculpted a brand-new body almost from scratch, but deep down, he knew that his work was still in the initial stages.
Why were they still at the beginning? Because Arthur's next goal was to revive the body!
He focused his chakra, channeling it into her body. Waves of green light spread across the corpse to analyze a complete procedure. Although they were still dead cells, he could feel the bonds had been knitted together quite nicely.
It looked legitimate. The body would surely regenerate as they had modified it.
He stepped back to let the last vestiges of chakra integrate into Rin's body. Brie, still awash with excitement, turned around and looked at the ceiling.
"Can you believe we did it?! I mean, I fell asleep at one point, but you guided me through my doubts and allowed me to create this amazing specimen! This is, without a doubt, the most incredible experiment I've ever been a part of!"
Her energy was almost infectious, ready to embrace the success they had shared.
However, as she turned to express her thoughts, she was met with a jarring sight. A long, sharp steel blade gleamed mere inches from her face.
Panic shot through her, and she stumbled back. Her previous exuberance had evaporated in an instant.
"What—what are you doing?!" she stuttered, eyes wide with fear as she glared at Arthur.
"I have no more use for you," he blandly stated without a hint of emotion.
To his utter surprise, Brie inhaled deeply, steadying her breath as she calmed herself. She then adjusted her glasses with a smile and said in a soft voice, "You know, I don't care if you kill me. I'm just happy I got to work on such an amazing experiment. The organs, the tissue, the creativity…"
Arthur narrowed his gaze since her demeanor was unexpected.
She had exuded a strange allure, one that was dangerously obsessed with her craft.
"If you're going to kill me," she continued, "please—just cut in the place you already stole from me…"
The area she was referring to was her heart. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for the inevitable.
'How amusing…' Arthur thought to himself.
It dawned on him that Brie was truly a perverted scientist, willing to embrace death in the name of her craft. With morbid curiosity, he regarded her. This woman's potential should not be wasted.
When the attack never came, she opened her eyes in confusion.
"I might still have use for you after all," Arthur said, slowly lowering his weapon.
She blinked in surprise.
"Really? You mean that?"
"I never lie…"
Without hesitation, she sprang to her feet, brushing dust off her now wrinkled clothing, and declared, "I will help with anything you need after you showed me something remarkable!"
He turned away, redirecting his focus to perform the reanimation technique once more. The familiar groan of wood echoed through the lab as the coffin surged into view. Rin's body then hovered inside before it closed and sank back into the void.
Brie leaned closer, having had her residual fear covered by glee.
"This is perfection! I'm not going back to mundane work! I want this! I don't care if I return to the collections office; my heart lies with this kind of work—understanding the existence of life and death!"
Her statement was more akin to a comedic dysfunction of the situation. This strange woman stood simmering in enthusiasm at the prospect of scientific endeavor, unafraid of the grotesque and absurd intricacies of it all.