Chapter 6: Alteration

The walls felt more and more oppressive with every step.

They walked in single file, surrounded by armed guards. Not a word, not a cry. Just Jem's muffled whimpers and Lina's wheezing breath.

The Mute moved forward with the same tension at the nape of his neck. His mind was boiling. Something black was germinating there.

They came face to face with an immense stone door, covered in strange, indecipherable engravings. The door opened slowly, with a dull creak.

And then, a smell hit them.

A smell of warm blood, burning flesh. A huge laboratory with metallic walls. Chains and hooks hung from the ceiling. Steel tables, stained red. Unrolled parchments covered with drawings of strange creatures and unknown symbols.

And in the center… a man.

He smiled like an actor on stage, arms wide open, bathed in light. His eyes gleamed with a feverish madness. He awaited only applause… or screams.

— Come in, my dear children. Today is a great day.

He stepped forward, his white coat stained a deep red.

— You have passed the first step. Congratulations. Your bodies endured the injection. But that's not enough. No, no, no…

He stopped walking, then snapped his fingers.

— Today is a day of celebration! To thank you for surviving the injection… we will open you up, like pretty surprise gifts. And believe me… you learn much more from guts than from words.

A shiver of panic ran through the room. Jem stepped back, eyes wide open. Lina clenched her teeth, her fists trembling. But the Mute felt his heart pounding harder than ever… and a slight smile crept onto his lips.

— What I seek to accomplish goes far beyond simple tests. It is an unprecedented step, a feat never before achieved. I will be the first to forge a body capable of containing the power of a Primordial Fragment and wielding this power in a controlled way.

— This ancient power, denied to anyone for millennia. Of course, this Primordial Fragment is a parasite: so it demands a host… enhanced. Improved. Sculpted.

He pointed to the metal tables.

— You will be modified. Your bones will be strengthened, your organs made tougher. Your nerves adjusted to better withstand pain. For some, we will merge your flesh with that of creatures, so you better endure the power of the fragments. Who knows, maybe one of you will survive completely intact.

An assistant approached, pulling a cart covered with a sheet. He opened it.

Scalpels. Saws. Pliers. Tubes filled with a slowly pulsing black liquid.

— VERY WELL! Let's begin.

They were pulled out one by one.

The Mute was slammed against a table. Arms shot out and held him tight. He remained calm.

— No need for opium for him, said the man to one of his assistants. I want to see how he endures.

— But master… the protocol

— SHUT UP!! This boy is different, I see it in his eyes.

The scalpel cut into the Mute's skin, slowly. A blinding, acidic pain shot through his whole body. He screamed… or at least tried. No voice came out. Only a strangled breath.

The Professor leaned over him.

— Do you feel it? It's not pain, my boy. It's your transformation. Your body resists, but it will yield. You were born for this.

He made a gesture and continued. The skin was sliced along the chest. Metal plates were inserted around the ribcage, welded directly to the ribs.

— Reinforced skeleton. He will better withstand pressure and shocks.

Then he stuck a needle behind the Mute's neck, injecting a black substance that seemed to seep along his bones and spine.

— This dark potion… will weave a link between the Fragment and your nerves.

— So your body masters it as if it belonged to you.

The Mute trembled, every muscle clenched by pain. His bloodshot eyes opened wide, drowned in pure suffering, with no escape. Silent tears slid down his cheeks, but against all odds, a strange faint smile formed on his lips a smile neither of fear nor resignation. As if he knew, deep inside, he would emerge stronger from all this.

In another corner of the room, Lina screamed despite the dose of inhaled opium. Her abdomen was being opened. Her arms were held by the men in black.

— She's too weak! shouted an assistant.

— Inject more solution. If she dies, so do you.

Jem was dazed, eyes empty.

The master sneered.

— What you feel… is not mere pain. No, it's the price of power, the only truth humanity has always refused to accept: true evolution demands dismemberment, destruction of the mind, and rebirth through pain.

He smiled, a mad grimace, then whispered in a cold tone:

— You will learn… how loudly the body can scream before it submits.

Then the hours stretched in unbearable slowness, every moment seeming to tear reality apart a little more. The pain was omnipresent, a dull and persistent symphony, until finally… everything stopped.

Silence settled, heavy, almost deafening.

The Mute opened his eyes again. He was lying on a cold bed, his body wrapped in bandages. His chest, marked with fresh red scars, seemed to tell the horrors endured. On each side of his spine, a strange sensation radiated under his skin, as if something foreign had been mixed in, deep, almost alive.

He moved slowly, cautiously, rediscovering this now changed body.

Something was wrong inside him.

Lina was to his left. Her eyes were open but devoid of any life. Her breathing was slow. But she was alive.

Jem, to his right, was still asleep. A vein pulsed on his temple, abnormally thick.

Then the door opened.

The Professor entered slowly, hands behind his back.

— The master surgeon has done a remarkable job. Your bodies are almost complete. Only one thing remains… to bind the Fragment to your flesh.

He stopped in front of the Mute. His gaze was fascinated. Almost… tender.

— You. You still don't know anything… but you were chosen, a real little lucky one.

The Mute stared at him, then closed his eyes.

What they didn't know was that in the hollow of silence, a shadow was awakening. An indefinable presence, barely whispering… like a breath from another world.