"Sir, how would we perform the experiment?"
"Don't worry, I have everything planned out. We'll first replace his blood with the liquefied fiends. Prepare the tubes."
They begin by connecting a tube from the fiend liquid and into a small slit they opened on his left wrist. Then they connected another tube on his right wrist to an empty bottle.
"Ummm. Sir, if we do this, won't he die?"
"Naturally yes, but we'll keep his heart pumping by forcing electrical current through his body."
"But…"
"No. 3! I don't think you're in the right position to question me. This is just the first experiment. If we need, I will just get another slave."
"Yes sir."
"No. 1. I'll need you to constantly send a small electric current through his body to keep his heart pumping and No. 4 keep healing him, stopping him from dying."
The black liquid slowly flowed from the bottle into Zephyrine 's arm. His face begins to turn white as his blood flows out of him and fills with the black liquid. No.1 and No. 2 continue to keep him alive, as Hearthorns, putting on a poker face to hide his excitement, stares at Zephyrine's wrist where the black liquid enters, turning the veins black and turning back to normal as it mixes with the blood.
"The bottle is empty, close up the wound and bring me a scalpel."
No. 2 hands Hearthorns a scalpel from the table, with the scalpel in his hand he cuts zephryine's stomach open from left to right. His large intestine slowly darkens from pink to a dark magenta and his other organs also turn darker.
"Sir, what is happening?" No. 3 asks with a confused look.
"The substance is slowly adapting and mixing with his blood, which will cause his body to change and we'll see a darkening in a creature's organs like this."
"What if we continue to add more?"
"He'll either go mad or die. Most of the rats that I've injected this substance into have gone mad and start killing the other rats around him. Eventually the rat died, but how it died. I don't know."
"How are we going to continue the experiment?"
"We'll force him to eat the flesh of a fiend, but the fiend will have to be alive for it to have a physical form. Then we'll need a fiend's core."
"But sir, capturing a fiend alive and getting it into the city is almost impossible." No. 3 said.
"That's true, then we can just start by merging a core into his brain."
"Why would we need to do that?"
"I want him under my control, but allowing him to think like a human still poses the risk of him escaping and wanting me dead. So if we merge his brain with the core, his mind will slowly be consumed by the core. He'll be nothing more than a wild animal, therefore, we just have to tame him like one."
Zephyrine slowly wakes up, he sees Hearthorns sitting in front of him, focusing on his book. With his attention on his book, Zephyrine shuts his eyes and takes a quick glance around the room for any way for him to escape.
"Stop pretending. I know your wake." Hearthorns said putting down his book.
"What did you do to me?" Zephyrine asks with a menacing look.
"That is not something you want to know."
He stands up from his seat, and walks past Zephyrine, who is still strapped to the surgery table, out of the room and closing the door. Zephyrine is starting to feel light headed, his skin is pale, he feels his heart starting to speed up, and his stomach rumbling.
"What did he do to me!" he shouted.
The door opens and a man in white walks in.
"I brought the food and water that marquess told me to bring you."
"What did you guys do to me!"
The man takes a quiet look at Zephyrine and says "Looking at your condition, it just seems like a lack of food and water, so eat up."
"I'm not eating until you tell me what you did to me!"
"Kid! This is not your place to speak like that. If it wasn't me standing here you wouldn't even get the food. Hearthorns is mad enough to just force the food and water down you. So eat!" he says as he moves a piece of bread towards his mouth.
Zephyrine looks at the bread and takes a sniff before biting down on the bread. The man constantly cycles between the water and bread, patient with him.
Zephyrine finishes the bread and water, and asks the man "Who are you?"
"Me? I'm number three, one of the six doctors under the command of that cursed Hearthorns."
"Are you not scared of being punished or saying that?"
"Sigh. Owning slaves is illegal in the empire and that mad man created this medical room to be soundproof so he can perform any kind of experiment without anyone hearing him."
"If you hate him so much, then work with me to get out."
"Kid, I don't think you understand. He is a MARQUESS, he has more than hundreds of knights on stand. Escaping this place is almost impossible. And if I let you go, you'll only be beaten and brought back and for me, I'll not be coming back. No matter how much I disagree with his experiments and ideals, I can't go against him."
"Sigh. Then at least tell me your name."
"I told you it's No. 3."
"No. Not that. I'm asking for your real name."
"...If you must know then my name is Veral Rave. Now I recommend that you rest, I can't not help you if that mad man goes on a rampage."
"Wait! At least tell me what happened to me."
"Sigh. The blood that is currently flowing through you is mixed with liquefied fiends."
Zephyrine is shocked from hearing that news and is unable to speak. The disgusting creature that killed his family is now flowing through his blood. He bit down hard as fist tightens and his eyes turns red.
"Kid, get some rest and get yourself mentally ready. I can only warn you this is not the end to this nightmare of yours. That madman already told you what his plan was and you're still in shock, it only means you won't be able to handle his plan tomorrow."
Veral heads to the door and as he is about to open it, Zephyrine yells out "What is his plan next?!" as he continues to hold back his anger.
"You won't be able to handle it."
"JUST TELL ME!!"
"Sigh. you asked for it" he said shrugging, "he's planning to make you into a fiend by merging a fiend's core with your brain. Well good night kid," he said walking out the door.
Zephyrine could not do anything with his movement completely restrained, now just slowly changed from anger to tears. Now knowing he'll become nothing more than a monster.