Chapter 34: It Begins

Captain Ennessa looked extremely confused.

"But, why would Sir Noblese even bother with a Prime-class cybernetic transfusion?"

"A person like him should disdain touching such a level of technology, let alone bother to add his own modifications,"

Captain Ennessa replied.

"That surprised all of us too."

"Even though the prototype was truly unique, that is only in the lower sectors. Such a level of technology is still just fair to the top three sectors of humanity."

"Yet he made his own modifications with great seriousness and focus."

"Also, when we addressed him about the heightened danger level of the transfusion, he said some merciless words that go against the code."

"What did he say?" Captain Ennessa asked.

"He said that the piece of technology would be the greatest benefit to whoever survives its transplantation."

"And if they could not survive it, then their death was worth it, and the transplantation should be destroyed along with them."

"What does that even mean?" Captain Ennessa asked.

"It means that while Sir Logan’s modifications greatly enhance the cybernetic transfusion, he does not want its successful transplantation."

"Or, sad to say, he does not want people from our lower sector to gain such a level of power."

"Tch, higher-life bastard!"

Suddenly, Delaney turned her head to Arlo, who pretended to be bored, acting as if he had not heard a word of their conversation.

"If I were you, Ennessa, I would not let my crew member do this. It is simply too dangerous."

"But...But if he truly survives it, then there will be another monster from Sector H, an absolute monster, one truly born for war, and can face off those Prodigies from the Higher Sectors"

"Face off against the Higher Sectors?"

Captain Ennessa asked with quiet disbelieve.

"That transplant above our heads, Ennessa, has touched the line of forbidden cyber technology with Sir Logan’s modifications."

"It was probably what he realized too, but he failed to stop quickly."

"Instead of ruining his work, he simply modified it to a level where he believed no one from our sector would be able to survive the transplant."

"And trust, this is beyond our own fusions. Gaining such power as one of your crew members would bring massive benefits, not just for you but for him as well."

"Is this right?" Captain Ennessa asked, her voice skeptical.

Delaney’s eyes flashed with seriousness and a hint of scientific madness.

"I think it is time someone bridged the gap between those pompous higher Sector humans and lower-Sectors."

"Who better than a crew member of someone who almost succeeded in bridging the gap?"

"Such a level of power... If the result is not death itself, then even I would go for it, Ennessa," she said with conviction.

***

DIIIING!

The elevator opened with a ding, revealing a large door with words written at the top:

Prodigy-Level Cybernetic Transfusion Room

The room contained a massive cylindrical glass object filled to the brim with green liquid that bubbled with strange steam.

Gigantic metallic pipes were tightly connected to a coffin-like glass chamber where a strange figure floated.

He wore no clothes at all, leaving him fully naked, with a large breathing mask attached to the lower half of his face, its source connected from outside the glass.

Behind his head, another gigantic pipe was nailed directly to his skull, while other parts of his body had wires digging into his skin.

He stood upright in the glass coffin with his eyes tightly shut, as if dead, yet his slowly rising and falling chest indicated he was merely in a deep slumber.

Hovering before the glass coffin were over ten robotic arms, each holding various tools.

Around the lab stood seven scientists clothed in white robes, each at their respective tablets and computers, rapidly typing away with extreme focus.

Also present were two familiar figures, Captain Ennessa and Surgeon Delaney, who both looked at the floating body in the glass.

"His entire body’s cells have been induced into a half-dead slumbering state. The transplantation will begin soon, so please leave, Ennessa. He will be fine," Delaney reassured her for the fourth time.

Captain Ennessa had refused four times already, claiming she would leave when the real operation began, yet she was still here.

But now the true transplantation was beginning, and they could not afford someone capable of making emotional decisions to be present in the room with them.

That would be fatal.

"You promised me you would do all you can. So please, Delaney,"

Captain Ennessa said, her normally confident tone wavering slightly, drawing a bit of surprise from Surgeon Delaney.

"I promise, Ennessa. I promise," Delaney said, repeating it twice with a confident tone as Captain Ennessa moved away from the lab.

The various surgeons moved closer toward the glass coffin where Arlo’s slumbering body rested.

With over three holographic displays showing every state of Arlo’s body, the scientists began preparing for the procedure.

"Let the Godbreaker Prime Class Cybernetic Prototype Transplant begin!" Surgeon Delaney announced.

____________________

Have you ever felt your body being diced apart, cold mechanical hands morphing into sharp blades that tore through muscle, sliced into tissue, and bled you dry?

Only machines were suited for such work. Any human who did this would have to be a mad monster.

"Open it all. Reveal the lines of bone that run through every body to allow an excellent passageway for the cybernetic machines,"

Surgeon Delaney’s listless voice rang out.

The doctors around her typed rapidly at their computers, which controlled the machines tearing his flesh and muscles apart.

That alone took two straight hours to complete. By then, Arlo felt he would go mad from the pain.

But the mask on his face rendered him unable to scream, only to breathe. Only now did he realize how lucky it was to breathe so easily.

"First Step of Cybernetic Fusion Completed. A ninety-nine percent accurate linear path of entrance for the cybernetic machines has been created," the AI voice rang throughout the room.

Surgeon Delaney’s eyes flashed.

’A ninety-nine percent linear path success?’ That is very good, beyond good, and only because he held straight through the painful ordeal.’

’He’s got quite the tenacity to pain.’

"Now all you need is to endure the next phase,’ she thought before ordering loudly.

"Begin the cybernetic transplant!" she ordered coldly.

In the next instant, the lights went out throughout the entire room, leaving only the green serum that contained Arlo and the various holographic images of his body.

"Cybernetic transfusion process will commence in three... two... one."

"Process successfully begun!"

Immediately after those words, Arlo’s heart nearly stopped as an intense sense of impending doom overwhelmed him.

In the next instant, he finally felt the needle that had been dug straight into his skull.

An object as hot as molten lava poured directly into his brain and quickly passed throughout the ripped-open lines that had been cut through his veins.

That was more than enough for Arlo to snap his eyes open, revealing bloodshot eyes squirming with veins like snakes the size of his pinky.

"ROOOOOOOARRRRR!"

A horrifying roar boomed throughout the entire lab as Arlo bellowed like a beast.

His paralyzed arm suddenly moved on its own and slammed directly against the glass that held him, lines of cracks appearing across its surface.

’He seems fine to me. At least he has enough energy to shatter glass that rivals the strength of brick twofold.’

"Increase the glass’s durability by double and increase the fusion process speed to sixty percent!" Surgeon Delaney ordered.

The doctors looked at each other dumfounded, yet their hands moved like the machines they controlled, rapidly inputting the orders.

Arlo’s green veins began bursting out beneath his skin, creating patches of red blood along the lines cut open across his body.

Incredibly tiny nanomachines could be seen running along the open lines in his body, rapidly fusing with every part of his tissues with the aid of robotic arms whose movements left tiny mirages in the air, a testament to their impossible speed.

The operation proceeded faster, but to Arlo, it was worse. If the pain before had been like water rushing from a tap, now it was like water bursting from a dam.

His eyes turned even more bloodshot.

He endured and endured, but eventually, his strength began to fade, and he felt himself disappearing into the darkness of oblivion.

[If you dare sleep now, then this will be the last time you wake up!]

The system’s voice rang inside his brain like a gong.

His eyes snapped open once more, and he smashed both hands against the glass, his fingers digging through it and causing remnants of blood and green serum to spew out.

"Increase the glass’s durability by quadruple and increase the fusion process speed to eighty percent," Surgeon Delaney commanded.

It did not sit well with the doctors, whose hands hung over their holographic displays.

"What the hell, Delaney? That will be outright murder."

"This level of fusion speed is already enough. Let the machines slowly do their job," a male doctor wearing spectacles protested as Surgeon Delaney robotically turned her head toward him.

"Increase the fusion process speed from sixty to eighty percent. I order it!" she said extremely slowly and clearly.

With fear in their eyes, the doctors all continued rapidly typing on their monitors.

"ARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHH!"

A groan of pain escaped Arlo’s lips as he felt hot lava squirming all over his body.

Slowly, it made its way to his eyes and a terrible itching began, followed by the feeling of a thousand ants crawling all over his body.