damned_institute | Nightshift 44: Disciplinary Therapy Room 5 [M-U for ZEX]

Entry tags:

m-u,
zex

Nightshift 44: Disciplinary Therapy Room 5 [M-U for ZEX]

People put too much faith in what they saw with their own two eyes, unaware of how easily that could be changed... But it was too easy to make someone see what wasn't there. No, the real challenge lay in making them see what really was there, what could be seen if they only knew how to look.

After all, the truth was supposed to set you free, wasn't it?

The doctor chuckled to himself as he prepared the last of the implements and turned his attention to his patient. The man was strapped into the chair in front of him and still unconscious, but that would change soon enough and there was no point in rushing things just yet. Ever since his proposal had been accepted he'd been looking forward to this moment, so it was hardly unusual that he wanted to make it last. After all, it wasn't every patient that came from a universe that offered such a... unique opportunity.

Humming vaguely under his breath, the doctor paced around the patient again, checking that each of the restraints were properly engaged and noting the small area on the man's skull that had been shorn of hair in preparation for later. Finally satisfied that everything was ready, he cleared his throat and called the man's name.

"ZEX."

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Consciousness came back to ZEX very slowly, and with a heavy, clouded feeling he wasn't used to. He'd managed to avoid being sedated while at Landel's for the most part, and the after-effects of the chemicals now were doing him no favors. It was difficult to think clearly, and opening his eyes took a certain amount of effort.

Where was he? This place didn't look familiar, as far as he could tell, although things still looked somewhat blurry. What had happened? He tried to think back... he'd been eating dinner with Kirk, hadn't he? His eyes felt strange, and he tried to raise a hand to rub at them a little...

and his hand didn't come up as he'd expected.

The dampening effect of the chemicals lingering in his bloodstream kept him from being too alarmed at first. He tugged at his bonds a few more times to confirm they were there, then looked around hazily for his captor. He'd warned Kirk about this very thing, had watched his previous roommate be taken away when night fell.

So much for his intended night with Xigbar.

Either he was going to be returned to his old body, as Tanaka had been, or... this was going to get unpleasant very fast. ZEX blinked heavily a few times, trying to clear the fog from his thoughts. It took him a few tries to speak clearly.

"I don't believe we've met, have we?" There was no harm in being polite for now, was there? If he was in a truly bad position, there was no need to antagonize his captor. "What do you intend to do?"

The doctor smiled as the man opened his eyes and looked around, obviously wary about what was going to happen now. He clearly knew enough to worry about what he was here for, but hadn't quite figured out exactly how bad the situation was.

Well. That would be something to look forward to then, wouldn't it?

"You've been chosen to participate in an experiment," he said, though it was clear that ZEX himself wasn't going to be given any say in the matter. "The drugs you've been given should help... dull things somewhat, but I need you awake for the rest."

"An experiment... I see." MRZ. It seemed doubtful that this would be the lesser of two evils... this was going to be painful, he was sure of it. He tried to think back to his training, ancient years spent back at the Academy; what had they taught him about torture? It had been over twenty years ago and it was difficult now to remember... and his human body was not the same as his VUX one. He'd never even had to put his torture training to use; interstellar warfare didn't tend to take prisoners. MRZ!

He tugged again at his restraints, more forcefully this time, but they held fast. Escaping on his own power was probably unlikely... was anyone going to come looking for him? Xigbar would have to have noticed that he wasn't there by now... but even then, how would he know where ZEX was now? ZEX didn't even know where he was. He'd never seen this room before. But surely someone would be coming to help him... surely...

ZEX took a deep breath, trying his best to slow down his quickening heart. The best thing for now would be to focus on enduring whatever happened until a chance to escape presented itself. He'd been an expert at impossible situations back home... no doubt there'd be an escape here as well. He was Admiral ZEX, after all. Things like this did not happen to him. "You need me awake?" He pulled again at his restraints, despite the futility of his efforts. His pride wouldn't let him give up so soon. "I'd think that most experiments that require restraints would do better with the subject asleep... unless you're hoping I'll give you feedback on the process."

Which could be it, for all he knew. His human body was starting to betray him again, despite his best efforts... he was breathing more quickly. There had to be a way out of this... "Is there any way we can come to an understanding? Surely something like this is unnecessary... if you require my services in regards to war, I'll gladly assist you. There's no need to come to... this." He didn't think this human could be reasoned with, given his current position, but there was no harm in trying, as far as he was concerned.

The doctor watched with an amused, nearly predatory smile as ZEX struggled with both his bonds and his control over himself. It was always the same; the attempts to escape, then to try and make some sort of deal (as if they ever had anything they could offer him), then threats or pleading as they realised how futile it all was.

It was almost boring in a way.

Still, there were ways to make things more entertaining, at least before the experiment truly got under way.

The doctor paused, almost as though considering ZEX's offer to try and work out some sort of deal. "You'd help us of your own free will?" he asked, looking vaguely hopeful despite the heavy shadows obscuring his face. "Why, that sort of help would..."

He leaned closer, taking a moment to savour the man's reaction. "...make no difference whatsoever. You have nothing to offer me, Admiral. Save for your value in this experiment."

Turning his back on the patient, he selected a tool and began preparing for the next stage. As he did, he casually remarked, "I suppose that means you have slightly more value here than you did before you came to us."

For a moment ZEX almost got his hopes up... but it only lasted for a moment. The human was just toying with him, but to an extent that was what he expected. If he could have just bargained his way out of here, no doubt those before him would have done so instead of suffer.

He was rapidly running out of options. This wasn't good.

ZEX couldn't help an incredulous laugh at his last comment. Being worth more here? Like this? The very idea! "So you know who I really am then." He tried again to pull free while the doctor's back was turned, but only succeeded in rattling his chair. "Then surely you must know of my reputation..." Bargaining obviously wasn't going to get him anywhere, and given the rudeness of the human's last comment... "Although my value then was more to my own species rather than yours, given how many of your ships I destroyed."

ZEX looked around the room, trying to find something that would give him an idea of where he was. There was nothing in this room that looked particularly familiar to him... it must have been a room that would have been difficult to get to during the day or night. Possibly one of the locked doors on the second floor? Hmm. It was a shame he didn't have any of his maps to look over now.

"Is that it? Is this revenge for all the humans I killed during the War?" Despite the fact that he was strapped to a chair and ostensibly at the mercy of a madman, ZEX's voice took on an almost condescending air. "Really, I'd have thought we'd moved past that by now. It's been over twenty years."

The doctor actually laughed at that.

"This has nothing to do with your pointless wars or body counts, Admiral," he said, still not bothering to turn and address the patient where he was strapped in place. "This isn't personal at all simply... science."

He turned around now and ZEX would be able to see the range of medical tools laid out on a tray in preparation, while the doctor himself held a scalpel ready in one hand. "Now, let's begin."

Well, that ruled out a potential motive, although ZEX wasn't sure that his captor even had one. If the Ilwrath were to be believed, sadism was its own reward. Although, it was hard to believe that humans could be capable of such cruelty... he didn't think their species had it in them.

The human kept emphasizing his title... he wasn't sure what the purpose of that was. "If it's not personal..." There, he could see some objects near where the human was standing... he didn't know anything about human medical procedures or the tools they'd use for them, but some of them seemed straightforward enough. Like the one the human was holding, the sharp blade that ZEX himself used to defend himself at night. A blade that cut through skin very easily, from what he could remember.

He jerked again at his bonds, more instinctually than anything else. His general feeling of dread was now getting uncomfortable... he was overdue for a rescue or an escape now. "I've just been chosen at random? Hardly seems scientific." ZEX glanced down at his arm where he'd cut himself accidentally before, healed now but he remembered how that felt. More importantly, how easy it had been. He did not want a human with a scalpel like that anywhere near him while he couldn't move. His body was beginning to panic, he could feel it. He had to keep calm, keep thinking. "Unless there's some aspect about me that would interest you, unrelated to what I've done." More thinking aloud than anything else. He pulled again at the restraints, trying harder now to break his arms free without success. "Nnh- something about a VUX in a human body..."

Given that they were the ones who'd put him in this body in the first place, one would think that they'd already know what there was to know about it. This was pointing more and more towards the only motivation for this being sadism, and that wasn't a comforting thought. There was no reasoning with that.

The doctor lifted an eyebrow in amusement. "Randomly selected subjects doesn't seem scientific to you?" he asked conversationally as he picked up the prepared swab in his free hand and walked over to carefully clean the shaved part of ZEX's scalp. "Perhaps that's why you're not a scientist."

It was more difficult than he liked to perform the task while keeping the scalpel in his other hand, but he liked to think it was worth the extra effort if it let ZEX have a closer look at the blade first. It was the little things that mattered, after all.

"I can assure you this isn't anything personal, ZEX," he continued, stepping back to set both the swab and scalpel aside for the moment. "Nothing to do with you or your species. Anyone from your dimension would have served. But they do seem to be disappearing quickly, don't they?" he chuckled as though that was some kind of joke.

"You'll need to keep still for this next part," he said, moving closer again and pulling around another strap to hold the patient's head in place and tightening it to immobilise ZEX. "Too much movement could lead to irreparable damage which would ruin the point of the experiment."

That said, he lifted the scalpel again and set it gently against the bare patch of skin, knowing what the cold of the blade would feel like and savouring the tense anticipation in the room.

And then he pressed down, slicing easily through the layers of skin in one smooth motion.

"I'm a soldier, although you already know that." ZEX tried his best to shift away from the human when they came closer to him, but his bonds didn't give him much space. The human rubbed something across his head, which felt... notably different, now that he thought about it. "This much preparation..." He had to take a few moments to catch his breath, as his heart was beating noticably quicker now that the human was touching him. His hair should have gotten in the way... had the human removed it? Cut it, maybe? No doubt they'd done it while he was asleep. Whatever it was he was rubbing on his exposed skin felt cool... the sensation of it prickled down along his arms, although he wasn't sure how they could be connected. Typical nonsensical human behavior, and he didn't have the presence of mind to guess at it now.

He couldn't finish his thought. ZEX strained against the straps, a steady motion rather than the hard jerks from before, and they refused to give. The human was far too close, and the blade was far too sharp, and this really should not have been happening to him, something should have happened, something should have intervened. He tried to follow what the human was saying, and couldn't help a soft sound at the mention of disappearances. His poor Captain... would Tanaka be looking for him? Would he even know that he was gone? If the Shofixti knew, no doubt he'd break in here any minute now, letting out one of their classic war cries as he lept on his captor-

His heart jumped again when the human tied him down further, unable to move and trapped and this was an utterly foreign feeling for him, not that his human body was doing him any favors. It was difficult to breath now, his lungs pulling in air desperately to fuel rising panic. Any minute now. Any minute now someone would come in here and stop this. "Irreparable... damage..." Trying to speak through rapid breaths.

The sensation of the metal against his skin sent a jolt through him, the muscles in his arms and legs straining against his bonds. He took in a sharp breath of air through his mouth, panic suddenly flooding over him at the realization of what this human intended to do. No, no, this was not happening, this was not happening to him, a human was not going to do this to him, a human was not going to cut open his head, a human was not going to tamper with his brain, no no no no no this could not be happening to him, he was one of the galaxy's most renowned military geniuses and a human could not take that away from him, they couldn't do this to him-

Sensation for ZEX was magnified in both directions, and this time it did him no favors. He could feel it, the blade sinking in through his skin and the pain and he could barely, barely find the presence of mind to stay still, to not try and jerk away as everything in him told him to do. If this human was cutting into his skull, then moving would be the absolute worst thing he could do. He couldn't help a dismayed, despairing groan as the scalpel cut into him, despite his best efforts. No no no-

The human wouldn't respond to threats, he was sure. He wouldn't respond to appeals to stop. There would be no bargaining... the best thing he could do now was stay quiet and not give the human the satisfaction of hearing him in pain. With the trouble his human body gave him normally, it was not going to be easy. This couldn't be happening to him, a human couldn't take this from him, this just... he couldn't lose his mind this way, he couldn't.

Blood welled up around the scalpel blade, but the doctor moved quickly, slicing a neat flap of skin and muscle away and moving it back neatly to expose a small section of bone.

"The anaesthetic should help to dampen the pain," he said calmly as he worked. "But I'm afraid I couldn't do anything to remove it completely, I'm sure you understand." He doubted ZEX knew enough about medicine to wonder why that was; even if he could have thought beyond the pain he must have been experiencing right now.

"This next part is going to feel odd more than anything, but I'll be quick," he continued. "I only need a small hole."

Setting aside the scalpel, the doctor reached for another item out of ZEX's line of sight. There was a soft click as he switched it on and a high pitched buzzing noise filled the air.

The pain wouldn't cease and he could still feel it, the human moving and cutting and doing something up there that he couldn't see, couldn't stop. He'd never felt like this before, he'd never been in a situation where there was nothing he could do, there was always something that he could do. There had to be something, something he'd overlooked, something he'd missed. He tightened the muscles in his arms and legs again, this time trying as hard as he possibly could to break free. Surely that had been the problem before, he hadn't been exerting himself fully but now that he was putting everything into it, surely that would be enough to break him free... he always had a last resort, always had an escape.

Nothing. He tried until he couldn't keep up the effort anymore, his muscles shaky and weak and still, he couldn't break free. Everything, and he was still here, and this was still happening to him. He made a frustrated whine in the back of his throat, some deep part of him still in denial that this could be happening, that this could be happening to him, that there wasn't anything he could do. There had to be something... he was not helpless. He was never helpless.

His VUX pride wouldn't let him call for help or beg for mercy. But the human hadn't been exactly quiet so far... it was possible that he might be able to at least find out more information. "What are you going to do?" ZEX asked, his voice hoarse and shaky. Not quite the confident attitude he would have liked to have given off, but his head burned with pain in steady throbs and his human body was difficult enough to control when he was not in pain. For now it was impressive that he could speak at all.

He jumped somewhat at the sound of something turning on, his arms prickling again and his breathing now in quick gasps, despite his best efforts. His head ached and he could feel his human heart beating through his whole body, faster and faster. "What is that?" Human anatomy, try to think... humans had that heavy and thick calcium based skeleton, that's where those protrusions in their mouth came from, that skeleton protected their brains he was sure, and- they'd need something to cut through that, and- and- and-

The adrenaline and endorphins made it difficult to think clearly. A hole, why would the human need only a hole to his brain? He thought of the gruesome array of tools the Ilwrath used to torture their prey, the automated ones with the spinning blades, and their lovingly detailed descriptions of how their venom would dissolve their prey from the inside out, screaming the whole time... that couldn't be it, he couldn't die this way, a human injecting him with acid so his brain dissolved, no, this couldn't be how it ended. He had to survive this, he couldn't die like this. He made another strained noise as he desperately tried to break free to no avail. MRZ, this... this wasn't happening...

It wouldn't be much of an experiment if he died in the process... right? Somehow the thought wasn't as comforting as it should have been.

The doctor smiled at the shaking and the notes of fear in the man's voice. "I'm going to help you see something new," he said, fully aware of how vague an unhelpful that was.

He paused as ZEX strained against the bonds again, trying to break away, to fight his way free despite how obviously futile it was. "If you don't hold still, I promise this will end badly for you," he said with a sigh. Like someone reprimanding a difficult child.

"What do you mean?" See something new? That didn't sound like he meant death at least, and hopefully, hopefully did not mean any kind of surgery that would compromise his mind. Impairing his mental functions wouldn't let him see something new, certainly, and one couldn't see anything when they were dead. So it had to be... something else, although he wasn't sure what it could be.

At least that ruled out two of his major fears somewhat, although it did little to calm him. He didn't want this human to do anything to him, much less to his brain, but if it wasn't anything that'd cause him long-lasting damage... amazingly enough, this could be worse.

Particularly if he kept moving, from what the human said, and he was willing to bet he wasn't exaggerating. ZEX reluctantly quieted down, trying his best to stay still. He couldn't quite stop his trembling, and he was still breathing hard and fast through his mouth, and he still couldn't shake the horror stories he'd heard from the Ilwrath from his mind (what if the human was lying?), but he tried.

"What am I going to see?" Breathy and thin.

"If I told you, there'd be no point in the experiment," the doctor chuckled. ZEX had stopped his futile wiggling about though, so he earned a vague pat on his shoulder before the doctor went back to work.

It was almost unfortunate that only a tiny hole was needed, he mused as he shifted the tiny saw closer and slowly worked at the exposed bone. But the increased noise coupled with the sensations ZEX had to be feeling right now would make things seem that much longer, which was something.

Not to mention that once he was done with this stage, there was always the second part...

Feeling rather more cheered about the situation, the doctor began to hum a surprisingly jaunty tune in time to the buzz of the saw.

ZEX wasn't quite sure what to make of that answer. What did that mean? Why was his ignorance of what was happening important? Unless the human just meant that the experiment wouldn't be as frightening if he knew what was happening, and that seemed the most likely explanation. He couldn't come up with anything else that made sense, although he wasn't exactly in the state for long, thoughtful deconstructions.

He tensed when the sound came closer, and then there was a sudden jump in volume, reverberating through his entire skull with a sharp intensity he hadn't been expecting, and ZEX let out a shaky kind of yelp. The vibrations went through his head and face, agitating every nerve ending that was already far too sensitive, and the sound of it was all he could hear, all he could think of. He had no previous experience with this to draw from, no idea how to compartmentalize this kind of sensation and noise.

ZEX clutched the armrests of the chair with white knuckles, his entire body taut and shaking, and he couldn't hear the long, strained moan he was unconsciously making over the buzzing through his skull. He shut his eyes tightly, instinctually gripping the chair as hard as he could, he couldn't hear anything except that horrible buzzing, feel anything except the constant, mind-numbing vibration and how long could this go on? Human skulls couldn't be that thick, could they?

At this point, worries about what the human intended to do to his brain were completely forgotten. All he wanted was for this feeling to stop.

After what must have felt like far too long, the feeling did stop, and the doctor set aside the saw, still humming softly to himself.

He gave ZEX a moment to collect himself before picking up a long, thin probe with a tiny piece of what seemed to be technology of some kind on the end.

"I'm going to insert this now," he explained, letting ZEX get a good look at it. "Remarkable piece of technology. It'll-" he chuckled, "-open new worlds for you."

Finally it ceased, and ZEX let out a long shaky breath of relief. Thank the Creator, he wasn't sure how much longer he could have taken that. He loosened his grip on the chair beneath him, his fingers sore and tingling, and he was shaking. He was beginning to feel weak and somewhat nauseous, his adrenaline running low after such a long period of sustained stress.

ZEX took a few moments to just appreciate not having that horrible buzzing sound dominating all his senses, acutely aware now of his own loud and harsh breathing. He didn't have much time to think about the new hole in his skull before the human caught his attention again.

ZEX blinked a few times, still breathing hard, and he wished he had a hand free to cover one of his eyes. Two eyes made it so hard to look at things sometimes! With some effort he managed to squint one shut to give what it was a better look.

Over the course of his campaigns, he'd come across more than one ancient artifact, and he actually fancied himself something of a collector. Most of them were augmented to his ship back home, and that kind of thing had a distinctive look to it.

"Is that... Precursor technology?" ZEX said, and despite his current sorry condition, he couldn't help but be fascinated. He loved alien technology, although not as much as the aliens that used it. "Where did you find it?" He didn't expect an answer, and yet somehow he couldn't help but ask anyway.

His momentary interest faded somewhat at the realization of what the human intended to do with it. An implant? A Precursor tech implant? Well, that was better than acid, but he didn't want anything inserted into his brain, much less ancient technology with some unknown function. Open new worlds... what did that mean? The human wasn't likely to answer his questions on that front... apparently that would reduce the intended effect. Perhaps something related to HyperSpace? But that didn't make sense, he'd need a ship for that...

Either way, there wasn't much he could do about it as it was. All he could do was brace himself. Where was that Shofixti already? Surely someone was on their way to help him?

The doctor only smiled in answer to the question and removed the implant from ZEX's line of sight. This part was the most difficult and required the most concentration. If the placement was off by a fraction, the implant wouldn't have the intended effect and the entire night would be a waste...

Not to mention it would be difficult to organise a new subject to replace his current one.

Still, this was what he'd prepared for, and ZEX had gotten the message about remaining as still as possible. He was confident this would work. The probe and its cargo disappeared and the doctor gently made the carefully practised movements until he felt the technology almost latch onto something, then he withdrew the probe and exhaled.

"Well that's the hard part over with, for me anyway," he said as he began carefully patching up the wound. The hole was small enough that the skull would heal fine on its own, so it was simply a matter of replacing the flap of skin and muscle. He picked up the pre-prepared needle and thread.

"But I wouldn't relax if I were you, ZEX."

This human certainly liked being cryptic. Normally he'd think that a lack of a refusal meant that he'd been right about it being Precursor tech, but with this human he couldn't say for sure. They were deliberately toying with him.

ZEX kept still, and his body tensed in anticipation of whatever new feeling would assail him when the implant was inserted. Instead, there was... nothing. The occasional sensation of something moving slightly, but nothing as intense as what had cut the hole into his skull. Strange... he would have thought that the brain would be as sensitive to pain as the rest of the human body, but apparently that was not the case. He'd have to ask a human about that later when he had the chance.

What was that implant going to do? Maybe it'd do nothing... maybe his VUX mind would be too alien for it, and it wouldn't do whatever it was supposed to. Maybe this whole thing was just an exercise in futility for this human. It wasn't any more or less difficult to think as clearly as before, and as far as he could tell, all his memories were intact. Apparently the implant hadn't damaged his brilliance, and at least that was one fear he could lay to rest. Maybe this would really be nothing after all.

ZEX blinked a few times at the odd comment. "What do you mean?" At least his breathing was starting to slow down. "Is that technology on a delay?" Had the human made him a walking time bomb? Was that why he didn't feel any different so far?

The doctor laughed softly. "No, that's not what you should be worried about," he said, sounding amused. "Don't you VUX have surgery? Once you've cut into someone, you can't just leave them open."

He paused for a moment, then amended; "well you can, but it doesn't tend to end well."

And if ZEX still didn't understand what he was talking about, he soon would. As the doctor adjusted his grip on the slim needle and set about stitching the flap of skin and muscle back into place.

The intense buzzing of the human cutting through his skull had put the other indignities he had suffered somewhat out of his mind. That's right, there was still the matter of the skin the human had cut away. Humans may have been rather bizarre creatures in terms of their physiology, but he didn't think they'd do well with their brains exposed if they had so much bone protecting it.

"I see. It must have slipped my mind." Even under duress, ZEX tried to be sociable. There was nothing to be gained by antagonizing the human at this point. The human had done something to his skull, although the intense vibration and noise made it impossible for him to determine what kind of damage had been done, but he could recall the first stage and what had been cut. That skin would no doubt be put back into place, but his skull... "Does human bone regenerate on its own?" ZEX didn't like the idea of having an extra hole in his head, even if it'd be covered with skin. Particularly if it was an artificial one.

Any further attempts at conversation were cut short when the human began working again. Shifting the skin where it was reminded him sharply of how his body did not like how this felt, and the general ache in his head was inflamed anew. He groaned a bit beneath his breath, his fingers clutching instinctually at the chair again, and he hoped this would be over soon.

A sharp prick of pain, and he felt something entering his skin and somewhat leaving it, although there was a peculiar sensation left behind. Thread perhaps, which would make sense if the human wanted to secure the skin he'd cut in place, although it was a somewhat primitive method. Most of the technology here seemed outdated though. He winced and hissed somewhat, his teeth clenched as the human set each new small area on his head aflame with pain. He had never been less grateful for his human body's sensitivity - if he had his VUX skin, this would probably be nothing more than an irritation. As it was, this could not end soon enough.

"This size hole will heal itself just fine," the doctor remarked absently as he worked. Luckily for ZEX, he was no stranger to repairing damaged tissue, so made a neat and fast job of it. In hardly any time at all he was tugging the last stitch into place and dressing the wound.

"It wouldn't do for you to get an infection after all that work," he said.

That done, the doctor stepped back to admire his handiwork. "I believe this means we're ready to continue."

So human bone could regenerate... interesting. He was going to have to remember that. He winced when the final stitch was pulled into place, and when no further stabs of pain came, he breathed a shaky sigh of relief. His head burned and he had a headache, but that would hopefully fade with time. At least it was over.

"Trying to keep me alive, then?" ZEX said, his relief at the possibility of release lightening his tone. "I hope that means that this implant of yours isn't intended to be fatal." In absolutely no way was ZEX happy about the fact that something had been inserted into his brain against his will, but things could have gone a lot worse. He could be dead, for example. He'd handled this entire thing rather well, all things considered.

ZEX was, in his own way, as blind to certain faults of his as any other VUX, and the thought that he was just trying desperately to reassure himself that he wasn't powerless during a time of extreme stress did not occur to him. The implant, whatever it was, was something he could overcome. He had survived this experience, as unpleasant as it was, and that was what mattered.

And... what did the human say? ZEX blinked for a few moments, plainly confused. "Continue?" And again, relief gave his voice a giddy and inappropriate breathiness. "Surely your implant doesn't need a twin on the other side?" With a bit of nervous laughter.

This was over now, of course. He'd implanted whatever it was... what else would the human want with him?

The doctor stared at him for a moment, then turned away to make a few notes on a nearby clipboard, shooting ZEX the occasional glance as he did so. Finally he set the clipboard aside and returned to his current subject.

"Not another implant, no," he said calmly, almost amused by ZEX's weak attempts to try and make light of the situation after everything he'd just been through. It was a different reaction than what he normally received, which was interesting even if it wasn't relevant to his study. Worth noting just in case.

"You see now that it's in place, we have to remove interference created by competing visual stimuli in the corresponding region," he continued, watching ZEX's face to see if he'd figured it out yet. "Or at least that's what previous experiments suggested. Either way it means one thing for you."

He picked up a strange curved tool and a small roll of surgical tape and walked around to the other side of ZEX. "You seem to cover this one a lot of the time, so I doubt you'll even miss it."

Hmm? Apparently something he'd said had interested the human, although he probably wasn't likely to find out why. Writing notes on him... it was a little uncomfortable being the one studied instead of the one doing the studying. Was this how humans felt when he stared at them? No, surely they appreciated his attention. This was different.

ZEX listened to his explanation, and any trace of a smile he might have had vanished at the mention of visual stimuli. While ZEX may have been afraid of potential damage to his mind, and unhappy about the entire invasive procedure, he had no instinctual fear of brain surgery.

This was not the case with his eye. Vision was one of the most important aspects of VUX culture; almost everything about their society revolved around it, and their sensitivity to visual stimuli was well-known throughout their sector. Most of their brain was dedicated to interpreting vision through their single large eye. Every VUX had a deep and instinctual fear of eye damage, someplace primal and untouchable.

Brain surgery did not reach that place within him, but the threat of damage to his eye did. Again that prickling feeling surged across his body, his heart beating hard and fast and it was hard to breathe, and that nauseous, weak feeling came back stronger than before. ZEX didn't know enough about human expressions to know he looked absolutely horrified at the moment, and even if he had, it was unlikely that he could have hidden it. "No... no no no." If he had been comfortable with the motion, he would have shook his head. "No no, you're not... you're not going to..."

The human walked closer to him, and his heart jumped again, it was like his center of balance suddenly shifted much lower and he was falling and shaking and his body screamed at him to do something. He jerked at his restraints as hard as he could, his panicking easily assisted along by a flood of adrenaline. "No! No, no-" ZEX's voice was high and somewhat angry, as well as strained with effort. The straps didn't break and he couldn't get out, couldn't get free, and this human was going to take his eye, he was going to be blind no no no no no no no

Whatever composure he'd had was gone. ZEX had to get away, protect himself and he jerked and thrashed in a frantic attempt to get himself loose. "No no no, not my eye, not my eye-" Terror kept him fighting against his restraints uselessly, even when it felt like something popped in his wrist and it flooded with pain, and he was starting to hyperventilate. He couldn't go blind, he couldn't go blind this couldn't happen to him this couldn't be happening, this had to be a nightmare, this couldn't be happening to him he couldn't go blind he couldn't he couldn't he'd never fly his Intruder again he'd never see anything again his creatures his menagerie his humans he couldn't go blind-

He made in an inarticulate, pleading sound through his gasps, as close as he had come to calling for help.

The doctor frowned as ZEX began to thrash around wildly in his restraints. While he was in no danger of breaking free, the movements would only make the rest of the treatment more difficult, not to mention meaning he might inadvertently cause more damage than was necessary.

There was nothing for it. Stepping away from the captive patient, the doctor quickly crossed the space back to his tray and picked up the previously prepared syringe, a muscle relaxant, and smoothly injected it into ZEX's arm.

ZEX shut his eyes instinctually when the human came back towards him, straining to try and get away from him and when he felt something touch his arm, he let out a choked sound. Something thin and sharp, and he felt it puncture him and leave before he could do anything about it. A needle, like what they'd used before he'd been brought to this room...

He couldn't let this happen to him, he couldn't let himself go blind and he struggled against his restraints, and then his body began to fail him. His arm refused to move, his hand hanging limp and slowly the rest of him began to follow suit, despite everything he tried to make it listen to him. Feeling lightheaded from his quick breathing, his heart still pounding, he clenched his teeth and strained to make his arms move, to fight but his body would not respond.

It was difficult to speak now, his tongue moving clumsily. "Not... not my eye, anything else... take anything else..." A prisoner in his human body, unable to do anything, unable to move, unable to stop a human, and he tried in vain to fight the drug in his system without success. He made a soft despairing sound. This was it, he was going to lose his sight and there was nothing he could do about it. "I can't go blind..."

The doctor made a tutting sound, as though ZEX were a child arguing against having a regular health check than anything serious. "You're hardly going to go blind from the loss of one eye," he pointed out. "You have two of them now."

Otherwise the mumbled noises were largely ignored as the doctor carefully slipped on a new pair of gloves and taped open one of the patient's eyes despite any attempts to stop him.

"I'm afraid this is going to hurt a lot," he said cheerfully.

ZEX had some fifty years to think of himself as a VUX, and only about twenty days to think of himself as a human. In his panic, he'd forgotten that he did indeed have two eyes now, a backup should one malfunction. That was a small comfort at least, that he wouldn't be blinded after all. It did little to alleviate his deep instinctual fear of having anything near his eyes though, much less anything that could do them harm.

The fact that his body was paralyzed did little to help his terror, and in fact only amplified it further. This was like his worst nightmare, being trapped in a useless body, unable to defend himself and fully conscious while a human was going to take his eye. If the Creator had any pity for him, they'd have him wake up.

Or have someone come to his aid. But neither scenario seemed likely.

ZEX's breathing grew quicker as the human kept touching him, and when one of his eyes was taped open, he started hyperventilating again. He tried to tell himself that he wouldn't go blind, he had two eyes now, it was okay but it didn't help. He felt light-headed, sick almost, and trapped and helpless, and the foreign nature of the last two only made things worse. Admiral ZEX was not helpless, was not trapped, never defenseless, he could find his way out of any situation but he couldn't move. No matter what he did, he couldn't move. Even if his body would have obeyed him, his restraints seemed strong enough to resist anything he could have done to them. He couldn't do anything to stop this. It was going to happen. His head hurt and his heart was pounding and this was going to hurt, the human knew it and would take pleasure in it and his eye, his eye please please please, someone do something, someone- someone help-

ZEX's eyes were watering, leaking fluid down the sides of his face, and he made a strained whimpering sound.

For the moment ZEX was silent save for the occasional faint whimper, but the doctor didn't imagine that would last very long at all. Particularly not as, scalpel close by for when needed, he set about gently prying the eye free from its socket, all the while making sure to take the utmost care not to cause too much damage.

Rushing the task was pointless, so he took his time and worked in millimetres until he had enough room to bring the scalpel to bear on the muscles and nerves binding the slick organ to the man's skull and slowly begin the job of severing them one by one.

More than anything ZEX wanted to jerk away when the human started to touch him, to run or fight or do something, but his paralysis made any attempts at self-defense impossible. Even the indignity of being helpless now paled in comparison to the intensity of his phobia of eye damage. He could think of nothing except the stark terror of the moment, his mind paralyzed by the inability for fight or flight.

When he'd woken up this night, he was determined not to give the human the satisfaction of hearing him in pain. At the time, he'd assumed that there was nothing the human could do to him that he could not overcome through sheer force of will. It may have been twenty years since he'd seen active service, and he may have never been tortured at any point during the War, and his human body's skin and nerves may have been far more sensitive than his VUX body's, but he was sure that he could and would maintain his dignity. It was just a human, after all.

It turned out he was wrong. The human began to work and this felt far worse than he had ever imagined, and his body's need to react outweighed any illusions he may have had about self-control. It started as a surprised, high-pitched groan that quickly broke into a shaking cry, and still things got worse. He'd never felt pain like this before, his nerves being pulled apart one by one agonizingly slowly, and the longer it lasted, the longer and louder his cries became. All he could do was sit, unable to move, while the human scraped away at him as slowly as possible, and he could feel every movement, every fraction as his eye was torn away from him. He was beyond words, agony rendering rational thought almost impossible, but the meaning behind his desperate shrieks was clear enough.

Stop. Help.

Had his Captain been alive and present, he would have recognized his screams. But while his Beauty had supposedly done a quick job of tearing him to shreds, his pain incandescent but brief, this human was taking his time. His previous death was over in only a few seconds, and this felt like it was taking hours. It didn't stop, even though unending suffering like this would surely drive him mad, and he screamed until his lungs gave out and he sobbed for breath before another slight pull or adjustment would renew his agony and he'd cry out again, unable to stop himself.

Surely someone had to hear him, would come to help him, something had to break. He couldn't scream into the darkness forever and not get a response, suffer like this and be ignored, but it wouldn't stop. It just wouldn't stop, and it was getting hard to breathe, his throat wearing out and his undamaged eye shedding water, and he couldn't think, couldn't focus. All there was was this, this slow torture and underneath it the knowledge that it was his eye, this was happening to his eye and his phobia only made it worse-

Each cry went unanswered, each hoarse "AIEEEEEE" only echoing back without response. The instinctual desire to fight or run or do something met against the wall of his paralysis, and he was stretching thin. All he could do was cry out as each nerve was cut, the sensation so intense it left room for little else. Someone, anyone, please- as he choked for breath. Where are you?

The doctor hardly needed any input from his patient to tell that the man wished the procedure was over already, but the objective was to remove the eye in such a way to minimise the overall damage and speed healing as much as possible. He wasn't interested in studying infections, after all. And a healthy patient was a patient that didn't need drugs that might interfere with the results any longer than necessary.

So he took his time and made sure everything was done as carefully as possible, until the last thread of muscle and nerve gave way. Then he set the waste matter aside and moved onto the task of quickly treating the damaged tissue, stopping the blood flow and then, after several long moments of silent work, untaping ZEX's eyelids and binding a clean, sterile pad in place over the now empty socket.

Only when it was entirely unavoidable did he free the man's head in order to finish fastening the bandage, then step back to make some more notes on his clipboard.

How much pain could humans endure before they went insane? They were such fragile creatures... one would think that their pain threshold would be higher as a result. How unfortunate... madness would have been a blessing at this point. Anything that would have dulled how this felt would have been more than welcome.

Instead, he was aware of the moment his eye stopped working, when the nerves were cut and blackness took over that side, leaving him with the blurry remnants of vision on the other. No no no. He choked and gasped, unable to stop himself from verbalizing his suffering, and the inability to move or defend himself only contributed to the nightmarish quality of the experience. The blackness on one side now prevented him from seeing what the human was doing to the socket, although that wasn't the greatest of comforts. The sharp, stabbing pain from before had stopped now at least, replaced with a dull pounding ache. He took some time to try and breathe, air aggravating his ragged throat, and his remaining eye wouldn't stop watering.

So it was gone. His eye was gone now. A human had taken it, and there was nothing he could do.

But even that thought wasn't foremost on his mind. The pain was still excruciating, throbs of it going through his face and down to his paralyzed limbs, and why hadn't he gone unconscious yet? Surely a human had some way of managing pain like this? Aside from his labored breathing and how his remaining eye kept shedding water.

The human put something over his eye, he wasn't sure what, and released his head, not that ZEX was capable of a lot of motion at the moment. Finally, the human wasn't touching him anymore, and ZEX took the chance to try and take some deep breaths. He coughed, choked a little, pulled in more air desperately and tried as best he could to calm down somewhat. He instinctually wanted to touch whatever it was over his eye now with his tongue, find out what it was, but his human tongue didn't have the length and instead just lolled outside his mouth. His heart was still pounding, only aggravating the throbbing in his head, but as long as he had a few moments to himself it would hopefully slow down. He felt exhausted, sick, weak, still breathing hard and if he had the ability, he would have been trembling. He couldn't quite manage words yet, just a pained "unh" when he tried to move his head.

What now? This had to be it, surely... the human had to be done with him now... please, please let this be all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nightshift 44: Disciplinary Therapy Room 5 [M-U for ZEX]

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