5 Chapter five

*Warning graphic depictions of surgery, torture, and violence*

Narrator pov

As Seth is wheeled into the operating room, a chill runs down his spine. The room is dimly lit, with only the harsh glare of surgical lights illuminating the sterile equipment and the faces of the medical team. The air is thick with the scent of antiseptic and the sound of beeping monitors. The operating room loomed before them like a nightmare made real. The harsh lights glared down from the ceiling, casting an unforgiving glare across the sterile surfaces and equipment. The air was thick with the scent of antiseptic and the sound of beeping monitors, creating a disorienting atmosphere that made it hard to breathe.

The room was filled with figures in surgical scrubs, their faces obscured by masks. They moved with a cold, detached efficiency, their gloved hands glinting in the harsh light as they prepared for the procedure. Seth lay on the operating table, his form again wrapped in the same restrictive bandages, surrounded by the cold metal of surgical instruments and the ominous hum of machines. The sound of beeping monitors filled the air like a death knell, warning of the torture that lay ahead. Seth feels small and vulnerable like prey being brought into a predator's lair.

The doctors and nurses move around the gurney with swift, efficient movements, their eyes hidden behind surgical masks, their gloved hands cold and clinical. Seth can't help but feel a sense of horror as the doctors eagerly wonder what fate awaits him on the operating table. He can hear the sound of surgical instruments being prepared, the sharp clink of metal on metal echoing through the room.

The sound of a recording device sounds off, "Experiment #002, removal of the heart.", Seth hears before he feels the now acquainted feel of a scalpel on his skin, the blade cuts through the skin and muscle before reaching the sternum. A nurse quickly passes the person doing the slicing a pair of forceps as one is placed on either side of the now large slice down the center of Seth's chest. The wound peeled open with the sound of a wet fruit being peeled open. The now visible rib cage was a bright white like the snow in the Arctic. The doctor grabs a hammer and chisel and aligns them with Seth's rib before striking. Seth tries to let out a scream of anguish but nothing comes out. There was no muffled grunt or anything of the sort. Seth to his horror and absolute shock discovers his voice box is no longer there. He thrashes around like a snake that has been caught but is restricted by the straps and buckles surrounding his body.

The doctors continue on without paying Seth any mind as if their robots are just doing their programmed tasks. After the ribs are broken and removed the surgeon retrieves his scalpel again; the blade glinting menacingly in the fluorescent surgical light. The person quickly moves the lungs out of the way as his knife quickly reaches the aortic arch. Slicing through it without hesitation: blood quickly gushes through the open artery filling the open chest cavity at an alarming rate. The sound of the heartbeat monitor quickly sped up reaching an alarming rate. Despite this, the doctor doesn't stop and moves his blade to the right and cuts the pulmonary artery. The EKG quickly flatlines letting out a dull resounding beep. "Time of death is 13:36:42." says a nurse while scribbling down something on their clipboard.

The doctors step back and observe as black smoke and tendrils seem to grow out of the wounds pulling the cut arteries back together and making them as good as new. The removed ribs fly back towards the chest cavity at a speed so fast you'd miss it if you blinked. Seth's ribs paste themselves back onto their original home with black wispy shadow-like material being seen at the joint between the break. Seth's chest cavity slowly sews itself up like a zipper on a jacket. The EKG starts up again letting out a low and steady cadence. "Time of revival is 13:36:50." says the same nurse while still furiously scribbling down notes.

*Timeskip 1 hour*

Seth again lay motionless on the operating table, a thin layer of sweat glistening on his exposed forehead and scalp. The steady beep of the heart monitor was the only sound in the room, creating an eerie atmosphere. Seth's eyes were still covered by a bandage, and his breathing was shallow, almost imperceptible. His body was strapped down to the table, with thick leather restraints holding his arms and legs in place. The bandages he wore were stained with dark blotches of blood, urine, and tears; a foul smell hung in the air.

The surgeon stood at the foot of the table, his back turned to the patient. "Experiment #005, removal of the brain," he says aloud before turning to face Seth. He wore a bloodstained apron, and his hands were covered in latex gloves. In the silence, he began to hum a tune, an unsettling melody that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. As he turned around, his face was obscured by the shadow cast by his surgical mask. He picked up a scalpel and approached the patient, his movements slow and deliberate. With a sudden jolt, the patient's eyes shot open, their mouth agape, as if they were trying to scream.

A dotted line can be seen slowly separating around the cranial cavity as the surgeon drags his blade across it. After the cut is complete the surgeon slowly peels back the cap of skin and flesh covering the skull before being handed a circular saw. The surgeon slowly and methodically uses the circular saw to cut a line in a circle at the base of the cranial cavity. Seth's body convulsed, the restraints creaking under the force of his thrashing but they didn't give. The surgeon continued his work, his movements becoming more frenzied with each passing moment; before long the doctor turned around with a large lumpy ball of flesh in his hands.

Upon closer inspection one is able to see wrinkles and a line down the middle allowing one to quickly identify it as the brain of Seth. The brain is placed onto a plastic-lined gurney before quickly being wheeled out of the room.

As the procedure drew to a close, the patient's body fell limp, and the room fell silent once more. "Time of death 14:22:31" a nurse standing in the corner of the room announces with an apathetic voice. The surgeon stood back, admiring his handiwork, a twisted smile on his face. The patient's lifeless body lay on the operating table, a grotesque tableau of horror. Before long wispy shadows are again seen from the open cavity except for this time there is no organ to heal.

The black matter begins to swirl and dance in the open cavity before it slowly turns from a deep all-consuming black to a bright and wrinkly pink flesh colour. The newly created flesh fills the cavity at a speed similar to a track athlete doing sprints. The removed portion of the skull flies back and sets itself back onto the skull before fusing itself back together and the flesh cap that was removed slams into the now-repaired skull with a wet plop. The cut flesh immediately begins to bring itself to and reattach to the flesh in the skull. As soon as the last portion of the skull is repaired and placed back into working order the heartbeat monitor immediately starts to ring off. "Time of revival 14:22:54." the nurse in the corner once again rings off.

Experiments like these continued for multiple days, each experiment more cruel and inhumane than the last. From freezing to death and burning to death to being crushed with telekinesis and obliterated with energy blasts nothing was off the table. For days Seth was introduced and subjected to heinous experiments under the guidance of Mr. Sinister. As each day of pain ticked by, Seth's mind began to fall apart; each memory of his wife and parents in his past life was replaced by tests, experiments, and nightmares that made him wonder if he was in hell for retribution for his actions. All the while Mr. Sinister was using his telepathic powers to control Seth. His free will is broken down little by little each day by the combined forces of Mr. Sinister's mental probing and his cruel and unethical experiments. Culminating in Seth being completely under Mr. Sinisters mental control; submitting to his every whim and fancy.