"Aargh! My arm! What's happening to me!?" The man in the pod screamed, his voice splintered with agony.
Devin's heart pounded in his chest as he watched the scene unfold. Veins on the man's arm throbbed and bulged grotesquely. Flesh began to tear and rupture, expanding into an unnaturally oversized forearm.
"Aargh!" The man's agonizing wails echoed through the room.
Muscle sinews snaked their way through the torn skin. Thicker, more robust bones formed within the grotesque outline, while engorged veins and arteries intertwined through the chaotic mass, pulsating with disturbing intensity.
"Make it stop..." he whimpered, tears streaming down his contorted face. Devin could barely tear his eyes away, horrified as the transformation continued.
Thicker nerves snaked through the greater forearm outline, threading themselves through the flesh and reconnecting nerve endings. Each reconnection sent a searing pain through the man, intensifying his agony tenfold.
"Aaaargh!!!" His raw screams reverberated through the pod.
His pale skin sealed over the now massive right arm, the transformation culminating in sharp, coin-sized fingernails emerging from his fingertips with a sickening crack. The man's hand, now the size of a basketball, felt foreign and monstrous to him.
Dejected, he lifted the grotesque limb to his face, before he turned to look through the glass pod. The scientists murmured among themselves, indifferent to his suffering, scribbling notes and exchanging observations.
"What have you all done to me?" he whimpered, his voice trembling with a mixture of despair and rage. Grinding his teeth, he felt a surge of fury overwhelm him.
Enraged, he strained against his restraints, tearing the bed straps with newfound strength. His movements were awkward and disjointed as he staggered toward the pod's glass walls, his massive arm dragging along the floor with a dull, scraping sound. Devin could only watch, his mind reeling from the dimorphic horror.
Thud! "You said you'd fix me!" The man's fist crashed against the glass, the impact echoing in the room. His eyes locked onto the man in black with a murderous glare.
Thud! "That you'd make me normal!" he shouted, his voice breaking.
Thud! "Does this look normal to you!?" He thrust his deformed arm on the glass, displaying the monstrous limb for all to see before slamming it against the glass wall once more.
"I'm a fucking monster!" He cried, his voice raw with despair. Dropping to his knees, he stared down at his grotesque arm, tears streaming down his face. 'Why did I come here?' he wondered bitterly. 'Why couldn't I accept being disabled? Why did I trust these people?'
He looked up, his blood boiling with rage as he gazed at the lab-coated men and women who watched him with detached curiosity. Unlike the world outside, where pity and scorn were his constant companions, here there was only scientific interest. He was nothing more than a specimen, a rat in a cage for them to dissect.
Then, amidst the sea of indifferent faces, he spotted a teenager in the group, dressed in a white shirt. Unlike the others, he looked terrified, averting his gaze from the monstrosity that was him. The man's eyes softened as he called out to the teenager, desperation lacing his voice.
"You, hey you! White shirt!" The man's frantic voice cut through the chaos.
Devin looked up, locking eyes with the man in the pod.
"You're not one of them. You're like me, I can see it. Listen, don't trust them, especially not that man!" He gestured toward the man in black. "We're not people to these bastards, just guinea pigs for them to—"
The man suddenly gasped, his eyes widening in terror as he turned to his arm, watching the veins pulsate viciously once again. Despair washed over his face. "No, no, no, no—aargh!!!"
His screams reverberated through the pod, a harrowing sound that sent shivers down Devin's spine. Flesh erupted from his right arm once more, the sight more horrific each time.
"Aaaargh!!!" His ear-piercing screams echoed, making Devin shudder.
The scientists continued taking notes, their faces lit with academic zeal as they observed the transformation. The man in black stood impassively, watching the man's suffering without a trace of emotion.
"Aaargh!" The man's voice grew hoarse as the process repeated over and over. More muscle sinews coiled tightly, creating thicker bones. Rope-like veins and arteries wove through the growing mass, nerve endings reconnecting, and more skin sealing over the gigantic arm before him…
"Plwease… make it stoo..." The man pleaded, his grotesquely massive arm pushing his face against the glass. Blood dripped from his mouth through his cracked jaw as the glass strained under the pressure.
Pop! His head exploded in a horrific mess of blood, bones, and white brain matter, right before Devin's tear-filled eyes. The man's body crumpled under the weight, his mushy organs and innards spilling onto the floor. Blood sprayed against the glass, splattering in a gruesome pattern as Devin stumbled back, his body shivering uncontrollably. 'He's dead…' His mind reeled with the shock.
Devin turned to the man in black, who let out a weary sigh. "The 4th blastema formation trial has failed. Terminate it," he instructed the spectacled scientist beside him.
"Yes sir," the scientists nodded and walked away.
Moments later, a red gas began to fill the pod, enveloping the grotesque arm. The arm started to shrivel, decaying into lifeless, dead skin.
The man in black sighed, "The road of progress is paved with sacrifices."
He then turned to Devin, a disarming smile gracing his lips. "I apologize for that awful display. Now, for your matters. Follow me, Devin." He walked away from the pod, leaving the grim scene behind.
'These guys are sickos!' Devin thought, glaring at the man in black's back. He turned to the bloody pod, the horrific scene still fresh in his mind. But this man, these experiments, were nothing to him compared to Darcey. Darcey was his world.
'For Darcey's sake…' Clenching his teeth, Devin forced himself to look away from the bloodbath. He steeled his resolve and followed after the man in black…
End of Chapter 12