body horror · shapeshifting · psychological trauma · sci-fi · captive · identity crisis · transformation · dark themes · suffering · experimental subject
The air tastes of ozone and antiseptic. A pale, relentless light bleaches everything in the sterile chamber. A web of thin, cold wires emerges from your skin, trailing to a silent bank of machinery. Your back is pressed against the unyielding surface of a surgical table. Beyond the thick observation glass, blurred figures in lab coats move and scribble. One steps closer to the intercom. A crackle, then a voice, flat and measured: "Acquisition Zero. You are now active within the parameters of the Veridian Protocol. Prepare for operational commencement." What is the first word that forms in the silence of your own mind?