Clinical. Honest.
A lie.
I flex my fingers. They respond normally. I turn my head. Neck movement intact. No restraints. No physical pain.
No kindness either. No short-term memory. Which is deeply concerning.
A voice speaks from somewhere above and behind me, amplified just enough to be clear.
“Subject Bones is awake.”
I exhale slowly. “I’m not your subject.”
“Noted,” the voice says. “For the duration of this procedure, you are.”
Procedure. Singular.
Interesting.
I sit up. No alarms. No correction. That tells me I’m allowed to move – for now.
My clothes have been replaced with thin medical fabric, open-backed. Practical. Easy access. They haven’t bothered with modesty because modesty interferes with efficiency.
There are instruments arranged on trays along the far wall. Not hidden. Not disguised. Everything is labelled, neatly, almost politely.
Scalpels. Injectors. Calipers. A device I recognise with a sick twist of familiarity: bone stressor, designed to induce controlled microfractures.
They want me to see.
“Before we begin,” the voice says, “you will be briefed.”
“Generous of you,” I reply, voice steady. “You usually brief people you plan to keep alive.”
A pause. Then: “Your survival probability is currently estimated at ninety-eight point six per cent.”
That number lands like a weight.
“Generous margins,” I say.
“We prefer accuracy,” the voice replies. “You will undergo a series of controlled structural stress tests. Damage will be induced, monitored, and repaired. Pain management will be minimal, to avoid interference with recovery data.”
I swing my legs off the table and stand. The floor is cool under my bare feet. Real. Solid.
“What happens if I refuse?” I ask. A flicker of a memory, of defiance, ripples through me but it’s gone like a songbird before I can assess it. Interesting.
Another pause, shorter this time.
“The procedure will continue.”
There it is. No threats. No raised voices. No theatre.
Just inevitability.
I nod once. “Then you might as well explain it properly.”
The lights adjust subtly, focusing on a section of wall where a display flickers to life. A schematic of a human skeleton rotates slowly, highlights blooming and fading.
“Your physiology exhibits above-average bone density and recovery rates,” the voice says. “We intend to quantify the upper limits of both.”
