Day 1 – Night.
Jin stared at the contraption in front of him.
He understood it was an object, he understood that it was ant to be part of an experint. But his brain couldn't comprehend why it looked. . . the way it did.
To him, this looked like a death trap.
"Suyin, why does it look like it'll shred
apart like what you did to the Hybrid?" Alice asked with a twitching smile.
The amalgamation of hooks, limbs, wires and pipes sent a chill down Alice's back.
"I had to make sothing that can actually resist you short circuiting my crap. Do you want this lab to go up in flas the mont you touch anything?" Suyin retorted.
In order to compensate for Alice's. . . Unique physique while also continuing with their experints to figure out the secrets of Eldritch Energy, Suyin had to redesign so of her tech from the foundations.
The safety precautions that she put in place were instead transford into bombs thanks to Alice so she had to remove it.
Not that she needed to tell Alice of course. They can simply toss the contraption away if it showed signs of blowing up.
As grotesque as it was, the machine had biological parts connected to so places, causing it to look like a half dissected beast carcass welded onto a tal skeletal fra. Parts of the tal even showing rust and corrosion.
Mismatches pistons, jutted out from the sides, the uneven beats that sounded like heart?
Housed in the centre seed to be a glass container holding blood that swirled with a strange darkness.
Countless exposed wiring, so wrapped so on full display.
Hell, she even scribbled a DO NOT TOUCH! On one of the parts near the back that was barely connected!
"Please clarify how this ISN'T a safety hazard and how this WOULDN'T kill us on touch?" Alice pointed at the contraption.
"Huh? When did I say that? I simply said it won't go up in flas the mont you touch it and that I had to make sothing that can actually work. I don't believe I said anything about safety and lethality." Suyin replied as Alice paused.
Recalling what she said, it did seem like that was the case.
"But what kind of advancent isn't made without risks? Did you know when I was designing my own prosthetics, I accidentally blew my arm off in a test?" Suyin laughed while Alice couldn't help but think if she had lost so of her brain during that experint.
For Alice, losing limbs was 'fine' to so extent since she had regeneration. But to a normal human, losing an arm was a very big deal!
"Let's ignore that for now. I have put in. . . Well, I wouldn't call it a safety precaution since it's far from safe but it's more like a silver lining. The machine will destroy itself the mont it senses signs of short-circuiting rather than exploding." Suyin reassured with a wave of her hand.
". . ." Without saying anything else, Alice began to set up the paraters for a Triggered Cast.
The mont anything looks like it'll go wrong, it'll automatically use the power of the Void to teleport them away from the machine and isolate it in a barrier.
That way, even if it were to blow up, at least it'll be contained.
"Huehehehehe~ Now my dear subje- I an my dear friends, would you like to take a seat so that we may unlock the secrets of the Eldritch?" Suyin grinned a goofy smile as Alice scrunched her brows.
Researchers, as proven by the cases in the past, especially genius ones, are bat sh*t insane.
Letting out a deep groan, Alice scratched her hair and relented.
Giving Jin a glance, Alice made the first move and sat down on one of the chairs.
"!!!" Widening her eye, Alice shivered.
"Ew ew ew ew! Why is this thing f*cking moist!?!?" She shouted towards Suyin.
She wanted to get up but she was already buckled in.
"Don't mind it, probably condensation or so blood that hasn't dried up yet. But silver lining, it's not blowing up right?" Suyin stuck out her tongue and gave Alice two thumbs ups.
Making Jin sit down on his seat, Suyin walked over to the wall and grabbed a lever.
"This machine will be focused on recording data about the energy. Make sure to circulate it okay?" She called out.
For Jin, it was the only thing he could circulate so it was easy.
But for Alice, it ant switching to Alyss, thus disabling the triggered cast.
They had to react quickly if anything was to happen.
*KRK!
Tugging the lever, Suyin watched as sparks crackled across the machine.
From both Alyss and Jin, Eldritch energy flowed out, latching onto the pieces of flesh that she welded into place.
*KRKKRKK!!!
A strange gurgling sound that sounded like a mix of clicking and hissing echoed out with so of the flesh tendrils beginning to move on their own.
The machine next to Suyin frantically scribbled down markings and graphs while her eyes were focused on the experint at hand.
*TZZ!!!
Widening her eye, Alyss noticed a spark above their heads.
'Alice!'
'I know!'
Swapping controls, Alice quickly activated her triggered cast, teleporting the two of them away from the machine.
A barrier of Void energy wrapped around it but before it could explode, the ceiling suddenly opened up.
*BANG!!!!
A giant trebuchet of sorts grabbed the machine and tossed it away from the labs.
*BOOM!!!!!
Looking at the giant explosion in the sky, Alice's smile twitched.
*Whistle~
"Honestly if you didn't do that, the ejection system would've tossed you away before it flung you. Since you got your own safety, I can save so space and use it for other parts." Suyin grinned as she planned the next prototype. Since Alice can save herself, there's no need for the ejection system.
Forcing the two to leave her lab, Suyin waved her hand and several chanical limbs dropped down to assist her, preparing to craft the next item.
###
Day 2 – Afternoon.
". . ."
". . ."
Alice said nothing.
Jin said nothing.
They both stood at the entrance of the lab, staring at the thing that Suyin spent the entire night and day building.
First of all, it was clear that this was far bigger than what she originally made. Twice as big even.
Instead of just occupying the first floor of her lab, this contraption now spanned two floors. Several long chanical extensions crawling up the walls and hanging off the ceiling. So parts even needed pillars to support its weight.
If the machine that she made yesterday looked like a half dead chanical beast thrown into a shredder, this one looked like it had WON against the shredder and ate it in the process.
An unholy amalgamation of flesh and machine, a manifestation of Suyin's mind.
"I thought most of your. . . creations were fully made from machine? Why the hell are your prototypes made of flesh?" Alice's massaged the bridge of her nose.
"Why not? From the data I gathered yesterday, Eldritch energy is scarily compatible with living tissue. On the other end, if it cos into contact with my babies, it's like a very strong acid.
"So if I mix the two, it allows the energy to flow through the device while I can still get accurate readings." Suyin shrugged.
"Don't sweat the details, it's not like I'm killing people of the city for the materials anyways. I had soone helpful give
the foundation." Suyin reassured with a grin.
Just as Alice was about to question her on what that ant, she noticed a familiar. . . portion of the machine.
[Yikes.]
'F*cking hell.'
Both Cayla and Alyss realised what it was and froze up.
The Hybrid that Suyin dragged into the snake pit to have everything harvested.
She was now partially fused into this machine. Portions of her bestial bones were used as catalysts and her scales used as cover.
Even Alice shivered seeing such. . . Dedicated? Use of materials and samples.
Perhaps if Isolde was interested in these experints, she might've found a certain kinship with Suyin.
"Seems like you found what's different with this one. Yep turns out the weird b*tch I harvested showed even better compatibility than I thought. Her body has been modified to be a rge of both human and beast tissue. But not the kind that's seen in side effects.
"Rather, it seems like she was 'born' that way to so extent. Or maybe even modified at an early age. Regardless, her flesh and bones are far more durable than the other samples I had access to so this machine should last a bit longer than yesterday.
"I even upgraded the seats for you." Suyin gave Alice a thumbs up.
"A moist chair is the least of my concerns." Alice's smile twitched seeing this monstrosity of a machine.
"Yeah but at least it's comfortable now right?"
". . ."
Letting out a begrudging sigh, Alice sat down and froze.
Seat may not be moist, she felt as though she heard a whimper.
A streak of what seed to be water leaking from the side.
"Suyin, is this thing alive???" Alice snapped her gaze towards Suyin.
"Alive is stretching it a bit but it's not dead. I need living tissue for the Eldritch energy to latch onto. It's what caused the machine yesterday to blow up a lot earlier than expected. Just ignore the tears and think of it as condensation." She dismissed with a wave.
"I said nothing about tears!"
"Blah blah blah. Let's begin!" Suyin flipped the switch with a maniacal grin.
Alice was now truly doubting whether or not it was a good idea to have Suyin help.
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