"I may have overdone it. Looks like she won't last much longer," the shoelace bitch remarked as we reached the ground floor and I was still leaving a trail of blood behind me. Unfortunately, while the headache was killing me, the bleeding wasn't enough to do the job - speaking from experience, I'd rather not have.

"Don't let her trouble you, ma'am. This one won't go down so easily. Her regeneration is . . . let’s say exceptional," the deranged asshole explained as he scurried around his messy lab in search of his nightmarish tools and who knows what else. "The combined result of the side effects . . . at least that's my conclusion."

"Truly? I don't recall it being in any of your reports."

"No, it was not. I report what I'm sure of, not baseless assumptions."

Baseless assumption my ass. He was so impressed with my regeneration so much that I didn't get a few nights sleep without him coming up with some new way to put it to the test. Once he even brought me to the brink of death to see if I would come through.

Regrettably, I did.

"Yet, you tend to spout nonsense a lot."

Yeah, he did. He especially enjoyed talking about what he was going to do to us - and in great detail. Annoyingly, the asshole gritted his teeth but wisely stayed silent.

"Nothing, not a word? Shame. Oh well . . . whatever. Now what?"

"Tell her to lie down on the table . . . ma'am."

‘No! Not the table!’

‘RUN!’

‘FUCKING MOVE! ‘

‘Please . . . ’

I screamed and begged, but no matter how hard I tried to get away from this place before it was too late, my body remained indifferent to my commands. Unlike me, and in fact unlike both my Slave array and the iron collar, the shoelace bitch had a firm hold over it.

"Lovely. Now do as the moron says."

Once again, her unnerving voice licked at my mind, sending a shiver down my spine and twisting my guts. But instead of throwing up, I did as she asked. Or rather, I watched, horrified, as my body lay on the bloodstained table, the place where the deranged asshole loved to study the side effects of his concoctions.

"Seriously, that’s the core? You couldn't find a bigger one?

"I am not doing this for…for entertainment.”

"Sure, delude yourself. But I don't have to look inside your mind to see your excitement."

“Purely a research interest.”

The lace bitch sneered: “Research interest, my mind! I bet you're dreaming about these little freaks writhing in pain. What do you think, pet girl? Should I take a peek at his dreams?”

‘SCREW YOU, YOU . . . YOU BITCH!’

If I could, I would have beaten her with my fists until she was all black and blue, but despite how scared shitless I was, desperate even more, all I could do was lie still and keep my eyes on my chest while listening to her pleased sneer from somewhere behind my head. She really did enjoy this.

"How much longer?"

"I'd rather not rush this..."

"How - much - longer, Dungreen?"

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"J-just a moment, Cognizant Mir . . . "

"NOT a word more!"

The fingers of my left hand twitched at the shoelace bitch's outburst. Sure, nothing to get excited about on a normal day down in the cells; if anything, it was usually a sign of wearing off or developing side effects after taking the asshole's concoction. But now, that slight movement made my heart pound with joy. It was my doing - of my own free will, not something forced upon me by the shackles placed upon my mind.

Mustering all my will, I took my chance and . . .

"Just lie still, will you?"

Against all orders to keep my mouth shut in the presence of our deranged master, a scream ripped from my throat as the shoelace bitch's grip on my mind tightened and she shattered all my resistance without even breaking a sweat. I, on the other hand, broke down in that cold, sickly sweat . . . reeking of . . . darkness . . .

"Ah, back at last."

If the sharp burning in my nose working its claws all the way into my skull was the reason I opened my eyes to the nightmare again, that unnerving voice cleared my mind of whatever dark fog clouded it and sent a cold shiver down my spine, any thought of defying the shoelace bitch gone.

"Sniffing salt? You lunatic! Are you . . . ?"

"WATCH your fucking tongue, Dungreen! I've been more than patient with you. But that patience runs thin. You'd better make good on your promise to entertain me."

"I didn't mean . . . I will . . . but stuff like that could impact the results."

"You said the same nonsense about her being out cold. Now, she's not, so get to work."

"And you!" the shoelace bitch spoke, her gaze undoubtedly fixed on me. ‘Don't try that again, you understand?’

‘I-I won't.’

Merely a trembling whisper in my mind, given the orders that bound my freedom. But just as I thought, she heard it.

"Good girl."

Bitch! I was no pet.

I was human.

I had a name!

Korra, Korra Grey . . .

I was NOT a pet!

Yet all I braved was a fleeting notion of what I really thought of her before swallowing the rest of the insults roaring in my mind, while hot tears welled up in my eyes. The shoelace bitch took away from me the last bit of freedom I had in this damn world.

"Don't move." The sickening joy in our master's command drove my tear-blurred eyes to his hands and the tool in them. The first time I'd seen it. A nightmarish cross between a dagger, pliers and a bloody big syringe with a tiny white crystal set in the tip. But the absolute horror struck me when his cold fingers began to trace the skin somewhere below my navel.

'G-get your d-damn hands off me!'

"Not that I want to doubt your abilities, Dungreen," the shoelace bitch said with undisguised sarcasm, ignoring my inner voice, "but the beasts have cores in their chests - opposite their hearts."

"I am well aware . . . ma’am. But while this one is largely a beast, she's still human. Her heart would rot within moments. So, no. The next best option is her bowels . . . her womb, to be exact."

What? Was he joking? He was just messing with me, wasn't he?

"Here," the bastard said, ignoring my inner panic. His fingers found the spot he was looking for.

'No! No, no, no . . . NO! MOVE! PLEASE FUCKING MOVE!'

But to my horror, regardless of how strongly I pleaded with my body, I remained lying motionless on the table, unable to do anything but watch the asshole shove the nightmarish tool into my gut. Admittedly, not the worst pain I had ever experienced. It hurt like hell, nonetheless.

So much, in fact, that the pain pushed me against the commands and I finally moved, arching my back on the table.

"Stay still!" the bastard sputtered, his order pushing me to lie back down. Then there was a mechanical click and he yanked the tool out, covered in my blood, but missing the little white crystal.

"And . . . that's it."

The sickening edge of excitement in his voice couldn't have possibly been more at odds with the terror twisting my guts and gripping my heart. Whatever the Beast Core was, it now lay in my body, worse, in my bloody womb, doing who knows what.

“Ha, speak of not rushing things, huh?”

"You were the one . . . “

“Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . I have to give it to you, though, that was not what I expected. Less bloody, enjoyable nonetheless."

‘Bitch!’

If it was so much fun, why didn't she lie down here instead of me? The answer, unfortunately, I already knew, and it terrified me. She didn't intend to end up with a twisted body like mine.

"W-well, I took it that you didn't want me to squander resources. Besides . . . it would take a long time to prepare a spell to dull the pain and rune enchantment to sterilize the wound?"

"Color me impressed. The first time, you don't talk nonsense. Now, let's see if this one will impress me, too."

Then as if to add salt to my wound the shoelace bitch’s sickening touch brushed against my mind.

"Be a good girl, entertain me, and I might consider dulling your pain.”