Sat within the machine was a horrendous blob of tissue and biomass. Pasty pale ventricles slotted into steel tubes made up the majority of the exterior of the creatures form. It's head was merely a big lump of flesh with two pearly orange eyes and a metal mask with a tube connected to a container built within the machine constantly pumping blood into its body. Eight spindly arms were sprouting from it's body typing away at keys on terminals. This thing looked like a mutated, mechanized humanoid brain. The surgeon approached the monstrosity, gesturing it towards me to get its attention set on the clear stranger in the room. The creature gazed at me, gesturing for me to come forward with one of it's hands. I obliged of course. I wasn't sure what this thing was capable of and I owe the surgeon for saving me?

"You... Nameless one."

I pointed to myself and nodded.

"Somehow... You live. While the rest... Are dead. You must have been birthed from outside Carnis. The only pure living specimen of your kind here..."

Birthed? Outside Carnis? Only living specimen it says...

"Outsider that you are... You remain free from the Rot that infested our home. You... Must be kept alive. Saved from death, you were. Many questions, you must have... But time there is not. For now."

I had so many questions to ask yet I had no mouth in which to speak. Unless it could read my thoughts?

"Indeed. To answer but one I shall. Before you atop this throne sits I... The Mastermind."

The... Mastermind?

"All function of the Machine stems from a single organism. The organism... Hatched from the flesh of God in which order is ordained. The beating heart of Carnis Machina. Once we thrived. Until the Rot sprouted from the deepest pits of the planet and spread it's filth into every crevice of this city. Hopeless... They all were. Husks of living flesh now reduced to empty vessels or mindless puppets. A most grim fate befell us..."

It must be explaining what has happened here. So the Rot I had run into really is the source of the tragedy that had seemingly wiped all life here... But how? Living techno-organisms like the trolleys, the factory flesh monstrosities and the automatons all functioned properly. The only humanoids of my kind were but corpses or infected and sought only to kill. But I thought I had cut the spread of the Rot when I met that thing holed underground connected to the Rot.

"So it was you who severed the vessel of petrified flesh below Salus. Then halted the spreading, you have. Not over yet however, this is. Doctor... Bring this one's possessions."

I watched the surgeon proceed over to the far end of the chamber behind the Mastermind. I peered over to see them open up a chest and pulling out familiar devices and equipment. It then walked over to me. In its hands were the firearm I had procured and the surgical instrument. I took them. But the surgeon was not done yet. On top of an unfamiliar machine housed within a glass case was my Key. Steam puffed out of the sides as the case was released. The surgeon grabbed the device to bring it over to me. It gestured for me to hold out my arm. So I did. It carefully attached the Key back onto my wrist, sinking its hooks into my skin and becoming one with my flesh once more. I erected the key to see that it had been modified. It looked much different then before. The needle was thicker, had more girth and was now shaped like a spire. A newly forged key.

"The Machine has yet to cease function. Nameless One... A purpose you have yet to serve has been ordained. Cerebras... The capital of Carnis... You must go. The Rot still remains. You dispatched the seed planted within Oris that spread its growth throughout the other districts. Cerebras remains separated. And yet... The Rot first started there. I know all. I see all. I feel all. I command you to go. Purge the source of the Rot from this city. Thus decrees the Mastermind..."

It looks like my goal was clear now. The Mastermind was entrusting me to cleanse the Rot that infected this place. And yet... I still had questions. Why was I birthed outside the city? Why was I the only one who made it? What would happen once I did this? In fact... How would I know I'd even manage this momentous task in my current state? Not to mention all I don't understand about how this city functions. I looked to the Mastermind for some form of guidance. Its wet eyes squinted, glaring deep into mine.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"You came from beyond our walls. I cannot answer everything. Execute the Rot and answers you shall receive from what I know. The Doctor, you will follow. Suicide it would be, sending you to the heart of the Rot in your unprotected husk of flesh. The Doctor will... Make proper adjustments. Now leave."

The Doctor brought me some floors down. We arrived in a work station of sorts? Beakers and glass tubes lined the shelves. There was a cross-shaped rack perched up opposite of a machine with two glass tanks, many mechanical arms baring surgical tools and metal bins attached to the base of the machine. A workbench with various tools scattered about. A black container shoved into a corner. A rectangular device on wheels with monitors and wires dangling down. Blood stained the grimy floors and a single dim yellow light hung over the work station. We walked deeper into the room when suddenly the Doctor grabbed me, turned me around and pushed me into the rack, spreading my arms out until my wrists were clamped shut. They pulled the lever on the floor and the rack started lifting up slowly. My legs were dangling now. They stopped the rack to pin my ankles together and they too were clamped shut. They then pulled the lever again. I was lifted slightly higher and tilted forward slightly. It stopped. I was hung on this rack now, unable to move my limbs.

My body was hooked up to the surgical machine with wires. A single tube was injected into my neck. The Doctor was messing with the various buttons and switches on the machine. The mechanical arms began to move. The Doctor stood behind the machine to operate it. First my chest was cut open, splitting the once-sealed flesh to expose my insides. What was happening? Next I knew, an organ was cut with perfect precision and removed from my body, being placed into the left metal bin. From inside the right bin, a new organ of the same kind but modified with steel was then slotted into where the old organ was removed. My lungs were torn out next and disposed before being replaced with modified mechanized lungs. Every organ that was replaced had to be carefully reconstructed back to the tendons and other crucial pieces to ensure safe function and proper blood flow. I was beginning to lose consciousness. Blood was being transferred between the glass tanks. The tanks must have been preserving the blood I was losing and putting it back inside of me so I wouldn't... Die?

One last surgical incision was made. Each of the arms were hovering around where my heart was. Some of the tendons were cut open so a tiny device could be slotted into the mechanical part of my heart. The cut tendons were then fused together with metal tubes and drilled into where the device was on my heart. All this time... I thought I was entirely of flesh and blood. My mind was still struggling to grasp the truth that I was of flesh and machine. Slowly and carefully, my flesh was sealed up once again after the surgery had been completed. Now most of my internal organs were replaced with mechanized variants. The arms on the machine retracted and the machine was shut down. Blood had finished pumping into my veins. The Doctor nodded and started lowering the rack I was on. They disconnected me from the machine and the clamps on my limbs released me. I fell to the cold, steel bloodstained floor. The Doctor gave me a moment to recover. After I took a minute, they offered me a hand. I took it and stood back up. But they weren't finished just yet. They pulled out a syringe filled with a black liquid, flicking the tip of the needle and jabbed it into the veins on my right arm. I felt a surge of energy pulsate through me, waking me up. Disposing of the needle and patting their hands together, the Doctor began transferring my old, pure flesh organs and storing them inside of what appeared to be a refrigeration chamber off in the corner of the room. I guess if they were still good, they would want them to be preserved for whatever usage may come from them. With that all taken care of, the Doctor put a hand on my shoulder, nodding and giving me a thumbs up.

We descended down the Spire inside the elevator. The speaker installed within crackled with static and a loud buzzing sound. From within, a familiar voice began to speak to us;

"Nameless One... Harvested were your old internal organs. Replaced with new ones constructed by The Doctor. Able to withstand the infectious Rot, you now can. Worry only about the dangers. The parasites... Children of the diseased womb that hunger for flesh. Survived this long, you have. The Machine can still continue on, so long as you purge the Rot. The Doctor will lead you to the monorail. From there... You make way for Cerebras. Failure is not an option... Nameless One."

Those were the last words the Mastermind spoke before cutting to static. Failure is not an option, huh? I had no idea I would be playing such an important role here. We reached the bottom floor. A magnificent lobby greeted us once we left the elevator. Even with the grungy, muted colors of this entire city the lobby looked quite glistening. Clean. Almost untouched. It only adds to my curiosity on how this civilization functioned prior to this catastrophe of the Rot... If that is even what truly led to all this death and decay of life. The Doctor led me outside to the courtyard. A single automaton stood guard... The same one that shot me. It remained passively still and let us stroll on by. We reached the staircase leading down. The Doctor pointed a finger off in a specific direction. I saw off in the distance, shrouded by faint dust and fog was the silhouette of a far off district. That must've been this 'Cerebras' the Mastermind spoke of. It was time to go...