"Dang it," growled Narissa as she held her hands against a purple crystal that surrounded her. "I didn't expect it to be this fast."

The crystal groaned and slightly bent in as an ocean of black mist pressed in on it. She started to scribble with her finger along on of the crystal's walls. "Soft hearted idiots. Falling for something so simple." She complained.

"Aaaaannnddd...THERE!" She said as she slammed her hand down on top of the marks she had made on the crystal.

As her hand pressed against the purple wall, a ripple of light spread out along the crystal from her hand. She put her hand on her chest and let out a sigh of relief as the wave bounced around the crystal over and over again. As the wave bounced around, the crystal seemed to press out slightly against the mist and hold form against the constant onslaught outside of it.

Narissa pulled out the small vial of the black mist that Death had collected for her. She lifted it up to her eye level and frowned. "Well, I suppose there's not really a rush now, is there?" She mumbled to herself. "May as well get started."

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The scientist's body fell to the ground with a wet thud. Sid stood above him emotionless as he looked down at the corpse from his cell.

Sid squatted down and started to reach all over the old man's body. He checked each of his pockets, and even the inner lining of his lab coat. But, sadly for Sid, it seemed the scientist had nothing on him. Empty pockets, no jewelry, nothing.

Sid began to take the lab coat, gloves, and boots off of the body as he continued to pat down the corpse. Still nothing, but he did have a few more supplies now. All of which he set down in the middle of his cell.

After he set it all down, Sid turned around. He looked at the corpse without any expression. After the briefest pause he walked back over and roughly grabbed the limp arm and yanked it into his cell. The old man's bushy hair pressed up against the bars along with his face as Sid began to feel around his shoulder with one hand as he held the limp wrist with the other.

"Oh ho!" A deep voice called out from across the room.

Sid kept his hands on the corpse as his head shot up and he scanned the room. His head tilted slightly as the elderly scientist walked out from the shadows. This new man looked exactly like the one Sid had just killed.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"I must say, I applaud your ruthlessness," the man wheezed with a wicked smile. "You're willing to go that far? Even though I doubt anything in there would be enough to help you escape."

"Curious," mused Sid. "Are you unaware of the potential of the human body?"

"Bah!" he snorted. "Of course I am! I'm far smarter than any one, or thing you've ever seen. But how would a lump of flesh like that help you escape those bars?"

Sid adjusted his hand's grip as he looked at the identical scientist who was slowly walking towards him. "If you wait around, I can demonstrate that for you."

"Or," Sid added. "You can assist me in moving this corpse into my cell for a thorough dissection."

The man let out a wheezing laugh. "Oh really?" He grinned. "Parting out my old body? How will you do that without any sort of blade?"

"Unnecessary." Sid replied calmly as he easily tore the arm off of the corpse. "Brute force will be enough for what I require."

With the arm separated, Sid grabbed a leg, and started to repeat the process.

The old scientist looked absolutely thrilled. "You've actually piqued my interest. That is quite rare indeed." he praised.

"Unnecessary," Sid replied coldly. "Your opinion is irrelevant, as you will be terminated when I am free of this cell."

The scientist let out another wheezing laugh. "Such undeserved confidence. It almost makes me want to leave your mind intact."

Sid roughly yanked off the head as he stared directly at the living scientist straight in his eyes.

"Too bad you've already failed." the scientist shrugged as he walked up to one of the blinking towers. He dragged his finger down along the side, and then stopped at a glowing green button. He pressed it in, and then shook his head.

The scientist turned to Sid with a stern frown on his face. "I hope you'll remember this lesson for the next time," he said coldly as a painfully high-pitched noise started to drone on.

Sid didn't react and continued his work dismembering the body so he could pull it into his cell. He looked determined, but then suddenly fell limp.

When Sid finally came to, he was lying on the ground in his cell. His head was wrapped in dirty bandages, and his skeletal arm was bandaged as well. Other than that, his cell was completely empty. No blood, no marks, no sign anything had happened at all.

"Curious," Sid mused.

"Welcome back," said an all too familiar gravelly voice.

Sid looked up, and the old man was standing just outside his cell again. In his black lab coat, boots, and gloves. He looked bored as his eyes lazily stared in at Sid.

"What's the matter point seven three? Is your wound acting up again?" he asked in a mocking tone.

Sid stared back at the man. "Open the cell," he commanded.

The scientist sighed and shook his head. "Poor, poor point seven three. You were supposed to be my next iteration, and yet your mental facilities are so very lacking. Saying you have a dog's intelligence would be an insult to dogs."

Sid blinked and titled his head. "You are not the one who made me." He said firmly. "This is not my facility."

"Oh dear, do I need to adjust your visual circuitry now too?" the old man complained as he scowled. "I don't know why I keep you around. You're becoming more work than keeping a classic car running."

"I hate saying it, since you're such an abject failure," he groaned. "But yes, I am your one and only creator. Though you would probably be better used as just scrap. I suppose I must be getting sentimental in my old age. In my prime I wouldn't recycled you without hesitation."

Sid stood dumbstruck. You could almost see smoke coming out of his ears with how much effort he was putting into processing what he was being told.

"Please just say you're not having those dreams about the ruins again." the scientist continued. "Stone? Endless hallways? Utter idiocy."

Sid looked down at his bandaged arm and unwrapped it. His eyes shot open as he saw a mess of circuitry covered in pulsing blood vessels just underneath the bandage. His skeleton was not exposed, but chunks of his skin were missing, and complex electrical components were lying just underneath.

The scientist smiled cruelly as he leaned in closer to the cell. "What? Have a problem with my first aid skills point seven three?"