XXIV

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Henrys pov
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Janes pov

THE EXAMINATION OF JANE IVERS
Taken on December twenty-four, 2022
Birch Psychiatric Hospital.
66732 Manhattan, New York.
Video transcript time: 3:05 a.m.
Examination by Dr. Isabella Martinez

ISABELLA: Jane, are you awake?
JANE: [unresponsive]
[EXTRACTED]: How many sedatives did you give her?
ISABELLA: I've given her more before. Jane? Jane, wake up.
JANE: It hurts.
ISABELLA: No, it doesn't. It doesn't hurt. Pain isn't real, Jane. What do I always tell you?
JANE: [unresponsive]
ISABELLA: Jane, don't be a brat. Wake up.
[EXTRACTED]: And you're sure she'll heal?
ISABELLA: She always does. I'll just stitch everything back to where it was, and she'll heal.
JANE: [heavy breathing]
[EXTRACTED]: Don't kill her like your last experiment. We need to finish the observation before they go extinct.
ISABELLA: [silence] Of course.
JANE: [shakes]
[EXTRACTED]: She looks like a zombie.
ISABELLA: I prefer a frankenstein.
JANE: I'm so...
ISABELLA: Yes, Jane?
JANE: Tired.
[EXTRACTED]: Change her sedatives.
[End video examination 3:11]

This time, when I wake up I'm strapped again. It's hard to breathe, as if there's something strangling me. I realize, when I manage to open my tired eyes, my lids so, very heavy—my mouth is covered by a muzzle.

In my head, I'm freaking out. I'm strapped to the chair, and like a dog, a medal strap covers the lover half of my face, shutting my mouth. In my head, I'm going insane. But as I stare at the mirror above me, I look calm. My face is expressionless. I can't move my face. I try to scream, and still, I can't move my face

Stay calm, love. I hear Henry's English accent in my head, calming me.
For him, I do. He'll get me. I don't know the time, but on christmas night, he'll get me.
This is all I remember before I black out again.

THE EXAMINATION OF JANE IVERS
Taken on December twenty-four, 2022
Birch Psychiatric Hospital.
66732 Manhattan, New York.
Video transcript time: 3:35 a.m.
Examination by Dr. Isabella Martinez
ISABELLA: Jane?
JANE: [unresponsive]
ISABELLA: [sighs]
[EXTRACTED]: What good is a puppet if it doesn't listen?
ISABELLA: It's better when she's not all cut up, you know.
[EXTRACTED]: Stitch it back up.
ISABELLA: This is just a test run—
[EXTRACTED]: It needs to be responsive. Even if we've forced consent, we need it to be able to answer basic questions.
ISABELLA: Jane? Jane? Wake up, Jane.
JANE: [unresponsive]
[EXTRACTED]: Shock it again.
[muffled movements]
ISABELLA: Jane?
JANE: I can't, I can't feel–
ISABELLA: Feel what, Jane?
JANE: I don't feel anything.
ISABELLA: We've finally done it.
[EXTRACTED]: Is it violent? Malicious?
ISABELLA: She's just a result.
[muffled talking]
ISABELLA: I should start to stitch her back up, right?
[EXTRACTED]: The lab results are almost done.
ISABELA: And what of the MRI scans?
[EXTRACTED]: We'll do it before she-
JANE: [screams]
[EXTRACTED]: Gains consciousness.
[End video examination 3:48]

In and out of consciousness, in and out of my own body, in and out of various lab rooms. Normal, this should be normal to me by now. But Every once in a while when I'd awaken, when I catch glimpses of my body, it's not mine. It's not Dante, or alternate me. It's not a hallucination, but I wish it were. Because although it's still my skin, still my veins, my blood, it's their body. Their canvas, their experiment. Because every once in a while when I'd awaken, I'd see stitches all over my body. I'd see parts...missing. As if they just cut it off of me, and relied on my abnormal cells to heal itself.

That was new. Out of all the experiments and torture I've been through for science, for education, for curiosity, none of them violated me just this much. But that wasn't the only thing that was new. No, what was new was when I'd awaken from my sedation, I could make out some people. One person in particular. "Henry?" I'd ask, because even with my vision blurred, the accent seemed familiar.

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