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Anguish.

Heavy breaths resonated throughout the dim chamber, accompanied by the faint rattling of metal. Expansive counters and cabinets lined the walls of the large rectangular room--a lone steel operating table, illuminated by a circular set of overhead lights, resting in the center. Strapped onto it, a nude, writhing anthro feline gave off forceful huffs in a vain attempt to escape his bindings. His golden fur was matted with sweat, the numerous stripes interlacing it having expanded into wide lines of rumpled black fur. His small, lithe figure was distinctly visible through the disheveled fur. And although his face scrunched up from the intensity of the brightness above him, it was evident the feline was young. (His immature mane further assisted that conjecture.)

Ceasing his efforts, the feline hybrid took a moment to observe his surroundings. Brown eyes squinted and scanned around the blinding whiteness, only being able to see a few meters from his location, for the light overwhelmed his sight. However, he took notice of a nearby counter. There were various medical supplies strewn about the smooth, sterile surface, but most looked like things most clinics typically stored. Nothing he could use to free himself even if he could somehow reach the countertop. He checked his situation again, finding that he had neglected to notice his lack of clothing during his prior frantic struggle to loosen his restraints. All his limbs, including his tail, had been secured to the cold table with thick leather straps.

Theories immediately spiraled and converged in his mind's eye when a sudden chill of clarity ran down his white furred chest, reminding him of the gravity of his predicament. Whoever had kidnapped him was almost certainly planning to inflict some sort of physical harm onto his slight body. But why anyone would want to hurt him, he could only guess. The last thing he remembered before waking up to the blinding radiance of the operating lamp was going to sleep in his warm bed. His throng of thoughts was cut short by the clinking of glass to his left.

"H-hey! Let me go! What's going on?! I wanna go home! I haven't done anything!"

As soon as the final word escaped his lips, the captive liger was greeted by a powerful blow to his exposed abdomen. His subsequent yelp was quickly muffled by a large gloved hand. Warm tears spilled forth from his squinting eyes--whether from the pain or his helplessness, not even he knew. Feeling the hand on his muzzle hold its place vehemently, his quiet sobs quickly subsided.

He could see the figure wore a long, white coat. His head and muzzle were covered by what looked like a typical surgeon's mask and cap, matching the gloves on his hands. Tan fur covered his arms, though the rest of the stranger's body was indistinguishable thanks to the light and his conservative clothing. The small feline began to whimper as his growing fear overpowered the pain. His captor was obviously dressed for an operation. And from the earlier strike on the youth's stomach, not going to stand for any kind of insubordinate behavior.

As if on cue, a deep male voice spoke from the liger's right. "Doctor--Oh. So, he's awake. Is he all ready for the procedure? I take it you took the liberty of prepping him up."

To his horror, the voice had not come from the direction of the hand, but from what he guessed was the entrance to the laboratory. It appeared his position was grimmer than he had first inferred. With two anthros watching over him, he had virtually no chance of escape.

The gloved hand released its grip on the striped youth's muzzle, its proprietor walking around the table towards the approaching figure. "Yes sir. He woke up about five minutes ago. I set everything up and got him ready while he slept. He's been struggling and there was a little outburst before you came in, but the sedative will start to take effect soon," informed a calm, light voice. Under any other circumstances, the bound liger would have thought it a kind and caring male's voice.

Thinking quickly, his eyes strained to get a better glimpse of his kidnappers. Whatever they were planning to do to him was serious enough to require sedation. He'd always heard that as long as you remembered what the criminals looked like, the authorities could track them down. But it was a lost cause, for the bright operating light inhibited his vision. He wished his parents could somehow omnisciently know where he was so they could rescue him and go home, but his hope vanished as the second figure spoke.

"Good. That saves us some time."

The stranger moved closer, past the masked figure he referred to as a doctor. He looked the distressed feline over--or so the golden furred youth surmised by the few seconds the figure stood over him. Suddenly, he felt pressure on his stomach; his detainer was examining the slight red tinge in his white belly fur from the doctor's earlier strike. Unlike the doctor, the second figure wore no gloves. The liger could feel sharp claws run through his fur and gazing down as much as his restraints would allow, he could make out a scaled forearm which gave way to a host of crimson feathers before a grey shirt sleeve concealed the appendage. The male was definitely some sort of predatory bird.

"Well then, let's not waste that extra time. You can go ahead and start the operation."

Dread.

Seeing the doctor come closer, as if energized by the sudden prospect of being able to begin whatever they had in mind, and pick up a syringe from the neighboring countertop made the young hybrid's eyes widen.

"N-no! What are you going to do?! I haven't done anything wrong! I'm not sick!"

The same clawed hand that had previously touched him held his right arm against the table. He saw the doctor loading the instrument with a dark liquid before placing it under the inside of his elbow.

"Stop! Stop, or I'll tell my parents! They'll get the police and you'll go to jail!"

The fine hypodermic needle slipped into the damp fur, slowly penetrating the skin below. The lean fur relaxed marginally when he noticed he could not feel the small telltale sting of the syringe piercing his arm, or the flow of the strange dark liquid as it was slowly emptied into his bloodstream. The aforementioned anesthetic had taken effect.

The avian let go of the smaller male's arm once the injection had been administered. He walked over near the captive anthro's head. "Oh, but you won't see your parents again. See, we'd been keeping tabs on your family. I don't think myself a big, bad movie villain, but I've had this planned for a while now. They don't even know you're gone. They'll think you simply went missing or ran away."

"Planned? Why?! We haven't done anything bad to anyone! We just...we invest our money and pay charities. I'm not even allowed to take too much money to buy things! Please, just let me go...I just want to go home." The young fur's eyes grew moist as he began to shake, sobs wracking his body at the concept of someone planning something against him.

The feathered stranger chuckled lightly, placing a claw near the tear stricken male's shoulder. "No, no. I told you I'm not some movie bad guy. I know your family's well-off, but frankly, I couldn't care less. I have all the money I need. What I needed was a test subject..." He turned to the doctor, who was rummaging through a cabinet. "The doctor here can explain it in detail if you'd like. We have a few extra minutes to spare since you were prepped beforehand."

"I don't...please, just let me go! Please! I just want to go home...I won't tell anyone," the striped feline whimpered. Tears soaked his cheeks, matting the tousled fur even more.

The brown furred anthro came back around the table holding a surgical saw. "Ah, but that's just it. We can't let you go. See, my 'boss' here let me in on a top secret project he's been working on. But he needed two things to finalize the procedure: a practiced surgeon and a hybrid fur. It was my idea to suggest he use a liger. Your kind is unique among hybrids. While most hybrids are just a combination of species, ligers have an innate limiter override--so to speak. You grow much larger than any other feline species."

He placed the bone saw next to the quivering fur, walking back to the cabinet and retrieving another syringe and a clipboard. The older male set them on the table, giving the bound fur a glance at the form the board held in place. Nevertheless, he could only decipher the topmost lines of text amidst the overpowering luminosity.

Name: Sezion D'Orazio Zencriatzi

Gender: Male

Age: 15

Species: Liger

Preliminary tests: Positive

The feline felt a shiver run down his spine. They probably knew everything there was to know about him. There would be no escaping his captors.

"But you're a special case...The usual growth inhibitor gene that gets overridden in your species is reinforced in you. Instead, another gene which ultimately controls how your body manages foreign bacteria is the one that got overridden," the doctor continued, filling the instrument with a clear liquid.

"And that's a very welcome quirk when it comes to this particular project," stated the avian while he held Sezion's arm again. Taking the now full syringe from the gloved male, he injected the contents into the quivering fur's arm himself. "I'm no scientist, but I have spent my entire life trying to solve a certain biological riddle."

The needle withdrew from the teenager's limp forearm. He could no longer move, yet his mind was as clear as it had been since waking strapped to the table. Try as he might, only his muzzle seemed to respond. Whatever the doctor had initially dosed him with was sophisticated enough to numb him without any mind-altering side effects. His attention was drawn back towards his kidnapper when saw the scaled hand set the instrument down and move closer, coming to rest beside the hybrid's arm.

"I'm sure you know the world is full of several different types of chimeras. But what's interesting to me is that not one of them is born naturally. Or rather, not one is born from two parents of the same, or different species--be they hybrids or pure. Sure, the existing ones can mate with their respective species, but are essentially unable to birth offspring with outside species. On top of it, most are of a mythical, magical, or anomalous origin. It's only natural for chimeras to be rare outside of their mystical circle. After all, how can two parents give birth to offspring with several different species' traits? The descendants of those parents would eventually come to a point of sterility. That's where my little project comes in. Like the doctor said, you being a hybrid was only one of the deciding factors for me choosing you. You're already of a mixed species. But that little gene switch nature pulled with you really opens up a great opportunity for me."

The doctor began to tighten the straps on Sezion's forearms and legs, the limbs held firmly against the cold metal table. A sense of pure terror washed over the young hybrid when he saw the doctor lock the final restraint in place and reach for the bone saw. His eyes darted from the rounded implement's blade to the nearby bird's body, the constant tears only adding to the strain in his vision.

"Please! PLEASE!!! Don't hurt me! Please! Just let me go! I won't tell anyone!" His choked pleas went unheard (or most likely ignored) as the saw roared to life in the older physician's hands. As the saw neared his left leg, gliding down toward his ankle, the liger grew frantic. "No! Please! Just...please don't! Don't kill me!"

Then he noticed a sharp claw was pressed firmly to his cheek. He looked toward the one who had hired the surgeon, his panicked eyes begging for help of some kind. The indistinct figure sighed audibly, retracting his hand and bending over under the light. Sezion managed his first clear look at his detainer. He was met with a sharp face--boasting an equally sharp and curved black beak--covered in fine scarlet feathers that contrasted severe cobalt eyes.

"We're not going to kill you. In fact, we need you alive for this to work as intended." The face left his field of vision once again, footsteps making their way around to his left. "The anesthetic the doctor gave you before will make it all painless. Though...you might want to close your eyes until the operation's over."

The golden furred male thought he heard a minute remorseful undertone in the stranger's words. He had no time to dwell on his captor's possible repentance, however, as the startling sound of tearing flesh and the stench of blood filled the room.

Agony.

His eyes were wide, gazing down in disbelief as the circular saw carved its way through his flesh and bone. The supple tissue tore and gave way under the tool's sharp blade. Bone followed suit with horrendous crackling sounds as the intricate structure was sawed through mercilessly. The doctor guided the instrument steadily just above the youth's left ankle, ripping a clean cut until the appendage lay completely severed from its host. The amputated foot's toes twitched and curled reflexively, precious lifeblood draining from it at a brisk pace.

Sezion was unable to speak. His mind was having trouble processing what he had just witnessed. His foot, part of his body, had been completely severed from his leg before his very own horrified eyes. He barely registered bellowing out in pain. Not physical pain, no; his distress came from a much deeper source. He could no longer focus; his thoughts rattled raucously in his head.

Once again, his muzzle was abruptly held close, this time by a large scaled hand. The action failed to quell the hybrid's distress, only partially muffling his cries. Blood spilled forth from the open wound and collected on the table's steel surface. The blue-eyed bird motioned with his free hand for the doctor to proceed, the other male dutifully stepping around to Sezion's right and positioning the saw above his uninjured ankle. A long yowl reverberated inside the young fur's maw in tandem with the unmistakable tearing and crackling of skin and bone as the tool's blade sheared through the limb.

More blood, more cries. The brown-eyed teenager could barely keep himself from completely melting down and fainting right then and there. He was being tortured and maimed by two complete strangers not twenty minutes after waking up in the awful laboratory. And yet the worst part was that he could do nothing but watch. Watch as the unknown doctor mutilated him. Watch as his body was damaged beyond repair. Having his body numbed did nothing to ease his pain. (If anything, it made the whole ordeal even more insufferable.)

Without even inspecting the site, the hybrid could tell his foot was spasming weakly. It was dying centimeters away from the rest his body, and his leg was bleeding openly. His captor's earlier affirmation of not murdering him was lost in the back of Sezion's mind. All he knew was that his body was in danger. He would surely bleed to death on that dreadful operating table.

Be it by instinct or conscious thought, he made an endeavor to beg for mercy one more time. He willed his rattled mind to calm for just a few seconds. He had to try just once more; he couldn't give up. His muffled cries died down slowly, prompting the clawed hand to release his muzzle at length. After a few choked sobs and ragged breaths, the fur managed to find his voice.

"P-please...please...I just...don't hurt me! Please! I can't....m-my feet! I'll do whatever you want! Just stop..."

The doctor stood by the small male's severed limbs, as though waiting for further instruction from his boss--the bloody saw held silently in his gloved hands. The avian's face re-emerged amidst the light, leaning in close and looking directly into the hybrid's pleading eyes.

"You'll be fine if things go as planned. Maybe I wasn't too to-the-point before, but if this works out how I think it will, you'll be history's first scientifically made anthro chimera," the stern avian divulged before standing back up and allowing the piercing light to assault Sezion's eyes yet again. "There's been research in feral chimeras before, but it's been practically impossible--not to mention illegal--to meld different species together in an anthro. Well, at least not without the help of 'magic.' Even though I know it exists, I'll never understand the logic behind that stuff. Just seems like it defeats the purpose of research. I mean, why learn to do something when you can just as easily will it to happen? Not saying I don't recognize it or anything, 'cause I know a few talented magic users..."

The stranger continued to digress, verbalizing his skepticism of magic and its uses in a manner akin to discussion sports with a friend. His mind at the verge of collapsing, Sezion could only vaguely comprehend the older anthro's words and the irony of his calm demeanor in such a grotesque situation. They were planning to transform him into some sort of monster; that much the young male knew. Before he could retreat back into his plethora of thoughts, the feathered male cleared his throat, returning the liger's attention to him.

"But, back to the explanation," the bird declared, as he gave the doctor a signal to continue. "Your abnormal genes make it theoretically possible to use you as a base for, not just a simple chimera, but a highly varied one. Even the few feral chimeras scientists have created have had to stick to species with similar genomes. But if my research is correct, then you can be merged with DNA of a vast multitude of species."

As the avian addressed the sedated liger, the doctor walked over to the teenager's right arm, turning the saw on again and placing it above the limp wrist. The clawed hand was back on Sezion's muzzle before the feline could even voice any sort of protest or alarm. His maw was held so tightly that none of his wails made it past his throat, dying down into whimpers and moans as the saw came down on him for the third time. His endless tears were the sole outlet for the pain.

Death.

The slim fur felt his mind crumbling, falling apart at the enormity of his kidnapper's cruelty. Brown eyes lost what little focus they had under the operating light, pupils dilating and contracting rapidly. His tail tip twitched for a few seconds while his remaining hand trembled uncontrollably. All semblance of rational thought was lost to him, assimilated into an empty void. Elation, pride, woe, terror, fury, love; all emotion vanished from his mind. Only pain remained; pain and the ever-present, searing light.

Unaware of his captive's state, the blue-eyed male resumed his explanation--only briefly glancing down at the younger anthro's mutilated forearm. "Those two shots we gave you earlier were the main part of the experiment. The first one was to ready your body. It weakened your immune system and injected DNA from several species into your bloodstream. The second was the first formula's catalyst of sorts. It jump-started a chain reaction in which the DNA in your blood merged with cells in and around your veins. Then it activated a synthetic, advanced growth process embedded into those strands of DNA. Basically, it made your cells take in the foreign coding and add it to your existing DNA and spread it throughout your entire body at an accelerated rate."

The surgeon once again lined the bloodied saw blade against the teenager's body, swiftly lowering it upon his remaining wrist, replicating the previous arm's maiming. The immobile fur produced no response, his mind completely shattered beyond repair. His body lay slack on the cold steel table, his open wounds coating the sterile surface with warm blood.

Acknowledging the feline's strange behavior, or lack thereof, the doctor regarded his benefactor. "Sir, I'm not sure if we should continue this...he seems to have gone into shock. It doesn't look like physical shock; he seems in line with the estimated condition. But he could be in danger if we keep this up."

"We'll have to risk it. We can't stop now, remember? His body will morph soon, and if any of the new limbs are blocked by an existing one, his body will become deformed. He could very well die too. I thought I explained this all to you before. We need to finish the procedure," advised the avian, pressing two clawed fingers against Sezion's neck to check his pulse. As he did so, he noted the hybrid's deep brown irises were slowly gaining a distinct grey hue. "Now, hurry, before he starts changing."

Hesitating for but a moment, the doctor proceeded toward the youth's midsection, setting the reddened saw on the counter and picking up a large scalpel. "You're sure this is going to work, right?"

"I've already told you, there's a good chance it will. Most of the simulations I ran with his DNA came out successful. Now hurry up."

"Sorry. Just...I've never done such an extensive operation, for lack of a better term," murmured the surgeon, his gloved hand gripping the razor sharp instrument firmly.

A bemused chuckle left the feathered male. "I think the word you're looking for is 'amputation.' And don't start having second thoughts now. You've already done the hard parts; don't lose your nerve now. He's not even screaming anymore, so just finish the job. That's what I paid you for."

"You're right...but this is the first and last job I do for you."

With a slight shrug, the avian responded. "Fine by me. If this works, I won't need your expertise anymore. You're getting paid either way, so get on with it already."

The doctor answered with a simple "right" and continued where he'd left off, bringing the scalpel closer to Sezion's navel. Exhaling softly, he lowered the blade, making a deep incision directly above the hybrid's sheath. The experienced hands guided the thin blade across tender flesh, carving out the young fur's genitals in as few cuts as possible. The amputated phallus and scrotum were quickly placed on a tray near the bone saw.

Grabbing a pair of tongs, the masked fur walked over to the teen's head. He stood for a moment, diligently observing the male's features. The physician sighed in mild pity even as he pried open the anthro's maw and gripped an incisor firmly with the tool. It'd be a miracle if the liger made it through the procedure with his mind intact.

"Doctor Lichen, get on with it. His wounds have stopped bleeding."

Tilting his gaze to Sezion's forearm, the brown furred male confirmed the statement. The various lacerations on the teen's limbs had ceased bleeding. The procedure was working.

Sacrifice.

Muscles spasmed and rippled, bone tissue forming and extending into familiar skeletal arrays. Revolting sounds, which could only be described as inherently flesh-like, resounded as cells rapidly divided.

The mysterious doctor and his benefactor stood by, observing the convulsing figure on the operating table (the sight more fitting for an autopsy, as the creature's severed limbs and organs lay on a tray beside the workspace). The DNA melding was in full effect, rewriting the hybrid's original genome.

"This is amazing! His body is reacting much better than the simulations." The sharp-beaked stranger could barely contain his excitement.

"Yes, Well... if my predictions are true, he'll need about twelve hours to fully recover. The process is transforming him faster than I thought it would."

"Hm. Then make sure he's restrained well. I'm not taking any chances with him, even if he'll be weak for a while." The avian dictated, turning heel and making his way to the dark room's double doors.

"Yes, of course. I'll be right out."

Once his feathered client was nowhere to be found, the masked anthro sighed and gazed down at the convulsing teenager. He moved the straps so they held his forearms and legs firmly. Noting the experiment's hollow stare into the piercing light, the physician reached out to turn off the lamp with a faint sigh. "I'm sorry, but I needed the money. I tried to do it as fast and painless as I could."

Receiving no response, the male shook his head in pity before leaving the lone steel table and the mutating youth in his stupor. The boy would be lucky if he managed to come to with only minor trauma. However, regardless of his mental health, he would certainly never be the same.