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Jasper shrugged, returning to the little man. "What do I have to do?"

The man beamed up at Jasper. "An excellent choice, sir! And if you don't mind me saying, I think these will be perfect for you. Follow me."

The man clicked his fingers and a panel opened at the side of the pen. After a few button presses mechanical hooks came down and began to lift the wings out of their holding place of the machine. The metallic structure shook a little as they left their housing, and red liquid oozed from the place it was attached.

Jasper started in a morbid horror. "Is that..." he began, but the little man had already walked off, and he had to dash to catch up. "Was that blood?" he asked, nervousness growing.

"Mmm?" the man said, distracted. "Oh no, but also yes. In a way. Lie down, please."

They entered through a small wooden door into what could most accurately be described as a shack, with what looked somewhat like a dentist's chair, but with holes cut in it. The man motioned impatiently to the chair, and Jasper nervously took a seat. He glanced up, hoping to see Juni, but unlike the open barn area the shack was enclosed, and the cat was nowhere to be seen. He sat hesitantly on the chair, but didn't lie down all the way. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"The wings have to be kept fresh. Don't you know that muscle quickly degrades without a source of sustainable. Lean back, please."

"So you feed them?" Jasper replied, leaning back, feeling his back resting against the leather of the chair. The gaps made the chair feel unusual, but he could guess their purpose. The man would, after all, be trying to attach wings to him. The idea thrilled him - perhaps it would be like getting a tattoo, only this would be potentially life changing. He could imagine the possibilities.

"In a manner of speaking," the man said, pulling a lever. Suddenly restraints snaked out of the chair, lashing themselves around Jasper's body tightly.

"H-hey, what's the idea?" he said

"It's a very delicate operation, y'know," the man said calmly. "Can't have you squirming about."

"R-right. You could have given me a little warning."

"Would you have agreed if I had?" the man mused, almost rhetorically. "It matters not - soon you will feel light as air."

The man disappeared behind the chair, and Jasper could not see him.

"I... should probably let you know I don't have any money," he said nervously.

"I do this for the love," the man replied. "I am an artist, Jasper. What more payment does an artist need than to know his work is truly brilliant?"

"Where I'm from they typically demand a lot m-more, hey!" Jasper shivered as something wet and slick coated his back.

"Anti-septic. Will stop you getting infected. Please try not to squirm."

Jasper shivered. He could feel his back going numb; a slight tingle fading to nothingness. Above, a trap door opened in the ceiling and through it was winched the pair of wings. They hung limp and lifeless, less magnificent for their bloodied appearance. "Where did you get those from?" Jasper asked.

"There are always more donors in the world," the man replied hazily. "Now please, let me concentrate," the wings swung behind him and he felt a sharp pain through the numbness at his back. It travelled in a line down from his left shoulder blade, and then the same from the right.

"Thought you said it wouldn't hurt," Jasper said with a wince.

"You have remarkably good skin," the man replied, and there was a sudden snap which made Jasper howl. "Very sensitive. Wouldn't have guessed it. Intriguing."

"T-that hurt," he said as a wave of nausea filled him.

"Only one more," the man said, and suddenly a second snap made Jasper's vision go dark for a moment as pain filled him. He howled again and panted heavily as the short, sharp pain started to fade.

"I-is that it?" Jasper asked.

The little man grinned, appearing around the side of the chair. "All good to go," he said, then made a show of looking down Jasper's bound body. "You may give them a flap, if you'd like, but I wouldn't recommend standing."

Jasper paused, wondering exactly how he would flap a wing. Perhaps... he tried imagining he had an arm above his left one, and focused on trying to make it move. He heard a brush of feathers and felt a rush of wind against his back. "Did I...?"

"You did," the man said, musing. "Very interesting. Clearly the wings are intuitive for you."

Jasper tried the same with the right and felt and heard a similar sensation. "How does it look?"

The man wordlessly padded off to his desk, fumbling around and returning with a mirror. Inside, Jasper could see his bound body, but also great wings stretching out behind him. He recoiled a little, as they were covered in blood.

"The wounds will take a few hours to heal, but you'll be fine," the man said, matter-of-factly.

"It's... it's certainly something," Jasper said.

"Now, what else can I do for you," the man said, again seemingly rhetorically.

"The wings are fine, thank you. They're more than enough," Jasper said.

"Nonsense!" the man said. "There's always something else. Perhaps that chin?" he said, leaning over and gripping Jasper's chin. "No, that's good enough. Eyes are the right colour too."

"H-hey, come on. I don't need-"

"How about down here?" the man said, and lifted Jasper's trousers down, underwear and all, exposing his manhood. "Always could do with something bigger."

"H-hey! What do you think you're doing?" Jasper said, and squirmed, only to be met with pain returning from his back.

"No, I think I know what you need,"

"W-what?" Jasper asked.

"Replacement brain. Don't know why I didn't think of it before."

"Hey, come on now - the wings were good enough. You can't touch my head."

"Can't I?" the man said, his face suddenly growing fierce. "You walk in here, let me operate on you and ignore all sense of self-preservation?" The man leant his greasy shoulders on Jasper's torso, his elbows digging in to his ribs. "There's something very wrong with a brain like that. Perhaps it's greed - the desire for something you don't have. What could you honestly possibly want with wings? Is it vanity? Is it so you have something to show your friends back home? Honestly, what good could you possibly do with them, when you have a brain like that."

"I'll never consent," Jasper said. "I'll sue."

"No, the world would be much better if you had... hmmm... a smart... intelligent... cautious brain. After all, no way I could protect my creation with such a reckless mind. I have the perfect one."

He wandered away, leaving Jasper to strain ineffectually against the restraints. The numbness in his back had spread and weakened, but left him feeling only dull pain and weakness. Perhaps it was from the blood loss.

When the man returned he had in his hands a jar, which, true to his word contained a brain. It was less human - more animal. He disappeared behind the terrified Jasper again.

"Don't worry, you won't feel a thing."

"That's not reassuring," Jasper said.

"I wasn't talking to you," he snapped. "I was talking to Malcolm here. For you I imagine this will hurt like all hell."

It was dark in Jasper's tank. This was mainly because he couldn't see, for he had no eyes to see. It was quiet too, for similar reasons. His thoughts mainly ran in circles now, for they had nowhere else to go. The question kept running through his mind - Why had he wanted wings? Did he truly believe they would have made him better? Was there really so much wrong with what he was? Perhaps, even now, he could find happiness. If his ambition was to be greater than he was, then in his universe of one, he had become a god.

The End