A flash of light and a quake pokes glass jars. His hunched scalpel grazing a vein but fortunately not cutting through it.
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOriNdLm0d
“Dr. Bolg!” Grizeo yells from behind locked door, “OPEN THE DOOR!”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ij8FCUb1e
“Sorry, sorry”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvX4gQFxD6
The doors flies open for Grizeo carrying an adult Ali-op over his bulged-up muscles. Grunting himself in with a red face before dropping the cadaver into a tank. “Gahhh!” He pulls his shoulders, aching muscles and cracking spine back. As the doctor takes out a can with an energizer label, handing it to Grizeo who did not hesitate to take and fizz it open for a drink. Finally taking long deep inhales and exhales, formaldehyde to invading his nose to crumple.
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqlZ7CjVIo
“Carbonate to energize yourself as always. It’s heavy?” Pinching the thick alligator skin,
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBX2UaWiS1n
“Almost killed me”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vdODszvoj
“Haha, funny. But I need it on the table now.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32t27LbXY1
“Let me rest a bit”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHidFun7vVs
“But I want to get started immediately.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkOWuMGzDx
“Then pull it up yourself.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTEDoO4S5G
“Ridiculous. My arms can barely lift myself anymore, and I’m not driving the crane in here again. I need your muscle.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wdGZqOorT
“And I’m not your human crane. I need rest”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNQGs8jDfp
Grizeo walks up to the refrigerator, taking out chocolate bars and another ca--. The Dr. tells him not to and the young man huffs the can back in. The benches is his next target, taking a seat and relaxing as he let the sweetness and bitterness of dark chocolate wash off anything sterile.
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vYV08m0Wk
“Keep that up and gallstones will be your next best friend.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwEp6ose8f
“Sweets don’t make stones”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50l6kjbRDB
“Sure not,” pulling out a mechanical organ from the bloody tauren on the dissecting table. His monocle reflecting blue veins and a sack of something. Could be the liver but it is the only biological organ. “These Taurmechs are interesting.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMkAKZBI9Z
“Spare me”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzW3DdcK79
But the Dr.’s ears are on the sloshing of and tearing of flesh. “They are tacet discords yet they have a mix of mechanical and biological organs. They only got the name mech because of the steel hooves and horns they have. And possibly from these organs too. How is it alive? Griz do you know?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjft3ulk8QU
“Ugh, it’s because of the cores”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuu2HyCa8H
“YES! YES! Tacet cores. They keep a tacet discord’s body intact. And they are said to be made from the raindrops of the Lament.” Pulling down the taurmech’s shorts for its mechanical dong… “Gotta study this too—”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthWWMDwE79
“Come on, doc.” Grizeo rises from his bench and stretches his muscles for the Ali-op “Clear the table.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9WedKBhnv
“But the penis…”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXaKtuqGZK
“You and your weird hobbies.” Grunting as he pulls up the child sized—but madly bone crushing heavy monster. “Sure, this can handle?” straining the veins around his neck.
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5WWARDNae
“This table? OF COURSE IT CAN!”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GU4Hs6pRH
And so Grizeo drops the cadaver on the steel dissection table—hearing it creak and seeing the legs bent.
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZI2sqs7lY8
“Goodness, musts be 100kg at best”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Uc9rY34WB
“It’s really heavy”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5GvK6VL0D
“So it is” a hammer and a screwdriver aiming at the center of the creature’s chest. Stabbing and hammering it in. “Hmm, didn’t what I expected.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEU1Ji84Ez
“What is?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlM5V5GFZS
“I thought it would explode” exclaiming as he rubs his hands together. "Right now, rip it open!”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwh4sujdRLe
“Rip what?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOfTXozKnY
“The wound, rip it bigger.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL470iRQiZ8
“can’t you just use a rotor?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFm5HNeVAHv
“I kind of lost it”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9fHaPqdM2
“Really?” And Grizeo takes out a rotor from under the table. “What about this?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITsVRqKgNO
“OH! You found it good” snatching the tool away and switching on for its searing spinning blades. Cutting a straight horizontal down to the abdomen with the brick thick flesh parting themselves. “Bloomed like a flower”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzJxpjYSnwN
It is an interesting sight. The flesh of an Ali-op is thrice bigger and “nine”—as the Dr. measures, times thicker than the soft organs. Underneath and smothered against its hard alligator back carapace. The eyeball buttons are four dark irises and it has five layers nictitating membrane and its long tongues are connected down to its gonads. “Huh, so when it mates it also tastes?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXtSPiUOVd
“What exactly are you using them for? You've been tight-lipped about the whole thing."
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQBRELLSSc
"Pass me the forceps," Dr. Bolg orders and the assistant hands him the instrument, watching as the doctor carefully extracts the jelly like organs. "Was this hunt easy?"
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoloHrzPn0A
“More thrilling than collecting moss, beetles, and tree roots”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrQVRUSUBo
“Must be hard to track right?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQojOQ3muhP
“Got help from a cat”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYb9olqGkR
“From a cat!? An echo?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsk7SGuihDQ
“No, just a normal cat”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY010w8hWVB
“Wild and strange.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIINitObMVH
Scraping out the bones, then the larynx and trachea. Placing them together with the eyeballs and tongue in a liquidated jar. Next to the jar with the moss, beetles and tree roots he had gathered. Finishing off with Grizeo hanging the scales and meat to a butcher’s hook. “Now will you tell me what you need these for?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiS6gIxws1
Dr. Bolg pauses, his gaze meeting Grizeo's. "All in due time, just know that it ain’t for any witches”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAxRFvA0om
"You've been sending me on these damn errands for months,” Raising his brows, “and I still don't know what for!"
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hMCwde7Ar
"Now, now, Patience, Griz. It’s just science and alchemical stuff that you do not need to know." Washing his hands and throwing the gloves down to the dump basket
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYLY6C4pmT
“Still for Lim?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCIWC2ix5a
“Of course! Still for twin brother. Go blow off some steam in your room. Your handsome face is melting in that sweat and frustration. And I understand, go on now. Leave me be”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojp2LCz9If
Which Grizeo takes the advice and heads straight for his room. Entering a room full of exercise equipment and stripping himself from the tight body suit. Leaving only his red underwear that he forces to take in more sweat as he forces out his steam with huffs and forced, intense pushups and pullups. Using equipment focusing on his upper body. With each rep, replacing his thoughts with the dull ache in his muscles.
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKNLSHStRf
After his workout, Grizeo collapses onto his bed, his chest heaving. He reaches for his water jug, taking a long swig before setting it down with more force than necessary. Water sloshes over the edge, but he pays it no mind. Instead, he grabs his phone and begins scrolling through AI-generated images of his lost twin brother, Lim. The resemblance is uncanny, and it only reminds him of a recent past—“I saved you first” The strings said before a flash of light engulfed him and gone…
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDl0A5p8J5q
A knock at the door interrupts his thoughts. Dr. Bolg enters, carrying a tray laden with treats and a steaming mug of black chocolate. "I thought you might need a pick-me-up," he says, setting the tray on the table.
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3ZnFIVLZp
Eyeing the doctor warily. "Are you really trying to help Lim?" he asks, his tone clipped.
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUumeZcBpJ
Dr. Bolg shifts uncomfortably. "Grizeo, these things take time. I assure you; I'm doing everything to locate him. Even with the errands I send you to."
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOqiFyfCGl
Grizeo scoffs. "It's been years, Doc. Years! And still, nothing." He rises from the bed, his fists clenched at his sides with the steam coming off his body like an overused engine.
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDP0ZalpL4d
“But what you reported last month was essential information. I need more time to analyze them together with other top scientists. You know that won’t be easy, especially when TaKaRa is holding them up in pig pens…” the shrill ring of his phone cuts him off. He holds up a finger, he checks the phone screen, “Speak of the devil” Signaling for Grizeo to wait as he takes the call. And the young man plops back on the bed, wrapping his body in the blankets that smell like catnip.
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlbfGXLOud
When Dr. Bolg ends the call, he turns to Grizeo with a serious expression. "Griz…”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoU1jTl26an
“Got another errand?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuJWG7Pzn4
“Kind off, but think of this more as a personal request. Please, as someone who is letting you off with free rent and food.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJtfA4B4tS
“And what is it now?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYgdLxj4Z6
“Well, I know that you want to find your brother as fast as possible. And I know that this might frustrate you much…”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJ6UPUgROm
“Just tell, got nothing to do anyway.”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoLVyYG0Nu
“I need you to return to the village. There's been a sighting of a dangerous vagrant, and we've been tasked with eliminating them. The bounty is substantial, and it could greatly aid in our search for Lim. As well as get my ass off them."
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOdhHLiqBY
Grizeo throws his hands up in exasperation. "Back at the village huh, fine!"
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MMwEtzzz1
Dr. Bolg shakes his head. "You fried your communication chips remember? This call would have sent straight to your head when you’re still at the village..."
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNu5cUycc2
"I can just use the resonance beacon I found." Wearing another pair of tight body suit. Zipping up his steaming taut muscles before blazing his ember eyes combing his hair up spiky like dart tips. “I don’t need to come back for a while, right?”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeiYJ096GgG
“Well…but please do come back. I’ll miss you”
340Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FJhwsrzLk
“No, not unless you have news about Lim”
ns18.119.106.103da2
