Author Note: This is the extra chapter to my other story Big Business. I had stated that I planned to write Chapter 6.5 and post it separately due to the fact that I could not include it in the story itself because the gore would raise the rating. I finished this a while back but I never got around to posting it. I figured a few days before Halloween would be the perfect time.
This story can function as a stand alone. Its written with explanations included so you do not actually have to read Big Business if you do not want to, though it would be a good idea to if you want a more in-depth understanding. It will still be called "Chapter 6.5" though even if it can stand alone.
A FAIR WARNING and some SPOILERS: the rating is as high as it is for a reason. There is excessive gore, a character literally gets ripped apart, there are horror themes and the setting is rather creepy. If you are triggered by any of that then do not read this.
It took a moment for Azure's eyes to adjust to the darkness that had engulfed the room after the heavy metal door to the outside had been closed. As he blinked to help his vision he could hear the sound of a chain rattling and metal scraping on metal. Once that had ceased the other sounds in the room became apparent.
He could hear his heartbeat, loud and frantic.
He could hear the Surgeon's raspy breathing, as though the monstrous creature was struggling for every breath.
Overhead, nearby and even below his feet he could hear the sound of ancient pipes creaking and warping slightly as liquids or air was forced through them, too old and worn to still be in use.
Somewhere in the distance there was a sound like metal grinding against metal, likely a machine that had seen better days and was now rusted out and barely getting by.
Slowly, the darkness ebbed away as his eyes adjusted to the lower light and a world in monochrome too its place, like a movie scene fading in from black. Were this a movie it would certainly be in the horror genre. The door that lead outside was dull, having lost its metallic shine ages ago, and covered in dark patches of rust and tarnish. It was locked with a simple sliding chain and deadbolt. In the low light the walls looked to be grey but had there been any light their color would have been revealed as the sickening yellow that comes with age and lack of upkeep. Much of the paint had either chipped away or was slowly pealing itself off like flesh after a sunburn and ragged dark lines and patches showed clear evidence of staining and water damage. Above his head Azure could see that where there had once been a plaster ceiling there was now mostly open space and rusty pipes, safe for a few patches of decaying plaster and wooden boards that fruitlessly hung on for dear life.
To his right Azure heard a heavy boot smack against the ground and rubber being dragged across tile and turned his attention to the only other being present. The mottled bruise-like color of the Surgeon's skin now looked like varying shades of grey but the difference between the stitched together pieces of flesh that the creature was comprised of were more pronounced than they had been in the light. It made the knot that was forming in Azure stomach a little tighter and for a moment he thought he might retch. The Surgeon looked even more grotesque in the dark than he had in the light. The long side button lab coat the monster wore extended to its mid shins where it brushed the tops of the heavy duty steel toed boots that adorned its feet.
"This… way…" The Surgeon rasped out, continuing to slowly lurch forward toward an open doorway in the wall to the left near the end of the corridor they were standing in. One of the supposed Imaginary Friend's legs seemed almost broken as it was simply dragged across the ground with the toe of its boot scraping the cracked tiles, the other leg doing most of the work to move the creature forward, rubber sole smacking loudly against the floor with each step.
After a moment's hesitation, a glance back towards the door and a gulp Azure followed the Surgeon down the hall and through the doorway.
The doorway opened to a large room with an elevated metal slab it the center, illuminated by an intense bright white light. The rest of the area was completely shrouded in darkness with nothing discernable but vague shapes of the objects that lurked beyond the reach of the light.
The Surgeon creeped over to the metal slab and gestured for Azure to climb on the slab. The little blue blob did as instructed, sitting at the edge of the metal table like one would the paper coated chair at the doctor's office. He watched as the tall lanky being wheeled a small table over next to the slab, the dated wheels squeaking harshly, and began examining the equipment that rest on it.
It spoke as it picked up each tool and checked the quality, "You… are not the first… to seek my assistance… Many… have come to me… wishing… for a new… life… There is a price… to be paid… for such a gift…"
"Well how much? Money's not an issue, man. Just tell me how many zeroes and I'll write you a check." Azure interrupted, looking to the Surgeon and already riffling around to find his checkbook, a big upgrade from the various pocket change he used to keep on hand to pay Harriman's various "metaphorical" prices. The Surgeon, however, shook his head, a cracking sound emitting from the joints as he did so.
"This… is not a price… which can be paid… with cash or coin… It is… a price… paid through suffering… and loss…" The creature choked out and continued to explain as he proceeded with his preparations, "The process… is… extremely painful… and taxing… on the body… You may only undergo it once… Some… have not survived… the first… A second surgery… would certainly… prove fatal… If you go through with this… and become… human… there's no going back to how you had been… how you are now… Many… soon see this gift… as a curse… Is this… a price… you are willing to pay…?"
Azure frowned and thought about this, staring out into the darkness of the room. From experience he knew he was not easy to hurt considering his lack of bones or organs and as far as he was aware he had nothing to lose and everything to gain from this. If that was all the price was paying it would be a breeze. He nodded and lay back on the cold metal slab, staring up into the Surgeon's dead milky white eye with a look of determination he could see in his reflection in the antique doctor's mirror that covered the being's other eye.
The creature's frown unseen under its surgical mask, it lifted its hand, the long bony fingers with claws like scalpel blades, and used them to slice into the outer membrane of the little Imaginary Friend's chest.
Pain lit up Azure's entire body as it never had before and he screamed, spots beginning to cloud his vision already. Blue ooze blossomed from the wound slowly at first. It initially seemed a thick viscous gel but thinned out as the Surgeon went in for another cut with his scalpel claws. The wound was a deep gash sliced halfway through the gelatinous substance that comprised Azure's body and the rapidly thinning gel, now more a liquid, that the blades made contact with was beginning to pool in the opening.
Its color was off too, appearing almost indigo rather than blue.
The pain was unimaginable. It felt like somebody had set him on fire and with each cut the flames burned hotter and brighter. Never had Azure experienced such agony. He did not even think he could. He had been through a lot over the years and always come out of it relatively ok. He had survived. This… This was something new and horrible. And he was not entirely sure he would get through it.
He screamed again as the next cut was made, the spots he was seeing blocking his sight completely for a moment. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly to clear them, to try to block out the pain. He only managed the first.
Azure opened his eyes in time to see the Surgeon extracting some of the liquid substance, which had turned a bright red by now, from the wound. It did not slip through his fingers like one would expect but instead flowed with them as though it were a crimson ribbon with one end pinched between two fingers being. As he watched the ribbon of red began to solidify and dull a bit in color with tiny thin lines of red still running through them. It reminded him of something he had seen in an open page of Terrance's biology textbook which the teen haphazardly tossed aside instead of actually doing his homework. What was it called…
A wave of nausea washed over the Imaginary Friend when he recalled the answer. Intestines. The diagram depicting them did not hold a candle to the real thing though. He squeezed his eye shut again but the image was burned into his mind, an impossibly long tube of glistening dull red coated in what could only be blood, suspended high above the cavity in which they belonged like sausages hanging on a butcher's hook in the shop window. It was only made worse by the sharp white light above the table illuminating the lattice-work of veins and capillaries that transported blood throughout the tissue.
The Surgeon continued his work unimpeded by his patient's reaction to the disturbing sight. He set the intestines aside for the moment and went to work on the rest of the soupy indigo ooze that had settled into the cavity of the open wound. The easiest part was done but there were many more organs that needed to be formed and each had to be completed one at a time. This one would be more difficult that the others. It would take more time. The little blue blob did not have a foundation to work with so everything had to be done from scratch.
The indigo was slowly progressing down the color spectrum to red while the creature pulled out handfuls of it to shape into organs. Stomach, heart, lungs. All painstakingly crafted with immense amounts of care taken to make sure everything would be the right size and function perfectly. Holes were carved out of the mushy red pulp which made a squelching sound to have places to connect quivering organic tubes and link everything into a functioning system, like building a computer out of blood and flesh. Then each was set aside so another could be worked on until all that was left was a nearly hollow cavity.
Everything was saturated in blood. It collected on the metal slab on which everything lay, prevented from dripping over the edge onto the cracked tiles below by nothing more than an inch tall wall of metal all the way around the table. Even so, some had managed to splash onto the floor, adding brand new splotches of crimson to the ragged long-faded stains of surgeries passed. The Surgeon's bladed fingertips glistened in the light, though not with the usual metallic sheen. His fingers, his hands and even his forearms were coating in a thick layer of viscera and blood which stained his white labcoat and dripped onto the floor to meet that which had splashed over the side of the table.
Yet, none of it phased him in the slightest. He slowly made his way over to the head of the slab and stared down at the face of his patient. Azure had fallen into unconsciousness long ago, unable to handle the pain he was being put through. This was normal. His patients always passed out at some point and it was a good thing that they did. The entire body needed to be remade, which of course meant that sooner or later the head would need to be cut into and taken apart as well. It was easier to do so after they were no longer conscious.
Carefully the Surgeon made his incision through the membrane of Azure's face, continuing down until the cut met up with the one he had made earlier. While the lack of bones or organs meant more working in creating the new body it also made it easier to open everything up and remove everything. His claws could become any necessary surgical tool but for this surgery all he would need them to be is the standard scalpel. It certainly streamlined the process.
With the membrane now open he cut deeper into the last area of blue gel remaining. This time the ooze rapidly thinned into a liquid and shifted pigmentation from indigo to purple to red, becoming blood which began to pool in the new wound. The Surgeon reached in through the gathering blood with both hands and withdrew a mass of the scarlet sludge, pulling it free from where it had still been clinging to the membrane with a sound much like a boot pulling itself free from mud. The mass trembled slightly before settling but it was not left alone for long. The Surgeon shaped the sludge, detailing the folds and carving out the creases with his scalpel until it resembled a human brain. He would have to shape the skull around it. It was a difficult task, but nothing he had not done before.
His long fingers work quickly and precisely, forming the rest of the head and moving on to the skeleton on the body cavity. The membrane was pliable and conformed easily to the more human shape it was being forced into. A series of clicks and snaps rung out as joints were put into place. Then muscles and the organ systems had to be added in and joined together with a chorus of disgusting squelches and sickening slurps. A lot of the blood caught by the lip on the table ended up cascading over the edge onto the floor as the organs that had been quietly resting off to the side were disturbed to be moved back into the body. When all was said and done the Surgeon finally closed the membrane back up and went to work on it, the last step being the easiest. The membrane became skin and the outward appearance underwent minor adjustment. Here and there he had to cut into the flesh, crimson oozing from the fresh wound, to adjust the placement of a muscle or a bit of tissue but soon enough he was finished with his task.
The Surgeon skulked around the metal slab, examining his handiwork one last time before stalking off to clean up. Another surgery completed, another life changed forever. Though he could not help but wonder if the boy's life had been changed for better or for worse. Only time would tell. If this child showed up on his doorstep again, well, then he would have his answer.