"You know, it gets quite..lonely in these parts." Trager arched his spine, stretching it. Jamie was sure he heard a hiss of pain and vaguely wondered if the man had done himself in or something. Man, not corpse he had established. What had made this man look so..dead? Something had definitely gone on in this place. Experimentation just like in those horror movies he had seen?
The man took a sharp inhale of breath through his teeth before speaking again. "It gets..infuriatingly lonely. The things a man would do for a decent conversation, am I right or am I right?" He picked up a butchers knife and studied it in the light. "You look like the type to hold a good one. The old two martini lunch minus the martinis, you know? So.." Inhale. "Let's talk."
Jamie had always studied people's speech patterns as something to do and this was no different. Was the inhaling a form of irritation? The man gave off a somewhat irritated vibe so maybe. So lost in his thoughts, Trager had to pat his cheek a few times to get his attention again. "Bud. You know most people don't like being ignored. I'm no exception."
Trager turned to walk back over to his tray and Jamie got a good view of his bare ass, coughing politely. He shouldn't have been surprised, really. The doctor paid him no heed, grabbing a pair of pliers off the tray and walking back over. Fear was back in the red-head's eyes before he could say "well shit". "Now now, no need to look like I'm gonna cut your head off." He perched himself of Jamie's lap casually. "So what's a lady like you doing in these parts? You're certainly not from here. Not since.." He chuckled a bit more and adjusted his glasses.
Jamie stayed the mute, averting his eyes. "No? Well, there's this trick I learned recently to make people sing. Maybe I'll try that." He seemed to ponder his decision, stroking his chin as if a warning to Jamie to start talking or he'd rip his eye out of his socket or something. Mustering the most gender-neutral voice he could make, Jamie mumbled, "You could..if you wanted your deteriorated ear drums to burst, old man." He sneered.
There was silence, filled in with only the breathing of the two people in the room before Trager forcefully opened Jamie's jaw and ripped a molar out with his pliers. "Smart mouth you have there, girl. Allow me to clean it for you." He sounded more than ticked off about being called old.
Jamie sobbed in pain as a canine was ripped from his bleeding mouth, bile rising in his throat. He managed to swallow it back down but couldn't help the blood spilling out of his mouth, coating his clothes and Trager's apron.
Removing one more molar, the man hopped off Jamie's lap, dropping the pearly whites on the tray containing his devices. "You know why I do this? When I get out of here, these things'll sell for gold on the black market." A battery operated razor was picked up. "I'm afraid that can't be all of your donations. See this pretty hair you have here for instance."
Call the man vain, but he was more afraid about losing something that would tamper with his appearance than his teeth. He frantically shook his head, leaning away from the razor and the hand painfully gripping his hair. Despite his best efforts, it happened anyway. Lock after lock of hair fell from his head and onto the floor, the razor being used carelessly and nicking his scalp more than once.
He was soon completely bald, staring at his reflection in the mirror above the sink in despair. This man would never know how long it took him to grow this hair and style it every day to perfection. Now it was gone. "Embrace the bald, buddy. At least yours will grow back."
A little more enraged struggling proved to loosen up one of the hand straps. Delighted, Jamie waited until the man would be out of the room before attempting anything. He took in his surroundings finally. A bathroom surrounded him, dirty urinals lining the wall. Were those..giant scissors in one?
He supressed a shudder, subconsciously licking his three new empty sockets. "Have you ever been married?" The question completely caught Jamie off guard, biting his tongue accidentally. "Don't get me wrong, you look more in your 30s. But I see no ring. Is it your vain disposition? Your rude, disrespectful attitude?" Those giant scissors from before were picked up. "You know, I've never been a priest," He spat the word as if it were poison. "But I could wed you and I."
He waltzed over in what seemed to be a cheerful manner, humming the traditional wedding tune. "Here's to us, Groom and Bride. Together for eternity. Bla bla." The scissors were around Jamie's left ring finger before he knew it and pressed together at a rapid rate. Just before it reached the bone, Jamie had the chance to yell a "wait!", halting the scissor's movements. "I can..help you!" He huffed frantically, wishing to keep something to his name before the man started hacking off his fingers too.
Trager let out an inquisitive sound, encouraging Jamie to go on. "I don't know what you're doing here, Mr Trager but-" He screamed as the finger was cut clean off. Trager looked furious. "Doctor! That's doctor you ingrate!" He shouted. "But I think I'll take you up on your offer, bud." His mood shifted so drastically, even Jamie was confused despite the burning in his whole arm.
Jamie was let out of his bindings so fast he had to wonder why anyone would just let out someone they tortured. "If you disobey my orders, it'll mean a world of pain. Ok then, time to get you patched up, darlin'."
A short time later, Jamie's hand was cleaned and bandaged and he was sitting on one of the dirty mattresses of the place, waiting for his new overseer to finish whatever he was doing. He was just told to wait.
Trager came in a while later with a container in hand, utensils in the other. Jamie soon smelt the food and his stomach growled loudly. He hid his face in his hands in embarrassment. "Aww, buddy. No need to hide."
Eating with the other man was one of the most awkward experiences Jamie had ever had. He just kept staring at him, watching him eat. Surely it was another form of torture. Jamie cleared his throat. "Do you..uhh..want some?"
Trager shook his scarred head in negative, tapping his fingers together in his lap. "That used to be mine, you know. Before all this." He gestured widely to everything before resting his hands in their previous position. "Was looking forward to eating it too."
This just made things more awkward as the meal was finished off. "And that is?" He asked through the last mouthful of chicken curry, continuing to use the voice from before to humour Trager's expectations of him.
The man raised an eyebrow in his direction, mumbling something about him 'really being new here'. "You familiar with the term 'morphogenesis' or anything similar? No?" Jamie looked on blankly. "I'll put it in layman's terms for you. The people here, my people, were running experiments on the patients of this asylum. They were using a machine called the 'morphogenic engine' to summon a mass nanomite cloud called the Walrider. As it were, your good pal Rick here was shoved into one and turned into what you see today. Should've reconsidered my hiding places for all those bodies.." He stroked his chin in thought.
"Bodies?" Jamie asked incredulously before he could stop himself. Not just one either. So this guy was a mass murderer too? He had to get the hell out of that place as soon as possible before he became a statistic on the man's chart.
The words from before that came back to him and he honestly couldn't be surprised that there was any sort of experimentation going on here. But by the sounds of it, Rick's own people turned on him? That was messed up.
Trager looked on in amusement and casually felt Jamie's fuzzy scalp. "Had to cut costs, as it were. Anyhoo, you must be tired. There's plenty to do in the morning so best head off, eh?" Apparently the man actually believed Jamie wouldn't just grab a weapon of some sort and do him in while sleeping as he sauntered over to a bed and flopped himself on it, removing his spectacles from his worn face. He was right as Jamie didn't have the fight in his blood.
Jamie waited until he heard even breathing before rushing over to the door of the room, finding it chained and padlocked. Cursing, he frantically looked around for a key before giving up a long while after. He was hoping for an escape from this madman.
Actually, Jamie thought to himself while he curled up on one of the beds far from the other. I could use this guy as protection. He was soon dozing off into a fitful sleep after staring at the cracked tiles for an extended period of time. He knew not much would come of him sleeping, the man seeming keen on keeping him around for whatever batshit crazy he was doing here.
"Rise and shine, darlin'!" Jamie heard that singsong voice right in his ear and jumped awake, almost flailing and hitting Trager in the face. He blinked wearily, piecing together where he was and what he was doing here. He was honestly hoping to wake up a complete person in his own bed, having just had a horrible nightmare. No such luck.
To prevent any outbursts of anger, Jamie jumped up from the bed and stood less than confidently, waiting for instructions. Trager slapped him on the back, rolling his eyes playfully. "Chin up, darlin'. We've got work to do."
Jamie followed behind the man like a puppy with its tail between its legs. Despite the man's friendly nature, he'd seen what he could do and it terrified him. He still missed his now missing belongings, his tongue automatically feeling his empty sockets every once and a while to remind him not to become too comfortable. He'd run when he could. Preferably when the 'doctor' wasn't equipped with bone shears. The way he grated them together every once and a while made Jamie's skin crawl in the worst way.
They eventually arrived in a room full of beds. Each bed was filled with..Jamie swallowed. Mutilated patients. Trepidation ran his blood cold in realisation that this could have been him if he hadn't spoken up. "Now, as my assistant, you'll be aiding my work. The thing I do here, as a certified doctor, is study the human body. It's an interesting set of clockworks." He spoke almost fondly as he studied a man in front of him.
The man spat insults as Trager adjusted the Ilizarov apparatus on his leg in a careless manner. "Sh sh sh. Be a man, buddy." The man looked at Jamie in a pleading manner before it turned lustful, waggling his eyebrows at him. Jamie looked on in a mix of condolence and self-pity at being treated in such a way. Trager was on it in a flash, completely severing the man's arm from his body. "I'll have you know that she happens to be my assistant." He spat over the man's screaming wails.
Jamie was slightly flattered as Trager walked off in a huff to the next patient, not used to people sticking up for him, even if it was him of all people. His next thought consisted of his lack of proper response to someone's limb being cut off right in front of him, or rather, actually having the gall to be flattered by it. Maybe this place was getting to him.
