"This will hurt, but try to hold still."
Sevika grunted as Singed poked and prodded at her charred left arm. She took another swig from the liquor bottle she held in her right hand, and wiped her mouth with her good arm. Though the alcohol was taking the edge off the pain, she could tell her limit was approaching as the operating room had begun swirling at the edge of her vision and Silco was just a dark figure next to the door.
"Tell me we at least got the bastard who did this," she snarled.
"Vander's dead," replied Silco nonchalantly, ignoring her question as he toyed with the injector for his eye. "So relax while you still can. It's going to be a busy year." He smoothly brought the injector up to his dark eye and dosed it with the new iteration of shimmer Singed had just handed him. An unexpected shockwave jolted through his eye and spread down his spine, causing him to almost crumple over. The injector dropped out of his shivering hand.
"A warning would have been nice." hissed Silco, panting.
Singed, without even looking up from Sevika's arm, responded in his usual clinical and wispy voice, further muffled by the bandages wrapped around his head that left only the left eye exposed. "Just a harmless side effect. And not entirely unpleasant, I presume? Though I recommend administering from a seated position in the future."
"I'll try to keep that in mind," said Silco sarcastically as he observed Singed, bandaged head to toe like a mummy yet seemingly unhindered in his work. Silco wondered how much shimmer the good doctor must've consumed to escape that inferno. His men had worked all night to put out the fire, and he had rushed into the scorched lab only to find it empty. The doctor gave him quite the shock by turning up not long after, fully wrapped but otherwise in good health. Silco shuddered at the thought of Singed's gaunt frame twisted and swollen after a vial of shimmer. Hopefully the addictive nature of the substance had been overstated.
Singed rolled his stool back from Sevika and looked her calmly in the eyes. "The damage is quite extensive. Your arm will have to be amputated."
Sevika glared at Singed not with malice, but with determination. When the doctor remained unmoved she sighed and looked down at her blackened and motionless left hand. "Shit!" She took a sharp drink from the bottle she was holding in a death grip. "Make it fast," she spat out while taking a quick breath. She chugged the rest of the bottle while Singed put on gloves.
Sounding amused, Singed made an observation to her, "Normally, surgeries are done sober. It's a common misconception you see, alcohol dilates the blood vessels but-" Before he could finish Sevika had tossed the bottle and grabbed him by the shirt.
"Just do it." she growled.
With her working hand preoccupied, Singed quickly plunged a hidden syringe into her defenseless neck. He continued his lecture unfazed.
"- but fortunately, it is exactly what is required for my experiment."
"Not your damn lab rat," muttered Sevika, mustering up the last of her energy to do so. Her grip on him loosened. "Told you, I don't want your stupid arm..." a brief image of waking up with some corpse's disproportionate left arm stitched on to her flashed through her mind but she was no longer capable of recoiling from the idea as she rapidly drifted into an uneasy slumber.
"I appreciate your cooperation." Singed gently guided her comatose body to a prone position on the surgical table. "Though I think we can all agree it would have been much simpler with your consent."
"Quite the trickster, aren't you?" commented Silco dispassionately.
"Test subjects can be rather uncooperative these days," lamented Singed while setting up his surgical station with the swift ease of a seasoned professional. "My reputation has exceeded my accomplishments I'm afraid."
"Keep in mind doctor, I want her healthy and sane once you're done," said Silco, emphasizing the and. "She saved my life. She'll make a good lieutenant, with or without a new arm."
Singed nodded absentmindedly. "The procedure, if we succeed, will be revolutionary. And I see no reason she would not survive regardless, the inherent risk is minimal." He pulled over a cart filled with all manners of gadgets. "Though I admit, the prototype is rather crude. My forte has always been chemical, not mechanical."
Silco decided that was as much reassurance as he'll ever get out of Singed and left the room.
Singed's humble abode was more laboratory than house. Carved into the rocks inside of an oft overlooked cave, the vast majority of the space was dedicated to research and in fact the first room one entered from the outside was the main laboratory. Almost as an afterthought what space had remained between the cramped library and the operating room had been fashioned into what could roughly be construed of as a living space, with a shabby sofa and stained coffee table covered in dust from neglect.
Upon entering the room, the first thing Silco noticed was Jinx asleep on the couch. Unsurprising considering the ordeal from the night before, and the fact that this was the first real chance for rest any of them have had since. He looked down at her face, peaceful and absent of sadness and melancholy for the first time since their meeting, and thought twice about waking her; there was much work left to be done, and he needed her well rested and in high spirits if she was to be a part of it.
He left the house and the two bodyguards outside followed after him. He motioned for one to stay behind. "Keep an eye on the girl." The guard nodded and went back to his post.
Silco took a few steps then paused, he turned his head back to the guard at the door. "And get her a blanket or something." He'd already turned again before the man could acknowledge, and missed the fleeting look of surprise on the guard's face.
Powder woke up refreshed but confused, wondering why someone had covered her with a small rug. She slid it off to the floor and hopped to her feet. Looking around she was unnerved by the silent and lonely environment and quickly walked towards the room she last saw Silco enter.
Powder peered into an empty room bathed in neon green light. "Hello? Silco? Is anybody here?" But nobody answered and all she could hear was the faint hum of the lights and the ticking of a clock somewhere. Her eyes searched the room, eventually reaching the operating table, and finally took notice of the severed arm on it. She gasped and jumped back, bumping into Singed who had been standing quietly behind her.
Frozen from alarm, she slowly turned her head upwards to see Singed's fully bandaged face and exposed left eye looking directly down at her.
Singed tilted his head. "Would you like some tea?"
Powder sighed with relief and nodded.
"Careful, it's very hot." Singed set the beaker full of steaming water and tea leaves on the coffee table before Powder who nodded meekly in appreciation. He sat down next to her on the sofa and sighed, warming his hands with a similar beaker in his hand.
Powder blew on the tea and took a sip. She contorted her face as the bitterness hit her tongue and parched throat.
"A child's tongue is more sensitive to bitterness," explained Singed as he pulled back his bandage and drank his tea. "But it's something you learn to enjoy as time passes."
Powder watched Singed drink awkwardly. She hesitated to apologize, not wanting to bring up a topic that must be equally painful for both of them. She was about to say something when their quiet tea time was rudely interrupted by her growling stomach.
Singed offered to make her a sandwich but Powder quickly declined, the memory of the severed arm still fresh in her mind.
For years now, rumors of a mad doctor had been circulating underground; tales of kidnappings and mutilated corpses abound. Parents frightened their children into obedience with threats of sending them to the mad doctor to have their head removed and replaced with that of another, more obedient child. Powder had tried her best to ignore such tales, and Vi had even told her Mylo was just making it up to scare her but Powder wasn't so sure anymore. After all, the man before her matched the description perfectly in both stature and tone of voice, all except the bandages that she was well aware was her fault.
"You're not, the mad doctor of Zaun, are you?" Powder finally asked in a nervous voice with the degree of awe expected from a child likely having tea with an urban legend.
Singed chuckled and put down his cup. "Well, I am a doctor. And perhaps I am who you are referring to. Tell me, what is it that they say this mad doctor of Zaun does?"
"Well, they say he rips children's heads off!" said Powder quickly with nervous excitement, jumping straight to the point and her most immediate concern. She held her breath as Singed appeared to take a moment to recall if he'd ever done that.
"Living children? No, never," answered Singed thoughtfully.
Powder released her held breath. She was still naive, and didn't think to question how recently deceased the children were before their heads had been removed.
"And... that you stitch animals and people together to make monsters." She realized too late that she had used the accusatory second person instead of third. But Singed didn't seem to mind and chuckled again.
"Hmm, I suppose I am guilty of that charge," mused Singed, enjoying the memory. "But only once, and it was at the behest of the client himself. Fascinating experiment, but it's a long story." He took another sip of tea.
Powder gave the tea another chance, due to both feeling more at ease now and her increasing thirst.
"You don't seem all that evil to me," she said conclusively and drank the rest of the tea.
"We are all misunderstood to some degree," said Singed, collecting the empty beakers as he did so. "Those with strong convictions especially so."
"Silco too?"
Singed nodded in response to her question. He turned to look at her face so that he could gauge her reaction. "Do you hate him for killing your family?"
She looked at the table and avoided his eyes. "It's not like I have a sister anymore," she said bitterly. "And Mylo was always bugging me!" Then her expression softened. "But I really miss Claggor and Vander." She blinked back the tears. "And it's all my fault anyways."
Singed patted her head, causing a tear to fall onto her lap. "I am certain it is not all your fault."
Powder looked up with a sad, puzzled yet hopeful expression.
"I created shimmer, and the chain reaction of events my invention set off led to what happened that night. Would you say I share part of the blame?"
Powder slowly nodded.
"And Silco," continued Singed. "Would any of this have happened if not for his orders?"
Powder agreed with him once more.
"Even Vander shares some of the blame," concluded Singed, surprising Powder with the claim. "Did you know, a long time ago he tried to drown Silco in the river over a disagreement. He betrayed their brotherhood. If not for that, none of this would have happened."
Powder couldn't imagine the nicest man she knew drowning anybody in anything but love, but the seeds of doubt Singed had planted led her to look at the situation from a new, more objective light.
"Then it's not all my fault." She said it out loud mostly for herself, trying to convince her stubborn heart that it was the truth. She sniffled once and wiped her eyes dry.
"Like us, you must learn to live with your guilt. It is the price of progress." Singed got up to go wash the cups.
"Um..." she called out after Singed, and the doctor turned expectantly.
"Can I have something to eat? I'm starving," she said bashfully, embarrassed to be bringing it up after turning him down the first time.
Singed smiled, nodded, and went to make her a sandwich.