He did not retrieve me for testing the next day, or the next, or the next. Days began to blur together as I settled into an involuntary isolation. No form of human contact broke my silence. Guards slipped my meals through a hole in the bottom of my door as they always had, and I pushed the dirty dishes back out the same way. I never heard them coming or going. I called out to them, but received no answer. I decided to try keeping my dirty dishes hostage until they came in to collect them.

Screw the consequences, I'll take any punishment if it means I can see another person.

Two days later, it was clear that the only thing that would result in was withheld meals. I begrudgingly placed my dishes outside the hole again, and they were replaced the next day by another meal. I began spending hours laying on the ground near that hole, staring out of it. Only a few inches above the floor directly outside my cell were visible. There were no people, no other prisoners, nothing. At one point, I was dozing on the ground near the hole when my meal arrived. I awoke just in time to see a length of burgundy fabric flash out of sight. I called out to it, but to no avail. It did not return. I screamed after it until my throat felt raw and rough, but nobody came. I was alone. I dragged myself back up onto my mattress and slept, thinking of him.

What happened to Kabuto to keep him away from me? What will happen to me now? Will I still get my wish when we finish testing? Will we finish at all?

When I awoke the next day, my door was open. Kabuto's corpse puppet stood in the doorframe, waiting. I jumped across the room and flung myself into its arms.

"Hey, hey! Where is everyone? Where is your master? Is he okay?"

It did not answer me. It turned, then paused. I was clearly intended to follow.

"Can you speak?"

It shook its head slightly for 'no', then waited. I jogged to catch up with it, then clung to its arm as it led me back to the treatment room. It typed in the code to open the door and entered, closing it behind us. A paper gown and a walkie talkie sat on the treatment table, but it was otherwise empty. I rushed across the room to the radio, and it crackled to life in my hands.

"Good morning, Melo".

"Kabuto!"

His voice sounded distorted through the tinny speakers, but it was definitely him. I clutched my heart, sinking to the floor.

"I thought you were dead. What's going on? I was trapped in my room for months!"

"Weeks, only. Not months."

"I didn't see anyone the whole time. Why?"

"I can't explain right now. You will understand soon."

Why is he being so cold?

I felt myself start to hyperventilate, then calm.

"Where are you? Why can't I see you?"

"It has become urgent that we resume testing. Today's test requires you to be the only heat signature in the room."

I looked over at the puppet, which was standing stiffly near the desk. It held a needle. I extended my hand absentmindedly, allowing it to take the pre-test blood sample. The radio continued.

"You are on camera. I can see you looking at the puppet. It is dead, it produces no body heat."

"Couldn't you come in for just a moment? Please?"

I felt pathetic begging, but I was pathetic. I needed to see someone, for my sanity, and I especially wanted to see him.

"I can't."

The static was all that broke the silence in the room.

"Please change into the paper gown, then lay on the treatment table."

I slowly did as instructed, resting the radio on the table as I folded my clothes and set them aside. I picked it back up when I finished and clutched it against my chest with both hands. As I settled myself onto the table hesitantly, the puppet moved to the door on the other side of the lab.

"Today's test will be…"

I felt anxiety spreading through me.

"The test will come through that door. All that is required of you is to lay still and relax. If you wish, you may close your eyes."

The puppet opened the door, revealing darkness beyond it. A white shape began to solidify as it approached the lab. It slithered along the ground, pausing just before reaching the light. It raised its body up to inspect the new room. A gigantic snake with two heads loomed in the doorway, easily ten feet long and as thick as a tree. Its twin tongues flicked in and out, tasting the scents in the air. I pressed the button on the radio and whispered into it.

"What the fuck?"

"They are not startled by noise, there is no need to be quiet."

I repeated my question more loudly as it began to approach the treatment table.

"What the fuck!?"

"This is…today's test."

I began to notice more details as it approached. Its white scales were iridescent under the fluorescent lights. Its eyes were clouded with a dull blue color.

"They can't see, they can't hear. They find their way by smell and heat alone. Aren't they beautiful?"

The voice on the radio was enraptured. I pulled my legs up to my chest on the table, willing the snake not to notice me.

"Sure, fine, but what is it doing here?"

"They are helping us with testing."

The realization dawned on me.

"You don't expect me to…with that!?"

"I do."

The anxiety within me reached its peak. I leaped off the table, dashing across the room. I tugged on the door handle, but it did not budge.

"It locks from the outside, you know that."

I shook the lock anyway, then tried to push through with my shoulder. It didn't even shake.

"Relax, Melo."

The snake was drawn to my heat, and my desperate attempts at escaping seemed to intrigue it even more. It made a beeline toward me. I circled around the room, rushing for the other door. The puppet had not closed it yet.

Maybe it'll leave that door open. I don't know where it goes, but anywhere has to be better than here!

I felt the weight of the snake slam against me from behind, and I toppled to the floor. I caught myself hard on my arms. It began to crawl up my body, wrapping itself around me as it moved. Its weight was immense. I tried to turn and push it off of me, but its strength outpaced my own to such an extent that I couldn't lift it more than an inch. Its twin heads leveled with mine, tongues flicking out over my face. It paused, telescoping up dangerously. I tried to wiggle myself out of the constricting curls of its body. Its heads shot forwards as one, and the left one sank its fangs deeply into my shoulder. I screamed, feeling the blood begin to seep out. It felt like something was being injected into me. I clawed at the radio, pressing every button and hoping one of them worked.

"Please…help…"

"Relax. Everything is proceeding as intended."

My head began to feel hot and fuzzy. My whole body tingled.

"Their venom has a dual purpose. The left head injects a concoction that works as both a poison and a potent aphrodisiac. The right injects its cure."

The head withdrew, and the snake moved itself off of me. It seemed to be giving the poison time to work.

"I feel…weird…you poisoned me?"

"The only thing that will convince it to give you the cure is letting it finish. You see, my creation has one flaw."

I was unable to stand correctly. The whole world spun around me, all edges lost their focus. The cool touch of the floor tiles was my only comfort. I laid on my stomach against the floor, spreading my limbs out and pressing my face against it, trying to use it to soothe the rising fever inside me.

"Your creation?"

"They're nearly perfect."

The voice on the radio was ecstatic. I tried to focus my vision enough to see the creature behind me. It began to crawl towards me. I tried to raise myself up to crawl away, but it pushed on relentlessly. Its body pressed over mine, trapping me in my crawling position. Its weight forced my arms to buckle under me. My face pressed against the tile floor as the creature shifted along my length. Its weight tugged my gown up along the path it followed. Soon, I felt the smooth scales of its belly rubbing against the bare flesh of my raised ass.

"Perfect?"

I was drooling against the floor, and it was hard to force even that one word out. The spreading puddle of drool mirrored the shape of the blood that had crept under the far door on the first day, forcing that memory back into my head.

That's what he does. He hurts people.

The voice continued.

"Our beloved leader, my teacher, has been murdered."

Orochimaruis dead?

"Nnnnh?"

I couldn't move any of my muscles anymore, including the ones on my face. The creature's tail pressed my legs apart, and it settled its weight against the newly exposed flesh. I felt my own chemically induced wetness slick against its scales.

"I've saved some of his cells for…Well, I won't bore you with the details. But it has suddenly become very relevant to understand life. Starting with its conception."

Something began to press into me from behind.

"NNnnnn…"

I closed my eyes as it filled me in one slow, forceful push. It was too thick to fit easily, and I felt myself being pushed forwards. I sank against the ground as it forced it into me.

"This creature, my creation, is a modified combination of a male and a female snake. It possesses something more similar to an insect's ovipositor in shape and size than to a snake's usual genitalia."

It paused when it was buried inside me, then began slowly writhing against me.

"It produces eggs, already fertilized and ready to hatch. They incubate almost completely inside the snake before emerging."

I felt it begin to pump something into me as it moved. I felt too stretched, too full, and too hot to move. Every thrust sent the room spinning again. I threw my whole body to the side with as much force as I could manage, but I barely shifted at all. The creature paused.

"These eggs are also perfect. They require only one thing to hatch. It's my creation's only real flaw."

Its body twisted around mine, turning me beneath it. It pressed its weight against me, crushing my chest with its body. I felt myself begin to suffocate as it loomed over me. I stared up at the undulating mass of muscle. It began to move again.

"Its eggs must gestate inside a warm body for a moment to trigger the little ones to hatch. Human warmth is ideal. They take just under an hour to begin hatching."

I closed my eyes, trying to keep from vomiting. It crushed me even more tightly. I gave up on breathing entirely. The scales up its stomach scraped against my skin with a feeling that was almost pleasurable.

That's the venom talking, not me. This thing is going to kill me.

"I've tried using a mechanical incubator, but something was missing. The eggs do need warmth, it's true, but that's not all. They need the pressure, wetness, and sounds of a human body."

It finished filling me and raised up slightly. I inhaled a greedy, gasping breath. It rested inside me, plugging the eggs inside.

I can't move my arms. I can't move anything at all. And I'm still so…how am I still feeling this aroused? I need to find release or I'm going to melt.

"And luckily, I had a worthy subject available. It's you, Melo."

I focused on Kabuto's voice, still spilling from the speaker. His praise sounded fervent, almost worshiping.

"You're my chosen vessel, Melo, incubating my creations. My own Lillith. My divine."

His.

The snake curled around me, twin heads curling around behind mine like a pillow.

His~

But do I still want that?

My body twitched as the eggs the creature had deposited shifted inside me. I felt myself begin to fade. I was too hot, too tired, too dizzy to continue.

"Annn~..."

It's like using his puppet, or using his tools in our other tests. They are his. They are an extension of him.

My head dropped to the side. The creature's right head nuzzled against my neck, gently opening and pressing its fangs into my uninjured side. The feeling of the antidote coursing through me was freezing and instant. It felt similar to drinking ice water after chewing on a mint leaf: impossibly cold and harsh. It lasted several moments, coolness chasing the invasive heat through my veins. My vision cleared. The pressure inside of me began to be painful.

"By my count, you have just under half an hour left. Try to rest."

The snake withdrew its fangs but remained buried inside me, its heads resting behind me. I shifted, moving one of its curls off of my extended torso and down my legs. The creature moved, obligingly.

"It hurts…"

"I know, Melo, but you can stand it for me, right?"

I shuddered, the motion sending burning pain up from where the creature held me stretched open.

"Please, take it out of me."

The creature did not move. The voice on the radio answered, hesitance clear in its intonation.

"I can't have even a single egg removed, you understand. This process will be more unpleasant if it is truly involuntary."

Was it not before?

I thought back to the feeling of the creature moving inside me, the feeling of being stretched open while under the influence of its venom.

I could…grow to enjoy it…I'm not sure anymore…

"I won't move."

The voice answered after several seconds of silence.

"Swear it on with your life."

The snake is his. The eggs are from the snake so…they're…

"I will not allow the eggs to come to harm. I swear it."

Our eggs.

The puppet pulled a hand warmer from its pocket and shook it, activating the chemicals inside it. As they mixed, the temperature of the hand warmer rose. The snake took instant notice, tongues flicking out curiously.

They noticed so quickly…such a smart creature.

The snake slowly withdrew itself from me. I shifted as it released me, making sure to keep my legs pressed together and my pelvis facing generally upwards. I promised that the eggs would be safe, and I meant it. The snake began crawling towards the heat pack. The puppet threw it into the darkened room, and the snake shot after it. The door was slammed behind it.

"I'm trusting you here, Melo. Do not disappoint me."

"I won't."

I felt an egg start to push itself out of me. I moved my hand between my legs and held it in.

"Just under fifteen minutes. With some variation."

"And then what?"

"You'll feel it when it begins. You'll need to move your hand then. They'll find their way on their own. The shells dissolve, rather than crack. They'll melt away, freeing the little ones within."

"Will it hurt?"

The voice did not answer for a long time.

"It…may. You are the first human trial. No one else was deserving enough."

I felt the concern contort my face.

I'm already in pain just holding them in, much less letting them out.

"What helped you withstand it before?"

I blushed.

"...you."

The voice did not answer. The puppet reappeared above me. It dropped something onto my chest before leaving. I caught it with my free hand. It was the suction vibrator that Kabuto had used on me before.

"That's not quite…"

"It will have to do."

I felt the eggs shift inside me.

It may be better than nothing. Hopefully.

I flicked the vibrator on to its second setting and settled it into place. Seconds later, the eggs started moving. The uncomfortable feeling of the eggs inside me blended with the attention from vibrator to form a powerful pleasure.

"Ahh~"

"Better?"

"Yes, but I think…"

Something was definitely beginning to move in me. I felt pressure against my hand.

"I think they're starting."

"That's a bit ahead of schedule, but…"

I moved my hand, and a head popped out of me. A white snake, slick with my wetness, began to crawl out along the floor. I clicked the vibrator up to a higher setting. The radio continued speaking.

"That's one! We're looking for 15-20, hopefully."

"You don't know how many are…ahh~"

Two heads popped out at once, and were quickly followed by another as they exited. They crawled away in different directions.

"You're doing great, just breathe."

His praise still feels so good. And now that the pressure is gone, I feel…

More snakes found their exit. I felt myself clenching as the vibrator did its work, so I removed it for a moment. More spilled out of me.

"11, 12, 13…14."

I had lost count, but the radio was insistent. The snakes slithered around the room, then returned to me. They stretched themselves over my neck, my torso, my chest, beside my legs…anywhere they could find warmth.

"...17, 18."

"I think that's…I think that's everyone."

The feeling inside me was almost finished.

"Wait…, it's not."

One more was still inside me. I returned the vibrator to its earlier position, and let the clenching it caused force out the last snake. It crawled up over me, onto where my free hand rested. It curled into my palm. I raised it to my face.

"19. Last one. My baby…it's so…small."

Its tongue flicked out against my nose. I turned the vibrator off and let it roll away across the floor. I held my finger up for it to inspect. It wrapped around the outstretched finger, then settled to rest and absorb warmth.

"That's it, little one. You had a hard day too, huh? It's a big job, being born."

The radio was making noise, but I ignored it. I settled my arm slowly on the floor, careful not to crush my snaklings. I was exhausted, and soon felt myself drifting off, covered in my little ones.