#brainjarred

[brain-jarred]

POV: you are about to have your brain removed by a bug cyborg with the morality of a weasel on drugs. 

[brain-jarred]

A cover for chapter five thats coming soon!

[brain-jarred]

Dr. hal

[brain-jarred]

Chapter one.  Marriage problems

In the dank bowels of New York, it was a normal day of extracting brains from dubiously consenting test subjects, and Dr. Hal was bored. Bored with his life, he knew he was smart, he knew he had a brilliant mind. In theory this job was in fact nurturing his mind, and putting it to good use in bettering mankind, and-

Yeah yeah whatever. He knew that this was for a good cause, as he carefully cut open the patient's skull, revealing the squishy and oozing brain. He sighed, and his colleague finally took notice of his dour mood. “Dr. Hal? What's wrong? You don't seem very enthusiastic about this.” Dr. Param asked, looking up from their clipboard which they were doodling in the margins of. Dr. Param was very much like Dr. Hal, in the sense that both of them had similar backgrounds. Though despite this similarity, the two were as different as could be. “Come on, Hal! Put some pep into that neuro-needle!” They said cheerfully, pumping their metal arm in the air, much like a cheerleader. In response, Dr. Hal just rolled his eyes and took the neuro-needle out of the tray, and did what you do with a needle.

Once he was done with it, he returned it to the tray, and the doctor began the process of removing the brain from the skull. He sighed again, and turned to Dr. Param. “Hey Dr. Param? Do you ever feel like… I don't know, that we could be doing literally anything else with our lives?” He questioned as he lifted the brain with one hand, and cut the spinal cord with the other. “Like, I know that this is to improve mankind and everything, but… this is just so…” He plopped the brain into a jar, staring at it for a bit. “Boring.” He said flatly. Dr. Param looked shocked. “What?! No way!” They retorted, limping their metal wrist joint in at Dr. Hal. They put down their clipboard and slid a pan containing a brain across the counter. Then, they sat their elbow where it had been. “Listen Hal, Dr. Hal. All jobs have their… their dips!” “Dips?” “Like low points on a graph!” Dr. Param said while walking around. Their six metal legs made clicking sounds as they moved on the metal floors. They had their arms behind their back. They circled around the now brainless body that was laying on the surgical table. They patted one of the legs to accentuate their point. “You just-” Another slap to the cadaver’s legs.”-Just gotta keep going!”

“Dr. Param, I appreciate the enthusiasm, as well as the attempts at motivation, but you should stop slapping the body.” “You aren't listening to me!” Dr. Param slapped the body. “No. I’m not.” The scientist sighed and walked over to the sink, removing his thick plastic gloves, placing them in the cleaning solution. His hands were… not human. Because neither Dr. Hal, nor Doctor Param, were human beings. Doctor Param was a centipede-esque cyborg, maybe even centaur-like in their design. They had one almost normal looking hand, if not for the sharp claws on the tips, and one needle like appendage on the other arm. The other legs, six of them, were simple, like a bug’s legs. They had huge red eyes that stared annoyed into the back of Dr. Hal’s head. Or rather, they were staring at Dr. Hal’s brain, that was visible through the translucent psychic aura that made up his body. He looked very much like a person, but without bones, skin, muscle, or even nerves. He looked like a person composed entirely of blue jelly. The only solid parts of him were his brain and his eyes. The two doctors both had human brains, greatly enhanced, yet still human, brains.

“I’m just saying-” “I know what you're saying.” Dr. Hal interjected. “You're saying I should just accept the life I've been given, and I shouldn't wish for anything more.” “Wow. Rude.” The cyborg huffed. ”That's your problem! You are rude. When people try to cheer you up, you just-” they waved their arms around. “You push them away! You push me away.” He huffed. “Why have you been so- what am I doing wrong!? You have been so on edge lately.” “I don't want to talk about this anymore.” Dr. Hal looked away and began to pad out of the room. “Don't walk away from me!” They said, raising their voice. “Please! Let's just talk!” They said, throwing their arms up in the air.They had been working with each other for sixteen years, and though Dr. Hal was walking away, and acting standoffish, he did care about his colleague. The two of them had been working together for sixteen years. The pair acted like a married couple when they argued. But really, they were both married to their jobs, not each other. Recently though, Dr. Hal’s marriage with work was failing. Like a marriage in which both of the participants were no longer in love with each other.

Dr. Param followed Dr. Hal for a bit, before sighing and going to sit down in one of the chairs outside the operating theatre. It was a bit awkward to sit in, considering they had a 5 foot long body. In reality, the bug-like cyborg laid on the chair rather than sat in it. They watched as Dr. Hal put his hands in his lab coat and power-walked away to his quarters. They hated when he got like this. Lately they had been noticing that his colleague's heart just wasn't in his work like it used to be. Dr. Param missed it, back when things were simple. Executing tests on subjects, researching, and all the other marvelous things- they weren't fun anymore. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be fun, maybe this work was supposed to be hard and laborious. But… Ugh. Dr. Param just sat there, trying to think of ways to reignite that fire that had been reduced to cinders within Dr. Hal. Meanwhile, Dr. Hal was in his quarters. The off-white walls surrounded him, it was a small room, only about 9 feet wide and long. The ceiling was low, and if he jumped, he would probably hit his head on the ceiling. Not that he was the type to just randomly jump. That was more of Dr. Param’s thing. Being all excited and enthusiastic about their job… Dr. Hal wondered how they did it. How they managed to be as passionate about their work as they were the day they both first woke up and did their first assignments. Part of him admired it, maybe even envied it. These walls. These floors. The lights, the blood, the smell of this lab. It was all the both of them knew. Their old lives were gone. Dr. Hal wasn't supposed to miss it. He had consented to this after all. He consented to having his body removed from his brain, and having his brain utterly transformed into something inhuman. Dr. Param consented to it too. So then why did he feel like something was missing? 

Why would he miss being a terminally ill cancer patient? This was a far more noble life than wasting away in a hospital bed with no family to be there as he died. Of course he did not remember being a terminally ill cancer patient, but that was what his bosses told him. They even showed him pictures of who he used to be. Birth records, I.D., photographs. All meaningless to him now. 

He had been thinking more about it lately. He hadn't told anyone though. He always got the feeling that the bosses didn't like it. It was an unspoken taboo to mention the past when the goal of the organization was to further the path into the future. He closed his eyes. Well, he didn't really have eyelids. He just shaped the ectoplasm that comprised his body to slide over his eyeballs.  And then there was a knock at his door, before he could tell them to come in, someone he didn't expect to see today walked into his room stiffly. The person that entered his room was a pale man, with wispy and wild white hair, and a ratty scarf worn over his lab coat. His face was round, it would have been almost friendly looking if not for the deep scowl that he wore on his face at all times. Dr. Hal sat up, and then got off his bed to stand respectfully towards the head scientist “Dr. Brian.” He remarked. “It's good to see you.” “You did good work on the last subject, but we have another assignment for you.” Doctor brian said, ignoring pleasantries and going straight for what was needed of Dr. Hal. “We have a subject coming in that is extremely high profile. Not only that, but it's going to be a vivisection. Further details will be given later.” He said in a monotone. “Oh. I see. But why are you telling me this in person? I feel like this could have been communicated in a memo.” He crossed his arms and tilted his head. “Because you haven't been confirming your memos.” He huffed. “You have been acting highly unprofessional lately. Now tell me why that is.” He asked pointedly, glaring up at Dr. Hal. “I apologize.” He began, taking in a breath. “I have just been feeling unwell lately. I was actually going to request a week’s vacation for-” “Denied.” The head scientist interrupted. “The high profile vivisection is tomorrow.” “Oh.” Dr. Hal folded his arms. “I assume my...talents will be needed?” he asked. “Both you and Dr. Param will be needed, yes.” “Alright.” he looked away. “Tell you what-” Dr Brian began. “You can have your week's vacation after the vivisection tomorrow. It's estimated to take six hours to complete.” Dr. Hal’s eyes widened. Wow. That was more than double the length of the longest vivisections he had done. This must be someone special that they were vivisecting. “Will it be a terminal one?” He asked. “Yes.” Damn it. Dr. Hal hated the terminal ones. Usually they were performed only on death row prisoners or terminally ill patients. So he didn't feel shame about most of them, despite technically being a murderer. Well, he wasn't really a murderer. They were going to die anyway, so who cares? He certainly didn't. But it was still unpleasant to be in the mind of a dying person. It was sometimes borderline nightmarish. Of course, he wouldn't voice these opinions out loud. But Dr. Brian’s scowl still deepened. “Do what you will for the rest of today.” He huffed, and exited the room. End of chapter one

[brain-jarred]

Moodboard for tfw you are a man made of psychic jelly.

[brain-jarred]

Chapter 5. Cactus

Light. Not filtered through darkened glass or produced artificially. Real actual light. It was morning, and the sun was just beginning to rise. Hal began to run away from the facility, trying to cover as much distance away from it as possible. Param followed. They ran until the facility was a good distance away, and then they stopped. Hal looked at the sun, and then immediately regretted it. “Ow.” He said, rubbing his eyes. “What?” Param asked, concerned.

“The sun hurts my eyes, don't look at it.” Param just stared at Hal before also looking at the sun. They not only looked at it, they stared at it, confused. “It’s not hurting my eyes.” They said, “It must be because you still have human eyes, and I have the clearly superior robot eyes. “I dont care.” Hal said, continuing to walk. “We just escaped certain death, and we almost killed a child. I was afraid you were going to just be okay with going through with it.” “Uh.” Param looked surprised. “What!? No. I wouldn't be okay with that. I was afraid that you would be okay with it, and then I would have to go along with it.” They said, trying to hide the fact that they really didn't see any issue in it. Like it was just their job? But seeing Hal’s face back there… It made them not want to be like this.

They wondered how Hal did it, how he could be so callous yet caring. It was easy to see him as the cold one out of the two of them, it was easy to see him as the brains, and Param as the heart, but that really wasnt true. Hal still clung stubbornly onto his humanity, where Param only had small scraps of it left. Most of these scraps only remaining for Hal’s sake. 

But enough about that, they were out there. Outside. Param took a moment to look at their surroundings. The sunrise casted oranges and pinks across the sky and ground. And...sand. The ground was very sandy, and there was a strange- wait. “Oh my gosh, that's a real life cactus!” Param said, rushing over to the plant.

“Why are you like this- wait that's actually kind of cool-” Hal looked away and sighed. They had to admit, it was cool to see something new, even if it was a bit stupid to dilly dally when they were more than likely being chased right now.

“We need to focus.” He said, putting a hand on Param’s shoulder. “We can't mess around with a cactus, not when we are on the run like this.” Param made direct eye contact with Hal as they ripped off a chunk of the cactus. “Why.” Hal said exasperated. “You never know.” And then param walked away. “Wh- Where are you even going to put it?” Hal asked, following param. “Where do you think?” Param opened up their chest cavity and put the cactus in with the extra Nutrient Solution they always kept there.  “Okay then.” Hal said, accepting this. “Listen. We can't get distracted by random stuff, trust me, I am also tempted to lick the sand right now, but I won't, because I have a thing called self restraint.” “Why do you want to lick the sand?!” Param questioned. 

“WE CAN'T GET DISTRACTED!!” He dodged the question. He took a deep breath. “We are in a serious situation and I feel like you're not being serious.” Param was quiet for a moment.

 “Hal.” They began. “This is the worst day of my life. Everything I have ever known has crumbled around me. I don't know what we are going to do, I don't know if I will even make it out of this alive, I probably won't. I don't have much faith in that. I just...I want to spend what little time I have left having fun with you. I just want to savor this.” They said sincerely. 

And finally they broke down. “I’m so fucking scared, Hal.” They said, wrapping their arms around themself. “I'm scared and I don't want to die.” 

Hal hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say. They continued to walk as he leaned against Param. “Me too. I'm scared too.” he admitted. “I'm terrified of either of us dying. I don't want to lose you! That's why I am so focused on us getting away from that place because I don't want you to get captured.” He explained. 

“Maybe you think it's inevitable that they're gonna get us - and maybe it is- but look at us right now! Look at how far we’ve gotten. This is the farthest we've ever been from that place. I say that we keep pushing our luck. We can savor everything when we are safe.” Hal said, offering a reassuring smile with his eyes. Param thought for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. You're right. Let’s get to walking then.” “We are already walking.” Hal said, trying to lighten the mood. “You know what I mean.” Param smiled.

And so they walked. And walked. And walked. The sun rose and it bore down upon them, Param was unaffected by the heat, but Hal was another story. “Slow...slow down.” Hal said, stumbling after Param. His movements were sluggish, the two had been walking for an hour and a half at this point. “What's wrong? Did you look at the sun again?” Param asked, concernedly looking back at Hal. Hal stopped for a moment to just catch his breath. “It's too hot out here, the sun is cooking my brain.” He was exaggerating somewhat, but it really did feel like way. The psychic ectoplasm that made up his body wasn't able to sweat or cool him down. He dropped to his knees. “Oh jeez. Uh. Hm.” Param tapped their chin. They took a moment to consider their options. “Ok! I got it.” They said, snapping their fingers. They then leaned down, and picked up Hal, who immediately stood up. “Oh, uh. No thanks.” He said, wrenching himself away. He felt weird about letting Param carry him and he would rather not deal with those emotions at that second. He stood up, willing himself not to fall over again. “Alright then, get cooked then.” Param shrugged, and then started walking away. 

Hal followed.

And so the sun continued its path in the sky, eventually after a whole day of walking and mindless conversation, the sun dipped below the horizon. “We should probably stop.” Hal said, resting a hand on a rock. He looked really haggard, and his body was goopy. It left a blue residue on the rock where he sat his hand. “Yeah...I’m getting a bit tired.” Param admitted. They sat down. They were slightly nervous when the sun began to set, they didn't like the dark very much, but it was okay since the moonlight illuminated the desert well enough. Still, it put them on edge despite this. They didnt know why they were afraid of the dark. Hal also sat down, his lab coat was stained blue with all the sweaty psychic residue. He leaned back and sighed, glad to finally be out of the heat. A few stars poked out of the sky, tiny white dots in a sea of indigo The two just sat there for a few moments. The desert was quiet, and the research facility was far beyond the horizon, that place the two had lived in for the entirety of their living memories was out of sight now. Param was starting to regret leaving. Sure, killing an innocent child wasn't something that they liked, but she had only been one person! The rest of the people that they did vivisections on were guilty or already dying, it was fine! Everything had been fine. Param turned away from Hal, and sighed. Why? Why had such a simple look made Param throw away their entire work life? Now they were stranded in the desert, with no real sign of civilization. Maybe Param should have just ignored it. Maybe they should have shot Hal a glare, mentally told him to suck it up, and went through with the procedure-

“Hey Param? Can I have some of those uh- solution packets?” Hal asked, interrupting Param’s ugly thoughts. “Oh- Sure.” Param took out one of the packets and handed it to him, they then looked away into the distance, back the way they came. They looked and saw no sign of civilization, no sign of home. They just wanted to go home, and wanted this nightmare to be over. They just wanted a world where they weren't so impulsive, so reckless and foolhardy that they threw a fucking bonesaw at Dr. Brian. Dr. Brian was pretty nice, despite his cold exterior, Param knew that. They knew that this was the wrong way, this was the wrong path to take. But there was no going back. And so they laid down their head and sighed, trying to ignore Hal’s presence, trying to ignore the part of them that didn't regret it at all.

[brain-jarred]

Superego

[brain-jarred]

Chapter 3. Vivisection

The next day the two scientists met up by the operating theatre. Lab coats clean and fresh, ready for the task set out ahead of them. They nodded to each other silently, and they headed inside. Dr. Brian was standing above them, on a balcony above them, just watching them. Dr. Sarah was busy doing something else, and the conclusion that Dr. Hal came to. Usually Sarah was right beside her uncle when they did vivisections. Yet another strange thing that Hal noticed.

Dr. Param wheeled out some tools, and looked up to Dr. Brian. The lead scientist cleared his throat and looked down upon the two of them. “Today,” he began holding a folder in his hand. “You will be operating on a person i am sure that the two of you already know about.” He said, opening the folder. “Her name is Stella Vonyant-Cho.” If Dr. Hal had blood, it would be running cold. If he had a heart it would have skipped a beat. Stella Vonyant-Cho.

The daughter of Clair Vonyant. sixteen years old. A child. 

“Her father’s name is Xander Cho, and he was the one who raised her more than her mother.” Dr. Brian continued. “It is theorized that they have a stronger bond. Dr. Param, you will be creating a memory of him bringing her in for a routine check up. Dr. Hal, you will be taking on his persona.” he said coldly, as if he were discussing a rat that needed to be exterminated. Dr. Hal looked at Dr. Param, trying to see their reaction to the fact that they would be killing a child today. Dr. Param just smiled. They smiled. They smiled and nodded. “Alright!” Their tone was cheerful.

Dr. Hal didn't want this to be real. He didn't want this to actually be happening. Why…? What use would this have?! Why were they ending a life that had barely started?! Dr. Hal felt trapped. He was suddenly and acutely aware that he had no choice in this matter. He had to do this.

And the worst part, was that Dr. Param did not appear to see any issue in this. They just seemed to be okay with what was about to happen next. How. How the hell were they able to feel like that? Dr. Hal didn't understand. This wasn't like the other vivisections. This wasn't a terminally ill patient.

This wasn't a wicked death row prisoner. This was a child. Dr. Sarah wheeled her in. She was unconscious. But her eyes were twitching, she would wake up any minute now. “You have 3 minutes to prepare.” Dr. Brian said, sitting down in a chair. Like a tyrant on his throne as he watched an execution. He didn't notice Dr. Hal’s hesitance and horror, because Dr. Hal managed to keep a neutral expression somehow. Dr. Hal and Dr. Param both nodded. The grim task that they had three minutes to prepare for ahead of them. Dr. Hal looked at sarah. She was looking at the wall. She walked out of the room, not making eye contact with either of the operators. 

This couldn't be real. Dr. Brian...he wouldn't do this! This had to be some sort of nightmare! A nightmare that Dr. Hal would wake up from any minute now. Please. Please just let this be a nightmare- “Hal?” Dr. Param interrupted his thoughts. “Are you ready?” They asked. He hesitated. “Yes.”

She was awake now. She looked over at Dr. Hal. “Hey dad?” She asked, not suspecting a thing. She totally trusted the projection that Dr. Hal had put up. He walked closer to her. “Yes hon?” He asked, trying to maintain a fatherly and comforting tone. He was going to try to atleast make this as painless as possible for her. It was all he could do now. He had no power, he was trapped, trapped, trapped in this game where he had to trap her in a world that wasnt real. “Do you think they're going to have to give me a shot?” She asked nervously. He paused, gulping. “No, I don't think so.” He lied. As Param came in with some tools. They smiled at Hal, and nodded for him to keep going as they got everything ready. “They're just going to take your blood pressure, listen to your heart, and look in your throat. Just to make sure you don't have strep.” He said reassuringly. They were still in the operating theatre, even though to her it looked like a regular doctor’s office. “I actually don't feel sick anymore.” She said, “I think I'm good.” “I know.” He continued to lie. His hands were shaking, though she couldn't see them. He couldn't do this, he couldn't do this. He was going to puke, he couldn't do this. “But we are already here, so just let the doctor check you over.” She sighed. “Alright.” She said clearly annoyed, but not panicked. He took a deep breath. “Tell you what. After this lets get mcdonalds.” She furrowed her brow. “But you hate mcdonalds? Shit. Who knew Xander hated mcdonalds? “Well, I don't hate their fries.” He said, scrambling for a lie. “Everything else is pretty gross though.” He said casually. Dr. Param came in with the tools to extract her brain, they began to strap her legs to the table, they would have moved onto her arms too, but they paused. They looked at Dr. Hal with a neutral expression. Dr. Hal began to wonder if Dr. Param was having thoughts of hesitance. Dr. Hal suddenly had a thought. What if I don't do this? What if I don't have to kill her? And what if Param feels the same way? They suddenly placed a hand on Dr. Param’s arm. Just a touch, but it was highly unusual. Dr. Hal wasn't going to try and do the impossible if Dr. Param wasn't going to help him, because he knew that he stood no chance alone against the likes of Dr. Brian. He took his arm off Dr. Param as Stella spoke again. “How long until the doctor will get here?” She asked. Dr. Hal hesitated. He said nothing, he just looked at Dr. Param. He made the allusion say some vaguely comforting things as he stared into Dr. Param’s eyes.

Please. He thought desperately 

Param slowly shook their head. It seems that they understood Hal. And they were fully intending on doing their job, that's what Hal got from it anyway. Shit. He was really going to have to do this. He took a deep breath. And he made the doctor come into the waiting room. He glanced at Param. They were looking at the tool that would cut open Stella's skull. Dr. Hal may not have liked Clair Vonyant, but it wasn't fair to just murder a kid because of the sins of their parents! But there was no getting out of this situation. “Alright!” Dr. Param said cheerfully. “Can you open your mouth?” They asked. Stella opened her mouth. And then two things happened.

Dr. Param quickly cut the straps that were holding stella with the bone saw, and then they threw the tool at Dr. Brian, hitting him square in the jaw, and he fell over in his chair. 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” He shouted as he struggled to get up. Dr. Hal’s concentration on the illusion broke, and Stella was exposed to the operating theatre. “What the?!-” She said, sitting up. “Come with me if you wanna not die!” Dr. Param said, grabbing her. Oh my god, they felt the same way as I did! Their smile was just a cover! Dr. Hal thought, glancing around the room, before running for the door and opening it. He quickly ran out of the operating theatre, with param and stella behind him. But there was a new problem. How the heck were they going to get out of here?! There was no escape. As the three ran down the hallways, a few scientists exited some doors and started chasing them down. Dr. Kai  and Dr. Lint both were hot on the trio’s heels. “Stop!” Dr. Kai shouted. 

Five sets of footsteps pounded down the familiar halls, Dr. Param knocked a water cooler over to buy some time. 

Stella was extremely disoriented, having your brain be messed with does that to a person. Which was why she was just going with this. 

Dr. Hal was thankful for that, but still incredibly panicked as he ran alongside Dr. Param. What were they going to do?! They couldn't run like this forever, they were going to get caught, and their contracts would be voided, and then-

A bolt of white hot dread pierced Hal’s heart. They were going to die. 

He looked to Dr. Param, who had a determined expression on their face. But there was also fear on their face. They suddenly ducked into a room, and Dr. Hal followed, only to be met with the worst possible sight. A dead end.