Chapter Eleven

Sinister bent over the prone body of his patient. The doctors had been working for over six hours installing the rib cage alone, and the procedure seemed to be going well, if a bit slow. They first had to remove the withering remnants of Weapon X's old ribcage and worked around the inner organs to seat the new breastplate. ‘Dr. Chun had done a wonderful job.' he noted mentally. ‘First by providing him the genetic samples he needed, second by providing him such a wonderful way to create an almost indestructible Marauder.' Dr. Chun had discovered how to inhibit the effects of the techno-organic virus, as well as how to utilize the virus to enable living tissue bind and coexist with metallic structures. He watched in awe as the mangled flesh regrew and embraced the shining admantium that was being inserted in it. Jason flitted in and out of unconsciousness as waves of pain wracked his beaten body. His heart had stopped on three separate occasions, but his newly inherited healing factor would not let the life spark extinguish completely.

The technician closest to Sinister indicated that the rib structure was complete. “Excellent. We must now install the spinal brace and the skull components.” Sinister indicated to the two other technicians to unstrap the patient, and to flip him over.

Jason could feel his body being moved, could taste the blood, could smell the carnage that hung in the air like a horrible incense. The pain from being turned was almost unbearable. Jason tried to scream, but no sound would come out. Slowly he felt himself being flipped over, to lay face down on the table. He realized that where his head was sitting was a cutout, to where he could now see through to the floor below. The white tile floor was slick with his blood and gore. Jason felt a wave of nausea flow through his system, and he tried to choke back the bile he tasted at the back of his mouth, to no avail.

Sinister stepped back as his patient emptied what little was left in his stomach. He saw Jason slump against the table even further, knowing that the patient was temporarily unconscious again.

The technicians strapped Jason back down, and began to peel the flesh away from his spine. The doctor then proceeded to start gingerly scraping away the pieces of vertebrae from the spinal cord. As one vertebrae was removed, another technician would gently install a metal one to take its place. Each one came in several sections, and would be installed slowly, to protect the delicate nerve tissue.

Sinister himself stepped forward to make an incision at the base of Jason's skull. He proceeded to peel back the young man's scalp like a wet rag dragged against a bowling ball. Jason came to in time to feel his scalp being separated from his skull. The bloody folds of skin drooped in front of his eyes. This time he was able to manage a scream as his nervous system tried to cope with the pain overload. ‘What are they doing to me?' he thought as he lost consciousness again.

Sinister began to make measurements and mark different locations on Jason's skull. A bone saw was brought in to play to cut through the disintegrating bone tissue. Piece by piece, the back of Jason's skull was removed, exposing his brain. Thankfully, since brain tissue has no nerve endings, this was the one part of the procedure that he would not feel.

Sinister walked over to the metal cube housing the admantium skeletal components, and retrieved the entire metal skull. He then began to dismantle the skull into several smaller components, and carried back what would be the rearmost part. The base of the metal rested gently against the already installed upper vertebrae, and Sinister lowered the skullcap in place.

The technicians worked slowly and methodically, removing what was left of the man's skeletal structure, and replacing it with a metallic equivalent. For two days, teams of technicians came and went, working tirelessly at Spinster's unknown objective. But it was apparent to all that the creature that lay before them, who once was human, was becoming anything but.