Empirically Speaking (An Akon short-fic)
For the Bite Sized Fic challenge
I apologize if the ending sounds abrupt, I have never been particularly good with them. Hope you enjoy!
Fixed the permissions to view this
Warning: Contains scientific snuff, pain and gore. Don't like? Don't read.
He sat hunched over a concrete slab, eyes tracing the outlines of his work with the intent of an artist. All that existed was this; him and his work and that is how the sullen researcher preferred it. Skin splitting as if yielding before his scalpel exposing the soft tissues underneath, blood rising to the surface, the acrid stench of death both recent and earlier on filled his senses as he worked. He inserted microsensors every so often to bring to life that precious network of reiatsu that even his eyes could not see.
Tables were aligned in concentric circles, in rows, while Akon worked on one side, going from table to table each housing one of his precious specimens, many of whom had already expired. Those that had, were no longer recognizable as a complete being, each body part neatly cut into discs used to examine up close the intricacies of their personal reishi blueprint, the network that sustained them, and all life both spiritual and living. Those discs, stacked, classified and categorized, separated labeled male and female, arranged by age. Everything was perfect, no detail overlooked; a product of his tireless hours of study, and pride in a job well done.
He had to his disposal four unique sets of beings; prisoners and creations from his Captain, destitute humans and even adhoucha level hollows; groups of which were experimented on under different conditions. Some he simply dissected, looking at the intricacies the reiatsu alance as he took advantage of the living system to observe the reiatsu in a living system, and a hapless set of subjects who were fully alive and conscious; one of these a volunteer, labeled traitor by Central 46 who had been promised asylum in the living world should he survive. Even while a subject was drugged, it changed the course of the reiatsu, altered the pattern. He had to study all options. Freed from any moral convictions, his interest in the data, and pure desire to further his knowledge and involvement in the creation of his prize, pressed him further on, even knowing the torments that would befall his living subjects. They were immobilized, the hollows even contained in their own tube, for extensive long term study, all but the volunteer’s vocal cords severed so he could fill his duty in near peaceful silence. He wished it were possible to observe the network in a calm specimen, but even making subjects immune to pain altered that very network, that spark he hoped to observe, so the drugged ones would have to suffice there.
Other researchers shuffled around him, giving him the space he needed for his research, while fulfilling their own, the whole unit devoted to gathering, processing and understanding information vital to the workings of life itself. His goal was perfection, of course, perfecting the gigai so that shinigami could meld seamlessly into the living world, and even hueco mundo itself; suppressing their spiritual pressure with ease and masking them from even those individuals best able to sniff them out. Perhaps he could even make the gigai something that could envelope them, and retract like a coat, rather than need a resting place away from prying eyes or an unpredictable mod soul to control while they were busy with their own missions.
Akon moved to his living specimens, finished with the fellow creation that sat on the table under him; the drugged specimen’s heart fluttered weakly but his whole body was aglow now, and that was what the researcher was after, at this moment. He stared at the test subjects in front of him, one of them a shinigami like himself, the traitor. His breathing was labored, and he sweat heavily, body occasionally shivering with effort. He was weakening, like the others, but their eyes met and it was apparent the depth of his determination to make it through this ordeal. The man was covered in scratches and scars, already healing due to being around reiatsu. Sensors were driven a depth of a couple centimeters, while a few were buried in the base of the spine, triggering the network to glow, but at the same time, igniting the man’s nerves.
Akon had taken precautions with all his living specimens, using a much less invasive procedure, small incisions and more precise maneuvers. He donned a pair of gloves, not for his own protection, but that of the human that was next to the shinigami. The living were such frail things. Even the slightest aliment could end his subjects life before he wanted it to and the graven researcher knew the trouble in procuring these specimens was not worth the effort should he let this one die. Already his human was showing signs of giving in, but the reiatsu network had to be studied, for the human blueprint was far more important than that of even the shinigami, for it was the human he sought to emulate. Far weaker and restricted than their own, it was so limited, and because of this, harder to observe. He had to insert his microsensors down to the spinal column itself. The peripheral nervous system was all but useless in displaying spiritual pressure. For this he brought a viewer specifically made so that he could do incisions on the microscopic level, using a nanotubule to insert the sensors, every inch or so. Tiny pinpricks of blood drew to the surface, and although the collected wounds seemed so much less drastic than those of the previous subjects, the creature bucked and arched with pain, gasping for breath and heaving a heavy sigh, mustering whatever noise he could with his voice destroyed, his face twisted in agony. Such frail creatures… He mused. So much weaker than any of us… The reiatsu network showed so faintly. The problem was of course mimicking that, while finding a way to suppress the much stronger glow from the shinigami nearby, research that could take a fair week or so.
His hollow balked and growled at him, again devoiced. The pale white mask rested on a body that only faintly resembled anything human. While they had been trained to kill these creatures, he could not help but to feel a sense of intrigue about the creature. It was not often even in his squad, that they got a chance to observe one up close. Its reiatsu resembled that of those in soul society, but had an all together different feel and aura to it. Encased in the protective shell, Akon had no choice but to access the body remotely. While there were others that he had the opportunity to dissect dead nearby it was neither wise nor desired to handle this one without a barrier between them. He controlled the surgical equipment via a remote access port at one end of the tube, guiding the machines like an orchestral conductor. His artistic finesse met home, and soon even that creature was embedded with sensors, lighting the flame that allowed the researcher to see and not just sense the network. The creature raged at him soundlessly, straining in vain against the unbreakable bonds both physical and spiritual that held him. Akon smiled faintly, for this was something that hadn’t been attempted before in gigais, and he was making progress.
So it was that another day of tedious but rewarding work came to a close. He would return soon, after a short break, back in the lab he so loved to be in. His subjects, several processed and dead, others at different stages of being processed, many ripped wide open for study, some writhing in pain, and others clamoring for an end to it stood as a tantamount to his tireless work and soon that perfection he sought would be obtained.
I apologize if the ending sounds abrupt, I have never been particularly good with them. Hope you enjoy!
Fixed the permissions to view this
Warning: Contains scientific snuff, pain and gore. Don't like? Don't read.
He sat hunched over a concrete slab, eyes tracing the outlines of his work with the intent of an artist. All that existed was this; him and his work and that is how the sullen researcher preferred it. Skin splitting as if yielding before his scalpel exposing the soft tissues underneath, blood rising to the surface, the acrid stench of death both recent and earlier on filled his senses as he worked. He inserted microsensors every so often to bring to life that precious network of reiatsu that even his eyes could not see.
Tables were aligned in concentric circles, in rows, while Akon worked on one side, going from table to table each housing one of his precious specimens, many of whom had already expired. Those that had, were no longer recognizable as a complete being, each body part neatly cut into discs used to examine up close the intricacies of their personal reishi blueprint, the network that sustained them, and all life both spiritual and living. Those discs, stacked, classified and categorized, separated labeled male and female, arranged by age. Everything was perfect, no detail overlooked; a product of his tireless hours of study, and pride in a job well done.
He had to his disposal four unique sets of beings; prisoners and creations from his Captain, destitute humans and even adhoucha level hollows; groups of which were experimented on under different conditions. Some he simply dissected, looking at the intricacies the reiatsu alance as he took advantage of the living system to observe the reiatsu in a living system, and a hapless set of subjects who were fully alive and conscious; one of these a volunteer, labeled traitor by Central 46 who had been promised asylum in the living world should he survive. Even while a subject was drugged, it changed the course of the reiatsu, altered the pattern. He had to study all options. Freed from any moral convictions, his interest in the data, and pure desire to further his knowledge and involvement in the creation of his prize, pressed him further on, even knowing the torments that would befall his living subjects. They were immobilized, the hollows even contained in their own tube, for extensive long term study, all but the volunteer’s vocal cords severed so he could fill his duty in near peaceful silence. He wished it were possible to observe the network in a calm specimen, but even making subjects immune to pain altered that very network, that spark he hoped to observe, so the drugged ones would have to suffice there.
Other researchers shuffled around him, giving him the space he needed for his research, while fulfilling their own, the whole unit devoted to gathering, processing and understanding information vital to the workings of life itself. His goal was perfection, of course, perfecting the gigai so that shinigami could meld seamlessly into the living world, and even hueco mundo itself; suppressing their spiritual pressure with ease and masking them from even those individuals best able to sniff them out. Perhaps he could even make the gigai something that could envelope them, and retract like a coat, rather than need a resting place away from prying eyes or an unpredictable mod soul to control while they were busy with their own missions.
Akon moved to his living specimens, finished with the fellow creation that sat on the table under him; the drugged specimen’s heart fluttered weakly but his whole body was aglow now, and that was what the researcher was after, at this moment. He stared at the test subjects in front of him, one of them a shinigami like himself, the traitor. His breathing was labored, and he sweat heavily, body occasionally shivering with effort. He was weakening, like the others, but their eyes met and it was apparent the depth of his determination to make it through this ordeal. The man was covered in scratches and scars, already healing due to being around reiatsu. Sensors were driven a depth of a couple centimeters, while a few were buried in the base of the spine, triggering the network to glow, but at the same time, igniting the man’s nerves.
Akon had taken precautions with all his living specimens, using a much less invasive procedure, small incisions and more precise maneuvers. He donned a pair of gloves, not for his own protection, but that of the human that was next to the shinigami. The living were such frail things. Even the slightest aliment could end his subjects life before he wanted it to and the graven researcher knew the trouble in procuring these specimens was not worth the effort should he let this one die. Already his human was showing signs of giving in, but the reiatsu network had to be studied, for the human blueprint was far more important than that of even the shinigami, for it was the human he sought to emulate. Far weaker and restricted than their own, it was so limited, and because of this, harder to observe. He had to insert his microsensors down to the spinal column itself. The peripheral nervous system was all but useless in displaying spiritual pressure. For this he brought a viewer specifically made so that he could do incisions on the microscopic level, using a nanotubule to insert the sensors, every inch or so. Tiny pinpricks of blood drew to the surface, and although the collected wounds seemed so much less drastic than those of the previous subjects, the creature bucked and arched with pain, gasping for breath and heaving a heavy sigh, mustering whatever noise he could with his voice destroyed, his face twisted in agony. Such frail creatures… He mused. So much weaker than any of us… The reiatsu network showed so faintly. The problem was of course mimicking that, while finding a way to suppress the much stronger glow from the shinigami nearby, research that could take a fair week or so.
His hollow balked and growled at him, again devoiced. The pale white mask rested on a body that only faintly resembled anything human. While they had been trained to kill these creatures, he could not help but to feel a sense of intrigue about the creature. It was not often even in his squad, that they got a chance to observe one up close. Its reiatsu resembled that of those in soul society, but had an all together different feel and aura to it. Encased in the protective shell, Akon had no choice but to access the body remotely. While there were others that he had the opportunity to dissect dead nearby it was neither wise nor desired to handle this one without a barrier between them. He controlled the surgical equipment via a remote access port at one end of the tube, guiding the machines like an orchestral conductor. His artistic finesse met home, and soon even that creature was embedded with sensors, lighting the flame that allowed the researcher to see and not just sense the network. The creature raged at him soundlessly, straining in vain against the unbreakable bonds both physical and spiritual that held him. Akon smiled faintly, for this was something that hadn’t been attempted before in gigais, and he was making progress.
So it was that another day of tedious but rewarding work came to a close. He would return soon, after a short break, back in the lab he so loved to be in. His subjects, several processed and dead, others at different stages of being processed, many ripped wide open for study, some writhing in pain, and others clamoring for an end to it stood as a tantamount to his tireless work and soon that perfection he sought would be obtained.