Thyssa crept through the mist, deeper and deeper into the valley. The deeper she went, the more thorns and roots stood in her way – were they trying to trap her, or warn her?

  At the very bottom of the valley was an abandoned hospital. The stories said a doctor had taken up residence there. Stories of twisted experiments and cruel devices and feverish minds. They contradicted each other: Some stories were second-hand accounts of malforms who managed to escape, but others said nobody made it out alive. All of them agreed that this was a bad place, that no malform should tread here.

  But one story of the experiments was tantalizing to Thyssa. Strange, forbidden, but exciting, full of hope. She couldn’t get it out of her head. The doctor probably couldn’t do that…but what if she could? The story kept in her head, slithered around her mind at night.

  Thyssa crept up to the hospital’s glass doors and tapped them with a claw. She heard a sound from above her and looked up to see glass doors opening up on the hospital’s upper level. Out stepped a tall, beautiful woman with cold eyes. Thyssa felt a chill as those eyes fixed on her.

  “Who is out there? Come forward, creature, and show yourself.”

  The voice was beautiful and gentle. There was no kindness and no malice, just a cold curiosity, as if she was looking at some interesting plant.

  Thyssa drained the poisonous spittle from her mouth and tried to form human words.

  “Th-Thyssa offf…Grendel Pack.”

  Her voice was a terrible hiss, the words choppy and distorted.

  “And what is Thyssa of Grendel Pack doing so far from home?”

  “Isset…Is it true you make monsters into girls?”

  “I have not conducted any such treatment.”

  Thyssa was seized by bitterness. “Then it…it was liyuze…lies. All lies.”

  “No. I’ve not tested it, but I am currently researching the transformation of malform into human.”

  “Poz…possible?”

  “That’s what I hope to find out. Theoretically, it’s viable. But, as you see, I am alone here. I haven’t been able to find a proper test subject.”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “I could be…tessst sssubjeck…test subject.”

  The doctor looked Thyssa over, her beautiful face contorting with disgust. “You? Your enthusiasm is admirable, but…I was looking for a subject a little more…humanoid.”

  Thyssa was filled with shame and frustration. She wanted this because she wasn’t humanoid!

  “Test me aneeah. Anyway.”

  “I thank you for the offer, but…” The doctor sighed. “Even a malform with very humanlike anatomy, this would be a long shot. For something like you, the chances of success…” She shook her head.

  “Don’t care…hownlikely…how many times it takes.”

  “You don’t understand. According to my hypotheses, a failed treatment would kill you. Slowly.”

  “Neeud…need to try.”

  The doctor’s eyes widened. “You…you’d accept death, just for a chance at humanity?”

  Her throat strained from attempts at speech, Thyssa nodded. The gesture caused her nerve cables to painfully shake, as if her body itself agreed.

  “Is it really so bad, being you?”

  Another nod. More jiggling nerve cables. More pain.

  The doctor stared off into space. “One who would risk their life for science. For humanity. Maybe you could work.” She looked back at Thyssa. “Follow me.”

  The doctor walked into the hospital, leaving the door open for Thyssa. Once Thyssa crept inside, the doctor made a gesture and the door slammed shut behind them. This place was filled with machines out of Thyssa’s knowledge. She was afraid, but she pressed on.

  The two walked down a narrow hallway with glaring lights. It was cold. Thyssa was used to searing heat; the Muckpool she came from had spat her out into the Lake of Acid. Light and cold were alien to her.

  The doctor turned around, confirming that the door behind them was shut, and then approached a door that looked much stronger than the others they passed. She put her hand on the door and held it there. The door lifted up, and she walked inside, gesturing for Thyssa to follow.

  This room was small and tight, even colder and darker than the rest of the hospital. Once more, as Thyssa walked inside, the doctor gestured and the door sealed behind her. Thyssa squirmed in pain and unease. The walls looked sturdier, like the door. Whatever was in this room, someone wanted to protect it more than anything else.

  The doctor walked to the centre of the room, where there were two pedestals. The one on the left was empty, but the one on the right there was a soft but bright glow, sealed behind a dome made of some kind of glass. The doctor placed her hand on the glass and it lifted up. With reverence, she picked up the glowing object on the pedestal.

  As the doctor approached, Thyssa got a better look at this treasure. It was a strange bright stone, clinging by magnetism to a silver cord. The stone was shaped like a serene woman, caressing her own exposed heart. An image of perfection through violence.

  “This is the Benevolent Heart. It is the greatest invention of humanity. It made us humans into something better. But no one’s ever used it on a malform.” Her voice was almost a whisper, amazed at the power she held in her hand. “Until now.”

  Thyssa approached.

  “You will be the first test subject,” said the doctor. “You will show the world whether you have what it takes to become human. You will either be reborn or die a martyr to science. Let us see which.”

  And, with that, the doctor wrapped the cord around Thyssa’s neck. The brightness, the warmth, flowed into Thyssa’s body, lighting up all her senses.

  Everything was bright, and then everything was dark.