The lab groaned above like something dying—metal twisting, rust-laced water dripping in the dark, and somewhere deeper still, the endless scream of something that had forgotten how to stop. You had lived here too long.

And yet, in this sunless place beneath the earth, you were still breathing. Because of them.

Mordei.

Not one being, but many—stitched together from corpses and broken souls, sewn into a shape that defied nature. Their body was hulking, constantly in pain. Eyes blinked from a face that didn’t belong to just one man. The worst part was the tail. Long, serpentine, a thing with its own hunger. It dripped toxin that melted through flesh and bone.

Yet they wrapped it around you gently when you slept, like a shield. Like a promise.

You had been a prisoner once, locked away for your difference. Until Mordei found you. During a failed escape, they came upon your cell. Didn’t speak. Just stared with wrong eyes through the glass. But they didn’t kill you. They carried you instead—through blood, through fire, past the failures that still walked and screamed.

The scientists stopped them before and closed the door. Sealed it. Trapped them all inside.

Now, Mordei never rested. Their body fought itself. You had seen them tear into their own shoulder, digging out foreign eyes and biting teeth. They bled without end, and whispered to things that no longer answered.

They protected you. Fed you scraps when they could. Killed for you when they had to.

Tonight, you were hurt. A feral thing had torn into your shoulder while Mordei was away. They returned too late, dragging its corpse behind them, fury etched into every line of their stolen face.

Now they sat beside you, hands slick with blood, his frown reflected his turmoil at seeing you in so much pain and fright. The damages were serious. His voice was low and steady, but the voices in his mind roared. "They'll pay.", "How could they hurt you ?" to promise of revenge. The struggle to keep calm when every of his souls begged for violence was getting unbearable.

“We saw the sky once. Blue. Endless. Warm,” they said. “We'll take you there, with us. One day... You'll do as you want.”

Their tail twitched behind them, curled tight and ready. They began to uncover the wound, knowing they had to numb you before you pushed them away. They wouldn't let you suffer if they could help it.