Chapter 645 - Interactive

After the operation, Afton immediately wanted to go see Macka, regardless of how badly Josie or Usanagi tried to stop him. They thought he'd be weak, or at least somewhat out of it after being injected with ungodly amounts of anaesthetics and regrowing an arm. Still, he soldiered on with determination, wanting to get started on his payback.

"Seriously though Afton, I think you should take a break and come back to this later... It's not like he's going anywhere." Josie mutters as she walks beside him through the facility.

He shakes his head, "I doubt I'd be able to sleep without at least kicking the guy. Plus, getting started on dissecting and torturing him for knowledge will be beneficial for everyone." he shrugs.

Usanagi slowly follows them with Dala, wondering if she'd even be allowed to stay after Afton was finished... It wasn't him who agreed to let her stay after all... Which is kind of weird to think about... Not to mention the fact she'd been stuck with this... Thing. The robot they called Dala would occasionally glance her way with those monitors, causing a shiver to go up her spine.

She'd rather sleep next to a Radroach den than near that freaky robot. Who knows what'd happen if it was given free reigns to do what she wants with her.

Soon enough the group reached the reinforced room that held Macka, or at least, his body. The room was completely empty aside from the machine imprisoning the mangled body in the centre. The torso was held upright as buzz saws constantly trimmed the flesh trying to regrow on the man's arms, legs, and head.

The place also had many cameras covering most surfaces, a precaution to prevent any Macgyver-like schemes... Not that that was likely considering Macka's current physical status.

Josie rests a hand on his shoulder as he looks through the observation window, giving him a worried glance. "Afton, you know running into this will only cause mistakes to happen. You sure, you're okay to do this?"

He just nods, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. "Yeah, just need to talk to him and test a couple things." he says with a small grin before stepping into the airlock that leads into the room, leaving the others watching via the window.

"Glados, let me speak with him." he orders, and the buzz saw trimming the torso's neck stops and hovers above the body in a stationary position.

Afton watches with morose fascination as Macka's head slowly regrow. The muscles in the neck reach up like vines, forming the beginning of the jaw before bone starts growing from seemingly nowhere. Muscle covers the bone, skin covers the muscle. And eventually, two amused yet angry eyes stare back at him.

Macka rolls and stretches his jaw after blinking a couple times, "Hah, so I got caught...Uhk!" he groans as the buzz saws trim his arms again. "C-can you turn those off?" he mutters with a grimace.

Afton shakes his head, "Stop trying to grow your arms and I won't have to. Now you have a brain, you can control that, right?" he questions.

Macka nods somewhat pitifully and his wounds all scab over instead of trying to regenerate like usual. "Now... I can't imagine I'm here for coffee... Unless, you are unable to kill me?" he mutters, more stating than questioning.

Afton laughs at this, "Hah! Do you think I was lying when I said I'd fly you into the sun? That's what awaits you in the future if you turn out uncooperative..."

"And if I cooperate?" Macka tensely asks.

Afton shrugs his shoulders noncommittally, "Well, there are a few options... I could ship you to another planet, use you like some sort of organic terraformer... The only problem is, you're too dangerous to leave unattended."

Macka slowly nods, "I see... You know, I was pretty lenient when I took control of you, Afton... Were I more vicious, I would have implanted my head in your chest cavity, I doubt anyone would be able to remove me without killing you as well." he explains, causing the others watching through the observation window to grimace at the thought.

"Yeah, that might've worked... But, I'm harder to kill than you think. I've had my head blown off once before you know." Afton says, shocking Josie and Usanagi who'd not heard anything about that.

"Hmmm, that's my teddy bear. Or maybe he should be called a pinata? So full of sweets and goodies that never seem to end, ooOOOooooooo." Dala breathes huskily.

Josie glances at Dala, "You know anything about this?" she asks, wondering if anyone else was aware of Afton's head apparently exploding.

"No, I am not aware of the incident he is referring to, but I knew he was special before we even met... The feeling when I cut into his head and body, the response when I removed his brain. The sound when I extracted his spine... OooooOOOoooooooo, delightfully unique compared to the others." she explains.

Usanagi slowly shoot a fearful look at Josie who also looked green at Dala's words. Neither says anything though, allowing silence to reign as they remember to listen to Afon's conversation with Macka.

Earlier :

Macka crooks at brow at Afton's words, "You have had your head blown off?" the man mutters, wondering if Afton had more than on Psyker ability?

Afton nods, "Yeah, didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, probably because my brain was destroyed before the pain receptors could react." he shrugs, "Anyway, that's not why I'm here." he states as he slowly steps forwards towards Macka.

"What now? Will you torture me? Make me beg for death or something equally inane?" Macka mocks, using his Psyker ability to turn off all his own pain receptors. "You know my power, torture will do nothing."

Afton chuckles, "You're wrong there. Physical torture will do nothing, but psychological? I bet even someone as mad as you would fear something... Even if you didn't, I bet being encased in a titanium block and buried far underground would unease you."