"Good, you've understood the procedure." The doctor nodded as Rui explained the procedure perfectly. "Have you made sure to satisfy the conditions for being viable for the procedure? Have you consumed alcohol in the past week?"
"No, I haven't." Rui confirmed.
"Have you consumed psychedelic drugs in the past forty days?" The doctor asked.
"Not at all."
"Did you get two nights of natural normal sleep without having consumed any mental rejuvenation potions?"
"I did." Rui assured.
The medical procedure required him to be awake till the procedure ended. Being asleep increased the probability that a complication would occur. The medical team would also be using rejuvenation potions before the secondary bonding occurred in order to ensure he was at his peak, mentally. However, an abuse of mental rejuvenation potions before the procedure began would reduce the effectiveness of the mental rejuvenation potions administered to him during the procedure, increasing the probability of failure of the procedure.
"Good. We'll be verifying this anyway with a few quick blood tests, of course." She smiled at him.
They quickly drew some blood with a special syringe that was able to pierce his conditioned skin. Thankfully, the results came within an hour.
"Good news, you're fit to undergo the procedure." Doctor Heela told him. "We'll begin shortly. We need to inject a few serums before you're ready for the implantation."
The medical team prepared all the devices and instruments. Soon he was injected with a few serums as promised.
"These serums are meant to ensure the initial bonding of the symbiote with the brain goes as smoothly as possible." Doctor Leela informed him as she injected the final one, explaining their purposes. A few minutes later, the procedure was finally ready to begin.
A strange-looking syringe was brought and provided to doctor Heela. A spot on his wrist was rubbed with an antibacterial as a strap was tightened to his forearm.
"We will begin the implantation of the Mindmirror symbiote." The doctor told him.
The thick needle of the syringe plunged past his conditioned skin painfully.
"Implantation complete. Heal the wound." Doctor Heela instructed as a nurse duly administered a healing potion to him, to stop the bleeding and close the wound.
They all immediately turned their attention to the projections on the screens behind him, carefully watching it without missing a beat.
"Symbiote has entered the bonding site." Doctor Leela remarked.
Rui had no idea how they knew that, but he suspected it was likely esoteric technology that allowed them to keep track of the symbiote via some physical trait that made its location apparent.
Some more time passed, as Rui simply lay unmoving patiently. He had already known it was going to be a long process and had long prepared himself psychologically.
"Bonding process has begun." Doctor Heela noted. "Prepare the RP-154 and HP-C16 potions."
She rattled off a few more instructions that Rui failed to comprehend. The nurses however swiftly prepared certain potions, ready to administer them to him the moment they were instructed to."
Rui on the other hand didn't feel a thing despite the fact that the Mindmirror Symbiote had already bonded with his brain according to doctor Heela's remarks. That was even scarier than if he had been able to notice it himself, he felt.
An hour passed before he got an update on it.
"Bonding process has succeeded." The doctor nodded. "The development phase has begun. Begin the potion administration.
They began administering Rui with potions periodically. The potions were physical rejuvenating potions and nutrient potions, but he didn't feel all that rejuvenated. The reason was, of course, known. All of the energy and nutrition supplied to his body was inevitably consumed by the Mindmirror Symbiote as it began growing in mass and volume.
"Let us know anything that you feel." Doctor Heela told him.
Rui simply nodded briefly. He found it rather amazing that he still wasn't able to feel anything quite yet. Yet there was a technical explanation for that as well, of course. The brain didn't have any sensory nerve endings as most organs did, thus it could not experience the sensation of touch or pain.
Furthermore, at this stage, the Mindmirror Symbiote still had a very shallow connection with his brain. It would take quite some time before the secondary brain of the Mindmirror Symbiote was fully developed.
Hours passed, and the nurses and the doctor kept a thorough track of the development stage of the Mindmirror Symbiote. The entire procedure was supposed to take a few days. The best thing Rui could do was simply stay awake.
Twelve hours later, the nurses rotated shifts with others, however, doctor Heela remained as the head of the medical team responsible for his case.
A few days later, the time had come.
"Development of the secondary brain is estimated at ninety-five percent." Doctor Heela remarked. "Place the locks and shackles.
The nurses cuffed him to the bars of the bed. They meticulously cuffed each limb and joint at various places with thick rigid cuffs that prevented any escape. Even his head and neck were locked tightly in place. Rui had been informed about this detail ahead of time, so he didn't react to it. Once the secondary brain was developed, the brain takeover process from the Mindmirror Symbiote would begin. During that process, there was a chance of his body going out of control wildly, hurting the people around him and screwing the procedure.
"Ordinary steel won't be able to hold me." He told doctor Heela.
"I know." She smiled. "That's made up of peak Apprentice-level alloys. It is able to restrain you based on the data of your physical parameters. So do not worry."
Rui had mostly figured as much, he just wanted to make sure. A few hours passed by and the development of the secondary brain had finally been completed. Rui still couldn't feel a thing, but that would soon change.
"Administer the mental rejuvenation potion." The doctor instructed, before turning towards Rui.
"This is it. Stay strong and hold on until the bond stabilizes. Good luck." The doctor told him with a solemn tone.
