A physiatrist is a doctor who repairs what others break--bones, nerves, minds. Not flashy. Not heroic. Just someone who glues shattered pieces of a person back together like a vase and hopes they don't crack again tomorrow.
At least that's how Rei used to explain it.
Now? he wasn't so sure.
The clinic was damp. The walls covered with rust, machines buzzed in a jungle of cables and flickering lights. Somewhere in the corner, an old ceiling fan pushed around the smell of antiseptics and blood.
"Ugh... This place always stinks..." Rei muttered to himself, yanking off a pair of stained gloves into a bin that hasn't been emptied in days--filled to the brim with syringes, bloody gauze and expired nano-bandages.
He had a point. This clinic hasn't seen funding for years--not from a government, anyway. Not that governments had any real power left
PharmaHelix. Omni Biotech. CenterLabs.
Pharmaceutical giants masquerading as saviors--owning everything, curing nothing.
Rei stares at the clock on the wall. His next patient was due any minute now, he felt the familiar tightness in his chest--that creeping anxiety that always came before something went wrong.
Used to be just nerves, now it felt like prophecy.
The door slammed open
A panicked paramedic came in panting--soaked in blood and rain. "Emergency case--young male, early twenties, Morphazyme overdose, Real bad. Bootleg variant."
Rei straightened. "How bad?"
The paramedic swallowed. "He went haywire. Killed two of us. We've... temporarily neutralized him. But he's twitching, and he might wake up any minute"
"Shit... Get him in here--Now!" Rei shouted.
The clinic erupted into movement.
Rei didn't waste a single second--he sprinted down the hallway, the halls echoing as his boots hit the cracked tiles with every step. "Prep the OR!" he barked, weaving past cluttered carts and startled staff members.
The hallway lights flickered as if it was mirroring the rising situation.
"Get the restraints ready, as well as neural suppressors!" he shouted, kicking open the double doors to the operating room. The space was barely more than a converted storage unit--metal table, salvaged surgical arms and patched up monitors humming with age.
Rei slammed his palm onto the control panel. The surgical bed unfolded with a mechanical groan.
In a matter of seconds, the paramedics wheeled in the patient. Young, early twenties, just like the medic said.
But his body told a different story.
Fleshy, octopus-like tendrils had grown from his back and arms, twitching, soaked in blood--likely from the two paramedics he'd killed.
"Restrain him quickly before he wakes up!" Rei snapped.
Two medics lunged forward with magnetic cuffs and synthetic straps, looping them around the man's arms and chest--especially the tendrils, which were twitching violently by now.
"Goddamn it--hold him down!" Rei shouted, jamming a neural suppressor vial into the injector he clutched in his hand.
One of the medics screamed.
A tendril--thick, veined, glistening like raw muscle--had snapped free of its restraint. It coiled tight around the medic, squeezing until the bones audibly popped
Another tendril lashed outward--slamming into a tray of surgical instruments. Scalpels and clamps exploded across the room, clattering like shrapnel against the walls.
Rei didn't flinch.
He lunged.
Rei jabbed the injector into the patients neck and squeezed the trigger.
For a heartbeat, the tendrils stood still.
Then, with a guttural growl, the patients hand shot out--thick, elongated fingers, it was inhuman.
The flesh was rubbery pale, as if it was grown in a vat. Bones cracked beneath the skin as the hand moved--new segments splitting, fingers splitting into finer, whip like tendrils.
It grabbed the pistol injector with unnatural strength.
With a crunch, the device shattered in Rei's hand--shards of glass, polymer and metal falling like teeth to the floor.
Rei staggered back.
The patients face was melting.
Cheeks drooped like hot wax, jaw dislocated, eyes bulged and shifted apart. The nose collapsed into a puckered slit. Gills? Or just random mutation.
Then, he moved.
A terrified medic ran to the door.
Too late.
A tendril coiled around the medic's legs, another snaked and tightened around his torso.
Barely had any time to scream before he was lifted, flailing midair.
Then--
Rip.
A wet, brutal sound. The medic was ripped clean in half, snapped like a wishbone.
Blood splattered across the room. Intestines plopped wet onto the tiles, coiling like steaming ropes.
Rei froze for half a second. He'd seen overdoses before. He'd seen death multiple times before. But not like this. Not like this.
Another medic--terrified, backed away, shaking, eyes in disbelief. "Fuck this... I'm not dying here!"
He turned and sprinted out the door, followed by the last staff who didn't even look back.
The patient--if it could still even be called that--doesn't resemble a human anymore. It had morphed into something truly grotesque: a slick, lumpy mass of flesh, around ten to thirteen tendrils, like an oversized octopus stuffed into a man's body.
Its face still clung to a sliver of humanity.
You could almost see the man it used to be. Beneath the deformities, just barely--like a photograph melting in fire.
But then, even that began to fade.
Rei's heart slammed in his chest.
The thing twitched--tendrils flailing as if they were tasting the air.
Rei wasted no time.
He spun around, sprinting to the corner of the OR where a rusted red panel was half buried behind a stack of expired medkits. The Emergency Defense Locker--a leftover from riots two years ago, when junkies started bursting through the clinic doors with a superpowered psychosis.
His hands fumbled with the biometric lock. "Come on, Come on..."
"Unknown Fingerprint"
"Unknown Fingerprint"
"Unknown Fingerprint"
His hands were sweating, and it was screwing with the scanner.
He wiped his palm on his coat, tried again.
"Unknown Fingerprint"
"Fuck..! come on.. work.."
Click.
After some attempts, the lock finally opened.
Inside: a handgun matte-black in color, and three fully loaded magazines.
No hesitation.
Gripped the pistol, yanked it from the locker, slammed the magazine in, and racked the slide with a practiced, furious motion.
His body moved on instinct--adrenaline taking over where thoughts would only slow him down.
The creature had slithered off the table, dragging itself across the floor on its twitching, tentacle like tentacles. It doubled in size, now a towering mass of bloated pulsing flesh, its tendrils squirming like serpents in a pit.
Shaking, Rei aimed the pistol at what he assumed was the creature's "head."
His mind was racing, heart beating like a drum in his chest. He still couldn't believe what he'd just seen--the medic, torn in half, intestines spilling out like a can of spaghetti on the cold, cracked tiles. The sickening sound of bones snapping haunted his ears. And now... That could be him next.
But Rei forced the fear down. It was life or death. Hesitation meant meeting the same fate as the medic, or worse.
He exhaled sharply.
And pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Each shot rang like thunder. The recoil jolted up Rei's arm, but he didn't care. He just kept firing, eyes locked on the creature.
The first bullet blasted through its lower jaw, sending teeth clattering across the tiles.
The second bullet buried deep in between its forehead, blood spurting out like someone had just struck oil in the sand.
The third hit the same spot. Harder. Deeper.
The creature staggered, tendrils flailing in the air--grasping at nothing.
It let out a low, rattling gurgle.
Then it collapsed.
Its limbs went limp. It stopped twitching. Stopped making any movements.
It was just dead.
Rei stood over it, breathing hard. Smoke drifted off the muzzle of the pistol.
He tilted his head up, not wanting to see the body of the thing he just killed. "Oh good lord..."
His voice cracked--barely a whisper. It felt like it didn't even belong to him.
Rei was revolted by what happened, The pistol trembled in his hand before he let it fall to the floor with a heavy clack.
Then slowly, he looked down at the body again--out of curiosity. There was something about it that felt wrong. The way the tendrils had grown, it was perfect... as if it was designed, and not the random result of a mutagen mutation.
Rei reached his hand out and touched one of the creatures tendrils. It was hard as rock, extremely dense--yet it was able to move so fluently like hair swaying in the wind.
This clearly wasn't just a regular case of bootleg Morphazyme OD.
He'd seen what that looked like--bloated veins, discolored skin, new growth of body parts but never this bad.
This thing wasn't dying from the drug.
It had become something else.
Enough.
He didn't want to continue thinking about it, he just wanted to go home and take a rest--after all he's had a long day today.
Rei turned, and walked out of the operating room--shoes squelching in blood.
The lights above flickered weakly, casting pale, sickly hues over the barricade of medical beds and wheelchairs jammed together like a desperate makeshift wall.
The staff must've feared that thing would massacre everyone in the clinic.
He couldn't blame them.
Rei approached the barricades, raising his voice.
"Hello? It's me... Rei! Please quickly let me out!" Rei shouts as tears welled in his eyes. He held onto two legs of a hospital bed that was a part of the barricade shaking it aggressively to make noise.
"Let me out, Let me out, Let me out!" Rei barks repeatedly out of desperation--voice cracking under fear and adrenaline. He didn't want to be in the clinic for another second--not with that thing's blood still wet on his shoes and the memory of the medic being torn apart right in front of him.
Then--through the narrow cracks of the barricade, a beam of light pierced through, catching Rei's face covered in blood.
"Rei..?" came a shaky voice. "Dear god you're alive..."
"Let me out!" Rei snapped. "Please.. I-I killed it!"
"Alright, alright! We're on it!"
The staff from the other side of the barricade began dismantling the barricade, piece by piece, metal scraping and clattering as beds and chairs were dragged away.
After what felt like a while, a narrow gap finally opened--just wide enough for Rey to squeeze himself out of the barricade.
The clinic staff stared at Rei--as if they were seeing a ghost.
Rei glanced down at his hands, then his coat. He was drenched in blood from head to toe.
He was freaked out, not because he was covered in blood--but because the blood wasn't his.
"Rei..?" One staff member spoke up. "You... You okay?"
"I.. Y-yea.. i just want to go home..." Rei responded in a shaking voice.
A heavy moment of silence takes over the clinic, as everyone stared at Rei--half in shock, half in fear.
Rei didn't wait for a response. He turned sharply and walked to the exit door, desperate to leave what felt like a nightmare behind.
Outside, the cold evening air bit his skin, but he welcomed it. He was just glad he's not in the clinic anymore.
The streets were eerily empty, as if there were no signs of human life whatsoever.
His motorcycle sat waiting a few meters away, Rei pulled out the keys from his pockets and ignited the engine. The rumble echoed softly through the empty street. He slid on his helmet and sat on the worn-out seat, gripping on to the handlebars tightly.
Rei took a deep breath. He revved the engine, then slowly eased the bike forward.
The evening air hit his face--cool, but not enough to calm his racing thoughts. He took deep breaths, trying to steady his shaking hands as he navigated through the empty streets.
The familiar sight of his apartment building came into view--a crumbling gray complex wedged between a pawn shop that has been long closed, and a laundromat with flickering neon lights. Rei pulled into the narrow alleyway beside it, the motorcycle's headlight illuminating the graffiti tagged walls.
Rei killed the engine.
Dragged himself up the rusted metal stairs to the second floor, turned left, and stopped at a dented metal door marked "2B".
Key in. Click. Door swung open.
Took off his blood drenched coat and threw it into the bin besides his apartment door, he'd rather not get his floors dirty with blood.
Stepped in, shut the door behind him, tossed his keys onto the counter with a dull clatter and headed straight to the bathroom.
He froze in front of the mirror.
"Goddamn.."
His reflection stared back--face streaked in dried blood, neck splattered like an abstract painting. The red looked unreal against him.
He leaned in closer.
Then--the fear hit all at once. Shocked, disgusted. It gripped his spine and twisted his stomach.
"Oh my god... What just happened to me.."
"What the hell is happening to me..?
His mind was racing. Rei still couldn't believe it, this felt like such an unreal situation to be in for him.
He turned on the tap, desperately splashed his face with the running water--trying to clean the nightmare off his skin.
It didn't work.
Rei peeled off his clothes, stepped into the shower, and let the water run.
His breathing slowed.
Not by much--but enough.
He scrubbed the blood off his skin in slow, heavy motions. Every inch reminded him that he was still alive.
Rei shut the water off, stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around himself.
He opened the dresser by his bedside and pulled out a clean T-shirt and a pair of boxers.
He dressed quickly, the soft fabric grounding him a little.
Rei sat himself on his bed, trying not to think about the incident that had just occurred today.
All he wanted was to just sleep. A reset, pretend tomorrow would be normal.
He took slow, deliberate breaths.
In... Out... In... Out...
Eventually, he managed to calm himself down enough to finally lay himself down on the soft bed mattress, and close his eyes--drifting off into sleep.
...
Rei woke up to the sound of static.
His eyes opened slowly--staring at the ceiling fan spinning weakly above.
His body ached like hell. For a few moments he didn't move, just lying there--listening to the hums outside of his apartment bleeding through the cracks in the wall.
Then it all came back.
The clinic.
The blood.
The gore.
He sat up too fast and winced as a wave of dizziness hit him. Goosebumps crawled along his skin like insects.
His breathing quickened. He was now awake--but the nightmare hadn't ended.
Rei stumbled to his feet and got dressed. Every movement felt sluggish, like each of his limbs were carrying a weight. He didn't even remember to eat nor to shower, just pulled on a pair of trousers, boots, a clean medical coat and left the apartment.
The streets outside were already busy. Not lively--just noisy. Rei descended to the first floor of the apartment building, to where his motorcycle waited in the alley.
He ignited the engine, mounted the motorcycle and made his way to the clinic to continue work.
By the time he made it to the clinic, he was met with the familiar stench of antiseptics and blood hit him like a wall.
"Eugh.." Rei muttered, wincing. The smell wasn't as strong yesterday. Or maybe now he just noticed it more.
Either way, he was already here--he wasn't about to let the stench stop him from working, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let whatever happened yesterday keep him from showing up as well.
He had bills to pay.
Rei slipped into his usual routine, sorting through patient files and preparing basic treatments. The clinics battered walls and flickering lights did little to ease the oppressive atmosphere. His hands moved methodically, performing physiotherapy exercises with patients as well as detoxifying strain consumers.
Every movement felt heavier today, his mind clouded by yesterday's horrors. But Rei pushed the thoughts away--there was no room for weakness when patients needed his help.
Bills had to be paid, lives had to be helped.
The clinic doors opened, in came three people--all wearing formal attire.
Rei looked at them in confusion. Were they patients, or someone important? Or maybe both. Two men, both seemed average in build and height, their hair was well trimmed and slicked back. Between them was a woman, flanked closely as if she was being guarded.
"Rei Isamu." The woman spoke in a calm yet serious voice.
"O-oh, yes ma'am that's me." Rei responded.
"I am Patricia Vargas, and I represent PharmaHelix."
Patricia's eyes sharpened. "Rei Isamu, we come to you here to inform you that you are now being subjected to experimental testing due to medical malpractice--specifically, shooting a patient with a firearm. You have no say in this, and you're going to submit whether you consent to or not. "
...
"You're kidding."