Preface

a decoy soul
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/34855513.

Rating:
Explicit
Archive Warning:
Rape/Non-Con
Category:
M/M
Fandom:
Final Fantasy XIV
Relationship:
Dabog aan Inivisch/Sicinius mal Vellutus
Character:
Dabog aan Inivisch, Sicinius mal Vellutus
Additional Tags:
Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Medical Experimentation, Oviposition, Eggpreg, mention of embryo death, mecha/magitek tentacle rape, depictions of pain and suffering, definitely not what you would call a "relationship" but it's there alright!
Language:
English
Stats:
Published: 2021-10-31 Words: 1,148 Chapters: 1/1

a decoy soul

Summary

The audio logs of Sicinius mal Vellutus, Senior Engineer of the IVth Imperial Legion's magitek detachment, pertaining to the creation of clones for battlefield use.

Notes

In which Sicinius mal Vellutus grabbed my brain in a chokehold and said hey quail, what if my scientific experiments were Really Fucked Up!!!! Wouldn't that be swell!!!! (yes it would please enjoy)

a decoy soul

First Sun, First Bell and Thirty

Subject Eight is now awake. Experiment number fifty two will now commence in three, two, one-

Fascinating, that the subject still cries out after all this time. I suppose it gives some credence to the theory that some pains are too much for any body to grow accustomed to. Especially if they are administered randomly, last for irregular amounts of time and are variable in strength.

Addendum: subject’s eyes are unfocused. Shouldn’t affect the memory transference, but worth noting.

First Sun, Third Bell

One and a half bells later and sound sensitivity appears to have worsened. Increasing frequencies to compensate, and just a touch tighter at the shackles, I think.

Wouldn’t do to be too wriggly now, would it? We wouldn’t want you to injure yourself, and you such a perfect subject. No no, that wouldn’t do at all.

Activating leg spread shunt in three, two, one- and engaging secondary arm now. Do not try to struggle further, this part of the procedure is rather delicate and I would hate to have to redo everything, as I’m sure you would too. No one likes a ruined experiment, least of all me - and especially not when we have come so far already. Oh I cannot wait to see their faces… 

[static, the sound of stifled laughter]

Magitek arms now fully inserted - I’ve always wondered how they felt. Perhaps when you are more lucid, you can tell me about it, Subject Eight. 

First Sun, Fifth Bell and Forty Five

Embryo eggs implanted successfully. Semen pumping now complete, rerouting piping- and done. Eggs now inseminated.

[the sound of magitek arms removing themselves from flesh and retracting up and back into their neutral positions]

Next up, I will be performing the current iteration of memory implantation - loading up file version five point three.

Addendum: Memory Implantation version five point three had some minor tweaks which I believe will help with stabilisation of the process. Armature penetration was increased by zero point one of an ilm into the brain - it’s all about going deeper, you see - this depth should allow for the cleaner removal of memories, which will in turn give a clearer picture for the embryos to absorb. Version five point three also includes a modified embryo implantation procedure, wherein the memories are topped up, as it were, after the completion of the procedure. I have had success on one small test subject with this method, so it is now time to prove the theory.

First Sun, Sixth Bell and Thirty

Memory Implantation version five point three now complete. 

Well done, Subject Eight. These memories will add a certain undeniable essence to your spawn that I believe will really aid their authenticity.

Of course, accelerated incubation will mean that we will be removing them within two suns, so do try not to get too comfortable, won’t you.

[the sound of more laughter]

Ah, I almost forgot to tell you. Your spawn will be making their battlefield debut on the Plains of Zadnor. I’m sure it will be a most pleasant surprise for the Resistance. Unfortunately, we cannot risk you out there, so you’ll be staying right here, keeping the next round nice and warm until they hatch.

I daresay, Subject Eight, that if this new version succeeds, we may well be able to furnish the legion with an entire squadron, all made from you. Doesn’t that make you feel proud? No? Well it should. Never diminish your achievements, Subject Eight - if it wasn’t for you, I would never have made these inroads into this new transference method, so you should absolutely be proud of yourself. Between the pair of us - although of course, most of the work was done by my own quite prodigious talents - we have made history! Isn’t that grand?

Third Sun, Tenth Bell

Good morning Subject Eight, how are we feeling today? I see that the embryos have been growing well within you: why, you’ve almost doubled in size! Excellent, most excellent. While I’ve been gone, one of my magitek arms here has been very busy preparing their new homes.

[the hollow, bright sound of someone rapping on a glass stasis chamber]

Now, let me just check these vitals- ah yes, don’t they look beautiful? You cannot see, of course, but they are the mirror image of you, down to the last whisker. A lot smaller though, of course! Ha ha ha.

Alright, enough jesting. Beginning extraction procedure in three, two, one- and engaging arms, gently now. Do you know, Subject Eight, these magitek arms are entirely of my own devising - getting the opportunity to study the techniques of Allag really has done wonders for my work, we could not have achieved such accuracy with a scalpel without it. Down to zero point one of an ilm, you know, and with an error rate of zero point zero zero zero one five, which is the best rates we’ve seen yet. This level of precision allows me to make perfect incisions - just so - and to manipulate the claws as deftly as my own fingers.

[a concentrated pause, the scent of blood fills the air]

There we go, that’s one removed, beautiful. And here comes the rest of them - oh, squalling little creatures aren’t they? Look how they wriggle? Oh, I suppose you cannot look. A pity- oh! Well, that will be the error rating, I suppose. Can’t have everything, can we?

Still, that makes four viable embryos, although I suppose they are… cubs? Now? Hm, no, I think embryos suits. Into the pods with you- no, stop squirming, otherwise we’ll be seeing an even higher error rate and that will skew my results all out. Won’t look good on the reports, you know, if I lose more than one out of five. No indeed.

Alright, procedure complete, for the records. Growth will continue to escalate as the pods begin to build muscle, and the memory implantation procedure will be topping them off as it does so. Two more suns and we’ll have another set of, well, you , Subject Eight.

But in the meantime, we begin again. No time to wait and see if they are all viable, we must go ahead anyway before Menenius has my head for delays.

Open up again for me, that’s it. Luckily for you, the stitches I put into your gut are loose enough that they’ll just slit right apart in another two suns, so you won’t end up with a slowly thickening set of scar tissue. Isn’t that nice? I do take good care of my subjects, especially if they’re as invaluable as you. I daresay there isn’t another subject who would give me such excellent results.

[a fond chuckle, and the sound of a gentle patting of a furred head]

You’ll go down in the annals of history, Subject Eight. My perfect clone incubation machine. My Dabog...

Afterword

End Notes

Written for a private collab project!

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