Work Text:
Ultear hated the void. There was nothing more unsettling than being suspended above nothing at all. Her hummingbird heart fluttered in her ribcage as the scientists lifted her over the edge and the cables tied at her wrists and ankles snapped into place. Every single time, there was a moment when she thought the ropes would fray and she would plunge into the abyss. When the pain got too harsh to bear, she wished she would.
The other laboratory, the one where they strapped her to a table and pulled out an array of surgical tools, was no less horrible, but the void terrified Ultear in a different, primeval way. If she twisted her head to look below, her eyes found nothing but darkness. The absence of anything solid beneath her back made her breathing grow ragged. So, she stared up at the monstrous sun and moon contraption mounted on the ceiling, and at the stars dotted among the black. Their artificial glow provided no comfort. That false sky—another kind of void—was just as infinite as the real one and Ultear could feel it closing in to swallow her whole.
“Subject 009 in position for testing,” called an incorporeal voice.
More scientists chimed in to relay the status of their machinery, citing acronyms and numbers that were meaningless to Ultear. Her ears were only trained to pick up one command: “Activate ether impulse.”
A low humming filled the room as ethernano particles began to flow through the cables like an electrical current. When the first sparks reached her body, Ultear screamed.