Morning came. Crane yawned as he swung his legs off the chair and stretched lazily.
Pushing himself off the workbench, he stood up, cracking his neck with a satisfying pop.
He had decided to sleep in the lab — just in case the kid tried anything.
Without much urgency, he wandered over to the industrial freezer.
He grabbed the handle and pulled the door open with a hiss of cold air.
"Rise and shine," he said casually.
Inside, the boy lay curled up in a cradle position, his body stiff and pale.
Crane stared down at him for a moment, unbothered.
"Well," he muttered, "luck was not in your favor. Pity you."
He grabbed the frozen body, pulling it from the freezer and swinging the heavy door shut with a flick of his tail.
Carrying the boy to the workbench, he set him down with a careless thud.
Crane stripped off the kid's shirt, tossing it aside. His tail curled forward, the sharpened tip slicing into the boy's abdomen with casual precision.
He pried the stomach open and leaned over, peering inside.
"This brings me back," he said, smiling fondly. "It's like looking at the toy section of a store—so many options."
Without hesitation, he plunged his arm inside, just to feel around, letting the cold, slick organs slide against his fingers.
"It's like Halloween," he giggled, "reaching into my candy bag, having no idea what I'll grab!"
The sensation tickled him unexpectedly, and he laughed—high and light, like a kid at play.
"Ohhh, decisions,decisions…"
He let his hand drift, eventually resting it against the boy's right kidney.
"That's the one."
Bringing his tail forward again, he sliced the kidney free with a neat snip and yanked it out quickly, holding it up in triumph.
Still smiling, he pressed the stolen kidney to his stomach.
With a ripple, his flesh shifted, splitting open—and with it, his mask tumbled out, clattering onto the floor.
"Forgot I had that in there," he said with a chuckle.
He barely glanced at it. Instead, he focused on his exposed organs, willing his own right kidney to dissolve into sludge.
In its place, he carefully inserted the boy's kidney.
His innards twisted, tendrils of flesh latching onto the new organ, knitting themselves together with grotesque ease.
Crane shivered as the cold kidney settled inside him, the freezing sensation shooting through his core like a brain freeze.
He let out a sharp breath, rubbing his side.
"I need my body to remember it," he muttered, "so I can create more later… for selling."
Without wasting time, he turned back to the boy's body.
Are livers still in style? he mused.
Of course they are. Always needed.
With a swift motion, he brought his tail down again, cutting carefully into the body.
He worked methodically, slicing free the liver just as he had done with the kidney.
Holding the cold organ in his hand, he grinned.
"Two for one special today," he said under his breath.
He pressed the liver against his stomach.
Once again, his body obeyed — splitting open with unnatural ease, his flesh welcoming the new organ.
He dissolved his own liver without hesitation, letting the replacement graft into place, tendrils of muscle and sinew weaving around it like a spider's web.
Another violent shudder racked his body as the freezing sensation hit him again, stronger this time.
Crane laughed breathlessly through it, the thrill of the process outweighing the discomfort.
It's just so ticklish.
He turned back to the boy's body, looking down at him almost thoughtfully.
"Sad he died so young," Crane mused aloud — and then without hesitation, he grabbed the kid's heart and yanked it out.
"I want two," he said simply, almost cheerfully.
He pressed the heart against his stomach, the skin parting again like soft clay.
With a firm shove, he pushed it inside, feeling the tendrils latch onto it, knitting it into place alongside his own heart.
The coldness inside him was immediate, chilling his chest cavity.
But then — a jolt.
The heart started beating.
Crane flinched, jumping slightly in surprise.
"It worked! I have two hearts at the same time!"
He spun on his heel to face the dead boy, a wide grin splitting his face.
"Sorry, kid. I'm not sad at all."
Singed walked into the lab, his voice dry and unimpressed.
"What are you doing now, Crane?"
Crane turned fast, surprised to see Singed up this early.
"Just experimenting," he said casually, waving a bloody hand. "But don't worry, I just finished. I'll throw him out."
Singed walked closer, raising an eyebrow as he took in the sight of Crane standing over a boy with his stomach split open.
"Don't throw the body out," Singed said calmly. "It could still be useful."
Crane blinked.
"Okay, but I already took his kidney, liver, and heart. He's kinda useless."
Singed approached the workbench, peering down at the boy's damaged body.
"Useless to you," he said. "To me, it still has some value."
Crane glanced back at the kid and shrugged.
"Well, that makes it easier for me. I won't have to drag him out myself. I'll leave you with him, then."
He picked his mask off the floor, brushing some dust from it, and wandered off toward his room.
There, he scrubbed the blood from his clothes, making himself look a little more presentable.
Once clean enough, he tucked the mask back inside his stomach — safer there than anywhere else — and headed for the surface.
Topside.
———————————————
Caitlyn knocked on Jayce's door.
He opened it, blinking in surprise.
"Caitlyn? What are you doing here? Isn't it a little early for you to be up?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"Jonathan told me to meet him here," she said simply, stepping past him into the room.
Jayce uncrossed his arms with a sigh and quickly moved to hide some blueprints lying out on the table.
"Why my place, though?" he muttered as he shuffled the papers out of sight. "Why not somewhere else?"
Caitlyn wandered over to the window, peeking out onto Jayce's balcony.
"He knows this place better than my estate," she said.
"Yeah, that's probably true," Jayce agreed. "But I was planning to talk to him about the sponsor deal today."
Caitlyn glanced back at him.
"You still can. He already told me about what he's making, so you don't have to keep it a secret anymore," she lied easily.
Jayce let out a relieved sigh.
"Okay, good. I didn't know if I had to keep hiding it."
"What were you going to talk about today?" she asked.
Jayce pulled out a blueprint from under the table.
"About the progress on the prosthetic prototype I'm making him."
Caitlyn leaned in to look—and her eyes widened.
"He's making prosthetics? That's smart—helping people who need it."
Jayce set the blueprint down and gave her a suspicious look.
"You sound surprised… Why are you surprised?" His face shifted with sudden realization.
"You didn't know about it at all."
Caitlyn smiled sheepishly, about to make an excuse—
"Know about what?" came Jonathan's voice behind her.
Caitlyn spun around, startled.
"Jonathan! When did you get in here—and how?"
He lazily pointed at the open balcony door.
"From the balcony."
Caitlyn glanced around, trying to figure out exactly how he'd even managed to climb up.
Then Crane turned toward Jayce, his brow raised.
"So… what didn't she know?"
"She found out about the—" Jayce started.
"You're making prosthetics!" Caitlyn cut him off quickly.
"Oh, you found out about that," Crane said, sounding almost amused.
Jayce crossed his arms. "She tricked me."
"Eh, it doesn't matter," Crane shrugged.
"Yeah, it doesn't matter," Caitlyn echoed confidently.
Jayce looked at both of them, confused.
"It doesn't?"
"Well," Crane said casually, "Caitlyn's my friend now, and keeping a secret like that seems pretty unimportant."
Caitlyn immediately perked up at the word friend.
"Yes, that's true—we're friends now."
"Congratulations, Caitlyn," Jayce said dryly.
Crane wandered over to Jayce's desk, glancing over the surface lazily.
Caitlyn muttered under her breath, Why do they always congratulate me like I got lucky?
Jayce pulled out the blueprints, laying them neatly on the desk.
"I've started making some prototypes," he said, "but it'll take about a week."
"A week?" Crane echoed, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not used to building stuff like this. It should take about a week to finish one. If the hospitals approve it, though, production will speed up."
Caitlyn leaned in, glancing at the blueprints.
"Yes, I get it now," she said, nodding enthusiastically, trying to wedge herself into the conversation.
"No, you don't," Crane said immediately, "but I do."
Jayce tried not to laugh.
"So," Crane continued, tapping the desk, "any issues making them? If there are, I can tweak the design."
"No problems at all," Jayce said. "The designs are perfect, actually."
Crane smirked and brought a hand dramatically to his face.
"I know it's perfect. Anything I touch becomes perfect."
"You're touching yourself," Caitlyn pointed out, deadpan.
"Precisely,"
He turned to Caitlyn.
"So, Caitlyn, do you want to go… you know where?"
"Yes, I'm ready to go you know where," she said, matching his tone.
Jayce crossed his arms, watching them.
"Keeping secrets from me now?"
"Friends keep secrets between each other, right?" Crane said, glancing at Caitlyn.
"Yes," Caitlyn nodded seriously. "It's our secret."
"Okay, let's go," Crane said, already heading for the balcony.
"Wait—why the balcony?" Caitlyn called after him. "Wouldn't it be better—and safer—to just use the door?"
Crane turned back, a smirk on his face.
"Well… I don't exactly have permission to be here. I'm a sponsor of House Talis, not a student of the Academy."
He stepped onto the ledge.
"Just follow me."
Caitlyn hesitated but did as he said, stepping up beside him and holding onto him for balance.
Crane grabbed the edge of the roof.
"On three, we push ourselves up."
"One… two…"
Caitlyn gulped.
"Three."
They pulled themselves up. Crane made it first and immediately reached down, grabbing Caitlyn's arm and helping haul her up.
Once Caitlyn was on the roof, Crane brushed himself off.
"Follow me. Just watch your step and don't trip."
They began hopping from roof to roof, moving quickly but carefully.
"Do you do this every time you come here?" Caitlyn asked, panting a little. "For someone making prosthetics, you should know this is dangerous."
"I can't exactly walk in the front door," Crane said casually.
They reached a wide gap between two buildings. Crane pointed across it to a low balcony.
"Think you can make that jump?"
Caitlyn leaned over, studying the distance.
"Yeah… I think I can grab the ledge. Pulling myself up might be hard, though."
Before she could worry more, Crane crouched and jumped — clearing the gap easily and landing neatly on the balcony without even touching the ledge.
"I've never seen someone jump that high," Caitlyn muttered, a little stunned.
"Come on," Crane called, holding out his hand. "Jump. I'll pull you up."
Caitlyn nodded, steeled herself, and jumped. Her fingers caught the ledge, and Crane grabbed her arms and pulled her up effortlessly.
"Thanks," she said, brushing off her clothes.
The rest of the rooftop journey was smoother. They made their way across until Crane finally stopped.
He pointed down into a narrow alley.
"Climb down here."
They climbed down carefully, dropping into the shadowy alleyway.
"There's an elevator just a couple alleys down," Crane said, leading the way.
As Caitlyn followed, she noticed a missing poster stuck to the wall — a faded photo of a kid, smiling awkwardly.
She slowed, staring at it for a second.
Crane moved up beside her, glancing at the poster.
"A missing poster, huh? Let's hope the kid gets found," he said lightly.
"Yeah… I hope he gets found," Caitlyn echoed, her voice soft.
I don't, Crane thought. I hope he never gets found.
"Well, let's go," he said aloud, steering her away from the wall.
They weaved through the alleys until they finally reached a large, rusted elevator tucked into the side of a crumbling building.
"This is it," Crane said, throwing his arms out dramatically. "Are you ready for the Under-city?"
Caitlyn took a deep breath.
"Yes. I'm ready."
They stepped inside the elevator. Crane hit a button and the metal doors screeched shut.
"Just wait," Crane said, leaning back against the wall casually. "It'll take a while."
The elevator shuddered to life, rattling as it slowly descended into the depths of the under-city.
————————————
The Under-city
The elevator doors creaked open.
Caitlyn's eyes widened as she took in the bustling crowd — people moving in every direction, shouting, bargaining, laughing.
Crane stepped out first.
"Follow me. I'll give you a tour of my home," he said with a grin.
Caitlyn followed, glancing around at the chaos.
"There's so many different styles of clothing down here," she said, almost in awe. "And the people… they look kind of… off, if you know what I mean."
Crane glanced back over his shoulder.
"You mean like me? I've got red skin. Do I look off to you?"
Caitlyn stumbled over her words, flustered.
"Wait, no, it's— it's not like that! You're… you. I know you."
Crane nodded, almost smug.
"I know I'm me. And they know they're them."
Without warning, he veered toward a man in a ragged cloak.
"How much for the cloak?" Crane asked.
The man raised four fingers silently.
Crane pulled out four silver coins from his pocket and dropped them into the man's hand.
The guy gave him the cloak and immediately ran off — clearly headed to spend it unwisely.
Crane turned back to Caitlyn, holding out the cloak.
"You look good," he said casually.
Caitlyn blinked, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks.
"Why would you say that?"
"Put this on," Crane said, tossing her the cloak. "You look too rich. Look more… poor."
Caitlyn hesitated, then reluctantly threw the cloak over her shoulders.
"Oh," she realized, "it was my clothes you meant."
Crane gave a sly smile and started walking again, leading her through the lively, grimy streets.
As they moved, he pointed things out.
He pointed left.
"That's where people go to have fun. It's a brothel."
Caitlyn's gaze flickered to the building — women of all shapes and sizes beckoned from the doorway.
She quickly looked back at Crane.
"Do you… like to have fun?" she asked shyly.
"I like to have fun, of course—just not the brothel kind," Crane said easily.
Caitlyn let out a sigh of relief.
"That's good to hear."
Crane pointed to his right.
"On your right, you'll see a woman selling fruit—that's not that important. But next to her is the alley where I used to sleep."
Caitlyn's eyes widened slightly.
"You… slept in an alley?"
"Yeah," Crane said with a smirk. "That alley was the original."
What he didn't say was that alley was where he had first been reincarnated.
Caitlyn took a step toward it.
"Can we go check it out?"
Crane shrugged and walked with her.
"Yeah, sure. Just don't get jealous and want to switch lives with me."
"I doubt I'll feel jealous," she muttered.
They made their way into the alley.
Caitlyn's eyes widened, a sharp intake of breath escaping her as she caught sight of the rotting corpse slumped against the wall.
The stench hit her like a wave, thick and unbearable, and she instinctively recoiled, her hand coming up to cover her nose and mouth.
"Is that… a corpse?" she asked, her voice faltering, as she quickly looked away, her stomach turning at the sight.
Crane glanced at the body, his expression neutral, the memories of his first kill stirring within him.
"People die all the time down here," he said casually, his gaze lingering a moment longer. "It's not too uncommon to find a body."
Caitlyn took a step back, her face pale, her eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and unease.
"I… I don't like the alleys here," she muttered, her voice thin with disgust.
Crane walked ahead of her, undeterred. "I didn't used to sleep next to a dead body, if that makes you feel any better."
She gave a nervous laugh, but it felt forced. The reality of the Under-city was so much darker than she'd imagined.
"go on with your tour," Caitlyn said quickly, her tone sharp with unease.
"Just… don't show me dead bodies again, okay?" she added, her voice more fragile than she'd like to admit.
"I'll try my best," he said, smiling slightly.
He pointed ahead.
"There—you'll see enforcers."
Caitlyn followed his gaze, her eyes lighting up with recognition.
"There seem to be a lot more coming down to the under-city lately," Crane said. "It's making people uneasy."
"Well… it's only for everyone's safety. That's why," Caitlyn said, trying to sound confident.
Crane gave a long sigh, staring at her like she just said something incredibly naive.
He said nothing, but the look on his face said it all.
Caitlyn got closer to him, narrowing her eyes.
"Hey, what's that look for?"
"Nothing," Crane said quickly, then changed the subject. "But… do you want to try my favorite food?"
"Yeah, of course!" Caitlyn said, brightening up. "You show me your favorite food, and later I'll show you mine. We're totally bonding—like real friends!"
Crane smirked, amused by her excitement.
"Yeah… it's just after we pass the animal seller."
As they kept walking, he finally spotted Jericho's—the little food stand he had in mind.
He also spotted something else.
Vi, Mylo, Claggor, and Powder were already sitting there, eating their meals.
Caitlyn glanced at Jericho's, noticing the animal seller right beside it.
"It looks unique," she said, a little unsure. "But as your friend, I'll try the food."
Without hesitation, Caitlyn went and sat down—at the end, leaving the only open seat next to Vi, who was busy eating.
Caitlyn looked back over her shoulder at Crane, waiting for him to join her.
It was bound to happen for them to meet. I guess the sooner, the better, Crane thought to himself.
With a shrug, Crane walked over and sat down next to Vi.
Vi turned toward him, her eyes narrowing as she registered who had taken the seat next to her.
"Jonathan," she said, almost surprised.
Crane smirked, his tone casual. "Long time no see."