Chapter 2: Blood and Flesh

Teal is shocked by the sight of his arm. 

His mind was in shambles as he felt confused by the current situation of his body. 

Beside him Van is pulling his hands back from Teal's shoulders. His face twisted into an expression of pure horror as he witnessed his friend's arm. The skin melted off and instead of blood and bones visible he saw a metallic skeleton and wires hugged to it.

"Bro... what is this?" He stumbled back making distance from him "what—what are you..."

Panic started taking over Teal's face. He turned to look at Van, his expression looked as if he was terrified of the person before him. 

"Van.. I— this— I don't know what is going on..."

Suddenly the pain of the headache which was already too painful, started getting sharper. 

"GAAHH—" He collapsed on the ground after he screamed his lungs out. Maybe from the exhaustion or maybe from the strain that was haunting his brain.

Van stood there completely frozen, his eyes didn't dart away. The expression on his face was completely blank, like he was in a trance

For 5 whole minutes he did not move from the spot he was standing. He kept staring at the friend who had lost his consciousness and was lying on the floor.

As the situation unfolded, a mysterious figuure in a hoodie that covered his head till his forehead, his face covered with a mask, revealing only his dark eyes. He looked at the situation with utter silence and just disappeared a moment later without a trace into thin air.

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Van snapped out of his trance like state, ge stared at Teal for a second and realised about the situation. He lifted Teal off the floor.

He draped Teal's arm on his shoulder and carried him, practically dragged him all the way to his house.

Teal slowly opened his eyes and found himself layed on the bed. He stared at the ceiling, not his ceiling but it felt familiar.

"Are you awake?" Van's voice cut through the silence.

He turned his head sideway, Van was looking at him, sitting in the chair. Van had a complete blank expression, but the expression shifting to one of suspicion with his eyes shot up as he leaned in. 

"Are you really Teal? If you are Teal then tell me, what is going on with your hand?"

Teal tried getting up, but he was yanked back as his waist and hands were tied in chain to the bed.

"What the—hey! why did you chain me up?" He stuggled to loosen the chain.

"Just answer the question!" Van yelled with rage filling his eyes.

"Look, I don't know... I am as confused as you are. I don't know what is wrong with my arm..." He looked at his arm which was not how he remembered before all this nightmare had begun and bit his lips vulnerably.

He hoped this was one of the nightmare that he forgets when he gets up everyday.

"This is reality..." He looked at at Van, tears started welling up his eyes making him looking more vulnerable than before. "Van... help me..."

Van on the other hand had his expression completely changed. The suspicious expression that was in his face turned to one of concern.

"Dude... I am sorry." He got up from his place and started fumbling with the chains to unchain Teal.

"Maybe I was too rash... I should have put more thought into it rather than just chaining you."

Teal looked up from where he was sitting "It's alright. I can understand why you did that. I would have done the same seeing a metal arm on my friend."

"So what is it? Why do you have a damn robotic arm?" Van looked at him, looking like he was fully going to accept any answer with a little bit of suspicion still lingering.

"I—I don't even know... This is news to me. Why is my arm a robotic arm? Am I not a human?" He started getting exestential crisis.

"You are a genius at this kind of things right? The robots and stuff? Can you check me? Please?"

Van looked at the vulnerability and him going through a existential criteria. He started wondering the same. Is the friend he knew from so long not a human? Was he a robot all along? 

"Let—", He stopped mid sentence "But... there is no technology yet that could make such a coordinated and advanced robotic arm... And the material is one that I haven't seen." 

He examined the arm and gasped heavily, admiring how well and beautifully the arm had been built.

"This arm is so well built... The structure has perfectly replaced the exact bone structure of the arm. The wires act as the muscles making the arm operate well."

Teal looked shocked by the analysis he made by just a look at the arm.

"So... Am I a robot?" Teal looked small so when he asked that question.

Van touched his other arm. 

"I want to test something but it may hurt a bit." He looks determined like he discovered something new

.

"...Go ahead." He replied making up his mind to find more about himself.

Van went to the kitchen and brought a knife.

"Clench your teeth." As he took the knife and pressed in Teal's palm carving a cut, beneath the parted skin the palm was metallic too.

Teal clenched his teeth for moment and tried relaxing "What did you find out?" He looked curiously at Van.

Van looked at him silently "I need some more testing..."

He carved a cut on the other palm but the arm actually bled.

Van looked surprised by the bleeding.

"What does this mean?" Teal gulped.

"So, it looks like your left arm is metallic and right arm is perfectly normal." He tapped the metal eith the knife. "The density of the metal is the same as the bone so it is hard to tell which part is normal and which part is robotic..." 

He paused for a moment "But it does seem like the arm was installed not too long ago..."