Experiment 50

Learning

50 winced, his arms were strapped to a machine, the machine moved them, and a piece forced his hand to close around the spoon. He scoop up some soup, and his arm was moved to his mouth. 50's arms ached, and a tear rolled down his face. A muscle in his hand twitched and the spoon dropped. The soup spilling down his front, and he closed his eyes, trying to brace for the coming punishment.

An imperial, who referred to herself as Teacher, moved quickly, and brought a switch down on 50's hand, "Bad!" she snapped

He whimpered, his hand stinging. 

"Try again!"

50 let the machine move his arms again, and he once again picked up the spoon full of soup. He managed to get it to his mouth without spilling it.

"Open your mouth," the imperial ordered, knowing 50 didn't know how to eat.

He opened his mouth and put the spoon inside. The soup tasted amazing and sparked his appetite. Impatiently he went through the process again, it was slow and he couldn't get food fast enough. 

Each time he spilled the soup, he received a harsh slap on the hands. Each slap grew harder until they were leaving red marks. But, slowly, as the days passed, he needed less and less smacks, his arms memorizing the motions they needed to make to get the wonderful soup. 

At this point he couldn't use his arms on his own, he needed the machine to move them, but he knew the motions he needed to make.

One day, a month later, Terina walked in to check on him. "Can he yet use his arms on his own?" 

Teacher shook her head, "No. He knows how, but he can't lift them."

"I'll perform the operation then."

Teacher sighed, "Just watch what he can do with the machine! You don't have to give him the surgery!" she wanted to save the child from the life long burden. 

Terina rolled her eyes, "Give him soup and let's see."

Teacher walked over to 50, who was sitting on the floor, his expression blank, "Let's get you some lunch, how about that?" she whispered to him.

"Ahhh! Ahhh!" 50 cried, he was trying to say 'yes', but he couldn't use words, not yet. 

Teacher smiled, "Good work responding!" 

Terina watched, annoyed, "Stop speaking to the idiot! I don't have time for this!"

She rolled her eyes, and got a bowl of soup. Teacher strapped 50 to the machine and turned it on, at a much faster speed than when she had started trying to teach him to eat.

50 started eating, devouring the food, eating excitedly. He was always hungry.

One he finished eating he cried, "Maaw! Maaw!" he was trying to ask for more. 

"He can't eat on his own. He needs the operation," Terina said, irritated. 

Teacher sighed, and gave 50 a small pill. He went limp, slumping forward, unconscious.

"Thank you for your help. I'll return him to you after the operation is complete." She dragged 50 away.

In the surgery, Terina implanted a machine into his back, connecting his arm bones to the metal bars of the machine, then stitched him back up. "Done!"