Resistance

Chapter 6

There weren't a lot of things that could get me into Hanji's lab—with it smelling of sulfuric acid, I stayed as far away from it as possible—but her conducting various experiments on Eren was enough motivation to deal with the stench for an extended period of time. Although I didn't have to be here for any of this, I wasn't about to trust Eren alone with a crazed scientist that always took her experiments too far, whether it put someone in danger or not. Therefore, I was going to oversee everything she planned to do this morning, so I could make sure that none of her deranged antics would result in severe injuries. To put it simply, today was going to be a long day.

After Hanji parked Eren in a banquet chair that Mike had pushed up against the far wall of the room, she took out her trusty digital voice recorder from her front pocket. She pushed the REC button and held it close to her mouth as she said, "The time is 0800 hours on November 4th, 2015. Case number is two-five-zero-one. Subject is a Caucasian male named Eren Jaeger. His birthdate is March 30th, 1990, and his current status is that of an S-ranked alpha, but I believe his ranking should be SS." She retrieved a scalpel from on top of a medical tray. "For this first procedure, I will be making a small incision in his brachioradialis muscle on his right forearm and timing how long it takes him to heal it." She stopped recording.

"Have you given your consent to this, Eren?" I asked before she could even think about digging that scalpel into his skin.

Eren glanced up at me with a calm expression. His hair was still wet from his shower, and the dark strands that lay against his forehead accentuated his green eyes. Looking at him made something in my chest pinch. "Yes. Erwin told me this was necessary to go on the upcoming mission with your team. If this is required of me in order to go with you, then I'll do it."

Of course Erwin said something like that. He spouted out anything that involved me, because he knew that would get Eren to agree without question.

"Can I proceed?" Hanji asked, regarding me with a look of exasperation.

I shrugged. "If he gave his consent, then go right ahead."

"All right, Eren," Hanji began in excitement, "as soon as I make the incision, focus on self-healing that area. Understand?" He nodded. She turned her attention to Mike after that. "Start the stopwatch at the same time." Without waiting for a response, she brought the blade down and cut along his forearm with a deft precision that could only be acquired with years of practice. As soon as she stopped and pulled the blade away, the wound began to heal instantaneously. Within seconds, the skin was smooth and flawless. "How many seconds was that, Mike?"

"Four point thirty-six."

Bringing the voice recorder back up with a hand that shook, she pressed the REC button once more and nearly shouted, "Subject was able to heal a four-inch incision within four point thirty-six seconds. These results are unheard of. He's able to regenerate tissue in milliseconds. At this rate, it wouldn't surprise me if he was capable of healing a broken bone within hours. I'll have to test this theory out on another day." She clicked off the recorder.

"You're not breaking any of his bones," I said at once, angry that she would even consider it. "Now or ever."

She ignored me. "Eren, the next incision will be deeper, but the same thing applies. Begin to heal it the moment I'm done. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

I gritted my teeth, but said nothing when she pressed the tip of the scalpel to his forearm. This time around, I dropped my eyes, but when I heard Mike click the stopwatch, I looked up again. Although this gash was far worse than the first, Eren healed it just as quick, the muscle in his arm stitching together as tendrils of steam rose up from where the laceration had been seconds ago. It amazed me how he was able to do that so quickly. I'd never seen another alpha heal a wound that fast, even with their ability to self-heal. This wasn't good. If Erwin found out about this, he would use it to his advantage, and that could only lead to Eren being put in a dangerous position on his first mission out.