Chapter 77: Chapter 77: The Iron Sarcophagus

The interior of the cubicle was small minimalist and smelled faintly of clinical antiseptic.

In the center sat a strangely designed high-tech chair contoured to the shape of a human body.

The moment Alexander sat down the dark polarized glass wall in front of him flickered to life transforming into a high-definition monitor.

Stark glowing text appeared on the screen followed by an instructional video displaying a 3D anatomical model "INITIALIZATION PROTOCOL: CHERRY BRACKET ASSESSMENT"

"1. Remove all clothing entirely."

"2. Secure all designated diodes and clamps."

"3. Sit flat against the biometric surface."

Alexander frowned but didn’t hesitate.

He stripped off his clothes placing them in a small locker by the door.

Following the video’s precise instructions he began attaching a multitude of small metallic clamps and diodes to his body.

They went onto his wrists his fingers his neck his jaw and a particularly uncomfortable flat clip was meant to be placed directly onto his tongue.

Once every single diode was secured a large glowing OK button appeared on the monitor waiting for his confirmation.

Alexander reached out pressing the digital button.

Instantly a sharp localized electric pulse shot through his left hand.

But instead of dissipating the current was dynamically guided through his nervous system traveling up his arm and shooting directly into his lower back.

It felt as if the electricity was being explicitly steered along a hidden track.

Intrigued and slightly unnerved Alexander twisted his torso around to examine the surface of the chair.

Upon closer inspection he noticed the material was completely covered in tens of thousands of microscopic ultra-fine needles.

Strangely enough they didn’t prick or pierce his skin at all as when he ran his hand over them the surface felt exceptionally unnervingly soft.

It was clearly a piece of military-grade incredibly expensive biometric technology.

He settled back into the seat to prepare for the next calibration but the second pulse caught him completely off guard.

A sharp sting vibrated directly against his right buttock right at the very edge of his intergluteal cleft.

Alexander glanced up at the 3D model on the monitor.

According to the anatomical blueprint glowing on the screen the pulse was actually meant to target his anus directly.

He realized he had instinctively shifted his weight to avoid a small firm protuberance built into the center of the seat cushion.

Realizing there was no escaping the machine’s thorough calibration Alexander muttered a curse under his breath and bit the bullet sliding himself firmly back until his body perfectly aligned with the sensor.

The screen flashed green confirming full contact.

"Great" muttered Alexander his voice muffled by the tongue clamp.

Before he could even adjust his hands a series of hidden seams in the chair’s framework split open.

From compartments that were completely invisible to the naked eye heavy polished metal shackles smoothly slid out.

Moving with mechanical speed and specific force the metallic restraints clamped tightly around his wrists his ankles his chest and his forehead.

Within a span of three seconds the apparatus essentially wrapped around him entirely sealing him so tightly against the biometric surface that he couldn’t even wiggle a single toe.

It felt exactly like being locked inside a high-tech form-fitting iron sarcophagus.

A cold heavy sweat broke out across his forehead.

Alexander had faced gunfights high-speed chases and ruthless criminals but being completely paralyzed and entirely at the mercy of an automated machine in a dark soundproof booth gave him the most chilling claustrophobic sensation he had ever experienced in his entire life.

A gentle cool breeze suddenly began to blow inside the cramped space chilling his bare skin as a strange freezing sensation slowly started to creep upward from his feet.

Despite the sudden wave of panic seizing his chest the heavy iron sarcophagus held him with terrifying rigidity as he couldn’t move a single millimeter no matter how hard he tensed his muscles.

Then the chamber began to fill.

A thick clear liquid started pouring rapidly from the top vents pooling around his legs and rising steadily up his chest.

The moment the freezing fluid reached his neck pure unadulterated terror took over.

His mind raced with the absolute certainty that he was about to be executed drowned like a rat in a high-tech cage.

Alexander began to struggle violently his muscles straining against the unyielding metal restraints as his breath turned ragged.

"Relax kid.

It doesn’t hurt" Stephen’s booming voice suddenly echoed through a small speaker inside the pod his tone completely steady and grounding "Just close your eyes.

You’re going to feel like you’re falling asleep.

Don’t resist it and just trust me.

If I wanted to kill you there are a million things in this gym a hell of a lot less expensive than that equipment.

Just relax and let your body go."

Hearing the master trainer’s calm reassurance Alexander forced a deep breath into his lungs and consciously let his muscles go limp.

Almost instantly the freezing water began to numb his skin.

A strange heavy drowsiness washed over him and within seconds he completely lost all sensation in his arms and legs as if his physical body was actively disappearing into the void.

The liquid rose past his chin over his nose and completely submerged his head.

Yet right before his consciousness faded a bizarre realization hit him as he could still breathe perfectly fine beneath the surface.

"I can... breathe...?" muttered Alexander.

That bewildering realization was the absolute last thought to cross his mind before his body was brutally and systematically impaled from the spine outward.

Those tens of thousands of microscopic ultra-soft needles he had inspected earlier were not what they appeared to be.

The elaborate highly invasive electrical calibration had been explicitly designed to map out every single nerve ending muscle cluster and vertebrae with absolute millimeter-perfect precision.

The very moment the machine verified full contact the millions of microscopic needles violently shot forward in every single direction piercing through his skin his muscles and anchoring deep into his entire nervous system.

But Alexander didn’t feel a single thing.

He was already completely unconscious floating deep within the dark frozen abyss of the machine.