we tried slowly depriving his test chamber of oxygen.
it didn't do anything to him.

we tried cutting off his left arm.
it regenerated.

we tried cutting off his right arm.
it regenerated.

we tried cutting off his left leg.
it regenerated.

we tried cutting off his right leg.
it regenerated.

we tried an assortment of combinations in which limbs to dismember.
the outcome was always the same.

did he ever exclaim in pain?
not particularly.
he remained unusually silent, much to the chagrin of one individual.

no matter how many excessive lacerations
or punctures he sustained under that individual's scalpel,
he made not a single sound.

we needed to conduct more tests on him.
at this point, we weren't certain if it was still
appropriate to consider him to be a living being.

after all, he didn't do much after the operation.
he slept for very long periods of time.
either for most of the day, or for periods spanning multiple days.
sometimes, weeks.

otherwise, he would unblinkingly stare
at one of the cameras pointed
directly at him, for hours on end.

sometimes he would smile.
sometimes he would yawn.
it was difficult to tell if he was aware that he was being observed,
behind that screen separating us from him.

we conducted more tests on him.

we learned that it would take three weeks
before he would attempt devouring a part of his own body
in a rare demonstration of desperation.
(that body part would soon regenerate itself, of course.)

but afterwards, he wouldn't need additional energy
supplied into his form for quite some time.

he wasn't particularly picky.
if it was organic matter, he would consume it.

he didn’t require much water.
236.588 ml of water, once every
seven days or so was enough
to satisfy him.

at this point, we can confidently assert that he is no longer human.

the template we used to create this chimeric Phantasmagoria is likely long gone.
or does that mind of that individual— does his “soul” still exist somewhere deep inside?

it is hard to tell.
we did try speaking to him.
we questioned him.
he never responded.
nor did he show signs of acknowledging our words.
maybe it's all unintelligible to him,
and he had lost his capacity for language
during the process of his procedure.
it would only make sense.
he no longer possessed a skeletal system,
nor a nervous system,
nor a muscular system,
nor an endocrine system,
nor cardiovascular, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, urinary, reproductive–
system.
so it is only natural for him
to no longer possess
components such as
Broca’s area
angular gyrus
insular cortex
or Wernicke’s area
in the hemispheres of his brain.

that's par the course for the Phantasmagoria we have encountered in Lethe, or Oblivion.
they are animated figments, to describe them succinctly.
they do not speak— no, it is more accurate to say they likely
do not possess the mind to hold conversation with another "intelligent" being.
in very rare cases, we have encountered Phantasmagoria that
were capable of echoing a word recently uttered by some source somewhere
or endlessly repeating a particular word or phrase.

do not be fooled, even if that thing stubbornly insists on wearing
his veneer of supposed humanity.

is this his way of trying to influence us?
as if we would harbor reservations about committing atrocities
to another fellow human being?

he cannot fool us.
we already know what he is.
at this time and moment,
we have deemed this subject
to be a “freak of nature.”
a Phantasmagoria
that curiously exhibits
some characteristics
befitting a living organism
but ultimately composed
entirely of cognitive and
“emotional” data, notions,
impressions, all that which
can be found within an
imaginary being taking on
some vague visage
in the dreams of the human
mind.

of course, the fact that he
exists before us, both
visible and tangible to
some degree
raises the implication
that he is a being
existing within the liminal zone,
between reality and dreams,
between Veritas and Oblivion,
or between
Aletheia and Lethe.