噩梦工程 Engineering the Nightmare

购得一名杀手，隐于闹市、伪装平民。只有训练有素的人才能看出他体内的野兽，正在央求着得到释放。我怎么能拒绝?如果不能用科学揭示生命的真面目，我的研究还有何意义?两倍剂量才控制住他。抵抗力惊人。这样的素质才能保证他挺过剧痛的催化并激发变形过程。这次蜕变将把这个人类变为一名杂合的掠食者，整个祖安都将成为它的猎场。

Procured a cutthroat hiding among the populace and feigning civility. Only a disciplined eye could recognize the beast within, yearning for release. How could I refuse? For what is my work if not an attempt to reveal life’s hidden truths through science? It required two doses to subdue him. Impressively resilient. A necessary quality to survive the grand catalyst of pain and provoke the transmutation. The metamorphosis will reshape the man into a chimeric predator, and all of Zaun will be its hunting grounds.

为实验对象做好植入准备。测试了一项艾欧尼亚战役期间观摩的肩胛骨手术。需要几分钟时间在骨板上钻孔，之后安装固定炼金输药泵，泵入诱发变异的方剂。实验对象痛苦哀求。坚称自己不再是怪兽而是好人。无视。将多根专用导管穿入上肢近端，与动静脉对接缝合。实验对象全程保持清醒，嚎叫长达六个小时。很振奋，他在晕厥之前坚持的时间比前几次失败的样本大大延长。最后将机械增强体与脊髓神经纤维整合。需要缝合的创口极小。实验对象状态稳定，正在恢复。我必须养精蓄锐准备迎接明天的操作。

Prepared subject for implantation. Tested a surgical technique I observed during the Ionian Campaign to reach the scapulae. Required several minutes of drilling through bone to attach the alchemical chamber and pumps that will deliver the transmutative formula. Subject wailed and pleaded. Insisted he was no longer a monster, but a good man. Ignored the distractions and threaded lengths of delicate hoses throughout his extremities, splicing them with his veins and arteries. The subject remained conscious and screaming for six hours. Very encouraging as he endured significantly longer than earlier failures. Finished by integrating the mechanical augmentations with the neurolous fibers of the spine. Minimal stitching required. Subject stable and recovering. I must rest and replenish before tomorrow’s procedure.

实验对象畏首畏尾，稍有动作就瑟瑟发抖。向药泵注入诱变剂并开启药泵，实验对象在束具中奋力挣扎。药泵将炼金诱变剂推入体内，开始进入下一阶段。效果立竿见影。药剂首次入血会引起血管强烈收缩，实验对象也出现了抽搐现象。药泵逆着阻力继续将药剂推入，实验对象猛烈抵抗，几乎带翻了手术台。

Found subject despondent and shrinking at the slightest gesture. He struggled against his bonds as the delivery chamber filled with the transmutative formula and activated. The mechanism primed the alchemicals then initiated the next stage. The effects were instantaneous. The subject convulsed as his blood vessels constricted against those first drops. The plunger pushed the mixture through the obstruction, and the subject thrashed violently, nearly toppling the surgical table.

和设想的一样，痛苦是改变的催化剂。它释放了炼金学反应的潮涌，激发了实验对象解剖结构的变异。随后出现骨骼肌腱断裂的声音，骨架发生变形。接着试验对象的手腕穿出一根锯齿骨刺。他用力拉扯束具，最后手腕齐根折断，整只手掉在了地上。他发出一声刺耳的哀嚎，然后全身僵直，彻底不省人事。变异失败了。我给他的伤口止血，稳定生命体征。或许我高估了实验对象的痛苦耐受力。我会重新校准，明天重新开始。

As hypothesized, pain proved the catalyst of change. It released the flood of chemistry required to transmute the subject’s base anatomy. A snapping of bone and sinew followed, reshaping the skeletal frame. And then a jagged shard ripped through the subject’s wrist. He wrenched against the bindings, pulling until the joint cracked sharply, and his severed hand fell to the floor. There was a piercing wail, and his entire body seized before suffering a full collapse. The transmutation had failed. I stanched the wound and stabilized the body’s vital tasks. Perhaps I’ve overestimated the subject’s tolerance for pain. I will recalibrate and begin anew tomorrow.

回到实验室发现断手依然在地上。惊人，它没有表现呈现出腐烂和尸僵的迹象。检查实验对象的撕裂创面，他对我进行咒骂威胁。攻击性的提升是炼金药剂带来的良好副作用，但最惊人的改变藏在了浸满鲜血的绷带之下。一根肢芽。虽然是一个畸形的胚胎，但掠食功能的形态却独具美感。虽然这时已经距离半途中止的操作过了好几个小时，但是新的肌肉依然在生长，速度超过畸形骨刺的形成。或许应该花更多时间等待血清生效，可能会有好结果。

Returned to my laboratory and found the severed hand still on the floor. Surprisingly, it showed no signs of decay or rigor. Examined the subject’s mangled stump as he spat a litany of insults and threats. The rise in aggression is a promising aftereffect of the alchemicals. But the most striking change was hidden beneath the blood-soaked bandages. A protolimb. Embryonic and malformed, but beautiful in its predatorial function. Even now, hours after the aborted procedure, flesh continues to grow and outpace the formation of misshapen bone. Perhaps allowing more time for the serum to take effect may prove beneficial.

那根肢芽的样子一直浮现在我梦中。它的优美形态和专注的用途却因悲剧性的失败而戛然而止。但如果它能够成长呢?我带着灵感的火花醒来。冶金学。这门学科或许无法媲美炼金学反应的精致，但就在昨晚，冶金学实现了我的目的。通宵达旦地熔炼钢铁、磨砺锋刃、打造框架。它应该能够提供所需的结构，一种组胚支架，让肢芽顺势生长。在自然的基础上进行改进可以很简单，只要自然母亲已经提供好设计的框架。

Images of the protolimb pervaded my sleep. Its beauty and singular purpose arrested in tragic failure. But what if it could be more? Awoke with the spark of inspiration. Metallurgy. It may lack the refinements of true chemistry, but last night, it served my purpose. Worked until first light forging steel, sharpening edges, and hammering a framework. It should provide the necessary structure, a scaffolding of sorts, for the new limb to grow into. Improving upon nature is simple when she’s already offered a design.

本次操作的限制让我不得不对实验对象进行麻醉并迅速完成。发现肢芽有新的生长。改变已经放缓但没有停止。分离畸形肢的肌肉、血管和神经末梢并嫁接到支架上。最后与炼金药泵连接整合成为同一个增强体。在最小的度数下可观察到轻微的抽动。转移实验对象，加强束缚。还可以进行什么其他改进呢?或许我应该出去散散步呼吸一下新鲜灰霾。要考虑的太多。

The constraints of the procedure forced me to benumb the subject and work swiftly. Discovered signs of new growth on the protolimb. The changes had slowed, but not settled. Grafted the malformed limb’s muscle tissue, blood vessels, and delicate nerve endings to the framework. Finished by integrating the augmentation with the alchemical chamber. Observed a slight twitch in the smallest digit. Moved subject, and reinforced his restraints. What other enhancements could be made? Perhaps I shall have a stroll and take in the Gray. There is much to consider.

从边境市场回来，迎接我的是熟悉的味道。实验对象后背上爬出了静脉萎缩留下的脉络。感染是从骨骼与药泵衔接处发生的。调整了方剂成分，注入了新药。实验对象的昏睡被一声尖啸打破。他的骨架开始破碎并重构，显现出野兽的形态，奇形怪状的本性终于开始浮现，可是随后，变异逐渐缓和并静止下来。

Returned from the Boundary Markets and was greeted by an old familiar stench. Tributaries of blighted veins stretched across the subject’s back. The infection originated where bone and metal chamber adjoined. Made adjustment to the formula, and dispensed the new batch. The subject’s stupor broke in a piercing shriek as his skeletal structure fractured and reshaped. A beastial form began to emerge, the chimeric properties finally surfacing, but then, the transmutation slowly ebbed and stilled.

增加了药泵的流量。剧烈震颤，每次心跳都释放出二倍的剂量。身体相应地扭曲，皮开肉绽犹如褴褛衣衫，无法包容深处的异变。药泵开始隆隆作响，混合物在密闭容器中吞吐激荡。压力越积越高。最后，导管、封塞、血管相继破裂。爆裂的声音接二连三，充满金属碰撞的质感，实验对象的束具彻底崩坏。

Increased the chamber’s outflow. It trembled violently, delivering twice the dosage for every beat of the heart. The body contorted in response as flesh split like poorly seamed fabric unable to contain the changes occurring underneath. The chamber rumbled as the mixture roiled within the sealed container. Pressure built until it released in a rupture of hoses, seals, and blood vessels. A series of snapping sounds followed, metallic and clanging, and the subject’s restraints gave way.

　一眨眼的功夫，他向我迎面扑来，身上的旧伤再次撕裂，心中的暴怒再次燃烧。我们短暂扭打，最后他渐渐虚弱，瘫倒在地。嘴里念出一个词。然后生命体征全部消失，身体平静下来。监测不到心跳。在左臂上滴加腐蚀性溶液，没有反应。实验对象死亡。将尸体拖出去，残余部分丢进地沟。又一次，科学的进步被扼杀在低级生物的桎梏中。唯一值得欣慰的是，失败同样也能扩充我的知识储备

An instant later, he was tearing into my face, reopening the old wounds and feeding the old rage. We struggled briefly until he finally grew limp and collapsed. A single word escaped his throat. And then all the indicators of life faded, and the body finally settled. No heartbeat detected. Applied several drops of caustic solution to his left arm, and received no response. Subject deceased. Dragged the body outside, and disposed of the remains in the Sump. Once again, scientific progress is stifled by lesser creatures. The only consolation is that even failure adds to the vast reservoir of knowledge.

昨晚有骚动。赶到现场，实验室后门只剩下折页。厚重的木板被撕成碎屑。实验室内部，仪器和耗材也是一样的遭遇。无一幸免。每样东西都带着同样的被金属利刃割裂的痕迹。数小时的检查和印记对比确认了事实真相——实验对象回来了!我不知道是什么机理，但我脑海中已经出现许多疑问。不过最首要的，必须妥善组建新的实验室，然后才能找到这头野兽，开始下一阶段实验。实验对象瘫倒之前说的是什么词来着?好像是个名字?我就从这个线索查起，看看能有何收获。

There was a disturbance last night. Arrived to discover the rear door to my laboratory was torn from its hinges. Its heavy wooden planks cleaved and splintered into kindling. Inside, my equipment and provisions suffered a similar fate. Nothing was spared. And everything bore the same deep, gouging slash of sharpened metal. Hours of examining and comparing the marks confirmed the truth—the subject had returned! I don’t know how, but there are a myriad of questions already forming in my mind. But first, a new laboratory must be secured before locating the beast and starting the next phase. What was the word the subject said before it collapsed? A name perhaps? I’ll start there, and see where the search leads me.