[JOHN HENRY. Unknown location, Mojave Wilderness, United States of America. Monday 14th of June, 1880 Gregorian Calendar.]

John Henry unsteadily opened his eyes. He felt numbness coming from his arms and shoulders. Then realised he was currently being hung on wall, his weight supported by ropes that bound his hands above his head.

The dark room he was in, was barely lit by a gas-powered light on the opposite wall. To his right was a pitch-black hole, around two meters in diameter. To his left was the body of one of the railway spikers who worked under him, trussed up to the wall in the same manner as John was. The man's shallow breathing indicated he was alive. Beyond that man, the wall extended another ten meters, before ending at an open doorway. John could hear the sounds of screaming coming from the beyond that door.

Over time the screaming became fainter and fainter. Until it finally stopped. Then after close to an hour of silence, John heard the sound of squeaking wheels approaching.

The dark open exist started to brighten. As an unseen light source approach.

Squeek… squeak… squeak….

The noise grew louder and started to grate on John's nerve. He wanted to shout out a defiant challenge but decided that a wiser course of action would be to pretend unconsciousness and see what happened.

Through half shut eyes, John watched as a large metal gurney was pushed into the room by a figure dressed in surgeon's clothes. Due to the full covering provided by the outfit, John couldn't tell anything about the identity of the gurney pusher, except for that they had blue eyes.

On the metal tray was the body of a man who John recognised as another of his railway spikers. The corpse had a large hole in its chest, its heart having been completely removed.

The gurney pusher stopped just in front of the large hole. There they manipulated a number of small levers on the left side of the gurney, which in turn caused the metal slat on top of the gurney to tilt to the left. Depositing the dead man into the hole, with an audible splash.

Cranking the leaver in the opposite direction, brought the gurney back to its original position. Then the gurney pusher walked directly to stand in front of John. Just out of reach should he try to launch a kick at them. Then they pulled down their bloodied surgical mask to expose one of he most beautiful faces John had ever seen.

"I know you're awake," stated the woman in a melodic voice.

"What do you want from me?" asked John after deciding that playing possum wouldn't provide any benefit.

"I want you to live," the woman smiled. "Just like I wanted that man to live and the three men before him to live. But you humans are so fragile."

"You cut people's hearts out and expect them to live?" John almost laughed at the absurdity.

"Why yes," the woman seemed puzzled. "We have studied you humans for a long time now. We know that you can bond machines into your bodies and used them as if they were the same as the original organic part."

"We don't replace organs necessary for survival," John explained, hoping that this demon with a woman's face could be convinced of the futility of her experiment and perhaps even gain some sympathy from her.

It was true that due to technology beyond John's comprehension, people could have limbs and even certain sensory organs replaced with mechanical parts. However, the operation couldn't replace organs necessary for life functions, such as hearts and brains.

"The last four men I operated on said the same thing," the woman frowned. "But I'm sure it's possible. I know for a fact that it's been done at least once before."

"Impossible!" shouted John. "You're insane. You're a monster!"

"I'm a scientist," the woman disagreed, before leaving John to grab her gurney and wheel it out.

John kept swearing at her but was unable to get a single response. It was clear that he wasn't going to talk his way out this situation.

After waiting till the squeaking sounds of the gurney could no longer be heard. John began struggling to loosen the ropes which hung him suspended on the wall. Flexing and unflexing his hands. While his blood provided lubrication. To his surprise the ropes were weaker than expected and one of the knots frayed then came undone.

John landed heavily on the ground, but immediately picked himself up. He tried to think of a way to free the other trussed up man. Unfortunately, the sound of a squeaking gurney once more started to approach. Accompanying it were the sounds of onerous heavy footsteps.

John looked towards the open doorway, the strung up railway piker and the dark hole. Then decided on a course of action.