The man checked his watch. He still had about an hour until the show was scheduled to begin. People would be arriving soon. Having finished maintenance of his machine a while ago, the man had tried taking a nap in the green room, but found himself unable to relax. He was much too excited, especially after the performance with Juliet. With the big show just around the corner, the man decided rather than sit patiently and wait, he'd take a quick look around. If what Mrs. Jackson had said before was true, then Juliet would be found around the entrance to the theater. Exiting the green room, the man headed towards the front of the building.

True to her word, Mrs. Jackson had made Juliet into a perfect display piece. The man found her sitting in an elegant gilded chair placed squarely in the center of the main entrance hall. She was still naked from when he had last seen her, but now her hair was done up into a pretty style that framed her face gracefully. A bit of makeup had been applied around her eyes and cheeks, subtlety accentuating her natural youthfulness. Vivid red flowers were arranged neatly around the thin legs of the chair, giving off the impression of blood pooling underneath the disfigured young lady sitting above. The man was careful not to disturb them as he approached Juliet. Surprisingly, she looked up and smiled at him.

"Greetings sir. Welcome to Destiny Heights Community Theater. Please enter to the right. We hope you enjoy the show tonight."

She didn't recognize the man at all. Her gaze, it was totally empty, her smile, bizarrely calm. It was quite a radical change from the complete wreck of a girl she had become only hours ago. A closer inspection revealed the truth of the matter.

Thin red marks crept along the sides of Juliet's body. Curious, the man picked up her limbless torso and examined her. The marks visible from the sides turned out to be the tail ends of long, angry gashes crisscrossing over her backside. It was clear she had been whipped violently. That would explain her odd behavior. The poor limbless girl must have been put through some sort of cruel training and mental conditioning to mold her personality into that of an ideal display piece. Brutal, but effective. The girl known as Juliet was nothing more than a shell now, a pretty object to be admired.

The man placed Juliet back down in her seat. She stared up at him blankly, her dull smile unwavering. The lighting made her fair skin gleam beautifully; the man had to admit that as unsettling Juliet's strange behavior was, she was still a marvelous sight to behold. A sense of pride welled up in the man in knowing that product he had created ended up bringing such a stunning work of beauty to fruition. Transformed at the hands of the MegaMutilator 7000, Juliet was now, from his perspective, a masterpiece.

Finding a seat of his own in the waiting area, the man contented himself in watching Juliet for a while. Mostly she just stared down at a random spot on the floor, twitching a shoulder occasionally, but at regular intervals, her breathing would pick up and her eyes would close. These episodes barely lasted more than a couple seconds, after which she collected herself and returned to staring at the floor mindlessly. It was a sorrowful yet beautiful sight to witness this defeated creature fight off her remaining shreds of humanity in those moments of cognizance. The man could watch her all day.

Finally, the first guest of the night arrived, a short, older gentleman and his young ladyfriend. They stepped up to the display piece and beamed with delight as Juliet smiled and greeted them.

"Greetings sir, madam. Welcome to Destiny Heights Community Theater. Please enter to the right. We hope you enjoy the show tonight."

The couple took a minute to exchange amused comments with each other under their breath, then together they went down the hall to the right as directed. Taking this as his cue to finish prepping, the man gave one last wistful look at Juliet, then stood and went on his way to the dressing room.

One by one, guests arrived at the theater and took their seats. By the time of the show's opening, there couldn't have been more than sixty people occupying the numerous seats of the massive theater. By no definition could this show be considered a full house, but it mattered not to the man. In his mind, the quality of the audience mattered much more than quantity. The spectators gathered here were his people, true connoisseurs of beauty in even the most horrific of forms. Their discerning eyes would be able to truly appreciate his life's work and bring forth wondrous creations with the help of his machine.

The curtain rose and the man appeared before them, looking sharp in his new tux. He was nervous, but being the showman he was, he was able to put on a confident face for his lovely audience. Some classical music started and the man began his introduction.

"Welcome, one and all, to this exhibition of the most technologically advanced surgery automation device on Earth: The MegaMutilator 7000!"

The music swelled to become triumphant and booming as the machine's many parts swung and spun, a flashy display that earned some applause in response. Thanks to the display piece Mrs. Jackson had set up, everyone knew just what the machine was capable of and were all thrilled to finally see the device in person.

"I'm very happy to be here in Destiny Heights tonight. I've got a lot of fantastic ideas planned for tonight's products and I'm sure many of you out there have ideas of your own as well! Well I can assure you, tonight will be a night you'll all be talking about for months to come. Without further ado, let us begin! Bring out the first product!"

At that cue, a tall young lady, tanned with long black hair, stepped out onto the stage. Wearing only a white bikini and high heels, one could see every voluptuous curve in motion as she walked down the length of the stage, coming to a stop next to the man.

"Our first product of the night is this lovely woman here. Would the contributor of this fine product please stand and introduce her?"

The older gentleman the man had seen earlier stood up. An attendant carrying a hand microphone walked down the rows of seats and handed it to him to speak into. His voice came up over the speakers.

"Hello everyone, hehe." The gentleman seemed to be a bit nervous himself. "Uh, as you all know, I'm Greg Julius, and tonight I volunteered Miss Holly Christmas for tonight's performance. Yesterday, she was the most popular dancer at a small strip joint, but I've offered her a new job working for me. Isn't that right Holly?"

The woman nodded. She held herself well, posing sexily for the crowd, but there were traces of doubt on her face. She must have been pressured into doing this show, it was unclear if she even had a clue what was going to happen to her. The man decided to find out.

"Thank you Mr. Julius! Holly, do you know why you are up here tonight?" The man pointed the microphone towards her. She hesitated, then spoke into the mike.

"Uh, I think I'm going to have live surgery, right?"

Holly fidgeted a little at her own words. So she did have a bit of an idea after all. The man smiled and turned back to the audience.

"Mr. Julius, how would you like Miss Holly here changed tonight?"

Mr. Julius adjusted his tie, unnecessarily pausing for dramatic effect before finally stating his answer.

"Sir, I want her arms to be amputated and her eyes to be blinded."

Mr. Julius' bold declaration created quite a stir in the audience. They clapped in appreciation of his decision.

"Very good, what a splendid first selection! Holly, please climb onto the table and we shall begin the operation!"

Holly stood frozen, stupefied at what she had just heard. When she had signed the contract making her a part of tonight's show, she had assumed the surgery would be something more akin to breast implants or at worst a live vivisection. She had not expected something as extreme as losing her sight or leaving parts of herself behind. It was shocking to say the least. She grabbed the mike out of the man's hand.

"Greg, what the hell? I thought you said they were just going to open me up and put me back together!"

Mr. Julius smiled. "I did say that. At first I just wanted to take a look at your pretty guts. My friend here changed my mind." He motioned towards the lady next to him, the same woman that had accompanied him when he arrived. "Now be a good girl and get on that table."

"You bastard! I didn't agree to this!"

"Holly, you signed a contract. I own you now. Play nice and you and your family will never have to work another day in your lives. Your sister will be able to get into an Ivy League university with my recommendation. An entire life of luxury and comfort, all for a single night of sacrifice. I think that's a fair trade, don't you?"

Holly dared not argue. Everything Mr. Julius said was true. Ever since their parents died, every day had been a struggle to stay afloat. This was a once in a lifetime chance, it could be the only way to ensure she and her sister could live happily again. But at what cost? Her arms, her vision, she needed those. Could she still live without them? She imagined what her sister would think, what she would say if she arrived home in such a state. The thought terrified her, but at the same time, she could not deny the allure of the offer. As Mr. Julius' words sank in, the logical part of her mind took over.

Money could help Holly overcome any difficulties her disabilities would cause. She could hire a personal servant, she could buy some top-of-the-line prosthetic arms. Maybe after all of this was all over, she would find a surgeon to give her eye transplants too. That's something they could do now, right? Yeah, that would return her vision to normal, no problem. She would be fine. Her sister's happiness was more important than her own, she couldn't just let this opportunity slip by when there was so much more to gain.

Holly's composure was broken, her whole body shaking in fear, but with her determination renewed, she decided to go ahead and let them do the operation. She would climb up on that table and let them blind her and cut her arms off.

Holly forced the mike back into the man's hands and stomped over to the table. She sat down and laid across the tabletop, arms spread wide.

"Alright. Do it."

Her expression was pained, yet strong in the face of her unfortunate fate. The man stepped over to the control panel and pressed the button locking her down. There was no going back now.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The man started, "Let us begin the operation!"

With that, the man quickly inputted the settings and the MegaMutilator 7000 was set into motion. Twin pairs of cutting arms descended from above, moving in unison as they positioned themselves over both of Holly's shoulders. They paused, hovering just centimeters above her skin, just waiting for the signal to begin, their blades gleaming in the lights of the stage. The man raised his hand dramatically, and as he swung his arm down, he pressed the button. At once, the sharp blades of the machine began cutting into the woman's tanned flesh. The theater filled with screams as the poor woman on the table cried out in shock and pain. The audience sat on the edge of their seats, enraptured by the symphony of destruction. Muscle, nerves, tendons, blood vessels, the scalpels cut them all apart without discrimination. They only retreated to allow the lasers of the crystal sphere to stop the bleeding, after which they went right on back to their task until finally all connections were completely detached. All that was left was pulling out the bones. The grabbing arms came down, wrapping around both arms tightly. They forcefully pulled both arms free from their sockets at the exact same time, leaving their host armless in an instant. There was a boom of applause as the severed arms hit the floor, but this performance was not over yet. As the machine went and stitched up the screaming woman's shoulders, down came a new set of automated tools, ones designed to hold something open. They approached Holly's face, ready to pull her eyelids apart. With how bugged out her eyes already were, it seemed redundant having them hook under her eyelids, but it was absolutely necessary she be unable to close them for the next part of the procedure. The sphere hummed loudly, charging even more energy in preparation. Holly's eyes darted around frantically, looking anywhere and everywhere for some kind of escape, but there was none to be found. The stitching of her armless shoulders complete, the sewing arms retracted as mirrored arms descended and joined up with the others around her face. It was of utmost important that the lasers landed their shots, and to that end these mirrors would help direct them. The sphere finished charging, then released the energy all at once. With the mirrors' assistance, the shots hit the dead center of the woman's pupils. The intense heat melted the surface, causing Holly to shriek wildly. She saw a bright light and now her vision was all a blur. A few moments later, another bright light flashed and now all she could see was darkness. Steam rising from Holly's eyes, the procedure was complete.

The machine kept her eyes pried open until the bubbling flesh could cool, after which the tools unhooked from her eyelids and retreated. Holly's chest heaved as she wailed loudly, she could hardly bear the incredible pain. The machine released its hold on her and the man approached the side of the table. Reaching under her back, the man helped Holly sit up over the side of the table, then grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to her feet. The man stepped back and presented the finished product to the onlookers. They roared into raucous applause. The man took a quick bow. Though the crowd may have been small, their enthusiasm more than made up for their lack of numbers.

The man wrapped an arm around Holly's midsection and slowly guided her off the stage. She moved hesitantly. Without her sight, each step of her high heels felt like she was about to fall into a deep, dark pit. Suddenly, the woman lost her balance and tripped, falling forward and slamming into the floor with an echoing thud. There were audible gasps as she clumsily landed right on her ample breasts. Holly howled in pain, struggling to push herself up, but there were no arms to do so with, so she just ended up comically flailing on the floor. The audience burst out into laughter at the ridiculous display of helplessness. Frightened and humiliated, Holly pulled her knees up to her chest and curled into a ball, sobbing pitifully. A pair of stagehands walked out and together they carried the armless woman off stage.

"The lovely Holly, ladies and gentlemen!"

There was one last round of applause and the first act of the night officially came to a successful end.