Sawbones
Thinking of your childhood brings to mind the next era of your life, when you began your training in the medical profession. You scratch at the rusted green copper that surrounds the porthole with a long fingernail, idly scraping out a crude drawing as you immerse yourself in the bittersweet memories.A). Admitted to a prestigious university on scholarship due to your amazing intellect, you were admired as a medical prodigy among both student and staff. When you graduated, you were quickly promoted to a high ranking, putting you on the fast track for a promising career-- until, during a life-saving surgery on a high-ranking military official, you accidentally sliced through a major artery. Accused of being a spy who deliberately murdered her, you were stripped of your license and sent to jail, ostensibly for life. However, in light of new evidence that retroactively proved your innocence and having already served the term that likely would’ve been given for manslaughter, you’ve found yourself released, a public apology from the government in hand. Too little, too late, you think bitterly.
B).You learned medicine on the streets, apprenticing yourself to a “doctor” who operated an illegal clinic where you treated anyone who could pay the fee (no questions asked). You took over the clinic when the doctor disappeared in mysterious circumstances, and began dealing in the organ trade on the side-- opening people up (whether they knew it or not) and selling their organs to the noble elite. Eventually, you were able to gather enough cash to get the equipment to experiment with magitech cybernetics-- human organs with superhuman capabilities. Unfortunately, but inevitably, one of your products went bad, and it ended in the death of a very important customer. Somewhat ironically, however, you were convicted not of murder, but of practicing medicine without a license.
C).You signed up with the military and studied to become a field medic. After displaying a flair for intimidation and knowing just how far to go to make someone talk, you were “strongly encouraged” to join the interrogation squads instead. You decided to make the most of your unexpected change in career, and used your subjects to test the limits of human endurance-- physical, mental, and emotional. Your techniques, when you decided to stop experimenting and get down to business, were so brutally efficient that even your hardened colleagues tried to avoid sharing an interrogation room with you. However, after you ‘spoke’ with a valuable spy and prisoner of war, the higher-ups decided you knew too much. They court-martialed you for war crimes you didn’t commit (and maybe a few you did-- but only with their approval) and shipped you off, expecting you to die in prison. You wonder if they know you’re out now.
D). As a manipulative sociopath. You have held a lifelong fascination with living creatures and how they work, inside and out, it wasn’t surprising what you-- the child who liked to catch small animals and observe their responses to different stimuli, before cutting them open to study their entrails and compare the messy vivisections to the crisp, clean diagrams of various medical texts-- grew up to be. You were a serial killer who used your charm and good looks to lure unsuspecting victims onto your makeshift medical table, where you cut them apart with a genial smile. Unfortunately, you were caught, and while the evidence was too circumstantial for an execution, you were still sentenced twenty-five to life. You happened to get out early on a mix of legal technicalities... and “good behavior”. [Hard mode-- you have to report to a parole officer.]
[4 wins!]