(WARNING! The following text contains elements of Transformation/Detachable Bodies/Mad Science. There's also technically some nudity. If you do not care for any of the aforementioned topics, just leave.)

"What the hell!?" I screamed. I'm not quite sure how I managed to scream, but I definitely heard myself scream. For that matter, I have no idea how I heard myself scream. I didn't exactly have ears. Or a mouth to scream with. Or any discernible anatomy.

"Calm down, just a minor setback."

"Minor… look at me! I'm goop!"

Shortly after drinking the flask, my body apparently dissolved into a yellow blob on the floor. There was nothing of 'me' left, other than a slimy mess. I still don't know how I was talking… or seeing, or anything. It was weird. Even though I didn't have eyes, I sort of had 360 degree vision. I could 'see' everything around me and myself, in a sort of haze. Couldn't move though. And everything sort of felt… like I'd been run through a blender.

"Don't worry, I'll just pop you into the Restoration Chamber and you'll be as good as new!" he said, grabbing a vacuum cleaner.

"What are you doing with thaaaaaaa—aat!" I shouted over the roar of the vacuum as it sucked my gloopy body into it. "Hey, I'm not garbage you know!"

He merely chuckled as he finished cleaning up the mess that I was. He emptied out the vacuum's chamber into a large vertical glass pipe. "This is the Restoration Chamber. As long as there's even the slightest trace of your DNA leftover, it can completely rebuild you from scratch. A clean, brand new body!" He shut the chamber on me and flipped a switch off to the side console.

There was a loud sound (not entirely unlike the vacuum cleaner) as I felt my body (or what was left of it) shifting and sliding together. After a brief moment of this continued strange sensation, the vacuum sound stopped, and I realized I could move again. I was whole, human, just as I was before… and… naked.

"Ahhh!" I screamed, hiding my privates.

"Oh, right, forgot to mention that part." He said, chuckling. He averted his gaze. "There's some spare clothes in the back closet. Take your pick. I won't look." He turned away to his desk.

"What about my clothes?" I asked.

"You could wear them if you like, but they're sort of soaked in… well, you."

"Right." I went over to the closet, keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't peek. To be honest, I was surprised that he didn't. He had obviously stated earlier that he preferred testing on women. I was almost sure there was a perverse reason, but apparently not. I opened the closet.

"Holy…" I was taken aback by the tremendous amount of clothes in the closet. It wasn't just a closet; it was a huge room, filled with ridiculous amounts of clothes in every fashion, for every person of every size imaginable. It looked like it continued forever. I slipped inside to look for something to put on. I settled on a simple T-shirt and jeans before heading back out.

"Alright, I think I've got it this time." He said, handing me a new vial. The liquid was slightly pinker than before.

"And… what is it actually supposed to do?" I asked, quizzically. I should've asked him before I even drank the first one.

"Just try it and see. It should work now."

I sighed and downed the vial of pink stuff. A few moments of indifference later, I felt a somewhat familiar tingling sensation in the back of my throat. "I think that…" I didn't get to finish my thought though, as my body melted into a pile of goop again. I was green this time.

"Oops. I guess not. It's definitely closer though!" he said, grabbing for the vacuum again.

"How can you tell?" I asked as I stepped of the Restoration Chamber once again. This time he had clothes on standby, a same pair of T-shirt and jeans. I got dressed in a hurry, making sure that he wasn't watching. And he didn't.

"Oh, just a hunch. My hunches are usually right though."

"So are you ever going to tell me what this is supposed to do?" I asked suspiciously eyeing the new test tube.

"Well if I ever get it right, you'll know!" he shouted. There was a hint of frustration in his voice, so I backed away. I didn't want to upset the mad scientist.

We went through four more tests after that, giving me suspicions about the accuracy of his 'hunches'.  Each failed chemical just dissolved my body into goopy messes of different consistencies and colors. Finally, he presented me with a new test tube, the seventh trial. It was a bit different than the others, more purple than pink. I drank the substance and braced myself for another melty mess.

After a few moments passed where I didn't dissolve, he clapped his hands together. "Excellent! I think it's working!"

"Are you sure?" I was paralyzed with fear and anticipation. I didn't dare move because I had no idea what had happened or was happening to me. "What's… happening?"

"Localized Portalization Serum. It generates portals throughout the user's body." He said, with a straight face. "It essentially does exactly the same thing the portal bracers did, but easier to manage."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember how the bracer works? Your body now works the same way! Try pulling off your hand, just like if you had the bracer on."

I did as asked, and was surprised to feel my left hand pop off of my wrist once again. This time, however, there was no silver bracer. Instead, where I expected to see blood was covered in skin, like it had always been that way. I could still move and feel through it. "But… there's no portal?"

"Oh, there is. Millions of tiny portals reacting instantaneously throughout your body, essentially making it so that you can just pull yourself apart anywhere!"

"…anywhere?" I asked, putting my hand back on. As I did so, the skin of my wrist sort of… melted together, fusing. It gave a pleasant tingling sensation. Wait a minute. "Whoops. Um…" I had put my hand on backwards.

"Ah, there's a problem… the bracers forced you to reattach correctly, you kind of have to guesstimate with this new portal serum."

I popped my hand back off and reattached it… more or less how it should look. T It might've been a bit crooked, but I couldn't tell. "So… anywhere? Like…" I reached up to my head and gave it a slight upwards pull. I can't say I was particularly surprised by the result, but it was shocking.

"The portal cells in your body react instantaneously to your thoughts, you should be able to pull yourself apart absolutely any way you want, just think and pull." He said, making gestures with his hands. "Likewise, you should be able to put yourself back together."

I picked my head off of my shoulders and held it out in front of me. "Whoah… this is so weird!" I turned my head around so that I was looking at myself. The surrealism of it all started to sink in as I looked my headless body up and down.

"Alright then! Good work, Amy. You're off for the day."

"Huh? We're just done?" I fumbled a bit trying to turn my head to face him. He was cleaning up some things.

"Yeah. I got the results I was looking for. About the living arrangements, would you rather stay here, or go home?"

"I… um. I think I'd rather stay at home. For now." I added, hastily, "…how long does this last?"

"Oh, I dunno, hopefully a pretty long time, or it'd be expensive to commercialize. Right, that's part of the testing. If at any point you stop being able to detach yourself, please note down the time, so I can see how long it lasts. Other than that, you can go."

"…how? The door- oh." He presented me with a small key. It was the same key that he pulled out earlier, the key that led us to his lab in the first place. It was translucent, made out of some sort of clear crystal, but otherwise looked like any old key.

"Do not lose it. I only have one spare, and these are a real pain to make." He said, rather seriously. I tried to nod, but nothing really happened beyond my neck stump wriggling a little.

"Right." I chose to say instead, and I clenched the key tightly in my right hand. I was carrying my head under my left arm, like a football player would hold a ball. It was kind of cosy. "Thanks… wait. I never got your name."

"Amy, you've been with a complete stranger, a madman in a room filled with unknown devices and chemicals for somewhere around 5 hours now, and you're only just now thinking to ask his name?"

"I…" I hadn't really thought of it, to be honest. "Well, then. What is your name?"

"Secret." He winked slyly, "Can't let myself be tracked. Some of things I do aren't exactly… legal." Before I could protest, he ushered me off towards the door. "Right then, off you go! And one more thing, I would put my head back on before leaving if I were you. Don't want to attract attention, do you?"

"Right." I put my head back on my shoulders. I gasped lightly as a pleasant tingle shot through my spine. I tried not to show it, but I'm sure I must have blushed. "So what can I call you then?"

"…The Master." He said, without a trace of humor on his face, striking a dramatic pose. I broke down laughing. "…fine then, maybe not. Do you have a better idea?"

"How about… if I just called you what you are? The Artificer?" I suggested.

"The Artificer…has a nice ring to it. Kind of long though." He said, crossing his arms.

"Art, for short. There, it even sounds like a name." I said, patting him on his back. "I'm off then." I pulled out the key and placed it into the small crevice in the wall. The old door appeared before my eyes; I opened it, and stepped outside. Turning around, I caught the Artificer waving goodbye before shutting the door.

I shook my head. Did that really just happen? Was all of that real? I tugged at my right index finger, something I always do when I'm nervous. It detached from my hand. I giggled and placed it back, feeling a familiar pleasant tingle. "Tonight's going to be fun." I smiled to myself.