Thickened

83's skin had thickened during the night, and I found him on the floor, unable to move. I couldn't bear to see him like that, so I tried to scrape away some of the skin as gently as I could to free up his joints. As soon as I touched his skin, he started to moan horribly, and I knew he was in excruciating pain.

I didn't know what to do. If I left him as he was, 83 was trapped in his motionless body. He was struggling to breath, and I didn't think he'd live for much longer. But removing his skin caused him terrible pain. In the end, I did what I had to do. I grabbed his arm, sliced away some skin with a knife, and injected him with the sedative. When 83 was out cold, I grabbed the blowtorch and burned the skin on his arm away. I didn't do any more than that, because I needed to see how he reacted. Tomorrow, I'll clear the rest of the skin away. It'll hurt him temporarily, but he won't be in as bad a situation as he is now. I don't feel good about it, but I can't think of any other way to solve his problem.

I need to know what's going on. I have to get a fuller picture of what they do here on the lower level, how their research is progressing. Once my week in charge of 83 is over, I'll be in a better position to investigate.