Chapter 6 Dark Matter Trigger

The metal doors slid open as Lee Seng stepped through. Number 5 and 6 were talking looking at a tablet and slowly scrolling through the information. Number 5, or Geoff Valentin, was an older gentlemen who worked closely with Lee Seng's father on side projects. Dr. Valentin had a life as a doctor way before he and Lee Seng's father met each other. Meanwhile, Number 6, or Zoe Evans Valentin, was a cheery blonde who always had her hair up in a pony tail. She wore a crop top and short shorts.

From what Lee Seng could remember, the two were always together. The Original Numbers were always in pairs. 5 and 6 worked in tandem with each other to make sure that lives were saved. It was what made them, them. The two seemed too engrossed in looking over the information, that they didn't hear the metal doors open and close. Lee Seng scratched his cheek and walked over to the two.

"All this information seems updated to this year." Zoe said. She looked at Dr. Valentin as he looked at her nodding.

"I wonder what happened to trigger such an event. If it's anything we heard, Lee Seng could be a strong adventurer one day."

"Y'know the Creator wants him to become a soldier and rise to the top of the Numbers. He might even become our literal eleventh!"

The two chuckled and Lee Seng cleared his throat. They both turned to look at Lee Seng and Zoe's smile grew wider.

"Ahh, you're here!" She ecstatically screamed. She ran over and wrapped a hug around him. Lee Seng chuckled and wrapped his arms around Zoe.

"Hey, Z. It's been awhile." Lee Seng replied. The two pulled away from their hugs and Lee Seng waved over at Valentin who was already making his way towards him.

"Ah, my boy, it's been a long while!" He chuckled. The two hugged and Lee Seng nodded. "It's a shame you aren't around like you were before. Everyone misses you."

"Hm, sounds about right. I've missed you guys too. I just got escorted by Akio and he wants to eat dinner after we're done with the tests." Lee Seng said. The two nodded and Zoe excitedly clapped her hands together.

"Well, since you're here, I guess it's time!" She sang. She turned around and happily skipped over towards the table forty feet away and grabbed something off it. She came over and held it in front of Lee Seng's face to see. It was a needle filled with glowing black liquid.

"It's been a couple years since you've done the test, but we're doing it the same way. We're going to insert a Dark Matter Trigger and if everything goes well, your abilities will manifest." Dr. Valentin said. Lee Seng nodded and pulled his black leather jacket off and tossed it to the side. He held his left arm out to Zoe who was already pulling off the needle cover.

"Alright, at your go, Five." Zoe said. Dr. Valentin nodded at Zoe and she walked over to Lee Seng.

"Activate Trigger Protocol." Dr. Valentin announced. The room began to whir to life. The walls and floor shimmered and a dark liquid started to spread all across the room. Lee Seng remembered this to be Dark Matter. The Trigger protocol was put into specific areas all over the world so any abilities wouldn't do damage to anything inside or outside the room. The administrators who usually ran the test were capable of protecting themselves from whatever happened.

Zoe injected the trigger liquid into Lee Seng and quickly made a beeline away from him, just like Dr. Valentin was doing. Lee Seng felt his arm sting from the needle and then he started to hear the familiar noise.

Water.

A rushing noise of water began to take over his senses. He smelled water vapors in the air followed by the overwhelming cacophony of waves crashing. His body felt damp and the Dark Matter all around him began to mimic the noise. His body began to vibrate and pain started to erupt from all over. Lee Seng yelped in pain, legs buckling to the floor.

'This wasn't how it went last time.' He thought as the pain began to move between his butt and back area and as well as the top of his head. He screamed as a white energy began to shoot out of his tailbone area. The white energy wrapped around until he materialized into a white, fluffy tail. His head throbbed in pain. His hearing began to go in and out. His ears were moving towards the upper side of his head. He screamed as they began to bend and morph into pointy, animal ears, matching the white tail.

Lee Seng's body jerked forward, falling onto his hands and knees, screaming. The pain was starting to subside but the wave of water comtinued rumbling in his ears. His body was rumbling. It was shaking. His tail swung, bashing into the ground and with each bash, a familiar energy shot out of him and smashed into the wall behind him. The familiar energy began to condense and his body became heavy. It quickly pushed him into the ground.

"AHHH!" He screamed. The heavy feeling quickly dissipated and exploded outwards in all directions. Zoe and Dr. Valentin, who had been watching carefully, noticed Lee Seng had sprouted a white tail and his ears were now higher up on his head. A weird crash noise came from behind Lee Seng, hitting the wall while Lee Seng's body suddenly slammed into the ground. With a single bloody scream, the worry on Zoe's and Dr. Valentine's faces grew.

Zoe began to move forward when Dr. Valentin sensed a heavy energy coming their way.

"Barrier now!" Dr. Valentin shouted. Zoe had felt the heavy energy too and had already started casting a spherical barrier around the two of them. Her gut was telling her to create as many as she could possibly muster. A colorful array of barriers began to stack onto one another and BAM! The barriers began to crack and shatter one by one.

"What the hell!" Zoe shouted. Her hands were claws in the air and she turned her hands and the colorful barriers became thicker. Each barrier was breaking and less and less started to protect them against the energy outburst.

'Three barriers left.'

Crack. Crash.

'Two barriers left.'

Crack. Crash.

Zoe shoved her hands onto the last barrier and screamed. The barrier began to radiate with energy. It started to grow thicker. The energy and her barrier pushed back and forth at each other, for ages, until the energy pressure was gone. Zoe huffed and held the thick barrier in place.

"Is... it over?" She looked towards Dr. Valentin. Valentin was in a state of shock.

Lee Seng gasped for air. He felt like he had been hit by a semi-truck and was squashed underneath the immense weight of it all. The pain still throbbed in the same exact areas but the crushing weight was gone. He felt something soft between his legs. He struggled to turn his head around but as he did, he noticed a white, fluffy fur.

"Oh my god!" He shouted. The tail shot up and he screamed again. Everything in his body told him to get away but his muscles were tired. "What the hell happened to me?!?" He screamed.

Zoe and Dr. Valentin rushed over towards the panicking Lee Seng. The white fluffy tail and ears were actually real. Zoe gasped covering her mouth while Dr. Valentin kneeled down next to Lee Seng.

"Dad, are you seeing this?" Zoe asked. "He has a tail and his ears! Oh my god."

"A-a tail and m-my ears?!?" Lee Seng panicked. He began to descend into stutters as Dr. Valentin carefully examined him. He put a firm hand onto Lee Seng's back and Lee Seng's stutter quieted down.

"We need to heal you first." Dr. Valentin firmly said. His calm and loud voice always seemed to pull Lee Seng back into reality. Geoff Valentin was a leader. Importantly, a doctor that Lee Seng admired so much and looked up to.

Lee Seng nodded and Dr. Valentin's hand started to glow a calm green. The healing effect started to instantly calm Lee Seng. Zoe quickly snapped out of her shock and Dr. Valentin, without any word, handed her the tablet. She grabbed it and began to take notes.

"Animalistic traits occured during Trigger." Dr. Valentin observed aloud. "Pain occured before Trigger fully set in. Power manifested through tail and entire body. Body was seemingly crushed onto the floor and released a huge energy pulse."

The pain started to subside and Lee Seng felt a wave of relief wash over him. He could move his legs and arms. He turned his head towards Dr. Valentin who was deep into his doctor mode.

"Dark Matter Trigger protocol end." Dr. Valentin said. The Dark Matter in the walls, floors and ceiling slowly disappeared and the room became brighter again. Dr. Valentin sighed, lifting himself up as Lee Seng got into his knees and slowly raised himself up onto his feet. Lee Seng stumbled around. The weight of the tail was throwing him off. It felt... Light yet heavy.

The three were completely silent. Lee Seng felt his tail move and curl towards his abdomen area.

"Woah!" Lee Seng said. He touched the white tail and felt the soft fur. His face beamed with excitement as the metal door opened. Many footsteps were heard and Lee Seng turned to look. His tail falling back into place. His Father and some bodyguards walked in. Lee Seng's happy face turned serious.