286: Official Leaders & Suspicions
The room reminded Lee Seng and Keng of an arcade. RGB lights would glow in game rooms like this. Keng, Lee Seng and Ritsuka 'wowed' in the room. Keng moved over and touched the crystal. It pulsed like a rock hitting water.
< New Savior energy has been detected. Please state your name. >
Keng looked back at Lee Seng. Lee Seng shook his head and shrugged at him.
"My name is Keng. I'm one of the two new Saviors." Keng introduced himself. The lights began to pulse and pull into the crystal.
< Registering new Savior… >
< Registering new Savior… >
< Registering new Savior… >
< Keng has been officially registered into the Savior system. >
Keng pulled his hand back and took a step backwards. Lee Seng entered the room and watched as the room reacted to his energy.
< Another Savior has been detected… Strange this one feels exactly the same like Keng. Please touch the crystal to identify yourself. >
Lee Seng touched the crystal and watched it pulse.
< Hmmm… You're not Keng. Please identify yourself. >
"Lee Seng Chang." Lee Seng introduced himself to the crystal. The lights swirled for awhile until a single color dinged. Gold poured into the room.
< Lee Seng Chang isn't in my records. Are you sure you're not Keng? I was told there would only be one new Savior. Why is there two? >
"We probably have the same genetic makeup." Keng told the crystal. "He and I are the same person, split apart. He's the Vessel and I'm the Spirit."
< A Fox Spirit and the Vessel completely co-existing as two separate entities… Interesting. I will register Lee Seng Chang into the system… One moment please. >
The room started to pulse again and the gold and silver color flooded the room, again.
< Lee Seng Chang has been officially register into the Savior system. Who shall I deem the leader of the Saviors? >
"What does that do?" Lee Seng asked, pulling his hand away.
< Since Krystofer has officially left the base, it caused my system to reboot. I have data on the old Saviors, but there's currently no energy detection in all of the Realms, so leadership would go to one of you two. >
"What should we do?" Keng looked at Lee Seng. "Should one of us deal with this?"
"I'm okay if you want it." Lee Seng motioned at him.
"I can barely talk to the crowd outside. If we gain more members in the future, how am I gonna deal with that?"
"Is it possible to have multiple leaders?"
< According to the data I have stored, there were technically three leaders within the first generation of Saviors. >
"Oh, yeah. Lady Freya, Lord B'haru, and Lord Tyrus were all co-leaders. So we could technically be co-leaders, right?"
< Correct. If you both agree, I will make you leaders. You'll have access to my systems and you can add and remove people, allow me to grant permissions based on their rank, change the base, etc. >
"We can change the base?" Keng asked. Lee Seng had been strung up by that thought. He didn't think that was possible.
< Correct. The base layout can be changed by the leader or leaders. As long as you have something in mind, I can replicate it. The outside and inside can be changed, but the space will have to stay the same. >
"Well, make both of us leaders then. We'll deal with the layout and look of the base later. We want to register some other people into the system." Lee Seng told the crystal.
< Acknowledged. I will make Lee Seng Chang and Keng leaders… >
< Registering new leaders… >
< Registering new leaders… >
< Registering new leaders… >
< Successfully registered! To add more people, please have the next person put their hand on the crystal and speak their name. >
"Your turn." Keng motioned at Lily. Lily moved her hand onto the crystal and watched it began to pulse.
"Lily. Lily Wang." Lily introduced herself.
< Registering Lily Wang into the Savior system… >
< Lily Wang has officially been registered! What rank should I make her? >
"Well, she's going to come by when me and Lee Seng aren't around. Can you grant her access to lock and unlock the base?" Keng asked.
< I can do that. Is there anything else you wish to do? >
"Did you wanna register, again, Lady Vix'i?" Keng looked over at her.
"I won't come by too often, so I don't need access." Lady Vix'i shook her head. Keng nodded.
"That's all." Keng told the system. The room dimmed and the group moved out into the hall. Chimera and Halys were waiting for them outside.
"All done?" Halys asked.
"Just finished." Lee Seng nodded.
"Good. We're about to head out."
"I guess we'll say goodbye to you all first then."
They all moved to exit the base. The large group of Chimera's troupe were all standing around. The injured Foxes were out and leaning against the base.
"Alright, let's go." Chimera ordered.
"Yes, Commander!" The group saluted in unison.
"Well, thanks again for helping us with the Conqueror curse." Keng bowed at Chimera and the others.
"Not a problem. We probably won't see each other often but if you manage to spot one of us on Earth, say hi." Chimera smiled.
"Sure thing." Keng nodded.
"Let's go." Halys motioned. He moved down the steps first as the group turned and started to lift into the sky.
"Well, I hope you have a good journey back." Lady Vix'i spoke to the three boys. "And be safe going back, alright, Lily?"
"Yes, Lady. I shall be safe." Lily bowed.
"Let me know when you're back, alright? I'll try to send some stuff yoru way!" Lady Vix'i waved goodbye as she moved with Chimera. The group waved to the large crowd as they left. They watched them fly off into the distance until they couldn't see and then turned to look at each other.
"Shall we finish our conversation?" Lee Seng asked.
"Sure." Lily nodded.
—--
Back on Earth
In one of the meeting rooms in the Academy
Day: Sunday
The Numbers sat around the conference table. Nicole sat at the front of the table looking out at her teammates. A hologram of Akio and Akali sat in their spots. Akio was slumped in his chair as he quietly tapped the desk. Dr. Valentin leaned into his chair while a hologram of Zoe propped her head onto the table. Alex, Scarlet, Carter and Abby sat in their physical spots.
"As you know this is our usual meeting, but I wanted all of you here to talk about the recent events that transpired at the Academy." Nicole spoke. "As you know, the Academy was attacked by prisoners from the maximum security prison underground. Students sustained damage and it was as minimal as we hoped it to be.
"As you know, Lee Seng and the four students with him were the only ones who were known to be affected by the infectious gas in the sewers below. These three students have officially finished quarantine while the other two will be back, hopefully, before the big student outing." Nicole tapped her finger on the table and watched as the hologram in the middle of the room as well as the projected screen behind her switched. A picture of the killed prisoner as well as some pictures of the attackers showed up on the screen.
"These hounds somehow infiltrated the Academy's best defenses and swarmed the entire campus. First, Second, and Fourth years sustained the least damage while Third year sustained the most damage. We've identified the hounds as prisoners of varying degrees. The killed hound was one of three maximum security prisoners. They all wore Number 2's signature rune as well."
"Are they trying to tell us something?" Akio asked, lifting himself up. "They used Nikolai's signature rune. It's like they were trying to tell us they wanted to pick a fight with us."
"I would like to know the same thing, too." Carter pointed at Akio. "Nikolai's signature rune is well known. They know what the symbol means, but why would they wear it and try to attack the Academy?"
"I still think it has to do wit the kid." Abby's cold voice pierced through the conversation. She raised her head off the table and turned to look at Nicole then the others.
"You would try to pin it on the kid every chance you get." Akali scoffed. She crossed her arms together.
"Yes, I'm usually out for the kid, but this time it's a legit reason."
"And what would that be?"
"Don't you find his progress to be… too quick?" Abby asked. She looked around the room. It seemed to be the one thing they all noticed but all decided to not say anything about.
"He's seen us in action for all of his life. He knows how the results work." Akio motioned at Abby.
"Even prodigies don't pick up that quick." Abby refuted his claim. "He got his powers and a week or two later, passes the test with flying colors. He then is excelling at his classes, too? Strange things have been happening to that kid. All the tabloids have been talking about him for the last couple of months. Wouldn't you think everyone would doubt his power?"
"That's why a lot of people think we rigged the system." Dr. Valentin pointed out.
"You think his growth his making everything look shady?" Akio looked over at Dr. Valentin.
"I'm just saying, Akio, it looks like the Creator pulled strings because his Numbers work at this Academy."
"And someone powerful got three maximum security prisoners out and geared them with all of that tech." Abby added. She looked around the room. "Don't you think that's too suspicious from whoever did that as well? It looks like they want him. And now that the twerp has come back to school, the Academy's in absolute chaos because they all think he's the cause."
"So what do we do? Pull the kid out of school and basically say, 'Hey, everyone! You were right about Lee Seng!'?" Scarlet asked.
"It'll make them think that they're right." Carter turned to look at Abby. Abby turned and before she could speak, Carter continued. "Whatever we do with the kid, they'll think badly of it anyways. We should just leave him here until we're sure who put those dog bastards up to this."
"Not to mention, they killed some of the suspects we were watching." Akali added.
"We'll continue to monitor like we initially planned." Nicole told them. They all turned to look at Number 1. Her eyes seemed slightly glazed over. She was staring at the hologram like she was a moth to a flame. "Dr. Valentin's son will continue to monitor Lee Seng. Akio and Akali will continue to man the members watching the other doctors. We'll continue with the original plan, got it?"
"But what if–" Abby began to speak when Nicole's eyes turned into a colorful prism. Abby's eyes washed over and her mouth shut.
"No buts. No what ifs. We monitor the situation until we're sure. We need adequate data for the Creator to conduct his experiment. And that involves keeping Lee Seng here. Even if he was the reason for the hounds attacking this place, it doesn't mean we change the plan. The Creator needs Lee Seng here so that's that."