Chapter 679 Tendril Wrapped

The lab was in a state of panic as Calis pulled up to the gate. He scanned his badge as the car clunked some more. The Foxes had given them a janky car. Lee Seng thought the car would kill them before they even made it to the lab, yet they were here.

"Access granted." The gates opened as the janky car rumbled forward. Calis found a parking spot on the right side and parked the car. The car made a guttural noise before shaking. Lee Seng released himself from the car and stood on solid ground.

"Oh my god, I thought I was gonna die." Lee Seng sighed. The doors shut and shook the car even more. "Never ask them for anything, again."

"Deal." Calis nodded. Guards ran around the corner in a panic. They swarmed Lee Seng and Calis as they noticed blood, soot, Lee Seng's leftover t-shirt and the janky car.

"Who was that?" Scarlet asked rounding the corner.

"Is it him?!?" Zoe asked, following. Scarlet, Zoe and Alex pushed past the guards and took a good look at Lee Seng in shock. "Holy… You look like shit. IS that dirt on you?" She pointed at his jeans. Lee Seng had forgotten he practically rolled in mud for a bit.

"Yup." Lee Seng sighed.

"What happened? You disappeared. We couldn't find you." Scarlet asked, stepping forward and checking if he was okay. Scarlet had always treated him like he was one of her own. She noticed the smeared blood and clicked her tongue. "This isn't good at all! You're nasty!"

"Why couldn't we get a hold of you, Anderson?" Alex asked Calis. Calis stuffed his hands in his pckets, only to realize his phone wasn't on him.

"My phone's gone... sir." Calis answered.

"Let's get you two changed."

"Yes, sir." Calis nodded. Alex turned to one of the guards and pointed at the car.

"Scrap this. Issue Anderson a new car. Something from the discrete pile. We'll have to avoid going through the normal path until we figure out what the hell happened." Alex ordered.

"Yes, Number 3." The guard saluted and excused themselves.

"Anderson, you go with them. They'll show you the way. The rest of you aren't needed. Scarlet and I have this down."

"And me!" Zoe raised her hand.

"And Z."

"Sir!" The guards saluted and turned and pulled Calis in with them. Calis gave a salute before being tugged away. Alex turned after he had finished issuing his orders and noticed his wife was still checking to see if Lee Seng was fine.

"That's enough, Scar. The boy heals at an incredible rate." Alex told her. Scarlet pulled Lee Seng away from her inspection and turned to look at her husband.

"Don't need anymore scars like that one on his neck." Scarlet pointed out. Lee Seng was once again reminded of the mistake he and Keng had made. "He's too handsome. We gotta keep his handsome features! His—Zoe what do they call it, again?"

"Visuals. His visuals." Zoe answered.

"Exactly! His visuals are… on fleek? Is that how it goes?" Scarlet asked, again. Lee Seng rolled his eyes and maneuvered past the Numbers.

"Can I change now?" Lee Seng asked. "I'm cold with my shirt being gone."

"Always trying to look good." Alex shook his head. He wrapped his arm around Lee Seng and walked with him. "Imagine if you showed up like that on the news! There would be commotion online from those simps. They would devour that content like piranhas!"

"Three, you gotta stop trying to be just as cringe as Four." Lee Seng shook his head.

Lee Seng sat in the chair in a new outfit. He wore a sweater and black jeans and a random pair of sneakers he had left at the lab. He casually reclined as his foot shook back and forth. He stared at the bracelet on his wrist. It was inhibiting him from doing anything and for good reason.

'I should've really held back when I did all that stuff to him.' Lee Seng thought. 'Even got Akio injured… Akali won't even talk to me after I pulled that stunt… Akio keeps asking how I was even able to hit him… How am I supposed to know?!?' He let out a sour sigh as a knock came to the door.

A woman with blonde hair in a ponytail stepped in. She wore a white coat and had red heels on. Her lips were red, and she wore glasses.

"Hello, Lee Seng. I'm glad to see you're safe." The doctor greeted him. She closed the door and gave him a smile before grabbing the rolling chair and sitting in it. "Doin' alright? Not hurt? Number 3, 4, and 6 all said you had some dried blood on ya."

"I showered so I'm fine." Lee Seng told her. The doctor nodded and rolled her chair over to Lee Seng. She sat a couple feet in front of him as she crossed her legs.

"You know why you're here right?"

"Mmmhm. Lab checkup."

"Not any checkup! The Protocol checkup!" The doctor exclaimed, happily. She was kind of infectious. Lee Seng couldn't help but smile at that. She gave off an aura that was pleasant. Lee Seng wondered if this was a part of her power or if it was her personality.

"Dr. Hayes, don't we need to take off the bracelet to figure out if the Protocol is actually working?" Lee Seng asked, raising his left wrist up.

"We do, but not until safety measures are in place." Dr. Hayes answered. She rolled over to the door and clicked the tablet embedded in the wall. She clicked a few buttons and the room locked. The white walls turned black and pulsed with the familiar energy. "There, all set. Let's take that off and see what's going on."

Dr. Hayes rolled back over and motioned for Lee Seng's inhibitor device. He gave his wrist to her and watched her pull a small ring out and tap it against the circle. The bracelet fell into Dr. Hayes hands as she removed it. Lee Seng could feel an odd shift. It felt like a rock had been removed and the river could finally flow down its path.

"Alright. Let's get started." Dr. Hayes rolled away to the desk and started to launch applications. She set the bracelet on the desk, focused on making sure everything was running properly before turning to Lee Seng. "Ready? Let's get some work done."

After getting the initial scans and Dr. Hayes getting comparison values, she simply told Lee Seng he would have to sit there for an hour and left him alone. Lee Seng laid on top of the bed as he whistled to himself. He didn't really know how much time had passed, but everything seemed to be slowing… more.

Lee Seng would randomly itch himself for no reason, thinking he felt something brush against him. He found himself looking around and wondered if Dr. Hayes had done something and forgotten to tell him about it. He slowly laid himself back down, only to feel it again. It brushed against his back. Lee Seng threw himself onto his feet and tried to reach for the place he was touched. It was a bit too far for him.

"Nothing could've touched me from that far back…" Lee Seng whispered. He checked the bed and noticed nothing out of sorts and tried to shake it off. "Just your imagination. It's like when you think you're getting an itch and get an itch, but it's not there. It's all in the mind. Lie down and take a nap."

Lee Seng settled back onto the raised bed platform and folded his arms. He shut his eyes and let out a deep breath. He breathed in and slowly began to breathe his second breath out, when he felt it.

"Argh!" Lee Seng jerked up into a sitting position. His right hand swung at his shoulder, only to feel something there. Lee Seng looked over and noticed a tendril. It was an off-set black/gray color. It slithered around to his armpit and back over, looping itself into place.

"What the hell is this?" Lee Seng whispered. He reached for it only to watch it burst into tiny slithering leech-like things. He jumped, almost falling off the raised bed platform as the leech-like entities slithered around. "What the fuck is this?!?" He swatted the leeches away from him, only to watch them dissolve into energy.

Tendrils quickly burst forth from nowhere. They wrapped themselves around Lee Seng, leaving his head exposed. He could feel the tendrils melting into him as he tried to break out of it. No matter what he did, Lee Seng could only watch. The tendrils pulsed with a black and a faint gold and silver color. He could feel something growing in his stomach as it pushed outwards across his body.

"Uhhh, doc! What's happening to me?!? Is this how it's supposed to go?!?" Lee Seng shouted. "H-help!"!