Chapter 680 Petrified Knowledge

Everything went fast after the tendrils melted into Lee Seng's skin. He could feel it hardening and slithering around. He continued to call for help, but nobody came. Dr. Hayes would return in an hour and Lee Seng didn't understand what was going on.

'Was this how it was for the rest of the Numbers?' Lee Seng wondered. His neck had gone stiff, and he couldn't turn his head. His body didn't react to his commands. He tried to remember the stories Akio had told him, but it was a faint memory. He could barely remember much of it, but Akio did mention something about how dark it was.

'The Protocol isn't exactly reacting the way it would to my gravity powers. Tendrils, the skintight body suit… Could it be based on the Mutation ability?' Lee Seng's whole entire head froze in place. Left with his own thoughts, he listened to the room buzz.

Time went by and the door suddenly opened. Dr. Hayes entered the room with a woman Lee Seng swore he saw before. She was taller than Dr. Hayes and pale. She wore a lab coat with her business outfit. Her hands were in her pocket as the doors closed behind them.

"He petrified?" The tall woman asked. Dr. Hayes looked over and checked. She even went as far to feel if he was petrified. When Dr. Hayes was sure, she nodded at the tall woman. The tall woman turned her attention to Lee Seng. Her eyes staring directly at him for a moment before nodding, again. "We'll move him like we planned then."

The tall woman turned to the door and on cue, guards filtered in. She pointed at Lee Seng, saying nothing and Dr. Hayes stepped out of the way and let the men grab him. They managed to lift the statue Lee Seng off the ground and slowly made their way out.

'Where are you taking me?' Lee Seng thought.

"Are you sure he won't be able to hear or see or feel anything?" Dr. Hayes asked from behind.

"Like the other ten, he shouldn't be able to sense a thing. During this time, we'll take him under and extract some blood from him." The tall woman answered.

"What does the Creator want to do with him, anyways? I thought the next step was for him to work."

"You do realize he's the first successful experiment, right? Out of all the experiments with the mixed serum, Experiment 5411 beat the odds. When a success like this comes our way, we should refine what's inside of him and perfect it. Then we can create the ultimate and supreme version of the Biohuman race."

Lee Seng wondered what the tall lady even meant. He found it odd he was an experiment number. He had assumed he was just a number to the Creator but hearing it come out of someone's mouth while he was petrified, was something different.

"What will happen to him then? I read his classified files and noticed he was also given the D31 serum. That has certainly caused… problems, right?" Dr. Hayes asked.

"Nothing happened, right?" The tall woman looked at Dr. Hayes. They came to a stop at the elevator. One of the guards hit the descend button as the two holding Lee Seng gently set him down. "D31-11 would have manifested if given the opportunity. Just like D31-31 is active, D31-11 would have taken the opportunity if given it."

"I still don't understand why we gave D31-11 to Seven. Why would we risk one early experiment to another?" Dr. Hayes asked. The elevator opened and most of the guards stepped off to the side. The two guards lifted Lee Seng inside and turned him around. He watched as the tall woman and Dr. Hayes stepped in, hitting an unmarked button. The button lit up, flashing between white, blue and then red before shutting the doors.

"In order for D31 to truly shine, we need to test everything, including her." The tall woman answered. "Just look at me, I'm quite fine, right?"

"You're a totally from D31s and Numbers."

'Numbers? Did someone get injected with D31?' Lee Seng wondered. 'D31… I have it, so it must be something related to the Deimon that was inside, right? Seven… Seven, has it? Abby? Why?'

"Number 7 willingly gave into it. If she wants absolute power, then all she had to do was say yes." The tall woman looked at Dr. Hayes.

"I still don't think we should've said yes to that." Dr. Hayes shook her head. "What if something does go wrong? If the Deimon wins, they take over completely. The person that was there is gone forever."

"But if the vessel wins, the host disappears, and absolute power is at your fingertips. What more would you want?"

"Playing with people's greed isn't something I wanted."

"Well, Dr. Hayes, we all wanted something in this exchange." The tall woman smiled. Dr. Hayes turned away. "You only wanted your daughter to live, right? She's alive and well."

"As one of those… Those Deimons!" Dr. Hayes shouted. The elevator dinger and Dr. Hayes quickly left the elevator as soon as the doors opened. The tall woman smirked, shaking her head as she exited.

Lee Seng was carried through the white hallway. It looked the same as the lab above.

'This is underneath the lab?' Lee Seng thought. He was abruptly turned and carried into a room.

"Set him there." The tall woman pointed. "We'll handle this. You two can leave." The tall woman's voice split into two younger voices. She turned revealing the strange marks on their eyes. The tall woman's body shrank as two small Shifters appeared.

'Y-you!' Lee Seng thought. 'You're her!'

"Thanks for the help, boys." A smiled and waved. The guards saluted and exited, leaving A and B with Lee Seng.

"Let's get started." B begrudgingly moved over to the table. She grabbed a syringe with a thick needle at the end and turned. "He'll be petrified for at least another twenty minutes. Let's get what we need and move him back."

"To think the Master even did such a thing to his own son." A shook her head. She looked up at Lee Seng and frowned at him. "I think it's cruel. Too cruel, sister."

"Cruel or not, it's the way it has to be." B grabbed a stool and moved over to Lee Seng. She set the chair to his right and stood on it. "Who even knew Experiment 5411 would be the one to have a breakthrough?"

"Well, there were 5,410 failed experiments." A commented.

"5,411 failed experiments, technically." B corrected her. She injected the large needle into his petrified arm. Lee Seng grunted in pain as B pushed it all in and began to draw blood. A looked at Lee Seng oddly and then to her sister.

"Did he just grunt?" A asked B. "I thought they couldn't sense anything. Why does this one sense pain?"

"Some of them sense the pain. The outside is petrified but it doesn't mean the inside isn't." B answered. She pulled the filled syringe and gave it to her sister. B watched Lee Seng's injury disappear and nodded satisfied. "I wish they all healed that quickly." She grabbed the stool and set it back into its specified place.

"Are we done?" A asked.

"No, input the blood into the system and let it run tests. Meanwhile, we'll check for D31 signatures." B shook her head. She stood on top of the stool and stuck the needle into the machine.

"Syringe inserted." The AI voice spoke.

"Run test." B ordered the AI.

"Beginning test cycle 1."

B turned and hopped off the stool and stood next to A as A studied Lee Seng.

'Why are you running tests on me? What's so special about my blood? Why am I 5411 when just as many experiments failed?' Lee Seng questioned. 'Come on! Move!' The petrified Lee Seng cracked. A and B's eyes widened as they looked at each other.

"He's breaking out of it too early." A told B.

"Guards!" B shouted. Men rushed in, watching as Lee Seng continued to crack. B pointed at Lee Seng. "Get him back into the room before it's too late!"

"Notify Dr. Hayes!" A shouted.

"Yes, ma'am!" The guards shouted. Two rushed over and picked up Lee Seng and quickly moved to the elevator. A guard hit the button and watched as the elevator was on the top floor.

"Run him." Guard 1 looked at Guard 3. "We don't have time. I think he'll return to normal within the next minute." Guard 3 sighed as the two guards flipped Lee Seng into Guard 1's arms. The stairwell door opened, and Guard 3 maneuvered himself and Lee Seng through the door. Everything blurred around Lee Seng. The next thing he knew, they were coming to a stop in front of the stairwell door. Guard 3 set Lee Seng down and opened the door, locking it into place with the magnetic door holder. He picked up Lee Seng and quickly rushed down the hall to one of the examination rooms.

The door swung open as Lee Seng could feel his body letting up. He started to move as Guard 3 cursed and set him down, quickly.

"Dammit, I don't have much time before he's free. Room initiate Safety Protocol 31-52." Guard 3 spoke.