Biohuman

Lee Seng pushed himself away from Calis and fell onto the floor. He looked around, unsure where he was. The building's heat buzzed in the background of the empty white room. There were very few things here. A bed was in a corner, a drawer next to it with an assortment of things on top of it. A cracked door that seemed to lead to another room and a door at the foot of the bed, locked.

"Where am I?" Lee Seng asked, scooting away. Calis stepped out of his spot and looked around. He loosened his tie and sighed as Lee Seng noticed the magical script on the floor. "What did you do? Why do you know so much about Keng and… The others?"

"Because I'm from Daros." Calis answered. He turned to look at the spooked Lee Seng. The wheels turned for a while before Lee Seng finally nodded. "Keng made me expect you to be different from this… I guess I pushed my expectations too high." He turned his attention to the drawer and pulled it open. He fished for clothes and threw most of it on the bed. "I don't think you'll fit into any of these… I'll ask one of the guys to see if they have any clothes your size…"

"Where are we then?" Lee Seng asked, scooting himself against a wall. His mind had processed what he needed to process to survive the initial threat, but now he was with someone from Daros. Someone Lee Seng didn't know, but Calis surely did.

"Inside the Fox Spirit's facility. They told me I could come here if I needed to. Even gave me a spare room. We need to change. I think things are getting too complicated." Calis told Lee Seng. Calis closed the drawer and turned to look at Lee Seng. Lee Seng's eyes were slowly looking around. "Ease up, dude. Everything I said was true."

"You didn't know that attack was supposed to happen?" Lee Seng asked.

"No." Calis shook his head. He sat on the bed and folded his arms. "I didn't expect there to be any sort of trouble right off that bat. Seems like someone wants you dead."

"Everyone wants me dead." Lee Seng sighed. A knock came on the door. Lee Seng looked at the door as Calis turned his head. The knocks came again in threes and Calis sighed and stood up. "What're you doing?" Calis ignored Lee Seng and unlocked the door, opening it slightly.

"Yo! I thought I registered some energy coming from your room. Did you use the chant to get here?" A foreign voice asked.

"Mmm. I got into a problem. A big one." Calis looked at Lee Seng.

"Someone with you?" A head peeked over Calis. It was brief before Calis pushed them back out. "H-hey, who's with you? You aren't supposed to bring anybody here. It's a secret place, dude!"

"Who's that?" Lee Seng asked.

"You do have someone in your room! Move aside!"

Lee Seng watched Calis get pushed aside. A yellow-furred tiger-fox entered the room. Four tails swooshed behind the tiger-fox as orange eyes settled onto Lee Seng. The tiger-fox's eyes widened as he looked at Calis. Calis quickly shut the door before the tiger-fox could say anything and hushed him. His finger went to his lips and looked between Lee Seng and the tiger-fox.

"Got it?" Calis quietly hissed. The tiger-fox nodded, and Calis released them. He took a couple steps away, letting the tiger-fox observe Lee Seng closer.

"The murderer!" The tiger-fox exclaimed, excitedly. Calis rolled his eyes as he stepped past the tiger-fox and blocked Lee Seng. "You brought the murderer here! Oh my god! I gotta tell the others that the twins are back!"

"Hey, you can't!" Calis shouted, grabbing the turning tiger-fox. Lee Seng stood up and quickly rounded them.

"Who's this?" Lee Seng asked.

"Only your biggest fan!" The tiger-fox exclaimed, pushing Calis away. Calis stumbled backwards, catching himself as the tiger-fox's eyes gleamed with excitement. "I'm a fan of yours! Truly!"

"You work with Commander Chimera?" Lee Seng asked. The tiger-fox nodded as he inched closer to Lee Seng. "Okay… Back it up, buddy. You should, uh, introduce yourself first, huh?"

"Oh! Yeah!" The tiger-fox stepped back and gave a very, very, very respectful bow to Lee Seng. "My name is Shang! I'm from the jungle! I've heard about you and your Spirit! I wanted to be a part of your sect, but everyone told me my gifts were needed here! And here you are!" Shang was fanboying really hard, and Lee Seng felt a bit awkward about it. "If I knew the fish man had you, I would've followed him!"

"Merman. You gotta stop saying it wrong. It'll hurt someone's feelings and get you in trouble." Calis corrected Shang.

"What're you doing here, Senior Lee Seng?" Shang spoke in Foxlish (a mix of Fox and English). "Is everything true about you being a murderer? Everyone's been on edge ever since news came out about that months ago! They even went as far to keep an eye on your supposed friends!"

"Shang, where are you?!?" Valen's voice called out. Shang turned and smiled.

"I'm he—"

"Shang, you need to dial it to like three right now!" Calis wrapped his arms around Shang's neck and mouth. "I haven't told anyone I'm here yet! Especially with Lee Seng and his current predicament!"

"But—" Shang began to talk under Calis's muffled hold.

"Shang, you here?" Valen asked as the door flew open. Calis wrestled with Shang to keep him quiet as Lee Seng stood there, awkwardly. Valen scanned between the group, registering what was going on. A light bulb went off. "You! Why are you here!?!" Valen quickly shut the door and locked it. Calis released Shang who happily beamed.

"He came here with Calis!" Shang told Valen. "Seems like they were in a hurry, but can you believe it, Valen! One of the twins is in my sight! My very sight! Ohmygodking!"

"Why are you here? Things are rough with you currently and this is the last thing that needs to happen." Valen quietly spoke to Lee Seng.

"We got ambushed on my way to the lab." Lee Seng told him as he watched Calis hold Shang back from talking to his idol. "Is the General or someone else here? I need to figure out what the hell I'm going to do."

"Things have been hard since the murder news." Valen told him. "We kinda expected something bloody to happen but… Not that bloody. What even happened anyways? Where's Keng? Is he not with you?" Lee Seng grew quiet and looked away. Calis was turned, holding Shang in a hug as he watched Lee Seng. The two grew quiet as Shang grew confused.

"Why are you so mellow? Something bad happened?" Shang chippily asked.

"Shang, you should, uh, learn to read the room, bud." Valen spoke, eyes not leaving Lee Seng's eyes. "I'll get people together for the meeting. You wait here, okay?" Lee Seng nodded as Valen turned and looked at Shang. "You, come with me. We're going to where you're needed."

"Let me come with you! I want to know what the cool people talk about!" Shang happily beamed. Calis removed himself from Shang and watched Valen take Shang and leave the room. The door closed behind them as Shang happily chatted away. An awkward silence fell between Calis and Lee Seng. Calis glanced over to Lee Seng and noticed he was just clutching his chest.

"I'll go find some clothes for you. I'll be back." Calis awkwardly told him. Lee Seng simply nodded and moved over to the bed and sat down. Calis left the room, eyeing Lee Seng one last time before shutting the door. "I wonder what could've happened."

The final moments played inside of Lee Seng's head, again. He was trapped inside of the Soul world, running away from the demonic monsters. His heart sank into his stomach as he uncomfortably sat there.

'I shouldn't have fed off the energy in there.' Lee Seng thought. 'I would've listened to him, and he wouldn't have had to use that forbidden spell…'

Calis came back with a change of clothes. He showed Lee Seng the bathroom and let him change. He changed out of his guard outfit and into something more comfortable. Lee Seng shuffled out of the bathroom, eyes down as Calis finished tying his shoes.

"Valen said everyone's gathering to meet right now." Calis informed Lee Seng. "He said for me to lead you there." Lee Seng simply nodded and turned to face Calis, head still down. Calis silently led Lee Seng out of the room and through the halls. There were very few people out and about. All of Chimera's men were either out on missions or spending their days somewhere in the city. The few who saw Lee Seng, instantly grew curious.

They didn't dare whisper aloud and waited until the Merman and the twin Fox were out of immediate Fox Spirit hearing range. Calis eventually stopped at Conference Room 137 and turned to watch Lee Seng stop a couple feet from him.

"In here." Calis motioned. Lee Seng nodded, still not looking up. "Chin up and act like you're here to give a report. Fake it if you must, okay? No one's gonna know what's up if you don't tell them." Lee Seng sighed and looked up, nodding at Calis. "Good. Ready?"