Biohuman

"The Protocol is still alive..." Lee Seng whispered. The loud banging noises and moans of the black mist grew louder. Lee Seng could hear the drawer pushed up against the door was starting to move. "In order for me to go back, I need to do something about the Protocol. How do we clear these glowing mist creatures...?" The front of the house groaned. Lee Seng could hear the mist moving to the sides of the house. He looked at Keng with worry.

"So do you have a plan?" Keng asked.

"If you killed the Protocol then why is it still going...? None of this makes sense."

"Well, we don\'t have time to make sense of any of this. We need a way out." Keng hopped over the couch and started to walk back towards the foyer. He turned to glance at Lee Seng before moving towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Lee Seng asked. He quickly followed after Keng who was climbing the stairs already. Keng stood at the top of the stairs and turned to look at Lee Seng again. Lee Seng stopped at the base of the stairs and looked up at Keng. Lee Seng\'s chest felt tight and he began to feel uncomfortable. "Do we... have to go up there?" Keng motioned with his tail for Lee Seng to come up. He started down the hallway. Lee Seng grabbed the railing and gripped it.

\'Ah, why are we doing this?\' Lee Seng slowly started up the stairs. With each step he took, he felt his chest tighten. His throat felt like it was closing and his palms were starting to sweat. He counted each step and knew how many steps were left before he reached the top. The door started to crack. Lee Seng turned to look and heard the door splinter open.

His fear shot up and he immediately sprinted up the remaining eight steps out of twelve and quickly looked for Keng. Keng sat in front of a single door. Lee Seng quickly ran towards him and threw the door open. The both of them went inside and Lee Seng closed the door and locked it. He started to back away from it.

"They\'re inside! We\'re trapped!" Lee Seng shouted. The room was plastered with motivational lines and music groups. The room wise quite spacious. Keng had ignored the room and wandered over towards the closet. He sat next to it and waited for Lee Seng. "We\'re gonna die! Great. Just when I thought everything would be fine, it isn\'t. I-I-I didn\'t even get the chance to do anything I wanted!" He turned around and recognized the familiar room he used to call his bedroom. He slicked his hair back with his hands and stared at the queen sized bed up against the middle of the wall. He turned to the right and saw Keng quietly waiting.

"In here." Keng motioned.

"What\'s the point? There\'s nothing here! There\'s no secret way out of this place other than getting onto the roof and jumping!"

"Just open it."

"Why\'re you so insistent on this? Why did we have to come here? Of all places, this is the one place I really didn\'t want to be reminded of." Lee Seng shouted. Keng sighed and shook his head.

"You\'re here now. Just do it."

"Do it? Why should I? We\'re both gonna die!"

"Yeah, we\'re both gonna die so what\'s the harm? We can both die in the closet."

Lee Seng looked at Keng, apalled. He seemed cold and disconnected from everything. He just kept on insisting to do things and Lee Seng went along with it. Lee Seng groaned and quickly turned the groan into a scream. He marched over to the door and grabbed the handle.

"Can you tell me why you want me to open this?" Lee Seng asked. He turned his head to look down at Keng. Keng was already standing and ready to go into the door.

"You\'ll understand when you open the door." Keng answered. Lee Seng rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Might as well." He muttered. The exit to the room began to pound. Small wisps of black mist seeped through the door and Lee Seng groaned and threw the door open. Keng quickly darted inwards into the darkness, dimly lighting the closet around him. Lee Seng stepped in and shut the door behind him. Darkness had mostly swallowed them and now they were to just wait for their deaths.

"So we wait now?" Lee Seng asked sarcastically. Keng didn\'t answer. He simply sat next to the closet wall and stared at Lee Seng. "What?" Lee Seng took another step in. Keng wasn\'t saying anything now. Lee Seng took another step and felt a familiar sensation. His body was vibrating. His tail began to glow and the closet lit up. He could see his clothes and randomly stored shoe boxes tucked into different parts of the closet. Lee Seng lifted his hand and saw his hand was actually shaking. It was moving fast. He took another step forward and his hand began to blur. He could hear humming.

"What\'s happening?" Lee Seng asked. "What\'s going o--" The humming grew louder and everything began to shake violently. Boxes, random knick-knacks and clothes started to fall everywhere. Lee Seng moved left and right trying to find balance. He landed against the left wall and then stumbled over towards the right wall and onto his butt. Everything shook and Lee Seng reached out for Keng.

"It\'s time." Keng said excitedly. He hopped up and down, never swaying from his spot like Lee Seng had. The walls began to crack and open up. The walls began to splinter off and fly off into the abyss. Swirls of white began to ripple across all around the abyss. Lee Seng held on for his life as he watched the sky pull towards him.

The black mist creatures raced towards Lee Seng and Keng. Keng quickly hopped up and touched the white swirls. The energy started to envelope him and he began to laugh. His body began to glow brightly and the black mist hissed as they tried to push forward. Keng grew into a small ball of energy and began to expand. Lee Seng reached for Keng and felt the chaotic energy.

The energy began to envelope him as well. He began to glow brightly and he yelled in surprise. He waved his hands around, acting like he was putting out a fire, but watched his body turn to light.

"You\'ve done well to get this far, Lee Seng." A voice bellowed out. "It\'s time for my son and you to truly be one. Bear our Mask and take up the Path. Carve your Path with your own hands." Lee Seng\'s mind flashed and the man in the fox mask was smiling at him. Lee Seng began to shout for him but nothing came out. The man began to laugh and Lee Seng could see the man in the fox mask handing him a mask.

"You have taken the Oath and now shall be granted even more than you can imagine. Exterminate the Protocol at all costs!"

The two glowing lights fused together. They began to swirl. A white fox mask with a red and blue formed. Blue enveloped the left eye area, wisping off to the left while the right side mimicked the same wisp but off to the right with red. A black beady fox nose sat in the middle of the mask. Black strokes came out of the bottom of the nose and created a grinning mouth.

The mask flickered and dissolved into the light as it formed Lee Seng\'s body. Lee Seng\'s eyes flickered open. His red and blue eyes glowed brightly and he quickly turned to look at the black mist creatures that were cowering and hissing.

"You don\'t belong here." Lee Seng and Keng\'s voice meshed together. Lee Seng lifted his hand and a bright shot of light smashed through the black mist. The soul abyss world began to glow white with red and blue streaks. "I need out." The abyss began to shift and pull Lee Seng through it. White began to envelope the black abyss and the black mist creatures began to die off quickly. Lee Seng was pulled back to the lake. He glanced at his hands and arms. He was still enveloped in light.

"Exterminate the Protcol at all costs," The man in the fox mask\'s voice echoed. Lee Seng looked up and the silouhette of the man stood on the lake. "Do not trust the Creator." The lake rippled and Lee Seng felt himself being pulled towards it.

"What did you do to me?" Lee Seng asked with his combined voice. The man in the fox mask lips curled into a smile.

"My son, I\'m just finishing our deal. You\'ve proved to be quite capable."

"Capable of what?"

The man\'s smile lowered and he stepped closer towards Lee Seng. Lee Seng felt a connection to this man. It was pulling him towards the man and he planted his heels down in defiance.

"The Creator won\'t know what hit him. I\'ve taken his son and given him another chance at life. You\'ve taken my son and now you\'ve combined. Grow, hunt and collect more souls. Do that and I\'ll tell you more." The man in the fox mask said.

"You can\'t tell me why all of this is happening?" Lee Seng waved his hands around. He pulled closer towards the lake. His feet touched the cold water and he could hear faint voices. His eyes glanced down to look, but the lake wasn\'t showing anything. The man in the fox mask was being reflected.

"You and I made a deal. I give you what\'s rightfully yours at a cost." The man reminded Lee Seng. "What\'s that cost? The spirit of my son lives within you and grows with you." He smiled at Lee Seng. Lee Seng felt a longing for this man and shook his head.

"Why would you do this to me?"

"Why? Ha! You allowed me to do this. I need you two to grow." Lee Seng was pulled deeper into the lake. He felt the water slowly rising to his knees. "Remember, Lee Seng, don\'t trust what the Creator says and kill the Protocol before it completes its Eleven Cycles." The lake water rushed towards Lee Seng and enveloped him. The image of the man in the fox mask disappeared as he was swallowed into the darkness of the lake.