Biohuman

Lee Seng, Evan, Olivia and Ritsuka sat around beneath the shade of the tree. Lee Seng looked at the others, who seemed to agree with Lee Seng. They all were confined to the city and the small little areas outside.

They all heard stories from those who witnessed the utter chaos of the Biohuman serum being released into the world twenty-five years ago. It threw the whole world into a state of panic and altered life as they knew it.

The Old World vanished in a matter of minutes. Millions of people died and the world population shrunk. Sources of food and water became harder to gather. If it wasn't for the Numbers, most of the world still be suffering. The Numbers quickly combated the new world around them as people began to take Biohuman serum shots to aid in the battle to come.

The four knew well what the world lost and Lee Seng hung onto the small flame of hope that he could make a difference.

"Well, that's about it, I guess. I wanted to be like my older siblings." Lee Seng shrugged.

"Oh, I have a question." Evan asked, raising his and. Lee Seng turned to look at Evan who slowly lowered his hand. "I always wondered why you called Akio and Akali Kato your older siblings."

"They've always been around more than the other Numbers. I just call them my brother and sister because they told me to call them that." Lee Seng answered.

"Ahhh, that makes sense."

"They're Japanese, right? Does that mean you know some Japanese?" Ritsuka asked.

"I'm fluent in it. Akali thinks it's a waste of time to just spend every waking moment on learning martial arts or learning how to wield a weapon, so she taught me Japanese while I was home schooled." Lee Seng explained. His lips curled into a smile and he chuckled.

"My older siblings use it when they're either, one, talking shit or, two, too tired to talk in English."

"I can understand that. Their brains were wired that way so they'd obviously fall onto their first language." Ritsuka agreed.

"What other languages do you know?" Olivia asked. Lee Seng turned and thought about it.

'What other languages did I learn?' Lee Seng asked himself. 'I know English, Japanese, Korean and a bit of Thai. God, did I really just decide to learn a lot of Asian languages?'

"Besides English and Japanese, I know Hmong but I can't speak it well enough. I can understand it. And then I'm still learning Thai but I understand basics." Lee Seng answered.

"Oh, it's like you learned a lot of Asian languages. You didn't learn Korean?" Olivia asked.

"I learned Korean but it's been a long time since I've used it. I use Japanese more than anything." Lee Seng told Olivia. "I think I understand it still, but there aren't many opportunities to use it."

"Man, you're really stacked when it comes to your upbringing." Ritsuka said.

"Stacked? How?" Lee Seng asked.

"Well," Ritsuka lifted a finger. "You know four or five languages and are fluent in two or three of them. You just like learning things, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess." Lee Seng agreed.

"So that means you must have a good grades."

"I guess."

"How did you have time to do all of those things on the news?" Evan asked. Lee Seng shrugged and turned to look around. Students were still around the field. He glanced at his watch and noticed some time had passed.

"I don't study as often as I did back when I was homeschooled. Steady 3.4 GPA last year." Lee Sent shrugged. "I just like to be busy. Even if it's accidentally getting on the news for causing trouble."

The bell rang loudly in the distance. The four looked over and noticed students were getting up and walking back inside.

"I guess that's lunch. What do you guys wanna do after this?" Olivia asked. Lee Seng's phone rang and he pulled it out. There was no caller ID but he recognized the phone number and sighed. He put a finger up and turned.

"Hello?" He picked up the phone.

"Settled in, Chang?" Nicole's voice asked. Her voice made Lee Seng shiver. She never called him or tried to keep contact, ever.

"What do you want?" Lee Seng stood up, crumpling the bag of empty good in his hand and moving off to the side of the group, so he could talk.

"I'll take that as a yes," Nicole assumed. "Anyway, I need you to come to the First Year building. I need to talk to you about something school related."

"Can't you just do it over the phone?"

"Your Father's demands should be seen in writing, correct?" Nicole asked. Lee Seng could hear her hint of snobbiness oozing from the phone. He sighed and looked behind him. His acquaintances were all standing, chatting away.

"Not even one day and he wants to lay out his demands? Ugh, fine. I'll ditch my new friends and come." Lee Seng groaned.

"Hurry up, I don't have all day." Nicole hung up. Lee Seng lifted the phone from his ear and stared at the ended call. He stuffed his phone into his pocket and groaned on the inside as he turned to walk back to the three.

"Who was that?" Olivia asked. Lee Seng waved and sighed.

"I have to go to the First Year building to finish some personal matters. If you guys aren't doing anything later, I'll meet up with you if everything goes well." Lee Seng answered.

"Ah, yeah that works." Olivia nodded.

"Could we exchange numbers then?" Ritsuka asked. Lee Seng nodded and the three boys exchanged numbers and social media names with each other. Lee Seng waved the phone in his hands and smiled.

"Cool, I'll shoot y'all a message later then. See you guys later." Lee Seng waved.

"Alright, let us know. We'll probably be in one of the living spaces at the dorm. See ya." Ritsuka said. The four waved their good yes and split.

Lee Seng turned around and mapped his way towards the First Year building. He knew he would have to cut through the Portal building to make time to the First Year building. Lee Seng stared in a light jog and quickly pushed himself into a blurry sprint.

Lee Seng's phone told him it would take about fifteen minutes to get to the First Year building from the Third Year building, but with his speed, he made it in seven minutes. He climbed the familiar back stairs and entered the cool building. He saw the elevators and hit the up button.

Lunch had just ended so students were scarce. The elevator doors opened and the elevator was empty. Lee Seng stepped into the chamber and turned. He tapped the top button and heard the familiar voice speak.

"Number Authorization."

"Lee Seng Chang." He spoke. He watched the button swirl for a long moment before it cleared green. The elevator began to move and he checked his phone. He noticed Olivia, Ritsuka and Evan made a group chat and had sent emojis as a test. Lee Seng sent a smiling boar emoji and stuffed the phone back into his pocket ad the door dinged at the top floor.

Lee Seng stepped out and turned to look left. The conference door room at the end was opened. He turned to look right and noticed Nicole stepping out and looking directly at him.

"Over here, Chang." Nicole waved. Lee Seng moved to the last door on the left and stepped in. Nicole's office was fairly large. Glass windows in the back that allowed her to look out. Bookshelves lined along the right wall. A variety of books on different topics from education to Biohuman power theories that have been published by the Creator were lined up neatly.

Nicole sat down behind the desk and went back to looking at her computer screen off to her left. She scrolled away as Lee Seng walked in and sat in the chair directly in front of the desk.

"The Creator has lined up some requirements you're need to follow while you are here." Nicole started.

"Straight to business." Lee Seng said. Nicole shifted some papers over and Lee Seng grabbed them. He began to skim it and sighed he came across each requirement bullet point. "3.5 GPA, required to join a field group, and bi-weekly consultation on power development. That doesn't sound too bad." He glanced up at Nicole who was looking at him with her hands folded together.

"Let's go deeper into the bullet points," Nicole motioned. "3.5 GPA is self-explanatory. You should be able to attain it since you practically got that at your previous school.

"The next bullet point is requirement to join a field group. The Creator is heavily encouraging you to do this as the Mercenary option is harder and depends on popularity and your skill. Since your are inexperienced and everyone knows you based on the tabloids, you'll create a team with Manny."

"What? With Manny?" Lee Seng stood up.