Biohuman

"There aren\'t many gates on a soul." Crow continued to explain. She lifted her hands and grabbed onto Lee Seng\'s. "There\'s only seven on your soul compared to the many gates on your physical body. And they start from the base of your spine  and go all the way up to your head." Crow pointed out the different spots as she taught him. "These could be called the seven chakras. The idea was brought up in India way back in 1500 to 500 BC. Even then, many humans learned unbalance from their souls. There\'s very few who\'ve unlocked it successfully."

"Is it going to be painful then?" Lee Seng asked.

"What\'s growth if there\'s no pain?" Crow answered with another question. Before Lee Seng could even answer, Crow\'s hands pulsed with energy. She was getting a feel for Lee Seng\'s soul before releasing his hands. "Are you ready?"

"Uh… I guess." Lee Seng shrugged.

"Get comfortable, this will probably be painful and be awhile."

"Huh." Lee Seng began to lean forward as Crow lifted her right hand up. Feathery energy started to fall from her hand as Lee Seng gulped, adjusting himself quickly before it was too late.

"Let\'s start." Crow informed him. She hovered her hand over his pelvis area. Lee Seng began to feel uncomfortable as energy poured out of Crow. The energy poured into the first gate. Pain began to flare as Crow adjusted herself. Lee Seng began to squirm.  "Don\'t move! If you move you could ruin the gate from opening correctly!"

Feathers materialized out of thin air, pressing themselves on Lee Seng as Crow readjusted her hand again. Lee Seng squeezed his face shut, tilting his head back as he tried to fight through the pain. With a single pop noise, Crow and the feathers readjusted themselves. Crow moved onto the next gate.

With each gate, came a little more pain and a little more time. Lee Seng fought against everything his body was saying tried not to squirm away so much. Crow had anticipated movement and pressed the feathers down harder based on how squirmy the boy was being. She was thrown back by his natural strength and adjusted accordingly.

Hours went by and they were reaching the final gate. Lee Seng looked like he was going to pass out while Crow was growing tired. She needed to do this all in one go. That was one of the requirements.

\'But the other one…\' She thought, looking at Lee Seng. His eyes were somewhat closed. He had profusely started to sweat and the clothes on his spiritual body was getting more soaked. \'He\'ll need plenty of rest after this.\' Another pop occurred and Crow adjusted the feathers and her hands.

"This is the last one, Fox. You must stay awake no matter what, alright? This one won\'t take much time compared to the last three." Crow told him. Lee Seng tilted his head to look at her. He was trying to open his eyes but the immense pain and sweat made him want to pass out.

"I…" Lee Seng began to say when his head started to fall back. "I… I don\'t think…"

"You must." Crow moved a feather to push his head towards her. His body lurched forward a bit as the tired Fox fought against everything his body was saying. "It\'ll only take five minutes. If you can get through this, I can tell you with certainty that you will feel the difference."

"I… I can\'t… I can\'t do this…" Lee Seng shook his head.

"Fine. We\'ll do it this way." Crow lifted her left hand and feathery energy began to sprinkle onto Lee Seng\'s face. She muttered something in a different language and watched as the feathers became razor sharp. They started to embed themselves in him, waking his senses.

"What\'re you doing? Stop!" Lee Seng shouted.

"No. You need to be awake and I will do whatever I need to make sure you\'re up. It won\'t kill you to take some more pain." Crow started the last process of opening the gate. The feathery energy poured into Lee Seng\'s head as more sweat trickled down his face.

\'This one\'s the most painful gate to open.\' Crow thought. \'I needed to shock you into being alert so it wouldn\'t hurt so much. Let\'s hope you can fight through the final hurdle. The Soul\'s Mind gate.\'

Lee Seng erupted in screams. His head trying to lurch backwards as Crow immediately acted. She knew she couldn\'t give him any room to move and fight. The Soul\'s Mind gate was one of the shorter gates to open but the hardest one to mentally fight through. She wanted to wonder what Lee Seng was going through. What he was seeing but her burning desire to finish this forced those intrusive thoughts out.

Lee Seng\'s mind flashed of memories. Memories he didn\'t think he\'d remember. Memories he didn\'t want to remember. The lab flashed before his eyes. A young Lee Seng sat on the "super high chair" in the middle of the room. It was the chair in his \'laboratory room.\' The young Lee Seng was hooked up to the machines as it passively continued to register his vitals and such.

He was drawing with some crayons. He was in the middle of another masterpiece when the noise of his father and mother came through the door.

"Vang, I told you this last time. You can\'t keep testing our son! He should get to do what other kids do! Draw, play, and goof around! He only gets to be a kid once!" Lee Seng\'s mother, Chee hissed at her husband. The Creator, Vang, sighed and turned to look at Chee as they stood near the door.

"This is for our family!" Vang defended himself. "Lee Seng has so much potential! So much potential to become the first perfected Biohuman, the next evolution in the human line! I\'m doing this so he can live a comfortable life and take over the laboratory after we\'re both dead. He can live a secured life."

"Do you even know he wants that?"

"I\'ve talked to him about it many times. He always says okay. If he\'s okay with that, then I will continue to do what I must do to make sure our son lives to see that day."

"He\'s just a kid, Vang." Chee pointed at Lee Seng. "He\'s just a kid who can\'t grasp the ideas you\'re pushing onto him. He says yes because he wants to spend time with his father, not the scientist!" An acidic silence washed between them as Chee turned and pushed her hair away. Young Lee Seng spilled his crayons, the memory shifting.

He sat on the bed, staring at his phone. His snacks had just run out and his stomach was telling him to get more. He set the tablet to the side and took the bowl with him out of his room, walking down the hall and rounding the dark corner of the laboratory room.

"Vang, I\'m glad you\'re giving him a chance to be with other kids, but you cannot keep latching onto this facade that he\'s going to take over the laboratory business! He has no interest in it whatsoever!" Chee yelled. Lee Seng stopped and moved back to the corner of the hallway turn. He peeked his head out and could see his parents arguing in front of his room, again. The Creator rubbed his temples in frustration.

"He got what he wants by going to school. I can give him that just fine! He just needs to do this one thing for me! Why can\'t he just take over the lab?!? It\'s a secure job! He\'ll be CEO and continue the work I\'m doing here! What\'s wrong with wanting your child to follow in my footsteps?"

"Because he doesn\'t want to be like you, Vang!"

"ENOUGH!" Vang shouted, slapping Chee across  the face. His father was certainly drunk. Chee looked at him with a wild expression, clutching her face as the realization never dawned on Vang. Lee Seng\'s blood boiled. He wanted to go out there, beat the Creator to a pulp and run away with his mother. Yet, his feet wouldn\'t move. He could feel something inside of him eating at him. Telling him nothing would work against that man. That man would do worst things to him versus his murderous intent.

Lee Seng\'s body began to shake, the bowl releasing from his grip and shattering all over. His parents instantly turned to look.

"That boy! Always ease dropping! I had enough! Come here!" Vang shouted, marching to the sliding door as his wife tried to stop him.

"Enough, Vang! Don\'t you see what you\'re doing to him?!? To us?!? You\'re drunk! Let\'s go home!" Chee pleaded. The Creator pushed his wife away, sending her onto the floor as he raised his hand. The paddle appeared in his hand as he glared at Lee Seng.

"You think you can do anything you want? You think telling your Mom what you want will try to dissuade me into letting you do whatever you want?" The Creator snickered. The paddle slammed in his hand, making Lee Seng jump. "You were born to live for me. You will take over the business. You will do as your told. And you will certainly be the next face of this whole damn legacy!"

Lee Seng\'s legs acted before he did. He darted into his room as the Creator ran after him, shouting obscenities at his own son. Chee cried, climbing onto her feet and running after her husband and son. Lee Seng got through the door and slammed it shut behind him as the Creator grabbed the door handle and started to twist and slam himself into the door.

Lee Seng pressed himself against the door, against his the Creator\'s strength and fought for his life. There was one thing in this world he wanted to get away from and it was his own father, but… Would that ever really happen?