SPOILER WARNING!! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 186 OF -MAN DO NOT READ THIS FIC!!!
"Alright, everyone, in three…two…one…!"
Zhu Chan lowered a lever and the fluid in the cylindrical tank in front of him began to drain. He flipped a switch and the tank lowered into a horizontal position. Zhu then motioned to his son, Bak, who was sitting in the corner, holding a clipboard, the teen rose and came to stand by his father's side.
Zhu slid open the glass lid on the tank.
"Take notes on this, Bak, that bastard, Louvellier, will want a complete and, of course, overly-detailed report."
Bak nodded and watched as Zhu pulled a surgical cart closer to the tank. The teen was gifted with the ability of multitasking and was, thus, able to take notes while gazing transfixed and the young boy in the tank.
The boy was in a drugged sleep, his blue-black hair, still soaked from the fluids in the tank, was plastered to his neck. He was small, but muscular. On his chest, directly over his heart, was a strange black tattoo. It looked vaguely like some sort of Kanji but Bak couldn't decipher its meaning. He looked over at his father and noticed he was holding a surgical scalpel. He also noticed that the blade was dangerously close to the boys arm.
"Father, watch out! You'll-!" but it was too late, the scalpel pierced the sleeping boy's arm. A line of crimson blood trickled from the cut and down the side of his skin. Bak stared, at first in appall, then in amazement as the cut healed itself an instant later.
Zhu let out the breath he'd been holding up till now. Success, finally, a success. Central had gotten tired of waiting so they decided that the first successful experiment would be the last. There had been so many failures that Zhu had lost count of the number of synthetic lives that had been lost. However, unlike his subordinates, he didn't resign himself to the potential losses of life and continued to mourn each failed experiment as it was disposed of outside the branch.
This time, this time it has got to work, I can't stand the thought of losing another child. Tentatively, Zhu removed the anesthetic IV from the child. Slowly, the child began to wake. Zhu watch with bated breath as he opened his eyes and sat up. He looked up and Zhu with wide black eyes in an expression of quiet confusion.
"Hello there," Zhu said with a smile. "How do you feel?"
The boy looked at him, "dizzy," he said, faintly, "and," he ran his fingers through his hair, still drench from the tank fluids, "wet."
Zhu chuckled, "don't worry about that, we'll get cleaned up in a moment, and the dizziness is just a side-effect from the anesthesia."
Bak took the boy's hand and helped him to the floor. He was a little unstable on his feet, but that would change once he got used to walking. The teen took him into a room and got him some fresh clothes.
After he'd finished dressing the boy suddenly spoke, "that's pretty."
Bak looked over where the boy was pointing, then became confused. He was pointing at a corner of barren floor. He looked and the boy again, certain he had missed something.
"What is?" he said, kindly.
"That flower in the corner, it's so pretty, but why is it on the floor?"
Bak's heart sank into his stomach, the boy was hallucinating, there was nothing on the floor, yet he was seeing some sort of flower.
He grabbed the boy's hand, "C'mon we need to see Zhu."
This couldn't be a good sign.