I looked up at the government building that was in front of me with the logo 'MAM' and a sign that read 'Ministry of Anomaly Management' underneath it.
There weren't a lot of people around considering it was still early in the day and most people would probably be in the midst of setting out for work at this time.
It's precisely because there's fewer people now that made it the perfect time for me to come here.
Stepping through the automated glass doors of the building and into the sterilised and clean government building, a blast of cold air from the air conditioning hitting me right in the face.
I looked around to see where the reception counter was but a guy in a suit came up to me before I could even do that, a customer service smile on his face.
"Hello sir, how may we help you today?"
I turned to him, "I'm looking to get myself checked… I may have been inside the rift without the protection of a Mortal God or a Guardian."
His face froze up noticeably and I could tell that he was internally panicking at what he just heard.
I don't blame him because you never know when someone might suddenly transform into an Anomaly and eat your face off. Though typically, the transformation would only happen after a few days but you never know how long the person in front of you had been affected. For all he knows, I may have waited a few days before coming here.
He raised his hand at me, "Could you… Wait here for a moment? Please don't go anywhere, just stay here."
He then ran off and I just stood there as he requested me to.
Thankfully, I didn't need to wait long before he returned with four other people that were clearly Vanguards in tow. I guess they were there in case I suddenly turned into an Anomaly so they would be able to kill me before I got out of control.
Despite the additional security, the suit guy didn't seem more at ease and still looked pretty nervous as he gestured to the interior of the building.
"Please follow me, sir."
The four Vanguards took position behind me as I followed the guy down a corridor.
"May I know the details of what happened to you?" He asked without slowing his step and tapping on a tablet he pulled out from his jacket.
"It happened yesterday. I was trying to help someone being threatened by a group of awakened people and I suddenly got teleported to where I believe was a rift since I got attacked by Anomalies."
"And what happened?"
"I managed to beat them but I sustained heavy injuries in doing so. But the next thing I knew, I woke up in the same place I had disappeared from so I thought to get myself checked since I was not under the protection of a Mortal God or a Guardian at that time."
I could hear a soft sigh of relief coming from behind me, probably because they now know the likelihood of me turning into an Anomaly right now was low at the moment even if I was affected by the miasma.
The suit guy tapped on his tablet furiously before asking, "Are you a… Oh, I see you now… You are Vanguard Lin Qing Quan?"
I'm not surprised he managed to find me in the database since we all need to register ourselves with the registry to become a Vanguard, meaning our personal information is accessible to the government at any time.
"Yes, I am."
"And you were involved in the rift expedition at Jalan Lempeng yesterday?"
"That is correct."
"Is your condition related to that expedition?"
"No, it happened afterwards."
"How long afterwards?"
"An hour or two, give or take."
"Any discomfort? Any signs of mutation? Any sickness?"
"No, no and no."
He tapped away on his tablet for a while more before we eventually reached a solid looking door that looked like it came straight out of a sci-fi movie with the armoured plating and lights around the doorframe.
It slowly slid open and I noted that it was several inches thick which I assume was more to contain whatever was inside from coming out instead of preventing things from going in.
Past the door was just an empty room which was akin to a holding cell and the suit guy gestured inside, "Please step inside, Vanguard Lin. We will proceed with the scanning here."
I understood why they were treating me like this so I didn't raise a fuss and stepped inside alone, allowing them to shut the door behind me.
I waited for a moment before a static could be heard overhead and I noticed the camera and speakers in the corner of the room.
"Ahem, testing, testing. Can you hear me, Mister Lin?" A different voice from the suit guy came through the speakers. This one sounding more feminine so I believe it must be a female staff.
I nodded at the camera.
"You can speak, Mister Lin, we can hear you."
"Ah, sorry. Then yes, I can hear you," I assured the staff.
"Perfect, I was just briefed about your situation and I would like to confirm what made you believe you had been sent into a rift?"
"The Anomalies that I had to fight."
"And you managed to come out without any injuries?"
"No. I lost an arm and was on the verge of death, but when I defeated the last Anomaly, I suddenly blacked out and woke up back outside with my body completely healed."
"And you are sure that you did not hallucinate? Are you on any drugs?"
"No, I am not."
"Any changes aside from that?"
I was about to say no when I stopped myself.
No… There was definitely a change, a single very obvious change.
"My… Powers grew stronger."
"That is normal when you train yourself and use your powers over long periods of time."
I shook my head, "No, I don't just mean a minor improvement or even absorbing the Mana Crystals to enhance myself. I meant like… By a multiple of at least two or three right after that."
There was a pause from the other side before the voice spoke again, "We will begin the testing now."
Ah… yeah… They're probably thinking that the enhanced powers came from the miasma mutating me, which was what I was also worried about.
One of the symptoms of the process of mutation is the amplification of your powers so if you suddenly find your powers being stronger than normal by a large margin, there's a chance that you are turning into an Anomaly.
The lights in the room darkened and a soft hum of a machine could be heard before a net of green lasers started scanning my body.
I stayed still and waited for the scan to be completeI wonder if they would just kill me if they found out that I was transforming into an Anomaly?
While it might be possible to dispel the miasma from an affected person, it requires the involvement of a Mortal God or their Guardian and there's no way someone like me would have the chance to get someone that important to come all the way down here to purge that from me.
Maybe… If I were to become a Guardian or something then I still might have a chance…
As sudden as the scans started, the lasers shut off and the lights came back on again.
I was expecting the staff member to tell me the results straight away but no sounds came from the speakers.
Hmm? Did they forget to turn on their mic or something?
"Err… Hello? Is everything alright?" I called out while looking at the camera.
No response.
What's going on? Are they contacting security to rush in here and shoot me or something?
I tried to call out a few more times and even waved at the camera but nothing happened for a few good minutes, making me wonder just what the staff saw from the results.
Without warning, the doors suddenly slid open and I turned to see a whole bunch of people that were gathered outside with a rather tall looking red skinned woman with a pair of horns peeking out from her head of long, white hair leading the group.
I think she was at the very least two metres or six foot five in height… And that's not considering the fact she was already wearing high heels.
Most of the people gathered behind her looked like security personnel with all the guns they were carrying so I quickly lifted up my hands.
"Hey, err… Before I get shot, could I at least have a call with my family?" I pleaded.
The red skinned woman strode into the room, her high heels clacking loudly against the floor
She gave me a look before turning to the security personnel, "Secure him right now! Go!"
Ah shit… What's gonna happen now?