Rune was in a white room; looking around, he saw other people.
Other Egoists.
The room was not very spacious, so it was really stuffy, and in the front stood one singular door.
Sometimes, people with him would be taken through the door, never to be seen again. All the kids, including Rune, had made up their own legends; Some said the door took them to a splendid castle, and others said it took them to the beach.
These were things they saw in books, unsure if they existed.
Rune, however, said.
"What if it's just more white?"
And as if to test the theory, the door opened once more.
A man in white came to take someone away.
The person this time was Rune.
As the man in white got closer and closer, Rune could feel his heartbeat go quicker and quicker. Every single nerve in his body told him danger was behind that door.
Alas, his frail body could not resist as he was taken away.
He could hear the encouraging voices of the others.
"Don't be scared, Rune!"
Those four words repeated countlessly in Rune's head.
And as he finally passed the door, what he saw made him scream.
"Ah!!"
After what seemed like a lifetime, Rune had just awoken.
He was sweating, really sweating.
"I see you are awake. Had a nightmare?"
As he looked around, he saw the same woman with brown hair.
He realized how beautiful she was when he got a better look. Her light brown hair spilled over her emerald eyes. She had a really curvy form, and her chest was
No!
Keep yourself together!
"Stealing glances?" She was looking directly at Rune now.
She didn't seem to mind.
"Where am I?" Rune asked, quickly trying to change the subject.
"In the middle of the grand storm," she said, "I found you laying on a corpse on my way back,"
"Ah, yes, what did you do with it?" Rune asked
"Oh, I fed it to the dogs," she said without a hint of remorse.
Rune looked at her doubtfully.
"You think I'm lying?"
Rune nodded.
"I'm not surprised,"
She gestured toward the window, and sure enough, two Husky dogs were happily biting at the dead body.
"Well f*ck"
Rune's first action was to try and run, but his wound prevented him from moving desirably.
Sensing his discomfort, the woman let out a small laugh.
"Relax, I don't plan on killing you; I actually need you," As though to show her goodwill, She put both her hands upward.
"Need me for what?" Rune asked cautiously.
"Damn it!" he cursed in his mind, "Just when I was free!"
The girl moved over to the side of the bed and picked something out from the drawer.
It was a newspaper.
She handed it to Rune.
"Kale Venderman, world-renowned egoist researcher!"
12 March 2020,
Kale has successfully converted an egoist.
"Meet Paige, an egoist-turned-researcher!"
The rest was all praise for this Kale guy.
Two things concerned Rune about this paper. The first was the existence of Egoists outside the facility. All these years he was under the impression his kind were hunted down and trapped. Second was the fact the public even knew of egoists, one of the earliest memories Rune had was of the government agents specifically warning his parents not to disclose any information regarding him
"There are Egoists outside the facility?" Rune asked
The Lady nodded.
"Some Egoists awaken later and more mature. Some know the situation and go into hiding. A few exceptional ones have formed great tycoons in both the underworld and the public setting"
"So, where exactly do I come into play?" Rune asked.
"See, I need quite a good team to break into this place, but I'm not the most influential fellow. Believe me, I tried, So as an alternative, I was going to break one of you Egoists out to force you to help me,"
"You're actually mad," Rune stared at her dumbfounded, "It took me eight years to find a way out, and you wanted to force your way in?"
She waited and thought for a bit.
"I would have figured something out,"
Rune stopped after beginning to calculate his higher chances of killing her.
She needs assistance creating a squad to infiltrate a research facility, right? That fits my objective.
"All this is progressing a bit fast, don't you think?" Rune was watching her every moment.
This was happening too fast.
Five minutes after he escapes, a woman comes looking for an egoist.
Rune was an untrusting fellow; life with the government does that to you sometimes. He refused to believe that all this was a coincidence. The woman did not respond at first, but then she broke out into a grin.
"Honestly, life is like that," She said; she looked so innocent that Rune almost forgot she fed a corpse to her dogs
Rune looked back at his tattoo. Seven shined dimly on it. Despite the small number, having seven beings relieved him a little.
The tattoo Rune possessed is called the 'Sahar.' It was named by the Arabs around fifty years ago and translates to 'the charmed.'
Every Egoist is dangerous. That much is true, but what sets them apart is their Sahar. The more people they enthrall, the more hidden abilities they discover. The strongest Egoist recorded is 'Marx Lindel.' Whether that truly is his name is unknown. What is known, however, is during the Peruvian civil war between Marx and the president of Peru, Alfredo Gonzalez.
Marx was briefly captured and confirmed to have two million people under his control. Shortly after the discovery, however, Marx used a hidden ability to escape and assassinated the general who captured him, Leonard Pastof.
"By the way, my name is Marvel." Marvel held out a friendly hand. Rune looked skeptical but shook it anyway. He thought of charming her, but it's challenging once they know you are an Egoist. The only reason it worked in the lab was because they were desperate. Marvel smiled like she knew his choice and sat on the chair opposite Rune's bed. "So here's the game plan. We need to fatten up that small Sahar of yours so you can grow big and strong for me. Once that's done, we're gonna travel to Rockland. I have some allies there who can be of use."
Rune sighed. Forget taking things at his own pace. He might spend the rest of his life slaving for this woman. Still, he had a choice. Once he got enough followers, he could turn on her. But Rune found that semi-illogical. Yes, she was basically forcing him to do this. But it still aligned with his original plans. He didn't see a reason why they couldn't be allies.
"This Rockland place, where is it?"
Marvel looked surprised. Was it that strange a government captive didn't know geography. The only thing Rune knew was that he was in Russia.
"Well, it's not too far. But it's not so close that you'd be happy traveling there."
Not too far doesn't exactly make me alright with it but I might as well. Rune looked out from the window and into the grand storm.
Upon closer inspection, the natural phenomenon was a seemingly never-ending storm. Rune's pupils shrinked as his vision sharpened, this was a physical amp granted by the Sahar. Even with heightened senses, Rune was unable to see past around 20 meters.
According to what Rune knew, the Grand Storm formed shortly after the Peruvian war in the most northern desolate part of New Russia, Zabroshen. Within the first two days of the Grand Storm appearing similar phenomenon's began to happen all around the world. Mount Fuji, in Prandis, formerly named Japan, grew several more meters in height and became an active volcano constantly spewing its ashes and occasionally erupting in a magnificent flame. The Great Wall of China gained a face and would regularly converse with passing travelers, It showed great intelligence and seemed keen on working with mankind. However, it has a nasty habit of eating anything it views as "Unintelligent".
The Grand Storm hasn't shown any abnormal traits other than being never-ending and massive, still, you can succumb to the nasty terrain with a weak body.
Rune got out of bed and began to stretch himself out. Within the facility, Egoists are taught how to maintain their body's peak condition. In the early days, various superhumans would fall victim to rapid increases in muscle mass leading to stiffness in the body. Even after reducing the Sahar, Many would go on to be paralyzed or hurt from having their internal organs or bones damaged.
Marvel watched him closely then turned to inspect the drawers. There was a family picture on, she briefly glanced at the father in the picture. He wore extravagant clothing and had a noticeable silver earing in the shape of a long diamond on his left ear.
Marvel paid the picture no more mind and began looking within the drawers. Inside, there were keys to an MTV, a multi-terrain vehicle, as well as some keys inside. Other items were miscellaneous, pens, magazines, and the like.
What really caught her eye though, was the journal she found. The top was adorned with various shiny jewels surrounding a bright red one in the middle. She took the items and stuffed them into her bag then turned to Rune, "Are you ready to leave?"
Rune finished the last of his stretches as he calmly replied, "Yeah, let's go"
As Marvel and Rune left the house she whistled for her two dogs to come follow her and set them in the boot of the car while she and Rune got in the car.
As they drove off Bruce's body lay decomposed next to another unidentifiable corpse. A silver earing shining dimly.