Chapter 10: The Incident
Morning came too soon.
The dormitory doors slammed open.
The sound of boots. Sharp orders.
And they were all lined up outside.
The cold morning air burned their eyes.
Jem was chattering his teeth. Oril staggered. The other survivors dragged their feet.
There were only ten left.
Ego stood there.
Straight. Impeccable. Arms crossed. Cold stare.
He didn't shiver.
His eyes tracked the others with disdain.
— Tch. Look at this bunch of wrecks... They better move their asses, seriously. I'm gonna freeze waiting on these losers.
An old man stepped forward. Long beard, black coat, voice dry and cutting.
He took a step, his hard eyes scanning the group.
— Yesterday, we injected micro-fragments of a special shard into your bodies. Dissolved in the black liquid.
He pointed to their scars, still red and swollen.
— Every pain, every scream, every night of fever... had one purpose: to force your bodies to mutate. To increase your compatibility.
He paused.
— Today is the real test.
He placed a box in front of them.
Inside: black shards. Cracked, pulsating. Like something was trying to break free.
— If your body accepts them, you'll survive. And you'll change.
A heavy silence fell. The wind stirred dust at their feet.
— If not...
He didn't finish. No need to.
At the end of the line, a boy stepped back, trembling violently. His breath became ragged, uneven.
Then he screamed.
His back split open. Flesh tore. A hiss, then the smell of burning.
He collapsed, eyes wide open, frozen in panic.
No one dared to cry out.
Ego rolled his eyes, annoyed.
— Tch... One less.
The old man continued, relentless:
— Some bodies reject the shard. And when that happens...
Silence.
No one dared speak. Even Jem stared at the ground, frozen.
But Ego... he looked at the guards. Then the box.
Slowly, he narrowed his eyes.
He knew.
Not what they were doing.
But that all of this belonged to him.
He stepped forward.
A short breath rose among the masked guards. One raised his arm.
— You. Stay in your place.
Ego barely stopped.
The vibration grew.
The air thickened around him. Every breath became heavy, charged with electricity.
— Oh, this looks pretty good. Should we take it all?
…
— Still as talkative as ever, I see.
Then every muscle in his body tensed.
His back caught fire.
A dark glow spread through him.
His whole body vibrated, ready to break... or to mutate.
Around him, shards and dust rose. The wind shifted.
— Stop him, damn it!
The old man shouted. Too late.
Ego heard nothing.
His mind was elsewhere.
As if the world spoke a foreign language.
Then,
A sound came out of him.
As if the very air had cracked open.
The shards inside the box trembled.
They all lit up. Then cracked.
Releasing a malevolent smoke, seeming alive, identical to the one spreading inside Ego's body.
The guards stepped back.
— It's… it's impossible.
Ego began to smile.
— Disgusting black smoke, meet evil black smoke.
— Come on, don't be shy, I'll let you chat a bit… to get acquainted.
…
— What? Am I not allowed to have fun in this shitty world?
The smoke was sucked into Ego's body.
A familiar energy coursed through his lungs.
Suddenly, he collapsed to his knees, gasping, his body shaking as if it might shatter.
— FUCK, what's happening? Can't you hear yourselves?
— I'm not giving you a choice, damn it! ARRGGGHHH!
Pain struck him like lightning, intense, burning, almost unbearable. Every fiber in his body seemed to tear apart.
He screamed, tensed, struggling to stay upright.
Then, little by little, the pain faded.
The hooded figures remained frozen.
Then, a hesitant voice broke the silence.
— He… he triggered a spontaneous Resonance…
— Without an external trigger…
— That's… not possible.
Slowly, Ego raised his head.
His gaze swept the crowd.
Everyone was still frozen by the unexpected.
But he, with a breathless yet powerful voice, declared:
— So, what was it you wanted to test again? HAHAHA.
A laugh, loud enough to shatter eardrums, echoed through the crowd.
Ego, flashing a predatory smile, had just broken the chains of silence.