“Another dead.” Shune muttered as she sat down next to the blue egg beside her. A small tear ran down her cheek. She growled at herself and wiped it away. “That Than was right. We must leave this place.” Shune looked towards the egg. “I’m happy that I have you by my side, but you cannot talk to me or tell me your feelings on things. I know you shall be able to soon, but I need a friend to talk to now.” The egg almost seemed to look at her and say, ‘Just talk. I may be an egg, but I’ll listen. Talk already! I shall listen.’ Shune smiled. “Okay. I’ll talk. You listen.” Taking a deep breath Shune started. “This facility is made for the genetic alteration and enhancement of humans. I am to be the most powerful of all of us, but then, there is a problem now. I do not wish to kill and that is what the people in charge wish for us. Every other person in this place will kill, I won’t. I will fight. Yes I will fight! But kill? I will not. Anyways. Many have been dying and our numbers are decreasing rapidly. We were designed to kill and are known only by the old of the outside world. Why to kill? We do not know. We obey or die. I do not obey, but do not die. Many see me as one that shall not perish from the evils of these people. They look to me for a leader and I shall lead them, but to where I am unsure. I need a place to go. If I had that I would take them there and get away for sure. We would be happy!”

Shune paused and looked down at the egg. She could almost picture something nodding and saying, ‘Go on.’ The picture seemed faint but Shune continued. “They experiment on us until our bodies can’t handle what they do and they cease to function. We can’t handle being so strong or so enhanced. They don’t see that though. They stopped enhancing me for fear of killing their best. I am saved, but the others aren’t. Not until they are as good as or better than myself will they stop to experiment. They have been trying to figure out why my body does not stop living and has excepted how powerful it is. How do I know this? They practically told me so. I want to get everybody away and they would follow me anywhere they said so. I just don’t know where to take them.” Shune looked at the egg and got the impression that she was waiting to hear more. “I’m done now. Let’s get some rest,” said Shune and she laid back on her bed.

Shune smiled as she felt a thought in the back of her mind. Not really a thought more of a feeling saying, ‘Yes. Rest we shall, but tomorrow is our time to plan a fight! Kill we shan’t, but fight! Remember understanding but only against those of equal understanding.’ “Yes.” Shune said. “Tomorrow we shall fight together and get them all safe.” Then both the daughter of Devgan and Gunnhild and her bondmate stayed awake enjoying the peacefulness of the moment before drifting off into sleep.

The next morning Shune woke up and smiled. She looked at the egg, “Are you awake?” She asked, but she didn’t really get an answer. Instead Shune got a small faint feeling that in her mind was not only herself but another. “I’ll take that as yes.” Getting around quickly as to not miss breakfast Shune reached to take the egg with her. Stopping just as she picked up the female egg she set her down. “I shouldn’t take you with me. To many complications would be able to arise and I do not wish for that. I’ll be back soon.” She said smiling at the egg. Shune then walked out of her room making sure that her security code was in place so that nobody could go in and steal her new friend. Shune almost felt like her new found friend didn’t really mind being left, like she was saying, ‘I’ll take care of myself until you arrive back.’ Shune smiled then was greeted by Tunasa.

“Shune! Shune!” Tunasa said running up to Shune.

“Greetings young Tunasa. How are you this fine morning?”

The girl didn’t take any notice to Shune’s greeting nor her wondering of how she was doing. Instead the girl blabbed out in a worried slur, “I’mgoingotbeterminatedtoday!”

“Slow down Tunasa!” Shune exclaimed though her brain may be able to understand things normally faster than others she still couldn’t understand Tunasa when the girl talked so fast.

“I’m going to be terminated today!”

Shune frowned, “Do not speak of such things. I will not let them.”

“I’m scared! I don’t want to die!”

“Hush Tunasa! Do not say such dreadful things. I will protect you.”

Tunasa had tears falling down her cheeks and she was shaking slightly. “Thank you Shune, but they will terminate me whether or not you do not wish it so.”

Shune decided to change the subject and said, “Let us go to breakfast and fill our empty stomachs so that we can face another day.” Smiling Shune walked forward and noticed Tunasa wasn’t following. “Tunasa,” muttered Shune. “Come now.”

“To eat my last meal?”

“Nay! Do not say such things!”

“Nay?” Tunasa questioned making Shune smile.

“It means no. Nay is no.” The leading the girl Tunasa Shune went to breakfast.

Breakfast came and went, training was next. Walking out into where Than had met Shune the first day he had been to the future Shune sighed. “Training lasts quite long. I wish it wasn’t so.”

“Why do you say that Shune?” Netad questioned from beside her.

Shune didn’t say that it was because she wanted to get back to her egg instead she said, “I am worried about Tunasa. Aren’t you?”

“The girls strong. She’ll be fine. Why?”

“She says she is to be terminated today. I wish she would stop saying such things, but the more she tells me it I find that it is so. Tunasa would not kid about such things. Plus the fact that she is worried sick and fears dying.”

Netad let out a hmph and said, “She is weak after all.”

Shune stopped walking and gave Netad a very straight face and asked, “Do you not fear death?”

Netad didn’t make any comment except for, “Hmph. Do you?”

“I am unsure. To be or not to be?” Shune asked and Netad gave her an odd look. Shune shrugged then said, “I heard once that that was the question.”

“I do not understand.” Netad said.

Shune sighed and started to walk again. “Nor do I.” She paused and thought then said, “We must leave this place Netad. Everybody must leave. I must lead them to a better place.”

“Where?”

“Now to me that is the question. A plan brews in my head but it is a dangerous one. If we survive it would be a miracle.”

Netad looked at the people already training ahead of them, “They’ll follow you anywhere. You know that don’t you?”

“Yes. I’m not worried about them following me or not. I am worried about how I will lead them.”

“You are a born leader Shune. You will find a way.”

Shune smiled at Netad. “Thank you. Thank you for having such faith in me.” Netad shrugged and didn’t say anything.

Training went by fairly slow and just as it was nearing an end Shune heard screaming. “Let go! Please! NO! Leave me alone! No!” Instantly Shune found from which direction the yelling was coming from and ran off. Netad coughed in the dust that was left behind from Shune. He frowned as well and went to follow, but he could not go as fast as Shune. Netad didn’t like this for the voice they heard was Tunasa’s.

“Let go!” Tunasa yelled struggling against genetically enhanced people assigned to take her to the doctor as they said. Tunasa knew better and kept yelling though the others tried to keep her quiet. She knew what this hallway lead to and she did not want to go there. The private building requiring the chief security code to be able to get into it. Filled with a large room and a few hallways. Tunasa did not want to go where she was going.

“Let her go!” Tunasa’s head flung about rapidly and she saw Shune. “I mean it!”

“Shune!”

“This is not of your concern number one. Go back to your training.”

“If you do not let her go I will use you two to train with.”

One guy gulped but the other shrugged at the statement and kept going. Shune ran in front of them not letting them by. “Move.” The man said.

“Nay. I shall not.”

Off in a different room a man with dark hair said to his boss. “We got trouble. Looks like little Shune isn’t going to let the Tunasa girl be terminated.”

A dark ominous figure rose out of a chair and said, “Flood the building with number 54 type gas, but not before you tell the others to put on their masks. Flood a lot of it in! You know how much.”

“Yes sir!” Indeed the man did know how much to filter in. Enough to knock out Shune which was quite a bit, but then, it was number 54. “I’ve informed everybody and have begun filtering in number 54.”

Shune watched at one man after the next put on a mask. Instantly she realized what was happening and she raced forward to get Tunasa away. A greenish blue haze started to fill the room and after many minutes Shune slowed enough for Tunasa to be dragged unconscious through the door at the end of the hallway. “No!” Shune said. “I adapt to this!”

The dark figure, the boss, laughed at Shune on his screen. “Yes. One of the greater this of you Shune. You adapt. Little do you know that I’ve made a slight modification to number 54. So you won’t be able to adapt that soon. Shune struggled against falling and moved towards the door.

“Sir?” Asked the dark haired man who’d flooded the gas into the building on the screen. “Shouldn’t she be knocked out yet?”

“Shune is trying to adapt before she falls. I may have to make number 54 stronger. Hmm. Add to it number 43.96 along with a dash of number 23.”

The man did as his boss said. “That could kill one of our higher numbers.”

“Yes. Not Shune though. Watch her. Shune faltered slightly at the yellowish orange now floating in the room.

“What,.. are,.. you trying,.. to do?” Shune asked hissing. “Make,.. a,. .rainbow?” Her breath was shortening and her adaptation abilities were trying to adapt to an entire new kind of gas.

“Add each number one after the other until Shune gets knocked out.” The boss said. One by one the room was filled with every known gas in the facility. Oxygen was becoming scarce and Shune had to try and adapt to the new atmosphere over and over. Finally she fell to the floor so that her adaptation methods could work without Shune trying to walk and talk. It worked better that way, faster for Shune to adapt if she was unconscious.

“Hurry and teleport her to her room.” And Shune was no longer in that building but in her room instead. “Good. Now I hope she didn’t adapt to much to that before you pulled her out. If she did then so much for that plan next time.”

“She’s becoming a bother don’t you think boss?”

“She is our strongest. A bother? Yes. But if we could get her to kill for us then we could conquer the world!”

Shune woke up hours later and found herself in her room. Her blue egg was sitting next to her and Shune got the feeling it was very worried. “I’m fine.” Shune said. “Tunasa.” Tears erupted. Tunasa was right. She was to be terminated, killed, to die. “Another one gone.”

The egg almost seemed to shift, but Shune thought it was her eyes playing tricks on her. ‘You tried.’ Was the faint feeling Shune got from the egg.

“Yes. I did, but not hard enough. They tried that trick before and it worked. Infernal adapting.” Shune said. The egg seemed curious. “I adapt in situations, but when it gets to much for me I don’t die I just faint and then I adapt and then I wake up to continue the battle. At least,.. that’s what I have been told.”

A new feeling seemed to be telling Shune to get some rest. ‘Rest. You must.’ It seemed to say. Shune thought that the wyrm inside the egg wanted to fight and was quickly reassured that she did, but she also found other more calm thoughts inside the egg. Love of peaceful tranquility and happiness, much like her bondmate. Shune sighed and drifted off into sleep smiling at the little egg beside her.

The little wyrm inside the egg was left to think to herself. The little wyrm was not yet strong enough to tell her thoughts to others, but strong enough to think them. ‘Fight we shall. Then live in peace afterwards. Protect. Indeed.’ Her thoughts consisted of small phrases and single words. ‘Serenity comes. Far off. Sleep now. Yes. Sleep.’ And then the little wyrm stopped her thoughts and laid back in her egg to start dreams of victory over the enemy and other little child-like thoughts and dreams.

“Good night.” Shune muttered to her little friend but Shune had the feelings that the little wyrm inside her egg was already asleep. “I can’t wait,..” Shune yawned and continued, “until you hatch.”

‘Neither can I.’ The little wyrm thought just before going off to sleep. ‘I wish to. See. What color,… I am.’ But Shune didn’t hear these privates thoughts that the wyrm had though the female Machesri’s bondmate did have the same question. She also wanted to see what the wyrm would look like.

“I’ll name you when you hatch okay?” Shune said sleepily and the egg seemed to agree. “Good night.” Then the two were asleep wondering what was to happen to them next.