The Beginning of a New Era

''"People want answers. And i don't wanna give them." '' -Steve

"The Beginning of a New Era" is the 1st chapter of The Dark Empire.

Official Synopsis
The beginning of the story. Here we meet two of the main characters and the material that changed them and gave them a different biology than other individuals, granting them capabilities beyond human barriers. And now, with their new found gifts and the new material, they start the plan to change the world into a better place for everybody.

Plot
The chapter begins in the City of Sunrise. In the moment, it was raining.

Steve comes in Alice's house, they both talk friendly for some time, but then Steve told Alice that he wanted to show her something. He stepped in the house and wanted to start explaining, but Alice offered him tea. After she prepared the tea, she puts it on the table and tells Steve to sit down, which he does with slight displeasement. He then tells her about a meteorite that landed on Earth a few days ago, noting that the topic will be about its core. He explained that it contained a mysterious element, which he has already researched and gained some knowledge about it.

Steve informs Alice that what he is talking about is Dark Matter, mentionning that it will be a key to Alice's dream, which made her choke on her tea. He then explains that he's implying that he wants to build an empire, with Alice in lead. Then, they both started laughing, hardly calming themselves down. Steve tells Alice that the next thing they should do is meet in his lab the next day and access his dark matter storage to do experiments. They then decide that they will meet up the next day in the morning. After that, they had a small talk about other subjects, after which Steve left, and Alice went to sleep.

The next day, they met up. Steve shows Alice the special cubes that he created for containing Dark Matter. Alice asked him what happens if she touches it, and Steve replied that he doesn't know, while being scared of thinking of it.

Steve lead her to a big container, where he then put different materials in. He then started experimenting, exposing these materials to Dark Matter, while Alice observed. After some time, they realise that Dark Matter can change materials, turning wood to gold, or iron to mercury.

Steve then tried to find out if he can use Dark Matter as fuel. Alice warns him to use a smaller scale and to be careful, which Steve still didn't consider. He pulled a lever, turning off all the lights in his lab. Then he pressed a button, making dark matter work, and the lights turned on again.

Alice and Steve were celebrating their invention, but then the lights went off again and the lamps exploded. The Dark Matter was overloaded, and the container's glass cracked. Steve wanted to tell Alice to run, but, noticing that it's too late, he only tells her that he's sorry. The container then exploded, and Dark Matter energy hit Alice, while Steve was knocked back into chemicals. They both then lost conciousness.

Three weeks later, Alice and Steve woke up in a hospital. A nurse then came into the room, informing them that they were in coma for three weeks. Alice noted that she has never been in a coma before, to which Steve responded with a joke question. She then put her hand on her head and closed her eyes. And then, she heard Steve ask the same question. She asked him if he remembers that he already said that, which he declined. Alice notes that something feels weird, to see that Steve was looking at her without any slight movement. She also noticed that the nurse did not make any movements, either.

Leaving her in confusion, Steve noticed the smell of hydrogen sulfide in the hospital. Alice tried to talk to him, but he interrupted her, which annoyed her, and she yelled at him to listen to her. Because of the stress she expierenced at that moment, some Dark Matter fell on the blanket, out of her pores. Parts of the blanket have turned into copper, making the nurse scream. Steve and Alice were amazed by what happened. The nurse then ran away, calling for guards.

Steve and Alice considered escaping. Steve created metain gas and ignited it, being able to fly. Alice didn't know what to do, but the guards were coming from the back. Instinctively, she jumped out of the window, and while she was falling, she noticed that the time has stopped again. She landed and the time began moving again. Steve was confused on how she managed to do that.

After that, they proceeded to run towards a small building that was owned by Steve. They entered the building, and Steve proceeded to walk to an employee. He tried to ask for a helicopter, but the employee kept asking him questions. After being threatened to be fired, the employee finally called a helicopter. While waiting for it, Alice and Steve bought some clothes in a nearby store.

After a short while, the helicopter landed on the roof of the building. Steve and Alice got in it and flied to Steve's Island. On that moment, the chapter ends.

Characters

 * Alice Kuraiokami (debut)
 * Steve Kame (debut)
 * Hosital Nurse
 * Hospital guards

Locations

 * The City of Sunrise
 * Alice's house
 * The Hospital
 * Steve's house
 * Steve's lab
 * Steve's Island

Trivia

 * This is the first chapter of The Dark Empire book.
 * This chapter, along with Let's Write a Poem and Know Yourself, was rewritten due to character changes.