Owen sat in the infirmary with a new change of clothes that his dad had brought for him. The medic android had already done the check-up on his body and had concluded that he had no external or internal injuries. It was a good thing too, since his brother and sister had just barged into the infirmary.

Jack's eyes were alight with excitement, "Bro, I knew you were going to win, but man, I didn't expect you to win like that!"

Owen couldn't help but chuckle at his brother's excitement.

"But I wish I could have been there for the match, instead I was busy searching for her. " Jack jabbed a thumb towards his older sister, Olivia, who stood behind him, with a bag of snacks in her arms. Her black hair was tied up in a messy bun. A pair of brown eyes looked at him.

"What's the point in watching the fight when the outcome was so obvious?" she asked, as she stuffed a snack in her mouth.

Jack's brows furrowed in frustration. "Just because you don't care doesn't mean the rest of us don't. I wanted to watch it."

"Then you shouldn't have come looking for me." She retorted, rolling her eyes.

Jack was about to argue back, but he noticed his dad was approaching from the entrance of the infirmary.

"Hey, Dad. What's the news?"

His father sighed, "Well Lucas James has been disqualified and fined for the usage of his essence ability, and he's been banned from participating in the league for a whole year."

"Yeah, serves him right." Owen said, nodding in agreement.

"Owen," his father said, his voice suddenly more serious, "you know that this is mostly your fault, right?"

"What? How was it my fault?”

"Don't act dumb, you provoked him. The disrespectful act of refusing to use your essence in the fight and then taunting him in the middle of the match. What were you thinking?" His father's eyes were stern and unyielding. Owen's brother and sister both looked on, curious to hear his response.

Owen shrugged. "I just wanted to see if I could win without using essence. I was testing out my limits. That's all."

His father's face didn't soften, and his voice remained firm, "That's a good way to get yourself killed, you know? You can't underestimate anyone, Owen. Keeping your ego in check and respecting the fight is what proper fighters should do. You should have taken the fight seriously."

Owen sighed, "Alright, I get it. I was in the wrong, okay?"

His father's eyes softened a bit. "Good." He patted Owen's shoulder and smiled. "Now that it's settled, let's go celebrate your victory with some food."

Owen grinned. "Sounds good to me."

"Damn, I'm not that hungry, though." Olivia complained as she looked in her empty bag of chips.

Ben's eyes returned to his stern expression as he looked at Olivia. "Don't think that I'm done with you, Liv. We'll talk later."

***

The elevator hummed as it carried Ben, Owen, Olivia and Jack through the floors. The four of them were heading towards the bottom floor of the arena, where they could find the parking garage. Owen had his arms folded behind his head as he leaned against the wall of the elevator.

"Hey, dad," Owen said, "did you notice something weird about the android that came to check-up on me?"

"Weird? Not really, why?"

"Before it sent me to the infirmary, it was staring at the star mark on my chest. I think it's the reason why it insisted that I had to go for the check-up."

His father frowned. "Are you sure it was the star mark that it was staring at?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

Ben scratched his beard in thought, "Hmm... that's strange."

"And that's not the only weird part. We've passed by no one ever since we left the infirmary."

Jack's brows raised. "Really? No one?"

"No one."

"You're too paranoid," Olivia said. "It's late. Most people are probably gone."

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"And the staff?" asked Owen. "What? Did they all just vanish?"

Olivia shrugged, "Whatever. I don't care." She then took a deep breath and yawned, stretching her arms into the air.

"Let's just hurry and get to the car. We can think about this later." Ben said, putting an end to the discussion.

The elevator finally came to a stop and the doors slid open. To their surprise, the large parking lot was completely empty. No people or vehicles could be seen in the wide-open space, only rows of pillars that held up the ceiling of the parking lot. The lights that hung from the pillars flickered ominously, casting an eerie glow on the concrete floor.

"This place was packed when we first came here," said Jack as he walked out of the elevator. "Now, it's like a ghost town."

Ben's expression grew more serious. "Everyone, be on your guard."

They walked through the maze of concrete pillars, searching for their car. The only sounds that could be heard were their footsteps echoing through the vast, empty space. Owen's eyes scanned the area, his nerves tense and on high alert. He could sense that something was off, but he didn't know what it was.

Olivia was the first to notice. From the edge of her vision, she noticed a man move out from behind a pillar. Her eyes snapped to him. The man wore a silver and white bodysuit equipped with protective armour plating. A helmet covered his head, and he held a gun of some kind. In a swift motion, he aimed and fired at them.

Olivia yelled out in warning as she positioned herself in front of her family. The projectile flew towards her, hitting her square in the chest. The impact knocked her off her feet and sent her flying backward, landing on the concrete floor with a hard thud.

Ben watched in horror as his daughter was hit. Anger boiled in his blood, and he quickly surged essence throughout his body. A red aura flowed from him as he turned to face their attacker. But before he could do anything, another shot rang out, hitting him in the leg.

From behind him, another man wearing the same uniform had appeared, firing at them from behind a nearby pillar. Ben staggered and fell to one knee. He knew instantly that he had been hit by some kind of tranquillizer. His head felt groggy, and his vision blurred.

Owen began to use his own essence, but stopped when he saw more of the men appearing. They moved in formation, their guns trained on them. He realized they had been surrounded.

"Who the hell are you guys?" Owen demanded. "What do you want with us?"

But instead of getting answers, the only thing he received were shots fired from their guns. He keeled over as they assaulted his body with tranquillizers, each shot hitting its mark. He fell to the ground, unable to move.

Another shot rang out from behind him, followed by Jack's pained scream. Owen grunted, trying desperately to stand, but his body refused to obey. His vision blurred, and his consciousness began to fade.

A pair of boots stopped in front of him. One of the men was standing over him. He crouched down and lifted Owen's shirt, revealing the grey star-shaped mark on his chest. The man nodded and spoke into a device on his wrist.

"We have found the target. We will proceed to the extraction point."

Owen struggled to turn his head to look at his family. They were all lying on the ground, unconscious and unmoving.

"Dad..." Owen called out weakly before the darkness swallowed him.

***

A pounding headache greeted Owen as he regained consciousness. His eyes slowly opened, and he found himself in an unfamiliar empty room, with a single table in front of him. He tried to move, but realized that he was bound to a chair. His hands were restrained in metallic handcuffs.

He tried using his essence, but noticed that the cuffs were draining it away. A sigh escaped him as he realized what they were.

"Inhibitor cuffs, huh." he muttered.

The sound of a door opening made him look up, and a pair of men entered the room. They were dressed in simple silver suits and with hats covering their heads. They were followed by an android carrying a tablet.

"Ah, good. You're awake," said one of the men, "saves us the hassle of having to wake you up."

Owen eyed them cautiously. A stylized letter 'A' was emblazoned on the right side of their suits. He recognized it as the logo for the Arden corporation. A mega-corporation that specialized in making weapons, robotics and other high-tech equipment. But not only were they the biggest weapons manufacturer, but they also controlled a third of the world's realms.

One of the men pulled out a chair and sat down across from him. He had short brown hair and a small, groomed moustache. Unnatural orange eyes stared at him, studying him intently.

"Where is my family?" Owen asked, his voice hoarse.

"They are fine. But you needn't worry about them right now."

Owen scowled at the man's response. "What is this? Why'd you kidnap me?"

"Straight to the point, I see," the man said, crossing his legs. "My name is Trent, and I am an agent for the Arden Corporation." He gestured to the other man. "This is my partner, Abe. We have been sent here on behalf of the corporation to indoctrinate you so that you may join our ranks."

Owen couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What?"

Trent leaned forward and stared into his eyes. "That mark on your chest, do you know what it is? It's what we call an Insignia. It indicates that you possess a unique ability that makes you very valuable to the Arden Corporation. We would like for you to join us."

"This is nonsense," said Owen, shaking his head. "Let me go."

"The choice is not yours to make. You will be joining us regardless."

"The hell I will."

Trent leaned back in his chair. "I can see that you are stubborn. But let me give you some advice. There have been guys more stubborn than you who now grovel and beg at our feet. You won't be an exception."

"You don't know me, Trent," Owen sneered. "I won't bend the knee for anyone."

"I guess we'll see about that."

Trent got up and pushed the table to the side. "Abe, can you take off the cuffs?"

Abe stepped behind Owen's chair and fiddled with the restraints. Owen looked questioningly at Trent. "What, are you going to free me?"

"Only temporarily," Trent said, "We don't know what your essence ability does, and we'd rather find out now, so we can impose restrictions if they are necessary."

Owen's hands were freed, and he rubbed his wrists, trying to soothe the soreness. He wondered if he could fight his way out. But hesitated as he looked in the eyes of Trent. Orange, only those who had a great control over their essence, would undergo a mutation were their eye colours, would match the colour of their essence. Which meant that he was most likely an advanced essence user. There was no way Owen could fight him.

"Your essence colour is yellow, which means you are an energy essence user. What type of energy can you control?"

Owen frowned. He didn't want to answer him, but he saw no other alternative.

"I can control kinetic energy."

"Interesting. Please demonstrate."

"Hand me something small. I need an object to channel the energy into."

Trent glanced at Abe. "Do you have anything?"

"I've got this." Abe pulled a pen from his pocket and handed it to Owen.

"Alright." Owen concentrated on the pen, focusing on the kinetic energy that was contained within. He could feel some of his essence deplete as he willed the pen to float up into the air. He then moved the pen through the air, twirling and spinning it.

"Impressive. I can see you have good control over your essence ability."

Owen made the pen hover over his hand, "I've shown you what you wanted. So when can I see my family?"

Trent shook his head. "I'm afraid that is impossible. You will not be seeing them again. You are going to be transferred to a facility that specializes in training people like you with Insignias. There, you will be taught how to use your ability and become an asset to the corporation."

Silence filled the room. A blank look had come over Owen's face. He stared at Trent, unblinking, "I see. Trent, do you want to see something even more impressive?"

Trent raised an eyebrow. He was about to answer when he noticed Owen was smiling. It was an unsettling smile, one that almost sent chills down his spine.

"What are you-"

Owen raised his arm level with Trent's face, with the pen still hovering over his arm.

With a guttural growl, Owen said, "I hope this kills you."

He flicked his arm, and the pen shot forward. Faster than a bullet, the pen zipped through the air and hit Trent square on the forehead, knocking his head back.

Abe, caught off guard by the sudden attack, reacted too late. Owen had already turned his attention towards him. He pounced on him and grabbed the sides of his head. Using kinetic energy, he caused his hands to heat up, and soon the sides of his head were scorched by the intense heat. Abe screamed and writhed in pain as his skin blistered and burned. Owen, now done with him, pushed him against the wall and moved on, running straight for the door.

However, as he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, a large force slammed into his back and threw him into the opposite wall. Owen crumpled to the ground, his back aching. He looked up and saw Trent. A small bruise was on his forehead where the pen had struck, but otherwise, he seemed completely unharmed.

"Guess that didn't kill me, huh?" Trent said, "But that did hurt quite a bit."

Abe moaned and writhed in pain on the ground behind him.

Trent continued, "Unfortunately for you, we'll have to impose some heavy restrictions on you for your little stunt there."

"Damn!" Owen yelled out in protest as handcuffs were forced back onto his wrist.