Piper Lee examined his surroundings for the fifth time. It was a dimly lit room with no furniture other than two affixed chairs and a table at the center. A laser-diode bulb poked from the ceiling, illuminating only the surface of the glass table. The young cyborg was familiar with the technology, five times more efficient than OLED.

The laser-diode could be brightened up in levels one to five. It could be made to illuminate a circle or an entire hall with the flick of a switch. At the moment, without doubt, it was at level one.

'The dull lighting is intentional,' Piper concluded.

He had allowed his mind to wander several times.

'Am I under arrest?'

'Did I break a city law by mistake?'

'Is this room underground?'

'Is Noah okay?"

The longer he sat by himself pondering over the tragic day, the more anxious he grew.

"Hello? Anybody there?" Piper called out to the locked door to his right. There was no response.

After Noah had passed out, Eve had placed a call to someone on her communicator.

When the train had reached 1st avenue station, a unit of enforcers had rushed into the tube.

Most of the survivors had been taken away for recording witnesses.

A medical team had ushered in next, picking up Eve and Noah on stretchers. An emergency van had rolled into the subway to transport them quickly.

A clean-up crew had arrived shortly after and had begun washing the site of the massacre.

'Good luck getting the stench of hybrid intestines out,' Piper had thought.

He had tried to slink away amidst the crowd of the other survivors.

The Captain of the enforcers unit, however, had noticed him. He had instructed one of his subordinates to bring the cyborg along.

First, Piper thought he would be taken to a hospital with Noah and Eve.

'They owe me a checkup at least, considering what happened tonight. A tune-up of my mechanical parts would not hurt.'

Instead, the cyborg was blindfolded and pushed into an unknown vehicle.

The sounds and vibrations during the journey had been unique. Piper had strongly suspected that he had been transported via a Mach-speed magnetic train, which enforcers used to travel across Concord.

When the blindfold had been removed, Piper had found himself inside the dimly lit room.

He had a feeling that he had not been brought there as a guest.

A pretty-looking lady had turned up the light once and had brought him supper with a change of clothing. She had pinned a visitor ID to his placket.

It said:

PIPER LUDWIG LEE

VISITOR 4089321

"Mr. Lee, somebody will be with you momentarily," she had said before leaving.

An hour had passed since.

Piper wondered how they found his middle name unless they had access to citizen records.

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"I am from Providence," Eve had told him on the train. He had dismissed the information then, considering it as the ranting of a teenager in trouble.

'Was she telling the truth?'

Providence was a secret, interplanetary organization formed by the governments of all six habitable planets of the Rusus-Afel star system. In response to growing terrorist and rebel groups in the worlds, the governments of Gehenna, Galatea, Tellurian, Tagat, Golbad, and Teleflat had chipped in from their treasuries to create the elite group.

Over half a century old, Providence had grown to be self-sufficient, with stakes in all the planets. Its primary goal was to secure peace in the star system. They were steeped in the latest research and technology and had their dedicated enforcement army. Providence had supreme authority in interplanetary affairs, especially threats to public order and friendly relations between worlds.

The general perception of the organization had been created by information freely available on the internet. However, Piper had read terrifying conspiracy theories on the dark web about Providence. Rumors about them included human experimentation and the assassination of those who protested against their authority.

'Are they going to kill me?'

Piper was on the verge of a panic attack when the door slid open.

It was one of those high-tech security doors which opened with iris scans, cyborg signatures, and cleric magic.

The room was shrouded in darkness except for the light from the restricted laser-diode.

The young cyborg had tried to activate night vision in his bionic eye, but had failed. High-security chambers usually had security measures against enhancements of most races.

Piper could only make out the outline of a tall, broad-shouldered man entering the chamber. He held what looked like a notepad.

The stranger took a seat opposite him. His face remained obscured.

"Mr. Lee, I would like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind." His voice sounded more youthful than his robust figure suggested.

"Umm, of course."

"How long have you known Mr. Shepherd?"

"Noah? I've known him as a classmate throughout high school. But this is the first time we hung out together. He usually keeps to himself. Err... am I in some sort of trouble?"

The man scribbled on his notepad while ignoring Piper's question.

The cyborg was already highly strung to take the indifference lying down.

"Hey, Mister! Can I have some answers, please? Have my parents been notified? My dad is a respected member of the engineers’ guild, you know. If I don't return home in time, he WILL alert the authorities."

"I will be the one asking the questions," the young man fired back, crossing his legs. "However, be assured your parents have been contacted. They are under the impression that you are under detention at Synergy High along with several other students."

"Oh no, dad is gonna kill me!"

"I think you have bigger things to worry about."

"Hey man, I had nothing to do with this."

"Do you mean to say that you never intended to follow Lieutenant Eve Trinity from school and get into the same tube-train as her?"

"Err... I am guilty of that, yes. Wait, Eve is a Lieutenant? And what about Noah? Is he okay?"

"Mr. Shepherd is safe and getting better by the minute."

Piper's bionic eye had been spinning, and it came to a rest. He relaxed in his chair, reflecting on the night's terrifying events.

"Those rogue hybrids. They looked unnatural. How do you become like that? They killed so many innocents, and I could do nothing at all. I stood there, watching, scared shitless. But Noah- he was brave. He risked his life to save Eve and the other survivors."

"I see."

Scribble scribble.

"What else can you tell me about your, uh, friend?" the stranger posed, tapping his pen on the notepad. He sounded professional but also overtly curious.

"I don't know if he trusts me enough to consider me a friend. It's my fault he got entangled in this mess in the first place. All I know is that he's a popular gamer, although I can't reveal his identity."

"We have investigated Mr. Shepherd's online history. He is LoveLord15, yes?"

"Damn! You guys are good. Well, if the cat is out of the bag, then there's no point denying it."

Scribble scribble.

"And who are you, sir?" Piper asked, biting his lip. "I would be more comfortable if you could identify yourself and tell me which organization you are from."

The stranger paused, taking notes. Piper could see a glint from his spectacles as he pushed them up the bridge of his nose.

The stranger leaned into the bulb's field of light.

A rugged, attractive face came into view. The man wore rimless glasses and had a lab coat on.

Luxurious brown metrosexual hair added to the stunning persona.

The stranger's lips were upturned in a sinister smile.

"I am Dr. Jack Chrysalis. Assistant Director of Providence."