After being led to the cell, Sky took in the room around him. It was small, with just enough room in front of a tiny cot hanging from the back wall via a set of chains.

He assumed that they allowed the cop to be pushed up, giving someone enough room to stretch around on the floor, but he was mentally drained from the earlier battle that had taken most of the night.

Flopping down on the bed, he rolled over onto his back. Staring up at the low ceiling, he started to wonder what would happen. However, before he could really comprehend the situation, his eyes grew heavy.

Now that he was finally out of danger, the mental exhaustion and sudden relief of stress at being safe caused him to fall asleep quickly.

A while later, he was awakened by a loud knocking at the door.

“Hey, kid, are you alive in there?” a voice on the other side asked. “Command wants to talk to you about something, so follow me.”

As he said this, the soldier on the other side opened the door and motioned for Sky to come out.

As he did, the man turned and began to walk off, causing Sky to quickly follow him down the hall past other wooden doors like his. The doors had a heavy metal bar slid across them to keep whoever was inside from getting out, and every few doors, a soldier stood in the hall keeping watch.

Eventually, after a few turns, they reached the door, which was much like the others except that there was no bar across this one, and flanked it on either side.

The soldier then opened the door, revealing a stone staircase leading down. Motioning for Sky to follow him, he led the way down the steps into a tunnel.

The tunnel was lit by sparsely placed gas lamps, giving it an eerie glow. However, after a few paces, it opened into a much larger tunnel. Here, the soldiers came and went, ducking between the smaller offshoots.

Sky followed his escort, walking along this large tunnel to the end. There, a larger staircase than the one they used to descend led upwards into a building.

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This building had some decoration, and although very sparse, considering that everywhere else had been extremely utilitarian it seemed strange and slightly out of place.

Adding to the strangeness, the ceiling was tall, almost a story and a half, and windows decorated the left wall in front of them with a desk, and by a few officers, to the right were couches with coffee tables and a large double door. At first, sky thought he might be in the spire but quickly rejected that thought as it was far too small.

The soldier let him through this waiting room to the wall in front and threw one of the normal-sized doors that lined it.

Compared to the decorated room outside, this room had a slightly unfinished feel. The only furnishings were a single table in the centre, two chairs behind it, and one chair in front.

The man motioned for Sky to take a seat in the chair in front, and he did so. After that, the man turned and left the room, leaving him alone.

This is an awfully nice room for interrogation; Sky thought to himself, glancing around. He had expected blood stains and torture tools to extract the information that they wanted from him.

It was no surprise that although they tolerated them, the military and the government hated the gangs. However, they kept order in the slums, so they were never entirely suppressed. However, given any chance, the military usually punished them as much as possible.

Using their overwhelming might and keeping most of the gangs in a state of fear, they could limit most crimes to what they found acceptable, but Sky and the vipers had all been carrying enhanced weapons while the dogs had been selling them off. This gave the military more than enough reason to shut down both gangs.

After waiting for a bit longer, the door finally opened. The first person to enter was what Sky had expected. This man wore a military uniform and had a face that looked like it had been formed by a stone. His features were harsh, and his eyes seemed to glare like two daggers.

However, the second man to enter the room was the last person he expected. It was the old man who led the vipers. As an authority user, even if he was registered, there was no way they wouldn’t link his power to the one that had enhanced the vipers' weaponry.

As the two men sat down in the chairs across from him, however, a thought crossed his brain. The vipers had been waiting for a friend to show up and help them out. Could they have meant the military?

But why would the gang be in cahoots with them? They did illegal activities; Sky knew that. He had helped them with a couple of jobs before acting as a lookout and earning his favour.

His Confusion must’ve been evident as the officer turned to the gang leader beside him and spoke, shaking his head.

“This explanation is all yours.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Right,” said the old man, turning back to Sky, “the first thing I’m going to tell you is that nothing I say can leave this room, got it?”

Sky nodded affirmatively to him in reply. Upon seeing this, he continued to speak.

“The vipers are a secret branch of the military.” He paused to let the revelation sink in. “Our job is to keep an eye on the criminal underworld from inside and collect evidence on anyone who steps out of line. The work you used to help us with was just that, covering while we checked out possible suspects.”

He stopped there and took a deep breath before continuing.

“The dogs were after your brother because he was involved in the theft of an authority.”