The question should have been rhetorical, but as seconds passed without him offering an answer, another electric shock spread through his body. It wasn't that much stronger than the sting of a stung gun, deliberately made so to cause pain without threatening the target's life or consciousness.

It was never meant to turn out like this; all he wanted to do was to test the so-called Cyberpunk, see the kind of person he was. Somehow, things have gone out of control, and now he has to get himself out of this mess.

Taking a deep breath, he yelled.

"Stop it!"

Only once the word left his mouth did he notice it.

"It's been four hours." The Cyberpunk said. "The drug's effect ran out."

And just like that, all hope was lost.

"Good thing it was temporary, right? I didn't need to crush your throat to stop it."

Another electrical shock struck John, this time from his other shoulder. The pain left him wondering when the bastard had changed sides.

"It's a pain in the ass, that ability of yours." Said the cyberpunk. "We had trouble with some old bastard who could do the same, although his was Sorcery."

Another electric shock set John's nerves on fire. Then another. Then another. For an hour straight, the Cyberpunk would zap him once, talk about some random thing, then zap him again. Whenever he tries to say something, he gets zapped again. Each time, he would wish that it had been lethal. The red-haired punk hadn't bothered to ask him any questions, so it felt like he was just wasting time, humiliating him as he sat there in his own piss.

"Alright, since you said you were just messing around, I will forgive you with only this much."

"... eh?"

Unable to believe what he heard, John raised his head and watched as the Cyberpunk went to sit in a chair a short distance away. Meeting his gaze, he spoke in an even tone.

"Let's talk business."

The change was so abrupt that it left John completely lost.

'Was that a joke?'

What does he mean he will forgive him with only that much? They just had an hour-long torture session.

"You can start by telling me who to contact." Said the punk. "Unless you can handle the talks yourself."

'Why is he acting normal?'

Whether it was an act or not, the word "normal" couldn't truly describe the red-haired punk.

"C'mon, I ain't got the entire day."

At his urging, John gathered his lost composure and tried to thing calmly about the situation.

"Why not untie me first?" He asked. "If we're going to talk, can I get some clothes?"

"No time for that," he raised his right hand, and immediately, tendrils of electricity began dancing in the palm of his hand. Those were not the kind to zap someone and nothing more. "You only have a couple of minutes to convince me."

John opened his mouth to argue, but shut it right away. He already made the mistake of angering the punk once, and though it frustrated him, he had to admit that he had gotten off rather lightly. He did not want to make the same mistake again.

"I can't give you my contact." He said. "That would defeat the whole point of sending me here."

The punk's eyes narrowed.

"And? Why were you sent here?"

"To check you out, obviously." John shrugged. "Well, checking your boss would be more accurate. Ghost, was it? We heard some interesting stuff about them, so we wanted to make sure."

It was unclear whether that much was enough, so John was left waiting to be asked to elaborate. The punk rolled his eyes once as if he lost interest, then reached into the pocket of his jacket. Taking out a small, gray box, he held it up for him to see.

"The people who sent you. Are they the ones who make this?"

"Who knows?" John shrugged again. "I'm not high enough in the leadership chain to know if that's the case." Noticing the subtle shift in the punk's gaze, he decided to add one thing. "Though we are the only people who have it, so it would be strange if someone else was making it."

The punk clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Why else would you come after the Alchemist?"

It certainly wasn't for the love of the game.

Heaving a sigh, the Cyberpunk put away the gray box and turned to face him again.

"What did you want from Ghost?"

"My contact has had their eyes on him for some time now, ever since the Blue Ember incident. From what I can tell, it seems like you have a common enemy."

"Eidolon?"

"That's right."

Ghost was known as the hero killer, having crushed several of Eidolon's products. For a while now, he was considered an enemy of the megacorporation, but the recent incident with Kaiser Tigris had put that into question.

"Were you involved in the recent attack on the BEO?"

Pressing his lips into a line, John contemplated keeping his silence. The Cyberpunk was recognized by the BEO as a villain; surely, he wouldn't be working with them in secret.

"Yes, we were."

"And what was your goal?"

That question drew a chuckle out of him.

"You think they would tell a grunt like me?"

He was nothing more than a messenger. His task was to get into contact with the Cyberpunk and, hopefully, Ghost. Nothing was set in stone, but he had a hunch that his opinion would be one of the determining factors in whether they would form a working relationship. If it were up to him, they wouldn't have anything to do with this red-haired bastard, but the last word wasn't up to him.

"Your timing was just bad." He said. "If you had approached us before, we might have been able to kill Paragon. Maybe a few more of those freaks."

That was something many others agreed on. Unfortunately, the plans had already been in motion at the time, and one partnership was all they could handle.

"We had been under the impression that you were allies of the Gear." Seeing that the questions stopped, John decided to use the opportunity to confirm something. "It's rare for people outside the cult to walk this far down the cyborg route."

The Gear Cult was all about technology and the merging of humans with machines. They had the most advanced tech in both robotics and bionics, so it was odd to see anyone outside their circles use things far beyond them. It was even more strange that they had yet to target the Cybrpunk and his backer, and that made the connection between them all the more suspicious.