Ugh... Everything hurts, was the first thing Kyuhyun thought in the darkness as consciousness gradually came back to him. His head pounded furiously, and sharp stabs of pain rippled continuously up and down his body. However, most of the pain seemed to pinpoint at his elbows, shoulder blades, hips, knees, and along his spine from the nape of his neck to the tailbone. This experience wasn't new to him, though. The cyborg knew exactly where he was.

The Purging room, Kyuhyun thought bitterly as he slowly opened his eyes. For a moment, the color white blinded him before it transformed into a blurred image of a white tiled floor. It took a second for the lenses in his eyes to focus, and words mixed with numbers rolled up along the edges of his vision like ending credits in a movie. He didn't bother trying to read them, for they were only the names of unknown files being scanned in his system. Instead, he focused his attention on the shiny pair of black dress shoes that stood in front of him. Kyuhyun didn't have to look up to know who it was.

"Mr. Lee," the cyborg greeted coldly.

"Hello, Kyuhyun," Mr. Lee greeted in return, his tone just as icy as Kyuhyun's.

Kyuhyun winced at the pinch in his nape as he raised his gaze up to meet the other's, and he asked, "How long was I out?"

Mr. Lee crossed his arms and answered, "About 18 hours. For some unknown reason the GPS tracking chip in your skull wasn't working, so we had to search the entire city ourselves to find you. As you can imagine, it was quite a hassle. Once we had you located, we recovered you and brought you here to recharge; which, for another unknown reason, took about 4 hours longer than usual."

The grey-haired man paused as he uncrossed his arms, and leaned forward to rest his hands on Kyuhyun's bare knees. It was then Kyuhyun remembered that he was completely as he sat in the metal chair. However, he didn't feel embarrassed nor ashamed, because he has been here many times. When he first came here, he quickly learned that clothes would only be a hindrance to the "doctors" while they attached dozens of wires and tubes to almost every joint in his body. So, he wasn't at all bothered by the thin wires attached to his knuckles, trailing down to the floor and snaking back to the machine behind him along with all the other chords.

"That's too many unkowns, Kyuhyun." Mr. Lee stated, his face now lowered to Kyuhyun's level. "Especially considering that your system was recently hacked by Mr. Simple, which shouldn't have been possible in the first place." The older man's voice became more tense near the end of his sentence, his frustration with the cyborg surfacing. "So, I'm sure you can understand why I had you brought to the Purging room instead of the Charging Center."

Kyuhyun clenched his jaw before replying, "Yes, sir."

The Purging room was set up like the charging rooms in the Charging Center, with rows of metal chairs filling the white space. Behind each chair was a large silver box covered with multiple switches, buttons, and flashing lights; and it was to these machines that cyborgs were hooked up to by the wires and tubes. However, unlike the Charging Center where the machines simply serve as charging boxes, the ones in the Purging room were not only used to recharge cyborgs but also to run thorough, and very painful, scans that can last for hours; sometimes, even days. 

"Good," Mr. Lee said as he stood upright again. "By the time you're done with the purge, Yesung will have returned from overseas." Kyuhyun mentally cringed at the mention of Yesung. "As soon as he arrives, he'll take your place in finding the escaped subjects."

"What will I be doing, then, sir?" The cyborg asks, snarling the last word. 

"You'll be supervising the operation rooms." This time, Kyuhyun visibly cringed. "D