Big brother?

The big guy showed his 'brotherly smile', which looked scary with his scary face, as he placed a couple of 'good foods' on Cyril's plate. "Kid, eat it. This will give you instant energy. I am sorry for earlier. I know you are a rookie because I have not seen you before, but I did not know that you had just come out of the dark room. If I knew earlier, I wouldn't have done that."

Cyril looked at him, as he did not show his shock in his face. He smiled softly and shook his head, "It's okay."

"Oh! You look like a good kid. I wonder which bastard got you here. Sigh. Anyway, don't worry about anything. Once you get your chip and your level is below twenty, you will fall under our ward. In that case, I will take care of you." He gave his word.

His henchmen were sitting at the same table, and they too nodded their heads as if agreeing with their leader.

Cyril was confused. So, after getting the chip, would he get a random level? And the four to five hundred inmates he was seeing now weren't the only inmates in this entire prison?

This is just the low-level ward where the inmates below level twenty were imprisoned?

Just what sort of prison is this?

The big guy's words gave a lot of information, but his mind was in a fuzzy state to understand them clearly.

He decided to finish eating first and think about the matter later.

After taking a few bites, he suddenly stopped and raised his head to ask a question, "Will they do surgery on me?"

Otherwise, how would anyone insert a chip in his head? The thought was so scary. Cyril got scared suddenly.

Until now, he was calmly analyzing his situation and his surroundings. He did not have the time to think about the scary parts. 

After all, which part of his present life wasn't scary?

The big guy understood his thoughts and chuckled. He shook his head, "You will see later."

"..." 'I am sorry for asking you for some useful information, 'Big Brother'.'

Seriously, what was the difference between his words and not giving any information? He was the one who wanted to be his 'big brother' and when the 'younger brother' asked him something he wouldn't even care to give a simple answer.

What sort of brother is this man?

Pardon Cyril for not knowing this as a single child.

***

Cyril was lumped together with a bunch of people as he was once again standing in a line.

After eating, he was given a chance to freshen up and Cyril finally had his first shower in days and cleaned himself thoroughly.

But once he was done, he couldn't rest for a second as he was thrown in a queue to get his chip.

He did not know what was going to happen, and many scary thoughts ran through his mind.

The people in the line looked even more scared and clueless than he was.

They were trembling as they took each step. Looks like they too found out that this line was to get some random chip in their heads. Who wouldn't be scared at this thought?

It is not like they were in some science fiction movie where their chips would turn them into robots, right?

Another random thought.

Cyril did not know what this so-called chip was and what it was going to do to them. He was scared of any random thought regarding that chip.

He also did not understand why they were standing in a queue. If they were getting a surgery, wouldn't it take more time for each person to be done with? Are they going to stand all the while the others were getting the surgery?

What exactly was this place and what is going on here? Cyril's mind was filled with many questions but not a single person was there to give him the answers.

As he waited in the line, the questions only increased.

"Hey, do you know what place this is exactly?" Suddenly a man asked from behind.

Cyril turned around to see a man about his age and shook his head, "I don't know either. Do you know anything?"

The man shook his head, "I don't know either. I was put in a dark room for two whole days before I was let out, when I was suddenly kidnapped. I wonder what sort of place this is. Everyone looks so scary here. When I looked around, I thought you were the only one that looked a little similar to me. Like a 'normal' person. You know what I mean?"

Cyril looked around them and instantly understood what he meant. He helplessly closed his eyes and nodded, "I do."

"Wait, what did you just say?" Cyril suddenly recalled the man's words and asked in shock.

The man did not understand and asked in confusion, "About what?"

"You were in the darkroom for two days?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Are you sure? Maybe you were unconscious for a couple of days?" Cyril asked with a frown.

"No. I am sure that I was in a dark room for two days. Why do you ask? Is it different with you?" The man looked confident when he said he was in the darkroom for only two days.

Cyril's frown deepened but shook his head, "Nothing. Just wanted to make sure. That's all."

There is no way he would say that he was kept in the darkroom for five days. Something doesn't feel right with this.

Before being sure, he wouldn't slip up any details as he wouldn't know which of his words would come back biting him down in the future.

The man did not think much about his words and calmly nodded. He then looked ahead and became excited, "Oh, look. The line is moving."

"Why are you excited if the line is moving? Do you want a chip in your head so badly?" Cyril asked.

"Ummm..." The man realized that Cyril was right and felt a little ashamed, "I didn't think about it. I just didn't want to stand in a line for a long time."

Cyril nodded, "I understand what you mean."

The line really moved fast compared to what he thought.

In no time, it was Cyril's turn and the man showed his thumb, "All the best. Let's meet once mine is done as well. Oh, by the way, my name is Rian."

"Cyril," Cyril gave his name before entering the room in front of him.

As soon as he saw what was inside, he was shocked.