Bryan slowly got up from the ground and prepared his insides for a speed run, but his ears prompted him to halt. He looked around and was surprised to see that the laser lights and gunshots were no longer in sight or to be heard.

"Why is it silent? They're gone?"

Ethan looked stumped and shook his head. Before he could raise his head from the ground, a voice spoke in English with a heavy Spanish accent that made him lay down again. By the clarity of the voice, he sensed that the speaker was just inches away from his legs, in fact standing right beside where both of them lay.

"Get up, put your hands behind your head, and walk. Don't make me regret my decision to take you into interrogation rather than blowing up your heads."

Bryan and Ethan obediently followed the instructions, and when they turned, they were surprised to see a guy around their age dressed in official formals. His hair was smoothed backwards, and his knuckles were red from hours of boxing. Bryan's eyes scanned through the name tag, which hung proudly on the boy's blazer. Juan.

He gave them a cold look and motioned them to a patrol car, which was parked right outside the shattered windows. Bryan prepared to walk but stopped short when he saw Juan's hands pulling something out from inside his blazer pocket. Before he could warn Ethan, Juan hung a metal collar around Ethan's neck and pressed a small button on it.

Ethan felt like his whole body was inflicted with shock waves. His body writhed, and before he could figure out what was happening, his eyes closed, and he was plunged into total darkness. Bryan took a step back, and a look of horror swept across his face. He looked menacingly at Juan and took a step forward towards him.

"We didn't do anything! He followed what you asked him to do, and what did you do to him?"

Juan smirked and motioned to a few Spanish guards that stood beside the car to take the body away. He turned his attention back towards Bryan and put a similar metal collar around his neck. "Oh, nothing much, just a small safety measure."

Before Bryan could reply, his body gave way to the rippling shock waves, and he too fell into the forest of darkness. Juan picked him by the shoulders and walked towards the car, slumping Bryan on the seat next to Ethan. Bryan's sub-conscious mind felt the whirring of a car, and slowly it too faded away.

Bryan wandered across his mind, searching for a light to illuminate his path, but a gentle and feeble voice drew his attention. His mind tingled with a sense of identification, but his body seemed lost. He fixed his ears and urged his body to make out what the voice was trying to say to him.

Bryan...where are you?

A sudden gush of realization hit him as his body registered in resonance with his mind. Jessica! He tried to move towards the voice, but a splash of water forcefully opened his eyes. The sudden gush of light seared his body with a plunging pain, but his resilience to look forward sawthed the pain immediately.

He looked around and saw that he was strapped to a metal chair with a pair of wires running throughout his body. He felt his hands and was surprised to find them free. As he prepared to get up, Ethan's hands pulled him back down.

Ethan glowered at him and put the bottle of water down, which he used to wake Bryan. "Are you nuts? You wanna die that bad? Your hands might be free, but there are wires containing piranha solution attached to your veins."

Bryan observed his hands and found the pair of wires. "Piranha solution? They attached fish sauce?"

Ethan rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. "No, you idiot! Piranha solution is the name of an acid that is a mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide. Since it's highly hydrophilic, it can consume you within seconds!"

Bryan gulped and forced his eyes to look away from his hands. He looked around and found that they were inside a huge metal room with no ventilation. Bryan immediately understood what the other wire was connected to. Oxygen!

Ethan looked towards Bryan, trying to read his mind. "You were dreaming something."

A wave of desperation hit him as his mind recalled the feeble voice. "I don't know...something tells me that Jessica is in danger."

Ethan let out a low laugh and shook his head. "She's brilliant, unlike you. I've known her ever since I joined the force. Smart, mature, and beautiful."

Though Bryan's mind wanted to prove his point, his heart surrendered before Ethan's words. He couldn't help but let out a small smile. Yea, she's exactly that! A sudden noise of clattering metal drove their attention towards a huge metal door before them. It's circular disks circled, and a familiar figure took a seat before them.

Juan smoothed his hair and threw a stack of papers at a table before them. Bryan moved forward, careful enough not to stand up from the metal chair. His eyes caught sight of Jessica's photos, and he leaned forward to take a better look. Juan sensed the recognition in Bryan's eyes and pushed the photo toward him. "You know her?"

Bryan didn't seem to hear Juan, as he was lost in thoughts looking at the photo. Ethan cleared his throat and drove Juan's attention towards him. "Yes, we know her. She's an officer just like us, and listen, we didn't do-"

Before he could finish, Juan's cold voice cut across, which made him glow in the eyes. "Answer only to the question."

Ethan clicked his tongue and crossed his legs. Okay, horse face!

Juan stood up and clapped, which sent an echo of the rustling noise of machines throughout the room. A huge LED screen dropped down from the ceiling, and a visual appeared, which spread a sense of horror and anger across Bryan and Ethan's faces.

Juan sensed the roaring anger in the duo before him and shook his head. "The Spanish government has nothing to do with this brutal act. We are a country of honest, faithful men and women who do not inflict violence even upon our enemies."

Bryan spat and scowled at Juan. "Sure thing, we might be your friends; that's why you have captured us here with boiling acid running through our veins!"

Juan's nerves were wrecked with anger, and he clicked a few times in the air, which zoomed in on the visual highlighting the HydraHepA. Ethan looked aghast, and Bryan seemed lost for words too. Juan shot a bloodshot look towards Bryan and took a menacing step towards him. "You should be grateful that I haven't switched on the lever that opens up that acid."

Bryan's insides urged him to clear up the misunderstanding. "Look, that girl on the screen is a dear friend of ours. Your government really thinks that we would put the life of our officer at stake rather than putting one of yours under that thing?"

Juan wanted to argue, but he sensed that there was a point in what he was saying. "Then who is it? The visuals are being broadcast throughout Spain from a local server. The entire country is at risk because of your government!"

Ethan wiggled in the chair, discomfort clearly etched in his forehead. "It's true that HydraHepA roots back to America, but we haven't created it solely for the purpose of destruction; it was a trial error! There's some psychopath out there, and he's the one doing it!"

Juan lunged forward, his ears taking in each and every detail. "Psychopath who?"

Ethan rolled his eyes and wiped off a bead of sweat from his forehead. "That's why we came here in the first place...let us go!"

Juan leaned back in his chair and heaved a huge sigh. Ever since joining the force, he could spot a criminal when he saw one, but the two officers before him were definitely not one of them. Dios no se que hacer.

He motioned to an officer nearby to release them from the wires. The man looked perplexed, as if Juan had just gone crazy. "Juan, la orden del oficial Mateo fue dispararles tan pronto como los viésemos. ¿Ahora los vas a dejar?" Juan, Officer Mateo's order was to shoot them on sight. Now, are you going to leave them?

Juan gave a steely-cold look to the man behind him, which made him gulp back what he was about to say. "Es cierto que eres mayor que yo pero hablando con posición soy superior a ti y el crimen es mi administración. Yo cuidaré del oficial Mateo." It is true that you are older than me, but speaking of position, I am superior to you, and crime is my administration. I will take care of Officer Mateo.

The man hung his head and acknowledged his order. He gave a bloodshot look towards Bryan and Ethan and lunged out the wires with a huge pull. Ethan rubbed his veins and blew a small whistle, which echoed throughout the room. "Dude, pull it slowly; you could have killed us."

Bryan looked at the man and gave him a curt nod. He turned toward Juan and held out his hand. "Thank you. Stopping HydraHepA is as important to us as Spain is to you."

Juan took his hand and slipped a piece of paper inside it. "Received it today and thought this might help you. Though you are free, remember that the imperial eagle's eyes are always on you."

Bryan smiled and unrolled the piece of paper. The words inside churned his insides, and he looked towards Ethan. Ethan took the piece of paper and read it aloud, each and every word hinting at a potential clue.

"In whispers soft, the painter's tale, In Dalí's realm, the truth won't fail. Unlock the brushstrokes, let the mystery roam, In Salvador's home lies your way home."

Bryan gave an incredulous look and rummaged through his hair. "Dalí as in the painter Salvador Dalí?"

Ethan nodded his head and folded the paper. "And we have to search his home. But that's not what surprises me."

Bryan raised his eyebrows, took the paper, and started reading it again to see what he had missed. "What else is here?"

Ethan looked into Bryan's eyes and toward the metal ceiling. "Salvador Dalí was an atheist."