"I..."
Before Pei Yan could explain himself, Old Hu reached out to stop him and continued, "Two blocks, a four-hour blackout for no reason — do you know how much economic loss that caused? During this time, there was even an elderly person whose life was almost lost due to this blackout, causing irreversible harm. Do you still want to argue your way out of this? Doesn't your conscience trouble you?"
In the surveillance room, an elder who had been sipping tea furrowed his brows in confusion, "Really? Did someone almost die because of the blackout? It's not mentioned in the report!"
"Hey, Elder Lin, Old Hu is just scaring the kid. Sure, there was economic loss, but people aren't that fragile; a blackout won't kill them. The only injury caused by the blackout was an old man spraining his ankle while groping in the dark after buying groceries and taking the stairs home," Wenlin said as he hopped down from the windowsill, took a bite of an apple, and spoke indistinctly.
"Old Hu, is it okay to scare the kid like this?" Xiaogao leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and said with a bitter smile.
Elder Lin covered his teacup with a sigh, "It's not entirely bad. Judging from the child's evasive attitude earlier, he's quite stubborn. Even if he doesn't have ill intentions now, if he can't resist temptation and loses himself in his abilities in the future, the consequences would be unimaginable. Fortunately, we discovered this early and intervened early. As seniors, we have the responsibility and obligation to make him understand the dangers of losing control of his power and to guide him in using it correctly."
"Understood!" The others in the room nodded repeatedly in agreement.
At this moment, Pei Yan, who had been reprimanded by Old Hu in the glass room, had red eyes. He never thought his actions could indirectly cause an innocent elder to almost lose their life. He never intended for that to happen.
Thinking of this, Pei Yan's nose tingled, and he choked up as he asked, "Did I really almost cause the death of an old person? How is he now?"
"Ah, um, the old man was rushed to the hospital and was saved just in time. He's now out of danger but still under observation. However, the consequences you caused are serious, do you understand?" Old Hu, seeing Pei Yan's pitiful look, softened and scolded him gently.
"I, I really didn't mean to this time! I swear! It was out of my control!" Saying this, Pei Yan wanted to raise his hand to swear but found his hands immobile. The sensation of being bound made him uncomfortable as he restlessly moved his limbs to regain freedom, not noticing the gradual rise of a blue light from within him.
"Calm down, relax, Pei Yan, we know you have your reasons. We understand. Calm down, and let's talk things over peacefully; no need to get agitated." Seeing this, Old Hu's expression changed, and he quickly stood up and gestured to comfort Pei Yan.
Unable to break free despite his struggles, Pei Yan sank back into the chair and took a deep breath. Dejectedly, he said, "I really didn't mean for it to happen. I swear! That was an accident! I went out that night to play basketball with classmates for half the day, then rode my bike halfway home. Feeling tired, I stopped by a transformer box on the roadside, sat down, had a few sips of drink, and rested a bit. Then, when I leaned against the transformer box to stand up, suddenly electricity flowed into my body. I was terrified, but no matter how I commanded my body to stop, stop, it wouldn't listen. It was like a vacuum cleaner, endlessly drawing in electricity out of my control."
After listening to Pei Yan's account, Old Hu turned back to glance at Xiaowang, who was responsible for monitoring on-site. Seeing Xiaowang nod in confirmation, Old Hu sat back down and spoke kindly, "Do you now understand the unforeseen consequences of your powers going out of control? Why didn't you contact the government earlier?"
"Ah! I don't think anyone would contact the government first, right? It's like in movies with Wolverine, how do I know you won't catch me to do all sorts of inhumane experiments? Besides, who would I contact?" Pei Yan replied innocently.
Conspiracy theories, conspiracy theories, Old Hu shook his head helplessly. These movies have too big an impact on kids, but Pei Yan's thinking isn't without reason. Unlike himself, who came from the military, most other colleagues had similar worries when they were found.
Thinking of this, Old Hu nodded in understanding and asked out of habit, "Alright then, do you have anything else to explain about your abilities?"
Feeling thoroughly understood by the other party, Pei Yan shook his head, lifelessly responding, "No, just that I can turn my whole body into machinery."
"What did you say?" Astonished, Old Hu raised his eyebrows and shouted. Then he glanced back at Xiaowang, who shook his head, indicating ignorance, and stood up to focus on Pei Yan again.
"You didn't know!" Seeing the expressions on the three at the table, Pei Yan suddenly understood everything. He quickly backtracked with a smile, "I was just kidding; there's nothing else to explain."
Another thunderous table-rapping echoed as Old Hu sternly shouted, "Pei Yan, at this point, you're still dodging the question! If you don't tell the truth, believe it or not, I may not be able to slice you up for research, but I can sure make you spend the rest of your life locked away. Don't think I can't do it!"
"I can turn my whole body into machinery, become a robot!" Faced with Old Hu's threat, Pei Yan, knowing he couldn't avoid it, braced himself and answered.
Old Hu continued probing, "When did this happen?"
"The night after I absorbed the electricity and returned home. Lying in my bed, unable to do anything due to the power outage and my phone being dead, I was staring at my hands, pondering over the electricity I inexplicably absorbed, wondering if it could charge my phone. Suddenly, my arm mechanized, which shocked me, but thankfully with my mental command, it could revert to flesh. Gradually, through experiments, I discovered that, except for my head, my entire body could mechanize."
After Pei Yan finished recounting, the glass room fell silent again. After a long pause, Xiaowang, standing behind Old Hu, stepped forward quietly, whispering, "Elder Lin, Sister Gao, and others are coming over."
Old Hu nodded to show understanding and then asked, "Did you not detect anything that night?"
Xiaowang shook his head, apologetically saying, "No, after the incident, I reported to the bureau. Since today's capture operation was confirmed, I slacked a bit, withdrawing the surveillance inside his room, leaving only the external layouts — that was my oversight."
"Alright, I see. Be more careful next time. I won't include this in my report."
"Ah! Thanks, Captain Hu!"
While they were talking, the door to the glass room opened, and Elder Lin, Xiaogao, and Wenlin walked in. As they passed the table, Elder Lin nodded at Old Hu, who then stood, and the four of them approached Pei Yan together.
"Young man, if I remove your restraints, would you be willing to show us your abilities?" Elder Lin stood there, looking at Pei Yan kindly.
Pei Yan looked up at the four of them and then licked his dry lips, "Ah, no, I can't. Since you captured me and brought me here, I've tried to use my powers, but I just can't feel them anymore."
"Bring the kid a drink," Elder Lin instructed Old Hu, who quickly gestured to Xiaowang behind the table for a drink. Xiaowang understood and ran out, shortly returning with a bottle of cola.
"Release him," Elder Lin said after taking the drink from Xiaowang. In Pei Yan's astonished gaze, the tall, beautiful woman who had entered the room extended her right hand over the chair he was seated in. Without her making any visible movement, the ropes binding him fell away to both sides.
Regaining his freedom, Pei Yan tried to stand from the chair but, with numb legs from being bound too long, stumbled forward. Seeing this, Old Hu quickly stepped forward, steadied him, and helped him back into the chair.
After shaking his limbs for sensation again, Pei Yan slowly stood up, staring at the cola offered by Elder Lin with hesitation.
"Drink it; it's not poisoned. If we wanted to harm you, you'd be dead already; you're overly cautious for your age," Xiaogao teased with a smile.
"Haha! I wasn't thinking like that, thank you!" Embarrassed upon being exposed, Pei Yan offered an awkward smile, took the cola, and drank greedily.
"We are now lifting the restrictions on you, but I advise you not to have any thoughts of resisting or escaping. You need to know that everyone here has the ability to subdue you again."
Old Hu signaled Xiaogao with a glance, and with a slight motion of her finger, a loud bang echoed from behind Pei Yan. Startled, he turned to see the sturdy chair that had held him now shattered into pieces.
"I wouldn't, I wouldn't flee! I absolutely won't!" Pei Yan raised his hands in surrender, exclaiming repeatedly. "Goodness, if that were my head instead of the chair, I'd be done for!"
After Pei Yan assured them, without further words, Wenlin quietly moved to his side and placed a hand on his back. Gradually, the familiar feeling of power returned to Pei Yan as he felt the restraints he hadn't realized were there beginning to vanish.
"Can you show us your abilities now?"
Elder Lin asked kindly.
Pei Yan slowly got to his feet, looking at the four of them, and licked his dry lips, saying, "Ah, I can't, really. Since you brought me here, I've tried using my power, but I just can't feel it anymore."
"Ah, come on, I didn't think like that. But thanks, really!" Pei Yan replied, shyly smiling at Xiaogao's teasing.