The room was a perfect, blinding white cube. The walls, the floor, the ceiling—all featureless and lit by a harsh, fluorescent glow that felt surgical. The air was cool and smelled faintly of antiseptic.

Against the far wall, eight figures were seated in a row, each restrained in heavy-looking metal chairs bolted to the floor. Their restraints varied in design, but all were clearly meant to hold.

To their left sat a man in a purple suit, a thick, humming collar locked around his neck. Next to him, a brutish figure in tactical gear and a skull-painted helmet. Then a man in a purple balaclava and coat, a man in horned golden armor with intricate, glowing cuffs on his wrists, a sharp-faced man in dark leather, and finally, a figure in a white, skull-like mask and hood.