Cypher shook his head. His circuitry couldn't have changed. It must have been because he was staring at the Renegade. He put his light katana away.

He quickly jumped off the light rail roof and looked around for his Black Guard comrades.

"Cypher!" Tela yelled.

Cypher turned to the crowd of programs and saw the other three standing there.

"The Renegade?!" Pref demanded.

Cypher shook his head. He felt exposed. He could feel Pref's glare through the blackened helmet. It didn't help that he could be seen through a crack in his own helmet. "The Renegade got away. I guess I lost track of how far we were. As soon as we reached the station, he was already slipping into the crowds."

Pref yelled in frustration.

"At least he didn't derez you," Tela mentioned.

"Well hope that General Tesler doesn't derez us all for letting him escape!" Pref replied.

Cypher knew he was right. Tesler might just derez them. He didn't think CLU would allow Tesler to derez his elite guards, but Tesler might not care. Tesler's rage was known through the Grid. He would derez a program for simply delivering bad news, even if that program had nothing to do with it.

"Come on, let's go. We need to report this immediately," Pref muttered, but then pointed to Cypher, "but you need to go repair that. No one should know what you look like under that helmet."

Cypher wasn't sure if he should be offended or not. He decided it was best to not take it offensively, but instead, as truth. Black Guards held an image of faceless, helmeted soldiers. He returned a nod to Pref and watched the three walk away. He then walked in an opposite direction. The Black Guards had set up a base of operations near every light rail station in Argon City. The Sentries didn't like it too much, but CLU's men had higher privileges. There, Cypher could repair his helmet.

It didn't take long to reach the base nearby. It was guarded by several Sentries.

"Trip and fall, Black Guard?" a Sentry joked at him. The Sentries were used to being the top programs when it came to the streets of Argon. Any chance one of the Black Guards was alone, the Sentries had their fun.

"It was the Renegade," Cypher spat quickly, "and no thanks to you all, he got away. Why weren't you patrolling the station?! There are plenty of you here!"

Cypher blinked for a few seconds. His defensive was full on Black Guard mode.

"I'm surprised you weren't able to catch him," another Sentry laughed.

Cypher shrugged it off. He pushed passed the group and went into the base. Inside, there was repair stations, an armory of weapons and equipment, and places of rest when they were not on a mission. Cypher went over to the repair station and took his helmet off. He set it down on the table and stared at the reflection it gave. It had been a long time since he had seen his face. It was pale. His eyes glowed the color of his circuitry. His hair was medium length and brown.

The reflection almost made Cypher feel like he had been overcome with a virus. He decided it was best to repair the helmet as quickly as possible. After it had finished repairing, he put it on. He felt better after that.

Cypher left the base in a hurry to avoid any more confrontation with the Sentries. He didn't act superior like Pref. He wondered if they could be like him, a program that didn't want to cause havoc and chaos, but truly just wanted peace.

Recognizers weren't fair away. Sentries had to use them, and so that gave the Black Guards access too. After what had happened, Cypher assumed that the other three took recognizers up to Tesler's command ship. They couldn't keep this news secret until the command ship had to refuel.

Cypher made his way through the streets till he finally reached where Sentries guarded several recognizers. He got on board of the next one off to Tesler's command ship.

Argon City was amazing to look at from the sky. Cypher looked down upon the streets of the busy city. Programs were moving all around, working, and spending their leisure time at clubs or the parks. In the distance, the Coliseum loomed. It was a new addition to the city. Tesler used it to amuse him when he was bored or wanted to watch helpless programs cling to life in games like Disc Wars. Cypher knew that Tesler built it to be like the Games in Tron City that CLU watched over. It was sadistic.

Tesler's ship grew larger and larger as the recognizer approached it. It was long before Cypher was on board. Guards and some of Tesler's right-hand programs moved about the ship, probably running errands or drills. Cypher didn't pay too much attention to them. He wanted to make sure the others hadn't been derezzed because of him.

The ship was large, but Cypher had learned how to get around quickly. Cypher was soon near Tesler's chambers. He scanned the large doors. No one else was around. He decided to go in. Cypher opened the doors slowly. He was then greeted by the remains of a program scattering passed him. The voxel cubes fell to the floor, clanking and clinking as they landed, as if a program was trying to escape the chamber before Tesler finished them off.

"Ah...Cypher," Tesler's voice boomed. "Please come in."