"We have to confiscate your headsets," the officer said.

Luke and Lauren stared at him.

He spoke in the same calm, practical tone he had used while securing the café, but his words still hit Luke harder than expected. After everything Powerforge had already given them, the authorities now wanted to take it away.

The game had only been available for a few days, yet it had already changed their lives. It had given ordinary people real abilities and shown Luke what it felt like to possess enough strength to fight back. It had also introduced him to Yvonne and allowed Lauren to become someone beyond the responsible café owner and worried mother she had always been.

Inside Powerforge, Lauren could be daring, powerful, and shameless in ways she would never permit herself to be in real life. Luke had discovered his own path there as well. He had created a class, fought monsters, and protected someone who depended on him instead of being the helpless one for once.

Neither of them was ready to lose that world.

Luke glanced at Lauren. Her long black hair was disheveled after the attack, with several loose strands stuck to her damp cheek. Even exhausted and covered in dust, she still possessed the mature, intensely feminine beauty that always made him uncertain where to rest his eyes. Her torn blouse clung to her full figure, while one arm remained pressed close to her stomach because even breathing seemed uncomfortable.

Iron Meridian stood behind the officer, silently watching them. The metal plates that normally floated around his body were gone, but his presence still filled the ruined café. His dark gray armor broadened his already imposing frame, and although his expression held no obvious suspicion, Luke still felt the weight of his attention.

"We don’t know how Powerforge is awakening abilities in its users," the officer continued. "Until the systems have been examined, they’re considered a possible public safety risk."

"They didn’t attack the café," Luke said.

"No one said they did."

"Then why do you need them?"

"Because both of you developed abilities after using them. Several similar incidents have been reported across the city tonight, and we need to determine whether those systems are dangerous."

Luke’s fingers curled into fists.

Calling the headsets dangerous felt absurd. The thugs who had robbed him were dangerous, and so was the criminal who had attacked the café. Powerforge had given Luke and Lauren the means to survive both, yet the authorities now wanted to take that strength from them.

Lauren noticed the anger tightening his face.

"Luke," she said quietly.

When he looked at her, he found the same reluctance reflected in her eyes. Even so, she was clearly asking him not to make the situation harder.

She had already survived an attack, watched part of her café get destroyed, and discovered that her game ability worked in the real world. Starting an argument with the police in front of Iron Meridian would only create another problem.

Luke forced his hands to relax as Lauren turned back to the officer.

"All right. We’ll cooperate. Luke can bring the headsets down from upstairs."

"I’ll go with him," another officer said.

Luke gave the man a sharp look.

"It’s standard procedure," Iron Meridian said before the tension could build. "No one is accusing either of you of anything."

Luke kept his answer to himself. People often said things like that right before searching for a reason to treat someone as guilty.

He turned and headed toward the stairs at the back of the café. The second officer followed close behind, keeping one hand near the equipment attached to his belt.

The damage below remained visible through the railing as Luke climbed. Broken glass covered part of the floor near the entrance, several tables had been overturned, and a long crack split the wall where the criminal had crashed into it.

Lauren could have died there, and the thought pushed him up the remaining steps faster.

Once they reached the apartment, Luke went straight into his bedroom. His Powerforge headset rested beside the pillow where he had left it, and he picked it up with both hands before running his thumb across the smooth black shell.

A few hours ago, it had been a door into another world. Now it already felt like something he had lost.

The officer waited near the entrance while Luke carried the headset into the hallway. When he stopped in front of Lauren’s bedroom, his hand hovered over the knob as a memory returned without warning.

He saw the dark hallway again and remembered standing outside this same door while soft moans slipped through the wood. The rustling sheets, Lauren’s uneven breathing, and the moment he realized exactly what she was doing returned with enough clarity to heat his ears.

Knowing that Miss Lauren was Yvonne made the memory even harder to ignore. The woman who cooked his meals, fussed over his injuries, and treated him with endless patience was also the blindfolded oracle who had sat on his hips and called him darling.

She had touched herself after playing with him, and although the memory embarrassed him, that did nothing to stop him from thinking about it.

"Is there a problem?" the officer asked.

"No."

Luke turned the knob and stepped inside.

Lauren’s room still carried the faint floral scent of her perfume. The bed had been made that morning, although one side of the blanket remained slightly uneven, and her headset rested on the bedside table.

He kept his attention on the device and did his best not to look at the bed. His ears were already hot enough.

The officer walked past him without noticing anything and picked up the second headset. As the man turned toward the hallway, Luke’s attention settled on the narrow storage closet at the far end.

The two additional Powerforge systems were hidden inside, still sealed in their black boxes beneath folded blankets and an old winter coat. Lauren had received them as a reward after their first dungeon.

The officers downstairs knew that Luke and Lauren had played Powerforge, and they knew two systems were registered under Lauren’s name. There was still a chance they knew nothing about the extra pair.

For several seconds, Luke stared at the closet door.

He should tell them. The headsets might genuinely be dangerous, considering Powerforge had already brought their abilities into the real world and no one understood how or why.

Still, surrendering every system meant placing their trust in the same authorities who had ignored him when he lay helpless in an alley. No hero had answered his calls, and no officer had recovered his money. Lauren had been the one who found him, gave him food, shelter, and work, and offered him a place where he no longer had to sleep with one eye open.

If hiding the extra headsets protected something important to her, Luke knew where his loyalty belonged.

The officer stepped out of Lauren’s room.

"Is that everything you have?"

Luke did not answer immediately.

Miss Lauren was Yvonne, and she had enjoyed their dungeon together just as much as he had. Inside Powerforge, both of them had taken a step toward becoming the people they wanted to be. Lauren had become bolder, while Luke had become stronger.

That world belonged to them, or at least part of it did.

"Luke?" the officer asked again.

He looked away from the closet.

"Sorry. Yeah, that’s everything." Luke nodded toward the headsets. "Miss Lauren only bought two. They were already pretty expensive."

The officer studied him, but Luke kept his expression still until the man finally nodded and headed toward the stairs.

His heartbeat did not settle until they returned to the café.