The hopeful voices faded as Red Hound stepped away from the podium.

"Your powers are conditional."

Confusion passed through the audience. A woman near the front raised her hand, while several others began speaking over one another. Some asked what he meant by conditional. Others wanted to know whether their abilities could disappear.

Red Hound let the questions continue for a few seconds before lifting one hand.

"Conditional does not mean weak," he said once the room settled. "It means your abilities do not function like ordinary tools. You cannot assume they will respond the same way in every situation, because your state of mind appears to be part of the mechanism."

That answer did little to reassure anyone.

A man near the aisle looked down at his hands as though expecting his power to activate without warning. The younger group at the back had stopped whispering altogether.

"You gained your abilities from a game built around desire, fantasy, and personal identity," Red Hound continued. "That influence didn’t disappear when those abilities entered the real world. Every power we’ve examined appears to carry some kind of condition, limitation, or psychological trigger connected to the player."

The café flashed through Luke’s mind. He remembered Lauren in danger and the helpless rage that had consumed him when he realized he might not be strong enough to save her.

Red Hound’s warning made that moment feel less like a fortunate accident. Luke’s power had answered something inside him, and he still didn’t know what would happen if that feeling changed.

Could his abilities fail if Lauren wasn’t in danger? Would they become stronger when she was? The idea of needing to see her threatened before he could protect her made his stomach tighten.

Red Hound turned toward one of his assistants.

"I’ll show you what I mean."

The assistant nodded and spoke quietly into a radio. A few seconds later, the double doors at the back of the gymnasium opened, and two heroes entered with a handcuffed man between them.

His wrists were secured behind his back, and a thick metal restraint circled his neck. One of the heroes kept a firm grip on his shoulder, forcing him to walk while hunched forward.

Dark bruises covered one side of the prisoner’s face, and a bandage wrapped around his head. His clothes were dirty and torn, and he dragged one leg behind him as the heroes marched him down the aisle.

Low voices followed his progress through the room. The way the heroes handled him made it clear that they considered him dangerous, and judging by the state of his body, Red Hound had probably captured him personally.

The prisoner kept his eyes on the floor as he passed the rows of chairs. Several people pulled their legs closer to their seats, even though his hands were restrained and a hero walked on either side of him.

Luke felt Lauren’s fingers tighten around his.

Until now, the people gathered in the gymnasium had been strangers connected by the same impossible event. The man walking toward the platform changed that. He was proof that awakening through Powerforge did not automatically make someone a hero.

Once they reached the platform, the heroes forced the prisoner onto his knees. Red Hound looked down at him without sympathy before facing the audience again.

"This man is the same as you," he said. "He awakened after playing Powerforge Online."

The gymnasium fell quiet.

Until now, every person Luke had met with a Powerforge ability was sitting in this room, waiting to learn what would happen to them. Seeing one restrained and beaten made the danger surrounding their new abilities feel much more real.

"His ability allows him to turn invisible and move at extreme speed," Red Hound continued.

A few surprised whispers came from the audience. Either ability would have been useful for a hero, and having both sounded extraordinary.

"Unfortunately, they only activate when he’s preparing to sexually assault a woman."

Several people gasped. Someone cursed under his breath, and a woman near the aisle recoiled in her seat.

The boys who had mocked Luke no longer looked excited about becoming famous. One stared at the prisoner with his mouth slightly open, while another lowered his gaze and shifted uncomfortably.

Lauren’s expression hardened, and without thinking, Luke moved closer to her. The reaction was pointless with dozens of heroes surrounding them, but his body responded before he could reason with it.

The prisoner kept his head lowered while disgust spread through the room.

"When he entered Powerforge Online, he wanted a world without consequences," Red Hound said. "He wanted to prey on women and use power to stop anyone from interfering."

The prisoner flinched at the accusation, but Red Hound continued without showing him any sympathy.

"The game responded to that desire. He built his character around it, gained abilities that supported it, and spent his time inside Powerforge acting on those urges. Eventually, the game stopped being enough."

No one interrupted him.

"He chose a woman in the real world and followed her. When he decided to attack, his abilities activated exactly as they had in Powerforge. He became invisible, and his speed increased. He believed no one could stop him."

A humorless smile appeared on Red Hound’s face.

"Unfortunately for him, I was nearby."

Luke looked at the bruises covering the prisoner’s face and realized this was one of Red Hound’s victims. Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to feel sorry for the man.

Moving closer to the edge of the platform, Red Hound looked across the audience.

"Every Powerforge ability we’ve examined appears to carry conditions connected to the player who created it," he said. "The desire that shaped your character may influence how your power works, when it activates, and what allows it to grow."

His gaze swept over the rows of seats.

"That is our current working theory. We do not yet understand every condition, and anyone who claims otherwise is lying to you."

A hand rose near the front. "What happens if we don’t know what our condition is?"

"That is one reason you are here," Red Hound replied. "Before anyone sends you into hero training, we need to learn what activates your abilities, what interferes with them, and whether using them places you or anyone nearby at risk."

Another person asked, "What if we don’t want to tell you?"

Red Hound’s expression didn’t change.

"Then we cannot safely certify you. You are free to refuse our training, but hiding a dangerous trigger and using your ability in public will bring consequences."

His eyes moved briefly toward the prisoner.

The meaning was clear.

"You will undergo medical and neurological examinations," Red Hound continued. "You will also demonstrate your abilities under supervision and answer questions about the characters you created in Powerforge. We are not asking because your fantasies entertain us. We are asking because those fantasies may now determine what you can do in the real world."

That statement set off another wave of uneasy conversation.

Luke barely heard it. His thoughts had already returned to the moment he awakened.

Lauren had been in danger, and Luke had been completely helpless. Fear and anger had filled him until only one desire remained.

He wanted strength.

Fame hadn’t crossed his mind. Neither had money or the dream of becoming a hero. All he had wanted was enough power to protect Lauren.

That desire had shaped his Spellblade class from the beginning. He had chosen a spear because he wanted to keep danger away, magic because he never wanted to feel powerless again, and movement skills because being trapped had nearly cost him everything.

When the café was attacked, the same desire had followed him into the real world.

Luke slowly turned toward Lauren and found her already watching him.

The playful warmth from earlier had disappeared. Her lips were pressed together, and concern darkened her blue eyes.

Oracle’s Glimpse had first carried over into the real world when Lauren became desperate to protect him. She had wanted to see danger before it reached him, just as she had wanted to watch over her daughters and guide them home safely.

Luke could tell she had made the same connection.

Their abilities had not chosen them randomly. Powerforge had taken desires they barely understood and given those desires power.

Neither of them spoke as they held each other’s gaze and let Red Hound’s warning settle over the gymnasium.