His heart was beating far too hard for a room full of officials and strangers. Pretending the conversation had never happened would have been the sensible response, but the chance to answer her was too tempting.

He leaned closer.

Lauren’s eyes widened slightly when his mouth approached her ear.

"That’s good," Luke whispered, forcing himself to remain calm. "Because one of my conditions is definitely you."

She froze as the teasing confidence disappeared from her face. A deeper blush spread across both cheeks.

Catching Lauren off guard gave Luke a brief, satisfying spark of victory. She was older, more experienced, and far better at making him lose control of a conversation. Turning the tables on her felt better than defeating a difficult enemy.

Then she slowly faced him again.

Her embarrassment softened into something warmer. After holding his gaze for several seconds, she lowered her eyes toward his lap.

Luke followed without thinking, and every trace of confidence vanished.

A small smile touched Lauren’s lips. "I’ve seen plenty of evidence."

His Reinforce reacted before he could stop it, sending a pulse of awakened power through his body. His muscles tightened, every sensation sharpened, and his posture went rigid.

Lauren noticed immediately. Her eyes stayed lowered for one quiet, devastating moment before Luke clenched his jaw and turned away.

There was no recovering from that.

He focused on the front of the gymnasium and tried to think about the examination, the Bureau, or anything else that did not involve Lauren whispering into his ear. Beside him, she raised a hand to hide her smile.

One of the officials eventually called for everyone’s attention.

"Those who have completed the questionnaire, please remain seated," the woman announced. "Your answers are being reviewed. Once the preliminary classification is finished, you’ll be divided into groups for additional interviews and controlled testing."

Conversation spread through the gymnasium. Some awakened raised their hands and called out questions, while others whispered among themselves, sharing guesses without revealing what they had written.

Officials moved between the rows, sorting people according to the nature of their conditions, the abilities they had demonstrated, and the risks those abilities might present. Colored symbols appeared beside names on their screens.

Some awakened were escorted toward reinforced testing rooms. Others were directed to medical teams or smaller interview areas. A few protested when they were separated from friends or relatives, but the officials assured them the groupings were temporary.

Lauren appeared calm again, though her knee remained close to Luke’s beneath their chairs.

Neither of them knew what the authorities planned to do once the examinations ended. They had been told about scans, controlled demonstrations, medical monitoring, and supervised training, but no one had explained what would happen after the government understood their powers.

Would they be allowed to go home? Would they be permitted to use their abilities freely? Would the government pressure them to become heroes?

Luke had no answers, yet his thoughts kept returning to the questionnaire.

If his abilities depended on his need to grow stronger and protect Lauren, losing the chance to train might be worse than anything the government discovered during the examination. Now that he knew the strength earned in Powerforge Online could exist in the real world, he could not allow his growth to stop.

"Lauren?"

A medical worker had stopped beside their row.

"We need to complete the neurological follow-up you were told about earlier."

Luke straightened. "Is something wrong?"

"It’s a precaution," the woman said. "She reported a mild headache after using Oracle’s Glimpse. We want to compare her current readings with the scans we took when she arrived."

Lauren rested a hand on his arm. "I told you I would report it."

"I know."

Knowing did not make him any less worried.

The medical worker gestured toward a temporary examination area set up behind one of the gymnasium partitions. "It shouldn’t take long."

Lauren handed her tablet to a nearby assistant and rose. Before leaving, she leaned toward Luke again.

"Try not to activate Reinforce anywhere embarrassing while I’m gone."

His face warmed, and Lauren rewarded the reaction with a sweet smile before following the medical worker.

While the officials continued sorting the awakened, Luke remained in his chair and kept glancing toward the partition.

The examination lasted less than fifteen minutes. Lauren returned with a small adhesive sensor attached near her temple and looked more annoyed than concerned.

"Well?" Luke asked.

"They said everything looks stable. The headache is already fading."

"And your ability?"

"I can participate in controlled testing, but I have to stop immediately if the pressure gets worse."

Luke looked toward the medical worker following behind her.

"She shouldn’t activate it repeatedly without supervision," the woman said. "If she experiences dizziness, distorted vision, nausea, or increasing pain, the test ends."

"It won’t come to that," Lauren replied.

The look Luke gave her made her sigh.

"If it does, I’ll tell someone."

"Immediately."

"Yes, Luke."

Satisfied, the medical worker moved on.

As Lauren sat beside him again, she gave him a fond, slightly exasperated look. "You worry too much."

"You don’t worry enough about yourself."

"That’s why we make a good pair."

Nearly half an hour after everyone submitted their answers, an official called their names.

"Luke and Lauren, please come with me."

They rose together and followed her away from the chairs. Heavy sliding barriers had been opened along one side of the gymnasium, revealing several reinforced floors built for controlled power testing. Observation windows overlooked each area, and racks of training equipment stood along the walls.

The awakened had already been divided into smaller groups. Some waited beside professional heroes Luke recognized from television, while others spoke nervously as sidekicks checked weapons or reviewed files on handheld screens.

Their official guided them toward three other pairs standing inside a marked training area. The strangers examined Luke and Lauren as they approached.

Two middle-aged men waited near the front and looked more like coworkers than combat partners. Another pair consisted of a young woman and an older man who might have been her brother. The final two appeared to be married, judging by the way the woman kept correcting her husband’s stance while he tried to ignore her.

Luke and Lauren took their place at the end of the line.