One of the cops, tall and lanky, with a nervous twitch in his eye, turned to his partner.

"What do we do?" he asked, nodding toward Masha and me. She was trembling, pressed against the wall.

"Pack these two up, take them to the station, let them figure it out there," replied the other, a burly man with a thick mustache. "We still have to find those saboteurs."

Cold sweat beaded on my forehead as I was roughly shoved into the back seat of the patrol car. Masha was put in another car, and I only managed to catch her frightened glance. Sirens wailed, shattering the night's silence, and red and blue flashes reflected in the windows of the houses like eerie phantoms.

image [https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfYcp_nijUHp6Wu9MRsE45IbYVqtuIZ0vCOGDISEELrgLwUKoPZ6615pG9CCO3vzeJ7-lfw3OBPrZs85y78ScqFMlCa2QpgAjNHaRWv5BZPrHCFz0USaCH9SVGupkvIL_KJYnq44cpukgQdkNF2_7idlMEr?key=RFTCmlC6UvXzM57eD7krUQ]

As the car sped through the city streets, I focused on my inner sensations, sinking into a light meditative trance. Prana, my inner energy, pulsed in response to my call. Using metamorphosis, the art of shapeshifting, I began to slowly build a layer of skin around the rings on my fingers, hiding them from prying eyes. Such a patch would not last long, a couple of hours at most. To grow skin on a permanent basis, it is necessary to at least create new capillaries and fix the changes in the mental projection of the body, otherwise the skin will fall off without blood flow and the body will reject the excess. But I didn't have time to do it properly.

The police station was cold and unwelcoming. The harsh beams of fluorescent lights cut into my eyes, and the smell of mustiness mingled with the aroma of cheap coffee. During the interrogation, the investigator, a portly man with the gaze of a grizzly bear, made no secret of his skepticism.

image [https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXf2sQ4uH5ga3gAvfTQ495g1S4Wf8rbhFDDx5Zp7c9M-9LbvAzqM_LglpQXN3henOgGKtqLfOnAQ0583pc2ex6PuEOjUSeQIx8Fb9KW5dhd9yyrTWIJ5WbO9BgjmsPQOVhDRkWwxRwKVtRTH_ZtueVyk3o20?key=RFTCmlC6UvXzM57eD7krUQ]

"So, you claim you didn't kill anyone?" His voice was hoarse and low, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.

"Yes," I replied, trying to speak calmly. "Everything Masha saw was just a staged performance. A fantasy role-playing game with high-quality special effects and costumes, to which she invited me."

"Then why does the girl claim that she was kidnapped from the hospital ward while she was on duty?" the investigator began to get angry.

"Well, I have only one explanation - the path we were walking on had a rather low overhang, and while we were getting to the place where the game was being held, Masha hit her head against it," I gave the version that I had prepared in the car. "Think for yourself, what magic is there in the 21st century?"

"Indeed, I think I've been overworking." The investigator replaced his anger with slight amusement. "How do you explain the occult pentagram burned onto the concrete of someone else's construction site?"

"It was a hexagram," I corrected the investigator, "it has six corners. And why do we need to explain it? Well, I once dated a girl from the Goth subculture. So I prepared a beautiful fire show with fireworks in an occult style for her. We broke up, but the blank remained. And then Masha fell asleep in the cave, so my friends and I decided to beautifully end the romantic evening for her. By the way, your people interrupted everything at the most interesting moment - the girl was just getting undressed!"

"Friends?" The investigator frowned again. "What kind of friends? What were you planning to do with the poor girl?!"

"What? Comrade investigator, what violence are you talking about?! Who do you take us for?!" I started to make excuses, as our dialogue was clearly not going according to plan. "Masha is a wonderful, decent, and most importantly, virgin girl! Any medical examination will confirm this for you! I like this girl, and I would never do anything like that against her will! And my friends took us by car to the place where the fire show was held and went to their families. You understand, the war started, and they were outside the mobile communication zone for two days."

"Oh, the youth, they used to stage attacks by hooligans to impress a girl, and now they are arranging a whole fantasy thriller with elements of horror! Where is the world heading?" The investigator sighed heavily and continued. "We'll put aside the property that was damaged by pseudo-occult actions for now. Why did you arbitrarily leave the institution where you were undergoing examination?! By the way, three victims filed a complaint against you!"

"Well, I'll pay damages to the owners of that construction site. I'll find out how to find the owner and pay him." I smiled slyly. "And I left the hospital solely at the call of my heart! Tell me, would you yourself have resisted a romantic date with such a beautiful girl?"

"Ha-ha-ha! I can't!" The investigator began to laugh openly. "Such a romantic date that the lady decided to accuse you of her own murder! And don't worry about the damages, Mr. Alex. We are also looking for this owner. But I'm afraid that when we finally find him, he will have other things to worry about than your hooligan actions for another twenty years."

"That's good," I sighed with relief. "Do you have any more questions for me, Comrade Petrenko?"

"No, Alex, the investigation has no more questions for you. The girl is alive and well, she was just examined by a doctor before I called you, and if there were any signs of violence or serious bodily injury, I would have been informed. Three victims who filed a complaint against you died in an explosion in a hospital ward. Perhaps, if you hadn't documented your injuries in time, the investigation would have had questions, but as it is - the case will be closed. You can go, but please, no more of these shows! Like all normal people, use flowers and champagne. You'd be fined for hooliganism... Oh, never mind! Come visit me tomorrow. My wife asked me to invite you for dinner and thank you for treating our daughter. You can pick up your knife at the same time, I'm keeping it at my place, the guys in the evidence department were looking at it too closely."

"Thank you, Alexander Grigorovich, I will definitely stop by! And please thank Elena Petrovna as well." I was finally able to relax. "And please don't put too much pressure on Masha, she's a great girl, just very vulnerable."

"Get out of here already, you damn Casanova. I'll figure out how and with whom to communicate without you," Major Petrenko growled, suddenly gloomy. "Elena Petrovna went missing after the explosion at the hospital. You understand, she most likely died. So, go already! I still have to translate a bunch of paperwork because of the hormones and wild imagination of a medical student."

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"What a pity, she was a good doctor. Goodbye, Comrade Major," I said goodbye to my old acquaintance. In the past, Elena Petrovna asked me to conduct a couple of acupuncture sessions for his daughter. After an accident, she couldn't walk - her nerve endings were damaged. After my treatment, the girl leads an active lifestyle, and I am periodically invited to dinner. Good and honest people. I think if the major had decided I was guilty, he would have put me away, regardless of my previous merits. And it really is a pity about Elena Petrovna. A doctor from God, everyone loved her...

I left the investigator's office feeling the weight lift from my shoulders. Today I managed to get out of an unpleasant situation, but I understood that this was only a temporary victory. Sooner or later, the System will become known to the general public, and the major will be the first to understand what happened here. And then it will reach his superiors that I, in fact, resurrected a recently deceased girl. And there are not many options for the further development of events, either I will have more clients that I cannot refuse and become a bird in a golden cage, or I will be sent for research, after having extracted all available information. And for some reason, the second option seemed more likely to me.

"Oh, Masha, how you set me up," I whispered as I walked down the deserted corridor of the police station. "And how do I get out of this now?"

Leaving the station, I saw Masha being led by the hand to the entrance by a gray-haired man in a white coat. Her eyes were red from tears, and her face was set in an expression of resentment and pride.

"Masha, is everything okay?" I asked, approaching the procession.

I was ignored. The girl proudly walked past me without saying a word. Well, the trip home is postponed. First I need to wait for her conversation with Alexander Grigorovich to end and talk to her face to face.

I stepped aside, hiding behind a column, and immersed myself in shallow meditation. This way I will enhance my hearing, gather mana and be able to weave one interesting spell, just in case.

Masha and the doctor entered the investigator's office, and I heard muffled voices. From their conversation, I understood that the doctor was a psychiatrist, one of the members of the commission called to examine Masha.

"Stress, shock, possible amnesia," I heard snippets of the doctor's phrases. "Needs peace, medication..."

"Thank you, doctor," replied Major Petrenko. "I'll make sure the girl gets the help she needs."

After a while, Masha and the doctor left the office.

"Don't worry, Alexander Grigorovich," the doctor said, patting the major on the shoulder. "The girl is young, strong. She will cope."

The doctor left, and Masha left the building and remained standing at the entrance, not knowing what to do next.

"Masha," I called out to her, but she ignored me again.

"Masha, let's talk," I persisted, getting closer and closer to the girl.

"What do we have to talk about?" she answered coldly, not looking at me. "You already said everything, making me look almost insane!"

"Masha, I understand that you are angry with me. And you have every right to be. Believe me, I didn't want to hurt you, let alone make you look crazy, but I don't want to go to jail for your "murder" either."

"You don't want to? And what do you want?" Her voice trembled with restrained emotions. "And you not only "killed" me, as you put it, but you also stabbed Damon!"

"Maria, would it have been better to let that scum rape you and then let him kill you?" I sighed heavily.

The red-haired beauty finally looked at me, and a mixture of surprise and anger flashed in her eyes.

"So all this didn't really happen to me? It wasn't acting, not a game, and not a figment of my imagination?" the bewildered girl asked.

"I wish it were a game, or better yet, a figment of my or your imagination. But this world is cruel..." Maria didn't let me finish my monologue, interrupting me mid-sentence.

"Alex, don't start demagoguery. I already understood that no one would believe me. And complaining to someone would only mean begging for a ticket to a sanatorium for the mentally ill. What more do you want from me?" The fiery beauty blurted out.

Oh. How beautiful this girl is in anger. Once again I find myself thinking that I am starting to like this brave enchantress. Not everyone will find the strength and courage to talk like that to a person who recently pierced your heart with a tip of a spear.

"I want you to take your spear and shield. Well, the coin with skill too." I said what I started the conversation for. Without a weapon, she has no chance on the next mission.

"I refuse," this beautiful but stubborn creature categorically declared to me. "I don't want to have anything to do with you or the System! I would have given you this devil's hoodie back if there was anything to wear instead of it!"

A taxi pulled up to the entrance of the police station, Maria demonstratively turned and headed for the car door.

The taxi with Masha disappeared around the corner, and I was left alone, breathing in the smell of exhaust fumes and digesting the meeting. The feelings were mixed: relief, disappointment, and a strange desire to protect this fiery girl. It was clear that she was angry - it was impossible to experience something like that and remain indifferent. And my actions, although forced, hardly added to her peace.

Although Masha abandoned the System and everything connected with it, I knew that our paths would cross again. The System would not leave us alone and its call was inevitable, and I could not allow this naive beauty to meet it alone again, unprepared. Therefore, before her departure, I discreetly cast a tracking spell on the girl - a silent assurance that I would not leave her to her fate.

Sighing, I returned to the police station building, which radiated an oppressive atmosphere of bureaucracy. It was time to collect my belongings and deal with the consequences of my actions.

Nothing had changed inside - sterile, cold, muffled conversations and the rustle of papers could be heard. Major Petrenko, as before, was sitting in his office, buried in folders. His forehead was furrowed, his gaze focused.

"Ah, Alex, back so soon?" He looked up at me, the irritation in his gaze replaced by reluctant acceptance. "I thought you'd be halfway across town by now, courting your resurrected lady."

"Masha is not exactly in the mood for courtship, Major, you forbade me to use my imagination, and a bottle of champagne risks being smashed against my head," I replied with a wry smile. "And I have unfinished business here."

"Unfinished business?" Petrenko raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"My things, Major. A flashlight, a couple of crystals, and everything else your officers confiscated at the scene."

Petrenko sighed and rummaged in a drawer, pulling out a sealed bag of evidence. "Here. There were definitely no crystals there, but everything else is in place. And consider yourself lucky. Usually, destruction of property and disturbance of public order would result in a hefty fine, if not a few nights in a cell. By the way, it would be good for you. Maybe you'd get into less trouble. But given the circumstances..." He trailed off, his gaze distant and shadowed.

I understood what he meant. War, the constant threat of attack, the loss of friends and loved ones - these things changed perspectives. Petty offenses paled in comparison to the greater tragedies unfolding around us.

"Thank you, Major," I said sincerely, taking the bag. "And I really feel sorry for Elena Petrovna. She was a close friend to me too."

Petrenko nodded curtly, dismissing me with a wave of his hand. I quietly left the office.

Stepping out of the police station into the bustling city, I felt the weight of my responsibility. Masha, my own survival, the secret of the System - it all came crashing down at once. There were no answers, only more questions. But I knew one thing for sure - I wouldn't passively wait to see what happened next. I would adapt, learn and fight for my place in this new, dangerous reality.