Knowing what they wanted, Ray was not afraid.

"I'm here. I'm Ray Albright" He said, standing up with his phone revealing his position in the dark.

Maybe it was his somewhat scrawny appearance, but the group of soldiers looked somewhat skeptical that they had the right man. He could tell they were looking at something, a pop-up screen possibly? This confirmed that it was a global event after all.

"83? Can't be right, in two hours? It's impossible. I only killed three yesterday." One of them was whispering until another soldier nudged him in the ribs to be quiet. In truth Ray was having a hard time believing it himself.

"Just follow us and don't cause any trouble."

Ray nodded and did as told, putting on a disarming smile that didn't quite work so well while he had flashlights being shone in his face.

Around them the military and police activity had seemed to have increased ten-fold of what it was last night. Search lights had been put up around the police-station, the perimeter of which was now being surrounded with makeshift razor-wire fences, illuminated every so often by the scanning sweep of the powerful lights. Seems like the entire block had been turned into a military fortress overnight.

The monsters were one thing, but with the sudden arrival of easy difficulty's integration the stakes were suddenly a lot higher for everyone. Being the default mode, most civilians would have ended up with that as their choice. Now that they were back, the number of casualties to monsters would surely sky-rocket.

From what Ray could see, a field hospital was already being erected nearby. All the parking-lots nearby were being converted to either housing for survivors or facilities for treating the wounded. The scale of it all was somewhat astounding.

The group made their way back into the station, which by now was flooded with military uniforms. His escort made their way through the halls before ultimately bringing him to a room very similar to the one he had been in yesterday. Unsurprisingly, Jonathan, the one who questioned him last time was here, but this time he wasn't smiling. A serious business-like expression painted on while he talked to someone who acted like he was in-charge.

The soldiers who brought him in didn't leave, but rather were order to take up positions guarding the door. Keeping their eyes trained like a hawk. At least they weren't pointing their guns at him yet.

Do I really warrant this treatment? Ray sighed at his current situation. Wasn't my luck supposed to be good? Or is even this supposed to be a blessing in disguise?

"Sorry for waking you up so early. I hope you don't mind the hurry." Jonathan, came over to Ray before offering him a chair to sit. It didn't like he had the option to refuse. Only after Ray did so did the atmosphere relax somewhat.

"Do you understand why we called you in?" Jonathan asked.

"I have a pretty good guess. It's about the competition announcement from this morning." Not bothering to elaborate on the kill counter, which to his irritation had risen by one since he had begun speaking. Good to know his spider familiar was being proactive.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Everyone in the room paused for a second, absent-mindedly reading the changes which had just occurred in the rankings. Clearly this wasn't going to slip by them.

A few of the other military in the room were discussing something amongst themselves, one woman in uniform whispered something to the man who Ray had guessed was the one in charge. A small detail caught his eye, her ring. At first glance he thought it was a wedding-ring, but on further inspection he noticed how very similar it was to his own. The military knew about rankers, and they knew about the rings. It would be no surprise if they had personnel with powers. The only question was what powers did this woman have, and why would they have her present here?

"Now, let me just ask to be one-hundred percent sure. Is the 'Ray Albright' on the rankings you? This isn't a case of two people having the same name is it?"

Ray raised his eyebrow, that was an odd way to phrase it. If he wanted to lie, they were basically providing him with the pre-fabricated excuse. Almost like they were intentionally inviting him to do it, inviting him to say 'it's not me.' Normally they should be trying to influence his statements as little as possible, leaving most of the talking up to the one being interviewed.

They weren't polygraphing him, but they did have the woman. The mysterious power user.

Whatever their plans, he would do it the same as before. So long as they avoided actively intending to harm him, he would try to cooperate and see where that took him.

"Yes, that's me on there."

The woman soldier had at some point been given a small notebook, and seemed to be making notes on what Ray said. Call it intuition but he got the feeling she was analyzing him in some way. Mind reading? One possibility, among others.

"Please describe to me your actions in the last two-hours, start from the beginning of the event's announcement."

"I was sleeping until about fifteen minutes ago, I heard the soldiers looking for me in the camp, then I came here."

Jonathan blinked, visibly irritated.

"Let me confirm, you want me to believe you've killed 84 monsters, almost triple the second-place record holder in the span of two hours... while you were asleep?" The man couldn't help but take off his glasses, seemingly in disbelief.

85 now. Ray thought as he witnessed the counter go up once again.

"I've told you my powers, summoning. I can summon creatures and they do the work for me. I left one of my summons to itself, this is a result of its own independent actions."

"The worm?" Jonathan asked with an edge in his voice. Ray had answered his questions fully last time, but had arguably been a bit sly on the details. He glossed over the full extent of his powers, but in his own defense he wasn't too clear about where his limits were.

"The worm's here with me, I have another."

"Why wasn't this included in your previous disclosure?"

"You never asked."

The man was rubbing his temple now, somewhat irritated, but being careful with his words while he talked with such a potentially dangerous unknown like Ray.

The commander who had been sitting alongside the power user until, stood up abruptly. Making his way next to Jonathan and leaning over the table where Ray sat.

"Now Son, I'm going to be very clear with you. Our relationship can take two very different paths right now." Spreading his hands down onto the table as he leaned further into Ray's face.

An intimidation tactic, interesting choice. Ray thought while staring the bald uniformed man directly in the eyes, not blinking even once.

"Answer me this one question. Are you an enemy... or are an ally?"

"Believe me when I say I have no ill will towards any of you."

"Melissa, what's the verdict." The bald commander yelled at his subordinate, the one with the powers Ray supposed, seeing as she was the only woman here.

"He's telling the truth."

"Anything come up from the earlier questions?"

"All negative, sir."

"Well then, that makes things simple. Mr. Ray Albright, you're a young man of age and your country needs your service. Consider yourself conscripted. Do you have any objections?"

Ray narrowed his eyes, but still held his tongue. What good would objecting bring him? He would be fighting a war with an entire country. His country. No matter who won, it was a loss for all sides involved.

"Good. You're a military man now Ray, can't say what branch yet but we'll figure that out later. Let's start out with seeing that other familiar of yours. I'm itching to see what a world class power looks like."