Ray realized he had already said more than he should have. Sighing as he tried to figure out his next actions.

Sitting in the back of a patrol car while the driver glanced at him every so often using the rear-view mirror. He didn't know at first about the ranking system that medium difficulty had implemented, but apparently this was common knowledge. Everyone who went through medium difficulty would know about it, which currently meant everyone on Earth other than him. Not disclosing his ranking immediately raised suspicion, but it was still better than saying something that would out him as the sole survivor of Hard Difficulty.

He wasn't exactly under arrest, but given that martial law was currently in place, they had a perfect excuse to keep him as long as they wanted.

Watching through tinted windows as they pulled up to the police station, which almost looked like it was mobilized for war. National guard armored vehicles filled the lot, and soldiers were mixed in with the cops. Less than a day had passed and already soldiers had been deployed to the cities apparently, guns and ammunition were being passed out from the army to the police who looked like they had already burned through their entire munitions cache just in the morning.

The driver got out after parking the vehicle, heading around the car to open Ray's door for him. The handles in the back wouldn't open from the inside after all. Stepping off onto the gravel, Ray followed along into the building. He could see there were other civilians set up in a makeshift camp, maybe this was the best that the police and military could do on such short notice, but it also seemed like anybody they rescued was being brought back here for the time being. Ray included. The important distinction was that Ray had caught their attention as someone potentially useful.

Apparently the high rankers in the integration were given appropriate rewards. Some of them even had super powers like his own. At least that's what he had managed to glean so far from conversation not meant for his ears. The government was already moving to identify and recruit any and all rankers, having claimed to have killed a goblin made him stand out as a potential ranker, and refusing to answer questions about it solidified that idea in their minds.

Bringing Ray to an empty room, interrogation room by the look of it, with magic-mirror glass and a basic table in the center. He felt a lot like a suspect right now if not for the fact that he wasn't handcuffed.

"Help yourself to some coffee while you wait." The uniformed cop tapped the coffee maker and paper cups located in a corner of the room.

"Uh sure, but can you tell me exactly what am I supposed to be waiting here for?"

"Army guy will be in soon, wants to ask you some questions."

That didn't tell him much, sighing once the man closed the door on him. Whatever it was, he wanted his powers back as soon as possible. Looking at the coffee equipment and the limited availability, the only things he saw with any caloric value was the sugar. Putting in as much as he could stomach into a small cup of coffee, about a dozen packets.

The door cracked open right around when he had finished his first cup and was preparing a second, in walked a slender man with short-cut brown hair and military fatigues. A clipboard with a stack of papers and pen clipped to it in one hand.

'Mr. Ray Albright?'

Ray noddded his head.

"I'm warrant officer Jonathan Moore, I've been put in charge of conducting interviews of prospective rankers, because you have been identified as one such individual I will be asking you a few questions that I need you to answer truthfully and honestly." The man squinted briefly at the sight of Ray pouring a dozen sugar packets into a small cup and sipping it.

Considering things were under martial law, Ray probably didn't have an option to refuse. The most he could do was try to juice up his powers as much as possible to bring even a small amount of luck his way.

"I'm fine with that, but I can drink this while I answer right?"

The man nodded, a small smile on his face. Being cooperative with the military was best idea he could come up with for the time being, hoping that they wouldn't ask questions that would put him in a tough spot.

"First, do understand what the word 'ranker' means, and what I am referring to when I mention that word." The military man asked.

"Not particularly, all of this is very new to me. If you could explain it I would appreciate." Ray replied, sipping on his sugar-laddened coffee after he spoke.

"Do you understand what happened to you during the integration? At the very end you should have seen a number, that number is your placement within your group. As of right now we are considering anybody with a number higher than one thousand as a ranker. Do you remember what your number was?"

One-thousand? How large were the group-sizes? Ten thousand maybe? From what he read this morning it seemeed like a reasonable estimate, which would make it a one in ten ratio of rankers to 'normal' people.

"I don't remember my number, is there another way to determine whether one is a ranker?"

The man squinted at him suspiciously before writing something down and continuing with his next question.

"Have you ever received anything as a result of your achievements during the integration? For example a gift box appearing out of nowhere or unexplained powers of any kind."

Ray's eyes shot open with surprise. So they did know about the superpowers, even the giftboxes were something known. They knew well enough to have already pieced together that these were also related to one's performance in the integration or possibly even more.

Hesitating to give out any more information, but balancing the consequences of lying. Finally deciding to be truthful with the man. He wasn't in any trouble yet, so he might as well keep it that way.

"Yes." He said out loud. It was his interviewer's turn to be surprised this time.

The man blinked his eyes, as if stunned.

"You did?"

"Yes, I have powers and I've received gifts."

Jonathan smiled at him with an excited expression, "Please describe these for me with as much detail as you can."

"Uh, well. What do you want to know?"

"Start with the powers. How would you best describe these powers?"

"Well, I can summon things. Living creatures."

The man scribbled something onto his clipboard before glancing up.

"Can you give me a demonstration?"

Ray looked a bit hesitant, not wanting to cause an uproar with a giant spider rampaging through the building, so he decided to only call on his worm.

A few moments later his earth-toned silkworm sat on the table, staring up at the military man with the same interest the man showed towards the magically conjured worm. 

"Fascinating."