"I- I'm not a pervert!" Adam protested but the officer wasn't having it.
"Shut up! I saw everything from the moment you began to approach her." She cut him short, hauling him upright with brutal efficiency.
Then she spun him around, and Adam found himself face-to-face with his captor:
She was a 24-year-old woman with blonde hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. Her face was strikingly pretty but twisted now with righteous fury. The name on her tag read: Officer Evelyn Sinclair.
"I swear it was an accident! I lost my balance when she---" Words were tumbling out from Adam's tongue in a desperate rush.
"You mean staring at her chest like some kind of animal, then assaulting her when she defended herself was an accident?" Evelyn's voice was cold.
"No, that's not---"
"Quiet!"
Evelyn turned away from him, her attention shifting to the woman who was now being helped to her feet by another officer. The woman's face was flushed, her expression a mixture of shock and disgust.
"Ma'am, are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Evelyn asked, her tone softening considerably.
"I'm... I'm fine. Just shaken up." The woman brushed dirt from her clothes, her hands trembling slightly.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you. We'll make sure he's properly dealt with. Would you like us to call someone for you?" Evelyn said, genuine sympathy in her voice.
"No... I just want to go. Just please keep him away from me." The woman glanced at Adam, spitting the last statement with disgust, and the look in her eyes made his stomach turn.
"Of course. We'll take care of everything." Evelyn assured her.
As the woman hurried away, eager to escape the scene, Evelyn's expression hardened again. She grabbed Adam's arm with a merciless grip.
"Move," she commanded, pulling him toward the patrol car.
Was this really happening? Was he going to jail on his birthday? Adam's mind raced.
"Please, listen to me---" he tried again, stumbling as she dragged him forward.
Then the system screen flickered into his vision, cutting him short.
---
'MISSION UPDATE
Kiss objective: COMPLETE
Underwear objective: INCOMPLETE
Calculating reward...'
---
"You've got to be kidding me," Adam muttered in disbelief.
Evelyn's head snapped toward him, her eyes narrowing as she wondered what he was saying.
But the system wasn't finished.
---
'Partial completion detected.
Adjusting parameters...'
---
"This is insane. You got me into this mess and now you're..." Adam was saying to the invisible screen angrily and Evelyn had to stop mid-stride to stare at him.
"I see you're also doing drugs!" Evelyn snapped.
"What? No, of course not!" Adam protested but Evelyn was already shoving him toward the open patrol car door. Adam twisted awkwardly, trying to avoid hitting his head as he was pushed into the back seat.
After the door closed, he could see Evelyn talking to her partner, gesturing toward him with clear disdain, through the window. Her partner nodded then walked off to handle the dispersing crowd.
Evelyn got into the driver's seat, her eyes finding him in the rearview mirror.
"We're going to the station and trust me, I'm going to make sure this goes on your record. Perverts like you need to learn consequences." She said coldly.
Adam slumped back against the seat in defeat and closed his eyes.
His second chance at life was turning into a nightmare.
~~~~~~~~
A few minutes later, they had arrived at the police station and Evelyn had marched him through processing with military precision: fingerprints, photographs, forms. Each step made Adam's heart pounded with fear.
Now he sat in a small interrogation room, still handcuffed, waiting for whatever came next with Evelyn hovering around, glaring at him like he was some sort of dirt.
The door opened, and an older man walked in. He blinked when he saw him.
"Adam?" the man said, surprise clear in his voice.
Adam looked up, and recognition sparked. "Mr... Mr. Garrett?"
Officer Daniel Garrett had been a regular at the small restaurant where Adam worked his part-time shifts. He was one of the few customers that were nice to Adam and would tip him sometimes.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Garrett asked, then caught himself. "Wait, what are you being accused of?"
"Sexual assault. He attacked a woman on the street." Evelyn said firmly.
"I didn't attack anyone. It was an accident!" Adam insisted.
Garrett held up a hand, silencing both of them. His eyes moved between Adam and Evelyn, then settled on his junior officer.
"Sinclair, give me the details."
Evelyn's jaw tightened, but she complied, recounting the incident accurately.
When she finished, Garrett turned to Adam.
"Your side?"
Adam took a deep breath and explained. The semi truth, minus the system, of course. How he'd approached the woman, yes, but for directions. How he'd been nervous and stupid and looked where he shouldn't have, yes. How she'd slapped him, and he'd lost his balance and fallen.
"I wasn't trying to assault anyone. I'm an idiot, but I'm not... I'm not that." Adam finished, his voice filled with shame.
Garrett studied him for a long moment, then looked at Evelyn.
"The woman- did she want to press charges?"
Evelyn hesitated. "She... no. She said she just wanted to leave."
"Any witnesses corroborate intentional assault?" The older man inquired further.
Another pause before Evelyn replied;
"The surveillance footage from the shop across the street shows him approaching her, the slap, then the fall. It's... it could be interpreted as accidental."
Garrett tapped the folder on the table, thinking. Finally, he sighed.
"Sinclair, uncuff him."
"Sir?" Evelyn's voice was sharp with disbelief.
"Uncuff him. I know this kid. He's not a predator. He's just an idiot who made a stupid mistake." Garrett's expression softened slightly as he looked at Adam. "Though staring at a woman's chest like that? Real stupid, son."
"I know, I'm sorry." Adam said miserably.
Evelyn looked like she wanted to argue, but rank won. She moved behind Adam and removed the handcuffs with more force than necessary and Adam winced.
"We'll need to file an incident report," Garrett continued. "And if the woman changes her mind about pressing charges, you'll be hearing from us. But for now... you're free to go."
"Thank you so much, sir." Adam's relief was so intense.
"Don't thank me. Thank the fact that I know you're not a criminal. But Adam?" Garrett's voice turned stern. "Get your act together. Whatever you were doing out there this morning, whatever's going on with you- fix it. Next time, I might not be here to vouch for you."
Adam nodded sharply. If he should open his mouth now, the tears of shame he'd been trapping in might escape his eyes.
He stood on shaky legs, rubbing his wrists where the handcuffs had bitten, and Evelyn stepped into his path, her expression icy.
"I'm watching you and next time you slip up- and there will be a next time for guys like you- I'll be there. And I won't let you walk away." She said quietly, her voice for his ears only.
~~~~~~~~~
The early afternoon sun hit Adam like a slap as he stumbled out of the police station.
He'd been inside for hours. The countdown in his vision had long since expired, the mission was over.
Adam walked down the street in a daze, his mind replaying the disaster of the morning over and over.
"Is this really my life now?" he mumbled but before he could say more, the system screen flickered into view.
---
'MISSION STATUS: PARTIAL COMPLETION
Kiss objective: COMPLETE
Underwear objective: INCOMPLETE
Calculating final reward...'
---
"Partial completion?" Adam stopped walking.
---
Due to successful completion of primary objective, Host will receive reduced reward.
REWARD: $250 deposited into account.
+1 Charm
Congratulations, Host. You have earned your first reward.
---
For a moment, Adam just stared at the screen, not understanding anything. Then his phone buzzed in his pocket.
With trembling hands, he pulled it out and opened the message.
His account balance now read $250.37.
"Oh my God, it's real!" Adam exclaimed, his eyes widening in excitement.
Two hundred and fifty dollars. More money than he'd seen in his account in.
"I did it!" he said, a disbelieving laugh bubbling up from his chest.
The relief, the excitement, the pure euphoria of having money overwhelmed everything else. The humiliation, the arrest, the fear- all of it faded into background noise.
"Okay, Okay, what can I buy? Food, definitely. Maybe some new clothes. I could pay part of my rent, get my landlord off my back for a while. Oh man, I could get actual chicken." Adam said excitedly.
He looked at the system screen, and for the first time since waking up in that gutter, genuine excitement filled his voice.
"What's next?" he asked. "What do I do next to earn more money? Another mission? I can do better this time, I swear. I'll be smarter---"
The screen flickered, the text changed and the red glow seemed to darken, becoming something ominous.
---
'Before we discuss your next mission, Host...
We must first address your punishment for failing the secondary objective.'
---
Adam's excitement died like a candle in a hurricane.
"What? But I got money."
---
'Partial reward for partial completion.
Partial punishment for partial failure.
This is non-negotiable.'
---
"Wait..." Adam panicked but the system kept doing its thing.
INITIATING PUNISHMENT.
And then Adam's head exploded.
Or at least, that's what it felt like.
Pain detonated behind his eyes. It was like someone had driven a spike through his skull, then lit it on fire, then twisted it for good measure.
"Ahhhh!" Adam's scream tore from his throat as he stumbled, his hands flying to his head.
The pain intensified and every heartbeat brought a fresh wave of agony that made his vision blur.
"Stop... please... stop..." he gasped, but the system was merciless.
---
'PUNISHMENT DURATION: 3 hours
This is a lesson, Host. You must always complete your missions.'
---
Adam's legs gave out and he doubled up in pain.