The police station was open, but the people at the reception desk looked dead inside and in desperate need of five espressos. You approached with caution, trying to keep your tone polite and light. After the conversation with Diane, it was clear these ones had been put through the wringer.

Currently, the nurse was balled and on your hip.

"Uh... hello." You spoke to the clerk at the entrance desk, the only one who seemed marginally cheery... and you were suspecting it was out of obligation. "I'm Rick, and the chief said I had an interrogation to go through or something along those lines?"

"Certainly, sir, would you kindly show me your ID? It is in the upper corner of your tamer profile in the dex." She stated, and you follow the instructions, giving her the numbers as you showed her the screen. She nodded. "It shows here that the appointment is for ten sharp, it seems you are a couple of hours early, sir."

"Oh, ok, I hadn't been told..."

"There's a note on your profile mentioning you have slight amnesia?" She looked at you with a hint of honest pity. "The dex has a message function, you should see the appointment in your mail inbox."

You cursed inwardly but kept from showing it. "You're right, my bad, thanks for the help."

"Anytime, sir!" She cheered up even more as you said this though you weren't too sure why.

Sighing, you glance at the dex, two hours, you figure Diane did warn you you'd have time to spare since you'd woken up early.

Eyes glancing at the inbox, you'd completely forgotten about its existence. Might as well check, there you found three emails. One from the police precinct detailing the time of the 'interrogation', another from Tomas that simply read "Elf came last night", which was sort of surprising, how had they got her here so quickly? The third email was from Doctor Hale which was also quite simple in format. "14:00, bring Diane".

But... well, might as well check up on the rescue efforts, you considered letting Diane out and discarded it for now, she had seemed strangely eager at the whole balled thing. Maybe being inside the sphere let her rest her mind? Get some shut-eye? Or, most likely, it was more to do with that indulgence of her kink she'd been asking for.

So in she stayed for now.

You had to ask for directions before you reached the "Hunter's Lodge", which didn't take too long. The building was basically a very big house made out of dark wood. It looked like a large personal residence rather than anything that came close to military. There weren't many signs of movements within, you wondered but knocked.

At the sound, you heard a light pitter-patter of steps.

A sleepy-looking mouse girl opened up within seconds, she reminded you of Tessa. "May Dory help you, sir?" She was rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Yes, I came to check on the situation regarding the rescue?" You wondered and then watched her blink oh so slowly.

"Dory inquires which rescue, sir?"

"The..." Right, there might be several. "The group towards the south? Split in two, one made it here and the others are being rescued?" Another owlish slow blink from her. You mentally scratched your brain for some other way to reference the whole thing... ah. "The one with the guy that tamed a feral purrsian?"

"Oh! Dory knows." Her eyes widened right away and nodded. "Yes, Sir Major Huge is overseeing the operation, but Dory isn't allowed to know details. Should Dory call Sir Major Huge for you, sir?"

"If it isn't too much trouble, please." You nodded with a little relief.

"Dory will look for Sir Major Huge, sir. Please wait for Dory to come back, sir." She nodded enthusiastically before she closed the door.

Waiting, you heard the tapper of her footsteps as she rushed off. It was soon followed by several muffled sounds. Finally, you heard a drawn-out full-bodied sigh that was unmistakable even through the closed door. The tipper-tapper returned, followed by heavy footsteps. The door opened, Huge looked at you, bags under his eyes, slightly pale and weary, looking very much like someone who should be rushed into a bed and left there for a couple of weeks.

Dory stood behind him, peeking at you every couple of seconds.

"Rick." The man greeted you with little apparent mood for people rather than just you in particular.

"Major Huge." You nodded curtly. "I just came to check on the situation regarding the others?"

Huge looked at you for a moment, nodding and recovering some of the energy that he seemed to be missing. "Three currently in intensive care, four well enough they weren't rushed back and should be arriving before sun-down, and the rest of the team I sent are following the trail of what we suspect is the last group, three or four large." A pause.

A long pause. You suspected for the longest of time that he had just frozen up, his eyes distant in what was clearly deep consideration before he focused back on you.

"You got Dia into your team, didn't you? Managed to legally purchase her, I mean." He pointed out, your shock must have been clear because he continued on. "Doctor Hale is my neighbour and a good friend."

"Ah."

"Your talents really are wasted as a tamer." Huge stated flatly. "If you're still interested, I could put you under probation."

You felt more obligated to ask than interested. "What's that?"

"We give you a mission or two, you pass, you get reviewed, and if you did well enough you become a hunter. You fail or are deemed unfit for it and you carry on as a tamer and can't apply again for two years." He explained simply.

"What do I get?"

"Nothing." He said flatly. "If you're interested and able to do so then you do it and become a hunter with all the perks that entails, if you're interested but fail or do some... unethical things, then you can't apply again for two years. If you're not interested then you carry on."

"How dangerous a mission is it?"

"You'll know if you agree. It's not something your average seventeen-year-old tamer could pull off though." He answered back.

"And if I die in the process then nothing lost, right?" You asked just as flatly.

"I made the good offer yesterday and we both know what you said about it." Though there's a definite irked tone to his voice, it seemed mostly tired and impassive.

You shook your head. "Sorry, it feels like it may be a bit too much for me."

He shrugged. "Your pick." He was turning to close the door, but stopped for a second, then sighed as he met eyes with someone else inside, you couldn't tell who from where you stood. A deep breath followed before he turned back towards you. "Look, I know that tamers don't appreciate advice on how to handle their girls, but take it from a veteran: it doesn't matter what mess they have in their heads outside of combat, but if they don't take their tasks seriously when shit hits the fan... then sooner or later, it will cost you."

"I understand." You nodded a bit more solemnly.

"I really hope so." He sighed. "Don't think this as burning a bridge, Hunters are here to help, our doors are always open for everyone."

He then proceeded to close the door.

You heard a groan from the other side, it almost made you chuckle.

Looking at the clock, you had a while before the interrogation, but you could just spend a while walking about your way there so as to be there on time. You spent the time trying to think about how to handle the Monica situation. Frankly speaking, both Huge and the psychic Irene had left clear that she was not someone you could truly rely on outside a very very narrow list of situations. She was easily distracted, so much so her distraction was the cause of you nearly dying to her sex-frenzy. Hell, thinking back to the night she caught the lizard, had there been another feral just waiting in an ambush the feral could've slaughtered you all while Monica ran off to hunt Liz.

She also instantly jumped that girl that belonged to the tamer without thinking it twice. Maybe that one had been a good idea, but what if she hadn't answered your call? Or worse, that you'd learned she wasn't a threat beforehand? Monica would've still jumped. That was also without counting all those times she just straight up nearly killed someone just because she wanted to fuck them.

Or those times she actually killed someone even when she clearly didn't intend to.

She had absolutely no discipline, did as she wanted when she wanted, and anything and everything she'd done that could be of use was more of a fluke than anything. No, she was a wild thing that needed to be brought to heel. And you HAD to do it even if she kicked and screamed all the way.

Because the alternative was dying.

As much as you hated to admit it, those taming cycles seemed like the best method to quicken the process. You weren't too sure on HOW effective they could be though, Monica was quite the willful monstergirl. A part of you felt disgusted at this realization. That you were balancing between your morals and your survival, that you were so easily coming to terms that you had to, basically, partially brainwash a young woman to ensure your own survival.

A thought came to you, unbidden.

But wouldn't this also be for her own good?

How sure were you that if she didn't learn to obey she wouldn't just up and attack some random monstergirl or person in the middle of the street due to a misperceived slight or simply because she thinks it would be a fun thing to do? She was wild after all, and some inconveniences would have to be experienced for her to adapt to civilized existence. Hell, she barely knew English, how could you even hope to explain to her the whys without first having her obey and slowly learn about the reasons behind it with time? The conundrum kept boiling within your mind.

It was at this point that you reached the precinct, and you put those thoughts away.

"I'm here for the..."

"Yes, Mouse told me you'd be here soon." The voice came from... a very beautiful blue-eyed angel.

Yes, an angel.

You had to take a moment, feeling a wave of something rushing through you, as if your body was trying to elicit certain responses you weren't quite sure ought to be felt just like that. Very odd.

"My name is Harris, I'm going to be your interrogator for the session, though Chief gave me a heads up that it's only mostly a formality." She waved at you pleasantly. "This way please, tamer Rick." She took the lead, and you could only watch in fascination as she walked down the corridor, her wings tightening against her back to avoid bumping against door frames or the other people walking past.

A little queasiness moved through you, maybe best to break the ice. "You must get that corny pick-up line all the time." You comment as you follow her.

"Pick-up line?" She seems confused as she looks at you over her shoulder.

"You know, 'Did you fall from heaven?', that one." You comment.

She laughed softly. "Oh, no, sir, I'm just a monstergirl, not one of the angels of myth. Those have far more eyes."

That response sort of left you unsure what else you could comment on, you had to guess this particular matter had been a heated debate point for many of the religious people of the world back in the '90s... your thought was interrupted when she spoke up again.

"Here we are." She pointed you to a particular door, leading the way inside. "Please, take a seat."

The room was very much like the small unused office space you'd had your questioning with Irene. As you move to sit down, she took a stool to do the same, though strangely enough, the spot she took was beside you rather than across from you. She seemed to realize the way you were looking at her was with confusion.

"This is for the spell, please extend your right hand." She explained with a soft pleasant expression as she intertwined her fingers with yours, her skin impossibly soft and warm. Harris took a deep breath, a little tingle moved through the point of contact between her hand and yours. "Now, I have begun the recording. I will hear your testimony regarding the events that happened since you crashed into this world, and unless there's something I will need to clear up or that I've detected to be a falsehood, I will allow you to continue undisturbed."

You nod hesitantly. "Is... the handholding necessary?"

"Yes." She nodded firmly. "Please, begin."

A little moment of hesitation as you organised your thoughts. "So we were riding the bus on our way to have a day walking around the mountain..."