A leaker. That word lands heavily, especially on Liana.

“Someone betrayed me,” she hisses. “Who would have the nerve…?”

“Who knew about the video?” Fefnir frowns.

“No one, I uploaded it myself in the security room,” Liana says. “Only Hana knows that I play Draconia and you’re my ingame friends but I trust her completely.”

“One of the other servants then?” Ingri suggests. “The video went viral and when they saw it, they must have recognised the guest room.”

“How many views?” I ask. I’m used to my videos having over million views but they’ve never gone truly viral. Hardcore VR games are popular but still appealing only to a specific target audience.

Erik hugs me in advance and slowly says: “Literally the whole world?”

“Until our video was released, the media were treating it as a strange anomaly, most probably a defect in VR helmets so not everyone took notice,” Fefnir explains. “Well… that changed even though lots of people still argue the video might be fake.”

“The leaker connected you to Laura Richter so your safe haven is no longer a secret,” Erik keeps hugging me which I really appreciate. I’m this close to a panic attack.

“I can still protect you just fine,” Liana reassures me. “AstraTech’s city district is an autonomous area, the EU government has only limited jurisdiction here. I was hoping to keep your whereabouts secret but right now I’m more concerned that there’s an employee I can’t trust.”

I open my mouth but I close it so quickly that nobody notices I wanted to say something. My immediate idea was to find the culprit with my telepathy but I’d reveal my telepathy that way.

I think they’d take it well, Erik says in his thoughts.

Maybe, but us transforming into our avatars is too much already, I answer.

Still, I’m surprised that I’m even considering it a possibility for the future. Could I eventually open up to more people than just Erik? But I’ve been hiding it for so long that I can’t just bring myself to tell them… at least not yet.

I suddenly feel sharp pain as my wings jerk violently. If Erik wasn’t holding me and I wasn’t sitting on the bed, I’d collapse.

“Shit, they’re starting to cut through the skin,” Fefnir checks my back and gulps.

“So soon?” Liana gasps. “The doctor isn’t here yet.”

“Y-you c-called a-a doctor?” I cough.

“Of course I did, dummy,” she shakes her head. “What’s the point of having the best healthcare possible if I don’t use it when necessary?”

“You’ll be okay,” Erik whispers into my ear and carefully lies me down. “We can do this.”

“Hana!” Liana calls the housekeeper. She appears in the door in a few seconds and judging by her expression she got the gist of the situation with a single look.

“I’ll fetch clean towels, hot water, bandages and a disinfectant,” she runs away.

“We might not have time to call an ambulance if he bleeds too much,” Fefnir’s hands are shaking. “I’m no doctor. I just do massages and tell people how to exercise.”

Everybody looks at Erik. He was boasting about having a medical training after all.

“Ehm… I’m a helicopter pilot, guys,” his voice cracks. “I have some basic training but I always sit in the cockpit flying to hospital while doctors do their job.”

I scream again. I wanted to grab Erik’s hand but I must have moved some muscles connected to the wings instead. It takes my breath away and I gasp desperately for air. My friends freeze but just for a fleeting moment.

Fefnir and Erik turn me on my stomach. Erik holds my right hand, telling in his thoughts to access his mind for comfort. I don’t. Instead, I close my mind completely. I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to contain my pain this time.

“Did I tell you that I’m afraid of blood, guys?” Ingri says in a high-pitched voice.

Liana tries to act like she has things under control but it couldn’t be further from how she truly feels right now. Fefnir is prepared to hold me by brute force if needed but he’s scared he will hurt me. Erik is assuring me that it’s going to be okay and is sending me tons of love. I hungrily gobble it.

These are the people I can trust I realise as pain grows stronger and stronger by the minute. If I survive this, I’ll take another step in my openness quest. I’ll tell Erik that I love him and I’ll keep telling him until it gets annoying. I’ll make friends in real life. Later, I might even tell them about my telepathy.

The door bursts open. I can’t see the person from my position but I can feel them.

“Sorry, the traffic was terrible,” a woman’s voice is panting and then she must see my back because she exclaims: “Sheisse! I didn’t want to believe you, Miss Richter, but it’s true?!”

“No time to explain things, did you see the news and the video?” Liana throws her a disinfectant.

“I did… in the car,” she gulps, takes off her coat and cleans her hands. “I have no expertise for this!”

“Nobody does,” Liana cuts her excuses. “You’re here to make sure he won’t bleed out. I’ll pay you triple… or whatever it takes to keep Ryuuto alive.”

The doctor sits next to me and with trembling hands carefully touches my back. Her emotions and thoughts hit me and I have to make an effort not to enter her mind.

“Bones… they’re really bones,” she gasps.

“Ah!” I scream because the wings move again.

She jerks her hand away, astonished and a little bit disgusted. I guess it’s not a nice sight to see something unnatural moving under the skin. I’m really glad all I feel from Erik is love. Others are scared but I don’t feel any disgust from them either.

“D-document it!” I manage to say but it irritates my lungs and I start coughing.

“Ryuu, no!” Erik violently shakes his head. “It’s too intimate and…”

“Do it, Li!” one syllable words are easier to pronounce.

Liana nods, she was just waiting for my permission. I was determined to shoot my transformation since our first video and she suspected it. The world has to know what to expect. Or not the world, screw the world—the players have to know.

My gaming friends… and even players I don’t know. People like Ingri who play just for occasional fun and are now becoming a totally different species. People who aren’t lucky like me to have a loving boyfriend and a rich CEO to help them.

The wings jerk violently and their joints start pushing against the skin. I can’t imagine going though this alone. I would either bleed out or go crazy.

“They’re coming out!” I scream and squeeze the pillow under my chin. Ingri gives me something to chew on so that I won’t bite my tongue.

My wings are pushing and pushing and every second feels like an hour. When they finally rip the skin, the world blurs and I feel warm blood dripping down my back.

They try to speed the process by helping my wings out because they’ve only partially emerged. Liana and Erik keep pulling, Fefnir is holding me down, Ingri is pouring disinfectant onto the wounds and the doctor is trying to stop the bleeding.  

“Pull them out! Pull!” I hear Liana shouting but it’s the last thing I hear.