The dorm room. The sunset shone onto the windowsill.
Wade stood by the table with an iron, pressing his custom black suit: 'It's a good thing Mena prepared two sets for me when school started, otherwise I'd have to run out again.'
Suddenly, a knock at the door sounded.
Wade turned his head and said: "The door's unlocked, come in."
Jordan Li and Cate pushed the door open and walked in, their expressions somewhat worried.
Jordan Li handed over a beautifully printed transparent card: "Professor Brink wants us to attend Translucent's memorial service. The five of us, as 'outstanding students who fought alongside The Seven,' all have to go... and we have to face the cameras to confirm the authenticity of that night at the drug dealer camp."
"I see." Wade turned off the iron and pulled an identical transparent invitation from the drawer: "I have one, I might as well sell the extra one."
Jordan raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised: "Where did you get that?"
"I got it from my roommate's cousin." Wade said in a flat tone: "It's payment for accompanying her in combat training and coaching today."
"Oh—'Speedster' Jade's cousin." Jordan dragged out the tone, punched him on the shoulder, and teased with a smile: "So you were scouted by that 'Ice Girl' from freshman year... That sparring reward is quite generous, didn't you suffer a lot? Is your waist sore?"
Cate looked around Wade's bedside, clutching a pillow: "Hmph, he must have used that face to trick an ignorant little girl again!"
"Who doesn't want to join in the fun?" Wade glanced at her and hung the suit on the head of the bed: "Besides, we get to show our faces on TV, don't we?"
At this moment, Luke and Andre pushed the door open and walked in one after another, their expressions serious as they locked the door behind them.
"Did everyone get their invitations?" Luke pulled the card from his bag: "What should we say during the interview?"
Andre rapidly flipped a coin in his hand: "My dad... he came to school to find me yesterday, demanding to know why I was asking about the blue crystal last time! I brushed him off, but I'm not sure if he believed me."
Wade walked to the center of the room and clapped his hands: "Listen, we only need to do one thing—retell everything we saw that night normally, and say what Vought wants the public to hear."
"Don't add fuel to the fire, and don't show any doubts. Remember, we were terrified that night, and we don't know anything."
"Besides, we aren't the primary suspects... look at this!"
He picked up his tablet, pulled up a few news items, and showed them to everyone.
On the screen were news flashes from several different cities, mentioning that local gang strongholds had been attacked by unknown forces, a large number of smuggled people had been discovered and rescued, and evidence of Vought's involvement in human trafficking had been posted.
"On the East Coast, from New York to Miami, gang hideouts holding smuggled Supes are being taken down one by one. We aren't the ones doing this."
Jordan Li sat on the chair and murmured: "You mean... there are plenty of people exposing Vought's scandal, and as long as we don't slip up, we're absolutely safe?"
Andre scoffed, gripping the coin in his hand: "Easy for you to say! What if... what if Vought has a powered individual like Cate?"
"At the memorial service, if there's a telepath... the thoughts and plans in our heads will be as obvious as billboards in the square! If that happens, not only us, but what will become of our families?!"
As soon as this question was asked, the room fell into a dead silence.
Luke's face turned pale, and Jordan Li pressed his lips together; this was exactly what they were most worried about deep down.
Cate looked at Wade with a calm expression, hugging her pillow in silence.
Wade pulled the curtains shut and said slowly: "In that case, we won't let them detect anything."
Everyone in the room focused their gaze on him.
Wade walked over to Cate and pressed down lightly on her shoulder: "Have our senior lock away the memories in our minds regarding the discovery of those experimental files and all related planning. Until the memorial service is over."
"I agree!" Jordan Li stood up and paced back and forth: "Without these deadly memories, we can perform without any flaws."
"No, I object!" Luke looked at Cate, his face full of resistance: "Hand over our memories to her? What if she takes the opportunity to do something else? Who knows if she will... like before."
Andre covered his face with both hands and said in a muffled voice: "Wade, this... the risk is too high. We can't entrust our safety to her."
Under everyone's gaze, Cate shrank back, burying her face completely into the pillow.
Wade was silent for a moment, then said: "Can't we just watch her together and listen to her operation? Ensure that after she touches us, she only executes the command of locking the memory and does nothing else."
Cate looked up and explained timidly: "I... I can do it. It's not a permanent deletion, just a temporary overwrite and isolation of memories, like setting a timer. It won't last long... I can set a trigger point."
"A trigger point?" Jordan asked.
"A strong, specific sensory stimulus..." Cate looked at Wade with a mournful expression.
Wade knew what she meant and took over: "For example, that blood-stained file bag we kept in Jordan's room. After the memorial service, we will all go to Jordan's room together and look at that bag, and the memories will naturally return."
"To ensure we don't forget this agreement," Wade picked up his phone: "Now, everyone, set a schedule reminder on your phones. Set the time for the evening, one day after the memorial service. The location is Lee's room, and for the note, write... 'After-school tutoring'."
"What is there to hesitate about? We've come this far!"
Luke and Andre looked at each other and sighed: "Fine." "Let's do it."
The room fell into silence again, with only the faint sounds of mobile phone operation.
Jordan Li reached out to Cate, saying with a sincere look: "Come on, start with me."
Under the supervision of everyone, Cate used verbal induction to make them forget their memories regarding "exposing the truth" and "resisting Vought" one by one.
Half an hour later, a bewildered Jordan Li, Andre, and Luke left the room one after another under Cate's instructions.
Just as Wade locked the door, Cate, who had been holding on, suddenly hugged her pillow, curled up on the bed, and let out a muffled sob.
Wade looked at her coldly: "I warned you not to pry into their true thoughts about you in their minds; you're just asking for pain."
"I... I know they don't like me..." Cate raised her tear-stained face and said intermittently: "But I didn't expect... they still haven't forgiven me... even though I've done so much for them."
Wade sat on the edge of the bed and reached out to touch her forehead: "Your turn. To be safe, that part of your memory must also be temporarily locked away."
Cate suddenly threw away the pillow, grabbed his arm, her eyes full of panic: "No... Wade, don't... please... don't make me forget you, forget about us..."
Wade held her wrist in return and looked directly into her eyes: "Listen, this is only temporary. I promise you, as soon as the memorial service is over, I will help you restore it immediately."
Cate's agitated emotions gradually calmed down. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes: "I... I believe you. Come on."
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