Hyori woke up the day after New Year with a call from the commission's Vice President. It was the first time the man had called her and she assumed there must be an emergency. The numeric clock of her phone read nine in the morning and she expected to rest longer after the night she spent playing the dancing video game with Megumi. Her little sister was stirring in her sleep and Hyori took the call into the hall.
"Get back asap. We need both of you in the create zone." Said the voice on the line before hanging up.
Hyori was surprised by the brief call but still headed inside her bedroom to wake Megumi up. The older one powered on the domestic robot to clean the apartment while the two girls quickly showered. In the kitchen, Hyori retrieved two large-sized yoghurt bottles before they exited the apartment and boarded a bus for the commission's headquarters. The commute lasted a quarter of an hour due to the clogged traffic but Hyori assumed whatever emergency they had wasn't worth taking the subway. She might be sun-sensitive but despised being below the ground level.
Hyori and Megumi walked into the staff accommodation building and headed towards the zone where the Vice President had been waiting for them. The man urged them to follow him past the metallic gates. These gates were thick and heavy, unlike the train station half gates that separated the 'share zone' from the 'chill zone'. Unlike the 'share zone', the 'create zone' cubicles were closed rooms with solid walls that couldn't display what was happening inside. From what she sensed, Hyori assumed it was the training facility or a restricted area Megumi had already been in. Her little sister's heartbeats accelerated with anticipation.
After a few turns, they arrived before a lift and boarded to descend to the unique underground level. There, they walked through a maze of halls until they entered what looked like a psychiatric ward's room. On their side, the commission's President was standing and welcomed them inside. On the other side, someone was laying restrained in a security camisole. Hyori recognised the patched man arrested during the Ultra Academy heroic summer camp.
"We need Megumi to clean some of his memories." Started the President. "So far, we haven't been able to suppress memories defining people's characters. We can only bottle them to make them less prominent but we need something drastic. We thought you could assist Megumi on the task."
Hyori noted the inclusive phrasing of the middle-aged woman.
"What do you want?" Asked Hyori.
"Give that boy a second chance." Replied the woman.
Hyori understood they wanted to erase the man's memories of being a villain. For some reason, the commission coveted this man and she assumed it was for his quirk. Sensing the misplaced hope they put on her, she felt they didn't quite understand her little sister's quirk and relied on her for the technicalities. She looked at Megumi whose look was trained on the ground. The little girl didn't have the words to formulate the details of her quirk's modus operandi. Not yet. She was still learning to understand it herself and had been guided by her Grandmother whose knowledge of the brain's mechanics wasn't expensive.
"You need to be precise." Replied Hyori. "Memories and emotions are linked. Strong emotions keep resurfacing even when the memory is bottled away. They need to be attached to other memories or they will help weaken the seal at the first trigger. Memories a person is unwilling to forget will resurface if their emotions aren't attached to something else. How do you want to alter this man's perception of himself?"
"We want to make him an agent." Replied the woman.
Hyori considered the woman's words. They seemed crazed but she didn't have all the intel. She didn't like the situation but would assist her little sister. She was sure they would proceed even if she refused and such experimentations alone would be demanding on Megumi. She couldn't stop the Hero Commission but could make the process easier. Also, she reasoned the man did many things and brainwashing him was the least retribution for his actions.
She extended her hand to the younger who took it. Together, they marched towards the sedated man and sat by his side. Megumi touched his exposed forehead and they opened their eyes into a burning room. Blue flames littered the wooden floor and walls without turning the place into ashes. A child with snow-white hair was prone on the floor as tears rolled down his eyes. The man seemed to have endured a traumatic episode that dampened his mental growth and he was still stuck on a precise era of his life.
"What do you think?" Asked Hyori.
"I think he stopped growing in his head." Replied Megumi. "I think I can erase everything that happened after the event he's stuck in."
Hyori considered the answer. The hesitation in the reply made her think the girl's trainer hardly requested input from her little sister. They probably treated her like a tool they expected precise results from even if they didn't understand the process.
"Me too. We can review his history to see how to redirect the emotions feeding the fire in him."
Megumi touched his forehead again, this time to tether their minds to the man's instead of hanging in his headspace. Memories flashed in their minds and they uncovered the tell of a boy who wanted to be his Father's pride despite his shortcomings. They also uncovered a family drama and how domestic violence ruined the current number one hero's family. The redhead was yet another man of destruction she had helped. Even if she hoped he had changed for the best, she was willing to help the crazed man into a new life. It wouldn't undo the horrors he committed but it might undo the nightmare he had been through.
After reviewing the man's memories, Hyori asked again.
"Do you have an idea for his new narrative?"
Megumi thought for a moment before replying.
"He's still attached to his family even if his quest for affection is deranged. I can reframe his will from wanting his family's attention to proving his worth as a hero. I can make him believe the commission kept him alive during his coma and took him when he woke up after three years. The narrative would be that he was left for dead by his family when diagnosed comatose."
The idea was bordering on the devilish. At least, it would allow Megumi to redirect his fire into another will while eroding his family's place in his heart.
"I can help him settle since the change would be big and the commission's facility is too foreign for him to establish a sense of belonging." Said Hyori.
Megumi nodded her agreement and touched the boy's forehead again to alter his memory. Carefully, she deconstructed the man's memories with the villains and pried the pieces from his form. Scenes of the man's life were retrieved from the string of his memory and scattered in the room.
"Let's take him out of here." Demanded Megumi.
Hyori took the boy in her arms and followed Megumi who pushed the walls open to create an opening. It sometimes amused the older how the younger's interactions with headspaces' elements allowed her to affect people's minds. Outside, they were welcomed by nothingness as the man's mind had been closed to anything beyond the room of his trauma. His whole headspace needed to be built from scratch now that they took him out of the burning wooden construction.
Hyori opened her eyes in the interrogation room and looked at her side. Megumi's forehead was sweaty as the girl had over-exerted her capacities while cutting memories of the villain's life. Looking around, they noticed the President and Vice President had moved closer. The duo was looking with rabid curiosity in their eyes. She assumed they didn't have mental quirks that allowed them to travel with Megumi in people's minds. The whole process might seem obscure and alien to them.
"Any feedback?" Asked the President.
Hyori left room for Megumi to answer but the latter remained mute.
"He might need more work to get accustomed to his new narrative. I can help with that." Stated Hyori. "I can train a sense of belonging in him but it will take time."
"How much?" Pressed the President.
"Three to six months." Replied Hyori.
"We are on a clock. He has to be operational as an agent in no more than four months." Countered the President.
"That will depend on your training." Said Hyori.
"He's skilled enough. All we need is his devotion." Stated the woman. "I count on you to do what's needed to settle him in his new life."
Hyori didn't like the implications of the President. The woman had probably heard of her hypothetical attitude adjustment abilities. Hyori wasn't about to let herself be used again. Not the way she had been for years. She stood up and Megumi followed her gesture.
"Can we go? Megumi needs to rest for a while." Addressed Hyori to the adults in the room.
"Megumi can go to her cubicle and rest. You'll go into the one arranged for our recruit to watch him wake up and evaluate the results."
"I would rather proceed in the infirmary area, if any. It would be more appropriate for the state he'll be in when waking up."
"Very well." Agreed the President. "You will take him into the 'B5' cubicle if the evaluation is successful. If not, agents will be there to neutralise him. Here is his badge.'
Hyori retrieved the card from the President's hands and read the young man's name on it. The commission duo exited the room and agents entered to retrieve the unconscious man on a scoop stretcher. They boarded the lift they had come with and Megumi exited the zone with the President and her second while Hyori followed the carriage on the left side of the zone. One block looked like a medical facility and the man was put inside a nursing room. The agent told Hyori they were in the medical area of the physical training zone of the building.
She waited on a chair until the man woke up after one hour and ten minutes. Hyori was scrolling on her phone when she heard rustling on the medical bed. She rose from the chair and locked her device to put it in one of the side pockets of her boyfriend-jean.
"Good morning, Touya." She called him using his given name.
The man hummed in confusion and opened his eyes. She sat on the bed to face him and captured his attention. The feat was eased by the brainwash-induced confusion.
"Who are you?" Asked the man.
"I'm new around, so you might not remember me." Answered Hyori, which was true to an extent.
It was too early to use her quirk without raising suspicions from the man.
"I'll let you rest in your room now that I'm assured you aren't severely injured."
The vacant icy-blue eyes that locked with her amethyst eyes indicated the young man was still haggard from the brainwashing, as expected.
"Come with me, I think I know where you stay." She said.
"Shouldn't those guys help me instead?" Replied the brainwashed young man.
"Would you rather stay with them than with me?" Countered Hyori.
The young man shook his head and climbed out of bed. He was disoriented and she extended her hand for guidance. They walked towards the 'B5' door in the 'share zone' where she let him collapse into his bed. She drew the curtains shut and turned to face him.
"Do you want me to help you fall asleep?" Asked the girl.
"Are you a medic?" Countered the young man.
"Not really." Replied Hyori.
"Did I catch your eyes or something?" He tried again.
He seemed to recover a bit despite the cotton head he had at the moment. The situation was awkward.
"Do you want my help or not?" Reinforced Hyori.
"Fine." Conceded the young man she promptly dazed into a deep slumber before sitting on the desk.
Looking around, the room had eerily been personalised compared to Megumi's cubicles when they first witnessed the place. A few pieces that looked like his clothes were folded in baskets. She supposed they had been thrift-shopped since they looked worn. Worn shoes were put in a corner and a used deodorant was put on the bedside. They made efforts to simulate a lived room and belongings. The thought she was part of such a scheme was off-putting and somewhat chilling. She was curious to witness how he would recover from the brainwashing and rebuild himself.