Hal sat in front of Dr. Gregor's desk, watching her as she wrapped a band of cloth around his forearm. It wasn't just any cloth—thin wires extended from it, all leading into a sleek, humming device resting beside a digital tablet on the desk.
Once she finished, Gregor returned to her seat and picked up the tablet.
"I thought I was here for a lesson," Hal said casually, raising a brow. "What's all this, then?"
"A lie detector," Gregor replied without looking up. "I need to be sure you're telling the truth."
Hal exhaled slowly and gave a half-shrug. "Alright. Ask away."
Gregor scrolled through a set of files on her tablet, the screen tilted just enough that Hal couldn't read them.
"Do you remember anything from before you woke up here?"
Hal shook his head. "No."
She glanced at the machine. No change.
"Do you know what's happening in the world right now?"
Hal tilted his head. "That's not really a yes or no question, is it?"
Gregor met his eyes. "Clarify."
"I know some things. So yes. But not everything. So no."
The device remained silent—still no lies.
"And what do you know, exactly?" she asked. "Forget the detector for a moment."
"Sam told me half the world's population vanished. And that mutants like me… we're byproducts of whatever caused it. That's as much as I've got."
"So you didn't know any of this before Sam told you?"
Hal shook his head again. "Nope."
Gregor typed something into the tablet, her fingers moving quickly. "Alright. Back to the detector. Do you know what kind of power your mutant genes gave you?"
Hal hesitated.
"Hal?" Gregor frowned.
He looked up. "It's... complicated."
"Then explain."
"I know parts of it," he said. "I can sense emotions—but not in a simple way."
She narrowed her eyes slightly. "What do you mean?"
"I don't just know what someone's feeling. I sense... the feeling of the emotion itself. Like, you've got this hot aura around you right now. I didn't get it at first, but last night I realized—it probably means you're angry. At me. Maybe because I held some stuff back yesterday."
Gregor's expression didn't change, but her fingers resumed moving.
"So you sense the intensity of emotions, but not the exact emotion itself. You have to guess based on the 'aura.'" She nodded to herself. "Interesting. What else have you guessed so far?"
"That's about it," Hal said with a shrug. "I also picked up this weird, repressive feeling from some of the others here like gravity pushing down to my chest. No clue what it means. And a few other... sensations." He gave a lopsided smile. "Pretty boring, huh?"
Gregor shook her head. "Having that kind of power is a miracle in itself, Hal. There's nothing boring about it."
"If you say so." He leaned back in his chair. "So, are we done here? Or are you actually going to teach me what's going on in the world?"
Gregor sighed and set the tablet down. She leaned forward slightly, her tone shifting. "I'm sure I've mentioned them before—superpowered individuals who aren't mutants. Some of them have formed a group called the Avengers."
Hal raised an eyebrow. "Sounds dramatic."
"I'll spare you the long version," she said, ignoring the jab. "What matters is their role. They deal with threats too big for governments or militaries to handle. And they've been doing that... until recently. A being named Thanos—he's not from Earth—used a device tied to the fabric of existence itself to wipe out half of the universe's population."
Hal blinked. "Huh. That's… something."
"That's all you have to say?" Gregor asked, studying him.
"At this point, Doctor, my next-door neighbor can launch himself through the air like a human cannonball, and the gal down the hall turns into a wolf. Space genocide only adds to the list, not break it."
Gregor chuckled under her breath. "Fair enough."
"So," Hal continued, "what's the connection between Thanos and us showing up with powers?"
Gregor leaned back in her chair, thoughtful. "We're not completely sure. But the leading theory is this: when Thanos activated the device—something called the Infinity Gauntlet—it released a surge of energy powerful enough to alter genetic structures across the universe, and because Thanos activated it here, we humanity got hit the hardest. That energy might have mutated genes in some people. Creating the so-called mutant gene."
Hal arched a brow. "Might have?"
"There were almost no recorded cases of people having a gene like a mutant gene before Thanos," Gregor admitted.
"Almost?" Hal echoed, eyes narrowing.
Gregor smiled mysteriously and stood up, grabbing her tablet again. "Let's save that for another day. You're free to go to lunch."
Hal chuckled as he stood. "Smooth dodge, Doctor. I respect that."
"Oh, one more thing, Hal," Gregor said as she moved to the door and pulled it open for him. "Respect other people's privacy."
Hal paused mid-step, brow raised. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You asked Sam about a few things, didn't you?" she said, her eyes steady on his. "Just... be careful. Don't go digging into people's pasts. Everyone here is carrying something, and most of them would rather not relive it."
Hal nodded slowly. "Got it. I'll keep that in mind."