MANA

Xavier's eyes narrowed, his gaze piercing through Henry. "I don't trust you a little bit kid, but we still have to follow proper procedures," he said, his voice low and menacing. He appeared to have recovered from his emotional outburst earlier.

Jane placed a calming hand on Xavier's arm. "Let's not jump to conclusions. We'll run some tests and see if we can figure out what's wrong with your memories.

Xavier, however, remained unconvinced

"Time to see what secrets you're hiding, kid," Xavier said, his eyes glinting with determination.

Henry's smile faltered, but he maintained his innocent act. "I'm ready."

The testing equipment hummed to life, and Henry prepared himself for what was to come, nervous, and hoping what he sacrificed his reward for, better be worth it.

"This better work system, if not, i swear I'll find a way to kill you," henry thought still pained with losing his giftbox

And the system having seemed to have heard him replied

[Host has nothing to worry about, it will be successful]

"Fine, initiate memory encryption," henry thought as he gave the command

[Memory encryption in progress:

once activated, all of host memories would be encoded and blocked, this effect would last 5 minutes. During the process, host would experience a little bit of pain, host is advised to be calm throughout the process]

"Little pain huh, i can handle tha...Ahhh," henry words were cut off as a sharp pain suddenly erupted in his mind, he screamed internally, while keeping a cool face on the outside

"Fucking son a....Ahhh ahhh, pls make it stop!" he pleaded in his mind, as his face shifted looking liked he was in slight discomfort

Jane noticed this. "Are you okay?" she asked looking a little worried

"Yeah, I'm fine, totally fine!" he replied in a hurry, he couldn't take much pain anymore

"I swear system, when I get out of this alive, you will...." he was cut off once again, as the pain suddenly stopped

[Memory encryption complete]. The system message appeared

"Thank God, that felt like an eternity," he heaved a sigh of relief

"Are you sure you're good with this," jane asked again

"Yeah yeah I'm ok with it, can we just get it over with," henry replied impatiently as the five minute count was already ticking

"Someone's in a hurry to get exposed!" xavier remarked with a chuckle.

Then he took some kind of metallic hat and placed it on henry's head, it got activated, and a holographic screen came into view, seemingly being projected by the box device from before.

It displayed the image of a brain which was clearly henry's, the hat hummed as it had begun its function

It emitted a soft blue glow, enveloping Henry's body. Xavier monitored the readings on the holographic display, his expression unreadable.

Jane stood beside Henry, her hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "This will only take a few minutes, Henry."

Henry nodded, trying to appear calm. The system's presence within him remained silent, offering no guidance.

The device beeped, and the glow intensified. Henry felt a strange tingling sensation, as if his memories were being probed.

Xavier's eyes narrowed. "His brain activity is... unusual."

Jane's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"His memories seem to be... encrypted," Xavier replied, his tone laced with suspicion.

Henry's heart raced. Had they discovered his secret?

Jane's expression turned thoughtful. "That's impossible. We've never seen anything like this before."

But then jane finally said what henry wanted to hear, "This is definitely abnormal, and a little suspicious. Wouldn't you agree?" she looked at xavier directing the questions at him.

"I totally agree, this is beyond us no doubt, he didn't just lose his memories, someone sealed it!" xavier replied astonished

"Oh it worked," he thought, heaving a sigh of relief

[That's right host, bow before the mighty system]

Henry just had a conflicted look, wondering how his life became the way it did. Him at the mercy of a stuck up artificial intelligence.

"This is too advanced, i can't decipher it," xavier continued still gazing at the hologram

"Whoever did this to you, really wanted to make sure you or nobody else could access your memories," jane sighed, with a worried look

"Jane, now do you believe me. A boy found in a bush, shirtless, has extraordinary healing without the aid of mana cells and now, locked memories. Do we still need any further proof, face it, he's one of them," xavier said looking like he had solved the world hardest mystery

Jane sighed. "I guess you're right, all the facts are definitely convincing," she said looking convinced as well

Henry eyes widened with shock, he had just lost his alibi. Jane was the only one standing in between him and a long torture session courtesy of xavier.

Xavier flashed a huge smile, knowing he had won this final round, he glanced at henry looking to satisfy himself with his shocked expression, but it appears luck was still on henry's side.

"But, we should never jump in conclusion, just because the facts are there, it's the proof that matters," jane said

Now it was Henry's turn to smile, "My angel hasn't forsaken me, old man you lose again," he thought

Xavier couldn't believe what he heard, he had layed out solid facts on henry but yet still failed, his smile quickly replaced with annoyance

"You're joking right? How can you still trust him over me, your partner; why!" he asked, not knowing what was so special about this kid that his own partner, for many years now, forsaked him

"Maybe it's because he isn't being blinded by the emotions of his past, heck he doesn't even have that anymore thanks to who knows, and instead of us figuring out why and who would do this or if there are more victims out there. You choose to accuse this poor kid of being a monster!" jane replied, and for the first time her voice raised

Henry's heart fluttered at how the woman who he had just met that day, one who didn't know anything about him, defended him from her own partner. She truly was the nicest women he had ever met, reminding him of how a mother would fight for her child, his mother.

"And even if he was one of them, he now has his memories gone, wouldn't that mean, he was a failed experiment or he became useless to their cause and was discarded, Because I know that they won't rid off capable ones," she continued

Xavier had nothing to say as he hung his head low, he knew what she said were true facts, ones he had failed to realize

"You know, i thought you had returned to your right senses, which was why I let you join me for the scan, but it seems not," she said, about to chase him out again

"Don't bother, I'll leave myself, but i will never be fully convinced as easily as you are, unless it is confirmed that he's not one of them; afterall you're the one who mentioned proof." xavier said, walking out of the room.

"This is really getting me worked up." jane sighed

"I'm so sorry, i didn't mean to cause any trouble," henry said, not feeling any bit of guilt or blame. But to keep his act, this was necessary

"No, it's not your fault, xavier just has a complicated history," jane replied as she took off the hat on henry's head and shut down the device.

"With THEM?" he said, raising his head like a little child

"Ahh, yes, it's a tragic story, but it's not mine to tell!" jane replied, reluctant to spill

"Oh i understand'" henry said putting his head down with a dejected look

Jane sighed, "I guess I could tell you a few things," she said with a smile

Henry had a wide smile on his face, "It worked," he thought

He had used his charm, knowing she couldn't resist a kid's sad face, raising his head giving her the signal to start

"The ones that we've been referring to as 'THEM' are called mutants," jane began

"Mutants?" henry piqued with interest

"Yes mutants, for you to understand all this. I'll have to explain how the human body now possess a magical energy, one we refer to as mana," she continued, as she told henry the entire story.

Centuries ago, there was mana in the world, in the air, in the trees, even in water. The earth surroundings was filled with it, thereby enriching the food, the soil and the people.

Good food were eaten, good crops were produced and the people rarely got sick and aged slowly, making they live long lifes. But some of these people could utilize mana to it's full potential, with the aid of this magical energy around them, they could control fire, ice and more, displaying extraordinary feats impossible for a human.

They were referred to as sorcerers, mages and in some ignorant places, witches. In that time all these feats were called magic. But suddenly, mana was gone from the surroundings, and every magician lost their abilities, magic was gone from the earth.

But a hundred years ago, the lost magical energy returned, but it didn't return to our surroundings. Mana suddenly developed in the cells of animals first then the humans, evolving both species completely.