No choice, I had to act.
The original owner of this body didn't even know what a mutant was.
Even though the original owner had been personally invited by Director Fury to join the "Tahiti Project," was officially considered a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., and even held the title of visiting professor at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy... He still knew very little about S.H.I.E.L.D. or anything about the supernatural world.
At the very least, the word "mutant" never existed in his memory.
So even though Raymond's story about "awakening special powers after a traumatic event" pretty much described how most mutants get their powers, he still had to pretend he didn't know anything.
Otherwise, the act wouldn't work.
Seeing Raymond's confused face, Hill said thoughtfully, "Doctor, you should know that there are extraordinary people in this world. They live among us just like normal people, but they have powers far beyond what normal people can imagine. Like superheroes in the eyes of ordinary people..."
"Like the Avengers?" Raymond asked.
"Exactly. Just like the Avengers," Hill nodded and continued, "mutants are the largest group of these extraordinary people. What you just described is very similar to what most mutants go through when they awaken their powers."
"So, Miss Hill, are you saying that I'm one of those mutants?" Raymond pointed at himself.
"I can't say for sure. But if you really did awaken some kind of ability after that incident, then yes, it's very likely that you are a mutant..."
"Wait a minute!"
At that moment, Hill suddenly looked shocked, as if she remembered something. She stared at Raymond. "If that's true, then... were those two groups of intruders at the hospital killed by you?"
Hill hadn't originally thought Raymond had anything to do with that event.
She suspected that there was an unknown supernatural person inside [Clockwork Mental Hospital] who was annoyed by the late-night break-in and decided to deal with it.
But now, when she heard Raymond say that he might have awakened powers after the incident—possibly as a mutant—she suddenly connected the dots.
"Two groups of intruders?" Raymond blinked in confusion.
Since he had already decided to pretend to be a mutant, he figured that Hill would probably suspect him and connect what happened at the hospital to him.
But he only took out one group of intruders. Where did the second group come from?
Hill continued, "When May and I arrived, we took care of one group of intruders outside the hospital. But when we got inside, we found two groups of intruders already dead.
"The first group looked like they had all committed suicide—each one shot cleanly in the head. The second group looked like they were cut to pieces in an instant..."
Hearing this, Raymond frowned slightly. He had just realized the problem.
There was no doubt—the second group must have been taken out by the "Kuro" personality.
But the deaths of the first group had nothing to do with him. He didn't have the ability to make people kill themselves. So clearly, someone else did it.
"Was it him?"
Raymond suddenly thought of that "David" from last night—the one who almost discovered him, but clearly wasn't the Shadow King.
He had already guessed that "David" was probably one of the many alternate personalities of the real David. It definitely wasn't the main one he knew.
From what this "David" had said, he had also encountered another group of intruders somewhere else. But Raymond didn't know what happened to them after that.
Now, with what Hill had described, everything began to make sense.
These intruders must have encountered the main David. When they tried something against him, it triggered one of his alternate personalities, which killed them all.
"Making people kill themselves? What kind of power is that... mind control? Or telepathic suggestion?" Raymond still wasn't sure what this "David" could do, so he just made a random guess.
Seeing Raymond deep in thought, Hill pressed, "So it wasn't you?"
"Yes... and no." Raymond admitted, then quickly denied.
"What do you mean?"
"The second group of intruders you mentioned may have died at my hands, or more accurately, at the hands of one of my alternate personalities. But the death of the first group had nothing to do with me," Raymond said thoughtfully.
He didn't want to take the blame for this 'David' and he couldn't explain that kind of power anyway.
"So you're saying that besides you, there was another supernatural person in the hospital last night..." Hill rubbed her forehead, looking a little annoyed. This was obviously more complicated than she thought.
"I can't say for sure," Raymond replied with a shake of his head.
He wasn't going to take the blame for "David", but he wasn't going to spill the beans either.
"Alright then, Doctor—what exactly is your ability? And earlier you said that the second group of intruders was killed by one of your alternate personalities. What does that mean?" Hill asked again.
"My power... is my multiple personalities."
"???"
"I don't know what to call this power. But to explain it simply, my alternate personalities feel as if they were once real people. They each have different identities and abilities."
"Some are martial arts masters, some are private detectives, some are special forces soldiers, and so on. They know a lot of things I've never learned before—but it all feels very real."
Raymond continued, "Sometimes they take over suddenly. Like that night when I was in danger, the martial arts master personality came out and dealt with the intruders for me."
"But Doctor, how do you know he only killed one group?" Hill asked, puzzled.
As far as she knew, multiple personalities didn't usually share memories.
When one personality takes control, the others typically have no idea what happened—unless they're told later.
Raymond was well aware of this and had already prepared an answer.
"That's probably another part of my power. Even when one of my personalities is in control, I can still roughly sense what's going on around me. So I know what he did."
"I see..." Hill nodded slowly, seeming to accept the explanation.
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