Texas State Dallas Airport, 9:00PM.
Natasha opened the door to the driver's seat and Coulson sat in the passenger seat, while Shiller and Charles took the back seats. As Natasha started the car, she said, "Lisa Labres' house is at least half an hour's drive from the airport. The scenery in Texas is nice, you can take a look along the way."
Charles wasn't in the mood for sightseeing, constantly flipping through literature on his mobile phone. Shiller, looking out at the vast plains rushing by the window, said, "Stop looking, it's no use. Modern psychology has no method to heal the trauma of forcibly deleted memories. You'd be better off taking this opportunity to practice your superpower."
Charles let out a mournful cry, "I really just wanted to help her. If I had known it would turn out like this, I would never have tampered with her memory."
"We believe you," Coulson consoled. "You have such a great ability, yet the world remains stable as usual, which is enough to show you are a good person. I believe Lisa would understand this as well."
Charles remained gloomy, so Shiller had no choice but to change the subject, asking, "How are things with Erik? Are you two still fighting every day?"
"He's incredibly annoying," Charles pursed his lips, seemingly reluctant to mention him, but after thinking it over, added, "His so-called powerful retaliatory methods against mutant discriminators seem very childish to me, of course, he thinks the same of me."
Then they talked about the situation of mutants in the cosmos that Charles came from, which was basically the same as in most universes, that is, conventional methods were essentially hopeless.
As they reached this point in the conversation, Natasha and Coulson couldn't help but glance back at Shiller. Shiller noticed their looks but deliberately said, "Actually, the situation for mutants here is quite similar, but through a fortunate coincidence, their circumstances have significantly improved."
Charles looked at Shiller with a hint of suspicion, seemingly curious about that coincidence, while Natasha and Coulson, as if by agreement, turned their heads back around, pretending they hadn't heard anything.
The half-hour drive wasn't particularly short but wasn't especially long either. The vast plains of Texas State spread wide, allowing views of the distant and broad horizon even from inside the car, making the half-hour journey pass in a flash.
Lisa's home was a typical Texas farm, surrounded by much barren rock, with a hint of green at the far end of the horizon. When the car stopped, a strong wind was blowing, sending tumbleweeds flying.
Two figures appeared on the horizon, one following the other, one taller, the other shorter. They seemed to be Lisa's parents, who approached warmly and hugged Coulson.
"Thank you so much," Mrs. Labres said. "We are very grateful that you could come, despite the location being a bit remote."
Mr. Labres, with his arms crossed, said, "The wind outside is fierce, let's go in for a cup of coffee first."
Braving the wind, the group finally entered the farmhouse, which was far from the likes of Kent Farm. It was evident from the Labres family's tired faces and hands that they were barely making ends meet.
"What a big family," Natasha remarked. The Labres had six children in total. Apart from a niece who had come over during vacation, all were their biological children, with Lisa being the third one, in the middle.
This was a situation Shiller had not been aware of before. After a brief conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Labres, he learned more about Lisa's family background, which was clearly an important part of her personality.
"I never thought you would actually send someone," Mr. Labres said after sipping his hot coffee. "I know Aux is a good person, especially a good man, and we've been worried about him for several hours now."
"Yes, ever since the news of the Space Station losing power, my heart rate has been high," Mrs. Labres added with a sad expression. "He's been the best son-in-law to us, treating Lisa so well. We've always hoped they could have a child, but as long as they are safe and sound, that's fine too."
After chatting in the living room of the farmhouse for a bit, Coulson spoke up, "So maybe we should leave the time to our professional psychologist now. Where is Lisa?"
"She's in her bedroom. She doesn't let anyone in right now. Through the camera installed on the bird feeder in the yard, we've confirmed her condition. She's just sitting on the bed, staring, but thankfully she hasn't done anything extreme."
"Has she done anything like that before?" Shiller asked, focusing on the critical issue.
The couple looked anxiously at each other, and Mrs. Labres clenched her hands tightly but still said, "Yes, she hasn't been quite normal recently, always running out into the yard at night, claiming to see aliens, but we never saw anything."
"Besides that, has she said anything else?" Shiller inquired, while Charles took notes.
"Yes, she keeps saying that what we see now and what we remember can't be trusted. She claims that someone can change everything in this world, that it's all fake."
Charles seemed even more guilty, his handwriting affected, no longer as neat and beautiful. Shiller glanced at him, signaling him to calm down, and asked, "How is she treating her family?"
"She hardly pays us any mind," Mrs. Labres sighed. "We were happy when she came back because she seldom visits home since she got married, but she is no longer as warm as before and has become somewhat aloof."
"I hope you can understand this," Shiller said. "When a person doesn't even have the strength to deal with her own heart, she can't deal with others either."
"Of course, we understand, but I think we have the right to know exactly what is going on," Mr. Labres said.
Charles stood up to apologize, but Shiller was quick to grab him and signal him to shut up with a look. Shiller said, "You might have heard, Lisa was admitted to the hospital for a while."
"Yes, did she have some rare disease?"
"No," Shiller leaned forward slightly, looking into their eyes, he said, "She had a miscarriage."
The couple was indeed shocked, and even their youngest daughter seated behind them covered her mouth. Mrs. Labres couldn't believe it and looked back, seemingly in the direction of Lisa.
"How could this have happened? She never mentioned it to us..."
Shiller glanced at Charles again, clearly Charles wasn't a fool; altering memories meant he must have changed everyone's, so Lisa's family didn't know she had been pregnant.
But Shiller didn't want to tell them their memories had been altered, it wouldn't help with the treatment, so he said, "Yes, it was early in the pregnancy, but it still caused some damage to her body, and she took it very hard. Maybe she didn't bring it up to avoid disappointing you."
"Silly girl, how could we be disappointed!" Mr. Labres sighed but turned to Shiller to ask, "After she came back, we took her to the hospital for a check-up. The report showed her body was fine, but her mental state has not recovered."
"Yes, due to the hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy and possibly some separation anxiety from being apart from her partner, I'll conduct a more detailed mental health assessment on her and then find a way to guide her."
Shiller began to instruct Mr. and Mrs. Labres on some precautions, such as maintaining quiet, avoiding loud noises, not knocking on her door all the time, not giving her too much attention, and maintaining a normal living atmosphere as much as possible. He would take care of all the psychological counseling.
Mr. and Mrs. Labres and Lisa's siblings all expressed their full support. After finishing, Shiller went upstairs. He knocked gently on the door and said, "Lisa, I am the new psychiatrist. May I trouble you to open the door?"
As expected, there was no response. Charles looked worried, but Shiller was not perturbed at all. He casually said, "It seems we can only call Aux now, no idea how he's doing on the Space Station."
Click, the door opened. Seeing Lisa again, Charles could hardly recognize her. This lady looked as if she had shed a layer of skin, becoming pale, thin, and numb, her condition even worse than when she was hospitalized. Her eyes held an emptiness that instilled fear in those who met her gaze.
Shiller saw that guilt was about to crush Charles.
This was all too normal, every ambitious and capable young person like Charles would encounter a sobering blow at some point in their life. Fortunately, there was still a chance to make amends, and this might even turn out to be a good thing for Lisa.
Shiller entered Lisa's room and found it fairly tidy; he had a good idea of the situation. He closed the door and went straight to the point, "Indeed, someone altered your memory, and we are here today to apologize."
He turned to look at Charles, who finally expressed his guilt. Lisa didn't cry, but he did.
"I am truly sorry, I didn't know things would turn out this way, I just wanted to ease your pain," Charles said with tearful eyes, "Your grief completely infected me back then; I just wanted to stop it all. I really didn't foresee this, but I did do something wrong, and I must apologize to you."
Lisa seemed surprised by all this, but it was a powerless surprise, tinged with doubt.
Then she heard a voice in her head, "Hello, I am Charles Xavier, a mutant with psychic abilities. I am deeply sorry for everything I have done to you, and I will do my best to restore your memory."
"Wait a moment, Charles," said Shiller as if he heard Charles speaking in Lisa's mind. He stopped him and then looked at Lisa and said, "You already know you've lost your memory, but as my student here said, he empathized with your grief in the process of treating you, which means something very sad, even devastating, must have happened."
Shiller almost had to pull Lisa to sit down. The pale woman sat on the edge of the bed while Shiller knelt in front of her, looking into her eyes, he said, "You can choose not to restore your memory."
Lisa seemed to suddenly split open, some truth seeping through the cracks of her shattering façade. She looked at Shiller with a hint of despair and said, "It's about a child, isn't it?"
"It seems you've guessed it. Yes, it's about a child you once had," he replied.
Lisa put on that expression of extreme pain again, and Charles visibly began to sadden again, as the Professor X of this stage apparently couldn't remain immune to the intense emotional onslaught nearby. He was always affected and looked on the verge of collapse.
"Then, tell me," Lisa said with a hoarse voice. "No matter what, I will accept the truth."
"You were pregnant. Throughout the pregnancy, the baby's heartbeat was unstable. You developed anxiety and depression because of it and even engaged in self-harm. Thirty seconds after the delivery, the baby's heartbeat stopped."
Lisa was stunned for two seconds, then she completely broke down. A piercing howl burst forth from her mouth.
The mother resembled a tree struck by lightning, death upon death, revealing a deeper despair within the depths of hopelessness.