章 50: Echoes of Silence
Soren was equally baffled.
He touched his lips, checking that his mouth and tongue were still there.
Everything seemed fine, so why couldn't they hear him?
The only person who could do something like that, he thought, was Dr. Manhattan.
But why would Manhattan block his voice?
Did he not want Soren to tell others about him?
Soren turned to Professor X for help, "Didn't you see anything when you were in my head? Didn't you see me talking about %...*##@F*）#...?"
Professor X shook his head.
"I could only see your home planet, which is indeed beautiful. I also sensed your bravery and kindness, which I deeply respect. I should thank you for letting me see a wormhole up close," he said with a friendly smile, winking at Soren, "I might be the only person on Earth who's actually seen one, right?"
Soren blushed at the compliment, scratching the back of his head. "It's really not as impressive as you make it sound... I just thought of a way to close the wormhole in a moment of panic..."
"..." Batman silently watched as the conversation started to drift off course.
He calmly tapped the table and asked, "Is the reason you came to Earth related to that power that just erased your voice?"
His question cut straight to the heart of the matter.
Soren snapped his attention back to Batman.
He nodded. "Yeah."
Batman had already figured out how to handle this.
He continued, "Did he give you specific orders? Just nod or shake your head."
Soren thought for a moment.
First, he nodded, then he shook his head.
The truth was, Dr. Manhattan had asked him to do something he wasn't sure he could accomplish, but at the same time, Dr. Manhattan had offered him something he couldn't refuse—a reward too tempting to turn down, and Soren had willingly taken the bait.
There are some things, once experienced, that a person can never let go of.
The feeling of being cared for, of being loved by his parents, was so wonderful and comforting that Soren wasn't ready to give it up.
If Dr. Manhattan erasing his voice earlier was a warning not to share too much with Batman, then Soren would obey.
He wasn't about to risk angering Dr. Manhattan and losing their deal.
He had his own reasons, his own desires.
Batman raised an eyebrow.
Soren spoke softly, "Anyway, I can't tell you much more. It's not that I don't want to—it's that I can't. I hope you understand. But I can promise you, I have no plans to harm Earth, and I won't side with the criminals you're fighting. I've seen a lot of movies, and villains usually don't end well... If you don't believe me, Professor X can check if I'm lying."
Professor X had a complicated expression.
He opened his mouth, hesitating, before finally speaking with difficulty, "I think you might have misunderstood something. B isn't really..."
"Charles, just check if he's lying," Batman interrupted him coldly, cutting off Professor X's defense of Soren.
Professor X sighed and shook his head.
This time, he didn't use his telepathy on Soren.
Instead, he simply said to Batman, "I've already scanned his mind. He's not lying."
Batman fell silent, sitting in a dark corner of the room, even though the curtains were wide open and sunlight filled the space.
It was as if he blended into the shadows, becoming a part of the gloom.
"So... can I get the gene suppressor now?" Soren asked, looking hopeful.
"...I'll arrange the surgery as soon as possible," Batman replied, his voice deep and rumbling like stones falling from a mountain.
...
After Soren transformed into Angemon and left Xavier's School, Professor Charles Xavier turned his wheelchair toward Batman, who was standing by the lake at the edge of the Xavier estate.
The breeze gently blew across the water, but it didn't stir the edge of Batman's black cape, which remained perfectly still.
Professor X shook his head at Batman, his expression full of disapproval, "Bruce, you shouldn't be so harsh on him. He's a good kid."
Standing in the shade of the trees, Batman said, "I won't let my guard down until I understand his true intentions."
"You're being too...," Professor X sighed, "You care about him, don't you? You monitored every camera in New York when he passed through. Deep down, you know he doesn't mean any harm, right?"
"I don't trust aliens," Batman said coolly.
Professor X chuckled softly, rubbing his forehead in exasperation, "One day, Bruce, your stubbornness is going to cost you dearly."
"I'll deal with that when the time comes."
Soren had a pretty busy Christmas holiday.
Not only was he busy writing letters to Clark, discussing the plot developments of a few new sci-fi shows on TV, but he also had to occasionally transform into Angemon and head over to S.H.I.E.L.D. for documentation.
Thanks to Professor X connecting with S.H.I.E.L.D. on his behalf, they had paused their investigation into Soren for now.
The only thing they required was for him to create an alien profile at their headquarters.
Soren, of course, went there obediently.
But when he saw his file number was "000001," he immediately felt like he'd been tricked.
He had assumed S.H.I.E.L.D. had long partnered with Area 51 and already had a well-established system for managing extraterrestrials on Earth.
He never imagined that he himself would be their very first entry in their alien control registry.
Quietly, he decided not to share the information he knew about other aliens on Earth.
In truth, the universe had seen many intelligent life forms visit Earth long ago.
These beings disguised themselves as ordinary humans, blending into life on Earth.
This was something the people of New Earth had only learned after joining an alliance with other intelligent species in the galaxy, many millennia later.
Forget it.
He wasn't going to betray the aliens!
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