The Mark of the Purple Man

Purple Man.

I retrieved the information associated with this name—Zebediah Killgrave, a criminal possessing mind-control abilities, deceased.

However, his mind control left a permanent "mark" on Jessica Jones's brain—like a piece of code forcibly written into her, triggering nightmares and emotional breakdowns from time to time.

This thing was not a wound; it was a foreign object embedded deep within the recesses of her brain.

It was harder to deal with than the Vibranium bullet inside Luke.

"So you're the doctor who can see through everything?" Jessica placed her whiskey bottle on the front desk, pulled up a chair, and sat down, propping her feet onto the table.

"Did Luke send you?"

"He nagged me all night. Kept saying you could cure everyone's ailments. I didn't believe him, but he wouldn't let me sleep, so here I am."

"What do you think you need to have checked?"

"I don't know. You're the doctor, you tell me."

Lynn looked at her.

He captured several additional signals—the scent of alcohol on her didn't just come from the bottle in her hand; the sweat seeping from her skin also contained high levels of alcohol metabolites.

Her liver was running on overload, processing alcohol twenty-four hours a day without pause.

There was another scent—very faint, almost completely masked by the smell of alcohol—there were ink traces in the crevices of her fingernails.

It was ink used for photo printers.

She had been printing a large number of photos recently.

Tracking and investigation.

The professional habits of a private investigator.

It was also her way of avoiding nightmares—not sleeping, working until dawn.

"Your liver isn't in great shape," Lynn said. "You drink too much."

"That's all you can see?" Jessica's tone was neither disappointed nor relieved.

"There is something else." Lynn weighed his words. "There is something in your brain that doesn't belong to you. It's like a piece of code someone left in your mind. Someone else wrote it in; it didn't grow there on its own."

Jessica's hand holding the whiskey bottle froze.

Lynn heard her heart rate jump from seventy-two beats per minute to ninety-six within three-tenths of a second.

Her expression didn't change.

But her physical reaction couldn't fool him.

"How do you know that?" Her voice was a notch lower than before.

"I saw it."

"Saw it." Jessica repeated the words.

"You took one look and knew I had—in my brain?"

She didn't finish the sentence.

But Lynn heard the name she had swallowed back.

He, the Purple Man, Killgrave.

"I can help you clear out a portion of it," Lynn said. "I can't guarantee a complete removal—that thing is embedded very deeply, and full clearance would require more time and multiple sessions. But I can weaken it to the point where it no longer affects your daily life."

Jessica didn't speak.

She stared at Lynn for about ten seconds.

His Super Senses recorded every physiological change during those ten seconds—her heart rate fluctuated, her breathing deepened, and the grip strength of her fingers on the bottle increased then decreased.

She was making a very difficult decision.

It wasn't a question of whether she believed him.

It was a question of whether she dared to.

Letting a stranger touch her brain.

After experiencing mind control, the very idea of letting anyone near her brain was a nightmare.

"You won't do those... things to me, the kind he did, right?" Jessica's voice was flat.

But when the word "he" left her lips, her vocal cord vibration frequency showed an abnormal fluctuation.

"I am a doctor," Lynn said. "What I do is remove the things that don't belong to you."

Jessica was silent for another five seconds.

"Do it."

The treatment was divided into two steps.

The first step was on a physical level—regulating her liver.

Based on the plan provided by All-Things Diagnosis, Lynn prescribed a set of liver-protecting medications and suggested dietary adjustments.

"From today on, drink at most two glasses a day. Not two bottles, two glasses."

"Can't do it."

"Then three. But no hard liquor; switch to red wine."

Jessica rolled her eyes.

The second step was on a mental level—weakening the Purple Man's mental mark.

This step was much more complex.

Lynn didn't have any supernatural mental powers to use.

But he had All-Things Diagnosis and Super Intelligence.

All-Things Diagnosis could precisely locate where that "code" was stored in the brain—it was embedded deep within Jessica's Limbic System, primarily affecting the signal pathways between the amygdala and the hippocampus.

Whenever specific triggers appeared in the outside world (a specific tone, a specific color, a specific word), this code would be activated, hijacking normal neural signals and triggering impulses of fear, helplessness, and obedience.

The solution he devised was: using Transcranial Microcurrent Stimulation to selectively "weaken" the hijacked signal pathway without damaging the surrounding healthy tissue.

Not deletion—with current technology, complete deletion was impossible.

But he could reduce its signal strength from 23% to below 5%, ensuring it no longer had the capacity for substantial interference.

Lynn spent an hour and a half completing the procedure.

The microcurrent electrodes were placed on both sides of Jessica's temples, with each stimulation at a voltage of 0.3 volts, lasting two hundred milliseconds.

He stimulated her a total of one hundred and forty-seven times.

Jessica kept her eyes closed the entire time.

After the final stimulation ended, she remained silent for a long time.

"How do you feel?" Lynn removed the electrodes.

Jessica didn't answer.

She sat there, eyes closed, motionless.

Lynn's Super Senses monitored her physiological indicators—her heart rate was dropping, slowly falling from over ninety to below seventy.

Her breathing gradually became deeper and slower.

"It's quiet," she finally spoke. Her voice was very soft.

"What's quiet?"

"In my head." Jessica opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling. "There used to be a buzzing sound in there all the time. It wasn't his voice—it was that... feeling like someone was about to talk to you at any moment. You wait for it to ring, it doesn't, but you know it's there."

"It's gone now."

She was quiet for a few seconds.

"Two years," she said. "It's been there for two years."

Lynn didn't respond.

He was waiting for the system's feedback.

[Ding! Treatment complete! Rating: A · Excellent!]

[Saintly Hands Copy initiated... Scanning target ability library...]

[Core talent detected: Superhuman Strength (A- grade)]

[Based on treatment contribution (A grade), automatic copy initiated—]

[Copy progress: 12%... 38%... 55%... 100%!]

[Ding! Copy complete! Obtained A- grade talent: Superhuman Strength (Weakened Version · 55%)!]

[Ability details: Strength increased to superhuman levels, approximately 55% of the target's peak. Capable of exerting hundreds of pounds of force, but still far below S-grade strength-based heroes.]

Jessica stood up and grabbed the bottle of whiskey. She paused at the door.

"How much for the consultation?"

"Luke paid it."

"He paid his own. I have to pay mine."

"Then we'll talk about it next time." Lynn leaned back in his chair. "Go back and get a good night's sleep. It might be the best sleep you've had in two years."

The corners of Jessica's mouth twitched.

It wasn't quite a smile, but it was in the right direction.

"Thanks, Specs."

She pushed the door open and left.

Frank, sitting on a folding chair by the door, glanced up at her.

Jessica shook the whiskey bottle in her hand and walked away without looking back.

[Reputation points change: +60 (Cured Jessica Jones · Superhero-level treatment). Current reputation points: 410.]