Chicago, Vought Temporary Registration Center.
This used to be a bankrupt bank, but it has now been completely repainted.
The pure white walls were almost blinding in the sunlight.
A banner hung at the entrance, featuring Lynn Morris's friendly smiling face and the inspiring slogan, "We don't make chains, we provide ladders."
Kayle stood before the steps, his heart filled with struggle and a glimmer of hope.
On television, the man promised exemptions, promised aid, and promised a bright future that he only dared to imagine in his dreams.
He remembered the melted lockers in the changing room, the terrified looks in the firefighters' eyes, and his mother's sobbing all night.
Ultimately, the uncertainty about the future outweighed the fear of the unknown.
After taking a deep breath, he walked through the revolving glass door.
He was greeted not by the smiling receptionist from the promotional video, but by a glaring, lifeless expanse of pure white.
A woman smiled and handed him a bracelet.
The metal buckle clicked onto his wrist.
The bracelet's screen lights up, displaying a string of numbers.
"Student No. 001."
Kayle's name was left outside the door the moment he stepped through it.
He was led into a similarly pure white metal corridor.
It's so quiet here that you can hear your own heart pounding too fast.
The so-called "physical examination" has begun.
He was strapped to a metal chair.
The robotic arm extended, the needle pierced his skin, and the bright red blood was drawn away and flowed into a test tube labeled "001".
No one explained to him what was happening.
The people around me, dressed in white lab coats, looked at me with a gaze devoid of curiosity or concern, only with the scrutiny and valuation one would show when examining a rare mineral.
Dr. Horton held the data panel himself, looking at the gene sequence map flashing on the screen, muttering to himself.
"Perfect overt expression... Anger threshold and energy output are exponentially correlated... The more intense the emotion, the greater the destructive power... It has extremely high commercial development potential."
Kayle didn't understand, but he felt like a piece of livestock that had been stripped naked and placed on a chopping board, waiting to be appraised.
The tests of extreme abilities are even more brutal.
He was locked in a sealed space made of a special alloy.
The projector played footage of him being bullied, and the mocking laughter was amplified, surging in from all directions and drilling into his mind.
"Bookworm!"
"Waste!"
Does your mother know you're a good-for-nothing?
Even his mother's tear-streaked face appeared distorted on the wall, desperately questioning him. "Why have you become like this...?"
His last line of defense collapsed, and unprecedented anger erupted from the depths of his chest like a volcano!
"Enough!"
He roared, and uncontrolled flames erupted from his body, turning the entire room into a furnace.
As he collapsed from exhaustion, the door opened.
He didn't see the punishment he expected; instead, he saw a well-dressed, elegant man standing in the doorway with an appreciative smile on his face.
Hannibal Lecter.
"A very good energy response, child. Anger, like a top-quality truffle, requires a keen sense of smell to appreciate its value."
Hannibal's psychological "counseling" then began.
Kayle was led to a comfortable room and seated on a soft sofa.
On the screen, a carefully edited video begins to play.
On one side, there are scenes of Metahuman wreaking havoc.
A deep voice-over explains. "Uncontrolled power only brings destruction and fear. Even if it defeats the enemy, it is no different from a monster itself."
On the other side, the Guardian used his body to shield the collapsing building and delivered a frightened child into his mother's arms.
The Starlight dispelled the panic with its gentle glow.
The voice-over becomes more uplifting and hopeful. "Only by submitting to the power of order can one achieve glory and become a true guardian."
Destruction and glory.
Monsters and heroes.
Two completely different fates were laid bare before Kayle.
Which one do you want to be?
Hannibal's voice was gentle and persuasive.
Kayle's lips trembled, and he couldn't speak.
During a simulated urban rescue test, Kayle once again erupted in anger due to a programmed "accident".
The Flame got out of control and burned down half of the virtual training ground.
He thought he was finished, that he would be labeled a "dangerous person" and imprisoned here forever.
No punishment was served.
Hannibal instead led him away from the training area and into a luxurious penthouse suite that he had only ever seen in movies.
Outside the window is the dazzling night view of Chicago.
"Anger is precious fuel, child."
Hannibal poured him a glass of chilled juice, his tone approving.
"Those mediocre people only think about how to extinguish it, while we know how to utilize it."
You need the right engine to harness this power.
" Vought, that's your engine."
From that day on, Kayle's "elite training" began.
He moved into this suite, where a dedicated nutritionist prepared top-quality meals for him.
The wardrobe is filled with designer clothes.
He has a personal "psychological mentor" who talks to him every day.
That person was gentle, patient, and a good listener.
He guided Kayle to express all his pain and resentment, and then skillfully transformed these negative emotions into a desire for power.
He was no longer required to suppress his anger.
Instead, he was taught how to "taste" anger, how to control the flow of rage like the most precise surgeon.
On the training field, he no longer spews flames out of control.
He can condense Flame into a sharp whip to cut through distant steel cables.
He can create a shield of intense Flame that melts all the bullets fired at him.
His anger transformed from a devastating wildfire into a turbocharged engine that could be controlled at will.
The Public Relations and Brand Management Department team has also moved in.
They created a completely new "persona" for him.
"A tragic young man who remained silent amidst school bullying, but awakened to protect others during the SOMS crisis."
He was once abandoned by the world, but now he chooses to embrace it with Flame.
This story is written in a way that brings tears to the eyes, full of dramatic twists and turns.
As Kayle looked at that background story, he momentarily mistook it for his own real life.
His codename was " Vulcan ".
The design blueprints for the battle suit were laid out in front of him.
The interplay of dark red and gold creates a mythical sense of power and holiness.
Wearing it is like transforming into a deity descending to earth.
When everything was ready, the giant screen in the suite lit up.
Lynn Morris's handsome and serene face appeared on the screen.
He didn't talk about training, nor did he talk about business.
He simply gazed gently at Kayle with those all-seeing eyes.
The world needs your strength.
"In the past, it was buried in the dust and trampled by the ignorant. But now, it will shine with the light it deserves."
"And I will give you a stage worthy of this power."
Kayle looked at the man on the screen.
Looking at myself in the mirror, dressed in a gorgeous bathrobe, my eyes gradually becoming confident, even unfamiliar.
The timidity and inferiority of the past are being replaced by an unprecedented sense of value.
For the first time, he felt that he was "needed".
For the first time, he felt that his existence had meaning.
He didn't know.
His every heartbeat, every peak of anger, every burst of energy, his brainwave response to the word "glory"...
Everything was recorded, analyzed, and archived by Motoko Kusanagi's central nervous system.
These data are fed into a massive database called " Hero Production Line," becoming valuable parameters for refining models and optimizing processes.
A perfect product is about to be packaged.
All that's left is to put the price tag on and put it on the shelf.