Arata's gaze remained steady as he looked at Melissa. He spoke slowly, each word deliberate.
"From the information I gathered… the new Number 10 hero, Hawks, and the Number 3 hero, Lady Nagant… are not just heroes."
Melissa's brows furrowed slightly, her fingers tightening over her lap.
"They are assassins," Arata continued, his tone calm but heavy. "Operatives of the HPSC. They eliminate people the Commission wants gone… quietly… without leaving a trace."
Melissa's eyes widened, disbelief flickering across her face.
"There might be more heroes like them hidden within the ranks," he added, his voice lowering slightly. "But these two are the only ones I could confirm."
"Hawks was likely sent to I-Island to monitor your father," he said. "And if the situation demanded it… the HPSC would have given him the order to kill David."
Melissa's breath hitched slightly at those words, her lips parting as if to speak, but no sound came out.
Before she could process further, the hologram shifted.
The previous data vanished, replaced by ancient-looking pages—worn, yellowed, filled with indecipherable symbols. Alongside them appeared rough carvings, resembling stone-age cave drawings.
At the center of those images… six stone-shaped objects floated in a slow orbit.
Only one of them glowed—a deep, radiant blue. The others remained as hollow shadows.
'Good… her attention shifted,' Arata thought quietly. 'Now… guide it.'
He pointed toward the hologram.
"Tell me something," he said, his tone now more neutral. "Do you know how the universe was created… or how quirks came to be?"
Melissa blinked, clearly caught off guard by the sudden shift in topic.
She leaned forward slightly, her eyes scanning the strange writings and carvings, but the language was completely unfamiliar to her. The only thing she could recognize… was that blue stone.
The same one Arata had created in front of her. She swallowed lightly before answering.
"According to the Big Bang theory… the universe was created when space itself expanded," she said slowly, organizing her thoughts. "It cooled down over time, particles formed atoms… and eventually stars and galaxies."
She hesitated slightly before continuing.
"As for quirks… no one really knows. Some say it's human evolution… others call it a divine blessing."
Arata gave a small nod.
"Correct."
With a slight motion of his fingers, the ancient pages and cave carvings faded away, leaving only the six stones rotating slowly in the air. He enlarged the projection, making them more prominent.
"The Big Bang theory is correct," he said. "The universe was indeed created that way."
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"But when the universe was born… these were born with it."
Melissa's gaze snapped back to the hologram.
"They are called the Infinity Stones."
"What?!" Melissa exclaimed, her voice filled with shock.
Arata nodded once, then continued.
"The Infinity Stones were forged from six primordial singularities that existed before the universe itself. When the Big Bang occurred, those singularities condensed… compressed into physical forms."
His voice grew heavier, almost reverent.
"They became the Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time, and Soul Stones… each representing a fundamental aspect of existence."
Melissa stared at the hologram, her expression completely stunned, as if her mind was struggling to keep up.
Arata continued without pause.
"Three hundred years ago… a war took place on Earth over these stones."
"The stones were so powerful… that with all six combined… a single snap could erase or recreate the entire universe."
Melissa's fingers trembled slightly.
He let that sink in before continuing.
"In the end, someone named Tony Stark used their power… to make sure they could never be misused again."
Arata's gaze lowered slightly.
"He erased the knowledge of the stones from the entire universe… and destroyed them."
A brief pause followed.
"But destruction doesn't mean disappearance," he added quietly. "Fragments of their power scattered across Earth… and seeped into human bodies."
Melissa's pupils shrank slightly.
"That residual energy… became what we now know as quirk factors."
Silence filled the room.
"And that," Arata said, "is how quirks were born."
Melissa suddenly pushed herself back from the table, her chair scraping lightly against the floor.
"This is insane!" she exclaimed. "Is… is what you're saying even real?!" Her breathing quickened.
"Then what about that stone you created?! Is that an Infinity Stone too?! How is that even possible?!"
Questions poured out of her one after another, her voice filled with confusion and disbelief. Arata raised his hand slightly.
"Calm down," he said. "I'll explain."
Melissa forced herself to sit back down, though her eyes remained locked onto him.
Arata took a small breath before continuing.
"After discovering references to the stones in ancient records… I decided to recreate them."
He glanced briefly at his gauntlet.
"Not the original ones… that level of power is impossible to replicate."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"But I realized something. Since fragments of their energy still exist within humans… within quirk factors… it might be possible to recreate a weaker version."
Melissa listened intently, her breathing slowly stabilizing.
"By extracting and combining quirk factors related to a specific singularity… and forcing their energies to converge… I can artificially recreate that singularity."
He lifted his hand slightly.
"And from that… form a stone."
The blue glow intensified slightly as he revealed the cracked gauntlet.
Embedded within it… the Space Stone pulsed faintly.
"I succeeded in creating the stone linked to the space singularity," he said. "The Space Stone."
Melissa swallowed slowly.
Almost unconsciously, she extended her hand across the table and touched the stone.
The moment her fingers brushed against it… a faint vibration traveled through her body.
Her breath hitched.
"…It's real," she whispered.
She pulled her hand back slowly, still staring at it.
"I… didn't expect today to turn out like this…"
Arata scratched the back of his head slightly before giving a small, fake cough.
Melissa looked back at him.
"I'm telling you all this," he said, his tone turning serious, "because I need your help."
She blinked.
"My goal is to create an organization," he continued. "Nova Genesis."
The name hung in the air.
"I want to bring a revolution to this world," Arata said. "To overthrow the corrupt people controlling it."
He paused, then added clearly.
"I don't want to rule. I don't want power for myself. I just want to remove the rot."
Melissa remained silent, listening carefully.
"Even if that sounds impossible…" Arata continued, lifting his gauntlet slightly, "with these stones… it won't be."
He looked directly at her.
"Once I obtain all six Infinity Stones… I'll have enough power to uproot corruption completely… and create a better world."
His voice softened slightly.
"A world where people aren't judged by their quirks… or lack of them."
His gaze deepened.
"A world where no one is abandoned… or silenced."
Melissa's expression wavered slightly.
"I want to help those who can't fight back," he said quietly. "Those who don't have a voice."
He slowly extended his hand toward her across the table.
"Will you help me?" he asked. "Will you join Nova Genesis?"
Melissa stared at his outstretched hand, her expression filled with conflict and deep thought.
'This is… insane,' she thought. 'Everything he said… it shouldn't even be possible…'
Her gaze shifted briefly to the Space Stone.
'But… I saw it with my own eyes… I felt it…'
Her fingers curled slightly.
'And… he saved Dad… more than once…'
Silence stretched between them.
Melissa took a slow breath, her eyes returning to Arata's hand.
She remained like that for a few long moments…before finally making her decision.