Regaining Memories

"Ready?"

Leo barely had time to nod before Faye placed her palm atop the beanie, her fingers spreading across the fabric with practiced precision.

A faint hum resonated from the device as she channeled her mana into it—slowly at first, then with increasing intensity.

Thin, glowing threads of blue energy seeped from her fingertips, intertwining with the embedded electrodes on the beanie's surface.

The moment her mana fully connected with the device—

PAIN.

A violent surge tore through Leo's skull, sending his nerves into overdrive. His back arched, fingers digging into the chair's armrests as his entire body locked up.

A white-hot pulse hammered through his mind, as if someone had taken a branding iron and was forging memories straight into his consciousness.

And then—

The floodgates broke open.