“Hey, Aurora,” the sergeant drew her attention as he turned his monitor enough for her to see the address he’d previously offered. “If you don’t mind, can I ask who that guy with you is? Some kinda boyfriend? You got some kinda weird taste in guys.”

 

Aurora scowled at the man and he winced, amending his insinuation, “Oh… your new sidekick, then?”

 

Aurora’s scowl faded into a grin as she mused.  A sidekick?  She never thought about having one.  Would an angel with a nerd in a bodystocking fit the image?  Thinking about the Midnight Avenger’s old sidekick, Tick Tock, Aurora tilted her head. Utility and Aurora didn’t exactly look good together like the Midnight Avenger and his little buddy.  Come to think of it, a new Tick Tock hadn’t been chosen for a long time.  Theorists suggested that the last Tick Tock took on the Midnight Avenger mantle, and that made sense considering that this MA was clearly older.

 

“I’m not sure I’d go that far, Sergeant.  Utility’s been helping me with the current case.  If he does well, he’ll get an introduction to the Society of Sentinels.  He’s pretty handy with computers.” She cupped her hand, directing it towards the sergeant to whisper as she eyed him. “Utility’s  power set is um… working on computers, and he wields screwdrivers.”

 

“Oh!” The sergeant grinned broadly. “He’s like ‘the Green Screen of Death’ or something like that, right?”

 

Scanning the sergeant’s screen, Aurora read the update.

 

The cars were last known at a location that was not where they were 

supposed to be headed, but I think they’re still on the way. I’ll head over 

there just as soon as I have the scene here under control.

 

Who was this? Kirby? There wasn’t a name attached and the message was ominous, but maybe Aurora had a fit of paranoia.

 

Utility slammed open the phone booth’s door, making a loud screech. “This thing needs to be oiled and repaired,” the green zentai-suited guy muttered, eyeing the door.  He managed to draw the eyes of everyone in the office for a short time.  “We have more important things to worry about than a phone booth.” Utility walked across to Aurora with a great deal of more dignity than she would have expected. “I think I got us a lead.” He held up his index finger to his nose and grinned.

 

“Whatcha got?” Aurora asked with a smile as she crossed her arms.  She was still thinking about Sarah even though Utility had some kind of a new clue. The sergeant implied that they had an address for Sarah’s location, but there was no address.

 

Utility nodded, calling Aurora’s attention again when he explained, “One of my contact’s contacts spotted someone.  It was a woman who went into a supposedly abandoned manufacturing plant. People have been reporting lights have been on inside it over the last week or so.  Shall we go check it out?”

 

Aurora eyed the sergeant’s computer’s screen and sighed, nodding.  This could be a lead that would take them to Mechanica’s hideout.  “Sure.  Give me the address.” She wondered if it was the same warehouse she’d investigated the other day. There was something more to that place than met the eye, or so she thought.

 

The green-suited fledgling hero passed Aurora a slip of paper.  This address was clear across the bay in Seaside City.  Utility added to his previous information, “Apparently, this place was shut down due to some kind of environmental issue a long time ago, but last week people reported hearing noises coming from it and seeing lights in its windows, but the place is supposedly locked up tight.  Sounds suspicious to me.”

 

Aurora’s lips twisted.  Having mentioned a girl at an abandoned plant by itself made his lead worthwhile to investigate. Even if it turned out that it was some girl going into a clubhouse, this wouldn’t be a waste of time.

 

“Tell me if you can…” Aurora’s eyes narrowed. “By any chance, is this old plant owned by Extensive Enterprises?”

 

Utility nodded and laughed. “Good question.  Yes and no.  Not directly, but they’re involved.  I’ve got no idea what the place was used for, but apparently it was shut down for leaking some kind of toxin into the bay, though there’s no details about that.  Apparently plans were somehow misplaced in the city’s records, so we can’t get anything.”

 

Aurora chuckled as she responded, “Extensive Enterprises buy and repurpose villain tech for their own purposes.  There have been cases where they’ve caught the Society’s attention for a long time.”  Aurora turned to the sergeant and waved. “Thanks for your assistance.  We’ve got a lead to chase.”

 

Her techy partner gave a wave too while he grinned. “Thanks for the use of your um… phone.  It ate like fifty cents before I could call out.  Think I could get reimbursed sometime?”

Aurora and Utility rocketed across the bay as fast as Aurora’s powers could go.  Utility started shrieking loudly until Aurora formed a helmet around his head.  It nicely quietened his yelling.  He was almost as great of a flying buddy as Mr. Mechanical’s head.

 

Using her GPS to head directly to the address Utility gave her, Aurora made her way to the far side of the bay and across the city to hover over an industrial area. Aurora dissolved the helmet and the moment she did Utility muttered,  “Your people skills suck!”

 

Rolling her eyes, Aurora brought them closer to the building in question.  It was a more compact building than expected, but was still of a size that it could be used for manufacturing.  The area around the building had been cleared and there was some kind of police-like tape up over the doors.  A number of the buildings around looked just the same as this one.

 

Keeping her distance, Aurora was wary of more missiles coming at her. They hadn’t been much of a threat so far, but by now the things could have been recalibrated.  Mentally mapping a way down from another building’s rooftop a good distance away, Aurora flew them over to land there.

 

“I’m going undercover now, Utility.  It’s part of what my powers let me do.” Aurora set her partner down onto his feet as she started changing her appearance. “There’s no sense in advertising my presence, just in case, but she knows you, even if she was calling you the Midnight Avenger.  I doubt she’d mistake who you are if she spotted that trademark green suit of yours.  Hang out here. I might need some backup, if this goes badly,”  while she spoke her wings shrank and her costume transformed into a gas station-like jumpsuit that kept her wings from resprouting.  

 

Her hair’s color had gone black again and for good measure, Aurora experimented and pulled her hair back into a ponytail and in moments it was bound by something fake that worked better than a rubber band.

 

“Jeez… you look like… I don’t know… a big female plumber,” Utility commented.

 

“Eh, I’m going for the appearance of an inspector of the city’s pipe systems,” Aurora blushed, protesting.

 

“Good job, then. Same difference,” Utility gave her a thumbs up.  “I’ll stay out of sight and leave this up to you.  Give me some kind of a signal and I’ll sneak over and do what I can.”

 

Aurora started moving, annoyed.  Even though she was a winged superhero, her parkour came in handy now and again.  Her motions were fluid and confident as she leapt from the roof, clinging to a drain pipe and slid down.  She’d have looked funny if she chose to make her overalls red and blue.

 

When she reached the ground, she landed smoothly and concealed herself by the building. Spotting some shipping containers, she snuck over to them and slipped behind them.  Despite her disguise, she stayed low and remained hidden, focusing on keeping from being noticed.  

 

On the way across to the building, she spied a camera up on a lamppost.  Aurora winced, thinking she’d made a mistake.  When she looked closer, however, there was some chewed up gum spread across the lens.  Someone had been here at some point.  Only checking the gum for age would tell her how long ago it was, but knowing that probably wouldn’t make a difference right now.

 

Aurora rushed across the way, frowning.  Utility said that a ‘girl’ was spotted here.  One of the girl in question’s weapons seemed to be chewing gum… well, maybe if she was a cheerleader.

 

Finding the door she sneaked over to was firmly locked as Utility had hinted, Aurora scanned for another way in.  How would this girl have come and gone from this building?  Looking at the upper floors, she spotted a window that was slightly ajar and it was close to another drain pipe.  

 

Apparently this girl thought like Aurora.  She must have some parkour chops if she came and went that way regularly. Or perhaps she just had strong upper arms.  Aurora yanked on the drain pipe, finding it sturdy.  She started to climb the pipe and lowered her weight with her aura slightly to ease the climb, keeping her use subtle so she wouldn’t stand out against the building’s wall.

 

When she neared the window above, Aurora started hearing noises coming from the inside.  Pausing and listening, she analyzed the noises, deciding that they sounded like some kind of machinery making soft and consistent noises that was easily missed.  Pulling herself up to the window, Aurora carefully peeked.  This might well be the base of Mechanica, given the place had a great deal of active machinery inside.

 

When Aurora squinted her eyes, she noticed a small sensor that sat on the window. She paused and inspected it and determined that it likely had been tripped and not reset.  Was it Mechanica who passed this way last time, or someone else?  Was this a trap?

 

Aurora looked beyond the sensor to see if there was anything else waiting to trap her.  Was there a sentry hiding in the shadows?  Her eyes adjusted further and she made out shadowy forms. When one came closer, she made out that it was a drone set to patrolling the inside.  Just barging inside would have been a mistake.  The sensor was indeed a trap.

 

She watched them moving around, the ones she could see from the window for a long period of time until she got an idea of their programmed routes.  If they had 360 degree vision, memorizing their patterns might have proved to be a pointless precaution.  Aurora wasn’t overly concerned, because she could fly away if her gamble didn’t pay off.  Keeping in mind their movements, Aurora started moving to slip through the window, rolling silently forward.  She moved in an intricate series of steps along the catwalk. She hadn’t expected a safe landing, since she didn’t see it through the window, but she couldn’t remain there for long.  

 

Hopping over the railing of the catwalk, she landed on top of one of the manufacturing machines that hummed softly.  She pushed herself into a crevasse in the machinery to plan out her next steps.

 

There was a rushing of air as the machine’s moving parts worked.  This one was stamping out components of some kind and the place smelled like old oil.  She remained there while a drone passed.  As she had observed, what looked like a glinting camera turned towards the window in a pre-programmed pathing. 

 

When it passed, Aurora pulled herself up higher onto the machinery, knowing that she had only a few minutes before the next would be along.  She spent time using her new vantage to inspect the whole floor.  The facility seemed to have a larger piece of machinery in the center that was pressing metal plates. All around, machines were working with surprising quietness as they produced the parts.  Aurora didn’t see much else before she had to hide again before another drone was due.  The way they were programmed was intelligent.  They had very few blindspots.

 

Aurora was determined to press on as difficult as this dance-like operation was. She now had proof of what this place was being used for, but staying in one place wouldn’t get her closer to Mechanica.  She crept out after another drone passed by and this time she was able to memorize all pathings of the drones to map a path that would take her further into the facility towards where some faint glowing objects were.

 

She dodged and slipped around some of the machines, moving from one piece of manufacturing machinery to another, along catwalks not stopping for anything but a passing drone.

 

After another moved along, she slipped down a machine to the bottom floor and moved like a ninja plumber closer and closer to the glowing.  Just as soon as another drone was due to approach her, she slid into a nook and followed it towards her goal, boosting her speed, but she kept from passing the drone. Her unwilling guide angled sharply to the side and Aurora ran quietly up metal stairs and into a passage that glowed softly.

 

Making her way further along the passage, Aurora saw a few control panels were lit up here and a few computer terminals that were working, running programs.  She stopped short of entering the room when she saw him in his debatably full glory.

 

Mr. Mechanical stood there with his arms clasped behind his back, looking not a day older than forty.  Was this the real Harlan, or just another robot?  Had he found a way to cheat death and fool the Midnight Avenger?!  

 

There were a few subtle clues about his appearance that pointed to the answer to this question.  

 

The goggles on his forehead weren’t just some accessory, because they appeared to be a part of his body.  It was a very subtle detail, because when she slid her communicator from her pocket and used the zooming function on it, she saw that they blended right into his ‘flesh.’  

 

And his hair was another subtle hint.  It was more plastic in appearance like fine rubber wire than true hair.  The other Mr. Mechanical she beat must have been the best model they had. This guy was a bit less convincing.  Aurora snapped a quiet picture and watched him.

 

When he moved, his clothes didn’t move in the air, making him like a bad NPC in a game. They were just as much attached to his body as the goggles.

 

Aurora watched patiently, wondering if something else would happen that would reveal something else.  He was just watching these screens, overseeing things.  He didn’t speak while he stood there, perhaps speaking to other robots with radio waves, but Aurora wasn’t sure.  

 

Some time later, in one of the screens to the side, a familiar face appeared.  

 

Valerie North! 

 

 She was pacing around the inside of a cage made of grey-beige concrete, or maybe that was just the parts she was able to see.  There was an obvious welt on her forehead and her hair was disheveled.  From how serious the cut looked, it seemed that Valerie had taken a heavy hit when she was captured.