I spent the rest of my Monday at home. I spent the time trying to put away my thoughts on the cyber theft and the stranger who had watched me over the past week. I didn’t have any powers to rely on at my disposal so I could only use the assistance of my new friends like Rachel, Nate, and Caleb. But I realized that that wasn’t necessarily true either. Within the depths of my storage in the warehouse, I had many possible tools I could use if I could find a use for them. The downside of using them was that it would be hard to replace them. I was not the amazing builder my previous self was. I could not easily improvise new tools on the fly, and I was ultimately limited by the blueprints my previous self had laid out for me.

Tuesday morning, I returned to my workshop and brought out Rachel’s suit. I had not finished painting it with the new red and white colors and still had some work to do with some of the smaller pieces. I was continuing to adjust the costume to fit my Greek and Roman aesthetic. I decided to start with making the blade and brass knuckle inserts for her costume.

The CNC machine hummed, and the forge heated up as I got them started. I prepared the files and molds for them and got to work. The brass knuckle inserts were the easiest to make because of their simple conical shape. Finding a good metal mixture for the blade was harder. I searched through my files and the computer’s stored information on different metals I had available and their alloys.

I decided on one of the steel alloys that had strong piercing ability but did not have as much rigidity, but it was a fair trade-off for the lighter weight required. As the metal was mixed and poured into the mold I began working on its sheath and casing. The ejection mechanism worked as a part of a spring mechanism and magnets that pulled the blade back along with connecting it to the arm piece I had already finished as a part of the gloves.

The assembly for the casing was pretty straightforward and only required me to screw in a few pieces and weld some of the metal pieces together. The hardest part ended up being getting the blade in the casing and secured. It was under a lot of pressure because of the spring mechanism and had to be held back while I put the blade in place.

After assembling the weapon, I set it aside with the other finished pieces and moved on to the main body of the armor. I put the knuckle pieces in the gloves to finish them off before working on adding them to other pieces of the armor. Based on what I had seen of her fighting style I added more jutting metal to the elbows and knees. Once those pieces were in place I started on painting.

I took the same approach to painting Rachel’s suit as I had to Tabitha’s. I brought out the tarp so that any misplaced paint would go on it instead of the table and got started. I started with a white coating for everything to make it easier and then started going over everything afterward with the red. I left some room as I painted and had modified the suit so that a new logo symbol could be added.

As I painted I got a call that went through my computer. I paused and checked what it was for. The video call was from Caleb. I put down the stuff I was doing and answered the call as I started to move stuff away and clean my hands and rinse off the paint.

“Hey, Caleb. Do you have the reports done?” I asked.

“Yeah, I was able to read through everything you sent over this morning and add it to the stuff I learned about the tracking device.”

“Were you able to find an identity for the person who broke in?”

“No, I wasn’t. I do recognize that coat and outfit though. Does Grace Reeds ring a bell?”

“I don’t recognize it. Should I?” I answered honestly.

“The coat was owned by her and was a custom-built design of hers. She built it along with many other things over the years but died last year. Many of her things went to auction after her death and the items were snatched up by many people.”

“Including me,” I guessed.

“Yeah. Companies bought blueprints and prototypes as well from her estate in hopes of building off of them and recouping their investments. Some of the items were also sold to private individuals like yourself or to anonymous buyers.”

“So, what category did this gear fall into and what does it do exactly?”

“I was able to pull up the records of the time and found the coat labeled as ‘Camera Avoidance Coat and Accessories’. Its exact properties are unknown but from your footage and the auction house for the estate, it does a few things. The first is that it obscures your form and makes everything unclear from your gender to your height. The other thing it does is block faces and blurs the form further so that it looks like the person is facing away from cameras in most situations. This is where the tricky part comes in. The buyer was anonymous, but I was able to hack the databases and find the bank account of the payee for the item. When I cross-referenced the bank account I found that the account was closed and deleted two months ago. The name of the person on the account died two months ago.”

“Shit. Was it just another coincidence or was their death intentional? Who was the most recent reported owner?”

“The owner was an older superhuman gentleman who was known for collecting items of interest and historical artifacts from all over the world. The reports of his death all point to a legitimate death. He lived in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of the city with his surrounding neighbors being other superhumans and some dynasty members. I believe that you were a block away from the house last week when you went to see the mantle fight.”

“I am interested in driving by the house if I can. Can you send me the address and the information on the auction?”

“Yeah. The house is currently closed up but be aware that entering is trespassing.”

“That would be great,” I said.

I needed to stop by not just to look around, but I needed to look through the files on the auction. I had been there and had bought stuff. If what I bought was half as good as the coat then it would still be interesting to use. It was also another piece of my past that I had never known until today.

“What was the cause of death for the old owner?” I asked.

“It was a heart attack. And before you ask all of his possessions were transferred to his daughter as well as the ownership of the house. I’m currently looking into finding a time to speak to her through official police channels and will see what I can do. I still have no idea if Diana is connected to this or if she is just wrapped up in this. She has led a quiet life and has played a sidekick to the heroes around her much like her father. Why she would want to go after you is unclear.”

“So, it seems our next step is to speak with her. When is the earliest that can happen?”

“I have filed the reports and warrant to question her this morning. The earliest we will be able to speak to her will be tomorrow. But will likely be Thursday.”

“What did you find on the tracking device front? It seems it is our only other lead for now.”

“The tracking device is another enigma I haven’t completely uncovered and who put it on your car still eludes me. Even the new information on Diana hasn’t helped. The tracker’s purpose seemed to be to get access to your warehouse door’s security. Along with general GPS systems, it collected the signals from your security system and the door specifically and processed them and sent them to an unidentified third party. With this information, they decoded the signals and data to get the door code and security information. You should change the passcode immediately. Your footage shows that they can easily get in and with the coat, it no longer matters that the cameras were broken. The collection of data they stole and tried to delete is strange. Do you have any insights into why they targeted the files they did?”

“That is still a question I have yet to answer. I still need to go through all of the files and try to find similarities.”

“Let me know what you find on that front. The tracker technology and systems were all built from different parts from different companies. There are parts of the mainboard from Titan Tech, Hero Wear, and stuff from some smaller companies. It was activated on the day the stranger first scouted out your place. I will try to track them down through CCTV but that will take time and authorization from the people above me to do so.”

“Thanks for doing that for me. I will wait on your call then for that meeting with Diana. Should I expect you to be joining me on that as well?”

“Yeah, I will be joining you as the official police officer who is set to fulfill the warrant that was requested.”

“Great. I will see you when that happens.”

“And the final thing I looked into was Rob your community’s security guard. I went through and checked if he may have been vulnerable to blackmail. They all showed up clean. He has good finances and isn’t tied up with anything that could be considered suspicious. If someone got to him to plant the box or suggest to you that it was there it was covered up very well. For now, I think Rob was reliable and might have just been doing his job.”

“That’s good to hear but that also means that we only have one person indirectly tied to this. It is frustrating.”

“I know. Did you have any time to think about who might have done this? Anything I can search for while we wait?”

“I don’t think so. I mean the person who broke in probably knows me and had probably done business with my shop before or me directly, but it doesn’t narrow things down any further than what I suspected before.”

“Yeah, that is pretty broad. I will just follow up with you before we meet with Diana on anything else I find.”

“Sounds good.”

I closed the video chat and sat back in my chair. I was conflicted about the results of the report. On one hand, I wished that we could have found out who had stolen my stuff right away but at least we had somewhere to go from here. The trail didn’t end here, and we had the stuff to investigate in the meantime. I thought back to my suspicions of John and went over what we had found. He wouldn’t need to find a way to get the door codes. John walking into my shop that day proved that he either had gotten it earlier or had always had it. It would be unnecessary for him to go through these unnecessary steps unless it was to throw me off. If he did go through with it then it was purely for plausible deniability.

I checked the files Caleb gave me for the auction, and I was able to read over the names of the attendees. There were several hundred and if the thief and trespasser weren’t Diana or John then they would likely be one of the names listed here. All of the names involved in the auction were superhumans, businessmen and women, or more generally well connected. I sorted the list of names alphabetically and found John’s name listed along with mine.

I looked at the items sold and cross-referenced them with our names. John had surprisingly not bought anything. I had bought two things. The first was a damaged blueprint for a spider threading technique that I recognized. I had reverse-engineered it and now had the process in all of my clothes. The other item I bought was a generalized direct observational tool that could scan a variety of things and assist in the general production of many items. I tried looking for where it might be in storage, but my file system said that I had nothing matching its description in the warehouse. I made a reminder to look and see if I could find it at home otherwise it might have been lost between the transfer between my old self and my current self.

I saved the files and moved on. Hopefully, I would have the answers when I met with Diana. I needed this solved quickly and hopefully without more problems. I had a new life to live and a new world to be a part of. If there was anyone that would find out who I really was then it was going to be someone who was snooping in my stuff trying to find my old self’s projects and then stumbling on my current work and strangeness.

I went over to the door next and worked on setting a new password for it as Caleb had suggested before returning to my work. I wanted to finish Rachel’s suit by the end of the day if possible. I started suiting back up in my painter's outfit and opened up the red paint again.

I got lost in painting the suit again and went crazy with the airbrush. The previous coats had dried thoroughly while I talked with Caleb, so I was able to go back over the white paint without it becoming a pinker shade. It took another hour for me to finish with the red paint and then another hour for me to let it dry before I applied a final coat of sealant that protected the paint from scratches and made the colors more vibrant.

Satisfied with my work I began to clean up as I let the paint on the suit dry. I went through the same process I had several times before and put away all of the paints and tools. On my phone, I messaged Rachel that I had finished my new version of her suit with all of the modifications and the new colors she had requested. I looked over the suit and its accessories and confirmed that I had not left anything out.

I got a response soon after. Rachel said she would be by in about an hour. I agreed to the time. While I waited I left my warehouse and got some lunch before returning.

When Rachel arrived, I brought her inside and showed her the new suit.

“Woah. You have gone all out on this redesign,” said Rachel as she looked at the new boot and gloves. “I especially like what you have done to the mask with its wavy design.”

“Thanks, I decided to add it after looking at some of my older designs and historical designs. This one I modeled after a Greek helmet called an ‘Attic Helmet’. From there I took inspiration for the rest of the suit changes. I am also glad you let me go all-in on whatever I wanted.”

“Can I try the mask on?” asked Rachel.

“Yeah go ahead. I updated the back piece to be a clasp instead. Did you decide on a hero name?”

Rachel took the mask and brought her hair up with the other hand and she tried to put the mask on. It fit perfectly and it slid it on as she clicked the clasps into place. She shook her head a little to test the fit and it did not wobble at all.

“Yes. After going through some of the older hero names and checking the recent trend of names I decided to go with Sun Bird. How did Caleb’s investigation go?”

“We have some leads but no actual results yet,” I answered, “We will be following up and speaking with people once some warrants and forms are taken care of. Hopefully, I can get this resolved soon.”

“I hope so as well. If you need anything else let me know. If the security of this place was breached once before then they may try it again if they want more from you. I could see about getting you some more security safeguards installed.”

“Thanks for the offer. I am not sure what I am going to do about security just yet. I suppose I should be upgrading and switching it around as soon as possible. What kind of stuff are you offering?”

“I can get you higher quality cameras and off-site server storage for any data you need to be stored. It will be encrypted both ways so that no one but you can access it with a security key. The other stuff I might be able to get you but not right away would be a security guard here in your off-hours and an upgraded storage area. It would take some time to be built but once done it will much harder for even superhumans with super strength to break through the walls. Right now, the best your security systems can do is alert you that someone has entered. It can’t do anything to prevent them from entering if they are determined to do so.”

“I guess you are right. Send me a list of stuff and when they can be added. I would prefer to wait on a big project such as reinforcing the entire building. As long as most of it can be done in the evenings in between my work then I say go for it.”

“I’ll get in contact with my family’s security firm tonight and update you later.”

“Ok. Good luck in the new suit.”

“Yeah, I am excited to get back into the thick of things.”

Rachel floated above the warehouse with her new costume weighing on one side. She brought out her phone and dialed a number. The person picked up quickly.

“Hey, Dan, I know it’s been a while, but do you think you could get me on your squad? I just got my new suit today and I need to try it out as soon as possible. What do you think?”