Things were going well for the Hivemind. With more energy bars, it would soon be able to consume enough [Ether] to upgrade its systems yet again. Thoughts about what to upgrade had come into question a few times yet the Parasite had slowly figured out some ideal stables to go for. Nevertheless, such thoughts needed to be put on hold.

It was the Ted vessel, the one in charge of overlooking the farm’s cameras, that first saw a peculiar stranger on the premises. It was through the sight of the cameras yet it was there nonetheless. They were grey colouring in what seemed like thin body armour, a look that wasn’t too popular with the regular civilians. The instant answer was that the Hivemind was dealing with a Hero yet no official messages had been put into circulation. The Kara vessel certainly couldn’t dig up any official notices. And since the Heroes’ Association had no legal access to their facilities without express permission, something peculiar was going on.

A search about what had transpired those many weeks ago? With how lacklustre the event had been in the eyes of the outsiders, the Hivemind had hoped that it would have been ignored. Yet… there was some interest still. Using a switch on the terminal, the Ted vessel put on the audio function of the specific camera.

“-have any connection to the former manager by the name of Markus Fletcher?” the mask-wearing questioned one of the workers. It wasn’t one of the Hivemind's vessels, the person being a subordinate in the administration apartment. Said person was also looking quite uncomfortable. Why had they not tried to escape? “Give me an answer and I’ll let you move along.”

“I really don't, man. He was just one of my superiors,” the young worker answered, looking around for any potential escape methods. So they were being forceful? That could work in the Hivemind’s favour. Even if it would require writing up a report about the event, it contacted the guard post through the Ted vessel, alerting them about an unknown person at Farm 4 causing trouble. Seeing the guards move through the area to find them was like music to the Parasite’s ears.

“Fine,” the masked intruder said, looking to the side as if something was getting closer. Which… didn’t make sense yet. The guards were closing in on the Hero, sure, but they were still nearly a hundred metres away. With the number of obstacles in the way, it would take nearly a minute for them to reach the position. “Go along then. Don’t cause any trouble.”

“I won't!” the young worker said before half-running. The Ted vessel kept a close eye on the screens as the guards finally began to get close enough to come within sight range. Just a turn of the corner and-

The Hero was gone before the vessel could even blink. There was nothing left but an empty spot. The Hivemind was relatively sure it had seen a flash of blue yet that could have been an error in the camera network. That happened sometimes.

As the guards found nothing but the slightly scared worker, they continued to scout through the area. The Ted vessel was asked about where it went but neither the Hivemind nor the original vessel’s mind could figure it out. It was as if they had just disappeared into thin air.

With the visual description, the signs pointed toward the Hero being a Teleporter. Most Manipulation Users of that variety rarely used the power on themselves yet some few did have the mental requirements for such actions. That they would have been allowed to do such illegal espionage, though… The Hivemind couldn’t believe it. Other theories could be that the man was a speedster of some sort yet that meant they would’ve had the ability to go through the farm a bit faster. There had to have been more signs, at least. With how many cameras there were around, a single footprint should have been spotted, as the very minimum.

It was something else. Something that couldn’t be easily seen. The Hivemind supposed that invisibility was an option but the ramifications of that were very dire. As the guards finally gave up on finding the stranger, going back to their area to continue the game of cards, the Parasite sent the vessels out on patrol. It was formally seen as a small walk during their assigned lunch break but the Hivemind was using it for slightly ulterior motives.

With six of the vessels, the three excluded being the Kara vessel, the Ted vessel, and the Main-Host, the Hivemind quickly began to gain oversight on the entire farm. Glancing at the points that the cameras didn’t reach as they walked along, spotting several footprints in the wet dirt, the Parasite began to grow more towards a Teleportation power of some form. It clearly allowed them to move through the area without physically moving the entire way but they seemed to need quick stops constantly. What a strange power.

“Hey, you,” the Hivemind heard through the Arthur vessel. Letting the original mind move the head, a certain grey-masked Hero was spotted standing casually under a camera. It was the perfect blind spot, really. “Come over here.”

The other roaming vessels altered their course the slightest bit, not wanting to alert the Hero through shared movements towards them. How they had been able to sense the guards coming was a mystery but the Hivemind was not intending on them moving about without issue. They clearly weren’t on official business which meant the Heroes’ Association weren’t with them. That meant an entirely free potential Powered vessel was walking around free for the taking.

“Who are you?” the Arthur vessel said in a way that only ageing men could. It was a voice laced with both suspicion, tiredness, and a general lack of actuality for the person they were speaking to. With a mix like that, it made sense the Hero seemed to need a moment. “You aren’t one of the usual new workers. What is with that get-up?”

“That isn’t important,” the Hero with the grey suit said. Being able to have a closer look with the help of the Arthur vessel, the Hivemind was able to see the number of times the suit had been repaired with crude methods. The sides were barely stitched together, the mask had been painted a few times, and the back of it was riddled with closed holes. This was not any professional. Maybe a former one, however. “I am in need of you answering a few questions for me. First off-”

“No, I think it is very important,” the Arthur vessel cut in. “You aren’t meant to be here without permission. I don’t know who said you could come in here and trespass but you need to leave before I have to call over the guards.”

“... You’re hiding something,” the Hero said. It seemed that letting a vessel directly interact with the former professional could have been a problem.

“I could say the same to you,” the Hivemind answered through the Arthur vessel, taking control to make sure that nothing wrong would be said. The other vessels were moving in, the [Strength] vessel and the Biomancer coming in extra fast. Both were needed if it got messy. “What is your name?”

“Not something you get to know,” the Hero answered with an informal tone. “Who are you?”

“Somebody who is meant to be on the premises,” Arthur said, making a show of bringing out his phone to call the guards. Dialling in the number of the Ted vessel, the Parasite took it within two rings. “Hello, Ted, we have an unidentified vigilante of sorts running around at Farm-”

The phone was shot out of the old man’s hands, a sizable hole in the cover. The Ted vessel noted discernable white noise before the call automatically ended due to the unstable connection.

“Your voice,” the Hero pointed out. “It wasn’t obvious at the start but it changed. The way you were speaking changed from one sentence to the other.”

That wasn’t good. A change of plans was needed.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” the Arthur vessel complained, the voice still manually controlled by the Hivemind. “Is this turning into some sick kind of hostage situation?”

“At this point, I think that is what I might need to be doing,” the Hero said, looking around the general area. They were rather close to the old barn, the one sitting on the outskirts of the farm. It had previously been used for the drug trade but the Hivemind had already taken care of those issues. “Do you see that old building there? Walk to it slowly and calmly. Try to run and I’ll make your legs stop working.”

A general threat but not one that the Parasite cared too much about. Taking calm steps away from the Hero, the Hivemind noted that flash of blue on the cameras yet again. It did have something to do with the power. Since they arrived at the barn before the Hivemind, it allowed them some amount of speed to work with.

The door was left open as it continued further inside, noting that the Hero stood with some amount of tenseness. Even with speed, they were ready for the unexpected. That wasn’t entirely good to see, the Parasite not sure it would be able to surprise them too much.

“So… who are you?” the Hero asked again. “Answer me this time, thank you.”

“Why should I?” the Hivemind questioned. “What can I achieve by following your orders?”

“If you don’t you might accidentally break your arm,” the Hero said with a shrug. That was rather unheroic of them. If there had been any worries that they weren’t working independently, they were fully gone. The Hivemind supposed they could have worked for some criminal group but they would have been more forceful with their method. The person before them was just a disgraced former Hero and nothing more.

“I don’t think you understand how bad a threat that is,” the Hivemind said, sending the Hero a smile through the Arthur vessel. Checking through the connections, the others were ready as well.

“Are you sure?” the Hero asked. “I have seen some meaner men turn into a pool of tears the amount they had a single fracture.”

The Hivemind responded by raising Arthur’s right hand into the air, taking the left hand, and breaking a finger without changing his smile. There were no amount of words that could describe the joy it saw as the man stepped back.

“If a few injuries would set me back, I would have already been gone,” Arthur said as four more vessels walked inside. The Biomancer and Strongman looked entirely in place along with the brutes from the Oak vessel’s social circle. All wore the same smile. “Do you still want to break my arm?”

“I couldn’t say I knew where to start,” the Hero said with a small smile of his own. “What, are these all your little puppets and you the puppetmaster?”

The Hero certainly wasn’t the dumbest, instantly seeing the Hivemind as what it was. Yet it likewise wanted to know who the Main-Host was. As if the Parasite would ever bring it along.

“There is no master here,” the Hivemind lied with no hesitation. “We are all equal here.”

“Equal in slavery, you mean.”

“If that is what you wish to call it,” the Parasite continued. Sending in the order, the Biomancer started to put out the vines under the earth. It was a steady channel, the Hivemind refusing to let it be noticed instantly. “Would you like to join? We could use another of your type among our ranks.”

“I can’t say that interests me,” the Hero said, giving a glance at the ground. He knew. “But, I think I have what I need here. I wish you well and-”

“Are you leaving so soon?” Arthur asked. “What a shame. I kinda liked this farm.”

.. Any signs of wanting to leave were removed from the Hero’s body language. They weren’t thinking straight anymore. That was good. Illogical actions were what the Hivemind needed.

“What are you talking about?” the Hero said with a strained voice.

“If you know, the whole world will know before the hour is over,” Arthur said with a casual shrug. “While I have loved my stay at this little farm, it will have served its purpose. At the very least, their flesh will be a good source of materials.”

The Hivemind had no plans of doing such a thing but that hardly mattered. Looking at the Hero with a sharp eye, the Biomancer was barely able to raise the tons of vines into the air as the flash of blue came around once more.

The fight had begun.