I don't know why I expected to be able to sleep well, not with what I now knew and had walked away from. Every time I closed my eyes, my mind couldn't help but flick over to a litany of imagined horrors and suffering. As a result, I spent the night tossing and turning, eventually giving up and spending the rest of the night working on magic.

It was at least something that could distract my mind and keep me from just staring at the ceiling, questioning myself over and over.

Now that I was working with a team, coming up with ways to make them more effective was something I was consistently considering. The shadow cloud spell that I created was designed explicitly with Crow in mind, specifically to give her the advantage she had at night but during the day.

But why not go deeper than that? My physical movement enhancement spells clearly showed buffing someone with magic was possible, so why create a more advanced version, something I could distribute to everyone?

I ended up spending the night designing two spells, the first of which was a body buff that enhanced the target's reflexes and speed. It was nowhere near the level of enhancement I enjoyed, but it was a good handful of percentage points, which was definitely noticeable. The second one enhanced the target's durability. Where I was okay with multitasking the first spell, since I needed the speed and reflexes together to keep them balanced, I focused entirely on durability for the second one. It wasn't quite at bulletproof levels, but it was definitely stabproof. With any luck, it would mitigate any severe damage should anyone get particularly unlucky.

Both of these spells could be focused on multiple people and were as tight chant-wise as I could make them. Unfortunately, they were complicated bits of magic, so quick casting was unfortunately ineffective.

Once the sun had risen and my phone's alarm went off, it was time to start getting ready. I quickly perked myself up a bit with magic, took a nice long hot shower, and got dressed. After having a quick breakfast, as much as I could stomach, I whistled my golems over, standing on my ritual platform.

"You ready for your first appearance, Alya?" I asked as my golems gathered around me, grabbing shoulders and biceps.

"I am, but I would prefer to appear once inside," She said. "I would like to remain an unknown for as long as possible."

"Not exactly polite, but given the circumstances, I think they would understand," I agreed. "Alright, stay nebulous until I introduce you then."

I could feel her acceptance as I started to chant the teleportation spell, closing my eyes as we vanished from the compound and reappeared at the usual meeting spot. Crow was waiting for us, standing with her arms crossed.

"Hey, you ready?" I asked. "Need some help waking up? I know I couldn't sleep."

"Yeah, that would help."

I nodded and quickly cast the spell, the silver magic playing over both of us before it faded. After that, she took my hand, and I teleported us to the Dallon front lawn. It was still relatively early, but Lady Photon was waiting for us on the front porch. Her usual friendliness was hard drawn against a spark of determination.

"Arcanum, Crow, welcome. Please, come in," She said, gesturing for us to follow her as she entered the home. "The others are waiting downstairs."

I nodded and ordered my golems to stand on the porch before following after her. The slightly older hero guided us down to the familiar, to me at least, set of stairs to the basement. Crow silently followed behind me, taking in the home and then the basement meeting room. Once we had gathered around the table, I spoke up.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming together on such short notice. First off, yes, I found the location of the Farm," I explained, confirming what I had told them already. "It's in Merchant territory, not too far from the line between them and the ABB."

"Are you sure it is the Farm, then?" Flashbang asked. "not something, Merchant?"

"The members were all Asian, and internally, they were wearing ABB colors," I confirmed. "But, honestly, I didn't see that first hand. Before I started work officially as a hero, I happened to meet Case Fifty Three. Her name is Alya, and she… well, she exists usually as a nebulous, invisible form. Alya? If you could?"

With a flourishing breeze, Alya took her solid form. I had long since grown used to her almost elven features and her long cobalt and white hair, but her suddenly coalescing into existence among people, for the first time ever, brought home her more alien appearance.

"Greetings, as Arcanum said, I am Alya."

I could see everyone, including Crow, tense up as a sudden new person appeared among us. Before anyone could freak out, Alya spoke up again.

"I apologize for hiding from you, and I apologize for suddenly appearing rudely in your home, but my nature makes me… very vulnerable," She explained. "I am very weak, unable to lift or move anything beyond around ten pounds, and could be forced to disincorporated with a single weak blow. My weakness and nature…I was happy with no one knowing I existed save Arcanum."

Manpower seemed to be the first to recover, unclenching slowly as the surprise and shock slowly dissipated.

"Then why reveal yourself now?" He asked with a frown. "If you would have preferred to stay hidden?"

"My power, when I spread out, lets me search a large area," She explained. "Usually, I just keep Arcanum from being ambushed, but we worked together to find the Farm. If there is anything worth putting myself in danger, it is shutting down that horrible place."

It took a moment for everyone to gather their thoughts before Lady Photon eventually cleared her throat and nodded.

"While I would have preferred a different method of introduction, I do understand options were limited," She said with a nod. "If Arcanum trusts you, I believe we can give you the benefit of the doubt."

"I appreciate that," She said, giving the woman a small bow.

"Wait… has she always been with you?" Crow asked, sounding a bit concerned. "Just floating around and spying on us?"

"Yes," I answered simply. "I know that it's a breach of privacy, but… Her condition changed how she exists. She needs an anchor of sorts, someone to focus on, or she will just drift around almost mindlessly. She literally cannot disconnect from me without losing her humanity. I know it's not fair to you, Crow, but I trust her with my life, and we really didn't have any other options."

Crow seemed to chew on my response, even with her face and body covered, I could see she was upset. I had a feeling that in any other circumstance, she would have been long gone, but the fact we were targeting the Farm was keeping her here.

"Wait, she is connected to you?" Panacea asked from her spot beside her father. "How so?"

"We aren't sure how it works," I admitted, mostly truthfully since I had no idea how the soul magic required actually worked. "It's a symbiotic relationship. She gets most of her humanity back, and I get someone watching over me to keep me from being ambushed."

"Most of her humanity?"

"I still struggle with my sense of time," Alya explained. "To me, there is very little difference in the feeling between a minute, an hour, or even a day. I am happy to float around and watch for hours without talking or becoming corporeal. I actually prefer my more natural state, I wouldn't be able to do this at all without Arcanum."

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As Alya explained, I looked over at Crow, who was still standing stiff, like she wanted to bolt but was forcing herself not to. After Alya was done, I looked back at the group.

"Alya, could you maybe describe what you can do while I have a word with Crow?"

"Of course," She said. "Well, my most important ability we already mentioned when…"

As Alya started to talk, Crow nearly dragged me up the stairs. I stopped to close the door behind us, only to turn into Crow's fist as she punched me in the jaw. Despite her enhanced strength and durability, my overcoat's barrier absorbed the blow, and I heard a worrying cracking sound come from her knuckles.

"God dammit, mother fucker!" She hissed out, clutching her hand. "You fucking asshole, you broke my hand."

Ignoring the backward logic she was using, I reached out and gently took her injured hand. I healed out quickly, focusing intently on fixing only the cracked knuckle and busted skin. She had refused to let me heal her scars before, except for her eye, and I was not about to find out if she had changed her mind. As healing magic glowed around our hands, I looked up at her.

"Crow, I apologize for not telling you about Alya," I said, trying to sound as genuine as I could. "When I first started, I was a lot weaker than I am now. During that time, she was essentially my trump card. She could keep me safe and warn me when something dangerous was coming my way. I swear, in the early days, she was the only reason I managed to get any sleep. She was the only reason I felt safe doing all the work I've done, and that includes meeting you. I should have told you eventually, maybe around the time you showed me you were a cape, but… it's hard to let go of an advantage like that, even with someone you trust."

My spell cut out, but I didn't release her hand, in no small part because I was worried she would take another swing if I did. After a moment, her stress and frustration seemed to sag a bit.

"I… I can understand not wanting to let go of an advantage like that," She admitted. "I… I can understand. Just… she knows who I am."

For a moment, I considered pointing out that she had revealed her powers without warning. If she had warned me, I would have done something to at least mitigate the whole issue. Then I realized I would likely have to heal her hand again if I did, so instead, I just nodded.

"She does," I confirmed. "And I am sorry that happened. But I swear she will never tell anyone."

"I'll hold you to that Arcanum," She said, pulling her hand away and stepping back towards the stairs.

I watched her walk away, unable to hide my unhappy frown. I had a gut feeling that things wouldn't end well, and it turned out I was right. The tone of her voice, the way she left... I could practically sense her disdain for the situation. I realized I had just damaged our friendship, and I had no idea how to fix it.

I cursed under my breath and shook my head. I had much more important things to worry about at the moment. I could focus on repairing the damage with Crow when we had taken down the Farm.

I quickly made my way down the stairs, where it seemed as though Alya was giving another short explanation for some of her powers. I waited for her to finish her brief overview before rejoining the table.

"As you can imagine, having someone with such a power would really help make our way through the compound," I pointed out. "She will be key to coordinating between everyone and avoiding hostages being taken by warning us before things become an issue."

"I also know what the compound looks like and how it is divided," She explained. "I will be your map, making sure we clear the entire building efficiently and quickly."

"Perhaps, before we begin talking about plans, you describe the building itself," Lady Photon suggested. "Then we can discuss what our plan of attack is."

With a marker and a whiteboard, Alya gave us a rough idea of how the place was set up. There were three floors to the facility below the warehouse. The first floor was one part office, one part delivery area. A tunnel led down from ground level into a large drop-off point, where vans and other vehicles could drive down, take care of their horrific business, and leave.

The second floor was, unfortunately, called the training and recording area. It was just as horrific as the image you might imagine such a room might entail for the unwilling participants and occupants. The third and final floor was the living space. According to Alya, there were around forty women stuffed into enough living space for around twenty. These "quarters" were divided into two spaces, with a "Staff" living area in between.

By the time Alya was done describing the horrific facility, I could see the frustration and anger, as well as nausea, welling up through many of my new allies' faces. Alya also seemed to be struggling not just with what she had seen but also being the focus of everyone's attention. Once we had drawn up a basic outline of what she had described, and New Wave had a chance to ask her questions, she looked at me beseechingly, a rising uncomfortable feeling coming through our connection. Seeing her struggle, I quickly nodded, and she vanished in a swirl of cloudy air before even that vanished. I could feel her stretch out around the home, engulfing much of the neighborhood.

"Is she okay?" Laserdream asked. "She seemed more than just upset about what she was describing."

"I think she underestimated how difficult being in front of everyone would be," I said, putting together what I was feeling from our connection. "She is watching the whole neighborhood now, keeping an eye open for trouble."

"Oh… that's a bit invasive…"

"It is, but she doesn't actually see everything," I explained. "From what she described, it's like watching a whole crowd of people at once. She can technically "see" everything, but that doesn't mean she is taking everything in. It's kinda like how you aren't invading the privacy of the people sitting next to you in a restaurant, even if, technically, you can hear everything they say. She isn't consciously observing someone until they catch her attention by doing something that would bring them to focus. Plus, she doesn't share things that aren't relevant."

"Well, that explains how you always led us to nearby crimes," Crow said, shaking her head. "Should have put that together better."

"I'm sure the PRT has noticed and has given me some sort of thinker rating for it," I said with a smirk, though the expression quickly fell from my face. "Should we focus on the task ahead? I know this is a lot, but..."

"Yes. We need to come up with a plan, something we can execute quickly and precisely," Manpower said, shaking his head as he looked down at our maps. "You are right, by the way. The most dangerous thing that could happen here, outside some crazier possibilities, is that they decide to take hostages. We need to prevent that at all costs."

We all nodded in agreement, and together, we began assembling a plan. We went step by step, slowly putting together something that, we hoped, would lead to the best results. In the end, we were done at just around lunchtime, and while none of us had any real appetites, we broke to eat.