Nikola couldn’t say the public transport of the modern world was the greatest in the world, the woman needing to spend nearly a full day in a bus as it travelled just about everywhere but the one city she needed to visit. But, finally, the woman was able to get off with her backpack in hand, a certain suit nestled inside comfortably.

Looking around, she could see why Nikola had never heard of the town before. It was about as small as a town could be while still being given the title. A shop or two was seen in the distance and that was about everything commercial. Or anything legal at least. The number of drunks being heard in the distance was annoying.

But no matter how much of an annoyance it was, Nikola was not destined for that task. She wasn’t an on-duty Hero and she likely wouldn’t be in the next couple of months. Just putting in the effort she was currently in was somewhat a breach of her contract but it wouldn’t get her more than a slap on the wrist.

Finding a private place to stash her backpack and regular clothing, Nikola switched to her suit before going into the skies. Even in the late afternoon, the small town was as lively as ever. She couldn’t understand how people lived so far away from everywhere. There was hardly anything to see, hardly any cars that filled the world with noise. It was too quiet. Only the quiet winds and a slight hint of thunder on the horizon. Looking in the far distance, Nikola noted that it would rain within the hour. The weather app on her phone had lied to her.

Not wanting to fly in weather capable of frying her insides, the woman sped across the sky as she traced the steps from so long ago. She had been teleported on the road not too far away from the farm yet this time around she was in the city. The difference in the starting point was worrying until she remembered the name. Floating down a few times to read the signs next to the street, she was quick to find the right place.

Even close to night, the farm was perfectly lit with lights all around. One of the perks of artificially accelerating crop growth, Nikola supposed. Nobody did it the normal way anymore.

The off-duty Hero was more than able to fly in over the walls yet Nikola did have some decency left in her heart. With a perfect landing, she stared at the guard beside the entrance. The face was familiar enough to trust that he’d been there during her initial entry to the farm so long ago.

“I take it, you know who I am?” Tesla questioned, the guard dumbly nodding in response. He didn’t even talk. “Good. I have come to investigate some recent claims for the sake of filling out an additional entry in the previous report about a certain altercation that happened inside the confines of this facility. If you would be oh so helpful, I need this gate to be opened up.”

The lack of action in the following seconds made the Hero tilt her head. A twist of her power made fair hairs start to rise before he finally relented, opening the gate up and allowing the woman to pass without issue. Sure, a bit of threat wasn’t the most optimal way to get inside but it was certainly something she could work with.

Surveying the area once again, Nikola couldn’t say the electromagnetic fields had anything different to say. They showed up in the usual ways expected of an area with heavy machinery. Even with most of them turned off, the passive engines that sat beside the farm were like the heaviest of metal to the woman’s ears. How the regular civilians survived having to live next to those things always confused her.

Moving along, there was no clear evidence of Seid having been around. She’d guessed it was him that had caused the recent disappearances of the criminals yet… there were no hints at that being the case on-site. If the Vigilante had been around, he’d hidden it well.

The waves of power that slightly shifted as Nikola took a few steps made her twist her head, seeing a camera directly pointed her way. They were looking at her, tracing her every step. Tesla didn’t mind too much, though the fact did give her a few ideas. Sending out a weak pulse, it seemed the number of cameras around was tremendous. Nearly every square metre of the farm had to have been on film constantly for the many past months.

Where were those camera feeds being stored anyway? Seeing no direct signs, Nikola resigned herself to asking at the administration building. It wasn’t like she could avoid going there anyway.

“Hey,” Tesla said, calling out one of the people standing by the administration desk. Looking at the back wall, she noted the picture of an absurdly old man. Squinting at the name, he was the owner. What kind of name was ‘Ulf Voss’ anyway? And with the late hour, there wasn’t any receptionist so the woman had to make do. “Where’s the CCTV operator room?”

“Oh, it’s down that hallway. There’s a name on the door. Just knock and somebody should open up,” the woman at the reception said readily, seeming to sort through some items in her handbag before moving out and towards the door.

That was certainly more helpful than expected. Looking towards the woman once more, Nikola had to wonder if they’d met before during the last altercation.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“What is your name?” Tesla questioned, trying to figure out if the face was meant to be recognized. She certainly couldn’t remember it.

“It’s Kara,” the woman answered, Nikola noting it was the same as what was on the nametag. “Do you need anything else? I’m hoping to get back to my apartment before the rain starts.”

“You can go,” Nikola assured her, watching the woman leave at a quick pace. She didn’t go towards one of the cars, however, instead going further into the farm. It wasn’t too strange, seeing as there were more than a few apartments for the workers, yet Tesla would have assumed that the woman had her own further away. She certainly seemed rich enough for such a thing when she had a designer shirt on.

Ignoring the weird interaction, Nikola moved further into the administration building, following the advice. Going down the hallway and reading the room signs, she was quick to find the operator's room. Giving it a quick set of knocks, the face of a tired man close to his thirties came along. Taking experience from the last interaction, Nikola read the nameplate on the shirt.

Ted Lutz. That was certainly not one of the people she’d interacted with before.

“Can I help you?” the man asked, clearly trying to hide the yawn coming out whether he liked it or not. Nikola ignored it, looking further inside the darkened room. Other than the cup of coffee at a table, it seemed one of the walls was filled with screens. “If you don’t have the clearance, you aren’t allowed to come in.”

“I’m one of the Heroes who dealt with an altercation that occurred on this farm a few months ago,” Nikola quickly explained. “Due to recent complications and rather distressing news, I have been sent back to investigate certain disappearances. This gives me full rights to look at the footage of common grounds. However, if you need to turn off the camera feeds of areas such as the doctor’s office or other restricted areas like it, you are in full rights to do so.”

“No… that won't be necessary,” Ted said, opening up the door and walking back to his seat to take another sip of his coffee. “I don’t think I can easily explain how the controls work so what do you need to see?”

“Just a mix of everything,” Nikola answered with a smile, sitting down next to the man who couldn’t be hurt by having a ten-hour nap. “Let’s just start at the, well, start.”

The next hour proceeded to be one of the most boring ones that Nikola had ever put herself through. Ted seemed entirely unfazed through it all, barely questioning when she wanted to see the common grounds every single day of every week. If anything, the man tried to teach her how to use the controls so he could grab a second cup of coffee while she continued. That failed, sadly, but they were able to make good progress.

“What are you even looking for?” Ted had to ask after a while.

“Anything unusual,” Nikola answered. “Something that doesn’t make sense.”

“Oh, we have a few notations about those,” Ted mentioned, the security guard going over to a box and bringing out a small notepad. “We had a pair of ducks two weeks ago, a drunkard four weeks ago, an unidentified grey-masked man wandering around four weeks ago, and a-”

“Wait,” Nikola cut in. “That grey-masked man. Run it into the system.”

The guard just shrugged before following along, putting in the time data for when it was meant to have occurred. The actual time-stamp seemed entirely foreign to the woman, using a nine-digit code that wasn’t any actual date from a calendar. Ignoring it, she watched through the footage.

“There’s a weird flash of blue on these screens for a while before we see him in the early morning,” Ted explained, reading from the notes about the incident. “After that, he seems to be questioning one of the workers about unusual occurrences and their connections to what he called ‘unethical matters.’ There was an attempt to send out guards to apprehend him but the masked man just disappeared into thin air after that. It was like he could Teleport.”

Yup. That was Seid without question. The suit was extremely damaged compared to the last time Nikola had seen it but that nuance of grey was not new to her eyes.

“Do you know him?” Ted asked. “Is that why you came here?”

“Maybe,” Nikola answered vaguely. “What happens after this?”

“We’re not entirely sure,” Ted said. “We see a few more flashes of blue on the cameras but nobody is stopped or anything. Nobody reported seeing him either so it’s likely that he went outside the farm after this.”

That couldn’t be right. One questioning was never enough for that fool.

“Play the next hours at a higher speed,” Nikola ordered, staring at the screen with the hopes of finding something. Yet there seemed to be nothing to find. People went about their days, working with machines, eating their lunches, taking walks… Now that was something.

“Stop,” Tesla said, Ted following her word. “Roll it about ten minutes back… there!”

An old man was standing next to a camera, nearly under it. The attached map placed the camera as sitting on a blank wall so exactly was he talking to? The face was obscured due to the weird angle yet the movement of the mouth was obvious enough. Making the guard play it back, there was nobody who moved to that spot. Either they teleported or they had a certain set of Wave-like powers that a certain Seid possessed. Continuing forth, the old man in question walked into an old barn, one that Nikola couldn’t seem to find any inside shots for.

“What is inside that building?” Nikola questioned.

“Almost nothing,” Ted answered. “It was used for dr- I mean, private matters but that stopped recently as well. Last I heard, nothing’s inside it other than a few empty storage containers. There are even plans to demolish it.”

That didn’t sit right with the woman. Nothing could be found other than those tapes, nothing that explained what the Vigilante had been doing. Seid had been inside the place weeks ago and had been doing unrelated things before it. Yet… he should have been back by now. Something was either keeping him in the area or something was making sure he didn’t leave. Maybe he couldn’t leave no matter what.

Taking a look inside the aforementioned barn, Tesla found nothing but the old containers. It was truly too old to be useful, the cement floor having cracked repeatedly through it. A few flowers were even growing through them, the brief bits of sunlight enough to survive on. Nikola didn’t understand it. Leaving the farm behind for the second time, the feeling of wrong still didn’t leave her.

Her clothes and backpack were still exactly where she left them. Changing the outfit to match the civilians, she checked the bus schedules before getting a call. It was Baldur.

“What is it?” Nikola asked as the call was answered.

“You’re back to active status. Get back to your post.”

The woman could do little else but widen her eyes as she took flight. The bus wouldn’t be quick enough. Nikola decided to just fly back, the thunderstorm not influencing her ideas in the slightest. She was back!