I returned to my table. The pieces of the pants laid out on it. I had left most of the stuff out before I left so I would be able to return to it. But before I did so I ran the program that Caleb had given me. I plugged in the USB device to my computer and ran the executable on it. It would do a complete run-through and scan of my computer including all files, applications, machines, and other external devices attached such as my cameras and their security system that ran through it. The program popped up a window and it would begin looking through everything for malicious code soon. It would take some time to go through all of the several terabytes of system storage. While I waited I would finish the first version of the pants. If they proved comfortable and functioned okay then I would add making more to my list of stuff to make in the warehouse. After everything else of course.

I looked over the pieces of the pants. The heat-resistant parts were finished and so was most of the web work. I brought the pieces over to the sewing machine where I got to work stitching the jeans back together. I had gotten better with it after working with the gloves for Tabitha’s gloves and doing the other project when they required the sewing machine. It also helped that it was similar to my previous world’s sewing machine. I had used an older one from my mother to sew up holes in my clothes before and fix buttons as well. This industrial-designed one just had a few more bells and whistles and had a sturdy foot pedal I stepped on to make the thing run when I had the fabrics set up. The industrial sewing machine also had the perk of being able to use stronger threads when stitching which made sure the seams would never break.

As I worked on the sewing I began working on adding the smaller pieces back onto it as well. I worked to make sure that all of the stitching lined up as best I could. This part in addition to the new weight would tell people with an observant eye that the jeans had been modified. After I finished sewing the last piece on I checked it a few times and made sure that I hadn’t misplaced anything and had done the stitching correctly. I put the completed jeans down and was happy with how they turned out. In a final step for completion, I tried them on.

They felt a bit stiff when I first tried to put them on, likely because of the chemicals I had put on them. The chemicals didn’t add any unusual smells to the jeans, and they would be pretty straightforward to clean. Just like the hoodie, I would need to manually clean them because they couldn’t be washed with my regular clothes. Beyond that small set back they should be a good addition to my items. After wearing them for a minute they felt fine and did not feel uncomfortable. They had a slight bit of added weight, but it did not change the fit of the jeans. I walked around with them for another minute and felt myself liking them even more. I could barely feel the added structure from the artificial spider webbing that now ran through every part of the jeans.

I kept them on for the rest of the day and set aside my old pair of jeans. I would have to make them into an upgraded set along with at least one more pair. I returned to the metal tables after walking around in the new jeans for a few minutes and began cleaning up the mess I had made. I worked on shutting off the sewing machine and returning the other tools to their designated spots.

I looked back at the computer. The screen was flashing with a message over and over again. It looked like the program was finished running. I ran back over to take a look.

The message read: ‘Caleb’s Anti-Viral Scan Program has completed its diagnostic. Click here to see the results. I did just that. The program spat out its results and organized them into two categories. The first category was files from within the computer and applications that may have stuff wrong with them. The second was problems reported by the machines and cameras connected externally to the computer. The possible error rate for false positives was much higher for this second category because of its disconnected nature to the main computer.

I opened up the files and applications report first and read through it. The applications reported that nothing had tampered with them and that no plug-ins that could be considered malicious had been installed. That was sadly not the case for the files. The program had isolated several corrupted files and the malware program but could not repair the damaged files. I read through the names of the damaged files to try and find out why they were targeted.

The files damaged were mostly blueprints with a few being reports made some time ago. It was hard to tell what the reports were because they only had a date and number attached. The blueprints on the other hand were labeled much nicer. There was a mix of blueprint files that got corrupted. Some were equipment while others were parts of suit files. There was even one blueprint file from Rachel’s older version Legacy suit that was damaged. I began scrolling through the over one hundred blueprint files that had been damaged. As I scrolled close to the bottom I found one I had worked on last week. The ‘QuickStep Shoes’ and some related files had been corrupted.

Luckily I had the files copied to my home computer as well. As long as they weren’t also damaged I would be able to copy them back over. If they were also damaged at home I wasn’t sure what I would do. I had only made them twice. That would not help me make them again. Especially if I had to recreate all of the laser cutting files and outlines again. Using the foot mold would be a great thing to get me started on making a complete remake, but I had no idea how long it would take. And if I had to remake any of the other equipment or suit pieces soon it could become an even bigger problem depending on the part.

I copied the list of corrupted files to my phone before having the computer delete them. I would have to go over the list later to check my home computer and to see what similarities I could find in the removed files. Whoever got inside likely could have wiped the whole computer. Instead, they only removed some of the files. It all seemed so unnecessary and strange.

I wished I didn’t have to wait so long for Caleb’s report. The wait for his work to be finished was killing me. Ever since I had been in this world it had gone great for the most part after some adjustments but after that first week I felt like the responsibilities and past of my old self were coming to crash back to haunt me. I had work assignments I couldn’t reasonably complete without being ousted as a fraud, I had been to the hospital once, and now I had a stalker who likely knows me more than I do and has motives I can only guess at. I guess things couldn’t be expected to go smoothly when the portal opened but it was still so frustrating.

I moved on to the external files. I had finished looking over the other parts and there was nothing else I could do for them except wait till I was home. The first bullet point of the external files listed my machines connected to the warehouse and computer’s network. Their checkmarks were all green and indicated that they had not been tampered with. That was a good sign. If I had to replace one of the industrial-level machines in the warehouse I’m not sure what I would do with myself. The next bullet points were for the security systems. They were almost all marked red for non-functioning or orange for some level of tampering. The entire security system had been downgraded in functionality from a proud German Shepherd to a little chihuahua that barks but have a weak bite. The programs were now working or restoring power and functionality to the security system now that it had finished running its checks. I looked through the list of tampered items and saw that the cameras were on that list. Usually, the camera’s footage would be sent to the warehouse computer server and backed up on my office computer. I added it to my list of things to check when I got home.

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At the end of the reports was an automated suggestion message from Caleb. The message read: ‘Please send reports Here if damages were found. I can better give an analysis of the problem after reading the reports. If you have any other questions contact me at XXX-XXX-XXXX’. I clicked the link on the program, and it had prepared a filled-out message already with the report attached I looked over the message and send it. I had a good feeling about Caleb and felt he could help me after our meeting earlier in the day. If I was going to find out what I wanted to know then I would need to put trust in his superpower and expertise.

I watched the progress bar on the reinstall of the security software tick up slowly. I had nothing else to do today except start on Rachel’s costume once more, but it was getting late, and I had work to do at home. I grabbed my stuff and locked up my warehouse for the evening.

I drove home and as soon as I got inside I ran downstairs to my office computer and started Caleb’s program on it as well. I returned upstairs while I waited. I started my evening routine and got myself dinner. Not much later my thought went to my bed and to sleep. I decided I would leave the application and its reports for tomorrow.

<-0-0-0-0-0->

The next day I woke up and went through my morning routine before returning to my computer I had left running overnight. I clicked through the messages quickly until I saw the report. I started scrolling through them.

The state of my office computer was much better. From what I could tell whoever had gone through my warehouse computer had not tampered with this computer yet. I wasn’t sure whether it was because of the timing of things or because of the security afforded by my home as opposed to the warehouse. They both had a different style of security to one another.

With the program finished with its job I closed out of it and began going through my files. I used the USB that had contained the program to copy files over to the warehouse computer. It took some time to search for each of the files on the computer and find where my old self had organized them into. It was one of the tasks I had forgotten to do or add to the list because of my schedule. I had reorganized the warehouse storage and the computer there, but I had not taken much time to work on stuff at home. Franky, I wasn’t home for much other than a late dinner, sleep, and an early breakfast.

I moved on to the camera footage next. I decided not to copy it all back over to the server because it was way too much footage, and I knew most of it would be uninteresting. I instead decided to scrub through the footage starting with the most recent to the latest occurrence. The footage that had been deleted started from the first Saturday I had been on this world until the time I ran Caleb’s program. After that point, the cameras had been recent and weren’t sending corrupted footage to the server. From what I could tell from the malware it had been corrupting stuff very carefully. I could still use the cameras as I had for the past week but as soon as the image on the screen was gone it was gone from the warehouse computer’s memory. It was even advanced enough to bypass the computer so that it would not report anything wrong until Caleb’s program had tested it and found the problem.

I opened up the camera’s logs on my computer and clicked on yesterday’s videos before starting to scrub the video backward. It showed my warehouse exterior in glorious 720P. I let it run for a minute as it went through the day’s events in reverse and showed an unchanging image until it didn’t anymore.

I slowed the video a bit as I saw the form of someone leaving the warehouse on foot that was not me and had occurred during the two hours when I had been gone with Rachel and Caleb. The person’s face was unclear and obscured during the footage and no matter what camera I switched to their face could not be seen and their form was further hidden by several layers of clothing. They also wore boots that raised their height until they were at least six foot five while wearing them. It successfully prevented me from getting a good estimate of their height. I moved on to the single interior camera pointed towards the back of the warehouse. The stranger walked over to the computer and did something I couldn’t see before looking at my workstation and storage before finally leaving. It gave me little information once again beside the obvious fact that my computer had been hacked. I was glad that they hadn’t taken to damaging anything in my storage, machines, or jean project I hadn’t finished at the time.

I saved the footage before moving on to other footage. I had to jump back in time a bit more to find the next appearance of the mysterious stranger still dressed up in all black. This time they had appeared late at night shortly after I had left from breaking open the box. They once again entered without a problem and were doing stuff on my computer. This time though I could see some of the steps they took more clearly. They had brought out a USB device or something similar to it from their pocket and did something to the computer. I wasn’t sure if that was how they put the malware on the computer or if they were just copying some of my confidential files for their own use. Maybe some of both. I copied this video as well.

I moved on to the third and final video I could find of the person. Beyond the clip, I saw no other video of people standing near the warehouse that shouldn’t have been there. This final video took place on Thursday after I had left with Nate. The mysterious person was shown to wear the same get-up as before but didn’t go inside the building. Instead, they seemed to be scouting it out and taking information about it. At one point they even brought out a camera to take pictures of the entire exterior of the building. This video was the only one that took place during the day which made it the most useful footage but the most useless at the same time. The sunny day lit the footage clearly, but it also highlighted something that wasn’t shown in the black and white footage of the other camera scenes. The mix of scarves, jackets, hats, and boots that made up the multiple layers of clothing helped to disguise the form or the wearing but also held another function for daytime cameras. As the person moved around the outside of the warehouse their body seemed to shift and blur like the footage of just them was being displayed through an old tube TV. I wasn’t entirely sure though that it was an effect of the clothes or maybe it was a superpower. Regardless it was a strange phenomenon that I needed to make note of.

I saved the final footage after checking the rest and then sent it to Caleb’s email that had received the software reports. Hopefully, he would have more information to gather about the footage and could tell me more about who the person in the footage was and how they pulled off the tricks they did.

Scrubbing through the footage had taken a while and I was getting hungry for lunch. I went upstairs and checked the fridge. My stocks of food had dropped a bit more than I would have liked. I was still able to make a decent meal. As I ate lunch I pulled out my phone and looked through an app on my phone that showed food I could get at the grocery store. I made up a list on the app and set it to be delivered in time for dinner.

As I checked my phone I saw the time I realized that I was late soon if I wasn’t already. Tabitha had reminded me to pull up the news channel on TV to watch her first excursion as Legacy. I thought it would be exciting to watch and I could see how she would do facing someone else who did not have a similar power set. I was also interested in seeing how she used her powers. I looked her up on the news and found the cable channel I needed to watch. I memorized the channel name and moved over to the couch. The broadcast was already underway and was showing footage of Tabitha throwing some guy through a brick wall.