After the Avenger left, Aurora opened the tube he tossed over to her before he left. Inside was another usb drive. She pocketed it and turned her attention to Utility.
Inspecting his arm, she discovered that there was a fracture. Feeling her way through things, she tightened her fingers on his arm to get an idea of exactly where the break was. When she found it, she gently set the bone and weaved her healing energy around it to make sure he wouldn’t wake up with an arm that would have to be broken again only to reset it. She didn’t know much about medical issues, but since she had some healing ability, it was her duty to do what she could.
When finished, Aurora returned to the computer and plugged the drive in, queuing up the video footage inside. It had been edited, since it started right after Utility finished working on the last of the broadcasting generators.
A feminine figure descended onto the scene with a cape billowing behind her that was made from twisted wires. A hood joined to the cape prevented scrutiny of her face and she wore a dull metallic bodysuit, covering her from feet to hands.
Utility looked up in startlement at her, but the newcomer was the first to strike. She threw something at him that glinted in the sun. He tried to throw himself to the side and managed to make the hit a glancing one. The fight was brief from that point on. Her attacks were methodic and did a great deal of damage to the fledgeling hero. Every hit seemed to do more damage than they should have. He cried out each time he took a hit, though he managed to throw a lucky punch that caught her in her torso. It wasn’t effective, sadly. She acted like nothing happened. Finally, the figure knocked Utility unconscious and seized one of his legs to drag him off-camera.
Aurora frowned and winced. It’d be nice if Utility could answer questions, but it might not make much of a difference since he probably wouldn’t be able to tell her more than the footage of his capture.
Wondering most about what Mocha had thrown at Utility, she ran some enhancement programs on the video and she found after a few passes that what she threw was small and was the size of a box of matches. It wasn’t clear enough for her to identify what exactly she’d thrown. She initialized a few more heavy-duty enhancements and finally saw it with a dropped jaw.
It was a padlock with its latch removed. Aurora winced because those things can be extremely heavy. It was exactly like the padlocks on some of the chests back in the warehouse where the bug robot had attacked her. She needed an improvised weapon?! Or maybe was this some kind of a calling card like the Midnight Avenger’s pocket watches?
Aurora frowned. Why else lead with throwing one of those padlocks at Utility? It could have killed him if it hit his head. Was she serious about this attack, or was it a staged fight? Aurora glanced at Utility. If that had been the case, wouldn’t the Midnight Avenger have had him arrested? “Hmph…”
At that moment, Utility started to mutter, coming to. That ampule that Midnight Avenger gave him was supposed to keep him out, but…
Utility sat up and moaned, expressing pain. “Uh… what’s going on?” He nursed his arm, holding it across his chest.
“Hiya, sleeping um… beauty?” Aurora smiled. “I gave you some healing earlier. At least as much as I could. You were captured by the villain behind all this. What can you tell me about her. You saw her for a bit, right?”
Utility gulped when Aurora’s words were recalled to him, “Thanks for the rescue, Aurora. I was ambushed on the rooftop of the radio station. She threw something at me. I managed to get out of the way and it hit my arm, but… she calls herself ‘Mechanica.’ I know, because she kept calling me Midnight Avenger. When I tried to punch her, it was like punching a wall, and it was creepy. She’s ridiculously tough. You need to be careful with her. I only woke up once she had me. She was arguing with some guy, at least from what I could make out.” He shook his head and reached his head up to his mask, realizing it was partially rolled up.
“AHHHHH!” He screamed. “My identity!” He gasped and pulled his mask down.
Aurora giggled. “Midnight Avenger had a peek…”
“THE REAL ONE? HE LOOKED?!” Utility freaked out, muttering.
“I wasn’t done speaking. At your lower face.” Aurora grinned. “It wasn’t enough to guess your identity. He poured some medicine into your mouth. But you can thank him for rescuing you. If it weren’t for him, the bombs at the bridge might have gone off and taken you with it. I made the wrong call. Thanks to his assistance, you’re alive. I wouldn’t hate him. Honestly, I think of myself as being tech-savvy, but that’s what you and MA do best, but then he got good at a bit of everything, I think.”
Utility gaped and nodded, shaking his head.
“Back on the subject,” Aurora asked, “Did she seem to be kinda inhuman? What do you think? Was she a robot?”
Utility frowned and nodded. “That would explain what happened when I hit her. But her voice didn’t sound a thing like a robot. She was angry. Really angry, and Mr. Mechanical didn’t seem very happy with her either.”
Aurora focused on Utility’s statement and asked, “Wait… the way you’re talking about what happened, are you trying to say that the real Mr. Mechanical was with Mechanica?”
Ouch. They had something like a parent and child relationship. Moreover, the robot that Aurora had caught in the first fight had real emotions. It didn’t seem to be a programmed routine. The guy got outraged when insulted and had a heck of an ego. He was a perfect copy of Harlan, probably, right down to his emotions and thoughts. This didn’t prove that Mocha was a robot, though.
Utility responded, “I never saw him, but I recognized his voice from the incident before when he spoke with a loudspeaker to the city. He was gassing on about how she was taking half-measures and she was complaining that she didn’t want anyone else to go through what she went through. Honestly, it sounded like she lost someone close to her. Some family, maybe. And to Vanguard and the Avenger.”
Aurora’s eyes narrowed. A vendetta for Harlan’s death? Or was he somehow alive? Had he recorded his mind and uploaded it into a robot? Aurora sighed and commented, “Oh, that’s sad. Even the best can make bad choices when they’re affected by loss and pain. It’s nice that she doesn’t want anyone to be hurt, although her actions could lead to it happening. It’s inevitable if she continues.”
Changing the subject, Aurora asked another question, “Can you tell me anything about where you were held?”
“Not really,” Utility responded hesitantly, “I was pretty badly hurt when she caught me and I wasn’t thinking clearly. All I know is that it was cold. I can’t give you much more than that. But, how did I get here, anyhow? Where are we? Is this somewhere inside the bridge? Maybe inside the utility controls?”
Aurora chuckled. “The Society of Sentinel’s clubhouse-to-be base. A safehouse or a base of sorts. Knowing that I would need a decent computer, Vanguard hooked me up. It helps me do a little more superhero stuff. I couldn’t do much with a normal computer and the standard communicator doesn’t have a usb port, even if it’s a powerful little thing.”
“Anyhow, I’ll tell you something else,” Aurora winked as she went on, “the Midnight Avenger said you were a hero, so I trust his judgement. The problem is that you’re not an official member of the Society, yet. I’m not sure yet that I can trust you with the knowledge of where we are. But, do you think you’re feeling well enough to help me with some detective work? The next step in this investigation is to find Mechanica. I might be a few steps behind her.”
Utility nodded. “I’ll do what I can. If you need to blindfold me or something, I’ll understand.”
Aurora nodded and smiled warmly. “For now let’s check out the clues and files on this computer.”
Utility stood and walked over. Aurora stood and gestured to the chair. Nodding, Utility took a seat and started checking out the computer. “Nice… customized OS and everything. Wow, I do want to be a part of the Society!” He looked a moment through the system to familiarize himself with it. He was moving his arm almost as though nothing had happened to it, although he did wince now and again while his fingers moved.
Soon enough he had called up a series of files and started musing while looking through old schematics of Mr. Mechanical’s robots, “Does Mechanica have all this stuff already made, I wonder? Or is she making it all on the fly? Hmmm… I’m thinking the former is likely because ain’t no way she’s spent a lot of time working on this stuff. But, it’s all too retro to be new.”
“You’d be surprised, Uti,” Aurora replied, chuckling. “Some of the stuff she’s been using lately has been less retro. In short, it’s not to Mr. Mechanical’s tastes, even if it’s his tech. This fact implies that she’s been adding onto older models she got her hands on.”
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Utility nodded. “Okay, then we should look for… hmmm… the place I was in looked big enough to have manufacturing equipment in it. She’s not casting these chassis herself. It’s got to be getting made somewhere if some of it’s new. Let me see if I can find some potential locations.”
While Utility searched, Aurora’s communicator beeped. She slipped it out of its pocket and read.
What happened? I have some witnesses saying you blazed onto the
scene, took off and exploded a bunch of robots at the bridge. Is
everything alright?
It was from Kirby. Aurora tip-tapped a response.
I’m fine and the bridge is safe. There were bombs that were defused by
the Midnight Avenger, and a captured hero was recovered, Utility.
Do you remember what I said about him?
Even though the bridge is safe again, we’re not done yet by a
longshot. I’m tracking down where the villain’s hiding.
On a personal note, please tell me how Sarah Namias is doing.
I’d appreciate knowing where you intend to hold her.
It was only another moment before Kirby’s response came.
I’ve got no idea. We got hit by a gas attack during the march of the
robots. I’m just getting up now from it. Haven’t been in contact with
anyone. I’ll check and message you back.
Utility started commenting, “Okay, so nothing unusual has been found in terms of finding a secret factory, but I know someone who we might be able to call for help. My cell doesn’t seem to get reception in here, though.” He held up his cellphone. “And, I can’t figure out how to get a messenger program setup on your computer. Where’s the exit? I wanna give my contact a call.”
Aurora nodded and gestured towards the hallway. “That way. It’s a bit of a hike, though. While you’re doing that, I’ll check with Detective Kirby.” Kirby was kind of vague about where he was, although it could be that he was taken down by the Midnight Avenger when he showed up because he said he knocked out some police to protect them. But if Kirby was at the precinct when it happened, could it be that Mechanica was after Mr. Mechanical’s head that was impounded? That would be one reason why she was able to talk to Mr. Mechanical.
“Actually, let’s go to the Police Department,” Aurora mused. “I’d like your contact information, in case something happens again.” Smiling wryly, Aurora extended a hand to Utility and formed a blindfold around his eyes. She wrapped him up in her aura and halo to carry him outside, slung over her shoulder again. It was for the best since the secrecy of the location of the clubhouse-to-be had to remain a secret until Utility was formally inducted.
When she left the tunnel, Aurora leapt into the air, spreading her wings as she made her way to the precinct building.
When they were far enough from the base, Aurora dissolved the halo around Utility and set him down. He asked questions right away, casting his eyes around he saw the sign over the entrance and looked at Aurora with a sigh. “What makes you think Mechanica hit the police department?”
Aurora chuckled and scratched her head, blushing. The place looked just as old and dirty as ever. They probably hadn’t been hit, after all. “Ehe… Kirby was a bit unclear about his position. I thought Mechanica might have rescued the robot's head that I um... impounded here. It was another clone of Mr. Mechanical and he was a pain in the butt. I can’t imagine there being more than one copy of that guy walking around. I arrested that thing after Mechanica captured you on the radio tower back when I fought that robot when he was piloting one of those huge robots. Anyhow, I put an end to it all. So back when you mentioned recognizing Mr. Mechanical, that kind of implies that there really might be copies of him. Just a platoon of that guy rampaging with the man's ego would be a worse evil than anything else I've ever seen or heard of.” Sweat drops.
Utility nodded, barely understanding a word Aurora said.
Aurora shrugged and left Utility dumbfounded outside as she ran inside to speak with a desk sergeant inside. The man at the front desk smiled when Aurora made her entrance.
“Do you know where Detective Kirby is right now?” Aurora asked.
“He’s out at the Glass Bridge.” More sweat drops. The Midnight Avenger had knocked out Kirby of all the police in the city and likely everyone else who was with him. Aurora nearly broke into laughter, but the sergeant offered helpfully, “I can check and see if he’s on his way back, if you’d like.”
“It’s fine. I’m sure he’s busy with cleaning up. More importantly, can you give me an update on Sarah Namias’ situation? She was taken into custody at her school during the attack.”
The sergeant nodded and answered, “I’ll see if there’s been an update.”
Utility walked inside, grumbling. “Maybe they broke my phone! SHIT!” He stamped over to a nearby set of phone booths that were practically antiques.
“Hmmm…” The sergeant commented, “No answer came from the unis. I’m trying to track their position with dispatch… hrmmm... There’s something about a minor being picked up in conjunction with metahuman crimes. All I can say is that they still have custody of her.”
Aurora blinked. “Where?” She slapped her hands onto his desk.
Blinking, the man answered, shaking his head, “It says they took her to an ‘undisclosed location,’ so only Kirby or the officers who were involved would know.”
Aurora sighed, near to groaning. She glanced at Utility, seeing he was still busily talking in a soundproof booth.
The sergeant answered her question, “Dispatch is updating their last known location. Want the address we have?”
Aurora beamed at the man, nodding. “Please. I’ll check with Kirby, too.”
