Ruined family

Ground Zero (rough draft v2)

Josh sat in the locker room, his body and mind equally exhausted. He had showered and was ready to leave, in Civilian clothes but still had his Hero face, like on previous day shifts he would let AISYS change it on the way out, putting his moto helmet on and changing his bikes look before leaving never letting anymore see enough to piece the ID's together, as far as most everyone knew this was his real face and he just didn't care to hide it during patrol. His eyes met Shadowbane's in the mirror. The veteran hero gave him a nod before leaving the room. A simple acknowledgment, but it meant the world to Josh.

"AISYS, can you summarize that police report about Felicia now? We're alone," he said, still staring at the empty space Shadowbane had occupied seconds ago.

"Of course," AISYS began, her voice taking on a somber tone. "When Felicia was 19, she filed a police report detailing a particularly devastating home invasion. She was staying at her parents' house during a college break. Voltara staged the invasion, targeting the house explicitly to steal confidential documents her father had, he was a scientist working on a classified project. In the chaos, both her parents were severely injured, both currently in a coma, and her younger brother died. Felicia herself was left traumatized but physically unharmed."

Josh felt his heart plummet into his stomach. "And Voltara was responsible?"

"Yes, the modus operandi matches Voltara's current tactics, and Felicia identified her in the report. This appears to be the most impactful event where Voltara ruined Felicia's life directly. It's also one of the first siteings of Voltara we have and all the previous ones where much more mundane, in fact up until this point Voltara's crimes were small enough the Hero Agency would have been willing to openly recruit her, with conditions of employment of course but pretty light ones all told, probably without very much rebranding, they would have likely played up the redemption angle they tend to with minor offenders."

"Ground zero," Josh murmured, putting his gloves back on. "I'm going there. AISYS plot a route."

"Understood."

Josh swung his leg over his motorcycle, revved the engine, and sped off toward the now-abandoned house that once belonged to Felicia's family. His heart was pounding in his chest as he parked the bike and walked around the property, scanning the scene.

The house was a decrepit shell, a sad monument to a broken family. Broken windows stared blankly out at the world, and the lawn was a tangled mess of weeds. Josh started his examination from the outside, slowly working his way in. This place according to the files was supposed to be held in escrow, with a care taker, until Felicia decided to take ownership or her parents came out of coma, but it looked like no ones even mowed the yard since the incident. "AISYS what happened here, the files said it was getting cared for? Who's supposed to be doing it?"

"One second. Hmmm. Well that's interesting, Josh the Bank and Escrow company is the same one that Voltara was planning to rob, and the Care taker company supposedly rents a space in that same building but I'm not finding any evidence they're anything more than a shell corp."

"Ok, that's interesting, we may need to pay them a visit and remind them of their responsibilities before dropping a line to the Feds."

He collected whatever he could—old photographs, diaries, trinkets that might have meant something to Felicia. Every find was meticulously scanned by AISYS, adding data points to the puzzle for analysis she was running in the background. There was even an old camcorder, battery dead, but for AISYS it was a simple matter to gather the data from it.

"Josh, I have enough data to start another comprehensive analysis," AISYS broke in as he continued to explore the ruined building, The place felt even bigger from the inside, the street view was deceptive. "You should go home and get some rest. The detective training in your dreams will make your next search more effective. Plus, I need to work on fixing your body's inability to pull all-nighters without chemical help."

"But Felicia—"

"We will find her, Josh. But you won't be any help to her or yourself if you're running on empty. Your mind needs to be sharp, and I can help you get there."

Josh hesitated, then nodded, climbing back onto his motorcycle. As he revved the engine and pulled away, he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. For the first time since AISYS pumped him full of adrenaline he was eager to sleep—because the woman he loved needed him to be better, to be smarter, to be more than he was right now.

And so, he sped off into the dawn, his heart was heavy but resolute.