Harlow scanned the log over and over. That was it, The final piece of the puzzle that clicked everything together. Director Chow was a meta human himself, and not just that but he…he could clone objects? What did that mean? And why did they need to kidnap heroes?

Harlow took a step back, she couldn’t think. Everything in her vision was starting to blur together a little and she needed to sit down. Immediately. 

She felt a hand on her back as Black Star led her to sit down on the couch. “Okay, okay. So we just learned your boss is a meta human that’s cloning people for some nefarious reason…not a huge deal. Stuff happens all the time.” Harlow wanted to argue that this was not the time to joke, but she couldn’t. This was why she was framed? To hide some other crime that was going on the very walls she thought were built to protect people. How many heroes were kidnapped? How many were they planning on kidnapping? Which of the heroes that she talked to in the past year weren’t actually her friends? She felt another rock land her stomach, upsetting it further. 

She thought about her friends. Or at least, the ones she thought were her friends. Were they clones too? She couldn’t think clearly. She need a moment to collect her thoughts. 

“I’m gonna make you some tea, alright? We’ll figure out our next steps after, okay?” Black Star waited a moment for her to answer. When she didn’t, she didn’t push it and just went straight to the kitchen anyways. Again, Harlow heard water faintly in the distance. She closed her eyes, maybe listening to it and trying her breathing exercises would help. But she couldn’t commit. She just ended up opening her eyes and looking at the fabric of the couch she was looking at. 

“Cass?” She said it, but it was so quiet she wasn’t really sure she heard her. But she did, rushing back into the room while trying not to sprint. 

“Yeah? What’s up?” She asked, a little too quickly. “Do you need anything? Maybe we take a break and after a shower and a nap, you can-“ Harlow shook her head. 

“Can you read through the rest of the logs? Just…tell me what they say? Anything that could be useful?” Black Star frowned slightly. She looked behind her to the screen wall across from them. The notes and files were still plastered over all of the screens. It was a very clear reminder that they were not done. They would probably need to make a copy of each file and organize it better so they could get a good picture of what was going on. And technically, Harlow could do that with her mind alone. 

But she was kind of preoccupied at the moment. 

She wasn’t just thinking about how this plot had been boiling for a year at this point. No, she was also thinking about how many countless colleagues and friends had been cloned without their knowledge. And, what happened to the originals? Were those the bodies they saw in the lab. She felt her stomach tighten and knot, the thought that they had a literal chase scene and gunfight near the most vulnerable. 

What were they going to announce on Superhero Day? ”Ugh, I’m gonna be sick, why’d this happened to me~” She groaned, placing her head between her legs. The thoughts and feelings seemed to be chasing each other and her body was the playground. It made for the worst migraine and stomachache combination and it left her so nauseous she wasn’t sure she was gonna be able to stand for a while.

She felt something warm get placed on her head. It was the mug of tea that Black Star made. She was back at her desk, going through the files again. Harlow grabbed the mug, didn’t say anything for a moment while she drunk what was probably the first anything she’d had in several days now. She’d beginning to realize she’s sacrificed a lot to keep following this case.  It wasn’t like an official case, either. She’d made the decision to look into this, and now that she has answers she desperately wished she was back in her apartment.  

“I’m gonna let Lucia know about her brother.” Black Star said aloud. “At least, what we can glean from those files. It’s not much, but maybe it’ll give her some hope. Maybe we can ask for her help when we need it.” Harlow looked across the room at her for a while, still drinking her tea. Then, she realized what she said and choked on it.

“You’re gonna let her know!?!” She cried out. Black Star paused, then turned around. She looked like she couldn’t understand why that would be a terrible idea. “We don’t ‘know’ anything about her brother!! For all you know he could have escaped a while ago!!” Black Star opened her mouth to speak, then stopped. 

“It is very obvious that every villain that had been kidnapped, got kidnapped because they were being experimented on. I wouldn’t wager they let them live after what happened.” Harlow couldn’t believe what she was hearing. 

“And you think telling her that…might make her help us in the future? Not go mad and kill everybody!?” Harlow asked. Black Star gave her a small grin, but that was no consolation to the thoughts of a bunch of crazed puppets adding to the already jumbled mess in her head. Harlow put a hand to her forehead. “Oh gods, i think i need to lie down…” Black Star sighed and walked over to the couch. 

“You’re gonna lie down on the couch?” Black Star mused, already setting up the blankets that’d been left there, unused. 

“W-um…yes. Where else would i go?” She said back. She watched as Black Stars eyes trailed upward to the loft bedroom, and she scoffed loudly. Probably louder than she intended. “Do. NOT. Joke with me, Cassiopeia. I am more than capable of sleeping on a couch.” Black Star stepped back from preparing the couch, arms held up in surrender.  

“Heard you loud and clear, love. But that means you are going to sleep right? Like I said, we can figure it out tomorrow. I’m just gonna make a better organized file for all this so i can get my computer back.” She said. “If you want, there’s probably more clothes for you to switch into and-” she seemed to have finally notice the graze on Harlow’s cheek. Sweeping a hand over it, Harlow immediately jerked back, her head slamming into the wall with how much force she used.

“Haha, oops.” Black Star said, a grin slowly forming across her face. “I’ll get the first aid kits too.” Harlow grunted, rubbing the back of her head as Black Star walked away to grab the first aid kit. She grumbled to herself. Leave it to Black Star to be almost entirely unfazed by this monumental news and instead try to focus on…whatever she was focusing on. You know, instead of saving the city they both lived in. She grumbled more even when Black Star came and tended to her cheek wound. It was nothing big, just clean it up and put a bandaid over it. 

Harlow decided that that could wait. She needed to focus on the important matters and,  well, it’s not like she was going anywhere anytime soon. So, she did as she was asked. She took a shower, checked up on Black Star’s progress, then began to get ready for bed. Black Star was still typing away on a new file that would make it easier to check up on everything. She figured they could go over it tomorrow. Yeah, after she tells the Phantasm that her brother is dead…surely that will be a lovely encounter. 

She groaned internally, and reminded herself that she was gonna have to prepare to fight if need be.  She was going to have to do that anyway, because there was no way they were gonna be allowed to just ruin this year’s Superhero day. And they were definitely going to have to keep a lookout since they stole Gizzard’s research.  She turned over and over, getting herself comfortable on Black Star’s couch while the other continued to focus of the screens. It was funny, and eerily familiar to her.

Maybe, they’d talk about that at a later date. When they weren’t having to stop some crazy corporate scheme. 

And Harlow drifted off into a real sleep for the first time in three days. She’d have loved to have had a nice, pleasant dream and woke up the next morning in her apartment. That the previous events were fake, and she was just overworked and stressed and need a vacation. That would be nice. 

But instead, when she woke up it was to the haunting whispers of the Phantasm.