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After I finished lounging around, enjoying the side benefits of my labor, I decided that I needed to burn off some stress. Between the most recent fight and the encroaching potential issues with the E88, I could feel the anxiety clawing at my spine and brain. So, I spent the rest of the day working out some of my stress by building up my compound. It was therapeutic to build something that had no focus on violence or my work as a hero, and turning my little corner of the forest into something impressive was fun. It also took my mind off the fight I had just survived and the oncoming storm of potential issues.

First, I used the same ritual as before to create another pile of metal-reinforced acorns, the strengthened seeds accepting the ritual perfectly. In fact, they turned out even better than the first batch because Kali was watching over the ritual, poking and prodding at it. These little acorns had come in handy a lot, so not only did I store a few in my jacket, but I also let Troy absorb a few, holding them around his core. When I was done with that, I got to work.

The first thing I did was grow a handful of living spaces, four in total. I grew them even further into the ground than mine, letting me expand them slightly. Each had two bunk beds, leaving very little room for anything else but having space for four people in each one. It was tight, but I didn't intend for them to be places where people gathered. Instead, I grew a gathering place outside, creating a platform with two trees on either side, forming chairs and tables, and finishing it up by weaving a canopy over them.

Next, I grew a set of showers and a bathroom mimicking my own, including the ritualized parts. While I was still on the fence about bringing people to the compound, it was a clear and obvious choice to relocate a group if something went wrong. Sixteen beds were not nearly enough to house the homeless community, but it was a start.

My final project of the day, and kind of my pièce de résistance, was a large hot tub. It had temperature controls and even circulating, bubbling water, though I struggled and ultimately failed to integrate water jets. Still, it was relaxing as all hell, and since the water was self-filling, self-cleaning, and self-heating, I didn't have to worry about it, even on those bitter winter days, which, so far, Brockton Bay seemed to completely lack.

I finished the night with a long soak in my new hot tub, the area lit up by my little glass bottle lights, before sleeping soundly in my bed.

The next morning, I woke up and quickly got dressed, heading into town. I had spent enough time relaxing and unwinding from my fight, now it was time to deal with the consequences. As I got to the more populated areas of town, people stared and pointed, clearly shocked to see me with what they thought was no mask. I couldn't help but smirk and wave.

My first task was visiting the hospital and the PRT. While I was at the latter, I asked for a conversation with someone from the Protectorate. I needed to know if they had discussed changing patrols now that Lung was in custody. Of course, people were staring and surprised to see my actual face there as well, but nobody commented on it, though there were plenty of whispers.

As I waited, I could see that the PRT was a hive of activity. There were at least double the amount of officers hanging around, all of them armed and on edge. It wasn't exactly difficult to connect the dots between the raised alert level and the fact that Lung and Oni Lee were somewhere in the building.

Eventually, Miss Militia stopped by, guiding me into a conference room near the entrance. She was carrying a messenger tube, and she stopped when she saw me without a mask.

"Arcanum… no mask?" She asked, sounding worried. "That… I hope you really thought that through, assuming you came here like that. Your family-"

"It's okay, I'm still wearing my mask," I assured her, tapping my face, my fingers rapping on the invisible copper. "See? You might be able to see my face, but as long as I'm still wearing the mask, my identity is safe. Some more tinker tech."

"I… Are you certain it works?" She asks. "How does it work?"

"It separates my Arcanum persona from my real civilian identity," I explained. "And before you ask, it is non-invasive. I know how understandably serious you guys take mind-altering stuff. Just add a minor stranger power to the bag."

For a moment, Miss Militia looked like she was going to continue asking questions. Then she seemed to remember this meeting had a point and that she was still holding a messenger tube. She shook her head a bit before nodding.

"Alright, if you're are certain. Now, Director Piggot has agreed that, with Lung and Lee gone, pushing patrols deeper into ABB territory is a good idea," she explained before pulling out a map of Brockton from her messenger tube and laying it out on the table. "Unfortunately, we don't have the resources to patrol the entire space."

"Understandable. Any help will make the job easier for Crow and myself, as well as anyone we can bring in on the job," I explained. "How much are you guys good for?"

Pulling out a marker from her pocket, Miss Militia drew out a quick outline of the territories that the PRT general patrolled, also marking out Empire territory and what was still technically ABB territory. She also marked the trainyard area out and marked it with an M.

"What's that?" I asked with a frown. "I thought that the ABB owned the trainyards."

"That's Merchant territory," She explained. "Have you not heard of them?"

"I've heard about them, I just didn't realize they held territory," I responded with a frown. "Are they likely to push for more?"

"They only claimed the trainyards because no one else wanted them," The Protectorate hero explained. "Last we heard, they only have two capes, but their leader, Skidmark, he is ambitious. He might be a problem, especially since the second cape is a Tinker."

"Fantastic. Well, I'll keep my eye out for them."

Miss Militia gave me an understanding pat on my shoulder before finally drawing out what area the Protectorate would be expanding into. It was a chunk of space, mostly residentials, directly connected to the space that they already heavily patrolled. While it wasn't as much space as I had hoped, it was more than I had feared. In total, it was a little under half of ABB's territory, probably around two-fifths.

"I'm sorry it's not more space, but the Protectorate has a lot of responsibilities, and stretching ourselves too thin would make us incredibly vulnerable. We can't afford to be in that position."

"Well… it's much better than nothing," I responded with a shrug. "We will just have to make it work. I just hope that New Wave is willing to chip in. Have you had any communications with them since… everything?"

"No, and it's starting to worry the Director," She admitted, capping her pen and rolling up the map. "They have been less active as a whole since Fleur was killed, but they have been instrumental in keeping the E88 in check. If the New Wave falls apart…"

"It won't be pretty," I said with a frown. "Dammit, setting up this meeting is gonna be more important than I thought. Alright. If everything goes well, I'll recommend that they get in touch with you to talk about what's going on. Assuming they want to meet at all."

"That would be much appreciated."

She finished rolling up the map before sliding it and a pair of markers into the messenger tube. She then handed that to me, which I happily accepted.

"Director Piggot wanted to make sure you had a good idea of what we were doing, so keep this to keep track," She explained, gesturing to the tube. "Keep us updated, and good luck."

"I will, and thank you."

I left not long after that, though I didn't go far. I stopped by a bench at the front entrance, quickly sitting down and pulling out my prepaid cell phone. A quick search through my contacts, and I found who I was looking for.

"Arcanum? Is that you?" Olivia asked through the cheap phone. "What's up?"

"Are you alone?" I asked. "Somewhere you can talk about private things?"

"Yeah, I'm good," She confirmed casually. "Everything okay?"

"About as good as I could hope for," I responded. "The Protectorate has agreed to extend their patrols into ABB territory. A good two-fifths of it."

"That just leaves three-fifths for us to cover," She responded, her tone sounding contemplative. "That's too much for us alone, I assume?"

"Very much so," I confirmed. "I can patrol a lot of space at once because of my abilities, but we need more people. I'm going to call New Wave and try to set up a meeting. Is that something you are interested in attending?"

"No, definitely not," She responded emphatically. "That sounds like something that requires a delicate touch, and you know I won't be able to stop myself from being sarcastic and scathing."

"It's part of your charm," I assured her with a smirk, though she couldn't see it. "I'll call you later to tell you how it went. Let me know if anything pops up while I'm gone."

"Will do, Arc."

We said our goodbyes, and I hung up, immediately dialing Sarah Pelham's number. She answered almost immediately.

"Arcanum, this is Sarah Pelham. What can I do for you?" The older woman asked, her tone polite. I could also hear the surprise in her voice, though she was working hard to keep it to a minimum.

"Hello, Mrs Pelham. I hope everything is going well." I greeted before diving into what I wanted. "I'm calling because I want to set up a meeting with New Wave. There are some things I would like to discuss with your team. Is there any way that could happen?"

"Of course, Arcanum. After what you did for us, a meeting with the team is the least we could do," She said with an eager energy, though I could hear interest as well.

I winced at her mention of a debt. While I would really rather not drag them to the table, or even worse, into agreeing to help because they thought they owed me, this was too important not to accept the advantage.

"Is there anywhere you would prefer to meet?" I asked.

"...We have a team meeting room at the Dallon's house," She admitted. "Would you be comfortable going there?"

"I… not to ask about anything private, but what about Carol?" I asked. "I don't think she would appreciate me in her home."

"Don't worry, she won't be an issue," The hero mother vaguely assured me. "How urgently are you looking to meet?"

"Today, if possible," I responded with a wince. "I know it's sudden, but I wouldn't ask If it wasn't important."

"We can make it work," She said confidently. "Five o'clock?"

"That works for me, I'll be there."

She agreed, texting me the address after we hung up. Seeing that it still wasn't even noon, it was time to go on patrol. While it was unlikely that the E88 would start pushing today since they would still need more time to confirm and plan, I still needed to be ready just in case. I sent a message to Olivia that I was going on patrol, and she messaged back asking where she should meet her. Just an hour later, she was sitting side saddle on Troy as I walked beside him. I greeted people as we walked by, smiling and waving, raising the flag as much as I could. I wanted people to know that we were in the area. It was clear that the news that Lung was in prison hadn't spread very far, as we got a lot of worried looks.

Olivia had reacted similarly to Miss Militia when she first saw me walking around with no mask, but while the Protectorate heroine took a bit of convincing and still didn't quite believe me. Olivia took my word for it immediately. After all, she was wearing proof of just how powerful and weird my rituals could get.

As we walked around ABB territory, we both spotted more than a few people watching us closer than the rest. Neither of us were positive, but Olivia felt pretty confident that they were ABB scouts keeping an eye on us. The gang might have lost their heavy-hitting capes, but the members were still there, and they seemed to be determined to hang on, though we didn't see much trouble. It was possible that the gang was laying low, or they didn't want to mess with the guy who took down their boss. Either way, save for a small-scale mugging and one dealer who didn't seem to have gotten the memo, everything was pretty calm.

After patrolling for a while, flying the flag, and making our way through a good chunk of "our" part of ABB territory, Olivia and I went our separate ways, and I started making my way toward the Dallons address.

I arrived at the home just before five, leaving Troy in the driveway and walking up to the front door. I was about to knock, desperately praying that Mrs Pelham had been serious when she said Carol wouldn't be a problem, when the door opened up, revealing Victoria on the other side.

"Come- wait! You're not wearing a mask!" She said, the smile on her face transformed into wide eyes and a hanging jaw. "Did you go public?"

"Uh, no. I was sick and tired of not being able to connect to people properly because they couldn't see my expressions, so I tinkered up some stranger powers," I explained with a shrug. "Basically, as long as I'm wearing my mask, people can't connect my civilian identity and this one."

I emphasize my point by reaching out and tapping my mask, the same way I had with Miss Militia. Before the teenage hero could launch into another question, another voice called from inside.

"Vicky, let him inside!"

A slightly older woman, a younger version of Mrs Pelham, came floating up from further in the house. I recognized her as Crystal, otherwise known as Laserdream.

"Right, sorry! C'mon in," Victoria said, floating to the side and gesturing for me to come inside. "Sorry, your mask caught me off guard."

"Not the first time it's happened today," I said with a smile. "And I imagine I'm about to go through it again shortly."

"So… you just tinkered up a stranger's power?" the younger Pelham woman said. "Just like that?"

"Well, not literally," I assured them. "But… kinda? Is that weird for tinkers?"

"Kind of? Most tinkers follow a theme or power type," Victoria stated. "Armsmater is miniaturization. Kid Win doesn't know what his is yet."

"Oh… well, just another reason to call my powers weird," I said, trying to brush it off with a shrug. "Where is everyone?"

"Already down in the meeting room," Crystal explained. "It's just down this hall."

I nodded and followed after the two family members. Eventually, they opened a door into the basement, and Victoria gestured for me to follow behind. When I reached the top of the stairs, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, before stepping down the stairs.

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