Next, I teleported to the sleeping quarters that Mouse maintained at the lab. It was basically the equivalent of a one-bedroom apartment connected via a door to the main workspace. As with the secret chamber, it contained nothing which indicated where Mouse might be. Somewhat disappointed, I teleported back to the lab.
The second I appeared, I got an evil look from Luna. However, she held her tongue.
Ignoring her, I said, “Just checked out a couple of places, including the adjoining sleeping quarters. Nothing hints to where Mouse might be.”
“Would you tell us if it did?” asked Luna snarkily.
I frowned at her, then looked at my father. “Does she have to be here?”
“I thought it might be helpful since she was on hand when things went sideways,” he said.
I turned my attention back to Luna. “Why were you here anyway? This happened during the day. Don’t you get your powers from the moon?”
“My powers grow under the light of the moon,” she corrected.
“So you get crazier as the day goes on,” I concluded.
Luna looked like she wanted to slug me, but before she said or did anything, my father interjected.
“Enough,” he almost bellowed. “Let’s try to remember that we’re on the same team.”
“I’m not the human powder keg,” I protested defensively, “about to blow up every time someone blinks.”
“I get that,” my father said. “But whatever happened to Mouse happened right here in this lab, under our very noses. If it was the Construct that did it, there might be a lingering effect, even if the device itself is gone. That means it could happen to somebody else. With that in mind, it might help, Jim, if you give us a heads-up about what you’re about to do before you do it.”
Still smoldering over Luna’s attitude, I merely crossed my arms and stated, “I’ll try.”
“Good enough,” Alpha Prime announced with a nod. “So, if we’re done here, what’s next?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Most of the time when I’m around Mouse, it’s here. This is where he spends, like, ninety-nine percent of his time, so I don’t know much about where he hangs out when he leaves. I mean, he’s got an apartment – I know that much – as well as official quarters here at HQ, like everybody else. He only mentions them in passing, but he’s also got family, so maybe they’re worth talking to. Beyond that, I’m not sure.”
“Well, we’ve already scoped out his apartment and his formal League quarters,” Buzz said. “We turned up nothing.”
“There are a few other places we can check,” Alpha Prime said. “If everyone’s ready, we can head out and–”
“Timeout,” I said, forming the letter “T” with my hands. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ve had a long day, and I’m still mentally digesting everything I’ve heard tonight. I’m going home to catch some sleep, and we can pick this up in the morning when I can look at everything with fresh eyes. Or you guys can push through and just brief me tomorrow.”
The other three exchanged glances. Even without my empathic abilities, I could tell that they weren’t ready to call it quits, even temporarily. Of course, I wasn’t being completely honest with them. It had been a long day, but I could easily tweak my internal systems and go on indefinitely. In truth, however, things had been moving at a fast clip, and I simply wanted some time to think about everything that had happened – in particular, my role in helping to hunt down my mentor.
“All right,” my father said. “That makes sense. We’ll call it a night and pick things up bright and early.”
With that, he dismissed Buzz and Luna, who seemed reluctant to leave but did as told.
“So,” my father droned once we were alone, “care to crash with your old man?’
“I appreciate it,” I said sincerely, “but I think I want to stay home tonight.”
“I know I’ve said it before, but I really do want you to think of my place as your home, too.”
“Sorry,” I muttered in apology. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that I’ve been jetting all over the place lately, so maybe staying in a familiar environment will help me wrap my head around all this.”
“I think I understand,” Alpha Prime stated. “Anyway, if you want to take off, I’ll turn off the lights and lock up.”
I was about to say it wasn’t necessary – that I had planned to do all that – when his words struck a chord with me.
I spent a quick moment eyeballing the lab, then asked, “After Mouse took off, who shut everything down in here?”
“What do you mean?” Alpha Prime asked.
“Well, the monitors are all off, as well as the computers – everything except the lights, in fact. Who shut it all down?”
My father shrugged. “I thought everything in here typically shut down on its own when no one was around, like a computer when you step away from it for too long.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s the sleep mode, but the computer comes out of it when you come back and move the mouse or start typing. Likewise, this place is supposed to wake up when people come in. That didn’t happen, so everything in here is shut down rather than asleep. So who did it?”
“I don’t know,” Alpha Prime admitted. “As far as I know, it just powered down on its own.”
“Unless Mouse did it,” I suggested.
“That’s the most likely explanation, and it’s not beyond his ability to do it remotely.”
“I guess,” I mumbled softly, not fully convinced. However, before I could comment further, a shrill buzzing started sounding from my phone.
“I gotta go,” I blurted out, and then – after phasing and becoming invisible – teleported.
Chapter 23
I popped up at the embassy, where
