“That’s enough, you two,” he declared. “I think you’re both right to an extent. Mouse obviously isn’t to be taken lightly, but – at the same time – if he could just build anything he needed, he wouldn’t be stealing from the League.”
“So basically,” Electra said, “we need to get our arms around what he took so we can figure out what else he might need.”
“And once we know that,” Alpha Prime added, “we might be able to catch him.”
Chapter 33
Alpha Prime, Buzz, and Luna left shortly thereafter, with my father promising to reach out to me regarding next steps. That left me and Electra in the conference room by ourselves.
“You want me to teleport you home?” I asked her once we were alone.
She seemed to mull it over for a moment, then asked, “What are you going to do?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, none of this makes sense to me. I know what I saw earlier, with Mouse in the Vault, but I still can’t wrap my head around it.”
“You mean him going on the attack and wanting to destroy the League?”
“Not just that – this whole idea of him maybe taking over the world.” That part in particular was troubling to me – mostly because I had been scanning my father and his colleagues empathically during our conversation, and had picked up on feelings of sincerity in that regard.
“Well, as you so plainly noted,” Electra said, “we don’t know what he took. So maybe we don’t need to cross that bridge yet.”
“But why would he take anything?” I asked. “I can’t imagine that there’s something in that Vault that’s better than…”
I trailed off as the thought that was in my mind finished forming.
“Better than what?” Electra asked, bringing me back to myself.
“I need to go check something out,” I replied.
“What? Where?”
“Mouse’s lab.”
“Then I’m going, too,” she insisted.
“Suit yourself,” I said with a shrug, then teleported the two of us.
Chapter 34
We reappeared in Mouse’s lab. The room was completely dark, and I was about to switch my vision over to the infrared when the lights began to come on – seemingly as a result of our presence.
“So what are we doing here?” Electra asked.
“Frankly speaking, I’m not sure,” I replied as I started to walk around. “It just occurred to me that, if he wanted to take over the world – or just destroy the League – Mouse would probably have something ten times better than anything a supervillain could come up with.”
Following me, Electra said, “And you think he’d keep it in his lab?”
I shrugged as I continued scanning the room. “I’m not sure about that, but he did everything from his lab. That being the case, there might be something here he’d want or need.”
“So what’s your theory – that he’d come back here?”
“That was my initial thought, but it didn’t pan out before.” I then explained to her how a group of us had come to the lab the previous day. “If he does need something from here, it’s possible he’s simply accessing it in some way.”
“You mean like logging in remotely to a computer or something?”
“Yeah,” I agreed with a nod. “But from what I can see, nothing is on in here except the lights. None of the gadgets or devices on his worktables, none of the PCs. In fact, I can’t even see how to power these computers up.”
It was a true statement. There were a number of computers around the lab, but I hadn’t seen a power button on any of them as I walked around.
Electra appeared to mull this over for a moment, then asked, “But would he need specific computers on if he just wanted to access the network?”
“Good point,” I admitted. “But it assumes that any info Mouse would want would actually be on the League network.”
Electra frowned. “So what are you saying – that Mouse had his own private network?”
“I’d be shocked if he didn’t,” I stated. “But look, here’s the main thing: I’m in this lab with Mouse almost on a daily basis. Every idea he has, every notion, every inspiration, it goes from cradle to grave inside these walls. So whatever he’s doing right now, whatever he’s thinking, wherever he’s holed up – there’s some clue to it in here. I’m just not seeing it.”
“That makes sense,” Electra agreed, “but maybe you’re too close to the problem. It might help if you step back for a moment and take a mental break. After all, we’ve been at this all day.”
“Yeah, but it’s Mouse,” I said. “He wouldn’t be taking a break if the situation was reversed.”
“Maybe not, but even he’d agree that it’s still important to eat, sleep, and so on,” she argued, mimicking words I’d heard earlier. “So how about this: why don’t we go grab some dinner, try to talk about something else, and then give it another whack?”
I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Why Electra, are you asking me on a date?”
She laughed. “No, it is most definitely not a date. But if you play your cards right…”
She gave me a coy look as she trailed off, and I sensed an unexpected amalgam of emotions from her – flirtatiousness mixed with excitement and affection. However, before I could offer any type of comment, my attention was drawn by an odd beeping sound.
“What was that?” Electra inquired as the noise sounded again.
“I’m not sure,” I responded, shaking my head, “but it sounds like…”
I trailed off and the beeping sounded once more, coming from the far side of the room. I began walking in that direction, accompanied by Electra. By the time the beep sounded a fourth time, I had figured out the source of the noise: a computer monitor on one of the worktables. Looking at it, I was surprised to see a cursor blinking in the upper left corner of the screen.
“It’s on,” whispered Electra, almost in awe.
“Yeah,” I muttered, nodding.
“But how?”
“I’m
