Atomic Rebooted

55. Lockdown

MIRA

I looked to Henry, unconscious on the floor. I hadn't realized that he had limits like we did. There was so much I did not know about his powers—I wondered if he did not know them either.

I then got to my feet and looked on Claire's computer monitor. Tristan—that was Renegade's civilian name, apparently—stumbled up to grip the back of her chair, leaning on it for support.

"Did he—" Tristan's voice was breathless.

I leaned forward to read the article on the screen.

"He won, he's trapped us here," Claire said numbly. "He has demands for City Hall— Mayor McQueen now has to make a decision, with the Town Council."

"To give in, or to keep fighting until we have to give up," Tristan realized. "And he's going to use the chip, whatever it is. . ."

"Chip?" I asked.

"You weren't there for that yet." Tristan looked to me. "He showed off this chip, saying it was made with help from Heretic, that it was his real secret weapon."

I blinked. My mother had helped him make it. Had she been in-league with Tenebrous, once?

I had so many questions to ask, the next time I saw her.

"What do you think it is?" Claire looked to both of us. "Maybe it's some kind of computer virus, or—"

"I don't know for sure," Tristan admitted. "What about you, Mira? Any ideas?"

"I can't say that I do." I crossed my arms over my chest and looked out the window. What could I do? I was still recovering, gaining my strength. I was away from my burner phone, on the other side of town from where Heretic likely was. I couldn't ask her, at least not yet, about what was going on. "Do you think the chip somehow did this?"

"No." A shadow crossed over Tristan's face. "It looks like he picked up a lot of cool toys from Dark Titan."

"Or they're being lended to him by Titanio," Claire suggested. "He's the son of Dark Titan—I bet he's got some kind of super-villainous inheritance he can throw around."

"Or Dr. Electra could have constructed whatever he's using to keep the city hostage." I remembered her lab. There weren't any missing child cases right now in New Kingsbury, so she wasn't likely working on that before she came across me.

"It doesn't matter what he used to trap us here, or even stopping him right now." Claire stood up from her desk. "We need to get this place cleaned up, or we're going to have problems with my dad and Holly catching what we've been up to."

"Let me help," I offered. "I might need to borrow more of your clothes. Um, sorry about that, by the way."

She tilted her head. "You were planning on leaving them then, weren't you?"

"Not quite." I glanced out the window, not sure how much to tell the girl who had helped me. It was strange to discover that she was a superhero all along. "I just wanted a civilian identity so I could go around Atomic Energy, so I could investigate. . . Something."

"It has to do with the girl who died, doesn't it?" Claire's amber eyes softened. "I saw it on the news, later. I wasn't there when it happened."

"I'm sorry," Tristan said. "I wish I could have saved her."

"So do I," I answered. "So do I."

An awkward silence came between us.

"I'll change in the bathroom then, since I know where it is," Tristan said, grabbing his backpack.

Apparently it was a common trick among superheroes.

"Oh, yeah, your costume's ripped, we'll have to fix it before we send you back." Claire craned her neck to look at me. "You too. And my own costume—"

She looked down at herself. "It's ruined completely. I guess it's time to make a new hero costume, then."

She then blanched. "Dad's gonna kill me, if he ever figures out that I took Mom's costume."

Clearly there was a lot I had to learn about my new allies.

Still, Tristan left to get changed, and I followed Claire to help her with the cleaning supplies. Not something I'd ever really done, but I figured it was the least I could do, given her whole situation.

"Thank you," I added. "For helping us."

She shrugged. "It's not like I could leave you guys there. Besides, it looks like we're the only ones who really have gone up against Tenebrous directly. We need to work together, if we're going to beat him somehow."

I nodded as I carried the bleach and the rag towels back up to the attic. This was the next step. I couldn't help but feel guilty—in my investigation for the truth, I had neglected my duties to the city.

A supervillain, the highest-profile one, had succeeded in taking over the city on my watch.

I really am the biggest failure of the Sentinels.

I couldn't help but think it, even now that I knew they were wrong about everything. I'd grown up my whole life wanting their approval, to be one of the successes.

And I'd defected and betrayed them and failed to stop the rise of a supervillain.

I was the antithesis of everything I was made for.

Especially because I was going to be the one that burned it all down, one way or another.

When we returned upstairs, Henry stirred. I ran to his side, just as his eyes opened and he propped himself up on his elbows. I couldn't help it—I embraced him.

"Ow," he muttered.

"Sorry—are you okay?" I helped him sit up.

"Yeah, just had a lot of kick." He held a hand to his temple. "Are you guys okay?"

"Thanks to you." Tristan touched his shoulder. "We got your stuff, by the way. We can't just walk out of here, either. There's a lockdown starting."

"And we've got bigger problems—we need to figure out how to stop Tenebrous," Claire added.

"That's a lot," Henry muttered.

"And we gotta get this place cleaned up," I added, looking around at Claire's room. "We really lost, didn't we?"

"We got our asses kicked," Tristan chirped.

"Guess we should get to work then." I helped Henry get to his feet. He swayed unsteadily, and I caught him.

"Not you, you get changed and rest," Claire ordered, exchanging a glance with me. "We've got this."

"Are you sure, because I—"

"You saved us all from dying, you get a break," Tristan said.

"Fine." Henry sighed and took his backpack to disappear, also to the bathroom.

"Alright you two." Claire turned to Tristan and me. "Let's start cleaning."