Meanwhile, (the last time I'll use that word, I promise) the two older Parrs crept down the stairs, past the guest bedrooms, and into the computer room.
The room was tiny, just wide enough for Violet and Dash to stand side by side. There was an electrical hum from the walls and below the floor. Directly in front of them was a wide-screen television. A computer-generated woman's face appeared on the screen. The face resembled a woman who once appeared on television saying, "Their secret identity will be their only identity."
"Welcome," said the voice of the image. "I am Duchess R."
"I thought Duchess R. was a person," said Dash.
"There is a human agent who acts for me, but I am the real Duchess R. 'R' is for robot," said the voice.
"Hal told us you could read the sugar bowl files," said Violet.
"Yes. Just place the sugar bowl in the receptacle," said Duchess R.
A small door below the screen slid open. Violet slid the sugar bowl inside.
"You are sure you wish to see this? It may be traumatic," said Duchess R.
"It can't be worse than we've seen already," said Dash.
A movie began to play: "Classified Briefing for the National Supers Agency." It continued, "Research to increase our technological superiority against the Soviets is vital to national security. Dr. Gregor Anwhistle has made breakthroughs in genetic engineering, starting with simple fungi, then marine animals, then larger mammals."
The screen flashed images of the Anwhistle Aquatics center, the mushrooms from the Gargoyle Grotto, the gigantic Surma nautilus, and enhanced lions like the ones they had faced at the Caligula Carnival.
"The ultimate breakthrough, the genetic enhancement of human beings, has now been accomplished."
The screen showed rows of test tube in which embryos were growing.
"Out of thousands of experimental embryos, only a tiny percentage show superhuman mutations. The rest are discarded."
The screen showed a cluster of buildings in a scenic mountainous area where a waterfall fed into a lake. The children recognized it as the headquarters they had visited a few days ago.
"In the Mortality Mountains, we built the Vanguard Fetal Development center. Here the young supers will be raised, trained, and conditioned. The records of these experiments will be recorded in a microchip memory, embedded in a sugar bowl for concealment with easy access. Other scattered bases will be used to raise the supers we will chose for supervillains."
"Nooo!" cried Violet. "Mom and Dad were experiments? I can't believe it."
"I warned you it would be traumatic," said Duchess R.
"Show us the file about what they decided to do with the supers," said Dash.
"Report on the Termination of the Supers Project," filled the screen. "Although supers have been useful in certain covert operations, and the staged battles between 'superheroes' and 'supervillains' have been useful in distracting the public from other matters, supers are a national security risk. Many are unintelligent or psychologically unstable, and there is an additional risk."
The screen filled with an image from the wedding of Bob and Helen Parr.
"The breeding of two supers was set up as an experiment," said the recording. "We needed to know if their offspring would be super or normal. Just in case, that same day Agent Jerome Sansweet staged a suicide attempt to begin the isolation of supers through lawsuits. Tests on their first child showed she was a super with multiple powers. Even worse, she quickly developed immunity to conditioning."
The screen showed the infant Violet Parr in a testing laboratory. A scientist tried to give her a toy rattle and she pushed it away with a force-field.
"We were experiments too?" said Violet, feeling sick.
The recording went on: "This tipped the decision in favor of isolating the supers. The Sansweet lawsuit went ahead, and many more followed. During this time, there was an incident that confirmed our worst fears."
The screen showed Fernald in his super-costume.
"A young super named Flamethrower developed a resistance to mind-wiping. He learned too much and shared information with Splashdown, his 'stepfather'. (We assigned family groupings to many of the supers to improve their psychological adjustment). The two of them destroyed Anwhistle Aquatics and killed Gregor Anwhistle. Flamethrower was caught and disciplined, but Splashdown escaped. Splashdown and his 'stepdaughter', Stratogale, seemingly died in costume accidents soon afterward, but they may have faked their deaths to escape."
Pictures of Captain Widdershins and Fiona came up, both marked: "Possibly at large. Extremely dangerous."
"After this, we converted the isolation project into an extermination project, which we contracted out to Pine Industries. Agent Rick Poe, who was responsible for relocations, was not told of this new plan. He seemed to have too much sympathy with the supers."
Pictures of Count Buddy (in a business suit rather than in costume) flashed on the screen.
"Count Buddy Pine has developed a feasible plan for locating and destroying the supers without our direct involvement. It will take several years, but we expect no difficulties."
"That is the end," said Duchess R., cutting off the projection. "Given the information I have just seen, it is my duty to capture you."
Gas hissed into the room from ceiling vents and the two Incredibles went unconscious.