The team assembled in the garage; Greg stayed by the bed watching over the First.
Janice said, "What are we going to do?"
Norman suggested, "We must determine who would want to do this and stop them."
Steve said, "And we should figure out how they would do it."
Lewis replied, "I'll pull up the schematics of the Capitol building," and started frantically typing on the computer.
Janice exclaimed, "We should have the Capitol building evacuated."
They were all throwing out ideas and talking over each other.
Standing in a far corner of the room, Quinn listened to them discuss what Bill Maxwell told them and yelled, "Shut up! Don't you all see it will happen in two days? This would have taken weeks of planning to set up. It has already been done. We don't have time to figure out who did it. We must find the bombs or devices that will take the Capitol Building down."
Lewis shouted, "I've got it. Here are the schematics of the Capitol." They all crowded around and looked at the computer screen.
Quinn asked, "How would you take a structure this size down all at once? Ask the AI that."
The IT specialist typed in the question, and they all waited. The schematic returned and moved to the lower basement with several support columns highlighted. These pillars would all have to be taken out at the same time.
Quinn said, "Okay, now ask the AI if the building went down at once, would it catch fire immediately? Ralph was seeing the whole structure burning, making rescues impossible."
Lewis entered the inquiry. The AI came back with a "NO" answer. 'Fires would start, but they may take many hours to develop fully.'
Quinn said, "That means that incendiary devices must also have been placed in the building to start the fires when the Capitol went down. Ask the AI where the best locations to place these devices would be if the building were destroyed."
Lewis typed in the question and a new schematic of the building's ceilings, highlighting points for device placement to ensure optimum fire spread.
Norman exclaimed, "Those areas are where restorations have recently been done on the ceiling artwork!"
Quinn said, "I told you all they have been working on this for a long time. I will have to telepathically contact Ralph to determine if he has any other information we have missed. I hope I can link with him in the state he is in. I've never tried this with someone who is in a trance."
Steve said, "Well, if anyone can link, it would be you." Quinn smiled at the compliment.
The team walked into the bedroom where Ralph was. Bill opened his eyes and said, "Have you guys figured out what you need to do?" They all nodded.
Quinn said, "I need to do a telepathic link with Ralph while he is in a trance to receive more immediate information. Do you think this is possible?"
Bill thought briefly, saying, "I think so, but it may differ from your standard link. He will be in a different state of consciousness. Your timing is perfect; his physical reactions to the vision are stopping. I am transferring out, and Ralph will return directly to a trance". Ralph/Bill began to shake, and his eyes rolled to the top of his head. When the shaking stopped and his eyes came down, he didn't move and stared at the ceiling, deep in the trance stage of the prophetic vision cycle.
Quinn put his fingers to Ralph's temples and telepathically linked to him. He entered Ralph's mind and found a young blond, curly-haired man staring at images floating around—images of people setting demolition charges on pillars in the Capitol building's sub-basement. Quinn heard a strange but familiar song, but not a song, far in the background. He wanted to listen to it but didn't have time. He had to access information from Ralph. Quinn called, "Ralph?"
Ralph turned and said, "Quinn, what are you doing here?"
"Ralph, is that you? You look different." He stared at the strange man.
"Yes, it's me. My soul image of myself is my young superhero self with blond curls."
"And very cute," Quinn commented.
Ralph shrugged with a smile. "Thank you, but I am hetero."
"I know. I must find out as much as possible about the Capitol bombing and collapse."
"That is what I was watching. Watch the images; you will understand as much as I do."
They stood together and reviewed the images of the bombs being set and linked to WiFi receivers. Signals would be sent from Andrew Strong's office. By disconnecting the receivers, the explosive devices could not be activated. Strong would activate the WiFi signal when the Senate and House are in chambers in two days.
Quinn said, "Thank you for showing this to me. Can I ask you a question?"
"Yes."
"What is that door behind you? I have never seen that in anybody's mind before."
"What door? I don't know what you are talking about." Ralph turned to peer behind his image, but the door moved, so it always remained in the blind spot behind him. "I don't see a door."
Knowing he didn't have time to discuss this, Quinn said, "It doesn't matter. I must give this information to the others so we can start disconnecting all the WiFi units. I will see you later." And he broke the telepathic link.
The other Heroes were waiting to hear what Quinn learned. He turned to them and said, "We have to break the WiFi connection on each of the bombs and incendiary devices to prevent the destruction of the Capitol and save all of Congress."
They all returned to the garage, planned, and divided the structure into sections. Steve showed them what to look for and told them. "Once I find the first one, I will disarm it and telepathically send you images of what to do. Then you can all work disarming the rest." They all agreed and left late that night to enter the building and begin disarming the bombs.
Working at super speed, it still took them most of the night to disconnect all the explosive and incendiary devices, or so they thought.
When Ralph woke from the trance, only Greg was around.
He asked, "What's going on?"
Greg told him, "They have all gone to disarm the bombs."
Ralph said, "Good," and fell into a deep sleep.
When The First awoke, the team was returning from the disarming mission at the Capitol building. They reported that all the explosive and incendiary devices were disconnected from the WiFi units and could not receive arming signals.
Ralph called Eric and reported, "I think it is safe to raid the Numiko facilities. Even if they try to activate the bombs, nothing will happen. You'll have to send in a bomb squad later to remove all of them."
Eric said, "Right, we are ready for this afternoon. If any of your team want in on the incursion, have them call me, and I'll assign them to an incursion squad."
He reminded Eric, "You will also need to send a team in to pick up the large green guys working as staff at the Congress. How do you do that?"
"We assign a group listed as CIA or NSA with badges in their databases as agents on special undercover top-secret projects to apprehend the spies. Everyone is happy and thinks the government is doing its job. Lewis has already sent us the list, and they will be picked up when Numiko is invaded. That will also appear as a CIA undercover spy operation. Of course, the business will eventually be sold to the Ruby Corporation."
Ralph said, "Once we clean up here, I'm heading home. I'm still tired and need to rest from the prophetic vision. I think it must be because of the green guy junk genes. I'll write a report from there after I sleep some more."
"Okay, I'll talk to you later. And good work on this mission."
The First informed the team members to call Eric if anyone wanted in on the Numiko raid. None were interested; they all needed to go home.
Ralph called Pam and apologized for not calling her sooner. He told her about the prophetic vision, and she understood, knowing how those knocked him out for hours.
He said, "I'll be home tonight after we clean up here."