The incursion on the Numiko offices happened with a regiment of invisible Heroes invading in one super-speed movement. Since Numiko had invisibility frequency monitors, the Heroes couldn't depend on invisibility to hide their activities. By using super speed, they could move so fast that the large green guys wouldn't have time to react.
Andrew Strong was in his office when the Hero raid started. Surprised that it was happening this quickly, he thought, 'All of Congress may not be in session today, but I can still destroy the whole building.' He turned and opened the cabinet behind his desk. There it was the device to transmit the WiFi signal to detonate the Capitol building explosives.
Eric Thornton knocked the door down to Strong's office and rushed into the room. Strong said, "You're too late," and hit the button to send the signal with a vicious laugh.
Eric grabbed him and said, "No, you're too late—our people have already disarmed all your bombs."
Strong stammered, "Wha-What? How? How could you have known?"
The arming signal had been sent. One bomb on one column in a far corner wasn't disarmed. It was hard to see this pillar because old furniture stacked to the ceiling in front of it obscured it from view. The explosive detonated, and the column collapsed. The section under the explosion location shook. The granite blocks and bricks cracked and shifted, and the wing end sagged, cracking the wing's façade. The furniture caught fire, but the sprinkler system went off in the sub-basement and extinguished the flames. The alarm blared, and everyone exited the building in an orderly manner. Luckily, no one was in the offices in that corner of the building when the bomb blew.
The news of the attempted Capitol bombing was everywhere in the media—speculations on who did it and why were all over the board. The investigative committee never let out just how bad it could have been. It was announced that it was a botched terrorist attack, only causing minor damage to one corner of the structure. Capitol repairs were started immediately, and tall screens were erected around the corner so no one could take pictures and be aware of the true extent of the damage.
The investigation of the explosion showed that all the other bombs found in the sub-basement had either been disarmed or had never been armed. The government still didn't have a clue about the incendiary devices in the Capitol's ceilings. Eric sent out a bomb squad to remove all the undiscovered devices after everything calmed down.
Ralph's Congress Project team was packing all their equipment when Greg came running in and said, "Guys, we missed one."
Everyone looked at him, confused by the statement. "Look at this." And he turned on the TV, where every channel was reporting on the Capitol building bombing. They all watched and listened.
Norman said, "That was in my area. I don't know how I could have missed it!" He told his suit to show him the recordings of that spot. "Okay, there was a giant furniture stack in that corner, and I didn't think to search behind it. I was tired. It was the last place I worked on. That's an excuse. I'm sorry I let the mission down; I take full responsibility for that f**k up." He looked sad and miserable.
Ralph went to him and put his arm around Norman's shoulder, "It's okay; you don't know the f**k-ups I've done. Everyone makes mistakes. No one was injured. We learn and move on."
He walked around the room and told everyone, "You all did a wonderful job. You kept the building from going down and saved hundreds of lives. That is important, and that is what it means to be a Hero, not be perfect. I'm proud of you and will work with any of you, any time, on any mission. Let's finish cleaning up, get out of Greg's hair, and go home to our families." Everyone agreed.
The other news that came out that day was the resignation of Senator Ted O'Malley for personal reasons, which is all he would give to the media.
After the Capitol building bombing, O'Malley surmised that this must have been one of the Numiko company's secret plans, especially since he heard about the CIA invasion of the business through contacts he had in the agency. He didn't want any investigations coming back to him. The easiest thing to do would be to resign and play stupid.
Ralph flew home and walked in the back door of his house. Sarah was watching the baby.
She said, "Pam told me she had to work late to prepare for a Ruby Corporation takeover." Ralph nodded. He knew that was for the Numiko acquisition.
He told Sarah, "I'm exhausted. Can you stay until Pam gets back? I must sleep and don't think I could wake up and care for Alphy."
She said, "I planned on being here all night anyway."
"Thanks." He went to the bedroom, transferred Suit off, and fell asleep instantly. It had been an exceptional mission, and he had protected his territory.
The End.