“I’ll be back,” Bernie said. “I’ll make it safe again. I’m in the Mouse Watch. That’s my job.” Then she scampered as fast as she could to the boat and dove through a different vent just as it was pulling away.
And as she felt the water beneath the boat surge by and the towering symbol of liberty grow ever closer, she was determined not to let anyone underestimate who she was and what she was capable of.
She would find this Dr. Thornpaw.
And she would bring him to justice.
As she congratulated herself on her sneakiness and raw courage, she didn’t see the long shadow grow closer and closer behind her. Then, without any warning, something heavy hit her in the back of the head, and the world as she knew it faded quickly away.
Bernie awoke stiff with pain.
Her arm hurt.
Her ribs hurt.
And her head felt like it was about to explode.
As she gazed around herself, at first she thought she’d gone blind. The entire world was a featureless white. But as she rose shakily to her feet, she realized with a sigh of relief that she was wrong. She was just surrounded by very high white walls.
A voice, a horrible one, sounded from somewhere above her. Tilting her head toward the ceiling, she saw, suspended on a platform, a monstrous creature. He had once been a rat, it seemed, but now he was…something else. Almost all of his limbs had been replaced by metal appendages, and the parts of his body that hadn’t been replaced were singed and scarred.
“Welcome to my laboratory, one of the most prime pieces of real estate in New York. Liberty’s crown! I would imagine that you never thought you’d find yourself here and that it would look like this.” The figure gestured with a metal claw.
Now that she could see who was speaking, the reality of Dr. Thornpaw’s identity was far more horrible than she ever could have imagined. It took a moment, but Bernie realized that she had seen him before.
“You!” she said.
Dr. Thornpaw chuckled.
“Yes, I remember you, Bernie Skampersky. You were the tiny mouse who tried to chase me after I killed your brother. It made me laugh for days. Left a big impression.”
“Come down here and fight!” screamed Bernie. She was filled with a white-hot rage like she’d never felt before. All the fur on her body stood on end. She was so close to the creature that had taken her brother from her, so close to finally getting revenge for the pain and hurt he’d caused her and her parents.
“Now, now, calm down,” cooed Dr. Thornpaw. “You have a unique opportunity here, and I’d like to see old grudges put aside in favor of a more intelligent path.” Thornpaw grinned, exposing his yellowed, broken teeth. Bernie cringed as the doctor continued, saying, “The truth is, I could use someone like you. Someone with determination and grit. Someone who isn’t afraid to break the rules. You and I are more similar than you think.”
Bernie felt a wave of revulsion at the doctor’s words. “I’m nothing like you,” she retorted.
“Oh, but you are,” croaked the doctor with a smile. “I overheard the way you spoke with Jarvis. The earpieces that my lab rats use have a much wider range than you would ever believe. And I was impressed with your judgment.”
“What do you mean, ‘my judgment’?” snarled Bernie.
“You judged him quite well, I think,” said Dr. Thornpaw. “He is an inferior breed of rat. He abandoned a chance at achieving greatness to join a hopeless cause with the Mouse Watch. It all comes down to evolution, the survival of the fittest. You made it quite clear that you were suspicious of his motives and that you didn’t trust him in spite of his protestations that he’s been nothing but loyal. I like that quality in someone who works for me. Trust is for fools.”
Bernie’s mind reeled. She hadn’t judged Jarvis so harshly, had she? She hated the way Thornpaw was trying to manipulate her thinking.
“Jarvis is a traitor,” she said. “All evidence points to that.”
The doctor nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes he is. He betrayed me, too! See? Once again, we agree! I’ll bet we agree on all kinds of things, like what it is to be misjudged because of our appearance or to feel victimized by lesser beings who don’t see our potential.”
Bernie’s cheeks flushed with shame. How often had she felt those things? To think that Thornpaw felt the same made her feel gross. There was a little truth in his words and that made them all the more unpleasant to hear.
Seeing her hesitate, Dr. Thornpaw pressed his advantage.
“I’m going to make you a job offer. I see a lot of myself in you and I don’t want to see you go down a path that will limit your potential. If you’ll join me, I’ll train you with the R.A.T.S. We accept all kinds of critters here—rats, mice, lizards, hamsters, the occasional spirited guinea pig. You’re still young and impressionable. I’m offering you a chance at the greatness you know you deserve.”
Bernie gritted her teeth with suppressed anger. She’d believed in the Mouse Watch ever since she could remember. And now her sworn enemy, the one that she’d built her life on finding and bringing to justice, was trying to get her to turn on them. She’d never expected that, not in a million years.
Secretly, she was ashamed of herself. Dr. Thornpaw admitted that Jarvis was a traitor to him. That her new partner had betrayed R.A.T.S. to come and fight on the side of good. To Bernie, that said everything she needed to know about his noble character. Jarvis had been right and Bernie had been wrong. And now that she was in the doctor’s clutches, she might never have a chance to apologize.
“I’ll never join you,” she growled (or as much of a growl as a mouse her size could muster). “I’d rather die.”
Dr. Thornpaw shrugged, looking disappointed.
“Oh, but I have a feeling you will,” croaked the doctor. “Do you see those walls around you? From my vantage point up here, they rather resemble a maze—and a tricky one at that. In fact, the maze in which you find yourself is quite dangerous. It is both like, and unlike, the types humans have been using on rodents for many years.”
Bernie gritted her teeth and stayed silent.
“I was required to run a similar maze when I was trapped by human scientists many years ago. Subjected to many cruel experiments, tests that left me as you see me now. Research, they called it.”
The doctor began to pace, thinking aloud to himself. “I have, of course, made the best of a bad situation. However, as you recently discovered, I wasn’t going to let the wrongs done to me go unpunished.”
Thornpaw raised a metal finger and continued, saying, “Under the influence of my cheese spray, the humans will experience everything that was done to me and more. Also, as is my policy, any rodent that resists my efforts will be subjected to similar ordeals.”
The doctor turned his single bloodshot eye upon Bernie.
“You may have captured my sprayer, which is, admittedly, a crude but effective device. However, once the drones are filled with my formula, I assure you that it will take very little time to subjugate the masses on a much grander scale than I was capable of before. So, with a R.A.T.S. victory now within my grasp, I will observe and document all the data that my experiments reveal. In other words, your body and mind will be sacrificed for the sake of science.”
Bernie was about to speak when the doctor held up a finger. “I want to introduce you to someone who was wiser than yourself. Someone who I hope you’ll think about as you remember the decision you made not to join me. He has proven himself loyal and has earned my trust and the rewards that go with it.”
The doctor motioned and a figure joined him on the balcony. Bernie was surprised to see Agent Cooper, the tired old mouse with baggy eyes that she’d briefly met at the New York office. But then, a second later, his image shimmered. A new mouse was standing there, a mouse Bernie could hardly believe she was looking at.
“Digit?” she said.
“Hello, Bernie,” said the graying agent with a smirk.
“It was you? You were the spy?�
� she said.
“Been doing it for years.” He tapped the side of his goggles and grinned. “Disguising myself as Cooper, I got all the info I needed in New York to pass along to the good doctor here. Meanwhile, in LA they never expected a thing, never thought old Digit would betray them. It was so easy! Plus, I have to say, the doctor here knows how to reward those who help him. He’s a great boss and has a wonderful pension plan. Imagine, all the cheese you could ever want for the rest of your life! Totally worth it.”
A renewed feeling of guilt and shame washed over her for thinking that Jarvis was the spy—and all because he was different from her. She’d been so unfair. If she’d just been more accepting, maybe they could have been friends—Bernie’s first true friend. But it was too late now.
Bernie glared up at Digit and Dr. Thornpaw. Her tail went stiff and her face was red with rage. “You’re a traitor and he’s a monster!”
“A monster, you say?” said Thornpaw.
The doctor’s eye narrowed and his grimace twisted upward in something between a sneer and a smile. He held up a steel claw and said, “See this? I crafted this enhancement after some scientists wanted to find out what would happen to the nerves in my paw if it was exposed to an acid-based cleaning product.” He pointed at his artificial eye. “And this…oh, I gave this little gift to myself after they wanted to see what would happen if a new chemically bonding lipstick happened to get in someone’s eye. That little experiment hurt quite a bit, I can tell you.”
Thornpaw gestured at his mechanical legs. “And these were my greatest achievements. After gathering data on what happens to a rat’s legs if they’re subjected to electric shocks for a year, they discovered that they atrophy. Big surprise! However, I’ve made the best of that little blunder, too.”
Thornpaw raised himself up to full height and snarled, “I know what it is to have physical shortcomings. I have overcome them all and am more powerful and better than before. I’ll never forgive them for what they did to me and yet, I’m also grateful. It has enabled me to exact revenge and usher in an entirely new world, one where they will feel the same kind of pain I did. You are a small-minded and small-bodied rodent. Digit told me that you had potential, but you disappoint me, Bernie Skampersky.”
Bernie hardly knew what to say. Thornpaw was so worked up that little bits of foam and spittle hovered around his twisted mouth. His eye was filled with manic energy, fueled by hate.
He gazed down at her and said, “And therefore, you’re about to be educated. You will soon be shaped by pain, too. It will be a chance for you to overcome your physical deformity. You’ll be tested. And, after spending years as an experimental study, you might change your mind about which side you are on,” said the doctor. “If after learning your lesson you decide to join me, perhaps I can do something about that tiny bone structure…give you an upgrade.”
Bernie had never felt so insulted or angry. But instead of firing back at Thornpaw, she instead glared at Digit and said, “What happened to Alph? You got her captured, didn’t you?”
Digit shrugged. “Of course. Along with the entire Mouse Watch in Los Angeles. Alph’s a good kid but terribly misguided. Like you, she bought into the whole philosophy of the Watch instead of realizing the truth….” Digit leaned over the balcony and said with a cruel grin, “The fact is, there’s nobody more important than yourself. Nature demands the survival of the fittest. You have to take care of number one. Everything about the Watch being as good as all of its parts is sentimental nonsense. In the end, it’s every mouse for itself.”
And Bernie realized at that moment exactly why it was so important to work as a team. She needed the wisdom of those around her to keep her informed and centered. She needed a partner like Jarvis, who had been so patient and kind and had faith in her. The reasons they had each been chosen by the Mouse Watch were different—but equally important. They could learn from each other. She also needed Gadget, an older, wiser mouse who could offer her guidance. She even needed Alph—a strong mouse who knew who she was. Alph was someone Bernie would be proud to call a friend, if she had the chance.
She saw where the other path led as she stared up at these two pathetic rodents, each of whom was lost in his own arrogance. Being selfish and consumed with their own destiny had left them as empty husks inside.
They’d given up everything for power.
But in that moment, Bernie realized a very important truth: Life is about relationships with others.
And she also realized how misguided she’d been, trying to prove her own importance. Maybe that’s why the doctor had thought he could sway her to the R.A.T.S. side.
Well, she knew better now.
If she ever got a second chance, she’d show the Watch that she knew how to stick together. She would be there for Jarvis, too…if he could ever forgive her.
“You know my answer,” said Bernie quietly. “Do whatever you’re going to do and be done with it.”
Digit shook his head scornfully, mocking Bernie as if to say that she’d missed out on the most obvious of great opportunities.
The doctor’s face showed no expression at all, but he seemed equally pleased by the prospect of having a new subject to experiment upon as an underling to obey his commands.
“Right. Well, then the task before you really is quite simple,” he said.
The doctor gestured broadly. “From where I stand, I can see the entirety of the maze. You, of course, can only see a few feet in front of you. Escape the maze and you’ll go free. Fair enough?”
Bernie didn’t believe she’d “go free” any more than she believed that Dr. Thornpaw could win a beauty contest. However, she nodded in response.
“How long do I have?” she asked.
“Why, as long as it takes!” replied the doctor. “You’ll either starve or find sustenance, kill or be killed. For I assure you, this isn’t simply a child’s maze to be solved with paper and a pencil.”
The doctor snapped his left claw, slamming it shut with a loud CLANK! Then he added, “The dangers that lurk inside of it will test your intelligence to its limits. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how long you survive, Bernie Skampersky.”
Seeing the doctor’s claw snap shut reminded her of something. Bernie had a flash of inspiration. She reached up to her hair and removed the homing beacon hair clip she’d retrieved from the EEK. When it was hidden in her hand, she pressed the tiny button that activated it. Then she called up to the doctor.
“Well, if you want to see what I’m capable of, I don’t want anything to spoil the experiment. I shouldn’t have any advantages except for my intellect, correct?”
The doctor raised his eyebrows. “That’s correct. I need this to be a closed experiment in order to have data that’s not corrupted.”
“Then you should take this.” She held up the hair clip. “It’s a piece of Mouse Watch technology. It would help me navigate the maze and avoid all the obstacles. I don’t need it to prove myself. I’m better than that.”
The doctor studied her for a moment. “Do you think I’m an idiot? You’re probably carrying an explosive!”
Bernie shook her head. “As an untrained agent I’m not allowed to carry a weapon.”
Digit agreed, saying, “She’s right. They wouldn’t allow her to carry anything lethal.”
The doctor motioned for a lab rat to lower a small container, Bernie placed the hair clip inside, and he pulled it back up. When he’d retrieved it, he examined it carefully, noting the tiny power light that had turned green when Bernie activated it.
“I’ve never seen one of those before,” mused Digit. “Must be something the New York agents developed.”
The doctor placed it in his lab-coat pocket, which was exactly what Bernie hoped he would do.
“Enough delays; let’s commence the test, shall we?” croaked the doctor.
“Do your worst,” said Bernie confidently.
She didn’t run. Panicking now would probably mean death.
She’d read once that the secret to solving mazes is “wall-following,” that if someone keeps contact with one wall the entire time, it should eventually lead to the exit. However, she also knew that it didn’t apply if the “exit” was at the center.
But she didn’t really have a choice except to try it.
One foot at a time, no sudden moves, she thought. The corridor she was following had wound twice to the right and once to the left. So far, she hadn’t run into any of the challenges Dr. Thornpaw had hinted at.
Bernie glanced up to the balcony. She was relieved to see that nobody was there. However, it didn’t necessarily mean that the doctor wasn’t watching from a remote location. So far, she hadn’t spotted any cameras, but they could have been cleverly hidden.
She heard something—a low, mechanical hum from somewhere to her left. Bernie peeked around the corner.
SLASH!
A giant, razor-sharp scalpel sped downward like a guillotine. Bernie leaped back and found that if she had reacted one second slower, she would have been sliced neatly in half, becoming nothing more than a dissection experiment!
The scalpel receded back into a hidden compartment in the wall. Bernie realized that she’d been holding her breath and released it in a gasp. Her heart was flopping around in her chest like an electrocuted frog’s.
Okay, good reminder. Don’t let your guard down for a single minute! she thought.
She removed her hand from the wall just long enough to walk carefully around the area where the blade had sliced. She made a mental note about the whirring sound she’d heard just before the knife fell. Maybe it was a tiny bit of advance notice that would happen the next time something terrible was about to happen.
Next time, she’d be ready.
She returned her hand to the wall and hadn’t taken but a few steps more before she noticed something mounted to the wall in front of her. She crept carefully toward it and saw that it was a code written on a small brass plaque, something obviously designed to test her intellect.
The Mouse Watch, Volume 1 Page 13