“A little friend of mine thayth that Teacher ith in the tunnelth beneath uth,” she said. She pronounced Teacher like ‘tee-shirt’ with a silent t at the end, and little like ‘liddle’.

“What’s in the tunnels?” Rain asked.

“Networking,” she said. She raised one leg, tapping the bomb. “Control and everything that goeth out of the prithon.”

“He’s turning to his backup plans,” I said. “We de-fanged the warden and deputy warden, the assistant warden is on our side. The person with the control of the portals and the bombs effectively has control of the prisoner population.”

There was a detonation near the front of the prison. I saw the flame leap high.

“Fuck,” Crystalclear swore. “That fire is painful to look at with my senses being what they are.”

“Yeth.”

The fire. Purple flame.

I could connect the dots, even if it was a little belated. Multiple dots, now that I thought about it. Multi-layered plans and contingencies.

We were fighting a mastermind after all.

“He paired Lung and the Pharmacist,” I voiced my thought aloud.

“Who and who?” Ratcatcher asked.

“Teacher picked a mercenary tag-team who want to level the prison just as much as Goddess does. If we don’t want people to get hurt, then we’re going to need to step in. Lung is… an old enemy. Since half my life ago, about.”

“You know him?” Crystalclear asked.

“Yeah. More or less.”

“You handle that then, if you’re comfortable. I’ll go with Ratcatcher to the access tunnels.”

“We could use a thinker and a level head,” I said.

“I’m kind of under orders to be the level head for Ratcatcher, and I don’t want to go anywhere near that fire, in case I blow a mental fuse. I don’t think this is really negotiable,” Crystalclear said.

“Ugh,” Ratcatcher said.

Ugh is right. Crystalclear is just about the only person who isn’t Goddess influenced, who knows what’s going on.

“I can’t change your mind?” I asked.

“No,” Crystalclear said. “No, this is the network. It’s important.”

It’s important.

I connected to what he was thinking. The others, going by their faces, might not have.

The network. Possibly with the means of calling for help.

“Alright,” I said.

“You know the way, Rat?” Crystalclear asked.

“I do,” Ratcatcher said. “We’ll want more firepower. My friendth reported a few powerth.”

“Then I’ll come,” Tress said. “It’s—it has to be better than talking about master–stranger protocols and doubting myself or my teammates.”

“I’m still not sure I get those protocols,” Rain said. “But I’ll do what the team needs. Do you need wall-breaking power? Get past any secure doors?”

“No,” Ratcatcher said. “I can get through motht lockth quick. Or my friendth can.”

As if to punctuate that last statement, a mouse poked its head up from her prison uniform collar, followed by a much larger rat.