A Day in the Life, Part 2

(Part 2 of 2; continues from here)

Upon her return to the lab, she first located Rigor and watched as he searched for her. When he was on the other side of the lab from the cage of mice, she scampered across the floor, hugging the side of the lab to remain as inconspicuous as possible, and worked her way from the floor to the table with the cage. She tapped on the latch of the cage, which swung open easily, allowing the rest of the mice to pour out in a frenzy of activity. Her companions scattered about the lab, which attracted Rigor's attention. He chased one and then another mouse, occasionally scooping up one and depositing the creature back in the cage.

Meanwhile, Brie continued her trail of destruction, dancing across to the next table, where the test tubes hung over a burner, suspended from a rack. A well-timed jump knocked over three of the tubes, spilling a foul-smelling green fluid over the burner, causing a flash of yellow flame to erupt. This elicited another cry from Rigor, who dropped his pursuit of other errant mice to tent to the liquid mess.

Not waiting for Rigor to arrive at her location, Brie moved the assault to her next target: the electrical conduit into the laboratory. She realized that the source of power to the lab came from the cable, and started to nibble through it before it dawned on her that this would be fatal. Not wanting to commit suicide just yet, Brie carefully nibbled the outer insulation, leaving wire exposed. She looked about her, eyes ultimately falling on a scalpel left on a nearby rolling cart. She climbed the cart, pushed the scalpel to the ground - the sound caught the attention of Rigor once more - and moved the scalpel to the exposed wire, giving it a little shove. As the metal hit the bare wire, the short-circuit caused a fuse to blow, casting the laboratory into darkness.

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After her rampage, Brie was uncertain as to what to do next. Indeed, the certainty that had filled her and dictated her every move had fled, leaving her paralyzed with indecision. And she felt so terribly tired...if she just closed her eyes for a moment...

She felt the rough hand of Rigor pick her up. "Got ya, wee Miss Brie. Surprised me, you did. Too bad the Perfesser wasn't here to see what happened. He'll be amazed when ya show him what ya can do." The assistant stroked her fur gently and placed her back in the cage, along with the others that he had recaptured. Several mice remained missing, and Rigor would keep looking, but at the moment Brie was his focus. Never before had one of the experiments been this successful or continued this long. It was too bad that the little mouse escaped before Rigor had the opportunity to observe her behavior and put her through the battery of tests that Dr. Steampunk had devised. However, it was clear that Brie had been using much more of her brain during her escapades than before, and that a keen intelligence guided her movements.

Now, Rigor watched the mouse as her breathing became shallow and finally stopped altogether. He sighed and marked the time of death. Continuing the instructions Dr. Steampunk had prepared, Rigor prepared a slightly different injection and reached for the next mouse. "Come 'ere, Algernon. Let's see what ya have in ya."