Sio sat in her laboratory and contemplated the syringe in her hand. The fluid inside was clear to the naked eye; no one could ever have imagined that it was filled with billions of tiny cell-size computer chips. To Sio's right was one remaining mouse, Harve- she had not killed or dissected him, perhaps because he had a cute way of staring at her, perhaps because he was using some kind of psychic power to bend her will. Definitely, Harve had been the smartest of the mice; he had not only been able to solve every maze she constructed, he had designed a few of his own. Maybe he had understood that the only way to survive her wrath was to be better than the rest. Yet as he watched her, it was almost as if he was challenging her to inject herself with the exotic liquid. It was as if he understood her anger and her fear, that they were somehow partners in a crime that might spin wildly out of control if pushed too far.
The Hollow Skull by Christopher Pike