"Well, Retro delivered on his threat." "Maywood Glen is totally without technology." "It's like a zombie apocalypse without any zombies." "Zombies are nothing compared to this." "We're so dependent on our devices, not having them is like a Throwback Thursday to the Dark Ages." "Worse." "The 1980s!" "The only positive is NOV-Eight's operational, thanks to our powerful backup generator." "I rebooted A.D.I.S.N., but she's still being affected by this blackout." "I'm feeling much better." "A.D.I.S.N., don't be a hero." "You need your rest." "Poor chica." "Bry, did you get any sleep last night?" "No." "Obvi!" "How do I scroll on this?" "I think this thing's called a rotary phone." "They go way back." "I've read about them, but I've never seen them in the wild before." "I think you spin it, like this." "I know it's going to take forever, but we got to be patient." "No, it's not that." "I don't actually know anyone's numbers." "They're all in my contacts." "Look, we need to stay on the case." "Okay, okay." "I was able to run one last voice analysis on Retro before the grids went down." "The frequencies indicate that he's someone old, like over the age 20... which really isn't that old." "Age is just a number, right?" "I mean, my great gram's 90 and she still does yoga." "Anyways, the readouts indicated ossification of the laryngeal cartilage." "So, if Retro's at our school, but not a teenager, there is another option." "Retro could be one of our teachers." "I'll give Adri the down-low on this." "You update M." "Let's go, people." "As long as our back-up generator's working," " you should be, too." "How do I know what class I'm in without my calendar?" "What about me?" "I have no emojis." "How is anybody supposed to know how I feel without my daily emoji?" "Wanna know how I feel about you, Justin?" "If Retro really is a teacher, it could be Ms. Dowling, tenth grade English?" "Ouch." "So now she's totally sworn off the Internet." "Hey, McKeyla, what's up?" "What's up?" "Just calamity and chaos." "I kinda like it without tech." "I mean, we can all talk face-to-face for once and" "Kyle, don't take this personally, but I don't really have time for conversation right now, face-to-face or otherwise." "Fine." "Nice talking to you, too." "I think he took that personally." "Really?" "Yeah." "Come on." "Get yourself to class, Paterson." "You do not need your cell phone." "When I was your age, all we had were our landlines and our wits." "Okay?" "Go." "What about Assistant Principal Wilson?" "Last assembly, Wilson said that he wanted to make school a no-phone zone." "Of course, no one in the assembly was listening, because they were all on their phones." "Maybe this is his "retro-bution."" "You okay, Bryden?" "Uh-huh." "Are you... phantom texting?" "Mmm-hmm." "It's going to be okay." "We'll figure this out." "You're not making me feel any better." "Cash for trash." "Cash for trash." "Ember, you're fund-raising for your Tech Fair project, right now?" "Especially now!" "My anaerobic digester doesn't need electricity." "It runs on good old-fashioned compost." "For instance, the gas juicing my lantern used to be actual juice." "But, turns out... rustling up biodegradable material is harder than you think." "Janitor Larry..." "I thought we had an arrangement." "Yesterday's kung pao chicken lunch special is tomorrow's green energy." "Sorry about that, Ember." "Look at you, sir." "Mother Earth high fives you." "Okay." "Come on, party people, and let's enjoy this technological vacay." "You might actually have to read a book and that will be groovy to the max." "Mr. Gruber." "Secret Agent Room." "Five minutes." "Mind if I use your lantern for a sec?" "Sure." "Guys, listen." ""I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction." "The world will have a generation of idiots."" "Albert Einstein." "With a favorite quote like that, Gruber could so be Retro." "He does wear corduroy bell bottoms." "It's muy tragic." "Tragic?" "Or all part of a Retro wardrobe." "Gruber also always carries around that suspicious man-purse." "Maybe he's hiding a spare Retro mask." "Cam and I have him second period." "We've gotta get a look inside that man-purse." "But how are we supposed to do it without our usual techwear?" "Hmm." "Good thing I always carry the classic NOV-Eight-issued secret agent gear, the decoder ring and lipstick message shooter." "We're gonna need a distraction." "I've got it covered." "And it's battery-powered." "Isn't this refreshing?" "Nobody sneaking glances down to their screens." "Everybody ready to learn?" "Now!" "You will have to write down your answers to today's quiz on a piece of paper with... a pencil." "The yellow wooden thingy with the rubber doodad on the end?" "Yes, Justin." "The yellow wooden thingy with the rubber doodad on the end." "Kyle." "Look, I'm really sorry about before." "I just have some things on my mind." "It's fine." "No big deal." "You ever hear the one about the geometry class that was always tired?" "They were out of shape!" "'Cause, shape... and geometry." " Commence bugging." "Where's that coming from?" "Class, I think we have a visitor." "It's my portable, long-range acoustic device." "I modified the extra ultrasound sensors from my dad's remote-control model rocket." "It's for Helix the Cat's birthday." "You made your sister's cat a birthday present?" "And if you spoil the surprise for him, I'll be way cranky." "You know, I think it's coming from over there." "Hmm?" "Uh, nope." "It's definitely coming from over there." "Hmm." "Everyone just focus on your work." "Let's see what you're hiding in your man-purse, Gruber." "Ah!" "Gotcha!" ""Tuna with the crusts cut off." "Happy teaching." "Love, Mom."" "My hand's cramping up." " Are you okay?" "A screen!" "We're back on the grid." "Greetings, Maywood Glenians." "How you suffer without your precious technology." "No texts, no phone calls, no games." "Well, cry me a river." "If anyone should be upset, it's me." "I was stopped from deleting my hacker competition, just as I was prevented from ruining Dr. Tuttle." "Well, now I'm just a flood of emotions!" "So maybe I'll take out Maywood Glen instead." "Think you're miserable now?" "Just wait." "By tomorrow night... you'll be drowning in your sorrows." "Okay." "Um... no one freak out." "I love secret messages." ""U-R-G-E-N-T." "Café Attoms, 3:00 p.m."" "Mr. Gruber isn't Retro." "And he also really needs to move into his own place." "Carson Lazarus is turning out to be a wonderful employee thanks to her cooking experience behind bars." "Hmm." "Okay, sometimes she cooks for 200 when we only need 20." "I feel a stress zit coming on." "How am I supposed to confirm it without a selfie?" "An old-school addition to the lab kit today." " It takes pictures." "I need to show you something." "Go for cover." "Okay." "Retro used the words "river," "flood" and "drowning" on purpose." " What's with the ancient scroll?" " It's a map of Maywood Glen." "Oh, like Google Maps, but made of paper." "Maybe Retro plans on contaminating the community pool." " It's Olympic size." "That's a lot of agua." "Or the laundromat?" "Maybe he just needs to wash his creepy mask." "He's always wearing it." " It's gotta be gross and sweaty inside." "Is it broken?" "Where are the pictures?" "I see no pictures." "That's not how it works." "You have to get the film developed if you can find a one-hour photo." "One hour?" "Like a whole 60 minutes?" "That's 3,600 individual seconds." "What's the point of taking a selfie if you have to wait an hour to see it?" "That's it." "Retro's message has been right in front of us." "He means the dam." "Retro's going to flood the city." "How do you know?" "Last semester, my earth science class took that field trip to the Maywood Glen Dam." "The locks of the Maywood Glen Dam, which hold back two trillion gallons of water, have recently been fully automated." "We don't even need a staff." "Question." "Excuse me." "Pardon me." "Pardon me." "Doesn't the dam also hold back sediments which would naturally replenish the downstream ecosystems?" "Uh..." "I'm not sure." "Well, I am." "The dam blocks fish migrations." "All those little baby fish separated from their mamas!" "I just know what's on my cards." "Um, let's not forget, dams have plenty of benefits." "Like water storage, irrigation and flood control." "Yes!" "In fact, in the event of a major power outage, a propane generator will help keep these locks locked." "The dam's control room requires at least 15,000 watts to stay operational, but the dam's backup generator propane tank only has a 500-liter capacity." "Meaning we only have four hours before power runs out." "The locks disengage." "And the spillways open." "Flooding everything in its path." "Streets, homes, businesses." "The town's power grid will be destroyed." "Adiós, Maywood Glen!" "Español is usually my thing, but it's an emergency, so I'll share." "But where are we gonna find another power source for the generator?" "To what do I owe this pleasure?" "Ember, we need to borrow your anaerobic digester." "With the power out everywhere, we need something to help stop the Maywood Glen..." "Dam from bursting." "How did you know I was gonna say that?" "I was on the same field trip as your BFF, Camryn." "And I've still got a burr in my side" "about the ecological" "Uh, Ember." "Dam bursting, major emergency here." "Sorry, you're right." "Maybe we should call the authorities?" "We only have four hours." "That's not enough time to evacuate the whole town." "Besides, we don't have any phones or social media to even tell the whole town." "We have to do this ourselves, and now!" "Mmm." "There's just one little hitch in the whole giddy-up." "Please translate farm-speak." "It's never produced more than 500 watts at a time." "Just enough to water my plants." "We're gonna need way more than leftover lunch to power up the dam." "How much is way more?" "A whole slop load." "Is that a cute Southern term meaning "a lot"?" "Nope." "It's a cute Southern term meaning "a whole load of slop."" "Well, come on!" "Three weeks as a secret agent and I've already experienced a lifetime in trash." "Isn't this fun?" "One person's trash is another's treasure." "Ember, you have a very strange idea of fun." "Well, keep scooping, ladies." "It's chow time." "Ugh." "I've lost my appetite." "Not for us, for my methanogens." "Those little bacteria buggers eat the slop and produce methane." "My grandma calls it "the thunder down under."" "Now, we just need to hook everything up in the dam control room." "Hey, you mean "darn" control room." "Even in crisis, a lady is a lady." "No, I mean..." "Never mind." "All guards to the central outdoor dam." "The guards will be back soon." "We have to move!" "Keep loading, ladies!" "Time's running out!" "It's still in the danger zone!" "We need to turn off all non-essential systems." "Come on, work!" "Work!" "This baby's already outputting gas, but the addition of new compost should keep the digester kickin' out the energy we need." "If this works, Ember, your digester deserves to win the Tech Fair." "If it doesn't, it's H2-oh, no." "Here's hopin'." "But hey, your water-powered car sounds like a real winner, too, Camryn." "That's it!" "H2O!" "Water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen, so when you separate the atoms via electrolysis" "You can burn the hydrogen as fuel." "The product is water vapor" "And it releases harmlessly into the environment." "And gentle on Mother Earth." "Sounds like a plan." "Let's continue this little chat when we're not in such a perilous situation." "Yes!" "It's working!" "Yes!" "We fixed it!" " ♪ Go us!" "Go us!" "Go us!" "♪" "♪ Saved the town, stopped Retro ♪" "I reckon this has been the coolest day of my life." "Wait till I tell everyone at school." "Oh, we'll be heroes." "Famous even." "Maybe I can get a new plant genus named after me." "Emberus leguminosae." "No, we can't tell anyone." "No plant names, no nothing." "This has to stay a secret." "Uh-oh." "Why?" "Are we in some kind of trouble?" "No, it's not like that." "If we're getting arrested for trespassing, just tell me." " I'm a big girl." " Ember, it's" "You know what?" "I can't live with the guilt." "I'm gonna turn myself in." "Maybe y'all should do the same." "Ember, you can't." "Why not?" "What's going on here?" " We're in a club." " School project." "Concerned citizens." "We're going to a puppy party." "We've got to get better at that." "And yes, I'm aware that I'm the one that said "puppy party."" "Gals, as much as I'd love to attend a puppy party, there's something big here you're not telling me." "You're right." "And it's a matter of national security." "Top secret." "Lives could be at stake." "We need to keep it silencio." "Shh." "So, what you're saying is, we've got ourselves a secret." " Exactly." "Well, since we're sharing..." " I've got myself a secret, too." " Uh, go for it." "I'm secretly bad at keeping secrets." "Okay..." "Okay." "Then you'll just need to take a solemn oath to never tell a single soul what we did here today." "Pinkie swear." "Okay." "I always miss the good stuff." "It was more important to get you up and running, back to your old self." "Okay, we stayed ahead of Retro this time, but there's little doubt, he's gonna keep at it." "Agreed." "He's just gonna keep amping up the danger and threats until Maywood Glen is destroyed for good." "We've gotta find him and stop him." "M, you know how we said, "There's no bad ideas"?" "Well, this might be the definition of a bad idea." "But, if we're using it to catch a bad guy, then maybe two wrongs make a right." "Or at least close enough to a right to take the risk of being wrong, right?" "Believe it or not, I think I'm following you." "Retro is known for spoofing, concealing his originating IP address through false fronts." "The only way to find the source address is to access and analyze the datagram packets in his broadcast." "That would take a boatload of NOV-Eight's server power." "I know." "It's crazy risky, but I think it's gonna work." "NOV-Eight's server power is divided into offensive and defensive systems, right?" "Yeah." "One to go after the bad guys, and one to protect our database." "Okay." "If you can switch NOV-Eight's computers to offense, we might have the power to trace Retro's signal directly to him." "What?" "You mean let down our defenses, making us completely vulnerable?" "Bry, I think you may be on to something." "I won't allow it." "There is great risk involved in exposing the NOV-Eight server core." "Everything in the agency, security, data, undercover aliases, secret identities could be lost." "Hundreds of agents around the world could be exposed and put in danger, which would mean the end of NOV-Eight as we know it." "I can do it." "I just need 60 seconds." "If Bry says she can do it, then she can do it." "Look, you've always taught me to weigh the pros and cons of any idea." "Fine." "Pros?" "We stop Retro." "Cons?" "Everything else." "It's just too dangerous." "Retro isn't just targeting Maywood Glen anymore." " What do you mean?" " We've been thinking." "Maybe there's a pattern to everything Retro's done." "A method to his loco-ness." "We were trying to find a connection between his target locations." "Specifically, addresses." "The school is at 3889 Mayfield Drive, the warehouse is at 77 North Roscoe Boulevard, and the dam is at 77036 West Route Six." "Sorry, my brain just does that." "But it's not the street names." "It's the numbers." "Latitude and longitude." "Well, that explains the globe." "38.8977 north and 77.0366 west." "They're the coordinates for Washington, DC." "La Casa Blanca." "The White House!" "Retro has been playing with us from the very start." "He's going after the president?" "Quail, the clock is ticking." "There is no time." "We need to get out there." "Go get him, girls."