The Elementalists

DAEMON

"Off," I instruct, giving Emma a small shove so that she'll move faster. "Get off of the plane. We still have quite a walk until we get to our destination." Jamal sighs and I hiss, "Did you expect the plane to just take us to a top-secret government facility? If you did, then you should really—" I stop myself from finishing the insult. Shaking my head, I think, If I continue to act this cruel, then I'm no better than Angel.

   "It's alright," Jamal says, looking up at me. "We're all stressed, too, worrying about Robin."

   I narrow my eyes. He shouldn't be able to read my mind... I've learned ways to block the ability from entering my brain. So how did he know what I was thinking?

   His mind-reading would have to be very high-level to get through my "shield," and there's no way he'd possibly been able to master mind-reading in the short amount of time he's had the chance. It takes years to master the ability...

   Oh, shit.

   I grab Jamal by the arm and pull him off of the plane, towards the restroom. Confused, the others run after us, but they stop following us when I pull Jamal into the restroom and lock the door.

   "Why the hell did you not tell me you were bugged earlier?" I hiss, motioning at the faint outline of a circle on his neck. "Wait..." He probably has no clue that he was bugged... Oops. "Did you even know you were bugged?"

   Jamal—who has a look of pure terror in his eyes—shakes his head no. "What do you mean that 'I'm bugged'?" he asks me, a confused look crossing his face. "What's on my neck?!"

   "Somehow, someone put a chip on you...," I mumble. "And they did it at not too long ago... So when and how did they manage to put the chip on you?" I look at him and ask, "You're the Air Elementalist, right?" Jamal nods. "Then," I unlock the door and command, "Get your cousin, now."

   Jamal nods and runs out the door, returning a few seconds later with Mark by his side. Mark looks confused and a bit weirded out as I pull them both into the restroom and lock the door once more.

   "Pull your shirt collar down," I command.

   "Why—?" Mark begins.

   "Just do it, damn it!" I yell. Mark's eyes widen and he does as he is told.

   I don't see anything on his neck, so I tell him that he can pull his collar back up. As he pulls his collar back up, I notice the faint outline of a rectangle on his upper arm.

   "Shit," I mumble. "You're bugged, too, just on your upper arm instead of your neck. Just as I thought. Shit."

   Mark raises an eyebrow. "...I think you have swearing issues," he says.

   I ignore him and look over at Jamal. "Air's the most defensive element, whereas fire's the most offensive. I find it odd that the most Defensive and the most Offensive Elementalists are bugged." I sigh and add, "It's also unnerving that they not only bugged you two, but they managed to actually hack into Jamal's ability. This kind of technology... It shouldn't have been created yet."

   Mark's eyes widen, and he asks, "So, do you think that this 'Time' person has something to do with this?"

   "It seems like something the government would've done," I reply, "but they had no opportunity to bug your cousin. I believe that they bugged you, Mark, while you were unconscious; your chip is just a tracker from what I can tell. But, as for you, Jamal... I think Time is somehow involved in yours."

   Jamal frowns. "So some immortal freak managed to somehow get a microchip—a microchip consisting of technology that our scientists and government as of now can't even compete with—without me noticing? Thanks for caring about my ability to sleep peacefully at night," he adds with a sigh.