Leo Mendel:
Oh cool! Time for me to talk. Thanks to the map guiding the team to the right location, we landed back into the Arctic like temperatures in no time. This was my eighth time being here, so I knew the place pretty well. All of us left the robot, with Harris making it go incognito. Walking to the front of the cabins, I had to make sure no one had tech on them.
"Ok," I started out, "all phones, electronics, and mech links in the bucket."
Before I could explain why, one of them started freaking out.
"What?!" Spyder asked in shock. "Why?!"
"Everyone here is allergic to tech. If we bring ours with us, we won't be able to go near them." Ryan told him.
Spyder whined a little. We all put our stuff inside. Once we did, I led them to the town. Well, I almost did.
"Wait!" Veracity shouted.
All of us stared at her. We watched her dig her hand in Spyder's back pocket. She pulled out his cell phone.
"Dude." Harris said.
"But-"
"Nope." Mark cut him off.
Spyder sighed and dropped his phone hesitantly into the bucket.
"Is that it?" I asked.
Spyder nodded. Not trusting it, Ry and Mark walked over to him and checked it out. Spyder's hat was removed as we saw his MP3 player. Mark also found his laptop under his coat. Both brothers dropped his belongings into the bucket too.
"How'd you...?" Mackenzie inquired in disbelief.
"Hey, that's your stuff!" Spyder blamed.
V gave her a look.
"Mackenzie." She reacted as she crossed her arms.
Kenzie threw her hands in the air.
"What? Just in case anything happens, you wanna be completely cut off from the outside world?" She defended herself.
"Girl please. Everyone in there has been cut off from the outside world for years." Ryan told her.
"Yeah, but that's MP3 isn't even mine. That's Mark's." Mack revealed.
We all looked at the sixteen year old with shock. He looked guilty.
"If I can't have my daily dose of Demi Lovato, then there's a problem." Mark said to us.
"Mm mm," Veracity responded while shaking her head, "all of you are so attached to your things. Shame."
"V you made me try to smuggle-"
"Shh!" Veracity shushed Mackenzie.
Me, Ryan, and Harris gave them her a suspicious look.
"Seriously, everyone have all the tech inside of there?" Harris questioned.
They all nodded.
"Alright then," I said, "let's go."
The kids and I began to enter the town. We saw a lot of people walking around and doing some work. However, who I was looking for was the person who informed me about the two technopaths. Ryan's mother. She told me that a certain little girl found out about before Lincoln packed up and snuck away. Speaking of that little girl-
"Ryan!"
There she is. We all turned back to see her running up to us. Her name was Brandi. She's the first one we cured when we first got here. Well, when Ry first got here. She's also the reason we were able to escape so quickly. That little one is a smart cookie indeed.
"You're back!" Brandi yelled as she practically jumped into Ryan's arms.
The two bonded briefly before Ryan's parents talked to us on the way to Mark's car. He told me she was like his little sister. I smiled as I watched Ry lift her up and carry her.
"Hi Brandi," Ryan greeted, "look at you. You're not wearing gray for once."
"Yeah. I think when you cured me my body changed," Brandi explained, "I can handle extreme temperatures now."
"Lucky," Spyder replied, "the rest of us would get pneumonia."
Ryan nodded.
"Brandi, this is my team," he introduced, "Veracity, Harris, Spyder, and my cousin Mackenzie."
Mark cleared his throat, offended that he was left out. His littler brother looked at him.
"Well I figured you would introduce yourself since you do that every time someone else tries to do it." Ryan assumed.
Mark was about to reply, but nodded since he knew that was true.
"I'm Ryan's hot older brother Mark," he said, "call me awesome so you'll remember."
"Cool." Brandi retorted.
She leaned near Ryan's ear. I could hear them whisper to each other.
"You weren't kidding about that ego." Brandi told him.
Ryan chuckled.
"Been dealing with it for fifteen years," he counteracted, "and probably fifteen more to come."
I laughed a little.
"We can all agree on that." I added.
The two nodded. Clasping my hands together, I got everyone's attention.
"Alright," I alerted them, "Brandi, where's Violet and Randall? We need to talk to them."
"They're four cabins down," she told me, "they're expecting you guys."
"Wait, didn't you say your mother's name is Violet?" Mark brought up.
Ryan nodded.
"Ooo! We get to meet your birth parents?" Spyder asked, "awesome!"
Ryan smiled at him as we all headed to the cabin. It wasn't that long of a walk since we basically only had to turn a corner. I saw Randall sitting on the deck sharpening a stick. Once we were in a good distance, I cleared my throat to get his attention. He shot his head up. Nodding, he stood and approached us all.
"Hi guys," Randall began as he turned his head over to his son, "hi kiddo."
Ry smiled bigger as he let Brandi down and hugged his father. He stood beside him so he could let him get to know the others.
"Hi I'm Veracity," V already took charge, "that's Harry, Spyder, Mackenzie, and Mark."
"Harris!" The kid corrected her, "can you guys stop calling me Harry?"
"K shorty bop." Ryan teased.
Harris blinked.
"Harry wins." He decided.
Randall chuckled.
"Don't worry, Ryan already told me about you guys." He retorted.
Randall took a look at Mack and beamed. The two instantly hugged.
"Hey Kenzie," He said, "how's Liam? And how come I had to hear from you that you were my niece?"
"Running from Seth remember?" Kenz reminded him, "and he's ok. Saved his life from Tregear."
Randall then looked at all of us.
"We'll explain later." I told him.
He nodded as I watched him walk up to Mark.
"And you must be the older brother," Randall guessed, to which Mark nodded, "thank you for watching my boy all these years."
Mark smiled.
"No problem." He replied.
Randall patted his shoulder and turned around. We all followed him inside. Opening the door, we saw Violet and Aaron talking to each other. They turned and faced the doorway once we all came inside. Violet's face lit up.
"Ryan." She spoke in happiness.
Ry grinned as he hugged his mother. Mack decided to pick up Brandi and have her turn in holding her. Ry and Violet let go as Aaron patted his shoulder as a welcome gesture.
"We're glad you guys are here," he started, "as much getting cured felt good, I know the others would rather risk their lives than to kill kids for more years to live."
I nodded.
"Which is why we need to find Lincoln and take her down," I said, "any trace of her?"
"When Brandi told me what she saw, I had to make sure everyone else knew," Violet answered, "and since Aaron, Randall, and I are the only ones who can use technology, we went out of town to find some things."
"I managed to grab a sample of DNA from where Lincoln was staying before she left," Aaron continued for her, "I put in in the computer. Hopefully it'll do something."
Veracity, Harris, Mack, once she put Brandi down, and I quickly went over to it. After looking at it for a few minutes, V figured out something.
"She's not far, but the place is blocked off." She informed us.
"We need to find a way to sneak in and let the two know we're coming." Ryan said.
"Ooo! My powers allow me to mind read. I can talk to whoever is captured through my head." Mackenzie brought up.
Mark raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, that's a little creepy." He responded.
Mackenzie shrugged. She used her abilities to try and contact her friends. It only took a few seconds to get through. Least I think it did. Sorry, I don't know how mind talking works.
"They're locked up," Kenzie told us, "in some facility outside of the town."
"What is it with facilities and shiz?" Ryan asked. "Seriously, why can't we have a normal capture like...like...hanging on by a piece of rope over a gorge."
We all gave him a weird look. He returned it with a confused one.
"What?" Ryan inquired.
"Do you need help?" Veracity asked back.
Ry rolled his eyes.
"Eh I don't disagree," Spyder admitted, "facilities are overrated."
"Guys!" Harris got our attention, "the plan!"
After taking a few minutes to think, I came up with something.
"We split up," I suggested, "go half and half. Me, Mark, and Veracity will watch for anyone that might be coming."
"Ok. Me and Mackenzie will look for one while you two look for the other," Ryan decided upon, "we'll cover more ground that way."
We all nodded.
"Be careful," Violet told us, "Lincoln's a snake."
"We'll be here if you need any assistance," Randall chimed in, "we need to make sure this place is protected in case she tries to come back."
Understandable.
"Alright," Mark said, "let's go."