Leaving for the Zlansk mission feels different than when we left for Coral-Bay. I mean, for starters, half my face wasn't missing back then. The scar along my left cheekbone aches constantly, from just under my eye down to the corner of my mouth. I guess it makes me a little tetchy. I'm definitely doing Paolera's head in, but I can't help it, and besides. Everyone's so damn compliant all the time; I reckon it doesn't hurt to give her a challenge.

Squad Three also slow us down a lot. There's just so many of us, and food and resources. Half the squad have guns strapped to their backs, leaving the rest of us to carry double food and kit. Droids clunk along behind us, reminding me of creepy Viktoria, carrying the charging equipment, ammo and technical gear we can't manage ourselves. They complain the loudest.

And then there's us. Sammi, Rai and I. Last time, we were strangers. Forced together. Sure, we were 'The Elementalist', but it wasn't like I felt connected with them, or like I trusted them. I don't know when things started to change. When my village was destroyed, I lost everything. My home, my identity. My family. A lost, lonely seed in a desert. But now, as we march together, Sammi to my right, Rai flying above me to my left, I feel like we're more than just our title.

This time, our team means something.

Every now and then, Sammi's taken to holding my hand.

'Are you okay?' The first time she did it, I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. I mean, if Musa was here, he'd kill me. Violently.

'Mmhmm.' Sammi nodded. She had a vague look in her eyes, like in her head, she was somewhere else. With someone else. 'I just miss him, you know. D'you mind?'

I shook my head. What was I supposed to say? If she needed a hand to pretend was his – hell. Who am I to take that away from her?

But I think - maybe? - it's annoying Rai. To be fair, it's pretty hard to tell; he always seems so goddamn happy. But I think, slowly, I'm learning. The more he shakes his head and the wider he smiles, the more he's trying to hide. He watches us with that quizzical, curious expression of his, and when he realises I've caught him staring, he smiles and goes red, speeding up to talk to someone else. Which is fine by me. I don't really know what to do with his intensity anyway.

When he shouted in my face: you're not hideous! It was like when he whispered in the water: you're the strongest person I know. The force of his gaze, so damn sincere. . . There's still way too much about that boy I don't understand. But one thing's for sure: I don't hate him anymore. I'm not sure how I ever could have. Through hate, or friendship, or whatever. . . I dunno. He's under my skin.

It's a three days trek through the black forest to the Slavskani Wormhole; even then, we have to change in the south for the more central Brinsk. There's no direct Wormhole to Zlansk, which lurks on the fringes of the Wastelands, and as we can't exactly just stroll there on foot, we'll need to teleport in with the Temporary Wormholes. Paolera insists we prepare as much as possible in Brinsk before. . . before.

Everybody's tense and anxious as we make camp. Slavskanistan is, I'd guess, the poorest country in the world, but Brinsk breaks the rule. It's the biggest city in Tellus after Singavere mainly because it's home to Paradise Park. It used to be a famous theme park, but got completely wrecked in the nuclear wars. Now, it's a twisted horror-show that bizarrely attracts as much attention as it did in its heyday. Call it morbid fascination or whatever, but people goddamn love it. It's basically a giant haunted house. A tourist ghost town, with looping roller-coaster tracks that end in mid-air, tumbling waterfalls with log plumes poised at the top, tipping, tipping. . . But never falling. It's never been restored; firstly, 'cause er, waste of money, and secondly, 'cause when you can do it all in VR, what's the point, right? Futurists like Rai just ride around on drones, anyway.

At night, it's deserted. I know it's a great place for us to camp, but. . . it just reminds me. I'd been so sure it was what Kitty, my Kittykat, had planned for my birthday. I was so sure. . .

'There you are.'

Rai and Sammi poke their heads around the door-frame of my hiding place: a half-collapsed souvenir shop littered with stuffed toys of ancient cartoon characters. We're supposed to be setting up our kits, but I sneaked away – Tanner and half the soldiers are preoccupied up to their armpits in engine-oil servicing droids, whilst the other half are with Paolera doing the final tests to the Temporary Wormholes. My chin rests on a dust-covered fluffy cat as Rai and Sammi duck and squeeze their way inside, Henry tucked cosily under Rai's arm.

'How'd you find me?'

Rai glances up from the holographic sign he'd started reading (about how old-fashioned cash machines used to work) with a sheepish smile. 'Henry followed you,' he admits, giving the sign one last puzzled look before squatting down beside me. 'You just wandered off. . .'

'Are you worried about the Mission?' Sammi joins us on the floor, sweeping aside my creepy dolls companions. 'I wouldn't blame you. I'm not sure how I feel about it either.'

I flick specks of dust from the cat's fur. Frowning. 'We were supposed to come here on my birthday. We never made it.'

Neither of them say anything, but Henry wriggles out of Rai's arms and scoots onto my lap, nudging the soft-toy aside. I glance at Rai, unsure what to do. He usually seems pretty reluctant for the other soldiers to touch Henry. But Rai just grins.

'He doesn't bite.'

My hand hovers above Henry, tentative, before stroking his sleek frame, soft, with one finger. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Rai's shoulders twitch. But Henry seems to like it; he tilts to the side, lights flashing like twinkling eyes.

Rai starts to pet Henry too. 'Well, I'm worried.' He leans forwards to peer around Sammi, checking we're definitely alone. 'This mission. Something doesn't feel right.'

Sammi frowns. 'Like what?'

Rai bites his lip. 'Don't you think it's weird? That no one had a clue the capsule was. . . you know. A person. With all their information, not one person knew? I don't buy it! And like, I know that this time we have a plan and backup, but no one's really telling us anything important. I mean, let's take the missing Elementalist. Haven't you noticed? No one will even talk about them in front of us.'

Sammi squirms, looking uncomfortable. 'Is now really the time to be asking all these questions?'

'We're about to break into a Futurist base to try and destroy another capsule. Aka, potentially kill another person. This is exactly the time to ask questions!'

I grind my teeth; my jaw clicks. 'You were happy enough to kill off the last capsule. Why would this one be any different?'

Rai gasps; half incredulous, and half because Henry's just bulldozed out of my arms into his stomach, buzzing furiously at me. 'Y-You think I'm proud of that?!'

'No.' I rub my eyes between my thumb and index finger – what am I doing? 'Sorry. I don't blame you. It's not what any of us wanted.'

'This is exactly why we need to talk about all this, before we do anything else we regret!'

'Regret?' Sammi's voice is very quiet. 'Who says I regret it?' She wraps her arms around each of our necks, pulling us so close together, our foreheads touch. 'You can't think like this, guys, it's what the Futurists want. If they think trapping people inside capsules will spook us, they're wrong. We can't let them win. Not again.'

'How can you say that?' Rai tries to pull away, but she's pinning us tight. 'That's so cold.'

'That's not fair. It wasn't you who had to do it.' Sammi's eyes are so dark. Bottomless pits. I wonder if they'll ever end. 'I did. You didn't see their pain. You didn't have to.

'I've got to put my sister's life first. I've still got people left to fight for.'

Wow. I don't even - wow.

Rai finally manages to pull away. Still intent on arguing. 'Fine. Say we destroy all the capsules. Then what? FUTURE disappears in a puff of smoke? Admits defeat and crawls away under a rock? As a Futurist, I can tell you this for nothing: that won't happen. There'll be another war, Cotton's already said so.' He covers his face with his hands.

I shuffle towards him. 'Rai –?'

'I – I d-don't want to be used!' His voice is muffled by his fingers. Gently, I place a hand on his shoulder; he shudders under my touch. 'Not anymore. All my life. . . I'm - I'm just a pawn in someone else's game. . . Titus's for so long. Now, Cotton's. . . Shit. I don't want to blindly do as I'm told anymore! I want to do things because I believe in them –'

'How can you not believe in this?' Sammi shouts, far too loud for this tiny space. 'Look at everything these bastards have done! Kids are dying! Kass' village wiped out because they got in the way. Your precious Futurists. . . How can you defend them?'

'I'm not! I just – I just. . .' He finally removes his hands, wiping his eyes with fierce, angry strokes, as though his tears are to blame. 'I just don't understand how any of this helps! How does destroying the capsules save your sister? How will starting a war save lives?' He shakes his head, looking more confused than ever. 'And Brie's rescue. How can they not tell us what's going on? This Elementalist is one of us. It could have been us that got captured, any of us, who knows what's being done to them? We deserve to know. There's must be some way we can help!'

'Goodness, Rai, so many questions. I never took you for a deep thinker! Shows what I know, eh? Do you want your answers separately, or will one answer for all suffice?'

We spin around.

A figure, illuminated by his own torchlight, leans in the doorway, elbow perched on the shoulder of a charred card-board cut-out. Eldred. He mimics the pose of the cartoon cut-out, chuckling to himself when none of us laughs.

'Sorry to interrupt your little mothers' meeting.'

'It's not funny, Eldred,' I snap. 'This is serious. Rai's right – there are too many unanswered questions. You can't expect us to just put our lives on the line no questions asked –' Something from my mum's letter springs to mind. I clear my throat, my chest tightening painfully. '– We're not weapons, you know. You can't just use us.'

'Oh, I disagree.' Eldred slides down beside us, his gnarled features more serious than I've ever seen them. 'Of course you're weapons. We all are. That's what being a soldier is all about. Putting your life on the line for something greater than yourself, not necessarily because you understand every bit of it, but because you know it's right. To fight for what you believe in. To defend those who cannot defend themselves, like your family, Kass. Like your sister, Samma. Like our world, our old way of life, our values as human beings, our dignity to die for the planet, the home, that we love. . .

'Destroying the capsules will bring about change. That's what might save Sammi's sister; the chance of change. Of hope.' Eldred ruffles Rai's hair and sighs deeply. 'Everybody in this world deserves to live. Not just those who can afford a relocation far away from this place. We have to stop them – and not just for your sister, Samma, but the billions of children yet to be born. Maybe if we take down FUTURE, we can immunise children from birth. But we've told you all this before, Rai. What's this really about?'

Rai blinks up at Eldred, his tear-stained cheeks glistening in Eldred's torchlight. 'W-what do you mean?'

'Are you scared your loved ones will think you've betrayed them?'

Rai's face flushes, and he knocks into a shelf of merchandise in his haste to stand; figurines tumble to the floor. Henry swerves out of the way, beeping crossly. 'B-betrayed them?'

'Well, you have! By fighting with us, you're betraying everyone you've ever known: Titus, your friends, your Guild-Master, your boyfriend. . .'

'Alright, Eldred, knock it off. You don't need to rub it in.' I struggle to my feet, kicking figurines out the way until I'm right at Rai's side. 'You talk a good talk, Eldred, but you still owe us an explanation about the missing Elementalist. If I were them, I'd be pretty pissed right now. How long have you known where they are? Why create four of us if you don't care enough to protect us all?'

Eldred scratches a filthy nail under his hat and into his hair. It makes me feel a bit sick. 'There has to be four. Four states of matter form the elements of our world: solids, liquids, gases, and of course, plasma. Take one away. . . the world would die. That's why we need all of you. To control the uncontrollable. To rebuild the irreparable. And – despite what you think – we did try and protect all of you. But sometimes –,' Eldred hangs his head, having the grace to look ashamed. '– things don't always work out. We've been stretched to our absolute limit –,'

'So, let us help! We can help rescue them!'

'No,' Eldred growls. 'You must destroy the capsule. Leave the Elementalist to us; Brie has everything under control.'

'But you just said –!'

'Do as you are told.'

I blink, totally taken aback. In one fluid motion, Eldred's risen, towering over me, his usually calm and collected features mottled under his beard. His eyes flash as he turns on his heels and flicks off his torchlight, casting us into darkness. 'I expect you back at camp in twenty minutes for your final briefing. It's time you learnt your place.'

We wait in silence, listening to Eldred crunch over the figurines as he ducks under the cardboard cut-out and disappears from view; we hold our breath until finally, he's gone. Pulling my cloak around my shoulders, I sink against Sammi and dig out my inhaler, taking eight deep measured puffs. My chest expands. My head swims.

'It's time we learnt our place?' Sammi whispers. Her fingers slip through mine, and I squeeze – she reaches out to Rai, offering him a hand too. Slowly, he takes it, joining us again on the floor. 'Is – is that. . . Is that how this is?'

'It's like he said.' I can't keep the bitterness from my voice. 'You were right, Rai. We're nothing but weapons, just pawns in their game.'

'We have to stop this,' Rai croaks. 'Kass. . . Sammi. We can't let them turn us into –'

'But what choice do we have?' Sammi cries. 'I want to help. I want to defeat FUTURE. . . I want to save my sister. Maybe the only way we can do that is to. . .' She grimaces, as though even the words taste nasty. 'Do as we're told.'

'No.' I place a hand on the ground, feeling it tremble under my touch. I feel. . . so much power. More power than RESIST. More than I will ever control. But even if I can't, not yet. . . It's still mine. To do with as I see fit.

'No,' I repeat. 'I'm no one's puppet. I didn't watch my family die to sit around and let more people die, capsule or not. Especially not by my hands. I say we ditch this mission and go after the missing Elementalist ourselves.'

'What?!' Sammi and Rai goggle at me with open mouths.

But mine twists into a smile.

'Don't you see? If we rescue the plasma Elementalist on our terms, then we gain back control. Without us, RESIST have nothing.'

'But. . .' Rai's face has turned very pale. 'How do we do that?'

'We just need Brie to let us tag along. As long as we find out where the Elementalist is, we can give Brie the slip and rescue them ourselves. Then, we give the Resisters an ultimatum: tell us everything, or we walk.' An iron-cold fist clamps around my heart, and I let out a hiss. 'If they won't even tell us the truth. . . then I refuse to be a murderer. Not even to a goddamn capsule.'

'No.' Rai rips his hand out from Sammi's and turns his back on us. 'I won't work with Cadence.'

'What?' Is he. . . Is he serious right now? Of all the stupid, petty things to object to. . . 'Seriously? Get a grip! We don't have the luxury of working with people we like. What's the alternative, Rai? We all become pawns? Like you?'

Sammi tuts, throwing me a filthy look. She rises and wraps her arms around Rai, as his shoulders start to shake. 'Sometimes, Kass, you can be such a dick.'

I ignore her. Instead, I tug Rai away from her and twist him around to face me. 'Well?'

Rai shakes his head, rubbing his cheeks with his sleeve. 'She won't say yes. She won't help us. . .'

A sceptical laugh escapes, earning me two sharp looks. I clear my throat and let my face split into a grin. 'Who says I'll be giving her a choice?'

*

'Hey, Brie.'

It's almost sunrise, and the camp's getting ready to leave. A thin dusting of snow settled over our kits whilst we slept, so drying the delicate machinery became the top priority. I leave Rai and Sammi being grilled for the umpteenth time by Private Tanner on how to correctly activate and deactivate our wormholes, slipping off for a surreptitious 'toilet break'.

'Just take a whizz anywhere, nobody cares,' Tanner rolls his eyes at my retreating back.

'Pee-fright.' I hold my hands up as if to say what-can-ya-do?, before shoving them into my pockets as I saunter away. It takes a little while to find Brie but eventually I spot her, knee-deep in oil polishing silvery-black globes with a frenzied vigour. The spikes of her hair fall into her eyes as she scrubs.

'What do you want?' She doesn't look up, just keeps feverishly scrubbing wormholes, despite not a single speck of snow having survived.

'Didn't have you down for a clean-freak.' I hunch down, peering over her shoulder until she jerks it at me in annoyance. 'What are you trying to do, erase them from existence?'

'Shut up.' She tosses the temporary wormhole into a box by her feet then plucks a new one from the pile. 'I'm not cleaning them, idiot. I'm charging them. You'd know that if you weren't such a damn nuisance.'

'Ouch.' I nudge the box of wormholes with my foot. 'You don't like us Elementalists much, do you.'

'Not particularly.'

'So why go through all the hassle of rescuing another one?'

She looks at me like I'm stupid. 'Those are my orders.' She scrunches her face, rubbing the wormhole harder and harder. 'I'm a soldier. That's what soldiers do. Follow orders.'

'Oh yeah, 'cause you're so obedient.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' She pauses, her hand hovering above the wormhole. A sudden spark of static shoots from the orb to her palm and she flinches, glowering at me as though it's my fault.

I shrug. 'Oh, you know. Seems to me like you're a bit of a rebel. Like you make your own decisions.'

After pursing her lips in a moment in apparent consideration, Brie goes back to scrubbing. 'I guess that's fair to say.'

'I, uh, I wanted to ask you something.'

She huffs. 'What?'

'Well.' I shuffle my feet, trying to look as innocent as I possibly can. 'I guess I'm more telling, than asking. But, you know.'

She raises an eyebrow at me with an amused smile. 'Oh yeah? Go on then, have a go. Try telling me what to do.'

'Fine, I will. You're going to take us with you on your rescue mission. Me, Sammi and Rai.'

Brie laughs. 'Yeah, sure. I'm really going to do that.'

'Oh, like I said, I'm not asking. We're coming, and you're not going to tell Paolera. We'll stay with her until the last minute, then when you split off, we'll join you.'

'No.' Brie finally stands, flicks her wrists out with a series of clicks, and picks up the box of wormholes. 'No discussion, no crying oh but why, that's so unfaaaair. Just no. Scram.'

'Yes.'

'NO.'

'Yes!'

She throws her arms up in annoyance. 'God, really? Why the actual hell would I want you tagging along?'

It's my turn now to laugh. 'Oh, you probably don't. But I don't care what you want. Just like you don't care about what we want.'

'Oh yeah?' Her eyes narrow. 'Look, kid. We clearly don't like each other, although what your problem is, I have no idea. But I'm going to give you one last chance. Beat it, before I report you to Paolera.'

'No. This is your last chance.' I put my hands on my knees and lean forwards, until I'm right up in Brie's face. That smug sneer, upper-lip wrinkling in contempt as she scowls at me like I'm a piece of crap. A shiver of hatred darts up my spine as I stare into those sharp, conceited eyes.

'My last chance?' she hisses. 'You arrogant little –,'

'– before I go to Cotton and tell her exactly what you did to Rai.'

'What?' She steps back, eyes widening; clearly, that was the last thing she expected. 'What I –? What are you talking about?'

'Don't play dumb with me.'

'I'm not. . .' She drops the box of wormholes; the sudden noise makes me jump. 'Fine. Do what you want. Go to Cotton. You've got nothing on me, kid.'

'You're bluffing, I'm not thick. I've got to know Rai pretty well. He's terrified of you. He hates people touching him. . . He shudders when he looks at you.'

She snorts. 'Not my fault he's a wuss.'

Anger flares in my fists, hot and white. 'Shut up. You – you've got no right. You had no right to –'

'To what?' Brie demands.

I hesitate. 'To hurt him.'

Brie smirks. 'Rai was a service provider. I hired him. So what?' She folds her arms across her chest, her expression, although guarded, calm and collected all of a sudden. 'Cotton ordered me to find him, and that's exactly what I did.'

'Oh, pull the other one.'

'What are you suggesting, Kass?' Brie grins in obvious delight. 'Is sweet little Rai not quite the darling he appears?'

I turn away, unable to look at her a second longer. Instead, I glare at the ground. It trembles beneath my feet. Fury sweeps through me, prickling pins and needles so sharp, they make me wince. Guilt pangs my chest at the same time – should I really be doing this? Saying these things? What if. . . What if I'm wrong? Will I be able to look Rai in the eyes after this?

'I know you hurt him. . .' I whisper. 'Why? Did it make you feel powerful or something?'

Brie rolls her eyes. 'I didn't do anything that hadn't been done before.'

I can't believe what I'm hearing. 'That – that doesn't –!'

I can't even finish my sentence. Neither of us speak. I feel sick, wanting nothing more than to cover my ears and hum loudly. . . to stop hearing the thoughts scratching inside my head. But then – Brie laughs. She throws back her head, laughing until tears streak down her cheeks. I stare at her, loathing her. So hard I'm literally shaking.

She wipes her eyes, chuckling weakly. 'Oh, you and Rai. Both so pathetic.'

My control breaks.

In its place – rage.

I lunge onto all fours, sinking my hands into the ground. Cracks spiral out from my fingertips in a stampede towards Brie – she barely has time to skip out of the way – when the earth under her feet explodes. She's flung backwards with a shriek and a shower of dirt and mud, wormholes flying everywhere –

She lands flat on her back. I'm on top of her instantly, my fist flying towards her and she screams –

I plunge it into the earth. A crater blown right next to her head.

Fear and shock flashes through those arrogant eyes, and I see my own reflected back at me.

So full of hate. . .

My arm has sunk all the way to my elbow. I lift it out of the ground, slow as though waking from a dream, and roll off her. What am I doing? I hug my knees to my chest by Brie's side, as her breathing gradually slows. Then, she bolts upright, trying to make a break for it – not fast enough.

On reflex, I grab her by her collar, yanking her back towards me.

'This is your first, and final warning, Brie. I will go to Cotton. And if she doesn't care, then I'll tell Eldred, Labelle, Keller, and everyone else if I have to. Someone must give a damn. But I reckon Cotton will. She'd never have told you to. . . Maybe she did want you to check out his powers, but if that was all you did, Rai wouldn't be so scared. You, being you. . .'

'Okay, okay. I get it.' She shoves me in the chest, firm and fierce. I drop her and she scrambles away, rearranging her clothes with a filthy expression. 'I'll let you come along. But don't get in my way.'

'We won't.'

Her mouth twitches, like she's longing to say something but doesn't quite dare. Then, with a growl, she gathers up three of the wormholes, now scattered all around us, and tosses them to me one by one. I catch them, fumbling with the last, before tucking them into the deep pockets of my mohair. 'Our specific wormholes,' she says through gritted teeth. 'You'll each need one.'

'Got it.'

We both hesitate, not quite sure what we're supposed to do next. I've never blackmailed anyone before. She's probably never been on the receiving end before. I stay quiet a second longer though.

'See you on the battlefield, kid.' Brie turns her back on me before I can even open my mouth, and stoops to gather up the wormholes, chucking them back into their box with renewed vigour. 'Try not to die.'

'Like I'd give you the satisfaction.' Whether or not she turns back to watch me leave, I'll never know.

I walk back to my own side of camp without giving her a backwards glance.