Who am I?

The question rattles around my tired, aching head.

What am I?

An all-powerful Elementalist, who can control the earth?

Hell. I can't be. That can't be me. . .

A kid from Quillin, who wants to see the stars?

No. All of that, that life, is nothing but a lie.

Am I even Kitty's brother? Niven's friend?

Who knows? Not me. I am nobody, now. They are gone, and I will never see them again.

I huddle further into the deepest, darkest corner of my room – no, not my room, that room – and bury my head in my hands. Trying everything I can to just breathe.

Breathe.

But I can't.

Not anymore.

'Kass?'

A voice, by my shoulder – I look up and it's her, that girl, Samma – Sammi? – crouched down beside me.

'Here, take this.'

She's pressing something into my hands.

'Where. . . where. . .?'

'Shh. Don't talk. Just breathe.' She moves my hands, with the gentlest touch, up to my face, helping me press the inhaler to my lips. Slow, steady hands circle my back, and – and if anything, it makes everything hurt more. . .

'G-go a-awa-ay.'

'No.' She sits beside me, and to my horror, lays her head on my shoulder. 'We're in this together. I know you don't know me, and I don't know you. But, I guess I don't feel lonely knowing that whatever I am, you're one too.' She takes my hand and squeezes it; I try my best to squeeze back, but, I just feel so weak. Everything feels so weak.

She understands. At least, I think she does.

'We'll work this out, Kass, okay? Together. I promise.'

And although I don't believe her – it's nice to hear. Even if it is just another lie.

*

Singavere. I can't believe we're actually going. If Niven could see me – the look on his face. He'd be so jealous. I think of the one-way ticket stashed in his room that he worked so hard for, now probably nothing but ash. I wonder if he'd be glad that I'm going instead.

It's early morning when we leave RESIST headquarters, Eldred, Brie, Sammi and I. Musa is staying behind, much to the dismay of Sammi; they'd argued, and I couldn't help agreeing with Sammi. His decision to remain with the Resisters was odd, abrupt. He'd been so aggressive in wanting to stay by Sammi's side, always. Why now, has he changed his mind?

'It'll only be for a few days,' Eldred consoles her, as we traipse through the blackened tree-stumps towards the Wormhole. 'You'll be together before you know it. Cotton just needs to discuss something with him, I'm sure you'll understand soon enough.'

But Sammi merely averts her red-rimmed eyes and stalks off ahead, determined to walk alone.

It's spitting, the morning air thick with a dank, ashen fog, so cold that I've pulled my mohair right up to my chin to stop me shivering. But the moment we disappear into the Wormhole's rippling void and emerge on the other side – holy crap.

It's like walking into another world.

I guess we're in. . . a station? Everything about it seems to, well, glitter; from the shiny chrome benches, to the floor panels that light up under your feet as you step; from the blinding streaks of colour from the holographic signposts, to the neon-flashing timetable with Wormhole destinations and times. Robots whizz past us wheeling luggage as their owners trot behind sharing food and laughter, and I can even see a section marked "Charging Bay" where drones are perched in neat little rows, their rumps glowing red.

Most wormholes around the world aren't monitored or guarded. But Singaverean Wormholes, apparently, are different. Each has their own platform and guards standing by; we're immediately stopped by a barrier, where a conductor in a neat blue hat and whistle accosts us.

'Tickets please.' He appraises us, up and down, nose wrinkled as though he doesn't like the smell of us. His hat gleams almost as much as the spotless floor; I can see my reflection gazing back at me, startled and skittish, and about three-times wider in my mohair than the Singavereans around me.

'Right here,' Brie smiles sweetly at the conductor, who rolls his eyes as she faffs around in her many, many pockets trying to find them. Finally, she plucks four crumpled tickets from her breast pocket with a flourish; the conductor snatches them away, holding them up to the light.

'Where did you buy these? I don't recognise the station on them. . .'

'You should get out more.' She taps her foot loudly until other passengers start to stare. 'Aren't you going to let us through?' Her voice carries, an echo, across the platform. 'It's 'cause we're not from here, isn't it, you Futurists and your prejudices –,'

'No, no!' the conductor insists, motioning for her to be quiet. 'Please, you're causing a scene.'

'ONLY because –,'

'Just go through.' He must have had enough; he stamps our tickets and pushes us all through the barrier, and Brie herds us through the crowds, smiling merrily at everybody she barges out of the way.

'This way,' she says. 'I popped a tracker on Rai's drone – just a tiny one, so he won't notice. It says –' Brie stares intently into the air. I glance at Sammi – she looks as perplexed as I am. What's she seeing that we can't? '– Oh. It's docked at Wormhole twelve.'

We make our way towards Wormhole twelve, and I pause for a moment to peer inside the docking station, where the boy – Rai's – drone is supposedly charging. I can't imagine it. Niv's VR chip was enough to impress me. And yet here's a guy owning his own drone?

'He should be out any moment,' Brie says, beckoning us over to the bench, where we sit. And wait.

It feels like an age. Bored, I distract myself by watching the Futurists, as they hurry along outside the platform. They all look so smooth. Like their faces are carved from marble or something. Most people have brightly-coloured hair and a face-full of piercings; they also have this habit, like Brie, of abruptly staring into space. They then comment about something they've read, or seen, which is so utterly bizarre that I can't help asking Eldred about it. He chuckles.

'They've got chips in their eyes – right at the back, over their retina. It allows them to see images that aren't anywhere physically.'

My mouth opened. Discs over your eyes, okay, but behind them? How the bloody hell do you put one in?

Just then, the Wormhole starts to pulse – and someone bursts out, stumbles, and pauses, panting, their hands on their knees.

'Finally!' Eldred springs to his feet, like a jack-in-the-box. 'We've been waiting for you.'

The boy straightens sharply, obviously startled, before folding his arms across his chest. He's weird looking, there's no other way to describe him. He's absolutely soaked, his blue hair – yeah, blue – plastered to his face, and tight-fitting t-shirt turned practically see-through. Futurist fashions are so dumb: his jeans are artfully ripped, and I just – why would you want that? Mine are ripped too, 'cause they're old. It's so annoying. His ears are full of nails and rings, and a stud sparkles through his eyebrow. I wonder if getting those piercings hurt.

'Who are you?' His eyes dart over each of us in turn, his expression turning sour as they settle on Brie. 'What do you want, Cadence?'

'Actually, her name's Brie,' Eldred beams. 'And my name's Eldred. I've been searching for you for years. And who am I, Rai? I'm your family. I've come to take you home.'

Oh please. He used a similar line on me. I raise an eyebrow, wondering if the boy will take the bait, and if I actually care about any of this after all.

'I'm not interested,' he mutters, trying to dodge passed us. But Eldred and Brie are fast; they're both up and in front of him sooner than I can even blink. They tower over him; although he must be mine and Sammi's age, he's still rather short.

'Sorry, Rai. We really need to speak to you,' Eldred says, at the same time as Brie says, with a smirk:

'Told you I'd be back.'

Rai takes a deep breath, then he shakes his head. Next thing I know, a great beaming smile is plastered over his face. He holds out a hand. I notice it's red-raw. 'Nice to meet you, uh, Eldred. Sorry, I was rude. It's just, I don't think we can be family. . ? I'm an orphan, so. . .'

'That was quite an about turn,' Sammi mutters in my ear.

'Well,' Eldred says, looking a little taken aback by Rai's sudden change of heart. 'I wondered if we could go somewhere a little quieter to discuss the situation?'

'No, sorry, I don't think so,' Rai shrugs, with an apologetic smile. 'See, my Master will be here any minute, and he won't want me delayed.'

'Titus is coming?' For once, Brie seems alarmed; she glances over each shoulder in turn, and prods Eldred in the arm. 'Here?'

'Yup,' Rai nods. 'And I don't think he'll be so happy to see you. You're breaking his contract by harassing me like this, you know.'

'I'm not harassing you.' Brie sounds really pissed off now. 'We just need to speak with you.'

'Is that. . . Cadence?'

Brie and Eldred jump. I've never seen Eldred look anything other than cheerful – but now, he's serious. A man in an impossibly-white suit, so emaciated his legs look close to snapping, strides around the corner. He stops when he spots us. And his grey eyes darken.

'Titus.' Brie swallows. 'I – I didn't expect to see you here. You didn't collect Rai from me?'

'I don't think the ins and outs of my business decisions are any of your concern.' Titus walks over and places a hand on Rai's shoulder – Rai's face relaxes immediately, even though he winces a little at his touch.

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Then, the man turns to Eldred. And visibly double-takes. 'Y-you!'

Eldred grimaces. 'Well, hello there, old friend –,'

'What in GOD'S name are you doing here?' Titus's face drains of all colour, tugging Rai towards him so hard, Rai's neck jerks. 'Rai, we're leaving now –,'

'Please.' Eldred makes to grab Titus's arm, but Titus flinches away with such a horrified expression, you'd have thought we were diseased. 'Please – we really need to speak with Rai. I understand he's your ward but –,'

'But nothing,' Titus spits. 'You can't have him. He's mine, do you hear? Mine.'

He swings around on the balls of his feet and marches Rai away, striding off towards the docking bay. With an eyebrow raised, I glance up at Eldred. He stares after them, his expression unusually blank.

'So. . . Are we going after them?'

'I think not. I know his Master, Titus, from old.' There's a bite to his voice I've never heard before. 'You should have known he'd be here, Brie, this was important information.'

'Important how?' Brie asks, scowling. 'You asked me to find the kid and I did. You didn't ask for the schedule of the prick he works for.'

'Well, unfortunately for us, it's relevant. Titus is –,' Eldred hesitates, as though searching through words that all taste nasty. '– not a nice guy,' he finishes, somewhat lamely.

'How so? Is he part of FUTURE?' Sammi bristles, straining up on her tip-toes to get a better look at Titus across the platform.

'No,' Eldred chuckles. 'The world isn't split into bad Futurists and good Resisters, you know. He is a Futurist in as much as he lives in Singavere, but he's pretty inactive. He doesn't give a damn about politics; if anything, he hates it. You could say he's one of life's fortune-hunters. He's out for himself, seeking to manipulate life to his advantage.'

'How so?'

Eldred sighs. 'He runs a rather unsavoury black-market industry using his wards to do a variety of jobs for him. These jobs range from relatively innocent to. . . not so innocent.'

I glance at Sammi and she shrugs. Then, something occurs to me.

'So, hang on – how do you know him?'

Eldred shuffles his feet, looking both awkward and a little sheepish. 'Well, my dear Puffin, you must remember I was in a difficult position. I had to find you homes, and inject you all with the blocker, at very short notice. The Futurists were snapping at my heels; it was all I could do to get you away. Titus was determined to get his hands you, his connections with the black-market have always been strong. He helped me out with a couple of things, but then. . . how to put it. We had a disagreement of sorts.'

'Which. . . you won?'

'I thought so, but apparently not. He took a particular interest in you boys, for some reason, but I really thought I'd shaken him off. But seeing as the boy now lives with Titus rather than the couple I placed him with. . . Anyway. No point rehashing the past. Time for plan B.'

After exchanging a brief nod, Eldred and Brie make their way across the platform, pushing through the swelling crowd; we must have hit rush hour. It's all Sammi and I can do to race after them, struggling not to lose sight. But still, at the back of my mind, I wonder: did Eldred mean to stop the conversation so abruptly? Or am I just overthinking?

The Singaverean sunshine smacks me in the face as we emerge from the station. It's so strong, I can hardly see. I didn't realise life could be this bright. The sky – it's so blue, and there are roads, pavements, gleaming clean, and trees and bushes and birds, birds, seriously, flying overhead –

'Those are drones,idiot, not birds,' Brie cackles when I point them out. 'Can't you tell the difference?'

The colours of this world are so startling, they make my eyes water. I've become so used to brown earth, grey air, purple skies, my eyes don't know how to deal with such a bombardment.

'How. . ?'

Eldred chuckles at my expression. 'It's not real, Kass. Any of it. All completely artificial.'

'What do you mean?' I bend down and pluck a blade of green spiky plant that lines the pavement. 'This feels real.' I try giving it a chew, but it tastes awful.

'It's grass. And it may feel real, but don't be fooled. Singavere exists in a giant bubble.' As we walk, Eldred gestures at everything we pass. 'They sealed themselves inside a specially-designed atmosphere, controlling everything within, the air, the weather, the day and night cycle. . . Everything. It's a very strange place, and totally unsustainable. That's why only the stinking rich can afford to live here.'

'Yeah, yeah. What do we do about Rai?' Brie's picking something out of her teeth, looking utterly bored. 'We need to get him away from Titus.'

'Indeed – you've still got the tracker on his drone, haven't you?'

Her face brightens. 'Yes! And he never lets that thing out of his sight.'

'Right then.' Eldred purses his lips. 'We'll track him, and strike when he's alone. He can't stay with Titus all the time. Can he?'

*

Turned out, Titus is possessive as hell.

'This is ridiculous,' Sammi moans, stretching out on the hotel bed she's been reluctantly sharing with Brie. We've been stuck inside for three days straight, waiting for Titus to let Rai stray out on his own, watching them like creeps via the camera synced to the tracker.

'I don't know what you expected,' I mutter, leaning on the edge of the balcony as I gaze over the city. Beneath me, kids are buying sweets from a robot on the street. Every time they laugh, a spark of anger in my gut flares.

It's impossible. Rai's clearly under house-arrest; all we've done is sit around, wasting time. Watching him sleep and eat has been boring enough, but the worst is his dogged-determination to practise flying for hours on end. Watching the drone whizz around the room over and over. . . Just thinking about it makes me want to hurl.

The only time I can face watching is when he's working. He sits for ages, alone in his workshop, cross-legged on the floor with his tongue sticking out, connecting wires, hammering plates of metals together, wrenching and screwing and whoever-the-hell-knows what else. But there's an animation in the way he works that's. . . I dunno. He looks like he cares, so much, about whatever he's making.

It reminds me that everything I've ever cared about has been taken away.

'This is such a useless waste of time.'

'Patience, Kassius.' Brie comes and flings an arm around me, thrusting the camera screen under my nose. I shove it away, wishing I could snatch it from her and hurl it down to the street below.

'Sheesh, you're so touchy. Whatever, McKenzie, don't hang out with me then. You're nowhere near as fun as Rai.'

'Who gives a crap.'

'You're priceless!'

But luckily, the monotony doesn't last forever. That night, after Sammi goes to bed, I watch the sky fade out into darkness. Eldred and Brie are at the table with their heads bent; suddenly, Brie grabs her jacket.

'He's on the move.'

Within minutes, we're gone, Brie throwing Sammi's anorak down the stairs after her as we hurry from the hotel.

'He's heading down Osmium street,' Eldred says, his nose squashed against the camera. Brie is pulling Sammi along beside her.

'That's only a few streets away.' Her eyes dart around as she scans the map behind her eyes; it looks incredibly creepy.

I'm starting to sweat under my mohair as I struggle to keep up, a familiar tightness banding across my chest; coughing, I follow them down a winding staircase into an alley.

'Where are we going?' I croak, but Eldred shushes me, a finger to his lips.

'Kid sneaked out,' he hisses. 'Seems he's got some spunk after all – I was starting to wonder. He's headed this way.'

A dilapidated warehouse loomes at the end of the street; at first, it seems deserted. But then –

Multicoloured sparks explode from the windows in a shatter of glass, and music – well, if you could call it that – booms into the otherwise silent night.

Brie yanks us behind some bushes, and through the leaves, we watch a group of teenagers saunter past us towards the warehouse in a haze of smoke that stinks of liquorice. I clamp my hands to my mouth, desperately trying to stifle a cough.

'What are they doing?' Sammi whispers. Brie pushes her head down further into the bush.

'You never seen a party before? Cute.'

'Dude, check out who's coming.' One of the teenagers points upwards at a speck of white against the deep-blue velvet sky. At first, I think it's the moon – until it grows bigger. Then I realise; it's something I've only ever seen before on TV.

A boy riding the sky on the back of a flying drone.

It's him.

Rai's feet are lodged into handlebars the dangle underneath the drone, and he clutches two grooves behind the drone's anterior lights. Another guy is clinging onto Rai's back, the two of them laughing so hard I can almost picture the tears in their eyes.

'Quail, get off!' The boys land in a heap on the ground; the drone whizzes back up in the air, flashing its lights at them. 'Ah no, see, you've pissed Henry off.' Rai's laughing so hard, he has to drag himself upright using the other boy as a crutch. 'He's gonna be so grumpy.'

'Oh, whatever. He'll get over it.' The other boy grins and takes Rai's hand; together, they join the rest of the group. His finger still on his lips, Eldred gestures for us to follow.

'Ahh yay! You made it – this is so great, you haven't been out in, like, forever!' One of the girls wraps her arms around Rai, edging the other boy aside. 'We've missed you.'

'Yeah, sorry. Titus has been, like, super overprotective lately.' Rai hugs her back, grinning sheepishly. 'A client got super clingy, I think it's freaked him out.'

'Hey!' Brie storms out of the bush, and Eldred covers his face with his hands. 'What d'you mean, clingy? I don't know the meaning of the word clingy, you cheeky bastard.'

'What the –?' Rai's mouth falls open as he swivels around. His friends start nudging each other, whispering behind their hands. 'Cadence? W-what are you doing here?'

'It's Brie,' she reminds him, marching right up in his face and shoving him in the chest. 'And I'm not clingy.'

Eldred pulls Sammi and I up by our collars and hurries over. 'Easy, Brie!'

'Okay.' Rai shoots Brie an odd glance, before turning back to his friends. 'Guys, I'm gonna have to deal with this. Go in without me, I'll only be a minute.'

'Will you be okay?' The girl tugs on his hand whilst the boy he arrived with glowers at her, his hand possessively moving to Rai's shoulder.

'Yeah, course,' Rai smiles. 'Don't worry, Dove, I'll catch you up. Go!'

Albeit reluctantly, his friends wander off towards the factory, looking around at us every so often, muttering to each other. The music has grown so loud, the ground starts to tremble; so much that I can feel it juddering my bones all the way up to my arms. I wonder if the others can feel it too.

Rai sighs, running a hand through his dusk-blue hair. 'What do you want so badly you'd follow me all the way here? Titus will kill you if he finds out, you know.'

'That's okay, he doesn't frighten us,' Eldred says. 'It's imperative that we speak with you. I'm not sure you realise just what, or who, you are.'

'Why,' Rai frowns, as his drone drops down from above to land with a gentle plop on his head. 'You think you know better?'

'You're an Elementalist, Rai. Although from what Brie's told me, I shouldn't need to explain that to you.'

Rai sniggers, his hair and piercings twinkling in the moonlight. 'You think I don't know that?'

'How?' I blurt out. 'How did you know?'

Rai blinks, and cocks his head to the side, regarding me in curiosity. He doesn't look the slightest bit nervous of us anymore.

'How could I not know?'

'I didn't,' I say, folding my arms defensively. 'It was total news to me.'

Rai shrugs. 'You must suck at your powers then. Not like me. As soon as Titus told me about Elementalists, I knew I was one. I've used my powers since I was tiny. They're a part of who I am.' He spins, waving his arms with a flourish; a jet of water springs out of nowhere in a circle around him. He laughs, wiping his hands on his jeans. 'See? Water Elementalist, at your service.' He bows.

'You poor boy.' Eldred sighs. 'You're a physical Elementalist, not a water Elementalist. And you're meant for far greater purposes than Titus' puppet.'

'I clean water for resisturds and beggars like you. What greater purpose is there?'

'Resisturds? Watch it, kid,' Brie snaps. 'Who do you think profits in the end? Titus, that's who.' Her anger dies and she shoots Rai an odd, almost flirtatious smirk; his face flushes in the lights of his drone.

'You're wrong,' he mutters, lowering his eyes.

'You're living in a dreamland.'

'So, let me enjoy it there!' Rai exclaims, shaking his head. 'Look, I know what you're going to say: FUTURE's trying to kill me, only RESIST can save me, blah blah blah. That's who you're from, by the way, aren't you? Titus told me all this from the start. He taught me to control my powers, I've kept my head down – Jinaka doesn't know anything about me. No one in the black market would sell me out, they'd just drop themselves in it too! I'm safe with Titus, I owe him my life. What more could you possibly offer me?'

'It's not you we want to make an offer to,' Eldred says. 'I haven't made an offer to Kass or Sammi. It's the people who are dying, starving, living in poverty all over the world that we want to make an offer to. We want them to know they have people, powerful people, on their side, willing to fight for them. People who can change the world. Don't you want to be one of those people?'

'No. We're all going to be relocated soon anyway. Like, c'mon – isn't that better than wasting time trying to fix this world? A fresh start somewhere not broken?'

The arrogant little –! 'What about all the people who won't be relocated, you selfish asshole?' The words burst out before I can stop them, my chest a tight knot.

Rai looks confused. 'What do you mean?'

'People like my family, who dreamed of being relocated. People the Futurists slaughtered like cattle 'cause they got in the way. People like Sammi's family, who are too poor to ever have enough money to even be considered. People like –,'

'Why on earth would FUTURE hurt your family? Sure, Jinaka doesn't like Elementalists, but he'd never –,'

'Don't even try –,'

Then Brie steps between us, her warning hand on my arm; I try to shrug her off but hell, she's strong. 'Rai, come on,' she snaps. 'You know the Elementalists are hunted; join the dots, will you? If they can do that to Kass' family, think about what they would do to Titus for keeping you right under their nose.'

Rai hesitates, biting his lip. 'You don't understand,' he eventually says. 'Titus would never let anything like that happen. He'll keep us safe.'

'But what about everybody else? Don't you care about them?'

I guess the answer is a resounding no. 'Cause all he does is turn and walk away.

'I don't have to justify myself to you.' His words drift from his retreating back. 'Now, please leave me alone.'

'Yeah, well, we don't need you anyway!' I yell. Of all the stupid, selfish. . .

Eldred huffs. 'Calm down, Puffin, he'll come around.' He tries to pat me on the shoulder, but I flinch away.

'Don't touch me.' The ground shudders beneath my feet, tremors working their way into what feels like every muscle of my body. I'm shaking all over in white-hot rage, in synchrony with the earth. I clutch my head in my hands, desperate to not let it take over, as that son-of-a-bitch just walks away –

'How can you be so sure?' Sammi sounds exhausted.

'Because.' Eldred lips purse into one thin, grim line. 'I don't think Titus will be around much longer to protect him. Soon, he's going to realise he is all on his own, and then, you mark my words – we'll see him again.'