Caught

Chapter Thirty-Six

"Lauren, if we had trackers inside of us, don't you think they would've, you know, tracked us down yet?" Aidan said as he pulled out his computer from his bag.

"Have you been keeping up with the program?" Jessica asked him. "They already know where we are, I think. they just haven't attacked us yet. They're waiting for the right moment."

I rubbed my left wrist with my thumb. Back when it was only me and Aidan at the Institute, we discovered that there were little microchips placed in us to help activate different gates and such. It also has a tracker on each of us. But no, that wasn't what I was thinking of. "A mind control chip. Do we have any of those?"

"Why would you need a chip for mind control?" Alyssa asked. "Don't you just need a... mind?"

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure you could add different things to people so that they're... easier to control," I stated. "Like in Divergent, they inserted a serum into the Dauntless so that they could be controlled."

The others stared at me like I was speaking a different language. "What? No one read the books?"

"The movies were good," Tyson said.

"The books were better."

"I think I know what you're talking about," Aidan said as he continued to type furiously. The four of us stayed silent, only the sound was of his fingers typing and me eating my muffin. He looked up at one point, studying me carefully, still while his fingers were moving.

"It's creepy when you do that, you know that?" Tyson said.

Aidan shrugged, then looked away from me. "Almost there... now, tell me Laur, why is this important?"

"Because, maybe then we could learn to resist it," I said. "The mind control. Without the chips, it'll be slightly harder for them to control us. This whole plan revolves around mind control, right?"

"I guess." Aidan pressed Enter on his computer one last time, then laid back. At the same time, pain flooded my head for a split second. I yelped. Aidan grinned. "Deactivated."

"Why was that so painful?" I asked, rubbing the side of my head.

He shrugged. "That's how the world works. Now Tyson..." He studied the boy closely, his fingers continuing to move.

"Can this go any faster?" Jessica complained. "You know how hard it is to sit in a crowded booth with winter clothing on top and in tight clothing?"

"Wear looser clothes," Alyssa stated. "It's much more comfier."

"I can't," She said. "Then my super suit won't fit on top..." Her voice trailed off, her hands covering her mouth like she said something wrong.

In fact, her words did shock the rest of us. Aidan stopped typing and stared at her as well. "Super suit?" He asked.

"Well... uh..."

I shot up, out of my seat. "I knew there was something different about you from the minute I saw you!" I said, quite loudly. Tyson gently tugged on my arm, gesturing for me to sit down. The heads that turned as me started to turn away slowly.

"Explain," I stated. The girl sighed, instead reaching for Aidan's laptop. She typed a word in the search bar, then turned it towards us.

Images and news articles of the superhero Cobalt flooded the screen. At first, I struggled to find the connection. Then, I recognized her blue eyes and jagged brown hair.

"You're a superhero," Aidan breathed. He studied the screen carefully, absorbing the information. Then, a little louder: "OH, MY GOSH. YOU'RE A-" Jessica covered his mouth before he could continue that loudly.