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ever again. As much as he wanted to count on Orlando, JD, and the others, he couldn’t be too sure. He saw the way they gazed at him unsteadily at their meetings. Brief meetings, but informative ones, which was a nice change. I know whom I’m working with this time. They treat me like a person. It’s worth giving them the benefit of the doubt. I’ll prove to them we’re all on the same side. And he knew just how to do it.
    One of the known members of a rival tribe was also in the room with him. Tait Darling, otherwise known as Sprout, just so happened to also be one of the leaders he used to submit to. She was nasty.
    Sure, at school, she acted sweet and was the spitting image of perfect. Her blonde hair cut in a cute chin-length bob that bounced when she walked the school in her cheerleading uniform. At school, she was kind to her classmates, well liked by all. The girl was hard to hate. When it came time to get down to business with the war, she had no issue slapping people around—sometimes literally. Gideon still had scars from being attacked by one of her vines. Controlling plants didn’t seem like a useful skill, but somehow Tait managed to turn it into a deadly weapon.
    By digging for more dirt on her, he’d show his new team members whose side he was really on—and get to indulge in a little revenge. And he’d do it by hacking into her phone.
    While everyone did homework around him, he pretended to sleep at his desk, listening to music. Thankfully, he had an awesome study hall supervisor. As long as he wasn’t being disruptive to everyone working, he could do whatever he wanted. Napping was more than acceptable so long as he got up in time to leave for his next class. Mrs. Stewart even went so far as creating a small sleeping nook out of an extra closet. Unlike most staff, she understood the need for teenagers to get rest.
    He’d have gone in there, but another student was already taking advantage of the luxury. So he made sure he was comfortable on his desk before beginning. With his eyes closed, Gideon was able to focus on his real work. Because of The Doctor’s special drug he’d received the night of the party, Gideon gained the ability to communicate and enter a computer’s system using just his mind. A handy trick, though it was one that left him feeling a little dirty. Computers were personal, phones doubly so. A mountain of knowledge in a small, plastic case. Information he found could make or break the war effort. And if invading someone’s privacy for a small moment in time ended up saving even one life, it was worth the effort. Right?
    Yes, it is. We all know she’s bad news anyway. I’m not going to search for anything unrelated to the fighting anyway.
    As he tapped into his power, all of the side effects came along with it. First was the drowsy, out of body experience that made him think he was actually floating over everyone. Once he got comfortable with that sensation he was able to open his eyes, figuratively. Gideon could see where he was, but he did so by seeing the electrical pulses of all the machines in the room. Small, blinking lights that flowed through strings of electrical cable or moved in small clumps as the user made their way around the room. After he got his “vision” back, his fingers began to tingle, and that was the sign that he was ready to connect to a device.
    It didn’t take long for him to locate Tait’s cellphone in the room. Each phone was so personalized, the owner’s identity stood out just as plainly as if he were looking right at them. The user settings were always telling of a person. For example, Tait had a sappy pop song for her ringtone, kept most of her preferences set to default, had one game, and a plethora of social media applications. She liked to interact with others on a regular basis and had a surprisingly optimistic viewpoint on life in her status updates. Whatever