Emily

The girl had no intention of revealing her whole life story to a mortal she hardly knew, so she kept the descriptions simple and concise.

What they knew about the mist people, who were the immortals and path-changers, the use of magic, ... Enough information to make a mortal brain implode.

Mat accepted all of her answers and asked questions up to the point when her friends arrived. 

His eyes widened in fear at the sight of Andre's cold expression.

-Do you need me to dispose of this one? - she asked, no sarcasm in her words for once. Mat took wisely a step back.

-Nah he's on our side... I think. - she explained them of their encounter, leaving out only the part where he chained her to the bed.

Andre crossed her arms whilst Isaac entered his question mode.

-So what's the condition you are afflicted by, maybe we can cure it with magic? - he asked tentatively.

Mat's green eyes shined as if there was some joke they did not get. -I doubt it dude, but thanks -

Isaac didn't push it further. -So how did you find us exactly? -

Mat smiled like someone was finally speaking his language. -Glad you asked. - he raised from the bed and put a hand towards his computer monitors. -As someone has recently insulted my computer skills, let me introduce you the "Magic Finder 2000", the best of the best, la creme de le creme to track magical beings around the globe. -

Emily leaned towards the screens, seeing only random numbers flowing under her eyes.

-If this is the 2000th version of the machine, I cannot start to imagine what it was before - she said, but she could not avoid being intrigued. Could a machine really be programmed to track magic?

-2000 is just a random number to make the name look cooler. You know, like IPhone 7 or Samsung A40, no one really gives a shit. ANYWAYS - he continued, his hands waving like a crazy tv presenter. The girl had to admit he was kind of amusing. - I will explain to you non-believers how it works. The Earth is wrapped in an electromagnetic field, the stuff that protects the atmosphere from being ripped apart by solar winds. If you immagine this field as a blanket... -

Mat grabbed a tissue and placed it in her hands. -Hold the corners for me Luz, thank you -

The girl felt a spark of excitement when their fingers brushed against each other. She didn't know if it was her emotion of his.

The tissue was extended mimicking a straight blanket.

-The blanket is not fixed in the space. - he continued. -It moves when certain events happen on Earth, like the flowing of the dynamo currents in the Earth's core, which are what cause the field himself. -

-But what most people don't know ... is that the field can also dip. - he put a finger in the middle of the tissue, causing a small dimple. - And it does so when in presence of magic, an unusual activity of the energy/matter relation. -

Emily faked lack of interest with little result. Mat was way more clever than his stupid jokes let on.

-And your machine tracks such changes - she guessed.

He grinned at her. -That's how I found your lot. Four immortals magically gifted in one place ... that was the easiest search I had ever done. -

Emily lifted an eyebrow. -Because you have done other searches? -

Mat bit if his lips as if he had said something he shouldn't have. -Point is, I can track any magical creature, anywhere, anytime. So I figured you could use it to track other immortal murderers or these mist people you are so concerned about. -

That was it. The end to their immortal search. The machine could actually solve all of their issues, end the pointless deaths of people not being given a choice.

It was Isaac's turn to be suspicious. -And your price would be ... ?-

Mat smiled awkwardly. -DNA samples from the the threee of you. I am talking blood, tissue, saliva... And your promise to provide me with more should I require them. -

He was pointing at her, Jane and Isaac. That must have had something to do with his condition. Maybe he was looking for the solution in immortal blood, or magic. Mat didn't strike her as a biologist, but given his abilities she would not underestimate him.

-Why not her? - asked Jane regarding Andre. It was the first time she had talked directly to him ever since they had entered the room. She eyed him suspiciously, as if he had stolen the last of the favourite biscuits.

Mat looked at her as if she was stupid. -I couldn't compare those samples to anything given her... condition. -

The mortal had made their IDs, so he must have known that Andre had been a man in the previous 20 years of her life. Her ability to shift sex was surely peculiar, and perarphs could affect any scientific results, but referring to it as a condition... that was just plainly wrong.

Before she could stop herself, Emily punched the jerk in the stomach. It was so unexpected he didn't have the time to deviate from its course and was hit by the full force.

Mat leaned of the table with a groan of pain. -What the HELL was that for? - he managed.

-Her condition?! - she complained. -How can you be so smart and yet so gloriously stupid? -

-What? - he seemed genuinely confused, which made the girl even angrier. -Are you telling me she is not pregnant? -