“Blackmail. We tried to get evidence about what Aether’s been doing to make sure we had leverage against them when we got back to the present. But things went wrong, and the evidence was lost.”
Trent and Chris exchange looks like they’re not buying this. “But how do we get evidence?” Trent asks.
“Talk to Dr. Walters. He lives in a retirement home in the Valley.” Future-Adam checks his watch. “We don’t have much time, and I need to talk to my younger self alone for a moment.” He opens the door and gestures toward it. “Adam?”
Adam stands up slowly. As he follows his older self into the hallway he looks like he’s about to face a firing squad.
“I don’t trust either of them,” Chris says as the door shuts. “Do you believe any of this shit?”
Trent shoves two of the sodas in his backpack. “I don’t know.”
“I believe him,” Zoe says.
“No surprise there.” Chris turns to me. “Elena?”
I’m not sure how much to say before I talk to Future-Adam myself. His story feels right, and it matches up with what I heard Dr. Kapur and Dr. Walters say. I want to believe Future-Adam, but I still have so many questions and suspicions. I don’t think we’re getting the whole story.
“It could be the truth,” I finally say.
The door opens and the two Adams walk back in. A short talk—I wonder what they said to each other. Adam stares at the floor, the baseball cap low so I can’t see his face.
“Time’s up,” Future-Adam says. “You should head back to my house to change clothes and clean up before you meet Dr. Walters. You’ll also need to get fake fingerprint IDs from this guy I know called Wombat. My car has all the addresses you’ll need programmed into it.”
“You’re not coming?” Adam asks.
“No.” He checks his watch again. “The police will be here any minute to arrest me.”
“Arrest you?” I ask, while Trent blurts out, “What?”
“Come on.” Future-Adam opens the door and slips into the hallway, disappearing before we can ask him what’s going on.
We scramble to grab our coats and backpacks, then hurry after him. He’s waiting at the end of the hallway in front of an unmarked, extra-thick metal door, which has both a fingerprint scanner and a keypad. But he doesn’t open it.
Chris points a finger at Future-Adam, once we catch up to him. “Tell us what the hell is going on.”
“The police connected my fingerprints to everything you’ve done,” Future-Adam says, like he’s explaining something obvious. He starts down the hallway again. “But it’s okay because I need to be in custody when you break into this place later.”
I nearly drop my backpack. “Break in? Why would we—”
“To get the evidence, of course.”
“But…” Adam stares at his future self like he’s crazy. “If you knew you’d be arrested, why let this happen? Why not just pick us up earlier at the building?”
“Because if I’m in police custody when you break in, then Aether won’t suspect it was me. I’ll just claim someone stole my identity.” He turns another corner and opens a door to a gray stairwell before we can ask him any more questions. “Take these stairs down to the parking garage and get my car. The police can’t know you’re here.”
“But—” Adam starts.
Future-Adam presses the jammer into his younger self’s hands. “Take this and make sure it’s green when you don’t want to be recorded. Now go!” He shoves Adam toward the stairs and nudges Zoe forward next. Chris and Trent follow, but just before I head in after them, Future-Adam grabs my arm. “Elena, wait.”
He closes the door to the stairs, so we’re alone in the hallway. “I’m sorry, Elena. I did everything I could to protect you.”
He’s thirty years older than me, but in his eyes I see the same Adam I know and feel that same connection between us. “Thanks for not telling them about…you know. But why are you helping me?”
“You know why. Or you will soon.” He turns away, his face drawn. “It’s painful to see you, knowing I failed to save you. The guilt, after all these years…it’s still just as strong.”