I skim over Chris’s shoulder as he reads Dr. Kapur’s report out loud:
Three of the subjects returned with the full effects of future shock and remembered nothing of their time in the future. But two of the subjects returned with lesser memory loss and were able to give us vague information about their experiences. It should be noted that these two subjects were the youngest, at only twenty-two and twenty-three years of age. From the tests we’ve conducted, it appears that the time dilation is too difficult for the adult brain to overcome, even with only a ten-year jump. However, since teenage brains are still developing, they may not have these problems. It is my recommendation that younger subjects be found for the next trial. Ideally below the age of thirteen, though it may be difficult to control subjects of that age or obtain valuable information from them.
“This is it!” Trent says. “We can use this as evidence.”
“Hang on to this.” Chris hands me the report and then opens the last file: our file. And it’s all there—our bios, our medical records, brain scans from before and after, and finally Dr. Kapur’s report from after we returned.
Despite the normal brain scans, all five subjects claim to remember nothing from their time in the future. However, none of them suffer from the confusion and paranoia common in the previous subjects, and they appear to retain their memories from before their visit to the future. This seems to prove the hypothesis that the younger the subject, the fewer effects of future shock they will experience. As such, I recommend conducting the experiment again with younger subjects…
“Normal brain scans,” Trent says. “Maybe we did lie about forgetting everything.”
Zoe nods. “Keep going.”
We flip through the report, but there’s nothing about Dr. Kapur or Aether planning to kill us. If they did it, they didn’t leave a record of it behind. I pocket the report anyway.
Chris turns to the last report in the file, written by Lynne about our deaths. I suck in a breath, knowing what’s coming, what the others will learn, but it’s too late to stop them now.
Dr. Kapur theorizes that Elena—possibly due to her eidetic memory—suffered the strongest effects of future shock, yet also remembered brief flashes of her time in the future, resulting in extreme paranoia and confusion. With her history of violent behavior, it seems likely she turned on the other subjects in this confused state and then took her own life once she realized what she had done. We are unsure why the final subject, Adam O’Neill, was unharmed. With this unfortunate turn of events and the loss of the accelerator due to Dr. Walters’s outburst, it is my recommendation that Project Chronos be concluded.
“Elena, what is this?” Zoe asks, her voice high-pitched.
Trent shakes his head. “I don’t understand. Elena killed us?”
Chris doesn’t say anything, but his head swivels slowly toward me, and I see murder in his eyes. The files drop back onto the cabinet, and then he lunges for me. I stumble back, my ankle and side screaming, as his hands rush toward me—to hit me or grab me, I don’t know. Adam jumps between us, pushing Chris back, and then everyone starts shouting.
“Stop!” Zoe yells.
Trent holds Chris back by the arm. “Dude, let’s hear what she has to say first!”
“Is. This. True?” Chris gets out between clenched teeth.
I don’t know how to answer. I don’t think it’s true, I don’t want it to be true, but maybe Dr. Kapur is right about future shock and its effect on me. Maybe I will lose my mind when we return and take the others’ lives. And now I understand why I’ll spare Adam’s life. My feelings for him must have stopped me from hurting him, even in my confusion.
“No,” Adam says when I can’t speak. “Aether must be setting her up.”
Chris’s death glare switches to him. “Your knew about this too?” And then back to me. “You both knew?”
“I found out at the library,” I say. “But I didn’t think it was true. I don’t have any reason to kill all of you.”
Trent drops Chris’s arm and gapes at me. “You knew about this and you didn’t tell us?”