Future Threat

17

We each stare out the windows like little kids on a roller coaster, gripping our seat belts with our mouths hanging open and our eyes wide. The ride is smooth and confident, and the car knows what to do and where to go without us doing a single thing to control it. Dr. Campbell waves as she gets smaller and smaller below us. Then the car darts forward, straight into traffic.

We quickly pull up behind another car and merge into the “lane,” or whatever this stream of cars heading in one direction is called. There’s an order to it, but it’s overwhelming, chaotic, and impossible for my brain to comprehend. Only a massive system of computers could control such a system, especially at these reckless speeds.

Chris gazes at the hundreds of other cars speeding by us. “We’re in a flying car. Un-f*****g-believable.”

“Technology is so advanced now,” Adam says, shaking his head. “It’s only been thirty years, and we have flying cars, computer implants, and who knows what else.”

“Because of Aether and their damn time machine. They created this future, and they’re getting all the benefits from it.” Chris runs a hand over the leather seats almost reverently. “Although I wouldn’t mind opening one of these babies up and seeing what’s inside them. I’m dying to know how they fly.”

Adam’s voice grows distant, his eyes glassy. “It says in Aether’s files that Team Echo brought back self-driving car technology on their second mission along with some hovercraft tech, which led to Aether creating these cars many years later. It’s all controlled by a massive traffic network, which directs the cars and makes sure none of them crash. That makes sense—the only way that flying cars would become common like this is if computers controlled them. Otherwise, it’d be far too dangerous. Supposedly it’s cut down on Los Angeles’s traffic problems in a major way.”

“Team Echo did all of this,” I say, as I gaze out the window. “They’re what we were supposed to be: smart, talented, and obedient. Our mission was the same as theirs, but we never completed it ’cause we broke Aether’s one rule: to not look up our future selves.”

“And you think they did the same?” Adam asks.

I nod. “These people have gone on two missions being Aether’s dutiful servants, but their curiosity must have finally gotten the best of them. No matter what Aether is holding over them, the urge to know what will happen to you in thirty years is too hard to resist.” We should know. We failed that test in our first couple hours in the future.

Chris leans back in his seat and scrubs a hand over his face. “This is so messed up. A few hours ago, I was kissing Shawnda good-bye and heading to my engineering class. Now we’re in the future against our will, hunting down a bunch of nerds who can’t keep out of trouble.”

“At least we’ll only be gone a few minutes in the present,” Adam says.

“True.” Chris’s face shifts, and he gives us a devious grin. “And while we’re here, we might as well do a little digging of our own, right?”

I flash him a skeptical look. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

He shrugs. “You two can do whatever you want, but I need to know I’m alive in this future and that my son is okay. Like you said, the temptation is just too damn strong.”

He instantly takes on that glazed look that signals he’s using his flexi, while Adam gazes at me like he’s asking permission. If I’m honest with myself, the idea of looking up my fate has been dancing around in the back of my mind ever since I learned we were going to the future again. I tried hard to ignore it, but it’s difficult to banish completely.

I want to look so bad. I want to know if I’m alive in this future.

But what if I’m not?

The thought of finding out I’m dead again renders me immobile, and my chest constricts to the point where it’s hard to breathe. Memories burst through the mental barriers I’ve tried so hard to erect—of our original team looking ourselves up, of speaking with Future-Adam and visiting his house, of finding crime-scene photos of my friends’ deaths and mine in his safe. Once again, I relive the sheer horror from when I learned I had supposedly killed the others and myself. The rush of emotions overwhelms me, and I close my eyes, straining to keep my breathing steady.

Even though I saved Chris and changed our futures, I’ll never be able to forget what might have happened. And I’m not sure I can go through that all over again.

“I don’t know,” I manage to get out. “Last time…” The words become too difficult, and I shake my head.

But Chris seems to know what I’m getting at. His eyes refocus and meet mine. “If we hadn’t looked up our fates last time, you and I would be dead right now, and Adam would be stuck working with a killer for the rest of his life.”

“He’s right,” Adam says. “We should look. Just to be sure nothing bad is going to happen to us.”

My throat is so dry it’s like a lizard has died inside it. “But what if by looking at the future, we cause it to change?”

“I don’t think it works that way. Last time, you had to consciously do something you knew was different to change the timeline. Otherwise, the future would have happened exactly as we’d seen it.”

“True…”

“I can look for you, if you want.” He rests his hand over mine, his voice sympathetic.

“No!” I jerk away from him before I can stop myself, a reflexive move I immediately regret. “I mean, thanks, but I can do it.”