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“I don’t feel like I’ crazy…” Trent says

“But would you know?” Zoe asks

Trent shrugs “I don’t think I’ And hey, what about Ada future shock And he see, like e’d be at the library”

“True, and he cured cancer and all that,” Zoe adds “He can’t be too brain daed”

Chris steps toward Ada to suffer future shock like the rest of us?”

I stand up straighter, wanting to defend Adahout all of this, Adam has always been the odd one out The only one not in foster care The only one not disposable The only one alive in the future And now the only one who isn’t going to lose hisit?” I ask

“I suppose it’s possible, but…” Dr Walters doesn’t sound hopeful

“It can’t be a coincidence that the four of us who suffer future shock end up dead,” Chris says “Adam has to be involved somehow He must have lied to us about what really happened”

“Why would he do that?” Trent asks

“If he’s working for theht here,” Adaainst my eyes and try to think As ine not re ht, I won’t remember Adam either Probably for the best, really

“I’m sorry I can’t help you ood kids Very sad how it all turned out”

Trent pulls back a curtain and peers out the“We should go The police could be here any second”

“Yeah,” Adam says “Lynne’s address is probably in the car Maybe she can help us”

“Wait” I knoe need to hurry, but there’s one last thing I have to ask Dr Walters “Can the future be changed? Or is everything we’ve seen going to happen?”

“Somehow I’m not surprised you askedhe’ll blow my cover, but he relaxes back on his pillow and continues “That’s one thing I hoped to study with the accelerator, but I was never able to prove anything one way or another” His voice grows stronger as he slips back into the scientist role

“One theory says everything is predeter you do once you return to the present will lead up to this future Even if you think you’re changing soe soet back, the moment will split off and create an alternate tie soht be different?” I can’t even think about the other possibility—that nothing we do ht still exist, but you would be living in another parallel ties youthis ht noould vanish entirely It’s i we’ve heard fro in a predetere the future Otherwise, hoould he know soto do? But h, the one in which we all die If we go back now and change so in the present, maybe our future will be different

I know the chance is sliht as well give up right now We have to be able to change our fate

We say good-bye to Dr Walters There’s so much more I want to ask him—like if he knohy I killed the others or if he thinks Aether murdered us—but there’s no time We rush back to the lobby, and as the automatic doors slide open, I see it’s pitch-black outside and raining again Of course If I was srabbed an umbrella at Future-Adam’s house, but it never rains this much in LA