“Together, Adam and I made sure the truth about genicote remained under wraps, and for years it worked. Until Aether had a few rough years and got greedy. They wanted to sell the drug to the military to use as a weapon. Adam wouldn’t back down, and he’s too well respected and influential for them to ignore. Instead, they’re trying to discredit him. Telling the world he’s a mad scientist so no one will listen if he goes public with what they’re doing.”

“He did seem a bit mad,” Zoe says. “No offense, Adam.”

“Yeah.” Trent nods. “They say there’s a fine line between madness and genius, right?”

Adam rolls his eyes. “Again, standing right here.”

“I can assure you, Adam is perfectly sane,” Lynne says. “But unfortunately he can’t get into his lab anymore, and neither can I. They demoted me to a useless project, managing statisticians.” Her mouth twists like she’s tasted something sour. “I used to oversee some of the most cutting-edge projects in the world that saved millions of lives, and now I work with a bunch of math nerds.”

Chris drums his fingers on the coffee table. “But if you and Adam can’t get in, how are we supposed to get into the lab?”

“I don’t know. Without the code for the keypad, there’s no way in.”

“Keypad?” I repeat. Memories of our time in the Aether building rush back to me. “The heavy door we passed down the hall from Future-Adam’s office—was that his lab?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“Adam wanted us to see that door,” I say as all the dominoes fall in my head. “He made sure we’d walk by it, and he gave us the device to disable the cameras. And—the air conditioning! He was showing us everything we’d need to break into the place.”

Chris nods quickly. “You’re right. There must be a way to get to his lab through the ventilation ducts.”

“But what about the lobby?” Adam asks. “He must have had us run through it for a reason.”

“Good point,” Chris says. “Maybe he wanted us to know there were guards there.”

“You’re actually planning to break in?” Lynne asks, her voice rising. “No, definitely not. I can’t let you do that. There are too many guards, too much security—you’ll get caught for sure.”

“Not if you help us,” Adam says.

She shrinks back against her couch. “Me? No. No, I can’t risk it.”

“And what, lose your job?” Chris asks. “We’re going to die. You owe us for this.”

“I don’t know…” She bites her lip and turns to Adam, almost like she’s asking him for permission. Maybe because they’re friends in the future she probably trusts his judgment more than the rest of us.

“You can make this right,” he says. “No more guilt.”