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?”

“Because I knew you’d freak out like this!”

“Yeah, no shit!” Chris yells. “All this time, all this time, we’ve been trying to find the killer, and all along it was you!”

Adam stands in front of me, shielding me with his body. He holds up his hands, looking back and forth between the others. “She’s not the killer, guys. Aether just wants us to think that. We already know we won’t suffer from future shock.”

Chris snorts. “What, you think they planted this report in case we happened to find it in thirty years? No fucking way.”

Trent shakes his head. “We know that Adam doesn’t suffer future shock, but that’s it. Sorry, Elena, but Chris is right. There’s nothing in these files that even hints that Aether is going to kill us.”

Zoe looks unsure, her face turned down to the floor. She sighs. “If this is true, then it’s not your fault, Elena. You can’t do anything about future shock. But…you really should have told us.”

“I know,” I say. “I know. I just thought I could fix it or find out more before—”

Our headsets suddenly buzz, and then Lynne’s voice says, “The police are in the lobby. Get out now!”

22:18

22:18

We burst out of the lab. Lynne is already in the hallway, waiting. She grabs Adam’s arm. “Did you get it?”

“Yeah, we got it.”