I peel the flexi off my face and feel a tiny jolt in my brain as it disconnects. Once the flexi is off, I’m free—no maps floating in my vision, no voices in my head, no videos recording everything I see and do. I chuck mine in the nearest trash bin and the others do the same.

“Damn,” Chris says as he throws his flexi in last. “I’m gonna miss this thing.”

Future-Adam thrusts something at Adam’s chest. “Put this on.”

Adam blinks at the baseball cap, but then shoves it over his head. With the rim pulled low, it’s harder to see his face.

Future-Adam throws open the door to the backseat and gestures for us to get in. “It’s a bit tight back there, so you’ll have to squeeze in. Chris, you should probably sit up front with me.”

Chris snorts, but it makes sense because he’s by far the largest. The rest of us cram into the backseat, and somehow we end up with Zoe squished between me and Trent, and me on Adam’s lap.

“Sorry,” I say to him. I try to scoot over, but Zoe’s in the way. I get that she doesn’t want to snuggle against Trent, but I’m on top of Adam here.

“It’s okay. Maybe I can move over.” Adam tries to adjust in the seat, but that just pushes us closer together. His hand brushes against my thigh. “Sorry, sorry.”

A wave of heat washes over me. I’m not sure if it’s from the stuffy air in the car or from the way my body is pressed up against Adam’s with only our wet clothes between us. We stare into each other’s eyes, our faces only inches apart, and something passes between us—that same connection I felt with him earlier.

Future-Adam gets in the driver’s seat and looks back at us with a grin, like he enjoys seeing us all squished inside. “Everyone in? Good.”

“Where are we going?” Adam asks. That’s the first time he’s spoken directly to his future self.

“Aether Corporation headquarters.” Future-Adam starts the car, and it pulls away from the curb. Unlike the other cars we’ve seen, this one has a dashboard and steering wheel and everything you’d expect in a normal car—although he doesn’t seem to be using them.

“I got this car converted to driverless so I could use it on the road,” Future-Adam says over his shoulder. “The government banned regular cars about five years ago. Now you can only actually drive cars on special tracks or in certain rural areas. But I had someone put in an override system because I miss driving. Check this out.”