Max leaned back into the quilted leather of the passenger seat, shifted slightly to have a better view of Chloe. Outside, it was freezing cold, brittle, dark. Inside, the vents pushed comfortably warm air as the seat heater warmed her from below. That plus the view, and Max was feeling toasty and contented. All I need is a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows, and my world will be complete. She could probably go get one, be back before Chloe even knew she was gone.
Instead, she continued to admire her through sleepy eyes; Chloe's face lit softly from the pale white glow of the instrument panel. Occasional oncoming headlights flashed the blue of her eyes. In those moments, she appeared illuminated from within; almost an angel. Almost. In classical literature, angels weren't usually depicted with operational holographic body art from the deep future. The soft amber glow accentuated parts of her body in a crazy sexy haze… Not…distracted at all…
Chloe caught her staring. "Wanna drive, doll?"
Max fought the urge to yawn. Or close her eyes. "Only if you're tired?" It was nice to be the passenger.
"Nah. I'm okay." Chloe said. "We're only an hour out anyway."
Max nestled her hand loosely into Chloe's on the center console. "I'm glad we're doing this. There's a part of me that really misses them after two months away. And another that misses them on a completely different timescale…"
"I know…"
Max knew she did. It had only been a month and a half of calendar time since they left Seattle for LA, en route to Vegas. In this timeline, anyway. But for both of them, co-memories of their other beginning were so far in the past… Centuries. Seeing her parents again would be almost like visiting ghosts.
It felt different to Max, of course. Her memory streams were all hers. Integrated, but she felt them strongly. Uniquely. While Chloe's memories of their future life in another branch of reality were a gift from another version of herself; Max's other Chloe. Sent an impossible distance. Sent alongside so much more, still slowly revealing…
If OtherChloe… I still don't feel right calling her that - she was…is…my love, my heart, my life, my everything. Well, one of my everythings, anyway. I thought she was lost. Destroyed in the end…an end that…was a lie. But her reality still should have collapsed, when I jumped back… But obviously some branches become…strong enough…to continue on their own. Not overwritten. Split. Has to be. Only fucking thing that makes sense. Only way she continued. I've seen the topologies. At least…I think I have. Dreams in this branch. The cave - hole to another universe… Dreams from somewhere, anyway. Some branches collapse, reabsorb. Like gasses looping along magnetic field lines above the sun. But other branches don't. They have enough differential inertia to keep going. Our two realities are tied together now. Causal dependencies… But…no idea how to reach her. Or if I should even try?
And they're both my Chloe, aren't they? Even divided into isolated branches of reality like this. If…she found a way to reach us here, that means there has to be a way to reach her wherever she is. Maybe not yet. But someday. Maybe the secrets are buried somewhere in Chloe's unfolding memories. Some instruction. Some…device?
Maybe there's a way to…bring together my two loves? don't think threesome…don't think threesome… Shit. I meant the same way my older and younger selves in this timeline have blended into one unified me? Right. But that's different. I'm…different. That's an architecture thing - I was never really separate. Just…in two places at once at…different times. Two timelines, with different parts of me… Shit. I really don't have the words. Maybe Chloe can help once she gets a feel for her augments… If they can even remotely be called that anymore? Nearly ninety-thousand years? What the fuck, dude? I mean…
Max caught herself. She'd let her mind wander wildly in her state of warm and comfortable tiredness. Too wildly.
I promised myself I wouldn't do this. Not yet. We'll need to understand all of it. Together. But we also need some 'us' time. Get to know our expanded selves again. And each other again. No drama. Just chill… It's why we're here, on an actual road…
She focused on her face. Her lips. Her hand on the far side of the wheel, liquid amber glow cast into leather, behind the shadow of her arm…
Driving was a rare luxury. This time together. Max could easily have folded them from Vegas to Seattle. Or they could have taken the jet and been there in an hour and a half. But after the non-stop nonsense of the past months, and the rebirth they'd both gone through in different ways this past week, they each wanted some slow time to just hang out. No agendas, no stress, no one else. Just nice low-key hanging out together. Road trip made perfect sense. Snacks and all.
With the snow, they should have taken the Rover. But Chloe's reflexes, night vision, and focus were among the first attributes to benefit from the…alterations. Upgrades… She said she wanted to test some things out. But they both knew she just wanted to drive the Aston. In snow. Looking for any excuse to slide around corners, probably. Which was fine as far as Max was concerned. Chloe could do whatever she wanted, as long as she was by her side again.
Chloe spoke, breaking their comfortable silence. "How much should we let them know?"
Max considered. She knew they'd both been thinking independently about it. At this point in the first timeline, they were still in a semi-state of PTSD from Arcadia, while feeling their way around their budding relationship and living with Max's parents. It wasn't until the following spring that they'd move out on their own. And by the time they did, it was more than obvious they were in a serious relationship. Without them having to make a big statement about it.
Max had already spent most of her life married to Chloe. Hundreds of years. And now Chloe had copies of those memories too. So, it wasn't that either of them were nervous about coming out as a couple to Ryan and Vanessa. It was more the novelty that they existed at a point in time together where it was something they hadn't already done. Max responded. "So they should know about us, obviously. I'm not not holding your hand this week. That's just dumb. We know how this goes, so it's mostly just to get it out of the way."
"Maybe we go easy on the whole 'space goddess from the future' thing though?" Chloe suggested with a grin.
Max laughed, "Says the adorable cyborg girl with the glowing arm tech."
"Awww. And um… no shit dude. Like I still haven't figured out how to make this thing de-rez. It looks like my old…her…old…shit - even with the markers, this can get confusing… anyway it's like the one she had over there, but it's something more I think. Hers was half interface, half art. But this one's not responding to my thoughts like it should. Not helping yet. Not gonna lie - I'm a little nervous about it. But…she knew what she was doing, right?"
"You'll figure it out, love. It's only been a few days. Baggy sleeves maybe? Or…there's always the truth?"
"Remind me how that went last timeline? 'Oh - hey mom and dad, I'm a human time machine?' 'Oh cool. No, we don't think you're bonkers - what do you want for dinner?'" Chloe laughed, remembering.
"Right, smartass. Well, to be fair, it was just photo jumps and rewinds then, which were a little more difficult to demo for an audience… If I hadn't moved during that one rewind, I'm not sure they ever would have believed me… But it's Christmas. I mean, let's keep their focus on the holiday, with us, and maybe save…all of that for another time?"
"So no mention of time travel. Check. And probably nothing about how your best friend and love of your life is built from spare pan-dimensional nano-parts barfed out of a cybernetic butterfly from the future? Shit. That sounds almost crazy when I say it out loud."
Max laughed. "Only almost."
Chloe continued. "Um. Where in the narrative to we tick the box on the inevitable 'so, you were almost eaten by a tornado, ran away from home, twice, and now you're suddenly billionaires in Vegas' bit? Assuming their house doesn't come under mechanized assault by vengeful asshats at some point while we're all eating?"
Max knew she was kidding about that last part. They wouldn't dare. Not after Vegas. Not after Namibia. Shit. I still have their atom bomb… Oops. Max came back to the conversation. "Uh…variations of the truth maybe? Downplay it to say, a couple million, tell them you had a hidden talent… at picking stocks, I mean. Or you developed an algorithm, or…bots or something."
"Not lies… I mean, wrong century, and not related to this, but whatevs. The stock thing makes the most sense, plus its sorta true, if my name was Max… But you know they're not gonna let it go at that. They're gonna wanna know more."
"Chloe, you were always smart. You're way, way more than that now. I have faith that you can navigate a simple conversation with my non-investor parents about patterns one could notice in the stock market…"
Chloe considered for a moment. "Actually… when you say it like that…"
Max snuggled into her seat a bit more, squinted. I think her eyes might actually be glowing blue a little… That's new, right?
Max looked at the clock on the dash. It was after eleven as they pulled into the Caulfield's driveway. Wet snowflakes linked arms across the windscreen as soon as the wipers stopped. She knew she was letting herself regress a little, indulging a little more of her younger side. But she felt super warm and comfortable, and didn't want to go outside into the cold Seattle night. Until the porch light came on, and she saw her parents round the corner from the walk to the edge of the driveway.
Mom! Dad! She fought the urge to throw open her door and run to them. Join them in a giant group hug. I've honestly missed you guys so goddamn much. But Max wanted to wait for Chloe.
Chloe had all of OtherChloe's memories, and more - which might help buffer her emotions somewhat. But in her personal timeline, she'd only lost her own mom a couple of months ago. And she hadn't really processed any of it. Not yet. Not her fault. In the first timeline, they'd had lots of uneventful space to mourn, to come to terms with what happened. Months of late-night coffee and tears together. Years of quiet. To understand. To begin to forgive themselves…
But in this timeline, any chance at that was cut short. Events were completely altered after leaving Arcadia Bay - from her week in the hospital forward. Men with guns. Surprise teleportation. Psychic espionage. Escalating weirdness. Captivities. OtherChloe's interventions… Other worlds. They'd been through way too fucking much - individually and as a team. But honoring and mourning Joyce was one thing lost along the way.
She wanted Chloe to feel a sense of belonging and well-being here, this week, without being overt about it. It was such a small thing, but Max waited for her to walk around the back of the car before reaching to open her own door. We should walk up together.
But Chloe opened Max's door before she had the chance. Big smile, as she offered her hand. Of course. Max nodded. Took it, allowed Chloe to help her up and out. They walked up the drive to her parents, arm in arm.
Chloe woke up from a dream. It was about something she wasn't allowed to remember yet. Wasn't the first time.
She opened her eyes a little, groggy. Focused them. She could see clearly in the pitch black. Max's room. Max's bed. Max. An ear. Max ear! Damn. Just out of nibble range.
Chloe was the big spoon, arm draped over Max, hand on the mattress, under her breast. Chloe softly kissed the back of her neck. Max pressed back into her, still sleeping. Something still so new about the feel of her, soft, naked, completely relaxed, skin against skin. And yet, something more familiar than any home she'd ever had. Everything Chloe had ever wanted was right here, in this moment. She didn't care whose memories these were. This was her Max.
She smiled warmly in the dark, turning over old and new memories. This house… Their first time together in both timelines was here. The first timeline was in this bed. Tickling. Wrestling. Max on top. A look, her freckles, descending into a kiss. One thing led to another. This timeline, it was in her shower, after a long day waiting for Max to come home. Nursing cuts and bruises all over her body. Max turned. A look. A kiss. One thing led to another…
Chloe only just realized that Max made the first move in both timelines.
Of course, in the first pass they were still getting to know each other. In this one, they were way past that. Off-world bouncy-castle weekends… mind blown. …among other things…
Chloe's mind wandered. Sifting through memories of another life. Another future. Hers, but…not. She couldn't help but love her too. OtherChloe. In her mind, she'd started thinking of her like a big sister. Older. Wiser. The trailblazer. Always looking out for her. But way fucking cooler than she'd ever manage to be…
She moved her head a little, feeling Max lightly against her face… Her hair, the back of her neck, the little bump on the back of her head… She breathed her in.
She always smells so nice. So like…Max.
She drifted back into a dream.
A white expanse…
Another she wouldn't be allowed to keep. Not yet…
Max woke up to the sound of sizzling, the smell of bacon. She couldn't feel Chloe behind her. Rolled halfway over. Clearly, she'd been abandoned. Traitorous bacon-lubber. She stretched.
The door opened, as a pajama'd Chloe walked in with paper towel flat on her hand like a serving dish. She closed the door behind her.
Max looked at her upside down. "Is that…?"
Chloe plopped down on the bed. "It is."
"…for me?" Her eyes hopeful.
"Maybe. What's it worth to ya?"
Max sat up slowly, let the sheet drop away from her.
Chloe nodded. "Okay then. Open."
Max opened her mouth, looked at Chloe sideways, unmoving.
Chloe took a warm strip of bacon, tapped it on Max's lower lip, held just out of reach of her teeth as Max tried to get it.
Max smiled, reached out with her arm and pulled Chloe in to give her a kiss. With her free hand, she snagged the bacon, popped it in her mouth. "Ha!"
"Brat! I totally would have given it to you." Chloe laughed.
Max raised her eyebrows. "Later. Promise? We should breakfast first though. Mom and dad both up?"
"Plan. And yeah. Your dad's baconing. I think your mom's in the shower maybe."
This is a little like waking up to a dream… Max pulled Chloe toward her again, gave her a bacon flavored kiss before getting up. Chloe watched, admired her quietly from the bed as Max grabbed her PJs and slid them on. Some things never change.
Chloe and Max walked out to the kitchen. Max gave her dad a hug and a kiss, stole another piece of bacon from the growing pile on the plate near the stove. She tore it in half, tossed part to Chloe before sitting next to her at the table. Table was already set. Chloe's work probably.
Vanessa joined Ryan in the kitchen, eventually poking her head out to as ask "Morning you two. French toast, or pancakes?"
Max and Chloe said "yes" at nearly the same moment, started laughing.
"Seeing them again is like a total flashback to childhood." laughed Max.
"Totally. And you're allowed to be a kid, dude. I mean, you only just turned 18. It's not like you've traveled back in time from the year 2338 or anything."
Max elbowed her. Chloe stifled giggles.
From the kitchen, Ryan asked "So Chloe - I meant to say something last night, but I was too busy feeling jealous of your car… Did you get it just because it matched your hair?"
Chloe answered, "Pretty much. Well, and the V-12 sounded ridiculous. And…Max really liked it, so it seemed like a good choice. I was also looking at a Lamborghini, but I think I'll wait til next year's models come out… They're moving to a new gearbox…"
"Right. I'd read that somewhere. Not…helping the jealousy thing. But if you ever get sick of it and decide to throw it away…"
"Mr. C - you know you're welcome to drive it any time. Just remember the handbrake…"
"…is on the wrong side. Uh. Read that somewhere too."
"Car geeks." Max rolled her eyes.
"That's 'petrol-heads' to you." Chloe smiled.
Vanessa brought out plates of French toast and pancakes. Enough to get started anyway, along with bacon, butter, toast, jams and other breakfast related noms. She rolled her eyes along with Max as Ryan joined them at the table with the pot of coffee.
They caught up on Caulfield life in Seattle as the first of the French toast vanished. Work updates. Extended family drama. Max's old friends Kristin and Fernando inquiring after her a couple of times.
Vanessa eventually bridged the topic back to them. "So Chloe, about the elephant in the room…"
Chloe and Max both looked around. Ryan smiled.
"It's beautiful, but…we have no idea what it is."
Oh… that elephant! Chloe held out her arm. "Um. Thanks. Yeah. It's…from…Japan. New type of experimental wearable tech. Should be all the rage here next year?" She nodded convincingly.
"What does it…do?"
"Mostly just glows. So far? Unfortunately, the manual is in Japanese. And I do not read that language. Spoken by Japanese people everywhere. Of which…I am not…one. So for now, it's mostly a…fashion experiment. Contrasts with the hair?"
Max face-palmed. Chloe shrugged at her with a 'what?' face.
Ryan nodded. "And the other elephant?"
"Um. We're…dating?" Max offered.
Ryan and Vanessa both chuckled. "Sweetie, we put that together before you two left for Los Angeles… We meant the other other elephant…"
Chloe stepped in. Silently mouthed 'dating?' at Max. Turning back to Ryan, "You meant 'the secret'. Of how to make money in the stock market…"
Ryan nodded. "Right. That elephant. You guys had maybe some gas money between you when you left for LA. Two months later, you're what, millionaires? Cars I never expected to see parked in our driveway… Just wondering if we have to keep an eye out for mobsters or bankers or people who own their own submarines?"
"Oh no - don't worry. We've got you under 24/7 protection, hover-drones, pop-up turrets in the yard, private security. You should be fine. Mostly."
Max kicked her under the table. "Chloe, you are such a dork."
"No, but seriously…I just noticed a pattern in some historical stock market data. We were able to use it to make a few predictions about where things might go next, got lucky, and…here we are. College is covered for both of us, and we're just chillin' in a temporary space in Vegas while we get our bearings. You know, adjust to this new reality."
Max kicked her again under the table, soft fuzzy socks leaving no lasting damage.
Max jumped back. Hit the mark really close. She remembered kicking Chloe at this point in their conversation. She knew Chloe remembered it all too - not like she could forget anything if she wanted to now… But Max needed the proof. The exact words. If she was going to rub her nose in it, anyway. She had to be very careful not to change anything. Just observe. Since this part was mostly Chloe talking anyway, it's unlikely she'd make her say something different by accident.
After a pause, Vanessa asked "Did you girls see that thing that was all over the news last week? Those weird videos from Las Vegas? What do you think that was?"
Chloe responded. Started to say something dismissive and stopped. "You know…I'm…sorry Max - I've just gotta come out and say this. Guys, your daughter is a for-real superhero. Those videos? All her. She saved nearly half a million people that day."
Aha! Gotcha Price! Max gave her the necessary scripted scowl.
"What dude? They need to know. They're the only parents you have, and they have a right to be as insanely proud of you as I am. Plus, it's gonna affect them too. We're not going low profile this time. And people already know our real names - someone is gonna think to talk to them at some point. They need to understand what's really happening before the spotlight hits. We know they can handle it from last time…"
Max could see their puzzled faces forming as she froze the moment.
She rewound them to exactly when she jumped in, so nothing that happened in the next couple of hours could change. Slid forward two years, tail end of Christmas dinner, 2015. She found herself back in their dining room, above B-wing of their Vegas high-rise, right at the exact moment she left. The room lights were low, soft at the edges near the glass walls, and brighter directly down onto the table. Empty plates. Forty first floor. The lights of the city skyline flashing beyond the glass. They'd moved on to dessert and after-dinner drinks.
Max rolled her eyes at Chloe. "Oh my god - you totally blurted it out Chloe! From zero to 'your daughter is a for real superhero'… No context, no setup, just…boom! Out like a trout! Who does that!?"
Vanessa, Ryan and Chloe were all laughing, caught up in the absurd memory of it.
"Like a trout? Hahaha. And you just jumped back to check, didn't you? You're such a little sneak!" Chloe lifted wine to her lips, eyes sparkling at Max over the glass. This was the first time Max had seen her side by side in a while. Her hair was still blue, but with more expensive shades and layers of color. And she was wearing it closer to shoulder length now, but still kept it separated into big chunks, anime style. Gorgeous as ever…
"You have your memory… I have the actual timeline of events. Whatever. You know I'm right." Max lifted her own glass of sparkling water, eyeballing Chloe warily over the rim as she sipped. Squinted her eyes in an 'I'm watching you' sort of way…
"Well, I'm glad you did, Chloe. If you hadn't, well, we'd have had no idea. We've always loved and supported both of you, and it still makes me sad to think that we might have been excluded from such a weird, but massively important part of your lives."
"Dad… We really did have a plan to tell you. Just…not that Christmas."
"It's true Mr. C. We talked about it on the drive up that night…"
Vanessa rested her hand on Max's. "Well, I'm just glad that you gave us a chance once Chloe said something, Maxine. Didn't redo on us or anything."
Hehe. Aww. "You know I love you guys. But you lived it - it's just a super weird thing to learn about your daughter over French toast."
"True." Ryan nodded. "Still not sure what side of the family…"
"I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way, Dad. Anyway, I was totally happy to let it roll, as long as you guys didn't have a serious freak-out or anything. But I wasn't sure for a couple of hours. We had to work up to it with you in the last timeline. Had a few false starts. Didn't always go as well."
"It was pretty convincing. Not that we understood it, or do now, but we certainly couldn't deny our own eyes." Ryan said.
"First timeline was harder. I couldn't just take you to Australia in your PJs."
"The silliest part of it all - I think what shocked me the most, was that you brought the table and chairs and everything from the dining room with us. Like you expected us to casually finish our breakfast at two in the morning in that park, looking out over Sydney harbor." Vanessa laughed as Chloe and Ryan joined in.
"Still…it was a great Christmas present. We'd always wanted to go…" Vanessa took Ryan's hand.
"Aww. You guys are so cute…" Max smiled.
After a few beats, Ryan asked "Chloe, do you keep in touch with Joyce's second husband at all?"
Chloe nodded. "David? Yeah. Every few months we'll swap email or texts. He always calls on mom's birthday. He's doing really well actually. Still in Arcadia. Um, last time he got in touch, he mentioned that he was finally seeing someone. He was a little worried I'd be mad I guess. Anyway, she was a combat med-tech in the service or something, but they met at the VA. Said they were helping each other now. He sounded genuinely happy. I'm glad, and I know mom would have wanted that for him too."
Vanessa turned to Chloe, warmth in her eyes. "I just…I really wish Joyce and William could have seen the woman you've become, Chloe. They'd have been so very proud of you."
Chloe bowed her head just a little, as Max took her hand. "Thank you. I know you were all friends for a long time, and that…really means a lot coming from you guys."
Vanessa nodded. Turned to Max. "And Maxine, I shouldn't have to say - you know how proud we are. Not of the things you can do… but of what you've chosen to do with them. Both of you. It's really so incredible. And I'm so grateful that you've been such positive influences on each other's lives. You turned out to be such wonderful people. I just…wanted to say that."
Ryan nodded.
"Awww. Thanks Mom."
Chloe gave Max's hand a squeeze.
After a few moments, "So, um. Awkward silence break - who's up for presents?" asked Max, moving the party into the sitting room, near the fireplace and tree. Derailing the minor argument between her parents that would have started in another five minutes if they'd stayed at the table.
As well as they'd adjusted, it had been hard on them at times.
Especially once the media attention took off in early 2014.
Chloe leaned, elbows resting on the half wall at the roof's outer edge as she looked over the city. Quiet night. Even in the tower below. Most people had taken time off over the holidays, but a skeleton staff kept working over the break. Those who's projects required monitoring, or were at some critical phase. Some without families. Or who didn't celebrate the holidays and didn't feel the need to take time off. Plus ops support staff, security. Not like they had an attendance policy or anything. Everyone who worked for them had full personal and professional autonomy, could come and go as fitted their own goals and team or project requirements.
Even still, they regularly hosted up to eight thousand employees in this building alone. With more than twice that number in the field, working remotely, or working out of any one of dozens of unmarked buildings around the world where they had labs, manufacturing facilities or warehouses. Or where they leased a few floors in conventional office towers under the MCCP name, or any one of dozens of subsidiaries. None of that counted their blind investments or shells.
Then there were the eight highest security locations. Off the books. Off any grid. Beyond remote. Beyond the perception or reach of potential enemies. Even people working there didn't know where they were. Or when. Impossible spaces. Half of those weren't even on earth at this point… Special projects. Ark storage. Detention. Max was the only way in or out…
Speaking of…
She heard the sliding door of the central core open. One of their perimeter hummingbird drones turned, zoomed for a moment, confirming for Chloe that it was Max. Chloe used to get vertigo back when she'd first started tuning into the camera feeds, but her mind quickly adjusted. She was used to the shifts by now. Reconciling multiple points of view into one coherent mental picture; she imagined this was similar to what Sophie experienced with people. Just part of her expanded sense of the world, thanks to OtherChloe.
Max took her time strolling the length of the wing, passing the upward glow of the pool along the way. She eventually crashed slow motion style into Chloe, wrapping her arms around her from behind in a gentle, familiar resting hug.
"All tucked in?" Chloe asked over her shoulder.
Max kissed her on a patch of exposed skin. "Yeah. It's afternoon there, but I made sure they got inside before heading back."
"Bali this time?" Chloe rotated around so she was facing Max, still in the hug.
"Yeah. The place with the cool infinity pools looking out over the jungle. They really love it."
"Not many daughters help their parents live the dream of traveling the world in retirement…"
Max nodded. "Not many daughters can afford it. And not many can do it without the actual travel part."
"And not many feel better keeping them blissfully unaware, but relentlessly on the move…" Chloe added.
"I know. It's a little silly. It's been so quiet."
"They love it. All that really matters dude. You do right by them."
Max pulled back, took hold of Chloe's hands, swinging them a little side to side. "So um… you know it's a pain Christmas shopping for the girl who has everything, right?"
Chloe laughed. "Uh. Yeah." Or impossible, more like.
"So no big deal or anything, but I kinda… it's only a small part, but… Well, here. Jim and his team have been working on this in secret for like four months…"
Max folded them to one of the highest sub-basement levels of their building. Down in the private residence garage, where Chloe kept her growing collection of cars and other oddball machines. They ranged from the classics to the exotic, with a couple of hyper-cars thrown in. And a few research prototypes she'd kept to tinker with. One of the harmless rich-girl gear-head indulgences that made Chloe surprisingly happy, once she discovered it.
Max walked her across the polished white marble floor to her silver-blue Aventador, parked in one of the wide spaces. Chloe had bought it a year earlier, but had really only taken it out a few times. 2015 had been busy.
Chloe was all ready with some smartass comment about how she already owned this car, but she could see tiny differences already. Now that she was looking for them. Lights moved forward almost a millimeter. The entire stance of the car half an inch lower. "What…did they do to her?" She felt along the edge of the left headlight cluster lens.
"Um. Okay, don't be mad, but remember how you always said you wanted some James Bond stuffs?"
Chloe turned. "Max?! You didn't…"
Max nodded, smiling.
"Fucking rocket launchers?! For reals?!" Chloe reached for the driver's door.
Max nodded. "Don't shoot them inside or anything. But yeah. Plus some other fun stuff. Autopilot, drone launcher, some sort of stealth tech, she's networked for you now, and you can even change the color to whatever you want, on the fly."
"You turned her into a chameleon?" Chloe squinted close at the roof panels. "Max, I can't even see the pixels!"
"When they replaced the carbon fiber skin with the new ultralight armor from Materials Research, they had the idea to bond it to a new e-ink layer. They were having so much fun, I think they got a little carried away. I hope you like it?"
"Dude. I love it! This is so fucking kickass!" Chloe opened the door, jumped in.
"Yay! Okay - there's a thumb drive in the cup holder. Schematics, controls, software notes, all that junk. You should be able to connect with her directly too. Feel free to make changes or upgrades or whatever. This was just to get you started, and I wasn't sure what other gadgets you might want. You have more imagination about that kindof stuff."
Chloe hopped back out, glomped Max. "Thank you! I have no idea how you kept this hidden! Seriously dude - you so rule!"
Max laughed in a half-squeak, struggling to breathe. "I do kinda rule, don't I? Um. Air?"
Chloe looked back, changed the color to bright red, then midnight blue. "Wow. Just…"
Max regained her airways. "Heh. I haven't seen you this excited since you got your Gjallarhorn."
"After a fucking year of fucking RNJesus…you know, fuck it. This is so much better!" She gave Max another kiss. "Okay, um. My turn… Can you quick hop us upstairs? My office?"
The industrial concrete chic of the garage gave way to the warm aesthetic of Chloe's office in the main residence. Chloe reluctantly let go of Max, walked back behind her desk and sat in the high-backed red leather chair. During their rebuild of Arcadia, the chair was salvaged from the wreckage of Blackwell Academy, mostly intact. Max had it restored last year, and gave it to Chloe as part of her birthday present. Chloe loved it for so many reasons.
She opened a drawer, removed a wrapped package the size of a shoebox and pushed it through the air to Max. "I wouldn't shake it…"
Max took it, sat on the edge of the desk, carefully undoing the ribbon that held the top in place. Inside was a large beat up camera, lying on its side in foam. Max stopped, looked at Chloe, eyes wide. "Is this…real?"
Chloe smiled big, nodded. "Yep. One of the only ones to come back. Verified the serial numbers with NASA and Hasselblad."
Max carefully removed it from its protective custom cutout. "Holy…shit, Chlo…" The camera was silver colored, boxy with rounded corners, a split at the midpoint between front and back, with a hinged block of the auto-winder below, and a giant lens out the front. Obviously vintage, with scratches and old tape marks and small colored stickers with the years 1982, 1992 and 1995 on one side. Embossed into the metal on the side nearest the lens were the words 'Hasselblad EL DATA CAMERA'
"I know you have a thing for analog…"
"Chloe, this… this is beyond priceless. It's one of the actual film cameras astronauts used on the moon in 1969! How the hell did you get it?"
"Japanese collector bought it at auction last year. I followed him. Made a bigger offer."
Max set the camera gently, carefully back into the box. "You are so amazingly sweet Chloe, but…this is a legit piece of world history. The kind that should be in the Smithsonian or something where people can see it."
"It's yours, Max. You could donate it if you want. Promise, I wouldn't be mad or anything. Or, maybe you could better honor the camera's designers, makers and everyone who's ever touched it by continuing to use it to take photographs - of other worlds. Put the photographs online where people can see them. Or…whatever. But as far as I'm concerned, there's literally no better steward of history than you… And you know it's absolutely true. I mean, Smithsonian didn't even make it past 2150 in the last timeline…"
"Chloe…"
"The real gift is making sure everything survives this time. And we'll do that too. But if you're really passionate about the idea that they should have one, the Apollo astronauts took up like three of these on each mission. Most of them were left behind to make room for moon rocks. So maybe you keep this one, and we take a quick trip to the moon and pick one up off the ground as a gift for the Smithsonian?"
Max paused for a moment, looked at the camera, back to Chloe. "That's… a really good idea, actually." Max went around the side of the desk, sat in Chloe's lap, legs over the arm of the chair, kissed her softly. "Thank you Chlo. It's a really beautiful gift. Perfect."
"I love you too Max…"
