Chapter Text
Monday, October 7th. 2013
Arcadia Bay, OR.
Max awoke in a state of utter disarray. The past few days had left her sleep-deprived, and to exacerbate matters, she had struggled to find slumber until nearly dawn the night before. It had been a month since her arrival in Arcadia Bay, yet she still hadn't formulated a plan to face Chloe. All she had managed so far was a superficial reconnaissance. She knew Chloe resided in Arcadia Bay, and she believed she glimpsed Joyce across the street the week prior. Max had instinctively averted her gaze, but if it was Joyce, she likely caught a fleeting glimpse of her.
Max had rehearsed her first conversation with Chloe thousands of times. Each iteration ended in disaster or worse. Nevertheless, she had resolved that she could no longer delay.
Every passing day complicated matters further. Now, she not only had to apologize and explain the five years of silence but also account for why it took over a month to reconnect with Chloe. I didn't know how to face you sounded feeble, especially when the truth, I was scared of you, wasn't much better.
Determined to confront Chloe that very day, Max pushed herself out of bed.
Her muscles protested, and even the morning shower failed to clear her head. The day crawled by at an agonizing pace.
In Math Lab, she fought to stay awake, and by the time her final period, Language of Photography, commenced, she was drained.
Expecting it to be her favorite class when she applied to Blackwell, Max found Mark Jefferson disappointingly self-absorbed. He was giving one of his usual, over-elaborated lectures. His favorite music, apparently, was the sound of his own voice. She struggled to keep her eyes open, but that was a battle she was destined to lose.
Her eyes closed momentarily. Max rescued herself at the last instant by shaking her head and straightening up at her desk. A quick glance around reassured her that no one had noticed her lapse, except ...
Her subconscious sounded an instant alarm. Something was amiss, and a brief survey confirmed it.
Jefferson stood agape, presumably engrossed in some profound statement, yet no words escaped his mouth. Furthermore, he appeared entirely... paralyzed? Frozen? Max struggled to describe the bizarre scene before her. It wasn't just Jefferson; all her classmates were in the same eerie state.
Kate, appearing as despondent as she had been for days, focused on a point between Jefferson and the board, seemingly avoiding direct eye contact in a futile effort to conceal her deeply troubled face. Victoria, wearing her customary disdainful expression, wasn't a surprise. However, Max was astonished to discover that Victoria's attention wasn't entirely fixed on Jefferson. The self-proclaimed queen of Blackwell cast a sidelong glance at the most unsuspecting person—Max herself, the epitome of social insignificance.
Checking on Kate held a high priority, but the Victoria situation needed to be deferred for later. More immediate concerns demanded attention, like comprehending the peculiar situation.
Max turned her head around. The rest of the class adhered to the usual stereotypes. Nathan was immersed in his private affairs, the jocks struggled to maintain minimal attention amidst the professor's convoluted lecture, and the rest followed the class as best as they could. Everyone stood in perfect stillness, a photographer's dream twisted into a nightmare.
Yet, what sent shivers down her spine wasn't the uncanny sight of her frozen class. No, the most unsettling part was the eerie silence outside.
What was happening?
The creaking of the wooden door as it opened seized Max's attention, bringing a relieved expression to her face. At least, she wasn't alone in this bizarre stasis. However, relief morphed into heightened concern upon seeing who entered the classroom.
Advancing with purpose, the most unexpected figure imaginable.
Herself.
Well, not precisely her. Physically identical, down to the last freckle, clad in the same attire, but a demeanor that set them dramatically apart. The approaching Max exuded confidence, an aura of maturity beyond the perpetual insecurity associated with her younger self.
"I am you. However, a more intriguing question would be, what is this?" the doppelgänger responded.
"Frustratingly fine," Max retorted with a snort. "What is this?"
"This is a singularity. A unique event in space-time where the laws of physics work differently."
"Laws of physics?"
"Yeah, gravity, time... all that stuff."
A horrified expression crossed Max's face. "Is it a meteorite? Oh, my God, are we going extinct?"
Wise Max looked at her disbelievingly and murmured to herself , dog, was I really that dense? ."No meteorites. None of that," she replied before recomposing herself. "This is the only point in the entire space-time fabric that I share with myself."
"Wait," Max said after a moment of reflection, "you mean you're… me? Like, really me?"
"There's no other me that I'm aware of, and the fact that I'm sharing a position in space-time with myself right now is the reason this is a singularity. You see, when I created all this," she gestured to the entire class as the other girl had done moments earlier, "the first rule I established was that only one of each of us would exist. She wouldn't have wanted it any other way."
I don't follow you at all. What do you mean you're me? And who is this she?"
The new Max moved her chair closer, their knees nearly touching, and leaned in. "What does it take to become a Goddess?"
"A Goddess… how would I know?"
"Maybe all it takes is a relentless will," she replied with an enigmatic smile.
"Look, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, this isn't working, and you're certainly not helping with your scientific kung fu and Goddesses or whatever. Apparently, I'm stuck here, but if you keep insisting that you're more than just the product of my delusional mind, I'm gonna need something else."
"Fair enough. I'm going to ask you one more question, and you'll understand what this is about."
"Shoot."
"Why are you here? In Arcadia Bay, I mean."
"Oh," Max blushed and involuntarily moved backward on the desk, "there's this photography program-"
"Remember, I am you," she interrupted.
Max lowered her head in shame, her face crimson. "If that's true, then you already know."
"I do."
"So...?"
"Just ask me straightaway. I'm not a masochist; I have no intention of torturing myself."
"Does she forgive me? Are we friends again?"
"You could say," replied the other Max with a smirk. "You know… despite everything, I'm still amazed at how predictable I was."
"What do you mean?"
"You're standing in front of yourself, the rest of the world is frozen, and yet the first question you ask me is about Chloe."
"You claim to be me; can't come as a surprise," Max said before shrugging her shoulders.
Once again, the two girls fell into a thoughtful silence, pondering their next steps.
"How about I just start from the very beginning?"
"That would be great, although, for the record, I'm still more inclined to the hallucination hypothesis."
The new Max made a grimace before nodding slightly. "First things first. I am you, but a version from the future. Before you interrupt me with the obvious," she added, "I want to make it clear that this is a simplification, and the reality is actually rather more complicated. That's why we look the same age, and in case you're wondering, we are exactly the same age."
"All right," Max replied with irony, "a simplification you say… can't wait for the whole story."
"No problem," she replied with a faintly defiant note. "It's been a month, and I still haven't had the nerve to approach Chloe."
"Stop right there," Max interrupted at once. "I'm the one who hasn't dared yet; watch out for your pronouns."
"Again," she replied with a patronizing tinge. "I am you; we have the same memories."
"Look... whatever," Max conceded after a few seconds of hesitation, "let's just get this over with."
"As I was saying, I'm in Arcadia Bay because of Chloe, but I still don't know how to proceed. In a very short time, I'm going to fall asleep in class and have a lucid nightmare. When I wake up, I'll go to the bathroom to cool off, and there Nathan Prescott will shoot a girl and kill her."
"Wow, your history has a twist. I'll give you that."
"That girl is Chloe. She's going to die in front of my eyes, ten minutes from now."
"Don't... don't say that, please."
"No need to panic; I'm the good news."
If relief could be described with a single image, this would undoubtedly be the expression that appeared on Max's face. "Yeah, I know," replied Seasoned Max brimming with sympathy. "In any case, at first, I don't recognize her; she… she has changed a lot."
"Changed? How?"
"To begin with, she is even taller, slim as always, but now she sports a punk rock style that suits her really well. She dyes her hair blue and has a full sleeve tattoo."
"Oh."
...
"Max?"
"Yeah?"
"Stop drooling."
"I wasn't..."
"All those doubts I had in Seattle? How I wasn't attracted to anyone and all that? In a couple of hours or so, I'll jump in Chloe's truck, and well… let's just say I won't have any more doubts. I'm so screwed from the first moment I see her."
"She's safe," Max mumbled to herself. "She's safe."
"Priorities, of course... let's not deviate from the story. Earlier, you asked me if we are friends with Chloe. We are so much more than that."
"You mean me and her…?"
New Max simply nodded. "Many years after today, we go back to Blackwell because our children attend school here… don't interrupt me," she added immediately anticipating the question. "We are older; it's a very intense day, and at one point, Chloe tells me that she would sign up for a hundred more lives with me… that's when it all starts."
"What starts?"
"This," Wise Max replied, pointing alternately to her and the original, "the infinite loop that I created to offer Chloe what she wanted."
"But I can't… I'm nothing but a regular girl."
"No, I'm not. I've created countless parallel universes just so that Chloe and I could fall in love again."
"Sorry to disappoint you. I'm not that person. I don't have your confidence or your poise, and I'm certainly not capable of creating parallel universes."
"Once again, you're wrong. Sitting there, before it all started, I already possessed all that was required."
"And well?" Max asked, annoyed by her counterpart's intentional lack of concreteness.
"What is it that you've always wanted?"
"Be with Chloe," Max answered with immediate certainty.
"Powerful as I am, that unwavering will is my greatest power. The moment Chloe is shot, I discover that I can rewind time. That's just the beginning; my powers keep growing, evolving to accommodate my needs. I'm not going to tell you about my… our lives because you're going to live each and every one of them, just know that I honor Chloe's wish."
"You…? me…? I have powers?"
"Not yet; they'll trigger the second Chloe's shot."
"And we live many lives together?" Max remained in a state of partial stupor, babbling new questions and fitting each new revelation as best as she could.
"Yes, but keep this in mind, nothing is set in stone. There are no promises of glorious lives or any kind of imposition. The only choice I give Chloe is to live another life, whatever that life turns out to be. We've had wonderful lives, absolutely miserable lives, and everything in between, and every time I asked her if she wanted to jump again, she said yes."
Max got up from her desk, leaving the other one waiting for an answer. Without a word, she circled around the class, stopping from time to time to check on some of her classmates, even poking some of them at random, as if she was not yet fully convinced of the scene in front of her eyes. "I didn't sleep last night, a couple of hours at most. I had to do something about Chloe; all I expected was for us to be friends again, and yet it turns out… I can't even begin to understand it. Can you imagine how I feel?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. These powers… they work in a weird way. The inner dynamics of this singularity are very complex. I am the person talking to you, and at the same time, I am the person in front of me. I am creating new memories every second, and I remember this conversation from both sides. I can't remember beyond every moment that passes, but once it does, I remember it from a long time ago… and I remember how awkward this felt."
"It's not easy for you, either."
"No, but it's wonderful. You need to understand that we're the same person. I'm the one sitting at that desk, and in the distant future, I will jump to be the one sitting here."
"The person sitting here, will be another new Max?"
"Nope. Rule number one: one Max, one Chloe. There was no way I was going to let any part of you get lost. All Maxes and Chloes, no matter the timeline we live in, we are all the same, and no memory of us will ever be lost. No Chloe will ever be a stranger to any Max, no Max will ever be a stranger to any Chloe. None of us is left behind… not on my watch."
"What was that? It seemed like you were reciting something from memory."
"Indeed I was. It's something I said to Chloe in one of our early lives when I was still trying to figure out what this was all about. Just so you understand, it's not as easy as just jumping in and starting over; there are a number of issues to consider. For instance, it's all about the two of us, but we're not an island. There are many people around us, children, grandchildren, friends. We can't just rewind and start over like their lives don't matter; that would be… practically mass murder, so we jump and disappear from that time line while everyone else goes on with their lives, unaware that there are many others. There's also the fact that we lose our memories in every new life. I mean, living your life over and over again, knowing what is going to happen at every moment, is not really what you wish for, is it? Become a…"
"Tourist of my own life?"
"Ha!" Future Max exclaimed. "I knew you were going to say that. Right, so we lose our memories and live our life as if it were the only one until the end, and when Chloe gets sick, my powers and my memories resurface."
"What if you get sick first or there's an accident or…"
"Oh, that thing," she answered, and for a second, all the security and maturity of Self-confident Max seemed to disappear as she scratched her head nervously. "I don't know how you're going to take this… you see… you're basically immortal."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, I age and stuff; I never get sick, though, and it's always Chloe who… time is so cruel… and as far as accidents are concerned, we were once in a car crash, and time just paused, it all happened right there, just like this, I guess. Anyway, you don't have to worry about that. When the time comes, I, that is, you, will manage. I didn't come here just to tell you what's going to happen."
"Just one more question, please," Max asked in a pleading voice.
"Yeah, sure, it's not that I want to keep you in the dark, it's just that you'll experience it in due time."
"I appreciate that, but there's one thing that worries me. You say we are losing our memories every time we jump."
"Yeah, imagine that; you're gonna fall in love with Chloe many times, and each time it's gonna be like it's the first time. I assure you it never gets old."
"But what if it doesn't happen? What if she doesn't feel the same way?"
"It's as if the whole world was bathed in dim light, and the two of us were two gigantic flares, inevitably attracted to each other. It's incredibly tricky to keep control over time; every minor decision of every individual can change it all, and the truth is, I can choose what moment in time we jump to, but not much else. Throughout many jumps, I have encountered all kinds of scenarios: my parents or Chloe's have moved across the globe, first marriages that logically have not worked at all, even conditions that have forced us to lead a very different kind of life. There's only been one constant in all our lives, sooner or later we met, and from that moment on, it's Max and Chloe for good."
"Wowsers," Max had stood with her mouth open for a period of time that bordered on the ridiculous. Happily for her, the person in front of her understood her perfectly.
"I couldn't have said it better myself… sorry for the attempted pun."
"So everything works out according to your… my plan?"
"Yes. I know it's impossible to believe while I am sitting there at my desk still thinking about what to tell Chloe."
"Chloe and me..." Max said dreamily. "What are you doing here?" she said after a few seconds lost in the vast possibilities that the future held. "I mean, so far you've only told me part of the story without elaborating too much, but I still don't understand your presence here."
Mature Max leaned in on her again and smiled. "My powers… at first, I couldn't figure them out. Why did they stay
"Mature Max leaned in again, smiling. 'My powers... at first, I couldn't figure them out. Why did they stay with me? Why did they keep escalating? It didn't make sense, and besides, what was special about me? I thought and thought about it until I came up with the one answer that accounted for the whole thing. The only special part about me is the endless affection I have for Chloe, and the fact that these powers were so specifically engineered to fulfill Chloe's desire was the ultimate evidence. I am the source of my powers."