The Midnight Test

Mara could feel the cold in her throat. She was standing in the room and hearing herself from thirty years in the future, breathing hard like she’d been running. She ripped off the headphones. Tobin had already moved for the main breaker, pure instinct, but the signal came back before he touched it. This time there was a low, wet sound under the static, like waves against a dock. “Do not trust any adult who says they’re here to help you,” future Mara said. “Especially the one who folds his suit cuffs too neatly. And don’t let Dale Harker near the archive cabinet. We tried that. It goes bad.” Then, like someone had slammed a metal door far away, the signal cut. Silence dropped into the room so hard it felt physical.