Laurie noticed the tension between the two, and she soon understood what she was seeing. Ash’s bubbly charm and sharp wit, combined with her unique sense of style, love of cute bug buttons, and big glasses—she was a bit like someone in the present.

           Sadie on the other hand, with her semi-tomboy personality, clothing that gave her a tougher look, and shorter hair didn’t appeal as much to Jace in that way; which was a very good thing for the sake of paradoxes and the creepiness factor, of course.

           “Anyway, I kind of hang around with a fashion ‘clique’ now. Arty hates it.” Ash laughed. “It’s not even serious, and we’re not, like, snobs or something, but he’s worried I’ll become ‘fake.’ I mean, who else am I supposed to ask for fashion advice? Zach?”

           “Not much to talk about here,” Sadie added after picking out a bracelet. “But my cat Bippy has two more friends that Mom just randomly adopted. Oh, and I got myself a school bully this year. And the detention I got for beating her up was worth it. Also…”

           “Psst, Jace,” Laurie whispered. “You and Ash… Is that like an Emiko thing?”

           “Ugh. Please don’t ask me to get into that,” he squeaked—which made her smirk.

           Jace wound up going to Payless with the girls after they were done at Claire’s, though he was the only one who actually bought a pair of shoes; on sale, cheap, and good enough. Laurie was more than happy to get a clean pair of socks, too.

           “Here,” Jace said to Millie afterwards outside the store, handing her the shoe box that now held the borrowed loafers, along with the change from the purchase. “Thanks for the shoes you kinda owed me, but could you maybe step off a little, let us have this?”

           “You expect me to return these or something?” Millie sighed. “You two catch up with the gang and forget I’m here. I’m… looking out for Charlie. That’s all. I swear.”

           Jace and Laurie weren’t convinced, but gladly turned and ran off to rejoin the others. With everyone now in teenhood, it wasn’t a surprise that Hot Topic was the next stop. Its trendy, edgy, pop-culture slathered tops definitely belonged right in the late 90s. But by visit’s end, no one wanted to dish out any dough for the pricey threads today.

           On the way to the other end of the mall, someone else caught Jace’s eye, and he gave Laurie a nudge. “You see that shady guy in a suit, hocking watches at a stall? That’s Willa’s grandpa, and my uncle’s former stockbroker. Guess he got out of prison…”

           “Think he’ll recognize you?” Laurie wondered. “He does look untrustworthy.”

           Jace put his hoodie up and kept his head down just in case. He could hear Eddie Meeks hyping up a watch as an anniversary gift to a naïve couple as they walked by.

           After searching for sales, some of the gang did buy a clothing article or two from JCPenney’s summer catalog, and by the time they left the store, the day was showing its age. With plastic bags in hands and orange hues from the skylights starting to paint the sunken plaza below, everyone grabbed some Baskin-Robbins and spread out on the benches to cool things off. Jace used the time to catch up with Zach and Celeste.

           “Anyway, yeah, I was in the ’97 King Arcade Laser Chase,” Celeste continued her stories for Jace and Laurie. “Got that taste of the sport a year before and really wanted to win. Partnered with some of Gavin’s old crew and Zach here, since he didn’t get to do it the first time. Second place isn’t bad… but we might’ve won if not for his gung-ho crap.”

           Zach finished his ice cream cone, checked his black jeans for drops, and groaned, “Cel, that’s just how I roll, from water to lasers. You knew what you were getting.”

           Jace replied, “At least there were winners. Like I said, a blackout ruined it for us.”

           “I’m jealous,” Laurie murmured. “We missed out on the Laser Chase entirely.”

           The last stop of the mall run was Babbage’s, back where it began near the food court. Full of the latest games and third party controllers, the store was the new hotspot for kids their age, and was packed even towards closing time. Jared was quite lucky to get a spot at the Nintendo 64 demo console, where he sampled Rare’s upcoming and legendary platformer, Banjo-Kazooie, as Sadie looked on and seemed rather enthralled.

           “Backpack bird spits eggs and lets the bear run fast? That’s… neat,” she stated.

           “Yeah, and the graphics are next-level,” Jared replied. “Rare makes great stuff.”

           “Now I recognize this place,” Laurie told Jace while they walked by and skimmed the shelves full of Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, and Playstation games—and a shrinking section for Super Nintendo titles. “This becomes, or is GameStop… Chad and Jamie spend way too much time in here, too. And usually end up not buying anything.”

           Wessy must have been the same way, since he was more interested in going up to a certain twenty-something clerk behind the cash register and making conversation.

           “Yo, Mitch! Back to working Fridays, huh?” he exclaimed and leaned against the counter. “Hey, you see this month’s Nintendo Power yet? With the new Zelda pictures?”

           “Not you again…” Mitch groaned. “Can’t you leave me alone? We’re very busy.”

           “Bro, I don’t see a line. So, you change your mind about Ocarina of Time yet? I see all the delays as a good thing. More time to get the dungeons and towns bigger and better. Gotta get it right, ya know? Not like you can fix a game after it comes out, right, Mitch?”

           “Would you stop calling me by my first name, like we’re friends? And as I keep saying, you just can’t capture the adventure and epic scale of a series like Legend of Zelda in 3-D. How are the fights even going to work? Trust me, it’s going to be a flop.”

           “Jason, Lara,” Arthur’s voice caught their attention. “Come over here a sec.”

           In the back corner of the store were the console accessories, which he and Colin were checking out. The happy nerds of the group, Arthur was nearly Jared’s height and had a late 90s flip-phone in his jean pocket. Colin was the only other member to have a cell, which he kept on a clip attached to his outer tan shirt’s pocket. He wasn’t nearly as shrimpy as he used to be either; adolescence was being kind to his constitution.

           “Zach still hasn’t asked you guys over, has he?” Arthur said. “Probably slipped his mind in all the excitement. But I know it’s what he’d want, so… you’re invited.”

           “To… what?” Jace wondered. “To his place? Man… I didn’t get to see it much.”

           “End of the year Nintendo 64 pizza party, of course,” Colin replied. “You in?”

           “Oh, heck yes,” Laurie answered for the both of them. “Four-player, right? Don’t tell the others, but I’m pretty competitive. Let’s just keep that a surprise…” She looked around the store and did a head count, finishing with Ash and Celeste, who were playing the late SNES era action-platformer Kirby Superstar at another TV as Lucy watched. “But how big is his room? I have a large friend circle, too, so I’m used to being cramped.”

           “Oh, Zach’s room is crazy.” Colin added in a hushed voice, “His family has some money, yet he prefers hanging out at our houses. We think he gets self-conscious about ‘showing off’ his digs. But he’s got the biggest TV, so we made him be tonight’s host.”

           Arthur’s primitive phone suddenly let out a strange noise, startling him. He took it out, flipped it open, and read something on the tiny screen that made him sigh.

           “Dad just wasted a dime on an SMS, telling us it’s time to get home. After all these years, he still forgets… I’m the timekeeper. I always make sure we’re never late.”

           “Come on, Wes, we gotta get going,” Colin informed him. “Leave Mitch alone.”

           Wessy grumbled, “Colin, do you believe this guy? I’ve told him over and over how to, but he still hasn’t seen Sector Y in Star Fox 64. Dude, do you even use GameFAQs?”

           “Don’t you have a curfew or something?” Mitch groaned in irritation.

           With a bus back to Desert Tree about to arrive anyway, the gang regathered and headed out, leaving Mitch to deal with a clueless non-gaming mom trying to find “this one game for this one system” for some kid’s birthday; not a big improvement.

           Upon seeing Millie waiting in the food court, Jace said to the others, “Hey, start the party without us. We have one more thing to do—we’ll catch the next bus.”

           “Uh, that reminds me…” Zach said sheepishly. “You’re both… invited to…”

           “Too late, Zach,” Sadie playfully chided him. “Okay, guys, see you soon. Oh, by the way, any pizza requests? We usually do Hut thin crust on Friday game nights.”

           “I’ll eat any toppings you get, as long as it’s meatless,” Laurie replied.

           “Oh, Luce is trying out the vegetarian thing, too,” Wessy remarked.

           “Well… I’m not exactly one myself, but I do avoid it when it’s easy. I’m hopeless around fried chicken… or tacos. Or lox and cream cheese bagels. But I do try, a little.”

           Ash smiled. “Lara, you’re pretty cool. Tell us more about yourself later. See ya!”

           “Bring your game faces,” Jared added as they walked off. “We can get hardcore.”

           “… Heh, yeah. That was fun,” Jace said wistfully and lowered his waving arm. He turned to Millie, sipping soda alone at a table. “Let’s get the ‘debrief’ over with.”

           “About time you got around to talking to me,” Millie muttered and leaned back in the chair. “Couldn’t break away for five minutes to tell me how it went?”

           Jace huffed, “I said over the phone that it went fine. Seriously, nothing to report. Laurie’s the ‘junior agent’ here, and even she managed to do it—after volunteering.”

           Laurie snickered and nudged him in the side before adding, “Millie, what are you so worried about? You look pretty worked up. You were the one that told Jace to take the chance to say hi to Wes’ friends and catch up with them, remember?”

           “Yeah, I know.” Millie sighed and sipped the last of her drink. “This was just my first time at this, executing a plan in the past all by myself. It’s not like I’m quaking in my boots or something, but I did think I’d screw something up. And Charlie is a… cunning opponent. I bet he’s found the USB stick by now. But if it all went fine, then… Good. Good job. So, do you want some dinner at the food court before heading home, or…”

           Jace explained, “We’re eating pizza at Zach’s and playing Nintendo. No idea how long that might last. Look, it’s been a full day for us, so we might as well get a hotel room for the night and start our 2022 summer morning over tomorrow, right?”

           “Wow. Definitely a 90s night. Hm. I guess that’ll work. How’d Laurie hold up?”

           “Surprisingly… well.” Jace noticed Laurie’s curious glare, so he expounded, “It’s not like I expected you to be permanently freaked out or scared, Lor. I was just, at some point, expecting to hear you list all the things wrong with the past. Like, I dunno… trans fats, or lead still being in ‘everything.’ Cancer chemicals, less social equality… Ya know, the usual stuff you bring up when our parents worship these years in front of us.”

           “Sure, all of that is a concern,” Laurie said. “But there’s one thing about the past that almost makes up for a few regressions. I’ll… tell you later. Oh, before I forget.” She got the cloaking bracelets from her backpack and handed them to Millie. “They didn’t quite last all day. Good luck… charging them? What year are they from, anyway?”

           “I got them on a visit to the 29^th century.” Millie pocketed the devices. “I don’t think they’re military grade. I bought them at a store. They might even be kids’ toys.”

           Laurie’s eyes got big. “W-what? I know they’re from the future, but… that far?!”

           Millie smiled. “Eight centuries… Boggles the mind, huh? I can’t wait to go back.”

           A holographic alarm resting on a nightstand let out a pleasant chime, its display pulsating with a soft light to gently wake the occupant of a small bedroom. Millie stirred and opened her eyes, and the first thing she did was roll over and look at the floating, ticking clock to check the date. Even after all these months, her reality still felt unreal.

           “Good morning again… 2884,” she murmured, then raised her arm and gave her wrist a flick to activate the motion-sensing shutters. “Nah… Still not ready to go back.”

           As the slats gradually opened to let in the light, she got out of bed, slid her feet into slippers, and grabbed her translucent glass phone off its wireless charger. Out in the apartment’s basic and small living room, she tried to wake up over a mug of coffee and a strange round piece of toast made of grains and slathered with a green jam. She’d been told that it was the perfect breakfast super food, but she had yet to acquire the taste.

           Above the table, a TV designed to look like a solid gray slate when it was off played the news at a low volume. Millie had seldom trusted the media in her home time, but here, checking the daily stories each morning helped her feel era-anchored.

           Events included the buyout of a helium-3 lunar mining company, a Founder’s Day parade on Mars’ largest city, the grand opening of another orbital casino and hotel, a rising crime wave on a floating city in the Mediterranean Sea, and, locally, Royal Valley expecting more monsoon-like weather in the coming week; that wasn’t unusual, given the world’s shifted climate patterns. And as was now the norm, these reports were AI-generated and presented by faceless, emotionless, floating globs of celestial color. It was a way to remove any sense of bias or manipulation in modern news media, supposedly.

           Millie received a text message from the only friend she had in this distant world, reading, “Made plans for today. Come over to the balcony and see the view.”

           She finished her meal and did so, opening the sliding glass door and emerging onto just another terrace on an apartment tower’s fiftieth floor. Outside, Royal Valley’s sci-fi city towers disappeared into the gray mist above as the rising sun cast prismatic tones across the glass facades. Air traffic was heavy this morning, and among the aircraft were the large orbital shuttles taking off or landing on rooftop aeropads. Coming in to hover by the balcony was an old bird with a rumbling gravity drive, its cockpit window open. A girl in a violet vest and dyed side-cut hair banged on the fuselage as she smiled.

           “Hey, Mill,” she shouted over the noise. “Good day for a little adventure.”