The Other Hand on the Wheel
sci-fi◐ MatureThe other Mara takes the package and tucks it under her arm. 'Now get back in your car and don't look back,' she says. 'And when it's your turn, do not open it.' Headlights swing into the lot. Both women freeze. That's the early car arriving. There shouldn't be a THIRD.
The third driver doesn't get out. The car just sits there, engine running, wipers going. The two Maras wait. Nothing. Then the brown package, still under the other Mara's arm, starts to hum, the exact sound the retrochron makes. It's counting down to something.
What happens next?
1 ways forwardThe humming package gets louder until Mara grabs it and hurls it into the empty third car. The instant it lands, the car folds in on itself and vanishes, taking the sound with it. The other Mara exhales. 'That was the extra copy. The loop ate it.' Two of them left now, and one slip between them. They decide to burn it.