I shrug. “Ofyou two?” Which makes him laugh. “Bro, it’s not even up to me. It’s up to her.” I point to Star. “She likes all three of us. She wants to fuck all three of us.” I narrow my eyes a little at Declan and Quaid because while Declan hasn’t displayed it much, he’s got a freak vibe coming off him. And even though I’d have never guessed Quaid was a dom, I can see it now and I’d just like to nip this shit in the bud. “Just don’t try your kinks out on me, OK? I am not interested. I don’t want reports, or retellings, or play-by-plays. Now can wepleaseget on with the business at hand?”
Finally, I think it sinks in because the three of them trade casual looks and shrugs, then turn their attention back to me with expectant eyes.
“Good,” I say. “Now listen. Here’s how I see it. Star and I together do something to the maze. Probably because I ran this thing thousands of times. I’m connected to it. At the very least, Ares is connected to it and I’m connected to him. I think the glowing walls are saying something.”
“The way out,” Star adds.
I point at her. “Yes. It’s like a cheat. You know, in a game? Because that’s all this place is. Just a game. I’ve been thinking about those glowing symbols on the walls and I think they’re some kind of record of my time here.”
“How’s that work?” Quaid asks.
I shrug. “I dunno. I’m not sure it matters how it works. When Star and I were running, the song would play. Like the wind we created triggered something.” Now I point to myself. “I think that was me. The song? It’s mine.”
“But I’ve been hearing it since I was a girl,” Star says. “Why?”
I shrug. “No clue. Maybe we’re… fate, or something? Not sure. But it’s definitely my song. You’re just attached to it for some reason. But there’s more. Because when we came back to the room, it was the past, remember?”
She nods. “How though?”
“Oh!” Declan snaps his fingers. “I think I understand! Star is Pleiades Eight! An actual Star! Which means, she’s a timekeeper.”
“Hmm,” Quaid says. “Now that is interesting.”
“Why’s that?” I ask.
“Because it makes sense,” Quaid says. “Stars keep the time. They are predictable. Their movements can be calculated. Somehow, she controls time.”
I look over at Star and find her making one of those ‘what-do-know’ expressions as she nods. “That does kinda makes sense.”
“So she controls time.” I point to the floor. “In here, at least. And my song took us backwards.”
“I’m not sure how that’s helpful,” Declan says.
He’s kinda right, but I have an idea. “I don’t know the way out now, but I did back then. After leaving here, I tried to block it all out. I would not be able to find my way out of here. Not easily. I’m too far removed from it. But if we went back in time?—”
“You’d know the route!” Star says.
I make a shrug with my hands. “I think I could do it. The song is a record of all my attempts and those glowing symbols—although I’ve never seen them before now, I think that’s how this place kept track of me. Basically, they’re like an exit sign. So all we gotta do is make this place sing and I’ll be able to follow the signs.”
“So how do we fit in?” Quaid asks.
“You and those glasses of yours are gonna help me. I mean, there’s a lot of symbols, right? We need computation power. Otherwise, the Minotaur will get us before we can figure it out.”
“What about Paradise?” Star asks. “Why the hell did Quaid and I end up in Paradise?”
I smile. “It’s our destination, of course. This maze exists in some kind of… I dunno, magical space. Dimensional space, if you wanna get all scientific and shit. When I finally won, I ended up in a dark space made of nothingness. And then, a moment later, I was back in my bed at home. Only I was five years older.”
“Well, we don’t want to end up there,” Declan laughs. “That would not go over well with your father.”
“No shit,” I say.
“But it wasn’t real,” Quaid says. “Paradise, I mean. It was very dreamlike, don’t you agree, Star?”
Star is nodding. “It was. I don’t think it was real either.”
“It was a possibility,” Declan says.
“Exactly,” I say, looking straight at him. “Which leads us to you, Declan. The only one of us who hasn’t unlocked a power yet by getting Star off. You’re our ride, friend. You’re gonna get us all out. You’re gonna turn that dream into reality.”
