There wasn't a funeral for Max, but that didn't mean her death went unacknowledged.
Two awful, teary-eyed conversations occurred immediately after the event: one between Alexei and Harper, one between Dylan and Tessa.
Alexei had found Harper once she'd finished her shift at work, and the first words that the redhead had uttered were "Is it true?" Alexei didn't even get to voice an answer; Harper knew by the look on his face, and though she did everything she could, she couldn't stop the tears from falling.
Max may have been a hellion, a distraction, a verifiable disaster when it came to Harper's job — but she was still her friend. Alexei stood there and hugged Harper in the parking garage until the tears stopped.
Dylan had video-chatted with Tessa, and she didn't even get to ask him a question — his eyes were still puffy, his nose still red, from crying too much for too long. Seeing the pain flash across Tessa's usually sunshiny expression brought a fresh wave of tears to his eyes, and it took all the willpower he had to not have another full-on meltdown while they spoke.
Tessa tried to deny it was real, tried to tell Dylan it couldn't be real. But he had seen it, and he told her as much, even though the admittance made his chest constrict with pain.
There was only one thought in Dylan's mind once he and Tessa ended their conversation. So this was what heartbreak felt like.
Both Danny and Dylan tried to reach out to Reznor in the aftermath of Qatar. They called the hacker, spammed him with texts, but to no avail. If Reznor was still out there, he wasn't replying.
It was difficult for either of the twins to blame him.
Eventually, perhaps a month after Max's death, Dylan and Danny both began to receive text messages. They were always from unknown numbers, and any time they tried to text back they received a "Message Did Not Send" notification. They chose to assume that Reznor was the one forwarding the texts to them, but when they tried to reach out to him, he was still radio silent.
Some of the languages were in languages neither of the twins spoke or read, in which case they had accompany translations:
UNKNOWN (1) TRANSLATED: MY CONDOLENCES TO THOSE WHO SURVIVE THE GREATEST FATE. SHE WILL BE MISSED.
UNKNOWN (2): UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, MASSIR.
UNKNOWN (3): I'M SORRY I NEVER GOT TO PAY YOU BACK FOR SAVING MY LIFE.
UNKNOWN (4): I WISH THE WORLD KNEW THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU, DESTIN. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING.
UNKNOWN (5) - TRANSLATED: WOULD THAT OUR ALLIANCE CAME SOONER. I THINK I WOULD HAVE GROWN TO LIKE YOU MORE.
UNKNOWN (6) - TRANSLATED: MAY YOU FIND REST, UNMEI. YET EVEN STILL I WILL NOT STOP HOPING YOU ARE ALIVE.
The second to last one, Phoenix said when the twins consulted her, must have been from Jin Té; she was the only other Mandarin Chinese contact Max would have had, and the message certainly fit the altercation that they had had in Beijing.
The strangest of condolences received, however, was a letter. It arrived at the Carmichael's residence in Albany. It was sealed with red wax which bore the imprint of a crest neither the twins nor Phoenix recognized. It had no return address. Upon opening it, they found a surprisingly elegant card with gold trim, with a note written in fair, loopy cursive:
To those who survive Max Destin,
My sincerest apologies for your loss. Max was invaluable to many, though I am confident that you who are reading this know that already. Know that if there is ever a time you need us, we will be there.
