"Future Rewoven" Book 3 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|

Chpt 37: Max Explains A Time Hypothesis to Maya.

Maya was shocked to see Max in the lab when he wasn't supposed to be there, and even more shocked to see he had her holographic equipment and a grim look on his face.  The expression reminded her of when her grandfather was disappointed in her and was about to give her a lecture.

He knows! she thought, feeling her heart race at that silent admission.  She willed herself to take a deep breath and get her mind under control.  But, what can he really know?

Maya set her bag down on her desk, turned on the overhead lights, and walked over to Max's desk, pulling one of the rolling chairs along with her.  She sat down.

"Okay, Max.  What do we need to talk about?" she asked, trying to make it sound like she had no idea what he was implying.

"I have deduced who you are Maya," said Max.

"Max, you know who I am," replied Maya.  "You've always known who I was."

He shook his head.  "No, I didn't.  But, I do now.  You are the villain from the future.  The one that came through a portal, not unlike the one that we are currently working on.  However, you had a portal powered by some type of suit.  Were the materials you needed for that not available in this time?" he asked, his curiosity momentarily overcoming his anger.

Maya was about to reply when Max interrupted her when he regained his focus with "And I trusted you!  I believed that what we were working on here in this lab was for the good of all people.  But, it wasn't.  You were using me to help you do something selfish!  That is not what scientific research is for!" said Max, sounding more upset than Maya had ever heard him in any time.  "Why, Maya?  And how did you convince Lila to be involved?"

Maya felt awful.  She never imagined how it would feel to disappoint this timeline's Max.  He had been her only friend and now he despised her.  Maybe it was time to tell him everything.  Maybe he could help.  If he was willing to.

"Ok, Max.  I'll tell you, but I have to start at the beginning."  Maya then went on to recount how she was their granddaughter from the future (Max blushed bright red at that), how she had told Lila who she was and that Lila had been willing to help Maya to ensure that she would eventually become rich and famous as she was in Maya's timeline, how she had come here to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses to prove herself to Max and everyone else in the future and get the recognition she deserved, how she seemed to be losing some memories in this time because she couldn't remember how to get the portal to work, and how now she just needed the Miraculouses to make a wish to get back home. She left out all of the information related to Gabriel Agreste as she didn't want to put Max in any danger from that ruthless man.

"So, that's it.  If I stay here, who knows what will happen to me?  I need the Miraculouses!  I have one, I just need the other," said Maya.

"You stole a Miraculous!  From who?" cried Max.

"From Ladybug," said Maya quietly, not able to meet his eyes.

"What?!  You need to give it back!" exclaimed Max.

"You heard me- I can't live in this time!  I've been losing memories.  Who knows what might eventually happen?!" said Maya, returning her gaze to his face.

Max cleared his throat, willing himself to calm down and think rationally.  "I'm not convinced that you are experiencing negative effects from living out of your original timeline.  As soon as I deduced that you were from the future, I started researching.  I have read numerous hypotheses from leading researchers in the field of time and time travel and there is no overwhelming data to support that."

"But what about my memory loss?" demanded Maya.

"I know from previous research into the topic of memory, where I read numerous studies pertaining to people put in extremely stressful situations, that those studies overwhelmingly support what you are describing. It is very difficult for people to recall details, even those that are extremely important, when they are under stress, especially when they believe their lives are at stake. But, returning to the timeline issue, the prevailing hypothesis, called the North-Bellwood hypothesis, states that a time traveller who enters a time in the past creates a new timeline independent from the future the traveller came from.  So, you being here will not affect the future that you came from," said Max.