You hadn’t meant to activate it.

But your hand brushed against old controls as you were walking around the room, and suddenly the machine was humming and spinning. A projection flickered to life in the middle of the dark records room of the Commission, creating pale shapes across cracked tiles and peeling paint.

The image was blurry at first, but came into focus after a second - a garden at dusk. Overgrown roses climbed an iron trellis, flowers spilled across a cobblestone path. And two silhouettes, lit up by the gentle orange backdrop.

You felt your heart stutter in your chest.

It was you - older by more than a decade, maybe in your mid-thirties - and him. Five looked almost exactly the same, maybe a little taller, steadier. He was murmuring something too soft to hear, and you smiled in response, hand reaching to interlock with his.

You were about to say something in response when he cut you off by kissing you. Like it was nothing.

Like he’d been doing it forever.

You couldn’t look away.

"What are you doing?"

You jumped, turning to see Five standing in the doorway, eyes locked on the projection.

Something flickered across his face and his eyes narrowed - disbelief? Suspicion? Or something else altogether?

“I didn’t mean to start it,” you explained quietly, “I just…I accidentally touched the panel.”

He didn't answer. You didn't speak. You didn't need to.

Eventually, he looked away, jaw tense.

“Turn it off,” he managed to get out through gritted teeth.

You hesitated, sparing one last glance at the projection. The sunset, the looks on your faces. Then you reached out and shut down the machine. The garden and the two figures vanished, leaving only the dark, deteriorating walls of the room.

Neither of you spoke again.