Archive of Our Own

What Max Caulfield doesn’t realize about Arcadia Bay is that there are more than one. What most players of the video game Life Is Strange don’t realize about Arcadia Bay is that there are more than two. In fact, there are infinitely many. We can forgive Max for not realizing the existence of these infinite realities. After all, at this very moment she is grieving, either from the loss of her best friend, or from the loss of her innocence, and her complicity in the destruction of an entire town in Oregon. But though there are some worlds in which Max Caulfield is frozen and static, like a game that has been paused, there are many (infinitely many, in case you needed reminding) where she is most definitely not. 

There is a Max Caulfield for whom the date is the twelfth of July 2019, the date this report is published on the non profit website Archive of Our Own. In this reality, Max is almost twenty four, and has been featured in a few small showings in downtown Portland. She has settled into a domestic routine with her wife, Chloe, who earns a living by painting street art for the fancy homes of rich people who want to be more connected to the people. Max unironically tags along, as she is a sucker for avant-garde architecture, and Chloe can’t say no to her.

There’s a Max Caulfield who broke up with Chloe six months after the destruction of Arcadia Bay, and is now an assistant at a museum in Willamette Valley. She is convinced that people are only nice to her to be polite. People do occasionally make the futile attempt to flirt with her: an intern at the museum who studies at Western Oregon University, the barista at the cafe she frequents every morning, and a girl at the weekly pottery class Max takes. Not that she notices, of course, and if she does, she's convinced that she’s manipulating them into thinking she’s worth knowing. 

She is not the only Max Caulfield who couldn’t make it work with Chloe after saving her life. It’s a sombre, heartbreaking truth I’ve had to contend with during my research. Usually it’s the guilt, both from Max and Chloe, and both of their desires to fix things for the other. It’s hard for Chloe not to feel responsible for the destruction of Arcadia Bay. Max chose her over her home, of course it’s her fault that her home and her mother was destroyed. In some realities the two of them get good enough at talking and crying in front of each other, and settle into the quiet kind of devotion that most couples can only dream of. But not all of them. 

Of course, there are Max Caulfields that were never attracted to Chloe in the first place. There are Max Caulfields that are bisexual, Max Caulfields that are straight, Max Caulfields that are asexual, and Max Caulfields who are still undecided about the sexuality and have avoided thinking about it. It’s hard to say which Max is better off, the Max who fell in love, or the Max who never knew it. Surprisingly, romantic attachment to Chloe Price is a poor predictor of Max’s choices. There have been plenty of Arcadia Bays that are destroyed while Max and Chloe enjoy a purely platonic relationship. And there have been the tragic Arcadia Bays where Max loved Chloe in every sense of the word, yet sentenced her first love to death. In some of these realities, Chloe was also Max’s last.

And there are the more gruesome Arcadia Bays. I confess that these are a guilty pleasure of mine. The first time I found an Arcadia Bay where Max kills Mark Jefferson, I was so stunned I almost allowed Max to see me. For just a moment, I allowed my molecules to resonate with that one particular Arcadia Bay. In that moment I was a part of that reality. 

I can only imagine what was going through that Max Caulfield’s head. Chloe had noticed Jefferson before Max had been drugged, and had been shot first. Max held Chloe’s corpse as her murderer advanced, and shot the murderer without thinking. The probability of Jefferson being this careless is very high; he is arrogant and cannot comprehend being thwarted, least of all by his timid student. But the probability of Max actually hitting her mark in the dark and with her trembling arm is so small that I have only found six Arcadia Bays where Max Caulfield pleads guilty to the murder of Mark Jefferson. It is also a mark of Max's character that so few version of her have committed murder. 

The same cannot be said for her friends, and there are many, almost a thousand, Arcadia Bays where Mark Jefferson is murdered by people other than Max. The ones I derive the most pleasure in watching are the ones where Chloe kills Jefferson. There is an Arcadia Bay where, with the unexpected courage of Nathan, they track down Jefferson before he is ready for Max. In this Arcadia Bay, Nathan takes a bullet meant for Chloe, while Max and Chloe rush Jefferson. Chloe wrenches the gun away, and before Max knows what’s happening, Jefferson is shot. 

It is one of my favourite Arcadia Bays to observe. Max and Chloe are traumatized, of course, but they always are. And there is something poetic in Nathan taking a bullet (and even surviving!) for Chloe. And unlike many other Arcadia Bays, Chloe is exonerated. With Nathan’s testimony and the overwhelming evidence of Jefferson’s capacity for first-degree murder, every jury member believes Chloe acted in self-defense and all charges are dropped. 

There is an Arcadia Bay where Victoria is the one to end Jefferson’s life. In this life, she awakens and rallies against Jefferson in his darkroom. Max explains everything to her, and they work together to outsmart Jefferson. Max and Victoria ensure there are broken camera batteries beneath Victoria when she wakes up, and the sulphuric acid from the batteries weakens the zip ties enough for Victoria to break free while Jefferson gloats to Max. 

In this Arcadia Bay, Max cannot persuade Victoria to spare Jefferson. After Victoria drops the gun and Max leads her out of the barn and they breathe in the fresh air, Victoria kisses Max. The euphoria of escape and triumph makes them both forget the roles they have been playing at Blackwell. 

Out of all the Arcadia Bays I have observed, this is one of a mere one hundred and fourteen where Max does not make the choice between Chloe and Arcadia Bay. In this Arcadia Bay, Max does not arrive at the lighthouse. Perhaps Jefferson’s death made Max realize that to reverse Chloe’s death might reverse Jefferson’s. Perhaps it was the kiss, and the way Victoria begged Max to come with her. But in this Arcadia Bay, Max and Victoria work together to evacuate as much of the town as they can. The resources of the Chase family and Max’s knowledge of how the storm will move means they save almost two thirds of the citizens of their town. The fact that she did not save Chloe plagues Max for many years after.

However, most of the Arcadia Bays where Max and Victoria become closer are the ones where Max has let time run its course and let Nathan murder Chloe. There are many Arcadia Bays where Victoria, forced to evaluate herself after Nathan’s undeniable guilt, opens up to and supports Max. In some Arcadia Bays they are merely close friends. In others, they become something more. And there are even a few (I’ve found no more than two hundred) where this romance that was born from grief lasts. Lasts, even as Max and Victoria recover. Lasts through the disapproval of Victoria’s parents, which they make clear to her in the most painful way possible.

There are Arcadia Bays where Victoria’s parents offer a deal: Victoria is allowed to be with Max, so long as Victoria chooses someone else when the time is right. She can even keep Max as a mistress, if she can keep it a secret from her future husband. Her parents will be happy to help with the deception, if Victoria agrees. There are countless realities where Max is in a polyamorous relationship, but Max has never consented to a polygamy under these terms. They stay together, and their fierce love turns into a defiant battle cry. They love, and will not compromise it. Max has already given up one love for the greater good, she will not do so again.

In one such Arcadia Bay, Max and Victoria are not in Arcadia Bay. It is June 26th 2015, and Max is waving a rainbow umbrella outside their local representative’s office, cheering as gay marriage is legalized. Victoria is with her and she is cheering, and Max almost cries because she remembers Chloe texting her marry me after almost shooting Frank. But it’s Victoria in front of her and Victoria she kisses, and she has never felt like she had tasted victory quite like this until now.

There is an Arcadia Bay where Max and Kate have been dating for almost a year and are about to graduate. Kate stays with Max’s family now. She is eighteen and her own parents have less and less power over her. Kate has learned to block her family on social media, and while she still prays for God to forgive them, she no longer expects or needs forgiveness from them. 

Her courage to break free from her parents is matched only by the kindness of Max and her family. Max’s parents helps her set up a new bank account, and even chips in for the down payment on a second-hand car that she and Max now share. When Max first reveals the new car to Kate, she takes Kate to the lighthouse to celebrate. Max almost starts crying for some reason, because of the irrational thought that in another life, she would have liked Chloe to take her to the lighthouse, and why is she thinking about Chloe now? But Kate puts her hand over Max’s, and talks about the queer Christian support group she is attending in Portland every month, and Max can’t believe how lucky she is. 

They make love in that car for the first time in the growing shadow of the lighthouse. As Kate rests her head on the backseat and cradles Max’s head between her legs, she looks out the window into the boundless sea and thanks God for being so kind in giving her someone as beautiful as Max. In the afterglow of the sex, Max sits on the bench with Kate’s head in her lap and tells her everything. Kate holds her hand as she starts crying, but Max doesn’t stop and by the end, Kate is crying too. They kiss for a long time after that, and by the time they drive back to Blackwell, it is dark and the moon has risen triumphantly into the sky. 

And inevitably, there is the Max Caulfield that is aware of all of this. I use the instead of a because there is only one. That is, in my twenty three years of studying the convoluted tangle of timelines that Arcadia Bay is the source of, I have found only one Max Caulfield who moves and sees through time as I do. For all intents and purposes, I will think of this Max Caulfield as unique. By both my own and Max’s rough calculations, I could search for the rest of my probable lifespan and only have a 0.27% chance of finding another Max such as this one. There have been nine Max Caulfields that I know of who seriously considered the possibility of a multiverse, but only one with the determination to achieve what this Max has. 

Chloe Price, Kate Marsh, and Warren Graham are mere names to her. At first I thought as Max was made aware of the infinitely many Chloes, Kates, and Warrens, they meant less and less to her. After all, why care about a Chloe in one universe when there are infinitely many others. It was only after talking to her, that I realized Max had forsaken human relationships far before gaining mastery over the timelines (as much as one can master time itself). 

Think about it, she told me, only a Max that was prepared to leave her entire world behind could achieve what she did. I learnt later that Max had spent years in those five days she met Chloe. Over and over again she tried to find a way out, and each time she rewound time her friends meant less and less to her. She had heard every combination of words Warren could string together about every movie he knew. She could recite Kate’s favourite bible verses and psalms. She could describe every one of Chloe’s tattoos better than Chloe herself could, and tell me all the things Chloe said when she meant I love you . The more Max searched for a way out, the more her friends seemed like characters in some endless game. And by the time she finally found a way out, when she finally fell beyond the curtain of time, her friends had lost all meaning to her. 

And what does she do now? How does she occupy her existence? 

She browses through different realities like a catalogue. Scrolls through her lives like a social media feed. With an enthusiasm she has not felt in decades, she shows me some of her favourite realities. Here is an Arcadia Bay where she, Kate, and Victoria live together. Victoria texts I love you from a hotel she is staying in on her business trip. Max and Kate smile from their bed and she texts that she loves Victoria back. Kate then texts that once Victoria gets back, the three of them need to make up for lost time. 

Max doesn’t show me the rest of that timeline, for which I’m grateful. I’ve skipped the more graphic parts of Max’s lives in my research, but it is clear that this Max Caulfield has no such qualms. I ask her if, in the future, we could avoid timelines that shows her in compromising positions, and she laughs. It is the first time I have seen a god smile, and I want to cry because Max must so rarely have the opportunity.

The next reality she shows me is a motel room the night after Max sacrificed Arcadia Bay. I immediately avert my eyes from the bed, and stare at Max’s mischievous face. She gazes fondly at the bed, where Chloe is naked and gripping the heardboard while the Max of this reality makes her scream with pleasure. “So you have a sense of humour. Is that what you wanted to show me?”

“I just wanted to show you some of my favourite realities.” Max stares unashamedly at the Max and Chloe of another world. “Almost as if I can live vicariously through watching my other selves.”

“Are there any other realities you like to live vicariously through?” I have to raise my voice to be heard over Chloe. 

“Plenty.” Max tears her gaze away from Chloe to grin at me again. “There are two in particular involving Victoria that are pretty, um, unique in what they have to offer.”

I remind myself that Max has probably had no one else to talk to or mess with. At this moment, all I can wish for is that it didn’t have to be me. “I just want a reality where I don’t have to see anyone naked.”

“Victoria usually has some kind of clothing on.” Max cocked her head. “You a latex or a leather kind of guy?”

“Max!” 

We are in a shopping mall. It’s Christmas, judging by the huge Christmas tree in the middle of the mall. Warren is talking animatedly to Max, waving his hands and using exaggerated facial expressions to make his points. Warren’s grown his hair into a topknot, and after being somewhat horrified, I had to admit it could have been worse. The Max of this reality is laughing and holding his hand easily, while Chloe pokes fun at Warren. 

“Did you know this is one of the only realities I could find where both Warren and Chloe live?” Max has perched herself on top of the Christmas tree, and runs her hand through the pine needles. 

“Is this the one where Warren got sent to the hospital and missed the storm?” I try to remember the correct Arcadia Bay.

“Yup. That first day when I meant to meet him at the parking lot and Chloe drove me away, Nathan really hurt him.”

“Guess he ended up getting the last laugh.” 

Max smiled, and watched Chloe give the Max of this Arcadia Bay a quick kiss. We let the trio turn the corner, but Max doesn’t follow them, so neither do I. I wait for Max to take us to another Arcadia Bay, but instead she says, “I hope you’ll return.”

Of course I will. We both know she has no one else. She stares so wistfully in the direction of Warren, Max, and Chloe that I have to ask why she doesn’t return to her original reality. Painful as it must be, it can’t compare to this eternal purgatory.

I can’t, she said, her old reality shattered, and its fragments are what disrupted all the others. 

She didn’t need to elaborate. I’ve studied the fourth dimension long enough to understand completely. The fragments of her original timeline are what allowed Max to time travel in the first place. Her reality became the fuel behind every rewind Max Caulfield will make and the seed of every new decision Max Caulfield could ever make. Her reality becomes the freak snowfall and the eclipse and the double moons in the sky. Her reality is the tornado that still haunts every version of herself I know, including the one who sees all.

One comfort she has is knowing that her timeline was inevitable. She had to have ruptured time in order to have been given the ability to time travel, so there had to be a version of Max Caulfield that ascended to her current state of near divinity. After seeing all the choices she could have and will ever make, knowing that there would always be a Max Caulfield who attained godhood eases the pain. I suppose there’s something cathartic about accepting the inevitability of your fate.

I will return to her. Once I have finished compiling my findings and publishing this report, I will return. I will keep her company for as long as I can, though I do not know what I will do afterwards. Shall I somehow make arrangements for a successor? I suspect Max already knows what I will do. More precisely, she already knows every decision I might make, and can choose the best one for me. But my death is still a few decades away. 

For now, I will call my research complete and try and live out the rest of my life. I hope Max respects my privacy more than she respects her own, but I will refrain from bringing up the topic. Since there’s nothing I can do about Max's voyeurism, I might be better off not knowing about it. This report is far from comprehensive, but I hope will provide a better idea of the infinite Arcadia Bays, and the one being who can see and traverse them all.