"The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are.

The second is being happy with what you find."


Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Time is a gift.

A gift that must be protected at all costs.

As a caretaker, he must defend the Timekeeper. Losing it would mean losing the universe. He had to be sharp, vigilant, and prepared for battle at a moment's notice.

But he wasn't quite sure what to make of this.

Nervous hands were placed on the main console of the Orvus Chamber. The shimmering eyes of Orvus himself narrowed with curiosity. Slowly, he lifted himself off of the console and put a concerned hand on his chin, his shining Chronoscepter sticking out to the side as he slightly folded his arms.

A chart of the stars was portrayed on the screen, with a symbol representing the Timekeeper in the center. And off to the side was what was causing concern. An unidentified object represented by a blinking dot, moving ever so slowly across the chart.

"How long has it been this close to the facility?" Orvus spoke out loud, addressing the computer's concerns.

"Scanners show that it has been within possible sighting distance for approximately 23.38 minutes. It has been moving slowly across its flight path and has not come any closer or gone any farther to the Timekeeper within that time," the feminine computer responded, a pack of tendrils resembling robotic eyes looking at the elder Zoni.

"I do not know if we can confirm it as a ship or not. Were you able to detect any energy signatures from its position?"

"Negative. The object is just outside of scanning distance, hence why I cannot know what it is for sure. That seems rather suspicious if you ask me."

"Perhaps. While we cannot rule out this object being a ship, I believe that, given its flight path, it is most likely an asteroid passing by. Keep an eye on it and tell me if anything changes," Orvus said, turning off the console screen.

"Understood." The eye-like tendrils nearly retracted back into their compartment, but the sight of something made them spring back out. They glanced at Orvus before announcing the computer's findings. "By the way, there is a surprise behind you."

"Hm?" Orvus hummed curiously, having half a mind to ready his Chronoscepter in case this 'surprise' was actually an invading Terratrope. Though it was most likely not so because the computer would have warned him. Still, he turned around and hoped that he wasn't about to get a face full of sharp pincers. But, instead, he came face to face with a tiny Zoni child. "Oh! Well hello, little one! It is certainly a surprise to see you. How did you get in here?"

XJ-0461. Orvus' son. Around a year old now, the baby Zoni was a little less than half the size of Orvus. He shared the same pink skin and rounded head as his father, but he sported shining green eyes over his father's turquoise ones. His blue Zoni suit was similar to the suits of the common Zoni, though, and his two long antennae stuck freely out of his head.

XJ-0461 let out small cheerful noises as his father picked him up and held him out. Orvus gave his son a quizzical look, "Sigmund usually keeps a close eye on you. How did you manage to slip away from him? And get into here no less?"

As if he knew what his father was telling him, or if he just wanted to play, XJ-0461 demonstrated how he managed to sneak up on Orvus by suddenly vanishing out of the elder Zoni's hands. The computer spoke up after witnessing this event, "I believe that's how."

Orvus looked at his empty hands and then frantically looked around for his child. Teleportation. A power that all Zoni possessed. But he had no idea that his son was capable of doing it at such a young age. Then again, he had been very young when he learned how to teleport, so maybe this was an early skill that his son inherited from him. But now begged the question of where his son ended up after teleporting right out of his hands.

"Eeeh…"

A simple glance to his right and Orvus saw XJ-0461 hanging off of his Chronoscepter like it was a playset on a stick. The elder carefully removed the child from the priceless tool and held him close, setting the Chronoscepter down. "Now now, XJ-0461, you know that daddy's Chronoscepter is not a toy. You must be careful with it. Impressive teleportation, though."

XJ-0461 let out some joyful noises before vanishing again. This time he simply reappeared on the ground in front of Orvus. Orvus scratched the side of his head, not sure how to feel about these spasms. He was both proud and concerned. He placed a hand on his son's head and smiled warmly, "Teleporting already. You're growing up faster than I thought you would. But I suppose every parent thinks that at some point in their lives."

"Hehe! Dada!" The child chirped. 'Dada' was, of course, XJ-0461's way of referring to his father.

"You certainly are happy to be here with me. Perhaps that is why you teleported here. You wanted to see me, hm?" Orvus said. A burst of excitement came from the child as he let out a squeal of joy. He reached out to his father and smiled happily. Orvus laughed, "Hehehe! Yes? Did you want to see your daddy?"

"Dah!" XJ-0461 cried out happily.

Besides obviously not having a mother to help care for him, Orvus knew for a fact that XJ-0461 was a complete daddy's boy. The child was always happiest when he was with his father. Especially when they played his favorite game. Remembering this, Orvus put XJ-0461 on the floor and hovered right in front of him. He covered his eyes with both his hands. "Son, look, it's your favorite game. You know how this goes. Wheeere's XJ-0461?"

"Ah! Ah! Hehe! Ahh!" The child bounced up and down excitedly as if trying to tell his father that he was right there.

"Hmm, this is quite peculiar. I hear him, but I cannot see him. Now, where could he be...?" The elder Zoni tried his best to hold back his laughter as his son became increasingly excited. Not wanting to keep the child waiting, Orvus uncovered his eyes and raised his hands in the air, "Oh! There he is!"

"Eeeh! Haha! Dah!" XJ-0461 babbled happily. A little giggle came from him and he then covered his own eyes.

Orvus eagerly played along, "Oh no, XJ-0461! Where did daddy go? Where is he?"

"Ahhh...dada!" XJ-0461 uncovered his eyes and mimicked his father's previous movements by putting his hands in the air.

"That's right, I'm right here! Such a smart lad, you are." The young Zoni clapped his hands and reached out to his father, happily babbling away. Orvus smiled widely, "Hehe! Come here, you!"

He scooped up the elated XJ-0461 in his arms and tickled him, making the child laugh. XJ-0461 escaped his father's playful attack by vanishing in a bright light, teleporting out of Orvus' arms once more. The elder huffed, "Not again. Where did he end up this time?"

"Dah...Dada..."

His back. He was on Orvus' back.

"Honestly, you cannot stay put for a moment, can you?" Orvus looked behind him and saw XJ-0461 clinging to the gold prongs sticking out of his metal suit. He reached behind himself and gently took his son into his arms. He smiled and shook his head, "My my, what am I going to do with you? You're a little teleporting machine. But you do need to take a break from it, so kindly settle yourself."

"Ah...eeh..." XJ-0461 relaxed in Orvus' arms, feeling the need and want of teleporting fading from him.

Despite finding great joy in watching its creator play with his son, the Clock's computer had some concerns with the child's teleportation spasms. Something about it didn't seem safe. "Sir, this could be troublesome. Your child is too young to be teleporting around the Timekeeper. One wrong move and he could end up injuring himself. Perhaps you should curb the child's power."

Orvus smiled warmly at the eye tendrils looking at him, "While I appreciate the concern, I believe that he will be fine with his current powers. If he is already this talented in power as a child, imagine what he will be capable of when he is grown. And it would not be fair to restrict his power when he is just learning to use them. It is part of the Zoni lifecycle. Leave all of the worrying to me."

"I just believe that…" The computer paused for a moment. Over the course of its life, it had never witnessed a Zoni child growing up, so it didn't know what it was like. Orvus knew what he was talking about. He always knew what he was talking about. "Yes, sir."

"I know you care about him," he said, trying to prevent XJ-0461 from playing with his own antennae, "but he needs to learn."

"Understood. But it will not prevent me from keeping a closer eye on him."

"Honestly, you are like a mother to him," Orvus muttered, teasing the computer, who dismissed what its master said.

"Speaking of keeping an eye on the little one," the computer said, trying to move on, "the Junior Caretaker was supposed to be watching him. It is rather irresponsible of him that he lost track of the child."

"I doubt that Sigmund knew that XJ-0461 was going to teleport. It was not his fault. Though he should have contacted me when my son suddenly went missing. Get me a direct communication line to him. He should have his communicator with him on his belt."

"Contacting Junior Caretaker."

The static noise echoed through the chamber. Orvus placed his hand over XJ-0461's antennae to protect him from the loud noise. It was when a gentle 'ping' was heard that he called out to his colleague. "Hello? Sigmund! I cannot help but notice that my son is here in the Orvus Chamber."

"That's where he went?!" Sigmund's voice shouted from the other end, sounding panicked. "I am so sorry, sir! I look away for just a moment and next thing I know he's gone! I've been looking everywhere for him! He's safe, right? He didn't hurt himself?"

"He is fine. He just teleported to here. Either he wanted to see me or he thinks teleporting is a game for him to play with you. Whichever one it is, I do not blame you for losing him."

"Oh thank the stars…" Sigmund said, relieved. Though Orvus wasn't sure if he was relieved because XJ-0461 was safe or because he wasn't being blamed.

Either way, he thought this was a good time to bring XJ-0461 back to Sigmund. "Where are you right now, Sigmund?"

"I'm in the Orientation Room. Since this chamber is so big, I thought that he might be hiding in here. Why? You want me to come to the Orvus Chamber?"

"No, there is no need to take such a long trip. We will come to you." Orvus smiled down at his son and got his attention. "Watch how daddy does it, son."

The two disappeared in a flash of light, the faint sign of a symbol being left behind, and it faded away quickly. In the blink of an eye, Orvus and XJ-0461 reappeared in the Orientation Room halfway across the entire facility. The moment that they materialized, XJ-0461 let out joyful noises, amused by being teleported by his father.

Orvus chuckled slightly and shifted his son in his arms. The child was so easily amused. He hoped that it would lead to XJ-0461 having a positive outlook on life when he was older. "When you learn to properly control your own teleportation power, you'll be able to bounce around this entire facility as freely as you wish. Though it won't be that easy when I teach you dimension-hopping."

"Well, hopefully he'll learn not to teleport to who-knows-where when I'm supposed to be looking after him." Sigmund had seen the two come in and was already hovering towards them. His bright yellow eyes nearly glared at the child as he pointed a finger at him. "You had me worried sick, ya know! How am I supposed to be a responsible uncle if you disappear on me like that? Even though if I lose track of you it's kinda...kinda my fault...b-but the point still stands!"

XJ-0461 had no idea what Sigmund was saying, as to be expected with a child his age. All he knew was that one of his favorite people was in front of him and talking to him. He didn't understand the words, but he appreciated the sound of Sigmund's voice. Things that he was familiar with in a positive light always comforted him. So the only response his young mind could think to do was reach out and grab Sigmund's finger and smiled.

Orvus swore he had never seen a mood change this quickly. Sigmund quickly sighed in complete defeat, "Ah, it's not fair. You're too cute to be mad at! I swear he's learning to use his adorableness against me."

"Well, he has proven to be rather smart, even at this age," Orvus said. "Though he has been having trouble with learning to speak. I have heard him say 'dada' a few times when addressing me, but not much else."

"Oh! We've been practicing that! He's so close to being able to say my name. Watch, watch, you'll love this." The robot gently tapped the child on the head to get his attention. Then he spoke slowly to make sure that he was following what he was saying to him. "XJ-0461, say 'Sigmund'. Sig. Mund."

Orvus glanced at XJ-0461 curiously as the child let out some noises that were supposed to be copying what Sigmund said. "Muhhh...muhh…"

"Come on, you can do it. You were really close last time. Slowly yet surely say 'Sigmund'. It's easy to say it once you get used to it, I swear."

"Suhhh...m-muh...ah-" At the end of that attempt, XJ-0461 ended up letting out a tiny burp. And he was apparently satisfied with his "talking" as he settled back down into his father's arms, looking content and not attempting to speak again.

Sigmund let out a small sigh as he rubbed the back of his head, "Well...maybe he'll get it next time."

"It sounded accurate to me," the Clock's computer said, referring to the child's burp.

"Oh great, the computer's listening. Stupid, sarcastic, outdated-" Sigmund started, only to be interrupted.

"You have no room to talk when it comes to being outdated," the computer said.

"I'm not outdated! I don't even have rust!"

"That we're aware of."

"Why you-!"

"Enough you two," Orvus said fiercely, quickly shutting them both up. He brought attention to XJ-0461, "Please, no fighting. Not in front of the child."

Despite the amount of tension between the two, Sigmund and computer knew that they shouldn't argue in front of the little one. They didn't like each other, but their love for XJ-0461 was greater than their hatred. So they joined together for an appropriate "sorry" and kept their mouths shut from then on.

The child let out a large yawn and began fussing in his father's arms, making weak little noises as he did. Orvus knew what this meant. It was around that time and his son's mood was right on schedule. He spoke in a slightly quieter voice as he tried to soothe the child a bit, "Looks like it's nap time. Sigmund, is Mnemonic Station Gamma prepared?"

"It should be. I checked it this morning and it was functioning properly," Sigmund replied.

"Aaah! Ah!" XJ-0461 cried out, fussing a bit more.

"Yes, yes, I know, you want to go to sleep," Orvus said, holding out his fussy child, who was quickly losing his patience. "You can be an impatient little one when you want to be. I sincerely hope you outgrow that. Being Senior Caretaker will require quite a bit of patience."

"Dada!" Was all the child could think to say when his father spoke to him. It made Orvus smile.

"Oh! Oh! He's saying names! XJ-0461, quickly! Say 'Sigmund'!" Sigmund urged, desperately wanting to hear XJ-0461 say his name.

But it was not meant to be, as XJ-0461 just let out a small cough instead. Sigmund looked defeated once again. Orvus chuckled a bit and put the child over his shoulder, "Alright, enough excitement, it is time for your nap."

XJ-0461 lovingly clung to his father's shoulder and let out a weak yawn. His fussing had already begun to die down and he was ready for his nap. Orvus tapped on the Mnemonic Chamber's console and the glass tube opened with a hiss. He gently smoothed back his son's antennae, "I will come and get you in a bit. You go and have a nice rest."

Orvus raised XJ-0461 up and the chamber's pull took the child from his hands. XJ-0461 let out another small yawn before closing his large green eyes. The Mnemonic Chamber would put him to sleep instantly, allowing him to explore his own subconscious like a nostalgic playground. At times, Orvus considered exploring inside his son's mind through a program of himself, but the time for that was not now. He had to allow his son to grow first. Plus going into someone's mind without their permission or knowledge was rude. Though he hoped that, when he did go in there, the child's subconscious wasn't like Sigmund's. Nothing but cartoons and broken sprockets in the robot's mind. It was truly bizarre.

The Mnemonic Station hissed shut, safely keeping XJ-0461 inside. Orvus stared at him for a moment, pondering something that he planned to keep to himself. Then he turned away and floated over to the antique couch in the middle of the room and sat himself down on it. He rubbed the side of his head and let out a small sigh.

Sigmund noticed this sudden change in his colleague's mood and decided to find out what was going on. "Sir, is everything alright? You look...I dunno. Out of it? For lack of a better term."

"I am fine. Parenthood is simply wearing me down a bit, that is all. Having and caring for a son on top of all the duties I must perform as Senior Caretaker seems to be weighing down on me." Orvus quickly continued in case what he said might have been taken the wrong way, "Not that I am exhausted or miserable or anything. I am managing just fine and I love my son with every fiber of my being. I just get a little tired more easily, and there isn't anything wrong with that."

"He is a bit of a handful, isn't he? He's pretty well-behaved for a baby, though."

"Oh yes, he is a very well behaved child. Though he can get fussy. But I suppose that's to be expected from a child his age."

"And I know that you wouldn't trade him for the entire universe," Sigmund said, happy that the conversation was starting to pick up in a more positive way.

Orvus smiled, "Of course I wouldn't. He is my little boy. My boy that took over four hundred attempts to stabilize. It seems like only yesterday that I settled him into that suit of his."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. That suit he's in, it's the one you experiment with, right?"

"Correct," the elder Zoni said.

The blue Zoni suit that his son wore was indeed an experiment of his that he had been working on for quite some time. XJ-0461 was the first Zoni child in eons. And like the rest of his species, he needed to wear a suit to stabilize him and keep him alive outside of the Zoni Dimension. However, as his body fed on the energy only provided in the Clock and the Zoni Dimension, because he would end up growing in physical size over the course of his early years, XJ-0461 would have needed multiple suits to be made in order to fit the various increased sizes he would be until he stopped growing. But the robotic suits that housed Zoni were not easy to make, as it took much time, resources, energy, and precision. Making multiple ones that were slightly bigger than each other would be a difficult and time-consuming task, something that Orvus didn't have the time for.

As a solution, Orvus experimented with a concept that had been studied several times across the three galaxies: expanding metal. After years of studying and modifying the properties of the metal that was used to create the robotic suits, Orvus managed to create a brand new kind of suit for his son. While it had the appearance of a common Zoni suit with a blue coloration, the modified Zoni suit that XJ-0461 wore now would expand as he grew and continuously fit perfectly on his body no matter what size he grew to be. Orvus could not help but give himself a slight pat on the back for this experiment's success. He wouldn't have to worry about his son outgrowing his robotic suit ever again. Though the suit being damaged was another story, as he would have to create another expanding suit. But, hopefully, that would not end up happening.

"You really did do an awesome job on that suit. Expanding metal. Brilliant, sir!" Sigmund said proudly.

Orvus rubbed the back of his own head, feeling slightly embarrassed from the praise, "Yes, well, other Zoni helped me create it, so it was not just me. But I appreciate your kind words."

"Well, it's good that you appreciate them because I have some more for you." The robot turned to the child Zoni sleeping inside the Mnemonic Station. "You really are doing a great job of raising your son. You're a natural father."

"And you're a great uncle," Orvus said, wanting to return some kind words himself.

It was Sigmund's turn to look embarrassed, "Well...I did kind of lose track of him. So I don't know about being a great uncle."

"Everyone makes mistakes. And his teleportation was unexpected." The elder Zoni floated up and placed a hand on Sigmund's shoulder. "All that matters is that you care about him and do your best to look after him. And we both know that XJ-0461 loves you. You're his favorite playmate after all."

"Hahaha, yeah. He's a loving little thing. He's going to make such a good Senior Caretaker when he grows up, I know it."

"You're not the only one who believes so," Orvus agreed, turning to look at the child as well. "That boy is going to make us so proud."

"I'm proud of him already," Sigmund said with a smile.

Orvus chuckled slightly, "I am, too."

The two sat in silence for a moment, letting the warm conversation sink in. XJ-0461 snoring the smallest bit in the glass tube as he slept. It was when Sigmund grew a bit tired of the silence that he decided to speak, "Hey, when do you think-"

"Sir!" The computer's voice sounded quickly as more eye tendrils came out of the compartment near the door. Orvus noticed how urgent its voice was and paid attention immediately. "It's the unidentified object I picked up on the radar. It appears to be moving towards the Clock at a rather alarming rate. It seems like that it was a ship instead of an asteroid. And with the course they've set, they are most likely going to attempt to get into the facility."

"What?!" Sigmund shouted out. "Someone's coming to the Timekeeper?! That's...crazy! People shouldn't know where we are except the Fongoids! Do you think the Fongoids are coming to take technology? Or they spilled our secret? Ohhh, this is so bad!"

"Sigmund, please, calm yourself," Orvus urged, needing to concentrate. "Panicking is not going to help the situation. There is always the possibility of these people not being hostile. We cannot jump to conclusions. But we will prepare ourselves just in case. Computer, which part of the facility do you believe they will land in?"

"My best prediction is the docking area. Honestly, why did we bother putting one in if we wish to keep this place a secret?" The computer said with a slight amount of sass.

"This is not the time to question the Timekeeper's design." Orvus turned to Sigmund, who was looking rather worrisome about the possible intruders. "Sigmund, secure this room and guard it. I know that you are not a fighter, so if anything happens, all I ask is that you keep my son hidden away and safe. I will try my best to make sure that you do not have to fight. I do not want to put you in danger. So simply watch after XJ-0461."

"Y-yes...I-I mean, yes, sir! The broom closet is always a great hiding place. I'll keep your son safe, sir," Sigmund said, trying to find courage and saluting his boss.

"Thank you, my friend." Orvus glanced at his hand and opened his palm wide, his Chronoscepter materializing in a flash of white light. He put it over his shoulder and went to exit the room, but not before looking worryingly at his son. He sighed and went on his way, "Let us hope that things will not have to get ugly."


Surprise! New Zoni AU! Just...with some new twists. This has been in the making for over a month. I decided to make a Zoni AU in the Reboot!verse in case people wanted to an XJ-0461 story in this canon. And, you know...I'll look for any reason to write baby XJ-0461.

Also I decided to make XJ-0461 a physical being just like the rest of his race. Both to simplify things and to make this story and "Ethereal Gates" more unique from each other. So now XJ-0461 looks like a little Orvus with green eyes and a blue Zoni suit (made of expanding metal).

And I know that the title of this fic is a little weird. "His Past Whispers" is actually a reference to when Clank had a vision in Tools of Destruction and the Zoni say "his past is inside". And the whole "the past is whispering thing" will make sense in future chapters, I promise. But, for now, enjoy Orvus playing with his baby child :)

Anyway, I hope that y'all enjoy this new Zoni project. It's not going to be like Ethereal Gates, I promise. They only thing they have in common is that Clank/XJ-0461 is a full-blooded Zoni, and even that is a bit different in this story.

Make sure to leave a review while picking up a complimentary toaster!

This is Amberdiamondswords, Lordess of Diamond Swordness, signing off!