Chapter 6: Beyond the Ruins
August 5, ?
Act One
As soon as the Gate closed, Marle threw her arms around Crono.
"I feared the worst," she gasped.
"Me, too," Crono added as he hugged her back. "That Chancellor Vanim won't quit."
"There's no way the chancellor can reach us here," Marle assured him. She then scanned her surroundings. "But, where are we?"
"Maybe we're back in 600?" Crono suggested.
"This is definitely not 600," Lucca dismissed. "The civilization here seems so…advanced."
The three time travelers examined the room they were in. The walls were dark and metallic. The room was lit artificially.
"Like we're in another world," Marle observed.
"You are not in another world," began a female voice. "I detected the temporal vortex right here in Bangor Dome.
"Temporal vortex?" asked Crono.
"A Gate," Lucca guessed.
"This is extraordinary," the female voice said. "You three traveled through time. Where are you from?"
"The year 1000," Crono replied.
"You came from the Eleventh Century," the female voice continued.
"We did," Crono replied. "Where are we?"
"Bangor Dome," the female voice replied. "United Kingdom."
Lucca rubbed her chin. "What year is this?"
"Today is August 5, 2300," the female voice replied.
"Who are you?" Crono asked.
"I am the Mother Brain Central Computer," the female voice replied. "You may call me Mother."
"What's a computer?" Lucca asked.
"I can see you're interested in technology," Mother observed. "Telling you everything might be too much to grasp. A computer is a machine that is programmed to think."
Meanwhile, Marle was browsing around the door in the back of the dome. It had an odd-looking crest on it.
"That door won't open for anyone," Mother informed her. "Even me. The only way out of this dome is to the south."
Crono then spotted the door at the other end of the room.
"So that's the way out?" he asked.
"You won't like what you see," Mother warned. "But yes."
Marle began to twiddle her thumbs nervously.
"Well," Lucca began, "we can't stay here. We're going to need food."
Crono nodded.
With nothing further ado, the three of then stepped outside.
As soon as they were outdoors, the changes were clearly visible.
The first thing they noticed was that the ground, which was once filled with grass, was now dead and brown. The sky, which was once blue, was now covered in mostly dark-gray clouds, with patches of red in between. A cold wind was blowing, and flurries of snow were falling, carried violently by the wind.
The three travelers stood in shock. It was anything but what they had been expecting.
"What happened here?!" Marle cried out.
"I have no idea," Lucca replied.
"A-are there still people?" Marle stammered.
At that moment, Crono spotted another dome in the distance. It seemed much larger that the dome they had come from.
"Possibly," he replied. "That yonder dome might have the answers.
The three of them made their way to the dome. Marle was gripping onto Crono's arm the entire time, partly out of the cold, and partly out of fear.
After an hour of traveling, Crono, Marle, and Lucca found themselves at the entrance to the dome. It read "Trann Dome."
"Well," Crono began, "here goes nothing."
Indeed, there were living human beings inside.
But nobody was relieved.
They were all dressed in rotting clothing. Their eyes were all red and bloodshot. They looked malnourished, and seemed as if they had not bathed in a lifetime.
"What're you looking at?" one of them finally sneered.
"I'm sorry," Crono apologized. "This is all new to us."
"Where're you from?" another asked.
"Truce," Lucca replied.
"Truce Dome?" a woman asked. "Never heard of it."
"Please don't tell me you've come looking for food," a man said. "If you're looking for food, you lose. We haven't eaten in years."
"How is that even possible?" Crono asked.
"This is an Enertron," one of the other men replied, tapping the device next to him. "It's almost three hundred years old, but it still works."
"What does it do?" Crono asked.
"Some guy called Elon Musk had this invented during the COVID-19 pandemic so nobody would have to go outside anymore," he answered. "It gives you a day's worth of nutrients and a full night's sleep in a few seconds, but it still leaves you hungry."
"Listen," Lucca began, "what happened here?"
"What do you mean?" a woman replied.
"How did things...get this way?" Lucca clarified.
"Beats me," the woman replied. "Maybe they know in Arris Dome. It has a computer."
"A what?" Marle asked.
"You don't know what a computer is?!" the woman sneered. "Then you really need to get to Arris Dome."
"Where is it?" Marle asked.
"East of here," the woman replied. "But you have to get through Lab 16. It's full of mutants."
"That okay," Lucca insisted. "We'll get past those mutants...whatever they are."
AN HOUR LATER...
"This must be Lab 16," Crono said. He then drew his sword.
The three of them stood at the entrance to the lab.
"I don't like this," Marle admitted.
"Think positive," Lucca assured her. "There's food on the other side."
"I suppose you're right," Marle agreed.
Inside, there was simply wreckage, along with the remains of a few machines. There were several belts and a few ruined devices; it seemed to be an ancient warehouse.
"It looks like this was an advanced civilization," Lucca observed.
It was then that she noticed the device, attached to a console in the wall. The console read: POLICE USE ONLY.
Curiosity drew her to it. Lucca removed it from the console and examined it. It was a cylandral device with a handle and trigger. She aimed it at Marle, with her finger on the trigger.
"Wow!" Marle exclaimed. "That's a strange-looking thing."
Then, Lucca aimed the device slightly above Marle, and pulled the trigger.
A laser shot out of the device, flying over Marle, and striking the wall, leaving a smouldering dent.
Marle let out a scream as she nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Why would anyone build something like this?!" Lucca exclaimed.
"So much for my sword," Crono muttered.
"Can we just get through here?" the hyperventalating Marle pleaded.
"Let's," Crono agreed.
They made their way through the lab, mostly wothout incident. When they reached the exit at the other end, they found an odd creature browsing about. It was pink, with no arms and one leg. It had tentacles coming out of its head, and its brain seemed visible.
"What is that?" whispered Marle.
"I think it's a mutant," Lucca replied.
As soon as the creature noticed the three intruders, it made a hideous noise, and began hobbling towards them, hissing as it did.
Crono slowly drew his sword.
Lucca, meanwhile, took the device, aimed it at the creature, and pulled the trigger.
A beam fired from the device again, striking the creature directly.
"What is this thing?" Lucca observed.
A smoldering pit was all that remained of the creature.
Marle stood there with her mouth open.
Then, Lucca spotted something on the defunct belt, picked it up, and handed it to Marle.
"This looks like some sort of crossbow," Marle observed.
"Well," Lucca said, "it looks like at least two of us are ready for the future."
"In any case," Crono said, "I think it's time we got out of here before another one of those things comes along."
As they exited Lab 16, Marle spotted a large sign next to the doorway.
"What's an Amazon Fulfillment?" she asked.
"My guess is it makes those mutant things," Lucca replied.
Act Two
Crono, Marle, and Lucca stood at the entrance to another dome.
"Arris Dome," Crono read aloud.
"So this is where the information is," Lucca said.
"And food," Marle added. "I hope."
"Let's see," Crono said.
The interior of Arris Dome was similar to Trann, complete with people in shabby clothing, huddled near an Enertron.
"You there!" called the oldest person. "Where are you from?"
"We came from the laboratories to the west," Lucca replied.
"W-what?!" exclaimed the old man. "Hey, we've got people who crossed the ruins!"
"Say again!?" a woman with a little girl asked.
"You're joking!" another man exclaimed.
"So there are people who can beat up those freaky mutants," the old man said.
"We came from Trann," Lucca continued. "They said there might be food here."
The old man shook his head.
"I'm afraid the food is down below," the he replied as he pointed to a ladder that disappeared into the floor.
"My husband went down to the food storage area below," said the woman with the girl. "I haven't seen him since."
"Daddy's gonna bring us some food!" the little girl joyfully exclaimed.
"Pardon me," apologized the old man. "I'm Doan. I'm the descendant of the director of this info center. In the basement, there's a huge computer and a storage center for food. But we can't get through because of the robot guards. It's a pity."
Lucca gently stroked her newly-acquired firearm. She then looked at Crono and Marle. They both nodded in agreement.
"Wait a minute," Doan began. He could read them like a book. "Are you going down below?"
"Of course!" Lucca replied.
"But no one's ever returned from there," Doan warned. "The guardian robot's gone haywire!"
"Gotta try, right?" Lucca insisted as she flaunted her weapon.
"It's nice to see such spirited young people for a change," Doan complimented. "Careful, now. And come back alive."
"We will," Crono assured him.
With that, Crono, Marle, and Lucca climbed down the ladder.
Below, it was darker and mustier than above. There were two doorways; one to the north, the other to the east.
The three of them first entered the northern doorway. Beyond was an empty room.
"It's light in here," Lucca pointed out.
In response, a noise that one in your time could only describe as an alarm began to sound.
Moments later, a huge object dropped from above. It looked similar to the mutant they had encountered in Lab 16, but it was made entirely of metal.
"This must be the guardian robot!" Crono said.
"Executing program," the guardian began in a mechanical voice as it lit up.
"Crono!" Marle exclaimed. "What's going on?!"
"Marle!" shouted Lucca. "Let's go!"
The robot fired a laser at Crono, causing him to jump back.
In response, Lucca fired her weapon at the robot, striking it in its core.
Bolts of electricity appeared all over the robot as it shook violently before collapsing on its side.
It did not move again after that.
"I think it's dead," Lucca said.
"Was it even alive?" Marle asked.
"Who knows?" Lucca replied.
"Well, now we know what a robot is," Crono said. "It's a machine that works on its own. As if it has its own mind."
The three of them then entered the next room. A foul smell immediately greeted their noses.
"Phew!" Marle groaned as she held her nose. "Something reeks!"
"Everything's completely rotten," Lucca observed. "The refrigeration must have failed."
And then, Marle spotted the source of the odor.
"Crono, look!"
At the back wall of the room was a man. He was still as a statue, and he had began to rot away.
"No doubt that woman's husband who went looking for food," Crono said.
"Passed away long ago, I suppose," Marle deduced. She then noticed something in his nerveless hand. "He's holding something. What do you suppose this is?"
"It looks like some kind of seed," Lucca pointed out.
"A seed?" Marle inquired. "Do you suppose it could grow in a place like this?"
"Let's hope," Crono replied.
A minute later, they were back at the base of the ladder. They had already explore the area to the north; there only remained the area to the east.
As they walked through the eastern doorway, they were greeted by the sight of a giant console.
"So this is the info center!" Lucca observed.
She walked up to the console, and pressed a button on the keyboard. The screen immediately lit up.
"Good!" Lucca exclaimed. "The computer's still operational! If we run a search on time warps, we might find our Gate!"
Crono walked up next to Lucca.
"What's a Google?" he asked as he looked at the screen.
"I don't know," Lucca replied. "Maybe it's the name of the computer?"
"These buttons," Crono observed as he shifted his attention to the keyboard. "They've changed the order of the alphabet!"
"You're joking!" Lucca exclaimed. Her eyesight was too poor to read the keys.
"Seriously!" Crono insisted. "The new order is qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm."
"You're making that up!" Lucca laughed.
"No, he isn't," Marle said as she joined them.
"In any case," Lucca insisted, "we need to find our Gate."
"I'll try 'temporal vortex,'" Crono announced.
He typed it in. When nothing happened, he pressed "enter." Google returned the results: a map of temporal anomolies.
"Here!" he announced. "Got it!"
"East of Arris Dome," began Lucca as she spotted a Gate to the east, seemingly located in another dome. "That would be Proto Dome, I believe."
"Leave it to Lucca!" Marle complimented. "I'm beginning to think you could find anything with this device!" And then, as she continued to gaze at the screen, her smile faded. "Lucca, what's that one? The one under what we're watching?"
Lucca glanced at the video link below.
Then her smile faded as well.
"Visual record of The Day of Lavos," she read aloud.
"Press it," Crono commanded.
Lucca, immersed in both concern and curiosity, clicked on the video.
The video began playing. It depicted what appeared to be a street intersection, only it was full of strange looking devices that seemed to move people around.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. Moments later, what could only be described as a giant hedgehog burst out of the ground.
"What is that?" Marle asked nervously.
Suddenly, beams of light, similar to the ones Lucca's new weapon fired, erupted from the creature. The struck nearby buildings, causing them to explode on contact.
And then, the video ended in static.
"Lavos?" Lucca muttered. "Is that what's destroying our world?!"
"We must truly be in the future," Marle said somberly. And then, she lost it. "No!" she cried. "No way! I refuse to believe it! This can't be the way the world ends!"
Crono then felt Marle's hand clasp his and began to squeeze. He could tell that her palm was sweaty.
"Crono," she began, "there's only one thing we can do! We must change history! Just like Crono did when he saved me! Okay, Lucca? Okay, Crono?!"
"I'm in," Crono replied. "With a weapon like Lucca's, nothing can stop us!"
"I guess so," Lucca agreed. "It was a stroke of luck that we were sent here through that Gate. Crono, let's go!"
"Crono! Lucca!" called Marle. "Together we can do this!"
"Let's take a second and do some more research on Lavos' activities back in our time period!" Lucca suggested. "Next stop, Proto Dome!"
LATER...
"You're back!" Doan exclaimed as Crono, Marle, and Lucca reached the top of the ladder. "Well, what did you discover?"
"This is…our future," Marle replied solemnly as she stepped onto the main floor.
Doan gave her a confused look.
"Who cares?" one man demanded. "Where's the food?!"
"This is all we could get," Marle replied.
"Seeds?" Doan observed.
And then, the three adventurers spotted the woman approaching them.
"My husband," she began as she visibly trembled. "What happened to him?"
Lucca and Marle immediately looked at Crono.
He knew he had just been elected to deliver the devastating news.
"There's no easy way to tell you this," Crono began. "He's passed away. We found his body; he was clutching those very seeds."
The woman immediately began to wail and fell to her knees. Two residents ran to comfort her.
Meanwhile, Lucca turned to Doan.
"You don't know how long the Enertron'll hold out," she warned. "Those seeds might be your only hope."
"You have to stay alive!" Marle added. "And so do we!"
"You're strange," Doan observed. "You're different from us."
"I think it's because we're healthy," Marle suggested.
"Healthy? Got a nice ring to it!" Doan said. "We'll try growing the seeds."
"What're those?" asked a young girl.
"They just might be our future," Doan replied.
Meanwhile, the new widow rose to her feet.
"My husband…he's…he's…gone," she sobbed as tears continued to fall from her bloodshot eyes. "But he left me precious gifts! The seeds…and our child."
"I heard there might be humanoid robots to the east," Doan warned. "I don't know if they'll join you or attack you, but watch yourselves!"
Act Three
Crono, Marle, and Lucca left Arris Dome and continued their trip to the east. It would be simple: they would return to the Eleventh Century, find out why Lavos caused all the destruction, and put a stop to it. Then, this horrid future that they were in would never happen.
After another hour, a third dome came into view. This one was smaller than the Arris and Trann Domes, but still larger than Bangor Dome. As Crono, Marle, and Lucca approached the entrance, they could see that the dome had no name.
"Could this be Proto Dome?" Crono asked.
"I don't think so," Lucca replied. "The map showed it pretty far to the east. But there's only one way to find out. At the very least, there's probably an Enertron inside."
The three of them entered the dome.
Inside, there were only two occupants.
One of them was an odd purple creature; it was round and stood about three feet tall.
The other occupant was a man. He appeared eighty or older, and had a white beard and hair, but what stuck out was his clothing; it was colorful, and was not rotted away.
"Schala," the resident muttered, "I've missed you so." He then noticed his guests. "Welcome. I must say it's been a while since I've seen anyone."
"Where is this?" Marle asked.
"This is the Keeper's Dome," the resident answered. "One of the few places Mother can't reach."
"The computer?" Lucca asked.
"That's right," the elderly resident replied. He then scanned his guests. "Your clothes," he said. "They're not torn or rotten. You certainly didn't come from one of the domes!"
"This might sound crazy," Lucca said, "but we come from the year 1000. Before we came here, we visited the year 600."
"You're not crazy," said the resident. "Time travel is very possible. I've done it myself. But what brought you here?"
"I was sentenced to death," Crono replied.
"That's a fair reason," the resident observed.
"But now we're trying to get back home to lands where he's not a fugitive," Lucca added. "So we're on our way to Proto Dome."
"Do you plan to continued your time travel after that?" the resident asked.
"We're on a mission to stop Lavos," Crono informed him.
Suddenly, the old resident's eyes widened, and his body began to tremble.
"NO!" he exclaimed. "You must not climb Death Peak! Wouldn't make it very far, anyway! It has to be the right time, and they have to show you the way!"
"I assume Lavos is at the top of that mountain," Lucca observed. "We won't go anywhere near it. We've seen enough interesting things in our time travels."
"Say!" the resident responded. "Did you see my masterpieces? The Ocean Palace and the Blackbird? I designed and built them both."
"We can't say that we have," Lucca replied.
"We're heading for Proto Dome," Crono reminded him. "If you come with us, we can get you out of this dismal world."
The resident shook his head.
"I don't have much longer," he said solemnly. "I probably wouldn't even make the trip anyway. Just promise me you'll steer clear of Death Peak. It's really the wrong time."
"We won't go anywhere near it," Crono assured him. "We'll stop Lavos before this future even happens."
The elderly resident nodded.
The three time travelers then exited the Keeper's Dome.
The resident sighed.
"Poor Crono," he muttered. "He is blind to what's going to happen to him. I saw it with my own eyes." He then turned to the purple creature. "Maybe you can help stop Lavos."
"I am pleased you think me worthy, o wise one!" the purple creature said. "I await your final program code!"
"Now, don't go getting all emotional on me, critter!" dismissed the resident. "Back to work, now!"
LATER...
A blinding snowstorm began shortly thereafter. As it quickly approached the three time travelers, they happened upon another small, nameless dome.
The storm was leaving everything blurry for Lucca.
"You guys!" she chattered through her shivers. "I think we should wait the storm out in here!"
"Agreed," Crono replied. "We could freeze to death in a storm like this!"
As the three of them entered the dome, warmth greeted them immediately.
Lucca rubbed her eyes, and...still found things quite blurry.
Suddenly, she began to cry.
Crono immediately hugged her tightly, though it didn't change the situation.
"It'll all be gone soon!" Lucca sobbed. "And then...I'll be helpless. Oh, what will I do?"
"I'll take care of you," Crono assured her. "I'll help you with your inventions. You think it, I'll build it."
Lucca made brief eye-contact with her cousin before embracing him again, crying to his shoulder.
Later that night, after Lucca, drained from emotion, had fallen asleep, Marle whispered something to Crono.
"This is the future," she pointed out. "Do you think...before we leave...that we could see if something can be done for her?"
"It crossed my mind," Crono replied. "Tomorrow, we'll find out."
"You are a noble cousin," Mother suddenly said.
"Thank you," Crono replied, with the unpleasant realization that they were not alone.
THE STUFF THAT MIGHT HAVE GONE UNNOTICED...
In the game, Mother does not appear until the side-quest at Geno Dome. I introduced her here (and Magus in Chapter 2) because I wanted readers to meet each time period's villain within said time period's first chapter. Otherwise, we would be over two thirds of the way through the novel and only then meeting Mother. I figured she was more or less a female HAL-9000 type.
The poor guy who went looking for food, like Belthasar and Atropos, was presumably brought back to life with the future was changed.
