Chapter 12: Into the Eye
With Emmy piloting, the Silver Blaze rose up out of the ground, turning around to head south. Layton watched the ascent from the cockpit, sitting behind Emmy and her co-pilot Belle, and beside Future Luke. He briefly wondered how the children were doing.
Clive and the younger Luke had been set a task by Future Luke, and were with both Baldrick and Polly (who had appeared on the ship, apparently having regained the ability to teleport). Meanwhile, Flora had gone to talk to her future self, who was on board in the engine room for this trip. Layton was relieved that they were all travelling together at last, but now that he had had a bit more time to think about it, he couldn't shake the rather uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong. Surely his future self would have had some kind of contigency plan in place for Flora and Clive's escape? Because that was what he would have done.
Declining a chocolate éclair from Belle ("More for me!" she declared happily), Layton turned his attention to Future Luke. The young man had his chin leaning on one hand while he stared quietly out the window.
"There's one thing troubling me, Luke," said Layton.
Future Luke turned his head round to face him. "Only one?"
"Well - yes. Indeed. One of many things. But this particular point..."
"Go on," said Future Luke.
"When it comes to London's topography, I am very knowledgeable indeed. Would my future self not have knowledge of these underground caverns as well? If so, why has he not tried to attack?"
"He knows about them. It's just that he doesn't think there's anything inside them. The cloaking devices see to that. They work fine on stationary objects irrespective of size, so an underground complex is no problem. It's when the object moves that cloaking becomes a problem."
"You cannot use them on the larger airships..."
"Yes, with one exception. Max's airship has an advanced photon refractor. But it eats up a lot of energy, so he can't use it for protracted periods of time."
"Descole's time machine..." said Layton, after a pause. "Presumably my future self would find it very valuable..."
"Yes," said Future Luke, "that's why we couldn't bring you there directly. Even though we have a cloak around the compound, he and Dimitri would have eventually been able to trace the wormhole to that point. It's the same reason we can't use radio transmissions for very long, because they give our position away."
"How will the time travel procedure work?"
"It'll be easier to explain once we're there. The physicists will guide you through the process."
Emmy joined the conversation. "You are willing to help us, aren't you, Professor?"
"I suppose I don't really have a choice," said Layton.
"But you've got to!" she insisted. "Who else would be gentlemanly enough to take on such a task?"
Despite himself, Layton smiled. Emmy had a way of being persuasive without being completely overbearing; her endless optimism and enthusiasm were matched only by that of Flora's.
"Not to worry. After everything I've heard about my alternate self, I cannot simply leave things as they are. That is what I meant."
"Good to hear, Professor. I knew we could count on you," said Emmy.
"Of course we can," said Future Luke. "This is the old Professor Layton, after all."
"Righto," said Emmy, punching the air with an excited fist. "Full speed ahead!"
Pistons were grinding and screeching all around Flora as she walked forwards, through the engine room. There was a lot of noise and movement, but she could see her future self crouched down on the metal floor, tending to a broken cogwheel. Wondering when her older self had learned to pick up mechanical craftsmanship, she became very nervous as she came to a stop. She wasn't even sure why she was here. She felt she owed it to this Flora, for some inexplicable reason, to tell her that her Layton wasn't evil, despite what the Layton in this timeline had done to her.
"Um, hello..."
Future Flora didn't look up. "What do you want? I'm in the middle of something here."
Undaunted by Future Flora's lack of interest, Flora pushed on. "You saved me, didn't you? You rescued me from that recovery centre place."
"Yes. So?"
"So... I wanted to thank you."
Future Flora stopped her work and stood up, and Flora realised just how much she'd grown in the past ten years. How could she have changed so much? Gone was the cheery disposition, to be replaced by hardened, jaded eyes.
"You're still living with the professor, aren't you?"
"Yes, that's right," said Flora.
"Enjoy it while it lasts. It's only a matter of time before he betrays you too."
"The professor would never do something like that!"
"Never say never," said Future Flora coldly. "You only have to look at what he did to you to see just what kind of man he really is."
"Okay," said Flora, who knew that she could be a stubborn pain in the backside when there was a point she wanted to prove. "Let me rephrase that. My professor would never do something like that. It's not his fault all this has happened, so quit blaming him!"
To her surprise, Future Flora's cold mask cracked, and then shattered. Tears began to streak down her face.
"I know..." she said, sniffling while placing hands over her face. "Your Luke told me the same thing. Deep down I know your professor is the old professor that used to care. That's why it hurts so much. I've been fighting my Layton for so long I've almost forgotten what that feels like... I was so angry and jealous of you, and your Layton was an easy target..."
"You know that he'll understand," said Flora gently. "He's horrified by what his alternate self has done, you know."
Future Flora sniffled again, and she wiped her face with one hand to dry the tears. "I miss him so much, though. I always wondered whether it was something I did. Was I the one to drive him away?"
"You shouldn't blame yourself," said Flora. "My Layton... he'll fix things. You'll see. Maybe you can even come and visit us in our timeline sometime!"
Future Flora smiled, though it was a smile tinged with sadness. "I remember when I had your boundless optimism. I'm glad at least one of us still has it."
"I'll just have to be doubly cheerful for the both of us, then!"
"Thank you. I'm sorry I was so harsh earlier." She sat back down. "You'd better get back upstairs. I really need to finish this. And... thanks for coming. It was nice to talk to you."
"You too," said Flora. She didn't know what she'd do if her Layton ever turned evil. Actually she did know; her future self had just shown her. She was glad to see that Future Flora hadn't completely lost her emotions in spite of everything that had happened.
"Um... one thing before I go..."
"Yes?"
"Promise me you won't lose hope. I don't think I could bear to see that."
Future Flora smiled again, and this time it was a warm smile. "Okay," she said. "I promise."
Clive and Luke were inside Future Luke's cabin, with both Polly and Baldrick sitting next to each other on the small table in the middle. Luke tied a small device around Polly's chest, one of two devices which Future Luke had given to him to try out on the two birds.
"THIS, WHAT IS?" said Polly. "LIKE EXPERIMENTS, POLLY DOES NOT."
"It's a Photon Refractor, Polly," said Luke. "My future self wants to see if he can use it on his homing pigeons, because sending messages with them is safer than sending radio transmissions, he said."
"BIG LUKE IS A MAD HATTER, POLLY THINKS."
"Hey...! You can trust him," said Baldrick, piping up to defend his owner. "You'd be going mad too if you had to deal with someone like Moriarty-Layton all the bloody time."
"Glad you think so," Luke cawed, "because you're going next."
"I don't care," was Baldrick's response. "If it means I can do my bit to help fight for the cause of freedom, then I'm all for it. Unlike some birds."
"WHATEVER, MR BOOTLICKER," said Polly.
Baldrick puffed his feathers up, making himself look larger, while screeching angrily. "Why don't you say that again, and see what happens?" he snapped.
"Why don't you come over here and make me?" said Polly.
"That's enough! Knock it off, you two!" said Luke. "If you can't get along, we'll have to put you both in cages for the rest of the flight. Neither of you want that, do you?"
"No," said Baldrick, bowing his head in shame.
"NO," said Polly, doing the same.
"Um..." said Clive, pointing at Baldrick while staring at Luke. "Did you... did you caw to the crow just now?"
Luke looked back at Clive for a moment. "Er... yes. I guess Flora didn't tell you about that."
"VERY TALENTED, ANIMAL SPEAKER IS," said Polly.
"You mean... you can talk to animals?" said Clive.
"Er... yeah," said Luke, suddenly feeling embarrassed. He wondered how Clive would take this news. Would he call him crazy, or sneer derisively, as many other kids were prone to do when confronted with this information?
Clive did neither.
"Wow!" he said. "Every time I think I've seen it all, something else pops up and surprises the heck out of me!"
"You get used to it," said Luke, so relieved that he beamed at Clive.
"Yeah, that's what Flora keeps telling me, but I don't think I can. Everything's so amazing!"
"Wait till you see this," said Luke, pushing a button on Polly's refractor.
And just like that, Polly disappeared.
"Woah..." Clive breathed.
"Pretty cool, huh?" said Luke.
"And how!" said Clive.
"HAPPENED, WHAT?" came Polly's voice.
"You're invisible, Polly. How about that, eh?" said Luke.
"PLOP ON DIMITRI'S HEAD WITHOUT HIM KNOWING, POLLY CAN," said Polly triumphantly.
"You don't like Dimitri very much, do you?" said Luke.
"I don't blame him," said Clive, frowning. "I don't like him either."
"LISTEN TO CLIVE, LITTLE LUKE SHOULD," said Polly. "TALKS SENSE, CLIVE DOES."
"You still there, Polly?" said Luke. "I'm going to turn it off now." He moved to turn the machine off, and ended up pressing on thin air - Polly had changed position.
"LIKE TO STAY INVISIBLE A LITTLE LONGER, POLLY WOULD," the parrot told him.
"All right," said Luke reluctantly, "but not too long."
It was then that Baldrick decided to break into song. "NO INCOME TAX, NO V-A-T. NO MONEY BACK, NO GUARANTEE."
"Is that... normal?" said Clive, watching the crow bop his head to an unseen beat.
"Oh, yeah," said Luke. "He randomly spouts out theme songs. It's his 'thing', apparently."
"BLACK OR WHITE, RICH OR BROKE. WE'LL CUT PRICES AT A STROOOOOOOOKE!"
"DO TRICKS AS WELL, POLLY CAN," said Polly, sounding jealous. A biro pen on the table floated up and started to twiddle around in mid-air, before becoming invisible itself.
Here we go... thought Luke, as Polly tapped the table with the invisible pen. Amazon parrots loved to show off, and Luke suspected that Baldrick was taking advantage of this birdly pride and deliberately egging him on. Or perhaps Baldrick was pining for attention too; one of the two.
"I think the fact that you can speak English is amazing enough, to be honest," said Luke, hoping to calm Polly down a bit. At least the sound of the pen was allowing him to guess where Polly was; he pushed hard where Polly's stomach should have been, and Polly suddenly reappeared.
"POO," said Polly, dropping the pen. "BACK TO NORMAL VISIBLE SELF, POLLY IS."
"But Luke's right," added Clive. "You're a special bird, to be able to speak English like that."
"TRUE, THIS IS," said Polly, mollified; he seemed to have taken a shine to Clive.
"Right, Baldrick, your turn," said Luke, pulling a different device up and tying it around Baldrick. "This thing'll let everyone else understand what you're saying - it'll automatically translate to English."
"Blimey," cawed Baldrick. "Didn't know about that one."
"WHAT?" said Polly. "NOT FAIR, THAT IS. TAKING AWAY MY INDIVIDUALITY, THIS TRANSLATOR IS."
"Look, you get invisibility," said Luke firmly, still tying the machine to Baldrick's chest. "You can already speak English, there's no need to put a translator on you, is there?"
"Don't worry," Clive whispered to Polly, "I still think you're cool."
"VERY WISE, CLIVE IS," Polly proclaimed loudly. "LIKE YOU, POLLY DOES."
"Whatever, Mr Bootlicker," said Baldrick.
"MATURE, POLLY IS. CHOOSE NOT TO RESPOND TO CHILDISH REMARKS, POLLY DOES."
"Pot, meet kettle," said Baldrick, fluffing himself up again.
"KETTLE, MEET POT," said Polly, also puffing up his feathers.
Luke sighed. "This is going to be a long trip," he said.
The Silver Blaze dropped Future Luke and the group of four humans in Hampstead Heath, and he guided them down through the underground caverns to the time machine once more, where Bill Hawks was waiting for them. Horace was still at the base of the machine, making some final checks with the other scientists, so the group sat on some wooden stools around one of the workbenches while they were waiting.
Layton tried not to look at Bill. He was sure he'd seen him somewhere long ago... But he was aware his presence was making Bill extremely nervous; he'd almost dropped his mechanical instruments during the brief moment when their eyes had met, while he had been going around the table to sit down.
He also tried hard not to think about it, which, for a person who liked to think a lot, was easier said than done. For his alternate self to hold such a deep grudge, Bill must have done something quite... severe. Future Luke was right; it was probably for the best that he didn't know what had happened.
Layton glanced up. Bill was still avoiding eye contact. He decided that this awkwardness simply wouldn't do. "Mr Hawks, listen to me. I am not going to hurt you. I don't know what happened, but I do not bear any ill will towards you."
Bill finally acknowledged him, but it was with a stern frown. "Yes, I know that. Or, at least, intellectually I know that. You are a different Layton. But you must realise... He wants me dead."
"If that is the case, then I'm afraid I must ask: how do I know that you're not going to take revenge on me instead?"
"No fear of that, Layton. If I tried anything, Luke would be the one after my blood. He made that perfectly clear. It doesn't matter anyway, because you're the only one who can stop Dimitri's plan. You and no one else."
"Right," said Horace, coming forward and interrupting the conversation. Bill looked away, and went to stand with his colleague. "We're going to attach you to the machine, Mr Layton."
"I have a question, if I may?" said Layton.
"What is it?" said Horace.
"Would it be possible for us to return to our own time before you start? There is something I'd like to look up."
"I'm afraid we can't do that, Mr Layton," said Horace. "It's almost impossible to travel to the past unless we punch a hole in Infinity... and that's exactly what Dimitri is doing. The only other way is to use a person's memories, but one of you would need to remain behind to power the machine.
"But even if we had the capability, we still wouldn't be able to send you back just yet. You see, your timeline no longer exists."
"W-what?" said Luke.
"How can I put this...?" said Horace, looking a little tongue-tied. "You are time paradoxes. You shouldn't exist."
"But how can that be?" said Layton.
"Let me start from the beginning," said Horace. "There was a catastrophic event which occurred along all points in space-time. We've called this disaster the 'Time Crash'. It threatened the breakdown of all existence. Every single universe was doomed to collapse. We don't know how it occurred, or how it was reversed, but we do know it happened. Whatever happened to reverse the collapse, the reversal was not perfect. Some imperfections in our timeline remained. Tiny differences, if you like."
"Differences?" said Layton. "What kind of differences?"
"You being more prone to madness, for one thing," said Bill brusquely. "The accelerated rate of technology, for another."
"Thirdly," said Horace, "Polly seems to have acquired a highly concentrated amount of photonic energy as a result of the space-time disaster. He's able to affect the magnetic field around him and distort space-time."
"In other words," said Bill, "the parrot has the ability to time travel."
"We knew that already," said Luke.
"The crucial point," said Bill shortly, "is that in the original timeline, the parrot did not have this ability."
"What about me?" said Clive.
"Yes. Yes. Clive, you're another difference," said Horace. "You're the main difference. The Time Crash, and the reversal, forced you out of the time stream, and you were dropped back twenty years later, like a tornado whipping up a car and dropping it miles from where it started. That displacement caused all the other little differences, which led to this horrible future."
"But why did our timeline stop existing?" said Luke.
"Imagine time is a river," said Horace. "Up to a certain point our timelines were exactly the same, but at the point in which Clive was taken out, the flow of time was directed from your branch over to our newly created timeline, and your timeline effectively... dried up."
"So why are we still here?" said Layton. "If we effectively 'dried up', as it were?"
"That brings me back to how I began, doesn't it?" said Horace. "You're time paradoxes. You shouldn't exist, and yet here you are."
"Eh... I'll answer this one..." said Bill, looking tired all of a sudden. "And I'll continue with the river analogy... Now... are you all familiar with how an ox bow lake forms? Even after most of your timeline had disappeared, there were still bubbles of time left - points in which time still existed."
"And that's where we came in," said Future Luke, speaking for the first time in a while. "It was our plan to take you from one of those spots and into our future before you disappeared entirely. As Horace explained yesterday, you hold within you the blueprints for your timeline in the form of your temporal waves. That was why it was so important that we scanned them from you. Without them there would have been little hope for restoring your timeline."
"Okay," said Layton, nodding slowly. "I'm beginning to understand. But why bring us, specifically? Surely any person from our timeline would do?"
"Because..." said Future Luke, and he paused briefly, sighing. "Well... In order to stop Dimitri from controlling time, we need the other timeline to exist. It's actually extremely difficult to control time and with your timeline in place he won't be able to do it. You, Flora and my younger self have a different temporal alignment to this timeline, which means you exist on a different timeframe. Time moves differently for you, compared to the rest of us. It's like you're at right-angles."
"Right-angled time," said Layton. "...For some reason I feel like I've heard that somewhere before... Anyway, could you not just put Clive back to where he should be? Would that not fix things?"
"Yes, of course, that was the first thing we tried," said Future Luke. "But it didn't work."
"W-what?" said Clive, looking horrified. "You moved me through time without telling me?"
"I knew it!" said Flora, cheeks flushing red. "I knew you were up to some no-good shenanigans! Shame on you, Luke! How could you do that to poor Clive?"
"Er... what?" said Future Luke, who looked surprised by Flora's sudden outburst. "Er... oh... well... ah... sorry, Clive."
"Er... that's okay, I guess..." said Clive, who looked just as surprised as Future Luke did.
"It's not like you remembered any of it," Bill grumbled, not looking sorry in the slightest.
"That's not the point! You can't just go using people like that!" said Flora.
"Sorry, Clive," said Horace, sighing while Bill mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath. "Usually when a person is moved through time, they are naturally drawn back to their own time period, because time doesn't like paradoxes very much; there's a sort of natural correction at play. As Luke said, it makes time travel very difficult, if not impossible.
"But every time we tried to move you back, you kept getting drawn back here. It's as if time thinks you belong here. And eventually our Layton realised we were using time travel and tried to disrupt our operation with his own technology, so we had to try something else."
"Is that why we both ended up in a sewer?" said Flora, folding her arms.
"Probably," said Horace. "Sorry about that."
"Well... if it hadn't been for that I wouldn't have met Flora..." said Clive. "I guess it's all turned out for the best in the end."
"Clive... is not a time paradox," Future Luke said, looking at Layton pointedly. "He has no alternate timeline counterpart. In order to put him back, we need the memories of someone from the original timeline as a reference point, to reset the timeline. And you had contact with Clive on that day, Professor..."
"But that doesn't make sense... I don't remember meeting the professor before all this," said Clive. "I'm sure I would have remembered meeting a man in a top hat."
"Of course, it hasn't happened to you yet," said Future Luke. "You were removed from the timeline before it had a chance to happen. But that event has happened to the professor, even if he doesn't remember it."
I have met this boy before, Layton realised. I remember now. It was the day Claire died... But he was wandering that very same street, wailing for his parents...
"It'll cause an implosion," said Horace, in answer to a question that Layton had missed.
"Implosion?" said Luke. "That sounds awfully risky."
"It's incredibly risky. The universe will implode for the tiniest fraction of a second, reset itself, and then time will run forward to the point at which the timeline forked... and then hopefully the flow will be restored.
"Oh, another thing, Professor," Horace went on. "I checked it out - your first visit to Infinity took place during the very same Time Crash. That's why you don't remember it. When time was restored, all the space-times were reset, so your memory was probably erased."
"I see..." said Layton, not quite sure what to make of the fact that he'd apparently had some sort of adventure within Infinity and couldn't remember it.
"There's... a tiny problem with all this," said Clive.
"And what's that?" said Future Luke.
Clive looked at Future Luke, and it was clear that something was troubling him; he was fidgeting with his hat. "I... I don't want to go back."
"Eh?" said Flora. "What do you mean? Don't you want to see if your parents are okay?"
"Yeah, but..." He stared at the floor morosely. "I... I'm supposed to destroy London. In ten years' time."
Future Luke gave him a sharp look. "Who told you that?"
"Dimitri," he said quietly.
Future Luke's reaction was one of incredulity. "And you believed him?"
"Well... He was poking around the insides of my head at the time... I'm not sure what to believe to be honest."
"You shouldn't take what he says at face value," said Future Luke. "Remember, he needs you here in this timeline in order for his plan to work."
"If you say so," said Clive, who looked far from convinced.
"But see here - we're from ten years in your future," said Luke. "And I'm quite sure we would have noticed if London had blown up. On account of us, like, living there. 'Sides, how exactly are you supposed to go about doing it? There's eight million people to avoid!"
"Eh, when you put it like that, I guess you're right," said Clive.
Layton, on the other hand, began to wonder whether there was some kind of significance to his meeting with Clive on the very day Claire died…
[ - - ]
here it was
[ - - ]
the memory that didn't fit
[ - Hidden Memory #3 - ]
but he couldn't change the outcome
[ - - ]
no matter how hard he tried
[ - - ]
so the timeline had to be restored by someone else
[ - - ]
had he given Hershel Layton enough to go on?
[ - 3 - ]
Max Cunningham sat in the cockpit of the Blue Lightning. He chewed nervously on a pen tip, a habit he'd retained from his younger days as navigator of a freight ship, when he knew a storm was coming his way.
Intelligence suggested that Layton's aerial forces had amassed at both Hyde Park and Regent's Park while Dimitri set up his module, to discourage rebel interference. The Blue Lightning was hidden by the new technology and couldn't be detected by Layton's ships, but even so, Max was nervous.
Down below, Layton's flagship was taking off. A compartment opened up, just in front of the nose, revealing a cylindrical apparatus that slowly rose, like a metal tower.
An antenna? thought Max. He'd never seen the Baryonyx do this before. This must be Layton's own project.
"Let's get out of here," he said to his co-pilot. "No point in sticking around if he's moving."
"Agreed," said his colleague.
Or... perhaps it was a lighthouse? A green light flashed round and round, like a police siren.
And then a wave of green light shot directly towards the Blue Lightning - too fast to dodge.
A new weapon!
"Bugger - damn - bollocks!" Max bellowed, twisting hard on the controls in a futile attempt to avoid the inevitable.
"Impact imminent!" yelled the co-pilot.
It was coming...! Too fast! Max braced for impact -
Nothing.
Nothing happened. The light dissipated.
"What the hell was all that about?" Max growled.
"There's a message coming from the Baryonyx..."
"Let's hear it, then," said Max.
"Attention," said Layton's voice, "this is the Baryonyx. Could all cloaked ships please shut down their photon refractors and prepare for boarding by military personnel."
Like hell we will, snarled Max, before hearing a voice in his mind.
Disable the cloak, it said.
Max realised far too late what the green beam of light had really been. He smiled dreamily, while the clouds fogged his mind and forced him to comply.
You son of a -!
"Yes, sir," he said.
The scientists had done what they had needed with Layton, and now it was just a case of waiting for the time machine to calibrate itself. So, while waiting for the time machine to power up, Layton had decided to head up to the surface for a bit of fresh air, and he had sat down on a bench, just in front of a lake. It was overcast, with the kind of clouds one associated with rain, and he hoped it would hold off for a little while longer, so that he would have a chance to think.
He remembered this particular spot on the heath very well. He used to come here with Claire often in the summer, by the lake, to feed the swans and watch the children laugh and play. Layton had hoped that one day, in the future, he would be able to bring his own child, but Claire had died in the explosion before he'd had a chance to tell her how he really felt...
He sighed, reaching into his pocket, and he began to reread each piece of parchment carefully.
Beware the man in the black top hat, he thought. To live or die is his true goal…
A crow reveals the mask's true sin…
He then looked at the series of letters, supposedly given to him by his future self.
G.. A..
F.. E. D.
G.. -1B. C.
A. -1B. F..
G...
What on earth could it mean? Why had his future self gone to such pains to deliver it to him? Unless...
A couple of caws floated down from the tree above, and Layton looked up to see Baldrick hopping from branch to branch.
"Hello, Baldrick."
"You seem sad," Baldrick replied, flittering to the ground. He was wearing his translator. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Layton smiled at the crow's interest in his well-being. "You're most kind, but I don't think there's much you can do."
"Am I intruding?" said Baldrick, twisting his head in that quick, jerky manner that birds did.
"Not at all; I should be glad of the company. I am attempting to decipher the puzzle my future self gave me."
"Okay. Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to look for some juicy titbits 'round here."
Baldrick began pecking at the grass, apparently having spotted something to eat. While doing so, he sung a tune, something else he must have learned to mimic at some point in his life. But unlike the other songs, this wasn't a TV show theme. It was a simple melody without words, short but mournful. Layton recognised it.
"Would you sing that again, please?" said Layton.
"Hmm?" said Baldrick, looking up.
"Sing that song again, please? I think I've heard it before."
Baldrick looked round sharply, as if realising what he'd just done, and made a series of angry caws that the translator couldn't interpret.
Then he said: "It's been over ten years and even now I can't get rid of that horrible man!"
"Which horrible man?"
"Descole," said Baldrick crossly. "I hate that song. It reminds me of when I was captive. That's why I don't like going in the underground base here."
"I'm sorry to make you repeat it," said Layton.
"It was a song he used to hum," Baldrick said, clawing absently at the floor. "He was obsessed with it. Guess it sort of stuck with me. He was looking for the Song of the Sea, but the only human that knew the tune passed away."
"Ah. So it was the Song of the Stars that you sung just now?" said Layton.
"Yeah," said Baldrick. "But how'd you know that? Ah, of course! I'm being silly. You were there. It's been so long since my Layton was a good guy that I forgot you solved the mystery of Ambrosia."
"Yes... this was it, wasn't it?" said Layton, humming the Song. He remembered figuring out to play it on the piano. There was a B flat... G, A, F, E, D, G -
Ah...! thought Layton, having a sudden eureka! moment.
G.. A..
F.. E. D.
G.. -1B. C.
A. -1B. F..
G...
It was the Song of the Stars! Each dot represented the duration of the note... so two dots were a minim; and the -1B was actually a B flat, one semitone below a natural B.
But if this was what the letters meant... The gears inside his head were winding like crazy now, piecing together everything he had learned from the world of memories, from the trips through time, and from the riddles.
And something clicked into place: Schrödinger's Cat.
But it can't be, he thought.
"Your deductions are correct," said a voice.
Layton looked around, to see Polly standing on the grass just in front of some shrubbery.
"Wow, that's... creepy," Baldrick commented.
"I was wondering when you would return..." said Layton. "You say I am correct?"
"That's right. I see you are just as intelligent as they say... You have figured it out just in time, for I must now teleport you both underground."
"I'm not going down there!" said Baldrick.
"It will be easier if you are all together during the evacuation."
"Evacuation?" said Layton.
"Yes. You are about to be attacked."
"Ah," said Layton. In this very specific instance he hated being right. He'd had an inkling that his future self had been planning an attack. Future Luke would need to know. "Very well, teleport away."
"Are you sure about this?" said Future Luke, looking between Polly and Layton for confirmation.
"I have had a flash of future memories, a premonition if you like. Unfortunately we are now too close to Infinity on this timeline and I cannot see events as I should. I can only see what might happen, not what will happen."
"I'm still having trouble swallowing it at all," said Bill. "How can you see the future?"
"How does the time machine allow travel into the future?" Horace asked. "By using human thought. Doesn't it stand to reason that this fellow might able to do the same?"
"We don't have time to theorise," said Future Luke, folding his arms impatiently. "Tell us what you know."
"Very well," said the voice. "There are three outcomes known to me. One: Hershel Layton's military fleet will tear apart Hampstead Heath and utterly destroy this underground base. Survivors will be captured and incorporated into the Com Link system.
"Two: the base is evacuated but the Silver Blaze is shot down by the Baryonyx before getting a chance to escape.
"Three: the evacuation is successful and the underground complex is completely deserted.
"The only way the timeline can be restored is if we endeavour to make outcome three a reality, in which case I wholeheartedly recommend evacuating right now."
"But how can we restore the timeline if we leave now?" said Bill stubbornly. "The time machine still needs another 10 minutes before it'll be fully ready."
"The flashes I have seen have led me to the conclusion that you will find a way without using this machine. I do know this: if you stay here for much longer, the Hershel Layton of this timeline will triumph."
"Without using this machine..." said Future Luke. "So we'll have to use Dimitri's... Damn."
"What do we do, Luke?" said Horace.
Future Luke turned back to face Layton. "Professor? What do you think?"
Layton made a soft sigh. "I trust him. He has been trying to help me uncover the truth behind this future, and I believe I finally have. I have a hunch I may be able to put things to rights."
"Okay," said Future Luke, nodding. "I trust your judgement, Professor. You two, power down the time machine. I'll activate the alarm and issue the evac order."
"This is preposterous...!" Bill hissed, but Horace pulled him by the arm.
"C'mon, you..."
While Future Luke rushed to the PA system, Layton turned to face Polly, who was sitting on the workbench table.
"You can travel to and from Infinity. Would it not be easier to teleport us all to safety and then take me directly to Dimitri's time machine?"
"I am no longer able to travel great distances. In order to open a wormhole to Infinity, Dimitri has disrupted time's flow. I cannot teleport you across time, only across space, and even then, only across short distances. We will have to travel to the other time machine by airship, I'm afraid."
The site's klaxon blared over the speakers, and Future Luke returned to the workbench, taking a small rectangular device out of his pocket. "Here, Professor. Take this, just in case."
"What's this?" said Layton.
"Robot disruptor. Just push the red button, and it'll emit a jamming signal that'll shut down any robots within a fifteen yard radius."
"Ah. Thank you," said Layton, placing the disruptor in his pocket. It would come in handy if any scorpion robots attacked – provided his future self did not anticipate such a move. But he had an idea… He followed Future Luke, who was shepherding everyone out of the facility.
"Right, everyone," said Future Luke, "move, move, move!"
The children were safely seated in the lounge area of the Silver Blaze with Bill, Horace, and the two birds, and so Layton followed Future Luke to the flight deck, where they both took their seats. Emmy frantically pushed buttons to get the Silver Blaze into the air, while Belle sat attentively at her navigator's console, earphones at the ready.
"We can't go north," said Belle, looking at her screen. "There are too many Sharks. We'll have to go round... I'll chart the course."
"Roger that," said Emmy. "Here we go..."
The Silver Blaze flew south and then east, and Layton watched the window, where the dark violet-tinged clouds above flashed with purple lightning. The gears of London began to grind faster and louder than ever before, a city-sized machine working towards some unknown goal.
"What's happening?" Future Luke wondered. "The buildings have never done anything like that before..."
The ship rocked slightly, and Layton had to hold tightly onto the seat arm to keep himself steady.
"A storm's brewing..." said Emmy, flicking on the fasten seatbelts switch, "...but it gives me an idea. There's a lot of electrical interference from the clouds... We might be able to pass through unnoticed if we stay up there."
"Agreed," said Belle.
Slowly, Emmy guided the airship through the thick clouds, gaining height to be clear of them, and Layton's eyes widened at the sight he saw. The sky was a mess of purple-tinged colours, as if a person had poured pink, purple and blue paint all over the skies, and had smudged the colours together with their fingers. This painting was alive, an aurora borealis of movement.
In the middle of this lightshow, there seemed to be a mechanical eye-shaped object in the sky, facing downwards. The Antares was a little way away, hovering in place.
"That's Dimitri's ship over there," said Don Paolo over the radio.
"We'll have to hijack his ship, somehow," said Future Luke. "I can go in one of the Pods."
"In this freakish weather? You're mad!" said Belle.
"But this could be our only chance to stop him!" said Future Luke.
"He's bound to have spotted us, Luke," said Emmy. "Don't you find it odd that the Antares is practically unguarded?"
Suddenly, the Silver Blaze rocked sharply, swerving unbidden to the left; and Belle cried out while Layton held on tightly to his seat.
"What the hell...?" said Emmy.
"We've been attacked," said Don Paolo, on the radio. "Well-placed shots, too. They took out our Jammers. They knew exactly where to strike."
"But there's no ship that close on the radar!" said Belle.
"Cloaked ship," said Don Paolo.
"That's impossible," said Future Luke, as the ship shook from another impact.
"You put me on lookout, and as lookout I am telling you, it is coming from an invisible ship! Don't go giving me that 'It's impossible' nonsense, I invented the damn invisibility cloaks, boy!"
"But Layton doesn't have the resources he needs to manufacture them, we made sure of that..." said Future Luke.
"I'm getting us out of here," said Emmy, whirling the steering wheel round.
"Leaving so soon?" Max's voice boomed, over the radio.
"Max...?" said Emmy. "What on earth...?"
"You can't leave just yet!" said Max, with the eerie cheeriness that only a Com Linked person could possess. "The Prime Minister would like to have some words with you first. So I'll just have to keep firing at you until you stop, eh?"
"Oh, no..." said Belle, putting both hands to her mouth.
Future Luke punched the wall of the airship. "Dammit..."
Another blast forced the ship to shudder, after which it completely came to a halt.
"Ah...!" said Emmy, straining to pull on the steering wheel. "I can't move the ship!"
"What's going on up there?" Future Flora called over the radio, from the engine room. "The engines are jammed!"
"We're being attacked..." said Future Luke grimly.
"Ship rising on port bow, 9 o' clock," said Don Paolo.
Like a shark, a dorsal fin slicing through the purple clouds was all that could be seen of the ship; and then the Baryonyx leapt through the clouds like a submarine rising up to float on water.
"They're readying their missiles..." said Don Paolo.
"We're sitting ducks...!" said Belle.
The radio crackled. "Hello, Luke," Future Layton said. "I believe this is what one would call... checkmate."
Author notes:
So, um... cliffhanger. It would be a bit rubbish to leave the story hanging there for five months, so my aim is to get the next chapter out in a similar time frame as this one, real life circumstances permitting, of course. (If you want more information about this fic's update status, you can check my profile.)
Next chapter: "Never the Twain Shall Meet". This chapter is what I've been building towards the entire fic, and... to say anything else would spoil it, frankly. ;)