A Bleak New World

The locker was dark when Pat came in. "Hello… Nell? It's me. Pat. Are you in here? Hello?"

A thin voice came from the other side. "Yeah. I'm right over here."

Pat cracked a smile. "Well, what's going on here in the dark? I can't hardly see anything."

"Aw, the lights have been out a few hours."

"You've been sitting here in the dark for hours and you didn't tell anyone anything was wrong?"

"I'm fine, Pat."

"Come out in the light where I can see you."

There was a shuffling of blankets, then a woman stepped out into the hall. Underneath her layers of robes, she must have been very thin. "Wow. It's bright – sorry about that… I guess I was a little loopy. It could be the medicine."

"Right."

"What is it?" Nell grunted, squinting her eyes.

"Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to show you something I found. You'll love it." Pat was breathing quickly now. "You've always talked… at least, once you lost… well." Nell nodded weakly. "Once you felt better. Or when we fix the heat – you know, there's a girl here now who says she can do that… kind of thing. You should meet her sometime." He winced.

"Just let it go, Pat. I'm cold."

"Sorry. Um, you'll have to come with me. It's just around the corner, here, take my hand." She faltered for the first few steps.

"Where is everyone?"

"Don't know. Come on – wait until…" Pat grinned. "Sorry." He half-led, half-dragged, Nell across the metal. "Here we are," he sighed at last.

Nell almost crumpled right into Pat's arms. "Pat – it's beautiful! Where did you find it?"

Pat chuckled innocently. "Reed and I were down in some storage room. We were both surprised it hadn't been eaten by age or anything."

"You know I can't wear this."

"Aw, don't talk like that. Maybe not now… but you can look at it every day. I'll hang it up by your bed?"

"Pat, I wish I could kiss you!"

"So do I."

"It's… it's beautiful, Pat. Thank you."

He grinned again. "Your favorite color and everything."

"Lucky," she laughed, giving him a little hug.

"Come on, I'll take you back." Pat gathered the dress in one arm and the girl in the other. "Next time I see you, you'll be dazzling!" he exclaimed proudly.

"You say that like I'm not now."

"I meant more," he said, setting the dress aside.

"Good-bye?" Nell put on her best girlish grin.

"Sure, for now," Pat smiled mischievously. He bent down and playfully scooped her up and into his arms.

"Pat!"

He chuckled and carried her to the bed. "I'll see you again real soon. I promise."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After his first "day" in the future, Chrono got along quite well. The older man, Reed, gave a tour of the habitation to his guests. About halfway through, Chrono realized there weren't any windows around here. No sunlight? No wonder they all look so pale and dreary. There weren't any cushions, either, but three or four coats tossed in a pile would likely make for a comfortable seat, he guessed.

One thing he was sure he would never be used to was the demeanor of the "citizens" of Trann. Except for Reed, they all cowered in fear at smiles and warm feelings, as if those were as uncommon as the giant "mutants," of which it was more logical to be afraid. Reed insisted the mutants did not exist.

"Here," he continued, "is the place for the sick." Before anyone else took a step, he held up one hand. "Don't go back there… it's…" Reed bit his upper lip.

"The people are contagious?" Lucca offered.

"That's right," the man smiled sadly. "Only our doctors are allowed back there. We still have medicines around. The only problem is giving the right kind."

"What do you mean?" It was Nadia.

Reed faltered again, so Lucca leaned over. "They die," she whispered.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Their tour ended rather abruptly from there, but Lucca wasted no time before pitching in to help the citizens of Trann. "I may not be used to your machinery, but I am capable of comprehending their physics, if you know what I mean." Nobody did. "What needs work?"

The first thing was the power. Pat led her back to the elevator. "Do you think we can get the lights on in here? They've been going off and on for years now." Before long, Lucca had dismantled the entire elevator and had absorbed enough information to write a few books on the subject. She insisted it was fixable, but she'd need to find the main power source in the dome.

While she was at it, the denizens added, she could try fixing the cooling system. "That's trickier," Lucca admitted, "but as long as I have nothing else to do…" She adjusted her hat and asked, "so where is the main power source around here?" Pat started to explain, but he was immediately cut off. "I mean, do you have a map? Of the whole building? Surely you have to – you have so many other things around here. Someone has to have a map."

Reed came to Pat's defense. "Sorry, Lucca. The only maps are on the walls. They're hanging up every once in a while – they'll tell you where you are and where everything else is."

"You mean this is the future and we stopped using maps?" Lucca muttered to herself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chrono and Nadia found themselves fading attractions within an hour. Yes, they had excited the strange citizens, but Lucca was far more useful to them. Occasionally Nadia would try to strike up a general conversation, but it often failed after she realized that the only worthwhile contributions she could make were "oh, how sad." Chrono thought he could gather more information about Trann – history, geography, culture, and so forth – but everyone claimed to know nothing, or at least "nothing worth telling."

The highest point of their day was observing Lucca as she examined every gadget in every corner of the dome. They would have appreciated it more had she done anything before going off alone to the main control room, or even if they had been allowed to come. "Nah," Lucca scrunched her nose up. "It's no big deal, really."

A couple of hours later Lucca returned, and once again Chrono and Nadia had to submit to her increasing popularity. They had to admit – she did some good while she was gone. All the lights were back on, and the automatic doors functioning normally. She hung her head when they got to the cooling system. "It's malfunctioned. I don't know of any way to fix it, other than getting a new one." As if these people just walk to the store, Chrono thought.

As soon as the people left (far too long for the others), Lucca motioned for her friends to come over. "I found out some other stuff while I was down there. Maps. It was hard to figure out how to use those computer things, but I found out where we are now. Here, I drew a little chart – " she pulled out a sheet folded several times over. "Hold on." Slowly she pulled at each edge, as if afraid to add one unnecessary crease. "It's just of this continent. See, we're here…" she pointed to the dome-like structure. "This is Trann. The closest intact dome is way over there – Arris Dome. It's across this ravine thing."

"I think that's a city of some sort," Chrono ventured.

"Whatever," Lucca dismissed him. "According to the computer, there should be a whole lot of these 'artificial habitats' as they're called. Most of them are in ruins now."

Nadia squinted. "What could have happened?"

"I don't know, and I'm not going to try to guess. But if we've any chance of finding another portal out of here, we should start looking. Reed says there are some sorts of transportation devices in what he calls the 'garage.' He gave me permission to go anywhere I pleased, you know."

"Why don't we leave now?" Chrono asked.

"Why don't we?"

"I'll have to get my stuff first," Nadia said, darting off. Neither Chrono or Lucca really felt she was being selfish or shallow - and even if they had, neither of them really wanted to talk about it.

Nadia was back before Chrono and Lucca had even registered she was gone. "Never mind," the girl shrugged. "I couldn't find the dress, but it doesn't matter that much really."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The three of them said their good-byes, each admitting to themselves they would have rather split without a word. Anything had to be better than living in a meat locker, they all agreed.

It took them awhile before they realized the metallic contraption before them was their mode of transportation. From its condition, Chrono guessed it had possibly been used as a nest for dinosaurs. "This is what we're riding in?" Nadia fumed, kicking one of the front wheels.

Lucca stared her down. "Relax. It's probably the best they could offer."

The label on the back said Versa-mobile. Even Lucca frowned. "So, how exactly do we, you know, drive this thing?" She opened the door in the front, and several communities of rats leapt out. Lucca didn't have the energy to flinch. "It looks like some of those public coaches back at home, doesn't it, Chrono?"

"Except for the wheels, yes..."

Nadia patted the back of the machine. "And this… thing, on the rear, there. It's kind of like… like a bug. An ant or something." Chrono rolled his eyes. "Oh, you have a better idea?"

"No. Anyway, I'll have enough trouble climbing in as it is without imagining I'm being devoured by a giant insect."

"Sorry."

Lucca called from the other side of the vehicle. "Hey, are your doors locked or something? Get in!"

"What good is that going to do!" Chrono yelled. "We don't know how this works! We haven't even been able to open the door!"

On cue, he suddenly heard a rumbling behind him, like a million forks being dragged over a metal plate. He held his ears as the great door inched its way off the floor. It levitated in the air and the sun burst into the room. All three of them were in awe – until they heard a big snap! – above them, like one of the forks snapped, and the door came crashing to the floor again. With a slow groan, it tipped into the garage and slammed onto the roof of the Versa-mobile, then tipped over until it finally rested against the wall opposite Lucca.

For the first time they all had a good look at the world outside. None of them cared to remember. As far as the eye could see, there was a desert of red dust. The sky was as gray as it had been looking out the bubble of the dome. Every few seconds a gust of wind would blow some of the dust into the garage. It stung their eyes, and Chrono fell into a fit of coughing.

"Let's go exploring," Lucca grimaced.

The three of them piled into the Versa-mobile (The "V-mob," as Nadia called it). "Do you know how to work this thing?" Chrono asked.

"Yeah," Lucca replied, pressing a few buttons on the ceiling. "Reed gave me a 'manual' on how to work just about any model of transportation we come across."

"Like we'll find anything else," Nadia muttered.

As flat as the desert appeared, it felt as if the V-mob was rolling over several dead bodies. (Chrono did not rule out the possibility) "Oops," Lucca would say every once in a while, as if absolutely nothing could be wrong. Occasionally they would pass what appeared to be another building, buried hundreds of feet in the sand until only the top peeked out. Once, they passed something like a human skeleton. From that point on, they stopped looking for landmarks.

"So, uh… do you know where we're going?" Chrono remarked after an hour had gone by.

Lucca's reply was impatient. "Look at that screen on the dashboard – " she pointed in case Chrono couldn't figure it out. "It's an interactive map."

For the rest of the trip, Chrono and Nadia spent the time studying all the new contraptions they could find. Never mind that they couldn't use them at all. There were plenty enough to keep them occupied for a few weeks, or until they got to Arris, whatever came first.

It seemed a rather short time when the vehicle came to a stop (but to Lucca, the driver, it was longer). All three looked out the front at the newest roadblock. "Funny," Lucca remarked, "how the map never shows this." For in front of them was the sunken city Chrono had seen earlier. Now they actually saw it with their own eyes, they knew it would be impassable by their vehicle – probably by any vehicle.

Ruin was too simple a word to describe it. Rubble was closer to the mark. Destroyed buildings lay in every direction as if they had all suddenly fallen asleep and tipped right over. They were mostly submerged in the red dust like the scattered buildings of the desert. But now so many building-tops were poking out of the dirt that there was hardly room for the three travelers, let alone their vehicle, to fit. At first, Nadia suggested they simply go around the city, and it all seemed so easy they had almost set off before Lucca contested them. She pointed out the map to them and showed them the cliffs and ravines on either side of the ruin. "Either way we'll have to abandon the V-mob and set out on foot, but at least through the city the road will be somewhat flat." They all thought that more logical than trying to scale cliffs and such, so they headed straight into the ruined city, despite their nervousness.

For the first half, they were always ducking around corners and staying as quiet as possible, as if some horrible creature would suddenly pounce out of nowhere and devour them. But, they dismissed the thought, calling it stupid, because nothing could survive out in this desert. The terrain got steadily rockier as the three progressed, and as they looked down they noticed the rocks were the same dull blue as the buildings around them. Then they got hungry as they remembered they brought no food with them, and hadn't counted on ditching the vehicle. Of course they really weren't, but after traveling in the dry landscape with no change in weather and very dismal scenery, they began to dream of all sorts of confections just to pass the time. But in the end that just made them all the hungrier, so they tried their best to think of other things. And in doing that they just thought about good food even more until they were almost crazy.

It was after about an hour's walk when they noticed something off in the distance. "Arris!" Nadia cried, smiling for the first time since leaving Guardia. Finally, they had gone far enough to see the dome (though it was a very long way ahead), and from there, it looked far better than Trann. Lucca and Chrono both told Nadia to keep her head, and to expect the worst, and just kept walking.

Then they began to notice the creatures. Chrono saw one figure dart between two piles of rubble. However, because Lucca and Nadia didn't see it, he felt no reason to alert them. But then they all saw another form dash right up to them. It was no different than a giant rat, but well enough to contend with Chrono's knees in a fair fight. No one was surprised that Nadia screamed, except the rat itself. It jumped it the air at the sight of the three giants and tore off and away, never to be seen again. Chrono and Lucca spent some time encouraging Nadia before they started walking again. Now they were seeing the creatures everywhere – up on the buildings, in the metalwork, in piles of rubble, making rat-fights in the dust. They did their best to avoid contact, but it couldn't be helped after a while, and soon they had to walk right through gaggles of the little things every few hundred feet. Every time there was a little hesitation, but the rats would scamper out of the way.

They were almost out of the city when Chrono suddenly cried out. "What's the matter?" Lucca and Nadia were on him in a moment.

"One of the little things just bit me!"

Lucca spoke quickly and determinedly, though Chrono could tell she was a little nervous. "All right, but we can't stop now. We're almost through. You'll just have to keep your weight off it, and hope the people at Arris know what to do with it."

"And hope it's not poisonous," Chrono muttered under his breath as they began walking again. This time they traveled much slower, so slow that Arris dome began to look farther away the more they walked. At first Chrono had such great pain in his leg that he winced every time he took a step, but after a while, he began to realize he could put some, but not all, of his weight on it. By the end of an hour, he was walking almost normally. He thought that was because the bite was harmless; but then he had the thought that it may be because the bite really was poisonous, and his leg had lost all feeling and would need to be amputated. From then, every rat he saw, he avoided, until Nadia looked like the bravest girl of them all in comparison.

No one knew just how long they had spent in the city, but once they left, they could hardly remember being there (except for Chrono, who remembered everything in great detail). For the longest time they just stood and panted as if they had finished a marathon race, until they finally set about walking to the dome.

Arris looked, up close, much like Trann. But then, Lucca argued, that was from the outside, and pretty much everything looked dilapidated from the outside. They tried to get inside by the giant door in front, but gave up quickly when they realized they had no clue how to open it – and it probably required a password. Lucca didn't even waste her time trying to explain how that would work to her friends.

"Well," she groaned, plopping down in the red dust beside Chrono and Nadia. "We'll just have to wait now until someone opens the door."