Chapter IX: The Remnants

Perhaps an hour later, Chrono, Nadia, and Lucca found themselves in the very warm Arris Dome. But aside from the heat, the place felt no different than Trann. It was all hard steel and ramshackle machinery and power failures. The sunlight, if indeed they could call it that anymore, beat through the transparent ceiling, warming the metal but not casting a reflection.

Presently their newest guide pulled them over some sort of bridge. (Lucca figured it had been a "technical walkway," her term, judging from the types of machines they passed. Chrono and Nadia cut her off there.) He had yet to introduce himself, but then, so had they, and thus neither really owed the other anything. The most noticeable difference so far between the Trann and Arris dwellers was their size – that is, this Arris man seemed barely half the size of people such as Pat and Reed. But the stale light and the wound in his leg made it hard for him to remember that the people at Trann wore numbers of heavy coats. This man had no much more than rags spread on his body to provide maximum comfort – that is, a covering that could be called a "shirt" if Chrono squinted and perhaps were drunk, and something akin to draperies hung on his waist to give the illusion he wore some sort of pants. On top he had a clump of hair shaped not unlike the carcass of a rat. And on his face was what seemed a permanent scowl, though Chrono and his friends didn't find it malicious or condescending as much as a shield of some kind.

The guide brought them to the main room never having said a word. Instead, he picked up a thin metal tube and banged it on one of the railings. All the people below looked up, though not too quickly, and stared at the colorful visitors. Chrono wasn't surprised that they didn't say anything either. At a tap on his shoulder, he looked to see the guide motioning for them to follow. He brought them all the way around the top of the room to what could have been a staircase in its younger days – now it was more like an agility training course.

It held all their weight well enough, though it creaked and groaned enough to produce something like a symphony. The guide then motioned for them to join the crowd of people, who still had not moved from their original positions. Most of them were dressed as elegantly as the guide, though they had their own ways of covering themselves that at least set them apart from each other. Except for the look in their eyes (reminiscent of that at Trann), none of them had similar appearances, and Chrono felt it would be no difficulty getting to know all these people, though he never suppressed the thought that he wished not to remain long enough to do so.

The three reached the crowd and were immediately offered seats. Wordlessly, of course. So they never felt compelled to strike up conversation – that is, until an elderly man approached them.

His white hair lay plastered in every direction on his head, his beard was ragged, and his face slightly dusty. But his eyes were the only ones which had yet displayed any glimpses of kindness – buried behind a wall of insecurity, pain, and… something else Chrono could not guess or hope to know. He was bent over, not as one sick, dying, or hunchbacked, but such as one carrying a great weight on his shoulders which he cannot see. At least, that was how Chrono preferred to describe it. The man walked with a slight limp, favoring his left foot and leaning on the remains of a walkway railing, which he used as a walking stick. His gait was slow, so it felt like years had passed before the old man sat on the dusty crates beside his guests.

He sat for the longest time until he thought of something worthwhile to say. "Hello," the old man rasped.

After a moment's pause, the others were clear that he intended for them to respond. "Uh… hello yourself."

The old man spoke slowly, as if struggling to pronounce every syllable. With each sentence, there was another awkward silence. "I am called Doan," he began, staring toward the newcomers; not really at them but through them. "This is Arris. We live here. Who? Who are you? Are you from Trann?"

Lucca cleared her throat. "We – we come from, well, a long ways away. Farther than Trann, I'm afraid."

"Keepers?"

"Uh… no, I'm afraid not?"

Doan cracked a smile, showing a colorful array of crooked teeth. "I cannot guess."

"Would… Truce?"

"I have not heard of a place," he mused, furrowing his brow into a question mark. "How did you get here?"

We walked.

"Well… that's… a story – for another day," Lucca shrugged.

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

She got right into mingling with the locals, but Chrono's leg was bothering him, so he opted for solitary confinement. Doan showed him and Nadia to the "sleeping quarters," which had all the necessities: a floor, four walls, a ceiling, and the Entertron, which suddenly did not seem so threatening. Both were quickly rested, but admitted to each other how hungry the machine seemed to make them.

"So, where do you store your food?" Chrono asked.

Doan frowned. "The food room is almost empty."

"What?"

"We have little food left."

"I mean, is there any way you can get more?"

"I don't know. We just had someone go down."

Chrono tried not to show frustration. "What does that mean?"

"Oh, sorry," Doan croaked. "I forgot you don't know. One of us went below to find food. He thought there was a storage room or… growing place."

"Like an arboretum?" Nadia interjected.

"Arbor…?"

"Arboretum. It's a place where lots of things grow," she said weakly.

"Maybe, then."

"So, did he find anything?" Chrono rejoined.

"What? No. No. We haven't seen him since…" as if reading the expressions on their faces, he continued. "But he has only been gone since yesterday." Chrono and Nadia traded looks. "No. No. It should be long… there is a story of a guardian below. Something that protects the food."

"That sounds silly," Chrono muttered under his breath.

Nadia shot him a look. "Well, thank you anyway."

Doan bowed his head and turned to go, but not before turning to Chrono. "Your leg. Something is wrong with it."

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

Chrono agreed with the old man. The bite mark had swelled from a red stain to a small purple protrusion. Now that he noticed the wound, he winced a little, just a little, with every step. Of course it didn't hurt that much, but he knew he wasn't going to be walking around a lot. (But he wasn't going to be leaning on crutches, either.)

He and Nadia rejoined the crowd in the center, which had formed a somewhat irregular circle around her. The best they could figure, she was trading questions with the citizens. And, no surprise, neither faction could really answer any questions.

"Cheerful place, huh," Lucca muttered as the crowd dispersed. "Chrono, it looks like we're in for trouble. They don't have any food here."

"So we heard," Nadia said. "But Doan said someone went to get more."

"Where? They have markets in Arris?"

"No. He said somebody went below, wherever that is."

"Below, ah. The other people mentioned it, too. But they weren't just bursting to tell me about it. All I know is that people have died trying to pass by some sort of monster."

"Monster?" Nadia drew back. "Doan said it was a guardian."

"I don't care. My guess is, the security system is still active, and people are getting fried trying to bypass it without shutting it down." Chrono and Nadia were too tired to ask what she meant. "Of course, then we have to answer the question of why anybody would design an unstable security system like that anyway…"

"What are you saying?"

"Well, for one, if that guy doesn't find food, we have two options. We either leave and hope we don't starve, or find another way to get to the storage room." Chrono and Nadia looked at each other, then back at Lucca. "I'll go see if this place has a map."

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

Chrono's wound was beginning to bother him more than he could effectively hide. So, while Lucca left for her expedition, Nadia had a makeshift bed laid out. It was hardly more than a few crates lined up, but who were they to whine now? They had obtained a few extra rags to make the bed somewhat softer, but Chrono still felt every crack and bump.

Nadia preferred to stay with him, not only because she considered him a friend, or even that she knew something of medicine and the human body, but because she now had the best excuse not to accompany Lucca into the "below" and valiantly face the Guardian. And while she was here, she might as well do something to help Chrono.

He didn't mind her company. After all, he had two choices: Nadia, or one of the creepy strangers. And he was sure the citizens of Arris were as lacking in the medicine department as they were in the clothing supply. Doan stopped by for a few minutes, but had the wisdom to know he knew nothing about Chrono's wound. The old man then caught himself, turned to Nadia, and began to whisper. Not that wise, perhaps. Now I know the wound is bad. Still, he couldn't resist asking, "Nadia, what's he saying?"

Nadia waved him off until Doan disappeared. "Nothing really."

I'm not that stupid. "It's bad, isn't it."

"All I can say is that it's infected. I mean, we haven't washed… well, that doesn't matter too much, but I'd say those rats had some kind of disease."

Figures. "How do you know this?"

"Oh," was all she said.

Come on, I want to know. "If you don't want to talk, that's fine."

"No. I just didn't know."

Okay. "Know what?"

"I guess that you cared about that."

What do you mean? Of course I care, my leg is at stake. "I don't understand. You learned something of medicine? I was under the impression that…" Stop digging!

Nadia scrunched her brow at him. "What impression?"

I thought people like you wouldn't know that kind of thing. "Never mind." Or anything, for that matter.

"Here, just lie down and don't move for awhile. I'll come back with some water." As an afterthought, she added, "if they have that anywhere." Chrono could tell he wasn't supposed to have heard that.

As soon as she was gone, Chrono noticed his leg going numb. He wasn't too worried – it felt no different than those mornings he awoke after sleeping funny. He tried shifting around on the crates to relieve it, but nothing changed. The leg was buzzing, and it was beginning to bother him. He tried sitting up, but he remembered what Nadia had said. Of course it probably doesn't matter, he thought, but lay back down anyway. At least I can say I did what she asked. With all his other options eliminated, Chrono began to feel his leg with his hand. He winced, expecting to feel the worst: perhaps a grotesque volcano spewing sticky pus. But after a while of rubbing his finger along his leg (the feeling reminded him of traveling through the time gates for some reason) he felt certain the wound was light, even if infected. After a few more inches, he suddenly bolted upright and gasped. He'd found it. Funny how the only part I can feel is the wound. Must have pressed a little too hard. While he was up he might as well inspect it. Ugh. It wasn't festering, but it was a very dark red, almost purple, circle on his right calf – about the size of a gold piece, he guessed. The area surrounding it was normal, except a few strange dark lines extending in all directions. Chrono shuddered and lay back down.

Just then Nadia returned, holding a saucer and another rag. "Here, I cleaned these the best I could."

Great. "What is it?"

She motioned with the saucer. "Careful, this is filled with water. I did my best to get it clean." She frowned and bit her lower lip. "Well, this is the best I know how to do now, so just lay back. And don't look."

Is it going to hurt? "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to wash your wound."

Well, is it going to hurt? "What good does that do?"

Nadia paused a moment, then kneeled beside the crates. "It's supposed to clean your inside. Wash away whatever's hurting you. It's the best I can do now… with what I know, at least."

Please, is it going to – "Ow!" Chrono flinched, his wounded leg jerked out at an odd angle.

"Sorry." Nadia tried not to smile. "Hold still! I just hope this works."

What happens if it doesn't? "Me too – Oh, ow!"

"Oh, stop. It can't hurt that much."

Easy for you to say. You're not the cripple. "Well, it does – ah!"

"Stop moving or it will hurt more…"

And you know this how? "Well, it feels like you're sticking a little needle under my flesh and pulling stuff out!" Nadia just looked at him, not unlike how his mother did on these occasions. "Sorry."

"That's all right. If it didn't hurt then there wouldn't be anything wrong."

That doesn't comfort me right now. "So, what is wrong?"

Nadia stood up and brushed herself off. "It's… all right, I'll be honest. I don't know. I've never heard of this kind of thing."

That also doesn't comfort me. "What kind of thing?"

"Well, it's swelling like a normal animal bite, but it has some… other things."

You mean the dark lines? "Like what?"

"Like… never mind. I'll be right back." She turned and scurried away.

Chrono hardly realized she was gone before she returned with someone else. "Hi, I got you a doctor."

They have doctors in this place? "A doctor, huh?"

"Yeah, a doctor." He was tall for a doctor, or so Chrono thought. The man towered over Nadia, but seemed to be twice as thin. His matted hair was white, but he didn't look very old. "Gere," he said, kneeling low, his bony face almost touching Chrono's. "I've studied old papers on medicine I found in Arris. Somewhere in there should be something to help you. Those papers go back to the year 1500, you know."

Wow, someone who speaks in whole sentences. "Yeah."

"How long ago was that?" Nadia inquired.

Doctor Gere turned to look up at her. "I am not sure. At least 500 years – the last document anywhere is dated 2001, and we haven't been able to find out what year it is. I think this year is somewhere in the 24th century, but I can't prove it in any way." Returning to Chrono, he continued. "Now, just let me look at the leg." He peered closely and nodded a few times, each time muttering "yes, right…" until he stood again and said "I'll have to find you some medicine."

When he had left, Chrono looked at Nadia. "They have medicine in Arris?"

"Only what's left over from 'the disaster,' so Gere called it." She smirked. "Even he doesn't know how the world got like this. Well, I have to go. I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Okay."

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

The next thing Chrono heard was the sound of a hundred feet clomping and clanging on the walkways above. He strained his neck to see. Where are they going? What happened? The answer came in one moment.

Lucca – she paraded herself into the center of the room, not far from Chrono, followed by a multitude of dirty, depressing faces. "Hey, Chrono, I'm back!"

"Back?" He sat up.

"Yes. From the food storage underneath."

Chrono's eyes bugged out. "You mean you found food?"

Here Lucca's triumphant smile faltered. "Well, not exactly…" All the people behind her traded looks and whispers. "All the food there was spoiled, but I found lots of seeds." And what good are seeds? "If they find some good soil, they could grow their own food."

"What…" Chrono began, "What about the 'guardian'? Doan said there was some kind of…"

"Guardian?" Lucca laughed. "Well, I guess I have a story to tell you."