The Last Survivor

The past hour had felt like only a dream to Chrono. As soon as he woke up, he'd be back with Nadia and Lucca, and they'd still be trying to open the door. There wouldn't be this "robot" walking around and talking. What was that thing? It sure didn't look like a machine.

Chrono tried to stand, but every time he moved, his head swirled and buzzed. He clutched his hair and attempted to balance himself with his free hand, but that was no good; he couldn't see far enough to grab hold of anything. It's like I'm in a dream. I am dreaming, right? Wow, I can hardly keep my eyes open. Must be because I haven't slept in forever.

No! Got to stay awake. Open the door. Chrono pushed himself with every last ounce of strength, but he only managed to his knees before he fell over again. No, I'm not going to fall asleep. Of course, the more he told himself to stay awake, the more tired he felt, until his eyes were closed completely.

Just to rest them…

He could hardly feel his injured leg now – is it still there? – and his head was still buzzing. But that wasn't enough to stop him from slipping into another dream.

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When he opened his eyes again, the room was still dark and musty. He couldn't remember anything that had happened before. All he knew was he had woken from another dream… whatever the dream was. He couldn't remember what he had dreamed, but he could guess it was a nightmare because he could feel his heart beating hard and fast.

The door! The thought jarred him awake. How long had he been asleep? The room was dark… maybe he still had some time.

"Oh, good, you're finally awake." Lucca.

Chrono cleared his throat. "What?"

"We thought you were dead. Come on, get up, you lazy jerk."

Maybe it was all a dream. But where am I then? This definitely isn't home. "Where…" he clutched his head. "Ooh…"

"All right, if you can't get up, I'll help you." Chrono felt himself clutched by the elbows and yanked to his feet. "Get your legs under you. Hello? Legs. Like that. Okay, can you stand? Set? All right." She let go, and Chrono collapsed again. "You're hopeless." Then the voice was gone.

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Chrono couldn't tell how long it was until he heard another voice. "Hello? Chrono." Nadia. "Are you getting up anytime soon? Oh, never mind. Come on, it's time to go. As in home. We can go home. Hello? Don't play dead with me. Lucca says you're awake." He couldn't see her, but Chrono could imagine her arms folded across her chest and her face in a pout. "Get up. I don't want to be here any more than you do." There was a clicking sound. "Oh, come on. Your leg's not that bad. Once we get home you can fix it up anyway, so stop acting like such a martyr, all right? Now get up."

I must be dreaming again – no wonder they all got back so fast.

"Forget it, then. I'll be back with Lucca or something."

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Time seemed to escape Chrono. He wasn't even aware that he had closed his eyes again – only that he was now opening them. The room hadn't changed at all. He was still leaning against one of the broken computer consoles.

I've had the strangest dreams… now what? Chrono tried to stand, but his injured leg wouldn't cooperate. It was buzzing, as if the wound were filled with hornets. Fortunately he couldn't feel their sting. The wound was looking worse all the time. Now the red mark had turned a dark purple, and Chrono could see black patterns going up and down his leg, as if he were seeing his own veins.

He rolled over onto his stomach. If his legs wouldn't work, then the only way he could get to the door would be to drag himself with his hands. But every time he pulled himself along only a few inches, he felt like he had just sped about a hundred feet. His hands moved in quick, jerky motions, almost as if someone else were moving them. By the time Chrono reached the door, he felt an hour had passed, yet he couldn't remember how he got there. He craned his neck to look up, though it felt like he had just launched his head into the ceiling. What? The door was open. Perhaps it wasn't a dream. Or had it opened on its own while he slept?

Nadia answered his question. "There you are." She was right around the door, sitting on a comfortable pile of smashed and twisted metal. About ten feet from her was Lucca, bent double over another pile of smashed metal. "She's fixing Robo. Otherwise we could just get out of here. What are you waiting for? The door's open, come on in."

"Sorry," Chrono mumbled, dragging his legs through the door jamb.

He almost jerked when he heard a mechanical voice. "Is that Chrono?"

"Yes," Nadia smiled. "You remember Robo, right?"

Chrono nodded. I think. He motioned to the robot.

"Oh, right. We had a problem at the plant."

"Some other machines trashed him," Lucca interjected. "…in case you didn't notice."

"Other than that… well, it wasn't all that exciting. You probably had more fun by yourself, right Chrono?" Nadia shot him a look.

"Calm down, princess. He was out cold. Probably because of his bite… looked pretty bad."

"I know."

"And now we're all back. As soon as we fix you up, we can leave this miserable place."

There was a pause before the mechanical voice came again. "I agree."

"Yeah."

"And I will return to your home."

"Um… are you sure? We don't exactly live here."

"I know. But I have no family left, and I feel alone."

"Oh, come on. You are a machine. You can't have a family, and you shouldn't be feeling anything."

"I remember them all now. Are they dead, then?"

"I think almost everyone died."

"Was there an epidemic? I do not recall any of that. I was standing, and suddenly, I was here."

"No…" Lucca seemed to be searching for the right words. "It was a cataclysm. Like that myth… you know, the one planet that struck the earth and destroyed almost all life… some ten thousand years ago or something. Did you ever hear of that?"

"I may have."

"It was like that."

"Oh." Silence. "How did you find out, if you were not here?"

"I saw it."

"That does not make sense, but I believe you."

"I could be lying."

"I do not think you would lie." Silence. "Is it fixed yet?"

Lucca stood. "Hm, it looks okay. But some of your internal… machinery… looks a little messed up. Can you stand?"

"Let me try." There was a clank, then the sound of metal scraping metal. Finally, a whoosh of air, and the robot rose to its feet.

"Good, then. Chrono, Nadia, are you ready to leave?"

Nadia joined her and the robot without hesitation. Chrono worked himself to his feet – a task of about a minute – and hobbled over.

"Wait." The robot. "I would like to accompany you."

"Um… haven't we been over this?" Lucca folded her arms across her chest.

"I realize that. But you cannot just leave me here. You saw what I was supposed to be. They called me a traitor. I cannot stay any longer if there will be a war between man and machine."

"Whoa… don't take it too personally."

"I will not. If they spoke the truth, then I was constructed to destroy man. I could destroy you all here and now. But… I refuse. I am not like that. But I am certainly not a man."

"That's right. And you are certainly not going to come back to our home. You won't fit, trust me."

"I do trust you. But I do not trust your judgment. After all, you are the one who told me I cannot feel. Would you deny I felt pain when they thrashed me? I am an outcast now, if they are right. I am the enemy of one and a traitor to the other. Do you understand? I do not even understand myself. But if you must leave me, then please, shut me down."

"I… excuse me?" Lucca stammered.

"Shut me down. Or destroy me. Why would you fix me if you would only leave me to be destroyed again? Something deep inside me tells me this is not right."

"Oh come on. You weren't created to destroy mankind. Why would people make machines that would kill them? Give – "

"Hey!" Nadia interrupted. "I don't… listen, there's a gate just around the corner, and we're standing here arguing with a lump of metal."

The robot took a step toward her. "I apologize for inconveniencing you – see that? Did I just say that? Am I just a lump of metal to you? Fine. But I am coming with you." Lucca and Nadia just stared. "I am sorry. That was inappropriate. You have obviously suffered. I did not mean to capitalize on that. May I come with you?"

Nadia turned away, but Lucca threw up her arms. "Fine. What do I care? We'll just have to figure out what to do with you, that's all."

"I promise to be of service in any way I can."

"Well, you aren't invented where I come from, so I'm going to have a lot of lying to do."

"Lying? Is it not easier to tell the truth?"

"No, it's just… well – " Lucca looked at the others, then back to the robot. "Let's get out of here. All of us."

"Agreed."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, short chapter. Finally, after that beast of IX. ( Roman numerals superiority)

Okay, I'd like to know how I did with Robo. For one thing, I cut the factory sequence (mostly because I did not want to spend my time writing it), so you're missing any possible character development. If you have any questions about Robo, feel free to discuss them in the reviews, as I need to know how much you could figure out from this chapter. I'll try to answer questions later on, either in future updates, or in these author's notes.

One reviewer recently mentioned something about stereotypical characterization. Is that coming through? I've been trying to break a few stereotypes, mostly Chrono's, so is that working or am I just falling back on the one-dimensional character traits of the game? You can tell me what you think. I'm begging you, actually. If you ever think anything while reading this, tell me in a review! (Well, if it has to do with the story, duh.)

That's all. Not sure how long the next update will take. But I'm really looking forward to reviews... mostly becuase I haven't the slightest idea if what I write works unless YOU TELL ME.