Chapter XI – Time Apart from Time

Chrono had never been happier to see that glowing blue orb. His view was a bit lopsided, as he was draped over the robot's shoulder. "This is it?" Robo asked. "It is far too small for us to fit."

"That's what this is for," Lucca said, whipping out her key. "We are so out of here."

The portal opened to swallow them, and they eagerly stepped inside. All at once it seemed the last few days were only a dream, and they were looking into a window that led back to that future. They got a long look before the window started to shrink. But it seemed to be unwilling to take the four of them away – opening and closing, almost as if it were trying to close a bag that was overflowing. Every time one end closed, the other would pop open. Then that other end would close, and the first end opened again. Chrono looked at the others; they appeared to be talking, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. And they were all slowly turning blue – blending into the background. He looked at his own disappearing hands. I don't remember this the last time I went through here.

And then everything was black.

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

The gate never reopened. Everything surrounding the party remained black, except for a little circle of white light underneath them – their only sign that they were indeed somewhere. They couldn't see anything else, not even themselves.

"Wh – where are we?" Nadia asked. Her voice trembled a little, but more out of surprise than fear. The sound died away almost instantly.

"I don't care where we are," Lucca answered, her voice flat. "When are we?"

"That's what I meant."

Their attention was brought to the little circle of light again. Now it seemed to grow, shining straight up into the air a few feet. A small pillar of light. This illuminated the ground just under Lucca's feet – wooden planks. As they watched, the ground seemed to spread out before their feet. The light was not revealing more. Rather, it appeared they were watching someone painting, first a brush stroke of dark brown on this side, then on that side. Before long they knew they were standing on some kind of platform, wide in both dimensions. And on the edges was the railing, made of what appeared to be solid gold. What the railings were protecting them from, they could not guess. Everything outside the platform was pitch black – as if they were encased in a box. Directly in front of them was a gate – again made from solid gold, or so it appeared. They couldn't see anything beyond the gate, but they figured if there was anywhere to go, it was through that gate.

Nadia approached the gate. "Are we in some kind of building?"

"I don't think that matters," Lucca said. "I just want to know if we're back in our time or not."

"Well, we could be on the other side of the planet for all we know."

"Yes," Lucca put a hand to her chin. "But what is easier – traveling across a planet or traveling across 1000 years?"

"Right."

Nadia was the first through the gate, Lucca on her heels. They disappeared from view instantly, swallowed by the blackness. The blackness was not menacing. It was just there – an absence of light, as if the light hit a wall and could not penetrate any further. Robo didn't move until Lucca came back and gestured for him to follow. Then he, too, crossed through the gate.

Now the floor underneath became visible to Chrono, extending forward until revealing a small staircase going down. Then, from above, there appeared a point of light – about twenty feet ahead of them and a little to the right. The light slowly reached the surrounding floor, another large platform. Just to the left was a large door that led into more blackness. By the door there was a crate with a bucket on top. Straight ahead was an extension of the platform that led nowhere. In the center was an ordinary lamppost, the source of the light. And finally, to the right was a bowl of water on top of a pedestal.

It was this last item that attracted Robo. Though he had no use for water, he knew the humans did. Instinctively he carried Chrono to the bowl and set the boy down in a sitting position. Chrono quickly gripped the bowl and brought it to his face.

He brought it back down just as quickly, shielding his eyes with one free hand. The reflection in the bowl burned all the way into the back of his skull. Wait – reflection? There was no light aside from the lamppost behind him, and no matter how much Chrono tilted the bowl away, the glare still made his eyes sore.

Robo had also noticed this. "Amazing. I have never seen water like this. It is emitting light." Pause. "Perhaps it would be wise not to drink."

But it was too late. Chrono had put the edge of the bowl to his lips, this time with his eyes closed and one hand over his face. Even with the protection, he felt he was looking into a bright red sky. He drew the water into his mouth and swallowed. Right away he gasped and coughed, but didn't dare to remove his hand either from the bowl or his face. The water felt like liquid fire going down his throat and into his stomach. He could feel it coursing through every limb, every joint, every vein. He felt it most in his right leg, his wound throbbing and swelling in reaction.

Then all at once the fire was quenched, and Chrono only felt numbness, which proceeded to pleasure. It was as though the water were now tickling his insides. He began to laugh – short bursts of giggling followed by some loud guffaws. Now he set the bowl down and used both hands to push himself up. The motion made him giddy. He couldn't really tell what was happening, but he knew that he liked it. Instinctively he reached for the bowl again, not even realizing that he was standing on his wounded leg without feeling any pain. Robo grasped his arm – "Chrono, are you sure you are well? That water has not hurt you?" Chrono didn't respond but wriggled out of Robo's grasp.

He was just about to take another drink when Nadia cried, "Chrono! Look at your leg!" She sounded shocked. He looked down. So? There were two legs.

It took him a few seconds before he noticed that he could not find his wound. He even rubbed his leg, then clawed at it. Still, no pain – beyond that of scraping off some skin.

"Did the water do that?" Nadia wondered.

"No, what do you think?" Lucca shot back.

Robo held up a hand. "Impossible. Water is critical to the health and stability of humans, but it has no healing capabilities. In fact, no substance on earth can heal as quickly as you have just apparently been healed."

"Well," said Lucca, "then I'll just have to see for myself." She scurried down and scooped up the bowl, tilted her head back, and just let the water pour into her mouth.

Two seconds later, she had dropped the bowl and was on her knees, spewing out what water hadn't already gone down her throat. (Strangely, this water had no light emitting from it, while the water which had spilled out of the bowl when Lucca dropped it was too bright to look at.) Chrono could see the look of shock on her face, almost identical to the one he wore not one minute before. And, as quickly as that look had come, it was replaced by another look of shock – this time of extreme pleasure. Lucca chuckled once, then swooned and fell right over. She was awake, but she didn't look like she was moving anywhere for a while.

Nadia picked up the bowl. "Nadia, do not be a fool!" Robo cautioned, but she had already put the bowl to her mouth.

"Just one little sip," she said, then parted her lips and let some water in. Her eyes popped open, and she panted for breath (though she had enough sense to hold on to the bowl). She was certainly in pain, but obviously much better off than poor Lucca. And before long she was relaxed and sitting down against the railing, eyes half-closed, mouth smiling, arms in her lap.

Robo looked from one downed human to another and made a decision. He swooped up the bowl and set it back on the pedestal, just in time to keep Chrono from getting it. The boy had come out of his trance, and, still feeling a little tipsy, instinctively returned to give himself a boost. "No, Chrono. You are all fools," Robo admonished, sweeping away all the little puddles of water on the floor. "You would drink so much until you were dead."

The robot went to work reviving Lucca, who gazed with unseeing eyes in the direction of the miraculous water.

"Chrono, get me something to drink."

Chrono looked around him. He couldn't tell where the voice had come from.

"Bring me that bowl."

Nobody seemed to hear the voice but him, so Chrono ventured to speak. "Hello?"

"Chrono, get me something to drink."

"Who said that?" The voice didn't respond. "Hello?"

"Just bring me the bowl, please."

Chrono stood, but didn't go back to the water. Instead he started to look around for the source of the voice.

He jumped back – there, under the lamppost, was a human form. An old man, covered in robes and a hood. The man had blended into the lamppost, so Chrono had thought he was just another crate… or some object. He bowed his head, realizing that this man had been witness to everything.

"You've seen me. Now will you get me a drink?" The old man's voice sounded full of disappointment.

Now Robo noticed the old man. "No, sir. I am afraid it is a dangerous substance. You can see what has occured when we tried it ourselves."

The old man acknowledged the machine. "You are thoughtful - but I will manage." Robo sort of bowed, then went to retrieve the bowl. "No – I want Chrono to get it for me."

"Yes, sir."

Chrono got the bowl and brought it to the old man, who took it gently from his hands. "You could have said yes or no and I would have been satisfied. You won't always see the person who is talking to you next."

"Yes, sir," was all the boy could say. The feeling of intense pleasure had faded away, and he eyed the bowl of water hungrily. Wordlessly, the old man put the water to his lips and drank. Chrono could see the man struggling with pain, holding himself together. "It hurts when you drink it, too?"

"Always, but when I am done, I am clean. So are you."

Robo stepped to the old man. "Pardon me. I do not understand. How can you be clean by drinking that water?"

"Water?" the old man raised a white eyebrow. "This is not water, it is light. It is always surprising to have light coursing through your veins, rather than merely reflecting off them."

"Impossible. If that were light, it would have escaped... that is, you cannot contain light. It has no form and no mass - "

"You are quite right. What is your name?"

Robo bowed again. "R266-Y, sir." Then he added. "My friends have called me Robo."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it."

"What's going on?" Nadia's voice butted in. She seemed to be over her stupor, and noticed the new stranger. "How long have I been asleep?"

"You did not sleep," the old man replied. "You are just not used to light."

Nadia wrinkled her nose. "Okay."

"I do not understand," Robo stammered. "This is impossible. All of this is impossible."

The old man raised an arm – covered in a long brown sleeve – and said, "so is a thinking, feeling machine. You are not machine. And yet you are not human, for you would have already had a drink from the bowl. As you won't tell we what you are, I won't tell you how the light stays in the bowl. You'll just have to accept that as fact."

"Yes, sir."

"What did I miss?" Now Lucca staggered into the group. She looked like she had been recently rolled down a hill in a barrel. "Who is this guy?"

Nadia just shrugged. "Where are we?"

The old man smiled, his face wrinkling to form a hundred smiles. "I think you know the answer to that question."

"I've told you…" Lucca's voice trailed off. "Look, when are we?"

"I can't answer that."

"Just give me a year and I'll figure the rest out."

"Sorry. There is no number for this year, nor for this century, or millennium. In fact, there is no day for today, or hour for right now."

"What is this, then? The End of Time or something?"

"Oh, no. Surely you know better than that," the old man teased. "Time has no end, as much as a plane or a line has no end. This is a time apart from time. This is no time."

The four were silent.

"Allow me to explain. Take four lines and put them so each end connects with one other end. What do you have? A square. Four one-dimensional objects create one two-dimensional object. Now take six squares, and arrange them so they are four deep, and three wide – in a cross. You know, then, that if you fold those squares together, they form a cube. Six two-dimensional objects create one three-dimensional object. As we are not conscious of higher dimensions, we can only speculate further, but: take eight cubes and arrange them so they are four deep, three wide, and three long – a sort of pike. If those objects are folded together, you get one four-dimensional object. Continue and continue, and eventually you get to the dimension of time. Just as you can go back and forth on a line, you can go back and forth in time – only if you can step out of all the other dimensions. But we are all trapped on it, just as you are trapped on your planet. I assume you know now that your planet travels through the universe? Very well, you are traveling on a three-dimensional object through three-dimensional space, yet you do not feel it. Well, at the same time, you are traveling on time through time, and you cannot feel it. Do you follow me so far?

"Now you have managed to come out of time itself. Even to travel within time is a physical impossibility, so to exit that dimension is quite a feat. I suppose you were sent here because this is the place of 'least resistance.' As there is no time here, any gate can send you at any time. And I've noticed that, when traveling in large groups, it is easier to come here. Most trips are successful if there are few travelers.

"Well, enough about me. Tell me about yourselves. I assume this is no accident you all showed up at my place." The four stood and stared. "You don't think this is by chance you got here, do you? Have you ever seen anything happen by chance?" Nobody said anything, so the old man continued. "Chrono, when are you from?"

Chrono jerked. "Ah, er… Guardia."

The old man bent over comically and cupped his hand over his ear. "When?"

"The year 1000. Exactly."

"That's what I want to hear. And your friends?"

"We're also from the year 1000," Nadia muttered. "Uh, except for Robo. He's from the future."

"Future, you say. Interesting. Yet to him, it must be the present. You ladies have names, I assume."

"Nadia. And that's Lucca."

"Thank you."

"Wait!" Lucca interjected. "What about your name?"

"My what?"

"Your name."

She hardly got the words out before the old man continued. "You must be on your way. It is not safe to stay here long. You have got over the wall of time, and now you cannot reflect any blows."

"What?"

"Oh, all you have to do is stand in that pillar of light up there. That is our gate. You may go to any time you wish, provided it is open to you. That is – certain times are opened for some reason or another. So, don't worry about going to the wrong time period. Chances are the only open doors lead to your respective homes. And if not, you'll easily recognize the wrong ones."

Nobody moved. "What are you all standing here for? I have stopped talking."

Lucca left first. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself and simply backed toward the other platform with the pillar of light. Robo followed her, and Chrono followed Robo. Nadia started to leave, but then asked "before we go, may we have another drink from your water?" The old man shook his head and smiled.

They were all on the platform when they heard his voice again. "Wait. I didn't realize… that is, I forgot to say. The door behind me. It's unlocked. You may go through." Again, nobody moved. "I wasn't merely pointing this out. Go. Beyond the door."

Lucca gave the others a quick glance, as if to say, well, what do you want? Go home right now, or stay here and look behind the door. Silently they all agreed it wouldn't hurt to stay an extra minute or two and look. Though the old man said the place wasn't safe, they had yet to see any sign of danger. And if they did, they'd just run back and go home. Perhaps, also, they would get another drink of the mysterious water.