A/N: Yes, I'm back - and at long last tying up that loose end I mentioned at the end of the last chapter. It's only been five stories since then, so it's probably about time.
The first of the power nodes wasn't far away from where I was, and once I'd reactivated the little Timeshift stone getting there was simply a matter of following the path. All I had to do was lob a bomb at a standing statue, which caused it to pull away from the wall and reveal the node – and once I got closer, a rather startled ancient robot.
It stood between me and the node, and while startled by my sudden appearance, it seemed to take this guard duty seriously and steadfastly remained in my way. Rather than try force first, I fell back on the alternative other Heroes have frequently used – white lies.
"I was hoping I'd find someone here," I told it. "I wonder if you can help me. I've been told to reconfigure these power nodes in such a way that the entrance to the underground route to the opens. I don't pretend to understand exactly why, I'm not really much of a technical person, I'm just doing what I was told needed to be done."
"You look a bit suspicious," it said warily. "I don't think I should be telling you how to access the remote power nodes. So don't even think of trying to get past me to stab or fiddle with the device!"
So much for that approach. I thought about it a bit, absent-mindedly tapping the Timeshift crystal on my chin, which accidentally triggered it and left me completely in the present, with no past around at all.
And with the remains of an ancient robot, still stood guard over the time-worn power node. It was too old in this condition to do anything with, but maybe I didn't need to do anything with it in the present.
Now I'm sure Tails at least won't approve of what I did next, and I had that feeling even at the time. But I went ahead and did it anyway. I looked at the remains of the robot and drew a rather crude diagram in the sand of how it looked like it was arranged. Then I took it apart and moved the pieces up to where the last one had been, the one that had told me about the power nodes and painstakingly recreated it as close to its original state as I could.
Just to be sure I hadn't made a mistake, I left my Timeshift stone beside it and activated it, then moving clear of its influence to where the ones I'd uncovered were. The robot reactivated, looking around in bewilderment, but clearly functional. All it took was a double-tap on the stones besides me to turn off my stone, and make sure I was once again left without the past. I didn't need the robot running back to its post just yet, and as long as I didn't have any stone bringing back the past, time in the past didn't flow.
Sure enough, when I retrieved my Timeshift stone and activated it back at the power node, the robot was gone – and the robot itself had given me the clue when it mentioned not stabbing it. There was a narrow slot in the front of the node I could fit my sword into. From there I just twisted, hoping I could find the right position before the robot caught up. A quarter turn to the left and it retracted into the device, causing a pale blue wing to appear on the top of the now humming node.
One down, two to go. On my way away from it, I noticed with some interest that the remains of the robot I'd moved had also moved – even though it hadn't been in an area under the influence of a Timeshift stone. It showed me that it was quickly heading back to its post, and would probably be rather upset that I'd got around it, but have no real proof it was me.
Fi directed me to the next power node in the far north of this part of the desert. In the past, there was a building here, long since missing in the present. Since in this area there was no sand flowing, I left the stone inactive so I wouldn't have to worry about suddenly walking into a building that, technically, wasn't there any more.
A large crack in the worn, rounded cliff here was blown up to reveal another small cavern, this one still showing the carved designs on the interior walls. Further inside, old metal walkways and supports created a large chamber. Not even the best structure could keep out the desert sands forever though, and the lower floor inside was covered in it, along with a pair of the shelled beasts.
Fi's persistent tugging pointed me toward the centre of the room, where with the help of a bomb tossed from one hand and the Hook Beetle launched from the other, I was able to completely ignore the beasts and drop a bomb right on the rocks that I judged Fi to be directing me to, uncovering another Timeshift stone.
This one was triggered to transform the area entirely. Old, grey metal turned bright and shiny, platforms in the sand turned to painted red platforms above a lower floor, the shelled beasts turned into tiny little things, there was even a set of stairs leading from the lower area to where I'd come in.
I heard the sounds of Technoblins wandering around down there, and immediately decided to ignore them unless I had to do anything about them, so I crossed on top of the platforms instead. At the far end of the room there was a series of metal bars blocking the way, along with what appeared to be a large pressure pad next to it. A Technoblin was wandering around here, apparently greatly puzzled by the fact that the pad moved when it stepped on it, and moved back afterwards. It prodded with its electrified weapon, causing the pad's attached device to briefly light up – startling it and making it jump back.
Taking care not to alert the puzzled Technoblin, I dropped down behind it and quickly ran it through so it wouldn't be a pest, then I found one of the tiny, sparking shells that were all that was left of the bigger ones and kicked it down there to avoid getting shocked by it too.
It powered the device, in turn causing the bars to slide upwards without even a squeak, allowing me to reach the back room where the second power node was, and this time with no guard robot. I guessed that this one would probably be the same as the last, so made another quarter turn to the left. This one lit up a yellow lightning bolt as it whirred into life.
And Tails is always telling me being a technician is hard. I didn't have any trouble, and I didn't have any real guidance. Sometimes I wonder if he doesn't over-complicate things just so he doesn't have to explain.
Got you that time, huh Tails?
The last of the three generators was further to the east, and aside from one brief area I could ignore the sand entirely here. I even managed to avoid most of the various inconvenient monsters on the way and uncovered a half-buried bird statue, as if to mark where I needed to be. Before I shifted aside the old stone door right beside it, I also hauled on a nearby lever that, creaking and groaning, opened a gate nearby that would make it easier to get back to where I'd first entered the area.
Inside was very similar to the area surrounding the second power node. Piles of sand, dull old metal forming platforms and supports and a couple more shell beasts. The room was much longer than the other had been, and the sand flowed toward the far end. The platforms didn't extend the whole way either, although along the left wall a stack of various old crates made a route. Made of metal though, and with no easy way to cross.
As I had last time, I tossed a bomb, caught it with the Hook Beetle and cleared the rocks concealing the Timeshift stone, then triggered to send the whole place to the past. The sand vanished, the metal shined new again and the shell beasts turned back into their miniature forms, as I'd expected. What I hadn't expected was for the far end of the room, except for narrow area at the far side, to be one giant pit. Once again there was a set of metal bars and a pressure plate at the far end. The two shell beasts were here on this side of the room, and I had no means of getting them over. Well, maybe the Hook Beetle could carry one of them in this smaller form. But how was I going to get over?
If I reverted the area to the present, I could defeat a shell beast and use it's shell to cross, of course. I needed them both over there, but if I took them both over there, they'd drop into the pit. I thought about it a bit, then irritably muttered to myself, "I need to be in both times at the same time. I don't suppose there's a way to do that, is there?" I asked, not really expecting a response.
Fi did in fact have one, and showed up to give it to me. "I believe there is a possibility Master. Having had time to study the effects of the Timeshift crystal you have carried with you, it is possible that it might be used to cause a duplicate of yourself that would exist in this past state, while also remaining linked to you and able to handle what actions you require in the past. However I cannot offer any projection of the success of such an action, nor can I predict what side-effects may be experienced."
"But you could do it and save me so much trouble, right?"
Fi nodded rather reluctantly.
"But you don't approve, do you?"
"There is no way to be certain of the results Master."
"Other than actually doing it," I pointed out. "And it'll probably make things easier for us. If Link objects, we can tell him we did it only using the tools and options provided. It's not as if we're doing anything un-Heroic, right?"
Of course, if you consider the kind of things that happened as a result of what we were about to do, you'd be forgiven for disagreeing with me.
Fi clearly still had reservations about it, so I added, "If you can, see if you can find a way to undo it later – in case it gets unsafe or something. Like carrying around the crystal itself."
She sighed – the one and only time I've ever known her to do so – and instructed me to revert the room to the present, activate the portable crystal, then leave make sure I had a clearly defined shadow and leave it there.
To this day I still don't know exactly what she did. I can only assume she drew on the shard of divine power Hylia infused her with and did... something. She insisted that I had to be facing away from my shadow as a precaution – against what, she didn't say.
I was just starting to wonder if I really should have insisted on this when I heard my own voice come from behind me, gruffly saying, "About time too. I thought you were going to take all day creating me."