Author Topic: Chrono Helix (script)  (Read 51742 times)

Sailor Phantom

  • Porrean (+50)
  • *
  • Posts: 93
  • I am Sailor Phantom of Middle Earth!
    • View Profile
    • Sailor Phantom's DA
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #240 on: November 23, 2010, 03:54:59 am »
Serge:
   (I guess that confirms it:
   his brain is in his stomach.)


That was hilarious. :lol:

alfadorredux

  • Entity
  • Mystical Knight (+700)
  • *
  • Posts: 746
  • Just a purple cat
    • View Profile
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #241 on: November 23, 2010, 07:18:21 pm »
Thanks. (I've got to admit, though--I really do wonder where Skelly puts what he eats. Especially given that he gets his third tech from a plate of pasta...)

alfadorredux

  • Entity
  • Mystical Knight (+700)
  • *
  • Posts: 746
  • Just a purple cat
    • View Profile
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #242 on: December 05, 2010, 07:59:40 pm »
Bits and pieces: Skelly's and Luccia's third techs, Serge
talks to Belthasar, commentary on the Epoch II, Magus meets
Sneff, Starky retrieves his gun from a fish, the party rescues
a Beeba, brief commentary on the (dead) hydra, Riddel and
Dario agree to open an orphanage, and Leena gets re-recruited.
I ended up cutting the premature-attempt-at-the-Chrono-Cross
sequence because I couldn't think of any reason Serge would
tell Steena about the altar.



16. Fragments of a Dream

===========================================================
The Dragon's Tail, Termina (Home)
===========================================================

[Speak to the barkeep with Skelly in the party, and...]

 [Barkeep]
   I tell you, this town's really
   become a cheerless place.
   I just wanna pack up shop and
   fly over to another town and
   say goodbye to this place...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If the Save Marbule quest has been completed]

Serge:
   Maybe you could try Marbule.

 [Barkeep]
   The demi-human town? I didn't
   think they liked humans very
   much...

Serge:
   They're a lot friendlier now
   than they used to be. And I
   don't think they have a
   restaurant. (Although now that
   I think about it, the Zelbess
   probably has some cooks
   aboard...)

 [Barkeep]
   Hmm...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skelly:
   Hot Mama, I wanna have
   one of your squid gut
   pasta...

 [Barkeep]
   Hmm...
   I wish I could, but I'm out
   of supplies because of the
   fuss around here recently...

Serge:
   (Well, okay, but...squid guts?
   There are lots of squid around
   here. Am I the only person in
   Termina who knows how to toss a
   net out the back of a boat?)

Skelly:
   O-Oh man, that's uncool...

 [Barkeep]
   ......
   Hey, don't look so sad!
   OK, I know!
   Let me try to cook something
   up for you somehow!

Skelly:
   R-Really!?

[A little later, the barkeep brings out Skelly's
pasta and sets it down in front of him.]

Serge:
   (...I don't think I want to
   watch this--I mean, he could at
   least put a bag or a bowl or
   something inside his ribcage
   to keep us from having to see--
   Ugh, I don't even want to think
   about it.)

 [Barkeep]
   How's it taste?

[Skelly digs in]

Skelly:
   ...This texture,
   the balance of sweetness
   and bitterness, this is it!!!

Serge:
   (How can he tell? He doesn't
   even have a tongue!)

Skelly:
   Man, I never thought
   that I'd ever eat pasta
   like this again!
   I'm a happy soul!!!
   
 [Barkeep]
   You're exaggerating too much...
   Come to think of it,
   I remember a boy long ago
   who loved that same dish.
   He'd keep on eating
   more and more, until I
   was afraid that he'd drop
   from eating too much!
   Actually, he got pretty
   fat because of it...
   I wonder what that
   boy is doing now...
   Oh? Hey!
   What's the matter?
   If you cry too hard, you're
   going to turn that into
   tear-water pasta!

Serge:
   (And he doesn't have
   any eyes, either!

   ...I give up. Nothing else I
   run into these days makes sense,
   so why should this?)

Skelly:
   Sniff, thanks, hot mama.
   I'll always remember this
   place and your cooking!
   
 [Barkeep]
   Haha, you can come
   back anytime!
   I'll whip up something
   special for you again!

 [System]
   Skelly now remembers
   OnARoll!
   
   And pledges not to
   waste his life ever
   again!

===========================================================
Basements, Viper Manor (Another)
===========================================================

[Upon examining a certain slime...]

Luccia:
   Vonderful!
   Dis must be a new
   type of amoeba.
   Vot life force...

   I must incubate it
   right away...
   Ooh hoho hoho...
   
 [System]
   Received Luccia's
   TestAmeba!

Serge:
   (Why am I having this vision
   of a homicidal blob of goo the
   size of El Nido...?)

===========================================================
Library, Viper Manor (Another)
===========================================================

[If Magus is not in the party, and they go to the library,
Belthasar will be marking time there. Talking to him
produces...]

Prophet:
   The Porre soldiers
   have withdrawn from
   Viper Manor.

Serge:
   That's a relief. (Maybe
   Viper and the others can
   come back now.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Serge is still Lynx]

Prophet:
   You cannot continue
   in that form forever,
   Serge.

Serge:
   Um, why not? (I mean, I don't
   LIKE being stuck in Lynx's body,
   but it isn't going to kill me...
   is it?)

Prophet:
   It is not good for you,
   or for the world.

Serge;
   (Oh, for crying out loud...)
   Look, could you either tell me
   something USEFUL or change the
   subject?

Prophet:
   Perhaps if you return to
   Fort Dragonia, where
   all of this happened,
   you may be able to
   regain your true form.

Serge:
   (Sigh. I guess it's time to
   visit another one of El Nido's
   great vacation spots, then.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

===========================================================
Neo Epoch Room, Viper Manor (Another)
===========================================================

[This requires examining the Neo-Epoch with Luccia, Starky,
and Magus in the party...]

Luccia:
   Vot is dis?
   The technology is amazing...
   It is definitely not
   of dis world.

Starky:
   It is not from Staarky's world
   either, althoough the technology
   is almoost advanced eenough.
   How did it get heere?

Magus:
   Hmph. It's from this world--
   but not from this time. I'm
   surprised that Belthasar
   left it here without a more
   powerful guard than that
   thing in the corner.

Luccia:
   De old man made it? You
   are certain?

Magus:
   This isn't the first of his
   time travel devices that
   I've seen.

Starky:
   Tiime travel?
   Is this an
   antiprooton driive?
   It can't bee...
   EEven our technology
   hasn't advanced this far...

Magus:
   I told you that Belthasar was
   considered a genius. And he
   would have had been able to
   use all the resources of the
   future to help him build this.

Starky:
   Staarky...neeeds to think.

Luccia:
   T'ink? I vould like to
   dissassemble it, but now
   is not de time.

===========================================================
Backstage, S.S. Zelbess (Home)
===========================================================

[This scenelet occurs if Sneff is addressed while Guile is
in the party. Note that, because Magus sticks to Serge like
glue, this means that he's also in the party.]

Sneff:
   This can't be...!
   Are you the rising star off
   the Magic Guild, Guile...!?
   What are you doing in
   a place like this!?
   Iff you're looking ffor work,
   I've got some great connections!

Guile:
   Hmph...
   I have no interest in
   simple hand tricks...
   I seek only enigma
   beyond human perception...

Sneff:
   Nuff!
   Every magic has a trick! That's
   what makes it interesting!

Magus:
   You're an ignorant fool.
   Magic is neither a trick nor an
   amusement for the credulous.

Sneff:
   Didn't your mothers ever teach
   either off you any manners?

Serge:
   Uh, Sneff? Don't provoke him.

Sneff:
   Why not? He's just some pufffed-
   up Mystic.

Serge:
   Because this guy can take out
   a hydra all by himself. If you
   get on his nerves, he might blow
   a hole in the ship and leave us
   all to swim home. (And that's
   if we're lucky!)

Magus:
   Hmph. Don't worry--I have no
   intention of wasting my energies
   on this sorry specimen. It's
   merely that it pains me to see
   the depths to which the human
   race has fallen since Zeal
   plummeted from the sky.

Sneff:
   Nuff! You talk as though you
   think you're the great Magus!

Guile:
   He is.

Sneff:
   He's certainly pulled the wool
   over your eyes! But I'll be
   surprised iff he's able to
   keep it up ffor long. No human
   is capable off the stufff Magus
   is supposed to have done.

Serge:
   (I wonder if he realizes that
   contradicts what he said about
   Magus being a Mystic. You can't
   have it both ways...)

===========================================================
Arni (Home)
===========================================================

Starky:
   Where did youu
   catch this fish?
   
 [Man]
   Oh, this here sawfish?
   I caught it near the
   El Nido Triangle.
   Why do you want to know?
   By the way, shorty,
   you alright with that
   fish bowl over your head?
   Your face is all blue.

Starky:
   Noo problem foor Starky.
   Blue is fiine with mee.

 [Man]
   But...

Serge:
   There's nothing wrong with
   him, Kyl--trust me. That's
   just his normal skin colour.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Serge is in his own body]

[Kyl]
   Um... Okay, Serge, if you
   say so.

Serge:
   (I guess it isn't his fault--
   he just hasn't been exposed to
   enough Weird to take it in
   stride.)

Starky:
   Doon't try this at
   hoome, thoough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Serge is still Lynx]

[Kyl]
   Hey, how did you know my
   name?!

Serge:
   (Oh, hell, I keep forgetting...)
   Sorry, but it would be too hard
   to explain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Starky:
   If youu caught it neear
   the El Nido Triiangle,
   then that thing insiide
   must bee miine.
   
Starky:
   Can Starky taake
   back what's miine?
 
[Kyl]
   There's something inside
   that thing?

Serge:
   (How else did he think
   it grew to be this size?!)

[Kyl]
   Well, if it's yours,
   be my guest.
 
 [System]
   Starky received
   Plasma Pistol!

Starky:
   Starky am suppoosed to
   saay something graateful,
   coorrect?
   Youu are welcome.
 
 [Man]
   Hey, you have great
   manners, shorty.
   But that's my line.
   Just a thanks will do.
   There aren't too many
   like you these days.
   I wish kids would be
   more courteous like you.

 [System]
   Starky also learned
   Thanks!
   But who cares?
   Right...?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Serge is still Lynx]

[Kyl]
   That Serge, now...he never says
   "thank you". I don't know what
   Marge is thinking, letting him
   get away with that.

Serge:
   (It isn't because I don't want
   to, it's because Leena keeps
   hauling me away before I can!
   Of course, she can get away with
   it...everyone cuts her more
   slack because she's a girl.
   Sometimes it drives me nuts.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serge:
   Starky, they don't say "thank
   you" where you come from?
   (Wherever THAT is.)

Starky:
   Staarky's peeople use the saame
   word for giving and receeiving.
   Having two different things to
   saay is confusing.

Serge:
   Um, okay, whatever.

===========================================================
Hydra Marshes (Another)
===========================================================

[Note: I didn't bother hunting down video for this section,
so branches and stage directions may be a bit off.]

[The party enters the area where the Beeba attacks them in
Hydra Marsh (Home) and sees a Beeba being picked on by a
couple of goblins.]

Glenn:                     | Nikki:                 | Luccia:
   So dishonourable, to    |    That's weird--are   |    Interesting...
   send several fighters   |    they fighting? And  |    Dere has been little
   to attack someone who   |    two against one?    |    study done on de
   is alone...but I        |    That is really not  |    behaviour patterns of
   suppose honour has      |    cool.               |    de monsters here...
   little meaning for      |                        |    I did not know dey
   monsters.               |                        |    fought amongst demselves.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fargo:                     | Grobyc:                | Skelly:
   Arr, what be happenin'? |    They-attack-two-on- |    Hey, what do those two
   Looks like those two    |    one. The-yellow-    |    think they're doin'?
   have it in for the      |    creature-must-be    |    Two against one isn't
   other one...            |    strong.             |    funny!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zoah:                      | Serge:
   I DIDN'T KNOW THE       |    What's going on there?
   MONSTERS HERE FOUGHT    |    (It almost looks like those
   AMONGST THEMSELVES.     |    monsters are fighting each
   HOW BIZARRE.            |    other...I don't get it.)

Serge:
   The question is, should we
   step in to help the one
   who's getting beaten up?

   ~~~Help it                |    ~~~It's just a monster...
                             |
Serge:                       | Serge:
   (It might be a bit silly, |    (Let's face it--if we save
   but I'm not happy seeing  |    it now, we'll probably just
   even a monster get beaten |    end up having to kill it
   up like that...)          |    later.)
                             |
                             | [Scene ends]

[Presumably, the party performs some action at this point which causes
the goblins to become aware of them]

 [SnobGoblin]
   What be a human doin' here?
 
 [SnibGoblin]
   It don't matter!
   They be our enemy, just
   like that other one!
   Let's get 'em!
   This be our forest!

Serge:
   Sorry, but we couldn't just
   stand around and watch you
   beat up on someone, even if
   he is another monster. It's
   funny, though--I would have
   thought you guys were all
   friends.

 [SnobGoblin]
   What you be lookin' at?

 [SnibGoblin]
   He be not one of us.
   And neither be you!
   We be finishin' him off later!

[Combat. When the player wins...]

BubbaBeeba:
   Thank you for helping me.
   You beeba brave.
   This beeba a token of
   my appreciation.
   It beeba '"Ancient Fruit,"' which
   grows in Ancient Ground.
 
 [System]
   [Member] received
   Ancient Fruit.
   
BubbaBeeba:
   I don't know if that beeba
   to your liking, but that
   fruit beeba tasting good.
   If you run out, don't
   beeba-fraid to ask for more.
   I have plenty and I owe
   you one for helping me.

Serge:
   Um... Okay, thanks. (But I
   think I'd have to be pretty
   hungry to eat this! Fruits
   with spiky bits always kind
   of make me wonder when they're
   going to attack me...)

===========================================================
Empty Tree, Hydra Marshes (Another)
===========================================================

[I would assume this scenelet occurs only if the standard
Save Kid path was taken after Viper Manor, and the Hydra
killed. Again, I'm too damned lazy to see if I can find any
video.]

 [Dwarf]
   Humans...mankind...
   
   ~ ...This forest...is dead... ~
   ~
   ~  Our Hydra...perished...  ~
   ~ Our hatred...of mankind ~
   ~
   Listen to the planet's woes...
   ~
   ~~~~   Humans...   ~~~~

Serge:
   (I still don't know if killing
   the Hydra was really the right
   thing to do. Letting the forest
   die or letting...Kid die...
   maybe neither was really right.
   But there's no way to change the
   past.)

   Let's get going. There's nothing
   we can do here.

===========================================================
Viper Manor (Home)
===========================================================

[Requires the Dario sidequest to have been completed.
Remodelling of the ruined manor has begun. If the party drops
by without Dario, but with one of the other Dragoons (that is,
Glenn, Karsh, ZOAH, Marcy, or Radius)...]


Dario:
   Hmmm...
   Well, I did say I would
   open the doors to all the
   children who lost their parents
   during this past struggle...
   However, this remodeling job
   is a little too...

Riddel:
   We have to bear
   in mind that children
   will be living here.
   Why not officially make
   this place into an orphanage?

Karsh:                     | Glenn:              | Marcy:
   Whaat?! An ORPHANAGE?   |    An orphanage...  |    So you, like, think
   That's crazy...which    |    Brother, tell me |    you can look after a
   means that you should   |    what I can do to |    couple of hundred
   just jump in and do it  |    help.            |    brats all by yourselves?
   without thinkin' too    |                     |    ...Why not? Give it a
   hard! If it's you two,  |                     |    shot. Just don't come
   it'll work out.         |                     |    crying to me for help
                           |                     |    if it looks like you've
                           |                     |    bitten off more than you
                           |                     |    can chew!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radius:                    | Zoah:
   Oh-hoh! An excellent    |    AN ORPHANAGE... WELL,
   idea! The mansion is    |    WITH THIS WORLD'S
   certainly of no further |    GENERAL VIPER AND LADY
   value as a fortress...  |    RIDDEL GONE, DARIO HAS
   If you need help, come  |    THE GREATEST RIGHT TO
   to Arni and I'll give   |    DECIDE WHAT SHOULD BE
   you some pointers!      |    DONE WITH THE PROPERTY,
                           |    AS THE SENIOR SURVIVING
                           |    DRAGOON.

Riddel:
   Good, then--it's
   settled!

Serge:
   (Heh. Poor Dario. The look
   on his face...I guess Riddel
   is his Leena.)

===========================================================
Arni (Another)
===========================================================

[This can only take place after Serge has gotten his own body
back. If the party approaches the gateway leading to the chief's
hut and its environs, Serge stops, cups his hands around his
mouth, and tips his head back.]

Serge:
   HEY, LEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNAAAAA!

[villager blocking the gate]
   What the--?!

[Leena]
   Out of my way, if you know
   what's good for you!

[The villager quickly moves aside, and Leena steps through into
the main part of the village. She stops opposite Serge and plants
her hands on her hips.]

Leena:
   Well, you certainly took your
   own sweet time getting back
   here!

[Serge rubs the back of his head.]

Serge:
   Um...sorry. (Argh, I should have
   stayed away.) Would it help if I
   I've been worrying about you?

[Leena looks away for a moment]

Leena:
   Hmm... Well, maybe a little.

[She turns back to face him again.]

Leena:
   Well, what are we waiting for?
   Let's go! I've been cooped up
   here ever since I got back, and
   now I want to get out and give
   Lynx some payback!

[System]
   Leena rejoins your party!

Serge:
   (It doesn't matter whether it's
   my world or this one--Leena is
   always the same.)



And that's it, folks. Next time we will (finally) go on to chapter 24.

Katie Skyye

  • Poet of El Nido
  • Acacia Deva (+500)
  • *
  • Posts: 575
  • And you'll never catch her...
    • View Profile
    • Katie Skyye's Deviantart
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #243 on: December 08, 2010, 01:12:21 am »
<3 Good stuff!

'owever:

Quote
Serge:
   Um...sorry. (Argh, I should have
   stayed away.) Would it help if I
   I've been worrying about you?

"I I've" is maybe too many I's.

alfadorredux

  • Entity
  • Mystical Knight (+700)
  • *
  • Posts: 746
  • Just a purple cat
    • View Profile
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #244 on: December 08, 2010, 09:10:12 am »
Argh, how did that happen? It should be "Would it help if I said I've..."

alfadorredux

  • Entity
  • Mystical Knight (+700)
  • *
  • Posts: 746
  • Just a purple cat
    • View Profile
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #245 on: January 24, 2011, 08:14:45 pm »
Toughest. Chapter. Yet. It was one of the longer ones to begin with, and riddled with infodump
monologues that I needed to break up at least a little, which meant that I ended up expanding
it to half again its original length. Posting will take place in four parts.

So. Ghosts that talk in short lectures. Magus doing some infodumping of his own, but not quite
managing to take over the chapter because of the way Serge goes ballistic at the end. Did I
mention the infodumps? Sigh. Anyway, this first part is mostly infodumps and people getting
ticked off at FATE, Belthasar, and the ghosts, not necessarily in that order.



24. The Arbiter of Time - On whom the three Fates smile... Part I

Max recruits: Lynx-Serge, (Magus and Guile) OR (Glenn and Nikki), Sprigg,
        Radius, Norris, Skelly, Karsh, ZOAH, Marcy, Fargo, Starky, Grobyc,
        Luccia, Dario, Leena.
Recruitable: None.


===========================================================
Fate Distortion
===========================================================

[When the boat enters one of the hot spots inside the Sea of Eden,
the following text appears]

 [Dragon God]
   I deem you worthy
   of entering the
   Sea of Eden...

   Let the path be known
   for the ones facing fate...

Serge:
   (Why are the dragons always
   so fascinated with fate? Or...
   should that be FATE?)


[The Relics fly out of Serge's hands and splash down in the bright
spot in the water. A column of light shoots up and...]

[System]
   PLEASE INSERT DISC 2.

[After the system's ZOAH IMITATION has been dealt with, the light
spreads until the entire screen is white. When it fades, the party
is in the Sea of Eden proper.]

===========================================================
Fate Islands
===========================================================

[The three fate islands (Past, Present, and Future) are pretty
similar to one another. Each takes the form of a plaza with a
statue looming over it and something that looks like a Record
of Fate floating at the center of the plaza. When the party
examines the floating thing, text appears, slightly different
depending on the island.]

   Atropos - Cutting the thread of life |    Lachesis - Measuring the thread of life
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Clotho - Spinning the thread of life

Serge: [upon seeing his first inscription]
   (Well, whatever. I guess it
   must have meant something to
   the people who wrote it here.)

[On the first two islands, the floating thing then flies away into
the distance. If the party has reached the third island, the two
floaters from the other islands fly in instead, and the three do
a kind of, er, Triforce dance as a voice speaks out of nowhere.]

 [?]
   Art thou worthy of accepting fate...?

Serge:
   ACCEPTING it? I don't care
   whether it's fate or FATE that
   you're talking about--either
   way, I'm going to make it wish
   it had stayed out of my life!
   I'm getting tired of being
   pushed around.

[The three floaters merge into a monster.]

Magus:                 | Luccia:                    | Grobyc:
   Hmph. Another puny  |    Anodder monster?        |    Grobyc-does-not-care-why-it-
   obstacle. What a    |    Vas dis intended        |    is-attacking. If-this-is-a-
   waste of time.      |    as a test?              |    test, we-will-pass-it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karsh:                 | Starky:                    | Marcy:
   Another monster?    |    Staarky thinks          |    Did they, like, have a problem
   Guess I'd better    |    this is not a very      |    with door-to-door salespeople
   get my axe ready!   |    civiliized guardian.    |    around here or something?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fargo:                 | Sprigg:                    | Guile:
   Arr, Lynx must have |    Lynx must 'ave taken    |   It is something of a mystery how
   set this guardian   |    special painz to leave  |   Lynx could have passed through
   on us as a test!    |    this in one piece so it |   here without destroying this
                       |    could get in our way!   |   creature.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norris:                | Zoah:                      | Leena:
   Is this a test set  |    IS THIS A TEST FROM THE |    Well, Serge, you still know how
   by those who built  |    FUTURE, OR DID LYNX SET |    to show a girl a good time!
   this place?         |    IT UP?                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glenn:                 | [Yes, I now need 11-13 alternates for every [Member]
   Is this some sort   | line. Argh.]
   of test?            |

[Combat. When the party wins, the island shakes for a moment.
Chronopolis is now accessible.]

===========================================================
Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

 [Plaque on statue in entryway]
   Chronopolis Military Research Center
   '"May there be everlasting peace
   ~for the children of the world."'
   ~~~~~2400 A.D.

Magus: [if present]
   How very naive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If the party approaches the two benches to the
right of the statue, they overhear the two ghosts
there having the following conversation...]

 [Ghost]
   I heard group 3B's experiment
   today is going to be a biggie.
   They're releasing the Flame's
   lock-level to D in order to trace
   the counter-time effect...
   
 [Ghost]
   Yeah, but based on previous
   experiments, I'm sure it'll
   work out just fine.
   During their simulation,
   FATE guaranteed that they
   would be able to use the
   Flame as an up-link to
   extract the anti-annihilation
   energy associated with it.
   Don't worry, it'll be a success.
   
 [Ghost]
   I hope so...

Serge:
   ("Counter-time effect"? "Anti-
   annihilation energy"? What the
   heck are they talking about?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[And speaking to one of the ghosts on the
entryway benches after having elicited the
first dialogue produces this...]

 [Ghost]
   Once we're done with today's
   experiment, we have that long
   awaited 3 week vacation.
   I'm heading back to Zenan
   to spend time with my family.
   My daughter's birthday is
   coming up, you know.
 
 [Ghost]
   You're from Medina, right?
   I've been on this island
   for a year and a half now.
   Man, I've had enough.
   Aside from the man-made island
   with this research center,
   there isn't a single island
   in the sea of El Nido.

 [Ghost]
   Once we're able to counter
   time successfully at will, we'll
   have full control over time.
   We'll find out soon enough.

 [Ghost]
   You said it.
   I can't believe we've
   come this far...

Serge:
   Wait a minute--"not a single
   island"? But there are lots
   of islands here!

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   There are now, but in the
   original timeline where the
   world fell to Lavos, only Gaia's
   Navel existed in this part of
   the ocean. I flew over the area
   more than once, and saw no other
   land. The remaining islands must
   be artificial, just like the one
   on which we're now standing.

Serge:
   (I'm not about to say it to him,
   but the whole idea gives me a
   funny feeling, like the islands
   are going to collapse out from
   under us...)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is not present, someone else has to chime in
with less definitive information...]

Sprigg:                  | Norris:                       | Starky:
   One of them just said |    If they were able          |    Maaking iislands isn't
   something about a     |    to manufacture one         |    difficult. Staarky thinks
   "man-made island".    |    island, I see no           |    they just built a few
   Maybe there'z more    |    reason why more would      |    more big piiles of rock.
   than one...?          |    not have been possible.    |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luccia:                  | Fargo:                        | Leena:
   Ve can construct      |    Arr, how many boatloads    |    They must have dumped a
   islands even now.     |    of rock would ye need      |    whole bunch of big rocks
   Dey are simply big    |    to build just one          |    in the water, like we did
   lumps of dirt and     |    island? Must have taken    |    in Arni when they were
   rock, after all.      |    them years to move it all! |    lengthening the dock.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radius:                  | Karsh:                        | Dario:
   An artificial         |    Ah, who cares where the    |    I know that the footings of
   archipelago... It     |    islands came from--they're |    some of the towers in Guldove
   would have needed an  |    here now, and that's all   |    were constructed by dumping
   incredible amount of  |    we need to worry about!    |    rock into the ocean, but the
   work.                 |                               |    sheer scale of this...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marcy:                   | Zoah:
   So these guys, like,  |    SO EL NIDO IS MAN-MADE TOO...
   BUILT El Nido?! No    |    THE AMOUNT OF EFFORT REQUIRED
   WAY!                  |    MUST HAVE BORDERED ON THE INSANE.

Serge:
   (Argh, I don't even want
   to think about it!)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[I expect this is the final bit of dialogue from
the same ghosts]

 [Ghost]
   Just leave it in FATE's hands.
   Don't worry, it'll succeed.
 
 [Ghost]
   It's almost time for work.
   Gotta get back into work mode.

Serge:
   (FATE again... Do they all
   believe in that thing?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

===========================================================
Docks, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

 [Chief--if they speak to him before going upstairs?]
   Perhaps what we are
   doing is wrong?
   If this experiment succeeds,
   we will be able to control time.
   We will have complete control over
   history and, in a sense, become
   a presence, much like god...
   If so, what meaning is there
   to the history of mankind?
   But it's too late, now...
   We can't afford to fail
   in this experiment.
   If, for some reason, anything
   goes wrong, the anti-annihilation
   energy will probably overwhelm us.
   Who knows what the
   consequences may be?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   I wonder--did Belthasar feed
   them this garbage, or did they
   come up with it on their own?
   Controlling time--what nonsense!

Guile:                         | Sprigg:           | Serge:
   You sound very certain, and |    'ow can you be |    (Oh, no, here we go again.)
   yet I had thought that the  |    so sure?       |    I thought you said that
   action of time was an       |                   |    Belthasar was a genius. Maybe
   unfathomable mystery.       |                   |    he really did know a way to
                               |                   |    control time.

[Magus shakes his head]

Magus:
   First of all, Belthasar may be
   brilliant, but time was not his
   primary area of study, and I
   have yet to see any evidence
   that Gaspar, the Guru of Time,
   was working with him.

   And secondly, I have some idea
   of how much energy the Frozen
   Flame has at its disposal, and
   how much is needed to move
   something through time, so I
   can say definitively that trying
   to control time with the Flame
   would be like attempting to
   restrain you by binding you
   hand and foot with a spiderweb.
   The power just isn't there.
   Sending this island back through
   time to the era of the Fall of
   Zeal would have been close to
   the limit of what the Flame
   would be able to accomplish.

Serge:
   So you're saying that...

Magus:
   That either Belthasar was
   mistaken--which I doubt--or
   everyone at this facility was
   duped by him. It's all part of
   his PLAN, whatever that may be.

[Purple lightning crackles around Magus' hands for a moment.]

Serge:
   (Whoa!) Uh, Magus...

Magus:
   After I get that old buzzard to
   tell me WHY he's doing this, I'm
   going to wring his scrawny neck.

Serge:
   Um...okay, but...careful with
   the lightning, okay? There's no
   telling what it could do in a
   place like this.

Norris: [if present]
   We have already seen what it
   does to electrical equipment.

Magus:
   It won't hit anything I don't
   want it to.

Serge:
   (I wish I dared tell him that
   that's exactly what I'm worried
   about...)

===========================================================
Level 2 Lab, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[The ghost at the back of the room says this.]

 [Ghost-1st speech]
   Where was the lock release
   for the elevator again?
   My mind's been blanking
   out lately...

Serge:
   (Well, at least now we know
   there IS a release...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If they talk to it again, it says this...]

 [Ghost-2nd speech]
   By the way...
   I saw a boy and a flashy-
   looking chick touching
   that panel...

Serge:
   !
   Lynx and...Kid?

Norris/Dario/Glenn/Radius: | Zoah:                  | Luccia:
   It could also be Harle. |    "FLASHY" SOUNDS     |    Ve do not have enough
                           |    MORE LIKE HARLE.    |    data to say for certain.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena:                     | Guile:                 | Nikki:
   I wouldn't say that Kid |    You are reading     |    I hope you're right and she's
   is "flashy". Not with a |    too much into this  |    okay, but this isn't really
   chest like that!        |    ghost's words.      |    enough to tell us for sure.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skelly:                    | Sprigg:                | Marcy:
   Kid, flashy? Well,      |    For all 'er red     |    I dunno. Kid's a loudmouth,
   maybe, but it's kind of |    clothez, Kid izn't  |    but "flashy"? It sounds more
   a funny way to describe |    that "flashy". I'd  |    like that stupid harlequin.
   a professional thief!   |    say it wuz 'Arle.   |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grobyc:                       |
   Grobyc-thinks-"flashy"-is- |
   a-weak-identifier.         |

Serge:
   Hey, you!

[Serge tries to touch the ghost's arm, but his hand passes
right through it and it ignores him.]

Serge:
   Does anyone have any idea how
   to get this thing's attention?
   I want to ask it about what it
   saw.

Magus:                      | Norris:                  | Sprigg:
   I doubt it's possible.   |    I do not think they   |    Sorry, Serge-us, but
   They seem to be half-in  |    are entirely aware    |    they don't seem to
   and half-out of Time,    |    of us, sir. This was  |    think that we're quite
   possibly due to the      |    clearly meant to be   |    real. Gettin' them to
   accident that threw them |    a secure facility--   |    pay attention to us
   back into the past. In   |    they should be more   |    iz probably impossible.
   fact, I'm surprised they |    concerned about a     |
   react to our presence    |    group of strangers    |
   at all.                  |    wandering around.     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luccia:                     | Fargo:                   | Leena: [waving her hand in
   Dey seem to be aware of  |    I'd offer to keelhaul |         ghost's face]
   us, and yet...not.       |    the thing, but I get  |    Hello? HeLLO?!...
   I suspect dis is an      |    the feeling it        |    I'm not sure it can even
   intractable problem.     |    wouldn't notice.      |    tell we're here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karsh:                      | Skelly:                  | Starky:
   Normally, I'd just hit   |    That was supposed to  |    Staarky thinks it would
   it over the head, but    |    be a joke, right? I   |    bee liike getting the
   my fist would probably   |    mean, look at that    |    attentiion of a holoogram.
   go right through.        |    thing! It's deader    |    It cannot bee done.
                            |    than I am!            |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grobyc:                     | Dario:                   | Nikki:
   Grobyc-thinks-it-will-   |    I understand how you  |    HEY! Hey, YOU, the glowy-
   not-notice-even-the-     |    feel, Serge, but I    |    ghost thing!
   strongest-attack.        |    do not think you can  |    ...I don't think it can
                            |    do anything here that |    hear us, and we can't touch
                            |    will bring you closer |    it, so I don't see what's
                            |    to saving her.        |    left. Sorry, Serge.

Serge:
   DAMN! I... I need... If Kid
   was here... (I really want
   to know if she's all right.
   Is Lynx still controlling her?
   I need to KNOW.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Speaking to the ghost standing on the
corner of the map of El Nido on the floor
activates this. Initially, the map shows
a Sea of El Nido containing only Chronopolis
and Gaea's Navel.]

 [Ghost]
   Originally, El Nido was
   nothing but ocean.
   The El Nido Archipelago
   is purely artificial,
   created by FATE.

Serge:
   (They really are fake islands?!
   It seems like a lot of trouble
   to go to...)

 [Ghost]
   It was a remodeling plan that
   took place 10,000 years ago.
   A plan to include islands, blessed
   with nature, in the sea of El Nido.
   The main island of El Nido,
   Earth Dragon Isle, Water Dragon Isle,
   Black Dragon Isle...
   The development of Elements,
   using the energy of the
   natural world...
   The distribution of memory
   terminal devices called the
   Records of Fate that could
   survey and guide
   people's lives...
   The research center staff, who
   had their memories of the future
   erased, left the center, and began
   a life outside amidst nature.
   This is how FATE's paradise
   came into existence.

[The ghost pushes a button on the console on the
left side of the room, and the rest of the islands
appear on the map.]

 [Ghost]
   And for over 10,000 years,
   FATE has been watching over and
   guiding the descendants of the
   staff who left this research center.
   Everything was in pefect harmony.
   That is, until 14 years ago,
   when a boy came into contact with
   the Flame on the night of the storm.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Magus:
   Heh. It's odd--I thought I was
   the only person who would have
   the gall to create a hell and
   then claim it was Paradise.

Serge:
   Calling El Nido "paradise" IS
   a bit much...but I don't think
   it's hell, either.

Magus:
   Then you weren't listening.
   El Nido was created as a cage
   for human laboratory rats.

Serge:
   (I kind of see where he's
   coming from--getting pushed
   around by the Records of Fate
   isn't my idea of fun either--
   but I still think he's
   exaggerating.)

   Maybe FATE was just trying to
   keep us safe--guiding us so
   that we avoided doing anything
   too stupid.

Sprigg:                    | Radius:                     | Norris:
   Funny--I'd 'ave sworn   |    A child is guided by     |    Sir, my experience with
   you were too old to     |    its parents...but you    |    giving orders suggests
   want to be treated like |    would not try to apply   |    that men must be given
   a little kid.           |    that guidance to an      |    more freedom than FATE
                           |    adult! No, I think Janus |    offers the people of
                           |    may have the right idea  |    these islands. Otherwise,
                           |    about this, however      |    they rebel.
                           |    little we may like it.   |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karsh:                     | Fargo:                      | Leena:
   That's why I never pay  |    If I'd have listened to  |    I don't know, Serge.
   any attention to the    |    FATE, I'd have made up   |    When I visited the Arni
   Records. I don't want   |    with that old goat Viper |    in your world, everyone
   someone to bail me out  |    and ended up like that   |    seemed...happier, somehow.
   of trouble--I wanna     |    useless lump of blubber  |    If FATE's trying to look
   fight my way out on     |    from yer world, Serge.   |    after us, I don't think
   my own!                 |                             |    it's doing a very good job.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luccia:                    | Zoah:                       | Dario:
   Or FATE may have odder  |    OR IT MIGHT JUST WANT US |    If FATE could keep everyone in
   priorities which have   |    TO BE QUIET AND STAY OUT |    El Nido safe and happy, the
   not'ing to do wit' our  |    OF ITS WAY WHILE IT DOES |    Acacia Dragoons would never
   best interests.         |    SOMETHING ELSE.          |    have been formed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guile:                     | Skelly:
   While I can only speak  |    Seems to me that if FATE
   for myself, I know that |    just wants something that
   I would not trade my    |    does as it's told, it wants
   freedom for safety.     |    robots, not people.

Serge:
   Okay, okay, I give in!
   But still... I don't think El
   Nido's turned out quite the
   way FATE planned.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is not present...]

Serge:
   (That again... I wish people
   would stop telling me that
   everything is more-or-less my
   fault! It's almost enough to
   make me wish I'd died in the
   storm that night...)

   (Well, no. That isn't really
   true. It's just that I keep
   thinking I've unravelled it all,
   found the end, and figured out
   how to fix everything, and then
   someone else comes along and
   tells me that there's more...
   I don't want there to be more!
   Beating up on Lynx was supposed
   to be The End, but I have a
   feeling that it's really just
   another step on the way to...
   wherever. Damn it all.)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

===========================================================
Lockers, Level 2, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Upon examining the case at the right end of
the room, if Grobyc is in the party...]

 Grobyc:
   This-cannot-be...
   This-is-the-ancient-super
   weapon-that-was-in
   development-in-Porre.
   But-what-is-it-doing-here?
   It-looks-complete.

Serge:
   (Huh? if it's ancient, why was
   Porre trying to develop it...?
   No, wait, I get it: they must
   have found it, or part of it,
   and tried to fix it. Which
   means...) Could it have come
   from here originally?

Grobyc:
   Grobyc-is-not-certain. Perhaps.
   The-important-thing-is-that-
   Grobyc-can-use-this.

 [System]
   Received Grobyc's
   StrongArm!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Grobyc is not present, but Norris is...]

Norris:
   This is...!
   StrongArm!

Norris:
   I thought I destroyed
   it when I caused the
   explosion in the lab...
   In any case, the only
   one who can operate
   this is Grobyc.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Luccia is also present...]

Luccia:
   Vait. YOU caused de explosion
   dat destroyed my brodder's lab?

Norris:
   It is past time that I came
   clean about the matter, I
   suppose. Yes, I caused that
   explosion, although I certainly
   never intended for Aleiki to
   be inside at the time.

Luccia:
   And yet... You killed him.
   Killed my brodder.

[Norris bows his head.]

Norris:
   I was trying to save him, and
   Porre.

Luccia:
   Save him by killing him?!
   Dat is nonsense!

Norris:
   I only meant to destroy the
   lab. It had to be done before
   Aleiki finished reconstructing
   the StrongArm. You...never saw
   the orders, Luccia--and I wasn't
   supposed to either. No one
   outside the High Command was
   supposed to know what they meant
   to do until it was too late.

Luccia:
   ...

Norris:
   One way or another, you and
   Aleiki would have been
   separated. They meant to fake
   his death so that they could
   send him to another facility
   without anyone finding out.
   They wanted an army of Grobycs,
   each with his own individual
   superweapon.

Luccia:
   Aleiki vould not have--

Norris:
   They didn't mean to offer him
   a choice. The other half of the
   orders...called for you to be
   held hostage against his good
   behaviour. I think he would
   have chosen death rather than
   let them do that. He cared for
   you deeply, Luccia.

[Luccia looks away.]

Luccia:
   ...Da.
   Vell, ve cannot change de past.
   I do not know if I vill ever be
   able to forgive you, Norris, but
   ve vill discuss it some odder
   time.

Norris:
   Very well.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Norris is not present, but Luccia is...]

Luccia:
   I cannot believe dis...!
   It is an ancient super veapon.
   I do recall my brotter
   talking about dis.
   ...About a super veapon that vas
   excavated near an ancient ruin.
   According to him, dere vere not
   enough parts to complete it,
   but dis shows othervise.

Serge:
   Maybe there really weren't
   enough parts with the one he
   saw--I mean, if it came from
   here originally, it might have
   been 10000 years old! (Or
   maybe... No, Serge, focus: you
   don't need to get your brain all
   tangled up with time travel
   stuff along with everything
   else.)

   Can we use it?

Luccia:
   Dis vould have been
   Grobyc's exclusive veapon.
   I must bring Grobyc here.

Serge:
   (Grobyc... Okay. Still, it would
   have been nice to be able to
   just blow Lynx away with that...
   whatzit.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If none of the three people mentioned above
is in the party, we get the following...]

 [System]
   There's a mysterious being inside.

Serge:
   (What is that...?!)

Serge: [If Luccia has been recruited]
   (It looks like the sort of thing
   Luccia would like. Maybe I'll
   bring her here to have a look.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



And tomorrow...more fascinating infodumps! (Excuse me while I go hide my head.)

utunnels

  • Guru of Reason Emeritus
  • Zurvan Surfer (+2500)
  • *
  • Posts: 2797
    • View Profile
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #246 on: January 24, 2011, 08:22:40 pm »
Quote
Serge:
   (Grobyc... Okay. Still, it would
   have been nice to be able to
   just blow Lynx away with that...
   whatzit.)

They need to make sure that 10000 years old thing won't blow up in their hands.

Acacia Sgt

  • Guru of Reason
  • Zurvan Surfer (+2500)
  • *
  • Posts: 2654
  • Forever loyal to the Acacia Dragoons
    • View Profile
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #247 on: January 24, 2011, 09:18:17 pm »
They need to make sure that 10000 years old thing won't blow up in their hands.

If we go by... I think it's one of those from that list of RPG cliches...?

Anyway: The more ancient = greater chances of it working.  :lol:

alfadorredux

  • Entity
  • Mystical Knight (+700)
  • *
  • Posts: 746
  • Just a purple cat
    • View Profile
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #248 on: January 25, 2011, 08:02:27 pm »
Alternatively, Serge may have believed that Luccia would be able to understand it
well enough to know if it was going to go bang or not.

Anyway, more infodumps. And Magus talks a bit about Chrono Trigger.



24. The Arbiter of Time - On whom the three Fates smile... Part II

===========================================================
Level 3 East Lab, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

[Each segment occurs if the party speaks to the
correct ghost...]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Ghost in left-rear corner]
   Memory scanning and
   rewriting is not that
   difficult a thing.
   As a matter of fact, it
   is possible to simulate
   the thoughts and feelings
   of each individual.
   These are all just electric
   signals that flow around
   the circuitry of the brain,
   after all.
   The vessels of flesh can
   be reproduced through
   cloning...
   And the '"soul"'
   stored within these
   fleshly vessels can
   be simulated as well...

Serge:
   (Except that I always thought
   that the point of a soul is that
   it can't be faked or copied...
   Maybe that's why the people in
   the world where the Records of
   Fate still work seem to not be
   quite as happy as the ones in
   my world--they could make people
   do what they wanted them to do,
   but they couldn't make those
   forced actions be satisfying.)

   (...My brain is starting to
   hurt again.)

 [Ghost in left-rear corner]
   Thus, one could even go so
   far as to say that death
   itself no longer exists.
   Of course the expiration
   of an individual being,
   as a variation within the
   species, still occurs.
   Overall, we can reverse the
   old maxim and say that where
   there is no death there will
   be life...

Serge:
   (So do people die in their
   world, or don't they? It all
   sounds like garbage to me.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Ghost at rear-centre console]
   We control human emotions
   by using neurotransmitters.
   That means, by manipulating
   the nerve transmitters inside
   their brains, it's possible to
   control the feelings and even
   the personalities of humans.
   FATE uses the Records of Fate
   to connect directly to the
   brains of the humans with
   whom they come into contact.
   FATE not only imprints what
   actions the humans should
   take into their brains, but
   also rewrites their
   personalities and feelings.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is not in the party]

Serge:
   Am I the only one who thinks
   that sounds creepy?

Fargo:                     | Sprigg:             | Luccia:
   Arr... If we're only    |    Always did 'ate  |    It sounds as though it
   what FATE makes us, we  |    people who liked |    vould be most efficient...
   might as well be dead!  |    runnin' otherz   |    but unpleasant for the subject.
                           |    livez.           |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norris/Radius/Glenn/Dario: | Leena/Skelly/Marcy: | Karsh:
   You are not.            |    It does sound... |    Hell, no, you ain't the only
                           |    icky.            |    one who thinks that!

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is in the party]

Magus:
   I cannot believe that Belthasar
   would work with these people.
   Even he could not have forgotten
   that it was human will that
   saved the world from Lavos.
   Does he truly think these...
   mechanical toys...are an
   acceptable substitute?

Guile:                              | Serge:
   It is difficult to fathom that   |    Maybe he just didn't
   man's motives. However, he may   |    talk to them about it?
   just not have mentioned that he  |    (And doesn't THAT sound
   thought the people of the future |    lame!)
   were fools.                      |

Magus:
   Hmph. Perhaps. But it feels as
   though he is taking a
   tremendous risk, and I still
   don't understand what prize
   would be worth it.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Ghost in right-rear corner]
   The life-forms on this planet
   developed from single-celled
   microorganisms to protozoans...
   Then from fish to amphibians...
   from reptiles to mammals...
   and eventually to humans.
   Beginning with a cerebral
   neocortex, which only
   exists in higher mammals...
   The anthropod brain enlarged
   at an accelerating pace until it
   became the human brain we know.
   Could the reason for the
   abnormal development of the
   human brain be the biological
   contamination caused by Lavos?
   That would mean that humans are
   really a heterogeneous life-form,
   or '"foreign matter,"' as far as
   the planet is concerned.
   Humans are a sudden mutation
   caused by the contact with
   Lavos -- an alien life-form that
   fell to this planet from space.
   That is why humans are,
   biologically speaking,
   unbalanced and half-finished.

Serge:
   So if this Lavos thing had never
   come along, we would be...like
   Leah? Or just monkeys?

Magus: [if present]
   Leah's people already existed
   when Lavos fell, although they
   were being hunted to extinction
   by the Reptites. So if Lavos
   hadn't fallen, chances are that
   you wouldn't be here asking that
   question. Or perhaps you would
   be a Reptite--altering the past
   can have unpredictable, and
   sometimes bizarre, results.

 [Ghost in right-rear corner]
   Internally inconsistent and
   disconnected, the human
   existence is plagued by
   contradictions.
   An incomplete species,
   torn between love and hatred,
   whose very being is self-
   contradictory.
   From the planet's viewpoint,
   humans are just destroyers
   and a cursed, yet perhaps
   pathetic, blight on the world.

Serge:
   (...Are we really that bad?)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   Hmph. Ignorant fool.

Serge:
   (Weird--I would have expected
   him to be the last person to say
   that. I mean, usually HE's the
   one being a downer.)
   What do you mean?

Magus:
   Bastard stepchildren we may be,
   but when we went after Lavos,
   the planet, or perhaps its
   spirit, actually went out of
   its way to HELP us...or so one
   of my comrades speculated.
   Although I grant that it might
   just have been that it needed
   a dangerous tool to accomplish
   a dangerous task.

Serge:
   Like you can't gut a fish with
   a spoon, so you have to use a
   knife, even if it's sharp and
   you could cut yourself?

Magus:
   Not the analogy I would have
   chosen, but yes.

Serge:
   (So what happens if the planet
   doesn't need us anymore?)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

===========================================================
Level 3 West Lab, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Computer panel to left of door]
   The DNA records are
   poems and music...
   Adenine and Thymine...
   Guanine and Cytosine...
   Rythym and Melody...
   Perhaps the DNA of the ones
   who make contact with the
   Flame is recomposed by the
   sound they generate within?
   I wonder if life-forms are
   just dreaming in an endless
   flow of music?

Marcy:                 | Nikki:                 | Luccia:
   And I, like, wonder |    So all life is      |    An interesting vay of
   if the people who   |    made of music?      |    regarding de matter.
   built this place    |    Sounds right to me! |    A shame I cannot talk
   were crazy!         |                        |    vith dese people.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena:                 | Serge:
   I think the guy who |    (Was that supposed to make
   wrote that just     |    sense? Well, okay, it was
   liked confusing     |    talking about the Flame
   people.             |    doing...something, but...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Computer at rear of room]
   ~
   ~
   ~~~~ -- LAVOS -- ~~~~
   ~
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   An extraterrestrial life-form
   that is thought to have
   fallen from the heavens
   65 million years ago.
   On the time line that existed
   before history was changed,
   Lavos was assumed to have
   slept deep below the planet's
   surface...
   Sleeping and consuming the
   planet's energy up until the
   day of destruction known as
   the '"Apocalypse."'

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is present]

Serge:
   Janus... So this is
   the thing you fought?

Magus:
   Yes.

Serge:
   (Just "yes"? No sarcasm or
   nastiness?)

   (I think I'm glad that thing's
   dead, because if it can scare
   HIM...)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus isn't there]

Serge:
   So this is...the thing those
   children we met in the Dead
   Sea fought...the thing that
   destroyed the world. (And if
   I screw up, it's going to
   happen again. No pressure,
   right?)

[Serge shakes his head as though trying to dislodge something.]

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

 [Computer at rear of room]
   There are those who believe
   that, 12 thousand years ago,
   the legendary ancient magical
   civilization known as Zeal
   came into contact with Lavos.
   That fateful encounter is
   said to have resulted in
   Zeal disappearing from the
   surface of the planet within
   the space of a single night.
   However, the very existence
   of the ancient civilization
   of Zeal has never been proven,
   so up till this day this
   theory cannot be confirmed.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is present]

Serge:
   Did Zeal really disappear
   that quickly?

Magus:
   More so, if anything. My idiot
   ancestors decided it would be
   a good idea to build their
   civilization on islands that
   floated in the sky, supported
   by magic. Much later, it was
   decided to siphon energy from
   Lavos to power most of Zeal's
   major spells. When that power
   supply was interrupted, the
   islands tumbled down into the
   ocean and caused tidal waves,
   swamping most of the land on
   the surface. Hardly anyone
   survived.

Serge:
   ...I'm sorry. (If he's got any
   feelings at all, remembering
   that has to hurt.)

Magus:
   ...It was all very long ago.
   I was a different person when
   I still called Zeal my home.
   However, this idiot machine has
   inadvertantly told us something
   far more interesting.

Guile: [if present]
   Indeed.

Serge:
   It did? What?

Magus:
   Belthasar never told them--ANY
   of them--where he came from. If
   he had, there would have been
   no doubt in their minds that
   Zeal once existed. That confirms
   that these people were his
   dupes, not his allies.

Serge:
   So is that good or bad?

Magus:
   I can't be certain, but I
   would suspect that the
   answer is...bad.

Serge:
   (Uh-oh.)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

 [Computer at rear of room]
   On some time lines, Lavos
   appeared on the surface of
   the planet in the year 1999
   and brought the world to
   ruins.
   However, a group of young
   time travelers saw where
   their planet's history was
   heading and, through their
   actions, rewrote time.
   This very research facility
   exists on that new time line...
   In a world where, thanks to
   the defeat of Lavos by the
   young adventurers, the
   Apocalypse never happened...
   On a temporal vector where
   human civilization continued
   to evolve unhampered.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   I wonder what the others would
   think of this future... Lucca,
   Crono, Marle, Ayla, Robo...
   even that damned frog. Is this
   truly what we fought for? A
   world where humans use machines
   to destroy each others' free
   will? They must be spinning in
   their graves.

Sprigg:                          | Guile:
   Wot kind of future were you   |    We already distort the free
   expectin'? Never would 'ave   |    will of others by deceiving
   thought YOU were naive enough |    them... Were you hoping that
   to believe in paradise!       |    humanity would change?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Radius:                          | Serge:
   If there is one thing I have  |    (When he puts it that way, it
   learned in all my years, it   |    really is...ugly.)
   is that we should not         |
   underestimate the human       |
   capacity for evil...or good.  |

Serge:
   What kind of future were you
   all hoping to build, when you
   went after Lavos?

Magus:
   I was only looking for revenge,
   not trying to build a future at
   all. The others... I suspect
   they may have thought that if
   the future went too far off
   course, they could change
   it again. Or perhaps they simply
   believed that anything would be
   better than the original future.
   They were all young enough to
   still be optimistic about their
   abilities, and about humanity.
   Rather like you, in fact.

Sprigg:                  | Serge:
   Heh, and you were so  |    So they were around
   much older and wizer, |    my age, and you
   of course.            |    were...?

Magus:
   I was about thirty-five, I
   think. Time travel makes it
   difficult to calculate with any
   exactitude. I could, with equal
   validity, say that I am now
   thirteen thousand and twenty-
   six, that being the number of
   years that have elapsed since
   my birth.

Serge:
   (Never mind my brain hurting--
   right now it feels like it's
   trying to crawl out of my ears!)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus isn't present]

Serge:
   (So if I do screw up and this
   Lavos thing comes back, this
   place won't exist, which means
   that Dad couldn't have brought
   me here, which means that I
   couldn't have screwed up, and...
   Ugh, time travel is complicated!)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

 [Computer at rear of room]
   All the data on Lavos that was
   obtained from tracing different
   parallel world possibilities
   has proven to be volatile, with
   fluctuating discrepencies.
   Perhaps, at this point in time,
   it is nearly impossible to
   obtain any true information
   about Lavos.

Serge:
   (I'd be just as happy not to
   know anything about it at all!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Computer in right rear corner]
   ~
   ~
   ~~ -- HUMANS &amp; REPTITES -- ~~
   ~
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   65 million years ago, the
   Reptites who evolved from
   reptiles had developed their
   own unique civilization...
   This was long before the
   ancestors of humans, who
   evolved from primates, had
   developed their civilization.
   Excavations carried out on the
   central continent of Zenan have
   revealed that the Reptites
   already had advanced architectural
   skills in the prehistoric era.
   But the fall of Lavos to the
   planet, and the resulting
   Ice Age this brought about,
   rang the death knell for the
   Reptites and their civilization.
   After that the Reptites
   slowly disappeared from
   the stage of history.
   However, in the distant past
   humans could have been defeated
   in the contest of evolution,
   and the Reptites could have
   continued to develop...
   It is not unthinkable that
   such a time line could exist
   in other dimensions.
   Everything is purely a
   problem of possibilities,
   and the world is only
   stabilized by the viewpoint
   of the one who observes it.

Serge:
   Reptites... I wonder what they
   were like.

Magus: [if present]
   Capable of both honour and
   viciousness, of creation and
   destruction...of good and evil.
   In that regard, they were rather
   like humans, although they were
   more in tune with the planet
   than we will ever be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Computer on right side of room]
   ~~~~~ -- DNA -- ~~~~~
   ~~  - The Seeds of Life -  ~~
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   The human body is made up of
   50 to 60 billion cells.
   Each of these cells contains
   genes in the form of DNA.
   These are the fundamental
   building blocks that exist
   inside the cell's chromosomes.
   They store genetic information
   that can be passed on from
   parent to child.
   The structure of DNA is
   common throughout all life,
   throughout all universes.
   Through DNA recombination,
   life-forms take on differing
   forms with variable abilities.

Luccia: [if present]
   And by manipulating de DNA, ve
   can do many interesting things--
   ohohoho!

Serge:
   (I barely understood a word of
   any of that. Being a scientist
   must be complicated. Once all
   of this is over, I think I'll
   stick with fish.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

===========================================================
Level 4 Lounge, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Presumably, this is what they get if they speak to it
before the foreman-ghost is called up from the basement]
 
 [Ghost]
   Only personnel registered
   as '"Arbiter"' may enter.

Serge:
   ("Arbiter"? What the...?)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus has been recruited]

Serge:
   (Hey, isn't that...me? But I
   guess the ghosts can't tell...)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[And if they talk to it after the foreman-ghost]

 [Ghost]
   The experiment will begin soon.
   Please evacuate to your
   designated positions.
   We will do the same in
   the case of an emergency.

Serge:
   (I guess that proves that they
   really aren't seeing us. Still,
   you have to wonder exactly who
   it is that they ARE seeing.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

===========================================================
Level 4 East Lab, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[This room has a display...thing...at the centre, and the
ghostly dialogue begins as soon as the party approaches it.]

 [Ghost]
   Everyone gather around.
   
   Let's see...
   In the 11th Century, a scientist
   by the name of Lucca indicated the
   possibility of time travel through
   the use of a '"Time Egg,"' which
   utilizes miniature black holes.
   Whether this could actually be
   possible or not is still the
   subject of intense debate and
   no conclusions have been made.

Serge:
   Kid's Lucca?

Magus: [if present]
   Lucca Ashtear, yes, although the
   original theory and prototype
   Time Egg were developed in Zeal
   by Gaspar, the Guru of Time.
   And they seem to be conflating
   her work on the Gate Key with
   her analysis of the Time Egg,
   which is not a time travel
   device as such.

 [Ghost]
   According to her theory, by
   rotating a single point of
   supergravity, space-time
   continua can be drawn in...
   thus making it possible to
   transform that singular point
   which pulls in everything else,
   into a ring formation.
   Using this ring as a Gate
   between dimensions, it should
   be possible to travel back and
   forth between various space-time.
   
 [Ghost]
   I've heard that the Time Egg
   already existed during the
   legendary, ancient dynasty.
   
 [Ghost]
   We shouldn't have to rely
   on theories from an ancient
   civilization that may not
   have even existed.
   We can do this.

Serge:
   (Is it just me, or do a lot of
   the ghosts here sound pretty
   arrogant?)

 [Ghost]
   But it's been said that time was
   altered using the Time Egg...
   
 [Ghost]
   That's just a legend.
   There isn't even any
   evidence to prove that this
   ancient dynasty ever existed.

Serge:
   Time...altered?

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   You don't really need a Time Egg
   to make most kinds of changes...
   time travel alone is sufficient
   for that. The Time Egg merely
   makes an additional level of
   manipulation possible. We used
   the prototype to...resurrect
   someone, I think.

Serge:
   You THINK? (Seems to me that's
   something he should remember!)

Guile: [if present]
   Another gap?

Magus:
   The Arbiter must have been
   there. Or my sister. I remember
   climbing that damned icy
   mountain in the distant future
   to reach...what you might call
   a weak spot in time... Lucca
   activated the Egg, time warped,
   and then my mind goes blank.

   In any case, it appears that the
   people here were trying to
   create a Gate--a portal for time
   travel--when something went
   catastrophically wrong, dumped
   this facility into the past, and
   created a series of ghost images
   of the events immediately before
   the disaster.

Serge:
   Do you still think this is all
   Belthasar's fault?

Magus:
   Of course it is. Even if he
   didn't encourage them, he also
   doesn't seem to have attempted
   to stop them, and he certainly
   would have had that power.

Serge:
   (...Yeah, I guess he would.)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

 [Ghost]
   The experiment should
   be starting soon.
   After we discovered an unusual
   gravitational field in this
   barren sea of El Nido we built
   several artificial islands and
   established Chronopolis.

Serge:
   (So that's why they
   set up here!)

 [Ghost]
   This was all done to facilitate
   our top secret research.
   But now, our research is
   about to come to its end.
   Once the final adjustments
   are made, the experiment will
   commence.
   It's just a matter of time...
   so everyone should keep up
   their good work!

 [Ghost]
   The chief hasn't returned yet.

 [Ghost]
   He hasn't...?
   Then, we'll have to hold
   off until he gets back.

Norris:                      | Luccia:             | Serge:
   Interesting. We must be   |    Vhat I vould not |    (So they started a meeting
   seeing this in real-time, |    give to be able  |    without having everyone they
   as it occurred. I wonder  |    to question dese |    needed there? I guess even
   why.                      |    ghosts!          |    scientists can be dumb sometimes!)

 [Ghost]
   To think that time is not
   absolute, but elastic...
   Relative and subjective...
   That there can be individual
   differences caused by changes
   in time...
   Perhaps the same people and
   life-forms can even exist in
   several different space-times.
   An independent time that flows
   with a will of its own...?
   Hah... What nonsense...

Magus:                        | Luccia:             | Serge:
   And yet either time, or    |    Nonsense indeed! |    (Time with a mind of
   something out there        |    Dey must be mad  |    its own... Yeah, I
   controlling it, is indeed  |    to have even     |    could believe that.)
   capable of acting of its   |    considered such  |
   own accord.                |    a t'ing!         |
                              |                     |
   It's odd how scientists    |                     |
   always seem to be so       |                     |
   uncomfortable with such    |                     |
   ideas. The more I see of   |                     |
   such, the more I realize   |                     |
   how exceptional Lucca was. |                     |

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If the party goes 'round afterwards and
speaks to the ghosts...]

 [Ghost on left side]
   We're conducting a simulation
   of phase metastasis.

Luccia: [if present]
   Hmmm... Very interesting.

Serge:
   (A simulation of...what?
   I don't get it.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Ghost on right side]
   The lost, ancient magic
   civilization of Zeal...
   If it really did exist,
   someone may have even
   traveled through time
   to this period.

Magus:                  | Serge:
   And two of us did.   |    (I can't seem to figure out
   A shame you were     |    whether they're fascinated with
   too blind to notice. |    this "Zeal" place, or they hate
                        |    it. Maybe both?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Ghost at rear]
   This research center was
   established under the utmost
   secrecy by the central regime.

Norris: [if present]
   Their "central regime" sounds
   rather like our High Command.

Serge:
   (I really don't like the idea
   of a...government?...that could
   completely hide something this
   big.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Ghost in right-rear corner]
   We may appear to be a
   military research center,
   but we're actually conducting
   research on '"time."'

Serge:
   (Um, I think we got that part.)



Tomorrow: More infodumps! Also, the party finally makes it as far as Project KID, and
Magus tells Serge what a "Chrono Trigger" is...sort of.

Katie Skyye

  • Poet of El Nido
  • Acacia Deva (+500)
  • *
  • Posts: 575
  • And you'll never catch her...
    • View Profile
    • Katie Skyye's Deviantart
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #249 on: January 26, 2011, 12:40:09 pm »
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Ghost in right-rear corner]
   We may appear to be a
   military research center,
   but we're actually conducting
   research on '"time."'

Serge:
   (Um, I think we got that part.)
[/pre]


XD I said the same thing when I read that. They just spent the last thousand NPCs' lines going on about time travel and manipulation... >_<

alfadorredux

  • Entity
  • Mystical Knight (+700)
  • *
  • Posts: 746
  • Just a purple cat
    • View Profile
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #250 on: January 26, 2011, 08:06:34 pm »
Yeah, that line always struck me as being due to Square Intern #3744 having
run out of ideas for NPC lines. >_<;;

Anyway, Radical Dreamers, FATE hate, and Magus on Time Bastard (sort of)...



24. The Arbiter of Time - On whom the three Fates smile... Part III


===========================================================
Docks, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

[If they return to the basement docks after seeing the dialogue
up on the top floor, and speak to the Chief's ghost, this
transpires...]

 [Chief]
   The Time Research Lab, which
   served as the foundation of
   this research center,
   appeared out of nowhere in the
   year 2300 and was headed up
   by the scientific genius,
   Belthasar.
   However, at the peak of his
   career, he simply vanished.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   And apparently dropped back into
   the eleventh century in order to
   tinker with the destiny of a
   fisherman, abandoning his
   creation here in the process.
   The more I hear about this, the
   less sense it makes. What could
   possibly be, in this time and
   place, that's of such value that
   he'd be willing to give up his
   entire power base in exchange?
   There's still a piece missing
   from this, and it's really
   starting to annoy me.

Serge:
   (Does that mean that, up until
   now, he hasn't been annoyed?!
   ...If that's true, I don't EVER
   want to see him get mad.)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

 [Chief]
   We've continued his work
   and have come this far.
   Our work is almost complete.
   Well, it's about time
   I headed back...
   The experiment's about
   to begin...

[The ghost leaves the docks, presumably headed up to the lab.]

Serge:
   (If he knew, then why was he
   hanging around down here...?)

===========================================================
Level 4 West Lab, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Ghost at left-rear console]
   The main computer
   of Chronopolis
   is called '"FATE."'

Leena:                      | Zoah:                 | Luccia:
   Hey, wait a minute!      |    SO FATE IS REALLY  |    De sophistication required
   Is this guy really       |    JUST A BUCKET OF   |    of such a computer... Ah, but
   saying that our lives    |    BOLTS...           |    I did not bring a screwdriver,
   are being run by a       |                       |    and in any case, I am better
   MACHINE?!                |                       |    vith biologicals dan mechanics.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karsh:                      | Marcy:                | Norris:
   It's a computer?!        |    So El Nido is,     |    I can scarcely imagine what
   Makes me glad I never    |    like, being run    |    kind of computer would be
   listen to the damned     |    by a machine?...   |    needed to accomplish such
   thing!                   |    That sucks.        |    a task...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starky:                     | Guile:                | Dario:
   Staarky is a little      |    So FATE is a mere  |    A simple, pragmatic machanism...
   bit impressed...         |    machine that       |    I have often thought that FATE
   Technologyy heere will   |    cannot even truly  |    appeared to know nothing of
   beecome quiite advanced. |    determine the      |    good or evil...and now it
                            |    future...          |    seems that I was right.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glenn:                      | Radius:               | Skelly:
   There is no honour in    |    A machine...       |    So where can we find
   being led by a machine!  |    Then...what have   |    its plug--'cause I want
                            |    I been doing by    |    to pull it!
                            |    using the Records? |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nikki:                      |
   I thought it sounded     |
   kind of like synth       |
   music in here...         |

Serge:
   (So the Records are just
   computer terminals...? Right
   now, I feel like such an
   idiot... Why didn't we ever
   realize?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Ghost at right-front console]
   FATE is a large-scale
   prototype, completed
   in the year 2300.
   It integrated the old
   Mother Brain computer
   circuitry into a more
   powerful super-computer.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   The Mother Brain... That would
   explain a great deal.

Serge:
   Um... It would? What was this
   "Mother Brain" thing?

Magus:
   A computer from the future
   which--when we ran into it--
   wanted to destroy all life.

Serge:
   (Uh-oh.)

Magus:
   I see from your expression that
   even you can understand what its
   use as the core of FATE implies.

Serge:
   (That we're lucky to still be
   standing here? Yeah, I get
   the picture.)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Ghost in right-rear corner]
   This FATE contains a massive
   amount of historical data
   dating up to the year 2400.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Ghost at left-front console]
   This is the observation room.
   This is where we observe
   the 2 parallel worlds.

Serge:
   (Both of them at once? That has
   to get confusing.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If they examine the stuff directly in front
of the door]

Serge:
   (This Record of Fate is active,
   even though no one's using it?!
   What the...?)

 [Computer]
   Two worlds that are so close,
   and yet so far in nature, exist
   in different dimensions.
   Under the surveillance of the
   main computer of Chronopolis...
   '"FATE."'
   In other words, FATE, has
   always been observing the 2
   parallel worlds, and guiding them.

   FATE has been manipulating the
   world of El Nido, in order to
   avoid any major change to the
   history it knows.
   If an event on El Nido
   influences the main continent,
   the year 2400, in which FATE
   exists, would change.
   This paradox could potentially
   lead to great disaster...

Norris/Dario:               | Luccia:                | Sprigg:
   So FATE's real motive... |    So it is trying to  |    Heheheh, so it'z
   is nothing more than     |    save itself? Dat is |    out for itself,
   self-preservation.       |    sophisticated, for  |    just like the
                            |    a computer.         |    rest of us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guile:                      | Serge:
   One must wonder whether  |    I didn't think computers
   this "great disaster"    |    could have egos, but
   would harm anyone other  |    this...
   than FATE itself.        |

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Magus is present, he shakes his head.]

Magus:
   And once again, we see the
   extent of their ignorance. When
   time travel returned me to Zeal
   as an adult, I made certain
   changes that should have altered
   the future of my younger self,
   which was also my past...but
   even though some of the events
   which I remember didn't take
   place in the new version of
   history, my existence was not
   negated.

   In other words, time appears
   to be self-correcting when it
   comes to certain classes of
   paradox. FATE cannot be edited
   back out of history, because it
   is already here, now. Even if
   the future that created it is
   negated, it will continue to
   exist as a sort of temporal
   orphan.

Serge:
   (I'm not sure, but I think he's
   saying that FATE's been messing
   with our lives for NOTHING.
   Which pisses me off, but I don't
   see what we can do about it.)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

 [Computer]
   The Records of Fate - FATE's Terminals -
   collect data from around the world,
   and input guidance directly into the
   minds of its users.
   In this discreet way, FATE is able
   to control the lives of people
   without them knowing.
   Guided by fate, the people of
   El Nido lead a harmonious life.
   In a sense, they are nothing
   more than puppets of FATE.

Karsh: [if present]
   Puppets?! Like HELL! If I ever
   find FATE's heart, or brain, or
   anything like that, I'm gonna
   introduce it to my axe!

Guile: [if present]
   I am no man's puppet...
   and no machine's.

Sprigg: [if present]
   So it treatz everyone like
   a brat...

 [Computer]
   An instruction to the young girl
   in Arni 01 to give up going to
   the main continent as a poet.
   An instruction to the man in
   Arni 02 to give up becoming
   a fisherman.
   A plan to avoid any point of
   contact with the main continent,
   so as not to affect history.

Zoah: [if present]
   I HAD WONDERED WHY I NEVER
   SEEMED TO GET AROUND TO
   LEAVING EL NIDO AGAIN...
   NOW I KNOW.

Norris: [if present]
   So that is why the High Command
   only succeeded in invading the
   other El Nido so recently--FATE
   must have prevented any
   information about the Frozen
   Flame from reaching the
   continent!

Luccia: [if present]
   And yet, some people are able
   to leave and den return... Is
   dere a bug in de program, or
   are some people trusted not to
   cause problems? And if so, vhy?
   Merely to avert suspicion?

 [Computer]
   However...
   Ever since the formation of
   the Dead Sea 10 years ago...
   FATE has been unable to intervene
   directly with World 01.
   The best FATE could do was cross
   the dimension and receive data
   through the Records of Fate.
   And with much difficulty, FATE
   succeeded in binding Miguel
   to the Dead Sea as a watchman...

Leena: [if present]
   So FATE stole my Dad? ...I'm
   going to kill it so dead that
   what's left over will fit
   inside a teacup.

Radius: [if present]
   So at least our world is free...
   but what of the other?

Fargo: [If present]
   Does that mean that it was only
   FATE that kept me from... No,
   I'll not even consider it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If they examine the console in the left-
rear corner...]

 [Computer]
   ~~~Read the report                  |   ~~~Quit
                                       |
[scene ends]
   It all began with a
   notebook my mother
   handed me...
   She told me she found
   it while cleaning out
   the closet.
   This old notebook, covered
   with mold, was a diary that
   belonged to my grandfather,
   who passed away years ago.
   It contained my grandfather's
   distant memories...

Serge:
   (What is this? Looks almost like
   someone's memoirs, but what
   would something like that be
   doing here?)

 [Computer]
   ......
   I wonder if you still
   remember...
   How we first met...
   and our many adventures...
   It all seemed like a dream...
   We ran like the wind during those
   warm, summer days...long ago...
   You were a piece of a star,
   that fell from the sky...
   I can still relive the memories
   of those days long past...
   Just by closing my eyes like
   such, and whispering your name
   into the desolate night...
   Kid...
   ~~~~~Kid...
   Radical Dreamers
   - Le Trésor Interdit -

Serge:
   (Wait a sec--Kid? And "Radical
   Dreamers"--isn't that the group
   of thieves she's supposed to
   belong to? Now I want to see the
   rest of this. The next bit looks
   like part of a conversation...)

 [Computer]
   Are you ready, Kid?
   I know you're anxious,
   but stay on your toes.
   Yeah, likewise, mate!
   You mess up, and I'm
   leavin' you behind!
   Got that, Serge?
   C'mon, Magil, let's go.
   That bastard Lynx is gonna
   get what he deserves!
   Say your prayers!
   ...Not that it'll
   do ya any good!!!
   Heh-heh-heh......
   HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAA!

Serge:
   ...This is weird. Kid actually
   said part of that, in a dream I
   had of her before all of this
   started, but there are parts of
   it that I'm sure I don't
   remember. (And who the heck is
   "Magil"?)

Magus:                       | Norris:                   | Luccia:
   The nature of Time makes  |    It could be a record   |    Dere is no record of
   it inevitable that there  |    of another dimension   |    who input the text, or
   are more dimensions than  |    to which we have no    |    vhedder it is from de
   just the two we've seen.  |    access...or a confused |    present or de future...
   Perhaps this is a record  |    recording of your      |    Perhaps it is a recording
   of events in yet another  |    dream, or even a work  |    of somet'ing from yet a
   world.                    |    of fiction.            |    t'ird world.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena:                       | Dario:                    | Karsh:
   Maybe Kid writes stories  |    It might be a record   |    Who cares why it's here--
   in her spare time. I can  |    of a third world, or   |    we should be finding the
   just see her creating a   |    merely a story--there  |    real Kid and Lynx, not
   fantasy Serge...          |    isn't enough here for  |    reading some story!
                             |    us to be able to tell. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radius:                      | Nikki:                    | Marcy:
   Hmmm, an odd coincidence. |    So your dream and this |    So you, like, run into
   Perhaps, while you were   |    story-thing might have |    Kid even in your dreams?
   dreaming, you contacted a |    come from the same     |    ...Leena is so screwed.
   third world, where this   |    place? That's kind of  |
   record was made?          |    weird, but cool.       |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sprigg:                      | Starky:                   | Glenn:
   It could be a record from |    Staarky thinks this is |    I wish I knew more of the
   another world that we     |    verryy straange.       |    Radical Dreamers, and whether
   don't know about. Or it   |                           |    they have additional members
   could be something Lynx   |---------------------------|    named "Serge" or "Magil"...
   left 'ere to mess with    | Grobyc:                   |    Perhaps then this document
   our 'eadz--there'z no way |    Grobyc does not        |    would make more sense.
   of tellin'.               |    dream...               |

Serge:
   (I guess I should just file
   it away under "more Weird".)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

===========================================================
Basement, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

[If they examine the door to Project Kid...]

 [Computer]
   Only personnel registered
   as '"Arbiter"' may enter.
   Please conduct security
   check for verification.
   Unauthorized entry or
   tampering with security
   system will result in death.
   Operate at your own risk.

   Fingerprint and retina
   scan required.
   
   Please step inside the
   circle and hold up your
   left hand.

Serge:
   (I don't like the sound of
   that...but we haven't found Lynx
   anywhere else, so he has to be
   in here. Sigh. Well, here goes
   nothing...)

[Serge does as he's been told]

 [Computer]
   Analyzing...
   Please stand by.

Serge:
   (I really hope it doesn't try
   to fry me.)

 [Computer]
   ............
   Analysis complete.
   Fingerprints, retina, and
   C class DNA all clear.
   Data discrepancy due to
   aging within permissible
   range.
   96% confirmation that this
   individual is the last
   registered arbiter.
   Access granted.
   
   Welcome back,
   Chrono Trigger.

Serge:
   (Phew.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Magus is present, he turns to look at Serge.]

Magus:
   Chrono...Trigger.

Serge:
   Yeah. Lynx called me that when
   I met him at Viper Manor, too.
   Do you have any idea what it
   means?

Magus:
   Gaspar used the term to refer to
   the original Time Egg.

Serge:
   Except that I'm not a Time Egg.

Magus:
   Clearly. If you were, you would
   be much smaller, much quieter,
   more useful, and generally
   easier to deal with.

Serge:
   (Ouch...)

Magus:
   Belthasar most likely told this
   idiotic machine that anyone or
   anything pivotal to a situation
   involving time displacement was
   a "Chrono Trigger".

Serge:
   So it's calling me that because
   I'm sort of responsible for the
   dimensions being split.

Magus:
   Most likely, yes.

Serge:
   (So that's one mystery solved,
   I guess...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serge:
   I think I understand now
   why Lynx wanted my body.
   (Ugh, that sounds...)

Fargo:                   | Luccia:             | Zoah:
   Aye, it would have    |    Indeed, dere is  |    IT DOES SEEM A LITTLE
   been his only way     |    no odder access  |    PARTICULAR ABOUT WHO
   in.                   |    to this area.    |    IT LETS INSIDE.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena:                   | Marcy:              | Norris/Guile/Glenn/Radius/Dario:
   That seems like a     |    You mean all     |    Indeed. Only you--or someone
   lot of trouble to     |    this was about   |    appearing to be you--could
   go to just for a      |    a DOOR?!         |    get past this door, Serge.
   door, though.         |                     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Karsh:                   | Sprigg:             | Starky:
   Hmph. Seems like a    |    You'd think 'e'd |    Staarky thinks this door
   lot of trouble for    |    just 'ave picked |    was not well-maade. It should
   something he could've |    the lock.        |    not bee soo eeasyy to trick.
   just bashed down.     |                     |

Serge:
   Which means that he's already
   inside. Him...and the Frozen
   Flame, I guess, since we haven't
   found it anywhere else either.

   Let's go.



And we have finally reached the end of the infodumps...well, until Lynx and Kid start
spouting off about the Frozen Flame, anyway. One more part to go!

Sailor Phantom

  • Porrean (+50)
  • *
  • Posts: 93
  • I am Sailor Phantom of Middle Earth!
    • View Profile
    • Sailor Phantom's DA
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #251 on: January 27, 2011, 03:53:52 am »
Wow, so much text. O_O But well worth the read. :D Magus' bits are a nice extra touch.

utunnels

  • Guru of Reason Emeritus
  • Zurvan Surfer (+2500)
  • *
  • Posts: 2797
    • View Profile
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #252 on: January 27, 2011, 09:13:51 am »
Quote
Magus:
   Clearly. If you were, you would
   be much smaller, much quieter,
   more useful, and generally
   easier to deal with.
:lol:



Quote from: A quote from the long gone past
[Porre Soldier]
   !!!
   Lynx!!!
   H-How dare you have the nerve
   to return to this town!
   Get out of here!

IIRC these are/were not spoken by any Porre soldier.
« Last Edit: January 27, 2011, 12:03:42 pm by utunnels »

alfadorredux

  • Entity
  • Mystical Knight (+700)
  • *
  • Posts: 746
  • Just a purple cat
    • View Profile
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #253 on: January 27, 2011, 07:58:39 pm »
In general, Magus is a lot of fun to write. I'm having a difficult time
resisting trying to draw Serge as a Time Egg, with blue hair, a bandana,
and a confused expression! :lol:

@utunnels: No, those lines have to belong to a townsperson, don't they?
It isn't my misattribution--the line is mislabeled in the original script--
but I still should have caught it. Mea culpa.

And now, Part the Fourth, featuring Robo and Lynx's final curtain call...



24. The Arbiter of Time - On whom the three Fates smile... Part IV

===========================================================
Project Kid, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

[As the party enters the room and the next few lines are spoken,
the camera pans over to the center of the room, which contains an
odd sphere-shaped construction.]

Serge:
   (What the HECK is that?!)

Magus:                             | Sprigg:               | Luccia:
   The Frozen Flame. The apparatus |    I've never felt a  |    Dis is de most advanced
   constructed around it must have |    power like this    |    energy extraction system
   something to do with the failed |    before. Iz that... |    I have ever seen. Is dat de
   experiment.                     |    the Frozen Flame?  |    Frozen Flame in de center?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norris:                            | Zoah:                 | Dario:
   I do not pretend to understand  |    IS THAT ODD ITEM   |    The aura of that thing...it
   this apparatus, but what lies   |    AT THE CENTER OF   |    chills my blood worse than the
   in the center cannot be         |    THE APPARATUS THE  |    Masamune ever did. That must
   anything other than the Flame.  |    FROZEN FLAME?      |    be the Frozen Flame.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karsh:                             | Glenn:                | Starky:
   So that's the Frozen Flame.     |    Is that the Frozen |    Staarky is shocked! The
   Weird-lookin' thing. Question   |    Flame? It makes my |    energiies in this room
   is, where's Lynx?!              |    blood run cold.    |    are soo strong...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radius:                            | Nikki:                | Fargo:
   Is that the Frozen Flame? It    |    Is that the Frozen |    Arr... That must be the
   gives me the same kind of chill |    Flame? It's WICKED |    Flame. So it really was
   that the Masamune did.          |    cool!              |    here all along.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marcy:                             |
   So that's the Frozen Flame?     |
   I heard it was, like, supposed  |
   to grant wishes and stuff, but  |
   it just looks like a rock!      |

Serge:
   The Frozen Flame... (I still
   don't get how it fits in...)

 [Lynx]
   Exactly.

Serge:
   ......!?

[The scene fades out, and when it comes back again, the camera
is at a greater distance from the sphere, and panning downward.
Kid is collapsed on the floor in front of the sphere, with the
party standing a short distance away.]

 [Lynx]
   The hearer of
   people's prayers...
   The provider of
   riches, fame, and power...

   The bestower of
   eternal life...
   The promiser of
   peace and happiness...

Magus: [if present]
   Yet another ignorant fool.
   The Flame does nothing
   without exacting a price.

[Serge makes a violent waving gesture with one hand]

Serge:
   Lynx! Cut the crap and
   show yourself!

[Lynx as Dark Serge appears roughly Serge's height above the
ground, and floats down to stand on the other side of Kid.]

Lynx:
   This is the essence of what
   descended from the heavens
   in the prehistoric age.
   The living crimson stone...
   the Frozen Flame!

Serge:
   Who cares about the stupid
   rock?!

Lynx:
   What took you so long?
   You had me worried.
   Worried that you might
   have perished on the
   way here.

Serge:
   Even if I had, I would have
   found some way of getting
   here.

Lynx:
   Oh? Such...enthusiasm. I would
   never have expected you to be so
   eager for our final conrontation.

Serge:
   Don't flatter yourself! I didn't
   come here for you, I came here
   for-- (Damnit, what in hell am
   I doing?! Kid's lying there on
   the floor and all I can think
   about is yelling at Lynx?!
   Serge, you're an idiot.)

[Serge goes over to kneel beside Kid, apparently checking on
her condition.]

Serge:
   Kid! Hey, Kid! Wake up!

Lynx:
   It's no use.
   I put her soul to sleep.
   I had to remove any
   potential obstacle from
   us having this talk.

[Serge stands up again and turns to face Lynx.]

Serge:
   You're telling me that you made
   me go through all of this just
   so that you could talk to me
   about the Flame? Just how dumb
   do you think I am? Either tell
   me who you are and the REAL
   reason why you're doing this,
   or I'll beat you up and MAKE
   you tell me!

Lynx:
   You still don't know?
   I am the human
   incarnation of FATE...
   The living interface
   of the FATE computer
   system...
   Or put simply...
   I, too, am FATE!

Serge:
   And what does that have
   to do with me?

Lynx:
   14 years ago, on the night
   of a terrible storm,
   the cogs began to turn.
   That night, Wazuki and Miguel
   set out to sea carrying a
   sick, young child in their
   boat.
   That child was you, Serge,
   after you had been attacked
   by that panther demon.

Serge:
   (Is there a point to this?)

Lynx:
   Your poisoned wounds were
   beyond the healing abilities
   of the doctors in Termina or
   even Guldove.
   So they set sail to Marbule
   in order to see the sage
   there...not knowing how bad
   the storm would become.
   Being skilled sailors,
   the two men were able to
   survive the storm.
   But they were blown off
   course and came ashore on
   this island, where they
   decided to seek shelter.
   At the time, this research
   center was off-line due to
   the severity of the storm.
   It only took 10 minutes for
   the system to power back up,
   but by then, the Flame had
   found you...

Serge:
   (Well, I guess that explains how
   Dad and Miguel got inside, but--)

Lynx:
   Contact with the Flame
   healed your young body.
   But that was not all...
   Once the security card
   system was rebooted, it
   would only grant access
   to you...the '"arbiter."'
   You can't imagine the
   trouble this caused the
   FATE computer system in
   achieving its objective.

Serge:
   Cry me a river. (Is he FINALLY
   going to tell me what the damned
   thing is trying to do, or am I
   going to be left to twist in the
   wind again?)

Lynx:
   Inside of FATE, there was a
   stand-alone circuit that had
   been kept hidden since the
   old Mother Brain generation.
   That circuit was designed to
   start a malfunction, or more
   precisely, a '"rebellion."'
   
Lynx:
   Who would have thought that
   such a small bug, a '"traitor,"'
   could exist inside of FATE?

Serge:
   (Urgh, when's he going to get
   tired of hearing himself talk?!)

Lynx:
   That hidden circuit was based
   on the initial Ashtear model
   circuit board, with extra logic
   added by another scientist.
   FATE itself did not realize
   that this circuit was present
   within the core of its system.
   Or, more correctly...
   ...the circuit was programmed
   so that the moment FATE did
   detect it, it would erase all
   record of its detection.

Magus: [if present]
   That does sound like something
   Lucca might have done.

Lynx:
   Dr. Lucca Ashtear...
   Unbelievably intelligent,
   and incredibly enthusiastic.
   You might even go so far as
   to call her a mad scientist.
   Of course I don't believe
   it was Lucca alone that
   devised this plan.
   I'm sure the first curator
   of this research center,
   a man named Belthasar,
   had a hand in it, too.

Magus: [if present]
   Lucca...and Belthasar?
   Does this mean that she approved
   of his plan, whatever it may be?

Lynx:
   FATE!
   Bring out the traitor,
   Prometheus...
   
 [FATE]
   Affirmative.

Serge:
   (Okay, now things are starting
   to get weird again. I'd like to
   step in right now and chop Lynx's
   head off, but there's still the
   tiniest little chance that he
   might say something useful, so...)

 [Robo]
   Aaaah...
   You have finally released me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   Robo, is that you?

[Robo]
   Magus... Lucca always thought
   you had to be alive--somewhere,
   somewhen--but I never expected
   to see you again.

Magus:
   I don't think I ever intended
   to return to the future.

Lynx: [turning slightly to look at Magus]
   If you are acquainted with that
   pile of circuitry, and with
   Lucca Ashtear, you must be
   another of the travelers who
   challenged Lavos...

Magus:
   And what if I am?

Lynx:
   I merely find it...deliciously
   ironic that someone so weak
   could have succeeded in that.

Serge:
   Magus, don't! (If we fight in
   here, Kid might--)

[Robo, simultaneous with Serge]
   Magus, please do not--

Magus:
   I must attempt to learn, one
   of these days, what it is that
   causes so many people to take
   me for a hot-headed fool.

[Robo]
   You operate according to your
   own logic, which makes you
   difficult to predict. But there
   isn't much time. Now that the
   security system is off-line, the
   dragons will come to attack
   FATE--

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Magus isn't there...]

[Robo]
   Welcome back.
   So you're the real Serge.

Serge:
   Um, yeah. Sorry for any
   confusion. (Why am I
   apologizing? It isn't like I
   GAVE Lynx my body!)

[Robo]
   I've waited a long time for you...
   I'm glad you made it in time.
   Serge, I beg you!
   Please bring an end to
   the enmity between FATE
   and the Dragons...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lynx:
   FATE!
   Eliminate him.

 [FATE]
   Affirmative.
   Now eliminating Prometheus.

Serge:
   Wait! You can't do that!

Lynx:
   Too late.

[Robo]
   Serge...
   P-Please...
   For the future of mankind...
   F-For...
   th-the...
   f-fu...ture...
   o...
 
Lynx:
   Idiot.
   Destruction to those who
   oppose the Goddess of Fate!

Magus:                            | Norris:                       | Sprigg:
   ...                            |    Killing a computer is      |     Then I guess you need
   I cannot claim that Prometheus |    perhaps not murder...      |     to destroy us az well,
   and I were ever truly friends, |    but that was still an      |     becauze we aren't goin'
   but he deserved better than to |    evil thing to do.          |     to roll over for you and
   be extinguished by a casual    |    Prepare yourself, Lynx.    |     your pet!
   command from you.              |--------------------------------------------------------------
                                  | Karsh:                        | Fargo:
   You will not leave this place  |    Now my blood's boilin'!    |    We'll have no more of
   alive.                         |    Say yer prayers, Lynx!     |    that, you murderer! Arr!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dario:                            | Zoah:                         | Starky:
   FATE is no goddess, and we are |    FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD, |    Staarky does not think it
   not your servants. This is the |    WE MUST DESTROY YOU BEFORE |    was riight to destroy that
   end, Lynx!                     |    YOU CAN DO ANY MORE DAMAGE.|    non-organic sentience.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena:                            | Luccia:                       | Glenn:
   You're disgusting, you know    |    How could you be so        |    Murdering a helpless
   that? First you pick on Serge, |    vasteful?! De t'ings ve    |    being... You have no
   then Kid, and now that poor    |    could have learned from a  |    honour, Lynx. And you
   robot or whatever he was...    |    computer designed by Lucca |    are too dangerous to be
   The world's going to be a      |    Ashtear... For de sake of  |    permitted to live.
   better place without you!      |    science, I must not let    |
                                  |    you leave here alive.      |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grobyc:                           |
   Grobyc-thinks-that-Lynx-is     |
   -strong, but-it-is-time-to-    |
   prove-that-Grobyc-is-stronger. |

[Lynx slides backward, then sinks into the floor.
There are some deep purple sparklies, and then FATE
emerges from the point at which he disappeared.]

Lynx:
   Hah...
   Come, Serge!

   Show me what the purpose of
   your life on this planet is...
   Teach me what it means to be
   '"alive!!!"'

Serge:
   Are you saying you put me
   through all this crap just for
   THAT?! Messing with my life,
   killing Lucca Ashtear, TORTURING
   Kid...just so that you could
   fight me?! I'm gonna FLATTEN
   you, you son of a bitch!
   (Going to have to be careful
   here--Kid might get hit...
   but I think she'd want me to
   do this.)

[Combat. When the party wins, Kid is awake and crouching
on the floor where she used to be lying. By contrast, Dark
Serge is face-down on the floor.]

Serge:
   (Pant, pant... So it's finally
   over. Funny, I always thought
   it would feel more...I dunno...)

Lynx:
   S-serge.

Serge:
   (Argh! I want to just walk over
   there and kick him, but...doing
   that to someone who's already
   dying would be...)

   What do you want NOW?

Lynx:
   I know it's...a lot to ask,
   but please tell her...
   I'm sorry.

Serge:
   Tell WHO? Hey, wait--

[As Dark Serge fades away, something small and sparkling bounces
across the floor to land beside Serge's foot. Serge bends down and
picks it up.]

Serge:
   (Looks like a piece of ordinary
   beach glass. Hey, wait, there's
   something scratched into this
   side... "M (heart) W"... I don't
   get it, unless the woman he
   wanted to apologize to has one
   of those initials. But I have
   other things to worry about
   right now.)

   Kid? Hey, Kid, are you okay?

[Kid gets to her feet.]

Kid:
   Ah...!
   Huh...?
   Where in blazes am I?

Serge:
   Right in the middle of
   the Sea of Eden.

[Kid turns to face the party]

Kid:
   Serge...
   What happened to me?

Serge:
   Lynx brainwashed you...or at
   least, that's the short version.
   We still don't know what he was
   really after, though. He went on
   and on about the Frozen Flame,
   but...

Kid:
   The Flame? Where?

[She turns and looks up at the big spherical construction]

Kid:
   Aha!?
   That...?
   That's it!!!

[Kid runs over, jumps onto the base of the sphere-thing, and
begins climbing.]

Serge:
   Kid?! Hey, wait! What are you
   doing?! (Damn! I'm not good
   enough at climbing to follow her
   up there, but I have a really
   bad feeling about this...)

   Kid! The Flame isn't going to
   run away! Come back down so
   that we can talk!

   (Why isn't she listening?!
   It's almost as though she's...
   still under Lynx's control...)

[When Kid reaches the top, Harle appears,
floating a bit lower-down.]

Harle:
   NON!!!
   Arrête!

Serge:
   (Where did SHE come from?!)

Harle:
   Ne touchez pas!
   Do not touch it!

Harle:
   Kid!
   I know ze feelingz
   you have inside of you...
   Ze urge to bring
   everyt'ing to not'ing iz
   now stronger zan your
   dezire to save everyone.
   You may want to t'row
   yourself down ze cliff
   of destruction...
   Zat iz your impératif.

Serge:
   (What did Lynx DO to her?!)
   Kid, please...

Harle:
   But s'il vous plaît,
   Kid...
   Do not drag Serge and
   ze odderz down into
   destruction wit' you!

Serge:
   (I... I can't believe...
   It's all been heading
   toward THIS?!)

Kid:
   Shut up, ya looney!
   I know what I'm doin'!
   It's too late!
   There's no turnin'
   back now!

Serge:
   Kid...

Magus: [if present]
   Damn you, Belthasar! Was this
   all part of your "plan"? Without
   knowing what you meant to do, I
   can't tell whether I should try
   to intervene, or--

[Light flares in the center of the sphere, and the
screen whites out. When the picture returns, Harle is
lying on the floor where Kid was. As Serge walks over
and kneels beside her, we are taken back to where Kid
is standing on top of the sphere. The light inside it
is fading. Then the screen fades out completely, and we
are taken to a series of one-line scenelets with the
dragons, each fading directly into the next:]

===========================================================
Water Dragon Isle (Home)
===========================================================

Water Dragon:
   FATE has fallen...
   Fate has died...

===========================================================
Mount Pyre (Another)
===========================================================

Fire Dragon:
   Finally, the time has come...

===========================================================
Gaea's Navel (Home)
===========================================================

Green Dragon:
   Indeed... The long, endless night
   shall finally come to an end.

===========================================================
Earth Dragon Isle (Home)
===========================================================

Earth Dragon:
   Now...
   For mankind...

===========================================================
Marbule (Another)
===========================================================

Black Dragon:
   I shall make
   you bleed!!!

===========================================================
Sky Dragon Isle (Another)
===========================================================

 [Sky Dragon]
   Feel a million years of this planet's
   agony, pain, and suffering...!!!

[At this point, VIDEO: the rise of Terra Tower plays.]

===========================================================
Project Kid, Chronopolis (Another)
===========================================================

[After the video, we return to the top of the sphere.]

Kid:
   Terra Tower...
   It's come back
   to life again...!

Kid:
   In the year 2400, during a
   counter-time experiment, the
   Flame goes out of control...
   This causes the dimensions
   to rip apart, resultin' in
   the Time Crash.
   Engulfed in an enormous
   dimensional vortex,
   Chronopolis was hurled ten
   thousand years back in time.
   Perhaps it was the awakenin'
   Lavos who pulled the Frozen
   Flame back through time to it.
   Maybe so that Lavos, who saw
   the possibility that some young
   adventurers might destroy it,
   could create a backup plan.

Serge:
   (Damnit, how could FINALLY
   beating Lynx have made things so
   much worse?! Harle shows up and
   collapses, Kid's gone nuts and
   is babbling about stuff she
   shouldn't know about, and I...
   I don't know what to do! I can't
   really have been brought here
   just to open a door...can I?)

Kid:
   But that ain't all...
   At the same time, another
   city from a different
   dimension's future, was
   also thrown back in time.
   Dinopolis... The future city
   of the Reptites -- Azala's
   descendants, who had evolved
   more closely with the planet.
   Just as Lavos, in an attempt
   to save itself, summoned
   Chronopolis from the distant
   future...
   Perhaps our planet beckoned
   Dinopolis into the past...
   maybe as a measure against
   Chronopolis and humanity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   "Perhaps" nothing. It's obvious
   now that this is all your doing,
   you wretched old buzzard. Who
   in the modern era, other than a
   time traveller, would know the
   name of the last Reptite leader,
   who died 65,000,000 years ago?

Serge:
   Are you saying...?

Magus:
   This has to be another one of
   Belthasar's unintelligible
   little messages...or perhaps it
   would be more accurate to call
   them riddles. What use could he
   possibly have had for a cityful
   of hyperevolved lizards?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Magus is not in the party]

Serge:
   (So did all of this happen
   because the planet was trying to
   fight off this Lavos, or...?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kid:
   It wasn't the Dragon Gods
   who sealed up the Frozen
   Flame!
   It was FATE, which used the
   Flame's power to divide and
   seal the Dragons in slumber!
   And now that FATE has been
   defeated, the Dragons will
   join together again to
   start their revenge!

Serge:
   (Revenge on WHAT, though? Lavos
   isn't there anymore. It's been
   killed. By humans. And now the
   dragons want to get rid of us?
   What did we do to make them hate
   us so much?!)

[And we get another VIDEO: dragons fusing into the
Dragon-God over Chronopolis]

Harle:
   I feared it would
   come to zis...
   I didn't want to
   have to fight wit'
   you if it could
   have been avoided!

Magus: [if present]
   That aura...
   How did I ever mistake
   her for a human?

Harle:
   Adieu, Serge!
   Adieu!

[Harle flies into the center of the sphere and vanishes, and
as something flies out the top of that sphere, Kid collapses.]

Serge:
   Harle, wait! What do you mean?!
   Kid... (Damnit, everything's
   happening at once again!)

   ...I suppose we should take her
   somewhere safe. There's nothing
   more we can do here. (And the
   Frozen Flame and the Dragons
   and all the rest can damned well
   wait until I'm sure Kid's okay.)

[Then we fade directly to...]

===========================================================
Mess Hall, SS Invincible (Another)
===========================================================

[Serge, Fargo, Riddel, Viper, and the Dragoon Devas (along
with Glenn, if he was recruited, or Magus, if he was) are
scattered around the room, sitting or standing.]

Karsh:
   Give me a frickin' break!
   You mean to tell me we were
   bein' used all this time!?

Magus:                   | Fargo:
   We knew that already. |   Yeah...
   
Karsh:
   Damn!!!

Serge:
   Yelling about it won't change
   things. (Although I have to
   admit that, if it could, I'd
   be screaming right along with
   him!)

Viper:
   ......
   What is done is done.
   Although we may not like it...
   In any case, we need to
   make our way into that
   floating tower.

Serge:
   I guess so. It's better than
   just sitting around, anyway.
   (Really, I'm more worried about
   Kid than the damned tower, but
   it isn't like I can do anything
   for her.)

Viper:
   The only problem is...
   
Fargo:
   So, we have ta find
   a way up there, right?
   It's not like the great
   S.S. Invincible can make
   it up there, either...

Riddel:
   There has to be a way.

Magus:                              | Glenn:
   I could fly myself up there      |    Yes, the world has
   easily enough, but I can't carry |    infinite possibilities.
   passengers...and as the universe |    There has to be something
   is fond of reminding me, I'm     |    that will help us reach
   unlikely to accomplish much up   |    that tower.
   there alone. We need to find a   |
   technological solution.          |

Viper:
   Hmmm... At least our
   objective is clear.
   I do not know how,
   but we must find a way.

Marcy:
   So, like...whatever happened
   to Kid after that?

Serge:
   We took her to Guldove first,
   but Doc couldn't do anything for
   her. He said she has to wake up
   on her own...if she ever can.

[Serge kicks the wall]

Serge:
   I feel so powerless! (It's
   almost unbearable--I went
   through so much to save her,
   but now...)

Karsh:
   Yeah...

Riddel:
   Do not despair. Kid...is one
   of the strongest people I have
   ever met. She will wake. Have
   no doubt of it.

Zoah:
   INDEED.
   SHE IS RESTING AT
   RADIUS'S PLACE.

Glenn[if present]:
   Well, at least she can
   rest quietly there.
   Plus, Radius will
   watch over her.

Dario:                            | Fargo:
   Trapped inside her own mind... |    Arr... 'Tis true that she's
   It isn't a fate I would wish   |    a strong wench, but there
   on anyone. There must be some  |    must be some way we can help
   way we can help her struggle   |    her along--by magic, if not
   free.                          |    by science.

Serge:
   ...!
   The Masamune can influence
   people's minds, right? And so
   can the Dragon Tear. Maybe...

Magus: [if present]
   You might cure her by such
   means. Of course, you might
   also kill her...

Radius:
   If you wish to make the attempt,
   Serge, I think I speak for
   everyone when I say that we will
   do everything we can to help,
   despite the risk.

Serge:
   ...Thank you.

Karsh:
   No use just mopin'
   around here.
   
Viper:
   Indeed, we have much to do.
   However, time will not wait.

Fargo:
   Then we have to take action.
   Let's shove off, mateys!

[Fadeout. The last line appears against a black screen.]

Everyone:
   Yeah!!!



I think I'm going to do a piece or three of side-stuff next, as there are a number of
bits and pieces of various lengths that need to be done (forging Rainbow weapons,
Magus and the Mystic Knights, the Nikki-Marcy-Fargo family argument, ZOAH'S CHARACTER
SCENE, and, of course, the real meaning of Lynx's bit of beach glass) and only
three chapters left to go in the main story.

skylark

  • Poet of El Nido
  • Black Wind Agent (+600)
  • *
  • Posts: 640
    • View Profile
Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #254 on: January 27, 2011, 09:13:57 pm »
Damn man...

Just... damn...

Dude, keep this up! Almost there! :kamina