Chapter 7 Preview

Factory Work

As Crono and Lucca set out with Robo the swordswoman allowed the android to take point. While it was true that the robot was the one who knew the way to the factory and would be best suited to lead the redhead still didn’t trust it. She was much more comfortable being able to keep an eye on it throughout their trip no matter what Lucca said. The machine walked on in silence for the first hour before Lucca started asking about the plant. Robo was more than willing to give her an entire history of not only the facility but the industrial applications of its work and the technological advanced that made it possible. Crono was bored to tears by their conversation but the genius found the remainder of their trek passing quickly.

Unlike the domes they had seen the factory was a conglomeration of massive tanks and piping that led all over the place. At first glance it appeared to be in as bad a shape as any other structure Crono had seen before but as they drew near she could see that everything still seemed to be in working order, it was just incredibly ugly. Robo took them around to the entrance and immediately went over to a console. Lucca stared at the monitor above with rapt attention, trying to soak in all the information. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she would learn half the things that Robo had told her. She was trying to cram 1,000 years’ worth of scientific achievement into her brain as fast as she could. The genius expected to be leaving this time period soon and didn’t expect to be back. The figures and charts that appeared and vanished on the screen fascinated the purple-haired girl but ended too soon for her liking.

Robo shut down the computer and turned to her two companions. “The facility is running on emergency power but the power plant doesn’t seem to be damaged, only shut down. We’ll need to go to the sub-basement to reactivate it and then test the power lines to ensure that the power is being received by the Proto Dome.” Lucca nodded and urged Robo to show her as much of the facility as it could. The android began by giving Lucca a brief tour of the manufacturing floor, showing her the place where the robots and drones were put together. The genius asked if Robo had been made in such a place but the machine couldn’t answer her, saying that its memory banks were missing the relevant information. The two were ready to set off and see more of the factory but Crono reminded them that Marle was waiting back at the Dome.

Due to the emergency power the elevators weren’t working and Robo was forced to lead them through a series of stairs down to the sub-basement. The first level was silent and empty, allowing the redhead to listen to her footsteps echo through the creepy corridors. The second level, however, was decidedly different. From the base of the stairs to as far as Robo’s searchlight could find the area was plastered with puddles of liquid. The walls had patches of slime leaking down and every so often a drop of something could be seen falling from the ceiling. The three did their best to step around the pools but eventually they were forced to walk through the muck or turn back. As soon as Crono’s boot touched the fluid it surged upwards into a gelatinous dome.

The sudden reaction shocked the three of them, causing the two humans to pull out their weapons. The goo rose up into domed form about knee-high, but soon had several flailing tentacles sticking out from its surface. The dark green mass was soon joined by several other puddles, some the same shade, others a more red hue. One of them neared Crono enough for the redhead to slash at it with her sword. The blade sunk into the creature with a satisfying slash, but as the swordswoman pulled her weapon back she didn’t see any injury apparent. Lucca, too, found that her bullets passed through the slimes with no apparent damage caused. The wounds their two weapons inflicted seemed to close almost immediately. Robo was having difficulty as well; the machine attempted to smash the fluid things with its fists but only served to get its arms stuck in the liquid bodies. When Robo tried to remove the creatures from its arms it found that the monsters were creeping into its body through the small gaps in its armor, gumming up its servos and slowing to down considerably.

Crono and Lucca were having their own issues avoiding the slimes. Lucca had accidentally stepped in one of them and was now trying to pull her leg out of its bulk but could get no traction against the goo that seemed to be entire liquid but gripped her leg at the same time. As the mass of red surged up her leg she beat at it with her hands, futilely trying to fend it off. Meanwhile, Crono had become cornered by three of the piles, slashing at them with her sword to hold them off but slowly losing the battle. When one of them grabbed at her foot and pulled the redhead lost her balance and tumbled chest-first onto one of the blobs. Its tentacles reached out and held onto her, pressing her arms to her sides. Crono strained her head back, trying to break the grip but finding it impossible to move at all.

The full chapter is available on my Patreon page.