“It is the Key of Time.”
“The Key of Time?” asked Nabiki, “What does it do, control the past, present, and future?”
“Not directly,” Said Cologne, reading from the book, “but yes, and so much more. The key itself is harmless. What it goes to, however, is not.”
The sound of a crash drew every ones attention to Ranma, who’d managed to free an arm, and was hauling him self out of the floor. “An’ what would that be?” he grunted.
“The Chronos Engine.” Said Cologne as she leafed through the book. “It is a machine built by the gods in the ancient past to monitor and, if necessary, manipulate the time stream. As a failsafe, they made sure that the only way to use the device was with this key.”
“However, they soon realized that it was far too dangerous to use. With it, a person could control the history of the universe, and, if they so chose, rule it with an iron fist, most likely forever.”
“And so the gods had a huge conundrum: How to deal with this machine. They couldn’t erase it from existence; the device was in a pocket dimension that, while the machine was active, existed outside of time. Even if they could, doing so would create a paradox, since they’d need to use the device to erase it.”
“Destroying the device was an impracticality on a monumental scale. According to the book, the Chronos Engine is roughly the size of the Milky Way Galaxy, and it’s made of a material that is all but indestructible.”
---
“The gods weren’t very smart to do that were they?” Interrupted Ranma.
“Yeah,” Said Akane, “building that kind of machine with that kind of material? What were they thinking?”
“The gods were young at the time,” snapped Cologne, “And probably got carried away with themselves. Now, may I continue?”
“Sorry,” Said the two teens.
Cologne frowned, and looked back at the book. “Now where was I? Oh, yes.”
---
“Fortunately for the gods, the material of the device was prone to decay and would eventually disintegrate if left unused. Given the machines size though, that would take countless eons to happen.” “Being immortal, the gods could wait out the machines eventual destruction. That still left them the problem of what to do with the key, though. The key itself was also indestructible. However, it was magically tied to the machine; if the machine was destroyed, so was the key.”
“They eventually decided to hide it in a pocket dimension, away from the universe at large. Eventually, they forgot about it and for many billions of years, the key lay undisturbed.”
“Then, sometime in the Uruk period of Mesopotamia, Circa 5300 BCE, a pair of princely brothers stumbled across the pocket dimension and the key. Naturally they had no knowledge of what it was for, but that all changed when the key, after years of dormancy, transported them to the machine where they learned of its capabilities.”
“Realizing the danger the machine afforded, the elder brother wanted to hide the key, lest it fall into the wrong hands. The younger, however, was much more ambitious, and wanted to use the machine for personal gain.”
“The two argued, then fought. The elder brother was the victor, but the younger swore to get the key at any cost.”
“This would begin a cycle of bloodshed and war that would continue well into the Middle Ages, and extend all across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Someone would find the key, someone else would want it, and the cycle would continue. Over time, the purpose of the key was forgotten, supplanted by the sheer greed of those who coveted it as a trophy.”
“Eventually, in 1200 AD, the key ended up in the hands of an English prince who rediscovered its purpose. Saddened by the state in which this object had left the kingdom, the prince took the key and entered the machine. Neither has been seen until now.”
---
“And that’s where we stand.” Said Cologne.
Nabiki sighed. “So what now?” She asked.
“First things first,” Said Cologne, turning to Ranma “Son-in-law, how did you manage to acquire the Key?”
“Well,” Began Ranma, “I was shopping for a birthday present for Kasumi and-“
“’Birthday’?” said Nabiki and Akane simultaneously, “What do you mean, ‘Birthday’?”
“You guys didn’t know?”
Nabiki opened up her schedule “He’s right, sis.” She said, “We completely forgot about it.”
“What are we going to do?” Said Akane.
“As fascinating as this is,” Said Cologne, “You can deal with it later.” She turned to Ranma, “If you’ll continue?”
Ranma nodded. “Right. Well, um, as I was leaving a store, some guy grabbed me and dragged me into an alley.”
“What did he look like?” asked Cologne.”
“ Like…” Ranma glanced at the book. “That.” he said, pointing to a page.
The page in question had an illustration of the prince who disappeared with the key.
“Him?” asked Cologne.
“Yeah, except that he looked as if he’d just barely come out of a battle alive. His clothes were shredded, and he was covered in blood.”
“I see. What happened then?”
“He slumped against a wall and gave me the box with the key in it. He said it was up to me, and to not let ‘them’ have it.”
“Who?” asked Nabiki.
Ranma shrugged. “I don’t know. He just mentioned that if ‘they’ got it, there would be too many deaths.”
“Most ominous…” Said Cologne. “Did he say anything else?”
“No. He died immediately afterwards.” Ranma sighed, “What I find strange was the fact that he knew my name. Even stranger, when I went to inspect the body a second time, it had vanished. After that I came to you.”
Cologne thought for a moment. “I believe our first move would be to…”
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(Posted Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:04)
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