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Chapter 170 - To Reset All Time, Always.
🕑 Added 2022-09-30 20:15:01 +0000 UTCAnd then Pink Star asked the dreaded question.
“So, how do we do that?”
Silence reigned.
Wonder Knight, the ever brave and resourceful leader of the team…turned to Saydaa.
“You have magic powers right, do you have a spell for this?”
“Me?! Oh no. Baba Yaga always told me trying to mess with time is absolutely forbidden! And don’t we already have a time girl? Why don’t you do something?!”
Chronolock just held her forehead.
“Stopping even a single object in time is immensely difficult and I’ve never even attempted changing something’s past. And now you want me to reset the entire timeline?”
“Don’t you like, know something about time that could help us? You’re not just doing all this randomly are you?!”
Kiyosuke smirked.
“Aren’t you?”
“Shut up you jerk! Whose side are you on anyways?!”
Wonder Knight turned to the ninja.
“What about you? You can cut through space, right? Anything there that might help us?”
Kiyosuke scoffed.
“That is a traditional method of my clan, honed over countless hours of training and repetition that has been carved into our very bloodline. Such secrets are not easily comprehended, even by their practitioners. I could hardly explain such things to one unfamiliar with the shinobi arts.”
Pink Star tilted her head.
“So…you don’t actually know how you do it?”
Kiyosuke…averted his gaze.
“Ahahaha she got you there, you jerk! You’re totally doing it randomly too!”
Wonder Knight just sighed.
“That means there’s no choice…”
All of Aurora Legion turned to Voidspeaker, who jumped at the attention.
“W-What are you looking at me for, bro?”
Wonder Knight pointed.
“Cultist channeling the power of ancient dark gods...”
Pink Star pointed.
“Casting eldritch rituals to read the stars...”
Chronolock pointed.
“To search for signs of inexorable doom.”
“Oh come on! What does any of that have to do with resetting time?!”
Pink Star tilted her head.
“A lot? You mean all of time getting reset isn’t related to eldritch gods and inexorable doom?”
“No!”
Chronolock jabbed his side.
“Don’t a lot of eldritch beings have something to do with time?”
“That’s just in books!”
“And your eldritch beings are different how? Come on Void, this is the one time we want you to do something inexorably doom-y.”
“That’s…um…it’s like…”
Voidspeaker quickly glanced all over and then suddenly pointed at Nana.
“Ema…Nana! You can think of something right?! You’re super smart!”
Nana just stared with blank, unfocused eyes.
“Oh. I see. So understanding basic geometry is super smart for you. And just because I taught you to draw a basic circle now you think I somehow know how to reset all of time. Yes. That’s obviously how it works, Voidspeaker-senpai. I definitely know how to reset time. It was taught in class, didn’t you know? Obviously not, because you never pay attention to class. We learned all sorts of things you didn’t notice. Resetting time’s basic stuff, obviously. You would know that if you just did your homework. And what was your motto again? Master the arcane, disregard the mundane? I’d say resetting all of time falls firmly under the arcane category. So, Voidspeaker-senpai, where is the arcane you mastered? That you disregarded all that mundane stuff for, hm? Don’t tell me you don’t know anything about the arcane either, and that all that time I spent trying to squeeze even the most basic of concepts into your apparently empty head was only because you were simply too lazy to bother even trying. I might be slightly upset if I were to hear that, you know? I wasn’t aware I was supposed to tutor you on the arcane, as well. Which would make me wonder what the purpose of your presence here even is, besides using that empty head of yours to tank shots from Elise. That increasingly seems to be the only thing it is good for.”
“I-I’m sorry, I won’t do it again. W-Where’s Dark…right…reset…um…S-Saydaa! You said you trained under Baba Yaga, right?! She’s a legend, so she definitely taught you something that can help here!”
“Me again?! I just told you she said not to even think about this kind of stuff! You figure it out you crazy cultist!”
Chronolock just held her head and sighed as her beloved romantic partner tried to pass the ball back to Saydaa, resulting in a lot of shouting.
Icy Rose quietly shuffled over to Arvid, who was softly chuckling and shaking his head.
“Hey, anything in your ancestor’s memories that might help?”
Arvid just heaved a sigh.
“They encountered many strange and wondrous things in their adventures, but nothing ever like this. I am sorry, but I have very little to contribute to this discussion.”
“It’s ok. I don’t know anything helpful either, so I can’t really complain.”
Arvid just shrugged and smiled.
“Worry not! I have a feeling it will all be fine.”
Icy Rose tilted her head.
“How so?”
Arvid nodded his head in a particular direction.
“Because I think comrade Elise is about to finish her calculations.”
Saydaa and Voidspeaker both jumped and turned at the same time.
““That’s right! Elise/killer robot girl will figure it out!””
Everyone turned to Elise, who’s robotic eye was flickering. Chronolock crossed her arms.
“Well, you cheating bot, why so quiet?”
“Sarcastic Explanation: Obviously this unit knew from the start that Aurora Legion would have zero contribution, as usual. As such, this unit simply assumed she would have to do all the work again, and dedicated processing power to determining a solution on her own while Nemesis allies distracted the noobs.”
“Hey! We totally help you, Elise!”
Elise turned to Voidspeaker.
And suddenly, she smiled at him.
Voidspeaker’s jaw dropped.
She spoke with two voices once again, one mechanical and monotone, one soft and full of inflection.
“That’s right, I haven’t said it yet. Thank you, Voidspeaker, for your help. You saved my life, and allowed me to reunite with my dad and my friends. For that, I am truly grateful.”
“That’s…wha…you’re…um…you’re welcome?”
Voidspeaker was fidgeting about, his face growing hot. Chronolock’s eye twitched and she jabbed his side. Elise’s face and voice then returned to normal.
“Sarcastic Clarification: However, Voidspeaker assistance in matters of void energy is separate from Voidspeaker assistance in all other phases of the operation. And other Aurora Legion members, such as the noob, did not in fact contribute to those phases either. But it is alright. This unit has adapted to carrying the weight of Aurora Legion.”
Chronolock’s eye twitched some more. Wonder Knight stepped forward before she could speak though.
“You have a plan, Elise?”
“Affirmative.”
Everyone gathered around Elise. Her robotic eye lit up and a holographic display appeared, showing the timeline reset and a great deal of data relating to it.
“Observation: This unit recorded the timeline reset in great detail, and determined that the reset did not originate from the Temporal Arbiter. The Temporal Arbiter destabilized the timeline when he removed Commander Bob from it, and then the universe reset itself to reach a more stable state.”
The display changed to show the Temporal Arbiter lifting Bob into the air.
“Additional Observation: The Temporal Arbiter gave us some hints as well. He said he ‘banished’ Commander Bob from time, implying he has sent Commander Bob somewhere else. He has also stated that his role is to oversee time, and handle disruptions.”
Arvid began to nod.
“I see, so you think the Temporal Arbiter knows where Bob is?”
“Affirmative.”
Chronolock frowned.
“Well that’s real neat, bot, but that guy just appeared out of nowhere. How do you expect to find him?”
“Condescending Explanation: That is obvious, noob. We break time.”
Chronolock’s eye twitched. She held her forehead with her hand.
“That doesn’t seem obvious at all, you dumb bot. And how exactly do we do that anyways?”
“Condescending Explanation: That is obvious, noob. This unit shall assist with that.”
Chronolock jumped as NSLICE-00P Beta suddenly began speaking behind her. She began to tremble and grit her teeth. Wonder Knight quickly motioned at Voidspeaker, who wrapped his arm around Chronolock and pat her shoulder gently, whispering to her. She took a deep breath.
She could swear Elise was smirking at her, but the stupid bot’s face was as expressionless as ever.
Saydaa tilted her head.
“I don’t get it though, killer robot girl. How does a second you help us break time?”
“Explanation: Because we can use her to create a time paradox and destabilize the timeline once more. We just need a way to send her through time. And we already know a way to do that.”
All of Nemesis’s eyes widened. Wonder Knight glanced around at them all.
“Wait, you guys know how to time travel?”
Arvid shook his head.
“We don’t. But we know someone who does.”
“And who’s that?”
All of Nemesis frowned.
“The foe who almost killed Elise.”
Silence hung in the air for about a minute. Chronolock heaved a sigh.
“Ok, so assume we can find this guy who already nearly killed you and somehow get him to send the other stupid bot back in time, and assuming this stupid bot is actually right and that breaks time…wouldn’t that just reset the timeline a second time? How does breaking time help us?”
“Explanation: The universe’s boundaries around Earth were already at a weak point due to excessive super combat and Vophae dimensional projectors. Then the time traveler attempted to destroy the entire universe by breaking it down further. Then Commander Bob was ripped from the timeline, forcing the entire thing to reset itself. This unit has calculated that the universe is currently in an highly unstable state. An additional break of that level will destabilize it entirely.”
Pink Star took a deep breath.
“That sounds really really bad.”
“Affirmative. Observation: And the Temporal Arbiter has claimed it is his duty to prevent such things.”
Kiyosuke began to smirk.
“So it’s a trap.”
“Affirmative.”
Chronolock continued to frown.
“Well that’s nice, but there’s another problem. What do you plan to do about that Temporal Arbiter once he arrives? We were completely helpless against him last time.”
“Addendum: That is the second benefit of destabilizing the timeline. This unit’s calculations predict the Temporal Arbiter will need to dedicate significant power and focus to preventing the timeline from destabilizing completely. That will give us an opportunity.”
Wonder Knight crossed his arms.
“And do we have a plan to re-stabilize the universe if we’re going after the guy who's supposed to fix it? We want to reset time, not destroy it entirely.”
“Explanation: The problem is the double time destabilization in quick succession. Therefore, there is a way to repair it. That is to undo the cause of one of the destabilizations, so that the universe can reset to a pre-existing timeline instead of charting out a new variation from scratch.”
Everyone’s eyes widened at that.
“So if Bob-sama was returned then, time would go back to normal?”
“Affirmative.”
Everyone went silent for another moment.
Pink Star tilted her head.
“That…sounds like it could work?”
Wonder Knight heaved a sigh.
“It seems very risky…but what choice do we have?”
“Sarcastic Proposal: As an alternative, we could hope cultist Voidspeaker remembers a time-breaking dark ritual? Inexorable doom is his primary directive, correct?”
“Oh come on! Not you too, Elise!”
Author’s Note:
And so the plan is set, the mission laid out, the quest begins! After Elise did ninety-nine percent of the work. Kiyosuke contributed one teleport.
Come on Void, we knew everyone else would be useless here, but this was your moment to try out all those dark rituals Londyn told you you’re never ever allowed to even think about!
Anyways!
Can the team catch the time-traveler who evaded Bob, create a time paradox, destabilize the entire universe, and then face down the time god who banished Bob? Will anyone besides Elise contribute more than a single digit percentage to the mission? Tune in next time, to find out!
