The Sparkle in his Eye

by Tatsurou

Time: Memories

"So," Clank asked as he walked alongside Sigmund through the halls of the Great Clock, "what's next on our Temporal To-Do List?"

Sigmund went over a few details from his check list as he compared them to things that had been taken care of already. "Only one thing left on the checklist...test mnemonic station Iota."

"Station Iota?" Clank asked curiously.

"Yup!" Sigmund confirmed. "As in, 'Iota test a mnemonic station'!" Seeing Clank's stare, he shrugged helplessly. "Sorry. Orvus' sense of humor rubs off on you after the first thousand years."

"You've worked for him that long?" Clank asked, surprised.

"Relatively speaking," Sigmund allowed sheepishly. "Quantum entanglement really screws with your internal chronometer, so it's hard to be sure...especially when we rarely deal with time linearly."

Clank nodded in understanding. He could well imagine how frustrating that could be. Letting the subject go for the moment, he followed Sigmund in the direction of the mnemonic station, pausing only long enough to repair any damaged parts of the Great Clock that he came across.

"I need to head to sector nine," Sigmund commented after reading a status report. "I'll meet you at the station!" He pointed in the direction Clank needed to go, then headed off.

Clank carefully made his way along the indicated path, past a more complicated Time Pad puzzle and several intruding hostiles before eventually catching up to Sigmund, who was getting a door open while complaining about some of the malfunctioning tech. Entering, Clank discovered that the mnemonic station itself was in need of repairs, which his Chronoscepter was able to provide. He then hopped in to test it.

---

As Clank entered his mindscape again, he was surprised to find The Plumber fishing several odd chunks of tech out of a large green pipe sticking up out of the ground for some reason. Each piece of tech seemed to be something out of Clank's memories. The 'exercise book' Qwark had given him, the Dimensionator, Tachyon's helmet...

"Hello?" Clank asked, confused.

The Plumber spun around. "Oh, it's you!" he gasped out in relief. "You gave the old ticker a start."

"I am not sure why you would be surprised to encounter me in my own memory banks," Clank pointed out. "Why are you here?"

"Your memory banks?" The Plumber asked, surprised. "Huh. Must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. I thought I was in the green fella's head, what with all the empti-"

"Keep in mind that is my son you are speaking of," Clank interrupted.

"No offense meant," The Plumber replied quickly. Reaching into the pipe, he pulled out a photograph. Ratchet, Clank, Twilight, and Qwark gathered together, posing for a family photo...Qwark managing to somehow give himself bunny ears. "Huh. Lotsa things are different, aren't they? Ya look so happy in this picture..."

Clank walked up to the pipe. "...the symbolism is rather intriguing..." he murmured. "This pipe...it's my path as my father's son...and my...family must be removed from the path for me to walk it unhindered. A rather...upsetting choice."

"Just keep in mind, Clank," The Plumber replied, attaching a tiny ticking egg to the photo, causing it to slip down the pipe freely, "your choices are your own. Keep your eyes peeled, and there's always a new path available." Light shone upwards from within the pipe. "And the future turns brightest when you least expect it..."

Clank prepared himself to leap into the light...only to turn to The Plumber. "Are you coming?"

"Plumbers don't just go diving down strange pipes willy-nilly!" The Plumber proclaimed petulantly. "That'd be silly." He then chuckled softly. "Thanks for lettin' me say that line. It's my little girl's favorite." Before Clank could question, The Plumber knocked him into the pipe, where the warm light surrounded him.

---

"So does it work?" Sigmund asked as Clank stepped out of the chamber. "I picked up some odd neural readings there for a bit."

"The station is operational," Clank hastened to assure him. "I merely encountered something...unanticipated."

"Well, then our last stop is the Orvus Chamber itself!" Sigmund proclaimed proudly. "Last one there's a rusted Zoni!" He raced ahead eagerly.

Clank shook his head as he followed along. "So very much like Twilight," he murmured as he moved in pursuit.

A few more invading biological hostiles got in Clank's way, but he dealt with them quickly and readily. The upgrades he'd installed of Twilight's design seemed to be rather overpowering as far as the foes he encountered were concerned. "Maybe I can do more on our adventures than just riding along on Ratchet's back," he murmured thoughtfully as he tossed another creature out into empty space.

The final Time Plate puzzle proved the most challenging, but Clank was able to make it past it after a bit of trial and error once he got the timing down better. After the last few hurdles, Clank caught up to Sigmund at the entrance of the Orvus Chamber. The door was massive and ornate, with an unusual locking mechanism. A switch designed only to react to Clank's unique body type while holding a Chronoscepter caused the bronze mechanism on the door to rotate until it and the two glowing circles took the shape...of Clank's own face, Orvus symbolically passing the reins of the Clock to Clank.

The Orvus Chamber itself was massive and wide open, a wide observatory that looked out upon all of time and space. In the exact center was the control terminal, which slowly rose out of the ground as Sigmund triggered it. It was a round circle around a single handle, allowing anyone to take hold of it to turn time forward or backward at will.

Sigmund spoke quietly about how much of Orvus' life post Clank's creation surrounded observations of Clank and the others...but the saved video files that played showed Clank far clearer than Sigmund's words could just how much he meant to his father. After a time, Sigmund played an 'orientation message'...a holographic recording of Orvus.

"Hello, XJ-0461," Orvus greeted warmly. "Or should I say Clank? Here in this very chamber, I watched over time. And now that you understand the power of the Clock, I must ask you to protect it at all costs; for even the slightest misuse of its power can rip the very fabric of existence. The Clock, much like Time itself, is a gift, and not to be tampered with." Orvus' expression saddened. "But like any father, my only wish is that my-"

The message was cut off at the same time as a strange electrical field shut down Clank's systems.

Lawrence smiled softly to himself. "I'm sorry, were you in the middle of something?" he asked playfully, having learned a very important lesson from watching his employer.

Gloat after the heroes have been dealt with.

Comments

[Leo Archon]

Very first line has Ratchet instead of Clank.

[Bones_]

grr

[Skyeheart]

One of the perks of being the straight man in a rogue's gallery? You're often the most competent one. The downside? You're almost always an underling that has to spend most of his talents bailing the boss out.

[SvenFoxx]

Seems like very little was changed between this scene and its counterpart in a Crack in Time, but considering this is a fan fiction, that's to be expected at times. I didn't spot anything to gripe about anyways, so have a moustache!

[Void Runner]

6967227 The Upside: Your Life Expectancy is exponentially higher as the overly hero-y types tend to ignore the "powers behind the throne"...

[Reader Wolf]

Hey, you forgot the Chekov's Gun for Clank.
"I wouldn't risk any more than six minutes."

[Trithtale]

Does this provide evidence that The Plumber is Pinkie's father?

[Tatsurou]

6967420
Robots record their surroundings even when unconscious.

[Tatsurou]

6967436
Clank's systems.

[Starcat5]

6967300
First, Twilight already has that knowledge. Second, it might not be needed in this timeline.

6967443
...which includes those needed to record things while unconscious. Which raises the question: Who's systems are recording this? Sigmund?

6967262
Bonus points if you can steer your employer's goals to match your own. I have long suspected Lawrence to be the one running the show, with the Doc being the unwitting front man.

[A Normal Human]

So, how do you get all the default dialogue right! Do you play the game, or watch Let's Plays?

[A Normal Human]

So, how do you get all the default dialogue right? Do you play the game, or watch Let's Plays?

[Dirty Bit]

Oh hell no!

[Chrome Masquerade]

Rule 1: Don't. Trust. The lackey.

[ArchAngelGundam]

I knew I was forgeting something. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.

[Kenshinryuu]

"Plumbers don't just go diving down strange pipes willy-nilly!" The Plumber proclaimed petulantly.

I think the Mario Bros would disagree.

Lawrence smiled softly to himself. "I'm sorry, were you in the middle of something?" he asked playfully, having learned a very important lesson from watching his employer.

Gloat after the heroes have been dealt with.

THE BUTLER DID IT!!!! Now we get to see Twilight rip him apart when they next meet, right???? Got to admit, waiting for Clank to fix everything and then ambushing him once the master control was unlocked was genius... which means Nefarious didn't come up with the plan.

6967227 The Downside is if you make it personal, the Heroes will rip you apart. Especially the filly Alicorn Princess who learns you zapped her mommy.

[Shadowmane PX-41]

You know, I wonder what the Valkyries will think of Twilight in the next two chapters? Because if my hunch is correct, the next two chapters/or single chapter will be Carina, and then Cassiopeia...

[cyberlord4444]

Okay, time to see if Clank has picked up Twilight's penchant for overkill.

[Void Runner]

6967549
True, very true. I've suspected the same. Though, if that Is the case, then Laurence has just made a fatal mistake: He's come out of the woodwork as more than simply the "Butler Accomplice" and made himself a threat. Whenever any of the Sparkle family get their hands on whatever recording was just made they'll know that he's now willing to "Get his hands dirty" and the next time any of them sees him they'll probably try to take him out since they'll no longer see him as "mostly harmless".

[Moon_Fire]

6969597 6dollarshirts.com/images/W/Mostly_Harmless_T_SHIRT_navy_truenavy_swatch.jpg
Couldn't help it!

[RanmaChaos]

Another enjoyable chapter, Good job.

[Eternal Stability]

6968270 didn't they kill all three at the start of this arc? When they left that fongoid planet?

[Tatsurou]

6971588
Just the one you do in game.

[SilentMech]

... No one told them of what happened in Solana, or the one other Galaxy to see an angry Twilight, did they? Welp, Laurence is walking scrap.

[Jake Witt]

Laurence, why can't you just join the Sparkle Gyro family?! It would almost be like the Bruce-Alfred duo between him and Clank.

[proto20]

"Plumbers don't just go diving down strange pipes willy-nilly!" The Plumber proclaimed petulantly. "That'd be silly." He then chuckled softly.

Tell that to super mario.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

7972077
Agreed

[Supertoe]

In case anyone is wondering, yes the green pipe straight out of Mario is indeed in the game.

[FireheartThePone]

Horror of horrors! A smart villian!