As Ratchet and Azimuth set their separate courses to the Korthos Sector, Clank continued to explore the Great Clock with Sigmund as his guide, using the Chronoscepter to repair any damaged section he came across. The first stop was the orientation room, which was basically a massive movie room. A massive screen with all the controls, and a comfortable sofa directly across from it. "All this...just for orientation?" he murmured.
"Not entirely," Sigmund admitted. "Orvus also used it to...observe your history. When Twilight arrived, time itself became unknown and difficult to plan for. Since, unlike before her arrival, he had no idea what would happen, he would come here to observe events as they happened."
Clank blinked in surprise. "He...was watching over me?"
"Over all of you," Sigmund confirmed. "I...I've never seen him sadder than...when he watched what happened on Umbris. He said it was necessary, though. That...all other paths led to...greater darkness."
"I...see," Clank murmured, not wanting to think about that part of his life just then. It had been...painful to see Twilight so emotionally crushed, and it brought back other memories of the harsher points of Twilight's life.
The orientation film that played proved to be a home made film, with Orvus explaining the purpose of the Great Clock. Apparently, long ago the fabric of space time became so badly damaged in a tiny point it threatened to end the whole universe. The Great Clock was built to both contain the tear and keep time moving normally throughout the universe.
"That's...incredible," Clank murmured. "And...I'm responsible for the Great Clock now?"
"Once you complete your training, yeah," Sigmund confirmed. "Now you know why Orvus kept it such a secret."
Clank stroked his chin in thought. "I find myself...somewhat conflicted," he spoke up. "Clearly this station needs expert tending, and someone who can handle anything imaginable, and probably many things that can't be imagined. The first person I think of along those lines is Twilight Sparkle. She would probably have this station in peak operating conditions before she'd been on station a full hour."
"I've seen her work while Orvus was watching," Sigmund agreed. "She's certainly impressive."
"But on the other hand...do you even want to imagine what would happen if you gave her the keys to time itself?"
Sigmund shuddered violently. "Doesn't bear thinking about, sir."
"Though she has grown more responsible with her experimentations-"
"What if she tries to cast her duplication spell on the Great Clock itself to experiment with the duplicate?" Sigmund countered.
"...I take it there being two Great Clocks would be bad?" Clank asked worriedly.
"No idea!" Sigmund countered emphatically. "And I don't wanna find out!"
Nodding in agreement, Clank hopped into the nearby Mnemonic Station for another lesson from the Orvus program in his mind.
The lesson within his mind this time was in using the Scepter to manipulate some of the Clock's functions. Its primary function was to 'maintain temporal normality', and that wasn't always the case. Scattered throughout the clock were planet representations, each of which would manifest as any planet undergoing temporal anomalies. The scepter could be used at those stations to neutralize the anomalies, restoring time to normal.
There was one last message left for him at the end of the lesson. "I'm very proud of you, Clank. And now you're ready for the task ahead. Go forth and fix time. Save the universe. When you're ready, my chamber will be waiting. Program terminated."
With the lesson concluded, Clank made his way forward under Sigmund's guidance. As he moved on, he found he had a question. "Sigmund, what is...the chamber?"
"Ah, the Orvus Chamber," Sigmund breathed, awe and pride in his voice. "That's the main control hub of the entire facility. It's also the most secure. I've never been inside it myself...but I hear it holds a master switch for temporal manipulation!"
"Intriguing," Clank murmured, entering one of the planet chambers the Orvus program had told him about. The first planet he had to work on was Quantos. Cleansing the anomalies proved rather straightforward, once the invading parasitic creatures were dealt with.
Two more planets awaited his repairs a good distance away. The first was Torren IV. Repairs there went just as smoothly as it did in the previous planet chamber. The final planet requiring attention, Terachnos, was only somewhat more challenging.
With the last planet in need of attention repaired for now, Clank made his way back to Sigmund, where he spotted Sigmund watching an old recording from Orvus, which proclaimed he was going to be at the Tombli Outpost on Zanifar, a trip that Orvus apparently didn't expect to be gone long for...but from the way Sigmund behaved, was obviously the last time the Zoni Elder had been seen.
Deciding that what he needed to do most at the moment was cheer Sigmund up, he voiced an inquiry that had occurred to him while he'd worked. "Sigmund, why was it that the temporal repair procedure seemed like...some sort of minigame?"
"Oh, that was my idea!" Sigmund proclaimed proudly, managing to hide his distress most impressively. "I suggested to Orvus that work would be so much more enjoyable if it could be turned into fun, to the point you didn't even realize you were doing work! He liked the idea so much, he not only turned all the repair procedures into minigame-like procedures, but changed all the security systems into time puzzles!"
Clank narrowed his eyes. "So I have you to thank for those temporal echo conundrums lining my path through this place?"
"You're welcome!" Sigmund replied happily.
Clank rolled his eyes, but was pleased that he'd succeeded in cheering up his new friend.
To be fair, they do serve their function as security choke points quite well. Any unauthorized access would be delayed long enough to be noticed by security and dealt with. That said, I still want to slap him around until his bolts start to rattle.
Loved the update and i look forward to more!
It's enough Twilight can mess with space. The last thing I want is Twilight to mess with reality her way. Honestly, Pinkie's the lesser evil here.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good work.
Two Great Clocks...
"Let's do the Time Warp again~!"
Puzzles.
6877606 And so... it begins.
His eyes are little more than bright blue lights with simulated eyelids to imitate expression.
How can he roll them?
6877643 Better question. Do you WANT to know???
6877689 It was hypothetical question.
He can roll them as much as he wants, but there's no point if no-one near him knows he does it.
6877643
Clank can roll his eyes via dimming the lights to the point where it looks like he has black scellera and then moving the brighter lights around in a rolling motion. I think.
6877722 I've yet to see him dim his eye lights when he is unharmed.
6877757
Hey man, it was just a thought. It's entirely possible that Clank can do much more than we know of from the games.
6877757
In the cutscenes of Crack in Time, his eyes are more a screen of tiny segmented lights - like a compound eye - so it's logical he could manipulate them directly.
That is, of course, assuming he doesn't roll the entire thing in a circle on his face. His optics have popped in some cutscenes, showing they have some range of movement on his face.
6877760 Hmm...It's been a while since I last played it.
I just finished re-playing Gladiator and will be getting into Tools of Destruction as part of my replay lead-up to the movie and game
6877606 Just a jump to the left.
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
As someone who is in a place of safety, let Twilight tinker with the clock, and bring on the popcorn.
The mini-games... It all makes sense now! Of course Orvus would be thrilled at that idea of turning work into fun. Go Sigmund.
Those puzzles... I raged at those things for hours. Bare in mind this was before I was a Doctor Who fan, so the manipulation of time made my brain hurt.
...I wonder... Do you have a plan for a pony in the Doctor Who universe? Because honestly, I'm not sure if that would work. The Doctor would know almost instantly that time manipulation was involved with their appearance, and something tells me Jenny wouldn't be too happy that her adoptive sister is a pony. Of course, I imagine you would find a way to make it work.
Why are people complaining about the time puzzles? I loved those things!
It's also good to see some extra evidence that Sigmund is a good choice to run the clock in Clank's absence.
6878393 I imagine that time turner would be revealed as one of the driving forces of the Pwny-verse...along with Pinkie Pie.
6878103 And a step to the riii~iight!
6879124 You put you hands on your hips!
6879931
And bring your knees in tight!
6879948 Then it's the pelvic thrust
that really drives you insaaaaaa~ne.
6880040
LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!!!!!!
6880041 ...is that a referance?
6880041 LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAAAIN!
6880322 We've literally been singing, line by line, the song Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
It's pretty famous.
6880462 ....I've never heard of it.
6881772
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a bit of a cult classic; it was made in 1975, and is still shown in many theaters once a week. It's known for having a fandom that dresses up, throws things at and shouts lines at the screen, and generally indulges in audience participation.
It's kind of a big deal.
6881979 that was awesome
6881986 That is part of why it's kind of a big deal, yes. Because, despite everything, it's fairly awesome.
6882036 i will definiatly be watching that movie.
6882212 It's most fun if you watch it with someone who knows the callbacks to make the jokes for you.
6882459 cool. Found out my dad's a fan. He watched it with his dad and perhaps it will be great thing for us to do together. Wonder were I can find a copy.
6884523 dude, I was being VERY sarcastic -.-
6882459 There's a light
(-.-) (II0I) (IIOI) <( There is science to be done. Add some cake and we will have fun. )
Nice to see the loop closed on that part of the story from way back when. I hadn't yet realized that we were now in the arc that was going to explain that, though in hindsight it seems kind of obvious.