Work Text:
Chronus Seven: Part Five
[driving ambiance]
Tavy: Wait, you’re going to have to explain a little more because I still don’t really understand all of this.
Benji: Look, I’m from the future. I don’t even really understand how it works. I just know that I need to be careful not to mess things up.
Tavy: What year are you from anyway?
Benji: 2023
Tavy: Really? Then shouldn’t you be like forty years old or something?
Benji: I’m 43 actually, but 22 years old at the same time. Time travel is weird, even stranger than I could have imagined.
Tavy: So what do you have to do to get back?
Benji: We need to gather these two crystals. Here, show him.
[ZIP FWOOSH]
[shimmering sound effect]
Tavy: Woah… what is that thing?
Benji: They call them time crystals, but I don't really understand them. That metal container is a power cell that can harness energy for time travel.
Tavy: (curious) Can I touch it?
[FWOOSH ZIP]
Benji: Nope! They’re fragile, and if they break I die.
Tavy: Oh, (laughs) sorry.
[beat]
Tavy: So who else knows?
Benji: Just you and her, plus, uh these other time travelers, but they’re hiding out right now. There might be enemy time travelers here too that are also after the crystals.
Tavy: Enemies? Like what, Daleks?
Benji: I don’t really know, but I’m not allowed to know.
Tavy: You know, in that case, maybe you should keep that gun. It's my older brother's, but he's gone in grad school and wont notice it missing until he comes back. Do you know how to use it?
[metal shifting]
Benji: Uhh... I shot one kind of like this with my cousins when I was sixteen. I think I know how it works.
[metal shifting around]
Benji: Uh, Tavy?
Tavy: Yeah
Benji: You left the safety on when you were holding me up earlier.
Tavy: (chortling) Oh. (laughs) You know, I don't think I had it in me to pull the trigger anyway. I've never even been in a fight before, I think I would freeze up even if I had to shoot someone in self defense.
Benji: Yeah, that sounds about right. Anyway, I need you to be quiet about everything you learned today. Too much information about the future can mess up the timeline. I’m honestly taking a big risk by letting you in on this but I don’t really think we have a choice at this point.
Tavy: Gotcha… I’ll keep this a secret. I guess if I see the other you I’ll just act like you don’t exist?
Benji: Exactly.
Tavy: So, where do you want me to drop you off?
Benji: There’s an empty alleyway nearby, it’ll let me see the other time travellers, two blocks down and to the left. Just drop us off here, I don’t want them to see you. I’m sure they’ll be pissed if they find out that someone from the present learned about time travel.
Tavy: Gotcha.
[turn signal]
[car stops]
[street ambiance]
Tavy: See you guys later, call me if you need anything!
[car drives off]
[footsteps]
Benji: Ok, so now that makes three of us. (laughs) Time Heroes. Unlikely saviors of the future. I think I like that.
[footsteps]
As I recall the entrance was nearby. Do you want to come in again?
[beat]
Ok.
[beat]
Oh yeah, and before we go in, there’s something important I have to do.
[kiss]
(giggling) There, now I’m ready.
[footsteps]
[WHOOOSH]
[Spaceship Ambiance]
[footsteps]
[airlock opens]
Jason: Well well well, looks who’s back in one piece!
Sydney: I was on the comms with them while they were in the distortion zone, I must admit I’m pretty impressed.
Lucinda: Let’s not celebrate prematurely. Are you certain that you obtained the time crystal?
Benji: Yes, this has to be it.
Lucinda: Jason, go inspect the power cell, I need to make sure it’s the real thing.
[footsteps]
Jason: (frustrated) It’s always me that has to deal with these things. (sigh) Alright, let’s see it.
[Power Cell Opens]
[Shimmering sound effect]
[bassey white noise]
Jason: (groaning, in pain)
Jason: (straining to breath, gritting teeth) Yeah, that’s a real time crystal. Shut it, please.
[sound effects cease]
Jason: (deep, relieved inhale)
Jason: Christ, I hate looking directly into those things. They always leave my head all fuzzy for a minute after getting near them.
Sydney: Quit whining Jason.
Jason: (snarky) Alright Sydney, you check the next one then.
Jason: (inhaling, sighing) I think I need to sit down for a minute.
Lucinda: Oh, don’t worry about Jason, that’s a good sign. The crystals have that effect on most time travelers. He’ll be fine. What’s important is that you succeeded in your mission. I knew we were right to put our trust in you.
Benji: Right, so you trust us then right?
Benji: (inhaling) In that case I want you to trust us with more intel.
Lucinda: What exactly would you like to know?
Benji: For starters what the HELL was that creature in the distortion zone? You just told us we would just go in and get the crystal.
Lucinda: I did not, I told you to be ready for anything.
Benji: You didn’t tell us about the monster!
Lucinda: Hmmm… you are referring to the entity? That was not among our predictions. Like I said, time travel is an inexact science filled with improbable and unpredictable variables.
Benji: So how am I supposed to deal with these “variables”?
Lucinda: Like I said, by being prepared for anything. The two of you have already proven to be quite proficient in improvising under unpredictable circumstances.
Benji: (sigh) Can I at least know something about the bad guys?
Lucinda: (sighing) They are a secretive but powerful coalition known as Ground Zero, but they have time travel and are highly invested in not altering the course of history.
Benji: What is the course of history then?
Lucinda: …can I trust you not to divulge?
Benji: You can.
Lucinda: Forty two years from now a shadowy organization engineers the collapse of all global governments by instigating a nuclear war. I know this because I used to work for them.
Benji: What?
Lucinda: I had been conducting research into space-time transposition for quite some time, ever since Sydney over there was a student at my university.
Sydney: The past, or rather present, versions of ourselves are actually already starting our research in this time period.
Lucinda: It wasn’t until I received funding from Ground Zero that I was able to complete my life’s work. The funding they gave me allowed Sydney and I to find the time crystals, they called my time machine “The Backup Plan” in case their plans backfired.
Benji: Well, did they?
Lucinda: No. Their plans went perfectly and Ground Zero was able to take advantage of the weakened state of global institutions to completely take over and create a worldwide system of control. They were ready to dispose of me and Sydney because we were no longer needed, and they had to ensure that no one went back in time to stop them.
Jason: It was me who told them. I’m a cybernetically-enhanced veteran of world war three. I worked for them and didn’t even know I was taking orders from the bad guys until it was too late. My job was to kill Lucinda and Sydney after they completed the time machine, but I defected. Now we’re here, trying to clean up the mess we all helped make.
Lucinda: Ground Zero has all my time machine schematics. If they, at any point in the future, manage to find their own time crystals they are absolutely certain to come here after us. They have enormous numbers on their side. Their agents could be anyone, anywhere. That’s why I advise that you take the utmost caution.
Benji: I think I’m starting to understand.
Sydney: Here, take this.
[paper unfolding]
Sydney: It’s the location of the second distortion zone, and the time that we expect it to appear. You should have some down-time before your next excursion, take advantage of it to recover.
Benji: Got it.
Lucinda: Be careful out there, we’re counting on you. We will see you soon.
[footsteps]
[airlock]
[street ambiance]
Ohhh kay. I think that was enough excitement for one day. We saw a monster, my best friend pointed a gun at me, and nowwww I think I deserve a rest.
[walking]
Wanna just walk home from here? I think we can make it on foot. Besides, I’d rather not rely on cabs or busses, the fewer people who see us the better. Who knows if the driver is a spy or something.
[beat]
Ok, maybe that’s a little too paranoid, but hey I enjoy walks with you anyway.
[walking]
I never thought I would miss this town, or this time in my life, but being here with you is making me remember all the little things.
[walking]
Are your hands cold? (laughing, smiling) I think I know how I can warm them up.
(little, stifled laugh)
Want to hold my hand?
[walking]
I miss winters like this too, in the future we moved to a place where it never snows. I never liked the
cold, but I always did think you looked cute all bundled up in a scarf.
[walking]
Speaking of, look, it’s starting to snow.
[beat]
What?
[beat]
(laughing) That’s because I am staring at you! Can you blame me? You’re perfect.
[beat]
(smiling) Oh, and if you’re wondering, you’re just as hot in the future and I also can’t help looking at you then too.
[beat]
We’re almost there, can I get the door for you?
[beep beep beep beep]
[click]
[footsteps]
[door opens]
So, we have a few more days before the next crystal appears. Do you wanna just shack up until then? I don’t think I should be wandering around in public, all things considered. We should just order pizza or something tonight, and tomorrow… (laughs) I can give being a house husband a try.
[beat]
I’ll order the pizza.
[beep beep beep]
Hello! Hello, I’d like to order two medium pizzas to 487 Greenview Drive, apartment 25. I’ll take one anchovy pizza with capers and, uh, one pizza for normal people.
[indistinct phone chatter]
Yeah, that sounds like a good normal person pizza.
[indistinct phone chatter]
I’ll pay cash, thank you!
[phone hangs up]
[FLUMP, laying down on couch]
Come here, lay down with me, we’ll see what’s on TV. Is Scrubs out yet? That show was so good.
[TV switches on]
(laughing)
Of course you can cuddle with me, you’re my future wife.
[bodies shifting]
[little kiss]
(relaxed sigh)
So… are you nervous?
[beat]
Yeah, figures. This is going to be a weird chapter in our lives, even weirder since neither of us will ever be able to talk about it to anyone except for each other.
[beat]
Do you think you’ll remember it all when I go back to 2023? Or will I just go back to my normal life?
(laughing)
If not, I’ll enjoy sharing the story with you.
[beat]
How do you think all of this works anyway? Because I keep thinking about it and it just makes my head spin. Like why am I 22 years old again? How are there two “mes” out there? And if they only had one pair of time crystals, how would Ground Zero follow us? Does that mean the other time crystals still exist on their own in the future?
[beat]
I have a theory ok? Hear me out. Time travel is like, full of contradictions and paradoxes no matter what way you put it. It’s just an inherently anti-logical thing. There’s just no way that even with all their advanced science they can create something that defies all logic, it’s impossible.
[beat]
So what can defy logic like that? I think it’s magic.
[beat]
Don’t look at me like that! It’s not that crazy of a theory. Stranger things have happened to both of us, just today we saw an indestructible monster with four arms.
[beat]
I’m just thinking, what if the time machine is really advanced science but the crystals themselves are magic? What if my body like, isn’t even real flesh and blood and is instead some magic thing created by the time crystals?
[stomach grumbles]
(laughing) Yeah, that was my stomach growling. (laughs again) Ok, maybe I’m not made of magic, I still need food and water. I hope that pizza gets here soon.
[beat]
Well, whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll all work out. We just need to keep our heads down and wait for the next time crystal, then everything will come together. Everything is going to be fine.
- END SCENE -