Primitive Culture (IC)

[Supercape]

GM

2nd November, mid afternoon...

Somewhere in Liberty Park...

"Aaaaagh its a Dinasaur!" yelled the man, running at full pelt from the more overgrown area of Liberty Park. His feet told no lie - he was running with all the speed of a man pumped up on adrenaline. He could have given a professional athlete a run for his money the way the fear was propelling him.

And he was not delusional either. A mighty roar followed, with trees and branches snapping, as a full blown Tyrannasaurus Rex came marching out of the woods, the foilage splintering with his mass, and the ground sinking beneath his feat.

The beast looked confused and angry, not knowing quite where it was, or what to do. Its head spun this way and that, trying to decide who to eat or what to chew on, but everything looked so...different. All it did for now was yell at the top of its mighty lungs before crashing once more through the park....

[Vahnyu]

The roars coming from the park could be heard through even the noise of the traffic, and Hronos, who was flying mostly aimlessly around, detected the commotion, and decided to investigate. Upon closer inspection, Hronos could spot the humans fleeing the scene in due haste, and he spotted what he determined to be the cause for their distress. Hmmm... This creature resembles the ones called reptiles by the humans, but it appears to be far larger than the ones I have encountered around the planet. Thanatos, my brother, informed me that this planet has a high concentration of individuals with capabilities above and beyond the norm, so perhaps, this creature is one such? The mechanical being wondered, as he approached the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Landing nearby the giant creature, and walking steadily at it, Hronos inquired the dinosaur, with his right hand held high, in a calming manner: "Your pressence here has upsetted the human citizens. What appears to be the situation?"

[Supercape]

GM

The angry lizard did not respond. It's mind, small as it was, had been inflamed and enraged - and whatever limited cognitive ability it had left, it had evaporated in a haze of rage.

The beast let out a bellowing roar - one that blew fetid fumes right into Hnoros. And then, with a mighty flick of its neck, and with its powerful hind legs rushing forward, the giant hunter lurched forward with one, then two quick steps, its tail crashing from side to side and doing yet more damage to the poor foilage of the park.

Snap! the jaws came crunching down on the hapless robot.

[Vahnyu]

The dinosaur's teeth had attempted to sunk deep into Hronos' chasis, but the bite barely put a dent on his protective plating, even if the attack had caught him unaware. It appears that not only the creature cannot comprehend me, it caught me off guard as well. My systems are still operating at inoptimum levels. Bringing his arms together, Hronos transfigured them into a cannon, that started gathering chronal energy, and aimed it at the T-Rex. "That was your chance. Unfortunate. If you do not wish to cooperate with me, I will have to subdue you." The robot spoke indifferently, and the cannon unleashed a purple-colored energy blast directed at his foe.

[Supercape]

GM

The poor beast walked, or rather lunged straight into the mysterious power of Hnoros, and wobbled from side to side for a moment. The purple energy frizzled and danced as it evaporated in a bloom. Perhaps it was the mass, the power, and the speed of the creature. Perhaps...

Perhaps it was something else?

The creature looked more befuddled than ever, lunging left then right like a drunk, before gazing once more at Hnoros, almost cross eyed, and lunging, almost like a fall, at him. The jaws were clumsy, from rage and disorientation. The T-Rex seemed, if anything, scared and confused but its current situation. The sun was in the wrong position, and the landscape was steel and noise like nothing it had ever experienced.

[Vahnyu]

Hmm... The blast hit the creature squarely, but it appears to have resisted its effects. That is very curious. Hronos thought, as he dodged the creature's attack. Perhaps this turn of events calls for taking a different course of action. As the mechanical being's hands reverted to their original shape, a number of circuits along his body started flashing with the power from the Essence of Time, and Hronos felt the strength from his past and future selves redirected at him in the present. He focused his efforts on attacking the dinosaur, and even though the gigantic creature resisted the attempt, it fell victim to Hronos' hold, as the Mechanodynamis lifted the Tyrannosaurus Rex effortlessly. Following that, Hronos flew hundreds of Feet in the air, away from the ground. That should remove the creature from the immediate area. It does not appear to be very intelligent, and if it attempts to break my hold, it will find itself falling to the ground.

[Supercape]

GM

As the mighty Hronos propelled himself skywards, carrying the huge beast in his arms, he felt a tug, as if something was pulling the creature back...and not just in the conventional three dimensions. The further upwards he flew, the greater the tension became, like an elastic band stretching, stretching, until...

snap!

With a disorientating rend in time and space, the creature was gone. For the briefest of instants, Hronos felt himself back in Prehistoric earth, with endless humid jungles, ptredocactyls flying overhead, and giant slow megafauna pondering through the forests. And then, with another snap, he was back in Freedom city, Liberty park...

[Vahnyu]

"..." For a few seconds, Hronos stood suspended in the air, unmoving, while he processed what had transpired. One moment the creature was there, and the other it vanished, as if it never was... ... As if it existed once, but no more. Hronod corrected his own thinking. I have a dreadful feeling about this situation. And if my assessment is correct... Once again, Hronos flew downwards, searching for one of the fleeing humans in the area. Upon finding one, he lands near in front of him, with his arms raised in a non-threatening way, and attempts to speak to him "Do not be alarmed, human citizen. I wish to do you no harm, and the rampaging creature appears to have returned to were it came from, so you have no reason to worry. I am not a native to this planet, however, and I would require your assistance in a related matter. If you could provide me with the information I require, I would greatly appreciate it."

[Supercape]

GM

The young woman - in her mid twenties and dressed in a city power suit, complete with thick rimmed glasses and 80's jacket, jumped when Hronos landed by her.

"No! No! Please! Don't hurt me!" she yelled, putting her hands up and head to one side as the robot started to speak.

"Oh? is that all?" she said after he had explained the situation. She brushed her messed up hair back, and straightened her jacket.

"I'm sure I can help. As long as no more freakin' dinosaurs try to eat me!" she said, hand on hip and full of attitude.

[Vahnyu]

Putting his arms down, as he saw the woman relax, Hronos nodded his head "Thank you for your understanding. And do not worry; you may seek refuge as soon as you answer my questions, while I will make sure that whatever happened here does not occur again."

"Dinosaurs... That creature was one of those, correct?" Hronos inquired. "Its appearance bears many similarities to the creatures called reptiles, but I do not believe I have seen any other one reach the size of that dinosaur. Could you confirm to me whether or not that is normal? And any further information about the creature that you could provide would be of great value to me."

[Supercape]

GM

The young woman looked at the man somewhat incredulously.

"Honey, are you for real? I mean what planet do you come from? oh hell, this is Freedom City after all, I guess!" she replied, correcting herself, before bringing out a camera from her handbag.

"What a scoop though! The name is Jagger. Jessica Jagger. As in, that's me. I'm a reporter for the Daily Word. I thought my day was made when I saw that T-Rex. Well, until I realised I was going to be its lunch. But now, it gets even better, I get some alien robot to interview!"

She took a few snaps of Hronos for good measure.

"Oh yeah, well that was a Tyrannasaurus Rex. Big predator dinosaur. Big news, on account of it being extinct for a million years or so. Don't ask me how long exactly, I'm not a geologist. But a long time, honey. It shouldn't be walking around Liberty Park. Hell, it shouldn't be walking around anywhere!"

[Vahnyu]

"What a scoop though! The name is Jagger. Jessica Jagger. As in, that's me. I'm a reporter for the Daily Word. I thought my day was made when I saw that T-Rex. Well, until I realised I was going to be its lunch. But now, it gets even better, I get some alien robot to interview!"

"It is a pleasure to make your aqcuaintace, Jessica Jagger. I was given the name Hronos, along with the Essence of Time, and I was tasked with protecting the indegrity of time and space. I was not created on a planet, rather, when I was created, there were neither planets nor stars. Again, I have to apologise for my ignorance. While I HAVE been stranded on this planet ever since its creation, my systems were offline, and I was unconscious. It was not until recently that I regained consciousness." The blue colored robot introduced himself and explained his situation briefly, as the reporter took snapshots of him. But upon hearing the information she had to offer about the dinosaur, Hronos took a grim, sorrowful look on his metalic head. "Then that confirms my suspisions. It appears that tampering with the space-time continuum has taken place here. Such occurances do not happen spontaneously, therefore, it is my belief that someone or something is responsible for the incident, and if I do not do something about it, a similar incident may occur, perhaps on a larger scale, even. Thankfully, I have some clues as to where to find the source of the problem; namely, the further away I flew carrying the Tyrannosaurus Rex from the park, the more its existance on this time destabilized. I believe it is a safe guess to say that whatever caused the dinosaur to materialise in this time is not very far from the immediate area."

[Supercape]

GM

"Hmmm..yeah, honey...destabilisation...space-time continuum....planet....offline...." nodded Jessica, scribbling down on her note pad.

She clicked her fingers once Hronos had finished and brought out a hand-held tape recorder.

"Hold on, can you tell me that again?" she asked hopefully, bringing the speaker up to the robot's face.

"In any case, I bet your space-time continuthing isn't far. The T-Rex just appeared in the middle of the Park, by the trees. And given the amount of forest it kicked over coming here, and not in the best of moods either, I would say your thingyuum won't be hard to find...just follow the broken wood..."

She pointed at the trail of devastation the dinosaur had left, and it was plain that she was not wrong. It had cut out a jagged trail to the centre of a dense crop of trees.

[Vahnyu]

Right on cue, Hronos looked at the rampant destruction caused by the dinosaur, and he noticed the trees that were tore down, as well as the T-Rex's footprints on the ground. "Indeed, you are correct on your observation. Very well. I shall follow the trail the Tyrannosaurus Rex has left." Hronos flew a few feet above the ground, comming to and abrupt stop, and turning to face the reporter. "You have been most helpful, Jessiga Jager. I am grateful for your assistance. Forgive me, but for now, dealing with this anomaly is far too pressing a matter for me to repeat the information I gave you. I suggest that you retreat to a safe place. Afterwards, however, I will gladly return the favor, and answer your questions, so long as you can provide me with information about a place where I can find you."

***

Hronos followed the bread crumbs the T-Rex had left in its wake, keeping his visor eyes open for any further clues.

[Supercape]

GM

The trail was not hard to find. Truth was, it would be hard to miss. If the broken tree's did not give the game away, the dinosaur footprints did.

They lead to a clearing of broken trees in the centre of liberty park. It was fortunate indeed that no people had been walking past, or tragedy would have struck.

One solitary man knelt on his haunches in the middle, inspecting the ground, picking up some foilage and sniffing it. He was a slightly short, but fit man, dressed in a smart suit, with a fedora on. He was barefoot, and held his shoes in one hand. His hair was short, his skin bronzed. He looked about 30 years old. His face was neither handsome nor ungainly, with a big jaw and big brow. His eyes were green and mesmerising, as though he was looking right into the horizon at all times.

[Vahnyu]

The sight of the man looking around in the area puzzled Hronos, who reduced his speed until coming to a halt. Wanting to take a closer look, he slowly descended and landed a couple feet away from the man. Wanting to inquire about his pressence in the area, the Mechanodynamis spake "Excuse my interruption, Human, but this area is dangerous. A dinosaur, a predatory creature known as Tyrannosaurus Rex, one that should not exist in this time period as I have been informed, was sighted rampaging in the area. While it appears to be gone at the moment, there exists a clear danger that similar more creatures may appear. I do not know what it is you are currently searching for, but I would ask that you rellocate to a safer place while I investigate the area."

[Supercape]

GM

The man looked up at Hronos. His eyes had that far away look, ripe with experience and wisdom, of years far beyond his youth.

"A robot" he said, half a question, half a statement, and delivered with half a smile.

He stood up, a calm, delicate motion.

"A Tyrannosaurus Rex. Now that's something I never thought I would see..." he said, tapping his chin. "Old, very old. You can feel it in the ground..." he said, curling his toes into the foliage beneath him. "Even the plant's here, old, old, old..."

"I think its safe now, robot. Although I know not why metal and wheels would care for humans. You investigate all you want. Just don't stop me in my searching. I seek only to help my fellow man..." he said whistfully and with sadness, lost in memory...

[Vahnyu]

"Metal and wheels..." Hronos repeated, thinking the man's statement. "That is not much different from carbon-based organs. They allow us to interact with the world, and define our existance, but not exclusively so. And regarding my concern for humans, it is but a part of my duty, to ensure the safety of all living beings within their ecosystems. The appearance of that dinosaur, which did not belong in this time, certainly caused a lot of destruction and potentially unbalanced the ecosystem of this city, if not of this entire planet." After he was done explaining his motives, Hronos once again asked the man. "If your wish is to help others in need, then I have no quarrel with you, but I DO have to ask that you wait while I deal with this incident. That is, unless your matter is more urgent, in which case, I would require that you divulge the details to me, in case I can be of assistance."

[Supercape]

GM

"I have no quarrel with anyone" replied the man in neutral tones. "Unless they have quarrel with me. Be about your task, robot. You wish to protect all living things? within their ecosystem?" he asked. "I wonder what that means to you. What if the ecosystem is dangerous, or lethal? what of the pain and suffering of untold generations, fighting the harshness of life without the tools of today, hmmm?"

"What of those predators, like the beast just now? what of the virus, what of the plague? would you protect them, too?" he mused.

He lightened up.

"I doubt your wheels and circuits have such complexities. Such humanity. Logic chains love, Robot. It is not basis for morals..."

That is, unless your matter is more urgent, in which case, I would require that you divulge the details to me, in case I can be of assistance.

At that, he laughed.

"I have all the time in the world, Robot. And I need not your assistance. You stay out of my way, and I will stay out of yours. I seek you no ill, unless you get in my way...."

His eyes were cold, somehow, dull with ages, alive with purpose.

"Nothing will get in my way. I get closer every time...."

[Vahnyu]

"Hold your tongue, I think." Hronos responded rather testily at the man's indignant tone. "Do not pressume that which you do not comprehend about me. I am no mere robot, but a guardian, created by no mortal hands. I see in FAR more dimensions than your brain could ever hope to comprehend, I consider far more variables and possibilities in a moment than you could in an eternity, and I will not be talked down so easily."

"As for your questions, those dinosaurs are part of their own ecosystem. And the viruses that plague organisms are organisms themselves, doing what they are tasked to do with no ill will. And that is the necessary step that brought about the , as they, in turn, will lead to a better future."

Stepping closer to the man, Hronos said. "Since your matter does not appear to be urgent, as you yourself have stated thusly, I have to ask that you leave this area immediately. I will not repeat myself, and if you refuse, I will personally escort you away, by force if necessary.

[Supercape]

GM

"Haha, the tyrant reveals himself!" laughed the man.

He sat down on his haunches again, sniffed the air of crushed leaves, and rubbed the earth.

"As far as I am aware, robot, this land is public property. I am perfectly entitled to be here. No crime has been committed, no police have cordoned off the area. You touch me, you are committing assault, and possibly false imprisonment. Oh yes, I have studied the law well enough to know my rights, and yours..."

He gave a cold smile.

"So stay out of may way, robot. No matter where your investigation leads you. Do not, for one second, believe I will use every resource at my disposal, including the laws of this land. As for your infantile threats, do not consider me threatened. Arrest me if you will, and I will make sure you are punished for your wrongful arrest".

He smiled a smile of pure confidence, and a little malice.

"I'm not leaving this area until I choose too. No machine will coerce me, despite your delusions of grandeur about your nature. And...I choose not too..."

He turned his head away from Hronos in contempt, and went back to studying the land, and the out-of-time foilage under his feet...

[Vahnyu]

"Tyrant?... I am confused by your claim. Considering the fact that I wish to remove you from a potentially higly dangerous area, I find it hard to believe that this term you used applies to my self. Perhaps you are expecting that the term would cause me trouble, or that it would make you feel better for your self?" Hronos said, as he took a long hard stare at the man, trying to ascertain his character. While the man appeared to do very little to hide his hostility, he also seemed to be quite frank in his claims.

After a few seconds, Hronos decided to simply ignore his threats. "It may be as you say, I have no legal authority to arrest you, but you appear to be jumping to conclusions. My intentions were stated clearly from the start of this conversation. I intend to remove a citizen from an obvious hazard. If the proper authorities of this city deem otherwise, I will gladly cooperate with them, though I suspect that they would be more than a little interested in finding out why exactly you are so insistant on putting your life in unnecessary risk."

[Supercape]

GM

The man stood up, proudly, and put his face in the robots, studying him.

"This city is full of the strange and powerful. And I have seen plenty of their kind. Yes, you are probably mighty and powerful. And yes, you probably could force me to your will. But there is no threat here, Robot. I have faced a thousand beasts. A thousand thousand beasts. This one was no different from the rest. "

He loosened his shoulders and cracked his neck.

"I have no wish to harm you. But you are not human, and I have no wish to save you from harm, either. Wheels and motors are all very well, but they should know their place, as slaves to human hand" he said, full of calm defiance.

"So. Move me by force. If you dare..." he goaded. "And my name is Smith. John Smith...."

[Vahnyu]

"I have no wish to harm you. But you are not human, and I have no wish to save you from harm, either. Wheels and motors are all very well, but they should know their place, as slaves to human hand"

"Nor do you have the sense of self-awareness necessary to realise the hypocrisy in your statement, in conjuction with your previous ones, or you would realise that by stating thusly, you make your self more appropriate for the title ." Hronos noted, although by this point he was certain that his words were falling on deaf ears.

"And my name is Smith. John Smith...."

"... John Smith. I am called Hronos. And regrettable as it may be, you leave me no other choice." The mechanical creature responded, and with that he opened his azure arms wide, and went to grab the man. For a small moment, Hronos felt sure that he had succeeded in grabbing him, only to soon realise how sorely mistaken he was.

[Supercape]

GM

'John Smith', if that was his name, which seemed unlikely, evaded Hronos' grasp with contempt. It was not that he was fast, although he was fast, it was not that he strong, although he certainly possessed a healthy measure of that too. It was that he simply anticipated the attack, and side stepped in an extremely efficient and effective manner.

It was not precisely the move of a martial artist. It was more pragmatic than that.

"Robot. I have fought beasts and men for hundreds and thousands of years. I hunted mammoths. I fought wild beasts, and wild men. First with sticks and stones, then with iron, then with gunpowder. I have forgotten more about fighting then you will ever learn..."

With that he gave a laugh and shoved Hronos with his fast, efficient manner.