Chrono Trigger Chapter XV: Extended Company

Chapter XV: Extended Company

'I don't know' replied Crono.
Lucca looked at the mass of metal with a slack-jawed amazement. Her eyes grew wide as dishes, and she became short of breath.
'That's a robot! A real humanoid Robot! I garuntee you guys!'
Crono and Marle looked at each other. 'How would you know?' he asked.
'Because I've made one!' Lucca began digging in her sack for something. Inside himself, Crono groaned, knowing the trouble Lucca had often caused.
'No, not that,' she said to herself, 'where is it now? I know I put it here somewhere.' She scoured her bag like a dog digging for a bone. 'What's this?' both hands pryed into the contents.
'HERE IT IS!!!!!!' she proclaimed as though she had just struck gold. Lucca held out a flathead screwdirver. She smiled with a unique, quirky grin. Crono conceived it as a mischeivious grin, and Marle saw it as a genuinly happy grin. Either way, Lucca's eyes were eager and excited

'What are you gonna do? inquired Crono, although he already knew the answer.
'Fix it!' answered Lucca, as though Crono had asked her if her feet were attached to her arms. 'It's in bad shape, but I know I can get this bad boy up and buzzing! This is just incredible!'
'Wait! Are you sure you want to that? I mean, won't it turn on us?' asked a concerned Marle.
'No. I'll make sure it won't.' Lucca answered in a somber tone, her grin fading a bit. 'Machines aren't capable of evil, it's humans that program to act as they do.'
'You pity them don't you?' wondered Marle.
'I suppose in a way.' She smiled again, holding up her screwdriver. 'I'd better get to work, he won't fix himself.' Lucca felt like Michaelango standing before a slab of marble. The screwdriver was her chisel.
'I hope you know what you're doing?' cautioned Marle.
'Like that'd stop her' quipped Crono. 'OW!' he winced when Lucca hurled a bolt at him. 'What'd you do that for?'
'You deserved it!'
'Whatever. AM I wrong?'
'Yes. Keep it up and I'll get this guy here to kill you once I'm done fixing him.'
'Go ahead, then who'll fight Lavos for you?'
'My Robot!'
He groaned and took a seat against the wall, getting some much needed rest.
Lucca cleaned off her glasses, cracked her knuckles and neck, popped her back, and rolled up her sleeves. She shooed the rats off, and laid all her tools before her; another screwdriver, a cresent wrench, needle-nose pliars, and some other things. She drew in a hearty breath, and huffed off what she could of the dust and cobwebs. Lucca wiped what she could off of it's body, and began to get to work.

Like Haephestus as his forge, Lucca laboured away. She tightened, loosened, tweaked, twisted, hammered, pryed, jimmied, rigged, notched, set, screwed, unscrewed, everything she saw. Her sweat dripped into the machine.
'Let's see....' she mused, totally immeresed in her task. 'This looks like something, I have in my arm, so this probally does...' Crono had never seen Lucca work which as much Zeal and fervor as she was. 'And I used something like this on my robot, so this here should help to...'
Marle looked on, as Lucca was hunched over the mass of metal like a mother bird over a nest. She viewed her in a mixture of amazement and curiousity and bewilderment. 'Hey Lucca, could you use a hand?' offered she.
'Yeah hang on to this for me could you?' Lucca didn't even look up to Marle as she threw the princess some sort of round thing with other smaller things jutting out of it.
'Okay, anything else?'
'Yeah if you could hang to this for me'
Lucca tossed her another object. Marle hung onto them after trying to discern their purposes.
'Marle, you'd better stop while you're ahead. If you're not careful, Lucca will have you holding a kite in a lightning storm.'
'Hey now!' protested Lucca. 'Geez, that was 6 years ago, and you're still alive! Stop complaining!'
'Yeah no thanks to you. "6 years?!" you had me doing that before you did the Telepod!' He shook his head. 'OW!' Lucca hurled another bolt at him, again without ever leaving her work.
'Hey Crono let's give this door a look' requested Marle.
He arose, wondering how checking a door became a two-man job, but he was glad to get out of Lucca's range. A few feet behind Lucca and her project was a door. Crono and Marle went up to it to find it as set in place like mountain.
'Won't budge' obsereved Marle.
'Hey Crono, come here' summoned Lucca.
He walked over in no hury, like a kid going up to the teacher's desk.
'Reach down in there and pull out that left dirve gasket'
He had no idea what she was talking about, but he snaked his arm down into the space where Lucca worked, and searched about for something.
'This it?'
'No I said, gasket, not notchboard.'
'Sorry.' He reached in there again.
'Hold this please Marle'
'Sure thing Lucca.'
Lucca arose, and steched out her back and wiped the sweat from her brow. She removed her cap.
'You doing okay?' asked Marle.
'Never been better!' Lucca affirmed. 'This is what I live for!'
Crono fished out another part.
'Yeah that!'

Crono went back and sat down again. He counted all of the sore spots on his frame. The shoulder which Yakra had wrenched, felt hanging by a few strands. The ankle which the Dragon tank hit, felt as though it was still beneath the mechanic monstrosity. The bicep which was strained when they fought the Gaurdian bit, felt like it had a dozen knifes wedged in it. As far as the injuries brought on by the Jet Bike race, he didn't know where to begin. His lower back felt like it was clamped in a vise. Every time he drew in air, he felt thornes press into his chest.
'Anything else I do?' offered Marle.
'Yeah could you hand me my radial pliawrench?'
Marle reached out and took about three different tools in her grasp. She handed them to Lucca untill she took one. Marle left Lucca to her work, and sat beside Crono, who was half asleep. She realized now she was as far out of the chancellor's grasp as the stars. Marle looked upon Crono, and how weary and beat he was and began to think.
Lucca arose from her patient, and streched out her back. She took off her glasses and cap.
'You okay?' asked Marle.
'Are you kidding, this is a dream come true!' They shared a smile.
Lucca delved further into the robot. She felt like an explorer, finding new wonders with each minuite she worked. Her fingers became greasey, and a bit tight, but nothing she couldn't shake off. Her eyes grew weary, but she ignored it.
'Wait till my dad gets a load of this! He'll flip!'
She took out a part and disected it on the floor.
'This looks like the casing gyro I used on Gato, so I figure if I....' Lucca sould compare parts to parts of her own body, and whatever she couldn't discern, she'd simply place it where it fit. Lucca turned her attention to the Robot's limbs. She took an arm in grasp and examined it. It weighed at least as much as her entire body, and was long and thick like a log. She bent the elbows and wrists and fingers. She found them to be very stiff, but a good shot of saliva was enough to loosen them up. Lucca held her own arm up to the robot arm. She moved both in accord with one another.They turned, and bent and swayed almost identical.
'Wow! This is just amazing!'
She went over to the other arm and leg, and then continued on the torso.
Crono awoke to find Marle next to him immeresed in thought.
'Everything okay?' inquired he.
'Huh? Oh, Yeah. I'm fine.' He sensed a note of reservation in her tone.
'Anything you want to talk about?'
'WEll, I've just been thinking is all'
'About what?'
'Oh just all that we've been through. I mean, look at it all!' They looked at each other. 'The Fair. I mean that was enough, and seeing Lucca's invention. That was even more incredible. But to be thrown into the past like we did, and for all that mess to happen to me. ANd for you to save my anscestor, and my kingdom, and me, and then to be put on trial like you did, and thrown in jail. It's alot. That's more than most people experience in their entire lives. I can't believe we've been through all that in just a couple of days!'
He thought over all that she'd told him, realizing, he'd been through it all as well. 'That is a lot. And the thing is, we're not done yet.'
'Yeah, I know, but Crono, I can't help but to feel a bit responsible.'
He was a bit taken back by saying that. 'How so?'
'Well if we hadn't met, you'd've just gone to Lucca's demonstration, and with out me, we wouldn't've been sucked back. And everything that happened, wouldn't've. I can't help but to be responsible for shaking up your life like this.'
Crono couldn't help but to laugh. Marle was bewildered as to where he saw the humor.
'What?! What's so funny?!'
'You're right, it is your fault' Crono continued laughing, making Marle a bit irate

Lucca continued to work. She opened the back pannel, and began to labor there. She felt like Michaelangelo before a slab of marble. Every move was deliberate and precise. Not a single twist or hammer blow was done randomly. 'This joint could use some oil...' Her hands were everywhere at once. Tinkering, and tweaking, wrenching and ratcheting. Her eyes ran ahead, as she planned the next moves to make.
'Hey Marle, toss me that radiator dial spring!' she asked without ever looking up. She raised her hand as Marle threw her whatever it was she thought Lucca was talking about.
'Thanks!'
Lucca took it, and continued to work.

'Now how's that supposed to be funny?' protest Marle.
'I can't really say, but if we hadn't run into each other, then who'd be saving the future?'
'So I guess it'll all work out then?'
'We'll have to see!'
They shared a laugh.
'Thanks Crono!'
'Think nothing of it. So let me ask you something'
'Yeah, go ahead. What is it?'
'Have I messed up your life as much as you've messed up mine?'
'What do you mean?'
'Well your father wasn't too thrilled when we disappeared and I know he can't like the fact that you ran off with us'
'Are you sure that it was me who ran off with you? I'm pretty sure you ran off with me.'
'What?'
'You didn't mess up my life. It's been a mess as long as I can remember. It's not your fault'
'Well if you like, you can pin the blame on me'
'That's awefully sweet of you Crono!' Marle chuckled.
'You know, I haven't told you yet how impressed I was with you back at the palace.'
She looked at him. 'Which palace?'
'Yours. When you grabbed that crossbow and pulled it on the chancellor. I was very impressed.'
'Oh that' Marle laughed. Hers was a pleasent, melodious laugh, like running water in a shady grove.
'You saved our lives back there.'
'You think?'
'Oh yes. If you hadn't stepped in when you did, those goons would've had us.'
'Come on, those goons are push overs.'
'Well Thanks anyways.'
'It's the least I can do for messing up your life!'
They shared another laugh.

Lucca spat into a pannel. She banged her hammer on a couple of places and twisted a wire into another. Satisfied, Lucca closed the pannel and went around to the front. She noticed a switch on the side of the neck and flipped it. The front opened up like a cocoon breaking open to taste daylight. Lucca looked upon it like a student gazing upon the open hood of classic roadster. She threw herself at the robot with renewed vigor and determination. Lucca's hands were everywhere they could be, and even where they couldn't. She stopped once to wipe her glasses and continued.
'Aren't you getting tired?' inquired Marle.
'Nope' was all she answered, her head inside it's belly.
Crono was lying down asleep. Marle looked over at him, and then back at Lucca. How are these two friends? she mused.
Crono awoke by the time Lucca was finished. She blew off every speck of dust, every grain of rust, and even spit-polished it. Lucca tightened every bolt, tweaked every knob, and twisted every wire. She stood back and admired her handiwork like Michaelango finishing David. 'Hey guys, I'm done now.' She informed. Lucca was in awe of herself. She felt like a child showing her toys for all to see.
'Wow Lucca. You worked forever! Will it really work?' Marle wanted to know.
Crono was still asleep.
'Of course it will.' She tossed her screwdriver at him. He snapped to like a cat splashed with cold water.
'What did you do that for?!' It all came out as one word, as he sprang up, and nearly drew his sword on her.
'I felt like it. Now get up here and watch this!' ordered Lucca.
'I'll just watch from back here, thanks anyways. Marle, you may wanna step back here'
'Are you kidding, I wanna see up close what Lucca's work here can do.'
'Don't say I didn't warn you.'
Lucca and Marle looked at the project. What was once a heap of dull metal, was now into a real form. Marle was able to discern a head, arms, legs, feet, hands, and everything else a person would have.
'Alright, all we have to do now is tighten this, crank that, and give it a little bit of juice....'
Marle watched as Lucca finished up. To Marle, it seemed that Lucca did about 20 things in 15 seconds. Lucca gave her opus one final look, reached to a switch on the neck, and flipped it.

End Chapter