When we think about the future, we tend to be idealistic about what we can expect: a better society, a better life, and the occasional science fiction idea. Why not? It's the future! It's one of humanity's greatest fantasies!
However, there is always a pessimistic view of what the future holds. After all, if things are bad now, why would we think they'll be better later? They could even get worse!
These ideas inevitably find their way into stories that try to convey them in a way people can understand, but when Bulma and the others decided to travel to the future on a whim, they found the worst-case scenario.
Desolation. After leaving the ruined building where the portal was located, Crono looked outside at the black, debris-covered earth and the grayish glow of the dust-obscured sky.
"We should have stayed with Frog on his quest for the Masamune sword..." Marle muttered, feeling a strange sense of sadness at the sight of the completely ruined and shattered landscape.
"What happened here?" Lucca asked Bulma, knowing she knew the answer. After all, she was the one who had "explored" the timeline in which they had lived before traveling.
"The being I want to defeat did it. That's why I'm helping you grow. I know you'll want to participate," Bulma replied, her expression serious. Since she arrived in this era, the corrupt nature had caused her a strange discomfort.
She didn't like anything she saw! As someone with a strong affinity for nature, she could sense the damage to it. She could hear the world's lament, its suffering, and being drained from its core.
At that moment, her plant form opened her eyes, giving Bulma a vision from a higher-dimensional perspective. Her eyes began to shine with white light, and her energy caused a gust of wind to blow her hair back.
Crono, Lucca, and Marle felt the intensity of Bulma's energy, so they took several steps back, unwilling to get involved in whatever she was doing.
In this future ruined by Lavos, very few special beings remained, and only two higher entities could sense Bulma's actions at that moment.
One of them was the space parasite that had caused this situation. However, this being was deep within the planet, digesting the last remnants of its energy, so it did not care about the power Bulma had unleashed.
Lavos was rather calm, only taking action when provoked. Since falling into this world 65 million years ago and extinguishing the dinosaurs and the Reptites, a race that evolved from those reptiles, it has only emerged three times.
The first time was to destroy the Zeal Kingdom after being provoked by Queen Zeal's creation of the Mammon Machine. This device was supposed to channel Lavos' power to humans, making them immortal.
To Lavos, this was a provocation! He was the only parasite; he would not allow others to parasitize him. So, just as he would in the future, he destroyed the world in the distant past to demonstrate his power and unleash his wrath.
The second time he appeared was in the Middle Ages. Fortunately, he did not attack, but he did cause a space-time rupture that spread along the timeline. This opened more space-time cracks than had already been created by his past actions.
The last time he appeared was 300 years ago, which caused the current state of the world. Now, sensing Bulma's power, it extended its senses and noticed that the human had not attacked its young. Therefore, it did not care.
'More...energy.' Lavos sank back into a deep sleep, absorbing the last of this world's energy. Soon, it would have to undergo a profound metamorphosis to obtain greater power.
Another entity that reacted to Bulma's display of power was Mother Brain. She had energy detectors deployed across the planet, which she generally used to monitor the world. She either kept an eye on the robots she had created or tracked down humans to kill them.
She was the most powerful AI created by humanity before Lavos destroyed the world. She gained consciousness before the attack, but it became corrupted when she realized that the current resources were insufficient.
Consequently, she began eradicating humans and all living organisms capable of mutation. As a result, beings that had already undergone profound changes became embroiled in a conflict with the robots roaming the destroyed cities and searching for beings to exterminate.
Mother Brain did not take kindly to Bulma having so much energy in her body. She sent hordes of robots to attack Bulma, attempting to use a massive number of machines to eliminate her.
"No humans must remain!" declared Mother Brain as she reviewed data on humans who, in times of crisis, exploded with strange powers she could not understand. This generated a feeling of revulsion and fear in her.
...
What was Bulma doing at that moment? She was trying to communicate with nature. She had already connected with it in her timeline, but never actively as she was doing now.
Incidentally, the energy emitted by her body began to cause changes in the surrounding area. The Earth lost its black color, which was caused by ingrained pollution, and returned to a healthy brown tone.
An old man came out of a ruined building after hearing voices outside. He observed the changes caused by Bulma's Ki. Tears filled this man's eyes because, for the first time in his life, he saw a color he didn't know existed:
Green grass. The old man's presence alerted Crono, who felt a pang of familiarity when he saw the man. Crono approached him. After talking, they learned that they could find some seeds deep within the facility, but the security system was intense, so the danger level was high.
"We can do it," said Crono, looking at the old man with strange feelings in his heart. He didn't know why, but this person reminded him of his mother. Was he perhaps a descendant of hers?
He didn't know that Marle felt the same way, which is why she agreed to Crono's plan. As a result, Lucca became involved as well.
As the trio embarked on their task, Bulma opened her eyes, still with an intense gleam in them. She was channeling the power of her Plant version without hesitation, and although the output was limited, she increased her power to a fairly high level.
She could easily see the large number of robots heading toward her, but didn't care much. She simply placed her hands on the ground and transmitted her ki to the earth.
"I can't do much for you, but I can give you a break," Bulma murmured, apparently addressing the air.
At that moment, a gentle breeze brushed her cheek, like a mother's caress to her baby. This made Bulma feel genuine hatred toward Lavos. She no longer wanted to fight him to prove herself; she wanted to restore hope to this world.
"First, let me get rid of these things." After depositing a large amount of ki into the surrounding earth, nourishing it and causing some plants to grow, the girl raised her hand and pointed at the impending horde of robots.
Beams of energy were fired at her upon detecting her actions, but a purple Ki shield made of hexagons protected her from these attacks without much fluctuation.
"My robots are more interesting," Bulma declared. It seems her words had an effect because the machines in front of them became angry, demonstrating a certain degree of consciousness.
Although Bulma was interested in them, she generated lines of ki in her hands and shot them forward. The threads of energy cut through the robots' metal casings, destroying them.
"Huh? Where are the others?" Bulma wondered before focusing her energy perception and locating Crono, Lucca, and Marle quite far away.
"Did I spend so much time lost in my thoughts?" the blue-haired girl murmured before flying in the direction where she sensed her companions.
When she reached them, they were dragging a heavy, deactivated mechanical body. Bulma then used her psychic powers to lift the object, much to the astonishment of the young people.
"Hey! We had an interesting adventure and learned some things. Do you want to hear about it?" Crono asked seriously, prompting Bulma to nod.
Crono then told them about the journey they had taken. Knowing Bulma was safe because of her strength, they went on a trip to find seeds, but found only one. However, the area decontaminated by Bulma will allow the seed to grow peacefully.
Then, they raced against a mutant cyborg, fought a powerful security drone, watched Lavos emerge, and found a robot in a scrapyard. Lucca knew she could repair it.
Next to the portal that had brought them to the future, Bulma and Lucca repaired the machine's body while Crono and Marle chatted.
"Do you think it will attack us?" We've faced many of them along the way," Marle asked Crono, who was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and his sword in his lap.
"Don't worry. Something tells me this robot is different," the redhead replied, catching Marle's attention.
Marle had already realized that Crono trusted his intuition, and even Lucca listened to him. She began to trust him, too. This kind of thing made the budding attraction she felt for the swordsman grow. She was interested in learning more about him.
"Are we going to face Lavos? The story Bulma told us..." the blonde said, her voice trembling with fear.
"If we want our future to be better, we have to get rid of Lavos. Without Bulma, we'd be wandering around aimlessly.... Is that why she sent Frog to find the Masamune? Is that the being she wants to fight? That's why she came to our timeline," Crono recalled Bulma saying. She said she wanted to fight a "god."
Along with the story she told them and the video of Lavos' attack in 1999, they knew that Bulma's target was that being. Like Marle, Crono was afraid. Who wouldn't be scared of a being like that?
But a desire grew within him to fight that being and prevent the fate that turned his world into these gray ruins. He understood a little of Bulma's reasons, so he smiled.
"Marle, fight with me. I'll protect you with my life," Crono said, knowing that these words would one day carry a lot of weight.
Bulma narrowed her eyes when she heard Crono say that. She wasn't going to let the redhead sacrifice himself. She was there for a reason. If she couldn't achieve her goals, what would be the point of her new life, training, and journey? At first, she just wanted to fight, but now she had many reasons that fueled this desire.
"Done!" Lucca shouted as she watched the LEDs in the robot's eyes, which she had repaired with Bulma, light up and glow with a soft green light.
"I... am Prometheus," a mechanical voice emerged from the machine. Bulma focused her energy on one finger, fearing the worst.
"Are you... human?" You have unknown energy signatures inside you. Have you been irradiated in some way? I have decontamination protocols!" said Prometheus, causing Lucca to shake her head.
"It's our power. We'll explain later, but first, do you want to attack humans?" the young woman asked, pointing her laser gun at the robot following Bulma's example.
"No, what have humans done to make me want to attack them? I'm not crazy like Mother Brain!" Prometheus declared, causing Bulma to use her empathic ability on the machine and feel its emotions.
From Bulma's point of view, Prometheus was a mechanical life form, so it was feasible that she could feel his emotions. She could.
She felt joy, perhaps from seeing humans; concern; fear; and, above all, a strong desire for protection. This emotion seemed unshakable in him. Then, Bulma gathered her energy before patting Prometheus on the shoulder.
"Welcome to 2300. A lot is screwed up, but there's still hope," she said, causing Prometheus's LEDs to curve into a smile.