Cronoboys are time travelers of Uchronic Paris who paid for their journeys with their bodies: they left young and came back decades older on the same day.
| Type | Time travelers |
| Place | Uchronic Paris, Belle Époque |
| Houses of the Cycle | ⏳ House of Carnal Time · ✒ House of the Chronicler |
| Spanish entry | Cronoboys |
Description
The transit system tolerated in the Belle Époque always charges, and charges in flesh: two days of travel can add twenty years, showing first in the hair, then the eyelids, last the tongue. The single-passage rule applies: no refunds. The Palace of Time and its Prefects record the journeys but return no youth; the Subprefect Iriarte signs individual contracts. Some came back from the Cathedral older than their parents.
They are shown as five figures in Belle Époque dress (waistcoat, overcoat, bowler hat, umbrella, long gown, high collar) on worn-out bodies, waiting at a tram stop under the sign PORTE DE VERSAILLES — LIGNE DES INVALIDES. Only those who will not get off board tram 7. They recognize one another and share stop, hour and patience.
Variants
- Cronoboys proper traveled out of interest, curiosity or on commission.
- Cronoputas (“chrono-prostitutes”) sold their traveling body and spent themselves in the coin of hours.
- Platinados (“the platinum-haired”) is the colloquial term for all of them, from their hair, their lashes and the silver dust travel leaves on their shoulders.
According to the Decadian, one who travels once looks merely tired, twice something else; Cronoboys are those who traveled three times.