The Frog asks the dwarf Sialy to reveal the truth behind the explosion of the Monstrous Clock. Vizela then asks him to explain the mystery of the City's Accelerating Clock.
Sialy explains that when the Monstrous Clock explodes, the circles of time will burst open, unleashing powerful magnetic waves that will draw in planetary radiation and gravity. A devastating Ice Age will begin. The Sun will drift farther away, and the Earth will be hurled out of its orbit. As the world freezes, ancient monsters will awaken once more, and alien civilizations will descend to settle on Earth.
Vizela then speaks of the Accelerating Clock. She explains that time itself will race forward: a century will pass like a year, a year like a month, a month like a week, and a week like a single day. It will be an Age of Scorching Heat. The Earth will move dangerously closer to the Sun, while wandering galaxies collide with it. Machines will seize control of humanity, imprisoning people and casting them into flames. They will dominate every aspect of civilization—war, the economy, nature, financial markets, and technology.
Even in this new age, humanity will ultimately vanish, leaving machines to wage a final war against the aliens who return from the Ice Age.