The Tale of Argile the Cool Part 1

[andrewmeythaler]

 

I was born on Luna, to Savannah Staymates and Argon the Cool. She was a wealthy socialite. He was a member of the Wizard Federation. I never really knew either of them. He left before I was born, and she was often gone. Or drunk. I was raised primarily by my grandmother. She was a sweet lady. But I didn't have many friends. My mother tried to keep me a secret, as it turns out premarital wizard sex doesn't go over well with that crowd. But one day my life was turned upside down. My mother, who was home for a change, was looking out the window, as she often does. When I asked her what she was doing she told me she was waiting for dad to come back, as she smiled. A smile that dissolved as soon as a number of black cruisers pulled up outside our mansion. She took my hand and led me into the panic room.

 

"Stay here for a few days. There is enough food to last you til then. After that I want you to make your way to the Wizard Federation headquarters. Just read this scroll on the outskirts of the city." she said shakily.

 

I waited through, curled in a ball as I listened to shouting, stomping, and things breaking. I didn't understand what was happening. I heard my grandmother yelling just outside my door. There was some loud bangs, and the yelling stopped. I knew my grandmother was dead, but I had to be strong.

 

After a few days in isolation I emerged. The house was ransacked. My grandmother lay dead, bleeding, and slumped in the corner. I packed a backpack full of the essentials and headed for the city limits. The journey took a few days, days filled with sleeping under bridges and avoiding the police; who may be looking for me. Finally I reached the city limits, and unraveled my scroll. As soon as I read it aloud, there was a bright flash, and I was not in the same place.

 

I found myself in a vast library, filled with old men in blue robes. One notice me and approached me.

 

"Welcome Argile the COOL. Son of Argon the Cool. Welcome brother." His voice boomed, and soon the others in the room echoed him.

 

He explained that my father was a member of their order, and that this was their home; and by extension mine. He showed me my quarters, the training hall, the feast room, and the mundane library. He said I would have access to these areas until my powers manifested, but that I would be closely watched for when they do.

 

In my time there I learned about many things. All the ins and outs of space stations. Their machinery, their engines, their laws, their medicines. The wizards said I was very knowledgeable, but not yet wise. I had grown taller, and gained a full beard. One not yet as impressive as their's, but I loved it all the same. In my later years I was a permanent fixture in the Federation, many were growing impatient at my lack of powers, but I made myself useful all the same. I took care of most of their book keeping for them. It was here that I learned the most about my father. I learned of his previous missions.

 

2540: Steal a family heirloom from Staymates manner on Domus Luna, ensure the safety of all inside.

[Mission complete]

2542: Burn down the refugee center in New York Earth, ensure the safety of Fitz Powell.

[subject requested new mission, reason: Lethality]

[Request overturned]

[Mission complete]

[subject has requested leave of absence]

[Granted]

 

Towards the end of my stay there I could tell they were growing impatient. Even old Geralt the Patient was becoming weary. There were rumors circulating that I may never even have powers. After my fathers last mission was recieved, I was asked to leave.

 

I woke up in the summer of my fifteenth year. I went to go and sort through mission texts, when I saw a new one.

 

Subject: Argon the Cool

 

2556: Steal a NASA Void suit aboard the N.G.S. Cyberiad, escape on the shuttle alive.

[[Mission failed, subject Killed In Action]

 

I never knew my father, so I did not feel saddened by this loss. However as a result the Federation no longer wanted me around. I was sent away. So I returned to my childhood home, now falling apart due to the lack of care. I cleaned it up and lived comfortably there for many more years. I was now going by Argile the Cool, to avoid any legal issues involving my mothers side of the family.

 

But on my 17th birthday I received a package on the door. I do not know how they found me, I had not attracted any attention, or even legally owned the house. But it was addressed to me. Under both my names.

 

The package contained a dusty old NASA Void suit, and two notes.

 

One was from my Father. It spoke of his last mission, aboard the N.G.S. Cyberiad. It mentioned someone name Sarea Elderway he was going to have drinks with, but also that the captain was trying to kill him. I guess I know what happened.

 

The note pertaining to my mother was a crumpled up transfer order. Evidently she went to work for NanoTrasen after I left, and was moved to the N.G.S. Cyberiad a few years prior to my father going there. I hope they met.

 

I figured it was best if I went to the N.G.S. Cyberiad to try and find my mother. I took the next shuttle there.

 

I arrived and was told to strip down and wear this drab gray jumpsuit. I am glad I left the package at home, I do not think they would have let me take it. From there I figured I needed a job aboard the ship if I was to stay there for long. So I went to the recruiters office and signed up for engineering.

 

From then on I was an engineer. I worked under Lyn Lovecraft. We were equal in age, but not in ability. While I may have had vast knowledge of the stations systems, she had been actually working on them for years. I very much enjoyed her company. The others were cruel and harsh, but she was a good boss.

 

The station was dangerous work. Things explode, people die, people get murdered, monsters attack the station. I remember one shift we heard word of some biological entity attacking the ship. Lyn told me to grab some welders and to go fight it. I dawned my hardsuit and arrived to find a number of green, fleshy growths pulsating on the floor as they expanded outwards. People were using the welders to burn them, so I did the same. Some floating masses tried to attack me, but my hardsuit protected me. At some point I got close to it's heart and began to attack. But suddenly a large tentacle hit my hard in the head and knocked me out. When I woke up the blob was dead, and I had a robotic arm. They said I was lucky I was out, the pain drives most people insane.

 

Things went on as usual until one shift, when Lyn was on vacation, and Luca Rio stepped. She too was a good boss, but not quite as humored as Lyn. It was an odd shift, people kept disappearing, I found two bodies rotting in the showers, and the captain was murdered by the HoS. Or I guess, not the HoS. People said it wasn't really him, although it looked a hell of a lot like him. At some point I looked on as a crowd savagely attacked him. Someone pushed me into them. All those angry people, with axes and metal pipes, lashed out at me, missing him. Taking an axe to the chest was one of the single most painful experiences in my life. I was on life support almost the whole ride back to CentCom. From there they tried to send me to a hospital station for surgery, but our shuttle was hit by something. I began to black out as I saw men in red hardsuits rushing towards me.

 

I have since awoken tied up in a dark meat locker. This is my SOS, or my last will and testament god forbid. Please save me, I am so afraid. I don't know what is happening. They used so many needles, and I don't know what is real anymore. Please hurry.