Antumbra - A Lost Cause

Relic - Chapter Thirty Five

The number of hoops Marcus had to jump through had been unexpected, especially given the relatively simple nature of his inquiry. Either nobody had gone looking for this information in a very long time, or somebody wanted it to stay buried. When the Antumbra had been taken into their custody it had all its serial numbers run through their database. They all checked out, but the files were positively ancient. The actual information itself was on scanned paper documents of all things, with no digital signature. As a result it was improperly logged and not compared to their own records which were all exclusively digital. It's why the connection wasn't made until Marcus had actually studied the Argonaut's appearance, and found its design familiar. Now he was in 'The Castle,' the nickname for the central Administration building's upper levels. It was certainly built like a castle, with ornate corridors, open courtyards, and towers like medieval buildings from early human history. It was formerly the war armoury of the original stronghold the Habitat was built around, and so followed terrestrial design philosophies much more than the multi-layered building around it. It made traversing it tedious, though Marcus couldn't help but appreciate the decor during the long walks. The Habitat outside always made him feel as though it masked its true personality, but The Castle looked like what it was: a piece of blood-drenched history. Scars and damage from long forgotten conflicts were visible in the seams and cracks of the walls, repaired sections were utilitarian and contrasted, like scar tissue. The Argonauts and weapons located throughout were on display like a museum, posed and propped like they were still ready for combat. Then of course there was the reason he was here.

"The King," Marcus mused aloud as he approached the titanic armour. At this point the resemblance was faint, as the Argonaut had obviously been restored and repaired during its life, but the familial qualities were unmistakable once you knew what to look for. Marcus would need to be cleared before he could even lay a finger on it, so confirming its database would come later, but he was certain of it. There was only a single machine in all of the Union's records with the same era files as the Antumbra, and it was this.

"I knew you were a history buff," Cassius's voice echoed throughout the colossal room as he entered, "but did you really have to come all the way here to look at relics? I heard they have a great exhibit on rocks downtown, and you don't have to take the stairs to get there."

"How much of our history do you know, Cassius?" Marcus asked, not taking his eyes off the Argonaut.

"I'm sure whatever I don't you'll tell me," he shrugged.

"A millennia ago, humanity was at war," Marcus explained, "a war so bloody and far-reaching, the term world war had never been more accurate yet somehow understated. Nobody was unaffected, no nation or land spared. Suffering on an unimaginable scale. The planet itself suffered, burned and salted until ninety percent of its lands were barren. It got to the point where life on the surface was so difficult we escaped into the skies, because we simply couldn't survive on the ground."

"Marvelous," Cassius said, "but that is human nature. Easier to build a new world than repair the one we destroyed. Reject instead of recycle. It was that arrogance that created the broken system we're fighting against."

"Indeed," Marcus sighed, "but what caused that world to change? What caused the devastation so great it left swaths of land irradiated and left the remaining population to gather in the relative safety of our shadows to lead a miserable existence?"

"If you say global warming I'll punch you," Cassius said.

"Fire. The bow and arrow. Gunpowder. The atom bomb," Marcus said, "and most recently, Argonauts. It's almost a misnomer considering how far they evolved from simple suits that enhanced human endurance and abilities to these colossal beasts powered by nuclear fission."

"Are you trying to tell me Argonauts nearly destroyed the world?" Cassius laughed, "I feel like that'd be more common knowledge if it were true. Besides, wouldn't we have stopped using them if that was the case?"

"Argonauts today are nothing like these," mused Marcus, "nowadays our mechanical giants merely operate as an extension of the body, a way to give ordinary humans superhuman abilities. Back then, ones like the Antumbra, were so much more. They were entities of their own, and a human who controlled one was no longer human. They were a God."

"So what happened to them?" Cassius asked. "These men-turned-Gods just vanished and left their miracle machine buried in an old statue?"

"No records exist of that era," Marcus said with mild irritation, "only that following their creation the world was plunged into darkness. Natural disasters swept the land, the population was halved from its already reduced number, entire swaths of history and cultures erased. Imagine the raw power it would take to cause such devastation. Power so great it was locked away by the Earth itself."

"And now it's resurfaced," said Cassius, "right when we're planning our own attack on the status-quo. How coincidental."

"Or ordained," Marcus said, looking up to the Argonaut, "and perhaps it's been under our noses this entire time."

"What, this thing?" Cassius looked at the Argonaut which stood at attention, posed as though it were awaiting any attack that may come. "Isn't this just an old unit from the anno domini era?"

"You don't see it?" Marcus smiled at his brother, who examined the Argonaut's features. After a few moments his eyes widened as he understood.

"Well I'll be damned," Cassius said, "so what do you plan to do with it?"

"First, we need to acquire its records and confirm my theory," Marcus said cautiously, "then get it somewhere secure and under our control. Luckily your fellow Administrators aren't ones for rummaging through their own attic, but this needs to be something you and I alone possess."

"I'll start pulling strings," Cassius sighed, "you just find me some place where we can hide it."

"As well as get it restored," Marcus said.

"You plan to use this?" Cassius was aghast, "the Antumbra isn't enough?"

"You were the one with your doubts about the girl," Marcus said, "I'd rather plan for every eventuality. Antumbra is a mystery in more ways than one, and with its seeming inability to be used by anyone but her, it's going to be a slow process gleaning answers from it. With this we may have a chance to get ahead of our enemies."

"If you say so," Cassius said, "but if what you're saying is true and this really is what you think it is, what if we risk history repeating itself?'

"It won't," Marcus assured him, "these Argonauts were used as tools of war. I want them to be tools of revolution."