The Guardians - Issue 2: The Argus Directive Part 2

Prologue

The air crackled and smelled of ozone; at the far end of the cavernous hangar, a frail man looked up from his workbench. He pushed his glasses up his nose, squinted. From what he could tell, a roughly-spherical object was trying to push its way violently into reality. He shrugged, and bent back over the desk.

A moment later, the Argus Core, all portholes and glistening, sticky-wet tentacles, sat on the floor of the hangar, and striding out from its open insides was Hernon Cortez. He stopped in front of the desk.

"The Core is ours. We may begin immediately," the Conquistador said.

The small man did not say anything.

Cortez looked proudly back at the huge metal ball, to its inner cavity, where hung a man, unconscious. He turned back to the small man. "The power source I procured is better than we could have hoped for. It will last as long as we need it to."

The small man remained silent, tinkering with a small model - a figurine of some sort.

Cortez was frustrated by this silence, but it was nothing unexpected. He looked away from the small man, eyes unfocusing.

"I will pilot the thing," Cortez murmured. "I will bring your vehicle, your message, to the world. And after I am done, you will teach me the dark secrets." He stalked away, towards the Core and the back of the hangar, where something altogether larger loomed in half-shadow.

He turned to face the small man again, and spoke: "Such, Artificer, is the promise, and I will not have you break it."

History Lesson

"I have unlimited credit!"