Autofficer Crinklegadget?

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

This is my story. This is just for me to write.

Chapter 1

I drop my bags in my room after my long trip here to the Fogworks. I graduated Academy Automicus a few years before average. I trained with Baron Fairow and he was impressed with me. Zaul Grimm heard about me and asked me to train under him. I was so excited! Was.

As you know I'm a resistance member now so he's now an enemy. My brother Flash Jarmatch was expelled from the Academy for reasons unknown and was wandering around No Mans' Landing at that time. I didn't really care but if he didn't go there I might've never become a resistance member and the greatest Autofficer ever. JK. But you know what I mean.

Zaul Grimm was the most important Autofficer in Aethesia. I mean, he was part Automaton! I was excited beyond infinity. (#ToyStory) I hoped A few friends from the Academy were here though. It would be encouraging to see someone familiar. But also see someone I didn't personally know but I've heard of them. I wondered if the rumors Lucky was coming here was true. But I realized it was late so I just decided to wonder and be excited tommorow.

---

Tell me what you think it the discussion topic!

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 2

I woke up at 6 in the morning as usual. I heard a familiar voice next door and my heart filled up with happiness. I got ready for the day and went outside of my room. I knocked on the door of the voice and asked, "Are you Ava Tinnight1?"

The voice responded, "Who's asking?"

"Darthmaul Crinklegadget. Fine. Dathmaul." She opened her door and we hugged each other.

"I hear you just arrived yesterday. I thought I started at the academy before you?"

"I guess I did really well at the academy. Who are you training with?"

"Cassandra. You?"

"Zaul. I'm so excited! Did you hear Lucky might come here soon?"

She nodded nervously. "Yep. I hope not."

"WHAT?! Why? Isn't he the best guys ever to exist? He-"

"He invented Fog. Yeah yeah."

"No, he likes tomato soup just like me," I joked. Ava playfully punched me.

"C'mon. I hear they have pancakes and I don't want to be late." We started heading toward the cafeteria.

"So how's Flash?"

"He got expelled." She punched me again. "I'm serious. He's in a town called No Mans' Landing.

She looked around nervously. "You know there's a resistance forming there?" I shook my head. "Lucky is trying to stop them but it's still growing. The headquarters is a building called The Landing Gazette which is near Town Square."

"Alright then. I'll just tell him not to go near there. So you're going to be in charge of Fog next to Cassandra?"

"Yep. Way better than ordering around mindless robots." It was my turn to punch her.

"Race you there," I said and we ran like there was no tomorrow.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

We got there 5 minutes later (yes it takes that long). I knew Zaul and Cassandra would be coming here in 15 minutes, so we didn't have long to eat. I thought I saw I a familiar face

"Is that Iliara Mustardtop?" Ava seemed to see her too.

"Let's ask." We walked up to her and I asked,

"Are you Iliara Mustardtop?"

"Who's asking?" I said Darth Crinklegadget and Ava said Ava Tinnight1. We said it at the same time. "O hello Dath," I face palmed, "and Ava!"

"It's Darth or Maul. Both is for formal and Dath just sounds weird."

"Okay! What about Crink?"

I smiled. "That's perfect! So who are you with?"

"Oh I'm not training with anyone. I'm just helping whoever Cassandra is training."

"That would be me," Ava said.

Iliara whispered "yes" very softly but I heard her. "Darth, who are you training with?"

"That would be Zaul. Hurry up guys. We only have 10 minutes." We all got 3 pancakes and I had extra syrup. I really like the gooey goodness. "So when did you come here? Ava too."

They both responded "Really really early this morning," at the same time. I heard footsteps and looked at the entrance. I saw Zaul and Cassandra for the first time.

"Hello Zaul Grimm and Cassandra," I spoke. Zaul nodded as a greeting

"Hello Ava and Iliara. Ready to explore the Fogo-" Zaul fell to the ground, lifeless.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 4

I had done quite a bit of research on Zaul so I knew how to help him. I looked around for a can and some fog. Iliara had a can in her pocket (somehow) and I saw a a big container of fog near the entrance. I filled the can with for and rushed toward Zaul.

I took his empty canister and replaced it with mine. He sat up, gasping. "Thank you Cassandra," he said. She shook her and her and the girls pointed at me. "Dathmaul Crinklegadget?" I nodded. "You are even smarter than I thought you would be. Today we shall explore with Cassandra but because of these 'events', we shall have to delay."

He walked away, not looking like himself. He looked kinda sick. Not awesome sick but coughing sick. We sat down at the nearest table.

"(#)What in Aethesia happened to Zaul?," Ava asked.

I responded, "Zaul is part Automaton. Autos run on fog, so he does too. If Autos run out of fog they shut down so it's the same except more dangerous because he's still human. I had to get at least a little bit of fog so he could refill himself. This is the first time I've seen Zaul or Cassandra in real life. What about you guys, er girls?

Iliara jumped into the conversation. "She gave us and a few other people a special class on fog."

"You three, come here. It's time to start the tour."

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

We were amazed at how complex the Fogworks were. At every area we stood in awe and silence for about a minute. After going into ten areas, someone saw me and came up to me.

"Hello. I don't think you remember me. My name is Angleheart. We were in rooms next to each other and in the same classes."

All of a sudden all these memories flashed in my head. "Of course I remember you T2!" He came up with this nickname that I didn't really like and I still don't. I mean, who likes being called T2? I never told him how I feel about it but I think he's suspicious. "So... what do you do?"

Cassandra heard me and popped into our conversation. "Mr Angleheart here has full access to the Fogworks. If he wishes to join us he can. Now here Emperor Lucky..." I don't think you want to hear that boring stuff. I mean it would be good for the resistance... Never mind. Angleheart joined us and we went through 90 more areas.

The last one was the most frustrating one. It was a place to relax. How is Lucky going to rule Aethesia if his workers are going to relax?! You have nighttime for that! Also, it was just a pool. You had to go all the way to the cafeteria just to get a snack! Even a wa- wa- I even can't say it! Even waffles would be good was what I was saying.

Anyway, we finished up after that and when we came back to the cafeteria, we realized the 'tour' took the whole day! Angleheart had to finish his duty and Iliara, Ava and I went toward our rooms and. towards.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 6

We got halfway to our rooms and started chatting.
“Iliara, where is your room?” I asked.

“It’s 3210.”

“Oh cool! Mine is 3150 and Ava’s is 3152.” Angleheart joined us, out of breath.

‘Hey guys,” he said, wheezing. “I just finished up 1 minute ago. My room is all the way down the hallway, room 4000. You guys?”

“3150, 3152, and 3210.” We heard a lot of noise and stopped. It didn’t sound far away. I pulled out my pocket knife I keep in my pocket and was prepared for any kind of attack. We inched closer and closer…

We saw a student trying to pick up his stuff. I put my knife back into my pocket and walked towards him. “Hello! Can I lend you a hand?”

“Sure!” The others came to help also. We each said our names and his was Levi Orangeburst. We came into his room which was 30 rooms down. His was way closer than ours.

“So what do you do here?” I asked.

“I’m helping Zaul’s apprentice, so I guess that’s you, Dathmaul.”

I facepalmed again. 2 times in one day. “Please call me Darth. It’s a nickname I made up. Why didn’t I see you today? We explored the whole Fogworks.”

“I just arrived this afternoon. That sounds so cool! Hopefully soon I can ask Zaul and Cassandra if they show me around when they aren’t busy. We stop right… here.” He opened his door. It was a really nice room. He already decorated it. I still think he did that to have a little bit of home with him.

“Whoa. This is awesome! So did you just finish up at the academy? Because…” I don’t think I’ll clutter this story up with just one conversation. If you want, you can ask Levi, Iliara, Ava or Angleheart yourself, but I don’t think they‘ll remember it. After 15 minutes of chatting we started heading out. We were so tired we didn’t chat anymore and thought about how great that day was.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 7

I woke up and heard a noise. My alarm clock was ringing so I turned it off. I still heard the noise. I realized someone was rapidly knocking on the door.

“Come on Darth! We’re already ready and you’re still in bed!” It sounded like it was Ava.

“All right, all right I’m coming.” I got ready in 3 minutes and went out. Then I saw a yawning Angleheart walk towards us. I then remembered Levi and I started running towards his room. They followed. “Now, when he wakes up he can come with us.”

“How do you know he didn’t leave?” Iliara asked.

“I have really good hearing so I can hear when people are snoring. Plus, nobody ever wakes up this early.” A group of 5 passed us and looked well rested. “Most people don’t wake up this early.”

We played fun games to pass the time. Finally, I heard no snoring. 5 minutes later Levi came out. Some people just aren’t fast.

“Hello! You guys look bored. How long have you been here?”

“I think for an hour?” I responded.

“Wow. Well I think it’s time for breakfast. I saw a really good spot to eat yesterday.” Again we all had a long chat and I don’t think the others remember it.

Half an hour later, Angleheart had to leave for his part of work. Another half hour later, Cassandra came to take Ava and Iliara for lessons. 15 minutes later Zaul came to pick up Levi and I for some practice with an actual Automation. I was so excited but I didn’t show it. Zaul said hello to Levi and led us to an important looking room.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 8

The room was amazing! It was filled with high-tech stuff and contained tons of Automations. It had to have 10 fields, all in their climate. Zaul gave me a gauntlet to control an Auto.

“Crinklegadget, you know how to use that, right?” Zaul asked. I nodded. I only commanded a Bombardier to shoot it’s cannonball towards a pillow. “Alright then. You will command Automations like Pacifiers, to maybe a Automayeti. Levi, since we don’t really need help on this task, you may also take a gauntlet to control some Automations.”

Levi gestured to Zaul as a thank you and grabbed a gauntlet. He probably commanded more Autos than me, considering he had a few more years at the academy than me. He started off with a Combosnaut.

I had never seen so much Autos in one place. The Automayeti was way taller than I expected.
There was the Baron Sizzlepot, the Mega Drill, Bucktooth, Matron, the Goat, the Crusher, the 3 Billy goats and itself in 1 field. They were really powerful. Back then, the Automayeti hadn’t been in public yet. I would be one of the first people to command it. But first, I would need to command an ordinary Pacifier

The gauntlet was basically a touchpad to activate the Autos. Levi was using a trick to find the most effective way to use the attacks of Combosnaut. Just press all of the buttons. The Auto’s in No Mans’ Landing weren’t that complicated so I didn’t need to do too much work on them. Each one was unique so the time varied on them.

When the day was almost over, I had my chance to command the Automayeti. It’s attacks were like nothing I’ve ever seen, and since it had the Fog Fire shield, it was unstoppable. Until we resistance members destroyed it with Jefferson and Emily. Then, Angleheart came in. He saw me commanding it and stared in awe. He finally saw it operational.

I stopped and saw Zaul commanding an Excavator. Then he finished up too. Zaul allowed us to go and we left to find Iliara and Ava. We found them in the hallway, heading to their rooms. They looked so tired.

“What happened?” I asked.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 9

“We walked for an hour to get to where our lesson was. Then that lesson involved running too. We had to practice what happens if there is an emergency.” Ava said. She shuddered. “You don’t want to know what happened.” She was right.

“Iliara, Is she exaggerating or telling the truth?” I asked.

“She’s telling the truth or else we would’ve met you guys.” Iliara answered. Then Ava continued her story. I’m not going to tell you what happened, but I’ll just say it was pretty bad. They asked Levi and I what we did and I said we commanded some Autos. Then we asked Angleheart what he did.

“Well I just found out that I have to leave for a big trip tomorrow. I don’t know exactly where I’m going, or when I’ll be back, but it’ll be for a while. I finished up all I have to do here so I’m gonna leave early. But I’m gonna make sure I’ll say bye to you guys.”

This was so unexpected. I stood there, shocked for about a minute. The girls just said bye and left to their rooms. Then I said, “Well I guess I’ll see you in the morning. Bye.” Levi and I waved and left.

When I got to my room I just sat on my bed, wondering what was going to happen next.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 10: Goodbye

I didn’t get much sleep that night. I kept thinking about Angleheart having to leave. We were great friends, and I would even say best friends. Back at home, I never really had friends. He really helped me at the academy, and he helped me period. I decided to get up and make sure that I would be able to see him off.

I left my room and tried to wake up Ava, even from over here. Hey, she woke me up the previous morning. I heard her yawn and say, “I’m coming.” It took a couple of minutes, but she came out. Right after, Iliara came up.

Then, Angleheart came up. “Hey guys. So I’m not gonna leave until Levi wakes up.” Then Levi came up. Angleheart continued. “Okay. I’ll head out now.”

We all hugged and said goodbye. It was kinda hard for me. Nothing else happened, he just left. Overall the rest of the day was okay but still couldn’t keep thinking about him. I didn’t feel like eating dinner so I went straight to bed.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 11: Aftermath

I almost completely ignored my friends for almost a week. Him leaving brought me down a lot. I was hoping there might be something about to happen like a break-in but nope. Nothing happened. I was like a robot.

1. Wake up
2. Eat breakfast
3. Go to lesson and Ace it
4. Eat Dinner
5. Go to bed
6. Repeat next day

It was like my fun part of me died. I realize that to Ava, Iliana and Levi, it would be like I died. Finally after a week, Ava asked how I was doing. You know those stories when you get hypnotized? “When I snap my fingers you will bawk like a chicken. When I snap it again, you will go back to normal.” It was like when Angleheart left, the first snap made me like a robot. When Ava asked that, the second snap brought me back to normal.

“I’m really sorry. What happened? How long has it been since Angleheart left? It’s been like I’ve been unfocused.”

“It has been a week. What did you say? You’ve been unfocused?” asked Ava.

“It felt as if I’ve been hypnotized. You just brought me back to normal.”

Then, Iliara and Levi saw I was talking with Ava and ran over. We told each other what has been going on. Levi already knew with me because he’s with me. It turns out that Ava and Iliara learned about the original mist that the Great Engineer used to create Aethesia and how they turn it to fog. We were so happy to be friends again and I don’t know what would’ve happened if Ava didn’t ask how I was doing.

I kept up for a while. I still missed him but I have my friends again. Then, something incredible happened.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 12

It was normal. It was about three months since Angleheart left. We were eating dinner and it had been pretty normal . Then, I saw him. IT WAS ANGLEHEART!!! I didn’t know what I was thinking I just ran up to him and hugged him.

“Hey Crink! How’ve you been doing?” he said. I couldn’t speak. He acted so casual as if he had just seen me yesterday.

“I’ve been doing good! What have you been doing? Why are you here?” I asked

“First let’s catch up with Ava, Iliara and Levi.” he said. We all caught up with each other, then he said, “Let me introduce you to Nola Applequill. She is now going to be here to learn with Ava and Iliara.” He showed us a girl who was in awe looking around the place.

“Hello Nola! My name is Dathmaul,” I think Angleheart snickered (that happens often), “Crinklegadget.” And then the rest introduced themselves. It turned out Nola liked to write even then! I knew that we were going to be great friends. But I didn’t know how much friends I would have.

“I will be here for a few days so we can still hang out!” he said happily. “Oh yeah Darth,” he whispered,” I heard you have Autofficer practice tomorrow. You think I can join? Nola’s gonna be with Casandra.” I smiled. I think he tried to learn to be an Autofficer and I still do.

“Sure thing!” I answered. It was going to be a great three days.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 13

The Field-Trip

We hung out for a bit longer then decided to call it a night. It was a long day for all of us and we had a big day ahead of us. Nola’s room was going to be 3160 so it’s just a few rooms away. Angleheart still had 4000

You know how when a big and fun event is the following morning and you can’t sleep? Like when it’s Christmas Eve and you’re trying to fall asleep but can’t? It was like that for me. Finally, when I fell asleep, it was about midnight and I only got a few hours. That didn’t matter I was completely energized and would be for the rest of the day.

At breakfast, Zaul and Cassandra go toward us. Zaul starts talking. “We have decided you will take a… field trip to No Mans’ Landing. Dathmaul, you will be able to control a Bombardier and a Technomite. I can see by your expression that you’re both shocked and disappointed.” That was true. “So because Cassandra is also teaching something to Iliara and Ava, we decided that you may take Nola and Angleheart. After all, he did train to be an Autofficer and can try with you. “ I knew it! He did try! “Oh yes. We are leaving in half an hour and will be there for about three days.”

“Thank you! We’ll start packing right away, right guys?” They all nodded in agreement. We all hastily finished our breakfast and that left us 20 minutes to pack. When I got to my room there was 18 left. I finished with 10 left. Everybody else was finished with 5 minutes left.

“Come over here!” Zaul waved at us. Just know that Zaul never smiles. “Alright we will get into the boat now and we will arrive in 2 hours.” Nola was extremely excited, even more than me!

When we got into the boat I went straight away to the ocean view. It was a great place to just relax and think. What I should have been thinking was about my brother. Little did I know that this trip will change my life forever.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 14

When we arrived, it was surprisingly (for me) clear. Don’t worry, all will be explained in due time. We were all shocked.

“What is this!?” exclaimed Zaul. “Students, Cassandra and I will take care of this. You all can wander around.” That was bad for Zaul, and you’ll find out why. We were all excited at the time.

We walked around and soon we found ourselves right in front of the big statue of Lucky. It was just a few steps away from the Landing Gazette. A girl walked out of there. When she saw me she gasped, grabbed me, and brought me into the Gazette. She took me all the way down the stairs to the basement. What I saw wasn’t that surprising, but it was at the same time.

Meanwhile, the others didn’t see me go, except for Angleheart. “Come on guys! Someone just dragged Crink into here!” he said.

When they came in, I was still shocked and frozen. They didn’t understand why I was. There were members of the resistance and my brother was among them. You would think that it would end here and be a good cliffhanger, but this needs to be all together. All I could say is, “Hi bro.” Then the others gasped.

Again, great cliffhanger, but I need to put this all at once. “Hi Crink. Nice to see you again. Hello Crink’s friends.” He waved at the others. I still don’t why our names are different. Maybe it’s because they didn’t even know we were related. It wasn’t till we were at the academy that we knew. Baron Fairow just told us that someone told him that he was a family friend of ours and that we were related. We had felt like we had a connection and we knew that that was true.

Anyway, I managed to stick my hand out to shake hands. He shook it. The girl that took me here walked up to me.

“Sorry about that. I just recognized you from the photo Flash showed us. I didn’t know what to do so I just brought you over here. By the way. My name is Ariella Newheart. Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too! You probably know this but my name is Darthmaul-“ Flash gave me a swift kick to my shin,”I mean Dathmaul Crinklegadget. And these are my friends, Angleheart, Nola Applequill, Ava Tinnight, Levi Orangeburst, and Iliara Mustardtop.”

“I need to talk with you alone, Crink. Meet me at our secret area in Evergreen Meadows.” Now, this is a good place to end and a good cliffhanger.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 15

I nodded to him. “Go on ahead. I’ll be right there.” He nodded and left. “Alright guys. What do you wannna do? Wander around NML or stay here?”

“I think we’ll stay here to hear what they have to say,” Angleheart spoke. The others nodded. I waved bye, then left.

Our area is the partially hidden place over the blocked tunnel, but now it’s not so secret anymore. As I got up there, Flash said, “Alright. Now we can talk.”

“I’m part of a resistance that’s trying to destroy Lucky’s empire. We’ve been doing small small stuff like destroying Automatons and the radios, and bigger stuff like filling the great engine.” So that was what that was about. “We are looking for any new recruits, and you and your friends are the perfect candidate. Now I’m not expecting you to answer right away, but just think about it. Our sources say that you’re going to be here for a few days.”

“YOU HAVE SPIES IN THE FOGWORKS!?” I yelled.

“No we don’t, we heard Zaul mumbling, ‘I can’t believe this. We’re going to be here for three more days of this.’ At the start of the third day, meet me here and give me your answer, or just meet me at the Gazette.”

I nodded. We started walking back. We chatted with each other and I was thinking about the decision. I wanted to be an Autofficer but it was beautiful here without the fog.

When we arrived, the others told me that the rebels told them practically the same thing and that they agreed. They also told me that they get cool weapons and clothes out of it. Even before they told me about the weapons, I made my decision, and you know what it is or else I wouldn’t be here.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 16

“Yes, I’ll join the resistance.” Everybody there cheered. “But what do you want me to do for now? I know I can’t do anything big like filling the engine or fighting.”

“You will be spying in the Fogworks. Angleheart, do you want to be there with them? We have connections,” spoke Ariella. Angleheart nodded yes. “Alright. Now what do you want as your first weapon?”

“I want a wrench hammer!” Angleheart said, excitedly.

“I want an ice stick!”

“I want a gyroscopic hammer!”

“I want a pair of Rivetor pistols!”

“I want waffles! I mean a Rocket hammer!” Pretty sure I knew who that was. I just stood there, in silence. Everyone looked at me.

“What do you want, Crink?” asked Ariella.

“I will choose the flintlock sniper.” Everyone gasped.

“Crink are you sure? It’s really hard to get a special and to miss.”

“I have used one before. Watch this.” I aimed carefully at a 500 hit point fake automaton and shot five times. All were special. Now I have a little less chance of getting 5/5, but still like 3 or 4/5. Everyone just stood there, jaw dropped. “What? You guys have never seen that before?”

“Great skills Crink! Now I know that you can’t/won’t destroy Automatons, but just keep practicing on anything you can find,” said Ariella. Zaul was shouting outside for us. “Also, the weapons have a shrink button so that way you can keep your weapons a secret. And we’ll send you your craft books, suit, and other weapons within the next month!” She waved bye, and we waved also. I also gave a small nod to Flash.

We waited for Zaul to go a little in front of us, so that way he wouldn’t see where we were coming from. Then we went outside of the Gazette to right behind Zaul.

“Oh there you are. Cassandra and I haven’t found anything, so we will double our security. Angleheart, Dathmaul and Levi will be commanding different automatons, while the other will be with Cassandra and be on the lookout for rebels.” We all nodded. Then, Cassandra came up from behind him and we went our separate ways.

I was given a control just like at the Fogworks. I knew how to do it and Zaul was impressed. I mostly was in the business district. Thankfully, no resistors came my way. But multiple urchins did. I felt a slight twinge or guilt but they weren’t part of the Resistance, so I didn’t think much of it. I had a long way to go to become a real Resistor.

It was basically the same for the rest of the trip. Supringly there was only 1 resistor, but I barely saw him. Thankfully, Zaul didn’t see him so I didn’t have to attack the resistor, but he looked vaguely familiar.

That day was the last day of the trip, so I had the trip back to ponder about the mysterious person. He looked around my age. I made a mental note to ask Ariella or Flash to see if they have some sort of records of members.

When we finally got back to the Fogworks, I went straight to my room. I was exhausted. I thought about all I signed up for and if it was worth it fighting for a small Resistance that might be crushed by the Empire. But as I thought more, I realized even with some Fog, No Mans’ Landing was mostly clear. It cleared my mind. It was really worth joining the Resistance. I smiled to myself and fall asleep.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 17

I woke up early next morning and decided to get ready and see if anyone else was up. I went to the cafeteria and saw that Angleheart was there.

“Mind if I sit here?” I ask.

He nodded yes. I sat down.

“How was the trip for you?” I ask.

“It was okay,” he answered.

“Why do you sound so sad?”

“Well, I don’t know. I know it’s betraying the Empire if I join the resistance, but I joined. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But now I’m not so sure. I feel like I’m gonna have to betray or let down somebody.”

It took a bit of time for me to find the right answer. “I was thinking about that too. Was it nicer to breathe in the air in No Mans’ Landing for you after a while?”

“Yes,” he said slowly.

“And there was not as much Fog here, correct?”

“Yes,” he said, yet again.

“Breathing Fog feels normal after a while, but breathing Fog-free air, it helps you do more things, process more things, and, well is just overall better!”

He thought about this for a moment. Then he nodded. “You’re probably right,” he said. A few moments after, the others came into the room. We all talked about the trip. And then, it was time for class.

Zaul led us to the training room. After a few minutes, I felt kind of drowsy. But I answered commands sooner. I didn’t actually notice it until I went back into my room. I realized that Levi and Angleheart were also like that, and also that the others didn’t even try to talk to us. I decided to keep it in the back of my mind, but still thought about it.

I forgot about it the next morning. Nobody else brought it up, either they forgot about, or it didn’t happen to them. I got drowsy again. Again, I didn’t realize it until I was in my room. It was then I had to ask Ariella. I wrote down a letter about my effects. But then I realized that I didn’t have a way to give it to her.

I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to send it so bad. I didn’t know why, but I did. Then, somebody just appeared in the room. Actually, it looked like he fell from the roof. His clothes were all red.

“Hello, Crink. I’m with the Resistance. Do you need that letter delivered?” He said, pointing at the letter I did want delivered.

“Who are you, and how do you know about this?” I demanded.

“I’ll let Ariella answer that for you. Just trust me. I’ll deliver her response tomorrow.”

I thought about this for a moment. This would probably be the only way I could give the letter to her. I reluctantly gave it to him. He nodded, then went out the door.

I forgot everything again. I got drowsy again. I realized it again only after the day and going in my room. I planned on waiting for up to 2 hours. I only waited 10 minutes until he arrived.

“Here is Ariella’s response. The bag came with it also. Well, I hope I’ll see you again soon,” he says to me. He left.

I opened up the response. Ariella said that the man was called The Scarlet Man, and that he was the founder of the Resistance. She said that the drowsiness was the effect of them experimenting on using Fog to brainwash people. Basically, they were onto us.

The crafting book I was waiting for was in the bag. There were some ingredients for different things.
Ariella recommended I make a gas mask or a full gas mask. I went with the full gas mask.

There were so many recipes in my crafting book! But there was one that seemed extremely rare. An Aethermeter. Everything it needed was kinda rare, but the main item was an Aether Crystal. I had only heard of Aether from my studies, and they barely even mention it. It took a hundred Aether to make.

There was also a communicator if I needed to talk to Ariella. Finally, she wrote that if I were to use the gas mask, even just in my room, it would mostly clear the Fog. But I had to pretend that I was still under the effects of it. Nothing of the mysterious person.

Surprisingly, I remembered everything the next morning. The mask really worked! I didn’t say anything at breakfast though. When we went into the classroom, I felt almost completely fine! I only felt a little bit of Fog! And I didn’t have the mask on! The others didn’t look as well. I decided I would give everyone a gas mask.

I crafted a regular gas mask also to see if the effects were the same. I was pretty sure, so I just crafted everyone a regular gas mask. I had the room numbers for everyone, so I just walked to each of their doors, knocked, and told them about everything that they needed to know. The next morning, they said they felt great!

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 18

After a month, I knew the insides and commands of an Automaton like the back of my hand. I gave all the info I had to the Resistance. I started making weapons in case of an emergency.

Once, there was a time where an Imperial official came into my room to investigate. I managed to hide my things from him, but then I knew that they were really onto us now.

Another month went by and nothing eventful happened. Until a resistor came.

I heard a knock on my door. I opened it and saw someone I had never seen before.

“Hello. I’m Peregrine Appleclock. I was sent here on a trip. I was told a few of your friends would also help me around,” she said. She raised up a badge with an R on it. I let her in.

I talked into my communicator to ask Ariella if she sent a Resistor named Peregrine Appleclock. She said she did.

“Alright Peregrine. I don’t really know who you are but do you want the others here?” I asked. She nodded. “You’ll need to come with me. I don’t fully trust you yet.

“I understand. This is the first time I've ever seen you. Or heard about you much, for that matter. I’m just here to check on you and give you some things. And by you I mean you and your friends.”

I nodded. I gathered the others and we all met up in Angleheart’s room. He brought out a small pouch and inside it was filled with purple crystals.

“You got Aether crystals?! How did you find enough Aether for this much?!” I asked in disbelief.

“Aether is actually a lot more common than you think. It’s just hidden. And you need a container. That’s what this is for. Usually the Scarlet Man gives it to us by hiding it, because he’s mysterious that way, but it would be hard to hide Aether crystals in the Fogworks. You all get one each.”

I was transfixed at the Aether crystal I held in my hand. It was surprisingly warm! It actually comforted me! I didn’t know that crystals could do that! I would be able to use this to make an Aethermeter, which could collect Aether if I find any!

“Now because we haven’t studied the Fogworks as much as No Mans' Landing, so you probably won’t be able to collect Aether here. Do you guys have any new information?”

“No. Nothing really important. I haven’t reported this yet, but my room was searched,” I said. The others also said that.

“Okay. I’m not sure what we can do with that, but we may have to extract you soon. It may be time to end your time in the Fogworks. Not yet, but soon.”

“Also, I asked a while ago if the Resistance has records on the Resistors. I saw a person on my last day that looked familiar. And I barely saw him. I think I might be able to recognize him if I see him again.”

“I can’t bring it here but if you go back to No Mans’ Landing, you’ll be able to see the records. Do you guys need anything else?”

We all shook our heads.

“Alright. We might as well just look around the Fogworks to keep our cover story.

We showed her around the Fogworks and told her about each area. In the cafeteria area, I saw Zaul and Casandra looking at us and talking to each other. I tried to ignore them, but for the rest of the day, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Was it time to now leave the Fogworks? Or were they just suspicious of Peregrine?

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 19

The next day, Zaul and Cassandra told us we were going on another trip. We were going to visit the Snowmoors to learn more about the environment. The morning after that, we arrived there.

Zaul choked on the air. “How could any of them come here? It’s too cold!” He wheezed to Cassandra. Then, he saw us all looking at him. “Go look around. There’s a scientist called Jefferson. He’ll help you study,” Zaul wheezed.

We walked away and looked around for 30 minutes. Finally, we found a ladder and climbed it to find an outside laboratory, with a man in a suit at a table filled with blueprints.

"Hello, are you Jefferson?” I asked the man.

“Yes, I am. I take it you are the kids from the Fogworks?” Before any of us could answer, he also said, “Alright, come over here. Hurry up.”

We walked towards an area that had three stations for experimenting. “Come over here, Hanna and Max to help these Autofficers.”

I felt a surge of happiness as I heard the first name. Two figures walked to us and nervously smiled, trying to hide a badge on their clothes.

“Hi Hanna! It’s me, Crink! And we’re with the Resistance also!”

“Oh, you’re with the Resistance? That’ll make it much easier. Well I have to go fix the meltdown. I’ll leave you kids here.”

Jefferson left and Hanna started talking. “Oh, hi Crink! And hi Ava and Iliara!” She waved to Ava. She turned back to me. Can you introduce me to your other friends?”

I nodded. “This is Angleheart, Iliara Mustardtop, Levi Orangeburst, and Nola Applequill. And who is your friend, may I ask?”

Her friend, who Jefferson called Max, talked. “Hello! My name is Max Gleamcase. Nice to meet you guys!”

“Alright. We might as well get started on our experiments and things now,” said Hanna. “So here are some grasses we collected for Jefferson not too long ago. We are here to examine them, experiment on them with different substances, and we can also use Aether on them to see what happens.”

We looked closely at the grasses and soon after experimenting on them, Aether seemed to help it look a lot more greener. After about two hours testing different things and just chatting, Jefferson told us that Zaul and Cassandra wanted us back where we landed at the Snowmoors. It was apparently “not-foggy-enough.” So we said bye to Hanna and Max and left.

[Dathmaul_Crinklegadget]

Chapter 20: A Full-Fledged Resistor

When we got back, Zaul and Cassandra told us because of the unfortunate mishap that caused our trip to end so soon, we were going to go on yet another trip, now to the Isle. We were to leave in ten days, so that way Zaul could make arrangements in advance. We waited for the trip and talked about it amongst ourselves.

Finally the day came. We left the Fogworks and arrived at the Isle the same day. Since it was late, we were to look around the outside then go back to the ship because the ship had rooms to sleep in and the Isle itself didn’t. Zaul and Cassandra both stayed behind to prepare a bit longer.

Just from the outside I could tell the Isle played a huge part of making the Resistance’s job difficult. It was really hard for me to breath and it felt worse near the entrance to the mines. At the top, I saw some dirt that I thought someone tried to use to plant flowers, but it was too dry.

Also, from there, I could see a bunch of fog guarding a pathway that leads below the Isle. I was curious about what was down there and hoped we would go, but it looked too secretive that we probably wouldn’t go.

We decided to go back to the ship and wait for the next day to explore the mines.

Zaul and Cassandra led us to the entrance of the mines and started talking.

“These colored lines are here to show you where the boiler room, the fog containment room, and a spare storage room. First we will start out by going to the fog containment room,” Zaul spoke.

For the most part we were silent, and for the most part it was because we were in awe of how ginormous the whole mines were. When we arrived, Cassandra told us the importance of the containers filled with fog because if something were to clear away the fog, there would be at least some backup fog.

After that, we started walking to the boiler room, which powered all of the machines in the mines. When we arrived, however, there was a huge surprise for all of us. There were Resistors placing a bomb on the boiler.

“WHAT?! HOW CAN THIS BE?! STOP IN THE NAME OF LUCKY!!!” Zaul exclaimed.

The Resistors saw him, quickly finished placing the bomb, talked to a strange fellow and escaped through minecarts, while Zaul and Cassandra just stood there in shock. The bomb started beeping, increasingly faster, and I yelled, “EVERYBODY RUN FOR COVER!!!”

Cassandra, Iliara and Levi hopped into some minecarts and escaped through there, while the rest of us, except for Zaul, for cover. Zaul was just standing there in shock, knowing that his life’s work was about to blow up in green flames.

The bomb beeped extremely fast now, then stopped. Then…

BOOM.

We were all knocked around a bit, but not nearly as much as Zaul, who was trying to hold on a cliff with his fingers. The others were partially okay, but Zaul was barely clinging on the cliff. I had a debate in my mind.

Someone should save him. I should save him.

No you shouldn’t, you’re a Resistor, so he dies, then an enemy will be removed.

But he’s still a human.

When he realizes you’re against him, you’ll be hunted and killed.

So be it, I’m gonna save him.

DON’T!!! HE’S GONNA KILL YOU SOONER OR LATER!!!

Hmm, maybe you have a point…

‘Save him, Crink. Save him for me.’

I almost felt like I heard that last sentence in my ears, but no one was talking to me… I tried my hardest to lift Zaul up, but he was extremely heavy as he was half automaton. After a minute, he was on the ground, catching his breath.

“You… You… saved me,” he gasped.

“Why not?” I responded.

“You are a Resistor, are you not?” he questioned.

So he knew, he knew for probably a while. I thought for a moment about my answer. “Yes, yes I am, we all are. That’s just how we do things around here.” I walked near the others. “C’mon guys, let’s find Iliara and Levi and get out of here.”

We walked away and left Zaul alone at the exploded boiler room.

We found Iliara and Levi with Cassandra. Cassandra was just sitting down on the beach and was clearly in shock. “Let’s go guys. And Cassandra, Zaul is in the remains of the boiler room,” I stated. We left and went on the ship toward the Resistance HQ.

On the way there, Angleheart found something and gave it to me.

“It’s labeled: Protective Iceman suit and gadgets. Do you want it?” It was a bag filled with a blue suit, a frozen top hat, and a full gas mask. It also had a few recipes for ice upgrades for weapons. I decided to try the suit out and thought it looked nice, so I kept it on.

When we arrived at the Beacon, we told Ariella about what happened, and then she gave us some food and other things. About an hour later, she tasked us for our first official mission as full-fledged Resistors.
A month later

It turned out the familiar figure was apparently a long lost brother of mine named Peter Umbreallacrash! We finally got to know each other and started doing missions and other things together!

Six Months Later

I had a conversation with my brother Flash. He said he would leave the Resistance and not to go look for him. I wondered if he would be okay, but he sounded angry when I asked him to stay. So he left and I hope I will see him again...

One Week Later

I finish off a bombardier when I hear a shout from Lukas’ Lemonade, which is a secret Resistance laboratory. I pull a lever which opens the secret door and purple mist appears like normal.

“You Okay Lukas? Also, who is this guy?” I see someone around my age next to a fainted Lukas. I give Lukas some Aether from my Aethermeter. “He’ll be alright. What’s your name?” I ask.

“My name is Peter Darkmap.”

CONTINUED IN PETER DARKMAP: SECRETS