On this page is a short history for Alto. The links below contain more in depth pieces of his story, but they aren't complete.

​

​

Born in the underground city of Deep Aquilon, Alto was the only child of two prominent researchers. His father Dr. David Merrimac was a well known and accomplished Surgeon and Cybernetic technician. His mother Dr. Emily Merrimac was a researcher pushing herself toward the forefront of genetics research.

 

Alto grew up happy and well educated by his parents and seemed likely to follow one or both in their chosen trades. He had a bit of a rebellious streak as a teenager and befriended local Prometheans and Medeans he met through his parent's contacts. Though only 'human' at the time, he connected with these others through a simple sense of humanity. He was drawn to see everyone as a person and not just a name attached to some strange difference.

 

At the age of 17, Alto was already working his way through college and was poised to graduate with an apprenticeship to ASTI at age 20. with a dual doctorate in genetics and cybernetics. On the way to a research convention, his family's vehicle went out of control. Both of his parents died in the wreck, leaving Alto as the only survivor, and barely so. His body was damaged beyond most conventional medicine. Promethean conversion was the first initial option, but the process would dramatically shorten his lifespan. His family's connections however afforded him other opportunities. His parents had both been involved with ASTI's bio-technical division, working on a project incorporating organic material into wafan form at a much more complex level than had been tried before in the past. The project was at the stage where it needed a test subject.

 

Over the next three months, Alto remained in the hospital undergoing complete body modification. He was forced to undergo intense physical therapy and mental conditioning to adjust to his new state, but eventually he was able to function as if the accident had never happened, even surpassing the initial expectations of the project. Alto poured himself into his studies, sifting through his parent's work both to understand his new body and to continue in their footsteps. He managed to complete his schooling on time and applied for an apprenticeship with ASTI, being placed under the supervision of Indrijit.

 

Over the next few years, he learned as much as he could, picking up skills here and there from any project he could get his hands on. He was truly a jack of all trades, but where he began to shine was in applied micro-biology and molecular engineering.

 

One of his early side projects involved a Narehlian hunting cat. He found the animal wandering the streets of Aquilon, cold, injured, and half dead. It's not uncommon for those with money to buy exotic pets, and many of those pets end up being sold off or killed when the owner realizes they cannot take care of the animal properly. In this instance, a jungle cat should never have been moved to a glacier city. During his free hours, Alto designed prosthesis for the animal, treating it's wounds and replacing a broken leg with bio-tech parts. As part of his work, Alto outfitted the cat with cybernetics that allowed it to learn and raise it's intelligence to human levels. The entire project would probably be considered of a slightly questionable nature, but since it was done with good intentions and on his own time no one gave him much grief over it. The eventual end of the project saw Alto with a steadfast companion that went by the name of Jetta.

 

His masterpiece was working on a project with an individual by the name of Astaria. She had transferred up to ASTI recently, but her transport crashed on the ice, leaving her broken and dying. It was fitting that the project chosen to showcase Alto's new skills was one that hit so close to his own past. To measure how far he had come, Alto was placed in charge of the project. Astaria would become the second to test the prototype limbs which had saved Alto's life six years before.

 

Over the next few months, Alto and Astaria became close friends, and eventually lovers. During their trysts however, some disturbing information came to light. Astaria's original intentions for coming to Aquilon were corporate espionage. She had been paid to steal whatever technology she could. That plan changed during the course of her treatment, leaving Astaria on the wrong side of her previous employers.

 

A few months after Astaria was healthy again, Alto went to visit her only to find her apartment broken into and her body lying in a pool of her own blood. Shortly after that, Alto applied for a position as a field researcher. Now he travels the world continuing his parent's work while looking for any leads as to the identity of those that killed his love. Along the way, he has made friends and enemies, and learned to handle himself with the skills of a mercenary.

​

Broken Beginnings: Alto is injured and undergoes treatment.

​

New Chania: Alto visits his uncle

​

My Territory: A snippet from much later in his story. Alto's encounter with one of the oracles takes an unexpected turn

​

About the Author:

Stephen Mayo lives in Montana with his wife, daughter, and three cats.

You can keep in touch with him on Facebook and Twitter. If you enjoyed reading this consider buying him a coffee or supporting him on Patreon.