Alpha-Keto 71 Rhodizite

AK Rhodes is one of the main protagonists in the story, '*8113*'. He is a former captain of the UFC Rangers with a heavy grudge against both Martians and his own government. Rhodes gets dragged into an ill-fated adventure that leaves him in possession of a seemingly benign jar of honey, only to find that it contains the DNA of a 6000-year-old human whose 'rebirth' coincides with a doomsday prophecy.

## Basic info

**Impurity name:** Alpha-Keto 71 Rhodizite

**Basic name:** AK Rhodes

**Formulaic name:** 71.KCSBE4AL4BBE12O28

**Mineral stats:** Rare, 8.0 hardness, milk-grey

**Orbital age:** 58

## Naming convention: A note for all future character Wikis

In this fictional world, characters have three versions of the same name:

**Impurity** **name**

Each unique individual, or geotomaton, is installed with a 'battery' soon after birth (in an event called Acquisition Day), containing a small quantity of ore with a unique chemical signature, or 'impurity'. Impurities often run in the family. The impurity name shows the parts-per-million of the individual's chemical signature (eg: 71), as well as the name of that impurity (eg: Rhodizite). Impurity names serve as a form of formal identity codes for all geotomatons, similar to a fingerprint or identification number.

Rare minerals, metals, and elements often hold a higher social status than commonly-acquired impurities, since they are more expensive to replace over time. The hardness of the substance is sometimes (through superstition) associated with personality.

**Basic name**

A common, everyday name is assumed from the root of the impurity mineral, mimicking more of an Anglicized surname. In this case, 'Rhodes' derives from Rhodizite. Characters may also have a nickname that they personally prefer, which is either derived from their first (eg: AK from Alpha-Keto) or last names (eg: Lari from Larimar).

**Formulaic name**

This chemical-based identification tag is used for identification/bureaucratic purposes (government-issued ID, prisoner number, medical files etc). First names are omitted from formulaic names, since no two geotomatons possess the same impurity in parts-per-million (not even twins). Using a high-powered spectrometer, individuals can be tracked universally by locking onto their chemical identity, except in the cases of ghost impurities.

## Personal history

Rhodes is a Colonist, born June 5th, 5940 OT (8055 AD), on the colony of Gaia, to parents Baldyon 707 Rhodizite and Ephyd 10 Halide. His father was a colonel in the UFC army and encouraged him to eventually become the same. At the age of 7, Rhodes witnessed the Assault on Epoch while on the train, which killed his mother and left him very prejudiced against Martians. At 14, he joined the junior recruits at Lincoln, Stormport, and went into officer training starting at age 19.

Despite his rapid achievements within the Rangers, advancing to the rank of captain, Rhodes hardly saw battle in the earliest years of his military career. During the Talking War, his father was tasked with investigating the Martian base on Ceres, but was assassinated during his attempts to track down the war criminal and fugitive, Hu Giam Cheng. AK was prepared to retaliate, but was stopped by Senator Storn Gibbs, who claimed a diplomatic resolution was far more beneficial than violence. Despite his orders, Rhodes and his team of Rangers infiltrated Ceres in a black-ops mission to destroy a large, illegal Martian weapons factory, which Hu Giam was rumored to be operating (the Battle of Ceres). Despite their success, Rhodes lost a young member of his team and was stripped of his rank as captain.

Rhodes was later ordered to act as a bodyguard to Ambassador Io Bloodstone, who was helping to establish a mutual UFC-Martian base on Earth for the purpose of ecological studies, agricultural science, and findings ancient records of pre-Exodus human history. He found the work boring and beneath him, and was incapable of being civil towards Martian diplomats and soldiers. Io, through her charm, managed to soften Rhodes' hard shell, and eventually the two fell in love. They lived in Garden City for more than two years. After gaining his trust, Io showed Rhodes a secret passage underground that led to a strange vault door, and told him that if anything were to happen to her, it would be up to him to protect the 'golden treasure' hidden inside this sacred tomb. While underground, Garden City was attacked by Martians and burned. Io commended Rhodes' actions as a savior to his superiors at Stormport, who reinstated his rank and asked him to return to the front-line to fight the Martians.

Captain AK Rhodes and his Rangers were sent into the combat zone on Mars during the final chapter of the Seven Wars. He was involved in many high-octane missions, and continued to attempt to hunt down Hu Giam. His covert actions got him and his team captured by Martians and sent to torturous labor camps. Without his knowledge, Rhodes was used experimentally for the creation of ghost impurities; a dramatic, painful experience that none of his other teammates survived. After months of incarceration, the camp was attacked by the UFC and Rhodes managed to escape. Soon after, Rhodes and other UFC prisoners were rescued and he was returned to Stormport to recover in a military hospital. He woke with Io by his bedside, who informed him of a declaration signed by the Martians, admitting defeat and ending the war. Rhodes still believed he failed in his mission, and the mental trauma he sustained knowing he was the only survivor of his team left him quite unstable.

## Post-war

Io helped rehabilitate a very injured and broken Rhodes. They lived together for a few years on Polygon, but he failed to become fully accustomed to civilian life. However, they were still very much in love.

Out of the blue, Io was arrested by UFC officers and charged with terrorism. Rhodes attempted to seek out information and came across Senator Gibbs once more, who informed him of his lover's many domestic crimes. According to their intelligence-gathering, Io Bloodstone was the Olgethorpe; the leader of Thornwell's Prophets. He refused to believe it. Unfortunately, Io was swiftly trialed and executed. She never denied the accusations.

In 8113 AD, Rhodes is living alone in poverty in Nomad. He knows he is being followed, but not by authorities: the Prophets turn to him now that their leader was gone. They believe he was given information by the Olgethorpe about their doomsday prophecy that she failed to share with anyone else. Rhodes angrily dismisses them all, blames them for her death as much as he blames the government, and returns to his miserable isolation.

## AK and Honey

Despite his reluctance to accept any mission from Storn Gibbs, Rhodes goes with Coselay on her mission to Earth in return for money, which he needs to stay off the creeping rust that has begun to consume him. When he finds the vault beneath Garden City again - open - he ventures inside and is immediately drawn to a golden light radiating from a seemingly normal jar of honey. He manages to save the honey when all other ancient artifacts inside the vault are destroyed from the attack of Vaux's mechs. He is attracted to the jar based on Io's previous hint about a 'golden' treasure.

When the hair inside the honey is cloned, Rhodes becomes immediately attached to the child, whom they name Honey until her real name is unearthed. He spends the rest of the adventure protecting Honey from various threats, maintaining a promise to Io to protect whatever he found inside the vault. Honey, in return, develops a fatherly attachment to Rhodes.

Rhodes spends some time back in a Martian torture prison in the latter half of the story, where he meets Sho Zai and hears of her secret plans to eradicate the UFC, seize all ore, and depart for a new planet in the K3 Solar System. He and his team escape after 5 Martian years (10 Orbital years) of imprisonment, and he promptly returns to Honey to tell her of a new habitable planet where she could perhaps live in peace, away from this madness. With the help of the Prophets, his team of Rangers, and the comical voices of Adam, Aegir, and Alta, Rhodes and Honey manage to steal an interstellar ship from Ceres and jet off into the unknown, moments before Sho Zai and the Prophets alike initiate a two-pronged assault on the UFC.

## Unwritten epilogue

It is possible that Rhodes and Honey became the first ill-fated inhabitants of the fourth moon of the planet Eos, as described in the short story, *'The Fourth Moon*'. Eos is described as being one of the nine planets in the K3 solar system.