Cobalt Moon
Legacy Name: CobaltMoon

Despite his youth, the bedroom of the young tigrean is astonishingly clean. The layout is as efficient as possible, with a large wall-mounted, flat screen TV and an assortment of computers to make any device enthusiast sigh with envy.

There is not one gadget in that room that so much as loads a page sluggishly. Cobalt has a magic that has nothing to do with wand waving or spell chanting. Cobalt can fix nearly any electronic device and troubleshoot errors with just a glance at the screen.

He has made so many purchases at Bits & Bytes that he is in a program all his own when it comes to Nico's Byte Buddies Reward Program. Both desktop computers run the latest operating system available on the market. One is a backup unit while the other is used exclusively for programming. He has two distinct gaming laptops that see heavy use and one rather boring Shinwasoft. A boy must have one computer designated for homework, after all.

He has every type of gaming system introduced to the Subetan market and he is master of them all. He could tell you the name of every single Betamon in their release order or clue you in on how to get past those impossible acid-spitting space plants on Level 56 of Planetoid if he were so inclined.

Plastic bins are color-coded and neatly stacked with various tools and bits of wire necessary for repairing and improving electronics. He constantly takes on projects from restoring phones dropped during a careless game of four-square to rebuilding the interface of companies not smart enough to use the proper size of surge protectors in their setups. Cobalt has even been asked to debug the security system of Blackmoon Corp. Despite his youth, he never lacks for money.

His real passion in life, though, is online gaming. In the virtual world of Dungeons and Dragarths, he can forget his struggles with reading and the pointless torment that is physical education. When he becomes Scyrex, his limitations fall away and he is free to roar at the joy of flying or the sheer magnitude of defeating a boss twenty times his size. His minion Mazer gets just as engrossed, whispering reminders in his ear of the location of hidden power-ups and booby-traps that will be costly to the member of the group foolish enough to walk into them.

He makes a deal with himself. He will get to the Vault of Corrupted Secrets, then it is time to power down and get some of his orders out of the way. He cuts his way through half a dozen warador zombies and takes out a demonic dilemna, arriving at last at the vault. Two thousand Power Crystals! What a score!

It is almost painful for him to give the usual greeting for a player signing off. The pair he's been playing with actually knew what they were doing and didn't get the group killed by taking on a maimed troll too early or by trying to turn on the strongest player in a sneak attack and drain their experience. He's learned through painful experience that Subetans online can be every bit as treacherous as those he's forced to deal with at school.

He picks up one of the green bins that contains his active orders. A sigh escapes his lips at the fate of his friend Corwin's phone. The feli has a weird fascination with fish minions and very clumsy fingers. Cobalt excels at what he does, but even he cannot work miracles on hardware that is totally fried. He has tried the usual bag of rice and even a few expert tricks he picked up in an online forum. He almost gets the phone to power up until the screen's display twitches, fades, and goes to black. It looks like Corwin is in for quite a lecture.

His next task is to remove viruses from a laptop that looks like someone's marmadoodle used it for a chew toy. Cobalt growls under his breath. Seeing such abuse of a good device is a sure way to make his fur stand on end. How anyone can be so careless with such beauty is a point he will never understand. Mazer's supple fingers are able to get between the keys, removing bits of gunk that make it harder for Cobalt to work.

His last project is another laptop, one that has obviously been cared for but is lacking in speed. By the time he's done with it, pages are loading at a rate that could almost make one dizzy. A wide grin stretches over his face. He is told all the time that computers he's worked on run faster than the ones straight out of the box.

A gentle knock on the door forces him to raise his head.

"I know you're busy, Sweetie, but could you come to the family room for just a minute? I'm trying to set up Montre Python for Grandma to watch and we just can't figure out that goofy DVD player."

"Sure, Mom. I'll be there in just a minute." He waits until she is gone to sigh and roll his eyes. He loves his family, but their lack of technological skills can be downright alarming.

He offers Grandma a big smile as he thumbs through the menu options and gets the Knights who ride Noktoas dancing across the screen. Mom mouths a thank-you as he heads back in the direction of his room. He does not even make it to the stairs before Dad walks in the door.

They get through the usual friendly family banter before the inevitable question is once again raised.

"Did you do your homework, Cobalt?"

The Saturday excuse doesn't work with Dad but he's got something better. "I got all my computer science and math problems done before class ended and I managed to get the stupid Biology worksheet over study hall. It's all good, Dad."

"Not so fast. What about Lit? Didn't you have a big test coming up?"

Cobalt cannot stifle a groan. Why does Dad have to be so observant all the time?

"I'll take that as a no. We've all got our challenges, Co. A man who wants to make it far in life must work to rise above them. I'll be up to check on you in an hour and I want to look over your review sheet."

He thumps his heavy Lit book down on the bed, groaning over Mr. Xotlan's reading list for the week. When in life will he ever need to know the verses to seventeenth century Sacred Lands poetry?

He'll be lucky to get a C on his review sheet, but as he did answer every question, Dad lets it pass.

Cobalt is happy to escape outside after the usual family meal. Mazer scampers along at his side as he walks the avenue they live on, enjoying the gentle light of the moon and how it paints everyday objects into mysterious things of beauty. The annoying poems and unfortunate devices that caused him to growl and moan are forgotten as he allows the serenity of night to take over his thoughts and bring him peace. By the time he gets home, all he can think about is the warm comfort of bed.

He does not know that his mother always comes to the door to watch him as he sleeps. The smile on his face touches her heart as readily as the first time she held him in her arms.