Andeford Cardinoal Valentine: Andy

I open my eyes and blink. It feels like the millionth time this has happened but that can’t be right. This must be the first time.

“Andy, are you there?”

I focus on the source of the voice. In front of me stands a man with spirally white hair, an unruly beard, and wrinkly blue skin. He wears goggles on his head and a white coat.

“Hello. Are you talking to me?”

“Yes, you are Andy. You are my best friend.”

“Your best friend?”

“Yes! Don’t you remember? I am Stelton, Stelton Gartond, we had many adventures together.”

“I’m sorry I have no recollection of this.”

“You mean you don’t remember Solomon, Mei, or Tharmon? The Friends of Micant?”

“I’m sorry, I only remember opening my eyes.”

He looks disappointed, but he also looks like he is thinking, then he gets up and walks into the next room. The room we are sitting in is dimly lit by torches along the walls, there are a couple of tables and a few machines with blinking lights and gears.

“Hear, look at this, you should remember this.”

He’s holding a… a… violin.

“Actually, I do remember this.” I reach up and take the violin and bow. I bring the violin up to my chin and my fingers start to work on their own. A beautiful melody comes out of it. I close my eyes and let the music take me, it feels familiar and warm. After a moment. I stop playing open my eyes and look at Stelton.

“You still play beautifully,” he says wiping a tear from his eye, “that is all for now, you can go back to sleep if you like.”

I set the violin down, “Yeah, I think I would like to now.”

I am still very confused as I lay my metal body down… wait metal?

Over the next couple of times that I am awake, Stelton asks me if I remember anything new, but I do not remember much. So, Stelton tells me of all our adventures. Solomon was a large brute, a minotaur that carried a heavy ax, and would charge into battle with great fury. Tharmon was a wise old human cleric, with the hand of his deity he would heal and care for the party, but when the time came, he would also destroy mass amounts of zombies, skeletons, and other undead creatures. Mei was an elf, she could wield a sword with the graceful and deadly preciseness of a panther stalking its prey. Stelton created many machines and magical weapons, one being a large handheld canon that could blast different kinds of elemental energy. Stelton says that I was the highlight of our many battles together. My beautiful voice, rousing words, and inspirational violin playing had given us the strength to win our many battles. I was even able to warp minds, manipulate the battlefield to our advantage, and many other amazing feats.

Once again, my eyes open.

"Andy? Are you there?" It's Stelton

"Yes I am here Stelton," I answer

"Do you remember anything new?"

I sit and think for a moment, "I only remember what you told me yesterday."

"Okay." He says as he starts to caress his beard with one hand, he seems to be deep in thought.

"I do have a question," I ask

"Oh, yes, what do you need?"

"If what you told me yesterday was true. Why am I made of metal?"

"Oh, well, um…" his hesitation is concerning, “that’s a long story, one that we do not have time for today.”

“Stelton, I need to know.”

“Okay.”

He tells me the story.

“We had just finished a great adventure defeating a strange tentacled creature that had been using different underground denizens to terrorize the surface world. While we celebrated at a tavern, a frightened man burst in and started raving and yelling about a great red dragon destroying nearby towns and burning down the forests. Solomon, though slightly inebriated stood on a table and declared that we would go and dispose of the beast. I was a little doubtful that we could, but you had reassured me that we could easily dispatch it. So, we rested and sobered up, and we went off. It was a harrowing trek over the mountains but we finally came upon the valley where the wyrm resided. It was utterly annihilated, the trees were burnt to a crisp, and flames burned all over the ground. We fought with some fireworms and other creatures of flames and heat. By the time we reached the den of the creature, we were all exhausted and needed a rest, so we set camp. Tharmon called upon his deity to create a small chapel with its own pocket dimension. The only creatures allowed inside were us, it also allowed us to get a full night’s rest in just one hour. Once we had regained our strength, we went down into the depths. Then we reached the dragon’s den, it was warm, and we had all begun to sweat. We entered an opening into a vast open chamber that glowed and shimmered with the burning flames and gold coins. The breaths of the dragon could be heard echoing throughout and the great tail rose above the piles of gold. I wanted to flee, but seeing the determined faces of our friends, I pressed on. We had made a plan outside and we were all in position. Solomon and Mei then made their attacks on the sleeping wyrm. It let out an ear-splitting shriek, that was my cue. As the head of the dragon rose into view, I panicked, and I missed my shot. That’s when it went wrong. The dragon turned towards me and you jumped up, obviously with the human vocal chord you screamed out to the dragon in words laced with the dim hum of magic. The dragon reared its head towards you but a streak of divine light shot from Tharmon and hit the Dragon square. Then the fight was on, we all took many hits, but we dealt them back as well. It was looking like we were about to win, and the dragon seemed to know it as well. It looked around and spotted you, you had climbed up onto a ledge for a better vantage point, it knocked you off the ledge with its tail, and hit you directly with its fire. We all started running towards you, and in the confusion, the dragon got away. Tharmon tried to heal you, but all of his spell power had been used in the fight, except for one. He called upon his god and was able to pull your consciousness from your body and store it in the jar. We all felt the sting of the defeat and the sorrow that your loss had brought us. You were the glue that held us together, so after you were gone, we all went our separate ways. Solomon had thrown himself into the bottle and returned to his homeland. Tharmon returned to his temple to help him become stronger haunted by failure. Mei disappeared in the night after we had all fallen asleep, and I set to work, building the body that you see before you. It took me a long time, but you are now functional, and you have returned my friend.”

I take a minute, I cannot believe what I just heard, I died.

“So why can I not remember anything?” I ask.

“I don’t know. It could be the nature of the spell, it could be how long it took me to build you. I have no clue. I’m sure that you need a moment, I will give it to you, and then you can shut down for the night.”

Stelton walks out of the room, and I think about it, I can’t believe that I died, I died and I remember none of it. Stelton walks back in, I stand on my platform, and I shut down without another word.

I power up and blink. I look at Stelton. He’s working away at his bench.

“Stelton? What are you working on?” I ask.

“Oh, Andy! I’m working on a recording apparatus, I think it could be useful in recording my notes while I work,” he replies.

“Oh, sounds good.”

I watch as he packs up his tools and files the blueprints of the recording device in a cabinet across the room. We have another conversation, and he tells me about all the research he did to build me. I didn’t understand a word of it. I then powered down again, it was a pretty uneventful day.

I am shaken awake by a powerful noise, I open my eyes and see Stelton frantically gathering his things.

“Stelton,” he can’t hear me, “Stelton! What’s going on?”

He stops and looks at me.

“One of the experiments went wrong. It escaped and is tearing apart the rest of the building.”

“What can I do to help?” I ask.

“Nothing, you can do nothing. You are too important to me. I need you to stay here and preserve yourself.”

“No, I want to help you!”

“You can help me by locking the door when I leave.”

“Stelton!”

“No, Andy!”

I pause, I had never heard him raise his voice before.

“I cannot lose you again. It was hard enough the first time.”

Stelton has tears streaming down his face and catching in his frizzy beard.

I don’t press any further, I don’t like that look, it makes me feel sick.

“Lock the door, and power down when I leave. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

He steps out, and I shut the door and lock it. I drag my feet over to my table, and I power down.