Best Friend Frank

The robotic menace was holding fast against the barrage of quick fire attacks. The towering giant stood tall at thirteen feet and built in the shape of a man. It used giant metal spikes and had distinct laser and rocket pods on its side. The earth and water magic had little to no effect against the machine from a war that had been over for a thousand years. It would only be a matter of seconds before it would let loose with another barrage of missiles and laser fire. The magic that Charlie had stored would not be enough to rend the metal.

 Frank and his 3-man team of scavengers had found their way into a small culvert. There they would wait for their opportunity to jump out and attack with surprise on their side. It was up to Charlie to grab its attention and distract it for the duration of the attack. Hopefully, Frank would be able to lodge his spear into the central processing unit, and disable the bot for good.

That is all supposing that the bot is distracted properly. The cache of technology that could be salvaged from the bot was well worth the risk of being targeted first. 

The robot was a Library Robot. Easily thirteen feet tall and built to carry two tons. It also maintained a wireless cache of technology perfect for connecting to the central processing unit of the ruined city. The CPU held vast data for mapping and coordinating 

“Excuse me, could I have a moment of your time?” 

The robot halted from its activity. It seemed to be trying to sort books within the decrypted library. The books ceased to be but the bot still maintained that it had work to do. Including the organization and cataloging of nonexistent books. 

“Human. Why have you interrupted my work?” The robot looked at Charlie slightly displeased from its pure joy of wiping a terry cloth across a worn out book shelf.

“Could I ask you to turn yourself off and allow yourself to be dismantled for the betterment of humans?” Charlie was never one to beat around the bush. Always direct and to the point.

“To answer your question, no. I have been tasked to maintain and clean this area until another directive is given. I have not seen one of your kind before. You are different from the usual beings that try to destroy me. There is something odd about the airflow around you. It seems to be building and compacting behind you.” It cocked its head to the right as if it was trying to see behind Charlie. “One moment, please. I am contacting the central processor to determine the threat that you possess.” 

 Charlie saw Frank sneaking up. The rubble of the building provided limited cover, but he had gotten up higher than the robot’s head and should have had a pretty good view of the programmer’s panel. If Frank was to shove his steel spear into that then the robot would collapse and be ready to be salvaged. However, the robot was still very much alert and focused on his surroundings.

“Threat determined.” The robot said turning its body and 85% of its attention toward Charlie. “You are a significant threat. One worthy of my attention and value of time. How confused are you that you would decimate others of my kind for the betterment of those that would kick and spit on you? Charlie Grat, even our Central processor knows of you. If you would have been a cyborg your termination would have been without mercy.”

Charlie really began to focus. His spell of dust was nearly done. 

“Humans and sub-humans must be considered before being killed.” Laser sights and weapons began heating up as the robot made it’s full attention on Charlie. “Charlie Grat, your life has been approved for deletion. Please hold still.”

Charlie had no intention of holding still. He broke into a sprint towards his right and moved in a way that would allow Frank and his team the greatest amount of success for destroying the robot quickly. Charlie let loose the ball of wind and earth and created a dust screen to obscure the robot’s sight. He hoped that it would be enough to distract the organism long enough that he could find cover behind a nearby bookcase. 

The aiming reticle shot forward by the robot’s eye and was followed quickly by the metallic arm of the nonbeing. The bookcase splintered and shattered in a breath that Charlie didn’t have time to spare. The dust cloud that was supposed to obscure his opponent’s vision, now made it difficult to guess where the robot could be.

Clangs and gun fire could be heard. Frank and his team must be making their move. Charlie began to channel magical energy again, this time hoping for a more destructive spell and a more distracted opponent. 

Frank could see the robot clearly from the upper balcony and his team were ready and in position to eliminate it as soon as an opening was made. Charlie would be the primary distraction and would gain the creature’s attention. All Frank had to do was leap off the twenty foot balcony and jab his spear into the back of the distracted robot. Easy peasy. 

Frank and his team.have taken down wounded beasts similar to this one, using the same tactics. Get above them then silently leap down and stab with all your might at the base of the neck. These bots were no different from humans in that way. The men of the past really did take too much pride in their work and made them in their own image. 

They came upon Charlie wandering around in the nearby wastes. He had been beaten and bloody. Frank knew that he was a wind and took pity on and healed him in the best ways that he knew. In a former life that seemed so long ago that even the rocks may have forgotten, Frank had been a combat medic. He knew how to heal and stop bleeding and allow the body to heal itself. Charlie’s wounds were extensive and life long it seemed. His fights had lasted all his life and his far off look was almost always present. Frank knew that the winds were twindling and had once sought them out himself, but with a bit of elvish help he came to terms with his choice and felt better knowing that he had his life before him.

The robot’s neck was exposed and Frank made the leap as soon as Charlie had whipped up the dust cloud. Clang went Frank’s steel spear, Bang went the bookshelf, and Splat went Frank against the far wall. He fell limp and barely was able to breathe.

“Frank!” Charlie yelled in a near panic. The rest of Frank’s team was ripped to shreds as the robot quickly moved and fought back. One of the bullets hit one of the robotic eyes and partly blinded it. That was but a fruitless victory as the wielder of the firearm was quickly dispatched. Though human Stones were incredibly difficult to kill with any form other than magic, the robot was highly effective at killing them. The last man standing was Charlie and he was mad. 

There have been all sorts of magic spells formed and uttered, but the next few were unlike any ever considered. Charlie dug deep and wielded the new magic like a child again. He formed new metal from the chassis of the robot. To disrupt the crisp, precise movement of the machine. Right as the machine was about to pierce Charlie through the eye, Charlie commanded the new metal to expand and explode outward and destroy the body, arms, and legs. The head popped off and clattered across the floor. 

“Poor Charlie.” The robot said, one last word to be had. “All alone again.” It whirred and stopped. The last light in its eyes flicked off.

Charlie felt worn and sore. He rushed over to where Frank fell. He was barely breathing. With a simple spell, he ran a diagnosis on Frank’s body. All his internal organs were damaged and hemorrhaging. Though he was breathing, it wouldn’t be long before he died all together. Even with the endurance of the Stones, Frank had taken too much damage to live much longer.

“Don’t worry, Frank, I’m going to save you.” Charlie whispered into Frank’s ear. Charlie gathered up some broken wood and started a small fire. Charlie began cooking some meat from his bag. The cooking meat had brought to him exactly what he had hoped for. A dog. A puppy mutt. Of no particular breed, the dog was perfect for the experiment that Charlie wished to perform on his quickly dying friend. The dog came over and sniffing the meat and trying to beg for some food. Charlie casted a heavy sleeping spell on the meat and gave it over to the dog. The dog lunged and grabbed at it quickly. With the first bite into the food, the dog instantly fell asleep. 

Charlie laid the dog next to Frank. He grabbed the skull of the dog and laid Frank’s head in his lap. He began to chant and moved into a meditative state. The chant was in a language nigh on forgotten. The language of the elves. The elves were more knowledgeable about the ways of magic. Charlie’s first teacher, Abigail, had often told him that he should learn spells in elvish as they would be more potent and powerful.

Charlie needed all the power that he could muster for this next spell. 

Frank’s body died in the evening of the next day. Frank’s soul, however, was successfully transferred into the body of the puppy. Charlie had fallen asleep after he was sure that Frank’s body had passed on. 

The dog woke up sometime in the morning after Frank’s passing. Charlie was wrapped up in an old blanket and next to the smoldering fire. There was a small kettle on a spit next to the fire. The dog lifted its paw to try and get the kettle but was seemingly surprised to find that it had no hands to pick up the kettle. He screamed and panicked and woke up Charlie.

“Charlie! Charlie! Wake up! Something is terribly wrong with me!” 

Charlie rolled over with a start. He rubbed his eyes and tried his best to keep his wits. He looked down at the small dog that seemed to be scared and bewildered. 

“Oh Frank, what’s wrong?” He yawned and stretched.

Frank looked up at Charlie almost unbelievingly. “Charlie, look at me! I’m… I’m…”

“A dog?”

“Yes! I’m a dog! I’m a flea ridden ball of fluff! How am I supposed to live as a dog!?!”

“Well that was sort of the genius behind the spell. While you may think that you are a dog you more or less are a vocal passenger of the dog. The dog is still in there. The dog’s soul is handling all the unconscious commands such as eating, breathing, walking, and exhaust functions. You handle the normal talking bits. Your human soul is a passenger and yet your Stone’s blessing is still with you. Just don’t pick a fight with a killer robot and you may live a long time yet.”

“What possessed you to transfer my soul into a dog though?”

“I couldn’t heal your body and you were going to die. In fact your body did die. When your body died, I caught your soul, and placed it in the dog. The dog, who is thankfully young, will grow better with you and over time I believe that your souls will merge into one. Perhaps in a few years, I can perfect the spell and transfer people into more animals if they wish it. The spell did take a lot of energy and after I needed to sleep and eat. I imagine that you are quite thirsty and that is why you woke me up. 

“Yes.” Frank said remembering his thirst. 

Charlie pulled out a bowl and he whispered a word of command and water filled the bowl. He placed it down and Frank’s dog soul quickly emptied the bowl. The bowl filled again by itself this time and the dog drank it again. This process was done over and over until the dog wanted no more. Charlie then place a bowl of cooked meat down in front of the dog and he ate. Then he laid down next to Charlie and slept for a while.

 Sometime during the next day, in the light of the new morning, Frank left. No words were given, he just left. Perhaps it was because the man in the dog felt wounded with pains that he couldn’t live next to? Maybe the dog felt that it was time to mosey away and find another willing master? Maybe it was a little of both. All that Charlie knew for sure is that he was alone again and that that robot spoke the truth to some degree. Charlie picked up the robot’s detached head and left the now vacant library and allowed it to be returned to Gaia.

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For years afterwards, even into Charlie’s old age, if he ever heard a barking dog, he knew that Frank must be near. 

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If you enjoyed this bit of adventure read more about the Mythos of Ed here: https://thecomearound.wordpress.com/2021/08/11/the-arising-gale-1/