“Since Thorne was a baby. Every other day, Brenson mentions his long years of service, as if Thorne should toss me aside because his butler disapproves.” Vulnerability trembled beneath Oss’s brash tone.
“Brenson has many shadows following him,” Affie offered.
Oss and I froze. When Affie said someone had shadows, they were being deceptive. “In what way?”
“I don’t know.” Affie rubbed his forehead and winced.
“Never mind. I’m sure it will become apparent soon enough.” Affie didn’t need me pressuring him on top of his other problems.
I changed the topic. “We should probably see who is at the door?”
“Right!” Oss jumped to his feet.
I followed him down the hallway to the front of the townhouse. Without hesitation, he pulled open the door. A loud metallic clang resounded down the hall.
I peered over Oss’s shoulder. “Buster?”
Buster lay in the doorway like a drunkard sleeping off his nightly binge. Leaning off-center against the doorjamb and his limbs going in different directions, it took me an awkward minute of staring to spot the niggling problem with Buster’s appearance.
He was no longer completely metal!
Buster’s arms had gained a flesh-colored tint. I poked at the closest one. The surface emitted warmth like real skin. Eww. I backed away, more than a little concerned over the odd discovery.
“What happened to him?” I asked, more to myself than expecting someone to answer. What could transform a fully metal being into a partial human? What would you even call someone like that? Humanish? Humanoid? Autohuman? What strange magic was at work here? It was one thing for a bird to grow feathers or for Amalia to become more rabbity, but this was an entirely new evolution.
Oss crouched next to Buster’s head. He tilted Buster’s face up to examine any changes, but the automaton didn’t open his eyes. “Let’s take him to one of the spare bedrooms to rest.”
“Does he sleep?” My mechanical birds didn’t need to rest after they delivered a missive. Why would Buster be different?
“Amalia does if she hops around too much. I think it’s how she recharges.”
“Really? Does she eat too?” I helped Oss get Buster to his feet. We each wrapped one of his arms around our shoulders. Oss kicked the door closed behind us.
“Not yet,” Oss replied.
With a lot of shoving and odd turns, we eventually reached a pretty bedroom with soothing colors and little personality. Affie pulled back the blankets on the bed. Oss and I dropped Buster on the mattress with little grace.
I pressed my hands to the base of my spine and bent backward. A loud crack had me sighing with relief.
“That didn’t sound good.” Oss ‘s eyes crinkled in the corners as he watched my actions.
“It felt good. Now what do we do with him?”
“He’s pretty,” Affie offered. “He’s not like the others.”
“What others?” With Affie he could mean mechanical or human. I prodded more when he didn’t immediately respond. “Affie, have you seen other mechanical people?” If there were others like Buster, it would increase my odds of having comparisons to study and maybe figure out what was going on.
Affie shook his head and began to back out of the room. “It’s not time yet. It’s not time!” His eyes grew wild, and his voice became the loudest I’d ever heard; a harsh whisper.
“All right, all right. Easy there. I didn’t mean to pressure you. It’s fine.” I attempted to calm him.
It didn’t appear to work.
“I have to go.” Affie’s soft voice became even softer.
“You should rest here,” Oss objected. “We have other spare rooms, and you still haven’t eaten.”
“No, I couldn’t impose.” Before either of us could do anything, Affie fled the room. A shout from Brenson alerted us of Affie’s escape followed by the slam of the front door.
