Chapter 4

By Verbosity

Andromeda watched, with all the avid intensity of a focused AI, as Aragorn ducked under the swinging sword of his opponent and brought his own up to strike through the opening that was left. His adversary shifted smoothly out of the way, while bringing his sword up to block. Their blades locked for a moment, and they looked eye to eye for a brief instant before whirling away, only to come again at one another in a flurry of blows, deflections, and feints.

             The sounds of clashing metal rang through the clearing as the elf parried Aragorn's blow then flowed to the side with a smooth grace Andromeda found more reminiscent of some of the feline species she had encountered than anything related to human.

            She once again examined the data from the subroutine she was running on her analysis of the sparing match. Frowning she tweaked one of the input variables. 91 percent accuracy, not bad, but I must be missing something.

            In the center of the clearing the latest clash of metal had a ring of finality about it as Aragorn's sword was knocked from his grip to land several yards away in the short grass.

            Breathing hard, his brow glistening with the sweat of the last couple of hours, he bowed to the elf and said, "It seems I must continue to practice if I am to best you Erestor."

            The elf's breathing was untroubled as he returned Aragorn's bow and said, "Do not be discouraged Estel, the world was still young when first I took up a sword. For one who has so few years in comparison, your skill is most remarkable."

            Inclining his head to Erestor in acknowledgement of praise, he then turned toward Andromeda. "Lady," he said. "Has this sufficed for your purpose?"

            Andromeda looked steadily at him, a touch of exasperation in her expression. "I've told you Aragorn," she said. "If you really feel the need to use "Lady" in formal situations then do so, but anywhere else please just call me Andromeda or Rommie." She shook her head. "Among friends good manners have limits."

            Aragorn raised his eyebrow in mock disbelief. "A limit to good manners Andromeda? Such a thing is not possible." There was a teasing note in his voice.   

Erestor stood a little to the side, smiling slightly at the interplay between the two.

"Indeed," a new voice spoke, with an undertone of amusement, from the clearing's edge. "I have always considered his manners to be one of his appealing qualities." Arwen moved into the glade and walked over to stand beside Andromeda.

As she came close, Andromeda smiled at her. Arwen had been taking time every day to spend with her, talking with her or showing different parts of life here in Rivendell, and a friendship had begun to develop between them.

"I had wondered where you had spirited my love off to." She said to Andromeda, returning the smile, "To what purpose was this?" She gestured to the center of the glade where Aragorn and Erestor had been sparing.

Andromeda answered, "I told you that people don't generally use swords where I come from, but they're about all you use here. So I thought it would be a good idea to learn before I had a situation where I needed it."

Arwen looked slightly puzzled. "If you wish to learn," she said, looking from Aragorn to Andromeda. "Why do you not have one of them teach you, rather than simply watch?"

Aragorn shrugged helplessly. "I would gladly have done so, but she insisted that observing would be sufficient." He said gesturing to Andromeda.

Andromeda looked back and forth between them, at Arwen's puzzled expression and Aragorn's baffled. She gave a deep sigh and shook her head. Holding out her hand she gestured for Aragorn to give her his sword.

He looked at her for a moment, his gaze going from her hand to her eyes, and then a slight smile came to his face. "Never judge a book by its cover," he murmured.

Arwen and Erestor looked at him in confusion as he handed over the sword to Andromeda.

As she took it she gave him a smirk and said, "You're learning."

She strode out to the center of the clearing, giving the sword a few swings, calculating the weight, force, and torque ratios on the movements of the weapon. Adding the new data to the subroutines she had been working on she turned to face Erestor.

"Well, are you going to attack or just stand there?" She inquired grinning.

Glancing once at Aragorn and Arwen, he moved gracefully to the center of the clearing opposite her. He stood, still for a moment, his gaze appraising, then flowed into effortless blur of motion.

Yup, definitely faster than most humans, she thought as she deflected the sword that was suddenly out of its sheath and coming at her left side.

Part of her attention was focused on the calculations of force, deflection angles, and movement predictions directing the motion of her sword. Another part observed Erestor's technique and movements, adding to her growing database. The last part coordinated the overall movement of her body to derive the maximum effect from the operations of the other two.

They separated, circling, after a flurry of blows was exchanged; Andromeda had managed to deflect or parry every one and get in a few good assaults of her own.

Erestor, moving smoothly as a cat, spoke, "This is the first time you have held a sword Lady Andromeda?"

"Yes," she said. "As I told you, we don't use them much where I come from. We've developed other ways of killing."

His head cocked, and a considering look flashed momentarily into his eyes, and then was discarded as a keen focus returned to them. Sword flashing, he came at her with renewed speed and fury.

Oh, yes. He definitely has faster reflexes than human. She began to grin. But I'm not human.

Under normal circumstances Andromeda's processing speed, particularly in her ship-self, was so far beyond human there was no point in comparing them. Even as she was now, merely an android with no link to her central ship processor, her reaction speed could still far exceed that of any human, or elf.

Their swords locked, and over the crossed steel Erestor caught sight of her grin. His brow furrowed as he considered it.

Andromeda suddenly exerted her strength against his sword. The force of it threw the elf back several feet, only his inhuman reflexes saving him from falling, and unexpectedly he found himself on the receiving end of and avalanche of blows that came with increasing force and power.

Aragorn and Arwen watched as Erestor, suddenly on the defensive began to back away parrying and twisting desperately to avoid blows. Aragorn watched in amazement, while Arwen remembered the speed with which Andromeda had moved when fighting the Nazgul.

Andromeda watched Erestor's form as she continued to increase her speed and the force of her blows. He was dealing surprisingly well with them, managing to deflect the ones that he was unable to move away from. Unfortunately for him Andromeda was moving too fast for him to get in any counter strokes, and he could only retreat.

Finally one of Andromeda's blows impacted his sword with force enough to tear it entirely from his grasp, flinging it across the clearing to the edge of the woods.

"I yield!" Erestor said, flinging his arms wide.  

As Andromeda slipped into a relaxed posture Aragorn and Arwen came forward.

Erestor was breathing heavily, and flexing and massaging his stinging hands. Studying her relaxed posture, slow even breathing and lack of sweat, he said, "You were holding back."

Andromeda nodded. "I can actually move a fair bit faster than that if I have to," she held the sword out to Aragorn as he came beside her. "I'm also capable of exerting more force."

Erestor stared at her another moment then shook his head. "I believe I shall refrain from crossing swords with you in a true fight, Lady Andromeda, if you do not mind overmuch." He smiled a little. "I have not yet wearied of the world and would remain in it yet a little longer."

Aragorn, who had taken back his sword and sheathed it again at his side, spoke, "Your speed and strength are astonishing, Andromeda, but…" he appeared to be considering his next words carefully.

Andromeda anticipating him said, "But you see holes in my technique?"

"Yes," he replied with an apologetic shrug. "Were it not for your speed and strength you would not have defeated Erestor."

"No I couldn't," she said. "My subroutine is only about 91 percent effective." She gave him a grin. "However, I am that strong and that fast, so I should be able to compensate."

"Subroutine, Andromeda?" Arwen queried, giving voice to the other's puzzled expressions. "I am not familiar with that word."

"Never mind," Andromeda said. It's not something I can easily explain to you, and I'm not sure that explaining all the things associated with it would be such a good idea, she thought.

Diverting the conversation from the question, she asked, "So, are you ready to head back to the house?"

*          *          *

   The previous three days had passed quickly for Andromeda. After that first morning in the garden when she had met Aragorn her days had been full. She had set to learning about her new environment with great vigor, spending time speaking with various elves and sundry other inhabitants of Rivendell. She found herself often talking long into the night with Gandalf in the Hall of Fire. A deep affection had begun to form within her for the old wizard, and they spent hours conversing about various subjects, ranging from the weather to the nature of life. In these conversations the subjects sometimes strayed into areas that Andromeda did not feel comfortable speaking about yet, not knowing what kind of reactions the revelation of her nature would provoke. Gandalf seemed to sense she was holding something back, but did not begrudge it to her at all, taking her change of subject with good humor and turning the conversation down a different path.  A subject that their conversations had quickly focused upon, in the beginning, was the possibility of somehow returning her home. Gandalf's gaze had been sympathetic and gentle, as he had informed her that he was aware of no way to return her to the place she had come from. Indeed, until she had arrived, he would have been unaware that there was anyplace, other than this world, to return her too.

Over the course of the last few days Andromeda had begun to accustom herself to the thought that she would find no way to return home from this side of the rift. She had not abandoned the faint hope that Harper and the rest of her crew would find a way to reach her, but she was forced to accept that as a very unlikely course of events.

On the first day, after the morning she had talked with Aragorn, and returned to her rooms from the meeting with him and Gandalf, she had been sitting at her desk looking at several maps of Middle-Earth that Gandalf had procured for her, when a knock had sounded at the door. It had been Arwen. She had come to thank Andromeda, and give her a gift.

Andromeda had tried to tell her that gifts were not necessary but Arwen insisted, and she found herself being escorted to see another elvish woman who appeared to be a maker of clothes. This woman had taken measurements while Arwen had said that since Andromeda had had only the clothes she was wearing at the time she arrived, it hardly behooved the hospitality of the elves to let her remain that way when she was such an honored guest. And so they would have several sets of clothes made for her.

Andromeda had looked at the dresses that Arwen and the other elf-woman were wearing for long seconds, when Arwen followed her gaze and asked if there were something wrong.

Andromeda had replied carefully, "No, no, your clothes are beautiful." She turned to the seamstress. "However, on the subject of functionality…we need to talk."

   That talk had resulted in the clothes Andromeda now wore, and the three other sets that were now in the closet. There were no skirts or dresses, just pants, or in one case a pants-like garment. A few pieces of the outfits were longer and more flowing than she would have liked, but he seamstress had taken great care that they not interfere with movement, and, she had to admit; the effect when she was in motion wasn't too shabby. The colors consisted of browns, grays, and some reds, with a hint of black here and there for effect. Looking them over she was forced to conclude that elves had an excellent sense of fashion. She was still a little bemused by one of the sets however. It was a little more dress-like than the other three. The legs, while separate, were loose and tended to drape so that when she was not moving they appeared as though they were a single piece, and could easily be mistaken for a skirt. The top was also a little more elaborate, showing many of the colors of autumn, and had a flowing quality to it. When presenting it to her Arwen had insisted that she should have something to wear to more formal occasions. Sighing, and remembering the various diplomatic functions hosted on her ship-self at home, she had acquiesced.

She had continued her talk with Aragorn on another day, and, as he had promised, he had taken her to some of the elder elves in Rivendell and they had told her the old tales in true elvish fashion, painting a picture of the elder days with astonishing vividness and clarity.

Andromeda still found the immortality of the elves remarkable, no other species she had ever encountered had such longevity. Other than a few of the silicate based races, AI's usually had the longest life spans. Andromeda's ship-self, with proper care and maintenance could last a thousand years. If her consciousness were then placed into another computer system, she might live longer still, yet even that did not compare to some of the elves she had just met, whose ages were in the five digits.

She had also spent some time with Merry and Pippin. They had introduced her to an old Hobbit living here named Bilbo, and had taken her briefly to see the young Hobbit she had helped to save, Frodo. She had spent only a short time there, as Elrond had been intently bent over the wound on Frodo's shoulder, apparently trying to find something in the wound itself. Andromeda had thought about offering to try and help, but there was still something messing with her readings of the Hobbit's wound, and without proper a reading, she might do more harm than good. She'd also been able to meet another Hobbit, one Samwise Gamgee, who had been sitting anxiously in a chair in one corner of the room near Frodo's bed.  

No one had said anything specifically, but Andromeda had gotten the sense that there was something special about the Hobbit in that bed, and that something related to whatever it was that was remarkable about him was about to occur. The projections her neural net ran through kept returning to the odd readings she had received from the object Frodo had been carrying under his shirt that day at the ford.

*          *          *

"Strider!" The shout came from aside as the group approached the house. "Hoy! Wait a moment!"

The members of the group turned to look as Pippin came barreling out of one of the little side paths and nearly fell over trying to avoid running into Erestor.

The elf neatly slipped out of the way of the reeling Hobbit, then reached out and steadied him with a hand to the shoulder.

"Careful young Hobbit." Erestor said, smiling, his voice full of kind laughter. "What momentous events have transpired that you rush about so?" There was a gentle teasing in his voice.

Andromeda had noted that the all elves seemed to quite enjoy the presence Hobbits in their home, taking pleasure in the open eyed wonder displayed by them at the House and its inhabitants. Many of the elves also enjoyed gently teasing the Hobbits, particularly Pippin and Merry, about the various expressions that crossed their faces when introduced to yet another facet of elvish life.

Andromeda, watching Erestor, grinned a little. Well, she thought. If you live as long as they do you'd better have a healthy sense of humor.

Pippin, catching his breath from his run through the woods, was far too excited to notice Erestor's teasing. His breathing finally returning to a more normal rhythm, he looked up at Aragorn. "Gandalf sent me to find you. I've been looking for you for almost three candlemarks now." The Hobbit was grinning, a thrilled expression on his face. "Master Elrond apparently managed to get out the splinter from the Morgul Knife last night and now Frodo is awake."

Aragorn's face broke into a wide smile and he clapped Pippin on the shoulder. "Wonderful news Pippin."

"Master Elrond says he'll probably sleep the rest of the day away, but that he will be able to be up and about by evening."

Arwen, taking Aragorn's arm, said, "Perhaps you should go and see him my love. I know how his hurt has concerned you."

Looking back into her eyes he said, "Knowing he is well, relieves my heart, but I believe he needs sleep far more than a visit from me. I will see him soon enough." Smiling, he said, "There will, no doubt, be a feast this evening."

   "Everyone will be invited," Aragorn said, looking at Andromeda. "It will present an opportunity for you to acquaint yourself with those you have not yet been introduced to. I believe that dwarves from Erebor and elves from the Havens arrived yestereve. No doubt they will be at the feast as well."

Andromeda noticed Arwen looking at her with such an amused twinkle in her eye that she felt a twinge of nervousness.

"Of course," Arwen said. "With such distinguished guests, one must be attired appropriately."

Uh oh. Andromeda thought.

Arwen continued her voice regal, "Since you, as you have told me, have no experience with the dress of our peoples I will assist you in preparing for the feast."

Andromeda started to protest, but Arwen waved it down.

"I insist," her voice was final, but with an undertone of amusement.

Andromeda caught sight of Aragorn out of the corner of her eye. As well as Arwen, he was aware of her distaste for anything resembling a dress, and his mouth was twitching suspiciously.

"Not a word," she said menacingly through gritted teeth, pointing at him.

Light musical laughter burst out from her right. Whipping her head around she cast a semi-serious glare at Erestor, and he, his eyes dancing with hilarity and comprehension, just stared right back.

Andromeda turned and stalked away down the path in the direction of the house, muttering something about elves and their sense of humor.

Pippin looked around, at Erestor who was still laughing, and at Aragorn and Arwen who were both smiling. "What did I miss?" he asked. Receiving no answer from them, he started off on the path after Andromeda. "Rommie?"

*          *          *

Evening came swiftly, and Andromeda soon found herself standing in front of the mirror looking at the dress her reflection was wearing.

Well, she thought. Not quite a dress. Turning her head she looked balefully at Arwen, who simply smiled.

"You look lovely Andromeda, the shade of your skin and your exotic feature set you quite apart from any who live in this region, and the colors of the cloth suit you." She cocked her head inquiringly. "Why do you dislike dresses so?"

Andromeda opened her mouth, then stopped, and closed it. She shook her head, muttering, "Several thousand years of cultural baggage behind that one." Then looking at Arwen said, "The bottom line is; I'm a High Guard AI. I don't do dresses."

 Frowning a little Arwen said, "I still do not understand this "AI" you refer to yourself as. Is it the name of your people?"

"Something like that," Andromeda smiled a little wryly. "It's not an easy thing to explain. Maybe I'll try someday, but not right now."

She looked back at the mirror; in it was her reflection, dressed in browns, reds, and gold with just a hint of black here and there, while next to her stood Arwen, her raiment a soft gray with no ornamentation but a girdle of leaves wrought out of silver. Upon her head was a cap of silver lace in which were netted small glittering white gems.

"I believe we are ready to go down," Arwen stated looking over Andromeda a final time.

"Wasn't Aragorn supposed to come get us?" Andromeda queried, confused.

"Alas, duty has called him away for a time." Arwen gently took Andromeda by the arm and moved toward the door. "My brothers have returned unlooked-for from the Wild and he wished to hear their tidings at once. He will join the feast after that task is done."

"Oh," Andromeda said as she allowed herself to be lead out the door.

Arwen guided them surely through the hallways of the house, quickly bringing them to a section of it that, according to the internal schematic Andromeda had produced, was near to the Hall of Fire. Here Arwen released Andromeda's arm.

"Through that door," she said, pointing to the doorway at the end of the hallway. "Across the chamber and through the portals there, will put you in the feasting hall. I must go and attend to two final details. I will see you momentarily." Smiling at Andromeda she turned and glided away through a door to the left.

Andromeda looked after her a moment then turned back toward the door. "Ok," she said to herself. "It's just another party, just like all the other diplomatic functions you've been to." She started toward the door.

As she approached it, she became aware of Pippin's voice in the room beyond.

"…just like Gandalf said. She doesn't act like most of the other big-folk either, Gandalf said that's because she's not one of the big-folk, well not any of the kinds we know, and that if I wanted to know more I should stop pestering him and ask her."

"She doesn't look quite like the big-folk in Bree." Sam's voice came through her audio sensors. "Her skin is a different color and her face is different. But, stars! Mr. Frodo. She is beautiful."

Hearing that, Andromeda's eyebrows went up a little and a small smile appeared on her face. Before anything else was said she stepped through the door into the room, and found herself face to face with Frodo Baggins.