The Motion of Technology

A new member arrives, one that seems to be different from those in the guild…

Rated: T for things soon to happen

Me: Thanks to my friend Rosamanelle. Enjoy!


Chapter 1 (The Android)

A year has already passed since Neo was given life by his master. Now he was all alone in the beautiful, simple house, his master long since passed away due to an unknown illness. He had gone to the doctors in hopes that they would cure him, but even they didn't know the cure. Determined to save his master-turned-father, Neo searched for a way to cure him fruitlessly. His master wasn't particularly upset that he wouldn't live with Neo, claiming that it was destiny. With that, he ordered him to leave the house and find his own destiny.

Neo walked down the woody path, his late master's words echoing through his mind.

"Go to the guild in Serdin called Grand Chase. Neo, this is your destiny. Please don't worry about me, there's nothing left that anyone can do. Spend the rest of your life helping others and making friends, my dear child. I love you, Neo."

And then he was dead.

Entering the forest, Neo wandered down the worn footpath aimlessly, tentatively approaching a seated young girl with short purple hair and wide, violet eyes, donning a purple-and-gold tunic, white leggings, and purple boots.

"Pardon me, but do you happen to know where a guild called Grand Chase is located?"

The girl beamed at him. "Oh, that guild. Just walk through the forest; it's in the first town you'll reach."

Neo smiled hesitantly. "Thank you, Miss."

"Oh! One more thing, it's pretty far away. You won't get there until very late." She blew a strand of slightly spikey hair out of her face, tilting her head in a curious manner, as if waiting for him to tell her why he was looking for Grand Chase.

Neo nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you for telling me that. I should take my leave, no need to prolong my travel." Bowing slightly, he turned down the path, leaving the violet-haired girl alone.

She smiled a slight, knowing smile. "We will meet again."

At night...

Huffing slightly, Neo looked up at the darkened sky. "I should rest here, that girl was right… I couldn't even get close to Serdin!" Casually placing his bag on the ground, he marked a nearby tree to help him find his way back. Brushing off his pants, he stood up and wandered off in search of firewood.

While searching in the woods, he heard a low whining. Inquisitively following the sound, he found a wolf huddled in fetal position. Picking it up gently, he brought it back to his bag, dropping it gently before continuing his search for wood.

Once he got a nice fire going, Neo pulled out a small first aid kit from his bag, examining the wolf, finding that his leg was bleeding. Taking a closer look at the wound, Neo saw that it looked like a gunshot. Carefully wrapping a length of bandage around the wound, Neo held the wolf down as it howled loudly in pain. "Hush, I'm fixing this up for you. Stop moving." Said wolf stopped moving, staring at him blankly.

Tying of the bandage, Neo patted the wolf's head. "Good boy. You can go home now." Of course, Neo felt just a bit silly for talking to a wolf, especially considering that the wolf didn't understand him. That is, until the wolf shook his head. Did he really understand Neo?

"So… Do you not have a place to go? No family? No nothing?" The wolf nodded a response. Raising an eyebrow, Neo shrugged. Screw it, he was already having a conversation with a wolf, what did it matter if it tried to eat him in his sleep? "You can sleep here with me if you want." The wolf wagged his tail happily. "I'll take that as a yes."

An hour later, the wolf was still awake, however Neo was not. The wolf stared curiously at Neo's strange sleeping posture, as he was essentially sitting straight up with his legs crossed. Playfully nudging Neo's arm, the wolf immediately woke Neo up. "Huh?" He yawned, looking sleepily at the wolf. "Oh, it's just you. I thought you were asleep." The wolf barked. Taking matters into his own hands, Neo decided to translate for himself. "Were you worried about something bad happening to you? Relax, I'm here now." Drifting back to sleep, the wolf lay down on its side to try and sleep, but it couldn't. It kept looking at Neo. Neo had rusty red, almost Bordeaux-colored hair, red-brown eyes, and a human appearance, yet his was clearly some sort of machine. He perplexed the wolf. The wolf allowed his eyes to wander, landing on the metallic, mechanical hand of his, barking in surprise. Waking up again, Neo glanced at the wolf, and then at his hand.

"You're asking about my hand?" Neo asked, to drowsy to question why he perfectly understood the wolf. The wolf nodded his response.

"This hand is a machine," Neo said, absently petting the wolf. "And yes, I'm a machine called an android. It's a special type of machine with its own mind and spirit."

The wolf didn't really understand, not that it surprised Neo. Perhaps it was happy that humans created androids, despite his entire family being taken away by humans?

Next day...

The duo arrived at Serdin, a crowded, friendly town filled to the brim with kindly and talkative townspeople. Houses made of square bricks lined the house, relatively colorless compared to where Neo used to live. In the distance, Neo spotted a massive, towering castle, passing a nearby fountain towards the Inn. Locating a townsperson, he smiled. "Pardon me for interrupting, but could you tell me how to reach to the castle?"

The man smiled politely. "It's not far, just head straight from here, turn right at the bookshop, then left at the next corner. You should see a large fountain with a gate to the left. That's where you want to go." He gestured wildly, most likely emphasizing his directions. Thanking the man, Neo left to follow the directions.

"Hey, we meet again!"

Turning, the android located the source of the voice. A shadowy blob appeared, morphing into the girl he had met earlier. He had thought that she was taller because she was seated, but now that they were standing eye-to-eye, Neo noticed that she was particularly short. She wore the same purple tunic as before, but instead of the white leggings, she wore a short white skirt. A golden bracelet was around one wrist, inscribed with the letters 'SS'.

"Yep! We met the other day! Remember me?" Not even waiting for Neo to reply, she continued. "So, you want to join the guild? Why don't you come with me, I'll escort you." Noticing that the android remained silent, she began to tease him. "Don't worry, I won't bite." Neo nodded stiffly, before following her.

The roads were cobbled, unlike at the lake. People flooded the streets on both sides, vendors shouting at the top of their lungs to sell their goods to possible customers.

"By the way, my name's Arme, the Violet Magician. What's yours?" The girl – no, Arme – said casually while walking along.

"My name is Neo." Neo said flatly..

"What race are you? Human? Elven? Demon?" Arme asked inquisitively. She gazed at the android, her gentle and friendly eyes connecting with his blank ones, as if telling him that it was okay to speak.

"None of the above," he muttered.

"So what species are you? Perhaps you're artificial? Who created you, Mr. Oz?"

Neo resisted the urge to scoff and berate the magician for her attitude. "Negative. I am an android, created by my master, and who went by the name of –" He paused.

"Who?" The violet-haired girl wondered aloud.

Wracking his artificial intelligence, Neo was unable to come up with anything. "Unfortunately I cannot recall my master's name. My apologies." The violet mage narrowed her eyes. It was unusual for people to forget precious people, especially for artificial beings. She wondered if perhaps his master was someone dangerous, someone powerful, someone evil, and erased Neo's memory to keep his identity secret. Arme nodded to herself. She had to keep an eye on Neo, he could be a danger to everyone.

"Don't worry, if you forgot, you forgot."

Turning, Arme motioned to a beautiful building. "We're here! Come; let's talk to the Knight Master." She paused. "Uh…" Arme motioned to the black wolf that was trailing them. "Is he yours?"

Neo glanced at the wolf. "Affirmative. I think." The wolf voiced his amusement through a short, sharp bark.

Entering the guild, Arme practically dragged them over to an ebony door labelled 'Library.' "You two should stay here first and let me tell the Knight Master about you." Slipping through the door, it closed with a semi-ominous click.

After several minutes, the door slowly opened, Arme sticking her head out like a gopher, waving the android in. Cautiously entering the library, he barely noticed Arme shutting the door behind him. What he did notice, however, was that books were everywhere. Literally. Each and every one was color co-ordinated and organized in alphabetical order, something that must have taken hours to complete. A chair turned, the red-and-orange armor-clad knight seated on it smiling. "There're lots of books, isn't there? A trivial thing for me, really, but Mari, Edel, Arme, and Zero absolutely adore them." She rested her head on the heel of her palm. "Welcome. I am the Knight Master here. I hear you want to join this guild, correct?"

"Yes," Neo deadpanned.

The Knight Master let out a low whistle. "Arme, come here." The mage nodded, walking to stand next to the Knight Master, who promptly began whispering to her.

"Are you sure he's dangerous?"

Arme shrugged. "I don't know. He looks like a nice guy, but you never know.

The Knight Master sighed, rolling a shoulder back. "I don't doubt that. He looks totally innocent and guilt-less."

"So what do we do?"

Humming, the Knight Master grinned. "Let's see what happens next." She held up her index finger. "However, if he acts strange you will report to me immediately."

Arme nodded gravely, turning to leave. The Knight Master touched her shoulder, stopping her. "We didn't give him a key." Catching the key that was thrown at her, Arme turned to Neo.

"Let's go! I'm going to show you where your room is!" Neo simply nodded and followed her out of the room.

A few minutes later, Arme cautiously pushed open a door, relieved that it was the right one. The door had a massive tree carved into it, so hopefully he could find his way back by himself. "This one's yours. Rest well; tomorrow's a big day for you." Pressing the key into his palm, she waved before leaving. Examining the key, Neo was puzzled by the strange shaped of it, before shrugging and pocketing it.

End Chapter 1