I don't Ambrose, Glitch, or Tin Man in general. Believe me, if I owned Glitch...you'd know, because I'd talk about it often.

One

I was the youngest advisor ever hired by royalty in the history of the Outer Zone. I should know; the day after I was hired, I went down to
thearchives and checked. What? I wanted to be absolutely sure that I was in a unique position. Who doesn't like feeling special...and I'm
getting off track. The point was that I was rather young. I'd gotten the job after my uncle fell ill. He was the Queen's old advisor, and I always
enjoyed tagging along with him and helping him at his job, even if helping consisted of me sitting there watching him in his lab, out of what he
would refer to as "harm's way". It drove my father crazy; he was a general in the army, and wanted me to follow in his footsteps, not pour over
science books and invent what he so eloquently referred to as "silly things." For the record, they're not silly. They're important and smart, and
I'll fight to the death anyone who tells me otherwise...well maybe not to the death. That sounds unpleasant. It's certainly not plan A. It's not
even plan B.

Anyways, my uncle fell ill at probably the most inopportune moment-not that there's ever a good moment, but if there was a moment to fall ill,
when he did certainly wasn't it. The queen was dealing with problems in the robotic community. She was under a great deal of pressure and
though her husband did all he could for her, the fact remained that he was from the Other Side, and though he may have learned an awful lot
since arriving in the Outer Zone, there are some things only a local can do. The Queen had often observed me helping my uncle, correcting his
mistakes, giving advice (unbeknownst to either of us, of course-being out of harm's way meant not interfering with royalty, after all). She
summoned me in one day, after my uncle declared he was too sick to work. To say I was nervous would be the biggest understatement of the
millennium, but she was the Queen. I had to obey.

"Ah, here we are," she said the moment I walked in, "the advisor's advisor."

"Your Majesty," I bowed.

"Oh, there's no need for that, Ambrose. You're as much family to me as your uncle is."

I was about to say that my uncle wasn't related to her, but I realized she meant figuratively, and snapped my mouth shut before I could

embarrass myself.

"Thank you," I said instead.

"How is he?"

I shook my head, "Not good, your majesty. I wish I could say otherwise, but it's possible that he's worse than he was a week ago."

The Queen looked stricken at the thought, "That's terrible. He's been with me a long time. That is why I called you here. You see, his
unfortunate state has come at the worst time and I need someone to take his place temporarily."

I nodded sympathetically, "And how are you doing, your majesty?"

It occurred to me after the words left my mouth that I was not my uncle; I was not on such familiar terms with the Queen and could not speak

to her in such a way. However, she smiled, as if grateful for my asking.

"I'm fine," she smiled.

I simply smiled, unsure what to say. Luckily, she broke the silence almost immediately.

"Ambrose, would you take over your uncle's job? You will of course be paid exactly the same remuneration he earned, and will have all his
privileges. You will not be cheated out of anything, and you'd be doing a great service to me and all the land."

"O-of course! I'd love to!"

The Queen grinned, "I was going to give you the night to think about it..."

"Oh, no, really your majesty, that's alright, I'll do it!"

The Queen laughed out loud at this, "Oh, you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you so enthusiastic. You may move into your uncle's quarters tomorrow."

I hesitated at that. My father was not going to be pleased. Something about my uneasiness must have showed on my face, because the Queen frowned as well.

"Is something the matter, Ambrose?"

"Well...it's just...my father...he sort of wants me to be like him, you see, and he already thinks I'm this huge bookworm as it is, so he won't...like this at all."

"Well, you just tell him that advising the Queen is just as much serving your land as going off to battle the most fearsome of enemies. Furthermore, you can tell him that if he has such a problem with it, he can confront me."

I shivered at the thought of those lavender eyes staring down at my father. He was strong man, but there was powerful magic behind that gaze. Though perhaps that wouldn't do much to sway him. My father thought physical strength was the be all and end all of power. Science was useful, but it couldn't help you survive months on your own in the wild somewhere. Why I would be alone in the wild was lost on me, but he always gave me the impression that it would happen at some point. Magic, he said, was worse. At least you worked to become great in science. You could accomplish something, even if it wasn't the something my father had in mind. Magic was the lazy way out, or so he said. I didn't have the heart to correct him and tell him that it took years of study to be even remotely good with magic. He wouldn't have listened to me anyways, and besides, I was a man of science; magic just never took to me. I grinned up at the Queen, bowed, and bolted home to tell my parents.

"That's wonderful dear!" my mother had me in a bear hug before I could even finish my announcement.

"Mum..." I gasped, "brain...dribbling...out my ears...need air!"

She let go of me with a sigh, "Always exaggerating, Ambrose."

I laughed and shook my head, then turned to my father. He sat at our kitchen table, in full uniform no less! I gulped at the look he was giving me, and very nearly cowered in fear as he rose from his seat.

"So, you're not going to take after me then?"

"Oh, darling, don't be so-" my mother began, but was cut off.

"-I don't like it," he said firmly, "I don't like it one bit."

I bit my lip, mentally preparing myself to go on the defence, when suddenly my father let out a sigh.

"But it would seem I don't have a choice. You want to do it...and it is only temporary. The fact that the Queen asked you personally must mean something, right?" a small, barely visible smile formed on his face, "so I guess I approve."

My reaction was somewhat...immature...

"YES!" I jumped up and down, "Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

And then I promptly ran up to my room to pack, the eyes of my parents following me out of the room as I ran.

The next morning was probably one of the most humiliating moments of my entire life. I stood outside of the house with my bag, and the taxi was waiting to whisk me away. Not the wording I would have chosen, but that's the exact thing my mother said to me as she tearfully hugged me until I thought my head was going to pop off and roll away.

"Mum! I'm not dying!" I sighed when she finally let me go, "I'll be back as soon as the Queen is well again."

"Or until your uncle is well again."

"Exactly."

"Come on, come on, I haven't got all day!" the cab driver shouted.

"You're being paid, you can wait five more seconds!" my father barked, before turning to me, "Well, son, you've done well for yourself, I must admit. Good luck."

I grinned, "Thanks. I should probably go. I think that vein in the driver's temple is about to pop."

I dumped my stuff in the seat next to me and stuck my head out the window.

"I'll be home soon!" I called to my mother, who was making no effort to hide her tears. My father put an arm around her shoulders and gave me a stiff nod and he even waved. The car pulled away from out house, and as my parents faded from sight, I smiled to myself. Sometimes, people surprised you.

My day pretty much started the moment I arrived. My uncle's quarters were more or less devoid of his more personal belongings, though when I wandered into his lab, I found some half-completed inventions. I had just begun examining one of them, when a voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Barely unpacked and already working?"

I whirled around, only to come face to face with the King.

"Your highness," I bowed, but he rolled his eyes.

"Give me a break," he snorted.

"I...I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"When we're not at some formal court function, you don't have to be so...well, formal."

"I see...alright."

"You're not going to obey that, are you?"

"In all honesty, sir, it's not likely," I grinned.

"Well, sir is alright I guess. Just lay off the whole 'your highness' stuff when we're talking like this. It still makes me feel weird after all these
years."

I was completely baffled by this man, in all honesty. He was the first Other Sider I'd ever met, and he was speaking to me as if we were equals.

I couldn't help but gawk, and he laughed at my reaction. Sensing that he wasn't making fun of me, I grinned nervously.

"I wish I could say I was here for the sake of meeting you, but the fact is, we could really use you right now. Can you unpack later?"

"Of course!" I said.

"Good, follow me then."

He led me up several flights of stairs into a meeting room, where the Queen sat at a brilliantly carved writing desk, looking like she'd rather be in bed.

"Ambrose; all settled?"

"Nearly, your majesty," I bowed, and the King fought to conceal a snort, "I understand you are in need of my services?"

"Oh, very much so. You see, there is a struggle occurring just south of here. The robotic community is up in arms over their mistreatment by the humans. They insist they are independent, but we do not as of yet have laws regarding the absolute independence of our mechanical neighbours. You're aware of the Robotic Decrees, yes?"

"Yes."

"Well, the humans wish to farm the land that the robots live on, as they are suffering from severe famine, and the robots say it's an invasion of territory."

"But it was originally the territory of the people who made them in the first place," Ambrose finished and the Queen nodded, "well, your majesty, as much as I sympathize with the robotic community, the fact of the matter is that they can live without food, but humans can't."

"So I should side with the humans?"

"I see no reason why humans would have to invade, however. Robots want to be treated as humans, correct?"

"Yes, they do. They very nearly are."

"Pay them then."

"You suggest we pay them for the use of their land?"

"It's what you'd do with fighting humans?"

"I'd insist that the land one community used would have to be paid for."

"Exactly. They want to be treated as humans; if you treat them as such, they'll have nothing to complain about."

Giving advice made me nervous, but the Queen looked thoughtful.

"One moment," she said, and then she waved her hand in the air, and it rippled, turning white under her light touch; a speech spell.

"We have a proposition for you," she said into the fog, and as I moved to look into it, I could clearly see a face in the white fog that was once simply the air. The head of the robotic community was looking back at her.

"I'm willing to hear it."

"You have campaigned for equal rights with humans, and we are willing to give them to you, meaning we settle this as though it were two warring human communities. We propose that you allow them to farm your land if they pay you. We'll send in provisions to assist them as well, of course, but this seems like a fair option."

The leader looked thoughtful, and then asked, "Am I to understand that the Robotic Decrees will be modified and make us absolutely independent?"

The Queen hesitated and looked both to the King and to me.

"Don't look at me," the King said quietly, so that the leader couldn't hear, "I'm still trying to get passed the idea that something created by someone else could want independence so...forcefully."

"Your majesty, I would recommend sitting down with the Robotic leaders and discussing this face to face in a conference," I whispered, "You get the opinions of all robotic communities and can come up with an agreement that suites everybody."

The Queen nodded and turned the leader, "would you and your peers be willing to join me for a conference? We could discuss all our business there. A speech spell is rather informal, wouldn't you agree?"

The leader nodded, "Very well. I will contact the other Leaders."

"Is next Monday suitable for you?"

"I should think so. I will contact you with any changes, of course."

"Of course," the Queen smiled, "have a lovely evening."

Another brush of her hand and the spell was complete.

"That was impressive, Ambrose," she said, "though I don't know how the humans will feel about paying machines..."

"They're paying for a service," I shrugged, "also; I doubt the competing human community was even the ones who built them?"

"Oh no, they were built in Central City."

"Exactly. These robots, as far as I can see, owe these people nothing and are providing them with a service that requires compensation."

The Queen nodded, "That seems reasonable. Now there's the matter of this conference. This has to be well planned out. Think you can manage planning it for me, Ambrose? There are a great many other things to attend to, and planning a conference is really one more level of stress that I don't need."

"My apologies; I wouldn't have suggested it if I had known."

"Don't worry, this is my job," she gave a small smile, "you may go."

I bowed again, nodded to the King, and returned to my rooms, after much wandering around in attempt to locate them again. It's a castle, so
it was pretty big, obviously. I lay down on my bed and stared up at the canopy with a smile. I'd done well for my first day, and now I was planning a government conference! I sat up, basking in the feeling of being useful. Special, even. Then I promptly got up and went down to the archives to do the previously mentioned task of ensuring my uniqueness.