'Hello' Said the Stick, by Michael Swanwick

'Hello' Said the Stick is a fine example of a short story form I would call the Hint--there's a much bigger game afoot, and you get a little glimpse of it.  Swanwick is a master of such stories, he has a number of them on The Infinite Matrix, a site no longer maintained but still around.  Our protagonist is a mercenary in Renaissance Italy--but really it's the Stick.  This comes out relatively gradually, and gracefully.  It got a Hugo nomination for 2003, which was deserved.  Go read it for a little fun. 3 stars, strong.