Team Fortress 2 was released in 2007 and has had a unique afterlife ever since. Partly because it is a game with an ageless aesthetic and an anarchically interesting worldview that, barring post-launch tweaks and additions, is flawless: each of the nine characters is composed of an appearance, a few voices, and a "Meet the Team" vignette. But from these elements, Valve's designers and the actors involved have created a dour archetype that will stand the test of time.

In recent years, some of TF2's voice cast has come together to recreate their roles in various sketches and videos. But none have been as well-prepared as this one. At an event called Meet the Mercs held earlier this month at Boxley's Jazz Club, members of the TF2 voice cast premiered a new addition to TF2 lore, "Sandvich Blues."

The song and its lyrics were composed by John Rowley (Sniper), who along with Robin Atkin Downes (Medic), provided guitar and vocals. Vocals are provided by Gary Schwartz (Heavy, Demoman) and Dennis Bateman (Spy), with Ellen McClain (Administrator) on piano. The song details, in Lowrie's words, "the struggle of the TF2 mercenaries to find Sandvich for Heavy."

Yes, this sounds like a fever dream; for those who have never played TF2, the sandvich is an iconic item that the heavies eat during matches to restore their strength. Ideally, they are in full view of the enemy team. Main lyrics

I woke up this morning and the Sandvich was gone.

I didn't even leave a note. There was nothing

I looked under the covers, under the sheets

Now Hevy is heartbroken and has nothing to eat.

We got the Sandvich Blues deep down in our hearts.

Our souls are sandvich blues

This can't be happening.

Doc is hallucinating and things are getting worse.

The spy is thinking, it could be a curse.

The admin is intimidating, she's no one's nurse.

If you don't find Sandovich, you'll need a hefty hearse.

Sandvich Blues can be seen as the culmination of a strange journey that TF2's voice actors have been on in recent years. They then began working with TF2's YouTuber Shork to launch the "Where is sandvich." saga, in which the voice actors basically haunted small towns and delis across America in search of sandvich. They even did an ABBA parody. [The highlight was undoubtedly the sniper getting various things wrong while his wife Ellen McLean (the administrator, also GLaDOS) sat next to him giggling and occasionally boo-hooing in that perfectly clipped tone, "You failed."

As far as I know, the TF2 community had, prior to this, amused itself with sniper memes where the character becomes a Samsung refrigerator and various other objects (I don't know). Even these people are stunned by the fact that, yes, the voice actors are paying more attention to them than Valve Dad.

"Protect them at all costs," says PLConqueror. "It brings tears to my eyes," says Alphamoonman, before pointing out that they are Demoman mains; Dangerous_jacket_129 thinks "this is the most precious thing," and ChesseburgerMK8 gets straight to the economic point says: "This is worth more than gold bread." Perhaps 8Champi8 sums up the stunned gratitude of the true believers: "Healthy people."

Valve, after supporting Team Fortress 2 for over a decade, has essentially turned the game over to the community (and released tools to help them do so). TF2 will still get updates, but it is all community content curated by Valve, and the developers have to be very careful not to use the wrong words. At least it's more sane than trying to "meme a character into existence."

It is safe to say that Sandovich is filling a hole in Hevy's soul. Without it, he is not only hungry, he is not even a type of heavy. Its absence brings a longing, a search for what is lost. So it is no wonder that this song is embraced by TF2 players.