Chapter 10

Some of the doors in the house didn’t fit quite right and would need to be refitted or replaced. So Markus could hear Abigail, Lindsay and Robert chatting amiably in the dining area, even though the door was closed in an attempt to trap the heat coming from the stove in the kitchen.

“-I know, it’s just a bit much all of a sudden- ” Abigail was saying, but was interrupted as Arlee released Markus’s hand and barreled through the door. “-I was wondering where you had gone, my little munchkin."

“I brought Mister!” Arlee declared proudly as Markus entered the dining room.

Robert and Abigail were both seated on the chairs closest to the kitchen while Lindsay was nursing her baby in the kitchen itself. Arlee had now clambered onto her mother’s lap and was taking deep exaggerated breaths as if she had just finished a great race.

“Such a good girl,” Abigail planted a kiss on the crown of Arlee’s head, “But I asked you to do that a while ago, what took you so long?"

“A dolly!” Arlee exclaimed, her arm going wide, nearly losing her balance and toppling off her mother’s lap, “It’s amazing!"

Abigail seemed to be at a loss and looked to Markus for answers, “A doll?” She asked curiously.

“More or less,” Markus tactfully agreed, not quite sure how she would feel about her daughter playing with a golem when she had such strong feelings towards chimaera.

“Dolly jumps and dances!” Arlee added.

“So much for tact.” Markus thought wryly, “Probably best to just come out with it then."

Markus cleared his throat, “Well it’s perhaps not strictly accurate to call it a doll, it’s more of a marionette really-”

Abigail’s expression remained confused.

“So, anyway, the doll is my first attempt at really practising enchantments for prosthetics and I figured while I was at it, I would try going a bit further." None of them seemed to understand what Markus meant and he was starting to have second thoughts about coming clean.

“You just tell it to do stuff and it does it” Arlee proclaimed excitedly.

Thankfully no one seemed to understand the importance of what she said.

“It’s a golem or at least my first attempt at making one,” Markus admitted.

They all remained just as confused as before.

“That’s an adventurer thing then is it?” Robert asked good-naturedly.

Markus hadn’t expected this reaction, but maybe he should have, since adventurers, typically being nobles, didn’t exactly rub shoulders with the common folk. Even if they did, golems were taken as common knowledge for adventurers, since they stood guard over low and moderate levelled dungeons.

A thought suddenly occurred to Markus, “Maybe you know them by a different name-” Markus said, “The Guild’s guardian statues, the ones they leave outside the dungeons, those are golems."

“Oh we saw one of them once, didn’t we Robert?” Lindsay interjected, “That big warrior statue with the spear, remember?"

Robert rubbed his chin thoughtfully a moment before the realization hit him, “So that’s what it was, they move, do they? I suppose that makes sense."

“I really took for granted how much they would know about this sort of thing.” Markus thought.

“Guardian...golem...what? I don’t understand,” Abigail admitted.

“They stop monsters from leaving the dungeons,” Robert stated proudly.

“Erm, half right,” Markus agreed, “Artificer enchantments bind the golem to obey strict orders. one of which is to stop non authorized persons from entering the dungeons, for their safety usually, since dungeons are pretty damned dangerous. Another order is to destroy any of the monsters that try to leave the dungeon. They also serve as record keepers, so the Guild knows who is trying to clear the dungeon. They also relay distress calls to the Guild when adventurers are in trouble like when I rescued Zoe Chavare, we only knew she was in need of rescue because the golem told us."

Lindsay and Robert looked out of their depth but seemed impressed nonetheless.

Abigail still had questions “Lady Chavare? The Priest?"

“Yeah, Aela, her mother Svala and I rescued her from the dungeon. Truth be told, they did the lion's share of the work, I definitely wouldn't have made it out without them, let alone back to town with that wolf pack that hit us on the way back.” Markus shook his head and sighed, “Anyway, yes, we rescued Zoe from the dungeon and I called in that favour for you and Arlee, more or less anyway."

“She didn’t care to mention that,” Abigail admitted, “But wait, what was that about the wolves?"

Markus nodded his head sombrely, “There were over a dozen of them, and a big mean one as large as a horse. No way I would have made it back alive. Aela killed a few of the smaller ones and the big one, Svala got the rest of them.” He thought it prudent to leave out the part where Aela had gone a little unhinged at the end.

“Why didn’t the guardian golem fight the wolves?” Robert asked, more than a little puzzled.

“Well I’m not absolutely sure, but besides being too far away, it probably doesn’t have orders to fight anything, not related to the dungeon it was assigned to.” Markus would have elaborated that an open order against canines would probably result in some nobles lapdog or hunting hounds being butchered but didn’t think it would help his case in regards to his golem upstairs.

“So you made a golem to protect the house?” Abigail asked, seemingly clutching at straws.

“Basically,” Markus agreed “This prototype can’t really do all that much, it’s not even two feet tall. But if I can get the method down, it would be a load off my mind knowing that you are all safe when Aela and I are out and about or in a dungeon."

“It’s amazing!” Arlee argued as a counterpoint.

“Do you want to see it?” Markus asked, feeling a little excited at the prospect of showing off his work.

“By all means,” Robert agreed enthusiastically.

“Oh yes please do, it sounds wonderful,” Lindsay agreed

“Yes! Yes!” Arlee cheered as Abigail quietly nodded, unsure of what to expect.

“Golem, come down to the dining room on the first floor,” Markus called out the door.

A minute later, the golem was standing on the dining table, its head inquisitively shifting from person to person. For their part, they were doing much the same staring back at it in turn.

“Dance!” Arlee cheered and to her delight the golem began dancing up and down the table, just as it had done on the floor in Markus’s room. Arlee couldn’t help herself from giggling and slapping the table to the rhythm of the golem’s footfalls.

“Well I'll be,” Robert exclaimed, “And it just does what you tell it to?"

“Mostly,” Markus agreed, “It can’t do something if it doesn’t know what it is, but if you can describe it well enough, or show it, it can probably attempt it. Of course, it is still quite a small golem, so I wouldn't be in a hurry to ask it to put the iron kettle on the stove."

“Of course of course,” Robert agreed, taking Markus at his word.

“Why is the toy moving?” Aela asked warily, having just arrived downstairs to see what the commotion was about.

“It’s my first try at a golem,” Markus replied proudly.

“Oh, like outside dungeons?” Aela asked but didn’t wait for a reply, “Smart, follow orders, protect home and family."

“Pretty much what I figured,” Markus agreed, not too surprised that Aela had a relatively firm grasp on the golem concept. Svala had probably taught her a fair bit about them if only to keep her safe. “There are some details to work out yet, but it’s promising. I think I might even be able to get a functioning arm and hand for Arlee once I am done with some more tests."

“What?!” Abigail blurted out, nearly knocking Arlee off her lap.

“Well, yeah,” Markus scratched the bridge of his nose nervously. “It was one of the reasons I was practising, so I could better understand prosthetics. I haven’t been able to get a close look at a prosthetic arm, so I had to come up with the enchantments on my own through trial and error. Figured once I have it down I could ask the tinker who made the doll to fabricate an articulated arm and hand for Arlee. It should work just like a real one."

Magical prosthetics were notoriously expensive, and after fiddling about with the golem for a few days, Markus understood why. When you knew what you were doing, it wasn’t so bad. However, working alone and with a painfully finite mana pool, there was only so much you could get done on any given day and he doubted nobles would waste their time without being suitably compensated for it.

The tinker would probably want a decent sum, but since Markus would be doing the enchantments himself, the biggest expense was going to be the gems. This was another reason for the golem experiments, he needed a better idea of how much mana a replacement limb like an arm would burn through on any given day. Then figure out what his acceptable level of compromise would be in terms of the cost of the gem to the number of days the prosthetic could be used without needing to be recharged.

Arlee was too distracted by the golem to follow what was being said, but it wasn’t lost on the adults in the room.

“Surely you jest?” Robert blurted out, “Replacements like that cost as much as a small house.” He seemed to collect himself again, perhaps thinking Markus would be offended by the implications, “I know you are independently wealthy, but that is a substantial expense for...” Robert stopped himself just shy of saying it, but Markus's train of thought filled in the blanks on his behalf, “A street urchin."

“Well, she is my daughter,” Markus asserted, reminding everyone present of his legal responsibility and status.

“Adopted daughter,” Abigail interjected after she had overcome her initial shock.

“Sure, if we want to be technical about it,” Markus agreed, “But to those who don’t know the difference what will they think? That I don’t care enough about her to do even this on her behalf?” Markus shrugged, “Besides, I want to do it and I think it would help Arlee’s development to start getting used to having both arms again. From what I have heard, prosthetics are tricky to get the hang of, so the sooner you start the sooner you get back to normal."

“Adopted?” Aela muttered, her attention now alternating between Arlee and Markus like she was looking for something.

As if to distract Arlee from the conversation, the golem had intensified its dancing, now jumping and introducing spins and twirls each time it was airborne.

Arlee was now on the verge of going ballistic with hysterical laughter, “Again again!” She cheered.

Aela’s brow furrowed, “She is not your blood,” she stated flatly.

“Well no,” Markus agreed, “But all the same, it’s still the right thing to do."

Aela shook her head, “Why not you tell me this?"

Markus was confused “What do you mean? I told you I was adopting her to stop some bad people from coming after them."

“No, you didn’t,” Aela shoved Markus to accentuate her point, “You say she was daughter, nothing else!"

“Didn’t I?” Markus honestly thought he had been clear about his motivations and relationship to Arlee and Abigail, but apparently, he had not been. This whole side of the relationship made Markus uncomfortable and his desire to get it over with, probably caused him to skip over that detail by accident. Besides, it didn’t really make all that much difference. “Does it really matter?” Markus asked.

“It does,” Aela replied bluntly.

“What, why?” Markus thought he knew Aela better than this, he thought she would at the least be somewhat sympathetic to Arlee’s plight given her own adoption. “Why does my adopting her matter so much?"

Aela seemed to be at a loss, her tail snaking from side to side across the floor in agitation, “It-just-does,” she growled.

“WOAH!” Arlee gasped, immediately drawing all eyes in the room, even the golem stopped dancing to see what was up. “What is that!?” Arlee pointed excitedly at Aela and made a desperate scramble to free herself from her mother’s suddenly iron-like grip.

“Ms Arlee, it’s rude to point,” Robert gestured placatingly in an attempt to encourage Arlee to lower her hand.

“This is Aela,” Markus said, “She is my friend and lives here with us too."

Arlee’s mouth hung open in surprise, but only for a moment, “No way! Really?!"

Aela rankled, no doubt in anticipation of a reaction similar to that of Abigail earlier that afternoon, but she remained silent.

“She’s pretty!” Arlee giggled.

Whatever Aela had expected Arlee to say, it apparently wasn’t that. Her shock quickly gave way to suspicion. “You tell her to say this,” she pointed her finger accusingly at Markus but Aela’s shaky conviction rapidly began to crumble as she noticed Markus was just as surprised as she had been.

Markus shook his head, “I swear I didn’t."

“Is that a tail?!” Arlee squealed, frantically trying to wriggle free of her mother’s grip to get a closer look.

Aela self-consciously backed out through the doorway and began heading back upstairs to her room.

“Aww,” Arlee moaned, “I wanted to look."

“Hush now,” Abigail consoled her daughter, even though she looked thoroughly relieved by Aela's sudden absence.

This, of course, was not favourably improving Markus's opinion of the woman at all, particularly given how she had made her own opinions rather well known earlier. “Arlee said you wanted to see me?" He prompted.

Abigail winced a little but forced herself to meet Markus’s eyes. “I wanted to apologize, I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge her If-” She took a deep breath to calm herself, “-If what Mrs Lindsay and Mr Robert have told me is true-” she quickly raised her hands placatingly and briefly turned towards Lindsay and Robert, “And I don’t doubt it is.” Abigail turned back to Markus once she was sure they were not offended, “With what they had told me in mind, and having witnessed your own impeccable character, I realize I was wrong to judge your friend so harshly. I should have known better, that someone like yourself wouldn't knowingly associate with mo-erm-people of malign character,” she hugged Arlee tighter, “I am sorry."

“I appreciate the apology.” Markus could sense Abigail’s unspoken concerns and wanted to make his own position clear. “Both Arlee and yourself are free to stay here as long as you wish, but so is Aela. It would mean a great deal more to me if you all make an effort to get along with one another than to receive an apology.” Markus made a point of glancing towards Robert and Lindsay as well, he meant every word of it and really did not look forward to repeating himself. “I hope we all understand one another better now."

As Markus looked to each of them in turn, Abigail Robert and Lindsay each nodded in agreement, making it clear they understood.

“Good,” Markus said, already appreciating the lessening of the tension in the atmosphere. “Now while I have you here, Robert and Mrs Lindsay have each already made requests and I have done my best to accommodate them, is there anything you need? Whether it’s for personal use or for pursuing a trade, either is fine. If you can't think of anything at such short notice just-"

“Fabrics,” Abigail blurted before she could stop herself, realizing what she had done Abigail raised one hand and covered her mouth in embarrassment.

“Alright, fabrics. Erm, any particular kinds? This isn’t really my area of expertise," Markus readily admitted.

“Miss Abigail used to be a seamstress,” Lindsay interjected, “She will be needing needles, threads and all manner of pins I would imagine as well."

Abigail blushed but did not contradict her.

“Best to be upfront with what you need,” Robert agreed with his wife “Mr Markus was more apprehensive over repeated trips to vendors for the smaller bits and bobs than he was in purchasing large numbers of costly goods in one trip,” he explained jokingly, although Robert was still careful to check with Markus to make sure he had not overstepped the bounds of their relationship.

Markus didn’t mind the jokes at his expense, particularly since he had to admit the core of what Robert was getting at was more or less true. Having spent such a long time scrounging on pennies, scrimping and saving towards his original ambition of early retirement, frequent and repeated trips to spend such hard-won coins was almost painful. Singular excursions where larger transactions took place were relatively painless in comparison, Markus’s mental arithmetic coped far better rationalizing a singular transaction, than a multitude of smaller near negligible value transactions.

“Just let me know when you have a list of supplies ready and we can go buy them alright?" Markus insisted.

“Alright,” Abigail agreed with only somewhat muted enthusiasm, “I will let you know."

Markus turned to go.

“Thank you, for all of this," Abigail said hastily.

“It’s the least I can do, really,” Markus paused before leaving the room, remembering his plans for the evening, “Oh, Mrs Lindsay, I won’t be home until late this evening, so there is no need to set a place for me at dinner." Lindsay had been generously preparing dinner each night, he thought it best not to be rude.

Leaving Arlee to play with the golem and the adults to their own devices, Markus thought it might be prudent to prepare for an outing to the Guildhall.

The primary focus for Markus's visit to the Guildhall that evening was to determine the Empire and the Guild’s stances on both golem creation and ownership. Somewhat determined that regardless of its legality, he would still keep his first golem alive, if that was even the right word, for as long as he could. Markus doubted that golems themselves would be illegal since the Guild had so many of them. But it could always be a situation of legality by omission. Given how many adventurers were members of the higher nobility, or their established houses, it would not be too difficult to believe that their collective influence prevented government officials from prying or looking too closely.

Annabelle, the clerk Markus had attempted to rescue on his first day, was working the front desk that evening. As per usual in the evening, the Guildhall was nearly empty, adventurers and their retinues having retired to their private quarters or accommodations elsewhere.

“Good evening,” Markus smiled as he approached the front desk, making sure his Guild identification was prominently displayed over his shirt.

“Good evening my sir,” Anabelle replied and reflexively bowed in deference, “How may I assist you this evening?"

Markus took a moment to quickly check to see if they were alone, “Well if it is all the same to you, I would prefer you drop the honorifics for now if that is alright. Markus is fine for now."

Anabelle seemed at odds with herself for a moment, but relented, “Alright, Mr Markus, how can I help you this evening?"

“I was wondering what you could tell me about golems?” Impossibly direct, it was nonetheless the only real way Markus could think of brooching the subject.

“Oh,” Anabelle looked taken aback, whatever she had been expecting, this was not it. “Erm well, what exactly do you wish to know s-” She quickly corrected herself, “Mr Markus?"

“Well, this is it,” Markus thought. “What is the Guild’s position on privately owned golems?” He asked curiously.

“Well, it is not disallowed, but the prohibitive costs of creating and maintaining a golem have prevented all but the wealthiest families from owning any. What may I ask is your interest Mr Markus? Are you interested in commissioning a golem for private use?” Anabelle reached into a pocket of her uniform and withdrew a silver key, “We have a number of-"

“No no no,” Markus interrupted, “I am not looking to buy a golem. But that does lead me to my second question. Does the Guild have any rules or laws regarding the creation of golems? By members I mean."

Anabelle froze for a moment, her brow furrowing slightly in suspicion or scrutiny, “Not as such. The Guild holds contracts with several noble houses of good standing for the production and maintenance of its golems, but there are no rules or laws preventing other Guild members from creating their own.” She took a moment to reassess her opinion of Markus, her attention lingering on his identification which very clearly marked his class and level [Artificer] [1].

Seemingly satisfied, Anabelle shifted back to her pleasant and helpful demeanour, “Golem crafting is a difficult art, or so I have been told. Anyone wishing to know more about their construction and enchantment would need to apprentice with one of the nobles registered with the Guild, but they do not accept just anyone,” the way Anabelle had said that last part wasn’t so much condescending as it was sympathetic.

“Oh that’s alright,” Markus smiled and shrugged, he had expected something like that to be the case and had no intentions of entering into indentured servitude with a powerful noble house just to learn a few secrets. “I am just trying to make sure I am not breaking any laws."

Anabelle smiled accommodatingly, then slowly frowned as the realization dawned on her, “You are already attempting to construct a golem?” She blurted out incredulously, leaning over and slamming both hands on the desk.

“Sort of, I mean, it has some problems, but mostly works,” Markus was a little flustered by the intensity of her response and was having trouble keeping his thoughts straight.

“What? How?” Anabelle demanded, more of a question to the universe itself at large than Markus in particular.

“I mean, I guess it did take a couple of days, but it wasn’t that hard and I suppose it does have some problems-" Markus admitted reluctantly.

“Surely you jest?!” Anabelle demanded, coming just shy of grabbing Markus shirt to shake him, but stopped herself at the last moment, her hands returning to the desk as she desperately tried to calm herself down. “House Chavare, our most committed contractor for providing the Guild with its golems, produces a golem for the Guild every three months! And I am informed it takes two of those months alone to enchant it-” She intensely stared Markus in the eye “-and you are telling me you managed to create a golem in a matter of days?"

“Erm, well, yes, but it has-” Markus tried to explain but was promptly cut off again.

“Unbelievable...” Anabelle calmed herself in a matter of moments as if willing it to be so through sheer grit. As she began speaking again, her tone had quietened, but her intensity lingered. “Prove it,” Anabelle demanded, “Prove you aren’t pulling an ill-advised prank on me Mr Markus and produce your golem."

“Now that might cause some problems,” Markus thought ruefully “Why didn’t I keep my mouth shut?"

Anabelle folded her arms, her expression set, clearly waiting on Markus to make his decision.

Figuring the Guild would find out eventually anyway, Markus shrugged and let out a sigh, “Fine." Withdrawing a crystal tablet of almost identical proportions to his Guild identification, Markus concentrated and began activating its enchantments.

The tablet began emitting a faint blue light, its innermost surface an inky black and blue like the night sky. Nearly immediately, the tablet emitted a muted chime and text began crawling across the length of the tablet.

Golem Curious: “Creator? I sense your presence, but you are not in my vicinity."

“Golem, I need you to come to me, do you understand?” Markus stated somewhat quietly. He honestly wasn’t sure what to expect at this point given the quirkiness of the golems behaviour so far.

Golem Anxious: “Golem has been given a new designation by designated protection target Arlee. It is determined that a unique designation is required if additional golems are to be constructed.”

If Markus could get the errors figured out, he had expected to leave the golem to Arlee, a pseudo protector and toy, so he didn’t really mind if Arlee named it. Besides it had a point, ordering golems around without at least adding ascending numerical sequences to each new golem to differentiate them, it would get complicated real fast and likely end in tragedy. “Fine,” Markus agreed.

Golem Happy: “Designation change confirmed, Golem will now identify designation as Dolly.”

Dolly Conflicted: “Designated protection target Arlee will be put to sleep shortly, perhaps it is prudent to wait?"

Markus nearly rolled his eyes, before remembering that the golem's name was chosen by a ten-year-old girl. Glancing at Anabelle, he figured she was probably as impatient as she was going to get, and given that his house was a fairly long walk from the Guildhall, a few extra minutes wouldn't matter. “Alright, come to me once you are certain you will not wake her by leaving.” There wasn’t any need to distress Arlee or her mother with this really, although he was curious how the golem would get out of the house without being able to ask anyone to open doors for it. “Are you sure you can make it to my current location?” Markus decided he lost nothing by asking and might be saving himself a future headache if he had to go back home to retrieve it himself now.

Dolly Confident: “Once current tertiary objectives are fulfilled, I will rendezvous at Creator’s location."

“Okay,” Markus agreed, concentrating briefly to drain the sound sensation and associated interpretive enchantments since they were no longer necessary.

“Was that?..” Anabelle pointed to Markus's tablet, her eyes scanning the fading remnants of the golems half of the conversation, “How did you?..” She seemed to be at a loss for words.

Markus shrugged, “I’ve been trying to figure some stuff out, but some of it’s trickier than I thought it would be."

“I’m sorry, this is just a lot to take in,” Anabelle apologized, perhaps remembering that her conduct was quite lacking compared to her employers expected standards.

“It’s alright,” Markus was getting used to being underestimated. He settled in at an empty table by the door to wait.

Markus spent longer waiting for the golem, or Dolly as he should probably call it now than he expected. But it seemed none the worse for wear despite its late arrival.

Anabelle was reading through a ledger and did not notice the small golem as it entered through the partially opened door and climbed up onto Markus's table. She also didn’t seem to notice the chimes emitted from Markus’s tablet either.

Dolly Anxious: “Dolly is sorry for the delay Creator."

Dolly Frustration: “Dolly was pursued by large furry quadrupeds and had to find an alternate route after evading pursuit."

Dolly Anxious “Is Dolly’s justification for delay sufficient?"

“You were chased by dogs? I suppose that’s an alright excuse.” Markus thought he had heard some dogs making a particular racket a while ago. While the golem’s enchantments would protect it from any real damage any of the canines could inflict upon it, he doubted the golem would hold up for long against a sustained or particularly vicious attack. So Markus had to agree with the golem’s judgment.

Dolly Relief: “I will store this precedent for future use."

“Ms Anabelle?” Markus waved at her to better gain her attention.

Anabelle was so engrossed in the contents of the ledger that she almost hadn’t noticed. “Hrm what? Oh sorry, Sometimes I lose myself when I am...OH!” Anabelle’s apology shifted abruptly to surprise as she finally noticed the golem, Dolly, waving at her from Markus’s table. Sparing only a moment to stow the ledger back beneath the desk, Anabelle hurried over to take a closer look.

Dolly Curious: “Am I to do anything while I am being observed, Creator?"

“What do you mean?” Markus asked.

“Hrm? I didn’t say any-” Mistaking Markus’s question to be directed towards her, Anabelle was confused, even more so as another chime interrupted her.

Dolly Observation: “If the purpose of revealing myself, your creation, is to demonstrate your capabilities. Does it not make more sense to demonstrate some of my capabilities?"

Markus first thoughts were of the golem dancing back and forth at the table at home and he had to suppress the urge to laugh. “Alright,” Markus withdrew a penny from his coin pouch, “I want you to catch this coin before it can touch the ground. Do you understand?"

Dolly Confident: “Yes, I understand Creator.”

The golem’s entire attention shifted to the penny now balanced on Markus’s thumb.

Markus flicked the penny and launched it into the air.

Just as quickly as the coin had left contact with his hand, the golem sprang into motion. Launching itself forward and upward, its small delicate hands latching around the penny as its body twisted and contorted like a cat, its legs and feet rolling beneath it to break its fall to the floor. Getting to its feet, the golem proudly produced the coin.

“How did it do that?” Anabelle was in shock over what she had just witnessed.

Dolly Anxious: “Is such a trick suitable for demonstrating Dolly’s capabilities?"

Judging by Anabelle’s reaction, Markus thought it was a rather effective demonstration indeed, “Back onto the table,” Markus ordered.

The golem mutely obliged, and even though it had not been ordered to do so, returned the coin to Markus outstretched hand.

Anabelle was in shock, wordlessly looking back and forth between Markus and the golem as if expecting the world to suddenly make sense at any moment. “How?” She demanded.

Markus shrugged, “As I told you already, I enchanted it as best I could figure out how. Made some adjustments to compensate for a few things and this is the end result."

Anabelle shook her head, trying to understand what she was looking at. “It moves so gracefully-” She commented, taking hold of the golem’s hand and manually moving its fingers, “-almost like it is truly alive." Anabelle shook her head again before looking him in the eye, “How did you do it?"

“The Guild’s golems don’t move like this?” Markus asked, a little confused. He had never done anything to warrant initiating a conflict with one of the Guild’s golems and despite his attempts, had never managed to witness a golem being deployed or returning from deployment.

“It is like night and day,” Anabelle explained, “The Guild’s golems are powerful and durable, but they are poorly coordinated, almost clumsy in comparison to this petite marvel." She motioned to the golem’s hands, “The reason the Guild’s golems have shields and weapons melded into their hands, is because attempts to create functioning hands have resulted in substantial delays in production," Anabelle’s brow furrowed in concentration, “It feels real, the way its fingers resist being moved too far or in the wrong direction...There is no way you managed to do this on your own, who helped you? Was it house Chavare? Perhaps as repayment for rescuing their scion?” Her voice was growing strained as she clutched at straws.

Markus shook his head, “No, no one helped me figure it out, not intentionally anyway. I just took what I knew and experimented to fill in the gaps,” he shrugged, knowing the answer wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “Besides, the body was probably the trickiest part. I bet I could watch that tinker for a year and still not understand how he made those articulated joints work. Without them, the golem’s range of motion and potential dexterity wouldn't really amount to much,"

Dolly Curious: “Creator was not solely responsible for my creation?."

“Well sure, I am no artisan. If I tried making your body on my own, you would probably just be a peasants toy made of sackcloth and stuffed with straw.” Not an altogether unfair critique of his limited skill set.

Dolly Curious: “Is it possible to meet the tinker who crafted my body?"

“Maybe.” Now that was a subject Markus wasn’t fully willing to commit to right now.

“That chime,” Anabelle only now seemed to notice the crystal tablet Markus held in his hand, “You are communicating with the golem?” She said matter of factly, but already another question was on the tip of her tongue, “Why have you given it such strange responses? How many tasks have you provisioned for it to perform?"

Markus placed the tablet on the table and slid it halfway toward Anabelle so she could see the golem’s half of their conversation while he tried answering her questions, “Well, that’s a tricky question and I am not sure I can answer it, not to any degree you would likely be satisfied with anyway. I just took what I learned from different enchantments and reconfigured them until I got something that worked." He shrugged, “Theoretically, it can do anything you tell it to do. If it doesn’t know how to do it, it can perform a task by following your description, but you need to be careful in considering your choice of words. It can also learn by observing someone perform the task, but that obviously can have its own shortcomings as well."

Dolly Prideful: “Dolly is a diligent golem and has learned many tasks."

Anabelle read Dolly’s response to what Markus had said, “Wait a moment,” she took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing, “You are telling me that this golem has the ability to learn?” Anabelle demanded incredulously.

“More or less,” Markus agreed, “That trick from just before, where I flipped the coin?"

“Yes?” Anabelle asked timidly, no doubt realizing what he was going to say.

“It was the first time I tried it with the golem, to be honest, I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen," Markus admitted a little smugly.

“How is this possible?” Anabelle shook her head, her hands gripping the table tight for balance.

Markus shrugged, “I think it might be because of my Artificer specializations,” he said, but his tone was less than confident.

“Specializations? As in more than one?” Anabelle perked up nearly immediately, like a drowning person grabbing hold of anything that would float.

‘Yeah,” Markus tried to inject more confidence this time, “Zoe Chavare was telling me about them, she seems to think I might have more than one and that’s why I can do things like this."

Anabelle was silent for a minute, no doubt regathering her thoughts, processing everything they had talked about and trying to rationalize it. “Alright,” she agreed, “If what you are telling me is true, and if what you have shown me is real...” Anabelle looked at the golem for a moment, nearly jumping from her seat when it waved at her, “I think it might be best if you have an appointment with the Guild Chapter-Master."

“Why is that?” Markus asked, trying to remain calm. The whole reason for the chain of events that led them here was to avoid getting in trouble, not to go looking for it.

Anabelle shook her head, “This is all far above my station, as much as I want to think you might be pulling a cruel and elaborate joke on me right now, I can’t explain how you could manage that either. If even half of what I have seen is real, then the Guild Chapter-Master will definitely want to speak with you personally." Maybe noticing Markus wasn’t reacting quite the way she had intended, Anabelle raised her hands reassuringly, “You're not in trouble or anything and while I don’t think it's entirely a good thing, having a sit down with the Guild Chapter-Master isn’t a bad thing either. If he determines that you have abilities or innovations that can better serve the Guild, you can receive special allowances."

“Allowances?-” Markus asked, more than a little confused “-Do you mean like a stipend? or something?"

Anabelle sighed and shook her head, “No, although perhaps that may be offered as well. From what I understand, it is within the Guild Chapter-Master’s rights to extend special permissions and protections to individuals deemed valuable to the Guild.” Noticing Markus still wasn’t getting the picture, she elaborated still further, “Like special treatment legally or assistance dealing with the powerful noble houses."

Now that had Markus’s attention, “So if a nobleman was giving me trouble, the Guild could make them back off?” He asked warily.

As if understanding this was the only aspect of what she had said that had any real leverage to encourage his attending such an interview, Anabelle leapt on it, “Of course. The wealth and influence of even the weakest Guild Chapter-Masters are not to be underestimated. The political power they wield in the royal court is considerable, even the most powerful noble families will not challenge a Guild Chapter-Master openly."

“Ah,” Markus thought “There was a problem, the operative word, openly." Although he supposed it was worth the improved layers of protection for Arlee and Abigail, not to mention for Aela, who would always be in somewhat of a precarious position. Markus could at least meet with the local Chapter-Master for the Guild to see what the special allowance would cost him in return.

“You don’t even need to leave town,” Anabelle added, no doubt worried Markus was teetering on the edge of refusal, “We can arrange for you to meet him here in the Guildhall."

“Alright.” Markus agreed.

Anabelle looked taken aback for a moment, clearly having expected Markus to need further convincing. “Oh, erm, good! I’ll begin making the arrangements!” She seemed quite excited, perhaps looking forward to the opportunity to ingratiate herself with a future Guild asset, or maybe just to have a clearly defined task to distract her from the strangeness of the evening's events.

“Okay,” Markus got to his feet, it was probably about time he headed home. “I’ll leave that to you I guess?"

Anabelle bowed excitedly, the keys stowed in the pockets of her uniform jingling “Of course, leave it to me!"

Markus nodded, then motioned to golem Dolly “Alright, let's head home."

Dolly Curious: “Dolly did well in this task Creator?"

With time to mull it over as they walked, Markus had to admit it, as poorly as things had unfolded at the time, this was probably for the best and with that in mind. “Yes, I think you did rather well indeed,” he agreed.

Dolly Happy: “It is Dolly’s purpose to serve Creator, but knowing Dolly has done well brings Dolly joy."

Now that gave Markus pause. “Joy?” He asked, the half-formed ideas in his head already promising a less than satisfying night's sleep.

Dolly Diligent: “To experience happiness or elation."

Dolly Anxious: “Has Dolly done something to displease you Creator?"

“No,” Markus replied quickly, his mind now a flurry of activity not unlike a bee or hornet nest violently agitated to sudden and aggressive activity. “Just something I need to think about is all."

Dolly Relieved: “Of course, Creator."

Dolly Diplomatic: “Dolly will be expected in protected person Arlee’s room upon her waking. Exiting through the window is now understood to have been a much easier undertaking than entering through the window the same way. It is advisable that the Creator’s intervention is required to prevent the frivolous expenditure of mana reserves."

“You want me to let you in through the door?” Markus asked.

Dolly Respectful: “Yes please."

“Alright,” Markus sighed. There was definitely no way he was getting any sleep tonight.

Markus grudgingly admitted that he had been half right. Not managing to fall asleep until the first rays of the morning sun were well and truly peeking through his window shutters. Waking up now at around midday, he did not appreciate the accuracy of his predictions.

Markus had not slept well at all, his dreams so strange and fragmented that he had kept waking every hour or so before he realized why. Markus had not undressed before going to bed, and amongst other things, the tablet he had linked to the golem Dolly was still charged.

In his sleep, Markus had been fiddling with the enchantments, similar to how he had enabled the remote viewing on the larger crystal screen on his desk. But somehow his meddling had created a subconscious flow of information, fragmented images and sounds of the golems environment had been filtering into his dreams.

Markus shivered to remember how strange it had all seemed at the time. It was like a waking dream. In the moment, you did not question how you arrived from one place to another, but upon waking realized the strangeness of how suddenly events took place around you at the time.

One of the prominent strings of experience he remembered was the golem following a beetle across the floor. Innocent enough at first, it had started to turn strange when the beetle stumbled into a spider's web.

The golem had watched as the spider bound the beetle in webbing then retreated to the far corner of its web. Not too long after, a rat had darted across the floor and began sniffing at Arlee’s toys, not two feet from Arlee and Abigail, who were both sleeping in Arlee’s bed.

The golem watched as the rat drew closer to them, its nose twitching and sniffing eagerly as it approached the bed. Markus remembered feeling the golem’s anger and outrage as it stalked quietly across the room, its fingers balled into tiny fists.

The next thing Markus saw was the rat's limp body being pushed over the lip of the windowsill and into the street. The moonlight had made the view of the town seem so surreal that it had convinced Markus it had only been a dream. But then the second rat had scampered into the room.

The golem was not so pensive this time, immediately moving into action. The rat was startled by the golem's sudden appearance, but its relative size compared to the golem emboldened it. They tussled on the floor, the golem fighting for a hold on the rat’s neck while the rat clawed and bit with a desperation Markus had been frightened to witness.

Ultimately the golem came out the victor, its unflagging endurance and strength proving more than a match for the rodent.

Just like the first, the golem dropped the rat’s carcass into the street, where a curious alleycat eagerly pounced on its unmoving body and devoured it.

The golem and cat had watched one another for what seemed like an eternity. The alleycat no doubt waited to see if another meal would conveniently present itself, and the golem watched and waited to see what the cat would do. This was where Markus had woken up and the dream had ended.

Witnessing the golem’s actions had not been quite so unsettling as experiencing its motivating emotions, in no small part since Markus was very off-balance about the golem having emotions in the first place.

The righteous anger it had felt in protecting Arlee was some consolation however, the golem’s relationships seemed to determine its emotional connection, so at least it was somewhat rational. Although Markus was not entirely sure whether he had been imposing his own emotions into the scene or not either.

What had ultimately disturbed Markus most, was in trying to make sense of the events, he could find no reason as to why the golem had attacked the rats. Markus knew that rats harboured disease and could bite sleeping humans and get them very sick, but he was confident that the golem didn’t know that.

That was another thing that bothered Markus. The golem seemed to possess a not altogether insignificant degree of knowledge and understanding considering its incredibly limited duration of existence. The only answer he could think of provided little consolation at all, only raising more questions.

Gifts, the golem had thanked Markus for giving it gifts.

What if the reason the golem was behaving so abnormally, was because Markus had imprinted part of his mind or memories inside of it? Not so completely or thoroughly that he had created a copy of himself, but just enough that the golem possessed self-awareness and sufficient knowledge to construct its own identity? Or did it only possess damaged or incomplete versions of Markus’s memories? If it was filling in the blank spaces of its knowledge with fragments of his memory, it could explain why the list entries kept entering errors, because the golem was unable to differentiate the damaged memories from reality.

But if that was true, what else would the golem do that Markus wouldn't expect? It already demonstrated a budding eccentric personality to go along with its existing errors. What if its next eccentricity was not so benign? What if the next time the golem became angry it wasn’t wringing the neck of disease-riddled vermin, but a human? What would Markus do then?