6
The little spider golem hopped around Milo like an excited puppy as he explored the Workshop’s rooms. There were more than Milo had expected. One wing was devoted to storing components. He could see automatic arms hanging from the ceiling which looked to be for sorting and shelving.
In other rooms, more workbenches lay dormant.
He started to guess there had been a crew of around fifty working at any one time. Browsing through the rooms, he could almost imagine it.
The spider golem gave a sudden whir of gears and clicked at him as he headed back towards the main area.
Looking down, Milo saw it twitching its arms.
“What is it?”
The spider golem skittered towards a wall and tapped twice on it with one arm before pointing at a small panel Milo had almost missed.
The crystal in it was gray, so it hadn’t initially stood out from the granite.
Putting a hand to the crystal, he heard a buzzing sound deep within the wall.
Requesting Access to Security Features.
“Huh?” Milo looked up, suddenly worried that access wouldn’t be granted. And the Dwarven Keep seemed very serious about its security. Serious enough to attack him with a saw again. “Look, if it’s too important, you don’t need to do that…”
Access Granted.
Something in the door made a crunch. Then the stone grated slowly open to reveal a small room with a single stone chair facing a wall covered in dwarven glass. He guessed they were more screens.
Stepping inside, he paused.
There was no saw dropped down to try splitting him in half.
Reasonably sure he was safe, he moved further inside as mana lights flared to brighten the room.
The chair was very chunky. The arms were wide and looked to have a range of switches, crystals, and slots. There had once been cushions, but those had been reduced to rags after the centuries this place had been abandoned.
“I’m going to need more cushions,” he muttered as he took a seat on the cold hard stone.
The spider golem let out a mechanical chitter and skittered towards an alcove in the world. It scooted up the granite to disappear into the alcove.
Milo watched it go, not sure what was happening.
But the thing seemed to want to be helpful, so he didn’t ask questions. For starters, it didn’t seem to be able to speak.
“Workshop, what is this place for?”
The Security Room functions as a monitoring station and information gathering to assist Engineers in model improvement and operational testing.
“Right,” he said, trying to understand the vague statement.
He heard a little whir as the spider golem returned from within the alcove with a small crystal in its arms. It leapt down and skittered over to his chair before climbing deftly onto the arm and holding out its prize.
Taking the offered crystal, Milo looked at it.
It looked to be quartz. Cut into a rectangular shape similar to a wafer.
And conveniently the same size as a slot in the arm of the chair.
The golem tapped the slot with one of its forelegs, reinforcing the idea.
“I get it,” he said, sliding the crystal into place. It clicked.
And then one of the screens flickered before a strange face appeared on the glass.
It was a round face. Similar to a human, but definitely not. The nose was bigger. The eyes smaller. And his ears were thick and pointed.
His hair was black, slicked back with some kind of gel.
And he wore a pair of goggles which had been pushed up over his forehead.
Milo’s jaw dropped open. He knew the being on the screen could only be one thing.
“A dwarf!”
The dwarf started speaking. To Milo, it was gibberish, but he hung on every word with fascination. No one had ever heard the dwarven language. But here he was, listening to a dwarf speaking.
The language sounded gruff, but also musical. Many sentences ended with an “ah” sound.
Then the dwarf held up a machine core and tapped it with his finger.
The core cracked.
And then the dwarf started shouting while waving the damaged core around. Milo didn’t need to know the dwarven tongue to know what he was listening to.
This was an artisan. And he was angry about the quality of the machine core.
Milo couldn’t help but smile as the dwarf ranted.
He couldn’t be sure, but he had a feeling that if he played this recording back a few times, he’d learn more than a few ancient expletives.
Finally, the dwarf scowled and leaned forward.
And the recording ended.
Leaving Milo to sit back in the chair in shock. He’d never seen such technology before. That the dwarves had the ability to record messages into crystals like this was an incredible discovery.
If the mages discovered this, they’d…
Milo’s lips pursed as he thought about it. They’d probably bury it.
It seemed impossible to think no one had ever discovered something similar in the Dwarven Keep. Surely Milo wasn’t the first to find a screen like this.
Which made him grimace.
Students went missing all the time in the Academy.
What if they didn’t all go missing because of traps or moving rooms? What if some of them found something and reported it?
Milo tapped his finger on the arm of the chair.
Was he being paranoid?
He stared down at the spider golem. The spider golem stared back at him. It seemed tense.
“You’re a useful little thing,” he told it. “I should give you a name. I’m not good with names, though.”
The little golem let out a whir of gears and chittered happily.
“Click,” he said. “I’m going to call you Click. Is that alright?”
Proposed Golem Designation: Click.
Designation Accepted.
Looking up at the ceiling, Milo nodded. “And I think you need a name, too. I don’t know that I like calling you Workshop. It makes you sound like a thing.”
I am the Workshop, Engineer.
“And I am the Engineer,” Milo countered. “But my name is Milo. I’d prefer if you called me that.”
Proposed Engineer Designation: Milo.
Designation Accepted.
“Do you have any preferences for a name?”
I am the Workshop, Engineer.
“Yes, that’s what you are. But who are you? That’s two questions, see?”
The Workshop is not an entity.
“If you’re not an entity, why did you refer to yourself as one? You called yourself I, remember?”
I am the Workshop.
“We’re going in circles,” Milo muttered. “You’re making this harder than it should be, you know. You’re clearly aware in some way.”
I am the Workshop, Engineer.
“And now I think you’re being sarcastic.
” Milo waved a hand. “Alright. I’ll name you for you.
Pick one of these two names. Binky was the name of a dog I owned when I was little.
He was a bit dumb, but I loved him. And Fed is the name of my former master.
He’s a clocker. And he’s very respected.
I learnt everything I knew from him. You sound feminine, but I’m sure you wouldn’t mind having a name that’s a bit masculine, right? ”
Proposed Workshop Designation: Fed.
Designation Accepted.
Milo grinned. “Why did you choose Fed?”
Secondary name is acceptable. The Workshop is not a pet.
“There. I knew you were more aware than you’re pretending to be.”
Milo pulled the crystal out of the arm and looked at it. Click skittered on the arm, spinning itself around and lifting its back up.
“Now what do you want?”
The shell casing on the golem popped open with a little clink to reveal another slot. Milo remembered putting it together, but hadn’t understood the purpose.
He looked at the crystal in his hand.
Then at the little construct waiting for him to insert the crystal into its slot.
He thought of how it moved. How it had retrieved items. How it had crept through the little alcove.
Sneaky.
Like a rat in the wall.
He imagined it sneaking through the Keep, recording everything it encountered. Bringing that crystal back here. So Milo could see what it had seen.
Hear what it had heard.
His eyes widened as the implication hit. “You’re a spy!”
With a whir of gears, Click’s body fluttered and it nudged back at him, clearly wanting the crystal.
He slotted it in place and the construct gave a happy chitter before closing its shell and dropping down onto the floor. Then it looked up at him, unmoving.
Waiting for orders.
His mind raced as he wondered what to do with it.
“Fed, is Click a spy golem?”
Construct Click is designated for observation and retrieval of minor items.
“That’s a yes, I take it,” he muttered. “But I have no clue what to do with him right now.”
Strongly Advise: Construct Click to be assigned for search and retrieval of Machine Cores.
“Machine cores?” Milo raised an eyebrow. “Why would he need to do that? Don’t you have some in the warehouse?”
Negative. Machine Cores are not stored in the Workshop.
“So, when you said I could make hundreds of golems, you’re telling me they can’t function because we have no machine cores?”
Affirmative. Recommend retrieving Machine Cores.
“Where are they stored now?”
Status of Machine Core Vault is unknown.
“Right. Of course it is.”
He pressed a hand to his head. If there was a mysterious vault filled with machine cores, he’d need to find it. But there was a real possibility the mages had already found it.
Cores were integral components for their wands and staves. And there seemed an endless supply of them from somewhere.
He would need to find the supply source first.
And then?
He looked down at Click, who seemed eager to engage in nefarious acts of espionage and theft.
Like a little mechanical magpie.
“Alright,” Milo said. “It looks like I might have a job for you…”