Draft 1.18
Golem Project In Progress
“Whatchoo two need?” the bear-shaped man asked, flopping down into a desk chair that creaked loudly under the strain. “Keep in mind, with the black-out going on, there ain’t so much I can do, Ethany. Nor do I got a lot of time.”
“Need to power a camera,” Wessel said.
Charlie’s gaze moved to the boy, and he wilted under the hard-set eyes. “That so?” he asked. “How old is this camera?”
Ethany wordlessly set the box on the desk. Leaning forward, the man pored over it.
“Old,” he muttered. “Old enough to have residual charge, but not old enough to have replaceable batteries. Good stuff.” He looked up. “I could jump it off at an old wiring port, but it’ll only work for a few hours. And if you’s got data stored in there, it might wipe it.”
Ethany didn’t immediately respond, instead looking to Wessel. The thought was clear. I got you here. This is your problem, you take charge of it.
He stepped forward. “We need the data,” he said. “The memory. I was robbed today, and this camera might have seen the robber.”
Charlie lifted an eyebrow. “Robber?” he asked. “We only been blacked out for a few hours.”
“It is what happened,” Wessel said.
“So if you want to restore the camera and use it as-is, you need newer tech. A fresh-fueled houseplant, one that works completely off-grid.” The large man clucked his tongue, glancing at Ethany. “That’s rare enough, and expensive. The only ones in town that got houseplants are the local prepared survivalists, and us folk making a living off the grid. You came to the right place.”
“So I can get one? A houseplant?” The beginnings of a grin were forming on Wessel’s face. With a houseplant of his own, he could restore Aizi to full power for a few days… probably until the city plant got back up.
“Hold up, kid. Ah, your name?”
“Wesse…” Wessel bit his lip. Giving his full name to this guy might not be the best idea. “Wes.”
“Wes. These things cost money. They’re uncommon enough in the city that your friend here dragged you underground. Get that?” His gaze meandered over to Ethany. “And if you was planning on calling in a favor, nuh uh. You still owe me since last fight. I don’t care if you are the Black Queen, them winnings didn’t cover the repairs we did.”
Ethany winced. “I thought maybe one of us could work something out.”
“If you had better plans, maybe your panther wouldn’t have gotten a leg torn off.”
Black Queen? Wessel shrugged off the words and the weird speech. It wasn’t why he was here. “I have a plan,” he said.
“Oh?” Charlie turned back to him.
“I get that camera powered up, we figure out who the burglar is, and me and my golem go stop him. We do whatever it takes to get back the stuff that was stolen.”
“Whatever it takes, huh?” Charlie asked. “You don’t have a thousand bucks on you, do you?”
A thousand? That was more money than Wessel had ever seen.
“Five hundred? One fifty?”
Wessel shook his head.
“Then I got nothing to offer you. Unless…” a gleam entered the man’s eye. “You and your golem were going to go stop this burglar, huh? How you gonna power that golem?”
Wessel felt something in his gut, and he shut his mouth. Charlie had figured out something, and Wessel wasn’t sure he’d like whatever idea had popped into the large man’s head.
“What I’m asking, kid, is if you got your golem with you. Go on and answer, it might be a chance for you.”
Wessel tightened his lips.
“What was it you said?” Charlie asked, leaning over the desk. “‘Whatever it takes.’ Sure, that was it. How about it?”
“How about what?” Wessel said.
“How’s about you try out your golem in the fights we got going on here?”
Wessel was on his feet before he could think of anything to say. He ground his teeth together.
“Easy, easy!” Charlie sat back in his chair, and it elicited a squeak of protest. “Look here Wes, I gotta make a living wage while we got power, and I’m short on competitors at the moment, since they’s all caught with their pants down by this storm. But if you got a functioning golem here with you, I can gift you a camera-sized power source as payment, no questions asked. We’ll be sure and handle repairs too, as payment for the fresh bloo— new introduction. Can’t have the fights getting dull, y’know.”
The words went in Wessel’s left ear and out his right. How dare this man? How dare he ask Wessel to sacrifice his partner for a payment? He was trying to save her!
“Hey, chill out Wes,” Ethany said. “You can just say no.”
“No fight, no payment, no houseplant,” Charlie said.
Wessel nodded, very slowly. “Then I guess…” he said, mulling it over. “I guess we wasted your time.” Without waiting for Ethany to follow, he turned and opened the door, leaving the office behind.
“Sorry,” he heard Ethany say. She grabbed the camera box and hurried after him. “Hey,” she called. “Wait up.”
“Did you know he would ask me to send her into the arena?” he asked, not breaking stride.
“I thought he might, but I wasn’t sure. Business must be rough today, ya think? With the power like it is. On another day, he might have gone for an IOU and given us the houseplant.”
“I thought you had a p-plan,” Wessel said.
“Okay, for real, hold up. Just a sec.”
Wessel slowed down, then stopped and wiped his face. He was sweating, down in this cool, rank-smelling air. The nearby golem-fighting ring had momentarily fallen silent, but for the buzz of a small crowd and the occasional laughter. Ethany caught up, stepping in front of him. When he didn’t meet her eyes, she rested a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know for sure what would happen. I didn’t know you cared for your golem this much, that you saw it almost like a human girl. I ain’t gonna dig into your personal bubble, but I do know this is important to you. So I’m going to ask something you might not like. Just one thing.”
Wessel kept his eyes turned down. “What?”
“If ‘she’ was able to have feelings, your golem that is, would she want to help you with this?”
Wessel frowned. “Why would anyone want to fight?”
“For the same reason you want to get that power core. Because you have things you gotta do.” Ethany pointed and thumb back at herself. “I come here because I need the money. I like it and it’s sorta fun to me, cause I’m different from you, but I still could find other stuff to do if it weren’t for the money.”
“She shouldn’t have to. You shouldn’t have to.” Wessel shied away from the hand on his shoulder, thinking. He just needed a better plan, one that would work for him, make him happy, Aizi happy, Ethany… he needed to get out of this place, too. He needed to get Aizi back to full functionality.
“Alright,” Ethany said. “That’s fine, I reckon. Let’s get going.”
Together, they left, back up the steep stairs and into the back alley. The sun had come out, and a rich wet haze rose from the drenched streets.
Still working his brain to try and find a solution, Wessel made for the garage that Aizi had entered. He rounded the corner and squinted into the darkness.
It went down. The concrete sloped down underground, like an old loading ramp. Aizi was nowhere to be seen.
She was supposed to wait, Wessel thought.
“She must be down there,” Ethany said, stepping past him without breaking stride. “No worries. We’ll pick her up and figure something out, before her power charge goes kaput.”
Wessel broke into a run.
“Hey, it’s not that big a hurry!” Ethany called, but Wessel didn’t slow. He couldn’t slow. The floor was steep enough that it kept him going, stumbling forward at unstoppable speed.
That was fine. He needed to find Aizi.
The dimness let up as the ground evened out, in another basement area of sorts. Light came from further down the passageway, steady, white, and clean. Aizi stood in a gateway that’d been reeled open, watching, listening. Wessel could hear the same sounds that had driven him crazy earlier. Metal on metal on stone, cheers, laughs, cries. The fighting ring. Was this another entrance?
Wessel tried to stop, but ended up stumbling into the rolled up gate, causing it to clatter. Aizi turned her head to him, her dim blue eyes flickering. She said nothing, could say nothing.
“What are you doing – all of the way – down here?” Wessel asked, catching his breath.
Aizi pointed through the gate, toward the fighting cage.
“Oh.” Wessel thought for a moment. “Did you hear all of that? Through our connection?”
Aizi nodded.
“You don’t have to do that,” Wessel said. “Don’t worry. I will never make you do that. It’s a horrible, terrible thing.”
Aizi’s eyes dimmed and then sparked to life, as if she were blinking at him. Then she turned and took a step toward the sound of cheering crowds.
“Wait!” Wessel said. He leapt in front of Aizi. “Didn’t you hear me?”
Aizi stared at him.
Ethany slowed to a stop behind the two of them, biting her lip. She said nothing, only watching and waiting from afar. Waiting for them to leave, Wessel assumed. Why was Aizi being so stubborn, ever since he’d turned off her voice? They needed to leave this place before Charles caught up with them again.
“We’re leaving,” Wessel said. “Come on.”
Aizi turned. One of her arms reached out, pointing at Ethany.
“What? She has nothing to do with this,” Wessel said.
Her arm pointed more insistently. Lower. To the left. Wessel stepped up next to her, lining up his sight with the extended arm.
“The camera?”
Aizi’s fist closed, and she nodded.
“We’ll find another way,” Wessel said.
Just like that, Aizi stepped back and tapped Wessel in the back of the head with one finger. It felt like he’d been slapped. He tripped over her foot and stumbled, almost falling flat on the concrete.
“Ow!” he cried out, then turned around. “What was that for?”
But Aizi was already walking down toward the light, toward the fighting. She looked back over her shoulder and the light in her eyes flared, her stiff movements grew more agitated.
“What, are you crazy?” Wessel called. “Did powering you down make your program break?”
Aizi stopped at that. She turned around, and Wessel heard the crackling of power as Aizi retrained her higher functions to work again.
“Hey,” he said, jogging forward. “You will lose power.”
A voice entered his head. “Do not tell me not to serve you, Wessel Johnathan Cote.”
Wessel’s full name, one he’d only ever heard from his mother when he was in trouble, caused him to flinch and stop in his tracks. Suddenly, Aizi’s gaze seemed piercing, angry. She couldn’t feel emotions, right? She wasn’t angry with him, was she? And why would she be?
The words came again, motherly but stern, “It is not your place to protect your golem. I am here to protect you. I will fight this battle for you, for the Golem Project, and for my creators. I will feel no pain, and suffer no loss.”
After a pause, in which Wessel looked at his feet, churning with emotion, Aizi said something else.
“You are a good person, Wessel. Never change that.”
That said, Aizi’s processors cycled down. Her stance sagged, and then righted itself as she took a halting step forward. She seemed even more drained than before she had spoken, and Wessel’s heart dropped.
It was because of him going against his own plan that Aizi was struggling, and because of him that she might be hurt. She was right. He should have used her, no matter how it hurt.
He had to enter her in the fight. There wasn’t time for anything else.
“She’s… not ordinary, is she?” Ethany asked.
Wessel turned, blinking away tears. Ethany had moved closer, looking past him at the golden golem with awe.
“She thinks. Was… was she speaking to you?”
“Don’t…” Wessel took in a sharp breath. “Don’t tell anyone, please.”
“Mum’s the word.” Ethany’s eyes suddenly widened, and a grin split her face. “She’s determined to fight, then? To help us out?”
Wessel nodded. “Well, come on, then,” she said, marching past him to follow Aizi. “If she’s as special as I think she is, I’ve got a plan.”
Kyle Adams 