In a shop in a town there lived a Golem. 

For any other golem ‘lived’ might be a misnomer, but not this one. Out of the six clay golems owned and utilized by the Summer Breeze café, only the sixth could think for themselves. Between the myriad of different magical constructs employed by the most advanced races, there was only one sentient Golem. 

… 

Once the last customer of the day had left, the old Elf could finally close and lock the café’s doors for the night. It wasn’t that Tenna didn’t still enjoy his vocation, but even elves age (albeit very slowly) and he was finding it more and more difficult to keep working late. The golems were a great help, but no golem could do math or socialize with the patrons. 

“One day I’ll be able to just leave everything to you all, eh?” Tenna chuckled, clapping one of the clay golems on its porcelain-clad shoulder. The golem, predictably, did not respond and just kept on sweeping the floor. Disappointed, but not surprised, the old Elf shuffled toward the back and up to his residence upstairs. 

Once out of vision, the Golem stopped its sweeping. After around 16 years, No.6 knew the owner’s routine very well, and nothing short of a break-in or some cacophonous noise would force him back down the stairs with his stiff joints. That left No.6 with the entire night to do as they wished — within the limits of the café’s area.  

No.6 like all their “siblings” in the café was an average clay golem, built into the crude approximation of an elf’s lanky proportions. They stood just under 1.9m tall, with a body composed of magically animated unhardened clay covered in white porcelain plating connected by linen at the joints. The porcelain was decorated in the style of the Summer Breeze café, a minimalistic flowering vine pattern. 

The Golem passed their broom to one of the other golems that had finished their own tidying work and headed towards the kitchen. Having the entire night was both a blessing and a curse, as No.6 had learned very swiftly after figuring out their own sapience. None of the other golems showed any signs of higher cognition, or really any cognition at all, which meant that No.6 had to keep themselves occupied on their own during the nighttime. At first it was exploring every nook and cranny in the café, until there was nothing left to look at. Then it was the books in the owner’s library upstairs, which No.6 had to be careful to return each morning before Tenna woke up. The Golem managed to teach themselves how to read, as words in elvish and even the human Solean script seemed to come naturally to the artificial person.  

Now, it was Enchantment Circles. Apart from one incident where a sorcerer tried to threaten Tenna, enchantment circles were No.6’s only exposure to magic. There were circles heating the ovens and igniting the stovetops, circles that kept the pantry cool, and above all there were complicated circles that animated every golem. Tonight it was the stovetops that No.6 was interested in – they lifted the burner cage, studying the sigils inscribed into the stone slab on top. The purpose of each line and geometric shape made sense to the Golem. Making fire was relatively simple, it just involved releasing energy from the embedded mana stone at a gradual rate. The really clever part of the stove was the dials on each front – turning them operated a mechanical lever that adjusted the enchantment circle, either thickening the main channeling line or breaking it entirely, which would change the strength of the ensuing flame. 

No.6 crouched down, reaching underneath a wooden counter and retrieving a stick of charcoal they had stashed there the week before. Moving to an area of empty floor, they began to draw. The outer circle was first, and a Golem’s steady hand drew it perfectly. Next were the reaction lines, pulling mana from the outer ring and distributing it throughout the sigil. Finally, a main reaction line struck straight down the center of the formation.  

No.6 leaned back and examined their work. The charcoal marking on the floor in the dark would have been impossible to see for even Elven eyes, but a Golem’s vision rune worked differently from normal sight and could easily perceive it. The enchantment circle was a perfect reproduction of the one on the stove, apart from the lack of a mana stone in the center of the formation. Without a mana stone powering it, the circle was inert. Slowly, deliberately, No.6 reached out with one porcelain-covered finger and tapped the exact middle of the circle. The charcoal began to glow, then spark, and a moment later a small candleflame flickered into life.  

No.6 watched with satisfaction as the flame danced lazily about. They had been practicing this sigil for several weeks now, and now could produce a stable flame each time. If they could speak they would have chuckled, but they did not have a sound-producing glyph with which to vocalize.  

How many self-taught enchanters have managed to create fire. No.6 thought with some pride. The functions of the various parts of the circle just made sense, and they had worked based on those principles. Still, it had taken a while before they could perfectly reproduce even the simple fire glyph from the kitchen. Even with perfect stable grip and fluid motions it was difficult for No.6 to apply the proper pressure, leading to lines of fluctuating width. Despite knowing the enchantment circle’s width by memory, in their early attempts the angles of the reaction lines had been wrong, so the mana was distributed unevenly and inefficiently.  

After snapping out of their prideful daze, No.6 reached out with their finger once more and gently rubbed out a small portion of the outer circle. With the mana circulation interrupted, the flame was snuffed out.  

Standing up, No.6 double-checked that the curtains had all been drawn fully. It was the job of golem no.4, but No.6 knew that the simple golems don’t always notice if they had not accomplished a task properly without being told. It wouldn’t do if a passing nightwatchman noticed strange lights in the café at night. 

After quelling that particular concern, No.6 knelt back down and picked up the charcoal again. They drew another fire enchantment beside the first but did not touch it to light it. Then they drew a third circle, and a fourth, until they were encircled by small enchantment circles. Finally, they redrew the rubbed-out part of the first enchantment. 

“Why did you draw so many?” Asked an imaginary voice. No.6 liked to imagine a conversation partner that they could explain things to – it helped to organize their thoughts. The voice they had chosen had was feminine, a bit gruff, and above all: friendly and encouraging. 

“I am testing my ability to infuse enchantment circles with mana.” The Golem imagined themselves answering. “I can activate my circles without using a mana stone, which probably means I am using some of my own body’s mana. I wish to see if I can activate multiple circles at once.” 

Reaching out once again, No.6 activated the enchantment circles one by one. One after the other small candle flames flickered to life, until the Golem was surrounded by little flames. They felt a curious mix of pride and disappointment: pride that they had no problem drawing and activating a dozen enchantments in a row, but disappointment that they felt no different. Clearly these small flames had no impact on No.6s own mana capacity. The first enchantment circle, they noted, was flickering erratically now, probably as a result of the redrawn gap in the circle making it imperfect. 

“Not bad, that’s twice as much as you’ve made before.” The voice praised. “And what have you learned?” 

“That redrawing broken enchantment circles is not as simple as it seems.” No.6 pictured themselves responding, though without a mouth it was mostly hand gestures. “Judging by the lack of any discernable difference in my body, I think I could make six dozen more candleflames without any problem.” 

“Or one inferno sixty times bigger.” Came a laughing, boisterous answer. “You could burn down this entire district.” 

“I’d rather not, thank you very much.” No.6 shook their head, but if they had a mouth it would have been smiling. “I rather like it here.” 

No.6 wiped sections from each of the circles to extinguish the flames. Such a small amount of fire was not dangerous for a clay golem, apart from maybe cracking one of their porcelain shell sections, but No.6 had already nearly set a tablecloth on fire once and didn’t fancy exposing themselves in that manner.  

The Golem moved to take a washcloth to rub out the charcoal etchings with, then had an idea. They walked to the adjacent storeroom, where the other five golems stood still and silent. No.6 took a mop and placed it in the hand of golem no.4 (who was nearest). After being tapped on the arm three times, the golem took the mop and held it. No.6 led the other golem by the hand, which followed obediently into the kitchen. Tapping them twice in the center of the forehead triggered the golem to start cleaning the floor.  

The Golem watched their golem sibling mindlessly cleaning what they had been drawing a moment before. Even if they were both capable of speech No.6 didn’t think their siblings would be particularly good conversation partners. Not for the first time they considered waking up Tenna and revealing themselves to their owner. The old elf seemed kind, and perhaps they could help No.6 figure out where they came form and how it is that they were self-aware.  

But… No.6 was scared. They had seen other golems get replaced after they became defective. What if Tenna was frightened, rather than sympathetic? What would happen if a sapient Golem was more trouble than they were worth? No.6 had been wrestling with these fears for years now. 

No, better to be safe. Once they could master enchantment magic then maybe they could deal with something bad happening. 

Towards that end, No.6 stepped up to golem no.4 who had by now finished mopping away the charcoal from the floor. No.6 held onto the other golem’s shoulders, holding it in place, and then straightened their hand flat and passed it up and down in front of their sibling’s faceplate. A sigil flashed, and now No.6 carefully removed the chest plating. It was a series of actions they had seen the hired enchanter do when inspecting the golems, including themselves. 

Inscribed onto the golem’s chest was the enchantment circle that animated them, but it was far more complex than the ones No.6 had drawn that night. The basic structure was still there, but enlarged to twice the size of a dinner plate. Within it, multitudes of smaller circles interacted with one another. All of this was engraved with an exotic-looking ink that glowed faintly in the darkness, a vastly better mana conductor than the charcoal No.6 had been using. In the middle of it all a fist-sized mana stone pulsed with magical energy, held in place with a metal clasp that could be easily undone to replace a depleted core.  

No.6 slowly traced the shapes with a finger, following the magical stimuli that passed between the enchantment circles. They understood what was happening as they watched it but knew that reproducing such a glyph was far beyond their current skill level. 

“You’re out of time.” A whisper startled the curious Golem. Looking up, they could see faint light filtering in from behind the curtains.  

I lost track of time. No.6 thought to themselves, hurriedly replacing no.4’s chest plating and leading them back to the storeroom. Before joining them, however, they remembered to pick up the (now slightly wet) charcoal and put it back where it wouldn’t be found. 

Finally satisfied that their cover was safe, No.6 stepped into the storeroom and stood silently next to the simpler golems.  

Only now, after the immediate danger had passed, No.6 wondered about the whisper that had alerted them to their blunder. It was the same voice they always imagined speaking to, but they were sure it hadn’t come from inside their head. There was no way though, right? 

Why would she be there at that time of night? 

Zrooper

And here we go! Finally introducing our main character, Golem No.6!

Hmm, that name's a bit of a mouthful, I wonder if something will be done about that...?