Chapitre 10: Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7: Tasks

"That should keep it from becoming too messy by the time the wall is repaired. I'll call in the replaster golem after we finish up on teaching you your job in this massive network."

Kresha grumbled for a while about the messy hallway before eventually taking Arkyn back to the first hallway they had walked through, the ones filled with miscellaneous parts and crystals. She touched a rune inscribed by one of the many entryways and the dim lights inside became much brighter.

"Alright, now where did I put . . . " Kresha muttered to herself and eventually found what she was looking for under a pile of solid iron tools.

She brushed the layer of dust off the hefty item before shoving it into Arkyn's hands.

It was a manual as big as his torso, weighing over sixty pounds. It was coverbound by sheets of dull grey metal that reinforced the thick pages inside. He opened it up to see each sheet was actually a thin piece of treated leather, worn from age but made to last well beyond the lifespan of simple paper.

He turned through some of the leather pages and found detailed model drawings of a golem.

Each page had a specific image and dimensions of the part, including what runes were written on said part and in what order the runes were to be inscribed. Further in the back of the large book, it showed how each piece would connect with indications on how they moved. By the very end, it was a completed design image of the golem.

After a few more flips, Kresha snapped her fingers at him to look back at her. Holding a small wrench with a double plated end to keep it durable after long use.

"Each one of these rooms has an Assembly Manual exclusively for each type of golem that operates here. This room should have all the necessary tools to help repair a sorting golem, while the others should have the stuff for a miner, a sweeper, mover, you get the idea."

"Your job is going to be learning these manuals; understanding what their runes are programmed to do; and repairing or replacing worn out parts. Tools are spread throughout these rooms and if you need parts from the Storage Cavern, just send one of the mover golems."

She stepped back into the hallway and pointed at a golem that looked like a small horse with no head, only an arm sticking out of the neck with a grey coloured crystal. It resembled a sorting golem at the front and had a flat sheet of metal on its back to carry large loads.

"One of those guys. Each part has a listed number, and they will get it if you tell them verbally. Be clear though, if you try restarting halfway through your request, they will just get whatever the closest part number was to your stutter and waste both your time and patience."

Judging from the squint of frustration gathering in Kresha's eyes, Arkyn could tell it had happened frequently.

Their discussion continued on about the type of abnormalities he would have to learn about, and determining what would need salvaging versus recast in crucibles. After a few minutes though, a faint grinding sound had been slowly increasing in volume, interrupting the explanations.

Once the source of the sound was only a few yards away, it was almost impossible to hear anything over it. Kresha stepped outside for a moment and returned with the cause in tow.

The golem was a large rectangular golem that Arkyn recognized as a debris collector from the mines. Every time one of its wheels in the treads moved, it seemed to hop like it was disjointed.

Kresha quickly took the casing off with several flicks of latches and a twist of some strange dial. Inside the tread base were several gears and belts that spun on an axle spun by a little box with a tiny crystal inside.

"That's the battery that moves every." She pointed at the little box, "The magic energy is converted into kinetic energy and spins all of these little guys. Which in turn, created that annoying sound."

She tapped on the box twice, and the crystal grew dim before she plunged her hand between two gears.

"And here is the source." She yanked a scratched up pebble from underneath the gears, revealing the prize to Arkyn before tossing it aside. "Shit, it managed to drain out all the lubricant too."

The rock had managed to puncture the bottom and drain out all the fluid that kept the friction to a minimum and the grinding noise nullified.

"Well here is a little trick you can use in the event that there is no oil extract left from plants in the Harvest Cavern." Kresha said while pulling out her metal flask from the usual pocket. "This stuff has the perfect density to keep this stuff lubed."

She poured some of her flask in the gears, making sure the hole was plugged beforehand and finally finishing it all off with a rag to spread out the distribution across each gear carefully.

"This stuff is called Fangbell, it's somewhat of an organically grown medicine, and it has a nice soupy density that keeps these guys rolling without fully destroying their moving parts. Easy to make in large quantities so long as you are prepared for it."

"I see, will I be growing the materials required to make the Fangbell?"

Kresha shook her head. "No, that's a task more vital for myself to do. You just let me know when the storage looks a little low, and I will grow some new batches of bloaters."

"Oh, same goes for Pyck, she doesn't leave the Harvest cavern and is rather complicated to operate. I'll be handling her as well. "

"So aside from a few squeaky gears here and there, none of the golems should need maintenance yet."

"In the meantime, I should probably find some clothes to put on you, as much as I am enjoying the scene, I wouldn't want any surprise guests stopping by and seeing what looks like a man just strolling nude in my lab. That'll start up a whole misunderstanding and a long line of questioning."