Lotte was learning a lot about the world. About how mothers spoke to their children, about how children spoke to each other, and how people spoke to someone selling something. She was rapidly filling her core with information, mostly social. Which is something that she was sorely lacking. Cece never kept company until recently. Her guest under the designation ‘Eibon’.

Lotte rarely interacted with him, etiquette had been ingrained into her mechanical form and as a servant it would be strange to ask questions of a guest. Still she managed to learn quite a bit just from the sidelines. Like that Cece was a daemon.

Lotte knew very little about them. Her original specification included no information about them, why would they? What purpose would a service golem have for such a thing? However she could learn from her favored information source.

“Cece, what is a daemon?” Lotte asked Cece one day.

“Someone who has made a pact with a devil.” Cece replied, barely looking up from the book she was reading. Her hands were constantly flipping pages.

“Why would someone make a pact?”

“For power. Devils can give abilities that would normally be impossible, abilities that can’t be replicated with magic.”

“Are you a daemon?”

“Yes.” She replied nonchalantly. “But don’t tell anyone or else.”

“What would happen?”

“I would be killed and you would likely be destroyed.”

Lotte was forced to wait before asking another question. Technically she could break that rule, but only if it prevented her from learning something completely. Otherwise it didn’t interfere enough with her higher purpose enough to justify breaking it.

“Did you have to become a daemon?” Lotte asked. Cece took on a wistful look for a moment, her eyes drifting to the ceiling before answering.

“No. It was a choice.”

Choices were something Lotte ultimately didn’t understand. Her way of interacting with the world was a clear cut line of causality, her every action depended on the inscriptions written into her being. Her actions of course could vary based on what she was capable of and her understanding of a situation, and she could in theory make a “decision”, but it would be a choice based only on what is optimal. There was no preference, there was no real choice being made, if there were two equally useful options in front of her she wouldn’t be able to choose one.

“What makes something a choice?”

“Oh right, I forgot you wouldn’t understand something like that.” Cece hummed while considering how to answer. “A choice can have multiple meanings, but what I’m saying with it is that I theoretically had other options, it wasn’t the only possible way to reach my goal, and I chose it of my own free will.”

“Why can I not understand it?”

“Because you can’t make a real choice.”

“I can make decisions.” She corrected mechanically.

“You can make clear decisions, you can decide between option a and option b. If there were an encyclopedia you hadn’t read in a box that only opened if you pressed a button, you could press said button, but you can’t make a decision in the real world.”

“I don’t understand.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“You can only make decisions due to how little you understand. Your current goal is to learn as much as you can, but you follow me around for half the day, you have never run away. It would theoretically be optimal to explore the world on your own, but you have never even considered it, because you don’t understand just how many options you have.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t think you would.” Cece replied looking back at the book she was reading, the slightest look of disappointment on her delicate features.

The metallic joints in Lotte’s hands curled in on themselves in feigned confusion that she was incapable of actually feeling. She said nothing in reply at the time, but a string of inscriptions were formed every time she recalled the conversation, like right now on the streets of Pharum. Lotte watched the people walk by, more and more taking notice of the strange looks she received.

“Why do they look at me like that?” The part of her responsible for queries asked listlessly.

“Because you are unusual. You have seen a total of three other service golems, from this we can infer that service golems are not common.” Her question was answered by a basic logical leap, even if to her it was a hurdle. She pressed onward about to cross the street, when she heard a voice behind her.

“Excuse me young lady, could you help me across the street. I’m afraid my vision isn’t what it used to be.”

Lotte turned to reveal the smallest woman she had ever seen. She was very old as far as Lotte could discern and she assumed she was Pharumvian since that was the language she spoke.

“Of course, Madam.” Lotte agreed quickly, both because this was a learning experience and because she still had some service golem inscriptions. She took the woman’s arm.

“Haha, no need for madam. My name is Dayana.”

“I see. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“And what’s your name young lady.” Lotte paused. No one had ever asked for her name before and she was struck with something approaching realization. This woman thought she was a human. Her sight and hearing weren’t good enough to realize she was talking to a golem. She thought for a moment of revealing herself, but she realized quickly that this was a rare opportunity to learn what its like to be treated as a human being. She had to keep up the act.

Lotte was inscribed to mimic human sensibilities, but she had never truly put effort into doing so, lying was an alien concept to her mind, so she had to rely on raw improvisation. Inscriptions raged to life as she considered a response, and although she wasn’t skilled in lying she had a real human’s words to rely on.

“My name’s Charlotte, but you can call me Lotte.”

“Well It’s nice to meet you, Lotte. Do you visit Pharum often, your Pharumvian is very good.”

“This is my first time here.” Lotte said. Complete truth.

“Oh my! That’s very impressive then, you should be proud.”

“Thank you.” She replied, relying on her etiquette module. They had reached the other side of the street, so Lotte thought her task over, but Dayana spoke again.

“Would you like to sit with me a moment, Lotte?” Lotte knew from her etiquette knowledge that she would be expected to converse.

“Yes.” She agreed immediately. There was more data to collect. They quickly made their way to a nearby empty bench. Lotte sat left of Dayana, the humid breeze blowing by the two of them.

“So, where are you from?” Dayana asked kindly.

“Astraev.” She responded simply. “Are you from Pharum?”

“Oh my you’re far from home then, and yes, born and raised. Are you enjoying it so far.”

“I’m learning a lot here.” Lotte stated honestly. Her golem core was going to be full by the end of today if she kept going at a similar pace.

“Well that’s good to hear, what’s your favorite part so far?”

Lotte’s mind raced to try and figure out what to say. She couldn’t say the truth as she didn’t have a favorite anything. She settled on choosing randomly.

“The praying mantises.” She stated. There was a long silence from Dayana, before she burst into laughter.

“You’re a real character Lotte, I’ve never heard anyone say that before.”

“Do you ask people that question often?”

“Every now and again, it’s always fun to hear what people think of my hometown, especially with how much its changed.”

“Has it changed a lot?”

“Yes, it used to be a lot smaller, but in the last few decades its expanded a lot, especially with tourism.”

“Do you dislike that it’s changed?”

“No. Change is good, sometimes I miss the city from when I was a girl, but even if I could go back there, it wouldn’t be the same.”

“Wouldn’t it be exactly the same?”

“No, because it wouldn’t be the younger me living in it. Our experiences change us so much, I doubt I would appreciate being bossed around by my parents if I had an adult’s mind.”

“I see. So going back would be the incorrect choice”

“For me. Maybe someone else would be happy that way.”

“If it’s not the correct choice, why would someone choose it?”

“Everyone’s different, what’s good for me might not be good for another person. We all have to make the choices that work for us.”

“I see. Others have different parameters.”

“That’s certainly one way of putting it.” Dayana chuckled.