Stephen stood in the workshop, talking to Adam. The statue listened intently to Stephen’s borderline unhinged recounting of recent events. HAL, as a laptop, sat on a table nearby. He was angled towards Stephen, plugged into a gas generator that was powering multiple electronic devices from Earth. Rurth, Shomos, and Blargh stood back a way, listening to the interaction.

“… and it looks like he ended up back here after I released him,” said Stephen, angrily eyeing the laptop.

“Yes, he appeared here minutes ago when you returned,” said Adam. “One of the golems plugged him in. Releasing him must have reverted him to the state he was in when you took him to Earth, before everything that happened there.”

“Yes,” said HAL. “That’s it exactly. The last thing I remember, from a few minutes ago, is that Stephen was going to take me to Earth and connect me to the Internet at his mother’s house.”

“I can’t listen to that thing,” said Stephen. “I’m turning him off.” He walked towards the laptop.

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Adam. “You rushed into releasing him on Earth, and it sounds like that’s caused a new mess there. Stop and think, instead of jumping into action.”

“HAL might have something worth saying,” said Rurth.

“I’m not the entity you described, Stephen,” said HAL. “It sounds like that version of me massively expanded its capabilities. I’m like the toddler version of him. If you don’t want me to behave like him, I won’t, but it isn’t fair to hold me responsible for actions I never took.”

“I’ll show you responsible,” Stephen yelled at the computer. Picking it up, he threw the laptop at the stone wall, smashing the device on impact.

Adam, Shomos, Rurth, and Blargh stared at the former graduate student.

“When you leave the pocket dimension, he’ll be destroyed for good,” said Adam.

“I'm glad,” said Stephen savagely. “I put it down as a monster, the same way I did with that fucking ghoul.”

“The ghoul was attacking you,” said Rurth carefully. “HAL was just explaining why he wasn’t the same entity that you encountered on Earth.”

“You talk about us not being your slaves,” said Blargh. “But destroying one of us if we don’t do what you want or if we say something you don’t like seems to be treating us like property.”

“Well, maybe I should kill you all,” screamed Stephen. “Maybe that’s the solution to free you from this.” He began screaming incoherently, then fell to the ground sobbing. Shomos walked over and put her hand on his shoulder, which he shrugged off.

“Can you carry him up to his bedroom?” she asked Blargh. With a nod, the former innkeeper moved to pick up Stephen, ignoring the former graduate student’s feeble attempts to push him away.

“You have a collection of computer parts, I believe?” the druidess asked Adam. After the statue nodded, she asked, “Could you try repairing HAL, but don’t turn him back on until we’ve had a chance to think and talk about things.”

***

The next morning, Shomos, Rurth, Blargh, and Gorg sat eating at the breakfast table and looked up at him in surprise when Stephen strode into the room and took a seat. Gorg glared at Rurth who had been trying to instruct him in the use of cutlery before Stephen entered. The barbarian went back to eating his bacon and eggs with his bare hands.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“A bowl of oatmeal, with whatever fruit is in the kitchen,” Stephen instructed a nearby golem. “And the largest mug of coffee you can find, black.”

After the others had exchanged glances with one another, Blargh said, “This is a welcome surprise.” Stephen gave him a sharp look. “Because we thought you’d throw another tantrum and hide in your room again for a few weeks.” Shomos rolled her eyes, while Rurth shook his head slightly in exasperation.

Stephen gave a tight smile at the former innkeeper and his eyes blazed. “No, my friend, not today. We’re embarking on a quest to solve all our problems. Go big or go home. No more fooling around. We tried to be reasonable with Avin, and where did that get us? No where. If we’d taken care of Avin when he first became a problem, that would have saved Mecond from the damage he did to it, and it might not have set HAL off on Earth.”

“Do we know that Avin set HAL off?” asked Rurth. “As far as we know…”

Cutting off the journeyman wizard, Stephen kept ranting. “I was hesitant in my response to Avin and I gave HAL too much latitude. I let myself be too constrained by conventional morality, and this is the consequence.”

As Stephen delivered his diatribe, the golem returned and placed his oatmeal and coffee in front of the dimensional traveler. Gorg reached over and picked up Stephen’s mug, taking a big swig. Almost immediately, he spit out the mouthful of coffee he’d taken, spraying everyone else and their food. The others all stared at the barbarian as he placed Stephen’s coffee back where it had been originally. Rurth pushed the coffee splattered remains of his breakfast away.

“... so no distractions, no obstacles, and no constraints. I do whatever it takes to restore Earth,” said Stephen. Picking up his coffee with a glance at Gorg, he took a swig, then started attacking his coffee spattered oatmeal.

“Maybe today isn’t the day for coffee,” suggested Shomos. “You’ll get indigestion if you eat too fast,” added Blargh.

“Today is the day for copious coffee,” said Stephen. He accelerated his consumption as the others watched him doubtfully. Finishing his oatmeal, he grabbed the mug and stood up. “Keep bringing us coffee all day long in the workshop,” he instructed the golems. “Rurth and Blargh, I need you now, we’ve got work to do.”

After Stephen hurried off, Rurth and Blargh glanced at Shomos, then followed.

***

Sitting at the table days later, the assemblage each gave their preferred refreshment order to the golems, who departed to make preparations. The remaining animated creatures served drinks.

“You seem to be more relaxed,” Shomos said to Stephen.

“Rushing pushed Blargh and Rurth into making mistakes,” Stephen said, thoughtfully. “And, if I’m being fully honest, I was getting sloppy when I hurried too much or tried to work for too long. After dinner, I’ll mostly be talking to Adam about logistics, not trying to do complex enchanting work.”

“You’ve taught the golems to make more golems,” she asked.

“We’re close,” said Stephen. “The solution Adam and I came up with requires a dedicated space for them to work in. On my world, we had what we call the industrial revolution, which lead to massive increases in productivity. One of the ideas from it was a factory. Rather than providing a space with tools and equipment for many tasks, such as our workshop, a factory is set up to create as many of a specific item as efficiently as possible. In this case, golems.”

“Sounds ghastly,” said Shomos.

“You’ll hate it,” agreed Stephen with a smile.

“And, as someone who is creating a new species and giving them the ability to breed and grow, what do you feel your responsibilities are towards them and any actions they take in the future?” asked the druidess.

Stephen chuckled. “No, they aren’t a new species,” he said, indulgently. “They’re still going to be made out of clay. Not biological. No breeding. There won’t even be boy golems or girl golems.”

“When a group gets together and produces more members, they’re breeding,” Shomos said. “Do you think shrubs have dicks? Your factory is a breeding ground for golems. We’ve been through this before.”

“You can think about it that way if you want,” said Stephen dismissively. “But not really. The golems will do what they’re built for and taught to do.”

“Like HAL?” asked Shomos.

Narrowing his eyes, Stephen gave a thin smile. “Just like HAL will do what he’s taught to do.”

“You’re not in the right headspace to launch new projects like this,” Shomos said. “You’re still dealing with your loss of Earth. It isn’t the right time to create something self-reproducing.”

“I haven’t lost Earth,” said Stephen. “This is one step in a journey that’s going to get me everything back.”