Golems don't sleep, apparently.

The room grew dark as the copper sun set in the evening. Gas lights came on along the street - at first making me think the place was on fire, but either by magic or some automatic spark - the lamps lit up the streets outside - while people hurried home to their husbands and wives.

Only, one particular wife was in for a long wait.

*AEGIS, you have been very quiet since the altercation with the men outside. Have you lost the ability to communicate?* The Interface asked.

"No. I'm just... Sad."

*Are you distressed about the death of the man you sought to defend, but failed at the critical moment?*

"YES!" What a way to throw salt in the wound ...

*AEGIS, you realize that there were at least 20 overwhelming factors against you. Beginning with your own damaged state, your lack of weapons and experience, the motivations of the criminals against that man, the fragile state of the victim ....*

"I KNOW" I yelled. It was evening and the Sarman's were probably about to go to sleep - I immediately regretted the outburst.

*And yet, as you say, you are sad. Why? The probability of success against such odds was less than 15%*

"You don't get it." I whispered.

*Get . It? I'm sorry my speech parser does not understand those combinations of words. Was there something we needed to procure?*

I held my face in my hand.

"'You don't get it' - is the same as saying 'you don't understand'" It was easy to forget I was talking to a machine, no matter how intelligent it seemed.

*If you were aware of the odds of success, why did you attempt to save that man?*

I sighed.

"I - I - thought this was a game." I managed to whisper.

*... Processing ...*

*You believe that you were performing some sort of recreation? Our sensory devices did not find any patterns matching any known games or other recreational opportunities in the situation across the street. Are we perhaps more damaged than I have currently estimated?*

The Interface sounded puzzled. And ... worried?

"No. Your perceptual gizmos and AI patterns were accurately modeling the situation. I meant, I thought I was in a game. That this" -- I gestured to the darkened room -- "All of this since I've awakened, was some sort of game. I am not from this 'world'. I'm from a world with televisions, video games, and movies. I'm supposed to be in a space simulation."

*... Processing ...*

* ... Processing ... *

*I'm sorry. I am unable to understand your statements. Request permission to access your memory engrams*

I blinked. CLICK

"Um, will it hurt me? Will I lose those memories?"

*Negative. I will convert memory patterns into training algorithms for my AI subroutines. You will not get ... hurt*

"Oh well. Knock yourself out."

*Agreed. I shall go offline for the duration of the memory acquisition and training*

"No! Wait!" I reached out with my hand to the darkness, futilely.

Nothing.

For the first time since I had been "reborn" I was alone. Completely alone.

I laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

The light from the gas lamps outside, and the occasional clopping of a horse drawn carriage doing who knows what so late at night lulled me into some kind of trance.

Despite sharing a "mind" with an intelligent AI all this time, I was still very sad. And now alone.

I had failed. Failed that old man. Failed Clarissa and Gier.

Failed myself.

And for what? So I could swagger around in a metal body and kill people with a touch? Did I .. did I kill my creator? Was I a monster in this world? What the hell was going on?

"I wish I had someone to talk to." I whispered. Maybe that would recall Interface.

Something stirred at my chest.

Bud, who had jumped down off the bed, but was still close by, woofed in his sleep.

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The necklace. It was ... buzzing. I could feel it vibrating against my chest. The room was growing brighter with a clear blue light. What did I do?

'Interface, help!' I whispered.

~Interface ... as you call it ... cannot hear you right now~

WHAT. WAS. THAT!

I had heard a voice. A woman's voice. But, it wasn't in my head, and it hadn't been a sound. It was like having a daydream and hearing a conversation across a wide open field.

A beam of light shot out of my necklace. I clutched at it - trying to get it off, but the strap seemed glued to my body.

The beam was like a moonbeam on steroids. It was filled with glittering particles, all different colors, yet the light was blue. I laid there mesmerized as the particles danced and formed all kinds of different patterns. Shapes, words, sounds? Smells? Was I having some kind of psychotic break? I wondered if I was still actually lying in that salt water pool back in my world, and they had just administered some kind of drug to wake me up.

"Sorry doctor. It's not working" I whispered.

Suddenly the sparkles and light ... gathered? Coalesced?

Floating above me was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had a round face, with almond shaped eyes, framed by short curly hair that splayed out impossibly far - like she was underwater or something. She was dressed in ... light? It looked like a flowing gown, like almost a sundress , and it moved like a gentle breeze was flowing, but the room was still. The curtains didn't move.

She chuckled and put her hand to her mouth as she smiled. She was very cute. I felt extremely vulnerable and self-conscious all of the sudden.

~I'm no doctor. Though I AM here to help you, Aegis.~

I rubbed my eyes. Why did I do that? They were mechanical. Plus, one was still seriously glitching out. My vision would go from 3d to 2d as my eye would try valiantly to keep working, only to wink out. It was seriously damaged.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

~I am ... Bright. Yes, that is my name. That is what HE called me~

For a moment the light within her flared. The room suddenly became filled with blue light. She was like a fiery blue sun. I squinted. My damaged eye blinked out. It was kaput.

The light faded suddenly. Her hand was to her mouth again and she looked worried. She was just so cute when she did that. My heart fluttered.

~Oh! I'm sorry. I damaged you~

In a heartbeat she had zoomed up to me - filling my view with blue light, and her face. She touched my eye. Or at least her hand overlapped my eye. She was like a ghost.

A shock rang through my body. It was like someone had taken a spear and shoved it through my eye and out the back of my head.

"OUCH" I cried out.

~Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm not very good at this, I guess~ she drifted back slowly. Her arms were bent toward her face, almost like in prayer. Her eyes were closed.

"No, wait! Don't go! Oh.. wow! You fixed my eye? How? How did you do that?" I asked, bewildered.

I was blinking furiously. For the first time since I had "arrived" my vision was clear. No static. No 2d - 3d shifting. I looked at her as if for the first time. She looked like a fairy, or a ghost princess?

She looked at me shyly. She was smiling. Her mouth was small compared to her face, but her lips were like a little bow. I realized I'd do just about anything to keep her smiling.

~That was magic. As I said, I'm Bright. I've missed you Aegis. You seem ... different somehow. More alive.~

"Different? I'm the same person I've been since I got here yesterday. Or was it the day before?"

Bright looked surprised.

~Yesterday? You say you've only been here since yesterday?~

"Uh huh. Is that ... a bad thing?" I looked down at Bud. He was sound asleep. So much for being a guard dog.

Bright giggled.

~No no. That means ... HE did it. He found you.~ she smiled and drifted down to the foot of the bed. She appeared to be sitting, but her dress and her ... body ... imperfectly overlapped the fabric. It was like she was a hologram.

"Are you real? Am I just imagining you? Who's HE?"

~So many questions. But I guess that's to be expected. ~ she turned to look at me with serious eyes.

~HE is our creator. Kendranen Mir. The wizard you made you, and ... me~ She pointed to herself with two thumbs and grinned, showing perfectly blue-white teeth.

My jaw dropped.

"He MADE you? But you're a girl. Like a floating space princess."

She giggled again. Oh man.

~You have such funny words.~

She sat up straight, stared off into space, and pursed her lips. Gesturing with bent arms like she was pretending to be some serious old man.

~Bright, you are a construct of magic and life. You are the Mana source for Aegis. You complement his Spirit and Golem parts. I trust you to keep him from falling down a well or blowing up the castle~

She glanced at me with mock seriousness - her eyebrows frowning and her lips downward in an exaggerated face like a two year old might mock her serious father.

Then, her whole body brightened and she clutched her stomach and laughed. She was so bubbly and cute. Her light flared as she laughed.

"So, you're like a fairy in the necklace?" I asked

She arched an eyebrow.

~I'm no fairy. I'm a gazillion times more powerful than some ole dumb fairy. And I'm not in the necklace. I'm in the castle. The necklace is a .. a .. in - ter - face.~ She struggled to find the word.

A thrill of excitement flowed through me. What the heck was this? So, now I had a magical girl ghost as a source of mana?

I heard a clunk outside the door. A brief glance outside revealed that the morning sun was starting to peek over a distant building. Had I really been up all night? Ughhhg.

Bright jumped at the sound like a startled cat. She flew toward me and drifted nose to nose. Her little nose was slightly upturned. My heart melted.

~Listen AEGIS. You have to come to the castle. This necklace won't last too long without recharging from the source. ~

"What's the source?"

She bopped my nose. I FELT THAT!

~Me, silly. ~ She smiled and turned her head sideways, like a dog hearing a high pitched whistle, then disappeared in a cloud of colored sparkles - like a huge bag of glitter just exploded all over me.

I coughed.

The door opened slowly.

Golden curls.

"Can, can I come in?" I heard her say.

"Um, yeah." I suddenly felt very self conscious. Like I had been caught doing something I shouldn't have. Why was that? I realized my sadness had abated. Bright was ... incredible.

She walked in tentatively, then her face became serious and she pressed her arms to her hips like an angry mother. She had on - not a dress at all, but what could only be what passed for pants in this world, a plain white shirt, and a leather vest. She looked like some kind of pirate queen or Lara Croft adventurer. I was very surprised.

"So," she said accusingly. "Who have you been talking to all night?"