Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle

He stared at her. “Interesting! It tried to kill you! I’ve never seen it do that!”

Agatha winced as she rubbed the cut on her arm. “Kill me? No—I don’t think so. It could have just put a knife in my eye.” She checked the cut on her leg. “These are fairly superficial.” Indeed, both of them had already stopped bleeding.

She turned to Moloch. “And I did speak to the Castle in the crypts.” She paused. “The voice in the kitchen—that must be one of the secondary systems it mentioned. I should have realized that its memories would be fractured as well. I’m going to have to…introduce myself to each one. And convince them, too, I suppose.”

Moloch glanced back at the kitchen doorway. A cleaver shot out and imbedded itself in the opposite wall. “Yeah, that’ll work.”

Agatha considered this. “So this is the only ‘live room’ in this area?”

Moloch nodded. “Yeah. That’s why we stay here to eat and sleep.”

“I’ve seen artificial intelligences before back at the University. Unless it’s something very limited, like a clank, they tend to take up a lot of space. If this one is confined to one room, I’m betting it’s not very…sophisticated. I think that once I find systems that operate over larger areas, it’ll be a bit more reasonable.”

Moloch eyed her. “Reasonable, it’s not. It’s broken.”

Agatha smiled. “Well, that’s why I’m here. Once it’s repaired, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Moloch scratched at his beard. “Yeah, but how are we gonna do that? They’ve been trying for how many years? We don’t even have—” He stopped short. “Wait—did I say ‘we’?” He stared at Agatha in horror. “No way. What am I saying?”

He stepped back and ran a hand through his hair. “You listen to me. I am not your minion!³⁸ Forget it! No, no, no, no, no!”

Agatha waved a hand. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Most of the people in here are either Sparks, or the loyal minions of Sparks who were too stupid to stop fighting for the losing side when the Baron arrived. I’ve seen where that gets you. I am nobody’s happy little helper, you got that?”

Agatha nodded solemnly. “I got it.”

Moloch crossed his arms. “Good.”

Agatha sighed. “So I should get started. Where can I find some tools?”

Moloch indicated a set of bins against a wall. Agatha discovered they contained a wide assortment of worn but serviceable tools as well as a rack of tool belts and cases. She spent several minutes selecting and loading a sturdy toolbox. Finally satisfied, she grasped the handles and discovered that it now weighed easily fifty kilograms.

Moloch snorted and pushed her aside. With a few deft moves, he weeded out two-thirds of the items, selected several different ones, and slung the box’s strap over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

Agatha nodded and off they went.

Several minutes later, they were striding down a long corridor lined with dials of widely varying sizes. Agatha was able to identify numerous pieces of meteorological equipment along with pressure gauges and counters that seemed to record various aspects of the castle, its inhabitants, things that were taking place in the town below, the flow and movement of the river, the clouds above, and things that moved unseen beneath the earth. There were clocks that kept different units of time, measured the rate at which the local crops grew, the speed of various planets, and disturbingly, one that clicked back a notch every time she breathed.

She gazed at it all in wonder and felt a growing excitement. Who knew what wonders were here, waiting in this castle? What things of mystery and magic had lain here, unseen for years, just waiting for her to arrive and claim them?

Her foot caught and she stumbled, but Moloch caught her and steadied her. “Snap out of it,” he said. “You can gawk or you can walk, but don’t gawk and walk at the same time. It’ll get you killed.”

Agatha nodded. “You’re right. What else should I know?”

He scowled. “I don’t know where to start. Usually you’d report to Professor Tiktoffen, and then you’d—well, I guess you’d work with me in the kitchen, and I’d bring you up to speed over time.”

Agatha shook her head. “Forget that. It’s better if I don’t talk to anyone before I head deeper into the Castle.”

“Yeah, I’m guessing that other Heterodyne girl isn’t your sister or something?”

Agatha snorted. “Only if sisters try to kill each other.”

Moloch barked out a laugh. It was the first time Agatha had heard him do that. “You’re an only child, aren’t you?” Agatha looked at him blankly. He continued, “Fine. So you running into her would be bad.”

“Very bad. In fact it would be better for you to forget that you knew me.”

Moloch rolled his eyes. “If only I could.”

Agatha glanced at Moloch. For absolutely no reason she could understand, a wave of fondness washed over her. He certainly hadn’t asked to get caught up in her affairs and her time with Master Payne’s Circus had shown her how ordinary people felt about being forced into proximity with those who possessed the Spark. She lightly patted his shoulder.