Science and Sorcery by Christopher Nuttall

his notes, feeling something he suspected was akin to human frustration.  Four days of research in a public library had answered some of his questions, but the answers had somehow opened up more questions.  At least he’d been able to charm the librarians into leaving him alone, allowing him to remain in the library overnight.  Unlike a human, Golem didn't need to sleep, any more than he needed light to read books. 
     
    Two of the librarians were also researchers, or so they’d explained, and it had been simplicity itself to convince one of them to assist him.  The other had a trace of magic, enough that Golem had decided to keep his own magic quiet around him, even though he suspected that the librarian didn't have the slightest idea of what he could do.  There was so little magic in this world...no, he corrected himself, there had been so little magic in this world.  Right now, all the reports his researcher had found for him in local newspapers – and something called the internet – suggested that the magic was definitely coming back.
     
    It was odd that werewolves had been the first to discover what their ancestors had been, thousands of years ago.  Golem actually suspected that the modern world had a mental block when it came to considering magic, judging from the tone of the first news reports; it was quite possible that magic had been coming back for some time, only to be ignored until it became impossible to avoid.  Some reports actually suggested accidental magic, including a vague report of three kids being burned to death at a school.  This society didn't think to test its children for magic at an early age, nor did it segregate mundane children from those with magical talents until the latter had learned control.  Someone – accidentally or otherwise – had managed to trigger a spell and killed three children.  It wasn't the only unexplained death over the last two weeks.
     
    The real question was what, exactly, should he do.  Enchanter hadn't given him very specific instructions, pointing out that the world might be very different and any instructions might become invalid.  The only real order Golem had been given had been to protect the world against the Thirteen, an impossible task unless he received help from other magicians.  Human magicians, those with the ingenuity to do more than recite spells by rote.  Enchanter had bent or broken a great many rules when he’d created Golem, but he hadn't given him a human soul, or a spellcasting ability equal to a trained human mage.  In hindsight, that might have been a mistake.
     
    It was clear that the locals didn't have the slightest idea of what was actually going on.  The news reports on politics made that clear, even though the news appeared to be hideously slanted one way or the other.  Golem had read an article attacking the President and praising one of his political opponents, and then another article that did the exact opposite.  It made no sense to have a system which seemed to work by throwing mud at the other side in the hope that something would stick.  Maybe a human could have understood it, but Golem found it strange and unworkable.  And then there was the endless series of political codewords, none of which made any sense at all.  Why didn't they just say what they meant?
     
    He’d have to talk to the local government, but to whom?  Back when he’d been created, anyone could go petition the local king for an audience, yet it didn't seem as if the President allowed visitors from the common folk.  Golem suspected that he could break into the White House, but there were so many technological surprises in place of the familiar wards that he doubted he could do it undetected.  Enchanter had designed him to be indestructible, yet Enchanter had never dreamed of machine guns, laser beams or flying objects that flew under their own power.  No, he would have to find someone else to talk to, and quickly.  Matters were