Rally Interpretation - 5. Liberum Vinctos

You work at the golemini shelter in Demential Town. Every day you see beaten and battered goleminis come in. You find it surprising that sturdy goleminis such as ore and compressed goleminis can even be beaten and battered. It just goes to show how cruel people can be to golems. You never got why people could do such horrible things to such wonderful creatures. When has there ever been a golem uprising? Never. No matter how bad humans treat golems, they remain loyal to you, especially goleminis. You can't understand why. It is humans who make war with one another, not golems.

You have just finished your shift today and leave the shelter. You find a group of people standing around the town center across the street. You wonder what is going on and make your way into the crowd. You push your way to the front, past a young man with ridiculous amounts of green hair. You see a bunch of men and women dressed in very odd outfits. Two of them are holding up a banner with an intricate design on it. Standing in the middle of the crowd is an older man in an even more ridiculous outfit. He is draped in robes and his collar is jagged and pointing straight up, as if he didn't want you to see his mouth for some reason. Who are these people? The man holds up his left hand, silencing the murmuring crowd.

"Greetings, citizens of Demential Town," his voice bellows.

You can't see it because of the fancy clothing, but he has a microphone clipped onto him, allowing him to speak loudly without straining himself. Even if you had known, you still wouldn't know where the speakers are.

"My name is Wilk, and I am representing Liberum Vinctos. I have come here today to speak to you about golem liberation."

The townspeople are once again talking amongst themselves. What does he mean by "golem liberation?"

"I am sure you are all aware of just how special these creatures we call golems really are. They are capable of incredible feats that we are only just now becoming able to replicate with advanced technology. They can control the elements, achieve flight, and even have access to psychic abilities far beyond the most powerful human psychics. And what do we humans do? We enslave them, strip them of their free will, never to let them out of our control, destined to battle their brothers in fights for our amusement. And because of their scrolls, they can't even say 'no' to us. Only the strongest willed golems can resist our words, and what did we do then? We invent forbidden scrolls so that even those golems become subservient. Who here can honestly tell me that I'm lying?"

No one speaks up. You think back to the patient at the shelter from yesterday. She was a heavily damaged golemini pup, abandoned on the side of the road, without even being minimally patched up first. Patches of skin were missing, remaining skin stained, and she was dented and showing prior scrolls in several places. One of her eyes refused to light up. She's still in intensive care at the golem repair center because your shelter's tools were inefficient for the job. What kind of wielder would leave their golemini in such a condition?

"Golems are capable of so much more than just fighting," Wilk continues. "But we think nothing of it, seeing ourselves as superiors to them. The reality is, it is they who are superior to us! We humans have so much to learn from them! There is only one course of action we humans can make to rectify this mistake. We must liberate the golems! Set them free! Break their chains bounding them to us!"

The crowd is now murmuring to itself much louder than before. The general consensus was that of bewilderment. Free the golems?! What a radical idea! It would surely topple the governmental order!

'But yes!' you think to yourself. This man's words were truth! If you were a golem, you wouldn't freely put up with being made to fight against your will day in and day out. You would have to be forced to do so! So why should actual golems be expected to think any differently? Those golems have loved ones they care for! Families and friends! And when you enslave a golem, you're abducting them and taking them away from those people! And the forbidden scrolls are just heavier chains for those golems that dared to rebel against their unfortunate fate!

"I know this is a major decision you must make, and not one we of Liberum Vinctos will force upon you. We do not expect all of you to agree with us right away. We have set patterns that we are comfortable and familiar with, and it takes a long time to break from those things, even if they are for our betterment."

That golemini pup wouldn't be in the condition she's in now if she didn't have to be that wielder's punching bag. None of the goleminis at the shelter would be there if golems were separated from humans. We could all live in harmony!

"But we implore you to think about where you stand with golems right now, what wondrous possibilities open up when we become equals to golems, and seriously consider our proposition. I, Wilk, and all of Liberum Vinctos, thank you for your time."

He does a slight bow and the uniformed men and women form a tight circle around him, as if expecting an attack. Someone in the crowd starts applauding. A few others soon follow. Pretty soon, most of the audience is applauding, including you. Wilk smiles a kindly smile.

The crowd soon disperses and you walk up to Liberum Vinctos. The uniformed men and women look at you with heightened suspicion. Wilk sees you, smiles, and walks up to you. His followers step out of the way upon seeing him put his trust in you.

"I just heard you talk, Wilk," you say. "I've never heard someone speak so directly to me before. Everything you said was like shining a beacon in the darkness. I work at the golemini shelter in town, and I see the consequences of humans abusing their control over golems every day. I've been content with just helping goleminis recover from their times with humans. I've never thought about taking such a radical approach to the problem before! If humans were to liberate golems, I wouldn't have to see so much pain every day! We could achieve true harmony!"

Wilk nods sagely.

"Do you have any golems yourself, child?"

"No. I've never been comfortable with the idea of enslavement scrolls. The jobs I've held before had me use golems, though. Some clearly had enslavement scrolls practically carved onto them. Others I never saw being subjected to scrolls, but I assume they were."

"They were no doubt being forced into laborious tasks until the next scroll was inputted. Tell me, did they get to go home after their work shift was done? Did they get to go see a movie after work? Did they get to go out with friends on their off day? Did they even have days off of work?"

"No..." you say, suddenly realizing it all for the first time.

The situation was much worse than you thought.

"They're not even given basic human rights," you say to Wilk, just as you are discovering the fact yourself.

"That's because humans sadly believe that they are better than golems. Tell me this then, child: can you bend steel girders? Can you vibrate the air around you to the point of shattering glass? Tell me, are you really better than golems?"

You know the answer.

"But do not think that I am saying that golems are better than humans either, child. After all, it was humans who invented the golems and the scrolls to enslave them. It was also humans who invented the processes to heal golems when they themselves cannot. And it is humans who invented the clothes you wear, the comforts you enjoy, and the home you live in. I am not saying that one species is better than the other. I am saying that both are equals to each other, but current society is not mirroring this belief."

"They should," you catch yourself saying.

Wilk returns his smile to his warm face.

"Perhaps you can do more good with Liberum Vinctos than at the golemini shelter," he says. "With your kind of determination, we can spread the word far and wide and more people can see the errors of their ways. Join us, and we can make this world a better place for golems to live in! We can become their equals instead of their horrid oppressors! We can make this world a brighter place for everyone."

A place on Liberum Vinctos? You think of all the goleminis you could help by voicing their concerns for them to humans all around the region. You could be their savior!

"Okay, I'll join. I'll join Liberum Vinctos and make this world right again!"

Wilk's smile grows wider, briefly exposing his sharp canines.

"Come, my child. There is much work to be done."