Naumi wasn’t sure whether to reply to the statement on humans; just because she didn’t understand them didn’t mean she hated them. There were plenty she liked: Hekate, the Castleguard… and… … that was it, really. Humans made things that gave Naumi comfort, like food and housing, so she couldn’t hate them; they wrote books, so she couldn’t hate them; they didn’t hate her, so she couldn’t hate them, even if she didn’t have the friendship of most of them. A lot of people are put off by the fact that they can’t always tell her emotions— that she doesn’t make them all obvious— and that she tends to talk too much in conversation, or that she can tend to info-dump about golems for far too long. Most people don’t bother to keep holding a conversation. Maybe it was a good thing she met a human who listened to her this long; she couldn’t hate humans if a human like this existed, because that meant there were more like him. Humans don’t always have one-of-a-kind personalities.
Take Hekate. She’s not the only mother figure Naumi’s had, but she’s the most prominent one, the one Naumi regards the highest and talks about the most. There’s plenty of people who are brilliant tacticians and have a record of perfect victories, and are also motherly or watch over children in their spare time. Or the Highest— not the only self-absorbed regent in the world or in history. So certainly, there were other people who would become interested in Naumi’s work enough to let her talk endlessly about it, and her research, her ideas, her experiments in building. She just… had to figure out how to spot those people, and how to know whether or not they would react all-right to her coming up to them and asking, (Have you been saved by— wait, no, that’s something else—) “Do you like golems?” Most people wouldn’t take well to that, which she’s found out, so she often keeps silent…
… Oh, was it so strange that Naumi gave him money? It was a common thing to do in Therrata— to take in strangers and provide when they needed it, if they were needy of it; at least, Naumi remembers it being the norm somewhere in her life, even if it wasn’t the norm of the central city. Now of course, to Naumi, money was no object. She had everything she could want provided for her in the castle, using Hekate’s funds, so when she did private commissions she never knew what to do with the money. It just sat away, unused, rusting. “It isn’t a problem. I don’t have anything to spend it on,” she shrugged. “And by now, we aren’t entirely strangers, so it’s fine.” Though… “…But I don’t know your name yet, do I? I’m Naumi Izimael.”
“What is your name?"
Rail didn’t feel an attachment to people in the manner he did with his possessions. The things he owned he took pride in, but people were merely something expendable for the sake of his own interest… His parents, Solomon, even the small group of elite people that followed his every whim weren’t of much importance to him in the end. As long as they made things interesting, he would bare with them, but at the same time he was perfectly complacent with the thought of being left alone to his own devices… Solitude sounded like a grand idea on some occasions, hence as to why he so conveniently made his lab back in Ignobilis underground. Less people bothered him and he could do whatever had his attention the most at the time. Perhaps there were a few he liked more than others… The Prince, Vaiyon, and maybe even his dearest Commander that always put him in pain were a few examples!
But he wasn’t going to believe that they cared about him when he doubted he did genuinely. His care was based on his own selfishness, not because he was a good person. Because the devil knew very well he wasn’t; he stole the Cheshire Cat’s smile and sewed it onto his twisted soul. The only difference was that he was actively creating his own interesting little world compared to that cat who only led a poor confused girl along so someone would soon take care of her for him.
It was all just one big game to him– Humanity, emotions, weaknesses and strengths. To be aware of these things, more-so detached from them, meant that you could so easily win if you desired to! And it was most certainly true– Rail could have complete control over what he had created in his own country with the snap of a finger… He just decided against it. He’d allow people to step on him for his own amusement until the time came for a change of tides.
But for now, in this country, he’d have to be a good boy. Or… As good as someone such as himself could possibly be. "Mm?” Her question left him tilting his head a bit, seeming to contemplate his answer… But his response was obvious right from the start. “Well, I certainly find them interesting.”
And that was all anyone needed to hear from him to know he would stick around to learn more, to give himself the knowledge that curiosity of his craved. Interesting was the keyword, a catchphrase with him almost. Once that single word was spoken, it was basically assured he’d stick around until he was content.
“You’re a kind person, Miss Naumi ♪” Too kind, honestly. No doubt the person she spoke of before put this kindness to their own use if they weren’t an idiot. “I’ll have to repay you somehow or another… But kindness aside– my name is Rail Gillard. It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you!!”
“No. She isn’t scary.” That was Naumi’s assessment of her, anyway. Naumi was ever oblivious to the steward’s aura of deceit and manipulation, only recalling the soothing tones, and remembering the warmth of one of few hugs Naumi ever allowed. “Though, she isn’t normal, either, I suppose— what with being one of few mages not imprisoned in the Winter Circle." And the one who conceptualized its idea. "She also has a record of perfect victories in every battle she is a direct part of; a tactician unrivaled. I don’t know any more than that about her. You would think that she would have records in the royal archive, but there aren’t any records of her there.” There weren’t any of the Highest, either— at least, none mentioning her true name.
“That is true,” Nau admitted, regarding the bitter statement about humans, though she can’t find herself getting offended by it. “Humans are often quite self-aggrandizing and consider themselves far more powerful than they really are. Even the most powerful mages are fragile given the right conditions. Golems have limits, too, but they have more use and can take more punishment than humans can. Even a D-rank golem is made from material that won’t tear like human flesh and sinew will; given the right circumstances, golems can live forever. My enchantments will never wear out, so even after I’ve died, my golems will continue to carry out my work whether they are in pieces or not. They could be far more useful if they had some type of self-regenerating metal or bone plating, like an exoskeleton, but stronger. Humans would be obsolete in the labor force, the military, the factories. Do we need humans so badly that they take to referring to themselves as gods? Perhaps this is the reason why they need to constantly reassert themselves; they would already have become obsolete if they created those which are greater than them.” Naumi forgets that humans are needed to build the golems in the first place.
Money… yes, money! Why didn’t Naumi think of it earlier? She was so focused on the locations of inns, she forgot about money! “I can lend you enough money for three nights,” she said, “but you can also earn money by working a job within the city. The inns pay the least to a worker, but most also include room and board for those in their employ. The factories pay the most, but are the most dangerous. There are a variety of median employments, including a smith, jeweler, armorer, author, brewer…” She could go on, and would have, but it was taking a bit to remember all of these professions, even if she did have an exceptional memory. “The currency is called thaign, as in, ‘to thine own self be true’. Luckily for you, there has been an economic boom in Therrata partially due to Hekate’s planning and the Highest’s moderate economic control.”
With that, the inventor stepped away from her guest long enough to fetch an envelope from inside a drawer of her desk; the desk seemed to be overflowing with these same kinds of envelopes. “Each thaign is worth the same as two gelts, and each gelt is worth five feigns, and each feign is worth one hundred pence; in all, each thaign is worth one thousand pence. The largest currency is the sheck, worth ten thaigns and ten thousand pence.“ She handed him the envelope; money from a commission lay inside, amounting to around five thaigns. “This should be enough for a couple of weeks’ stay in an inn. It shouldn’t be hard to find work after that.”
"Ohhh, so it’s like that.”
Someone with power over things and yet no one knew anything about them? That sounded less like Commander and more like himself, ironically… Though he wasn’t much for fighting. Granted he could most certainly do so if the time came, Rail was more or less a person that would submit and give into beatings like the masochist he was. Honestly, he was lucky for the experimentation on himself going well, otherwise he would have surely been dead by now without that slow regeneration. Commander was the leader of the Protectors in the country he lived in, though Rail himself ran his own small group of individuals to do things according to his own agenda. The Order didn’t answer to Commander, not even Solomon– They were his own people that could of been considered on the same level of people that worked alongside T2G. The only difference was, of course, Rail could put a simple word in and protect them if they happened to get caught doing what they did.
Not that they did. The Administrator chose his subordinates well.
“Truth be told, I don’t really like humans. They’re really boring creatures that are so predictable in actuality…” Rail mused aloud, seemingly in response to the other’s words. The male himself had no respect towards humanity, he merely coexisted with them for the sake of being able to have that which he found so interesting. It was difficult to find humans that were interesting to him, but OH, once he did, he wasn’t going to allow them to escape him when he so desperately needed interesting things to keep him going. “But as boring as humans are, without them, this world wouldn’t of turned into the interesting place that it is, so they have their pros and cons.”
Bright verdant hues blinked a bit when the other suddenly offered to give him money, followed by suggesting he find some way of getting a job here in this place. Sure, he planned on staying here for a while and figuring out how this place worked… But he certainly didn’t plan on taking orders from anyone aside from Solomon. Ah, but then again, if this meant something interesting could be provided, he was willing to bend his so called rules a bit for the sake of knowledge and entertainment! The tyrant he worked for wasn’t around to know, so it wasn’t as if he’d return to the man whining at his feet like the child he could be. (Certainly, Justice’s maturity came from his late mother.)
There was a slight nod of Rail’s head as he took in her explanation, accepting the envelope she offered to him and looking inside at its contents. Foreign money, huh– He should save some to take back with him to show to Vaiyon, actually! That guy was interested in that sort of thing. There came a slight hum then, Rail then pushing himself to his feet to stick the envelope within his back pocket. “Are you sure about giving a stranger all this money, missy? You sure are an interesting one.” A good thing in his case, but for her? Well, this was going to be a test of patience for her if her reactions from before was any indication.
“The magic to speak other languages is instantaneous— if you hear the language once, you can immediately translate it. Also, when working with a multicultural army, one might say a command that all can hear in their native tongue; or when attending a party and speaking with a minister of foreign nations, having someone who can speak all languages is invaluable to make your own country seem better than the others. It requires almost no practice like learning a new language does, and is usually coupled with the magic to read and write in new languages without practice. Though I’ve only seen one person like that— the Highest’s vassal and steward, Hekate. She has the ear of the Highest,” Naumi shrugged, as people do when stating something already obvious. “She’s also the head of the military, and the Royal Castleguard and Dragonguard. Usually only the Highest and the head of military can command those. She’s the one who makes sure mages in high positions are well-protected, considering she’s a mage, herself.” Probably to ensure they don’t have the desire to leave the castle.
At the least, Therrata wasn’t the neanderthal age; there were plenty of people interested in the human body and how magic affected it, and there were studies upon studies, theories and theories about the body, the organs, the bones and the muscles. Naumi herself was familiar with how human organs functioned, since of course, you need at least a rudimentary understanding in order to effectively create a homunculus. So, a golem— or rather, an android— with independent thought and emotion? If that was possible without magic, then could it be possible with magic?
But why would somebody be threatened by giving these beings human emotion? Naumi watched the golem by the door, standing still as a statue. “I don’t understand it very well. Just because it belongs to humans suddenly means that other creatures can’t have them, like how some people insist animals can’t have magic just because they don’t use it the same way, despite published studies on the very topic. I don’t understand why they call it sacred in the first place, considering ‘sacred’ means belonging to a god.” Of course, this could either be referencing emotions, magic, or the organs housed inside their bodies… Honestly, Naumi shouldn’t be allowed to have privileges of royal protection sometimes.
As for inns… Naumi thought for a moment, trying to decide which inn to tell him about. There were so many just within the central city itself; though eyes and ears of the Highest lurked everywhere, surely there wasn’t need to keep track of this one stranger. After a pause, Naumi finally spoke up, “The inn closest to the castle is the Bearded Lady, and the one farthest from the castle in the central city is the Hammered Smith. The Highest has people working to scout for mages everywhere in the city, and keeps high bounties for mages and severe punishments for sheltering them. There aren’t any places free from this until you reach Lissenta, but that’s a bit far. Personally, I would keep my magic a secret if I didn’t want to be bothered while sleeping.”
‘Hekate sounds like a Commander reincarnation…’ Rail mused internally, mind seeming to wander a bit at the thought. Though, of course, there were different names for the people said person led. The Protectors could of been considered a mixture of all three of those, not to mention said individual was Solomon’s assigned protector to remain by his side in the case that someone made an attempt on the man’s life. There was a problem with that, unfortunately, considering Rail doubled as some sort of advisor to the man on occasion, so the Commander was forced to tolerate his presence on occasion more than he wished. (Hey, it’s not like Rail intended on such. It wasn’t his fault he had the skills and intelligence to know what to do to lead your country well and make sure they didn’t do anything to fight back.)
Excluding T2G. Those guys sure were something…
“Ehhhh– Is she supposed to be scary? She sounds pretty normal to me.” Granted his definition of normal was rather off from the norm other people had for it. He found himself surrounded by those that were far off from the norm, but for this being the average day for him, he couldn’t find himself to be surprised… Even in this place, wherever it might have been located. That wasn’t even important. What WAS important was that it successfully captured his interest, thus this meant he was going to satisfy that curiosity of his here and learn to his heart’s desire. Solomon hardly needed his help, Commander would have been glad he was gone, and Vaiyon could take it easy.
(Well, that boy was empathetic. He’d be sure to inform him of his absence once he settled into this city somewhere.)
“Whether you choose to believe it or not, that’s how humans work. Whether you have magic or not doesn’t matter, you still are HUMAN. Humans will always put themselves on a pedestal and will always think they’re better than other things. If something shows some similarities to them, who rule the world, their first instinct is to feel threatened and to make up an excuse as to why it’s not allowed to be.” Truly, to Rail, the human race was something to be pitied… But they were interesting, of course, so they weren’t a total lost cause in his eyes! Manipulating their selfishness, fear, and greed to give himself something amusing to watch was something that could make up for their many faults. Naturally he had faults too, sure, but he was more or less the one no one thought much of because he was always in the shadows.
Oh, little did they know.
Digits drummed against his cheek contemplatively, humming quietly in thought as he maintained eye contact with the woman. Rail certainly wasn’t a coward and would of naturally chosen to stay closer for interest’s sake– “Ah.” But then there came a realization that left his plans a tad complicated. “I don’t have any money… Assuming your country has a different currency than mine, of course.” Which it surely did. “So I’ll have to manage on the streets by myself I suppose."
Which he was fine with. The programmer was more than capable of taking care of himself in any situation; he was naturally able to assess a situation and find a way to go about it safely.
Blessed with a gift for retention and focus, Naumi paid close attention to how he described his powers with the interest and attention span of a toddler during storytime: enraptured, focused, absorbing every detail like a black hole. Hypnotic voices and ear-shattering voices were certainly of interest. Magic that could be manufactured… It would be an earth-shattering discovery if the Highest got ahold of it. Suddenly her armies would become the most powerful in existence. Naumi wasn’t sure if she wanted that, since it could either lead to her being replaced, or her position being secured for all time… When he spoke in her own voice, she was snapped out of her thoughts, and looked at him in wide-eyed fascination. “Incredible,” she found herself saying, a smile on her face, though she had no clue what a ‘radio’ was. “I haven’t seen vocal magic like that before, except for two people— one can talk to animals, the other can speak various languages.”
“Get off the counter,” Naumi suddenly snapped; even though she wanted him to continue speaking, she wasn’t about to tolerate him jumping on her furniture and making a mess. What was this about ‘robots’, though? Animated without magic? And ‘androids’ with emotions? “Golems and homunculi can’t have emotions because they’re not alive, even if the caster wishes that they would. As proven by Magister Hortensius Renault, some homunculi can mimic emotions, but they can’t really feel them. Kind of like me,” she said, putting the sculpting tool back on the wall and walking over to pat one of the still golems on the chest-plate. “How do you get androids to feel emotions? Isn’t it just a mimic? Things that aren’t alive can’t feel emotion like people and animals can— well, I suppose if you put the magic energy of a live person into a golem, the golem could technically be considered alive, maybe even have emotions and thoughts and feelings…” She looked back at her guest. “But I haven’t tried it, and nobody else has. I never understood why— it’s called ‘sacred territory’, but it isn’t territory, so it doesn’t make sense. What do they mean by that?” By now the amount of concentration she had on him might be construed as creepy, as it usually is, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of him, eager for more information.
Oh, how much she wanted to keep learning! If this person could stay around for a long time, she could learn everything about his world, about how people suddenly gained magic through ‘tests’— she couldn’t let the Highest find out about this person, no way! She would take him away from Naumi for sure, and then she wouldn’t be able to keep asking questions, keep prodding him for information about how it might be possible to surpass the current laws of the world. And he had nowhere to go? “You should stay in Therrata, but if you stay in the castle, the Highest might learn about you and draft you. Also, I want you to show me your hypnosis magic, but don’t use it on me, please.” It wouldn’t be so funny if she fell asleep for the sake of understanding the magic.
Seeing someone so amazed at the powers he possessed always seemed to bring a certain amusement into the boy’s features; It fed that ever abundant ego of his and left him all the more happy to explain. There were still things he was learning about those powers of his, and the list of things Rail could do with them was becoming longer and longer and most certainly more helpful to his interests, of course. His voice matching had already came in handy on quite several occasions, along with the hypnotism frequency his voice could take on– More-so when he went into the city with his own special group of people. People who saw things that they shouldn’t have were put under his ow little spell; told to go back home and sleep, forgetting everything they had seen or assuming it had all just been a dream. Rail was a man of many, many secrets – And he made sure only the people that were supposed t o know had the information he had. Vaiyon, his assistant, was perhaps the only one that knew much of anything. Solomon, the impatient Commander the programmer took so much joy in irritating and pushing to his limits, and even the Prince Justice that he enjoyed talking to so much didn’t know things, but the prince knew more than his father or the Commander of the Protectors. (Usually he lived by the policy to not give out any information to those that weren’t working alongside him, but for some reason he liked the passive kid he occasionally visited to have a chat with. Perhaps it was because Rail felt some sort of kinship towards the other male. Once upon a time, he had been a prince just like him– only much less empathetic and much more interested in his own agenda, which he still was.
“There’s a magic to speak other languages? That sounds a little silly. Where I’m from, you just need to study hard and you can teach yourself.” If something as simple as that was put on a pedestal and called magic, people from where he was from would of laughed their asses off. His country of Issium had their own language, though he learned how to speak like everyone in Regius city for convenience. Not only that, but it was the only way to understand those speeches he’d watch of Solomon on the TV whle growing up. Saying it that way made it seem like Rail had some sort of idol crush on the man, but that was hardly it. He just knew that foolish greedy man would prove to be his point of interest in the future soon enough. And so he made it happen.
Nearly at the same time that snappish order slipped the woman’s lips, Rail had already jumped back off the counter he had been sitting on, snickering a bit as he returned back to leaning against it. “Weeeeeell, androids are made different compared to those Golems of yours and robots. They have something put into them that’s much different. Think about the human brain for a sec – : There are parts of the brain like a system that are the reason why you do or don’t feel certain emotions or things. Androids are given that, only in the form of something electrical planted into their database.” That was the easiest way to put it. In all honesty, those sorts of things were always going to be complicated and difficult to understand, yet at the same time it was understandable enough to create them. “They’re not human, but they’re THEIR equivalent of alive, that’s why they can do that. After all, since they’re kinda different, they go by different guidelines with that sorta thing… ”
There was a soft snort then, glancing around before noticing a stool and dragging it closer with his foot before taking a seat once more. If she wasn’t going to let him sit down on her counter, he’d have to settle for this little stool. ‘Sacred territory’ in reference to such a thing… Well, as he saw it, there was only one way to explain such a thing. “It’s because emotions are considered 'sacred’. They’re what make us 'human’. To give something else human qualities would threaten us as the 'human race’… Or something along those lines.” To be honest, if anything, he found such an idea rather interesting compared to anything else. Then again Rail thought a bit different compared to others… He was only ever worrying over making sure things stayed interesting in his life and around him.
Ah, what was this– ? She seemed to be rather inviting. He didn’t plan on going anywhere near this 'Highest’ person… At least yet. Rail wasn’t one to walk straight into someone that could possibly force him into something. (That in itself was impossible for him. Trying to force him with punishment just made him enjoy it, if anything. Normal methods would never work on him.) “Weeeell, I certainly wouldn’t mind showin’ ya if you’re so interested in it. As for staying, I don’t know anything about this place. If you don’t want me involved with your boss, then is there an inn in this city at least? I need some place to crash, after all.”
A new kind of power. Naumi heard that, but still wanted to talk about her golems; still wanted to talk about her life’s work, since he asked, but learned that it wasn’t so acceptable when she would do that— so she stopped herself, trying to think of how to respond to this. How mistaken he was to think that magic-users in this country were by any means free. After a moment, Naumi replied, “In this kingdom, the Highest tries to find anyone who uses useful types of magic and impress or draft them into her armies and navy. Most fled to Lissenta, the adjacent kingdom, but the Highest is preparing to either take Lissenta by bargain or by force. I have no doubt she’ll succeed.” There was no sense of pride or grimness in her voice, since of course, things wouldn’t change for her. Working like this all day and night would stay exactly the same, whether mages from Lissenta were captured or not; and if Therrata happened to fall by some strange accident, that would suit her just fine. “But the Highest only captures people with useful magic. I think all magic is useful magic, but if I was in charge, all mages would be captured.”
It wasn’t a matter of trying to be mean— she’s just saying what she would be doing if she were the Highest. She paused again, absentmindedly taking a small sculpting tool off the wall and bouncing the tip back and forth, left to right, as she tried to figure out what to say next. She went over the conversation in her mind, briefly— she wanted to know what that new power was, since it came up. “Tell me about this ‘new power’,” she said in not the most polite way. “And these robots and androids. How do you channel electricity into them to get the same result as magic?” It was baffling, but yet, she wanted to know everything! Anything with the potential to add to her mental encyclopedia was worth the time and effort.
This is probably the longest she’s ever talked to someone outside of castle guard, she thought; the longest anyone’s stood to listen to her talk about golems. “How long are you staying before you return home?”
These ‘Highest’ sounded rather forceful from the way she was talking about them. It certainly sounded very familiar, actually. It left Rail all the more curious, interest rising more and more for this strange country he found himself in with new things he had never seen before until this moment. Supernatural powers and a government seemingly similar to the one he worked for back within his own city– Now, who wouldn’t want to learn even more if you had never heard of such a place before? For some- one like Rail, this was the ideal place to feed his never-ending desire for new and fun things to learn about and take in. The male was naturally selfish, not caring about anyone but himself more than anything else. His interest was most important in his eyes, and Rail was willing to do anything to make sure that things around him remained that way for as long as possible. And… Well, if things started to get dull, he made it his personal duty to fix that to make sure things were back to their lively state of mind. He had come too far with the things he done to merely lose it all now because things became too AVERAGE. Perhaps lingering around in this country could prove to be the best thing for now? It’s not like she needed to know where he was after he left her… Whenever that would be! Who knew, of course, when they seemed to be so caught up in their little chitchat.
“It makes sense, my dear chatting companion! You can always have skill, of course, but there are others who have the potential the skilled and strong lack.” Rail himself knew that well, and it was what he aimed for when he looked for those to recruit for his own agenda back within the Castle in Regius. Vaiyon, for example, was someone who was seemingly average as one of the many Protectors, but under his guidance, the boy became something much better!! As for the power she seemed to be so interested in… While Rail wasn’t one to show off, this was a different country. None of it would get back to Solomon – Especially when he hadn’t even heard of such a country to start with!
“That, my friend, is a good question– And one that I’m more than happy to answer for you!” The raven chirped, hopping up on the counter he had been leaning against, hands resting behind him while emerald optics gleamed mischievously. “The power shifts from person to person, you see, for the genes in their bodies are different and vary. They’re all unique, so this means each person gets a different power– That is, if they happen to withstand the tests they have to go through.” Some of them, unfortunately, didn’t… There were 25 test subjects, after all, and you couldn’t have a good test without there being some failure in between! Rail didn’t have much of a conscience when it came to things like death and sacrifice , unfortunately, so he had no problem ordering for them to be taken care of and disappear from existence. The male had no sense of justice; he had no morals, nor did he fear death or some greater power that possibly waited in the afterlife for him. “Of course, there are some that don’t make it, but what’s a true experiment without some mistakes?” There was a laugh then, the male’s body shifting a bit. “The ones that end up surviving all the tests have more or less showed some sort of new ability. FOR INSTANCE–!” He cleared his throat then in a rather overly exaggerated pompous fashion, taking in a breath before speaking once more– Only this time, his voice seemed completely identical to the woman before him. “Considering I administered myself to become another one of the test subjects, the abilities I seemed to have gained from it is this. I may memorize the way a person speaks, and that’s all I need to mimic it completely. I cannot, of course, mimic a voice I haven’t heard. As luck would have it, my abilities are more or less related to technology in some way, shape, or form. Consider it… Like a radio of some kind, assuming you have those.” It was then his voice returned back to normal, a finger lifting to tap at his chin contemplatively. “My voice has different frequencies, you see. Certain frequencies are strong enough to break glass, some are like a dog whistle only certain things can hear, and there are some that are even hypnotic. My assistant also administered into the project has shown super agility and strength since then and happens to be getting more control over it and learning more as the days pass.”
Hmm, as for the topic of robots and androids… That was much easier compared to the complex nonsense of his project. Rail was still going over data with every passing day considering there was always new things to take into account. “Robots, like your golems, are made of metal. Metal, steel, that sort of thing– But never wood. Instead of magic or enchantments, there are systems in each and every one of them linked some some bigger system which gives them the orders to follow. If you say fight, they fight. If you say destroy, they destroy. They do as their told and nothing else because they don’t have a brain, just a system that gives and receives information and orders.” Usually they were controlled by himself or Commander; more-so the latter when those things would help around the city and make sure things stayed in order. Androids are more humanoid; they can have a conscience if their creator wishes for them to be that way. A personality can be created and installed into its data- base, but that makes them dangerous. There’s nothing more dangerous than human emotions, you know.“
As for how long he was staying here… Well, that was a very good q u e s t i o n . First he had to figure out where this country was located before he even thought about returning to Regius city. Granted he most certainly wouldn’t of been noticed as missing for at least a week– The perks of working under the castle with little to no friends, right? If anything, there would be people who were happy that he was gone right now. "Ehhh– Who knows! I guess we’re gonna find out, won’t we?”
Finally, he was done poking and prodding and getting his hand all over her things. Now she could talk.
By now Naumi was already on a track, whether this person was going to leave or not. Something made her want to talk, and even past the initial slight panic caused by the sudden intrusion to her personal workshop, she found herself becoming calmer while she talked on, her hands bouncing like a conductor’s. “The idea of golems has been around for a long time, starting with the creation of ‘Elementals’ in ancient rites that involved bringing avatars of nature gods to the earth with summoning rituals that were actually forms of enchantment. The early men believed they were summoning spirits into sculptures of clay, wood, or stone, but this isn’t correct.” Of course, her knowledge of golems far exceeded just how to make them. “Late in the Cathartic Era, once steel-sculpting, blacksmithing, and metalshaping were more ubiquitous, some people started creating their own golems out of metal and similar animation techniques. That’s what I specialize in— steel-sculpting and creating golems out of metal and some types of wood. There are levels to materials based on their resistance to enchantments: E, D, C, B, A, and S, respectively.”
She walked to one of the lifeless statues of metal, brushing her own hand over the ridges of a cog in the shoulder. “Bronze is C-rank, and steel is B-rank. Stronger metals are A-rank. Mythic metals and stone are S-rank. Mythic and strong metals are too expensive, so I tend to use assorted metals that complement each other.” Now placing both of her hands on the cold chest-plate metal of the metallic vanguard, Naumi tightened her focus and felt wisps like air or smoke leave her through her hands, and work through the nooks and niches of the mechanical creation. As a faint white coating like frost spread around the golem before disappearing moments after, cogs started to move; pistons and pumps hissed and screeched to life; and the hollow spaces carved into the head of the golem began to glow with the same color white as the coating from before.
The machine came to life like a slow rumble, looking upwards at the tall girl with her hands on its chest, and the sly-looking boy behind her. Its “Master” and a stranger… The golem stayed still, waiting for orders. Naumi took her hands from its chest and turned around to face the stranger in her workshop. “It isn’t actually alive. It’s animated, which means that it has movement, limited instinct, and the ability to follow simple directions. Only from me, though. Homunculi have more of a range of pseudo-thought and the ability to follow complex orders, but aren’t really alive, either.” With that, she told the golem to guard the door while she had discourse with this stranger, and was able to talk to him endlessly about her lovely golems.
“I know I told you to leave, but I want to hear about your homeland’s golems, since I told you about these. You are obviously not from Therrata, so things must be different where you are from.”
The male seemed to be attentive now, arms crossing over his chest as he leaned against a nearby desk, taking in the woman’s words as digits drumming contemplatively against his forearm. Whoever this person was, she was certainly well read; highly educated regarding the strange creations of hers. At first, Rail had been left to assume that she was the only one, but as words continued to paint a beautiful historic picture for him, the more it became clear. While there had been others who had done this before her, she was the best of this Era. ‘Cathartic’, she called it. Wherever this place was, the male was far from home considering he had never heard of such a thing until now.
How interesting indeed.
The creation by themselves were enough to give him some - thing to wonder over for their unique design, but to imagine that just one person like her created them… That was quite the admirable task. Different metals for different creations of hers, some even mythical. THAT was something Rail could find some interest in studying if he ever were to get his hands on such a thing. Did she have any of that here within her possession, he wondered? He would have asked, had she not been so focused on her works, walking over to an inanimate Golem she soon breathed life into.
There was a familiar mechanical air to how it slowly came to live to look at him and its 'Master’, to which Rail could only tilt his head a bit. He was silent as he watched the Golem walk away as it had been ordered, turning back to her with a sly smile.
“So that’s how it is…” He mused with a childish hum. “Manipulating supernatural forces as you so please is normal in this country of Therrata. It’s a job for some; for you.” Now, wasn’t that quite the idea. “I regret to inform you, miss, that the country I’m from doesn’t seem to have that which you have– There are no golems or homunculi, for to those people, it’s taboo. Anything that does not have 'human origins’ is more or less feared, actually.” Such a shame they weren’t as open to new things as he was! “In contrast, the place I’m from uses various technology in a similar matter that you do with your Golems; that is what I do. I use electrical and technological resources to create things. Weapons, armor… Robots are a possible equivalent to your Golems as Androids are for Homunculi. I’ve even managed to use these to create a new kind of power.” Albeit it was still in the works, of course– not that his 'boss’ knew that.
What was this? Someone interested in her work? That was a new one. Naumi raised an eyebrow as he walked past her unenchanted golems and hanging tools, brushing his fingers across them— damn him, stop that, it was bothering her! “I’ll tell you so long as you stoptouching those,” she growled, quickly walking over to smack his hands away from the displays. “These are golems that I built out of steel and brass— of course, they could also be homunculi, if only my seller didn’t get in trouble.” Naumi’s right hand started to wave a bit while she talked on, transgression momentarily forgotten. “Right now they’re unenchanted, and can’t do anything, because they aren’t animated. I lifted the enchantments to try new ones. If you don’t touch them, I can show you how I do it. Do you want to see?”
A slightly brighter expression appeared on her face; she was quite happy someone asked her about her golems— they were her pride and joy, after all. Golems, homunculi, and all manner of animation and enchantment are her specialties, one of the things she enjoys best and loves to read about. But how quickly she recalled that this stranger was interrupting her work time, and should honestly only come in when the door says that she’s taking visitors— that’s what she put the sign up for, anyway.
“But afterwards, you should leave, I don’t like strangers in my workshop, and you’re most definitely a stranger.”
This had been the first time Rail had seen creation such as this before. There was something interesting about them, allowing emerald hues to focus on them and the various tools left unattended on the wall. Was she the one that had created these things? Rare as it was, Rail’s head seemed to cant in genuine interest, though he soon pulled his hand away sharply from what he had been touching at the snappish words the girl spoke, head then turning in her direction as brows rose upwards. Ohhh – so she’d tell him if he’d be a good boy? He could do that!
All for the sake of feeding his interest, of course.
“If the lady says so, I suppose I will~” Rail hummed out childishly, forgetting about touching the various things in the room in favor of stepping closer to the girl as she thus began to explain what those things were. Hmm, GOLEMS, she said? Enchanted? Was he left to assume that this place that he landed on relied on some sort of magic in the manner that his own city relied on the technology he handled so well?
“I want to see! It sounds intriguing– Where I come from, I actually do the same thing, you know! Only with some- thing more human-made compared to this…” He’d have to ask her a bit about that at some point in this conversation as well, yes.
“Yes!! I’d love to see how your creations work!” Seeing how she seemed to light up at the possibility of talking about her work, he couldn’t bring himself to say no. After all, Rail could definitely understand that. He was the very same way with his own research.
Not that he’d say anything about leaving afterwards, nope.
Cut slack? What on earth does that mean? The stranger was met with a blank stare as Naumi tried to process what he was saying. “I don’t know what you mean. If you’re lost, you should go to the castle guard. They can take you to where you want to go.”
This stranger was interrupting her work space— and her mind’s flow— with that curious prodding. It wasn’t unusual for people to come in and do that, but it still bothered her. The Highest commissioned her to work on a golem for battle training, which Naumi was eager to work on, but she couldn’t work with this person in here! “Please, leave, as soon as you can.”
Castle guards, huh… Yeah, well, he saw them but Rail had, of course, chosen against dealing with those guys considering he had the tendency to anger individuals like that. Guards, Protectors, they were all the same– and the only thing they were ever good for was to get in the way of potentially interesting things! Had he actually done that, he wouldn’t of found himself here with such interesting things around here and this lady here… That would’ve been a damn shame.
“I didn’t see any of those guys while I was walking over here, actually. What a shame.” His words seemed to be more to himself than to the female seeming to prefer he left, paying her order no heed as he took his precious time looking around the room, fingertips brushing against things here and there.
