“No.6, take this to table four please,” Tenna instructed, handing the Golem a silver tray. On top of the tray was a glass pitcher decorated with vines, leaves, and flowers, as well as two thick glass mugs with similar embellishments. No.6 obediently took the tray by its large handles, carefully walking it over to a table in the sparsely populated dining area.

Usually, the Golem found these quiet afternoons calming ; they could stand by while not needed and watch the variety of different people walking down the main street through the café’s front window. Tenna had once mentioned in their presence that the café was positioned quite well: along the main street but deeper into the city. This way he got a good amount of business, while avoiding the rude merchants and caravan guards who didn’t care what impression they left because they’d be gone the next day.

As No.6 gently set the pitcher down on the table and distributed the glasses, they heard the bell over the door ring out, followed swiftly by Tenna calling out “Welcome! I’ll be right with you.”

The Golem suppressed a desire to look up and see who had entered, though anticipation was filling their body. Instead, they carefully set down the last glass, picked up the tray, and turned mechanically as they were expected to, and walked back to the ready position by the kitchen window. Now at last they could spare a glance…

It was an old couple, old friends of Tenna actually, and the owner was now happily chatting with them. Not for the first time, No.6 was glad of their lack of facial expressions that would betray their disappointment. Sure, Tenna’s old friends were nice, and sometimes they would tell stories from their centuries of life that greatly interested the young No.6. However, recently something else had wholly captured their daytime interests.

“Hey ol’ man!” Came a gruff feminine voice from the entrance, nearly causing No.6 to jump out of their shell. Standing by the door was a powerfully built Elf woman: she had the coffee-colored skin, amber eyes, and chestnut hair that were common among Elves. She was tall even for an Elf, a bit over two meters in height. Her muscle tone was also unusual for her kind, making her arms, shoulders, and legs thicker than the slender limbs found on other Elves.

“Cera, you bypassed the bell again.” Tenna sighed, already scribbling down her usual order and passing it to behind the kitchen window.

“Force of habit,” Cera shrugged with a cocky grin, walking over to a booth in the corner.

“Who’s she?” one of Tenna’s friends asked.

“Ah, that’s Cera. She’s a veteran adventurer,” Tenna explained to him. “She’s a regular, comes by often between assignments.”

“She’s an adventurer? Couldn’t have guessed,” the friends’ husband remarked sarcastically. Cera's outfit betrayed this fact readily enough: a worn leather jacket with many interior pockets over a linen shirt that exposed her toned abs  set her apart from a soldier or guard who would usually wear a uniform or something more discrete. The many scars on her abdomen and arms confirmed she had a violent job, sometimes without access to immediate healing magic.

“She’s used to scouting for traps, so she keeps avoiding the bell on the door and nearly giving me a heart attack.” Tenna shook his head. “She also has this peculiar habit…”

“Hey, ol’ man Tenna!” Cera called as if on cue. “Send them over!”

It was all No.6 could do to hold themselves still until they were told.

“She likes to talk to my golem.” Tenna sighed, turning to the (secretly eager) one beside . “Supposedly reminds her of someone she knew. No.6, go to table one and sit down.”

The Golem obeyed, perhaps a tad too swiftly. Whenever Cera visited it was the highlight of No.6’s day; she told them stories, explained all sorts of things that were not in Tenna’s books, and most of all she talked to No.6 like they were any other person.

It was the reason that since a while ago their imaginary conversation partner had copied Cera’s voice.

“How are you doing, No.6?” Cera smiled as the Golem sat down opposite her. “You good?”

No.6 did not reply, and indeed kept as still as possible.

“That’s the spirit.” Cera’s taunting grin grew wider.

In truth No.6 wanted nothing more than to respond in some way, gesture that they understood, to be an active participant in the conversation. They were pretty sure that Cera had somehow realized their sapience, especially since she refused to use one of the other golems for this purpose. Still, No.6 did not want anyone else to draw that conclusion for now.

“Hey, check this out.” Cera reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a thick spool of silky white thread wrapped around a twig. “It’s Drider Thread,” the adventurer revealed. “Our last mission we had to clear out a Drider nest to the west of Wormwood Town. Thankfully we didn’t have to fight; the Drider was a reasonable gal and when we explained that she’s too close to a settlement and might threaten livestock and game animals with her webs she agreed to move further into the forest. She even let us take some of the silk from her nest since she will have to make more in the new location anyway!”

Cera poked the spooled silk to demonstrate how soft it was, then offered it to No.6. The Golem really wanted to touch it, incredibly curious to feel the legendarily soft Drider Silk, but resisted the temptation and remained still.

The adventurer’s piercing gaze read them like a book.

She smirked once more, then pushed the silk into No.6’s hand, and with her other tapped the Golem’s arm thrice. Now No.6 had to grab the silk and hold it, though not compelled like the other golems it was still expected from them after receiving a command gesture, and they did so immediately. The porcelain-clad fingers sank into the soft thread, and No.6 allowed themselves to subtly adjust their grip to fondle the silk. It was simply luxurious, and No.6 wondered if Cera got to hold things like this all the time.

“Nice, eh? It’s incredibly durable too, so you can make great adventuring gear with it.” Cera explained. “I’m going to ask a seamster I know to spin it into thread and make from it, and possibly even enchant it too.”

The mention of enchanting pulled No.6 back from admiring the silk they were holding and brought up once more the question of that voice they had heard. It shouldn’t have been possible for her to have been there, spoken to them, without them noticing her?  On the other hand, it was unheard of for No.6 to hallucinate something – even in their loneliest nights they could tell the difference between their senses and their imagination.

No.6 tried but couldn’t think of a way to steer the conversation – monologue, really – towards getting an answer about that.

“I’ll probably just go for durability enhancements,” Cera continued, appearing to be oblivious to the Golem’s inner turmoil for once. “Could make it into actual armor to supplement the Mana Aura I use now. Or maybe a cloak, if it’s enchanted with energy resistance it could be used as a shield if I have to fight a sorcerer or similar magic user.”

No.6 briefly pondered what kind of enchantment formation would be needed to make an object resistant to energy such as fire. Unlike the flame glyphs No.6 had mastered, which only released energy from the center of their formation, such an enchantment would need to repel from a much wider surface area. Either that or gather and store it somehow, either way you’d need a compound formation with at least three sub-glyphs…

“Ah, but that’s enough about enchanting; I must be boring you with these minutiae.” Cera interrupted the Golem’s train of thought once more. They wanted to protest, and their head involuntarily jerked back slightly – only to be met with Cera’s cocky smirk.

She was teasing them. She had pressed for a reaction and had gotten it.

She knew.

No.6 froze, waiting to see if there was anybody else who had seen, but Tenna was still chatting with his friends, and the other golems were moving around as usual.

“I think we understand each other now,” the adventurer whispered. “I’m going to take the silk back now but leave it on the table so that it hides your hand from others.”

She did exactly that, placing the spool to the left of No.6’s arm that was resting on the table. It was enough to hide at least hand gestures from anyone else in the restaurant outside their booth, if the rest of the arm did not move.

“Nobody can hear me speak now,” Cera said softly and slowly, “so you can answer me without fear of being exposed. You can understand me, right? Tap your finger once for yes, twice for no.”

This was it. This was the moment No.6 had been both anticipating and dreading. Did they know Cera well enough to be sure she would protect them, keep their secret? Or should they try to pass this as a fluke, a malfunction that caused an unintended movement?

No.6 was scared, but more than anything the possibility of having an actual conversation partner enticed them. They wanted more than anything to be able to talk to Cera, perhaps not vocally but in some way, to be more than an audience to a monologue.

*tap*

Cera’s expression shifted then. Instead of the usual teasing and cocky expression, now her smile was gentler, warmer. No.6 instantly decided that they had made the correct choice.

“Thank you for trusting me with this.” The adventurer said. “I’ve got a couple more questions, if you don’t mind. You were practicing enchanting last night, correct?”

*tap*

“I apologize for spying on you. I knew you were different than the other golems here, but I had to make sure it wasn’t just a malfunctioning enchantment, or worse: an act of sabotage.” Cera explained.

That at least cleared up that morning’s mystery, and No.6 couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward at Cera having seen their nighttime escapades, especially when they were pretending to be having a conversation with her. That, at least, there was no way for her to know… they thought.
No.6 hesitated, and then tapped once. Hopefully that ‘yes’ would convey that they held no grudge over being monitored. Being careful for Tenna’s sake was something the Golem could appreciate.

“Hmm, can’t really have a proper conversation this way, but at least we got the basics across.” Cera mused, tapping her chin.

Then her expression became mischievous once more.

“Wait here for just a moment, don’t move.” She requested as she stood up, walking over to Tenna’s counter. “Ol’ man, I need a favor.” She asked.

“You can start by not calling me an old man constantly,” Tenna answered with a mock scolding expression, which Cera laughed off.

“I don’t call you that because of your age, it’s because you act like a hexa-centenarian.” She teased. “Anyway, my apartment’s become a bit of a mess since I don’t have time to tidy up between assignments. Could you lend me one of your golems for a bit?”

“What do you need a golem for? They’re not much help in sorting things, you know.” Tenna questioned.

“Ah that’s fine, I’ll just have them clean while I organize.” Cera shrugged. “I wouldn’t ask this if you were particularly busy but, well…” She gestured to the mostly empty café.

“Pour more salt on my wounds, why don’t you?” the old owner sighed. “Fine, you can take one of the golems, as long as you bring them back by tomorrow morning to help with the kitchen prep.”

“That’s perfect.” Cera flashed a cheshire smile and clapped Tenna on the shoulder, nearly causing him to fling his spectacles to the other end of the room. “Oh, and can you pack my meal to go? I’ll probably need every minute today if I want to get it done.”

“Sure, you can have a picnic with the golem.” Tenna rolled his eyes. Only a moment later a kitchen golem placed the mutton sandwich she always got on the counter, and Tenna wrapped it up in brown parchment paper tied with twine.

“You do know how to operate the golem, right?” Tenna asked after Cera grabbed the parcel.

“Of course, I’ve worked with golems before.” Cera waved, walking over to No.6 and tapping them on the arm four times. “Follow me.” She instructed, and No.6 stood up as directed, walking after the adventurer as she led them to the café door and out into the street with the spool of silk still grasped firmly in their hand.

Zrooper

Friend Get! The mysterious voice did not remain a mystery for very long. Special thanks to Pynkbites for helping proofread this chapter! If you haven't yet go and read her stories, each and every one is a masterpiece!