37
Selma chewed on the dry steak. Her eyes gave nothing away as she closed her tastebuds off so she couldn’t taste the awful flavor of it. She suspected the meat had been reheated.
Twice.
At least.
She didn’t want to eat it. But Tania said it was important to be seen going through the motions now and then. It was important that Milo’s golems appeared as human as they could be.
Her programming understood it, but disagreed.
To dwarves, golems were works they were proud of. Every engineer wanted his work to be seen and admired.
But the dwarves were gone. Long dead.
And humans seemed to be a pretty conservative bunch prone to violence when faced with things they didn’t understand.
So, she ate.
She was dressed in a set of school robes. Under that, she wore her little mesh bikini. She liked the feeling of it. It was comforting to know she could defend herself at any moment.
The robes were itchy.
But Miles said she should wear them around the school or the other boys would annoy her. She hadn’t believed him, but was quickly proven wrong.
They really were annoying.
What kind of tramp did they think she was? She was no tramp.
She was Milo’s girl. And even if he didn’t understand that, her programming did.
“Selma?”
The golem looked up and smiled. “Hey, Cerena.”
“Are you eating alone?”
“Tania’s hanging out with Milo.”
“Can I sit with you? Belt is training.”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
“Thanks.” Cerena took a seat next to her, putting down a tray.
She also had the steak.
“You’re gonna regret that, sister,” Selma warned, pointing her fork at Cerena’s tray.
“It’s bad again?”
“Well, it ain’t friendly.”
“As long as it doesn’t move, I guess I’ll live with it.” Cerena sighed. “How’s your team going for the Pirate Cove?”
“I don’t know much about it,” Selma admitted. “I leave that to Tania and Milo. They’re the brains. I just go where they point me and hit stuff.”
“You’re an electromancer, right? Like Jin?”
“Me?” Selma paused with another slice of steak halfway to her mouth. Then blinked. “Oh! Yeah, yeah. Electromancer. With the lightning. Hmm. I don’t use it much. I’m only rated a two.”
“You are? I thought you were higher than that.”
Selma shook her head. “Tania thinks it’s funny.”
“Well, you shouldn’t let anyone laugh at you for being a two,” Cerena said, touching Selma’s hand comfortingly. “I mean, you must be doing something right. Your team is the best in the Academy.”
“Ah, that’s all because of Milo.” Selma let her cheeks flush a little. She always felt awkward with praise. “He’s got the big brains.”
“One thing I’ve learned is a good plan doesn’t last for long. So, everyone needs to do their part. I’m guessing you do yours real well.”
“I try.”
“So, be more confident,” Cerena said, cutting into the steak. “And don’t let Tania bully you all the time.”
“Bully me? She doesn’t really do that. She’s just got a funny sense of humor.” Selma smiled. “She knows if she tried really bullying me, I could pull her head off. She wouldn’t like that much.”
“No,” Cerena said with a small choking laugh. “She wouldn’t. How’s Milo recovering?”
“He’s good. Already whinging about getting out of bed.”
“Wow. That’s quick. He really didn’t look good.”
Selma shrugged. “He’s a tougher cookie than he looks. And the healers did a great job. Who’d have thought magic could be so useful?”
“Is Tania with him, then?”
“Should be. It’s her turn to keep him amused.”
“I won’t ask how,” Cerena said delicately.
“Yeah, she’s a tramp alright.” Selma grinned. “Probably up there showing her coochie to him and hoping for the best. But Milo’s a real gentleman, ya know? He won’t fall for that guff.”
“I should hope not.”
“What about Jassie? How’s she doing?”
“Jassie? She’s good. She’ll be here soon, I think.” Cerena winced as she tasted the steak. “You’re right. This is gross. I can taste the grease.”
“Told ya.”
“Yeah.” Cerena pushed the rest of the steak aside and swallowed hard before reaching for some juice.
“Jassie’s worked out good for us. She’s really tricky with stone walls.
We’ve done a lot of training this week with them.
I’m not sure if it makes us too defensive or not. But I think it will keep us alive.”
“Safety first.” Selma nodded. “Milo always says that.”
“He’s right,” she grunted.
“That’s why he doesn’t come to the Mess,” Selma said, plucking at the steak. “And why we bring him sandwiches instead.”
“You do?” Cerena let out a shocked laugh. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. I mean, we all get sandwiches. But I wouldn’t bring steak like this to him. It can’t be good for humans to eat.”
“It’s not.” Cerena trapped some broccoli which looked a little limp. “You know, I think I might start eating more sandwiches, too.”
“Safe choice, sister.” Selma grinned. “I only got the steak today because I wanted to know if they ever do a nice one. It’s like playing the lottery, ya know?”
“Who’s playing lottery?” Jassie asked, stepping around and sitting opposite them. She was a tall woman. And thin. Like a beanpole.
Her long limp brown hair was tied back, though a lot of strands had pulled loose and she blew them out of her eyes now and then. Her skin was covered in dark freckles.
Her tray was loaded with anything which had been fried, which showed bravery, Selma thought.
“Selma eats the steak every day,” Cerena said.
“For real?” Jassie squinted at her. “How are you still alive?”
“Iron guts,” Selma said, patting her abs proudly.
“I believe you,” Jassie said. Then started scooping up fried potato and shoveling it into her face. “Hey, I got a question.”
“I don’t know if I’ve got an answer,” Selma said.
“It’s about your skin.”
“My skin?” Selma shifted a little uncomfortably on the seat. But she knew her exits and was fairly sure she could kill everyone in here with a fork if she had to. Definitely could if she also used the spoon. “What about it?”
“How do you keep it so smooth and soft? What product do you use? I mean, mine’s so dry. I tried using Fammel’s creams, but they didn’t do much. Made it all shiny for about ten minutes, I guess.”
Selma’s brain rocketed into high gear.
Tania had given her a list of things to remember about skin. Humans in this age had all kinds of alchemy and witchcraft which they used to keep their skin in good condition.
“Have you heard of Hennison’s?” Selma asked slowly.
Jassie shook her head. Glanced at Cerena, who shrugged back. “No?”
“There’s a shop called Bostie’s in the East End.”
“I know Bostie’s.”
“They sell Hennison’s cream,” Selma said. “And other stuff. I only use their stuff. It’s silky, ya know?”
The other girls nodded, and Selma had to resist gulping.
This wasn’t something she was good at.
Was it Hennison’s? Or Pennison’s?
Did it really matter?
Tania said it did. But she said of all the goop she’d looked at, that was likely the best a normal gal would use, so they should tell everyone they used it.
“I’ll have to check them out,” Jassie said, chewing quickly and swallowing. She reached for her cup and took a long chug. “I need something good. I keep getting pimples. It’s driving me crazy. My age, and I still get pimples. I thought they’d be buried in my distant past like the trauma of school.”
“Jassie got teased a lot,” Cerena explained. “For her height.”
“What’s wrong with her height?” Selma asked.
“Boys don’t like when you’re taller than them,” Jassie said. “So they tease you a lot about it.”
“No one’s teased me,” Selma said with a frown. “And Milo hasn’t said anything bad about it.”
“Milo was bullied a lot before you got here,” Cerena said, looking awkward herself. “And none of us stuck up for him. I bet he just knows how it feels.”
“But you think he wants to tease me?”
“No,” Cerena said, shaking her head. “I don’t think he’s the type.”
“I don’t think so either,” Selma said. “But I didn’t know guys would bully a gal for being tall.”
“Only the insecure ones,” Jassie grunted. “They didn’t hassle you at school?”
Once again, Selma looked to the exits.
She could slash Jassie’s throat. Then twist Cerena’s neck. After that, it might get dicey. There were sixteen other students in the Mess. Each had some kind of magic power. But a fork to the face would nullify those.
It could be tricky.
“Umm, no,” Selma said, trying to remember what Tania had left for her to explain her origins. “I’m from a little town out East.”
“Oh. Lucky.” Jassie sighed, blowing hair out of her eyes as she stuffed more fried food into her mouth. She chewed noisily. “Maybe he’s a boob guy.”
“What?”
“Milo,” Jassie replied with a mischievous grin. “Some guys like tall girls because they think they can just walk right into our boobs. Well. I don’t really have much in that department, but I bet that’s why the guys didn’t tease you much.”
Selma flushed again. “You think so?”
“Can’t think of any other reason why,” the geomancer said.
“Don’t be silly,” Cerena sighed. “Not all guys are like that.”
“Most are.”
“You’re too cynical,” Cerena told her.
“And you’re too smitten with Belt to notice.”
“I am not!”
“Are too. I’m not blind.” Jassie whirled her fork. “And he’s always flirting with you, too.”
“It doesn’t matter what you say. He’s not really into me. He’s just…” Cerena struggled for the words. “Just being a guy.”
“Belt’s a nice guy,” Selma said. Then patted Cerena on the shoulder. “You should be more confident, sister.”
Cerena blushed deeply as Jassie let out a loud howl of laughter.
Selma felt a little proud.
She’d successfully completed her mission for the day.
Interact with humans without accidentally revealing she was a golem and having to kill everyone in the vicinity before making her escape.
Nice.