Sol and his away team proceeded down the main street leading straight into the heart of the city. Along the way, they saw numerous shops and homes lining the road.
'I don't know what those signs say, but I can more or less guess what type of store it was,' Sol thought as he looked at a sign written in an unknown language hanging above a clothing store, indicated by the short humanoid wooden models in the window, oddly enough, all without clothes.
It was unclear how many years, decades, centuries, or even millennia had passed since these stores were last open for business. Yet, like everywhere else in the city, the place was immaculate. There was minimal dust, no trash, and no broken objects in sight.
This eerie cleanliness made everyone wonder what could have happened here. It was as though the entire population had just up and left one day, abandoning the city.
"Hm? What's that?" Nataly asked, pointing at a storefront window with several small bronze humanoids hanging from a rack.
"Let's check it out," Sol said, pausing the group's march.
Approaching the store's window, they got a better look at the small metal puppets, each only about a foot tall. Behind them, large, bold words in the same unknown language were displayed. He twisted the handle of the unlocked door, and it opened with a soft creak. Sol entered, followed by Nataly, Lapis, and two soldiers from each nation, while the rest of the team stayed outside.
As advertised, the shelves inside were lined with metal puppets similar to those displayed outside. There were also many other trinkets and tools, some of which Sol couldn't even guess the purpose of.
'Wait, what about [Analysis]?'
Using [Analysis] on the first puppet within his line of sight, he was slightly surprised to get a result.
[Azrem Puppet Servant
Rare
Skills:
[Rune Algorithm] Lv 5]
"Bob?" Sol muttered instinctively, causing those around him to look at him strangely. "Sorry, forget I said that. I think these are autonomous golems that can follow commands."
"Golems? Should we try turning one on?" one of the human soldiers asked.
Sol weighed the risks and nodded, thinking it would be safe, as the only skill the puppet had was for processing commands.
Seeing his approval, Nataly picked one up from the shelf, searching for a way to activate it, though she didn't see any obvious buttons or triggers. She then tried infusing it with mana, hoping a simple injection would do the trick.
The metal puppet shuddered, its limp head snapping upright as its blue crystal eyes flickered to life, scanning its surroundings.
"Azrem Grika ne trwastern ni etu almernos!" It said in an unfamiliar language, leaving everyone stumped.
"Do you understand us?" Nataly asked, but the puppet didn't respond.
"Hmm... How about... Jump!"
"Clean!"
"Dance?"
Nataly tried giving it a few more commands, even using gestures, but the puppet stood still, watching in silence.
"... We're going to need some help with this. Can you turn it off?" Sol realized they weren't going to figure this out anytime soon and thought it best to leave the puppet to the scholars at the base.
Nataly nodded. "I've been feeding it my mana the whole time. Cutting it off should work."
She stopped the mana flow, and the puppet collapsed, lifeless once more.
"Let's grab a few of these and send a small team to take them back while we continue. Oh, and let's write down those words from the entrance too. Maybe they'll help."
The soldiers nodded and followed Sol's orders. A team of four agile soldiers gathered the puppets along with written papers that copied what was on the signs in the store and headed back to the base.
…
Meanwhile, back at the base, a human and two orcs were sitting together, discussing something important.
The human spoke with fierce determination. "We've endured many hardships because of our profession. But now, it's all finally paying off, right here, right now! We have to make the most of it!"
The two orcs nodded seriously with a similar fierce expression. "We will no longer be a joke, leeching off the clan!"
The trio shared something in common that transcended race and nationality. The hatred their people harbored for each other didn't matter. Only they could understand the pain and humiliation they'd suffered over the years. They were the only three linguists in the entire expedition, finally able to make use of their skills.
Just then, a human scholar approached the group. "You three are linguists, right? We've just received some metal puppets from the away team, and they're speaking ancient dwarvish. Can you help us?"
"Leave it to us!" they replied, standing up proudly and walking toward the tent where the puppets were being inspected by a group of scholars and sages.
…
Near the base, Rex and Aron led their perimeter team through a sweep of the surrounding buildings. So far, nothing unusual had occurred. The area was mostly filled with homes and a few businesses, all devoid of life.
Growing bored of the repetitive task, Aron yawned and asked, "Aren't there any more interesting places nearby? It's boring if all we do is walk into empty houses."
Rex, having just exited another house he'd finished checking, nodded. "Yeah, there is."
Aron's eyes lit up. "Really? Why don't we go there, then?"
Rex rolled his eyes. "You know why. Once we're sure there are no problems near the base, we can go there next."
Aron understood, but that didn't stop him from feeling bored. He secretly wished he were on the away team or even the home team, at least then he could ask someone to spar with him.
"Alright, after we're done here. By the way, what kind of place is it?"
"It's a museum!" Rex said with clear joy.
"A… museum?"
Only then did Aron realize that he and Rex had very different definitions of interesting.