"You can't be serious, this has to be a hoax!" Gunhand shouted.

"Yeah but, this news-"

As the two of them blabbered to each other, I decided to take a look at the newspaper. It was a bit hard at first since the other golem kept waving it around in excitement but eventually, it calmed down, making it a lot easier.

So the country is called Lutria and the king is called Lothan, huh? I'll probably forget that in a few hours.

They mentioned a lot of cases of golems being treated poorly. Seems like I didn't actually see the worst of it... Was Xion one of those mistreated ones? Would explain why he's so aggresive.

What caught my eye most was a certain section though.

"We are shocked by such abhorrent treatment." Gawin, a dwarven elder says. "From now on, we must impose stricter rules on golem manufacturers and owners."

Allegedly, most of the protesters were dwarves. We interview one of the lead protesters, Helva.

"I treat my golems like family! I can't imagine what sort of manic would treat our mechanical friends like this. Our great god, Uldar would not stand for this!" he says.

Hmm...

Radio, what do you think?

"Oh, uh, I think it's really good that they're putting out such laws!" it whispered.

Gunhand gave Radio a strange look before resuming its discussion.

"I'll go talk to the higher-ups." Gunhand said, eventually.

Isn't it one of the lower rankers though? At least from what I can tell.

"Take me to the building from yesterday, uh... did you tell me your name?" it continued.

"Truck?"

"Okay, take me there, Truck."

I drove it over along to the building with the other golem.

"Wait here for me. I'll be right back!"

The other golem followed Gunhand in.

Yeah, just treat me like your vehicle. What if I wanted to do something?

Not that I had anything else to do though. I ate a couple of fruits to refill my fuel tank.

At around 8 AM, Gunhand headed out without the other golem. It hopped right into me.

"So... what did they say?"

"They're sending out 'diplomats' to discuss with the dwarves." Gunhand sighed. "They needed some golems to just follow along to make them look more numerous so I volunteered. I hope this turns out well..."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine! There are people who want to free you golems, right?"

"You say that as if you aren't one... I'm a sceptical one, so I still suspect it might be a hoax. Drive me back, I'm going to tell my teammates."

Yeah, whatever.

Along the way, Radio discussed and dug out a surprising amount of info. I guess I shouldn't have expected less from someone so social.

Apparently, the city they're visiting is 'that' dwarven city. I hope they're not still after me.

"Uh, do you think we can come along as well? It seems like you're trying to look imposing or something? Since you are looking for numbers?" Radio sounded unsure. "I can be one of the vehicles transporting!"

Wait, what?

Radio, I didn't agree to this! Like he said, this could just be a hoax!

I was still really uneasy about going back there.

"Well, if you-"

"Er, um, let me mutter something to myself real quick." Radio interrupted Gunhand.

"What?"

"But we need to find Minnie and Jaxt quick! I don't know when we'll even get the chance to find them again. If this is true, then Minnie will probably head off to somewhere else at any moment!"

...

I thought the one you were concerned about was Jaxt?

"Well, I mean... but I want to talk to Minnie about this too. Besides, it will be really hard for us to find a chance to go to that city, even if only to see Jaxt! We can drive on our own after this is done."

The things I do... Urgh...

Fine.

"Sorry..."

This better not backfire horribly.

"Uh, are you done with... talking to yourself?" Gunhand interrupted.

The look on its face could not be described with words.

I really look like a schizophrenic person talking to Radio like this... Well, at least it was in English so Gunhand couldn't understand.

"Sorry, it's a bad habit. You were saying?"

Gunhand looked a lot more sympathetic all of a sudden. I think it's getting the wrong impression of what's going on here...

"It's fine. Yeah, if you want to volunteer, I'll help you sign up for it. You're heading there to see if your friend is fine, yeah?" Gunhand said in a gentle tone. "Don't worry, you can just head off right after you bring us there."

"Oh, uh, thank you!"

[11:55 AM]

Beside me, several vehicles that kind of looked like cars or carriages were lined up alongside me. There were many golems standing before us too, Jaxt and Xion included. The most significant thing was a huge blimp-like airship before all of us though. I felt kind of nervous from all the tension in the air.

A few minutes passed.

"It's twelve noon! You may board!" a voice shouted from a speaker.

The golems filed up neatly and board, followed by us vehicles. Finally, did they have to make us wait an hour?

"It'll be fine, it'll be fine..." I heard someone mutter.

I looked over and saw to my surprise that it came from one of those car-like vehicles. I guess I'm not the only 'self-acting' vehicle here. Somehow, that made me really happy.

It really seemed to me like the vehicles back on Earth, at least those I met, were all unable to move on their own. They had to be driven by humans.

"Truck... you do realise..." Radio sounded a bit exasperated. "Oh! Nevermind, sorry."

I was confused for a moment before I realised.

Not this again! Just because we didn't see them move on their own doesn't mean they're not alive! All machines are alive, like us!

"Uh, sure?"

[Radio, ignore this idiot.]

What? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Aren't you two being alive an example of that?

"Tablet, that's mean..." Radio mumbled. "Er, I think we shouldn't talk for a bit. Don't be angry, okay, Truck?"

[I say what I want.]

These two...

Angrily, I drove into the airship with the other vehicles.