Jerzha stepped forward from the wall. "She" was the same height as Kziintke, but not only was her torso shaped with slight feminine curves, her voice proved to be in a higher register. Gylabris wondered what on earth had inspired the ancient Dwemer to give gender to an automaton that was, after all, just a construction of metal with a mind.
For a moment he had a whimsical thought of Kziintke and Jerzha getting together and manufacturing little 2-foot Centurions. That was nonsense. Still, it was amazing that after he had agonized over bringing Kziintke back to life for so many decades, less than a year after he had finally done so here was another – and Kziintke himself had activated her!
The two automatons conversed back and forth in rapid-fire Dwemer for a couple of minutes as their human companions stood around in shocked silence. Whether this was to make their conversation private, or because Dwemer was in essence their "native" tongue, Gylabris didn't know. Finally Kziintke turned to his master to deliver his report.
"I have recovered a memory from long before I was deactivated the first time," he said. "Jerzha was created when I was, and there dozens more of us. We were intended to act as guards and interpreters for traders, and we traveled widely before the troubles. When the Dwemer became besieged in their cities, and the Falmer were lured in to be enslaved, our usefulness was at an end. I believe that many may have been destroyed, though some – as I was, and Jerzha also – were merely deactivated."
"Well," the little Keeper told his pride and joy (Gylabris had never married nor had any children, and Kziintke was his proudest achievement), "I am pleased that you have found a friend, or a sister perhaps. But who is her master?" "I am," Kziintke said thoughtfully. "We are programmed to obey the one that activates us, provided that they know our name. Shall I tell her to obey you instead?" Gylabris looked surprised. "Hum, I suppose so…"
Kziintke spoke to Jerzha in Common now. Like him, she had Common, Falmer, and Dwemer at her command. "Jerzha, this is my master Gylabris. Please do as he says." "Pleased to meet you, Gylabris," the gleaming automaton replied. "What are your instructions?" "Well, erm… Follow me, I suppose… Andi, we're following you so where are we going, exactly?"
Andi started from his reverie. The events of the past few minutes had him flummoxed. He'd admired this Centurion many times in the past, thinking it was kind of cool that this one (unlike any others he'd seen) had breasts. No beard, either, of course. But he hadn't made the connection until now that she was of the same design as Kziintke.
"Right this way, people," he said. "We'll be going down into the workrooms on the floor below." He led the way through several turnings and through a pair of imposing doors, then down a ramp into the lower level of the museum. They found Calcelmo standing at a workbench with Sorine and Ray Lassitus, and a medium sized boy of around 12, with dark brown hair that had a reddish cast to it. He looked up and squeaked "Andi! You're here!"
He ran to them and Andi put the boy in a headlock, mussing his hair. Edouard Lassitus was a full-blooded Breton born in Skyrim just like him, and he idolized the older boy as the brother he'd never had – despite that this was only their fourth meeting. Meanwhile the adults had turned to look at the party approaching, and their mouths hung open in expressions of disbelief to see that the promised Centurion was accompanied by another – one they thought they recognized as belonging to the museum.
Introductions were made all around, and then Jerzha spoke up. She was as sentient and capable of autonomous action as Kziintke was, it seemed. Though he would obey orders from the one designated his "master," he didn't hesitate to think for himself. "Greetings, Calcelmo, Sorine, Ray, and Edouard. I am Jerzha, recently reactivated by my brother who is now known as Kziintke. He tells me that I have been standing in the museum where he found me for many ages. But I have no memories of that."
"This is astounding!" Calcelmo said, fairly quivering with excitement. The old Altmer had been engaged in his Dwemer studies here in Understone Keep for longer than any of the non-mer among them had been alive, yet he had never realized what a treasure he had had – polished up and nicely displayed as if she were no more than an ornament.
After the excitement had died down, some half an hour later, Andi said "So the plan is that Calcelmo and Sorine are to accompany Mothris and Umina down into the ruined city?" Those mentioned all nodded, and Kziintke spoke up. "Gylabris has told me something of the city below," he said. "I think it would be wise if either Jerzha or I were to accompany you. From the reports of others who have attempted the depths, there are many automatons still active. It would be far better to command them in Dwemer to cease hostilities, rather than to fight them."
"Excellent point, Kziintke," Sorine said. She'd been studying Dwemer technology for decades, and had trashed dozens of automatons just to save her life. How much better to leave them intact, and study them in working condition! "I will be happy to accompany you," Jerzha said. "I think that if you wish to contact the Falmer below as friends, two Centurions might be… an inducement for them to listen to what you have to say before they start shooting."
"That's set, then," Andi said with relief. The effects of fast-traveling here from Mrzhgradfendz were beginning to get to him, and he could only imagine that his companions were also suffering. "I think Mothris, Gylabris, Umina and I are all in need of a rest," he told them. "Why don't we go get something to eat at the Silver-blood Inn and then go up to Vlindrel Hall to sleep? We'll be back here bright and early tomorrow morning, and see off the expedition."
Assuming the ambassadors were successful in contacting the Falmer tribe that lived below Understone Keep, they intended to bring back a delegation from that tribe with them. Markarth was a special case, since unlike virtually every other Dwemer city in Skyrim it was (and had been, for many years) fully occupied by people other than the Falmer. In most Dwarven ruins, it was only the odd group of bandits that sometimes set up housekeeping.
So they could not offer the Falmer the chance to take up full ownership of the entire city, as had now been done in a dozen places with varying degrees of success. But the biggest part of the city below Understone was deep and broad, connected with the upper levels only by narrow corridors. There was no reason the Falmer therein couldn't set up some kind of a trading post within the Keep itself, perhaps near what was now the entrance to the archaeological site.
"All right then," Calcelmo said. "Will Kziintke and Jerzha stay here in the meantime? I am very eager to converse with them." "Certainly," Gylabris replied. "We will see you all in the morning."