Savi took some time to rearrange her store after Betty and Bryan left with Sally. No use letting my time bringing the rest of these girls out of storage go to waste. Kasumi was placed on the figure shelf, replacing a more modestly posed version of the same character. Mai was given pride-of-place impaled on a wooden rod on top of the onahole bin. Savi added Chun-Li to a display of smaller golems by the cash register. Some were to be played with in their deactivated forms, while others, like Chun-Li, were placed under glass cases for display. Finally, Savi made a trip back into storage and came out with a costume for Bayonetta from the 2nd game. Savi dressed the doll and installed her on a stand near Mable and Shale. Savi looked at her handiwork and decided that it wasn’t quite complete. She went into storage again and returned with another body pillow, this time depicting the Breath of the Wild version of Princess Zelda. Unlike the Sorceress, Zelda was fully clothed and in a playful pose instead of a lewd one. The Zelda pillow was displayed in a glass case on the back of the entrance wall.

All right, I think it’s time for- “Savi! Is Luna available?” A gruff voice called out as it came around the wall.

Savi recognized the voice before seeing the owner and gave a long internal sigh. Impeccable timing, as always, Mike. Without letting her annoyance show, she responded, “No, Mike, Luna’s on assignment for the day already. Can I get another golem to fill your needs?”

“Damn,” the now visible Mike spat, “Luna would have been great for this job, but I’ll hear what else you have.”

Savi arched an eyebrow at her customer, waiting for more information to come. Mike was always difficult to deal with, and she was glad she’d sent Luna off with Ori and spared her from whatever this new job was. The young man was a damn fine photographer, but he regarded his rentals as little more than living mannequins. Savi admitted that they were living mannequins, and most of them weren’t much more, but where Savi and most of her customers used pronouns for the golems, Mike insisted on using…

“It needs to be Asian, which is why I asked about Luna. A lingerie company is opening its first store in Korea and wants promotional shots to hang in the windows. They’ve given me a list of poses they want too, so all it needs to do is be able to take instruction.”

Savi’s eyebrow did not return to default. “Okay, firstly, Luna has Chinese features, not Korean. Secondly, she’s one of my most creative golems, so while you could rent her for a project like this, it would be a waste of her abilities if all you want is blindly following orders. Thirdly,” Savi added extra ice to her already cold tone, “I’ll kindly remind you again that my golems are not to be called ‘it.’”

Mike picked up on Savi’s displeasure and took a conciliatory tone. “Ah. Sorry, Savi. You’re not the only shop I rent from, and I sometimes forget that getting your product quality comes with some quirks.”

“Quirks.” 

The word could have given Mike frostbite. He took a step back, “I don’t mean anything bad by it! You’re just the only Golemancer I know who calls golems he or she or other pronouns. The rest treat them like tools, and you treat them like people.”

Savi glared at Mike for a few moments to watch the man squirm. “You’re right,” she said, warming her tone a bit, “I do treat them like people. You’ve also inadvertently discovered how I get my ‘product quality.’” This prompted a confused look from Mike, so Savi continued, “Tell me, why did you ask for Luna for this project?”

“She’s an Asian mannequin, which I thought filled the brief. She also takes instructions well and can really sell a pose. She makes it look more natural than a lot of re… human models I’ve worked with.” Mike wasn’t sure if implying that Golems weren’t real would annoy Savi again, but decided not to chance it.

“That’s creativity that you want,” Savi explained, “Luna isn’t just a living mannequin to be put in a pose. She’s done thousands of photoshoots by this point and can compile all that experience into making the next one she does better than the last far more efficiently than a human.” Savi’s tone turned harsh again, “That you say the golem for this assignment doesn’t need to be creative and then admit that you want Luna for her creativity shows how little you know about golems.”

“You’re right. I don’t know too much about them.” The words were conciliatory, but Mike’s tone was defensive, “I rent them as tools for my work, and they help me get the jobs done efficiently. When I rent golems from other shops, I spend more time getting them into the right pose than I do with yours. It’s why I think your product quality is high. Even still, there’s less wasted time working with those golems than with human models, who show up late because they overslept, get tired, can’t hold a pose long enough, or other issues that come from having a biological body.”

Savi relented, “Fine. Golems are tools, and I can’t fault you for using them as such. I have golems in my stock that are so simple that all they do is follow orders and react to stimuli. You’ve never rented one because I’ve been hoping that by giving you golems that are closer to people, you’d realize they can be more than that.” Savi sighed, “I can see you need a different lesson, and I’m going to give it. Wait here.” Savi headed off into the storage area, leaving Mike alone in the shop.

Mike considered leaving but knew that Savi would never let him rent from her again if he did. So he stayed in place and stewed. Damn woman thinks these toys are people? He glanced at Kitty. That thing will never be a person, just a fetish fuck-doll. His eyes took in the Mai onahole on her stand. She’s selling living masturbators and wants to call them people. Wandering over to Mable, Mike slapped the perfectly sculpted ass, “and what are you?” he asked the stone woman “a take-home yoga instructor?”

“She can be,” Savi replied as she returned from the back with a big crate. “But her and Shale can do a lot more than yoga. She’s gotten into martial arts while he’s big on fencing.”

“You’re talking like they have interests.” Mike scoffed.

“They do.” Ice crept back into Savi’s tone, and Mike softened his body language. “There are different ways to create a golem. I usually use a method that allows them to grow personalities over time. It’s why you like working with Luna. For simple golems, like the onaholes or pillows, I tend to let them be tools, as their base nature is so ingrained with a single purpose that it’s rare for a personality to develop. The golem in here,” Savi knocked on the box, “is an ongoing project of mine, and she’s going to be your rental.”

“It-” Mike stopped himself, “Sorry. She’s going to have a personality, then?”

“She does. But she’s new enough that it’s developing, and I’m trying to help it along.” Savi fixed Mike with a stern glare, “You’re going to take her for this job. You’re going to treat her right. If you don’t, I’ll know, and you’ll never rent a golem from me again.”

This isn’t worth it, Mike thought, but said, “I’d better know what ‘treat her right’ means then.”

Savi held up a hand with just the index finger up, “One. Nobody but you and your assistant is to know she’s a golem.” The middle finger joined the index in the air, “Two. Once you’ve activated her, she’s locked into her default active mode, and only I can deactivate her. Three. Part of your rental time with her is taking her to a venue with live music and spending at least an hour there. Keep the receipts; I’ll reimburse you for this part, to a point. And four. She’s to be fucked at least once before you return her tomorrow morning.”

Mike blinked, clearly confused. “Okay, I get the first three, I think. But the last one? You’re saying your golems are people and then instructing me to make sure she’s fucked?”

“Mike.” Savi said flatly, “Look around the shop. You realize that about 80% of my customers come in looking for a fucktoy that can fuck them back, right? Some of my golems are created specifically with that goal in mind,” she indicated Kitty and Richard, “and they enjoy filling their purpose. They’re tools, as you’ve noted, and most of them are tools used to bring pleasure. I make them with the capacity to have interests beyond that, but they’re still happiest when they’re filling their purpose. Oh, and when it comes to the fuck-session, feel free to use her like the animated fuck-doll she is.”

Mike goggled, “Savi, you’ve just finished getting upset with me for calling your golems ‘it’ and treating them like tools instead of people. Now you’re telling me that if I’m fucking them, I can treat them like a tool?”

“Yes. Being treated like tools when filling their main function helps them develop outside of that during the early stages. Once they’ve developed to be closer to humans, it reminds them that they’re still golems and that being a golem is still the best thing for them to be. The pleasure they describe when filling their purpose sounds like enough to overwhelm a human brain.”

Mike thought for a moment, “Isn’t a mannequin’s purpose to display clothes? Not get fucked?”

Savi smiled, “Yes, but you’re not renting a mannequin.”