An emergency party of delight was held.
The dolls formed the line and Suzie, the star bearer in charge of the medical wing, injected everyone with a dose of unrefined coffee straight in the mouth.
Mia knew...no, everyone knew...that this isn’t just a regular coffee. Even when consumed without being diluted in the water, it was never bitter. It tasted just...right.
And she knew that it will help her forget the terrible incident that took place the other day. The head of her friend, crushed against the floor, the pieces of brain, blood, and gore flowing out….speaking of which, why do the dolls have a brain and blood? Shouldn’t it be oil? Why did the one who leads shadows house, the shadows’s house king, the living dolls creator, the great creator-sama make them so human-like?
Such unnecessary thoughts caused Mia’s nearly physical pain. She felt dizzy, and her heart bet unnaturally fast. Is this the punishment for questioning what mustn’t be questioned? Like some kind of kill switch built into every doll, meant to cause pain and eventually destroy the host from within, whenever they thought evil and did evil?
…..When her turn to receive the injection came, she felt only relief, because she knew it would make her stop fretting over such trivial matters and everything would come back to normal soon enough.
…..
The replacement for the former member, whose name needed not to be spoken anymore, was a new doll from the same class as Lou. In truth, according to reports, that “Emilico” was quite inept and had yet much to learn- including reading and writing- and originally they didn’t plan to include her in the workforce until after the debut, which she wasn’t likely to pass anyway.
However, desperate times call for desperate measures. An unforeseen and permanent loss of a team member would have left their group undermanned, and Rosemary begged Barbie to lend them that kid and fill the gap.
Uncharacteristically, Barbie yielded....but made a condition that if their team screws up even once because of that doll, they would all suffer consequences normally, and the newcomer’s lack of sufficient preparation would not be considered a mitigating circumstance.
Knowing very well that meant the tyrannical star-bearer wants and expects them to screw up, Mia swore to herself that she will do all in her power to prevent that- starting with giving the newcomer the warmest reception and best training she could.
……
Mia knocked on the glass window of Emilico’s room.
Several times. Only after 5th or 6th knock did a response come.
Blonde hair….this is the doll from the other day!
“Hello, what’s your name?” Introductions were in order, even though, of course, she already knew the new team member’s name.
“Emilico”
“I’m Mia from the upstairs” Mia from the upstairs. Haha, what a title! She giggled at her own joke.
The newbie looked at her with confused eyes and timidly giggled along with her, though probably she didn’t know what exactly is being funny here.
“Emilico, you were stuck in the window the other day.” That wasn’t a question, nor was it phrased as a question. It was a tactic meant to knock away whatever confidence the blondie had, and make her a blank slate that would absorb knowledge without question nor resistance.
“I-I hope we can get along!” responded Emilico frantically, red embarrassment coloring her cheeks.
All according to the plan.
Several more questions were asked. “Have you ever been outside your room”, even though Mia knew she hadn’t….
“Are you getting along with your shadow-sama?” even though Mia knew she didn’t….
After all, there is no way any shadow would be fine with having such an incompetent face as this Emilico. The blonde doll was probably getting beatings daily, even more often than Mia did, and that thought made her feel….
Comfortable.
