Back at my desolate home, we both went to my basement where I mainly work.
As the door to the basement opens.
"Haap!"
Sam couldn't help but gasp and take a step back. It was his first time seeing the basement, I generally don't like people coming to my studio.
Well... I didn't have that many friends in the first place.
Lights turn on and doll puppets and mannequins were displayed on the wall and down to the basement.
Looking at it from here, it indeed looked like you're going down in a hell full of dolls. I never realized before that it look quite scary. I thought like any artist, it was cool to display their works.
"Umm, maybe I don't need to go there?"
Sam said with a frightened voice.
"Come on, don't be a coward"
"Umm, I don't think it's necessary right? I mean we could just talk in the living room"
"I want to show you something"
"Ahh I can just wait here"
I glance at him and saw him already sweating and shivering. I knew he was a scaredy cat but I didn't realized it was to this extent.
"Alright, wait here"
I headed down alone and immediately, I felt comfortable. The place was full of materials, broken puppets, dolls, incomplete mannequins and tools.
I headed towards one of the shelves and saw three mannequin heads, two of them having no special features but one of them has..
If anybody saw this, they'd immediately screamed at its realism. A severed head on a shelf?
Anyone would be frightened...
I grabbed the head and I saw its shiny blue eyes and I could see its pores its' face filled with dust and black hair tied to a ponytail. Its lip curled a bit to smile. Its features were feminine. With my skills, I manage to give it a feeling as if it was alive.
This was one of the most realistic mannequins I ever made.
At that time, I was depressed that I wanted to forget about world and focus on my craft.
For days I didn't eat and barely slept. I even sold my bike just to make this.
The result was this.
"Hello Sindri" I greeted the head..
Grabbing what I want, I went back upstairs and closed the door.
"Eugh!"
Sam yelped when he saw the head in my arms.
"Can you stop being scared for a second? Sheesh, here"
I place my head ok the table and sat down on a plastic chair.
"What do you think?"
But Sam seemed thoroughly scared as he said stutteringly... "Yo..you yuoo.... We're fre-iends right?"
I shook my head and responded... "Knock it off will you"
Sam gulped and slowly overcame his fear as he went closer and observe the head.
He gulped once again and said... "Did you make this? This is incredible..." He couldn't help but mutter. As he touched the face it felt like skin.
Eventually, he got even braver and lifted the entire head.
He touched cheeks and lips.
He opened its mouth and was shocked by the sensation he felt...
"The gums... the teeth.. the tongue... Is.. Is this really just a mannequin?!" Sam looked at me fearfully.
I shook it off and smiled as I was proud of my work even though I'm about to use my prided skills to work on something indecent.
"This is perfect! This is more than perfect, This is a masterpiece!"
Sam's fear eventually subsided as he excitedly said. "What this? Oh... the mouth is even wet! How did you do that?!"
"It's just a simple mechanism at the back of it where you can put water. I put it to simulate saliva"
Sam then looked at me weirdly and before he could say something...
"I didn't played with it okay!?" I defended myself.
"Anyways, I'm glad you like it, But I wanted you to know that if I had to make dolls of the same quality, then we need capital cause I don't have any"
That cooled down Sam's excitement..."How much do you think it'll cost to do a life-size version of this including the..uhh.. playable parts."
I pondered for a moment, if I wanted to make as realistic as possible while considering the cost...
"Hmmn minus the cost of my work, probably about 4000-6000 pends." It was a conservative estimate really.
Sam pondered for a moment "How many can you make a life-size doll in a day?"
"One, that's if the materials are already prepared... I should be able to increase my speed if I get familiar with it" Even though it took me days just to make the head, it was because I was emotionally disturbed back then.
I didn't do much life-sized realistic mannequins, I was already strange for having such a hobby, I didn't want to increase it by making human-like mannequins.
"Hmmn. With this quality... there should be no problem, however...."
Sam's face crumpled...
I knew what he was thinking... "You also don't have any money...."
"hehe... You know me so well. How about you give this to me first and sell it as a sample?"
I pondered for a second before agreeing, "Sure..." I was already planning on selling it anyway.
A firm expression then appeared on Sam's face " Don't worry, I'll find a way to find capital fast, I'll also handle the sales so you focus on the work."
Sam stared at the mannequin with bright eyes and shouted..."The market has never seen this quality. We're gonna be rich!"
