[Home/Afternoon/Winter/203X]

Well, you can’t say you weren’t expecting some disappointment. Even as a customer, you often get to see it when your orders arrive, whether it’s not as the description of the product stated or maybe it was simply the state it came in. Fortunately, it wasn’t the latter. Still, you aren’t happy with what you see.

Out of the shipping box, you’re holding the case of the “First edition-Idolm@ster R-series: Fuyuko Mayuzumi.” This doll of one of the characters is one of the many recent ones that came out at a HIGH price, being integrated with robotics and AI to make the ultimate companion, collector’s item, or jar inhabiter—whatever you want to do with it. She’s able to have conversations, move, sing, dance songs from her in-game setlist, and do everything a tiny person could do. Obviously with some limitations, it’s all run by an app you already have installed.

Except, she’s 0.5 CM smaller. Yeah, she looks exactly like she was advertised, it’s just the height is smaller. You can’t help but feel a bit dissatisfied. It’s not a big deal, but it’s that thing that will tip you off on how legit it really is.

Maybe you could just let go and let live, but…

Well…

[Basement/Night]

You’re finishing the pentagram with the candles on each side in the dark, putting offerings around the doll still in the box, turned off for now. Maybe ritualistic resorts weren’t the best decision, but oh what a goddamn shame. They shouldn’t have just ruined your order. In present matters, you are using a guide from the web to pull off this easy-to-do ritual apparently—whatever you put into the circle will be increased in size after a short phrase.

This sounds stupid and sketchy, but what’s there to lose? You take a breath and speak some gibberish with all your soul. A couple of seconds of nothing happening make you feel stupid. You’re about to give up and clean up the mess until you notice the box start levitating.

CRACK.

A red flash followed by a flashbang-like explosion fills the room. You’re stunned for a little while. You eventually open your eyes to see something. The ritual did work—the doll grew…well, maybe a bit…more than 0.5 inches.

Fuyuko sits with a smile on her face, her eyes staring downward with no light as she’s turned off…sitting on her butt fully on top of the flat doll box. She seems to have grown to life size, now looking like an actual person. It’s not what you asked for, but it’s still…better?

You walk up to the sitting Fuyuko and head for her nape’s hidden power button to see if the robotics in her still work, pressing the embedded button behind her dark blue and green hair. You hear a click from within her.

Fuyuko’s eyes glow their natural color, blinking twice as she comes on. Her hands open and close as she calibrates, soft whirring coming from within her servos. After a couple of seconds, she looks forward and begins speaking her first-time boot-up phrase, pre-recorded and not aimed at anyone due to her natural obliviousness.

"My name is Fuyuko Mayuzumi. Please call me "Fuyu", okay? I'm so thrilled to meet you!♡" She seems to go still again, except for breathing and slight movement, looking downward, still oblivious to your presence. Apparently, the manual online reads that you need to make an account on the app, and when instructed: place the phone on Fuyuko’s hand and wait for her to accept and register the information to sync with her user and unlock all her features.

”Hmmm, hm, hmmm~ ♫” She goes into idle mode, awaiting synchronization or interaction, speaking and moving when touched or talked to, not having the general ability to know if something isn’t directly in her line of sight. Her hands whirr as she places them on her lap, tapping her hands on her knees, soft whirring coming from her cute movements, her AI maintaining her character’s personality, .