Chapter 105 – Unit Two

The sun had already risen. Morning light had completely dispelled the dimness of the attic, and from outside the window came the gradually increasing sounds of voices and vehicles on the street, along with unknown birds squawking on nearby rooftops, filling the air with their chirping.

But none of this interrupted Yu Sheng’s concentration.

He was cradling a doll’s head that was nearly finished being shaped — currently still a lump of somewhat firm clay — carefully using a knitting needle to press out the contours of eyes and the bridge of a nose on its surface. He had spent a long time on this step, even starting over several times in the middle, before finally achieving a relatively satisfactory result just before the clay hardened to the point of being unworkable.

It still couldn’t really be called perfect, and certainly couldn’t compare to models made by true professionals, but Yu Sheng felt that the little head before him at least wouldn’t be nagged by Eileen as being hideously ugly anymore. At the very least… the little doll shouldn’t cry when she climbed inside it?

A slightly smug smile played across his face as he looked up at the candles on the table, finding them already more than half burned down.

It seemed the “face painting” step was destined to remain unfinished before the candles burned out. Just completing the doll’s body components was already an achievement for him at this point.

But Yu Sheng wasn’t particularly disappointed. After all, aside from running experiments, this was just practice — getting more familiar with the entire process before making Eileen’s next proper body was a good thing. As for whether makeup was applied or not, the doll herself didn’t really care.

After all, Eileen could “grow” her own face into something quite beautiful all on her own.

Yu Sheng let out a soft breath, picked up the doll torso he had just finished, and prepared to place it at the focal point of the alchemical array in the center of the table. Since this was a practice run, he wanted to go through the full process — even though Eileen wasn’t here right now, he wanted to complete the ritual with proper ceremony.

But after placing the torso at the center of the table, he couldn’t help furrowing his brow.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but the lump of clay seemed to carry a faint… eerie “elasticity,” along with a slight warmth.

Yet when Yu Sheng examined it more carefully and reached out to touch it, that strange sensation vanished. It became an utterly ordinary clay creation once more, its surface already slightly dry.

Was he feeling dazed from too little sleep last night?

The thought surfaced in Yu Sheng’s mind, but he didn’t simply dismiss his doubts. Instead, while attaching the doll’s other components to the torso using small amounts of clay mixed with softening agent and water, he carefully observed any changes in the “body.”

He quickly completed the assembly. A rough doll blank lay quietly at the center of the “alchemical array” composed of concentric circles and connecting lines, candles burning silently around it. Aside from the absence of Eileen’s oil painting as the “soul source,” the doll-crafting ritual was complete.

Yu Sheng stared intently at the blank before him. In a single instant, he felt as though his eyes had played a trick on him.

And then, he saw the chest of that body begin to rise and fall ever so slightly.

Very faintly, but genuinely rising and falling — as if a tiny life was slumbering within that lump of clay, not yet awakened, but already “existing.”

Yu Sheng’s eyes went wide. After a second or two of stunned paralysis, he finally realized what was happening and immediately leaned forward, gently touching the “breathing” doll blank with his hand. “Wake up, wake up… are you really alive?”

But the doll blank did not respond as he had hoped. Although the rising and falling of its chest had become completely obvious and steady, its entire “animation” process seemed to end there, showing no signs of further awakening.

As if it were merely an empty shell, still waiting for something to fill it.

Yu Sheng drew a sharp breath, then shook his head vigorously and turned to shout toward the stairwell leading downstairs. “Eileen! Eileen, are you awake? Get up here and look at what I made — “

Yu Sheng stopped mid-shout, because the corner of his eye caught movement on the table.

The instant he had called out the name “Eileen,” the doll blank underwent a sudden transformation — as if the most critical step of the ritual had been completed. The body first went rigid all at once, then a layer of skin tone representing vitality and life rapidly spread across its limbs. Hair began growing frantically, its features swiftly becoming vivid and three-dimensional, living color appeared, followed by that familiar black dress. The whole thing took no more than a few seconds before an “Eileen” lay before Yu Sheng, slowly opening her eyes.

Yu Sheng stared at this scene, utterly dumbfounded. Then he watched as the “Eileen” that had been a lump of clay just a moment ago jolted awake from her initial grogginess. The little doll shot upright with a start, turning her head to look at Yu Sheng. “What are you yelling about! I was sleeping and then you — “

She suddenly stopped, seeming to sense that something was wrong. This “new body” stiffly rotated its neck, surveying its surroundings in an eerie manner.

“Wait, where did you put me? I was in the bedroom… hold on, that’s not right either. This body feels… numb. I’m… all dizzy…”

The little doll spoke in a dazed and somewhat panicked manner, instinctively trying to stand up from the table and walk toward Yu Sheng. But the moment she rose, the world seemed to spin around her. Her body swayed in two circles before slowly toppling off the edge of the table. “Ah — I can’t keep my balance! I’m seeing double! I’ve got two fields of vision right now… grab me, grab — ” Before she could finish, Yu Sheng had already reacted, darting forward with quick hands to catch the little lady as she tumbled off the table. Before he could even catch his breath, a “bang” came from downstairs.

Two of Eileen’s startled yelps reached Yu Sheng’s ears simultaneously: “Oh my god — “

One was clear and loud, coming from the doll body right in front of him. The other was distant and muffled, drifting up from downstairs.

“Yu Sheng, Yu Sheng, what’s happening? Why do I have two fields of vision right now? I’m in two places? No, that’s not right — why…” Yu Sheng heard the doll in his hands babbling in a panic. “Why do I have two bodies right now?!”

The situation had completely exceeded Yu Sheng’s expectations, but by now he had also realized what was happening. Forcibly shaking off the disbelief in his heart, he clutched the “new Eileen” in his arms and dashed toward the staircase, thundering down to the second floor and back into his bedroom.

The little doll in his arms clung tightly to his arm, as if terrified of falling.

The moment he opened the door, Yu Sheng saw Eileen bracing herself against the nightstand, barely maintaining her balance. She looked up almost simultaneously.

The doll in his arms and the doll standing on the floor by the nightstand stared at each other.

“…Whoa!”

Two mouths spoke in perfect unison.

“I have two bodies!”

Still in perfect unison.

By this point Yu Sheng’s head was spinning. He looked between the two identical dolls with a mixture of shock and uncertainty, holding it in for a long moment before finally managing: “Eileen? It’s really both of you?”

“Yep.” Both dolls nodded simultaneously.

“No, what I mean is — is there only one consciousness?” Yu Sheng realized that was ambiguous and quickly added, “One consciousness in two bodies? Or are there two Eileens now?”

“Just one,” both dolls spoke simultaneously again, but this time Eileen caught herself quickly. The one in Yu Sheng’s arms suddenly shut her mouth, while the one standing on the floor across the room raised a hand to point at herself. “Just me, the one and only. It’s just that… I suddenly have an extra body.”

As she spoke, she tentatively released her grip on the nightstand, wobbling in place for several seconds while clutching her head. “Oh god, I finally found my balance… You have no idea, I was so dizzy just now I almost threw up. At first I didn’t understand what was happening — I just felt like I’d woken up in the attic, and then the one on the bed opened her eyes too. Two fields of vision and two sets of sensory input all hit me at once. The moment I tried to get up, I fell off both the table and the bed at the same time. Good thing you caught one of me…”

Eileen launched into a rapid-fire account the moment she found her footing, but halfway through she seemed to remember something and looked up at Yu Sheng. “Wait, Yu Sheng, why are there two bodies? And… how am I simultaneously inside both of them?”

Yu Sheng’s face instantly went taut, an indescribable awkwardness flooding from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. He hadn’t had time to properly think about how to explain this miraculous phenomenon to the doll during his dash downstairs, and after holding it in for ages, he finally managed: “…Would you believe me if I said our attic got damp and grew a doll?”

Eileen blinked at Yu Sheng, then blinked again. “…R-really?”

Yu Sheng: “…?”

She actually bought that?!

The little doll’s reaction made Yu Sheng feel too guilty to actually deceive her. He came over to the bedside, first setting the “Unit Two Eileen” he’d been holding down on the bed, then did his best to compose his expression before speaking slowly.

“Here’s the thing. I couldn’t sleep last night, and I was suddenly seized by the spirit of scientific inquiry, so I went upstairs and conducted a little experiment…”

Yu Sheng recounted the entire process of sculpting Eileen a “backup body” to the “victim” before him, not even forgetting to supplement his account with a thorough explanation of his thought process throughout.

The little doll’s expression shifted from confusion, to astonishment, then back to confusion, before finally and successfully arriving at exasperation.

“Yu Sheng, you absolute bastard!!”

(End of Chapter)