There were three different versions, so the modeller could choose which part of the scenario she wanted to emphasize in the finished figure. The one for the first part of the storyline, where Aerda first met the dragon, would result in a simple, naive, easy-going girl. The second was for the middle of the tale, when Aerda was serving Galba with all her heart. And the last was for the Aerda who had survived all the plot twists, and made her final decision, and had grown into a fine, resolute young village woman.

Yasuko felt obscurely disappointed. So there would be no growth, no development, no real experience for this figure. She could give Aerda maturity, give her memories, simply by plugging in a new brain chip.

But then this was only a talking doll, she reminded herself, doomed to play out a prescripted storyline.

In the story, after many hardships, Aerda finally did transform the dragon back into a man. And she worked selflessly to break the secret of the labyrinth. But the moment Galba rescued his princess, he no longer had eyes for the faithful Aerda.

Colleen, her own white magic restored to her along with her freedom, told Aerda that she would give the village girl anything she wished for in grat.i.tude for her help. Aerda forced a smile. I once fell in love with a marvellous dragon, she told the princess. I only wish I could find a partner with such a wonderful heart.

Colleen, unaware that Aerda's dragon had been Galba himself, cast her spell...The small membrane turned out to be the figurine's vocal cords. Yasuko pushed it into the belly cavity and up into the throat with her finger as instructed. Then she dropped her choice of ULSI into the same belly cavity.

That left the sack stamped "NNP Seeds." These, it turned out, were actual plant seeds. There were about half a spoonful of them, looking like sesame seeds.

NNP. Neural network plants, she read. NNP are a radically new kind of plant genetically engineered to transmit electric signals. Nourished by growth culture seeping into the body cavity through the porous flexible polymer, the NNP seeds extend microscopic mycelioid filaments toward the metal contacts on the MVP ULSI. The NNP grows into a neural network in accordance with data obtained from the ULSI. The NNP filaments continue to grow through gaps in the porous flexible polymer, reaching into every part of the figure's body...

Yasuko did as the instructions said, pouring the seeds into the cavity, then attaching the lower torso with the enclosed tube of glue. Next, feeling queasy, she attached Aerda's limp arms and legs.

When the NNP transmit a signal from the ULSI to a specific "address" connected to the NNP network, the flexible polymer contracts, making the figure move. Moreover, by exposing sensory cells differentiated from the rest of the NNP on the surface of the figure, it is possible for the MVP ULSI to obtain visual and auditory, olfactory and tactile sensory input. It will take 34 hours for the growth culture to permeate your figurine, and for the NNP to establish a neural network and run the full sequence of self-checks on the figure's autonomous movement repertory. Make sure you have finished painting your character before she/he/it begins to move!...

After the spell, Galba for the first time had felt the full force of the village girl's love.

But just as he was about to speak to her, Aerda stopped him. I know I have triumphed over Colleen in love, she told herself. For I loved your manly spirit even when it was entrapped in the sh.e.l.l of a gruesome dragon. And that is enough. And she walked away, head held high.

Yamas.h.i.ta had especially approved of this last scene. "Aerda starts out as a strong-willed tomboy, but she grows into a transformed woman," he would say. "As juvenile fiction goes, it's a fine expression of the cla.s.sic theme of personal growth and maturity."

That wasn't how it felt to Yasuko. She just felt desperately sorry for Aerda.

She poured water into the small basin she used for washing her dishes, and mixed in the sack of powder. It reminded her of her stomach medicine. Then she carefully lowered Aerda, looking human at last with her arms and legs in place, into the water.

Sunk to the bottom of the basin, the village girl could have been the victim of a drowning. Her blouse was moulded on, part of the upper body casting, but the skirt was a separate piece, so Aerda was naked from the waist down, her flesh seamless and unbroken.

It had actually been Yasuko's fault that Doi and Masami had got together in the first place. In fact she'd always suspected the only reason Doi had made such a fuss over her was to get closer to her friend Masami.

They were unlikely friends. Masami Tsuda had broken her leg skiing the year before, and hadn't been able to get the credits she needed in physical education. That put her in the same lower cla.s.smen's course as Yasuko. When they wound up in the same group for warm-up stretches, Yasuko was surprised to find that this lovely senior student was a manga comics fan the same as her. Before long they were shopping and hanging out together.

Masami had introduced Yasuko to Doi. They were both part of a group of friends planning a party.

I'm sorry, Yasuko. Doi's so stifling! You can talk about manga and all that otaku stuff. Would you mind covering for me until this stupid party business is done and finished? And Masami's beautiful features broke into a cute little smile, and of course Yasuko agreed. Masami was a girl who was perfectly aware of how attractive she was, and knew that no one could stay angry with her for long no matter what she said, just so long as she turned on that winning smile.

Not even Yasuko.

Doi was the very model of the serious college jock, a track and field man. But Yasuko had read hershare of boys' comics, and she was able to draw him out.

Mostly what she drew out of him, however, was his feelings for Masami.

The way he thought Masami was cute, the way he sighed after she left them, the way he would plumb Yasuko's knowledge of Masami's likes and dislikes.

But despite the uncongenial subject matter, as she sat with him and Doi's expansive laughter rang out in some coffee shop, gradually Yasuko found herself charmed.

In fact, dazzled.

And even when he was talking about Masami, after all, he was with her. She had allowed herself to dream, just a little- "Oops! Sorry, Aerda..."

Yasuko pulled out a sheet of tissue paper, and carefully sponged off a bit of paint that had, while she was carelessly dreaming, spilled over the line of Aerda's skirt hem.

Painting on nice, flat Kent paper was a completely different story from working on the complex curves of a garage kit. The separate piece for the skirt was especially convoluted. She'd already put delicate highlights and shadows in Aerda's hair, and carefully shaded each and every lacing on her jacket.

When she was done Yasuko picked up Aerda herself. Aerda's skin, steeped in water, seemed smooth and even a little soft to the touch. Yasuko lifted Aerda so the figure's eyeless face was before her own huge eyes. The special paint for porous flexible polymers took a long time to dry. That made it easy to avoid streaking and smearing, but it was a pain when she had to apply multiple layers. Still, the coats she'd applied earlier looked to have set.

"Is your face all dry now? Well, then-" Yasuko stretched, and started in on the most difficult task of all-painting in the pupils.

She shaded in gentle auburn highlights on warm chestnut pupils, giving a deep and quiet expression to the village girl's face.

She allowed herself a smile. "Now that's not bad! Don't you think so, Aerda?"

At last it was time for the final touch-the freckles.

...Is that what Doi's really like? I didn't realize...

Yasuko remembered how Masami had breathed those words one night, her eyes distant, as her long, straight hair blew around her in the wind. It was the moment Yasuko's hopes imploded.

But even then, Yasuko played the good undercla.s.sman. She looked out for her elders' feelings, gave each of them a gentle push when they needed one, and finally made Doi's dream of winning over Masami a reality.

I'm the one who charmed Doi, she told herself. I'm the one who charmed Masami, too. It's me who's the really awesome one, way more awesome than Masami...

And that alone was her fragile, secret pride...

Yasuko froze, her brush still poised in her hand.

The brush point had split, leaving wedge-shaped blotches like hoof marks all over Aerda's cheeks.

It was a disaster-Aerda's face, of all things! It was her fault; she hadn't been concentrating. Now what? Trying to wipe the freckles off with tissue paper would just leave smears. The best option was to let the paint dry completely, then carefully shave the smudges off with an Exacto knife.

"I'm sorry, Aerda. I'll clean you all up tomorrow."

Trying to keep from trembling, Yasuko went ahead and glued on the skirt.

The next night she had to stay late to catch up on the work she'd been skipping, and it was past ten before she returned to her dormitory. The girl next door, with the s.h.a.g haircut that looked so good on her, was having an endless phone call with some guy.

Yasuko opened her door. Her own small room seemed dark and utterly quiet.

She switched on the light, and stopped dead in her tracks.

Her desk was a mess. Spilled paint had made a flesh-coloured sea of the desktop. The spines of her textbooks were splashed, and her brush stand had toppled on its side.

Her heart thumped. Should she call the police? Or the dorm monitor-Clunk.

It had come from behind the textbooks. She stared into the shadows, which her imagination readily populated.

"What was that? Who's there?"

...Something very small was moving around behind the dictionary.

Yasuko stepped forward cautiously.

A figure, its torso coated with flesh-colour paint, was peering sheepishly around the edge of Yasuko's Oxford English-j.a.panese Dictionary. That three-millimetre-wide mouth moved, and a light, tinny voice drifted across the room.

"Who are you? What is this place?"

It was-Yasuko recognized with a start-the voice of a popular actress, Alissa Nakagawa.

"Aerda?"

"You know me? Where am I? Is this a land of Giants?" The figure hung on to the edge of the dictionary with both hands as it thrust its upper body around the corner. Its manner was stunningly authentic, as were its timid face, the strained shoulders, the nervous feet.

Yasuko spread both hands, and softly stepped closer. The fearful Aerda fell back a step. "Don't be afraid. I made- no, I healed you. And you are Aerda, of the hamlet of Teglia."

At the sound of her name Aerda appeared to relax a little. She slowly stepped out from behind the dictionary. She left tiny flesh-coloured footprints as she stepped lightly across the desk. Porous flexible polymer reformed itself into an embarra.s.sed frown. "The last thing I can remember is being attacked by a monster in the forest...Galba! Is he here? Do you know anything of a dragon?"

"Have no fear. Galba is not here. He is-another Giant is taking care of him."

"Where? Let me see him!" The words were a wail of pain, as authentic as the rest of the modelling.

Yasuko suddenly found herself at a loss for words. I can't just play with this creature like a toy, she realized. It was as if Aerda was in some sense aware. And if she was or was not, how could Yasuko tell?

"Don't worry," she said again. "I have to ask that other Giant when he can meet you. But it'll be okay. In fact, that other Giant may just be able to give him a human body-"

"Turn Galba back into a man?" Aerda's face was a small dish of misery.

Too late, Yasuko remembered the scenario. Galba had declared he would go straight to the labyrinth tower to seek his princess, as soon as he recovered his human form. For Aerda, Yasuko's news could only mean that her happy days with her love would soon be over.

This is ridiculous, Yasuko thought. You're debating with a kit figure, here.

"I don't know for sure that he'll do that. Just maybe. Look, try not to worry."

"I'm sorry," murmured Aerda, lacing her fingers. Webbed with drying paint, they were getting sticky.

"What happened to you, Aerda?"

"I woke up and found myself in this strange place. And when I went over to look at one of those gla.s.s barrels, I saw my face reflected there, and my freckles were so dark! And some of them had such strange shapes...I thought I couldn't possibly let Galba see me like that, and, and..."

She'd apparently thought she could cover up her freckles with skin-coloured paint. Aerda had wrapped her arms around a pot lid to twist it off, and instead brought the whole "barrel" right over. The damage stretched from Aerda's right shoulder down across her entire body.

Aerda hung her paint-splashed head. Yasuko sympathized with her from the bottom of her heart.

"Come here," she said gently. "Let me clean you up." Yasuko wiped the desk with a dust cloth. Then she soaked a tissue in thinner, and started sponging away the spilled paint. "I'm going to remove your skirt for a little. Tell me if it hurts, okay?"

Aerda complied.

Yasuko used sandpaper to smooth out the excess paint. Sitting with her legs stretched out in front of her, Aerda intently watched Yasuko at work. She seemed to have no sense of pain.

"Giant," she said, "you are very kind."

"My name. It's Yasuko.""Yasuko?"

"Sit very still. Now, lift your face. I'm going to fix your freckles."

Aerda stretched up her face, as if waiting for a kiss.

Colleen was afraid of Yasuko. She hid behind Yamas.h.i.ta's paint pots.

"I chose the mid-point setting in the story, too," Yamas.h.i.ta told Yasuko. "So she keeps whining about whether 'the knight who is supposed to save me' has come or not. It's driving me up the wall. And on top of that she cries. Sobbing all the time. No tears, though."

Yamas.h.i.ta's workmanship on Princess Colleen was woeful.

Colleen's skin was rough to the touch and the paint hadn't taken well. Yasuko wondered if Yamas.h.i.ta had slacked off on the polishing. The princess's costume was very elegant with lush draping, but Yamas.h.i.ta had simply covered it with heavy layers of blue paint-a harsh primary colour-and in some places it had spilled over onto her skin. His paint work on her eyes was particularly clumsy.

Colleen's eyebrows were askew, and her eyelashes were simply three thick lines, crudely sketched.

Colleen, trembling, asymmetric, was much less appealing than Yasuko's Aerda.

Of course, Yasuko mused, there was no reason why the story played out by these little characters had to follow the script.

Yamas.h.i.ta tripped Colleen with the handle of his paint brush. As she sprawled, he laughed.

That night she found the room dark except for a little night light. A book was propped open in the pool of light, and Aerda sat before it cross-legged. She was reading, mouthing the words to herself.

She turned. "Welcome home, Yasuko."

"That's my textbook. Are you reading Chinese poems?"

"I didn't have anything to do. I'm sorry-"

"No. Don't apologize. I'm impressed." The Aerda character had been conceived of as a girl with a keen natural intelligence, but who never had a chance for a formal education. "We have to pretty you up, Aerda. Tomorrow you can finally see Galba."

Aerda leaped to her feet. "Galba?"

"...And he'll be back in human form."

Aerda clapped a tiny hand to her mouth. "So he found Princess Colleen."