When Powder and Mint got back to Base the only doll to be seen was Pop, who was wearing the same slacks and white shirt he'd been in since the first time Powder had met him.
"You two better head down to the sewing room," he said, lifting a stack of sketch papers from one of the shelves to the table. "The Monstress is planning costumes for the next production."
Mint peeked into the office.
"Did she send for everyone?"
"No, Licorice took the ones who weren't called down to the Lower Levels. That room with the pool tables. I guess someone saw quite a few protos down there. I think they're going to board it up. It's a bit risky being out of our usual territory but it's a good chance to trap a bunch of protos at once."
"You mean board the protos inside?" asked Powder. "What about making them angry? Bourbon was worried about that."
"Kind of depends on the strength of the protos." Pop ran his hand through his hair and caught his fingers in a tangle. "I'm hoping these ones are pretty weak or incapacitated. I bet they're the same bunch Scotch and Bubblegum took on a little while ago when they scored all those legs that were practically in perfect condition."
"I guess we should go down before Madame becomes irritated," Mint said.
They went the same route to the core as before: left down the hall and then the metal stairwell. Powder felt braver this time knowing what to expect about the Globe, but her last memory of the area had a proto lurching around in it.
Bittersweet was the only one in the dressing room. He was wearing an aubergine tailcoat and black pants with large cuffs at the bottoms and pins like a costume in progress. When he saw Mint and Powder he pointed casually down a corridor. Mint nodded and they went that way.
"How come Bittersweet helps the M?" Powder whispered.
"We'd all like to know the answer to that."
"Is she minding him at all?"
"Not that I've ever seen. He actively helps her outside of her range to control him."
They passed a headless golden cherub mounted on the wall with hundreds of pearl strands dripping from its neck.
"I assume you've all tried getting him on your side?"
"There's no changing a mind like his."
Mint brought Powder into the sewing room. It was jammed with dolls.
At the far end of the sewing room was a glass cabinet wide and deep enough to comfortably sleep three people on its shelves. The back of it was a mirror. Inside were scattered jewels and bowls of shining ornaments that could not be identified from where Powder was standing. A lot of the tables and dressers had been pushed to the sides of the room, and down the middle was an aisle lined with three-legged stools. The dolls sat on them facing across from each other, some holding small bundles of fabric.
The dolls were all in chattering conversation, but reduced it to whispering when Powder stepped into the room. Some offered a quiet "hello" or a nod of the head in her direction. Powder nodded back, looking for a vacant stool. Mint sat down on the first stool on the left, which was probably empty because the door threatened to knock anyone off who sat there when it opened. Powder walked down the aisle. She kept her eyes low but it was impossible to ignore the stares. Something clattered behind her and she turned to see Sours patting an empty seat next to him.
"You can sit next to me, Powdered Sugar." He was grinning.
A snickering from the others alerted Powder to scan the floor behind the stool. A doll who had been introduced earlier to her as Raspberry was on his back, legs curled up so far over his head that his knees were on the floor. He rolled forward and glared at Sours before striking out his foot and knocking the offender's stool out from under him. Sours managed to hop off before falling, causing some applause from the other dolls.
It was short-lived. The Monstress stepped out from behind a six-paneled silk screen. She was wearing a dark blue bubble-skirt dress with a sweetheart neckline and a jade necklace. Her hair was pulled tight into a tiny ponytail, her loose bangs nearly brushing her eyes. Behind her stood a doll who was obscured for the moment. Everyone was quiet.
The M didn't make any formal address immediately to the room but fiddled around with a large ring that had so many keys attached to it that it looked more like a spiny ball. Down the aisle the dolls were whispering something that sounded like "puckers" to one another. That's when the Monstress, who had found the key to unlock the glass cabinet, stepped aside to open it and the doll behind her came forward. He was very thin and had straight black hair reaching to his mid back, the upper half tied into a knot. His long narrow rounded eyebrows sat above a pair of dark-purple eyes. Unlike most of the dolls who retained a suspicious nature and fearful attitude, this doll's smile suggested he was anything but afraid.
Some of the others clapped at the sight of him. Syrup stood up from his stool. "Whoa! Puckerz!" he said, approaching the doll with outstretched arms.
Puckerz walked past the M and embraced Syrup as a circle formed around him. Several other dolls patted his head and thumped him on the back. The M cleared her throat and the dolls retreated back to their seats. Puckerz stood in the aisle, waving at everyone. His eyes rested on Powder briefly before the M directed him to sit on a stool between Bubblegum and Fizz.
"Powdered Sugar," called the Monstress. She was beckoning with her finger. Powder came and stood in front of her. The Monstress looked her up and down and then made a face. "Where did you find that thing you're wearing? It's fraying and torn! Really darling, you have your choice of all my lovely items and you pick this? Don't ever let me see it again." With that she dragged Powder into a corner behind the silk screen and yanked off the offensive pink dress. Then she shoved something blue and striped into her arms. "Hurry!"
Powder flushed with embarrassment at the criticism but once she had put on the high-collared pencil-skirt dress (and grateful to do it all by herself), she stood in front of the Monstress again and received the M's approval.
"See?" she said. "You're much prettier now."
The Monstress picked up a yellow glass bowl shaped like a spray of leaves from the cabinet. Several necklaces slithered off the shelf and fell to the floor at the bowl's removal but she didn't bother to pick them up. She handed the bowl to Powder who held it while they walked down the aisle, the M depositing handfuls of shimmering things from the bowl into the dolls' open hands.
"Did you all bring the fabrics I picked out for you? Put them on your laps so I can see them."
There was no audible response from the dolls, but Powder didn't miss the wincing looks on some of their faces as they began to pull bundles of fabric from beneath their shirts or under their stools. It wasn't until she could see them up close that she noticed how rich and brocaded most of the materials were.
"This would be nice with that velvet... yes." The M held a spool of red satin piping against a brown velvet fabric on Amaretto's lap. He kept his head low as he took it from her hand.
Scotch was talking to Nonpareil. The two were in hushed laughter over something and so it escaped Scotch's notice when the M put a spool of sparkly gold trim on his pile along with a dole of buttons as she walked by. When he did notice, he picked it up with his thumb and index finger and sneered. He placed it on Raspberry's pile across from him when the other wasn't looking.
"Hey," Raspberry looked at Nectar to his right. "Did you give me this?" Nectar shook his head and Raspberry glared at the dolls to his left. "You're all picking on me, aren't you?" He got off his stool, carefully holding his fabric pile in one arm, and ran over to where a doll named Tang with bright blue eyes was seated in conversation with Syrup. Raspberry put the spool on the top of Tang's pile and then rushed back to his own seat.
A hushed echo of "Oooh!" could be heard as Raspberry got back to his stool with his pile, undetected behind the Monstress' back. She straightened a little and glanced around her, but didn't seem bothered by what she saw.
Tang picked up the spool and peered from doll to doll, trying to figure out who the traitor was. He put it on Syrup's lap and a couple of the dolls laughed. Madame turned around, raising an eyebrow. All the dolls immediately looked down at their piles, Syrup folding a piece of yellow satin over the spool. She turned back again. Scotch waved to Syrup who, after a cautious glance at Madame's back, chucked the spool to Scotch. He threw it at Bourbon who had no choice but to catch it or risk the M hearing it crash into something. Bourbon shoved it onto Fizz's lap with disgust. Fizz made a quick cover with his hands as the M turned around again, more suspicious. She wasn't halfway finished down the aisle yet.
"You all up to something?" Her face was smiling but her voice was not. The dolls feigned amusement with their piles again. She glanced at their laps and turned back around again. The dolls ahead of her were biting their lips. Powder watched all the happenings from the corner. Her fist was in front of her mouth and her eyes on the back of the M.
Fizz tossed the spool to Powder who deflected it with her hand, sending it back to Scotch. Then it was thrown around rapidly like a hot coal until it landed back in Licorice's possession. Licorice put it on Fizz's lap again but Fizz put it right back onto Licorice's. They went back and forth a few times before Licorice threw it hard at Ganache, a somewhat petit doll with an angry face. Ganache threw it to Scotch who hit it towards Cinnamon who was preparing a pitch back to Bourbon when the M turned suddenly and he nixed it, instead chucking it on top of an armoire. There was a soft 'clunk' as the spool settled and everyone grimaced. The Monstress looked like she might pull someone's arm off but the moment of accusation and confession was bypassed when Puckerz cleared his throat.
"Sorry," he said while waving around a bracelet on the tip of his finger. "Just sort of flew off."
The Monstress closed her eyes for a minute and gave a long exhale.
"Careful," she said. "Or I'll sew your fingers together."
The distributing went on and soon the dolls were challenged to keep their piles of accessories together. Some, like Bourbon, Chocolate and Tang, would arrange everything in a tidy way. Others, like Bubblegum for instance, or Ganache and Lemon, seemed to have no concept of organizing nor the ability to do so. Their piles frequently fell apart, scattering materials around everyone's feet. When at last it seemed that even the most strategic of the pile-stackers were facing ultimate collapse, the M took the bowl from Powder and sat it back in the glass cabinet. After that was locked she turned back to the rest.
"Everyone, put your things away and head to the dressing room." All of the dolls began to file out, cradling their supplies.
"Ready for another production?" Scotch's voice came from behind Powder.
"Seriously?" Her body churned with the memory of the last one. "Don't they take a lot of time to plan out?"
"The plans are always overlapping. This one," Scotch held his pile of fabrics at face level, "won't be ready until another two or three productions are finished."
The dolls all paused in front of a wall of shelves with slots. Each slot had a gold plate with their name on it and each doll sat their material pile in their respective slot.
Someone called Scotch's name and Powder saw Puckerz making his way to her. His box read "Pucker."
"Who's the girl?" he asked more like he was trying to be up-to-date than polite. He still had that mischievous smile.
"Ah," said Scotch, "this is Powder."
As he said her name Scotch's hand briefly touched her lower back and Powder felt something light up inside of her. Puckerz shook her hand.
"I'm Puckerz. How did a bleeder-girl like you wind up in here?"
"Don't remember," said Powder, finding herself smiling.
"Ha! Good one!" Puckerz nodded to them and headed for a different group of dolls.
"You call him Puckerz?" Powder asked Scotch.
"His name is embroidered as "Pucker" but he painted a 'z' on the end. The M could never get it off so we just started calling him that."
"Has he been gone for a while?"
"Well, he cut off all his hair and ripped the seams in his face," Scotch said, pausing to look around him. "It was done in protest. From the looks of it Madame completely rethreaded his hair... it was blonde before. Honestly didn't know if we'd ever see him again. I had been half-expecting to see a proto turn up with his body."
Scotch suddenly turned and left Powder to go down a hall with the rest of the dolls, probably being minded to do so. He passed under a sign that read 'Changing Rooms'. Luckily, Powder saw it before she followed the herd of dolls. Instead, she went to where the Monstress was arranging bowls of various sized straight pins on a table. The woman's mouth was tensed.
"Should I do something?" Powder asked, unsure of why she was helping the Monstress but feeling like she should try and stay on her good side.
"Yes. You should stand right there and watch me." The M flashed her a smile that made Powder start. "Alright," the M yelled upwards. "Who's first?"
Several dolls conversing by the changing rooms looked over. Raspberry jumped forward making his approach in a robe-like costume that looked ancient and rich, like a royal court member of a forgotten past. Powder glanced around to see that all of the dolls coming out of the changing area were wearing one of four types of clothing: commoner, royalty, warrior, or noble. Three dolls emerged together wearing women's attire. Nonpareil was dressed in what had to be a queen's formal attire while Grenadine looked to be the lady-in-waiting. Ganache was wearing something of commoner status. Powder wondered if the Monstress altered his angry expression within the Globe.
The Monstress studied Raspberry who stood erect, his chin high. She circled him once and then dismissed him. "Well done," she said as if he'd made his costume himself. It became apparent quickly that many, if not most of the dolls, had no clue how to assemble their outfits and the Monstress would spend up to what must have been ten minutes pulling things off of them and putting them back on 'correctly'. No wonder she had been pleased with Raspberry.
Often, she would ask Powder to hold something for her or help her adjust the clothes or get different shoes. All of the shoes needed for the most current production were on the bottom shelves. Even though the dolls had right and left feet, their shoes were all straight.
While Powder was returning with the first pair of shoes, the Monstress was lecturing a doll who had switched costumes with a commoner. ("But Liqueur, you have the face of a noble! Go switch back this instant!") It wasn't the only occurrence. By the time Fizz came out in noble clothes the Monstress had sent four other dolls back to the rooms. Fizz smiled at Powder as the Monstress fussed with his robe.
Puckerz arrived in a warrior's getup. The Monstress stood a few feet from him, folding her arms.
"I don't know, Sugar," she said, bringing the girl into the decision-making process. "The plan was a knight but now I'm having second thoughts. Should we make him a royal? He looks princely, don't you think?"
Powder sat the shoes down that she had been holding and went to stand close to Puckerz. She found herself studying his hairline, wondering how long it had taken the M to rethread each bunch of hairs. Unlike Scotch, his eyebrows were threaded hairs, not paint.
"He'll make an interesting warrior because he looks like a noble." Powder regretted speaking as soon as she heard the words coming out of her own mouth because of the awed look that came over the Monstress. Why was she acting like the director's assistant?
"Wow!" The Monstress put a hand on Powder's shoulder and the girl felt herself shrinking, and not because of her swollen back. She looked down at the floor, aware that any doll standing around could hear what was being said. Puckerz was dismissed and Powder, talking out of nervousness, asked the Monstress why most of the dolls had painted eyebrows. The M looked impressed with the question, making Powder wish she hadn't asked it at all. She should probably sew her own mouth shut.
"Eyebrows are difficult," the Monstress said. "The hair I use for their heads is threaded and tied under their scalps. You can see the tiny holes." She minded Lemon over to them. He bent forward in a low bow. "See?" the Monstress was parting his hair. "If I used this with eyebrows you'd see the holes because the hair on their faces is much thinner. Thank you, Lemon." Lemon ran from them as the words were leaving the Monstress' mouth. "I tried threading them individually but their head hair is too soft and fine, it loses its shape. So I painted them. Recently, I've been developing a new hair made just for eyebrows. I realized if I created them short instead of cutting them short, they were much stiffer. Only a few of the dolls have threaded eyebrows right now. I plan to redo all of them sometime."
Powder glanced around her as the Monstress was talking. Here and there she noticed dolls watching her, including Scotch to her right. He looked away when she noticed him but the others watched on.
"Peppermint," the Monstress said suddenly. She didn't look up when she called his name but Mint arrived in front of her, dressed like a noble. He said nothing, his eyes looking straight ahead. The Monstress, as far as Powder could tell, could have asked Mint to turn his head for her or have him sit down or whatever to get him into the position she wanted, but instead she grabbed him by the hair and twisted his face away from them. The minded doll was limp to her touch. Powder found herself biting her fingertips and quickly hid her hands behind her back.
"I didn't always know what I was doing," the Monstress continued to Powder. "See where the seam is here?" She ran her finger down a line at the back of Mint's neck. "This isn't a very good design because it's difficult to access the hearing and saliva functions from the spine. Butterscotch has a much better pattern." Suddenly Scotch was walking forward, dressed similarly as Mint. The Monstress took his head in the same fashion, twisting it to the side. Powder squeezed her wrists. "See, here I run the seam from his clavicle up behind his ear. It makes him more flexible, too."
Powder couldn't comprehend any of the engineering the Monstress spoke of when inside her own head she was shouting, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it!
"What do you use for saliva?" Powder asked, hoping the response would free Scotch. She was wrong.
The Monstress smiled and Powder thought she could see every perfect tooth in the woman's mouth. Then the Monstress turned Scotch's face back to her and pushed her whole hand inside his mouth. At the same time Powder raised her hands to cover her face in the horror of what she was responsible for causing. Scotch remained minded and expressionless. The Monstress pulled out a flattish oval-shaped device that was glossy with doll saliva. She fondled it in her hands and then inhaled its scent. Powder's fingers dug into the bone beneath her eyes.
"Now this is something I'm really proud of," said the M, extending the device for the girl to take. "Smell."
Powder vehemently shook her head, hands still holding her distorted face. The Monstress gave a throaty laugh and stuck her hand back inside Scotch's mouth. When she had finished she licked her palm, giggling. Powder thought she might be sick.
"Sometime I'll take you through all the doll-making steps," the Monstress said. "I'll even let you build one yourself."
Most of the dolls nearby became still. Powder didn't want to believe what she was hearing.
"What do you mean?"
"You're curious, darling, aren't you?" The Monstress was still smiling. She reached back into Scotch's mouth to replace the valve. "You've asked me so many questions about them. I also know you love my clothes. It would really help to have someone around who knew my secrets—I could use an extra pair of sturdy hands."
"But.... How could I..." Powder meant to say, "How could I betray the dolls like that" but it didn't all come out.
"Oh, you'd be good at it. I saw the way you organized the raw materials earlier; you have good design sense." The Monstress showed no care of whether any of the dolls around listened to their conversation. She took her hand out of Scotch's mouth but he still didn't move. Powder was thinking. Blatantly refusing the Monstress could carry consequences she held no ground to deal with, but maybe she could buy time with something else.
"So teach me about costumes," Powder said. "The dolls can come later."
"But darling, you need a doll to make costumes for." The Monstress shook her head at Powder as though she were being silly.
"But you already have so many dolls..."
"A girl needs her own toys and I'm rather territorial about my own." The Monstress ran her hand up Scotch's arm and across his back. "Besides, I'd love to see what you come up with."