A gray-blue delivery van stopped at the courtyard entrance, and Isabelle jumped down from the driver's seat.
Jiang Ye, already accustomed to the routine, opened the cargo area and began moving boxes.
There were thirty large boxes in total. It took the two of them ten minutes to finish moving them, and they were both sweating profusely from unpacking. The parts this time seemed very delicate, wrapped layer upon layer in packing paper and white foam, as thick as a mummy's shroud. After unpacking, the entire courtyard looked like a junkyard.
Isabelle went inside, found an empty corner, and began assembling the parts with nimble hands.
The massive sex doll printer gradually took shape. Initially, it was a collection of oddly shaped components and tangled wires. Finally, when the casing was attached, it transformed into a long rectangle resembling a large coffin.
The casing was matte black, similar to car paint, and felt smooth to the touch. The top lid was transparent, allowing a view of the interior, where a human-shaped white cavity, along with tube-like spray guns and spotlights, were visible.
"Want to try it out?" Isabelle asked.
"Of course!" Jiang Ye nodded decisively.
Isabelle pulled the power cord and plugged it into the socket in the corner.
The sex doll printer immediately activated. Orange-yellow light shone through the transparent lid, illuminating the entire room. A control panel flipped out from the bottom of the top lid, about the size of a computer screen.
Jiang Ye quickly leaned in. The interface was very simple, with printing options appearing first:
\[What kind of sex doll would you like to print:]
\[Male] \[Female] \[Custom Gender]
"Shall I print one for you to teach you, or do you want to try it yourself?" Isabelle asked with a strange smile.
"Teacher Isabelle!" Jiang Ye said decisively.
Isabelle took over and clicked on \[Male].
A standard male human template popped up, with dense settings on the right, allowing for adjustments to various body parts.
Isabelle clicked rapidly: skin tone 23.5, height 179, softness 5, leg length, arm length, waist circumference, hip circumference, shoulder width...
After a series of data settings, a muscular, well-proportioned yellow-skinned male body appeared on the screen, with clarity comparable to a movie.
Only the final step remained: facial sculpting.
Isabelle double-clicked the face on the screen with her fingertips, and a head immediately magnified to fill the entire screen.
There were again dense settings: hairline, eyebrows, eyelashes, eyes, lips, ears, beard, body hair...
Isabelle clicked quickly, skillfully adjusting the parameters. A rough face appeared on the screen.
Jiang Ye stared. Why did the face on the screen look so familiar?
The parameter adjustment wasn't finished yet; it only determined the basic facial structure. Specific muscle details and skin textures still needed manual adjustment. It was somewhat similar to character creation in games, but much more refined.
Isabelle used all ten fingers, clicking rapidly on the screen as if playing a piano. The face gradually became clearer under her fingers, constantly changing, details filling in, as if a soul were slowly revealing its original features. Finally, it was done.
"Holy crap! Isn't that me?" Jiang Ye exclaimed in shock.
Isabelle smiled slightly, clicked confirm, and then print.
\[This print requires 24,500 yuan. Do you wish to pay?]
Isabelle grabbed Jiang Ye's collar and pulled his face closer to the screen.
Jiang Ye was still reeling from the shock. A beam of light scanned his face, and a prompt appeared: \[Payment successful! Preparing to print.]
"Alright, watch this," Isabelle said, standing up and pointing to the transparent printer lid.
A gushing sound of liquid, like peanut oil, sprayed into the printer's interior, rapidly flushing through like a tide. Various colored lasers lit up alternately, and the tube-like nozzles wriggled like living snakes.
Jiang Ye stared, dumbfounded, at the scene inside the printer. Amidst the chaotic oils and lasers, a red heart appeared, so detailed that the blood vessels on it were visible. Then came the spleen, stomach, kidneys, and white, coiled intestines...
"Why is it printing internal organs?" Jiang Ye asked, surprised.
"Many people have perverted fetishes and dismember their sex dolls, so the internal organs need to be printed to enhance realism. Also, without internal organs, the body would look shriveled. With internal organs, you can feel them when you press through the skin, making it even more lifelike," Isabelle said with a look of accustomedness.
Jiang Ye was completely stunned, his mouth agape, eyes unblinking. The body inside the printer had already formed bones and red muscle tissue, layer by layer outwards. The scene was like watching a medical student's anatomy lesson in reverse.
Finally, skin appeared, covering the organs and bones.
The facial structure was also clear, with a nose formed, but the eyeballs hadn't been installed yet, nor were the eyelashes and eyebrows in place.
The oil inside the printer slowly receded, and the pale body lay still, like a stone exposed by the receding tide.
The snake-like printing tubes were still moving rapidly, constantly probing the body.
Probing and poking, from the feet upwards, it took over ten minutes just to reach the thighs.
"What is it doing?" Jiang Ye pointed at the tubes.
"Creating body hair, and softening the skin," Isabelle smiled. "Be patient."
The hair creation process lasted for half an hour, with every strand of hair, from body hair to scalp hair and other hair, being made individually.
Indeed, without body hair, the body, though human-like, felt somehow incomplete. With the addition of body hair, it suddenly became incredibly lifelike.
Jiang Ye couldn't help but roll up his trouser leg, bend down, and look at his own calf, then lean over to look at the sex doll's calf.
"Holy crap, it's exactly the same!" Jiang Ye's hair stood on end.
"It's done," Isabelle said, her eyes gleaming.
Inside the printer, two small mechanical hands produced two eyeballs from somewhere and inserted them into the sex doll's eye sockets, then peeled open the eyelids halfway.
\[Printing complete. Ready for retrieval!] a prompt message displayed on the panel.
Isabelle heaved with effort and lifted the printer's lid.
A surge of hot air billowed out, mixed with a faint smell of sweat.
"Here, take a look," Isabelle raised an eyebrow at Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye leaned in, bending over to examine the sex doll lying flat.
He stared, mesmerized, for about ten seconds, his mind going blank.
It was too real, so real it was chilling, especially since this sex doll was made entirely according to his own appearance. Looking into its eyes when he leaned over felt like looking into a mirror, or like a soul returning to its physical body lying in a coffin after a long separation.
"What are you staring at? So close, you want to kiss it?" Isabelle kicked him lightly, giggling.
Jiang Ye was speechless, wanting to give her the middle finger. How could he bring himself to kiss a sex doll that looked exactly like him?
He reached out to grab the sex doll's arm, intending to drag it out.
But as soon as he touched it, Jiang Ye's heart suddenly leaped. It was warm?
A terrifying thought flashed through his mind: could this be a real person?
However, he quickly realized it was probably just residual heat from the printing, not the thing itself generating warmth.
The sex doll was quite heavy, at least 150 pounds, almost indistinguishable from a real person.
He dragged it out and placed it on the floor, examining it closely.
Jiang Ye finally understood what Isabelle had said earlier.
"It really looks like a dead person. It's a bit too realistic, even the hair and skin texture are clear. My face turned a bit pale. Will I look like this when I die?"
"Who knows," Isabelle smiled.
Jiang Ye fiddled with the sex doll for a while and got bored. How should he destroy it?
"Just throw it away," Isabelle shrugged, as if throwing away trash. "The material of sex dolls decays easily. If left outside to rain and sun, it'll rot within a month or so."
"That won't do. What if someone finds it? It'll scare them to death," Jiang Ye said. "Damn, the more I look at it, the more ominous it feels, like I've died. Can I burn it?"
"No burning. Burning releases a lot of toxic gas, which is harmful to the body," Isabelle said. "If you don't want it, you can give it to me."
Jiang Ye nodded. "Okay, okay, thank you."
Just as he was about to drag the sex doll out, Jiang Ye suddenly looked up at Isabelle. "What do you want this for?"
"To dispose of it for you, of course!" Isabelle looked at him with disdain. "What did you think I wanted it for?"
"I thought... I thought you might collect it or something," Jiang Ye shrugged, chuckling awkwardly.
"Tch, collecting you? You really think you're something," Isabelle said dismissively. "I already have my own sex doll."
With a snap, the sex doll in Jiang Ye's hand dropped to the floor. "What did you say?!"
"A sex doll requires hundreds of parameters to create. Do you think I didn't know? I've been trying them out bit by bit," Isabelle's smile was meaningful, like a wolf preparing to eat a little white rabbit. "Isn't that horrifying?"
"Horrifying," Jiang Ye stared at her blankly.
"Do you believe there's something more horrifying?"
"Sister, don't scare me," Jiang Ye's voice trembled. "You collected a sex doll that looks exactly like me, and that's horrifying enough. I can't imagine anything more horrifying."
"What if I told you I've collected more than one you?" Isabelle grinned, revealing her white teeth.
Jiang Ye shivered solidly and asked tentatively, "How many have you collected?"
"Curious? Want me to take you to my collection vault to see?"
"Then let's go," Jiang Ye swallowed.
The two got into the delivery van and sped to the delivery center.
They went straight to the basement, to the end of a corridor, where a door with a password lock was located.
Isabelle entered the password, and the door clicked open, revealing a large, dark room.
"Please, honored guest," Isabelle bowed deeply. She seemed to be in a playful mood today.
Jiang Ye felt a chill run down his spine. "It's so dark? Is there a light?"
"It's an induction light. It turns on automatically when you enter," Isabelle looked up, a mischievous smile on her face, and pulled Jiang Ye inside.
As expected, as soon as they entered, white lights flickered on, filling the entire room from above.
Seeing the scene before him, Jiang Ye almost fainted.
The room, over a hundred square meters, was packed full of identical Jiang Yes! There were at least a hundred of them!
Some were standing, some sitting, some squatting, some lying down, in various strange poses. One Jiang Ye was even suspended from the ceiling light by a ribbon, in a bizarre pose similar to a flying Apsara in Dunhuang murals.
Each Jiang Ye was in a different pose and wore different clothing styles, clearly having been carefully dressed. A domineering CEO in a black suit, a beach boy in shorts and a tank top, a post-shower look in slippers and a white bathrobe, a battlefield look in tattered military uniform with wounds all over, a runway model look in trendy fashion...
A wave of revulsion washed over Jiang Ye. He turned and looked at Isabelle, trembling.
"Are... are you a pervert?" he stammered.
"I don't know," Isabelle smiled and looked up at the ceiling. "Maybe a little."