The toy factory

True You Toys, the building that once housed the famous toy company still stood after so many years despite having been abandoned a long time ago.  As is always the case when something dies with many unanswered questions, urban legends tend to spring up to fill the void.  Many thought the reason it was never demolished was because it was haunted and always scared away the workers who were supposed to do the job.

Well today, one young man took it upon himself to solve that mystery once and for all.  Dresssed simply in a hoodie to keep out the cold night air and a camera to record the events that would unfold, he looked at the fenced off building, taking a quick glance around to ensure nobody was watching and quickly scampered over it, dropping down to the other side.

"All right, so far so good," he said as he started filming, "We're about to enter the remains of True You Toys.  Why did it close down?  Why is it still here?  So many questions.  Let's see if we can find some answers."

With that, he slowly opened the employee door, it's eerie creaking echoing through the long emptied break room.  The intertior was dark and silent as a tomb.

"True You Toys was once the hottest toy company in town," he explained for historical purposes as he walked through the dim rooms, his camera providing sufficient light, "But then 5 years ago, it simply went dead.  No comment from the owners, no talk of selling to anyone else, nothing.  It was like the owners themselves just vanished.  Why?  We're about to find out hopefully."

A search of the office alas proved quite fruitless.  It looks like they kept all records digitally and the computers were long past their time.

"Damn, no clues here.  I guess all that's left is the factory floor itself," he said as he proceeded to the main part of the building.

He made his way to the catwalk and down the steel stairs to the factory floor.  It was strange, it was almost completely dominated by one massive machine that he could only guess as to it's function.  Did they really make all those toys just from this one device?  It must have been quite the machine indeed, if only...

"Man, this is turning out to be a waste of time..." he started to say dejectectly when he noticed a single red light to one side.  Walking over to it, it appeared to be a main switch.

"The light's on...is this thing still getting power?" he wondered as he curiously pulled the switch upward and sure enough, the switch sparked as the contacts touched each other once again and the machine not only began to hum to life, the lights around the ceiling turned on as well.

"Oh wow!  The electric company must have forgotten to cut the power!  Lucky!" he said excitedly as he tried to step back to film the machine but couldn't seem to get a good look at it all.  He looked up at the catwalk that led to the office. That looked like a better view.

Heading back up the metal stairs, he walked along the catwalk now able to get a good view of the entire factory floor.  Even if he didn't solve any urban legends, this would be the first time anyone's ever filmed the factory floor in operation.

"Maybe this won't be such a dud after all!" he said as he continued to take shots from various angles.  Wanting to get one from the other side, he walked over to the very end of the cat walk for a few last shots.  He was excited beyond words to capture this, so much, he failed to hear the creaking as the years hadn't been as kind to the supports on this side.  When he leaned over the edge to get just the right angle, that was the last straw.  The supports broke, causing the catwalk to jolt downwards.  He had only enough time to say "Oh damn..." before being shaken off balance and flipping over the edge, grabbing at the side for only a moment before the handrail broke off in his hand.  Below him was a massive vat that thankfully was filled with something soft, breaking his fall.

"Ugh...what happened?" he said as he regained his senses and tried to wipe his eyes but found his arms pinned.  Looking around, he was neck deep in some very thick, rubbery substance.  Whatever it was, it was so sticky and heavy he could barely move in it.

"No!  I'm stuck!" he said trying to struggle but to no avail.  That's when he looked overhead and saw a large mechanical hand move until it was centered around him and begin to lower as though he were a prize in a crane game.  It reached around his waist and began to pull him out with a surprisingly gentle grip.  He was still caked in a thick, heavy layer of the strange substance but at least he was out.  Maybe it was some kind of safety feature.

"Phew, that was close," he started to say until the claw lowered him onto the conveyor belt of the machine.

"Oh no!  Stop!  I'm not...rrrgh!!" he said trying to struggle but the thick, gooey paste covering him was too heavy to break out of.  Not to mention he was starting to feel strangely numb below his neck too.  Was it cutting off his circulation?

The belt brought him into the first large tank of the factory where the doors closed, cutting off the light from outside for only a moment before two bright red lights began to illuminate the tank.  They began to move around and up and down around the tank as though trying to find just the right spot.  Once they seemed to, they began to light up brighter as emerged from them.  They began to make small, deliberate movements as the lasers began to slice off sections of the goo.

"No!  They're going to kill me!" the hapless victim panicked as he could only watch and hope for the best.

The lasers cut away at the goo with careful precision, growing closer and closer inward.  He braced himself for the agony of being cut into by the hot lasers...and yet that pain never seemed to come even as he was sure they were reaching his flesh.

"What?  Why doesn't it hurt?" he wondered as they began to make finer cuts from his neck down.

As shoulders began to take shape from the mass, he looked and saw them to be devoid of any sign of flesh underneath.  They were cloudy and transparent like plastic, as though his body were never inside.  The lasers worked their way downward, forming more of this strange new body.  More mass was left up front than he expected and it soon became clear why as they shaved corners all around until it formed two sizeable spheres that hung from his front.

"What?  Breasts?!  What is this crazy thing doing?!" he could only say as they continued to work downward, cutting more into his hips than was there before, making them narrow and curvy like a girl's.  As they finished the last few touches on his hands, he was finally able to move them free from the mass and examine them.  Like the rest of him, they looked cloudy but transparent and plastic like.  Attempting to stop the lasers looked dangerous so the prisoner could only watch as they carved out a plush, pillowy butt and then began to sculp long, dainty legs to complete the look until finally they faded out, their work complete.

"What did they do?  My body looks like some kind of doll?!" he said feeling himself all over for but a moment before another mechanical claw entered and seemed to be studying him for a moment all over.  Before he could make any sense of it, it suddenly opened up and sprayed him in the face, blinding him.  Unable to see or speak, he could only guess what was happening as his head felt poked and prodded all over as the heavy weight on his head gradually lightened until finally sight began to return to him, but now the same numbness washed over his head as he felt it all over...plastic like the rest of him and what was worse...his hair was gone!  The conveyor began to move again as he exited the first chamber.

"This is crazy!  I gotta get out of here," he said attempting to get jump off and make a break for it but a mechanical claw caught him before he even hit the floor and put him back on it.  This next room had the unmistakable metal coils of an oven inside it!  He barely had time to cry futily for help before the door slammed behind him.

The heating coils quickly began to light up as the very air in the room began to distort with the heat.

"It's cooking me...but it doesn't feel bad for some reason," he said disoriented as he attempted to walk to the door to see if it could be made to open.  As he approached, he began to stumble as his balance kept falling out of whack.

"Is it just me...or is that door getting further away...feel so stiff..." the unwitting doll said as she started to see everything around her getting bigger.  Looking at herself, her skin began to lose it's opaqueness and grow more solid.  She was shrinking and her plastic flesh was hardening in the massive oven that was growing more massive by the minute.  Whatever chance she may have had of escape were now moot at this size as she simply sat down looking at herself curiously.

"Now what?" she wondered as the oven cooled and the door opened once more.  She simply waited this time as she was brought to a last chamber.  A dozen fine mechanical hands darted out from the darkness clutching various items as she was lifted up and held into an outstretched position to receive them all.  A short blonde wig was placed atop her head and she could feel the sticky glue inside it quickly harden, afixing it permanently to her.  Another emerged with a tiny set of colorful underwear that it deftly slipped onto her expertly.  Not another moment's delay later, she was slipped through the bottom of a frilly, black maid dress that seemed designed just for her size as white stockings and black shoes were put on to complete the ensemble.  Finally, a probe covered with various tuffed ends came before her as it dipped the brushes in various bright colors and began to paint her face ever so delicately.  It shone a warm red light at her for a few moments as she felt the paint dry in seconds before she was gently placed back on the conveyor that exited the chamber as she was deposited onto the floor, obviously a place intended for a collection box.

"Oof...that was so wierd...but I'm still alive somehow," she said in an almost sickeningly cute, high pitched voice.  She looked at her hands for a moment before walking over to a steel panel nearby and wiped the dust off, letting her get a look at herself.  Staring back at her was a cute looking doll in a maid dress with short blond hair, waxy red lips and painted with bright pink blush and deep blue eyeshadow with long lashes.

"This thing turned me into a doll..." she said looking at herself for a moment, "This is the story of a lifetime!"

With that, she excitedly ran over to the vat she fell into, hoping against all hope that it was there...

"My camera!  It didn't fall in!" she cheered as she walked over and found it still recording.  She wasted no time in hoisting it right side up and stood in front of it.

"This has been...an unexpected development.  I don't know why but this machine somehow was designed to turn people into dolls as you see right here!  The world must know the truth and I will see that it gets to them!  For now, signing off!" she said as she walked over to turn the camera off.  It came at a price but she did get the scoop she wanted...now it was just going to be a long walk getting this camera back to the station...