The Auto-Memories Doll and the Curse of Gender-Bending Chaos! - When I woke up in the morning, everyone had turned into different people.

The light streaming through the window was stronger than usual. Violet opened her eyes in bed. Through the gap in the curtains, the morning sun slipped in, thin and bright. The air felt just a little different. She couldn't say how, exactly. "…?" She sat up. Tilted her head. Looked at her own hands. White gloves. She removed them, revealing the mechanical prosthetics beneath. She clenched the metal fingers tight, then opened them. Same as always. But. At the center of her body, there was a faint yet unmistakable sense of wrongness. Something hot, something heavy — she couldn't quite place it. She thought back to the night before. A black box she'd found in a tiny antique shop along the Brao River in the old town. The elderly shopkeeper had said, "It came from the estate of a fallen noble house down south," and let it go for cheap. When she'd opened it back at the dormitory, a pale purple light had spilled out, soft and drifting. A faint, tingling sensation — like her skin was being lightly singed. But the light had vanished almost immediately, and Violet had simply gone to sleep. (*Was that… the cause?*) But she couldn't know for sure. Not yet. Violet slowly left the bed. She headed for the washroom. In the mirror, her own translucent blue eyes met her gaze. Her golden hair, cut neatly at the shoulders, was slightly mussed from sleep. Her appearance was unchanged. At least, there was nothing visibly wrong. No change she could see. Only the sense of wrongness lingered, deep in her core, warm and persistent. She slipped her arms into a white blouse and pulled on a navy long skirt. She fitted the gloves over her mechanical hands, then checked her reflection one last time. A small nod. Good. Today, too, she had work as an Auto-Memories Doll. A job that meant drawing out her clients' feelings and writing letters on their behalf. Four years since the war ended. The entire continent of Telsis was still healing, and people needed words. Working at the C.H. Postal Company, she was a single cog in the machine that delivered those words. Even without her commanding officer, even without orders, she would fulfill her role. That was what the Major had taught her. She stepped out the front door. Leiden's morning was quiet, as always. From a distant street, she could hear the sound of carriage wheels. The wind blowing in from the Brao River stirred her hair just slightly. The air was crisp, announcing that winter would soon arrive. She walked along the cobblestone path, her mechanical fingers tapping out a rhythm — *clack, clack*. The fifteen-minute walk to the postal company. In her mind, the face of Major Gilbert surfaced. Her former superior officer. Missing. The last time she'd seen him was that day, four years ago. *"I love you."* The person who had said those words to her. Violet still couldn't grasp their meaning. (*I don't understand love.*) (*Is it because I'm a doll? Because I can't properly comprehend human emotions?*) The Major had called her "you." Had told her she was something irreplaceable, uniquely precious. But the words "I love you" alone kept spinning uselessly in Violet's heart. The three-story brick building of the C.H. Postal Company came into view. She stepped through the front door. In that instant— "UWAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!" A piercing shriek echoed through the office. A voice she recognized. But far higher-pitched than usual. Violet frowned. She walked toward the source of the sound and found a beautiful girl jumping up and down in front of the hallway mirror. Blonde hair, semi-long. It swayed softly, glossy and shining. Her large brown eyes were wide open, round as saucers, her long lashes trembling. That face — she'd seen it somewhere before. But it didn't match any face in her memory. "What the hell is this?! My face! My voice! There's some weirdo in the mirror!" The beautiful girl pointed at the mirror, then realized the finger she saw was her own, and screamed again. And then, startled by the high-pitched voice that came out of her own mouth, she jumped. An infinite loop. "No way — this is me?! It's actually me?!" Benedict. The postal delivery person at the C.H. Postal Company. Originally, he was supposed to be a spiky-haired, mischievous young man with black hair. A light-tongued mood-maker who always acted a little tough but was earnest at heart. But now— "Why the hell am I a woman…" Benedict crouched down on the spot. The hem of her skirt touched the floor. Still not used to her own clothes, apparently, she awkwardly tugged the fabric to cover her knees. It looked like she'd been forced into women's clothing. The size was slightly off, and the buttons at the chest looked ready to burst. Violet simply watched the scene in silence. "Is that you, Benedict?" When she spoke, Benedict flinched and looked up. Their eyes met. For some reason, Benedict's cheeks flushed faintly pink. "Y-yeah… Violet. As you can see, something seriously messed up is going on." Standing up, Benedict looked down at her own body. "Woke up like this. Clothes don't fit, voice is weird, and my chest feels heavy as hell. This is the worst." A sigh. But her eyes looked at Violet with something like distress. Not her usual jokester grin — something more serious. *Thump.* Violet's heart gave a small leap. (*What is this feeling?*) "Good morning, you two— wait, WHAAAT?!" A low voice came from the direction of the entrance. Turning around, she saw an unfamiliar man standing there. A sturdy build. Short, wavy brown hair. Gentle green eyes, now giving off a sharp, crisp impression. He was just a little taller than Violet. "Wait — Benedict?! What on earth happened to you?!" The man raised a hand to his mouth, voice full of shock. But the voice was so deep, it didn't seem like he could believe it was his own. "What is this… this isn't my voice…" Cattleya. A senior Auto-Memories Doll, the big-sister figure of the C.H. Postal Company. Originally, she'd been a woman with fluffy, waist-length curls, kind and caring to everyone. Now, she was unrecognizable. Cattleya, too, kept touching her own throat, sinking into shock. "Miss Cattleya?! You've turned into a guy too?!" "Look who's talking — you've become a girl… I can't believe this." The two stared at each other's appearances and sighed in unison. "How the hell am I supposed to do deliveries starting tomorrow?" "And how am I supposed to explain this to my clients…" "Actually, Miss Cattleya, could you quit talking all girly even though you're a guy now?! It's creepy!" "Excuse me?! You're the one who should stop using such rough language when you're a girl!" "Shut up! I was a guy originally!" "And I was a woman originally!" Which one of them had it worse? That was the argument they started having. The office was complete chaos. Violet observed their exchange and quietly thought. (*That box. Last night.*) (*The pale purple light.*) (*That was the cause.*) Her intuition told her so. Her heart pulsed — *thud, thud*. The sense of wrongness in her body still hadn't faded. Somehow, she felt like something was happening to her own body, too. "…Everyone, please calm down." She called out to them in a voice as flat and mechanical as ever. That was when it happened. The front door of the postal company slowly opened. *Creeeak…* The sound of the hinges echoed quietly. Silhouetted against the streaming morning light stood a woman. Short, light brown hair. Neatly styled, almost military in its precision. Deep blue-green eyes, fixed directly on Violet. That face— "…Major." The word slipped from her lips. Major Gilbert. Violet's former superior officer. Missing. A woman who looked exactly like him stood there. But it wasn't him. She had the exact same face as the Major, yet her body was a woman's. A white blouse, slacks easy to move in. At her neck, the same blue-stone pendant the Major had always worn swayed gently. "Ah… Violet." The woman smiled, tears welling in her eyes. Then she broke into a run. Footsteps echoed. "I finally found you." In the next moment, Violet's body was pulled into a powerful embrace. Warmth in those arms. A nostalgic scent, drifting softly. It was so similar to the smell of the military-issue soap the Major had always used. "I've been searching for you. All this time. I couldn't stand it — I wanted to see you so badly." The voice whispering in her ear sent a shiver down her spine. Violet's body went rigid. Her mechanical hands clenched tight. (*What is this?*) (*My heart is so loud.*) It pounded in her chest with an intensity she'd never felt before. *Thud-thud-thud-thud.* The heat inside her body swelled and swelled. "Please… let go." She somehow managed to say it, voice hoarse. But the woman didn't release her. Instead, she held on even tighter. "No. I want to keep feeling you." A hand gently stroked Violet's head. A gesture as if soothing a small child. "You're as adorable as ever." A soft, amused laugh. Benedict and Cattleya stood watching the scene, mouths hanging open. "Wait, who is that?! Is that Major Gilbert?! But she's a woman?!" "That can't be — the Major is missing… and a woman, besides…" Their voices no longer reached Violet's ears. Her mind had gone completely blank. Only the sound of her own heartbeat echoed, absurdly loud. "Are you… the Major?" She asked, voice trembling. The woman didn't answer. She only smiled, gentle and warm. That gaze was exactly like the Major's from back then. Kind, deep, yet somewhere stern. The eyes that had raised Violet as a human being. In the midst of her confusion, Violet remembered. The black box from last night. (*That… is the cause of all of this.*) She took the box from her bag. A small container of ebony-like wood, inlaid with silver filigree patterns. She removed the back cover and found letters carved inside. Ancient Telsis script. She'd studied it a little, once. "…'The curse shall be broken by a kiss between those who truly love one another.'" She read it aloud. Benedict and Cattleya gasped. "A kiss?! We can turn back if we kiss?!" "But… it says 'those who truly love one another.'" Cattleya's low voice rang out, strangely calm. "That means… it won't work unless you genuinely love each other, right…" Benedict glanced at Violet. "W-well, I mean, I don't… yeah." For some reason, she blushed and looked away. But Violet's eyes were fixed on the words in the box. "A kiss between those who love one another." "Love." That word she still couldn't understand. The one and only thing the Major had taught her at the end — and the hardest word of all. Just then— "You can do it." The woman gently touched Violet's cheek. A warm, human hand — so unlike her cold mechanical prosthetics. Blue-green eyes gazed steadily into Violet's blue ones. "You should already know. What love is." She didn't know. She didn't understand. But her heart was loud, her body was hot, her mind was blank. What was this? "I… still don't understand the love the Major spoke of." She confessed it honestly. That was everything Violet was. She couldn't lie. Couldn't deceive. She simply put into words the fact that she didn't understand love. The woman smiled — sad, yet somehow happy. "That's all right. There's no need to rush. You can learn at your own pace, slowly." So saying, she gently pulled away from Violet. Still, her heart was loud. The morning sun streaming into the postal company softly illuminated everyone's figures. Benedict, still in the form of a beautiful blonde girl. Cattleya, still a sturdy man. And before her, a woman who looked exactly like the Major. Deep within her own body, Violet felt something quietly beginning to change. She couldn't explain it yet. But something, definitely. "…In order to break this curse, I will do whatever I can." She raised her head and declared it, straight and clear. Her mechanical hands

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Episode 1

Name: The Auto-Memories Doll and the Curse of Gender-Bending Chaos!
Author: Novelia

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