Ever argued with a mannikin at the mall?

A little piece of Dragon Hunters for your enjoyment!

Alikka sighed as she stared at the window display. The clothes looked nice, but today she was just not interested. Usually shopping Gaanard’s main entertainment district made her happy, but today she was just too distracted. She wasn’t really sure why she had come shopping in the first place, other than it was better than brooding in her apartment.
“Well? Are you just going to stand there all day?” An exasperated voice said.
“Wha what?” Alikka asked, startled out of her thoughts by the loud voice. She quickly looked around to see who was talking to her but she was all alone, the light traffic in the entertainment district at this time of day was not paying any attention to her.

“Over here!” The exasperated voice demanded. “In the window!”
Alikka whirled around to the display window where an angry robotic mannikin stood with her hands on her hips. Alikka groaned to herself. She had forgotten about the robotic mannikins, which were programmed to show off whatever they were wearing and engage the customers as they passed. Most were polite and courteous. Some, apparently this one, were sassy and confrontational.
“What do you want?” Alikka asked the angry mannikin.
“What do I want?” The mannikin replied, it’s electronic voice squawking animatedly. “You’ve been staring at me for over ten minutes! Are you going to buy this dress or what?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Alikka said, not sure why she was bothering to answer the pesky mannikin. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see the store’s clerks watching with amused expressions on her face. The clerks in this particular story were pushy and opinionated, a trait it seems, that carried over to their mannikins. There was an override at their sales console, a safety feature in case a mannikin malfunctioned or endangered a customer, but she could tell from the smirks on their faces that they had no intention of doing so.
“Why not?” The robot insisted. “It’s a nice dress! It would look good on you. I’m sure we have it in larger sizes.”
“Larger sizes?” Alikka furiously replied. “Why you pretentious pile of nuts and bolts! How dare you!”
“Well then, why don’t you buy it?’ The mannikin, its voice taking on a nagging tone.
“Maybe I just don’t want to buy it!” Alikka started to turn away. “Maybe, after arguing with you, I’ve decided not to spend any of my hard earned money in this shop!”
“Well, just be that way then!” The robotic mannikin declared, crossing it’s arms in defiance and turning away.
Alikka started reply, but suddenly the mannikin shut down, returning to its normal position, facing ahead in the pose the shop attendants had originally posed it. She glanced over at the sales console where the store’s manager was angrily scolding the two young sales clerks. With a start, she realized the girls had overridden the mannikin and had been purposefully baiting her. For a moment she wished her girlfriends were with her. Katia and Liesell were much better at trash talking troublesome mannikins and dealing with pushy store clerks than she was. She watched for a minute as the manager continued to berate the clerks.
Serves them right! Alikka declared as she turned away from the store. Next time I come here, I’ll definitely bring the girls with me!

Thanks for reading!

Dave!