You stood before Dr. Z in your underwear, waiting for her next instructions.
There was a long, awkward pause, then she simply stated "I said remove your clothes."
Oops. You blushed and took off your shoes and socks, then finally slid your panties down to your ankles and stepped out of them.
Dr. Z dropped your dress onto the floor and gestured to the raised surface in the middle of the room "Now. Onto the examination table. '
You complied and perched yourself on the table in a sitting position, then carefully laid down with your arms by your side. The room was quite chilly and a gentle wave of cold washed over your naked body.
The doctor pulled a clipboard from the desk and began reading aloud in an almost mechanical tone as she approached you.
"Let's see here...
Name: Living Doll, Lucy.
Type: Series 4 Doll-type mascot.
Gender: Female presenting. Physically asexual.
Height: 5 foot ten inches. Weight: 251 pounds."
She looked up from the clipboard to face you. "That's 177 centimeters and 114.1 kilograms, by the way."
She pulled a pen from her pocket and turned her attention back to the clipboard.
"Now beginning vocal identification test.
What is your name?"
"I'm Lucy, the Living Doll!" you felt yourself say.
"What is your story?
"I'm a magical doll brought to life by Mona, the little witch girl." you replied automatically. Wait, what?
"And where do you live?"
"I live in the magic playroom, with all of my friends!" once again your response was entirely automatic.
The doctor marked something down. "Excellent. Identification programming is a complete success. Subject responds accurately and immediately. 10 out of 10 marks."
She set the clipboard aside. "Now for the physical check-up. Lie still, please."
The doctor began to prod and gently squeeze various parts of your body, including your arms, your legs and your neck. Next, the placed an ice-cold stethoscope to your smooth featureless chest, mumbling to herself as she examined you. You only caught small, barely-intelligible snippets. "...Type-2 skeleton on a Type-A frame..." "...streamlined gastrointestinal system..." "...ten digits, each hand, mild truncation..."
As she examined you, you remembered that you were supposed to try to get answers from her. You had been told that the doctor loved to talk, but from what you had seen so far, that seemed like the exact opposite of the truth. You decided it was worth a try anyway.
"Can I ask a question?" you began.
"As long as it pertains to your health." she replied.
"Are the mascots... I mean are WE mascots just transformed humans? Or are we just sophisticated mascot suits with stolen human memories?"
This got her attention. She stopped what she was doing and looked you in the eye.
"Those are some rather pointed questions for a new arrival. Did one of the other mascots talk to you about this?"
Deciding that you didn't want to risk getting Jingles or Zoey in trouble, you lied a bit.
"No, I just had a few theories and those seemed like the most likely ones."
She continued to look you in the eye and you felt yourself begin to sweat.
Suddenly, she smiled
"Well, you came quite close with your second theory. It's a little more complicated than, that and I'm sure you wouldn't understand a fully comprehensive explanation. Are you familiar with the concept of a liver transplant?"
You didn't even get time to respond.
"Essentially, a piece of the liver is shaved off of the donor and surgically attached to the recipient. The donor's own liver regrows and regenerates within a few months, restoring itself to full functionality.
In our case, we take half of a person's very self and place it within one of our sophisticated mascot suits."
She began to pace the room excitedly.
"Well, when I saw sophisticated, they're actually quite simple, only able to follow hypnotic suggestions on their own. Quite lacking in personality and basic reasoning skills. That's where the human donor comes in."
"So am I still the real me, or did the real me leave the park with my family?" You ask.
"That kind of quandary would probably be better suited for a philosopher, not a doctor.
However, if you're asking mathematically, both your human self and your mascot self contain 50% of your original complete self.
The human version will eventually be restored to 100%, in the meantime it will behave in a slightly slower, less energetic manner.
You, the mascot version, will stay at 50% forever, with your mascot body's programming filling in the rest."
"You say we stay 50% human, but doesn't the programming eventually destroy our humanity and turn us completely into mascots?"
"What gave you that idea? No, that 50% of your original self stays forever. The hypnotic audio simply awakens the mascot part of yourself and helps you to maintain character."
"Then why do the others all forget their human lives and fully become mascots?"
Her answer sent a chill down your spine. "Because they all choose to. From our extensive tests we've determined that it doesn't take much for a human-mascot hybrid to forgo their old lives and permanently assume the role of a mascot character. Awakening the mascot programming just accelerates the process. Call it brainwashing if you will, but I assure you, the human element remains forever and the decision to fully embrace their role is actually their own doing, even if they may not entirely realize it."
You were shaking now, and you couldn't help but ask,
"But why? Why are you doing this to people? What is your goal?"
She suddenly stopped in place.
"As much as I appreciate your inquisitive attitude, I really shouldn't be divulging information like this. I may have overstepped already."
She walked back to the examination table and peered into your eyes.
"Why so many questions, I wonder. Are you getting enough sleep?
As your doctor, I recommend that you go to bed early tonight.
For now though, the examination is over. You're dismissed."