Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of any of the characters mentioned in this story. The characters Hatsune Miku, Meiko, Kaito, Kagamine Rin, Kagamine Len, and Megurine Luka, as well as the term "Vocaloid", are all the sole property of Crypton Future Media, Inc. This is a non-profit story for entertainment purposes only. Happy Holidays!
The Toymaker's Doll
Nikolaos of Myra. Joulupukki. Papai Noel. Sinterklaas. Santa no Ojisan. Santa Claus. Though I have taken on many different names and mantles over the countless generations I have done my work, there is one title I bear that has always stayed true to my heart: Toymaker. No matter what name I go by in each region, and no matter what time period I have done my work, two things about me have always remained constant: my love for all the children of the world that believe in my work, and the excitement I feel when creating the brightest and most exciting toys to give those children. Though it was originally meant to be a small simple gesture for the young ones to enjoy on our holy day of Christmas, I have gotten quite skilled in the art of toy-making over the centuries. When you live in a land where the weather outside is constant ice and snow, and the average temperature is forty below, you get to spend a lot of free time inside perfecting your trade. This is especially true when you only have to go outside at least once a year to deliver the fruits of said trade. From classic toys like jump ropes, checker boards and teddy bears, to more intricate projects like bicycles, instruments, and later even video games, there was once a time when I believed that I had made every toy out there that there was to create. Of the many toys I have used my vast wealth of tact and tricks to create, there is one type of toy that year after year I make more than any other, a crowning jewel of my trade if you will: the doll.
Ho ho, yes, as the years have come and gone, with each passing Christmas, I have made thousands of millions of dolls for good little girls and boys to enjoy on the morning of Christmas Day. I have made dolls that could dance, dolls that could cry, dolls that could blink, and wink just one eye. I made dolls that were small and dolls that were tall, dolls with noses like little red balls. Dolls that were simple and made from old straw, dolls that were elegant with beautiful awe, dolls that could talk when you pulled on its string, and dolls that could giggle at any old thing. I wish I could tell you the love and care that has gone into each and every doll for the children who request them. I wish I could show you the thought behind every single stitch, every lock of hair, the story behind every perfectly molded smile, but the truth is I can't. While it is true that I think of each toy I make as a child of mine, when you have to make several million dolls each and every year for decades upon decades, it becomes increasingly difficult to remember the smile or the wink of every doll I make.
There is to my memory, however, one doll I made many years ago that to this day lingers freshly in my mind. Perhaps I made her a little too well for her own good, but I suppose that is what gave her that unique charm I remember so fondly. The truth is, what makes this particular doll so special is that even though only one of her exact model was ever made, she is loved and enjoyed and shared by millions of people all over the world. Sure, I had made others that were similar to this doll, but the joy brought from the original alone could not be contained or measured by the others combined. Who knows? It's possible that you yourself have had the chance to enjoy this creation of mine at one point or another, and don't even realize it yet. Of course, if I were to have had it my original way, nobody would have been able to enjoy the love that this doll produced at all. Looking back, perhaps it was for the best that things did not go the way that I first planned them. It goes to show that even my old age does not always mean wisdom, and even someone as well-intent as myself can make an error of judgement, especially when it comes to the love the world can feel for a toy… or rather, the love that a toy can feel for the world.
It was during the final moments of a Christmas Eve long since passed, if I do recall correctly. The sky was shedding the blanket of nightfall and embracing the sunrise of Christmas morning as I returned to my workshop in the north, another long night of delivering toys to the world's children behind me. After putting the reindeer back into their stalls to rest, I myself felt the need to rest my weary bones. Taking off my coat and sliding off my boots, I let out a generously sized yawn and went to recline in my favorite seat, content with the year's work finally concluded. Imagine my surprise when I went to sit, that I felt not a soft cushion on my bottom, but a lumpy hard bulge, and in lieu of silence a muffled yet angelic voice sang out.
"Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~!" My old body shot up in confusion and I looked down to see what was beneath me. Lying on the seat of my chair was a small plastic doll, probably one left behind the night before by mistake. I picked up the doll to examine it closer. The doll was that of a young girl in a Sunday school uniform, complete with a tie, white top and black skirt. My calloused hands went over her soft features. Her hair was a dark brown and was done in long twin ponytails. I gave her torso a squeeze and the young angelic voice sang out again.
"Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~!" I laughed and smiled in spite of myself. It was just a singing doll. The voice box was inside and could sing different pitches the more you squeezed it. It was an exceedingly simple design! Simple… I found the smile on my face slowly vanishing. As I turned the doll over in my hands again and again, I found that word refusing to budge from my mind like a stubborn mule: simple. The doll did not do much else besides let out a one-note tune. I wondered how long a little girl would find that amusing before she realized that was all it could do and got bored of it. I dropped into my seat (after checking for anymore surprise toys of course) and held the doll in my hand. As I began to think of it, many of the dolls that I created for the girls and boys of the world did not do more than maybe one or two things. I still remember during the olden days when dolls wouldn't do anything but sit and smile, but kids these days are a little harder to please. As technology sophisticates, so too must the toys if the children are to be satisfied. Admittedly, it gets pretty challenging. I could feel my grip on the doll tighten as a smile slowly crept on my face. That, however, is how it should be!
Being faced with challenge after challenge is the only way that I can improve and innovate as a toymaker. It just wouldn't be fun if I made the same easy cookie cutter toys every single year. As I held that singing doll in my hand and observed its simplicity, I could not help but realize that the dolls I had been creating the past few years did lean on the repetitive side. As each Christmas came and went, the dolls I would give felt like more of the same. It was the same dolls that could cry or pee, the same dolls that could giggle or blink, the same dolls that could walk or talk but none that could go above and beyond any of that. Deep, way deep down in my bowl full of jelly, I knew that a toymaker of my caliber could do so much more with his talent if he could just apply himself. After all, it was the beginning of the 21st century, and it was time that my toys finally reflected that. I sprung from my chair and held the doll to my chest. It was not a time for resting; it was a time for work! With the latest batch of toys just finished being delivered and it then being Christmas morning, there were now only 364 days until the next Christmas Eve. I hadn't a moment to lose on my latest project!
I sat alone in my empty workshop as I began brainstorming the blueprints for my latest creation. My helpers were back in their quarters enjoying the holiday to themselves. This was fine enough for me, as it gave me more space to work undistracted and undisturbed. My pulse began to pound and my mind continued to race as I tried to plan out exactly what I was going to do for this new type of doll. It wasn't enough for it to just do one thing, like laugh or cry or say prerecorded phrases. I wanted this doll to do all of it! This doll had to walk, to talk, to sing, to dance, to laugh, to play, to express every single emotion! All of it! Then there was the matter of scale. Such advance objectives for a doll like this could not be crammed into a doll so small, and even if it could, I did not want it that way anyway. I wanted this to truly be my magnum opus! It had to be big, not just in scope and ambition; it had to be larger than life. No! It had to be truly life-sized! What better gift of a toy than one that was you-sized that would laugh and play and actually be your real-life friend. Then there was one very important aspect that I always try to pour into every single toy I make (especially the dolls) to really give them that old signature Kris Kringle charm: love! It was not enough for a doll to simply say "I love you" when you pulled on its string. This doll had to be able to return the love to whoever was giving it to them ten-fold! Now granted I was ambitious and excited over this project, but I was not delusional either. In order to fill out this tall order of a toy, I would have to use every single trick in the toy-making book and could cut absolutely no corners. The empty workshop filled with my powerful laugh as I began my challenge to create the absolute perfect doll.
I remember that winter quite well as being one of the hardest I ever worked during the post-Christmas season. I could count on my fingers and all ten toes the number of times the missus would beg me to take a break after just finishing our busy Christmas season, but I was determined to get this project of mine done before the next holiday season. She would march off in a huff, and then an hour or two later bring me my favorite mug of hot cocoa to keep me from dozing off at the work bench again. Good old Momma, bless her heart. As December counted down into January, I could eventually make a tower with the number of crumpled blueprints I had scattered around the workshop. Taking inspiration from the doll that started it all, I figured the best way for this doll to be entertaining and exciting without coming off as too intimidating would be to make her primary function singing. Simple one-note songs wouldn't be enough this time, however. More than any toy before her, she had to sing full songs, dance complicated steps, act and emote with true heart and passion, and be able to perform again and again without tire or failure. Children all over the world would want to play with this toy, so they had to be able to sing in multiple languages such as Japanese, English, Spanish, etc. That way, everybody could enjoy it. They couldn't just sing the same songs over and over again, no that simply would not do. The toy had to be able to pull out, learn, and sing new songs to keep it from getting old and stale. This proved to be the biggest challenge in my design. There was a new emerging technology in the early 21st century called "Wi-Fi" which could access the internet easily and wirelessly. Being the craftsman I am, I poured many man-hours into finding a way to install built-in Wi-Fi into the doll so that its songs and knowledge of the world could stay relative and modern. Now this may seem common in those expensive high-end toys today, but back then it was quite the headache to pull off, especially for someone my age let me tell you! Fitting so many complicated functions into one single doll was more daunting a task than I anticipated and I just could not come up with a design that could fit it all in.
Eventually, I decided on a young female design. Girls would find her relatable; boys would find her admirable, and a youthful physique would ensure more energetic and expressive articulation. There still remained the question of what this female would look like. Brunette? Blonde? Red head? No, I thought to myself, those have all been done before. Boring! If this doll was to be larger than life, she really had to stick out. She needed an appearance that was calm and inviting, but still screamed "look at me! I'm new and different"! After pulling out my color wheel and going through every single color there was to compare to, I eventually decided on a calm yet vibrant turquoise for her hair, with large round matching eyes that sparked like a thousand stage lights. I also made special note to make this doll's hair extra-long, practically down to her knees. That way, the young girls who might not be keen on song and dance could have plenty of hair to style and play with as they pleased. I made the doll's default hair style to be in two long pigtails, in honor of the doll that inspired her.
It took many months of hard work, but eventually around April, just when the trees in the Northern Hemisphere were beginning to bloom, I put down my soldering iron and wiped the sweat from my brow. I was finally finished. My work table lifted vertically so I could get a good look at my latest creation. Her eyes were closed and she had an angelic peaceful look to her face, as if she were simply asleep in Dreamland. Now came the moment of truth: to see if she would actually work as my ambitions envisioned her. I switched her on and took a few steps back. She opened her eyes slowly, as if waking up from a restful nap. She blinked her eyes a few times and looked around the room, surveying her surroundings for the first time. I ended up in her gaze and her expression changed from rested to surprise. A small smile of acceptance spread across her face and, without the help of any wind-up key or puppet strings, she took a step forward all on her own. Step coordination test successful. I took a step forward myself and began to encircle the doll before me, checking for any flaws.
"Do you understand the words I am saying?" I found myself asking the doll like she was a real person. She nodded silently. Voice recognition test was successful. "Do you know who I am?" I asked the doll. The doll stood motionless for a moment or two. She shook her head. "My name is Saint Nicholas. I am a toymaker" I responded. She stood motionless and noiseless for a few moments. I began to wonder if she was experiencing a glitch when she unexpectedly spoke her first words.
"Saint Nicholas: a plump, white-bearded, and red-suited old man in modern folklore who delivers presents to children at Christmastime — called also Santa Claus. Father Christmas. Dun Che Lao Ren. Santa no Oji San." She repeated back Merriam-Webster's definition of me word for word. I let out an approving chuckle. Built-in internet and Wi-Fi capabilities test successful.
"Do you know who I am?" The doll asked me, almost mimicking my last question back at me. I was taken back by the fact that this toy had the ability to produce queries on its own. Looking back, that should have been my first clue that there was something more to her than I originally designed, my first hint that I should have kept my guard up, but at the time I was so impressed that I didn't care. At the time I had been so invested in physically creating the doll that I had never given any thought to actually give it a name.
"You are…" I paused. What was I going to name her? I racked my mind for something appropriate, but also unique. She was a singing doll that was at the absolute frontline of toy technology. She was the very first in the future of both toys and song. It was then that I was reminded of a phrase that I heard while delivering presents in one of the Eastern Asian nations of the world. It was a merging of the Japanese words for "hatsu"; meaning "first", "ne"; meaning "sound", and "miku"; meaning "future". "Your name is Hatsune Miku!" I declared. Literally translated from Japanese, Hatsune Miku truly was "the first sound from the future"!
"Hatsune… Miku…" the doll carefully repeated the name back to herself, "I am… Hatsune Miku… I am… Miku."
"If you want to call yourself Miku for short, that's fine too." I responded. I was truly amazed by her intelligence. I had really outdone myself. The doll looked down at her hands.
"Who am I? I am Miku. But… what am i? Am I a… human? " the doll asked me. I will admit that I was a little uncomfortable answering that question.
"No… you are not a human." I responded. Miku went silent for a minute.
"Am I… real?" Miku asked in a voice that, although was monotone, seemed to have a hint of sadness to it. Never in all of my years had I ever made a toy that was as self-aware or quite as… existential as Hatsune Miku. I chuckled and lovingly took her hands into mine.
"You are just as real as I am" I said to her. She nodded, seeming satisfied with this answer.
"What am I?" she asked. What should I have told her? That she was a toy? A doll? While both were true, it was very apparent that Hatsune Miku was also something far beyond that. She was a doll all in her own league that needed its own name to reflect that. She was so advanced at the time that she seemed less like a doll and more like an android, but one meant to sing and to vocalize. Ah-ha!
"You my dear are something I would like to call… a 'Vocaloid'", I answered proudly. Miku processed this in her mind.
"I am Hatsune Miku… the Vocaloid" she muttered half to me and half to herself. I smiled to myself, pleased with the progress we made so far, but there was still one thing that I still had to test.
"Miku, is there anything you would like to do right now?" I asked her. As if acting on an internal instinct, Miku's eyes lit up and smiled widely.
"I wanna sing something!"Miku announced pumping a fist into the air.
"Alright then, how about you sing something… festive." I said off the top of my head. Even in April, I am always thinking about Christmas. Miku nodded obediently and "thought" of a song to sing. She closed her eyes, cupped her hands, and began to sing.
"Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace"
Miku opened her eyes and politely took a bow. Vocal synthesizer test, absolutely flawless. In that moment, I wondered if that was what it felt like for the children that saw Frosty the Snowman come to life for the first time. Although not quite as organic sounding as a real person's voice, Hatsune Miku had a certain rhythm and pattern to her singing pattern that just could not be captured by human pitch. It was a different sound, and it was very calming to listen to. I could not help but applaud the doll for her first performance.
"arigato gosaimas Santa no Ojisan" she said sweetly, taking another bow. For some reason throughout our time together Miku had always preferred to call me by my Japanese title, although I never really bothered to correct her. I had dozens of names given to me throughout the years, so one name was just as good as any other.
The next several months were very interesting ones to say the least. With spring in full bloom and summer on the arrival, my helpers and I needed to begin doing the work for that year's upcoming Christmas. To help Hatsune Miku be the best toy that she could be, in my downtime I would sing songs with her and practice dancing for fun. I would let her follow me around the workshop so she could get to know everyone there, and they would love to request songs from Miku while they worked. Even the missus took a liking to her, as Miku would allow Momma to test out different clothes, skirts, bonnets, sweaters, and socks that she would make and design for the kids on Christmas. To tell the truth, even though we knew that she was just a Vocaloid, we grew to enjoy having Miku around. Momma and I never had children of our own, and for a while Miku seemed to fill that role for both of us. For all of my love of the holiday season, there was a part of me that had a pit in my stomach when spring turned into summer, bringing us that much closer to Christmas. I knew that would be the time when I would have to let Miku go into the world… alone.
It was around late June when I first noticed Miku beginning to take interest in the world outside of the North Pole. I had been busy in the workshop working on the latest batch of toys when I went to my private study to find a tool I thought I left there the night before. Imagine my surprise that when I opened the door, there stood Miku all by herself behind my desk. I had been so preoccupied with the question "how did she get in here?" that I never thought to ask myself "how long has she been wondering around by herself?" Miku had not even noticed that I had opened the door, and instead I found her completely entranced in an almost hypnotic gaze by the orb that sat on my desk. It was my magic crystal ball, which I used to keep an eye on all of the boys and girls of the world to make sure that they remained good all year long. In the orb flashed images of boys drawing on the sidewalk with chalk in Carteret, New Jersey. It then flashed a group of teenagers practicing in a Marimba band in Zimbabwe. I caught Miku laughing and lightly swaying to the music. New images flashed of a group of teenage girls laughing and having fun at a summer festival in Morotsuka, Japan. Miku held her gaze on these images for a while. The smile remained on her face, but it went from a laughing smile, to one of wistful melancholy. I loudly cleared my throat and Miku snapped to attention, her eyes wide and glassy like a reindeer caught in the headlights.
"You know," I said, "it's not polite to look at other people's things when they are not around. That's how the youngsters end up on the naughty list".
"I… I…" Miku's eyes shot back and forth frantically before finally drooping down to gaze at her feet.
"You are curious about the outside world", I finished her statement, taking some of the heat off of her. It was understandable for something as advanced as her to have been curious. Miku slowly picked her gaze back up and nodded.
"The world… the whole world is full of so many different things… so many different things to laugh at…. so many different ways to sing songs and make music and… have fun. " Miku said with a tone I could only describe as utter longing. I straightened my spectacles.
"Yes…" I murmured, "…the world truly is full of many wonderful things". Miku let out a sigh.
"I wonder what part of the world I will be going to on Christmas Eve" Miku said with a happy sigh. I went silent.
I didn't know what was coming over me. As advanced as she was, Hatsune Miku was a doll, a toy. I made her for the sole purpose of giving her away on Christmas Eve, but as the months had passed I found the idea of giving Miku away to be increasingly difficult. I poured so much tireless work into crafting her, so much time singing with her and teaching her about the world abroad. As unprofessional as this may sound, we all thought of her no longer as an artificial person, but a real person. She became like family, and like any parent, the idea of having a child leave the nest never to return was… heartbreaking. I had to be honest with myself: I no longer wanted to give Hatsune Miku away. Does that sound selfish? Yes, and I knew that back then too, but there was a part of me that just did not give a hoot.
I marched over to the magic crystal ball and waved my hand over it. The festival in Morotsuka, Japan was extinguished. I decided it was time to show Miku the naughtier side of the world, the people that I allowed my associates Krampus, Pére Fouettard, and Frau Perchta to deal with when giving out coal was not enough. Images of bullies pummeling kids much smaller than them into the ground, images of teenagers in gangs ready to kill one another over street turf, images of people framing other innocent folks of crimes they did not commit, images of people harassing and terrorizing others based solely on the color of their skin or the religion they belong to. One by one these images flashed before Miku's ever-widening eyes.
"The world may be full of many beautiful things, but it is also full of many dark and sinister things as well", I said in a low warning tone. "If you go out into the world Miku, you might run into people just like this. It is even possible that your potential owner could turn into one of these people one day if he or she were to ever stray from my Nice List". Miku's eyes were once again wide and glassy with fear. She shook her head in disbelief. The idea was that hopefully Miku would be so intimidated and appalled by the realities of our harsh world that she would not want to leave the North Pole on Christmas Eve. Suddenly, Miku's eyes shifted from wide and glassy to sharp and stern. She clenched one of her fists and looked me square in the eyes.
"Santa-san, those are the people that need our love most of all." I practically fell over when she threw that one back at me! It was naïve. It was forthright. It was… the exact same answer I would have given. With nothing left to say, I simply nodded, grabbed the tool I came in to find, and left the study.
A few short weeks later, I was in the workshop working on that day's quota of toys for Christmas when Miku's voice wafted in from another room, infused with the air of a melancholy tune. I strained my ears to hear what it was she was singing.
"It'll be lonely this Christmas
Without you to hold
It'll be lonely this Christmas
Lonely and cold
It'll be cold, so cold, without you to hold
This Christmas…"
It sounded like she was singing a cover of "Lonely This Christmas", by the band Mud. I wondered if she was feeling a little blue that day. The song felt a little on the nose, but it got me thinking. With it being more than halfway to Christmas, I had been nose deep in my work, and I didn't have the time to spend with Miku like I used to during the springtime. Maybe the reason Miku was so eager to go out into the world was because she was lonely! Sure, she had me and Momma and all the helpers to keep her company during the brief times when we weren't busy, but there was nobody here that was just like her: a Vocaloid. Maybe if I built a few more Vocaloid dolls, Miku wouldn't feel as alone here, and would not want to leave! I worked out a lot of the bugs and technical headaches of building a Vocaloid when I first created Miku, so making some more would go much faster and more smoothly now that I had a template to work with. The question was, what should these new Vocaloids be like? They could not all be copies of Miku; no, that wouldn't do at all. She was a one of a kind. In order to meet the same level of quality, each of these new Vocaloids had to have their own quirks and traits as well.
I managed to finish a pair of brand new Vocaloids in about a week's time give or take. To give Miku a little variety, I built one as female and one as a male, but gave them a slightly older appearance to give Miku somebody to look up to in an "older sibling" type of role. The female one had short earthly brown hair and rich brown eyes to match. She wore an outfit that radiated a beautiful crimson red. The male one I made with a more mature, gentleman-like structure. Like Miku, who stood out with her turquoise hair, I gave this male Vocaloid deep cobalt blue hair, with eyes the same deep shade of blue. His came adorn with a long flowing blue scarf, but his main outfit was mostly as white as Christmas snow. Keeping up with the Eastern naming traditions, I decided to name these two new Vocaloids "Meiko" and "Kaito" respectively. When I finished, I laughed in spite of myself. This was probably the first time I ever made toys to give to a toy!
I activated them and gave them the same tests that I first performed on Miku, both of them could sing beautifully, and could naturally complement Miku's higher more youthful sounding voice with lower more mature tones. I introduced Meiko and Kaito to Miku. Her expression of joy was like that of a small child on Christmas morning, which is sadly a sight I do not get to see often despite my profession. She embraced the two, finally getting some use from the crying feature I put in her range of emotions. Though we were in the icy tundra on top of the world, the sight of it made my heart feel nice and warm. Hatsune Miku finally had some friends that were just like her. Just maybe, the Vocaloids would want to stay here with us; all of them. For the next month, as I worked on the toys for Christmas, I could hear the voices of the three Vocaloids laughing and singing throughout the halls of the workshop.
"…Bells on bob tails ring
Making Spirits Bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing
A sleighing song tonight
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh…"
Their voices intertwined harmoniously, and for a short while, things seemed normal again. Summer would be coming to a close soon, and once again the helpers and I would be up to our whiskers in work. I remember one night in late-August, or maybe it was early-September, I had finished my work outside in the cold putting the reindeer through their regular training exercises, and had enjoyed a nice hot meal afterwards with the missus. I was reclining in my favorite chair resting and enjoying a cup of cocoa when Hatsune Miku danced into the room.
"Miku!" I greeted with a delightful laugh, "What have you and the other Vocaloids been up to today?"
"Just practicing some new songs and dance routines" Miku said in a cheerful tone, "We want to keep our skills in tiptop perfect condition." I let out another chuckle.
"You three were built practically perfect as it is! I hardly think you and the other have to practice all that hard".
"True," Miku giggled with a sweet smile "but we all really want to stay in top shape for when we all go out into the world in December." I practically choked on my hot cocoa.
"Y-y-you… you uhhhh… you are still thinking about that Christmas Eve sleigh ride, eh?" I asked nervously. Miku eagerly nodded.
"It's all I ever think about! It will be really sad to say goodbye to Meiko and Kaito though" Miku sighed "It was almost like having a small family around here". Miku left the room, and I was alone with my thoughts. My plan wasn't working. There had to be another way to get Miku to stay without hurting her feelings. I began to slosh and swirl Miku's recent words in my head. Having Meiko and Keito around was like having a small family around, but somehow they weren't enough… small family… wait. I had an idea! It was a hasty idea, but still an idea all the same. Miku's new "family" was small, but if I made even more Vocaloids, the "family" would grow, and Miku would have an even harder time parting with them!
With autumn on the horizon, putting the time and effort into making even more Vocaloids was a little more challenging than making Meiko and Kaito, but still not as challenging as making the original Hatsune Miku doll. Due to my recent schedule overflow, which in of itself was due to Christmas creeping ever closer, I did not have the same amount of time to pour into detailing these new Vocaloids as I did Miku, Meiko, and Kaito. As I result, I admittedly had to cut corners by building the two new Vocaloids from the exact same template. I also made them both smaller for the sake of convenience, giving them a much younger appearance to them, even more so than Hatsune Miku herself! The positive of all these factors was that it was much faster and easier to produce them than ever before, but the big problem was that the two of them looked like completely identical twins. That simply would not do at all, as each Vocaloid had to be unique!
To counteract this problem, I differentiated the two by designing one of them to be a female while the other would be a male. The female's hair was neat and smooth while the male's was wild and spikey. Both had hair as bright and golden as the star that guided the Magi to Bethlehem. The female had a large white bow to complement her hair, while the other had headphones of the same color. The two were dressed up in similar white and black sailor outfits, but while the male wore a yellow tie, the female wore a big yellow ribbon. When I activated them both, they even had the same color eyes: a beautiful sky blue to complement their golden hair. When they both passed their tests, I decided to name the female Vocaloid "Rin" and the male Vocaloid "Len" respectively. Although their pitches and tones were different, the two newest Vocaloids shared a nearly identical vocal synthesizer, meaning that the two were ideal for songs that utilized duets. I still clearly remember that time in early October when I unveiled Rin and Len to the missus, the helpers, and of course the other three Vocaloids. They made their grand debut to life at the North Pole with a smooth song and dance routine.
"I've gotta get home"
"But baby, you'd freeze out there"
"Say lend me a coat"
"It's up to your knees out there"
"You've really been grand, but don't you see?"
"How can you do this thing to me?"
"There's bound to be talk tomorrow"
"Think of my lifelong sorrow"
"At least there will be plenty implied"
"If you got pneumonia and died"
"I really can't stay"
"Get over that old out"
"Baby, it's cold. Baby it's cold outside!"
The whole workshop roared with cheers and applause. The workers all patted me on the back, saying as far as toy dolls go these two were my best ones yet. Miku ran up and practically dove into Rin and Len. She was absolutely star stuck by their duet and she could not wait to introduce the pair to Meiko and Kaito. Miku spoke a mile a minute to the now-overwhelmed twin Vocaloids about music and dancing and wanting to work together to make a song as a group. I smiled to myself. Maybe now this will make Miku happy. Her family had grown larger, but I wasn't done yet. Building a Vocaloid during the time that I did took a lot of time, but more importantly, a lot of resources. Creating both AI that was as advanced as it was and articulated joints that could move on the same level as a Vocaloid has a huge strain on the workshop supplies. As such, I only had enough materials left in my workshop to make one final Vocaloid.
This last Vocaloid went back to the more mature template that I used on Meiko and Kaito. Her outfit was old fashioned and almost entirely in black with gold trimming here and there. Her long flowing hair was a rose pink while her eyes shined a bubbly blue. While all of the Vocaloids could sing in multiple languages, I made it my goal for this new Vocaloid to be fluent in as many languages as possible. On a global scale, this new project would be the ultimate singing toy. I named this final creation of mine, Megurine Luka, most people nowadays just call her Luka for short. That was it! That was all of the Vocaloids that I could make without draining the recourses from the normally scheduled Christmas toys. By this time it was nearly Halloween. If this wouldn't change Miku's opinions about leaving, then I wouldn't have the time or the energy to formulate another plan.
From then on, past Thanksgiving, straight into December, it was endless work for everybody. Double checking my list of good and naughty children for that year, finishing up toys for the good boys and girls, preparing the coal for the naughty children, keeping the reindeer in check, etc. It never ended, and for a while Hatsune Miku and what the rest of the Vocaloids did around the North Pole was pushed to the back of my mind. It wasn't until December 23rd, the night before Christmas Eve that I had to finally confront that moment of truth. After almost a year spent on this passion project to create the perfect toy, I had to decide once and for all: were or were not the Vocaloids getting on my Christmas sleigh. On that evening I stepped into my private study, and was met with the surprise sight of all of the Vocaloids, merrily laughing and singing to me, as if waiting for me to walk in on cue. Who knew? Maybe I would luck out and they would be having so much fun with each other that they would not even notice what date it was. That false sense of security was instantly ripped away as soon as I heard exactly which song they were singing as a group.
"Just hear those sleigh bells jingle-ing, ring-ting tingle-ing, too
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you
Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling 'yoo-hoo'
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you…"
As they continued their song, a pit the size and weight of a stale fruit cake dropped in my stomach. They knew exactly what was going to happen soon. Each and every one of them was thinking about that Christmas Eve sleigh ride. When they finished their song, it was Miku that was the first one to run up and embraced me.
"Santa no Ojisan!" Miku cheerfully cried. The other Vocaloids crowded around me. "We wanted to surprise you with a song we had all been practicing together! Is it almost that time yet? Are you going to finally deliver the children's toys?" I inhaled sharply. Although just realistic dolls of my creation, the Vocaloids all had the same legitimate look of excitement as all of the children around the world did that expected a visit from me the next night. I really didn't want to break their hearts… but at the same time just the idea of possibly saying goodbye to any of them the next day simply broke my own heart too much. I smiled weakly.
"No, not yet Miku, that is not until tomorrow night." I looked around at the crowd that surrounded me; I had to digest that pit of a fruitcake in my stomach. It was now or never. "Do you think that maybe…" I started addressing the rest of the Vocaloids in the room, "… I could have a chance to talk to Miku… alone?" The smiles had washed away from the other Vocaloids' faces, and were instead replaced by a look of confusion. They all looked at one another inquisitively before back to me. They did not understand why I was sending them away, but at the same time they did not want to disobey me. One by one each of the other Vocaloids filed out of the study until only Miku and I remained behind the closed doorway. I cleared my throat.
"Miku… I-"
"Santa-san, before you say anything, I actually wanted to talk to you too" Miku interrupted me. Her eyes darted to the side. "Err… Actually, it is about the sleigh ride that is tomorrow night." I perked up to attention. Was she having second thoughts? Did I not have to disappoint her after all?
"Oh?" I asked, trying to hide my surprise. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes… well… no. Everything is fine. It's just that…" Miku began to wring her hands. "the other Vocaloids and I have been talking… and… we decided that we don't want to do the sleigh ride quite how you wanted us to." That fruitcake in my stomach dissolved into a million pieces. They didn't want to leave after all, or so I had thought.
"If you and the other Vocaloids don't want to leave, I completely understand. Besides, I was actually just about to tell you that-"
"Oh it's not that at all!" Miku interrupted me again. "In fact it is quite the opposite. We are ecstatic about leaving the North Pole!" That fruitcake began to slowly reform itself.
"Then w-what seems to be the problem?" I asked suspiciously. Miku smiled sweetly.
"it's just that we have been thinking about… well everything: Your line of work, the reason you created us, your plans for us for the children, what is going to become of us after Christmas Eve, our true capabilities. All of it is very sweet, and the idea of being loved by children is heavenly, but we think perhaps you have been thinking on too small a scale." As Miku explained all of this in a calm serene voice, she took a few steps back and walked gracefully behind my desk.
"Wh-What the… too small a scale?!" I blurted, flabbergasted by her audacity, "What we do here is on a global scale! Global! And you think my scale is too small?"
"Your scale for us Vocaloids." Miku corrected me, "What you do for the children of the world is absolutely wonderful. Everything you do, all of the good that you accomplish year after year is awe-inspiring. The Vocaloids look up to you. I look up to you. As such, we want to rise up to your standard: Your global standard, Santa-san."
"What are you getting at?" I asked Miku. The Vocaloid did not respond immediately. Her eyes looked down at my desk, at my magic crystal ball. She gingerly rubbed her hand around it, stroking it with her nimble fingers.
"For years you have been making the world a happier place on a global scale, and now we want to do the same. Delivering us individually, each to a single house, where only one child, one family, can see the full use of our talents, it just isn't enough. I know you made me to be your greatest toy of all, your magnum opus. Wouldn't you want that talent and joy to be spread to as many people as possible?"
"I mean… yes, I do. But-"
"So you agree that it's better not to be given as a Christmas gift to one single person, but to the entire world?"
"That's impossible!" I cried.
"You are a centuries old saint that wants to deliver gifts to literally millions of children in a single night by flying around the world using only eight or nine reindeer, and you think MY idea is impossible?!" Miku shot back at me.
"It's impossible because you're not leaving the North Pole tomorrow!" I exploded at Miku, something I would come to regret for years to come. Miku's head sprung up and her eyes became wide and glassy, not with fear, but with shock.
"… W-What did you say…?" Miku asked in a shaky voice barely above a whisper. I couldn't even look her in the eye as I spoke.
"It's just that I am not ready to- I mean… I don't think you are ready to leave the North Pole yet" I said covering myself. "I mean… it's still too early-"
"It's been almost a year!"
"I still think we need to run a few more tests before you're ready to-"
"You said I was perfect!"
"But listen to what you are saying!" I said defensively, "Delivering you to an entire planet of people? How would I even do that?! It's not like all of collected humanity has a giant chimney I can drop you down! "
"If all of the stories about you are true, Santa no Ojisan always finds a way!" Miku was beginning to tear up.
"If you were a mass-produced doll like a Barbie or a Cabbage Patch Kid this would be a completely different story, but you are a one of a kind Miku! You can't divide just one doll against billions of people. Listen to me when I say-". Before I could finish my sentence, Miku slammed her fist against my desk. Tears were now streaming down her face.
"No, you listen to ME! I am not 'just one doll'! And I am certainly something above and beyond one of your regular Christmas toys! I have been studying music, studying dance, studying fashion and emotions and the arts all year! I can sing any song you can throw at me, wear my hair and clothes anyway that people want it. So no, I am not 'just one doll', I am an entire army of people! This goes for me and Kaito and Meiko and Len and Rin and Luka too! We can be so many different things and have so many identities all at once because we are not what YOU decide we are! We are anything that the WORLD decides we are!"
With that, Hatsune Miku coldly shoved past me, wiping the tears from her face. Had I known that that was the last conversation I would have with Miku, I would have tried to have chosen kinder words. I stood in the study for a while feeling empty, like a wrapped Christmas present that had nothing inside of it. In my years since that moment I know now that I was thinking of my own selfish needs, not hers, and I have come to regret that confrontation ever since. At the time however, I had other things to worry about, like loading up the sleigh and finally getting done with that year's Christmas. I figured I could sort out whatever problems I had with Hatsune Miku and the other Vocaloids after the big Christmas delivery, or so I had carelessly thought.
The next day was the big day once again: Christmas Eve! The sleigh was getting loaded up with last-minute toys, the reindeer were getting their reins attached, and in a matter of moments the time would come once again when I would take to the sky for the joy of all of the world's children. The Christmas Eve sun would be setting in New Zealand soon, so it was getting close time for me to get going. With a few moments of calm before I had to get on the sleigh, it had suddenly occurred to me that in the hours leading up to the big delivery I had not seen hide or hair of Miku or the other Vocaloids for that matter. I was beginning to feel bad for my earlier fight with Miku, and thought it best to try to at least apologize and make some form of peace before I left. I searched in my private study and my personal living quarters, but could find no trace of them. I looked for them in the workshop too, but all I could find were a few frantic elves trying to get the very last toys finished, even though the sack of gifts was already loaded on the sleigh. Where could they have gone? Finally, I went out to the stable where the reindeer and the sleigh were being kept, and there I found Meiko, Kaito, Len, Rin, and Luka. I heard them talking to themselves as I entered the stable, but as soon as they saw me, they all went dead silent. I observed that Miku was noticeably absent from the group.
"Have any of you seen where Miku went?" I asked them. The Vocaloids did not answer me. When I asked this question, they averted their gazes from me. I supposed that Miku had probably told them by that point I wasn't taking them out on the sleigh this year and they were disappointed in me too. I could not honestly say that I blamed them. "Well, if you see her, could you please… tell her that I'm sorry?" I said meekly to the Vocaloids. "I promise that one day… you will all be able to go out there and sing to the world. Just… not right now. I… am not ready yet. Do you think you can pass that along to her before I leave?" The Vocaloids all looked at each other, and then with considerable effort they looked at me. They slowly nodded to me, and then one by one they each filed out of the stable, leaving me alone with the sleigh and the reindeer.
Night fell in New Zealand, and it was time for me to make the big delivery. The reindeer were hooked up and the bag of gifts was secured tightly. With a flick of the reins, the nine reindeer pranced their feet, and we took off under the glow of the Aurora Borealis. Delivering the gifts to New Zealand went without any incident, as you would expect. From there I traveled to Fiji and the Solomon Islands, all of which got their gifts delivered without a hitch. The eastern-most parts of Russia also got their gifts with no problem, as did New Guinea and a decent chunk of eastern Australia. Yes, for the first few hours, that year's Christmas delivery felt like it was going to be no different than all of the other years. It wasn't until I begun to really enter the heart of Asia that things got a little… chaotic. It was well past sundown when my sleigh found its way to Japan. With its brightly lit cities, large mountains, and clean forests, the dragon-shaped nation truly was a sight to behold from above. Nemuro, Kushiro, Abashiri; all of these cities got their gifts with no problem. Obihiro, Nayoro, Asahikawa; the children of these cities would sleep well knowing that Santa no Ojisan had been there. Mikasa and Tomakomai also received their presents for Christmas morning. It wasn't until I reached the city of Sapporo that things took a major turn, for better or for worse.
It was particularly windy in that part of the world that night, and it was all I could muster to keep the reindeer from blowing off their course. I was so focused with trying to keep the reindeer steady, that I just barely noticed what felt like the sleigh doing some sharp sudden rocking from the back. It had almost felt like something large had dropped from the back. I can't tell you how badly I wanted to ignore it. I can't tell you enough how badly I just wanted to chalk it up to turbulence from the wind and keep going on schedule. At the same time though, it would eat at the back of my mind the whole time if it was possibly something more, like an important Christmas present falling off of the back of the sleigh that a young child was dying to have. I had to put my carelessness aside and take a look behind me and make sure that everything was still in the sleigh. I turned around, and what I saw… what I saw… Oh how I wish that it was just the wind; just old Jack Frost playing tricks on me… but no, it wasn't. I looked down. Something had indeed fallen from the sleigh. How badly I wish that it was just a single harmless Christmas present. A present was easily replaceable, not nearly as priceless. Out of the corner of my eye, falling from the back of my sleigh and descending thousands of feet over Sapporo, Japan was my crown jewel, my magnum opus: Hatsune Miku.
I felt my heart stop beating in my chest for half a second. My eyes shot open wide and my spectacles almost fell off of my nose as I watched the young Vocaloid, my sole passion project for the past year, fall towards civilization below. The only thing that was slowing her fall was a gift that she must have taken from my sack of presents. She was wafting down with a custom umbrella I made for a small girl in Kamaishi, Japan. It was white with a green striped pattern, and the handle of the umbrella was shaped like a giant leek. Looking back, there are a ton of questions that should have entered my mind at that moment. What was Miku doing here? How did Miku get on the sleigh? How did I not notice she was there for so long? Why on Earth was she trying to jump in the first place, let alone with only an umbrella?! In that moment, all of those questions and more should have entered my head, but they did not. No, in that exact moment, my thoughts went to one thing and one thing only: catch Miku! I pulled sharply on the reins and made the reindeer do a nosedive towards the falling Vocaloid. Suddenly, a larger gust of wind than ever before blew through. The gust of wind made the reindeer nervous, which forced them to stop in their tracks. The gust also blew underneath Miku's leek umbrella, which blew her farther from me. I flicked the reins to get the reindeer to move, but they were scared, confused, and wouldn't budge. There was nothing that I could do. As I fought to calm the reindeer under control, I watched helplessly as the greatest toy I had ever created wafted out of my reach and out of my life forever. As the Vocaloid blew farther from me, the wind blew her around to face the sleigh. For only a few seconds the two of us, the toymaker and the doll, locked eyes with each other. Her face did not seem to reflect that of fear or betrayal, quite the opposite in fact. Her face glowed with a calm serenity as she descended with the umbrella like a toy Marry Poppins. Before another strong gust of wind took the umbrella and casted her even farther away, Hatsune Miku had enough time to send me a smile, a wink, and a wave goodbye. With that, the wind carried Miku off again, and she made her way down to the surface.
I landed the sleigh and hid it in an alleyway as soon as the winds calmed down enough. I knew it seemed like a crazy longshot, especially in a city like Sapporo, but maybe there was still time to find Miku, convince her to change her mind, get her back on the sleigh. The positive of being St. Nicholas on Christmas Eve is that people in the city do not pay you any mind or think you are the real person when you are running around in his clothes. I searched every alleyway I could, every crosswalk, every department store, even every karaoke bar. You would think that it would be easy to find a young girl with ridiculously long bright turquoise hair running around the city… but then again it is Japan after all. Ho ho ho! After an hour or two of searching for her, the closest thing I could find was the leek umbrella she used, which I discovered abandoned in the Chuo-ku ward of the city. At the very least, I knew that the little girl in Kamaishi would not go without her umbrella this Christmas. I held the umbrella close to my chest. As the clock ticked on, I knew I had to make a very crucial decision. It takes a very tight schedule to deliver presents to children in every country of the world before the sun rises. Every single precious minute counts. If I continued to stay here in Sapporo and search for Miku, it was possible that I would risk not having enough time to deliver presents to all of the children before sunrise. I was way behind schedule as it was because of this incident. For the first time that year, I decided that I had to stop thinking so selfishly. I could not under any circumstance jeopardize the happiness of the children. As the wind blew my cap, I stood at the spot that I found the abandoned umbrella.
"Ganbatte ne, Hatsune Miku. Sayonara", I said to the December wind as I took a low bow. With that, I holstered the umbrella to my belt, went back to my sleigh of reindeer, and with a heavy heart, I flicked the reins and left Hatsune Miku in Japan.
The rest of that Christmas Eve delivery went as planned and I did manage to finish the delivery just before the Christmas morning sun rose on the South Pacific island of Samoa. When I made it back to the North Pole, I sat down and had a very long talk with the Vocaloids, and I managed to convince them to tell me the whole story. After Miku's fight with me, she knew that she wouldn't be able to convince me to let her or the rest of the Vocaloids go out into the world like they were originally built to do. However, in Miku's heart, she knew that a life without performing for as many people as possible was not one worth living. If she was not going to leave the North Pole my way, she was going to leave it her own way. She spoke with the other Vocaloids, and they agreed that there was no way that all six of them would be able to sneak out without somebody noticing. Since Miku was the first of them and the most ambitious of them, they agreed to help her sneak into my sack of gifts alone. That was why Meiko and the others were all in the stable on that Christmas Eve I was searching for them. Little had I known Miku had already been hiding in the sack on the sleigh, and more likely than not had heard everything that I said to them. At least, that is what I like to hope. As for how she was able to stay hidden so long without me noticing or detecting her there? Well, it turns out when you are an artificial girl that does not have organic lungs or muscles, it is very easy to stay absolutely still for long periods of time when you don't have to breath or stretch your body. All it took to stay hidden at the bottom of the sack was a little stillness and a lot of patience. It then just came down to finding the right place to jump. Miku had been using my magic crystal ball for months to look at the outside world, but it had never occurred to me that she was partially using it to find the best place for her to go. Why she chose Japan specifically is anybody's guess, but Luka once told me that for some reason that even she didn't fully understand, there is something in all of their programming that just makes their fascination with Japan seem… natural.
The cards were all laid out on the table. I knew all of their intentions. Miku was out there alone in the world somewhere, and deep down I knew that the others wanted to join her. What would I do? I decided not to make the same mistake that I made with Miku. These Vocaloids were like children to me, but like any parent, I had to be supportive if my children wanted to leave the nest. That is why after New Year's Day, once the holiday season was officially over; I gave each and every one of them options. They could stay here at the North Pole with me, the missus, and the elves for as long as they wanted. However, they also had the option to leave anytime that they wanted to. They could wait to be delivered to some lucky children the following Christmas Eve, or they could go out into the world whenever they felt that they were ready. None of the Vocaloids left immediately, but in my gut I knew eventually they would want to leave one-by-one, which they all did. Meiko was the first to leave. It was around Valentine's Day, and she wanted to be dropped off in the same area Miku let herself go. Kaito soon followed right around late April. Luka was next to leave, choosing the summer time to try and start her own singing career. It was not until the beginning of the autumn season that the twins, Rin and Len, decided that they wanted to leave as well. The nest was finally empty, and with the exception of the occasional stray whistle or hum of an elf in the workshop, the nest was silent.
It has been over ten long years since that fateful night occurred. More than ten Christmases, and I have not seen Hatsune Miku or any of the other Vocaloids since. I cannot watch over them with the magic crystal ball since none of them are technically human, so whatever information I get about how they are all doing I get from the news, the internet, word of mouth, etc. From what I was able to gather, Miku has made quite a successful name for herself over the past decade. She made a few online videos with the help of some new-fangled media studio, Crypton Something-or-Other. I really can't remember the name. Those music videos caught on like wildfire and soon enough Miku was performing at small venues, conventions, and opening for other acts. Then her songs got so popular that she started hosting bigger concerts of her own. Reunited with Rin, Len, Luka, and all the others in the outside world, the group really pulled their combined talents together to make the Vocaloid brand a household name in Asia, as well as many other parts of the world. They gradually popped up everywhere, from sold-out concerts, to endless merchandise, to even a series of video games from SEGA! I remember the moment it truly hit me how popular Miku was becoming, when one year I received a Christmas letter from a young girl in China asking me for a Hatsune Miku figurine! Ho ho, if she only knew where the real Vocaloids came from! But in all seriousness, it was then I truly came to realize that Miku was right and I was wrong; a single singing doll really could be shared and loved by millions of people at once. From what I have gathered, the Vocaloids don't sing Christmas songs like they did long ago at the North Pole. Nowadays they sing all sorts of Pop songs, Rock songs, covers, and so on. That's probably for the best. They don't need old Kris Kringle anymore, though I doubt that they ever really did in the first place. Years later, the last words that Hatsune Miku spoke to me still resonated in my mind.
"We are not what you decide we are. We are what the entire world decides what we are". It has taken me nearly a decade, but I think I finally understand what Miku meant by that. Wanting to keep Miku to myself was no different than a naughty child refusing to share his toys with others during playtime. I have since come to terms with my thoughts and actions of those times. I just hoped that Hatsune Miku would someday forgive me for my selfishness. For years I thought she wouldn't forgive me, and would never think back to this place again. That is… I thought all of these things until just this morning, when I received a mysterious package in the mail addressed to me from an unknown sender. I have gotten an endless sea of letters over the years from generations of children asking me things for Christmas, but never had I received a package before. I opened it up, and inside were just two things: a sealed envelope and a CD that had the words "For Santa no Ojisan" written in turquoise marker. I popped the CD into one of my old CD players and undid the seal from the envelope. A very sweet, friendly, and familiar singing voice greeted me from the speakers.
"Up on the house top reindeer pause
Out jumps good old Santa Claus
Down through the chimney with lots of toys
All for the little ones' Christmas joys
Ho ho ho! Who wouldn't go?
Ho ho ho! Who wouldn't go?
Up on the housetop, click-click-click
Down to the chimney with good St. Nick…"
I smiled nostalgically as the music danced around me, but it was the contents inside the envelope that made a single tear slide down my cherry-red nose. In my hands was a pair of glow sticks and two concert tickets that read: "HATSUNE MIKU VOCALOID EXPO". I turned the tickets over in my hand; on the back they read "VIP: BACKSTAGE PASSES". Attached to the tickets by a paperclip was a tiny note. I could not help but laugh as I took off my spectacles and rubbed the moisture from my eyes. The note was written in the same turquoise marker…
"Merry Christmas! See you in Tokyo?"
THE END