[Contains NBM/MBM, detachable elements]

When I'm in between doing admin and talking to customers, I have a bit of down time where I don't really need to be doing anything. I enjoy those moments a lot. They give me time to think, clear my mind, sometimes I play around with the pieces I have in the back, as well as with my own, just to see what potential customers may want. I usually do quick security checks as well, and because I'm cheap, I don't have any CCTV. Not that it's actually necessary, though. I've deliberately displayed a head section in every aisle for a reason. Quantum entanglement maybe complicated, but it sure is damn useful at times.

I was flicking through each head as usual, checking that everything was in order whilst I was on my phone. Some heads had their eyes closed, some had a fresh, dormant gaze (which have been noted so I can update their display dates), a couple were on their side after being discarded by browsing shoppers. The other bonus to my security system is that I can remotely talk to customers without using some terrible tannoy system. It's definitely weird having a decapitated head on a self talk to you, but when the other person is looking to switch their own half the time, it adds to the experience I think.

I blinked the eyes of a head at the near end of one of the promotional aisles, the one nearest the entrance and typically the first to be seen by anyone visiting. It's more or less part of a display set now, but people are always keen with I what I put out there and will pay a premium for good quality stock. They can be difficult to maintain, too, especially when people keep touching everything and I have to redo the makeup on the head's poor face! Anyway, the head is on a shelf at about shoulder height, with a dressing table and a chair below it. It's fairly obvious what it is - pair of that season's most sought after style of legs all dressed up sitting patiently with a pair of similarly fashionable hands and a assortment of facial features scattered across the table - and everyone who sees it makes some remark if it comes up. I usually phase into this head if I know I'll be busy during the evening rush or on weekends, so I can greet whoever needs greeting and talking to before I direct them to another staff member. Splitting my focus is tough sometimes, but I'm used to it.

I looked left and noticed a girl gawping down the promotional aisle, with a look in her eyes which told me that she wasn't really taking anything in. I knew I had a newbie on my hands, and a timid one at that. I don't think you could ring your hands hands as much as she could without giving yourself friction burns. I was careful not to startle her, so I waited until we caught each other's eyes as she turned around and smiled sweetly at her before I revealed my disembodied nature.

"Hi there, I'm Emily. Can I help you at all?"

"Oh, uh, hi. No, I'm fine thanks, just browsing."

She didn't seem too sure of herself. She clearly was quite nervous. I gave her as recurring a smile as I could.

"You know, it's perfectly fine to be overwhelmed by all of this. I didn't get used to being headless for a long time."

Her face slowly relaxed and her hands loosened a bit. She kept eye contact with me as she began to fiddle with the sleeve of her sweater instead, leaning slightly towards the display on one leg.

"Is it? Some people will fall to pieces in public and act like it's most natural thing in the world. I've always been curious in all of this, but I still can't get my head around of this..."

She gestured to the rows of body parts of various varieties and states, then looked back at me somewhat embarrassed.

"...Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I meant like I'm still new to all this, nothing about my, um, head, and, uh..."

I cocked my eyebrow for a moment and realised what she was getting at.

"Don't be silly! I know exactly how you feel. And don't worry about making jokes around me, I'm usually *ahead* of everyone else when it comes to that!"

We both laughed. Clearly the girl was warming up to me.

"I'm Jane by the way. What was your name again?"

"Emily. I'm the owner and manager here, and stock producer, and head of logistics, and pretty much everything else."

"You're even part of the display?"

"Yep! It's one of the more fun roles I have. I get to see everyone that comes in, have a little chat, and that's it. It's not like I can lift anything or work a cash machine. Heck, I can't even pee!"

Jane sniggered at that for a good 20 seconds, after which her posture and fully opened, her short hair barley brushing her shoulders. I could see her rounded face and subtle features, even the sparse patch of freckles across the bridge of her nose. The legs beneath my shelf shuffled about, crossing their legs playing with the dainty slippers they were wearing.

"So are those your legs?"

"Yeah, technically. I made them, but I'm not moving them."

Now she looked even more confused than when she first came in.

"So, who is?"

"They are"

"As in, they have a mind of their own?"

"Exactly! All the pieces here do, unless I don't want them too, in which I have to concentrate for a bit to reconnect them to me. That's what I'm doing with this head."

"So, that's your head, but not your 'actual' head?"

"Wow, you're a quick learner! My original body is behind the counter over there."

I nodded as much as I could with the neck I had at the front desk and my whole body behind it, still flicking between emails and TikTok. I gave a friendly wave at the head and Jane across the shop floor. Jane seemed to get shy again.

"I'm sorry if I'm coming across a bit cold, but all of this is still new to me. My best friend had the treatment a few weeks ago, and she's been begging me to do it ever since."

I sensed some hesitation in her voice.

"You don't have to give in to peer pressure if you don't want to. Making the decision to undergo modular therapy is one only you can make."

"Oh no, I'm being cautious over it for, well, obvious reasons I guess. And my friend says she understands why I'm hesitant, but I don't want her to feel like she's being ignored. I've had to start keeping my distance from her because I feel bad for not having the guts to do NBM, or MBM, or whatever it is nowadays. She genuinely loves all the stuff she can do now, and I want to do it with her. The idea that we can post our heads to each other for a chat, or swap bodies to wear each others clothes, I want to do it. I'm just anxious about actually, you know, doing it."

She was finding eye contact difficult to maintain at this point, shoulders closing in around her neck, her legs crossed as she rocked back and forth on one foot, speaking to the floor.

"It's one thing making plans and imaging perfect scenarios, but doing it is actually a whole different ball game. She's already had a few mishaps losing limbs and getting into trouble when she can't control them. I know it's only an issue when you first get started, but her arm fell off when we were shopping last week, and we had a nightmare looking for it, which was in vain since a stray cat got hold of it and run away. She only just regrew it yesterday! I guess I'm just scared of what might happen, that's all."

My head on the shelf nearly fell over from the instinctual lean to the right it did out of sympathy for her. She wasn't wrong to be scared about the treatment, or NBM in general, and she definitely wanted to do it out of love for her friend. I could of shed a tear if I wasn't in shop display/ manager mode.

"Look, why don't we go over to the front desk and talk this over. Come pick me up so I can be with you over there."

"Sure. Uh, how do I hold you?"

"Ideally you want to put your hands under my jaw, then swivel a hand under my neck stump to carry me under your arm. It's more intuition if anything."

Jane, in a slow and deliberate manner, stepped up to the shelf and placed her cool and clammy hands her the jaw of my display head. Careful not to bump into the dressing table or the crossed legs, she stood back, thought for a moment, put me under her right arm, and headed towards the desk. I, in my original body, gestured her to walk round to the side and put the head on the counter. She did so, her in slight bewilderment and anticipation about what would happen next, and me in slight amazement that a newbie to modularity didn't smudge my head's makeup. I started speaking with my normal head on my body.

"I just wanted to say how brave you are to even come into my store today, that's probably the biggest step you can make. How do you feel now."

"Better, thanks. I'm a bit more comfortable around, uh, your detached bits, but I'm still not sure about the treatment."

"Hey, I'm not going to stand here and try to sell you anything. Actually, I thought I could give you a free trial, of sorts."

My display head closed its eyes and made its face go vacant as Jane visibly grew curious.

"How would you do that? Give me this head or something?"

"Not just that..."

I opened the door a few steps behind me going into my office, and led out a headless body by the hand. It shuffled in a spare pair of trainers I keep at the shop across the short distance between its hiding spot and Jane, reaching out its arm to feel its way around, bumping her shorts-covered thigh against the counter and tucking in the vest she had on.

"You're giving me a whole body?

I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"What do I do with it? Does it need feeding? Actually, can it eat? How do I talk to it?"

I laughed a little as I reached over to my vacant head on the counter, taking it gently and placing the duplicated, and now completely separated head, on the body, resulting in a completely new individual standing in front of both me and Jane

"Say hi to your trial body, Jane. What do you think?"

The apprehensive girl who had walked in a few moments ago was now staring in absolute bewilderment at the humanoid which had just been partial constructed right in front of her. She froze in this amazement when the new body opened her eyes and started stretching, limbering and breathing deeply as she awoke from her apparent minute long sleep as the display head, which was actually a deep reset of her consciousness. Now, she was just someone to help Jane begin a new chapter in her life.

"Hi Jane, I think I'm yours now. What do you want to call me."

She took a minute to reply. I could see the cogs in her mind spinning as she took in yet another situation within the space of half an hour.

"Uh, maybe we can keep it simple. Let's call you Em. Is that ok with you, Emily?"

"She's all yours, you can call her what you like."

Jane looked back at her new 'body', which beamed back at her - if dogs could smile, that was Em there and then.

"So, are you controlling this body, with the head technically being yours?"

"Nope, it's got very little to do with me. Apart from being a clone of my body, and some memories I planted, she's brand new."

"So, she's a new person?"

"Yeah! And she's all yours to explore with."

"Ok, I'm not going to question any of that, I think I've witnessed enough brain busting info for one day. Oh, actually there is one thing. I don't like calling her 'my' body, especially if she is her own person."

"Of course, I understand. I'm too used to selling parts I guess, I very rarely 'make' people. I guess you've got a new friend as a free trial. You can do what ever you need to do to feel comfortable with NBM. Ask her questions, experiment with her, whatever, just return her in 2 weeks and we can go from there."

Jane waved inquisitively at Em, who waved back excitedly. She stayed in silent disbelief for another minute or two as Em mirrored her movements, giggling intermittently.

"Well, I guess I've got a new friend, then. Do I need to give you anything?"

"Not at all. If you don't come back, Em will do so herself, so even if you're not comfortable seeing me again after all of this, it's absolutely fine."

Jane looked Em up and down, meeting her at the eyes, slowly thawing her look of amazement, revealing a gentle and content grin. She put her hand out to Em.

"Ok, that's my cue to go I suppose. Come on Em, ready to go?"

"Sure!"

We all made our way to the entrance, Jane and Em hand-in-hand. I gave them both a long hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Like I said, it's your decision to make."

I winked as they both walked away into the stark summer sun, my job description yet again being under-exaggerated, and Jane's day was just getting started.