Pros and (Usuki)Cons

     "Now, to test this final display," he said to himself. "H.O.O.T., over here, pal." The Kacheek's Petpet, an Albot, whirred its way over.

     Jacob took the mechanical Petpet gently in his paws and placed it on one of the gondola shelves, and then pulled the switch. Slowly, the shelf turned, which activated a music box mechanism that began to play the Usukiland jingle.

     "Well, it looks like it passes the weight check," he said, jotting it down in his notes. "Now I just need..."

     A knock came from the door.

     "This is your morning wake-up call, courtesy of the Neolodge chain of hotels and resorts!" announced the chipper Striped Poogle bellhop. "Just as you requested, sir!"

     Jacob was perplexed. That couldn't be right, he thought. That was, of course, until he drew the blinds and was hit unceremoniously by the morning sun, something that he never had to worry about in Moltara. Panicking, he thanked the Poogle and quickly showered and got dressed. Within a half hour, Jacob was standing out in front of the Neolodge with H.O.O.T. and the wagon full of shelf inventory, which the bellhop, Herman, graciously helped Jacob to pack.

     "Off to Usukicon, I assume?" Herman asked as he saw Jacob off.

     "Yep," Jacob said. "I managed to get a booth at the artist alley this year, so I really want to make the most of it. It's often a big ask for surface Neopians to come down to Moltara, but if they see the kinds of things I make firsthand, it could really help spread the word, you know?"

     Herman nodded. "These do look like quite the fancy doodahs, so I'm sure you'll do well out there. Good luck, sir, and thank you for choosing the Neolodge!"

     Thankfully, it was only a short walk from the Neolodge to the convention center that Usukicon would be held. Jacob had his badge checked at the entrance before being escorted to his booth at the artist alley, quickly setting everything up. By the time he was done, the line forming outside the convention hall was long enough to wrap around the building, letting him see it from the nearby window. There had to be hundreds, no, thousands of Neopians out there.

     "I hope I don't sell out too early," Jacob said, looking at his stock.

     Decorations covered every inch of the convention centre, all themed around all things Usuki. But no part of the convention was as striking to Jacob as the artist alley itself. He was in awe of just how talented all of the artists present were.

     "Get ready, H.O.O.T., here they come," Jacob whispered to his Albot as he curled his fingers and toes to brace for the crowds.

     As Usukicon opened its doors to the public, con-goers of all kinds migrated through the halls. Gorgeous cosplays that clearly took months, if not longer, to produce rightfully drew a ton of attention, passionate fans proudly displayed their Usuki itabags, and diehard collectors carried on their backs empty bags that would, no doubt, be overflowing with exclusive merchandise by the afternoon.

     About five minutes later, a Shoyru flew by Jacob's booth.

     "Wow, they still make Moltaran stuff? I thought that style died out years ago!"

     Jacob just smiled. He'd heard variations of that comment many times before. As much as he wanted to respond with "we've been making things like this the whole time, you just stopped looking," he held his tongue and just responded with, "Nope! It's still around. Are you interested in anything you see here?"

     "Nope! Not really," the Shoyru said before moving onto the next stall.

     Jacob turned to H.O.O.T. and sighed. "Well, that was a bust. But hey, the day is young."

     Shortly after, an Ogrin went up to Jacob's stall. "Wow, that's pretty neat," she said.

     "Thanks!" Jacob said. "As you can see, each shelf supports up to five Usuki dolls, and each of the shelves can be arranged in one of two different ways to alter the spin."

     "So how much are they?" she asked.

     Jacob pointed to the price sheet. "There are two different prices, depending on if you want a pre-built display or the build-it-yourself boxed version."

     "Ooooh, that's way too much," she said, basically cutting him off. "That price is highway robbery."

     Jacob was taken aback, but still tried not to show it on his face.

     "I assure you, when factoring in material and labour costs, this is actually quite the good deal. If I sold it for much less, I'd be selling them at a severe loss."

     "Yeah, but like," she began, "I can just have this scanned by a Virtupets-brand generator and instantly reproduced for much cheaper."

     "Those things don't reproduce, they regurgitate," Jacob said matter-of-factly. "Not to mention there's basically no quality assurance."

     "But it's still much cheaper," she said, walking away.

     Jacob strongly exhaled. He couldn't lose his composure. He had to roll with the punches. He looked around. Happy con-goers to the left. Really nice merchandise booths straight ahead. A spiked flail flying dangerously close to his display shelves on the right...wait, what?

     "Brute Squad! Brute Squad! Come join the Brute Squad today!" the Elephante at the booth beside Jacob's bellowed as he swung the flail around, nearly hitting H.O.O.T. this time.

     "Really?!" said Jacob, raising his voice. "Not only are you endangering my booth and my Petpet, but really? Recruiting at Usukicon? Have you no shame for how tacky that is?"

     The Elephante squinted his eyes as he stared downward toward the Kacheek. "I recognise you. Ain't you a member of the Seekers?" he asked through gritted teeth.

     "I...have no idea what you're talking about," Jacob said quietly as he felt his heart drop. He then shifted his merchandise (and H.O.O.T.) over a few inches to clear them from the path of the flail and avoided making further eye contact with the Elephante.

     Jacob turned to the booth on his left. A blue Peophin was operating it, and he had a fairly steady stream of customers.

     "Hey there, how's everything shaking out today?" he asked the Peophin.

     "Pretty nicely, all things considered. Check these out," he said, pulling out a huge box of Usuki dolls from under the table.

     "Wow, I've never seen those before. Are they customs?" Jacob asked.

     "Nah, these are all super rare Usuki dolls. They aren't even making any of these anymore. I'm striking gold here."

     Jacob looked at the dolls and noticed the price tags on them. Each one commanded a mortgage payment in exchange, leaving Jacob aghast.

     "I thought they didn't allow resellers here?" he asked.

     "And yet here I am, doing just that," he added, smugly, as he sold another three dolls in the span of that conversation, likely making triple what was in Jacob's bank account in the process.

     Jacob just sighed and turned away, facing forward. It was hard not to get at least a little discouraged. Maybe trying to expand his customer base was a bad idea. Maybe he should've just stuck to peddling his creations in Moltara.

     The day dragged on. After a few hours, a line that formed for an Usuki influencer meet-and-greet wrapped all the way toward the artist alley, leading to the line blocking Jacob's booth from the line of sight of the artist alley crowd. At this point, the Peophin and Elephante had both left, the former having sold through his whole stock of hyper-inflated dolls while the latter reached his recruitment quota. All the while, Jacob hadn't sold a single display shelf.

     The Kacheek had to do a double-take when he saw someone approaching his booth. He was a Plushie Skeith, decked out head to toe in fanciful Moltara-inspired clothing.

     "Well, I'll be...Bigsby Shadington?" Jacob asked, floored at who was showing up to his booth.

     "I'm sorry, have...have we met?" the Skeith asked, a bit perplexed.

     "No, but I'm a big fan of your work! You invented the Wonderclaw and put out the best wrench on the market! What brings you here today?" Jacob said, realising all too late that this probably came off as off-putting.

     Shadington smiled. "You know, I don't get recognised much these days, so that's a pleasant surprise. As for why I'm here, well, I always like to check out the artist alley. So what have you got?"

     "Steam-powered rotating Usuki doll display shelves!" Jacob said. "They light up, play music, and can move in two separate rotation states."

     "This is very impressive craftwork," Bigsby Shadington said. "I think I'll buy one," he added, taking out a bag of Neopoints.

     "Wow, really?" Jacob asked. "I'll be honest, you were actually my first customer today."

     "Sadly, times have been especially tough on creatives as of late. After the company that made parts for the Wonderclaw went belly up in Year 23, I had to shut the whole thing down. I was fortunately well off enough that I was able to live comfortably afterwards, but a lot of Neopians weren't so lucky. That company produced a lot of things for Neopians, and then it was all gone in a flash." The Skeith sighed contemplatively. "So that's why I try to give back to the art world. Paying it forward, and all."

     "It really does mean a lot," Jacob said. "So, premade or boxed?"

     "Boxed, please. I've been into puzzles lately, and this is basically a puzzle of sorts, right?" he said with a laugh.

     With the transaction complete, Jacob waved goodbye to Bigsby Shadington, holding onto their chance encounter as a sort of pick-me-up. He needed something good to cling to after today. And hold onto it he did, all throughout the afternoon, as not a single additional customer showed up at his booth. He packed up his things back into his wagon and headed back toward the Neolodge, dejected.

     "Welcome back, sir! I hope your time at..." Herman said, starting his usual greeting before noticing Jacob's incredibly full cart of shelves. "Oh, I'm...I'm sorry."

     "Don't be, it's not your fault," Jacob said quietly. "I just...misjudged the audience. It happens."

     "You know," Herman said, "I'm actually a big Usuki fan myself. I couldn't get the day off to go to Usukicon this year, since it's one of our busiest days of the year, and all, but I'd love to take one of those shelves off your hands, if you're still willing to sell them."

     "Oh! Of...of course!" Jacob stammered as he took out one of the displays from the wagon. "I hope you enjoy it!" he said.

     As Jacob retired to his room, Herman decided to display the shelves in carousel-style right on the lobby's front desk, placing some of his own Usuki dolls on them. He smiled at his relatively meagre collection. They weren't exactly plentiful, and certainly weren't rare, but he loved them all the same. He cranked the music box and wound up the back key, and all through the night, the display gave off a faint but warm glow, as the dolls riding upon it spun into the arms of the coming night.

     The following morning, Jacob decided to head out with H.O.O.T. before the first cries of the morning Mallard flock to get to Moltara as soon as possible. He'd have to work even more to recoup the massive loss from the shelves.

     "Oh, Jacob!" Herman called from the front desk as he saw the Kacheek passing by. "If you don't mind, I'd like you to have this list," he said.

     Jacob, befuddled, took a look at the list. "This looks like a guest list. Am...I missing something?" he asked.

     "That's the contact information for the guests who loved the front desk Usuki display! I told them I'd relay their contact information to the Neopet who designed it so that they could purchase one of their own."

     Jacob felt tears welling up in his eyes. He deftly removed his brass gear goggles to dry them before putting them back on in one smooth motion.

     "I...I guess they just needed to see it on display on its own, without everything else around? Or maybe it really does just look better at night?" Jacob tried to rationalise what happened, but always came up short. Regardless, he was thrilled.

     "Thank you so much, Herman. This genuinely means so much to me," said Jacob. "And here, this is for you," he added, giving the bellhop a Con-Exclusive Usuki. "They gave these out to the vendors as a promotional item. I know you said you're a collector, but couldn't go to the Con, so I wanted you to have it."

     Herman held the Usuki doll in his hands and smiled. He quickly checked Jacob out in the system before turning again to him. "Thank you for choosing the Neolodge, and...thank you for this," he said, instantly shifting from his customer service tone to something more genuinely warm and personal.

     Jacob, with H.O.O.T. and his inventory in tow, gave a smile and wave to the Poogle bellhop before departing out the front doors. Herman, meanwhile, made a point to place his new Usuki doll directly on the fanciest gondola shelf of the carousel display.

     The End.