L’Inconnu in the Trash(IWA: 4th Dot)
Oct 1, 2013 18:12:53 GMT -8
Webmonkey, Ross, and 1 more like this
Post by Bertie on Oct 1, 2013 18:12:53 GMT -8
The girl killed herself in the late 19th century. Even after the Siene warped her flesh, she still possessed such great beauty that the mortician had to make a cast of her face. One cast was easily copied to make more, and the face of L’Inconnu spread across Europe and the Americas. The dead girl became the very vision of beauty until the late 30s. With the rise of CPR courses in the 60s, the girl’s face was used to make the practice dolls. She remains the most kissed face in human history.
She was a better symbol for the Toreador than a cow fighter.
At first Janus wasn’t sure what to do. Cecilia had paid him in advance to make a mask for her. Than she died. Janus considered just pocketing the money and gem, but there was a niggling little doubt left in his mind. He was unsure of what to do, until finally he saw the solution. Cecilia had been so eager, she had the measurements of her face taken ahead of time.
Janus prefered not to use straps, cords, and handles when possible. If the mask is modeled to fit a specific face it can hold on without external aid. This might normally take hours of laborious measuring. Instead Janus used a laser rangefinder to scan the face of his subjects in. The advertising materials said it was accurate down to ten microns. The important bit was, it was exact enough to work.
So Janus started work on Cecilia’s death mask. First in plaster, then in plastic, then in various specially crafted rubbers. He tried to match the color of her skin exactly, and then he tried the traditional plaster L’Inconnu was cast in. After that he tried gilt leaf more in the style of Egyptian Kings. He introduced specific ranges of inaccuracies, he added random noise. And once, after the undying image of her face had been seared into his memories, he even tried to craft the mask in free hand.
None of the masks captured it. He wasn’t going for the Mona Lisa smile of L’Inconnu but instead the predatory cruelty of Cecilia. He had seen it only once, when her mask broke down. When she spoke of her plots against Sweets, her attempts to ruin him permanently, not because there was any gain in it, but simply because she could. Like a pampered cat caught with a half-dead mouse.
Janus tossed the latest draft onto the pile. There were so many that the latest toppled out of the waste bin onto the floor. Although all of them were technically satisfactory, none of them quite hit the desired goal of “good enough”. Dawn was approaching. Hephaestus killed Cecilia once. Janus would kill her a thousand times before the work was done.
She was a better symbol for the Toreador than a cow fighter.
At first Janus wasn’t sure what to do. Cecilia had paid him in advance to make a mask for her. Than she died. Janus considered just pocketing the money and gem, but there was a niggling little doubt left in his mind. He was unsure of what to do, until finally he saw the solution. Cecilia had been so eager, she had the measurements of her face taken ahead of time.
Janus prefered not to use straps, cords, and handles when possible. If the mask is modeled to fit a specific face it can hold on without external aid. This might normally take hours of laborious measuring. Instead Janus used a laser rangefinder to scan the face of his subjects in. The advertising materials said it was accurate down to ten microns. The important bit was, it was exact enough to work.
So Janus started work on Cecilia’s death mask. First in plaster, then in plastic, then in various specially crafted rubbers. He tried to match the color of her skin exactly, and then he tried the traditional plaster L’Inconnu was cast in. After that he tried gilt leaf more in the style of Egyptian Kings. He introduced specific ranges of inaccuracies, he added random noise. And once, after the undying image of her face had been seared into his memories, he even tried to craft the mask in free hand.
None of the masks captured it. He wasn’t going for the Mona Lisa smile of L’Inconnu but instead the predatory cruelty of Cecilia. He had seen it only once, when her mask broke down. When she spoke of her plots against Sweets, her attempts to ruin him permanently, not because there was any gain in it, but simply because she could. Like a pampered cat caught with a half-dead mouse.
Janus tossed the latest draft onto the pile. There were so many that the latest toppled out of the waste bin onto the floor. Although all of them were technically satisfactory, none of them quite hit the desired goal of “good enough”. Dawn was approaching. Hephaestus killed Cecilia once. Janus would kill her a thousand times before the work was done.
