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Plot Cutscene: Oh, it's good to be back home again.
CW: Body Horror in the form of furniture.
Shin was half right when he remembered passing through a cafe. There was a faint glow in the alley behind that familiar building that seemed to call to him. His heart skipped a beat, but… Perhaps he should get a stick? He wouldn't want his hand bitten off-
No, he told himself, this must be the way back. If it's not, he has his hotel room's location recorded on his PINpoint. He had nothing to lose, body part or otherwise. With a strong glow of courage, he took a deep breath and walked towards the light.
The next thing he knew, he was standing in a windowless room lit by the standing lamps stationed at the corners. "Is this…?" The room. It seems familiar to him. Carefully, he began to navigate the floor, opening the door at the end of the room and brushing his hand against the barren walls until he found a familiar secret.
The passage known only to angels.
Shin's lips curved into a hopeful smile as he pressed onwards, entering a code to grant himself full access to the maintenance elevator and pressing the button for his floor. Slowly, the elevator ascended…
B7… B6… B5… B4.
"Finally!" Shin squealed as he bounded out of the elevator with open arms, "I'm finally back where I belong!"
The floor was just as he had seen it last; walls built from brick, floors lined with tile. The machines against some of the walls controlling the temperature and lighting. The odd man-made lakes flanked by piping. Even the narrow halls leading to his personal workshop were the same, he found as he hastened his pace to check on the work he left behind.
He quickly opened the door to be greeted by a small menagerie of grotesque furniture made with human flesh and bone.
"All seems well," He beamed as he inspected a patchwork torso manikin on a side table with a human leg. "And not a stitch out of place! Either I must be very lucky, or time must be distorted in that Nexus…" He traced his fingers along the seams, making sure there were no bruises or tears before he gave into an urge to grab that manikin off the table and embrace it like an old friend. "Oh! How I missed you so!"
The furniture he crafted must be very happy to see him. He was sure of that, even if he had personally silenced the materials he used in their construction. After all, every piece he made has its own story… Its own soul, even. Why, he thought he could feel it as he set the mannikin back down and went about checking on the other pieces.... A dresser with hands for knobs, chairs with human faces, tables with human feet… Even the vanity he had accented with a pair of bony arms was untouched, almost as if he had left it alone just for a day…
Shin paused at that vanity, gingerly placing a hand on the top of the shelf and gazing into the mirror. The face in the reflection was his, he knew that much, and yet… In that moment, something inside him stirred, and he thought he was being welcomed by an old companion of his.
“I’m still here…” he whispered to the reflection, wavering between Mandarin and English as he tended to do when he was alone, “And I don’t plan on leaving this world for too long. Not if I can help it… I promise.”
The reflection didn’t respond. As expected. Shin smiled as he turned away from the vanity and approached his worktable. Finally, he can go back to crafting. He swept the surface with one hand and reached for his sketchbook-- Oh.
The sketchbook was not in its proper place. He left it in his hotel room back in the Nexus.
“Tch!” His face faltered as he searched his pockets for his PINpoint. “Well, at least I can fix this problem easily enough… Now…”
He made sure to register his current location into the device before dialing the coordinates to that hotel at the place between worlds.
Shin was half right when he remembered passing through a cafe. There was a faint glow in the alley behind that familiar building that seemed to call to him. His heart skipped a beat, but… Perhaps he should get a stick? He wouldn't want his hand bitten off-
No, he told himself, this must be the way back. If it's not, he has his hotel room's location recorded on his PINpoint. He had nothing to lose, body part or otherwise. With a strong glow of courage, he took a deep breath and walked towards the light.
The next thing he knew, he was standing in a windowless room lit by the standing lamps stationed at the corners. "Is this…?" The room. It seems familiar to him. Carefully, he began to navigate the floor, opening the door at the end of the room and brushing his hand against the barren walls until he found a familiar secret.
The passage known only to angels.
Shin's lips curved into a hopeful smile as he pressed onwards, entering a code to grant himself full access to the maintenance elevator and pressing the button for his floor. Slowly, the elevator ascended…
B7… B6… B5… B4.
"Finally!" Shin squealed as he bounded out of the elevator with open arms, "I'm finally back where I belong!"
The floor was just as he had seen it last; walls built from brick, floors lined with tile. The machines against some of the walls controlling the temperature and lighting. The odd man-made lakes flanked by piping. Even the narrow halls leading to his personal workshop were the same, he found as he hastened his pace to check on the work he left behind.
He quickly opened the door to be greeted by a small menagerie of grotesque furniture made with human flesh and bone.
"All seems well," He beamed as he inspected a patchwork torso manikin on a side table with a human leg. "And not a stitch out of place! Either I must be very lucky, or time must be distorted in that Nexus…" He traced his fingers along the seams, making sure there were no bruises or tears before he gave into an urge to grab that manikin off the table and embrace it like an old friend. "Oh! How I missed you so!"
The furniture he crafted must be very happy to see him. He was sure of that, even if he had personally silenced the materials he used in their construction. After all, every piece he made has its own story… Its own soul, even. Why, he thought he could feel it as he set the mannikin back down and went about checking on the other pieces.... A dresser with hands for knobs, chairs with human faces, tables with human feet… Even the vanity he had accented with a pair of bony arms was untouched, almost as if he had left it alone just for a day…
Shin paused at that vanity, gingerly placing a hand on the top of the shelf and gazing into the mirror. The face in the reflection was his, he knew that much, and yet… In that moment, something inside him stirred, and he thought he was being welcomed by an old companion of his.
“I’m still here…” he whispered to the reflection, wavering between Mandarin and English as he tended to do when he was alone, “And I don’t plan on leaving this world for too long. Not if I can help it… I promise.”
The reflection didn’t respond. As expected. Shin smiled as he turned away from the vanity and approached his worktable. Finally, he can go back to crafting. He swept the surface with one hand and reached for his sketchbook-- Oh.
The sketchbook was not in its proper place. He left it in his hotel room back in the Nexus.
“Tch!” His face faltered as he searched his pockets for his PINpoint. “Well, at least I can fix this problem easily enough… Now…”
He made sure to register his current location into the device before dialing the coordinates to that hotel at the place between worlds.