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STORYLINE: In the mad dash to evade the Enforcers, the team scattered. Lost and half-blind, Minjo ducked into the nearest available door.
The corridor was a jarring contrast to the plastic surgery clinic's sterile white above. Here, everything glowed warm and decadent. She couldn't read the details clearly. Her world had been a smear of shapes and color since the sewers took her glasses. But she could feel the difference. Thick carpet underfoot instead of tile. The air tasted faintly of mahogany and expensive old perfume. Warmth instead of clinical cold.
At the end of the hall, a brass door radiated importance. She didn't need sharp eyes to recognize that shape of authority.
She ran for it, heart hammering against her ribs. She pressed the gold serpent brooch to the kiosk by feel.
"Welcome home, Mistress Paine," the automated assistant chirped. The heavy door hissed open.
Footsteps echoed behind her.
Minjo slipped inside and dropped to the cold floor. She dove beneath what felt like a bed. Her hands found a brass frame, heavy embroidered fabric, the scent of dust and trapped air. She pressed herself flat and waited.
MasterGin's voice cut through the corridor like a razor drawn across velvet. "Trying to break what belongs to me? How ambitious of you."
"You can't do this to me." Paine's voice was tight. Desperate.
"Oh, I already have."
"I built this clinic. I run it."
"And yet here we are. Think of it as a sabbatical. A very long one. Your only duty now is to ensure no one else harms another glorious hair on his head. Now go. Before I'm forced to correct what jealousy has done to your face."
Heels receded. Precise. Unhurried.
The door swung open.
"Welcome home, Mistress Paine," the automated assistant repeated, just as brightly.
Minjo shifted backward into the shadows.
Something heavy smashed against the wall. She flinched at the sound. Glass, by the pitch of it, shattering across the floor. Something small skittered under the bed skirt and came to rest near her knee. She felt the edge of it with careful fingers. A shard. Mirror glass. She moved her hand away.
From under the folds of fabric, she listened more than she watched.
The clinic administrator's breathing was ragged. The rustle of fabric, a zipper, something heavy dropping to the floor. A change of clothes. Minjo filed this away. Paine shedding the white coat in private meant the white coat was a performance. What came after was the real thing. The unmistakeable shape and colors of a nun habit.
Then the soft thud of a body sliding down a wall. Knees pulling in. A choked sob that the room swallowed slowly.
Minjo had expected many things from Nurse Paine. Crying was not among them.
She inched forward carefully, staying low, until she had a partial sightline through the gap in the bed skirt. Shapes and light. The glow of a halophone activating. Paine's blurred silhouette on the floor, something small held up in the amber light, a lock of something pale, silver-bright even to her damaged eyes. Hair. Long and silver.
Jihoon's hair.
Paine gripped it like a lifeline.
"April 13, 2055," Paine said, her voice hoarse. "Club Apophis. Five minutes to midnight."
The phone projected a hologram into the dark room. Minjo couldn't make out faces clearly, blurred shapes and moving light, but she didn't need to. She heard sounds. Clinking glasses, upbeat music, layered chatter. A birthday party. Someone singing Happy Birthday with theatrical confidence. She recognized the timbre of that voice even muffled through projection speakers.
MasterGin.
She heard the wink in his voice, "It's going to be you."
The crowd began to chant.
Ten. Nine. Eight.
Minjo held herself perfectly still. She was beginning to understand what she was witnessing.
Three. Two. One.
A sound she could interpret without seeing: heavy doors opening. Streetlight bleeding in. She could tell by the way the room's light shifted even through her limited sight. The music stopped mid-note. Absolute silence.
Then a voice she knew.
Uncertain. Slightly embarrassed. Completely ordinary.
"Hi."
Minjo's hand flew to her mouth.
No one on screen moved.
Paine killed the projection. The room plunged back into suffocating silence.
The sound that followed was harder to listen to than anything in the recording. Not sobbing exactly. The specific, ugly sound of a person coming apart when they believe no one can hear them. Ragged breaths scraping against the quiet. The wet sound of grief that has nowhere to go.
Minjo shifted her weight slightly to ease the ache in her knees. Her knee grazed something, the glass shard barely touching it, and the tiny sound it made against the floorboards detonated in the silence.
Paine's breath stopped.
Then the bed was gone. Hauled back with a jarring metallic scrape. Cold air rushed in. A shape loomed over her. Minjo couldn't see the expression clearly but she could read the body language in the set of the shoulders, the raised arm. Something sharp and metallic glinted the ambient light. Shears.
Minjo froze. She calculated what she could: the distance to the door by memory, the approximate angle of the blade by the glint, and her absolute zero percent chance of survival.
She waited.
Above her, something changed. The raised arm didn't fall. Minjo could feel the recalculation happening in the pause, threat assessment shifting, the quality of the silence changing from predatory to something else.
Slowly, the shears lowered.
"I didn't mean to pry," Minjo said. She kept her voice perfectly even. "I just needed a place to hide." She nodded toward the silver strands she could make out in Paine's hand. "You disguised your betrayal with a smaller one. Brilliant."
Paine looked down at the hair. "Twenty years," she whispered. Her voice was entirely hollow. "I gave him twenty years of devotion. I bled for him. He forgot I existed the second that boy walked through the door."
Minjo considered this. "He told you it was going to be you."
"I was the strongest of his disciples," Paine said. "MasterGin had been preparing for centuries. I thought I was the culmination of it all. The pinnacle of his achievement. But I wasn't. None of us were."
The shame left Paine's voice. What replaced it was worse.
"I followed the false god," Paine said, her voice dropping to a fierce whisper. "And I was envious of the real one."
Paine sank to her knees. She bowed her head deeply, almost pressing her forehead against the dusty floorboards.
"I didn't understand, but I do now. Someone appeared by chance. Seemingly unworthy. And..."
"Chaos," Minjo interrupted flatly. "Just the kind of surprise a god of chaos would find funny."
"No." She shook her head. "Jihoon is one of us. A Child of Apophis. He has to be. He's the Lost One. Please accept my apology," Paine whispered to the floor. "My envy blinded me. I will serve the true Chosen One. As the advocate of Yoon Jihoon, how may I assist you?"
Minjo looked at the blurred shape of the woman kneeling before her. She didn't offer comfort. She didn't offer a speech about forgiveness. The variables of their survival had just changed. She needed to exploit them.
Minjo dusted off her knees and rose.
"Can you get us into the ceremony?"
"Yes."
"Good. I need to know exactly what happened to Jihoon when he entered Club Apophis. I need the logistics of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, Monstrum, the Old Ways." Minjo reached out and found the silver strands by feel, lifting them from Paine's hand. "And I'll be taking this mutant DNA sample. Thank you for your assistance."
For those still following along for the continuing storyline, this chapter just revealed who the Magic Mirror is in my cyberpunk horror retelling of Snow White. Paine is the mirror to MasterGin's evil queen. lol The Prince and the Huntsman will be revealed, as well as wrapping up the character arcs for Lisa, Ghost, Echo and Jihoon. I estimate there are roughly 4 more chapters left and an epilogue. What a journey!
This post was inspired by the series and wonderful items on this round of Engine Room which ends tomorrow. The setting has so many lovely things, and both outfits are gorgeous. ...On MasterGin is the Nixon outfit by OneDays. It's one-piece outfit you buy in a single color or fatback. ...On the long suffering Paine is the Rebis Scholar Garments. It comes in fits for men and women. It has textures in PBR that give the metallic edges sparkle, and a tattered hem. ...From Milkbath is the Censer. Just wear it and it will trigger a 1 of 4 poses which you can alter in the texture hud. It comes in left and righted version, swing, and non swing. .... From Cult is the Cornelia boots (shown below) for female avatars. The boots include gear details, and a spooky spinal vertebra heel. They are elegant gothic style with metallic details. But I really love the suede texture options, along with the leather. ...The Bedroom set is by Eclectica. It includes the bed, dressers, mirrors, and lamps. The mirrors are PBR and will reflect the environment. It comes with a texture hud to change the metal color, and fabrics. ...From Lore is the Captain's Lounge Chair, tables, and lamp. They are PBR with a hud to change the chair textures. ...Also from Lore is matching skybox, Nemo's study. Its fantastic with elegant PBR textures. ...From Duplexity is an art deco Radio. ...From Ishiku is another stunning crystal glass set, Vintage Floral Decanter. It's mod, so I tinted it green to match my theme. ...From Puddles is the Royal Scribe's Collection with lectern, feather pen, and book stack. ...From Apika is the spooky Madame Palmelope, a hand holding a teacup, that when touched, will give you your fortune. ..In the back, is the Architect Volta fireplace. I tinted the flames green for a spooky effect.
The Apophis series will be taking a break for the first time in almost a year, as I shift to blogging the Fantasy Faire. Be looking forward to it. Apophis will return after that.
On Her, Nurse Paine:
Headdress: ONEDAYs - UNHOLY HEADRESS [UNRIGED]
Hair: Limerence - Tamesis hair [mesh](990L)
Gloves: ContraptioN - Dapper Dandy's Glove, Maitreya [mesh]
Tears: SAXO - Bleeding Eyes lel EVOX Unisex [BOM]
Eyes: VelvetVue - Hibrida blue eyes :: sclera #1 [BOM]
Skin: VOGLIA - ELEKTRA Skin, EvoX, Icy With Brows [BOM]
Head, eyes: LeLUTKA - RAVEN 4.0 [mesh](3990L)
Body: TheShops - Legacy (f) Special Edition (Basic) 1.2 [mesh]
On Him, MasterGin:
Shoes: Deadwool - Dandy shoes - non rigged - black/silver wingtip [mesh](360L)
Claws: L'Emporio&PL - Oblio Vampire Claws male [mesh](350L)
Hair: bonbon - tame hair, naturals [mesh](439L)
Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)
Setting:
Fireplace: Architect - Volta Fireplace [mesh]
Skybox: LORE - Nemo's Study [PBR] [mesh]
BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shot, hi-res, midday sky.
