Lacrima: Chapter Twenty Two
Treasured Friends
Lucille sipped white wine from a glass. Her white silk dress draped over her and billowed off in fine, gossamer sheets. Sleek, light blue gloves accentuated her hands as they pinched the neck of the drinking vessel and as the other beckoned for a Servant to fill it back up. One of the Servants, now properly set in attire of a dark blue suit and white shirt, trotted up a wine bottle. It, still faceless, but far less glitched, poured a stream of fine wine into Lucille’s glass. Once it reached a third of the way, Lucille giggled and fanned her fingers.
“More.”
“Of course, Master Lucille.”
It obliged, filling the glass until she gave a definite nod. She stood up from her chair and sipped her wine as she looked at the new dining hall. The light fixture shined at much higher capacity and with more textured radiance. Instead of being cast in a dreary gloam, the hall burned with whites and golds. At the table, newly bedecked in a sky-blue tablecloth, two of her dear friends and guests had planted themselves.
Konrad O’Flannery, paranormal investigator, leaned forward with his elbows on the table. Lucille could overlook the lack of manners for his enthusiasm. He wore a navy-blue sports jacket set over a gray turtleneck. She had to make sure the cut of the pants fitted his long legs, but her Servants could be good tailors when directed well. A plate of T-Bone steak with mashed potatoes had been served to him. He chatted with the other guest, as he sawed off strips.
Bae Yuri, influencer and model, listened intently to Konrad’s voice. Lucille picked out a lovely red dress that suited Bae’s physique. The dress was strapless and didn’t go past her knees. Bae presided over an empty plate smeared with pink juices. A Servant subtly walked over and removed the finished plate from Bae’s presence. To which, she thanked the spectre.
Lucille placed herself next to Bae as dropped into the conversation.
“...and we could make out from the recording ‘We… see… you…’ Scared the crap out of us,” Konrad said.
“What happened next?” Bae asked.
“We ran away!” Bae and Konrad laughed and Lucille joined in. Sliding her eyes open, Bae looked to Lucille. She, in turn, handed the wine glass to Bae. She looked at Lucille’s offer, mustered a smile, and took the glass. Bae slowly conveyed the wine to her lips. Right as the alcohol whispered on her lips, she handed Lucille the glass back. Lucille nodded before crossing to the head of the table.
Konrad steepled his fingers, then pointed them to Lucille. “Isn’t there something you wanted us to talk about?”
“We’ll get to that,” she laughed, pressing a hand to her silvery choker. The metal wrapped around her neck and the shining gray of her ring caught the light at the same instance. “We still need to wait for Job.”
Bae looked across the table. “We’re missing someone else…” As she said that, her right eye fluttered. She pressed a hand to her temple as a headache bloomed. Lucille comforted with gentle strokes on Bae’s arm. A Servant came up with a dish: a painkiller with a glass of water. Bae took the pill and washed it down, as instinctual as breathing. “Right,” Bae muttered. “Only Lucille, Job, Konrad, and me. We’re the only guests.”
“Well, you three are my guests,” Lucille corrected. “But we can get into that later.”
When her hands fell to her hips, Job entered through the threshold. Eyes wide, he stumbled past the pool table, the wall of dartboards, and the smaller tables for games. Two Servants attended him and guided him along as he stumbled. He wore a pastel blue suit jacket, a frilly button-up, and a red-striped tie. His cufflinks were silver. He blinked, trying to orient himself in the new space. Across the way, a burly Servant tended to a bar stocked with drinks. Bulbed lights hung down and gave the room a cheery, lively ambiance. They brought him to Lucille, who beamed a smile at him. Job clumsily formed his own smile to beam back. Lucille pulled a pair of glasses out and unfurled the frames.
“You dropped these.”
Lucille reached up and placed them on his face. Job blinked and the shining face of Lucille Azure greeted him with a new sight. Lines overlaid his thoughts.
You are Job Bezalel. Psychology student aiming to get his Master’s. You are intelligent, but withdrawn. Lucille Azure invited you to Lacrima and you are smitten with her. However, your past entanglements keep you separate from her. Could this mansion be your chance at connection and love?
The words weren’t his. Not by a long shot. And he knew this. However, the script felt more right than his own thoughts. His own thoughts left him unmoored. This new script gave him a guide. Job decided to follow along - see where this took him.
Lucille motioned to a spare chair. “I have some explaining to do.”
He merely nodded as a Servant nudged him into his seat.
Stepping back, Lucille opened her wingspan and gestured at the redecorated dining hall.
Or was the previous dining hall just a dream, Job wondered. He could barely form an image of what it previously looked like. How long was he even in the mansion? It could’ve been long, but with how unreliable and unsteady his memories felt, he wasn’t sure either way.
“Friends, there’s been a lot of confusion on the nature of this place. I’ve decided to tell you the real story of Lacrima.” Lucille walked over to a wall with three covered frames. A Servant pulled on a rope, letting the canvas tumble to the floor. It revealed an oil painting of Esau Nebble, typing away at his impressively carved and decorated work station. “Let’s start with the beginning. Esau Nebble. After the stunning success of the Solo-Mon app, he realized how vacant his life was. Yes, he had a supportive family. A career. Financial security. But he still felt aimless. When he looked inside himself, he realized a fundamental truth.” Lucille pressed a hand to her chest. “He was hollow.”
Konrad mimicked her. “Hollow, you say. In what way?”
“Hollow as in a lack of meaning. He then became incredibly interested in religion and philosophy with a strong undercurrent of psychology. Esau was an atheist, so he looked at spiritual matters from a humanistic angle…”
That’s why his library was filled with those kinds of books. The library shimmered in his recollections like a mirage. Within those snapshots, he remembered a woman. Dark curly hair. An eccentric, but refined fashion taste. An occasional rhythmic tapping…
Streaks of searing pain spread out through his skull. Job leaned forward and cradled his head. Konrad leaned over with a knowing look.
“You good?”
“No, I-” He stopped himself. “No, I’m fine.” Just as with Bae, a Servant offered a pill and water. Job accepted it without hesitation. He kept the glass of water and sipped it as Lucille talked.
“...but no matter what he researched, he couldn’t find an answer. So, he returned to what he knew: his programming. He devised a plan to see the next step in human development through the healing of the human soul. In the developed world, we don’t really worry about food, water, or disease. At least - not like those of the past or those worse off. The one lack we still held, and one he felt the modern world actually robbed us of, was meaning. That’s the hollowness he sought to fill with this mansion.”
Lucille took a step over to the next frame. The Servant pulled out the knot to show another oil painting. This one showed Esau and another man pouring over a blueprint among the scaffolding and skeleton of what, presumably, would become the mansion.
“Esau entrusted his brother Jacob to physically build the mansion. His brother was an architect by trade. The general structure of this place - you can thank Jacob Nebbel for that.”
“Argus…” Job tested this name in the air. Unlike the other one, this person didn’t prompt his skull to tear itself apart. “How does Argus fit into this?”
“He’s the third Nebbel brother,” Lucille stated. “The youngest of them. Apparently by enough years that Esau and Jacob didn’t really grow up with him. Still, that didn’t stop him from wanting to be a part of this project.”
“So, this mansion was the work of both of his brothers,” Job continued. “No wonder he wanted to learn more about it.”
“The disappearance of Esau didn’t help,” Lucille confirmed. “Sadly, he had to force his way in. I couldn’t let him make a mess of this place.”
“You locked him into the indoor pool room,” Job verbalized. Konrad glanced at him: a ‘be careful’ sort of look.
But Lucille nodded, unoffended. “I did, but understand I didn’t want him dead.”
“But then-” Job felt the onset of another mental burn, so he squelched himself before it could ignite.
“If it’s any consolation,” Lucille began with a distant tone. “He was never a guest.”
Job closed his lips to conceal his gritted teeth. This whole scene felt viscerally wrong, but his cognition wanted to believe Lucille. His congress of nerves, spinal structures, and bones were of a majority opinion that this whole situation shouldn’t exist. Lies and half-truths woven in a slipshod fashion. The holes were obvious, but the central authority of the mind demanded that those be overlooked.
Lucille has your best interests in mind.
Your instincts are to always mistrust others. Let yourself trust this one person.
Didn’t you promise that you would “stay together”?
These weren’t his thoughts, but they replayed as easily through him as if they were. Job breathed in and out steadily. He needed surety.
“But where do I come into all this?” Lucille asked rhetorically. “Esau tested his mansion - aimed at giving recovery and a chance at true meaning - to mixed results. His first group fell apart. In the next batch…” She cut the air with her hand. The canvas fell with her movement to reveal the final oil painting: Esau and Lucille together looking out at a lake. They were framed by the panels of the greenhouse and sat on either end of a bench. The two kept a distance on the bench. “I was among the second group of guests. Esau told me of his mistakes with the first group. He told me how this place worked. Even when he became distant and cold to everyone else, he kept me close.” Lucille advanced closer to the table. “Eventually, he descended to be with Sisyphus and I followed suit…”
Bae suppressed a cringe. She only made it partway down. She could only imagine what awaited her deeper. What awaited…
I went down after someone. Was that Argus?
Bae sighed. She gave up on trying to remember.
“There, I gained Administrator Privileges. Esau couldn’t fulfill his mission, so I have taken it upon myself to carry his torch. It was I who invited you three afterall.”
“We’re the next chapter of Lacrima,” Konrad said.
“A great way of putting it!” Lucille chuckled and clapped her hands together. “Where Esau failed, I can do better. We all want to be better people. We all want this to work out. That was Esau’s biggest failing: he didn’t have buy-in. I trust, after all this doubt and confusion, we’re now all on the same page.”
“I still have questions,” Job said.
“And they will be answered in due time.” Lucille patted the air. “Trust me.”
Job tongue squirmed in his mouth. But then, he looked at Lucille. She radiated confidence and ability. If anyone could stir this ship, surely he could allow her.
Right, I’m overthinking this. I’m just overwhelmed. Let me trust her.
Let me keep one damn promise.
Let this be the start of everything I ever wanted.
He stood up and crossed over to Lucille. Taking her hands, he looked into her. Her eyes shimmered. “Of course,” he cooed.
Lucille gasped, shook her shoulders, before reinstating her smile.
Bae saw this and smoothed out her dress. She put on her smiling mask.
Konrad rose up and bowed. “What’s our next step?”
“Look around you.” Lucille motioned to the bevy of game tables set up. “I didn’t rearrange the mansion to the Elysium preset for nothing. Go enjoy yourselves. The Servants can play along if you want.”
“Don’t need to tell me twice!” Konrad picked up a pool cue and aimed his strike at the white ball. “Bae, you be solids. I’ll be stripes.” Bae trotted up, nodding.
As he leveled the tap and leaned over, he heard an undercurrent just beneath his feet. The sound was diminished, almost inaudible if you didn’t pay attention.
Fans. Hundreds. Thousands. Blowing. All at once.
He let the discomfort roll off his back. He had a role to play.
Follow the script, he told himself. Don’t mind the wrinkles.
Strike, crash, and the balls broke away from their formation. Konrad looked over and saw Lucille, enraptured and utterly happy. He smirked and handed Bae the cue stick.