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You feel the panic start to fade as the being before you stays still, not advancing towards you with spear raised- Oh. It's a <span class="mu-s">statue</span>. Of course it was. Haha. You didn't almost pee your pants over a statue or anything. Ha ha ha. You reach forward just to make sure- and indeed. Under your hand, it feels clearly artificial, but it looks so real. The coloration, the size, the material- it all looks just like a real Swall. It's even got some kind of acrylic paint that shines in the light to make the skin look damp- exactly like an amphibian skin.
You take a second to look over the scene before you to finally understand what you're seeing. It's some kind of huge diorama or mural; half painted onto the walls and floor. It looks exactly like an island beach, with plants, and Swall figures rising from the water. It's two dimensional where it is painted, but has an incredible sense of depth. Even the “sand” has painted footprints- a statue perfectly cut and bisected as if it is rising from the water itself, with the illusion of depth in the shadows playing on the surface of the water.
You aren't sure what the purpose of this is. This piece of art is hidden away. You've never seen this room before; it has no other exits and doesn't lead anywhere useful. Even the nearest service access for the city's technicians is the other direction- the central climbshaft is above you. It wasn't signposted either, almost like it was hidden here on purpose. But why? You wonder, shifting on the balls of your feet, is this some kind of Anti-Social display? You really don't want to be looking at things like that. You'd much rather report it- but nobody you know exhibits anti-social behavior, and even if they did, they wouldn't have access to resources like this. Obviously, this was approved, and a lot of work was put into it.
You're used to seeing such realistic scenes for learning or entertainment; but those are in <span class="mu-i">virtual reality</span>, not in real life. Who would make something like this? Who <span class="mu-i">could</span> make something like this?
“Ahem.”
There's a man's voice. You turn, and it's a blonde in a very fancy outfit. And he's got Rascal!
