“… Anatomy? Don’t you mean structure?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Uh, I don’t think you’re wrong or anything. it’s just…
Anatony is usually used in, like, humans or animals, not objects.
And - not to be rude but - aren’t we supposed to be talking about your father?”
“My father and I have always enjoyed the occult.
I wouldn’t say it bonded us, He’s nothing more than a source of information to me, as I am nothing but a personal diary to him
On one of his quests, he got information about a particularly interesting hidden investigation
Houses
In the documents, they always start talking about house anatomy
You’re right. Anatomy is usually used for living beings
But how different is our anatomy from a house?
It has bones that support it, surrounded by muscle for warmth and strength, a thin layer of skin which we paint over to anything we like
It has electricity running through it, multiple connections of neurons that we can turn on and off, and use to power something else in the organism
It has eyes. It sees
It has oxygen. It breathes
It has a mouth. It eats
And when we get eaten, we become part of it
Houses, like us, have cells
These cells walk around the organism, fixing things, changing things, protecting things
A house is an organism, but it’s us who’s in control. We are it’s cells”
“But there’s nothing revolutionary about that, is there?. Normal houses work like an organism, but they are still just objects, they don’t work on their own”
“So, Mr. Beebo, how could a house do something on its own?”
“Uh.. I dont know, with a soul? Is that it? Is this place just full of ghosts or something?”
“Something on its own … she’s not referring to…?”
“Ah, not quite
While I wouldn’t completely disregard the existence of ghosts, the investigation did not lead that way”
“But you are on the right path
Houses are objects. They are not organisms
So what happens when a house starts acting like one?”
“… What?”
“No”
“They call them Haunted”
“Stop”
“A cell has strands of DNA, with all the information on its host mechanisms, like an instructions book”
“A plant is able to do photosynthesis, a fish is able to breathe underwater, and humans, well humans can do a lot.
If we are cells in a house, could we give the house instructions to do whatever we want?”
“Could we give it a purpose?”
“I don’t want to hear this anymore. i want to leave I need to leave now I have to I have to else I wont be able to I need to I need to leave I need to leave”
“They found the answer is yes. Somehow, someway, with enough intention, with enough emotion, with enough purpose, us cells can make a house do anything”
“Please stop
I don’t want to remember”
“Something as miraculous as photosynthesis”
“I don’t want to go back”
A quick flash of… something passes through Oliver’s mind. Purpose?
But he refuses to dwell on it
He doesn’t want to remember
He doesn’t want to go back to there
He refuses to
But he can’t help it
Its how it is with these things
Memories will come to you, suddenly, violently, in the most unexpected of times
He will get better, he knows this
But not so soon
Not right now
“This houses, houses with a purpose, have been standing with us for a long time”
“They were made unintentionally, unknowingly”
“They do things no house can do. They work as an organism, abiding by the instructions the cells gave it. Even if the cells themselves didn’t know they could do it”
“The people who find them call them Haunted”
“But you knew this already, didn’t you?”
“After all
You’ve been eaten by a haunted house yourself”
It is too late, he remembers
No matter what, he will always remember
That house
That giant, everchanging house.
It all started with a lost cat