THE ODYNE CONFIGURATION
"The Little Box of Pain"
Art and written research by Hotaru Thodt
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Just over a month ago, Pyramid Gallery received a parcel from
a
sender who simply refers to himself as “Ryan.”
The
package
contained a couple of newspaper clippings and a letter regarding the
disappearance of a
wealthy heiress. Also included in the envelope was a photograph of a puzzle box previously recorded in "LeMarchand’s Dreams." There was no return address contained anywhere on the package or on any of the delivered contents, but the letter signed by the sender reads as follows: "I’m not sure if this is a LeMarchand Box, or an Acerbus Box. It may not be either of those, but I have not seen it on any auctions sites or even your own website. In what little free time I have these days, I’ve taken the liberty of doing some research, and here are my findings: The Odyne Configuration as it is called was purchased from an antique store in Tokyo, Japan, circa 1999-2000 by a wealthy American businessman as a wedding present for his heiress daughter. Sadly she was stood up at the altar, but her father, feeling terrible for what had occurred, gave her the box as a means to take her mind off the events of her would-be wedding day. Some five weeks later, the heiress disappeared, and The Odyne Configuration was found lying in a small pool of blood in her bedroom. The box was promptly retained by Police to use as evidence in a possible murder case, only to disappear without a trace. |
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| The next place which The Odyne
Configuration
turned up was at an orphanage in England sometime around 2005 where
several children stated that a blind mute girl named
“Annie” seemed to obsess over it for months,
spending hours
or even days with little to no food or sleep touching cool metal the
surface of the box before she ultimately disappeared one morning
without a trace, this time without so much as a drop of blood left
behind, and with her, the box… …which then resurfaced on September 1st, 2009, when my son-in-law, Dr. Alexi Jiang came to possess The Odyne Configuration. As I was helping Dr. Jiang get ready to be wed, a strange woman wearing a long black dress entered the room, placed the box in his hand, and then told him to ‘Never forget who he is.’ She then abruptly disappeared. I have not to slightest notion as to how that woman obtained the box, how she knew my son-in-law, or what became of those unlucky enough to come in contact with The Odyne Configuration. I’m not sure if I want to find out. I would steal the box and get rid of it, but I’m not even sure if Dr. Jiang wishes to part with it." Ryan |
