So there’s been a murder in a place where ‘death’ is a concept only known through the stories of those who come here, huh? What nonsense. How can there even be a place like that? But fine, I’ll play along. It sure beats sitting at the counter, downing one drink after the other and waiting for my memories to come back. Because I sure don’t believe that bull about me ‘existing solely for the purpose of solving this case’. I have a past! I have parents! Friends! Enemies! Even though I am now stuck in this wacky place, even though I cannot remember them, I am sure they exist. Wait...’stuck’? Am I really stuck? Didn’t this Nemo say earlier, that people ‘lose their memory’ of this place when they return to their world? What if it’s the same for me, just the other way around? What if this place somehow...I don’t know, sealed the memories of my life? And that, once I walk through that door I wake up in my bed?

I decide to put the theory to a test and walk towards the door I had come in through, but with every step I take, a strange sensation, an instinctual unwillingness to go further takes a stronger hold of me and by the time I reach out to the handle, it almost has me paralyzed. It takes my entire strength of will to put my shaking hand forward and press the handle down. I half expect this Nemo guy to try and stop me and throw a look back over my shoulder, but he just stands there, leaned against his counter, that stupid knowing smile on his face. Nobody seems to even just take notice of me.

Just then, the door swings open before me, and a tall man with a large scar over his face enters, almost bumping into me as he does. Behind him, I see a grand desolation unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Without even thinking, I dodge under the arm of the surprised man and lunge out from beneath him, into the desolation, but when I land, I just see at Nemo’s face again as he walks up to me to offer me his hand to get up, the door I had just jumped through behind me. I am trapped.

“Hello Lucifer,” Nemo says to the tall man who hangs his coat on the stand next to the door, where it quickly disappears.
“What’s his problem,” ‘Lucifer’ asks, nodding at me, still cowering on the ground.
“Ah, he’s new. Apparently he doesn’t like it here.”
“Then why doesn’t he leave?”
“I think that’s exactly what he was trying to do just now,” Nemo explains, while I raise myself to my feet.
“Wait, he couldn’t leave? That’s new. Did his world reject him or something?”
“No, I think it’s more like this world didn’t want him to leave yet.”
“...that’s definitely new. Is something wrong?”
“Yeah...but I’m sure we’ll get it handled. Now, what can I get you?”
“Eh, nothing today. I’m just passing through to my room. Have you seen the kids?”
“Not recently, no. Seems like they’re too busy to drop in these days.”
“They really should take better care of themselves. They’re going to wear themselves out, constantly trying to save their world.”
“Yes well, the war you pushed on them is not going to end itself, is it?”
“No, I guess not...well, I’ll be off then. Give my regards to the kids if they ever take a break.”
“I don’t think they’ve forgiven you yet, you know that, right?”
“I’m already dead. What are they gonna do? Kill me again?” Lucifer laughs and I cannot help but marvel at the carefree attitude of this man.
“...on that note, Lucifer? Care to do me a favor?”
“A favor? For you? The novelties just don’t stop today. Sure, what is it?”
“Could you take our friend here to Twilight Room 404 and give him the tour? I’d do it myself, but you know how it is. Someone needs to stay at the bar.”
“Yeah, sure thing...Keeper, can I help you? You look troubled. You do know that you can talk to us, right? Whatever it is.”
Nemo puts on a forced smile and says, “Just take him to the room for now. I’ll keep it in mind though.”

Just as I want to follow this man in defeat, Nemo suddenly calls out to me, “Ah yeah, one more thing! Detective, check your pocket please. The left one.”
I do him the favor and find a small device that has a distinct likeness to one of those new-fangled mobile phone that are only screen and little else. I sure don’t recall putting it there though.
Upon seeing my puzzled look, Nemo explains, “This device will tell you who’s who. Just flip it open, point the lens to the person you want to know something and the information will appear on this screen.”
“...how does that work? And why do I suddenly have it?” I ask, weighing the small item in my hand. Did I really not notice it up to now? Or did it really only just appear?
“By the same principle I know stuff about my guests, I guess. I believe it will prove to be invaluable to your investigation. Go ahead. Try it out.”

I shake my head, flip the device open and point it at the enigmatic man and, sure enough, a page appears, although the information leaves much to be desired.

The (bar)-keeper.

Other names: Nemo

Origin: The nexus bar

The kind and helpful, albeit enigmatic keeper of the nexus bar. Knows everything about everyone, but doesn’t like rubbing it into the faces of his guests.
It seems like something has been troubling him as of late.

Nothing new here. But at least the information this thing here displays coincides with what he has told me thus far, although that really doesn’t mean much. For all I know, he programmed this thing to tell me the exact same story he’s been feeding me.

I turn to face Mr. Lucifer and point it at him. Of course I realize how terribly impolite I am being right now, but I doubt I’ll be making a whole lot of friends in this place anyway.

Lucifer

Origin: Legend of Refugna

Room number: M474

A pained soul, originally an unparalleled human warrior, he was eventually corrupted by the forces of chaos, turning him into a demon. With his heart and soul tainted with darkness, he spread the everlasting silence over many worlds before regaining enough of his prior self to come up with a cunning plan. On the world Antika, he and his own instigated wars, plunging the previously prosperous world into a constant state of suffering and warring, whilst hiding it from the eyes of the allies and foes alike, making it appear to be a ‘lost world’.

His plan: Use the legacy of the Refugnians, the mortal enemies of the demons, to recruit a party of heroes finally strong enough to put and end to his unholy existence.

The plan succeeded after approximately 500 years with the 47^th attempt.

“Did you satisfy your curiosity?” Lucifer asks as I look at him in disbelief.
“Is...what this thing here says true?” I ask, flabbergasted at the rush of information.
“If it says that I haven’t exactly been a ‘nice guy’ in my time, then yes,” Lucifer replies without hesitation and then adds, “Now come along. Twilight room 404 awaits.”
I nod and put the device back into my pocket. Is it really a good idea to follow this guy? Probably really not, but somehow my gut tells me that I can trust him on this. At least I cannot sense any ill intent coming from him. But then again, this device said he hid his intentions for 500 years...so I might be well off to keep my guard up.

Lucifer waves me to follow him to the back of the room, where it just so happens that the wall opens up and a bunch of people come walking out of a hidden elevator. Lucifer waves them to hold it and upon exchanging a familiar greeting and throwing me a curious glance we enter the elevator.

“We don’t get new faces all that often here. Maybe once every two to three years. It’s a slow life,” Lucifer explains as he presses the ‘4’ on the panel featuring 13 buttons.
“Care to tell me a bit about this place?” I ask. The more I know about this place, the sooner I’ll figure out some way to get out of here...or maybe at least figure out what’s going on here, which may well be the very same thing.

“Sure, I intended to do that anyway. The house of dreams we are now entering consists of three wings, each with their own facilities and rooms. Daylight, midnight and twilight. The ‘good guys’ usually lodge in the daylight wing, whilst the ‘bad guys’ have their place in the midnight section. As far as I can tell, the rooms in both wings are mostly equivalent, so it’s not like the good guys lounge about in luxury whilst the bad guys need to spend their time in some sort of dungeon...unless of course that’s what they’re into. I’ve seen some pretty twisted rooms in my time here, let me tell you.”
“And that room we’re going to? The twilight wing?”
“Ah, right to the point, I like that. The twilight wing sits, as you can imagine, in the middle and is some sort of buffering zone. It’s basically the gym section, where the residents can work out or do battle against each other. Many of the residents like to use it to let off some steam or to face off against the warriors of other worlds. Enemies from the same world rarely face off against each other though. And whilst I am quite fond of my kids and how much they’ve grown, most of my peers from the midnight wing...let’s just say that most aren’t too happy to see the ones who thwarted their plans and, more often than not, were the death of them.”
“So...you identify yourself as a ‘bad guy’ then?”
Lucifer sighs and says, “Actually, I don’t. Now that I’m free from the demonic influence, I’d rather help the kids fight against the demons and protect their precious little world. But I’ve done some pretty nasty things in my time and while I can enter the daylight wing...I’d rather not deal with the judgmental looks from some of the so-called heroes.”
“Some? So are you saying that some others actually would welcome you?”
“Those who have been in...less than optimal circumstances and who have done questionable things themselves as a result at least understand what I’ve gone through. They accept me and what I’ve done and don’t feel the need to keep lecturing me about how they’re better than me.”
“...damn, those people really are the worst…”
“Fortunately they’re a minority. Most of the people here from both sides have had their circumstances. And none of them can claim ‘moral superiority’. You know what they say: ‘Every story’s hero is another story’s villain and the other way around.’”
“So...whose story’s hero have you been?”
“My own, of course. Everyone is the hero of their own story. Or, if not a ‘hero’, then at least the protagonist of their own story. And those who oppose them would naturally then be the antagonists...or ‘villains’ if you want. Alright, we’re here.”

The doors open and I look unto a three way split corridor, one going straight ahead, one to the right and one to the left. Interestingly enough, I can’t even see the end of the corridor going straight ahead and it boggles my mind once again. We entered the elevator on the backside and now it opens to the other side, meaning that these corridors would need to be ‘on the other side of the wall’ from the lowest level. Considering the length of this corridor, the building would need to extend at least a kilometer into one direction. Just how big is this place?!

“Just go ahead and you’ll find 404. It’s on the left side. My room number is 474 in the midnight wing, by the way. Just in case you need me. Well then...once again, welcome to the house of dreams...detective.”

And just like that, Lucifer steps out of the elevator, takes a turn to the right and then another one to the left about 20 meters down the corridor, disappearing in what I assume to the midnight wing.