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Jonah sipped at his wine as he looked over his friends as they chatted. The wine had been pressed into his hands by Barnabas at the start of the evening, a gift on this great day. They were all stuffed into the rather cramped library of his newly created Institute, a building that was in fact just his renovated home.
He was so invested in his people watching, that he missed Robert coming up and clapping him on the shoulder. Jonah jerked up and huffed as his wine spilled onto his jacket.
“Enjoying yourself Jonah? You have been awfully quiet, you’re normally the life of the party.”
“Yes well, it has been a lot of hard work to get here, I think a moment of quiet reflection isn’t too amiss.”
“True, true. But this is your party and no one really came here to look at your books and you know it. Come on Jonah, have a little fun why don’t you?”
Jonah looked up at the architect, sighed and got up from his chair.
“Fine then, but don’t blame me when Mordchai takes all of your money with cards again.”
Jonah sipped at his wine as he leant against the wall of his newly built Institute. He watched as the last of the construction workers made their way out, leaving the property completely silent. He turned to give his domain a thorough look over. A few offices, a decently large meeting room, and finally his library. The walls towered with books and papers, only the letters and statements lay within the Archive, everything else stayed here. No more cramped rooms and towering stacks of papers, everything lay neatly organised. His way to his office, ran his fingers across his desk, the only piece of furniture to come with him from Edinburgh. He unlocked one of the draws and pulled out the skull that lay within. He pressed a kiss to the top of the skull whispering to his only remaining companion.
“Look Barnabas, isn’t it beautiful?”
Jonah knew it was nearly time, and carefully poured out the last glass of wine from the bottle that had been given to him so long ago. Unlocking his desk, he pulled out the skull and brought it with him as he walked out of his office and down towards the Panopticon. He passed by his employees, shocked to see him, he was meant to be in prison after all.
The Archives were a mess and Jonah would have been more annoyed if he hadn’t known that it all wasn’t going to matter in a few hours. He hated the tunnels, hated how they hid and distort things from his sight, but they led him to his body easily enough, he had had plenty of practise after all. He took a seat next to his body, leaning against the withered form. Settling Barnabas’ skull in the cradle of his arms, Jonah turned his sight towards Jon.
Sipping his wine, Jonah watched as the World changed around him.