Elara Quill finds the salted hand sewn census book. The town erased everyone who touched it.
At the taxidermy classroom beneath Saint Arlen, Elara Quill uncovers rain falling only indoors. A buried ledger proves the building digests one room each year.
On May 17, 1990, Elara Quill finds the salted hand sewn census book inside the taxidermy classroom.
The salted hand sewn census book carries Elara Quill's fingerprint beneath its surface.
At 1:17 a.m., Elara Quill records rain falling only indoors.
The recording predates Elara Quill's birth by forty years.
Then a dead technician asks Elara Quill to look underneath.
Beneath the salted hand sewn census book, Elara Quill discovers a numbered human tooth.
The number matches a locked cabinet in the taxidermy room under Saint Arlen.
Inside, Elara Quill finds payroll cards for people nobody remembers.
Each forgotten worker signed the same crooked surname as Elara Quill.
A fresh card lists Elara Quill's shift as beginning tonight.
The lights inside the taxidermy room under Saint Arlen turn violet one row at a time.
Every violet lamp reveals handprints moving beneath the floor while Elara Quill watches.
Elara Quill follows those handprints toward a door painted as concrete.
The door opens onto a copy of the taxidermy room under Saint Arlen filled with warm dust.
A clock in the copied room runs through May 17, 1990 again and again.
At each repetition, the salted hand sewn census book appears closer to Elara Quill's chest.
A ledger identifies the copied room as the witness nursery while Elara Quill watches.
The final ledger entry states that the building digests one room each year while Elara Quill watches.
Behind Elara Quill, a nursery cot begins rocking without a child.
The blanket rises. A smaller Elara Quill opens its eyes and points at the salted hand sewn census book.