NASCENT

"NASCENT" is the second episode of *The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality*.

Characters:

* The Audio Tour Guide
* John "Johnny" Samuels (part of exhibit)
* The Man With a Voice Like Honey and Chocolate and Coffee all at Once (part of exhibit)
* The Clockwork Mother (part of exhibit)
* The Clockwork Daughter (part of exhibit)

Exhibits:

* The Guitar of the Man Who Met the Devil at the Crossroads
* A Dustpan and Brush
* A Clockwork Girl

## The Guitar of the Man Who Met the Devil at the Crossroads

### Summary

This exhibit focuses on John "Johnny" Samuels who spent his entire life achieving being a famous Blues guitarist. When he finds out an "obscure old Blues player" called Flatshoe Hap is playing in a town near him, he rushes to meet him and offers him drinks to learn how to play. Flatshoe reveals his deal with the Man with a Voice like Honey and Chocolate and Coffee all at once and how he was promised fame in exchange for a favour. However, after realising the dangers of his deal, swore off ever becoming famous.

Although there are no witnesses, it is implied Samuels meets with The Man and makes a deal. Later, he is seen performing in front of hundreds of people in New York and Flatshoe dies that night. Samuels goes on to become "one of the greatest—if not the greatest—blues musicians who had ever lived," and records two albums in a year. However, during the recording of his third album, Samuels either disappears or is "liquified" after the snapping of his guitar's strings and his tremors returning. A recording exists of the event but is relatively un-listenable apart from very short samples.

## A Dustpan and Brush

The dustpan and brush sweep the floors of the museum all by itself. Once belonging to a large monastery located in an undisclosed mountainous region, researchers were able to prove to the monks that the dustpan and brush were responsible for the disappearance of several livestock, after which the Museum promptly traded an automated vacuuming machine for the dustpan and brush. The Audio Tour Guide concludes its retelling of the artifact's origins by rapidly providing the listening patron with several warnings about avoiding the dustpan and brush because it may mistake them for trash and attempt to sweep them away.

## A Clockwork Girl

### Summary

The Clockwork Girl is an artefact showing a brass girl full of detailed clockwork and mechanics. Many years ago, she was a human girl who died of illness. Her mother and only family worked for years trying to find a cure, but when it was too late, decided to instead recreate her daughter. This took years, and by the time she succeeded in perfectly recreating her Clockwork Daughter, she had become worn with age. So, to accompany her daughter, she made a clockwork version of herself, which had only been completed on her death bed. This Clockwork Mother made a second version of herself in case something were to happen to her, and the two Clockwork Mothers cared for the Clockwork Daughter. This was until the Clockwork Daughter, similarly to her human counterpart, slowly died.

The two mothers, despite being identical, argued over what to do. One mother did not leave and instead tried to create another version of her daughter- this one more perfect. But, she never succeeded and eventually lost contact with the other mother. The second mother took their daughter's body and travelled the world in hopes of finding someone who could fix their daughter. Eventually, she found the museum and, while the staff tried to help, it was revealed they could not save her daughter. Instead, they offered to put her on display to keep her memory alive. The mother agreed, her only demand being that she could regularly check up on her daughter. Agreeing to this, the staff put the Clockwork Girl on display and the Clockwork Mother joined the museum's security.