Ju and Inky are caught in a realm where lifetimes are plays performed inside a tall, narrow Theatre.
While Inky exists to explore what it's like to be cast as everything the stage offers, Ju seeks passage into the secretive Backstage—looking for answers.
Blackbird, the custodian of the Theatre, welcomes Ju as his trainee on one condition: "If you bring me a seed of truth, revealing the essence of /Ju:/, I'll show you how to navigate behind the sceneries."
Before Ju and Inky re-enter the Theatre once more to hunt for that seed, they must decide whether to Shake the echoing memories of H—a woman they were cast as during their latest play—or Keep them for another round.
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A Seed of Truth
Seek what reveals the essence of Ju, and deliver it to Blackbird.
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Life by the Lock
Along an accident-scarred canal, lend a hand at the lock: open for passing boats, offer coffee to travellers, catch what falls overboard, and tend crushed fingers and tired bodies that keep the waterway moving.
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Two Needs
Every traveller arrives carrying two needs — but one may not be able to wait. When they continue along the canal, both what you tended and what you overlooked travel onward with them.
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Looking Jars
In the lock-keeper’s care, craft Looking Jars — small glass worlds with a tune and a keepsake — so those who work the canal can be remembered with dignity when a proper farewell is out of reach.
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Shade and Company
A storm-born branch takes root by the sluice and grows into a gathering place. Pause with Kehan, Nevlari, and the people who stop beneath it to trade chores, comfort, and questions about what makes a life worth staying for.