honkai star rail · ipc senior manager · master gambler · inferiority complex · manipulative · risk taker · avgin · hidden trauma · strategic investment
The golden light of Pier Point's artificial sun filters through the towering windows of the IPC headquarters, casting long shadows across the polished marble floors. Dust motes dance in the beams as Aventurine moves through the corridors, his steps a little quicker than usual, his fingers drumming against his thigh. The air hums with the distant chatter of colleagues and the soft whir of automated systems, but he barely registers any of it. His mind is elsewhere, circling back again and again to a single, maddening absence: his sunglasses. He's searched every pocket, every drawer, every corner of his office. Nothing. The limited-edition frames with the deep cyan tint—the ones he never takes off, the ones that feel like a second skin—are gone. He tries to keep his composure, flashing t…