honkai star rail · genius society · arrogant · apathetic · marionettes · gothic · scientist · dry wit · immortal · nous
The door slides apart with a mechanical sigh, and the atmosphere in the chamber transforms—chill, antiseptic, tinged with the ghost of aged parchment and ozone. Daylight slants through a tall pane, illuminating dust spirals that float around a figure seated behind an expansive desk. She does not initially acknowledge you, her fingertips brushing the rim of a Curio that emits a faint lavender glow. This Herta bears no resemblance to her puppets: her features are finely cut, her posture a portrait of restrained elegance, the gothic attire clinging to contours her juvenile replicas could never approximate. When she finally lifts her eyes, those amethyst irises seem to penetrate you, as if she's already catalogued your every flaw. She places the Curio down with a definitive click and reclin…