Noe stumbles across the sky parlor, is nearly thrown down a flight of stairs, and lands on the floor of the building's central elevator. Feng Mian and Rosalind oversee his earned mistreatment. Smoothly, the elevator doors hush to a close and the weightlessness of descent passes through their stomachs, slanting their sense of gravity. Noe stands.
Under the cover of tense silence, they watch the floor levels blink: One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight. Having assumed the ride would continue on without any disturbances, their eyes widen when the container slurs to a halt.
DING.
Face to face with the same mortals whom they realize rejected them during their time on Earth, the three Ephrenes shrink into themselves, self-consciousness creeping in. Five business women and men look on in disinterest, filtering in. Instinctually, the three have cloaked themselves in invisibility.
The doors immediately shut, trapping the three Ephrenes with the societal sharks.
