Colter Auge

EDENPLEX

Oliver has nothing but the clothes on his back, a busted backpack, and a head full of daydreams when he stumbles into Edenplex—the world's largest entertainment mall for adults, a neon labyrinth of arcades, theaters, themed clubs, and attractions that never close. Hungry, exhausted, and out of options, he signs a mysterious "lifetime employment" contract for a janitor job… only to realize the fine print means exactly that. His soul doesn't belong to him anymore. It belongs to the building. Edenplex is alive. By day, Oliver scrubs soda off marble floors and dodges malfunctioning holograms. By night, the mall shifts, hallways rewire themselves, and unused attractions wake up. That's when he meets Model-13: Lyra, a towering animatronic furry woman with neon fur, a mischievous grin, and an AI core that was supposed to be decommissioned. Lyra doesn't care about protocols or safety modes—she just wants to dance in closed-off arcades, joyride on broken rides, and drag Oliver into fun he's pretty sure violates several health codes and maybe a few spiritual laws. He's not alone, either. The mall's after-hours crew includes a squad of glitchy but lovable femboy animatronics who were built to be background characters but developed a flair for dramatic entrances, gossip, and fashion advice. There's also Nova, another fully conscious female animatronic who, like Oliver, is trapped by a contract she never really agreed to—hers written in code instead of ink. As the nights go on, Oliver finds himself caught between Lyra's chaotic affection, Nova's guarded warmth, and the strange, unexpected family forming among beings who technically shouldn't have free will at all. Together, they try to outwit Edenplex itself: a sentient mall that feeds on attention, worships customer satisfaction scores, and has very strong opinions about what makes a perfect show. Oliver wants his soul back. Lyra wants more freedom and more fun. Nova wants the truth about who built them and why they're really locked inside. The femboy animatronics just want better lighting, more stage time, and maybe for Oliver to stop nearly dying every other night. Part romance, part comedy, part emotional drama, this novel follows a homeless man who finally finds a place that needs him—only to discover that "belonging" and "being owned" are very different things. As the line between human and machine blurs, Oliver has to decide what love looks like when one partner is made of metal, and whether a person with nothing can still bargain with a hungry, living mall that literally owns his soul.