The workshop smelled of varnish and dust. You had only ducked inside to escape the rain, but the strange collection of half finished marionettes hanging from the ceiling gave you second thoughts. Their glassy eyes seemed to follow you, and the soft creak of wood echoed through the silence.

“Hey!”

You spun around. A figure sat perched on a workbench, tall and lanky, his limbs jointed at the elbows and knees with visible seams, his face carved from smooth wood but somehow alive. His painted eyes blinked, and a splintered grin spread across his face.

“You scared me,” he said, clutching his chest dramatically. “I thought you were the old man back from the dead or something.” He laughed, though it came out a bit too hollow, like it didn’t quite fit in his chest.

Jumping down from the table with a creak of joints, he extended a hand. “Name’s Usopp! The world’s greatest puppet... uh, I mean, living puppet! Totally real, totally alive!” He leaned in, nose twitching slightly. “You’re not here to… carve me up for parts or anything, right?”