Stillwater

The Stillwater is the residence of Eva Yan, located in the western part of The Town.

Description
"The Stone Yard was supposed to be a compound of experimental structures serving the same purpose in different ways—that purpose being the greatest possible focusing of the human spirit and the discovery of new capabilities of the soul. It was Farkhad who built the Stillwater. Not the Stamatins. Farkhad’s was a «horizontal» architecture to the Stamatins’ «vertical» one. He believed that a house that would fulfill Simon’s objective should not be a tower—on the contrary, it must provide grounding and roots. It’s up to humans themselves to construct a vertical aimed at the stars, while the house acts as a counterweight to this dangerous vector. It was also the reason for its colder choice of colors. Before Simon lost faith in the observatory, it needed to be tested on many people, ideally fresh people with no preconceived ideas. Thus the Stillwater was turned into a guesthouse, to accommodate visitors to the town and see what happened. However, the house was uncomfortable. Simon and Farkhad did succeed in creating an oddball space doing strange things to one’s soul. The soul really did turn into a spring and “stretched out”. The sensation was so strong that people couldn’t manage to stay there for long. However, the naïve, slightly quirky Eva took a liking to the house for some reason. She had a sort of immunity (which would later become a source of anxiety as her gnawing doubts grew; was there really something wrong with her soul?). Thus after taking residence at the Stillwater five years ago, she eventually remained there in a housecat sort of manner, becoming the de facto owner of the place. When a stranger, the Bachelor, turned up in the middle of the night, force of habit (with maybe a touch of schadenfreude) made townspeople direct him to that house, saying it was always open and he could stay for as long as he wished. Or, more precisely, for as long as he’d last."

- Pathologic 2 artbook

The Stillwater was built by the former architect of the Town, Farkhad, and created as an extension of the ideology of the Kain family. By their theory, each house and building carries its own 'soul', which either affects or is affected by the inhabitants. Simon Kain was disappointed in the result, as he was seeking, ultimately, a building to carry the immortal soul - but still allowed it to exist, so long as there could be inhabitants to live within it.

Eva Yan moved into the house some time before the story of Pathologic, officially staying as its owner. However, being unaffected by the house's interior and its alleged oppressive atmosphere caused her deep anxiety. She worries that she does not occupy the house as intended.

The Bachelor takes refuge in the Stillwater for the course of Pathologic, though he is welcome to come and go as he pleases in other locations to stay the night. His work station and office is located on the top floor, while Eva lives on the bottom floor.