[Jon frowns at the other man, still eyeing his coat. But, he does open his satchel and draw from it a full human rib. From the size, Dorian can likely guess that it's from the lowest part of Jon's rib cage. He sets it on the table and nudges it toward the other man.]

The full story would take far more than thirty minutes, but the abridged version is that I needed to rescue someone from an evil coffin after she was thrown inside, and I required an anchor to find my way back out of it. I'd just read a Statement that seemed to indicate the flesh was a powerful anchor.

I-I tried cutting off a finger, but it wouldn't stick. It hurt, but no matter how many times I cut it off, whenever I took the knife away, it was still attached. One of my assistants caught me at it and offered an... alternative. There is an avatar of the Flesh known as the Boneturner. He and his minions had attacked the Institute while I was... away for a bit, and Helen... the Distortion--another avatar--she'd captured the Boneturner within a sort of- pocket dimension? It's essentially a hell maze where the Distortion sends people to slowly go mad with terror and die. Sort of like a stomach.

It's an unpleasant place. In any case, she'd been keeping Jared--the Boneturner--locked up in there and let me go into speak with him. I offered him a deal. I needed him to take out a rib, and I'd have Helen let him out. He has a particular ability that lets him reach into a body and pull out anything he wants without ripping a person open. Like-like they're made of... jelly or something. He also had a Statement I wanted. He offered to give it to me for another rib. One for him, one for me, and Helen lets him out the door.

And that's why I have that rib and a rather more hourglass-shaped figure than I used to have.