Experiment · 2010s internet
Liminal Spaces
Somewhere you have been before. There is nothing to collect and nothing is timed: click a door, or tab to it, and see what is in the next room. A few things can be looked at. They change which doors there are.
01
Entrance
The spaces, as text
Everything in the walk, in plain reading order. This is the whole experiment without the pictures or any scripting.
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01 Entrance
An empty mall atrium. Pink seats, shuttered shops, daylight reflected in the tiles.
Ways on
- Inner doors, to the corridor.
Things to look at
- Front doors. The doors do not open. Not yet. Open once you have seen three of the spaces.
- Directory board. The directory lists five floors and six tenants. Every name is the same name, printed in different sizes. A directory for a building with one tenant, six times over.
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02 Corridor
Doors on both sides. The ceiling lights are on, and have been for a long time.
Ways on
- Back toward the entrance, to the entrance.
- Door marked B1, to the stairwell.
- Door marked 2, to the waiting room.
- Lit door at the far end, to the pool. Appears once the corridor lights are off. Leads to the pool.
Things to look at
- Light switch. The lights go out. For a moment the corridor is only its own shape. Then you notice a door at the far end, lit from behind. Turns the corridor lights off or on. With them off, a lit door appears at the far end.
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03 Stairwell
Concrete, pink walls and a handrail. The stairs continue beyond the landing.
Ways on
- Stairs up, to the waiting room.
- Stairs down, to the pool.
- Door to the corridor, to the corridor.
Things to look at
- Painted number. Someone has painted B14 on the wall, then painted over it, then painted it again. The newest coat is still tacky. The number 14, painted three times in the same place.
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04 Waiting room
Rows of faded chairs, a closed door, and light that never quite reaches the corners.
Ways on
- Door to the corridor, to the corridor.
- Door to the stairs, to the stairwell.
Things to look at
- Armchair. You sit. The room does not get quieter, but it gets slower. Something has been left on the arm of the chair. Sit in it. Something turns up on the arm.
- Slip of paper. “14. Please wait to be called.” The paper is still warm. Appears once you have sat down. A numbered slip: 14.
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05 Pool
An empty indoor pool. The water is still enough to hold the ceiling.
Ways on
- Door to the stairs, to the stairwell.
- Lit door behind you, to the corridor.
Things to look at
- Wall clock. The clock says 2:14. The second hand moves. The minute hand has not.
- Lifebuoy. The lifebuoy is dry. It has been dry a long time. The rope beside it is wet.
- Door numbered 14. A small brass 14 is screwed to the door. It is locked, and you do not have a number. Opens if you are holding a numbered slip.
The two ways it ends
Fourteen. Past the far door a number is read out, quietly, once. It is yours. You get up. You reach it through the pool door while holding the slip.
Outside. It is the same light out here. You hold the door a moment longer than you need to. You reach it through the front doors after seeing three spaces.