Nothing enrages the soul more than when things created do not function the way they were intended. Nothing internally wrong with the machinery, it just chooses no to work the way you want it to. Some may see it as something faulty, while others see it as the machine itself acting out against its creator. But what happens when the machine's bad behavior becomes a matter of life and death?
Business trips are something I dread more than anything. I'm what you might call an introvert, and finding myself in a new city, crowded with far more people than I'm used to, causes my anxiety to spike like it's nobody's business. It doesn't help that I don't have any means for transport besides the city bus.
I was on a basic business trip to speak to some publishers about getting my next novel on shelves before the end of the year. It was a long time coming, but now that I've got one book that's been accepted and another that will soon be on the way, I knew that another feeling was flooding me, excitement. It was mind boggling to me, the fact that I'm on my way to becoming a best selling writer and making it big. Of course it was going to be a couple years, or even decades, before anything like that would happen.
As the bus approached my hotel, I made my way to the front of the bus with my bags in hand. I made my way off and in through the doors to the St. Santiago Hotel.
I spoke to the man up at the front desk and told him about my reservation. He nodded and handed me the keys. Before I headed off, he warned me to use the stairs. "The elevator doesn't like you." he said.
The only thing I could do was scoff at the man. How can someone still have a job when they talk to customers like that? I picked up my bags and headed for the elevator. If the elevator apparently doesn't like me, then to bad for it. It's taking me up to the sixth floor whether it likes it or not. When the doors slid shut, I pressed the '6' button. However, the number that lit up was '5'.
"What the hell?" I shouted. I pressed the number '6' again and, instead of lighting up, it lit up more and more number outside of it. It took me to floor '5' and the doors slid open, only to see an empty hallway with a dozen doors lining either side. The doors slid shut and it brought me to floor '3'. Then '7'. Then '2'.
I then had an idea graze my mind, what if I pressed another number besides '6'? Perhaps it would deselect the number and select '6' instead. I pressed '3', but the button lit up like normal. I pressed it again and the light behind it disappeared.
Was this elevator alive? Or was the sixth button defective? No matter what was going on, I was determined to be dropped off at my floor.
After several trips to every floor other than my own, I found it rather odd that there wasn't a single other person roaming the halls of the hotel. It's a decent time of night for people to be roaming around, there's no way everyone was in their bed sound asleep.
When it reached its last floor, the elevator doors slid open to reveal another hallway lined with dozens of doors. I looked up to the floor number we were on, '9'. I had another idea hit me. What if I just try to get dropped off on a floor closer to my level and just walk the stairs the rest of the way?
I pressed '5' but the only button that lit up was 'G'. Has there always been a ground floor? It was the only floor it never took me to. '1' was the floor that I came on to from the entrance, so what was there to see underneath that?
Slowly, the elevator made its way down. '3'. '2'. '1'. 'G'.
The doors slid open, revealing a dark hallway. I stared down the endless corridor to find a silhouette or another person. It was so dark that I could only make out a vague outline.
"Sir, do you know where the stairs are?" I called to them.
Their only response was an ear piercing screech. The person began charging toward me at full speed. I looked to where the buttons on the elevator were to try to escape, only to find that I was no longer in the elevator. Had I stepped out?
I turned around, only to find an infinite corridor with the same level of darkness. Where had it gone?
I heard the footsteps coming closer and closer. I charged the opposite direction. I was trapped down here with this thing.
Business trips are something I dread more than anything. I'm what you might call an introvert, and finding myself in a new city, crowded with far more people than I'm used to, causes my anxiety to spike like it's nobody's business. It doesn't help that I don't have any means for transport besides the city bus.
I was on a basic business trip to speak to some publishers about getting my next novel on shelves before the end of the year. It was a long time coming, but now that I've got one book that's been accepted and another that will soon be on the way, I knew that another feeling was flooding me, excitement. It was mind boggling to me, the fact that I'm on my way to becoming a best selling writer and making it big. Of course it was going to be a couple years, or even decades, before anything like that would happen.
As the bus approached my hotel, I made my way to the front of the bus with my bags in hand. I made my way off and in through the doors to the St. Santiago Hotel.
I spoke to the man up at the front desk and told him about my reservation. He nodded and handed me the keys. Before I headed off, he warned me to use the stairs. "The elevator doesn't like you." he said.
The only thing I could do was scoff at the man. How can someone still have a job when they talk to customers like that? I picked up my bags and headed for the elevator. If the elevator apparently doesn't like me, then to bad for it. It's taking me up to the sixth floor whether it likes it or not. When the doors slid shut, I pressed the '6' button. However, the number that lit up was '5'.
"What the hell?" I shouted. I pressed the number '6' again and, instead of lighting up, it lit up more and more number outside of it. It took me to floor '5' and the doors slid open, only to see an empty hallway with a dozen doors lining either side. The doors slid shut and it brought me to floor '3'. Then '7'. Then '2'.
I then had an idea graze my mind, what if I pressed another number besides '6'? Perhaps it would deselect the number and select '6' instead. I pressed '3', but the button lit up like normal. I pressed it again and the light behind it disappeared.
Was this elevator alive? Or was the sixth button defective? No matter what was going on, I was determined to be dropped off at my floor.
After several trips to every floor other than my own, I found it rather odd that there wasn't a single other person roaming the halls of the hotel. It's a decent time of night for people to be roaming around, there's no way everyone was in their bed sound asleep.
When it reached its last floor, the elevator doors slid open to reveal another hallway lined with dozens of doors. I looked up to the floor number we were on, '9'. I had another idea hit me. What if I just try to get dropped off on a floor closer to my level and just walk the stairs the rest of the way?
I pressed '5' but the only button that lit up was 'G'. Has there always been a ground floor? It was the only floor it never took me to. '1' was the floor that I came on to from the entrance, so what was there to see underneath that?
Slowly, the elevator made its way down. '3'. '2'. '1'. 'G'.
The doors slid open, revealing a dark hallway. I stared down the endless corridor to find a silhouette or another person. It was so dark that I could only make out a vague outline.
"Sir, do you know where the stairs are?" I called to them.
Their only response was an ear piercing screech. The person began charging toward me at full speed. I looked to where the buttons on the elevator were to try to escape, only to find that I was no longer in the elevator. Had I stepped out?
I turned around, only to find an infinite corridor with the same level of darkness. Where had it gone?
I heard the footsteps coming closer and closer. I charged the opposite direction. I was trapped down here with this thing.
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