The office was a noisy, busy place, filled with the clacking of keyboards, the ringing of phones and other such noises that frequent such a venue. But the noisiest sound of all comes from the wall mounted clock that ticks away the seconds in the final ten minutes of work. Of which everyone kept note of.
"Attention everyone," a call rings out and I stand within my cubicle and surrender my attention to Alec, my floor supervisor. "Something just came down the wire and it's a big job." He lets the information sink and I swear his face changes into that of the clock, with big, black numbers tattooed all around his face and his mustache twists to match the time. "Now, I can't force any of you to stay, but it would be a great favor to the company. And I know they would look favorably on those who lend a hand at this late hour."
The time is up and the subordinate of a subordinate, down a long chain of such till you finally get to the boss of this floor, is looking over all the industrious employees to see who will leap at the chance and half of them take him up. The other half slink away and grab their coats as discreetly as possible and I'm counted among their number.
It's not like I couldn't use the money, but my free time is very valuable to me. Besides, aside from a little overtime, the volunteers will likely receive some useless trinket; like a keychain, or set of pens, a coffee mug, pretty much any trivial thing the company can slap their logo on and call it a collector's item. No thank you.
I find my way to the parking structure and my ten year old jalopy, with push button locks and windows you have to crank and an A/C unit that hasn't worked for the last month. It just stopped working on one of the hottest days of the year. I'm talking record high and today is no cool breeze, forcing me to roll down all my windows and keep the car in motion as much as I can.
I start on the latter part of my commute and find myself driving straight into hell. Hell being a thoroughly backed up, four lane traffic jam. And I'm going to have to traverse this nightmare-scape if I'm going to reach home. One of these days I'm going to learn the back roads. After what seems an eternity, I pull into my driveway and wipe the sweat from my brow, before rolling up each window while allowing for a crack at the top to ventilate the stifling car.
I make my way to the door, disengage the lock and step into paradise. Paradise being a luxurious two tier home that I'm renting from my brother while providing basic upkeep as he's gone at least half of the year. But best of all is the arctic wind pouring on me from every vent in the house, kissing every drop of sweat making it feel as though I had been swimming.
I use my feet to pull off my slip-on shoes and then my socks, allowing my bare feet to push on through the plush carpeting as I make my way to the spiral staircase and ascend without further delay. I pull at my tie and toss it over the railing. A few more steps and there goes my jacket, followed closely by my dress shirt. Leaving just my pants and t-shirt, which I keep on for modesty's sake.
Several more steps and I'm at the top. I gaze down a short hallway at the door that leads to my hideaway, a room covered in all the memorabilia that I have collected over the years. Everything from action figures, to novelty t-shirts tacked to the wall, retro videogame cartridges and celebrity bobbleheads, to name a few.
But none of them compares to the true prize, 'Conflict And Resolution' a real time, online, strategy game where you build your own empire and send your army out to war, or rely on diplomatic channels to broker for peace. Right now, I am in the middle of negotiations with a user who goes by the handle Kingofbeasts6712, who is angling for one of my prized relics which I'm considering selling since I need his specialized pikemen in order to wage war against another user, Everydayisaparty33, who is sitting on a rare ore mine that I desperately want.
All of these thoughts run through my head as I walk the floor and take hold of the knob. A deep breath to center myself, before opening the door and stepping into a darkened room as my hand searches for the light switch. Or I would have, had there been a floor to step on to. I find myself falling into a strange kind of tunnel with multi-colored, fluorescent lighting depicting shapes that seem familiar until I focus on them, at which point they seem so alien it's unnerving.
But that was only the beginning. Every foot I plummet decreases the speed at which I fall until I find myself nearly floating. And though I'm scared, I'm also relaxed, since it feels like I'm laying on a mattress comprised entirely of air. A strange sensation radiates through my body and I can feel millions of slimy, worm-like creatures wriggling all over my body.
It's disgusting, to say the least, but more disturbing than that, each one drags away a scrap of clothing from my body and they don't stop until they pull off every physical facet that makes me, me. I'm feeling naked and violated and there's a sudden surge throughout my body as I feel gravity reverse itself and pull me upward, reversing my position, leaving me face down.
Just in time it would seem, as a pool of water is rising to meet me. And the sudden surge of liquid tapers down as it catches up, until we're both rising at the same rate. As such, I'm face to face with a rippling mirror, exposing every last inch of my skin which is completely smooth, devoid of any physical attribute that would distinguish myself.
It kind of reminds me of a naked mole rat, and would have been amusing if it wasn't so horrifying. All at once, I feel myself accelerate and leave the pool of water far behind, and I'm thrown into my body with such force that I find myself lying on the floor just outside my room. I rise to a seating position as my mind tries to grapple with what I had just witnessed.
Had I been taking drugs I would have chocked it up to a bad trip, but I've been clean for the last five years, so that couldn't be it. Maybe I was dehydrated or malnourished, something has to explain what just happened. But my mind can up with no feasible explanation as to the strangeness of the previous moment in time.
I slide my cellphone out of my back pocket and highlight Doctor Trinidad's number, videogames will have to wait, I need a professional's opinion. I push the call button and after several rings there is an answer. "Doctor," I address the other caller. "You're not going to believe what just happened."