I was in this apparement building and in in everything was very flexible on what was connected and who people were and what they did. So like space was a little abstract. I found thi key to a place on the third floor and there was the second floor that i didnt really go on but it was a bit dusty and weird, there was a nice person who llived theree on the first room along the hall and they waved but didnt converse much and so imoved on to the to go to my place in the third floor rooms. They wernt connected by anything else but a strange old wooden stairwell, everything was a stained dark brown and had thick banister, a sense of just being ancient. I looked up to the floor above with a quick glance and knew that there was omething foreboding about the 4th floor redisdents. They went so much bad but exploitative. So i went to the room that was familiar t oo me, I had friends there, they cared about who I was there even if some barely knew me, they would give me room and board without much expectation., but it was best if I did my best to help back. That seemed to be a rule I knew of the place but I dont know why. Here I would play games, some sort of 3rd person action game where you run around and defeat monsters in an arena by bouncing and charging attacks, it was just a time waster but it was something enjoyable, it really felt like you were in the game but of course there was no consequences here. And I met my friend here... I dont know much about them, feminine, caring, but busy, and worried about mem they knew there was temptation in the 4th floor and they have been used there but it was something they got away from and apparently somewhere I have been before, yet don't seem to remember it.
I picked up some food from the shared kitchen and talked with some of the people, they were just discussing some of their lives, doing outside coming back whatever this place was safe but generally boring. So I figured I would explore a bit more so my friend said I should remember my key. It embodied a sense of lucky clovers with little shapes on it but it was more of a gold sliver of metal than a actual key. but when I used it, it would lock areas away, not just for me, but others as well, they could use other techniques to get to the places they wanted but it would be inconveniant. So I generally would leave things open. So I went to unlock stuff on the second floor and visit for awhile, there were people who worked hard, tight corridors, some looked a little bit odd but nothing of note, but the one area of the second floor seemed to be a medical area. Lots of waiting rooms, and I went around looking and learning, people mentioned little facts about the place and some of the people there, but I was going to visit a friend I knew down here. They were inside a room made throug hthe center of a hall way, like just a little buldge through a artery. We talked before someone walked in and said that it was time to work through some paperwork, and confirm their status as a medical helper of some sort. So I politely moved on into the afr side of the room and out closing the door behind me. Though |I was curious and lingered for awhile and heard quesetions related to why they wanted to help and forums related to what they were allowed to do, then they got into personal information a bit more about potential patience and I knew i was listening too much now and starteed going. I bumped into a chair on a table that was in this hallway and made a small clattering, my friend said hey get out of here already.I just said already going and quickened my pace. Somewhere this hallway loops back to the stairwell but on the way I went through a waiting room and people looked to be in pain but they were also here for help, I gave quiet greetings to anyone who noticed me and moved on back to the stairwell. I would make sure to leave this place open by twisting the key in a slot next to the stairs up on this floor.
I went back to my floor and my friends place, here there was food and like cats in boxs, lots of strange things to have fun and just hang out with people, I talked, and picked up some food, they were just making large batches of like lasaugna and mixed vegetables and sticking them in deep tupperware containers with lids on to freeze, I asked for some and they offered me a plate, ad well as some fruit, I watched some small creatures hop in boxs full of snack and toys, they were quick and almost knocked th bardboard box over, but noone seemed to mind and simply laughed it all off as their antics. I felt a feeling of comfort and friendlyness from everything here it, that's just what this place was. I was talking to my friend and they mentioned the person on the 4th floor wanting to talk to me, and that there was free credit being available, but it would be intense and they always seem to come out on top to the disbenefit of everyone else. But I should go see them still they are good people who can help. I told them I know and when i was ready I would visit them. I had a memory of what they looked like, feminine yet masculine at the same time, a person who was confident with their position, because if they let down the facade it would crumble, rather litterally maybe, this place was influenced by perception, so one has to always exert their willpower or the place might just fall apart around them.
I talked with my friend some more about going up and they said here, take some guides and extra keys to make sure I have eveything I need before I head up, I thanked them and they went off down to the second floor to help my other friend and others. So I put the guidebook in my deep pants pockets as well as my keys and a snack and went up to the 4th floor. I met the person up there, someone who is a friend but maybe a dangerous one. They lived in a long thin apparement with 4 rooms each very different all connected by a single continueous hallway on the right. The first room just full of knick nacks, cards, and crystals, things that felt valueble, to create a sense of aesthetic and awe, little trophies aligned across the walls and ontop of furtnitures. Their second room was just a bed that tookup most of the space, and calanders and clocks, things that kept time, their 3rd room existed but when I walked past I only saw the 4th room that had carnival games, but nevermind that. My friend on the 4th floor said that they have what i need and I have no fear of taking the assistance, it would be measured out and I have plenty in my balance. But they had a client they were working with, rubbing their hands over them while they laid in the bed, whatever was happening was fullfilling, for they seemed completely content and estatic. I said I want to take a look at the stuff in the far room first, and they sighed and said sure go ahead. When I wandered over the 3rd room felt weird, things didnt really feel like they were there, i think there was a wall mounted table around the whole room, I dont know, but when I got to the 4th room there was a game where you throw darts at a baloon and on the wall it said, win some cards you'll need them. With pictures of children on the walls who looked more confused than happy, yet were supposed to be the people who waon these prizes. Most of the balooons were already popped and I felt a sense of dread from this area so moved back towards the second room. The 3rd and a bit of the 4th room lost phase at that point though. I stepped forward adn everything went grey,t hen fuzy and dissapeared, i was in a grey and blaack abyss, absolutely nothing else around me and went oh shit. I put my hands back up and concentrated, remembering where I was and it snapped back in front of me, like waking up.
My friend said oh good your back, and I nodded and we talked about what I wanted, |I was unsure still but they said here, let me help, letting their last client go. Thats when I laiud down on the bed and noticed the calander on the bed saying november but it seemed to be moving like time was ticking down but as a calander that was losing days. I didnt have much time to think about it long before my friend was ontop of me, giving me comforting warmth, and gentle massages across my body, trying to make me comfortable and relaxed. It was kind of a massage but more intimate and seemed to imply more sexual intent, and it just made me uncomfortable, so I said just stick with the massage, my friend expressed dissapointment with a huff and a small eyeroll. As they worked over my body, they rolled me over onto my friend and pressed on my back, first with light brushes of their hands then a few good chops right into my spine. It was painful but felt needed, and they said that no wonder I was looking for their help, I had so much build up into my back it felt like a chainsaw pwhen they pressed against my spine. They slaped the joints with their arm some more making loud cracks and creeks till I feelt a different shape, mor eclear of my stresses. There were still more but I felt I was using too much of my time at that point and said stop. My friend gave a dissaproving look but sighed and stopped. The calander looked differnt like it went from having 50 days to 30.
My friend said fine I have other stuff to work on and took their other client out the door past some lbby area and down a flight of stairs. Soemthing told me that there was something important being lost if I ever came back here again, and I need to get out of here now and not come back. I moved to the stairwell with the lobby and I saw a lobby, it was a place where people got completely consumed by their needs, and distilled into small trinkets, gems, gold whatever, the guidebook in my pocket told me so. It also identified people around when I waved it at them, what their needs and what they had to give were, plus explinations of their bodies, why some had bunny ears and the like. When I got to the stairwell though something was off. There was no stairway down, ti's as if the half floor between the twisting stars jsut dissapeared and now the 3rd and 4th floors were now closer, the fobs on the key were just sitting at the edge of some cut off banister going down, and I could look through the center of the stairwell and see my 4th floor friend on the next floor down with their last cleint in hand. They asked if I was really going to let thier livelyhood die because it seemed amoral. I picked up the key to the 4th floor and held my general key with the extra gold metal strip for the floor in one hand each and looked at them contemplating what to do. Someone in the 4rd floor was digging into their apparement, throwing dirt and snow into the air which flew into the starwell. While some metal heads on the 4th floor scurried around in circles as they looked for a way down, heavily concerned about how they were going to get their supplies. I accidentally introduced chaos into the place by my indecision and it would adpat one way or another but I needed to decide how to affect abunch of other peoples lives all of a sudden.