- Liminal -

Renee flipped through the patients on the clipboard. Doctor Cyrus looked more tired than usual. His peppy nature ebbed and flowed, but this time it seemed to be permanently stunted. The last few weeks had been buzzing with energy after some chance meetings with some colleges, but that energy was now drained and no progress had been made.

“Coffee?” She said putting down the clipboard and checking her energy drink, which was bone dry.

“Wha- yes, I will go get some more coffee, you want anything”

Renee stood up “I’ll get it, try and get a little rest, we don’t have any patients for another two hours”

Cyrus stared at her “You? Leaving to get coffee?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know I usually never leave this room besides to go home, but you know, it looks like you could use some alone time. Break room is just down the hall to the right?”

Cyrus smiled and nodded “Yes, it is.” He took off his glasses and put them to the side of the console “Thanks Renee. I know I don’t express it enough, but I am glad that you are here to help me out.”

She patted him on the shoulder and exited the room.

The Animah Institute was a huge creepy place. Bright soft lights, rounded corners, posters telling you to be happy and that you can do what ever you want. Some very strange messaging about ascending. Renee shuddered every time she walked through the halls, which she didn’t usually. So why did she work there? Pay was good, really good, the hours kept her from home, which she didn’t want to return to and her study of psychology pushed her to see how they were ‘healing’ people. Since day one, she still had no idea. The patients came into the room, they dialed in some thing, the lights went out, they were no longer there, and then they watched the monitors. An hour later, the lights went off and returned and there they were, sitting in the chair that they had been. The first couple of days, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but Cyrus was so disinterested and dry about it that she soon adopted it as normal life.

She turned the corner and stepped to where the break room should have been. A large barricade had been placed at the opening where it was.

“Closed for deep cleaning, please use another break room” Which below it had a list of them.

A2
B2
N8
Z9

There was no map. Just vague directions for where to go from where she was.

“Typical, let’s see” she ran her fingers down the list, A2 should be the closest, right?”

It said go straight make a right, then left, follow hallway, break room A2 will be on the right.

She made the turns and kept walking. The Animah institute was separated in two sections. The wellness center, which sat on the edge of a large hill. The public facing side. It held all the staff, some special rooms for patients, and a bunch conference and therapist rooms. Renee looked out the windows at the large trees that seemed to go on forever, soon they dropped away revealing the megapolis which was PolyCube Dynamics. The owner and entity behind the Animah Institute. It seemed that the trees acted as a barrier, a shield if you would for the whole facilities. The bridge from the smiles, the public good, and into the secret, the edge, the real intent of the company. Renee had the suspicion for a long time that they were not the most kosher of companies. Then she saw how vast their facility was.

She kept walking. A2 seemed to be much farther away than she anticipated. She past large hallway after hallway separated by huge windows that looked into the courtyards of sprawling fountains and trees. She saw the opening which looked like the break room. A large A2 sign plastered on the wall.

Finally. She turned. It looked like the others. Circular tables, kitchen shelving built into the right side and vending machines on the left wall. The only difference was the large window that outlooked past two towering walls to the forest edge in the distance. She spied a lady sitting at one of the circular tables. She had her head propped up on her wrist staring out the window. Renee moved towards the counter to make some coffee.

“What is this thing?” She stared at the large machine, it’s pipes and knobs were nothing like her press to brew machine she was used too. There was nothing else on the counter. “Great”

The women at the table snapped out of her trance “Oh, looking for coffee?” She stood up, heels clicked behind as she approached.

“Yeah, but I don’t know what the hell this thing is” Renee tapped the machine.

The lady laughed “Sorry about that, I’m a bit of a coffee snob, I had the machine in here replaced with this one. Here let me make one for you.”

The women, seems to dance and started pulling beans from the counter, measuring, grinding them and working the machine as if it was second nature.

“Latte?” She asked.

Renee moved toward the refrigerator “Yes, he would like that” the fridge had nothing to stimulate her. She drooped.

“You know, coffee or tea will do you much better than those caffeinated drinks.” She pulled out a bottle from the counter and slid it towards her “Take one of those if you are drinking coffee, or even your little energy drinks, they will curve the crash.”

Renee took the bottle. The machine whirled to life, and coffee aroma filled the whole space. If she closed her eyes she would swear that she was in a cafe somewhere. Next she frothed the milk form the side of the machine and poured a twelve ounce cup, a heart in white floating on the surface.

“It’s L-theanine, here” She handed Renee the cup. “I haven’t seen you around here before”

Renee took the cup reluctantly “Yeah, I work with Dr.Cyrus in the Animah Institute, the break room was closed, so I tried to find the next one”

The lady laughed, it was childlike. “Well you might of picked the furthest one away. Dr.Cyrus, I met him a couple of weeks ago. Here” she guided her to the table she was sitting at.

“I’m Ada Noether” she extended her hand.

“Renee” She shook it.

“Give me a minute Renee” Ada moved back to the machine and started the whole process again. In no time she slid next to her with a cup of her own.

Renee stared at her.”I hear a lot of about you, I was expecting you to be a bitch”

Ada took a sip of her coffee “I can be sometimes” She smiled and laughed “I like your forwardness.”

Renee stared down at the heart. “Thank you for the coffee” she took a sip and her eyes lit up “It’s a lot sweeter then I thought it would be”

“My own special sweetener. Keeps the healthy properties of honey, but can be added to hot things. Hope it’s not too sweet. I thought thats how you would like it.”

Renee hadn’t noticed before, but Ada was extremely beautiful. Her hair, makeup and clothes seems like she had just walked out of a clothing ad. She held herself with just ease and confidence she found her self drinking her in with her eyes.

Their eyes met.

“Fuck” Renee looked away immediately.

“Dr.Cyrus, how is he doing? Any progress on his project? I have some additional resources coming to him, please express my apologies for the delay. Red tape and all that.” Her eyes grew sharp and Renee could see a billion tasks, convocations and decisions flash upon her face before it returned to its serene calm nature.

“He’s frustrated. I actually don’t know what he is trying to do, but it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere right now. I can only handle some of the admin work for him. I will let him know.”

Ada leaned back, crossed her legs and turned her head to the ceiling. Her eyes searched as she hummed. “Yes, I wonder what he could do. What could we do.”

Renee turned the bottle Ada had given her to see the label.

“Take one of those with you next sip” she said with out looking away form the ceiling.

Renee followed as if commanded.

“You won’t feel it now, but later. Take the whole bottle for you and Dr.Cyrus” She let out a sigh and returned to her own cup. “To many things right now, so little time.” She perked up and grabbed her mug “But that’s always how it is, isn’t it. What will you do now Renee?”

“I-“ the questions was deeper. It wasn’t about her going back to Dr.Cyrus. It was about her, her personal endevours, what her life was going to be. The way Ada asked, it twisted something in her. “I will do what I can” Renee answered, a swell of emotion filling her.

Ada nodded, stood up and moved back to the espresso machine. Her hands worked again, the machine roared and hissed and soon she set down a coffee in a to go cup. Dr.Cyrus written on the side of it with a heart after the name. “Good girl, please tell Dr.Cyrus I wish him the best of luck. And you, Renee, I hope you keep progressing. I’m sure we will meet again. Until then” Ada took both of their mugs, washed them and strode out giving Renee a wave.

“What in the world was that” Renee grabbed the bottle and coffee. When she got to the hallway Ada was no where to be seen. As if she was ghost, only her heels clicking somewhere in the facilities could be heard.

Renee strode back through the facility, not seeing a soul. She looked out at the forest that rose high and stood dark out in the distance. What did this place look like from the outside? She shuddered at the thought. The Animah Institute where she entered already gave her the creeps from the outside. She couldn’t imagine stumbling upon this monstrously from the outside.

When she entered the office Dr.Cyrus awoke from his slumber with a stretch and groan.

“How long was I out for? My gosh” he rubbed his eyes.

Renee set the cup of coffee next to him and sat down in her regular seat. “A little bit longer then I thought I would be, I ran into someone.” She handed him the bottle “Take one of those before you have your coffee.”

Dr.Cyrus looked at the name on the cup and at the bottle. “Hmm interesting, who was it?” His eyes ran to the back of the label.

“Ada Noether. She said that she was sorry for the delay, but extra resources were coming”

With her name, his eyes shot up to her “Mrs.Noether? You ran into Ada Noether? How far did you go?”

“A2, I kinda got lost”

He laughed “You went pretty far, what did you think of the place, pretty big huh?”

Renee didn’t laugh though, she had never asked, afraid of what he would say. “What is PolyCube Dynamic? What are they doing back there, it’s” she searched “insane. A whole city”

Dr.Cyrus popped one of the pills in his mouth and took a sip of the coffee. He looked at the cup in surprise “Wow” then he nodded to himself and leaned back in his chair. His looked turned serious as he studied her. A calculation was running in his head.

“How would you like to get a pay raise Renee, I think you would be valuable here. But you will need to learn a bit more about science, quantum, and dimensional space mirroring. How would you like to change the world?”

The world keeps getting deeper, PolyCube Dynamics seems to a lot larger then one might seem. The Animah Institute, the head of the beast that is PolyCube Dynamics. Ada continues to meet a spin her web, while Dr.Cyrus might get a new partner.

When I was scripting my game, I had Renee as a like an uninterested intern. She was the complete contrast to Dr.Cyrus’s bubbly, excited attitude when working. She will still be sort of moody, but maybe she will find a new found goal.

What will she do now?

We will see in the future. Cheers~

It was the grand opening of Metro Cities Central Play Scape. Pioneered as the first ‘town’ sized indoor play scape. Drop your kids off, go shopping for hours and comeback to retrieve them. Your bags would be full, they would be exhausted and ready for a nap. It was the perfect combination. Out side in the ‘courtyard’ an array of booths and tables sat for parents and children to get ready for their time in the mall. There was a food court that was placed just beyond this seating area in the theme of outdoor foodstalls. The whole mall was themed in bubbly late 1990’s retro style. Blue, red, dark purples and neon swirled with lighting bolts around walls and through signs. Blocky text and clipart style images stamped there way on store signs. The entrance to the play scape looked like a mash of different tall buildings, their brick sides filled with large windows that looked out among the courtyard and mall.

“Gosh look at this place, it’s massive” He said taking a bite of a ham sandwich and then a sip of soda.

“Honey, you have been saying that ever since we got here” his wife giggled taking a glance over all the children and their parents sitting at the food court. There was a high level of excitement as parents finished meals and ushered their kids to the play scape. Waving to each other and bidding themselves a temporary release from control.

Isaac followed his wifes gaze to the families then back at her. She was stunning as always. Dressed in form fitting beige dress with a cream colored turtle neck and a darker cream stylish trench coat. Upon her left side of her coat hung a security badge from her work. Her natural face looked as it radiated a perfection that a man could only dream up. Her eyes a soft green, but with razer focus. Her brownish blond hair spilling in light curls down to her mid back and shoulders. He stared mesmerized. Always the thought of “How did a low bit scientist like me end up with a super star like her” Her eyes shifted and met his. Even though they had been married for eight years and had a daughter he still turned red and broke their gaze.

She smiled teasingly and leaned forward. “And what were you looking at mister?”

“Just an exceptional person” he spied some people looking their way and making notes of them.

Ada smiled and the whole room lit up. “Your to much. Why don’t you go get Julia and check out the observatory at the top of the mall. The sight is far out.”

“You want me to go in there?” Isaac pointed towards the bright colored steps that led into the play scape “Isn’t that illegal?”

“No, it’s fine. The inside is heavily surveillanced. Since it is so big, the security measures taken allows for adults to enter and find their children and bring them out. Unless they have a cell phone. There are also those” She pointed toward a row of funny looking pay phones. “If you use the ID that was given before entering, you can call a phone close to your child to tell them to come out.”

“Boy, you guys thought of everything. Why don’t I just use one of those then?”

“Isaac, don’t you think it would be fun to go check out the inside? You are always wanting to relax and experience some, let’s say childish activities. I think it would be funny for Julia to see her dad in such a setting. and” Ada pulled out a badge from her pocket and gave a sheepish grin “I forgot to register Julia when we got here”

Isaac took the badge from his wife and turned it over in his hand. It was digital screen wrapped in thick yellow plastic, as if a crayon had been melted around it. “Seems like an oversight, I guess it was a big day for you” He put the badge in his pocket and returned his gaze towards Ada. Her eyes looked past him at the play scape. Focused with curiosity he had seen before. “Looks like you want to head in there more then me”

“I have had my fill, your turn” she quickly commented and ushered him towards the childish courtyard.

He went to take off his shoes, but Ada stopped him. “You can leave them on, self cleaning, no worries about scuffs and marks”

“Boy, this stuff is pretty amazing, how did yo-“

“We will talk about it later, go go go” Ada playfully pushed him towards one of the large entrances. There were three entrances. Three large tubes jettisoned out form the building. Blue on the left, yellow in the middle and green on the right. Small steps surrounded the entrances and provided a small stoop. Issac stepped up into the yellow tube. He could feel Ada’s arms wrap around his waist, she turned him, gave him a kiss, whispering in his ear “have fun” and then stepped back for him to move into the tunnel. He gave a small smile and wave then descended.

The inside was filled with twists and turns. The yellow tube turned into a tunnel then shot in a multiple different directions. He had experienced play scapes in fast food places when he was a kid. Back when you were that small they always seemed so large, infinite, a whole other world to explore and be in. When you grow up, you see how small it actually is, how simplistic, and hallow. He wrapped a corner and a squad of children scurried past his legs and in the other direction. He wondered how they must feel in this place. He felt small. His adult senses being deceived and distorted by the large and small entrances, winding tubes going in all directions and spars plastic bubble windows. He kept moving, his eyes spying children here and there, but he had yet to see Julia. He stepped through a square door and set of long steps descended.

He ducked down them and he entered large open room.

“This place is massive” he stared wide eyed into a void of tunnels, plastic and odd shapes that moved into the ceiling creating a ball of brightly colored poly yarn. The brick building facade broke some of the visual language and seemed to give everything a balance, holding it up. He didn’t see any children in this large room, but he could hear the laughter and screams all around him.

“Julia” he called into the void. He walked across the opening. It was styled like a small park. Fake trees, with park benches, picnic tables were strewn around a padded side walk that slinked across turf like grass. Street lamps that came out of the ground and swirled before ending in a hanging bulb in the shape of a sun flower gave yellowish hue as if it was night time inside.

“Julia” he called again and he heard someone call back to him “The courtyard, I am in the courtyard.” He heard small feet rummaging against the poly surface. A small girl turned a corner and stopped in an odd shaped doorway. She looked just like her mother. Big green eyes. Blond brownish hair pulled into a pig tails.

“Daddy, what are you doing here” her face lit up in a huge smile as she hopped into the opening and crashed against his waist with a huge hug.

“Mommy forgot to give you this “he pulled out the badge from his pocket. As soon as it came into sight, the screen lit up. A picture of Julia appeared and listed her name, weight, height and both her parents name. Julia padded her oversized hoodie and then peeked inside of it.

“No, mommy gave it to me before I came in. Where did you find it? I thought i had lost it. I was looking for it here and there, I needed to find it or Mommy would be upset at me” she grabbed it out of his hand and attached it to a lanyard that was already around her neck.

A pay phone range near one of the walls. He had noticed that depending where you were the pay phones look different. Inside the play scape they were heavily stylized, while this one looked almost normal, only with a slight cartoony feel to it. He picked it up and held it to his ear.

“I see you found her, what do you think of the place?” Ada’s sweet voice swam into his ears. He peered at his watch. It had stopped.

“This place is wild. I am pretty sure I am lost. How long have I been in here?”

There was a long silence.

“Only around twenty minutes or so. Alright, I trust you can find your way out. I have to meet with the director so I will meet you later at the observatory. Let me speak to Julia” Isaac handed the handset to Julia and took out a small pocket notebook out his coat. He wrote down the time he had on his watch and the last time he had seen before entering.

“Mommy I found my badge! I thought I had lost it, but Daddy found it for me” Julia giggled and twirled back and forth “No. No. I promise. Yup! Love you too, bye bye!”

“Wai-“ Julia hung up the phone. He pulled it from the receiver. Soft mall music played on the other side. “What did mommy have to say?”

Julia put her hand to her lips and made a twisting motion “It’s a secret, she will tell you when she sees you”

“Alright, let’s get out of here. Did you have fun?” Isaac took her hand and they moved towards where he had descended into the fake park. Julia nodded excitedly and recounted all her adventures. She had immediately ran as far as she could into the play scape. There in a section that looked like a medieval castle she met a few other kids who she played with. She said they explored a bunch of different areas of the play scape. A place with clouds, a never ending valley of green pastures, and a scary dark wooden themed area. Isaac grinned down at her vast imagination. These tubes could become anything with just a few dots of a theme here and there. They moved through tubes and tunnels. Up and down stairwells. Around swirled ramps and rows of slides.

Isaac stopped and look in front of him. They were in a large square room. The roof was a thick clear bubble that showed multicolored tubes running through fake clouds. To the front was a mural of the play scape turning into all its fantasy landscape. The right was a row of three slides and to his left was a set of small slides that he could see the bottom a couple of feet down.

He was lost. He had not encountered this room on his way to find Julia. He asked her if she knew which way to go, as a test. She whipped her head back and forth in a no and peered at the large slides and then shot a worried look to her dad. He gave a smile back for reassurance, but he started to doubt his direction. As the stood he also realized that something was missing.

It was dead silent. The symphony of children’s expressions had ceased a while ago. There was no laughter or cries of surprise. No sound of little feet stomping and running across hard polymer plastic. There was nothing, but their own squeaky steps and breath. They decided to head down the small slides. They slid down a couple of feet and entered another room that looked to be endless. Two blue plastic walls extended into shadow.

“Daddy..”

“Let’s try the big slides” Isaac ushered Julia back up the mini slides and to the row of large slides. He turned and looked and into the shadows before he followed her. He couldn’t see it, but he could sense it. Something stared back him from the shadows. He quickly climbed back up the mini slides.

“Alright” he gave Julia a smile and sat down on the edge of the middle slides “Wrap your hands around my neck and legs around my waist. Hold on tight” A pit was forming in his stomach as he recalled the shadows from the other path. What laid at the bottom of this slide? He inched him self forward and slowly crept down the slide using his hands to brace themselves against the plastic. It was working well, then his next hand placement hit plastic that had no friction. He jerked forward and he tried to catch himself on the roof of the slide, but everything felt as if it was covered in oil. They both barreled, spinning around and around the slide. Julia screamed and he grasped onto her arms that wrapped around him. They tumbled and spun until they both came crashing into a padded landing square. Isaac gasped for breath as he crawled off the squishy padding to a more stable surface. He looked up and saw the three large tubes.

The entrance.

“Look” He scooped Julia up into his arms and rested her on his hip. “We made it!”

“We’re the best!” She rose her right hand and he high fived it.

“Yeah, we’re the best” He exited the yellow tube just as he had entered. “we’re” he looked around “the best” he said again with a deflated sigh.

The food court was empty. There was not a single soul. No laughter, no conversations, and no Ada. He moved to the table where he had sat before and set Julia down.

“Where is everyone? Is it nap time?” Julia looked around.

“No, I don’t think so.” They both sat for a moment in silence. The mall music played in a slow reverbed style. It added a sense of endless dread. It was the only sound besides their own. He looked towards the food court.

“Hungry?”

Julia shook her head.

“Really? Not hungry?”

She shrugged with a small smile “Not one bit”

Isaac looked back towards the play scape. He wasn’t hungry either. Not one bit.

I am really into the whole 90’s liminal horror, mallscape stuff. To me malls were this magical place where everyone went and there was alway something going on. They were full of people and stores, themed out for the holidays and special events. But, as we know. Time moves and those malls and areas lose some luster, get a bit abandoned and all of a sudden, lose their soul. I had recently watched Lost Dreams in Neon Springs by Lost in the Hyperverse which made me want to write something in a mall setting that got a bit more surreal. I have also always wanted to do a story with a giant play scape in it. I would always be hanging out in those as a kid and they hold a special place in my mind. For either good or bad. I described how I feel about them in this story pretty well, so I won’t repeat.

The story of Isaac and Julia will be continued in the future. I really want to explore more of the father - daughter dynamic. I feel that in a horror setting you could really make an interesting story out of it that isn’t just pure shock and awe. Something with a more heartfelt side to it. They have many more places to explore and horrors to encounter.

So I bid you farwell till our next story. Stay safe out there and careful what places you wander.

Cheers ~