Chapter One - The Interview
"I know you are probably a little frightened," she said in a quiet reassuring way as she nodded her head slightly. The woman's image on the screen had a strange single-dimensionality due to the similar colors of her blazer and the walls behind her that made her appear to be a computer-generated figure. "You'd be a fool not to be. What I propose is a daunting challenge. But one that offers rich rewards to those who are successful."
"Why must it be this way? I just needed this job—"
"Of course you do, like any other applicant, but you must first prove yourself worthy to me. I don't take on just anyone. So do not take up anymore of my time if you're not serious. I'm going to sign off now. There will be an instruction immediately afterward. You must choose either to follow it or to get up and depart through the door you came in. You're choice now," the woman said. A thin smile creased her lips as her cool blue eyes stared through the screen to her in challenge. Then her image faded away, replaced by a short message on the view screen.
One portal lies open, the other must be forced. The easy path is your defeat, the way forward is difficult. As one door opens, another shall be locked. There is no way backward. You have five minutes.
Amy stared at the screen in bewilderment. What kind of a crazy job interview was this? What was she supposed to do now? She looked around the room to try to find some hint of what her next step was supposed to be. "This is ludicrous," she muttered to herself. "Crazy bitch, what the hell is this spooky game she's playing." Amy tried the door that had led her into the interview cube. It opened easily and she could see up the hallway that she had come in from. She looked back around in this simple room with grey walls and noticed a crease in the wall to her right. She let the door close and heard a faint click when it shut. She immediately tried it again and it was locked. Oh shit. Well, here goes Amy. See what the hell you've gotten yourself into now. Amy tried the wall with the slight indentation and found that it gave a little but wouldn't open. She stepped back and then lunged into the wall with her shoulder letting out a little 'oomph' as she put all her weight into it. The wall gave more this time and as she pushed harder it slowly eased backward under her force, until she could slip through it.
Amy found herself in yet another small room with diffused light that had no apparent source, but as soon as she advanced to the center of the room the light faded and she was in complete blackness for a moment, then all four walls slowly became transparent and she could see into the four rooms surrounding her. Directly ahead was a room with a small couch and a painting on the wall with mountains. There was also a plain wooden chair in the corner. A comfortable simple room, maybe a waiting room of some sort, she thought. The room on her left was brighter. She realized that, in fact, this room was so bright that it shone enough light into the room she was presently in to see around inside it. The bright room was stark white and completely bare of any furniture. It didn't appear to have any doors or windows either; it was just a gleaming empty cube. How did one get into that room, she puzzled. She turned and checked the wall toward the room she had been in previously, and felt at least slightly comforted—her insides had begun twisting with nervous energy—it was the same simple interview room she had started this bizarre trip from. Same standard office chair. Same computer screen. Flat plain desk. Door ajar. She turned to the wall to her right and saw that, though she could see into the space beyond it, it was much dimmer than the other three. Amy could make out the boxy outline of a desk or perhaps a crate, it was hard to tell. What she could see clearly was her reflection. Oddly, it appeared that she was actually standing in the impossible room behind her. She put her right hand out to meet itself in the smoky mirror image. The wall felt cool and slick, like a polished slab of marble or the glass wall of one of the skyscrapers outside.
She gazed at the optical illusion of herself in the impossible room. Amy was not impressed. She didn't look very resolute or imposing, not like a candidate who could quickly master any situation and adapt to unforeseen circumstances, as the woman in the flat screen had lectured. Instead, she saw a young woman with trussed-up blonde hair dressed to impress in a cropped navy-blue knit blazer open to show off her ivory linen button down, and a matching skirt, which may have been a tad too short she thought now, but did show off her athletically-toned legs and those amazing royal blue pumps. But somehow she was not pulling it off. She didn't look professional and stunning, but rather seemed over-dressed and self-conscious about it, like a girl dolled up for her first boy-girl party who wants everyone's attention but then doesn't know how to handle it.
She pushed herself away from the wall, feeling the anxiety in her grow as she stepped back toward the middle of the small room. In response, the wall which she had been touching now became completely opaque and now looked like a plain flat gray wall. Amy put a slender hand under her chin, her mouth open slightly in astonishment. What a puzzle this was. She snapped her fingers and wheeled around to place her hand on the wall of the room that she had come in from. Then when she removed it, the wall also ceased being transparent. Aha! Now there were two clear walls left: the plain waiting room and the impossible room. Amy thought for a moment, trying to recall the clues in that last inscrutable message on the computer screen, then made up her mind and strode to the waiting room wall and placed her hand on it. She took her hand off and held her breath. As the wall became opaque she heard the swishing sound of the wall behind her sliding open. Proudly, she walked into the pure white featureless room.
Once inside she noticed a soft sound actually filled this stark white chamber, like white noise or surf crashing somewhere off in the distance. Her eyes blinked as she tried to get used to the brightness. She turned around and around, looking to see if there was any feature she was somehow failing to notice.
Amy heard the woman's voice - faintly, in fact barely audible above the sound of the waves - but she did clearly hear that it was the same voice.
"I'm so happy for you Amy. You've done well so far in our little adventure of discovery together. Be proud. Most do not get this far. Now for your next steps I need you to breathe deeply and relax. Sit on the floor - that will help you to relax and focus."
Amy settled down cross-legged on the floor of the white chamber and looked up and around, trying to focus on where the woman's disembodied voice was coming from in the room. The constant hiss made this very difficult and she found she needed to concentrate very hard in order to hear what she was saying.
"Breathe and relax, and listen to my voice, as I begin to unfold for you a new challenge, one that will open up great vistas for you, one that will change your whole outlook, one that will change your life"
Amy settled back on her hands, and stretched her legs out. The floor of the white room had seemed to soften and give into her so that she felt like she was reclining in a cushiony chaise lounge. The sound in the room seemed to grow louder and softer in slow easy rhythm, so now it seemed like a flowing breeze rather than surf. And then there were colors.
Dancing changing luminous streaks of color seemed to twist and tangle around her in a dizzying three-dimensional display. She was inside of a kaleidoscope and it was wonderful and dazzling.
"Listen to my words and concentrate. Concentrate on my words"
The cushiony feel of the floor seemed to deepen and deepen, until Amy felt like she was floating in a deep pillow, the wind filled her ears and blocked out everything -- everything except that same calm patient voice that somehow seemed to be inside her, rather than coming from the room.
"Breathe. In and out slowly, easily, let your body rest on the swishing wind. Feel content and placid. Nothingness feels like bliss. Escape the confines of your own mind and allow yourself the freedom to float. Float up, Amy, up into the peaceful empty bliss."
