ascenseur

The floor released beneath him, and he was in neither one world nor another. The ground broke and discovered new levels of low. Buttons glowed with purpose at his touch. He was in control and alone, with a few squares of space supporting his being under him. He felt silence and the humming of the machines that came alive for him. His organs trembled and swayed with the motion of downward speed. He placed his hand on his stomach and enjoyed the sensation. He leaned back onto a black bar, completely at leisure with this collapse of time and knowing. He could, at any second, find himself trapped between two places, if the technology failed him. He could never see another human face or hand again, but this danger intrigued him to push his weight heavily against the floor repeatedly. He put his trust in the machines, fate was in their control as well as in his fingers'. His insides then became very still and he heard a simple bell. He stepped through the open doors, off the elevator, and into the crowded commons of the first floor.