Daniel Tressa had exactly three thoughts as the black van pulled away from the mall.
First:
He had definitely just walked out of an infinite hallway.
Second:
Three heavily armed government agents were currently sitting across from him like this was the most normal Tuesday in the world.
And third:
He was pretty sure the woman in tactical gear was eating his emergency vending machine chocolate bar.
Daniel stared.
"That's mine."
The woman didn't look up.
"You left it in the storage room."
"That doesn't make it community property."
She finally glanced at him.
"It does in a liminal environment."
Daniel looked at the other agent.
The one who had kicked through the wall.
"You're letting this happen?"
The man shrugged.
"Operational snack redistribution."
Daniel blinked.
"…You people are insane."
The van drove in silence for a moment.
Then Daniel leaned forward.
"So are we going to talk about what the hell just happened?"
The first agent finally spoke.
"Agent Four."
He tapped his chest.
Then gestured to the woman.
"Agent Seven."
She raised the chocolate bar slightly in greeting.
The third agent driving the van spoke without turning around.
"Agent Twelve."
Daniel waited.
Nothing else followed.
"…Okay," Daniel said slowly.
"Are those code names?"
Four shook his head.
"Numbers."
"Right."
Daniel waited again.
Still nothing.
"Do you have… actual names?"
Seven shrugged.
"Not operationally."
"That sounds extremely unhealthy."
Four leaned back in his seat.
"You'll get used to it."
"Why would I get used to it?"
Four gestured vaguely.
"Because you're coming with us."
Daniel laughed.
"Oh I don't think so."
The van turned off the road and pulled into an underground parking structure.
Concrete pillars.
Security cameras.
Heavy steel gates.
The kind of place that looked extremely government.
Daniel watched as the gate slid shut behind them.
"…Okay maybe a little."
The van stopped in front of a reinforced elevator door.
Four opened the back.
"Out."
Daniel climbed out slowly.
"Look," he said.
"I appreciate the rescue and all but I actually have a job."
Seven snorted.
"You had a job."
"What does that mean?"
Four handed him a clipboard.
Daniel looked down.
It was a form.
At the top was printed:
LIMINAL SPACE DIVISION — INCIDENT REPORT
Below that:
Subject: Daniel Tressa
Daniel looked up.
"How do you know my full name?"
Seven smiled.
"You work night shift sanitation at Greenstone Mall."
Daniel stared.
"You have two overdue parking tickets."
"…Okay."
"You also once microwaved fish in the staff kitchen which is honestly unforgivable."
Daniel slowly lowered the clipboard.
"Are you people stalking me?"
Four gestured toward the elevator.
"Come on."
The elevator doors opened.
Inside was a keypad instead of floor buttons.
Twelve typed in a long code.
The elevator started descending.
And kept descending.
Daniel watched the floor numbers flash past.
B1.
B2.
B3.
B7.
B12.
"…How deep are we going?"
Seven leaned against the wall.
"Deep enough."
The elevator stopped with a soft ding.
The doors slid open.
Daniel stepped out.
And froze.
The room beyond was massive.
A huge underground facility filled with offices, glass observation rooms, equipment bays, and people in black jackets walking briskly between workstations.
Large digital screens hung from the ceiling displaying maps filled with glowing markers.
One wall held a massive digital board labeled:
ACTIVE LIMINAL INCIDENTS
Below it dozens of entries scrolled by.
LEVEL 2 - SHOPPING COMPLEX LOOP - ACTIVE
LEVEL 4 - STAIRWELL MAZE - STABLE
LEVEL 6 - PARKING STRUCTURE VARIANT - CONTAINMENT TEAM DEPLOYED
Daniel stared.
"…Oh."
Seven walked past him.
"Welcome to the Division."
Daniel slowly turned in a circle.
Agents moved through the space with practiced efficiency.
Some carried strange equipment.
Others studied large holographic maps that looked like twisting building layouts.
In one corner a team was arguing loudly.
"You can't close Level Three!"
"It's eating vending machines!"
"Then stop putting vending machines in it!"
Daniel pointed.
"…Is that normal?"
Four nodded.
"Pretty calm day actually."
They walked through the facility.
Agents nodded at Four as he passed.
"Four."
"Four."
"Seven."
Someone tossed Seven another chocolate bar.
She caught it without breaking stride.
Daniel noticed something else.
Everyone wore numbers.
Three.
Nine.
Fourteen.
Twenty-One.
No names.
Just numbers.
They stopped outside a glass office.
Inside a tall man with silver hair was reading a tablet.
Four knocked once and stepped inside.
The man looked up.
His jacket displayed a simple number.
1.
Daniel leaned toward Seven.
"Please tell me that guy isn't Agent One."
Seven smiled.
"Oh he absolutely is."
Agent One looked Daniel up and down.
"So," he said.
"This is the hallway survivor."
Daniel raised a hand.
"Hi."
One tapped his tablet.
"You entered a Level One liminal corridor at approximately 02:13."
"Sounds about right."
"You navigated the space for nearly an hour."
"I mostly walked and complained."
"That's still impressive."
Daniel crossed his arms.
"Can someone finally explain what a liminal space actually is?"
One stood and walked to a large digital display on the wall.
He tapped the screen.
A map appeared.
Except it wasn't a map of cities.
It was a map of rooms.
Hallways.
Stairwells.
Parking garages.
Buildings layered on top of each other like a maze.
"Reality," One said calmly, "isn't as stable as people think."
He tapped another button.
Some of the rooms on the map flickered.
"These are liminal spaces."
"Places where architecture forms without purpose."
Daniel frowned.
"You mean like… empty buildings?"
"No."
One zoomed the map out.
The maze expanded endlessly.
"They're places that shouldn't exist."
Daniel stared.
"So infinite hallways."
"Yes."
"Endless malls?"
"Yes."
"Parking garages that go on forever?"
"Correct."
Daniel rubbed his face.
"…Great."
One folded his arms.
"Most people who enter them never return."
Daniel looked up.
"That's comforting."
"But occasionally," One continued, "someone survives."
He looked directly at Daniel.
"Like you."
Daniel shifted uncomfortably.
"So what happens now?"
One tapped his tablet again.
"Normally we would erase your memory."
Daniel blinked.
"I'm sorry what?"
Seven leaned toward him.
"Standard protocol."
Daniel looked between them.
"You're joking."
No one laughed.
"…You're not joking."
Four spoke calmly.
"But there's a complication."
Daniel groaned.
"There's always a complication."
One turned the screen toward him.
A video clip played.
Security footage from the hallway.
Daniel walking through the infinite corridor.
Then something strange happened.
The lights flickered.
The hallway walls shifted slightly.
And the corridor ahead rearranged itself.
Daniel watched the footage in silence.
"…Did I do that?"
One nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Seven spoke from behind him.
"The space reacted to you."
Daniel stared at the screen.
"Is that bad?"
Four answered.
"It's unusual."
One folded his hands behind his back.
"Which brings us to your job offer."
Daniel sighed.
"I knew that was coming."
"You have two options," One said calmly.
"Memory wipe."
Daniel crossed his arms.
"Pass."
"Or recruitment."
Daniel blinked.
"…Recruitment?"
One nodded toward the facility outside the office.
"You survived a liminal environment."
"Barely."
"You altered its spatial pattern."
"I did?"
"That means you might be useful."
Daniel looked at the agents.
At the glowing maps.
At the giant board tracking impossible places.
"…You want me to work here."
Four shrugged.
"We're hiring."
Daniel stared at them.
Then he asked the obvious question.
"What happens if I say no?"
One answered immediately.
"We erase your memory and drop you back at the mall."
Daniel thought about that for a moment.
Then he looked at the board again.
Dozens of impossible places.
Infinite rooms.
Doors that led to nowhere.
And people who walked into them every day.
Daniel sighed.
"…Hypothetically."
One raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
Daniel looked back at him.
"What would my number be?"