Whereabouts: Day 39

[S] (39,555 / 1,000,000)

“327 Third Street, The Mirage Hotel. Executive elevator.”

Tan read the note once - twice more, as if his eyes tracing the hastily scrawled script could somehow change the words themselves. They, however, remained the same as when he received the note, pressed into his hands by a wordless passerby. Tan stuffed the crumpled paper back into the pocket of his jeans and took a deep breath. Before him lay the front of The Mirage Hotel, its entrance screaming with aged ostentation. The dirty white stucco of the portico reached as far out onto the sidewalk as the building codes likely allowed, and the bright letters of the sign “THE MIRAGE HOTEL” were shedding their thin coat of gold leaf, revealing patches of dull grey beneath. Tan’s curiosity overcame his reservations, and he stepped beneath the portico and pushed through the heavy revolving doors into the foyer.

The inside was arguably as worn as the outside, but carried an almost graceful maturity. Almost. The foyer was a vast empty space with high ceilings and broad walkways. The once elaborate tiles were rubbed down to nothing more than brown smudges from years of foot traffic. Across the entryway Tan spotted the front desk, unoccupied and surrounded by pots of huge tropical plants. Behind the desk, a pair of elevators waited. He made his way across the great chamber, glancing around for signs of anything more nefarious than the décor. He spied a few lounge chairs tucked into corners and around other plants, and a few of them even had people in them, reading or chatting with one another. Tan felt some tension in his chest ease, it seemed to be a functioning hotel at the very least.

Tan reached the pair of brass elevator doors and looked for some kind of indication as to which one was “executive”, but found none. He pulled the paper back out, glancing back and forth between it and the pair of elevators. It specifically said executive.

“Can I help you sir?”

Tan jumped as the voice seemed to spontaneously emanate from his elbow. An elderly woman, no more than five feet tall, stood just beside him smiling up at him. Was she hidden amongst all of those palm fronds the whole time? She wore a skirt and coat - very professional attire – and a small gold rectangle pinned to her coat read “Kolme”. Tan stood speechless for a few moments, eyeing the old woman. Her smile, was it… mischievous? He recovered in time to remain polite and smiled back at her, in case he was misjudging her.

“Sorry, you startled me. I’m just looking for the executive elevator,” he said, gesturing to the elevators before him.

The old receptionist’s smile remained unperturbed, and she nodded gently. She walked to the end of the hall, past the second elevator, and pointed into another dense gathering of vaguely tropical flora. Tan followed her, skeptical. He peered past the reaching branches and indeed saw an inconspicuous door behind the shrubbery. A small plate on the wall had a single button, and faded embossed letters which read “Executive”. Tan looked back at the woman. She stood like a gargoyle, smiling and pointing with a statuesque stillness. Tan shrugged, pushed past some of the greenery, and pushed the button. He stepped back out to thank the woman, but where she stood only empty space remained. He shook his head - that old woman was light on her feet, if nothing else.

Tan’s patience had almost worn away to nothing by the time the elevator bell dinged, signaling its arrival. The doors heaved themselves open with a great shuddering rumble. Tan hesitated one final time. It didn’t seem like this elevator got much use; it looked like it was in dire need of some maintenance. He decided he had come this far - he might as well see it through. He pushed through the plants once more, and stepped into the creaking elevator.

Tan almost lost his footing as inertia suddenly pulled him sideways. He reached around for a handhold and managed to grab onto a horizontal metal pole beside his head. Expecting a cramped cube of metal and moldy carpet, he discovered the elevator extended far to his right, where another door lay. He was not moving vertically, but horizontally. The doors shut, but the rumbling continued. A distant horn blast made its way to Tan’s ears. Disoriented, he turned back to the doors he came through, but found himself facing a window. He watched as green landscape blurred past his vision. He was travelling at great speeds, trees flying past his eyeline and fading quickly into the distance. Dismayed, Tan pulled the note out of his pocket and read the words one more time.

“327 Third Street, The Mirage Express. Executive Cabin.”