Testimony
“There are doors, sure, but hardly any of them open.”
Doors locked by default are leaves of 0.9 × 2.10 meters, with a frame at 2.15, that close about 15% of the openings in Level 0. In each world they add up to between ten and twenty. See also Door as an Object.
Figures
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Leaf | 0.9 × 2.10 m |
| Frame | 2.15 m |
| Openings with a leaf | about 15% of those that can take one without stretching it |
| Total | 10 to 20 doors per world |
How they work
- Closed it blocks the way and the view, and you see nothing of what's behind.
- Open or dismantled, the opening is like any other gap.
- It opens and closes by hand. When it shuts you hear the dry thud of the leaf, with no music and no warning.
- It can be dismantled whole: it comes out as a heavy object, two-handed, and taking it apart releases screws, hinges and planks. See Door as an Object.
Why few and shut
With few doors, and closed ones, the corridor gets back the feeling of a room. What's behind stops being just another gap and comes to depend on whether you make up your mind to open it.
How to tell them from the door to nowhere
Don't confuse them with the door to nowhere, which shows up about 2.24 times per square kilometer and exists with no room behind it. Doors locked by default open onto a real opening.
How to survive
- Listen before you open. A badly shut door sounds different.
- If you need material, a whole door gives you screws and planks for the Fastenings, though carrying it takes both hands.
- Close up behind you if you want no one to know which way you went.
What people report
- There is a note that speaks of a door that never opens. You recognize it by a scratch under the knob or a crooked sign stuck on. There is no lock and no key, and the door simply doesn't give.
- Some say certain closed doors return a knock from the other side.
See also
Signs and Set Dressing, Absurd Furniture, Chairs That Fill Themselves.
Mentioned in
O-020 · ObjectsDoor as an ObjectA closed door can be unscrewed and carried with both hands. Behind it stays an empty frame that tells you someone came through here.S-002 · Sublevels“Infinnovation Outpost 1” BunkerA closed building with an open metal door beside its opening and a name that appears in no directory.S-015 · SublevelsVery Long CorridorsEighty meters in a straight line, a door every three point six, and an exit sign at the far end that never gets closer.P-016 · PhenomenaThings That Change PlacesA door that was locked and now isn’t, a chair in the middle of the corridor that wasn’t there before, something that falls without being touched.