“At the far end, next to a pillar, there was a water dispenser with a cup on top. Nothing inside, of course.”
The water dispenser is a piece of office furniture with no function beyond reminding you what this place was. You will see it in the columned rooms, the hypostyles, and in some baseboard corridors: a gray plastic tower, an empty blue tank, a disposable cup on top.
What it is like
- It is found in Level 0, pressed against a pillar or a partition.
- It gives no water, doesn’t break and doesn’t react if you strike it. It is a silhouette with a cup on top.
- It is part of the office set dressing, see signs and set dressing.
Why the archive lists it
It is the object every newcomer expects to work. They walk up, try the tap, and nothing comes out. That small frustration repeats in every wanderer, and it says more about the office than any note. The office has been empty a long time and whoever used it never refilled anything.
What it is for
In practice, for orienting yourself. In a columned room all the pillars are the same, but the dispenser isn’t. Many wanderers use it as a reference point when marking a route: “three pillars past the dispenser.”
Real water
Water is in the water bottles (thirst 45) and, as a rarity, in Almond Water (thirst 60). See Consumables for the numbers. The dispenser is dry because the world is a rationed one and gives away no fountains.
What is said
- Those who saw it speak of a dispenser with a dark stain on the carpet beneath it, as if it had dripped recently. No one has managed to find it twice.
- With the room silent, you hear a dripping that comes from no tap, some swear.
- It is said that drinking water from a fountain like that would leave a taste of rust and something worse for the head. No one has tried it and come back to tell.