The only light in the hallway comes from under each of the six doors and the Tiffany lamp. You look at the attendant to see if she might give you a hint. You glance at the polished stones. Is there some correlation between the stones and the doors?
She told you that the purple and green rooms are occupied. You briefly wonder what is happening in those rooms. You don’t hear any sounds coming from under the doors. You don’t smell anything that would give you a clue. The glowing colors under the remaining doors are red, yellow, blue and orange. The doors aren’t labeled. There isn’t a flyer or a brochure telling you what’s behind each door. Your lizard brain wants you to reach for your phone and try to search something about “The Sanctuary.”
The attendant stands a couple feet away from you. She’s giving you quiet and space to make a decision. You take a breath. For some reason – probably a feeling – you say, “The Blue Room, please.” The attendant walks to the table, selects a stone and places it in the pocket of her tunic. She then walks to the door of the Blue Room and glances in each direction before turning the handle.
Immediately your eyes need time to adjust to the light spilling out of the room. The attendant gently touches your elbow to assist you into the space. You see some kind of screen. It’s expansive – so large that you can’t quite tell how tall or wide it is. Is it curved? The screen encompasses the ceiling, or at least you think it does.
Starting at the floor and scaling to the ceiling, you see every shade of blue from the darkest, almost black indigo to cornflower blue that wants to fade to white. Are you swimming? Are you flying? You feel light-headed. You reach out to steady yourself and the attendant puts out her arm. You grab her arm and she leads you to the center of the space.
For the first time, you notice a chair. Or is it a chair? It looks like something a serious gamer would use. It’s ergonomic, sleek, white and encased in a clear bubble-like shield. The attendant presses a button on the back of the chair and the bubble slides out of the way to allow access to the seat. She smiles and motions for you to take the seat.
Gingerly, you step into what can only be described as a sterilized cocoon. You’ve never experienced a more comfortable chair – no pressure points, no need to adjust. You are completely supported and feel as though you are floating in the center of a quiet blue space. For a moment, you start to feel claustrophobic, but that is overridden by your excitement and anticipation of what comes next.
Once you are in position, she walks around to stand in front of you. She speaks quickly and quietly. “Each arm rest is equipped with hand controls. Place your hands on them now. Acquaint yourself. Push buttons and pull levers. Nothing can happen until I close the shield. Feel the knobs and familiarize yourself. The controls are intuitive. Push both forward to move faster. Push either side forward to move at a controlled pace in a certain direction. Pull one back to go back. Pull both back to stop. The left control will send you to the left. The right… You will see. Don’t over-think.”
The attendant steps out of view to give you time to adjust. You notice a slight texture on the grips. They fit your hands perfectly. The controls are white. Everything on the chair is white. There is not point in looking at the controls to perceive a difference between levers or buttons. Clearly, you are meant to feel the controls.
The attendant must have pressed the button because suddenly the shield closes to encase you in the bubble.
. . .