Destination: 404: “The Breakroom”
Day 3 8:30 AM . “Dear Diary,
The break room felt alive,
As if it had just been filled with people, conversation and laughter, only a moment before I entered.
Despite being empty, it was loud compared to the rest of the world I had seen. The fluorescent lights buzzed above like glowing wasps nests. The coffee machine made strange clicking noises, as if it were adjusting some interior settings. And loudest of all was the vending machine, filled with colorful bags of sweet and salty goodness.
I walked up to it and observed closer. Everything seemed normal. All normal numbers and labels. But there was one thing about it that caught my eye. A sticker, which read:
‘Property of Zone 305 For repairs, call 305-724-8727’
My first reaction was to look around and see if there was a phone. A quick search of the room and, well, there wasn’t. I thought maybe I could write down the number and call it later, but of course, there was nothing to write with either. So I decided that after my snack, I would try to memorize it.
Gazing within the machine, I chose my first two treasures: -Doritos (The Nacho Cheese kind), and -Goldfish (The cute little fishy crackers)
Only then, I realized I had no money!
But then… for some unknown reason, I had the thought of taking the bus note and sticking it in the machine’s dollar slot. So my hand dug in my pocket, pulled it out, folded it in half to a dollar bill shape, and slowly stuck it in.
And…
Silence.
Silence.
-BEEEP-
It worked!!! It really worked!!! And not only that, my credit read as “$2”, which was exactly enough to get what I wanted! So I quickly entered the numbers for the Doritos and Goldfish.
The machine buzzed even louder, vibrated a bit, and suddenly, two of the snacks within were pushed forward and plopped below to the retrieval area. My hand quickly went to grab the bags, but when I pulled them out, I instantly felt disappointed.
They were not snacks I had chosen.
‘I got cool ranch, and barbecue? I like Doritos, but I hate cool ranch. The barbecue Lays were fine, I guess, So I’ll just have them for now’
I walked over to the coffee maker. It also had an identical repair service sticker on it. However, I thought to myself.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have coffee. It’s already getting kind of hot, and caffeine will just dehydrate me.’
Luckily, there was an option for water. So I grabbed one of the small cups and poured myself some water.
‘I’ve never seen a coffee maker that dispences water before’ I thought to myself.
That’s when I noticed there was another door, in the corner, almost hidden away.
Like it was hiding.
‘STAFF ONLY’ it read.
Without thinking, and carrying my snacks with me, I opened it.” -Harold
