Room 216

“You came really fast! I only called you ten minutes ago! This is the room we were researching about, while I was exploring, my colleague vanished.” says the scientist next to the door, “Your mission, for the two of you, will consist to discover how did he disappear and, if possible, to save him.”.

After that, we enter and the sound of a door closing can be heard.

Only me and an another detective are occupying an old living room, the old smelling wallpapers are yellow, a large mirror is the only element on them. The furnitures of the room consist of a cathodic television on a shelf with a clock on the left and a phonograph on the right, a wooden table with six chairs and a rotary phone on it. The only source of light is a light on the ceiling.

The detective simply says: “Great a mirror, time to check my hair, start the case without me”.

The drawers in the shelf contain basic stuff, from journals, to manual about the television and even cleaning equipment. After finding some papers, I realize that some are in German, not a common language in the United Kingdom, I proceed to write that information on my notebook and ask my colleague about the language, maybe he knows how to read German.

“I found some papers in German, do you k…”

No detective in front of the mirror nor in the rest of the room.

My attention quickly goes back to the shelf, the drawers are moving backward, like someone was pulling them from the other side except there is only a wall, the drawers can’t even go backward normally, there is not enough place. The items in the drawers disappear and reappear like the were being taken then replaced. The movements stop and every drawers are back to their initial place.

I take the television remote and decide to turn the TV on while going to sit on a chair which is facing a rotary phone. One strange element is the chair I want to sit on, impossible to move it, nothing blocks it and it doesn’t seem to be screwed on the ground so I decide to go on another chair.

As I am about to sit, the rotary phone start to ring and I take the call.

“Who’s on the other side?”

That is the voice of the detective
“It’s me, where are you?”

“Despite looking normal, you can go through the mirror,
I’m currently sitting on a chair in a mirrored version of the room
and the door is locked from the outside.”

“And how did you call the rotary phone,
you know the phone number?”

“No, I couldn’t input a number,
I simply picked up and it called you.”

“Okay, I found some stuff written in German,
see if you find something interesting on your side”

End of the call, there is not a single weird thing here, the room is weird. I turn off the TV and decide to use the phonograph, the song that comes out is in German and every few seconds it cuts then continues, probably corrupted.

Nach der französischen Niederlage

The clock is old and broken, the time shows ten past ten PM and a few seconds.

Nach dem Bomben- und Sirenenregen

It is possible to change the time but I prefer not to touch it, it could be important for the police but I’m sure my colleague would change it with no remorse.

Eine deutsche Invasion

I turn off the phonograph, I can’t understand a thing of what the singer said.

Nach der französischen Niederlage

The clock is old and broken, the time shows ten past ten PM and a few seconds.

Nach dem Bomben- und Sirenenregen

It is possible to change the time but I prefer not to touch it, it could be important for the police but I’m sure my colleague would change it with no remorse.

Eine deutsche Invasion

I turn off the phonograph, I can’t understand a thing of what the singer said.

“We should switch side, look for something different, if you need something, call me with the phone” says the detective standing near the mirror

I agree with his idea and start going                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                through the mirror.

The room looks exactly like a mirrored version of the main room.
I turn on the phonograph, which has the same problem as the other one and I start exploring the
room to search the difference and I noticed a few, first, after a quick check, the clock shows nine
past nine PM, a few seconds before ten minutes, the
difference between the two clocks seems to be of an hour and a few seconds.

Und die amerikanische Isolation

                              Secondly, the TV, this time, it is still BBC One, classic English TV channel but everything is in
German, never saw that before.
                                                           After a little check, the door is effectively locked from the outside, the inside locks aren’t closed.

Die Krone hatte nur einen Ausweg

                                                                            I turn off since, like the other one, it is in German but the lyrics don’t seem to be the same.
RING RING

                                                     The phone is shaking for the second time, probably the detective, after sitting on a chair, I take the phone.

“From what I saw, it seems to be the same room, except for the TV,
what did you find on your side?”

“The time on the clock aren’t the same, did you touch it?”

“Yes, moved a few seconds backward the time to see if it was still working”

“I see and last question, do you speak German?”

“I was going to ask you the same question.”

“I think we saw all we could, we should talk to the scientist.”

“Go back to the normal room, I’m knocking on the door.”

                                                                                                        I proceed to go back in the normal room
and immediately saw the detective knocking on door, then open a few seconds later, showing the scientist which immediately says.

“You’ve finished the case?”

“Yes, I understood how your colleague disappeared” said the detective.

And I complete: “And I have an idea on how to bring it back.” 

“Perfect! How?” asks the scientist.

I finally move the chair which is facing the phone and the other detective also invites the scientist to sit down.
“Scientific should learn patience.”