TS-1 - "Pier Mediation"
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TS-1: Pier Mediation

Class 2 Unsecured Minor Hazards No Hostility


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An instance of TS-1.

Space Overview

Transitory Space-1 is a shallow ocean of indeterminate size, upon which rests a series of interconnected wooden footbridges resembling isolated docks.


Description


TS-1 cannot be entered via a documented set of apertures within other levels, but rather via an interruption of some established route between them. An exit — whether the destination is chance-dependent or not, no matter the means of egress — may instead lead one to an isolated dock upon TS-1's being.

These docks are constructed entirely of an unidentified black wood, occasionally joined by rope or sparse metal bolts. These docks together form a small, almost mazelike juncture, seldom branching off into dead-ends or bending back into loops. Despite their state of isolation in an unknowably large sea, no instances of TS-1 have proved untraversable due to any wear or structural instabilities.

On two of these dead-ends are one of a pair of freestanding door frames, presumably of the same material as the walkway it rests upon. Regardless of the means or location of the intended exit, these frames are always occupied by a windowless white vinyl door.

The entrant in question is always deposited on a dead-end before one such door. The goal, then, becomes to locate and navigate to the second door of the pair. This is rarely a difficult feat: instances of TS-1 encountered by wanderers typically take 5 minutes or less to cross the bridges at a reasonable pace.

The second door leads to the destination intended by the original means of egress. Once crossed, TS-1 demanifests, unable to be accessed until it may be encountered by pure chance once again.

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A dead end of TS-1's docks, anchored in a shallow section of ocean floor.


The greater TS-1 is comprised of little more than a flat, relatively shallow ocean; its depth varies from ~1-5 meters below water level. Though no visible solar body is present in its sky, the air and sea are consistently warmed to an early summer haze. No current or breeze exists to rile the waters from stagnancy.

The only moving parts of TS-1 are the waters' inhabitants: a population of aquatic microorganisms with intricate mineral skeletons resembling motile grains of sediment to the naked eye, assumed to photosynthesize for lack of any other source of nutrients. The ocean floor is coated in their shells to an indeterminate depth, imbued with an uncomfortably bright sheen.


Traversing TS-1 poses little threat on its own; the only potential danger to be incurred is the possibility of falling off the walkways into the sea. The exits from TS-1 sit only upon the wooden platforms, which prove difficult to climb back up to once dismounted. Scant supplementary climbing structures exist alongside the docks, leaving a careless wanderer with little option other than to struggle up the slick wood poles to safety.

The complete nature of TS-1's entirety is at present indeterminate: the question of whether each instance that presents itself is contained within its own oceanic space or is merely part of an unknowably vast whole is yet to be answered. Nevertheless, even if the latter is the case, they must be sufficiently distant from one another to the point of undetectability — whether that be by sight, sound, or any other conventional means.

Any individual who enters is, by design, isolated — but rarely for long. The next step is a mere short walk away.


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