#colleague

🟧 Escape 🟧

at the end of the game, where protag looks scared and defeated and says "I need this job," it reminds me of flashbacks, so I think his mom would say things like "you cant leave me, you need me and your father."

Getting out of the elevator is thinking he escaped. Being told he needs this job is manipulating. Going back into the elevator is starting the cycle again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

from one abuse cycle to the next. it doesn't end, does it? there will always be manipulation, there will always be abuse.

It's a circle.

Hole

another part of the game is having to feed something in a hole something alive. this could symbolize needing to give up any little spark you have to the hole. Needing to give up the light in your eyes so you can be the perfect child/employee/person

Dark

Careful where you step. If you're unaware of your surroundings, you'll get hurt.

Eaten

it symbolizes the way you have to "sweeten the deal" with others to get what you're asking for? or you have to suck up to them so they don't treat you like shit/chew you alive? like if you don't hide your true intentions/needs you'll get eaten alive

🟧🟨 Parents 🟨🟧

the goal is to find a sleeping pill before you make noise more then three times. If you fail to find the pill, your mom enters the room. you don't see what she looks like, just a distorted shadow figure. you see protags face looking terrified before you get a black screen with "[Ending 4: Parents.]" There is also a cross on the wall of the room, and when you interact with it, protag looks extremely uncomfortable, and I believe this is a heavy indicator of religious trauma, I believe that protag had abusive parents, specifically his mom.

I believe it was only his mom, because if you look under the bed, you find an old crawling of him, an angry monster and a quiet monster. I believe these monsters symbolize his parents, the angry one being his mom.

and at the end of the game, where protag looks scared and defeated and says "I need this job," it reminds me of flashbacks, so I think his mom would say things like "you cant leave me, you need me and your father."

Radiation

There is another floor where its like a nuclear waste plant or something. This could mean that corporate life is toxic, the people around you acting fake and shitty, slowly poisoning your life, bosses taking advantage of you, etc.

Rejected

I think it symbolizes the way you get destroyed if you don't meet someone's expectations. They will brutalize you, harass you, bully you, etc. Even when the expectations are completely arbitrary. Like how the resume expects you to know that having a functional kidney is most important you'll show how upset you feel when you get rejected, and they will grab onto that like a mf and use it against you.They'll destroy you for not being "perfect”

And for the floor itself: but a lot of stuff in it seems fake. the chair is glued to the ground, and the computer is cardboard. this could symbolize cooperate life as being dry and stiff, nothing changing, everyone around you acting fake and cheerful.

Butchered

if you try seeing what a person is truly like, you have the possibility of getting caught up in how toxic they are? those who don't perform well enough/can't keep up with the company's expectations, theyll get cut up/discarded like cattle

Stranger Danger

you meet doppelgangers of you and the coworker. in the first encounter, you lose no matter what. The Doppler are stuck in an elevator too, but they've been there for months. They take your place to escape, leaving you and coworker to rot in the elevator. this could mean that trusting others can lead to your demise. they could throw you under the bus and blame you for something, or put an unhealthy workload on you.

you go to the same floor again, but this time, if you play your cards right, you get the scissors and don't switch places. coworker tells you to "crack the weaker ones first, then negotiate for what you need." Once you get the scissors, coworker states that “That was cold-blooded newbie. you'd make a great employee here." which symbolizes the way you need to be absolutely ruthless in corporate life so you can survive; its live or die in that life, and sometimes you have to be brutal in order to keep living.

Fall

You need to be careful. Others can lead you to getting hurt. Normal guy asking if protag wants to take a seat is a perfect example; he knew that protag would fall to his death.

HELP

when protag gets shot after pushing the sos buzzer, it could signify the way people can shoot down your requests for help/Treat you like shit when you reach out for help.

There will be signs of you're asking for help from the wrong person. The Morse code for “LEAVE” and the “I love you” are indicators that something is wrong, and you can either not notice it, choose to ignore it, or take it as a warning and back off.

No smoking

Maybe it symbolizes how some people will get so focused on something, like tunnel vision, they can end up hurting themself and others.

Real

🟩 It could symbolize derealization

“He isn't real. None of this is real.” 🟩

or it's paranoia

"He doesn't actually like me. he was just using me.”

or it's fake friends

"You were just using me"

"yeah, no shit.”

Hired

Changing others if they arent “perfect.” Turning them into a husk of a human being so they can do what you want them to do; morphing them to fit others needs.

🟥 Ending 15 🟥

the game breaks. it's just him running. He's running and running, but it never stops. He can't escape; it doesn't end. No matter how many times you try, you will likely end up failing.

Even if it looks like an exit, it's not. It's just another entrance.

It's an endless cycle.

TRANS THEORY!

dopple coworker had beard stubble. antag (dopple protag) did not. yes, there were scissors in the elevator, but with the way antag was disheveled, I don't think he would care enough to shave with the scissors.

in a different game, (married in red,) there is a female that looks like him. some people think that this is him pre-transition, especially with the whole “without a hitch” or whatever the quote was

🟧🟨 This would also play into the abuse and religious trauma if the parents were conservative. 🟨🟧