#floor 5

The Aquarium

Dark and winding hallways are framed by floor-to-ceiling tanks, thick curved glass serving as windows to the vast blue beyond. Sea creatures swim lazy circles to-and-fro; Schools of knife-like tangs, strangely spotted breams, sharks with too many rippling gills, and bottom feeders with dizzying patterns are only the beginning. All manner of teeth, eye, and limb co-exist in this haven of deep blue, and you can’t even say for certain that they aren’t real animals… just that you’ve never seen the likes of them before.

The tanks don’t seem to have a back wall. Actually, it feels like you’re walking beneath the ocean itself. In the far, dark distance, blurry silhouettes loom, giving you an overwhelming sense of smallness.

Smaller paths lead away from the overwhelming tank, into dark rooms with small capsules for jellyfish and octopi. Whale song plays softly in the background.

Doors to the side lead to a back hall, shiny white walls stained with water damage and dirt. Tanks hold fishy smelling food, while tubing moves water from the exhibits to noisy filtering machines.

Cold Storage

Maybe it's good that this place is hard to wander into unless you're looking for it. Tanks become large white chest freezers. Tubing becomes chains and hooks. The back rooms shift at some point into the Cold Storage room, where the sheer chill keeps the air dry and the smell of meat at bay.

Beef racks hang in rows so dense they almost form curtains of marbled red and white. Tiled floor becomes a metal walkway which bridges to acrylic polished concrete, stained red in channels that follow the path from the walkway to metal grilles lining the wall.

Testing Rooms

One might be relieved to find themselves in a hallway again. At least... briefly. Faded green tile adorns the walls. There are faded white doors with reinforced glass viewing slits and heavy duty latches-- barred from the outside.

Inside some are padded rooms, each cushion exactly a square meter large. Others are medical offices, with examination chairs, cabinets, and broken laptops. EKG machines, X-rays machines, and other medical equipment can be found, still functional. One can even find a whole storage closet full of medical supplies, including IV bags, bandages, and medicines.

The Morgue

Just down the hall are the double push doors of the Morgue.

Cabinets line the right wall, presumably with tools and supplies-- disinfectants, soaps, preservatives, makeup. Deep sinks frame the cabinets on both ends. Steel tables stand at the center-- three in total-- with bright lamps and side tables by each.

On the left wall are the rows and columns of small square doors-- refrigerators for body storage. Most are accompanied with a little light, indicating vacancy.