Of Gold and Thread

Theme: Conspiracy, Setting: Lovecraftian, Noun: Thread

*The Three Word Challenge was created by the ThemeAntics team as way to push our ability to "Story Differently". We are given three randomized words (A theme, a setting, and a noun) and are tasked to create a story using them. The goal is to create a compelling story that explores different premises and ideas. Stories will be shared as summaries and will  often exclude dialog, detailed descriptions or fleshed-out backstories. The goal is to focus primarily on the story itself. If you are interested, please feel free to take these story premises and write something of your own based on them. We love to see writers, do what they do best; write!

---

Joshua Lancaster, an IT Tech in Austin, after many months of contemplation, finally made the decision to visit the building he passed everyday on his 48-minute commute to and from work.

He hadn’t thought much of the nondescript windowless concrete building but after his favorite site, “TheTruthBehindTheMask.com”, had seeded the idea of government-funded mind control programs in his mind, he couldn’t get the structure off his mind.

The Truth Seekers community that frequented the site had often spoken of these odd and easy to ignore buildings and how they had often had links to population manipulation experiments and influence programs throughout U.S History. 

Joshua was generally a shy person and the idea of trying to unmask a burgeoning government conspiracy was well beyond his normal behavior but something had changed in him.

After reading about the tragedies of the past that had been precipitated by these clandestine government programs and realizing that most, if not all, had been preventable if one concerned citizen had gotten involved, Joshua felt it was his duty to do something..

Joshua was nervous as he sat in a thirteen year old commuter sedan that was in serious need of some maintenance. He was parked in the only open spot he could find in the parking lot directly outside the suspicious gray building he was soon to infiltrate.

The only visible entry to the building was a set of glass double doors that likely led into the main lobby of the building. Strangely, though the doors were glass, there was no way to see inside. On his drive by the building, Joshua had on numerous occasions driven through the parking lot, hoping to get a quick glimpse of the activities inside but he had yet to find an angle of approach that granted any visibility beyond that glass.

 After several minutes of prep and self-assuring words, Joshua hopped out of his car and made his way to the main entryway. 

As he approached, he could see the doors had the word “Entrance” prominently displayed and neatly printed below that were the words “Department of Actionable Items” with the normal operating hours of the building; 8am - 5pm, Monday through Friday. 

 He took a deep breath, pulled open the door and entered the building.

As he opened the doors, the familiar smell of a DMV washed over him. As his eyes refocused, from the noon day sun he was leaving behind him, he could see a large football sized room filled with counters, and small cubicles. Directly in front of him sat a welcome desk. 

 The layout, the colors, the hum and hue of the fluorescent lights, once again brought his mind to the DMV. 

 Behind the welcoming desk was a large waiting area split into two sections of seating; each holding about 30-40 chairs each. But oddly enough, there was no one in the waiting area.

Joshua thought back to the packed parking lot and squinted his eyes trying to comprehend how so many cars could be parked at this building with none of them being “customers”. Did this building just have that many employees?

 Taking more stock of the building, Joshua noticed that at each counter and in every cubicle sat a man or woman in a gray buttoned up shirt and most seem to be wearing some type of khaki pants. 

 At first he felt a bit unsettled by the uniformity, but as he looked at each of the employees, all focused and concentrated on the monitors sitting on their desks or at their stations, he realized they were all just normal looking people; All ethnicities, heights, sizes, skin colors, and hair styles. 

 But still, something felt off. 

 It almost seemed that those differences and the visible variety of people was almost…

 deliberate. 

 As the thought began to settle in his mind, he heard the voice of the man, waiting patiently behind the welcome counter, saying hello and asking how he could help him today.

Joshua approached the counter, a bit unsure of what to say simply asked what this building was used for. 

 The man with a genuine smile and emanating a sense of warmness responded that the building was used by the Department of Actionable Items and that he should take a number.

 Joshua, hearing his response, asked exactly the man what the Department of Actionable Items was. The man, completely ignoring his question, politely repeated for him to take a number. Joshua, confused by his response, asked if he had heard his question. The man responded kindly and politely that he could not personally answer his questions, but that if he took a number, all his questions would be answered shortly. 

 Joshua thought that was a bit strange but nodded, and took a slip from the number machine standing next to the welcome desk. 

His number was 325.

 From a  digital display hanging slightly in front of the waiting area, where all occupants would likely be able to see, Joshua saw the words, “Now Serving: 321”. 

 Joshua looked around the waiting area again, seeing no one there, looked back at his ticket, and then back at the man at the welcome desk, who looked back, smiling warmly.

 Joshua thanked the man and began to move to walk toward the waiting area. But before he took his first step, something occurred to him, and he stopped and looked back to the welcome desk attendant and asked him for his name. 

 The man smiled broadly and said his name was Charles while pointing and the name badge attached to the breast pocket of his shirt. Somehow Joshua hadn’t noticed it originally and thanked Charles for helping. Charles gave a very slight bow and said it was his pleasure.

 Joshua made his way to the waiting area and took a seat. Just as he sat, a voice echoed over the intercom, “Now serving 322”. 

 Joshua looked about the waiting area again, seeing no one else, then looked at the many counters and cubicles littered around the area and saw no movement. It all felt a bit eerie to him but he continued to wait patiently. 

 After about 40 minutes of waiting and hearing 323, and 324 be called, the intercom finally called 325. Somewhat startled, as he had slowly began to drift to sleep, Joshua jumped up and exclaimed, that he was 325. 

 No one responded. 

 As he stood, it occurred to him that he had been called but he had no idea where to go. As he looked around the room, he noticed that at every station there were small digital displays but all of them seemed blank. 

 As his eyes scanned the stations, he noticed that quite a few cubicles away from him, there was a display that seemed to be on. After squinting and straining to see what the display said to no avail, Joshua decided to walk in that direction to see that the display indeed held his number. 

 As he walked by the cubicles in this particular row, he noted similarly dressed men and women all typing and looking intently at their computer monitors. None of them seemed to be aware of his presence and not a single individual looked up from their screens to acknowledge his passing. That gave Joshua goosebumps but he wasn’t sure why. 

 As he neared the lighted display, he finally was able to confirm it in fact did show the number 325. Joshua reached the cubicle to see a man working intently at his computer like everyone else. Like everyone else, the man seemed not to notice his presence. 

 Quietly and politely, Joshua said to the man that he was 325. Hearing his voice, the man immediately stopped typing, quickly looked up from his screen and greeted Joshua by warmly saying “Please take a seat”.

 Joshua took a seat at the desk in the cubicle across from the man, with the computer monitor back facing away from him. 

As he sat, Joshua glanced at the man at the desk's name tag and it read “Charley”. Mentally, Joshua noted how strange it was that this man’s name was so close to the man at the welcome desk. 

 Once fully seated, Charley asked Joshua how he could help him for the day. Joshua, not sure exactly what to say, responded that he wasn’t exactly sure but was interested in what the Department of Actionable Items was all about. 

 Charley responded with an “aaah” and said that he could help.

 Before Joshua could respond, Charley stood up from his desk and said that it would take him a moment to grab a file and that he’d be right back. 

 Joshua, somewhat taken aback by that response, asked what he meant and what file he would be grabbing. But before he could fully get his questions out, the man had walked around the desk, past Joshua and exited the cubicle. 

 Joshua watched as Charley calmly walked down the row of cubicles until he disappeared from his view when he took a turn.

 The moment Charley left his view, a pang of fear struck Joshua. He suddenly felt a strong sense that he was in danger and that he needed to leave. But another part of him told him to relax and that nothing even hinted that he was in danger. That he had come here for some form of answer and it seemed as if they were giving it to him; even if in an odd manner. 

 A few minutes passed and Charley had not returned. Joshua looked down the cubicle aisle in the direction he had seen him go but saw nothing. Standing up, he looked around. The cubicles were just below his eyeline making it nearly impossible to see anything happening, save being able to see the front entrance, waiting area, and welcome desk. 

 Out of curiosity, he walked to the nearest cubicle wall to peer over and see what was happening in the neighboring space. He peered over to see the same thing he was already accustomed to; a woman working intently at her computer. She didn’t seem to notice him peering over and as he looked He was able to, after some trying, read the name “Charlise” on her name tag. 

Once again he saw a name with striking similarity to Charlie and once again, it struck him as odd. Now even more intrigued, he began straining to see if he could see what was on her computer screen. Sadly at his angle, he was unable. 

 Moving over to the opposite cubicle wall, he peered over to view Charley’s other neighbor and saw a man sitting at his desk, also intently working at his computer. Similarly, seeming unaware of being observed.

 Checking his name tag he saw that the man’s name was “Carl”. A wave of odd relief washed over Joshua. At least the guy's name wasn’t “Charlie” or something. 

 He plopped back down in his chair wondering where “Charley” had gone. A few more minutes passed and thoughts continued to fly through Joshua’s mind. Then one thought gave him pause; Could he maybe take a peek at Charley’s computer screen to get an idea of what was going on here?

Leaning toward the desk, Joshua reached out his hand and grabbed the edge of Charley’s monitor. He began to apply a bit of pressure to turn the monitor and over his shoulder he heard “Alright! Mr. Lancaster. I found the file I was looking for”. 

 Joshua jumped back, turning swiftly to see Charley standing just behind him at the entrance of the cubicle holding out a thin manilla folder.

Instinctively, Joshua took the folder from Charley. Then Charley walked around his desk and sat down. 

 Extending his hand across the desk toward Joshua with a small sheet of paper between his thumb and index finger, Charley said “Also, you’ll need this Mr. Lancaster”. 

 At the time, Joshua was transfixed on the closed manilla folder in his right hand and outstretched his left to grab the paper, without fully looking up. Consequently, he fumbled the small sheet of paper in his hand releasing it, causing it to float softly to the floor behind Charley. 

 Charley chuckling lightly exclaimed emphatically that he could get that. 

Suddenly, Charley was on his hands and knees behind his desk searching for the small sheet of paper. 

 Instantly realizing his opportunity, Joshua quickly stood up, placed  two hands on Charley’s desk and leaned across it to get a good view of the monitor screen.

 The screen was blank. 

 Joshua quickly sat back down in his chair confused. Thinking through the rationale, he just rationalized that his computer likely fell asleep. Then Joshua’s IT brain kicked in. 

 Only a few moments had passed and Charley was still on his hands and knees looking for the piece of paper Joshua had dropped. 

 Joshua leaned forward in his seat, reached across the desk and quickly tapped a few keys on Charley's keyboard to wake up the monitor. Leaning across the desk again Joshua craned his neck to see what had popped up on the screen. 

But it was still blank. He quietly tapped a few more keys and nothing happened.

 And then he had a realization. He sat back down in his seat and took a good look at the computer monitor and the keyboard. 

 There were no wires attached to both. No power cord, no USB Cords, no HDMI cords, no nothing. He now leaned down to peer under the desk. 

 He saw Charley frantically looking for the paper on the ground and noticed something else missing. 

 There was no computer tower.

Joshua sat up quickly with his back straight as his mind raced. 

 What was going on? Is his computer operating off of an internal battery? Am I missing something? 

 As his mind tried to make sense of things, his eyes noticed something for the first time that he had clearly missed until his mind had gotten into this heightened state. 

 Trailing from the back of Charley’s gray shirt was a nearly imperceptible, easily overlooked thread running straight up, toward the ceiling.

And even stranger was that this thread was a faint but brilliant gold color. 

 Joshua focused his eyes, trying to understand what he was seeing. He traced the thread upwards and followed it as it seemed to flow into the ceiling. The ceiling was very high so he lost track of it. But as his eyes lost focus on that thread, he noticed that there were other threads all flowing up to the ceiling, seemingly all converging toward what might be one centralized point near the ceiling, out of sight.

 Joshua stood up looking over the cubicle wall, mind now aware of what to look for.

 Astonishingly, as he looked about, he noticed that all the cubicles within his eyes' focus range had one single thread  trailing upwards to the ceiling. 

 As he looked around, focused on identifying other threads he heard a voice say, “Here we are”.

Looking toward the voice, Joshua saw Charley, on one knee, handing up a small sliver of paper toward him. This time focused on the paper, he grabbed it handley. Charley chuckled saying that these things happen sometimes. 

 In his hand was a numbered ticket. On the ticket was the number 325. 

 Charley then said that if he returned to the waiting area, his number would be called again.

 In somewhat of a stupor, Joshua responded, thank you and made his way out of the cubicle back to the waiting area. 

 As he walked by the cubicles he had previously walked by, he made a note of 2 things.

 On.  Not one of the computer monitors or keyboards he saw had any wires or discernible power cables. 

 And secondly, that every person he saw had a single golden thread coming from them that went upwards toward the ceiling. 

 Joshua made it back to the waiting area but before he sat, he looked toward Charles, and just like everyone else he had seen, there was the golden thread.

 He sat down, almost forgetting that moments ago he had been given a manila folder and had yet to open it. 

 Joshua took a deep breath. 

 He opened the manilla folder and inside the folder was one crisp sheet of paper with only one thing written on it:

 

 “Dear Mr. Lancaster, 

We are excited to share that you have been selected for the final stage of the interview process. You will now have the opportunity to speak directly with the Senior Director. 

Regards, Assistant to the Senior Director

Carlie Persons”

 

Joshua was stunned. What interview were they speaking of? Who is the Senior Director? What is going on?

And then suddenly, the blood in every inch of his body went cold. 

Somehow he had overlooked it but it dawned on him suddenly. 

How did they know his name? He had never said it and no one had ever asked. 

And wait, didn’t Charley, after returning with the Manila folder call him “Mr. Lancaster”.

And again, the feeling of danger returned. He needed to leave. He needed to leave now. And just as the thought crossed his mind, the intercom crackled and said “Now Serving 325”.

Joshua froze. His heart pounded. His vision swimming. 

What was going on? What had he gotten himself into? Who are these people?

Then suddenly, he noticed something he had overlooked.

On the back wall, past all the stations and cubicles there sat a very large display. It had to be at least a full story tall but he must have previously missed it because it was blank…

…but now it wasn’t 

In bright red digital letters it said 325. 

Joshua’s already pounding heart, quickened in pace. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe.

What was happening?

And then, a hand gently touched his shoulder and someone to his side said “325”.

He looked up to see Charles’ kind smiling eyes looking down at him. His face with that same welcoming smile from before.

Charles said that it looked like Joshua had been selected for the final interview and that he could follow him to the Senior Director. 

For some odd reason, Charles’s presence eased the panic that Joshua had just been feeling. It was as if the voice of a long forgotten friend had been calling out to him and it eased his anxiety.

Joshua heard himself say “Okay” and Charles nodded slightly and began to walk toward the cubicles; toward the large digital sign that said 325. 

As Charles walked forward, Joshua stood, stepping out into the aisle of the waiting area. 

He looked toward Charles as he slowly walked away and turned his head the other direction, toward the two glass double-doors that clearly marked the entrance and now for him, the exit. 

His mind began racing again. 

All he had to do was leave. Walk toward the exit, get in his car, go home and never think of coming back to this place again. 

But a small part of him whispered that he had made it this far and he clearly was only one step away from the truth; no matter what that truth was. 

Was he really going to run away now?

He stood unmoving for what seemed like an eternity, unsure of what he should do. And in the silence of that deliberation, he heard that voice; that welcoming kind reassuring voice. 

 “Mr. Lancaster, are you coming?”

 And without a moment’s hesitation, Joshua responded , “Yes, I’m coming.”He followed behind Charles, the digital letter on the wall becoming ever larger.

And as he moved down the aisle of cubicles this time, it was different. 

As he passed each cubicle he saw those same workers but this time, they didn’t sit intently looking at their computer screens typing away. This time they sat, looking up at him intently. Each with the soft subtle smile of satisfaction… of welcome.

He didn’t know how long he followed Charles or how far he walked but he eventually found himself, standing directly below those large red letters in front of two large wooden doors, Charles standing next to him.

In front of those doors, stood a woman, in the same uniform as her fellow workers. She said her name was Carlie and that she was the Assistant to the Senior Director and that the Senior Director was ready to see Joshua. 

Joshua looked at Charles and Charles nodded slightly with that same smile. 

Joshua walked forward and Carlie, turned grabbing the handles of both wooden doors and opened them nearly entirely. 

The room behind the doors was entirely black. All Joshua could see was the floor, illuminated by the light of the room he was standing in, extending into a deep unbroken darkness.

Carlie, now standing near one of the opened doors, said “We look forward to working with you!”

Joshua, without thinking, walked forward, taking a few steps across the threshold of the doors

He then turned back, to look toward Charles for reassurance.

But something was different. Charles' welcoming smile and kind eyes were gone. Charles looked back at Joshua with a gaunt face with sunken eyes, lips pulled back against his teeth. And Joshua saw it for the first time; The Fear..

As he saw that, Joshua yelled “Wait!” and began to make his way back to where he came from but before he could move. The doors swung closed at an unearthly speed and with a loud resounding thud. 

Joshua stumbled back, now enveloped in an unending darkness. He rushed to the door, banging on the wood, groping for a handle to grab and pushed with all his might. But the door didn’t to budge.

And that’s when fear overtook him. 

Joshua's heart began to drum, his breath began to heave in his chest and tears began to well in his eyes.All he could hear was his breathing and his heart's rhythmic pounding beat . 

 

And then he heard…

 

No… he felt something behind him. 

 

Still facing the doors, he began to see the darkness around him lift, replaced by the soft glow of something illuminating the space behind him; a soft Golden glow. 

Joshua, with the little will he had left him, began to turn toward the thing he felt and the source of the golden glow. As he forced himself to turn, he noticed all around him, golden threads, emanating soft golden glows. They were above him, on the ground, coming from the walls and were all leading him toward that…. That feeling… that energy… still out of his visual range.

As he completed his turn, the once glow had become a bright and brilliant light that was now blinding him but he could feel that something lurking behind it, hidden by the light. 

His eyes were entirely closed now, as he could not take looking into the golden light. Then slowly the light began to dim. Behind his eyelids, he felt the light soften to what seemed to be a normal brightness and he opened his eyes.

And he saw it.

Before he could even think he dropped to his knees, legs gone numb, and mind broken. 

What he saw was unfathomable to his frail  human mind. The golden threads he had seen all around him were coalesced into something that his mind and eyes could not perceive. Its immensity, its grotesqueness, its overwhelming presence… It all was beyond comprehension.

He thought he knew what existence was. He thought he knew what death might be. He thought he knew what fear felt like. 

He was wrong. 

And the being before him made it clear that some realities are not worth knowing.  That some truths are  too “true” to be unmasked. That some truths must remain hidden to preserve our mortal sanity. That some truths are to never be known to save us from an oblivion that overwhelms and pervades all.. 

He tried to avert his eyes from it but it was pointless. Even looking away, all he saw was It. 

It was all. 

It was everything. 

Then darkness.

 

- - - 

 

He sat staring intently at this computer screen, typing away at his task when the woman entered his cubicle. She said her was 395. 

He greeted her warmly and asked her to take a seat.

She did.

She asked what this place was and what was going on. 

He responded with an “ahhh” and assured her he could help her.

He got up and began to leave to get the appropriate file. 

She grabbed his arm.

He stopped and looked back. 

She said “I’m sorry. I didn’t get your name”.

With a chuckle he apologized. 

He said “My name is Charlie”. 

She said “Okay! Thanks”.

The name felt wrong when he said it but he knew it was his name.

She released his arm and he said he’d be right back.

He smiled and walked away to find the appropriate file.