Death House Press

The Mirror Lab

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So, I did the thing.

 

You know the thing where you make two mirrors face each other to see how many levels deep you can see.

 

Like, if it goes past seventeen or something then you’re looking into another aspect of reality or whatever.

 

But everyone assumes it’s a myth because each reflection gets progressively darker and smaller until you can’t see anything past a certain point.

 

But what if you had, like, really, really big mirrors and lots and lots of light?

 

I’m surprised no billionaire has ever tried it, or even a multi-millionaire.

 

Neither of those is me, of course--I’m just a customer service representative at a small shop that specializes in recognition products. You know, stuff like trophies, medals, ribbons, plaques, that kind of thing.

 

And by small I mean we could all go out to lunch and they wouldn’t even have to push two tables together to fit us all in.

 

We get a lot of business from the local University and not just for awards, but for signs, badges, nameplates and the like. 

 

We’re so small, in fact, that even though I was mainly hired to respond to emails and phone calls, I’m often asked to do deliveries, run the engraving machine, create proofs and even install the odd door sign.

 

Such as when the Department of Astronomy got a huge donation and needed a new hallway sign that said “The Mirror Lab.”

 

I was sent out for the install, which required a visitor’s pass to get into the new building, and a guard to unlock the access to the elevator’s basement button.

 

With all these precautions, you’d think they wouldn’t leave the lab door unlocked when they went to lunch, but they probably thought they’d done enough.

 

I mean, who’s going to steal a bunch of huge mirrors, right?

 

Certainly not me.

 

Still, after I installed the sign I took a peek inside the lab and saw rows of several massive mirrors thirty feet across in huge metal frames on robotic arms, presumably so they could be laid flat or flipped over for polishing.

 

The control panel was clearly labeled and so I tried something.

 

And within a few minutes, I was able to raise and half-flip two adjacent mirrors so they faced each other.

 

Then I cranked up the lights on each frame and stood in between the two mirrors and looked at my multiple reflections.

 

It was amazing!

 

I could see far beyond seventeen levels before it even started to dim.

 

I stood there for no more than a minute or two, before going back to the controls, and putting everything back the way I found it.

 

I then left the lab, gathered up my tools, took the elevator back up to the lobby, returned my visitor’s pass and got into my van to head back to the shop.

 

I tried to avoid looking in the rearview mirror because every time I did, I saw him. 

 

Sure, he might look like me, but I knew the truth. 

 

He’s from The Mirror Lab--or rather from the portal I opened using the mirrors themselves, and I’m the one who let him out--or rather in.

 

I saw it. 

 

I was transfixed as I watched him climb through that tunnel of reflections to get to me, to replace me, to become me.

 

I no longer have control over my own actions and am now nothing more than a voice inside what used to be my head.

 

I was the sole driving force of my life, but now I’m just a passenger.

 

I sincerely hope he’s a better driver than I was.

 

-G.Bennett Ulrich

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