WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:07.160 I arrived at the Hotel Haltzman late on a bright 2 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:09.800 when drawn afternoon. The sky over some brigida streaked and 3 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.240 shifting ribbons of cirrus, and the sea below the cliffs 4 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.080 shimmered with the kind of introubled and different so only 5 00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:17.839 coastal water achieves. The hotel, perched above the esplanade, had 6 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:20.280 stood for nearly a century. Its sand colored stoned, the 7 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:22.920 sword cut with elaborate balconies, every arch set like a 8 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:25.800 portal onto story you'd heard once and half remembered ever since. 9 00:00:26.519 --> 00:00:29.640 Retirement had come quietly from me as predicted. I was 10 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:31.839 only a few months up from the reference desk, and 11 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:33.759 if I'd been expecting a clean break from the note 12 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:36.079 card ordliness that dominated my life for four decades, they 13 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:39.159 supposed I'd picked the wrong hotel. Hotel Holtzman was led 14 00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:42.159 in among certain traveling circles famous for silver service and 15 00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:46.280 classical eccentricity. Even before I crossed the threshold, stealing myself 16 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:48.159 for seven days of books and salty air, I could 17 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:50.880 feel some faint, delightful friction, something that might not want 18 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:54.479 to resolve into perfect sense. The lobby was proof Marsac 19 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:57.520 marbled beneath the Persian runners, walls hung with Sepi photographs 20 00:00:57.560 --> 00:01:00.000 of the city in horse drawn ages, the circular decmut 21 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.719 and by a studious supercised so man in swallowtail jacket. 22 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:05.439 I announced my name. He accepted it as if handling 23 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:08.840 a precious volume. Room four thirty two, he said, scanning 24 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:10.959 his ledger, and slid across a key card contained in 25 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:13.719 a navy blue sleeve written on it in gold script, 26 00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:17.359 four hundred thirty two. Fourth floor was tall. It amused 27 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:20.840 me instantly. The card even had a printed diagrammatany map, 28 00:01:20.920 --> 00:01:23.840 the blocky outline of the hotel's metal levels, clarifying assumed 29 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.920 any labyrinth in the passage to come the elevator, a 30 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.719 wood paneled shoe books murmured. Upper classical music wafted from 31 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:33.519 speakers hidden in the base boards, the third movement of something. 32 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:36.519 As I emerged, a corridor revealed itself in a soft 33 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.959 yellow dazzle and tea corsconces velvet benches that copet the 34 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:42.599 color of old library bandings, the air honeyed with some 35 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:45.439 memory of cloves and polish. My room was on the 36 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:47.920 right of brass plaque stamped four hundred thirty two affixed 37 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:51.239 to the dozed dark hook, just as promised, directly across 38 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:54.640 nine hundred seventy three. But what caught me almost at 39 00:01:54.680 --> 00:01:57.040 once was the door immediately adjacent to mine, only thirty 40 00:01:57.079 --> 00:02:00.000 centimeters down, with its own heavy handle and identical plot. 41 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:02.879 It read two hundred fifty eight. The next door I 42 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:06.040 could see a little farther was six hundred one, while 43 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:08.400 down the opposite length of corridor, half hidden behind a 44 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:12.199 corner clumb of three hundred twelve. No two consecutively numbered rooms, 45 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:16.360 no reasonable progression. No four hundred thirty one nor four 46 00:02:16.439 --> 00:02:19.439 hundred thirty three. Two hundred fifty eight sat next to 47 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:22.319 four hundred thirty two, as if nothing were unusual. For 48 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:24.319 a second, I suppressed the smile that comes from a 49 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:27.520 puzzle stumbled upon by accident, a town that thought over. 50 00:02:27.719 --> 00:02:30.360 May be the designers borrowed some quxotic numbering sequence to 51 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:33.319 fitter innovation. There are always quirks in all totales of 52 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:37.199 the shaped rooms. Nookes retrofitted with improbable logic systems that 53 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:39.719 made sense for long vanished dis clucks, and only linger 54 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:42.400 as low key mayhem for every one else. As I 55 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:45.199 inserted my key card to satisfying click, the little green 56 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:47.520 dyer blinking once I stole an extra glance at those 57 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:52.360 numbers four hundred thirty two, two hundred fifty eight, nine 58 00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:56.400 hundred seventy three. No pattern, only a scatter, as if 59 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:58.479 the rooms were index cards pulled at random from a 60 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:01.439 giant file. I wondered if this was merely the kind 61 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:03.159 of detail you grow to love about a place, or 62 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:06.240 whether it meant a complication. Still, the whole was empty, 63 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:08.479 except for a quietly humming maid's cart on the far end. 64 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:12.319 I pocketed my doubts and entered the room. Inside all 65 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.159 was classic comfort, high ceiling's, tall windows pulling light over 66 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:17.400 art deco fixtures, a balcony with an eager view of 67 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:20.319 the sea. My bag arrived in less than five minutes. 68 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:23.479 It is mild confusion slipped away with my shoes, replaced 69 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:26.639 by a deep exail and grateful appreciation, I told myself, 70 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:30.080 somewhat out loud. At tired mind hunting puzzles, I convinced 71 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:32.439 myself I would not mention the odd numbers at the desk, 72 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:37.080 not yet anyway. That night, drifting beneath loosely starched sheets, 73 00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:39.240 the golden curve of the number four hundred thirty two, 74 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:41.639 hunks still behind my eyes, flickering with something more than 75 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:44.840 absent minded interest. A week's rest had never seemed so 76 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:49.319 beguilingly unstable. Mourning routines are easy for me. Habit is 77 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:52.199 a protective pelt. I found the hotel's coffee, served in 78 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.080 the sunlit room, a high glass base over and with 79 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:56.680 fig trees, tendrils of jasmine, and the content to drift 80 00:03:56.680 --> 00:03:59.280 of toast and newsprint. I staked out a table by 81 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:01.080 the fountain and skin bashed a rough schedule of what 82 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:03.719 I wanted to do. Explored the tidal poles beneath the cliffs, 83 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:06.280 stroll along the old city's tangled lanes, sample a new 84 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:09.840 book every afternoon from the famous Holsman Library. After breakfast, 85 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:11.479 I would walk the promen Nod or call in at 86 00:04:11.479 --> 00:04:15.039 the open air market. My afternoons were reserved for the library, 87 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:17.480 a serene saniri lined wall to wall with well tended 88 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:20.920 volumes and half a dozen languages, hydranges and cut glass vaces, 89 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:24.000 and beside the east facing windows, long tables framed by 90 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:27.120 deep green disk lamps. Every evening I made a ritual 91 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:29.319 of taking a novel out onto my balcony, legs propped 92 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:31.959 against the balustrade, reading until the sea went black, with 93 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.240 only land and scattered below. The hotel's style of comfort 94 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:38.560 was happily antiquarian. Every detail from the brass handled mail 95 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.079 boxes in the lobby is still and use to the 96 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:42.720 benear worn by the dorman seemed to honor vanished order. 97 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:45.720 The staff war uniforms a century out of date, oblue 98 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:48.360 sashes and white gloves, their manners so smooth and exact 99 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:50.360 that I often wondered if they trained for the theater. 100 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.680 The walls, especially in the upper corridors, were crowded with frame, 101 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:57.360 photograss and maps. Most suited tooned are water stained glimpses 102 00:04:57.360 --> 00:04:59.839 of San Brigido through the years, streets half submerged in 103 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:01.959 it in nineteen twenties, flood a parade of hats. In 104 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:05.519 nineteen fifty one, the hotel's forsat under construction. In some 105 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:07.920 he could make out troops of Guess and Picot staring 106 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:09.959 out at the oceum with the patient boredom of travelers 107 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.959 before checkin. Though my trade was in order an index, 108 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:15.199 I had no agenda for the week, just a growing 109 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:17.199 affection for how the holt and gave the impression of 110 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:20.199 deep significance arranged for no one in particular. As the 111 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:22.639 days spun quietly armored, I came to no handful of 112 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:26.000 the regulars. Ant An, the night concierge, always at the 113 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.399 desk from dusk until the first edge of sunrise, had 114 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:30.839 the comment of someone who did not mind small mysteries. 115 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:33.319 He kept a ledgend not just for rooms, but for 116 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:35.519 tiny guess habits. And note that her light two sugars, 117 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:38.240 not one a morning coffee or the a mess Vegas 118 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:41.040 umbrella should be left beside the elevator whenever clouds gathered. 119 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:45.240 Mess Viga, a reader almost aggressively devoted to fiction, introduced 120 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:47.199 herself during a rains call in the lobby. When she 121 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:50.120 noticed my book Don't waste your daylight hours in the 122 00:05:50.120 --> 00:05:52.879 city Museum, she advised, you'll find a much better character 123 00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:55.240 study in the West Solariumity. The chairs in their remember 124 00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.279 story ease, I think. Later she mapped for me all 125 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:00.519 her preferred reading spots and gridapentil on the back of 126 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:03.600 a menu. Then there was mister Lewing, a soft voiced, 127 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:05.879 thin man of perhaps seventy who had apparently been in 128 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:08.800 residence for months, if not years. He seemed to whisper 129 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:11.160 encouragement to no one in particular, as he shuffled along 130 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:14.480 the halls, frequently pausing by the older black and white photos. 131 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:17.439 I once overheard him muttering to bell hop, I remember 132 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:19.639 when these numbers made sense, the old way, that how 133 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:21.720 you could tell where you were at night. The bell 134 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:24.839 hop grinned and replied changes. The only constant, mister loon. 135 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:27.480 Every time I returned to my room, I'd steal a 136 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:30.000 glance at that cluster of numbers. Four hundred thirty two 137 00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:32.839 from me, two hundred fifty eight, nine hundred seventy three, 138 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:36.040 six hundred one from my neighbors. After a while, the 139 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:38.519 routine became something of a charm of minor superstition, the 140 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:40.439 way some people always turned the same key twice, a 141 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:43.000 leave coins in a pocket, had it, but with an 142 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:45.839 edge of quiet wonder how did it really work? If 143 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:47.839 it bothered any of the staff or other guests, no 144 00:06:47.959 --> 00:06:52.639 sign emerged. Deliveries were punctual, room service and failingly precise 145 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:56.399 the corridors, though meandering, always took people exactly where they 146 00:06:56.439 --> 00:06:58.920 wanted to go. The real heart of the hotel for 147 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.240 me was its library, a wood panel chamber on the 148 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:04.199 ground floor suffused with tobacco and honey, where the catalog 149 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.079 included not just fiction, but band collections of guest logs, 150 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:11.279 architectural photographs, and thick ribbon market volumes commemorating the hotel's 151 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:15.079 many anniversaries. I spent more than one afternoon skimming scrapbook 152 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:17.839 fat with articles hotel galers in the nineteen seventies. He 153 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:22.160 mysterious mathematician Founder Craney photographs of storms lashing the upper floors. 154 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:24.800 By the end of my second evening, the strange room 155 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:27.920 numbers had faded almost entirely into background amusement, until with 156 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:30.800 no warning, this led abruptly to the center of my attention. 157 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:34.519 The incident came on my third afternoon, as I returned 158 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:37.319 from the cliffs. I had left early, impatient with the 159 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:39.480 briny drizzle, and let myself up to the fourth floor 160 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:42.600 just after three. As usual, the corridor was empty, the 161 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.959 carpet's worn pattern in little green and ivory curls. I 162 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:47.759 had the memory of my routine with me, the walk 163 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:50.240 past two doors, the tilt and turn into my own 164 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:52.680 four hundred thirty two, the side of the absurd one 165 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:55.920 beside it two hundred fifty eight. I remember feeling pleased 166 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:58.759 by the predictability. But when I glanced at my door, 167 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:01.439 the number was not there. In its place, a new 168 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:04.800 plaque had been fixed, eight hundred twenty seven, identical typeface, 169 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:08.800 identical brass. I paused, running fingers over the engraving, half 170 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:11.319 convinced it was a prank. I fished the key card 171 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:13.680 out were a distinctly read four hundred thirty two, but 172 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:16.959 the four had become an eight. My mind scurried for logic. 173 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:19.639 Perhaps I had accidentally swapped cards with a neighbor, or had 174 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:22.399 stumbled on to the wrong stretch of hallway. Yet the door, 175 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:25.680 now labeled eight hundred twenty seven, unmistakably mine was precisely 176 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:27.600 where it should be. My shoes and umbrella parked in 177 00:08:27.639 --> 00:08:30.240 the little recess by a wall, my cardigan slung over 178 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:33.840 the chair. More oddness. Inside, every detail was perfectly as 179 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:36.799 I'd left it. The novel I'd been reading, a cruse paperback. 180 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.759 Mister sat facedown on the night stand, my notebook, the 181 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:43.799 stoby pencil, my umbrella drying across the radiator unchanged. Had 182 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:47.919 I simply misremembered the numerical sequence, impossible given my habits. 183 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:50.679 I pulled the key card out again, and yes, it 184 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:53.279 presented eight hundred twenty seven in the same gold's curt 185 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:56.480 complete with identical roomap on the back. I returned to 186 00:08:56.519 --> 00:08:59.720 the hallway, scanning the adjacent doors. Two hundred fifty eight 187 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:01.720 of a ston all beside my room across was nine 188 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:05.039 hundred seventy three. As always, no cross was four hundred 189 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:08.080 twenty one, note three hundred seven. The sequence glitched as 190 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:09.840 my eyes shifted from door to door a blink to 191 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:12.120 clear my thoughts, but every time I looked back, the 192 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:15.399 numbers assembled until new, still a logical order. With the 193 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:17.799 embarrassment of some one over reacting to a non problem, 194 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:21.240 I decided to clarify at the front desk. Anton was there, 195 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:24.679 reading the international edition of the newspaper Mug of tea Ahn. 196 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:27.879 Forgive me, I said, placing my code on the counter, 197 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:30.120 but is there any logic to the room numbering? I 198 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:32.039 thought I was in four thirty two, but now my 199 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:34.120 key and the door both say eight twenty seven. I'm 200 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:36.039 sure it's just an old building thing, but I wanted 201 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:37.320 to check out my on the right floor for the 202 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:40.200 four hundreds. Anton's face lit with the pleasure of dealing 203 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:42.759 with a micro problem. He slid the card back without 204 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:46.120 missing a beat. Ah, you are a eight hundred twenty seven. Yes, 205 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:48.399 fourth floor, West End. Let us know if you have 206 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:50.960 trouble with the WiFi, sometimes at a patch near your room. 207 00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:53.879 No issue with the key then or the room assignments. 208 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:57.360 We haven't had any reports. Some guests have trouble recalling 209 00:09:57.399 --> 00:09:59.679 which wing they're in, especially after a late dinner. But 210 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:01.600 our no umbers are a point of pride, as everything 211 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:05.440 to you satisfaction otherwise I nodded, letting the matter drop 212 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:08.120 down the hallway. A pair of guests exited the elevator, 213 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:11.519 talking brightly. Oh, you're a nine hundred eleven. That'll be 214 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:13.320 just next to a three hundred five. Wonder if the 215 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:16.159 good discounts for paid in drum numbers, one said, laughing. 216 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:19.159 They strolled away, key cards in hand, utterly at ease, 217 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:22.960 no confusion. I watched a desk cloak dispatch mail another 218 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:25.799 stack of envelopes correctly sorted room numbers written in the 219 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:28.960 crispas of hands. Back in my room eight hundred twenty 220 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:31.440 seven formally four hundred thirty two, I sat on the 221 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:33.440 edge of the bed and examined the card under lamplay. 222 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:36.919 The piece of plastics showed no signs of alteration or forgery. 223 00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:39.960 How could a hotel so meticulously run operate with such 224 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:44.360 arbitrary room assignments? Morb amusing why wasn't any one else confused? 225 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:47.200 The urge to solved a catalog began as a tickle, 226 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:51.639 then grew into something almost exhilarating. By dawn the next morning, 227 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:54.320 I had a plan. Years of the library had made 228 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:56.360 me a good observer and an even better note taker. 229 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:59.720 If the numbers made no physical sense, perhaps mapping them 230 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:03.039 space would reveal a pattern. After breakfast, I set out 231 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:05.360 with a fistful of paper scraps, prepared to jot down 232 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:07.480 every room number along the corridor from the elevator to 233 00:11:07.480 --> 00:11:11.000 the fire stairs. I made my first circuit, discreetly scribbling 234 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:13.399 the room numbers and positions as I passed each door 235 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:16.799 left of the elevator. Six hundred one, then eight hundred 236 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:19.720 thirty seven, then a storage closet label, plainly no number. 237 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:23.120 Turning the corner, two hundred fifty eight, then eight hundred 238 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:25.600 twenty seven, my room always second from the bended, then 239 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:28.200 three hundred seven and four hundred sixty two at the cerewell. 240 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:31.000 Back in my room, I drew a rough plan, noting 241 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:35.240 the spaces between doors. Though sequence and cardinal orientation satisfied, 242 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:37.360 I touched it beside my notebook for comparison later in 243 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:40.320 the day. That afternoon, after tea with the mess, vegan 244 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:42.799 the West Solarium, her suggestion, proving it was as pleasant 245 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:45.399 as she claimed. The towels there are handstickch The silences 246 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:48.840 on its best behavior are return to repeat my mapping project, 247 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:51.480 this time to my irritation and feignt excitement. The numbers 248 00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:54.519 are nearly all changed. Six hundred one was now four 249 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:58.159 hundred fifteen. Eight hundred thirty seven was two hundred ninety 250 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:00.720 four eight hundred twenty seven in The number on my 251 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:03.919 own door remained constant, yes, but eight hundred twenty seven 252 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.000 was now flanked by three hundred twelve and one hundred 253 00:12:06.039 --> 00:12:09.240 fifty six, not two hundred fifty eight and three hundred seven. 254 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:12.360 The pattern was not merely random. It was fluid, yet 255 00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:15.799 somehow internally consistent. For each pass. I made three maps 256 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:20.120 over three days. None matched the others. Worse Yet, within 257 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:23.200 each mapping everything seemed perfectly logical while I was writing, 258 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:26.679 before collapsing into nonsense. When reviewed later, this gnawed at me. 259 00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:31.039 Surely others had noticed, I asked, as casually as possible, 260 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.200 over coffee with the mess Vega, do you ever find 261 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:34.919 yourself getting a bit lost in the hols? What width? 262 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:37.840 The numbers being less than sequential? She tilted her head 263 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:40.399 as if I'd made a joke. My sweet as always, 264 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:43.080 five hundred forty seven has been since I started coming here, 265 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.600 same soft pillow, same squeaky hinge on the bathroom door. 266 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:48.600 Why did yours change? To her? She regarded me over 267 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:50.720 the rim of her cup, face marked with nothing but 268 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:54.240 amuse patience. Mine started at four hundred thirty two, then 269 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:58.440 became eight hundred twenty seven, she laughed, some brain fog 270 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:00.519 from the sea air, no doubt. Give a day and 271 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:02.919 you'll settle in. This place runs like a story. Everyone 272 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:05.919 finds their way back in the end. A similar conversation 273 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:08.919 with mister Loom was even less conclusive. I've always been 274 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:12.480 in two hundred three, he murmured. That's the old numbering system. 275 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:13.960 All the rooms in that one used to be even 276 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:16.159 stump body me, though, you just have to remember which 277 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:19.200 share is yours in the lounge numbers follow, he caught 278 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:22.080 my eye. When you've stayed long enough, the numbers fold 279 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:25.320 around you. It's an old place. In every conversation the 280 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.679 same refrained. Their rooms felt entirely stable, self contained, logical. 281 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:31.279 There was no suggestion of the mobile or erratic system 282 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:34.720 my map supplied. Seeking some historical grinding, I poured over 283 00:13:34.759 --> 00:13:37.360 brochures in the brass plated plaques lining the main stair wall, 284 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:40.879 dozens of them. Engrave of the hotel, significant milestones, no 285 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:44.000 mention of mass re numberings, no notes about grand renovations 286 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:48.320 mid century, no commemoration of fires, moves or winclosures. The 287 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:50.720 only oddity the islis plaques were hand numbered in what 288 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:55.000 looked like a secretarial scroll. Everything else fatterally normal. What 289 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:57.720 curiosity had started to eat at the ages of my rest, 290 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:01.519 I couldn't help but test the phenomenon more directly. One 291 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:05.039 morning I returned early from the market. The corridor was empty, 292 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:06.799 quiet but for the click of a cleaner's wheels in 293 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:09.759 the distance. I focused my gaze on a doorcourse from 294 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:11.720 mine would have been three hundred seven the night before. 295 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:15.200 Now reading four hundred sixty two, I stirred intently, more 296 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:17.960 hope than science, just for a moment, as my eyes 297 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:20.440 narrowed the breastplaque, flequor, a shimmer like light on water 298 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:22.759 four hundred sixty two, then a flash of one hundred 299 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:25.600 sixty three, then back again. It lasted no more than 300 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:29.759 two seconds. My heart thumped dully, a librarian's version of adrenaline, 301 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:33.559 all at once a hypothesis. Now the numbers changed when observed, 302 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:36.480 but only for the person observing. I recorded the event 303 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:39.399 carefully in my journal, writing as neutrallly as possible. Two 304 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:42.399 April ten fifty two, A m observed door plaqueshift from 305 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:44.799 four hundred sixty two to one hundred sixty three for 306 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:47.720 woman as two seconds, then reverted key card and changed 307 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:51.480 neighbors and concern. No one had mentioned renovations, practical jokes, 308 00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:55.240 or even hotel management quirkiness. If the system was playing tricks, 309 00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:58.519 the staff seemed mean, which only deepened the puzzle. That evening, 310 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:01.159 I dined alone at the corner table the hotel restaurant, 311 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:05.320 rereading my notes in a mellow light, I found myself wondering, abstractly, 312 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:08.759 was this effecting to memory attention or something subtler did 313 00:15:08.759 --> 00:15:12.720 the hotel's organization somehow reflect the expectations or arrangements of 314 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:15.960 every individual within its walls. It made me oddly light, 315 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:19.120 like discovering a new classification system for the familiar world, 316 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:23.120 one the card catalog had never dreamed of. For a librarian, 317 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:25.879 community is often built from shared meaning, from the cataloging 318 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:28.879 of knowledge so that others may discover it. The hotel's 319 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:32.399 numbering system, by contrast, seemed to atomize experience, leaving each 320 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:34.639 guest in a large all their own. But I was 321 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:38.080 determined to test it. One evening, fresh from an afternoon 322 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:40.120 in the library, I convinced a mess Viger and Miss 323 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:42.799 Olne to join me for a brief experiment. We met 324 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:44.799 in the corridor by the elevator, all three of us 325 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:46.799 equipped with oroom keys to walk the length of the 326 00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:49.919 four four together. The air was faintly lemon scented from 327 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:53.240 cleaning polish summer. A radio cruckle static through a staff door. 328 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:57.000 All right, I said, forcing my voice to stay cheerful. 329 00:15:57.120 --> 00:15:59.200 Let's walk down the corridor, and as we pass, each 330 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:02.279 door announced the number you see out laud please, A 331 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:05.679 mess Vega have beclutched in both hands, grinned. This is 332 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:07.639 the closest I've come to a Paula game all week 333 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:11.440 shell game, more like offered mister Leing, but he agreed. 334 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.360 We passed the first door six hundred one. I called 335 00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:19.879 five hundred forty seven. A mess Vega chirpton near unison 336 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:24.519 two hundred three, muttered mister Loun. We paused. Each of 337 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:28.600 us stared, each scene completely unruffled. The next door two 338 00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:31.600 hundred fifty eight for me, seven hundred twenty six from 339 00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:35.200 a mess Viga four hundred twenty, said mister Luhne. We 340 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:38.559 tried five more at each The numbers were different for 341 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:42.399 each one of us spoken without a conviction. I tried, gesturing, Look, 342 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:45.039 my card says eight hundred twenty seven, right, that's the 343 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:46.919 number on my door. What does it sit to you? 344 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:51.639 A mess Vega glanced, No, dear, it's five hundred forty seven. 345 00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:55.759 Are you playing a trick? Mister Lunn blinked two hundred three. 346 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:58.720 Just like always, each time a card was presented to 347 00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:00.519 a door, the code on the cod main ushed matched 348 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:02.679 for each ow. Note that is, we stood in a 349 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:05.880 cool hush of the hallway, the silence briefly awkward. Isn't 350 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:10.400 this odd to you? Oppressed emmez Viga shook her head, indulgent. 351 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:13.039 The world's full of oddness. My great aunt lived in 352 00:17:13.079 --> 00:17:15.200 a house with no numbering at all. I just find 353 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:18.119 my room by the window flower boxes. Miss Oline gave 354 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:21.079 a thin smile. Numbers are comfort for some. I suppose 355 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:22.880 you learned to let the place become what it wants. 356 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:25.680 Back in my room, whatever it was now, eight hundred 357 00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:28.079 twenty seven are otherwise. I fastened a sticky note next 358 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:30.440 to my door, clearly writing four hundred thirty two in 359 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:33.839 block letters, just above the official plaque. When I returned 360 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:36.400 two hours later, my note was gone, replaced by a 361 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:39.440 blank square, presumably the work of housekeeping. When I taped 362 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:41.880 a note that simply read Rumier, it too vanished within 363 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:44.880 the day. I asked out on that night, feigning a yawn. 364 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.319 Has anyone ever tried to label their rooms themselves? He 365 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.839 smiled non. Plus, we encourage guests to enjoy the hotel 366 00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:54.160 as it is. It's very rare for guests to get lost. 367 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:57.880 The building has its ways before bad. Reading the scrolls 368 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:01.200 in my journal, a new realization dawn. This was not confusion, 369 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:03.880 and it was not a mistake. The hotel was not 370 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:06.160 using one system of numbering, but as many as there 371 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:09.119 were guests, each unique and seamless from the inside, forever 372 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:13.279 mismatched from the outside. The effect did not worried me. Instead, 373 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:16.359 an ordillation took hold. I felt as if I glimpsed 374 00:18:16.359 --> 00:18:18.759 a subtle machine at work. It gives mesh with memory 375 00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:22.039 or perception itself. From then, each fresh morning in the 376 00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:24.559 fourth forehole, I would catch myself smiling as I checked 377 00:18:24.599 --> 00:18:27.240 my key, memorized the number, and wondered whose logic filled 378 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:31.160 these walls besides my own. The storm arrived on a Thursday, 379 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:33.359 scraping the sound of gulfs from the air and drumming 380 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:36.119 sheets of water against the glass. It was a perfect 381 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:38.240 day for hiding in the library. The window panes fogged 382 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:40.720 and swaying with rain. I claimed the seat between the 383 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.559 stacks and watched the chandallet tremble overhead with every gust. 384 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:46.880 My thoughts were as unsettled as the weather. I felt. 385 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:49.759 The urged catalog of the ultimate Librarian's response to confusion 386 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:52.440 emphasize the library itself threw me like a riddle within 387 00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:55.680 a riddle. There were entire shells of local history, unlabeled 388 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:58.599 and only loosely organized by subject. Beneath glass, a row 389 00:18:58.599 --> 00:19:02.119 of ancient guest registers the scuffed and peeling. I lingered 390 00:19:02.119 --> 00:19:04.319 by the glass case until the day librarian and gentle, 391 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:07.359 round shouldered woman named Myral offered me the key. You're 392 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:09.640 free to inspect any records older than thirty years. The 393 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:12.920 more recent ones are stamped with privacy stickers. I slipped 394 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:15.160 on thin gloves and lifted the heaviest register out at 395 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.559 spying crack with age. The inside pages a cascade of 396 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:21.880 hurried hand writings, reservations, arrivals, assignments. The oldest was from 397 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:24.759 the nineteen forties and faded but legible. As I scanned 398 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:28.960 the columns, something astonishing emerged. The nineteen forty four register 399 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:32.240 used an entirely different system. Rooms were denoted not by numbers, 400 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:34.720 but by coded combinations as six point forty one Q 401 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:36.920