THE TESSERACT

“We’re sorry for the delay,” the courier says dispassionately.

You sigh. It is not his fault. The note was meant to find you ten years ago.

The folded page is sent by your research supervisor at the university, Professor McLaughlin. At the time, he was the head of the Theoretical Physics Department and you were his assistant. Back then, McLaughlin suddenly disappeared without a trace. The investigation and search that followed didn’t succeed in locating him. You bury your eyes in the note and read it.

William, come quick! I found it at last – a real tesseract! I’ll enter it this evening.

The address scribbled on the note leads you to a half-finished neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, in front of an uncomely wooden house. You push the discolored doorhandle. The light from the entrance blazes like a lightning through the stale darkness.

You’re standing in a wide hallway covered with an orange carpet. Gas lanterns, resembling chandeliers, shine from the ceiling. Who may have set them burning? There, on your left, is a staircase leading to the second floor, and on your right you see a window with iron bars.