Jumping off the Abyss Express, you walk up to a foreboding and imposing gateway. The air around the Tartarus entrance is heavy with an otherworldly darkness, a dense fog that shrouds the path leading to the abyss. The gateway itself is an immense, obsidian arch, etched with ominous symbols that seem to writhe and twist as if alive. The stone of the arch exudes an eerie, cool glow, casting an unsettling light on your surroundings.
You walk past two colossal, twisted pillars that flank the entrance, and you look around.
“You look lost,” a man says as he approaches you from the shadows. You recognise him, taking a double look. Could it really be THE Einstein? Why is he down here you wonder? You ask him.
He shrugs and mutters something about being too clever for his own good, and being banished in a perpetual physics problem.
“It’s not all bad down here, we keep each other company. Over there is Mozart”, Einstein says, pointing to a spritely looking figure jigging near a dead tree, “he was told he composed too many happy tunes. And there is Rowling, who keeps us entertained with some magical stories. Apparently she ripped off another magical book and got away with it, making millions.”
You take a minute to let it all soak in, before asking who else is down here.
“Over there is the inventor of the selfie stick, she usually spends most of her time staring at herself in the mirror. And you’ve got the creator of Dance Dance Revolution on a loop. His feet are pretty bloody from all the dancing he has to do. Let’s see, over there is the mastermind behind telemarketing robocalls, there’s the creator of infomercials, the inventor of auto-correct, and that guy over there in the shadows is the inventor of noisy snack packaging. Oh, and there’s Steve Jobs, of course. No explanation necessary.”
Einstein pauses, looking at you, puzzling over your expression.
“You’re not meant to be down here though, are you? It’s best if you hop back on that train and go back the way you came, before it’s too late.”
Einstein escorts you back to the gates. “That’s as far as I can take you, I can’t pass beyond these pillars.” With one last look behind you to take it all in, you jump back on the Abyss Express and head back the way you came.
