I felt like I was entering some secret underground meeting. To reach this space you enter a bar and walk through a back hallway, then down two flights of stairs into a basement. I almost didn’t believe this was actually the area we were meant to go to and that some elaborate prank was being pulled on me. But alas, there it was! Long hallways full of flashing lights, a mixture of music, sound effects, alien statues, children running from one arcade game to another. Nearly every arcade game ever must’ve been here. Old school classics, new and exciting, even vintage games that didn’t require an electric screen. My dad’s inner child would froth at the mouth at this place. It seemed like everyone's inner child did– there were probably more adults here playing pinball, pac-man, and dance dance revolution than any children were.

It was when I was leaving the space that I found this particular area. Just around the corner of the entrance, I wandered by myself, curious what other secrets were hiding. A long, nauseating hallway, lined with bright fluorescent lights, multiple exit signs, and who knows what at the end of it. Its solemn emptiness paralleled the overstimulation that lay on the other side of the wall. It gave me an intense chill and I immediately left.