Lot 075 : Mary’s Room

B equals X.

Suddenly, there came a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

You aren't here in search of that $20 strawberry, are you?

Great to see you, friend.

Come this way.

This

is not the grandest piece in the collection.

No,

not gilded, adorned with jewels, nor is it a relic of some forgotten dynasty.

However, I assure you, this black balaclava is no ordinary scrap of wool and thread.

This one carries a story.

As you know, the items in here do not simply rest on the shelves.

They wait.

Something still lingers in these fibers.

Maybe it's the absence of something altogether.

The nothing that draws you in.

That's it.

Closer still.

For this what I call

Mary's Room.

Before we begin, I want to point out some of the customers whose names have been etched in brass on this beautiful plaque I had made above the front desk.

These are some of the members of the inner circle of the antiquarium.

We go by the Obsidian Covenant.

Recent initiates include Tammy DC,

Samantha Jeffcote,

Maya White,

Goji Kun,

Stark Raving Lin,

Brita Steener,

Dassey Lowe,

Dino Guts,

and

Jacob Taylor.

We are ever appreciative of your devotion to the Order.

Go to theObsidianCovenant.com to receive the sacrament.

Now,

where were we?

Oh, yes.

Welcome to the Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings

and Odd Goings On.

Mary was born in a black and white room,

and scientists didn't let her see colors until she turned 18.

She saw something we didn't.

Mary's Room,

also known as the knowledge argument,

is a philosophical concept concerning a hypothetical woman named Mary who has never seen colour.

She has only ever existed in a black and white room.

Mary studies the world through books and a monochromatic television screen.

She reads about colours, but she does not experience them visually.

Can the universe be fully understood in purely physical terms?

The answer differs depending on whether one believes that we know fundamental truths about reality a priori, without experience, or a posteriori, with experience.

In other words, will Mary learn anything about colour when she leaves the black and white room?

It was supposed to be a thought experiment.

Nobody was supposed to actually do it.

However, in 2007, a group of researchers sought to answer that question.

And the experiment they conducted would have been condemned by boards of ethics across the globe.

But these were not ethical scientists, and this was no ethical organization.

I would have decried its actions back then.

This wasn't why I joined the agency.

But

I was afraid.

After all, they were willing to put an innocent baby in a colourless prison cell, doomed to grow up in near-solitary confinement, save for a nurse dubbed Nanny.

What would they have done to a whistleblower?

I don't know how they found the baby, and I don't want to know.

Whether a parent willingly gave her up, or one of the scientists intentionally bred her for the experiment, the result remains the same.

A baby, named Mary in honor of the philosophical concept which inspired the horrifying experiment, was placed in a white, windowless, foam-padded cell.

She was blindfolded whenever her nurse entered the room to provide food, formula, and fresh clothes.

Always the same black onesie with coverings like mittens and socks to cover her hands and feet.

She was also made to wear a facial covering akin to a balaclava, which covered her face.

There was no mouth slit to avoid her her seeing the colour of her lips, and she wore black contacts in her eyes.

Equally, Nanny wore exactly the same attire every time she entered the room.

To put it simply, Mary's daily outfit was horrid.

Barely any more humane than a straitjacket and a bag over the head.

There was no room for error.

Mary was watched by at least one person at all hours of the day and night.

Should she get curious and try to sneak a peek at the colour of her skin or eyes, she would receive 100 volts in the collar attached to her neck.

But more terrifying than that

was the simple fact that Mary was

well trained.

So well trained that she never, in her 18 years of imprisonment, even attempted to take a peek at her skin.

She was such a willing prisoner, having never known anything else, that I think she would have stayed in her room even if the door had been standing ajar.

This initially seemed excessive, given that copious measures had been taken to ensure no reflective surfaces would be allowed within the room.

Even the television monitor was fitted with an antique glare screen.

However, scientists were paranoid that Mary might somehow catch a glimpse of her green eyes.

Even seeing her pale, peach-coloured skin would have dirted the results of the experiment.

Black and white, those were the only shades that Mary was permitted to see.

And when Mary started walking and talking, Nanny stopped entering the room entirely.

Fresh food and clothes were delivered through a horizontal slit in the steel door, and Mary was always instructed to wear a blindfold before changing or using the bathroom, which comprised of a white porcelain toilet and a black showerhead fixed to the foam wall.

Revoltingly, both were exposed in that titchy room of hers.

Her entire world was a box, box, stretching a mere four meters across all three dimensions.

I wanted to save her numerous times over the years.

Wanted to leave that horrid place behind.

But I'm a coward.

Besides, we wouldn't have got far.

There is no running from these people.

And the agency isn't even the greatest horror of this story.

On Mary's 18th birthday, Dr.

Robson delivered a thrilling message over the speaker.

Happy birthday, Mary.

Thank you.

Will there be chocolate cake this year?

I

wasn't fond of the lemon last year, you see.

Today we'll be celebrating in a different way

Mary

do you know your age

I'm 18

does that mean

yes Mary

today

you leave the room

I'll see color

any sane and well-developed human in the outside world would have simply been glad to have freedom.

But Mary had no concept of freedom, no concept of a prison.

She had no understanding that this childhood had been abnormal.

Worse than abnormal.

Inhuman.

To keep Mary compliant, her schooling had been rigid, with books that purposely omitted any dangerous ideas.

The result of that?

A girl relishing at the opportunity to not escape from her prison, but to simply see colour.

Yes, Mary.

You will see colour.

Nane is already on her way to fetch you.

We watched live footage filmed on a closed-circuit camera from our our operational room.

Pardon the interruption.

And how unfortunate.

Just when things were beginning to unfold for our dear Mary.

It appears a consigner is out back that I must tend to.

Tell you what, let me go take care of things.

And I'll be right back.

Hi, this this is Trevor from the Acquisitions Department here at the Antiquarium.

You know, most of my work here at the shop involves cataloging sealed vessels, expired familiars, and most recently, lunch.

You see, summer is terribly inefficient.

Rituals run late, exorcisms go long, and no one's got time to simmer bones for 18 hours.

That's why I've outsourced.

I now dine exclusively with Tempo.

Tempo delivers fresh, chef-crafted, dietitian-approved meals straight to your door.

No hexes, no prep, and certainly no need to interpret a scroll to figure out the macros.

I've personally tried their carb-conscious Harissa chicken and something called turmeric salmon over Frika.

I don't know what Frika is, but it's absolutely glorious.

Each meal heats in just three minutes, which is exactly the time it takes to blind a lesser demon.

And you'll be pleased to know Tempo is the official partner of the 2025 CrossFit Games.

I don't CrossFit, but I do carry a lot of emotional baggage.

Same thing, really.

For limited time, Tempo is offering visitors to the antiquarium 60% off your first box.

Go to tempomeals.com slash sinister.

That's tempo meals.com slash sinister, S-I-N-I-S-T-E-R for 60% off.

Tempomeals.com slash sinister.

Rules and restrictions may apply.

Why, hello there.

You've reached the antiquarium.

If you wish to leave a message, please do so with the town and have a great day.

Trevor, buddy.

Hey, hope everything's going well with you over at the Antiquarium.

Sorry, it's been a hot minute since I've reached out.

You know, I've been cleaning up a couple messes.

One of them is, you know, including the Queen's Candelabra.

You know, you guys really need to vet the people that you sell these things to just a little bit better.

Makes my job a little bit difficult when you don't.

Anyways, I got kind of a funny one for you today.

Came across a sheet, a bed sheet, you know, with the eyes cut out, like one of those old school ghost costumes.

Now the thing is, when you put this thing on,

you literally think that you're a ghost.

You'll walk around and you'll go, ooh, I'm a ghost.

You can't see me because I'm a ghost.

And that's all you'll say as you walk around the room, you know, grabbing books and moving them around, thinking that nobody can see you.

But in reality, everybody can see what you're doing.

They can even touch you if they want to.

Anyways, one of the added benefits to wearing this thing is, if you want to, you can move through objects like a ghost.

Now, it's a benefit and kind of a curse because the reason I came across across this thing is the kid was wearing it and he was walking around his house and it was half

when the seat kind of got stuck on an exposed nail in the living room and it pulled off of him when he was halfway through the drywall and he got stuck in the wall.

The kid's fine.

The parents were freaking out.

They had to call the fire department.

They got him out of the drywall and everything.

But

like I said, it's kind of an odd one.

Anyways, I got it folded up in the back seat of my car.

Give me a call.

You know the number.

Hope I'll talk to you later, man.

Take care.

End of messages.

You certainly do perpetuate the darkness.

Your name was not only written on the package, it was madly scrawled across it, maybe

hundreds of times.

There ain't a spare place on the thing.

Another treasure

For another time.

For now, let's get back to the matter at hand and catch up with Mary.

Shall we?

Yes, Mary.

You will see color.

Nanny is already on her way to fetch you.

We watched live footage filmed on a closed-circuit camera from our operational room.

Nani unlocked the weighty entrance to Mary's room, and we all waited with bated breath.

Waited as Nanny aided Mary in removing her black headgear.

I heard Mary giggling, giggling giddily and unnervingly as the bag was removed from her head and the contacts were removed from her eyes.

And then, as her first experience with a colour other than black or white, Nanny removed her own black outfit to reveal a striking red dress beneath.

What are you experiencing?

Is it new?

Does it feel like

this is why you did the experiment, isn't it?

Does this feel like a new experience, Mary?

Robson asked with a hint of impatience, seemingly oblivious to Nanny's discomfort.

It was plainly clear to me, even through the grainy camera footage.

Yes.

But

I've been waiting for it.

Yes, I know that, Mary.

But so have I

Tell me about it.

Tell me about the red.

How does it feel to experience true color for the first time?

We're seeing some interesting brain activity on the screen here, but your words would really help us to talk about the red.

And then she jabbed an accusatory finger at Nanny's dress in a way that frightened me.

Certainly frightened Nanny, who jumped backwards.

I'm talking about

that.

I knew there was something you were leaving out of the books and TV shows over the years.

What are you saying, Mary?

I don't understand.

Red.

You're looking at red.

Red.

And the second color.

The color you didn't describe in the books.

None of the adjectives you've used describe

this one.

Red is

just as stark, powerful, and passionate as described.

The color blue of Nanny's eyes is as soothing and tender as described.

But this other color on her dress is just

what other color

it's just red, Mary.

Right here!

She lunged forwards and prodded Nanny in the abdomen.

The woman in the red dress jumped backwards, clutching her stomach.

And then Mary's eyes went wide.

Mary, please tell us what you're seeing.

What I saw, she whispered, moving her finger up to Nanny's face.

It moved up there, and now it's

gone.

Please describe this other color to us, Mary.

As he put an image up on Mary's television set.

Which one of those is it?

Mary's eyes shot to the television screen and quickly scanned the 12 main colors.

It's not one of those.

Not a different shade of one of those.

It's a different color.

There are 10 million possible permutations of colors, Mary.

Perhaps you're just.

No, Dr.

Wilson.

The girl interrupted, panting heavily as her eyes darted back to Nanny's face, studying it.

I understand how shades work.

The shade of blue on the screen differs from the color of Nanny's Nanny's eyes, but that other color, it wasn't included on the screen.

It was.

Mary stopped, and her eyes widened.

I'm sorry.

That's

okay, Mary.

I know you didn't mean to.

Not you.

Before leaning forwards and trying to look into Nanny's mouth.

I'm.

I'm sorry I saw you.

Mary, you're not making any sense.

I think we've done enough for today.

We'll do more tomorrow, so.

I wasn't supposed to see it.

Mary moaned, shooting backwards, clunking into the foam wall, then seizing clumps of her straggly hair.

Oh, God.

Why don't you see it?

It's

Annie.

It's in you.

Nanny looked up at the camera.

I'd like to step outside now, Dr.

Robson.

Dr.

Robson sighed, then pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

Fine, Nanny.

Nanny had already spun on her heel to leave.

She would have done so regardless of whether Robson gave her permission, as Mary was clearly disturbing her.

But she barely took one step before her body fixed itself to the floor.

And then Nanny juddered like a fleshy bobblehead.

I was overcome by a warm sensation across my skin.

And a moment later, there came a thunderous explosion.

Skin flew into the walls from a red eruption of breast fragments, blood, and guts.

Nanny had spontaneously imploded.

Screams filled the operating room.

Some fled, some fainted, and others simply froze.

I don't know whether any of them noticed it.

Noticed Mary

clawing out her eyes, leaving streaks of blood and tears across her cheeks as

mere minutes after seeing Colour for the first time, she ensured that she would never see anything else ever again.

I'm sorry!

I didn't know I wasn't allowed!

As I saw a trail of blood run from Nanny's destructed corpse towards the front door, clearly painted by something unseen,

A deep dread filled my chest.

I realized that my fleeing colleagues had the right idea, so I followed, fled in fear,

leaving Dr.

Robson and my frozen co-workers behind.

I don't remember leaving the building, getting in my car, and going home.

But I must have done those things, otherwise, I wouldn't be here for all of you.

It's been four hours.

Four hours since Mary saw colour for the first time.

Saw a colour that none of us saw.

What was it?

Why could only Mary see

it?

A E R X X S T P E C L M H I E R H

Thank you for your patronage.

Hope you enjoyed your new relic as much as I've enjoyed passing along its sordid history.

It does come with our usual warning, however.

Absolutely no refunds, no exchanges.

And we won't be held liable for anything that may or may not occur while the object is in your possession.

If you've got an artifact with mysterious properties, perhaps it's accompanied by a history of bizarre and disturbing circumstances, maybe you'd be interested in dropping it and its story by the shop to share with other customers.

Please reach out to antiquariumshop at gmail.com.

A member of our team will be in touch.

Till next time, we'll be waiting for you whenever you close your eyes

in the space between sleep and dream.

During regular business hours, of course, or by appointment, only for you,

our

best customer.

You have a good night now.

The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings.

Lot 075.

Mary was born in a black and white room.

Scientists didn't let her see colors until she turned 18.

Written by Dominic Eagle.

For more of his work, visit Black Volumes on YouTube.

Narrated by Fiona Thrail.

Starring Mark Redfield as Dr.

Robson.

DeQuintero as Mary.

Romy Evans as Nanny.

Featuring Stephen Knowles as the antique dealer.

Engineering production and sound design by Trevor Shand.

Theme music by the Newton Brothers.

Additional music by COAG and Vivek Abishek.

The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings is created and curated by Trevor and Lauren Shand.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at Antiquarium Pod.

Call the Antiquarium at 646-481-7197.

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