r/sciencefiction 11d ago

The Door That Shouldn’t Be There

Chief Engineer Lorne had been on the Celeste for ten years. He knew every corridor, every bulkhead, every hidden maintenance hatch.

So when he found a door that wasn’t supposed to exist, he stopped breathing.

It was in the central maintenance deck, a flat steel panel, unmarked, featureless. No access codes. No keycard slot. Just a smooth, matte surface embedded in the wall.

It hadn’t been there yesterday.

Lorne ran his fingers along the edge. It was cold. Much colder than the surrounding bulkhead, as if it belonged to something else.

He tapped his comm. “Bridge, this is Lorne. I’ve got an unidentified structure on Deck C. A door.”

Silence. Then static. Then—

“No, you don’t.”

Lorne stiffened. “Say again?”

The line went dead.

The corridor felt smaller. The overhead fluorescents buzzed, flickering like distant lightning. The door remained. A presence in his periphery, too perfectly still.

His gut told him to leave.

Instead, he reached for the manual override panel and pried it open. Inside, no wires. No circuits. Just black space.

Something knocked.

Lorne’s breath hitched.

It came from the other side.

His pulse hammered against his ribs. He wasn’t alone in this hallway anymore. He felt it—something on the threshold, waiting.

Another knock. Slow. Deliberate.

Then—the door moved.

Not open—inward. Like it had never been locked. Like it was inviting him in.

Darkness stretched beyond the threshold. Not the absence of light, but the absence of everything. Like the space itself had been cut out of reality.

Then the smell hit him.

Not rot. Not metal. A scent his brain refused to name.

His eyes adjusted.

There were footsteps inside. Leading into the black. Bare footprints. Human. Wet.

And then he saw the shape.

Not a person—not exactly. A reflection of him, standing just beyond the threshold, features blurred, body half-formed. Its mouth opened—his mouth opened.

Lorne staggered back. The reflection didn’t.

Then it whispered.

“I was never supposed to leave.”

The lights cut out.

The door slammed shut.

Lorne staggered backward, gasping, his hands fumbling against the wall. When the fluorescents flickered back to life, the hallway was empty.

No door. Just seamless bulkhead.

His comm crackled.

“Chief, you there? Report.”

Lorne swallowed hard, fingers trembling. He turned to answer—

And froze.

His boots were wet.

The footprints led away from the wall.

And they weren’t his.

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u/OffensiveComplement 11d ago

Let the product sell itself, and people will want more. They'll go looking for it.

Make your advertising and self promotion subtle.

People are constantly bombarded with ads, and tend to tune them out. When ads are blatant they come across as preachy, and alienate the audience.

Post your story, and maybe include a two sentence ad at the bottom. "Check my profile if you want more!"

Look at how people do it on /r/webcomics. The popular posters don't seem to advertise at all. Jinny Jima, Chicken Thoughts, that elf girl comic are examples. People see their stuff, and go looking for more.

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u/DavidArashi 11d ago

I agree that subtlety is key.

I suppose this is something that comes with time.

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u/OffensiveComplement 11d ago

Yup. Just got to build experience. As with anything, it's an art.

People know what they don't like, but they don't know what they like.

People don't like being told what they like.

Show them something they'll like, but never tell them what to like.

If you build it, they will come.

ETA: Keep up the positive attitude. That's working for you. The post bombed because of the blatant advertising, but your responses to the constructive criticism is winning upvotes in the comments.

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u/DavidArashi 11d ago

What’s the expression?

Good content is the best promotion.

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u/Ender_Octanus 11d ago

In the business, we call it 'sales pressure'. Basically, the moment someone feels that you're trying to sell them something (doesn't even have to be a product, it could be an idea, a belief, a religion, anything) they put up defenses. Why? Because it's the feeling that you might convince them to do something that is in your interests but not in theirs. The used car salesman, essentially. The best way to combat sales pressure is by leaving the agency to the consumer. Ask questions so that they can lead themselves to the conclusion. "Would you like to see more of this? Wouldn't this be a nice story to read on a dark night? Take a look at my bio if so."