Domain of a Thousand Corridors

Lets see. Building code is on the1:5 36 system, that is the stairs are six inches of rise for every 30 inches of run. Each story is approximately ten feet, and there are 150 of them. So a single, straight, staircase would be...

(10x2)x150 = 3000 steps, x30inches = 90,000
divide by 12 for feet, then 5280 for miles...

Approximately 1.42 miles! Mind you, thats just a sketch pad estimate. These landings, sub levels, and not all stories are uniformly sized. There are eight main stairwells, and eight secondary ones that got all the way through. Then there's elevator shafts, escalators, interchanges, local stairways, wheel chair ramps...

Just counting the main 16, thats 22 miles of stairs. Look act ducts, access tunnels, conduit passages, and then you really start finding space. Its a whole city behind the building!

A man could get lost in here. Quite a few of them chose to actually.

Not a perfect retreat. Nothing grows in here under the fluorescents - so you have to trade for food. There's unsavory types that offer a lot of other things as well - Extra water, electricity, drugs, sex. Theres probably more business going on in the back ways of this place then the actual stores. The powers that be make some rather tempting offers to people who are willing play bounty hunter and help reign in all this.

Don't even think about. No one will ever find your body in this maze.

The security people already have too much to do already, so patrolling behind the false fronts isn't high on their priorities. They'll look if a child goes missing - but not very hard. A good number of both the lights and cameras have failed, and a patrol can't cover too much ground.

You've probably heard the rumors that reanimates stalk the back ways. Mostly, its to scare people and prevent them from entering. But, don't be too surprised if you find a few occasionally. they might think that all the access ways are locked down on the mall levels and even the two after that. But there are still plenty of ways in an out. We have a bus station on level D and subway on level H, along with storm drains and a few hydro plants.

Sometimes when I'm not granting people extra energy credits, I'll scavenge the city. Granted, its a sea of the dead, but well - you remember the first year. Always come and go at night. We have some zealous snipers on level 12, but they don't have any night vision goggles. Side from that, well, be quite, and be quick. Really one of those either you got a knack, or you're ripped to shreds sort of things.

Well, I'm off to sector Orange 58 Fox-Trot to do some domestic work. Good day to you. It might be unlikely, but I hope our path cross again.