Instructions for Assembly

1

Begin with a room that has no defining features.

Do not describe the walls.

Do not describe the light.

Place a table at the center.

Place one object on the table.

The object must be ordinary.

If it is meaningful, the meaning must come later.

A person enters the room.

The person has a task.

The task is simple and finite.

The story begins because the task must be completed.

2

The person examines the object.

They note its dimensions.

They note its weight.

They note its condition.

They do not wonder how it arrived here.

They do not recall where they have seen it before.

This is important.

Memory complicates structure.

The object is rotated once, then returned to its original position.

The person records this action.

Nothing changes.

This confirms reliability.

3

The rules are introduced.

The object may not be altered.

The table may not be moved.

The person may leave the room, but only after the task is complete.

The task is not explained.

Explanation encourages interpretation.

The person agrees to the rules.

Agreement is not consent; it is compliance.

Time passes in measurable units.

Each unit is identical to the last.

4

An interruption occurs.

A sound, brief and external, reaches the room.

The person pauses.

This pause is noted but not explored.

The object remains unchanged.

The table remains stable.

The room continues to lack definition.

The interruption does not return.

The task resumes.5

The person considers the possibility that the task has already been completed.

This consideration lasts exactly one paragraph.

No conclusion is reached.

The object does not respond.

The room does not confirm or deny.

The person returns to procedure.

This section is the center.

Nothing is resolved here.

6

The object is examined again.

The measurements are repeated.

They match the previous record.

This consistency is reassuring.

A minor discrepancy is suspected,

then dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

The person resists the urge to test the object further.

Restraint maintains form.

7

A variation is introduced.

The person circles the table before resuming the task.

This was not prohibited.

The object is viewed from a new angle.

It remains ordinary.

The person notes that repetition has created familiarity.

Familiarity is not attachment.

The task continues.

8

The end conditions are reviewed.

Completion requires confirmation,

but confirmation requires a standard,

and the standard was never specified.

This is not a flaw.

It is a design choice.

The person determines that consistency itself may serve as proof.

The object has remained unchanged.

The room has remained stable.

The rules have been followed.

This may be sufficient.

9

The person leaves the room.

The table remains.

The object remains.

No record is made of what happens next.

The story ends where it began:

with containment,

with order,

with all elements accounted for.

Meaning, if present,

exists only because the structure holds.