𝄡

He/they

[anthraxspores]

Protag i think

[anthraxspores]

Another detail I think supports the whole "Coworker isn't real/alive" thing is how the elevator just completely ignores all his deaths. Out of the three total times Coworker died, the elevator completely ignored it and only reset once Protag got to a point where he could no longer progress. Him getting shot wasn't enough to trigger an ending, but Protag getting shot was. Him getting stabbed to death wasn't enough to trigger an ending, but Protag being caught in the act was. I have to imagine him getting burnt alive wouldn't have been enough either if it didn't also happen to Protag simultaneously.

Maybe it's because Coworker dying isn't considered a "real death," so whatever causes everything to reset wasn't triggered. He wasn't even alive to begin with, which means no one died, which means there's no reason for a do over. Protag has something that makes him a valid living thing that Coworker doesn't, or Coworker has something that makes him *not* a valid living thing that Protag doesn't. Or a mix of both.

Or the elevator is just sentient and hates Coworker specifically.

[anthraxspores]

I like cocest where Coworker only interacts with Colleague out of pure selfishness and nothing else. He doesn't like Colleague at all because he still sees him as a worse version of himself and a threat to his reputation, but at the same time, they ARE the same person. Colleague already knows everything about Coworker, so he'd suffer no real consequence for talking at Colleague about all his problems. Coworker treats Colleague like a void to yell in, and the latter just lets him because he's barely paying attention anyway. He's usually on some random side quest when Coworker gets ahold of him to vent or rant about something, but when his attention is undivided, he'll usually give advice. This advice is always unintentionally awful, but Coworker always glazes it and follows it to a T because Great Minds and all that.

At a certain point, Coworker is going to do this so often that he starts seeing Colleague as an extension of himself. He could bare the deepest parts of his soul to this guy and just get a thumbs up in return, or advice he likely would've come up with himself had he just thought on it a little longer. Colleague's responses being so relatable and accepting of Coworker's issues in a way he doesn't expect from anyone else makes all this feel like talking to himself with extra steps, so he starts treating it that way. He starts admiring and bragging about Colleague in the same way he admires and brags about himself. He's the sun praising the moon's shine simply because it's his own light being reflected i think

This comes with Coworker fussing over Colleague just as much as he fusses over himself though. He'll freak out if he sees anything wrong with Colleague's appearance, or if he does anything even slightly awkward, etc. He usually expresses that by encouraging Colleague or taking over certain tasks for him instead of being blatantly judgmental, but it's still selfish and overbearing at the end of the day. He'd rather die than let this man exist naturally, just like he'd rather die than let himself exist naturally.

I forgot about this last part: Colleague starts off not liking Coworker either. He's jealous of his material possessions and kind of embarrassed by his behavior, but the most he does about it is be kind of dismissive. Most of the things Colleague does in this post-elevator hypothetical he does simply because he can, and that includes his early interactions with Coworker. His attitude also shifts at a certain point though, and the jealousy and embarrassment is more lighthearted now. He likes the attention and admiration he gets from Coworker even if he's well aware it's coming from a place of selfishness.

[anthraxspores]

every time i see this guy he's a different color

[anthraxspores]

tw for gaslighting/manipulation i think

The Company is like the SCP foundation in the sense that some employees just aren't allowed to leave. A lot of them do have access to the outside world, but all the others are just Doomed.

What category each employee falls under depends on how they do during the interview. If they do bad enough for Normal Guy to rip their face off, they aren't allowed to leave, they're company property now/don't even have the free will required to do anything other than work. If they do well enough to be handed a key without NG crashing out, they do reserve the right to leave the building, but they're most likely gonna be paid so little they'll be doing bucketloads of overtime anyway. Like Protag.

Coworker was created artificially without having a traditional interview, so he's kind of a weird case. He's basically been conditioned since day one into thinking the world outside isn't really worth it. They told him there's not much out there for him, that the company already supplies him with everything he could possibly need, it's a sign of disrespect, and a lot of other terrible things that'd demotivate his leaving. A lot of those terrible things also involve feeding and/or hurting his pride and phrasing this system like it's rewarding him.

There's technically no rule against leaving for him, though. He has no desire to leave because this is all he knows and all that is worth knowing as far as he's aware, but if that were to change at any point in time for any reason, the consequences wouldn't be all that dire. He'd get a slap on the wrist or something, but they'd ultimately move on quicker than if anyone else did it, because Coworker is still a slightly better tool than any other employee in The Company.

At some point, Protag would want to take advantage of that and bring Coworker on a tour throughout some parts of the city. His opinion on Coworker is mostly irrelevant when he decides to do this because after the elevator (more specifically, him having to trick the doppels) he's like Benny JCC in the sense that the denial of freedom is the worst thing ever to him. Maybe this is his way of adhering to his newfound values, or trying to repent, or both. Coworker is either being an asshole or jumping at his own shadow throughout the entire tour, but that's alright.

[anthraxspores]

transfem coworker

so real so true 🙏🙏

[anthraxspores]

graceee......

GRACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

[anthraxspores]

sig au where Coworker is Colleague's guardian angel, but he only shows up during near death experiences. Colleague catches onto this and gets himself into increasingly dangerous situations for the sole purpose of trying to romance his guardian angel, but he's really bad at it, so he often ends up doing stuff like fumbling with a stack of cards containing cheesy pickup lines while falling from a massive skyscraper. This may or may not actually be working on Coworker, but either way, he REALLY wants this guy to quit risking his life just to do a bad job at flirting with him. He probably threatened to have Colleague sent to hell for harassment.

[anthraxspores]

I don't know about the accuracy of what I'm about to say so take it as a headcanon, but I find the chorus of Property is Theft to be really interesting. The entire time, Sasha is saying don’t you KNOW that property is theft rather than CARE, as if Mikaeli is somehow unaware stealing Sasha’s life away is wrong. Mikaeli obviously knows how morally reprehensible his actions are, and Sasha knows he knows, but he’s developed such a strong attachment to Mikaeli by this point that he’s willing to make up nonsense excuses for his behavior/stay in denial about how horrible of a person he is. This is further implied when Sasha flat out ignores Sam’s warning not to trust Mikaeli, stating he just wants to hold Mikaeli because of how much time they’ve spent together. Sasha loves Mikaeli soso much, and it’s solely because he happened to be occupying the same space as him at a time he needed human connection most. He was so desperate that his sanity was relying on the man that trapped him in an eternal time loop.

I can’t imagine Sasha is enjoying the idea of being this attached to the guy who ruined his life though, so he’s trying to make Mikaeli’s actions sound as justifiable as possible to make this pill a little bit easier to swallow. Sasha does admit what Mikaeli did is wrong and seems pretty pissed off about everything, sure, but the way he says it makes it sound like Mikaeli is a loved one who made a dumb mistake rather than a comically evil CEO who could not give less of a fuck. It’s about minimizing Mikaeli’s actions more than it is about not acknowledging them at all, I think.

To summarize, I think Sasha excuses Mikaeli’s actions (unconsciously or otherwise) by implying Mikaeli doesn’t know what he’s doing, both out of love for the guy and not wanting to hold so much affection for someone that literally ruined/ended his life.

[anthraxspores]

Are the doppels even aware of the resets? Because if they were, I would have to imagine their dialogue would vary in a way that implies they are when you speak to them after ending 8. They'd realize the resets center around what happens to Protag, and their entrapment on floor 8 has made them so irrelevant to the elevator that it'll send them back there without hesitation.

They're either unaware or desperate enough to stay in denial. Everything resetting the moment they're out is proof that their freedom is considered less important than Protag's success (because Protag is more likely to work for The Company than the doppels are at this point,) but acknowledging that means a loss of any hope they still somehow have. That's why Antag is so quick to hand his scissors over to Protag without thinking about how nonsensical the deal he proposed is. If he were truly willing to acknowledge the resets, he'd be more likely to hold onto the scissors out of jealousy and spite ("YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO JUST GO WHENEVER YOU WANT, YOU HAVEN'T EARNED THAT-") than get excited over a chance to leave that he KNOWS he can't have. In my opinion, at least,,,

This makes me think the best case scenario is actually possible, and probably would've happened had everyone acted differently. If we keep operating on the assumption the resets are based solely on Protag's failures, the doppels going onto the working side of the elevator with the others still on isn't technically a failure on Protag's end. Therefore, nothing would reset, and the doppels would be freed alongside everyone else.

(That's assuming Normal Guy wouldn't take issue with the doppels being there though, and I don't really wanna dive into that rn. Just let me have this..............)

[anthraxspores]

Explodes you with my evil death beam

what did i even do 😭

[beesinmyheadd]

I just wanted to test it out and you were the first person I saw in my notifs 

[anthraxspores]

i am a VICTIM of CIRCUMSTANCES 😢😢😢😔😔😔

[anthraxspores]

Coworker doesn't drive. He definitely knows how, but there's been multiple occasions where he age regressed behind the wheel, and he's not really comfortable being about 6 years old and driving. He's salty about not being able to show off his fuckass sports car more than he is about having to get a taxi to work every day, but as long as it doesnt get scratched or something i guess 💔

[anthraxspores]

Explodes you with my evil death beam

what did i even do 😭

[anthraxspores]

found age regression coworker fic https://archiveofourown.org/works/65776039/chapters/169401433

YESSSS THANK YOU BRO 💥💥💥

[anthraxspores]

I'm remembering that episode of saiki k where Kurumi kept falling for a saleman's snake oil schemes because the products sounded good and she thought their prices were worth it if they had a chance to help her loved ones. This is Coworker to me. He can identify scams really well under any other circumstance, but when the product being shilled to him is something that reminds him of a problem Protag has, any skill he had in that area is suddenly gone. Protag scolds him (affectionately) whenever it happens, but he's too rich to actually learn a lesson from any of it.

[transmasc-character-of-the-day]

coworker from elevator hitch!

Coworker from Elevator Hitch is Transmasc!

[anthraxspores]

YEAHHHHH 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

[anthraxspores]

I don't know if it needs a warning but i talk about religion here

What's up with question 4 here, actually?

I came up with a possible explanation a while ago and forgot to post it, but I was thinking that maybe these are bible verses. I think 10:28 most commonly refers to Matthew 10:28, which says "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

I think in the context of Elevator Hitch, this serves both as a command to Protag and a comparison of The Company itself to some kind of god. The Company can wear down Protag's body and soul, similar to how this verse says hell can wear down your body and soul, and as a result Protag should fear/obey it.