Angel Infinity

Angel Infinity. She is a 1990s pop star confined to a little Escape Room in San Francisco. Ten times, I and eight Twitter interns went back in time to attempt to prevent her murder and ten times we watched her come home to her apartment and die.

It’s not unusual for there to be audio or video elements to escape rooms, but I was unaccustomed to seeing people steal the focus of the experience. It was a modern Rear Window or slightly more modern Deja Vu (2006). Throughout our event, I found myself thinking about the woman behind Angel Infinity.

She was under constant observation by our group. She ran through the same general script over and over: walking into her apartment, sipping a juice box, and putting it down on the table. Bouncing in her steps to the other side of the room. Receiving a phone call from her manager. Listening to the same song on the radio. Playing with her Pink Ranger action figure and Tamagotchi.

Inside this person was a rich set of values and I empathized with her strongly. Did she find this performance fun? Or was it like giving a tour? Or playing a character in a historical reenactment? Or was it more like wearing a costume at Disneyland?

Eventually, our team managed to call her landline to warn her about the murder. Her responses were satirical and breathed new life into the scene, but ultimately, we treated her as another object, another puzzle. At this point, I realized that we had not invested in our own characters and our own backstory. Our team had no name, no real context nor mission. We found the whole matter amusing.

In the hallway afterwards, I passed by the woman who played Angel Infinity, who was walking pointedly towards the staff room. I felt the need to say something to her: “Great performance!”, “Thanks a lot!”, “What’s it like?”. But I said nothing.

It reminded me of all my experiences being in quiet, close proximity to well-known people: Bill Gates, John Kerry, General Keith Alexander, B.J. Novak, Michael Cera. I felt obligated to say something in those situations, to acknowledge that “I know who you are and I’m a cool person, so I won’t bother you” or similar. But nothing has ever come out. Perhaps that was the easiest way to say it.

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