| General Store from Agloe, New York | |
|---|---|
| |
|
Origin |
Agloe, NY |
|
Type |
General Store and Contents |
|
Effects |
Filled with products of nothingness |
|
Downsides |
Can sporadically undo something’s existence |
|
Activation |
Entering |
|
Collected by |
Warehouse 13 |
|
Section |
|
|
Aisle |
940384-5485 |
|
Date of Collection |
October 24, 1996 |
| [Source] | |
Origin[]
Agloe is a small town nestled in the countryside of Western New York. Emphasis on small. It doesn’t exist… sorta.
Since mapmakers practically all made the exact same product (misplaced cities were bad for the reputation), an unsavory draftsman could just copy another’s work wholesale. No fuss with surveying geographic coordinates or collecting census data, just print your own name on the atlas cover. To prove copyright theft, fake settlements would be peppered through a map. A small paper town nobody cared to verify would appear in a remote, uninhabited area. Its appearance on another company’s map became evidence for a lawsuit.
General Drafting founder Otto G. Lindberg and assistant Ernest Alpers conjured Agloe from their initials at the intersection of two dirt roads. Years later Rand McNally had the same spot. Only thing – they’re information came from a local storeowner. Some rube took a trip upstate and instead of getting upset at a vacant lot, registered the “Agloe General Store” with the county. Figured someone else would eventually make the same assumption. The phantom town was listed and removed from Google Maps, but still exists on the US Geographic Names System. The store itself closed down in the 90s.
Effects[]
Every product inside is a container filled with a version of … nothing. It’s not just empty; it has some property of removal or vanishing. An in-house phone booth can turn its occupant invisible or intangible depending on time of day. The countertop scale reduces molar mass to zero, making substances have no measurable atomic weight. Playing with the old-timey register can reduce one’s place of business to an empty shell devoid of all foot traffic. A large floor model coffee grinder reduces whatever the user is holding into gritty dust without any form. Even fiddling with the cans along the shelves can strip a person of their identity and memories.
At times, it will just remove the customer from existence. The door just swings shut like an unseen specter was released. All their life is just expunged from history, like they never were born to begin with. Only a name appears on the signage inside; no traces can be found elsewhere.