What does THIS do...?



(click to enlarge)

I noticed this evening, not six feet from my comfortable spot on the fencing school's parental sofas, an official looking "big-red-button-that-must-not-be-pressed".  (Super extra points if you can place that quote.)  It's just hanging there...on the ceiling...out of arm's reach.  Grrr.  It does have a power cord extending to a nearby outlet.  But otherwise, it's just a solitary big red button, set into a black base, serving no obvious purpose. 

Does it sound an alarm to evacuate the school?  Does it call the students to arms in case of intruding fencing students from rival schools? (It could be a bit frightening to encounter seventy-plus beweaponed people in faceless steel and ebony masks, swords at the ready.)  Does it tip over all the parental sofas so we'll wake and take our children home so the school owners can go home to bed?  Does it turn off all the lights to make the students leave, toward the same purpose?  Does it rain down confetti when hit with a hacky-sack (a game popular among fencers for its promotion of quick reflexes)?  Does it electrify the floor to encourage quick footwork among lack-luster students?

*sigh*

Darn it all.  I'll have to ask.

(And, yes, 'beweaponed' is a word.  Check with Douglas Adams.)