Thousand: Six Hundred Sixty-Five

opens a bottle of generic cola. “Now is the time for all good women to let caffeine and high fructose corn syrup come to their aid.” This cupful also is quickly dispatched, the burp afterward a little more ladylike. She sneezes. “Ah. Thank you for answering my prayers, abandoned meeting room.” Feeling a new optimism the girl catches the vibrating keybox as it drops over the table’s edge, the box’s internal vibrations having driven it in slow meanders to a fall. She takes the light with her to the room’s curving wall. No hinges or handles so far she can