25 minutes and counting...

The elevator stopped on the twenty-first floor. The doors slid open. I wondered if I could make a run for it.

But my feet stayed and the doors slid closed.

“Tick tock, tick tock,” said the Janitor.

I held out the memo as if it were a shield. “Hold on, hold on,” I gasped and shut my eyes.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but when I opened my eyes again, he stared at me as if I were the one who could hurt him.

Trying to regain some composure, I demanded, “What do you want?”

He shook his head. “First, I have to be sure we’re even on the right page,” he said.

It was as if I wasn’t good enough to attack, or kidnap, or whatever it is he was trying to do. Suddenly I wasn’t good enough.

“Right page? Go on,” I said. Yes, I realized this was stupid, but I think I saw somewhere that you have to make yourself into a human that way your attacker has sympathy for you and will let you live. I’m pretty sure that’s right.

He held up the capsule and gave it a jostle.