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Even with the advantage of invisibility, sneaking into
a building is harder that you'd imagine. To get past
the security guards Susan had to turn invisible but
she knew from experience that walking through the front
doors when you're invisible invites scrutiny. People
don't like to see a door suddenly open for no clear
reason. They get curious about that kind of thing. So
how do you walk in when you're visible and then suddenly
turn invisible without drawing attention to yourself?
Revolving doors helped. Already invisible, Sue could
follow someone through and give the door an additional
push to keep it spinning. No one ever noticed that.
Once past the guards it's best to turn visible and
look confident. Standing in an elevator, for example,
is risky when you're invisible. The chances of someone
brushing into you are high.
Then there's the problem of how to behave if you do
manage to get beyond the lobby. It's easy to imagine
that everyone in an office knows everyone else but the
truth is they don't. Offices are full of people who
don't know each other at all. For one reason or another,
Sue snuck into places quite often and she was challenged
surprisingly rarely.
As an impoverished student she regularly let herself
into concerts and museums. Stadium rock was particularly
easy. Her triumph, which she had never revealed to a
soul, happened on a childhood tour of Washington DC.
One evening she feigned tiredness, mentioned to her
mother that she had got her period, which was true but
not particularly significant, went to bed early in the
hotel, slipped out of the window 15 minutes later, and
took her own, very unofficial, tour of the city's most
famous building.
On the few occasions when someone in an office asked
who she was she told them she worked in IT. That was
usually enough to frighten away most interrogators,
unless they happened to work in IT themselves in which
case Sue said she was new and enquired politely after
the Project Plan. IT departments are always in a state
of flux, either growing dramatically or shrinking dramatically.
Not even the managers are entirely sure who's supposed
to work there.
Susan could remember only one occasion when she had
been seriously challenged. A stiff little man had persisted,
asking who she worked for, and Susan had spoken before
thinking properly. "Belinda," she said with
as much confidence as she could manage. Silently she
cursed herself. Why choose an uncommon name? Why not
say "John?"
"Belinda? Who's she?"
Hell. "I think she's new, herself. She works for
John."
"John?" He thought for a moment. "Jon
Dillbretta?"
Inwardly Susan smiled. She realized that this technique
of stringing names together until she found a match
could be reused. "Yes, that's him. Could you tell
me where the ladies room is?" This last part she
said sotto voce. She added a smile as if to say that
she would normally put such a question to another woman
but in this case time was of the essence, she was sure
he understood, and could he possibly give her a quick
answer? Reassured, he was only too pleased to help.
Sue looked at the glass doors, and at the reception
desk inside, and decided that maybe it would be best
to stay invisible throughout. She waited on the sidewalk
for the stars to align. Soon they did. Three women,
laughing and talking loudly, piled through the revolving
door. Two of them shared the same segment. They rushed
through, pushed the door hard and shuffled their feet,
kicking each other and the door panels. No one followed
them so it was easy for Sue to step into the next segment
and just walk right in. She didn't even need to touch
the glass.
The walls and floor of the lobby were finished in marble.
At least, it looked like it could be marble. Well, it
was kind of shiny, and if it wasn't marble she didn't
know what else it might be. How much did marble cost?
She studied it for a moment. Was it maybe some sort
of artificial finish designed to make people who didn't
question these things too much think that it was marble?
She realized that her thoughts were wandering. In truth,
Sue had no idea what the material was and she knew it.
It looked nice, that was all. How did people recognize
marble or granite, mahogany or oak, velvet or satin,
brass or copper? That kind of expertise could be learned
or course, but then so could dentistry. You wouldn't
expect the average person in the street to know very
much about either subject.
Sue thought about this kind of thing more and more
often. She knew that she knew a lot of things most people
didn't, and that she was ignorant of a lot of things
most people seemed to know about. It did not make for
a painless life.
Quietly she approached the reception desk and the guard,
a large black man with a kind face. A pile of Visitor
badges lay on the desk. The loud women stood by the
doors to the elevators. For a moment the guard looked
across at them. Sue reached out to one of the badges.
It turned invisible the moment her fingers touched it.
This was her insurance. She pinned it to her shirt and
headed for the stairs and flew up them. It was easier
than walking
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