The plaque on the door says SINergy which she thinks is kind of pretentious but then she supposes you can have any two of effectiveness, originality and taste and it looks as though SINergy has not opted for taste which is fine because really she’s had enough of taste to last her a lifetime and is in the mood for some trashy brilliance.

The door opens and a deep male voice starts to lecture her on the wonders of the SINergy system but she’s already tuned it out. Either she’ll figure out what the wonders are or she won’t and in either case being told about them won’t make a bit of difference so what’s even the point?

Inside there’s a lounge breathtaking in its tackiness: shag carpeting, a recessed seating area full of couches and fur rugs, soft music, a bunch of serious nude people sitting around talking about Serious Nude People Issues. There’s no way out of the room that she can see, but if there’s one thing she knows, it’s that mazes always lead deeper into themselves. She takes a tight hold on her clew, and goes down into the party.