The room would only get more crowded as thenight went on. By eight o’clock the only place that would be busierthan the lounges was the computer room on the first floor. Alberttried to go there once just to check out the facilities, in casehis own computer ever failed to meet his needs, and he was not evenable to get in the door.

Brandy leaned back in the chair and lookedsternly at Albert. “So what does it all mean then?”

“I don’t know.”

“Someone went to all the trouble of gettingus together to open this fucking thing, so what are we supposed toget from it?”

Albert met her eyes for a moment and thendropped the button back into the box. He’d heard plenty of swearingin his life, as much from women as from men. Hell, his sister sworelike a sailor when they were growing up. And he’d already heardBrandy swear plenty of times in the short time he’d been acquaintedwith her—she always seemed to be coming up with some delightfullycreative expletive during their lab experiments—but it stillsurprised him somehow every time he heard something vulgar passfrom her lips. She projected such a girlishly polite image that itwas hard to imagine her as anything but young and innocent, virgineven. Of course, that wasn’t to say that it was unattractive by anymeans. On the contrary, he actually found it to be something of aturn-on.

“I really don’t know,” he said after amoment. “You’d think there’d be something more.”

Someone walked into the room and lookedaround, as though looking for someone. Albert glanced at her andrecognized her as Gail from across the hall. He wondered vaguely ifher presence here might indicate that Derek was no longer in herroom. If so, he hoped he wasn’t hanging out when he returned tohis room. After a quick look around, Gail turned and leftthe lounge. Whoever she was looking for obviously wasn’t here.

“This is ridiculous.” Brandy closed the box,lifted it off her knees and dropped it into his lap. “I don’t getit. I don’t really care to get it.” She grabbed her purse and stoodup.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving. You can keep all that. The keytoo. I’m not interested.”

Albert stared at her, surprised. “You’re noteven curious?”

She half turned as she slipped the thinstrap of her purse over her shoulder. For a moment she paused, asthough struggling with herself. “Yes,” she said at last, her eyesfixed on the door. “If you come up with anything, let me knowtomorrow in lecture.”

“Okay.” He could not believe she was justwalking away from this. How could she? It was such a deliciousmystery. Sure, the lack of answers inside the box was discouraging,even aggravating, but it was also all the more intriguing. Thesenew questions were even more alluring than the first. How couldanyone just walk away from such an enigma? Perhaps she was onlybeing the more mature one, even the smarter one, but to just dropit and walk away? The very ability to do such a thing seemed soalien to him.

“I just don’t like it,” she explained beforeshe walked away, as though she could feel the weight of his eyesand read the questions inside his head. “It’s just… I don’t know.It’s just too much. I don’t want to be a part of something I don’tknow anything about.”

Albert nodded. He understood. It wasprobably the right thing to do. Nonetheless, he wasdisappointed.

“Bye.” Brandy walked out of the room as avery pretty redhead entered and dropped into one of the soft chairswith a textbook.

Albert watched her go without getting up. Itfelt surprisingly sad knowing that this mystery was once again hisalone.

Chapter 3

After leaving the second floor lounge,Albert slowly made his way back toward his room, his mind floodedwith questions both old and new. He intended to go straight to hisbed and lie down for a while, perhaps even retire for the night ifhis mind would take so long a break, but when he saw the door tohis room standing wide open, he walked on by without pausing. Hewas in no mood for Derek this evening. He was particularly in nomood for Derek’s horrible taste in television. Besides, right nowhe wanted to be alone with his thoughts.

He walked to the far end of the hallway,descended the stairs and then exited the building through the backdoors. He did not have any particular destination in mind. Hemerely wanted to take a walk, but he’d barely reached the stepswhen he remembered that he had not yet eaten dinner.

He crossed the street, climbed the steps ofthe University Center and then made his way downstairs to thecafeteria. This was where he’d eaten every meal since his arrivalat Lumey. There was a larger cafeteria over in the Cube, where he’dbeen told the selection was far greater, but so far he’d seen noreason to walk halfway across campus when he was not yet bored withthe menu here.

The dining area was pretty busy at this timeof night, but it would be slowing down soon. Already the lines atthe registers were beginning to shorten. Albert selected acheeseburger, chips and a soda out of convenience—ham on acroissant from the sandwich shop would have been better, but hedidn’t feel like relaying his order to the lady at the counter—andthen sought out a relatively private table at the far end of theroom.

Often when he’d come here, the noise and thecrowd would bother him, but tonight he actually enjoyed theatmosphere. Tonight, there was something very comforting aboutbeing alone in a room filled with people.

He unwrapped his cheeseburger and took abite. He didn’t feel terribly hungry. In fact, there was anunpleasant warmth in his belly, a sick sort of knot. He toldhimself he was merely tired, his mind overworked from trying tosolve the riddles of the box all day, but he knew the feeling wasmostly to do with Brandy.

That she could just walk away like that… Howcould she not want to know? How could she just leave and go abouther life like nothing happened? He supposed she only did theresponsible thing. Perhaps he was nothing more than a fool forthinking such a ridiculous box deserved such obsession, but hecouldn’t help it. The box was simply too intriguing to pass up. Itwas a riddle. And he’d always loved a good riddle. It was histhing. It was what he was good at. He was smart like that.

…Too smart to actually believe that this wasreally about any of that.

It was simple disappointment.

Still chewing his cheeseburger, he withdrewthe key Brandy gave him from his jeans pocket and looked at it. Itwas so simple; just a perfectly flat piece of metal, less than aneight of an inch thick, with no grooves of any kind. Only thesimple shape of the teeth on either side allowed it to open thebox, and yet the box itself was so finely crafted, with such anelaborate locking mechanism. The two just didn’t seem to gotogether.

Sort of like he and Brandy, he supposed. Butfor just a few minutes…

A loud outburst from a few tables over drewhim from his thoughts. He glanced over and surveyed the five peoplesitting there—two young men, three girls, all about the same age,perhaps a year ahead of him—and then turned his eyes back to hisdinner.

He focused his concentration onto the keyitself and began to review the things he’d found inside the box.The feather. The broken, rusted blade. The brass button. The silverpocket watch. The stone. What did they all mean? It all seemed likeso much junk, but at the same time there was something else. Therewas something about them that tickled his brain, a strange sort ofsense to be made from all the items in the box. It was a strangesort of sense in the simple fact that they made no sense. None ofthe things in the box fit together and that was exactly why thewhole thing fit together. It was like a game, a tangled web ofmysteries that each promised a key to solving the others. Ifsomeone meant it as a practical joke, they were good, and they knewhim well enough to know that he’d be hooked. And this was preciselywhy he did not think that it was a practical joke.