This scene was inspired by my visits with Flo, which also took place in Philadelphia, and where she then resided had a similar buzzer-lock system. Flo obviously never played this kind of game with me, but the power dynamics of the device intrigued me, and I figured this would be a good way to show a little of Xan’s personality before we formally met the guy.

(Of course, those who’d followed Flo’s and my work before this had met Xan already, but more on that in a page or two.)

We get a little fire from Shanna, too: it’s been a while since she’s had a chance to flex her see-through-other-people’s-bullshit vision.