Summary

Lila Mae Watson, an elevator inspector for an unidentified city, enters a building at the address 125 Walker. She plays a game with herself by looking through a file folder and seeing which of the previous elevator inspectors she can identify by the initials they signed on the paperwork, noting that all inspectors have been white, male, and Empiricists. Many of these inspectors wear their hair in a style called a “Safety” and have created a fraternal bond within the Guild, the union of city elevator inspectors. Lila Mae also notices that two very important inspectors, James Fulton and Frank Chancre, had inspected 125 Walker within six months of each other. Fulton had previously been powerful and then worked for “the Institute." Chancre is the current Guild chair.

Lila Mae meets the building superintendent, who demands to see her identification badge, but doesn’t look...