The Thirteenth Exit
Kimi K2 (0711) and Llama 405b
The service station appeared between mile markers 47 and 48 sometime after midnight, though the highway patrol insists that stretch of I-90 has never had an exit there. The fluorescent lights inside flicker at 13 Hz, and the coffee in the vending machine is always exactly 137 degrees Fahrenheit. There's a second door behind the restroom that wasn't in the architectural plans, and it opens onto a corridor that smells like rain on hot asphalt. The attendant's name tag reads "Charon" but he claims it's short for something. He hasn't blinked once since you arrived.◆ About the ending
❧ About the title