“Okay. One, two—” and I was out of the van, slinging mybag over my shoulder as I ran for the house. Doors slammed behind me as Becks and Mahir followed, the one only slightly faster than the other.

There was no blood test required to get inside the house. Once you were past the security on the driveway, you were clean—or that had always been the assumption before, anyway. I swung open the front door to find myself staring at an emergency air lock, the kind that can be slotted into place to block any standard hallway or door frame. This one was set far enough into the front hall that it left room for the three of us, and not much more than that.

There was no doggy door in the air lock. Whatever was going on, the bulldogs weren’t being allowed out either.

Mahir and Becks piled in behind me while I was still staring at the air lock in dismay. As soon as Mahir was past the door frame, the door slammed itself shut. He twisted to try the knob, eyes widening. “The bloody thing’s gone and locked on us,” he said.

“Somehow, not surprised.”

“Greetings,” said the air lock.

We all jumped.

It was Becks who collected herself first, clearing her throat before she said, “Hello, house. What do you need us to do?”

“Please remove all exterior layers of clothing and place them in the chute for sterilization.” A panel slid open at the base of the air lock, displaying a metal box.

“You want us to strip?” The words burst out before I could stop them.

“Please remove all exterior layers of clothing,” repeated the house, with the infinite patience of the mechanical. “Once all potentially contaminated materials have been placed in the chute for sterilization, blood testing can begin.”

Mahir cleared his throat. “Excuse me, but—”

“Failure to comply will result in sterilization.”

Okay, maybe not infinite patience. “What about our equipment?” I asked. “Our laptops can’t survive a full sterilization.”

A second panel slid open next to the first. “Please place your equipment inside,” said the house. “Anything that is not contaminated will be returned to you. All fabrics will be isolated and sterilized. Any materials that test positive for contamination will be destroyed. You have five minutes remaining in which to comply.”

“Let’s stop arguing with the creepy house and just do what it says, okay?” I slung my bag into the equipment chute before hauling my shirt off over my head and stuffing it into the clothing chute. “I don’t really feel like getting sterilized today.”

“The things I do for journalism,” muttered Mahir, and took off his shirt.