Emily was seized with the sudden urge to fling the Wonderball out the window. Am I going insane? she thought as she looked at the seemingly inconsequential toy cradled in the palm of her hand. What does 34 even mean?

She took a deep breath and decided she would play along, at least for now.

“What is 34?” she asked the Wonderball, staring intently at the answer cube. Its surface began to swirl in indistinct colors. An answer slowly materialized at the window. Incredibly, it was another phrase: A room.

“How can a room give me a coma?” Emily asked aloud, not really expecting an answer.

But then the Wonderball began to make rapid clicking sounds, and the cube flashed with vibrant colors. Suddenly, another word appeared at the window: Someone, and then it disappeared only to be replaced with yet another word, which was followed in rapid succession by still another.

Emily held her breath as she waited for the sentence to complete itself:

Someone … waits … for … you … in … room … 34.