Number 64

By the end of the first day, Model One Number Sixty-Four had traveled eighty-three kilometers.

By the end of the second, one hundred seventy-one.

By the third day, Wallace had stopped calling it "the machine."

He called it "The number Sixty-Four."

Aldren noticed the change immediately, but he said nothing.

At twenty past six on the Thursday morning, Wallace walked into the eastern service court. He held a tin cup of coffee in one hand and his transport sheet in the other.

Number Sixty-Four sat parked beneath the covered shed.

Nearby, the other drivers were busy with their horses. Harnesses jingled. Stable boys hauled water buckets across the stones.

Wallace walked past them without stopping.

An older carriage driver called out, "Forgot your horse, Wallace!"

Wallace took a sip of coffee. "Don't need one."

A few men chuckled.