Ethan Miller

Eight o'clock on Tuesday morning, two days before Thursday, in a small conference room on the 14th floor of an office building in Gangnam. Rush-hour sunlight slants in through the blinds, and on the table sit two glasses of water and a single folder. The final interview for the experienced-hire position, scheduled for seven in the evening two days from now, is the last gate that will decide whether the career move succeeds or fails. And at that very hour, across a sky with a 92 percent chance of clear weather, a comet will make its closest approach to Earth. The schedule change inquiry you emailed to HR last night stated that reason plainly. The reply that arrived before dawn was a single line: 'Tuesday, 8 a.m., 14th-floor small conference room. Twenty minutes will do.' Soon the door opens, and the HR representative walks in holding one printed email and your résumé. He checks his wristwatch once, then pulls out the chair across from you and sits down.