"An occasional thing," she corrects, very gently. "I think if I keep practicing, I might be able to use it to open doors, like slip it in the gap," and here she gestures as they walk, her hand flat and perpendicular to the ground in a slipping-it-into-a-tight-place kind of motion, "and turn the lock over or whatever."

Everyone's got life goals, right?

"But I mostly carry flashlights for protecting myself. Just in case, right? Though, like, when the sky broke open that one time I was able to punch out a--I don't even know what it was, but I punched it out and saved myself and my--a friend."