"Our work-group has turned out over seven hundred thousand identical parts since the speed-up started. I've kept count."
"That won't tell you anything."
"No, but they must be getting ready for something. Look at how many are being drafted. All the forty-one-year-olds, and the thirty-seven-year-old women."
"They came through twice tonight, looking for Recalcitrants. They took Jon."
"Have you had the new kind of inspection? They line you up and ask you a lot of questions about who you are and what you're doing. Very simple questions—but if you don't answer them right, they take you away."
"That wouldn't help them catch Recalcitrants. I wonder who they're trying to catch now."
"Let's go back to the dormitory."
"Not for a while yet."
Another meaningless shift put Thorn next to a group containing a girl.
She said, "I'm going into the army tomorrow."