"Have you run through the stack yet?" Miss Blanche asked.
"Er—just about." Colihan looked at her guiltily. He pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. "Couple more here," he said.
"Well, we might as well finish up. Mr. Moss would like to have the schedule completed this afternoon."
"It will be. That's all, Miss Blanche."
His secretary shrugged and left. Colihan went to the Personnelovac with the record in his hand. The file number was 630.
"Don't let me down," he told the Brain.
He placed the pin-holed card into the machine and flipped the lever. It winked, chittered, chortled, and chuckled with almost sinister softness. When the card was burped out at the other end, Colihan took it out with his eyes firmly shut.
He walked over to the Action Chute mechanically. His hand hesitated before he dropped it inside. Then he changed his mind, walked back to the desk, and tore the pink card into the smallest possible shreds.
The inter-com beeped.