here were eighteen of them, gathered in one place.
"I invoke the rule of eighteen," cried one. And another appeared, who had never before been, born by the rule of eighteen.
"We must go to the Answerer," one cried. "Our lives are governed by the rule of eighteen. Where there are eighteen, there will be nineteen. Why is this so?"
No one could answer.
"Where am I?" asked the newborn nineteenth. One took him aside for instruction.
That left seventeen. A stable number.
"And we must find out," cried another, "Why all places are different, although there is no distance."
That was the problem. One is here. Then one is there. Just like that, no movement, no reason. And yet, without moving, one is in another place.
"The stars are cold," one cried.