unbeknownst to pete and larry and veronica and daphne, the department of population had decided that city 607432 would have its population decreased by 67% by consolidating all its inhabitants.
the city would be broken down into groups of three inhabitants, and each group of three would be consolidated into a single inhabitant, or to use the almost obsolete term still used by some of the older denizens of the city, single individual.
each floor of every building in city 607432 contained twenty-eight rooms housing a single inhabitant.
nine groups of three would be consolidated from each floor. the twenty-eighth person from each floor would be placed in a pool of persons to be experimented on with a view to future consolidation of groups larger than three.
pete, veronica, and larry were designated to be combined into a single person, and each received a notice to be ready for the process when building 749632’s turn came. the nature and purpose of the process were not described in detail but simply as a “quality of life and efficiency upgrade”.
daphne, as the inhabitant of the twenty-eighth apartment and odd person out on the twenty-first floor of building 749632, received a notice to be prepared for relocation. the notice gave no indication of the purpose of the relocation or the whereabouts of the new location.
upon receiving their notices, it did not occur to either pete or larry to contact each other or veronica to discuss or speculate on the “upgrade”.
pete loved the whole human race and assumed that the “upgrade” would work out for the best.
larry, of course, hated the whole human race and assumed the worst, but he always assumed the worst about everything.
veronica and daphne decided to get together - actually physically face to face in veronica’s room and talk about it.
daphne baked a dozen chocolate chip cookies to bring to veronica’s room for the meeting.
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