Noel M. Loomis

“ Everybody spends all their time gathering points to offset the points they lose gathering points—and nobody seems to mind except a few rebels like you and me. I saw that rebellious look in your eyes when you signed my slip. ”

“ Penelope said. "Anyway, you can't go around forever with a sandpapered knee. You're learning fast, and you're learning right. Old Point-a-Minute Charlie was the best there was, in his day, and he always said you make more points guessing character than you do falling down. Know your victim before you have an accident, and then hit him for all he will pay and hit him quick—the way I did you." She chuckled. "My commission for today is one thousand and twenty points. Here, sign my slip, please."
Mark signed. It was a cheap price to pay for the fact that life was no longer pointless. ”

“ Renner, your card today showed a credit balance of a hundred and thirteen thousand points. Is that correct?"
Mark swallowed. "Yes." He looked at Penelope. She was pale. With difficulty Mark asked, "Is it your job to check up on people, to see if they are entitled to their points?"
"Oh, my, no. Central doesn't care about that. In fact, Central doesn't care how much anybody's debit is. We figure as long as a man is in debt he'll try to pay it off. They always do, at least. No, we never bother with debits, and I don't suppose we ever would." ”

“ Why, you don't even dare to get into a fight. Somebody would collect a thousand points every time you hit him. The standard price of a black eye is three thousand. You have to be pretty careful about things like that. And there's always Conley."
"Well," Penelope said, "I'm going to make you a proposition. I'll hold up your slip for sixty days, and in the meantime I'll teach you how to get ahead of the game. I'll teach you the tricks of the trade, just as old Point-a-Minute Charlie taught me. They say he averaged a point a minute all his life."
"Where is he now?" asked Mark, interested. ”

“ He'd been walking the streets in a sort of daze, signing slips right and left while his own pad of slips stayed in his pocket. He hadn't cared, either, until now, because in this brave new world of the one freedom—freedom from work—he was abominably unhappy. ”

“ Penelope gasped. "Mark, you mustn't do anything like that. You have no use for a million points."
"No," Mark said complacently, "but it's a lot of fun getting them. And it gives me something worth while to do. We'll sit up till three o'clock every morning and play bridge, and I'll stay in bed till noon, and dream up new stunts. I'll pull one a week. Life is going to be worth living."
The announcing light showed at the door. Penelope pressed the admittance button. A tall, thin man came in a moment later. "Mark Renner?" he asked.
Mark jumped. "Conley!" Mark's stomach had a funny feeling in it. ”

“ Of course, inside of Central the point system as you know it now will be of no value whatever. We use money in Central."
Penelope had a can of synthetic meat in her hands. "Beef!" she said suddenly, and hurled the can into the disintichute. "I'm going to starve all night so I can enjoy eating tomorrow."
"So nobody ever gets away?" asked Mark.
"Very seldom, though there's one fellow playing a game with Central. He must have gotten wind of us, and he keeps careful check on his points. About once every three months he starts going strong. He'll be putting in eight or ten thousand points a day. ”

“ The rest of the time is your own, only of course you can't come Outside. It would upset things if the general public learned about us. Yes, it's a regular job; not hard work, but steady work. Gives you something to aim for; there are promotions, you know, and extra bonuses for those who show promise."
"Work!" Mark said. "Steady work? You mean there'll be something to do all the time?"
"Five days a week," said Conley.
Mark said, "This is so sudden. Why don't you sit down a minute while we let it soak in? We have plenty of enzymes and stuff for a guest, don't we, Miss Penelope? ”

“ She pushed Mark back into the chair. "It's good for me. Don't get enough exercise any more. Now you just sit there. You're in a bad way. Anybody who'd fall for such a phony act and release thirty-five thousand points without even an argument—well, of course," she said archly, "I do have a well-turned ankle."
But the enormity of Mark's debit with Central when the old lady should turn in his slip, began to worry him. ”

“ Eventually the government took it over."
"But look," said Mark, "I don't see—"
"Don't rush me." Penelope put a can into the container-dissolver and punched the button that set out the plates and silverware on the tiny table. "You see, pretty soon everybody was insured for everything possible. People were collecting right and left, mostly small amounts but lots of them. But it took quite a bit of time to file claims and so on. And also, a man spent all he made buying insurance to protect himself. It was a wicked circle. Nobody could quit buying insurance and nobody dared quit filing claims. ”

“ But most of the population today is so apathetic they wouldn't be of any use at all, so years ago some of us who were in Central got an idea. We discovered that whenever any citizen rebels against the monotony of life today, he or she eventually winds up trying to gather a lot of points, because that is the only outlet for energy and ambition. That is the kind of person we need, so when anybody gets over a hundred thousand, the machine warns us. We go after them." Conley picked up his type N hat. ”

“ Very few ever object. Once in a while they are afraid and run away, but we just register their number with all the machines, and whenever that number is presented for food or clothes, the machines reject the card. ”

“ Companies insured people for more and more types of damage, even against being insulted or against a claim for damages for being insulted. The big companies eliminated the small ones, and it was just a matter of bookkeeping among those that were left. ”