Day:	9,212
	Time:	23:10
	Zone:	Repeatable Results

A cold caught up with me today.

A knock at the door. Ranger Diode and a medtech are standing there.

"Good afternoon shareholder," says Ranger Diode. "I hope we're not interrupting your productive leisure time. Our records show that you're about to come down with a rather nasty cold."

I say that there's been a mistake; I had just been given a cold a couple of months ago.

Ranger Diode puts an industrial-strength hand on my shoulder. "It's always a mistake," he says. "And it's always inevitable. Surely you're not impugning the integrity of the system. These things are decided completely at random. Unbiased. No favoritism; no malice." He lowers his voice and tightens his grip on my shoulder. "Don't give the doc a hard time or I'll break your fucking neck."

The medtech spritzes something up my nose and tells me that symptoms should appear in eight to ten hours and to get plenty of rest and drink extra fluids.

As they leave Ranger Diode thanks me for doing my part to insure the future health of the population and the economy.