y punishment, the conveyor belt converted
itself into a joy ride. The gag fell out. My bonds dissolved. The
Calamity had begun.

The joy ride carried me to witness many of the events reported to this
Commission. And then it tossed me directly into the center of the
office of the Chiefs. I had one more opportunity to tell my story, to
save the system.

Given a second choice, I reconsidered.

Had a perfect system been to my taste, I'd have died cheerfully to
save it. But the Calamity excited me. I relished its surprises and
adventures, even its hazards. I remember the old peasant proverb,
"When life is perfect, it is time to die." And I decided I'd rather
live.

HISTORIAN'S NOTE:_ At this point, the Commission abruptly closed its
hearings. The unnamed physicist was charged with treason and ordered
executed on the spot. His life was saved, however, by Rioters
representing the New Disorder, which, upon seizing power, decreed that
the Calamity should henceforth be called the Blessing._

_The physicist was rewarded by being made head of the government. He
served two distinguished terms as President Nameless, which was the
origin of the Presidential title of address, "Your Namelessness._"

_The Commission, of course, was sent to Erasure._

--MARK MEADOWS

* * * * *

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