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"But my supervisor will know me," I protested

"Your supervisor will not be present for this sort," the man told me

"And the Officials--"

The woman interrupted me "The Officials won’t remember names or faces," she said "You’re machines to them If we substitute a false identification code and a false picture, they won’t remember as really there"

And this, I realized, is why the Society doesn’t trust technology It can be overridden and manipulated Like people, whom the Society also does not trust

"But the other sorters--" I began

"Trust us," the man said "They won’t remember"

We’ve finished at last

I finally look up from the screen For the first time,on this sort And I feel nervous TheToday has been different, out of the ordinary, for all of the sorters in this room No irl’s freckles, that oing to get caught

"Please," says one of the male Officials at the front of the room, "remove your red tablets from the containers Do not take the tablet until we come by to observe you"

The room collectively draws a breath But we all do as he says I tap the tablet out into my palm For years, I’ve heard ruht I’d have to take it What will happen when I do?

The Official stands in front of e of panic

"Now," he says, and I drop the tablet into my mouth, and he watches me s it down

There’s a faint taste of tears inot here or what has happened this day

Soo to Grandfather I have to find hiht?

"Where have you been?" he asks when I arrive

"Work," I say, because I know I came from there But I feel out of focus; I’h It is beautiful out

It is a rarewhen both buds on the trees and flowers on the ground are red The air is cool and at the saht and determined

"Do you rereen tablet?" he asks

"Yes," I say "You said I was strong enough to go without it"

"Greenspace, green tablet," he says, quoting hiirl"

"I’ll always re a hard ti, sympathetic

"Yes," I say "Why?"

Grandfather doesn’t answer ht "They used to have a phrase for a truly memorable day," he says instead "A red-letter day Can you remember that?"

"I’y, not quite right Grandfather’s face is sad, but determined It ain at the red buds, the flowers "Or," I say, soarden day"

"Yes," Grandfather says "A red garden day A day to re to be hard to reht noon’t be clear later But you’re strong I know you can get it all back"

And I have Because of Grandfather He tied the red garden day like a flag to my memory, the way Ky and I used to tie red strips of cloth to ive me back all of the meive me a part of it, could help arden day I can build the rest back like stepping-stones to take etfulness, to find the memory on the other bank

Grandfather believed in ht I could rebel And I did, always, do little things, even though I believed in the Society, too I think of how I ry I hen I sed that bite of cake at the Banquet How Xander and I didn’t tell the Officials about his tablet container that day he lost it at the pool Hoe broke the rules for Ereen tablet

Fro who approached me I did what they asked because they threatened Grandfather I added people to the Matching pool Back then, I didn’t knoho those people were I didn’t know they were Aberrations

The Rising and the Society both used et The Society knew I’d forget the sort and its proxi knew I could not betray them if I didn’t remember what I’d done The Pilot evenus to Endstone "You’ve helped us before," he said, "though you don’t remember it"

But I re havehope that it would function as a kind of Reclassification for those whoto disrupt the Society?

And why did the Society use me, and the other sorters, that day? Were the sorters in Central already beginning to fall ill with the Plague?

Another ed by this one

I Matched another time, in Central

That’s what happened that day when I found the paper where I’d written a single word--re trouble because of the Plague; they couldn’t keep up with the people going still How long did the Society use people like ive us the red tablets so that we’d forget the rush, the eleventh-hour aspect of it all?