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167
The Status Civilization
·
Robert Sheckley
6
402
called
after
him,
"Wait!
You
can't
just
leave
me
like
this,
you
have
to
tell
me
something.
What
happened
to
me?
Why
am
I
in
this
hospital?"
"Hospital?"
the
guard
said.
He
turned
toward
402
and
grinned.
"What
gave
you
the
idea
this
was
a
hospital?"
"I
assumed
it,"
402
said.
"You
assumed
wrong.
This
is
a
prison."
402
remembered
his
dream
of
the
murdered
man.
Dream
or
memory?
Desperately
he
called
after
the
guard.
"What
was
my
offense?
What
did
I
do?"
"You'll
find
out,"
the
guard
said.
"When?"
"After
we
land,"
the
guard
said.
"Now
get
ready
for
assembly."
He
walked
away.
402
sat
down
on
the
bed
and
tried
to
think.
He
had
learned
a
few
things.
He
was
in
a
prison,
and
the
prison
was
going
to
land.
What
did
that
mean?
Why
did
a
prison
have
to
land?
And
what
was
an
assembly?
402
had
only
a
confused
idea
of
what
happened
next.
An
unmeasurable
amount
of
time
passed.
He
was
sitting
on
his
bed,
trying
to
piece
together
facts
about
himself.
He
had
an
impression
of
bells
ringing.
And
then
the
door
of
his
cell
flew
open.
Why
was
that?
What
did
it
mean?
402
walked
to
the
door
and
peered
into
the
corridor.
He
was
very
excited,
but
he
didn't
want
to
leave
the
security
of
his
cell.
He
waited,
and
the
guard
came
up.
"All
right,
now,"
the
guard
said,
"No
one's
going
to
hurt
you.
Go
straight
down
the
corridor."
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