- D-503 reads the official newspaper, and for one beautiful moment, thinks that it's all a dream.
- As it turns out, it's not a dream. Instead, the State has a fun new way to keep everyone in line! They just zap you with X-rays and "you are perfect; you are mechanized; the road to one-hundred-percent happiness is open!" (31.20)
- Guess what D-503 does? If you guessed "freak out," you win a No Prize!
- He calls I-330 and asks to see her. She agrees.
- He heads over to the Integral, where the Second Builder tells him that the flight has been delayed until after the "Operation."
- He returns to his home to see U- waiting for him. She only wants to tell him how happy she is for him. Soon, he and I will be "fixed!"
- She further relates that she took the children in her care to the Operation and they had to be tied down. So no warning bells here.
- He travels to I's apartment, where she tells him good-bye. The Operation will "cure" his love for her. He does his schizophrenic spaz thing again, then decides that he's rather go with her than undergo the Operation.