They All Want to Use the World Processor First

Done with his Netflix viewing for the night, Thomas turned it off and headed to his room, but then paused, looking at the time. It was almost 11:30 pm ... meaning that in half an hour, the World Processor would be available for his next change. Smiling, he turned in the direction of the attic, intending on being the first one there, like last time.

But to his surprise, someone had already beat him to it - Bianca.

"Bianca? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I guess the same reason you are."

He wasn't happy about this. He wanted first dibs. He had something in mind that would affect what the rest of his roommates would type into the machine, kind of like last time. But if Bianca went first ...

"You have to let me go first," he said.

"No way. I'm already here. And I need to fix my last change anyway. Wouldn't it be better to get that out of the way before everyone else gets a chance?"

"You messed up your change? How?" he asked, hoping she'd clue him in on whatever she had changed. But she wasn't biting.

"I'm not gonna tell anyone about that, least of all you. Once I fix it, it won't matter anyway."

"I guess I wasn't the only one to think about getting here early," said Kyle, who entered the attic. Seeing Bianca in front of the computer, he said "You know, maybe I should go first."

"No way, mister. I already have dibs on it," Bianca said.

"That hasn't actually been determined yet," Thomas said, hoping to still get a chance to use it first.

"Yes, it has. I already told you. I have to fix my last change," Bianca said, getting defensive.

"You too? I have to fix ..." Kyle began.

"You made a mistake too?" Thomas asked, laughing.

"It's not funny. If you knew what it was that I did ..."

"What did you do?" Thomas asked.

"Well, I ..." He paused. "It doesn't matter. In another twenty-five minutes, it'll all be fixed, so ..."

"Oh come on. You guys are no fun," Thomas said.

Downstairs, Pamela came home to a quiet house and wondered where everyone was. She was so busy with her day that she had forgotten until right now that the World Processor would be available for use at the stroke of midnight, which wasn't too far away. That meant the others were probably in the attic right now. She had hoped to get the first chance to use it, during this new 24-hour period, but she figured that if the others were already there, she'd probably end up using it last. Well, she thought, as she headed up to the attic. At least I get to use it at all.