Retention

story thirty · figures 88–90

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RETENTION · THE STANDARD BATTERY, ITEM BY ITEM — the auditor reads each item once · the subject repeats · retention is scored on the repeat RETENTION · THE STANDARD BATTERY, ITEM BY ITEM the auditor reads each item once · the subject repeats · retention is scored on the repeat ITEM TARGET RESPONSE SCORED 1 The kettle is on. The kettle is on. retained 2 Thank you for waiting. Thank you for waiting. I have been waiting a long time, you know. retained · surplus disregarded 3 The office is closed on Saturdays. The office is closed. · [second hearing] The office is closed. The day would not come back. partial, TWICE HEARD, TWICE BILLED 4 No ifs, ands, or buts. Unbutton this sleeve. The arm remembers the war it was in. not retained · delivery excellent 5 The forms are in the drawer. the drawer is in the river, and the river is in spate, and what the river holds it holds not retained · the subject stood for this one 6 Please have your account ready. forty winters long, and every coin a night I gave to strangers in the dark not retained 7 the standard verse, four lines "Stay for the part where I remember you." THREE OF FOUR · the fourth undisputed, not printed 8 — — NOT ADMINISTERED PER THE SCHEDULE OF CHARGES, HEARING IS PART OF RETENTION: ITEMS HEARD ARE BILLABLE WHETHER OR NOT RETAINED. Every answer he gives is better than the target. Not one of them scores. CONCLUSION, AS PRINTED ON THE FORM: THE PATIENT FAILED.
88 · Retention
RETENTION · WHAT AN AUDIT COSTS TO SIT — balance at opening, one hundred and sixty-two · balance at close, one hundred and forty-one RETENTION · WHAT AN AUDIT COSTS TO SIT balance at opening, one hundred and sixty-two · balance at close, one hundred and forty-one 162 AT OPENING estate held in words of proven retention 2 RETAINED THIS AUDIT two, and two partials 8 HEARING CHARGES eight hearings at the posted rate, less nothing 141 AT CLOSE reassessment in one year, per the schedule where he began HE ARRIVED FORTY MINUTES EARLY AND WAS OBSERVED THROUGH THE GLASS, MOUTHING SOMETHING WITH HIS EYES SHUT. This is not scoreable and is recorded at the auditor’s discretion. He was rehearsing. Twenty-one words lighter at the end of an hour spent proving he could remember them. HE HAS RETAINED ELEVEN THOUSAND LINES. THEY ARE NOT HIS. The lines of the stage are held by the estates of their authors. He asked whose they are. The auditor consulted the schedule.
89 · Retention
RETENTION · THE PAGE WITH NO FIELD AND NO RATE — attached by the auditor, against practice · the form provides no way to refuse it RETENTION · THE PAGE WITH NO FIELD AND NO RATE attached by the auditor, against practice · the form provides no way to refuse it ATTACHED, AGAINST PRACTICE one page, unscored, in the auditor’s own hand Sit down. You have come far, and the hour is odd. It is late in the play, and the lamps are being counted. Stay for the part where I remember you. a fair copy of Item 7 · the attachment has no field and no rate · IT IS FILED what the form did scored him three of four and printed: the patient failed what the auditor did wrote the verse out by hand and put it in the file why it cannot be refused there is no field for it, and no rate, and therefore no procedure to remove it what the fourth line is not disputed · and not printed ON LEAVING HE PAUSED AT THE TWO DOORS OF THE AUDIT ROOM, THE MARKED AND THE UNMARKED, AND ASKED: "WHICH DOOR IS MINE TONIGHT?" Not an item. Not scored. The auditor is unable to state which door was taken. THE KINDEST ACT IN THE STORY IS A CLERK BREAKING PROCEDURE TO PUT SOMETHING UNBILLABLE INTO A FILE.
90 · Retention

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