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Thirty-eight. A Companion for New Arrivals

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The booklet describes its own alteration. The Office's cover remains, but the middle sheets were replaced before reaching the counter. Two rows of staple holes mark the change. The clerk who hands it out may know nothing about it. Its reader is told to insert these middle sheets into another copy. This is an instruction for further circulation, not proof that it has occurred or identification of a single organization behind every copy.

According to the booklet, a woman given a room refuses to pass the sheets to neighbors. Someone comes back for the key, but she has locked the door. The woman who found the room stays on the landing, and the person seeking the key leaves first. Remaining outside may protect the occupant. The account does not explain the room-finder's motive or promise the occupant lasting safety. The disagreement exists within the booklet's own side.

The booklet also asks its side to preserve evidence inconvenient to its claims. Two refusal slips name different offices: keep both. A stamped-on shoe has been moved beneath the copies: bring it out. A line requests spare room hours or an address of refusal, but may remain blank without a reason. The registers are to remain intact even if those giving orders change. These are demands for conduct, not proof that future officials will honor them.