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more scraping by between allowance periods. Eight meant a much bigger apartment. Eight meant no more late nights while Johnnie stayed at work to improve his production numbers.
    Eight meant no more looking over our shoulders.
    "Thank you, Mr. White. " But of course, Johnnie couldn't keep his mouth shut. "I've just one question, though. The flag? How can there be a flag with a rating of ten?"
    Mr. White pursed his lips. It was quite an odd gesture, almost feminine and I had to keep myself from giggling.
    Eight didn't mean you could just randomly disrespect government officials.
    "Well," he said, "there is that question. To be perfectly honest, I've never seen it come up before. But in your case, I don't think it's something to worry about. Your child rated a ten and you are now eights. I don't see how there could be a problem. The government won't, of course, stand in the way if you decide to invoke your option. "
    "What if we do?" Johnnie asked. I squeezed his hand tighter but he just pulled his away from my grasp and continued, "What would happen to us?"
    Mr. White smiled. There was little humor in it. "Happen, sir?"
    "If we use the option to terminate the pregnancy, what would happen to us?"
    "Why would you do that, sir? Your child is a ten. He or she will be a great credit to the nation and improve life for all of the citizenry. What citizen would even consider that?"
    Johnnie shook his head. "Well, the flag. I'm worried about it. "
    "Worried about it?" Mr. White picked up his pen and scribbled something on his tablet.
    "Yes," Johnnie answered.
    "Your child is a ten, sir," Mr. White repeated. "that should be enough to make you forget about the flag. "
    "Well, it doesn't. It certainly didn't keep Central from issuing the flag. Why would they have issued a flag unless there was some concern?"
    Mr. White tapped his pen on his desk a few times, and leaned forward. "How much do you know about the CDP test?"
    "Central looks into the future and determines the baby's community viability," Johnnie said. "that's really all there is to it, right?"
    Mr. White chuckled. "Well, that's not really accurate. Central can't look into the future. That's impossible," he said, chuckling. "What it does do is predict the future based off of the child's cellular past, the parent's cellular past and other environmental factors. You see, once you can witness the cellular history of an individual, you can predict future activity through sheer computational power. Central has an over ninety-nine percent success rate with this test. We don't question the results. "
    I knew Johnnie wasn't going to take the hint so I cut him off before he could do more damage. "It's just so confusing, Mr. White," I said, smiling as wide as I could. "Aren't flags usually reserved for children with. . . well, problems?"
    "Actually," he said, "the flag is just an indication that the parents will have to make a sacrifice. Sometimes it means that the child will be handicapped, and the parents will have to work additional hours to make up for the extra burden on the State. All we know is that when a flag comes up, the sacrifice necessary from the parents is sufficient to warrant giving them the option to terminate the pregnancy. It's how we protect your freedoms as individuals.
    "The State values that highly. " He smiled.
    "But our child is a ten," I said. "Tens can't be a burden on the State by definition. They are the ones that make the State better. "
    "That's true. Which is why I'm not overly concerned with the flag. And neither should you. Your child will be an asset to the State. You'll have to make a sacrifice, but what parent doesn't?"
    I knew I had to phrase my next question carefully. "And there's no indication as to what form that sacrifice might take?"
    "You know I can't answer that," Mr. White said. "And you know you shouldn't even be asking. Knowledge of the results can affect their outcome. "
    "I see. Well, thank you—"
    "You didn't answer my question," Johnnie