"Good Lord, what's in all those files?" Dr. Hoyt exclaimed. Dr. Kalmar could have explained, but he didn't feel up to it. Mr. Fallon, a wispy, shyly affable, poetic-looking chap, did it for him. "Papers," he said. "I know that, but why so many?" Dr. Hoyt asked impatiently. Miss Dupont seemed wryly amused as she watched his consternation. "I guess you might say it's because I can't make my mind up," confessed Mrs. Fallon with an uneasy giggle. She was a big woman who might have gurgled over a collection of toy dogs on Earth, but here she was a freight checker and her husband was a statistician in the Department of Supply, though on Earth he might have been anything from a composer to a social worker. "No matter how often we rephysical Harry, I always get tired of his looks in a few months." "And how often has that been done?" Dr. Hoyt demanded. "I think it's eleven times. Isn't that right, dear?" "No, sweet," said Mr. Fallon. "Thirteen." Dr. Kalmar could have interrupted, but he considered it wiser to let his assistant learn the hard way. Miss Dupont was enjoying it too much to interfere. "We've made him tall and we've made him short, skinny, fat, bulging with muscle, red hair, black hair, blond hair, gray hair--I don't know, just about everything in the book," said Mrs. Fallon, "and I simply can't seem to find one I'd like for keeps." "Then why the devil don't you get another husband?" Mrs. Fallon looked shocked. "Why, he was assigned to me!" "Dr. Hoyt just came from Earth," Dr. Kalmar cut in at last, before a brawl could start. "He's not familiar with our methods." "Let's hear the cockeyed reason," Dr. Hoyt said resignedly. "We keep our population balanced," said Dr. Kalmar. "Too many of either sex creates tension, hostility, loss of efficiency; look at Earth if you want proof. We can't risk even a little of that, so we use prenatal sex control to keep them exactly equal." "There's a wife for every man," Mr. Fallon put in genially, "and a husband for every woman. Works out fine." "With no surplus," Dr. Kalmar added. "There are no floaters to allow the kind of marital moving day you have on Earth, where so many just up and shift over to new mates. We get ours for life. That's where Ego Alter and Rephysical come in." "You mean people bring in their mates to have them done over?" "If they're not satisfied and if the mates agree to be changed." "I don't mind," said Mr. Fallon virtuously. "I figure Mabel will decide what she wants one of these changes, and then we can settle down and be happy with each other." "But what about you?" asked Dr. Hoyt, bewildered. "Don't you want her changed?" "Oh, no. I like her fine just as she is." "You see now how it works?" Dr. Kalmar asked. "We can't have a variety of mates, but we can have all the variety we want in one mate. It comes to the same thing, as far as I can see, and causes much less confusion, especially since we need stable relationships."