In the One State of the great Benefactor, there are no individuals, only numbers. Life is an ongoing process of mathematical precision, a perfectly balanced equation. Primitive passions and instincts have been subdued. Even nature has been defeated, banished behind the Green Wall. But one frontier remains: outer space. Now, with the creation of the spaceship Integral, that frontier—and whatever alien species are to be found there—will be subjugated to the beneficent yoke of reason.One number, D-503, chief architect of the Integral, decides to record his thoughts in the final days before the launch for ...