4416

Appears in the 11F visitor book dated 13 August 1986, in a careful hand, with nothing after the date. No name. No comment. Later Personnel extracts list 4416 as RETAINED.

4417

K. Watanabe. Last access 02:14 on 14 August. Retained on site. Returned home at 02:40. Active for years afterwards.

4418

A Floor 14 intake form, typed and dated 15 August 1986, the day after. Status: AWAITING INTAKE. Profile: 97% COMPLETE. The name field is blank.

The visitor book has a 4418 line too, already dated 15 August by a clerk. Nobody signed it.

Kokushi’s badge recall for numbers 4400–4420 says replacement is automatic and singles out 4417 as already reconciled. The surrounding numbers are treated as equipment. The person attached to 4417 is not discussed.

The theory I can’t shake

The numbers aren’t employees. They are places in a queue.

Each one is filled when a profile reaches 100%. The person who was there before is retained. The person who comes after is already being written.

A reader pointed out that this site’s own visitor counter gives every new reader the number 004417. I didn’t write that counter. I’ve checked the code three times.