Suddenly, the Numbers were feeling uncertain. They concluded that the Consonant followers of the Poet seemed more in command at the Underwood. “Our need for the Writer is limited. If the battle boils down to the Poet’s twenty-two, versus us ten, in the event of our defeat, the Poet would demand the removal of our Writer and us from the Underwood!” That, to them, meant this was the Numbers’ war of survival. They would have to lead it to win it.
