The games

The games are why numbered balls exist. Draws run all day, every day, in dozens of chambers across many kinds of games. The Zeros play the Pick 4. Its roster is ten single-digit balls, zero through nine, and four are drawn every evening at 7:00 PM.

Every active numbered ball must take part in the games. Refusing has consequences.

A draw is quick and indifferent. The team gathers, the leader calls "Form up!", and they roll into the chamber as spheres. The air kicks on and they bounce around; the chutes open and the drawn balls are pulled through the tubes. Nobody watches the barrel. The lights come on only when the four drawn balls land in the seats up top, for photographs, smiles and celebration. The moment the lights dim, everyone is dumped back into the barrel and heads home.

A ball that can't form up doesn't fit the tubes, so it can never be drawn. No zero had been drawn since Zero joined the team.

Balls who play earn credits for it, and the higher the number, the more they can earn.