Each of the eight screens, not immediately involved in the Code Yellow, switched out to Service Central, and an Agent Operator relayed instructions for the following shift. For the next eight hours, the outgoing Operators would have an enforced Rest/Repast period, regardless of their shift-status, so that they could be back on-call as soon as possible. The eight men, who, half an hour before, had thrown the switches on the facing edges of the counters, and put on cotton-lined neoprene gloves, were dismissed. They took off their gloves, and one or two of them wished their colleagues luck, or exchanged words with their Techs. As they left, there was a small sigh of relief from the remaining Operators on the Service Floor, who finally had room to breathe; so many bodies made the place claustrophobic. All Techs more than four hours into a shift were also put on compulsory Rest/Repast, for the same reason, which alleviated the pressure of so many bodies in the room, a little more. The remaining Techs were supplemented by the extra pair of hands that was brought in for each rack.
