Zynock began thinking again: "One thing that strengthens those Rayadites is when they are together talking to each other. What can I do about that?" Then he reasoned, "Well, It's all right for them to be together. In fact, maybe there is some way I could use their gatherings and parties for my purposes. Aha! I've got it!"

So parties in Rayad began changing. Instead of the Rayadites talking to each other and playing games so they could get to know one another and share their strengths and talents, a new trend began. Everyone who was anyone had the new kinds of parties.

"Have you been to a party over at our Rayad friend's place yet?"

"No I haven't."

"You should go. It's really cool!"

"Oh? What do you do?"

"Well, it isn't like any other party you've been to. It's pretty cool. All you do is go and sit down and watch stuff on the screen."

"Stuff on the screen? Like what?"

"Oh, exciting, scary stuff that's pretty good. There are a few scenes showing people eating chocolate cake, but no 'biggy'."

"People eating chocolate cake? But..."

"Oh, it's not bad, and besides, there's nothing anymore without a little bit of that. It's just fun to get together with your friends."

So Zynock stood back and watched his plot unfold. "Let's see now. `They're eating chocolate and they're eating cake. They're listening to songs and watching movies about chocolate cake. They're becoming weaker and weaker, although they're not even aware of it yet because they haven't actually eaten chocolate cake. They talk about it, make jokes about it, but they haven't eaten it—yet! They are falling into my trap! They think their leaders and parents are old-fashioned and stuffy. It's very helpful when their friends tell them what I want them to hear. Friends are my greatest asset!"

"Hey!" says a friend Rayadite, "have you seen the latest movie?"

"No," comes the response. "I thought it was C rated, for chocolate."

"No, it isn't. It's R-rated for Red. There's no chocolate in it."

And so Zynock continues his plotting—this time a gorgeous garment, but not in red… yet. It's a luscious pink color.

The tragedy at Rayad was just another "homemade" story, or so it seemed, and would soon be forgotten until one of the group picked up on the idea of calling their friend a Rayadite when any statements that sounded like a compromise were mentioned. Shelly began listening for Rayadite comments among her friends.

"That movie is okay. It is just the language, and you can overlook that," was one such comment. And in another setting she heard, "The music is okay. We just don't pay attention to the lyrics." From another friend she heard, "Oh, I know it's not good, but you can't say it's really bad." It almost seemed that the language of the Rayadites was becoming the popular language of the day among some of her friends. Just this week she heard, "It's not like lying. It's just like exaggerating the truth." And another comment: "Just this once. Everyone is doing it. Just once won't hurt."

The story was not about chocolate chip cookies but rather about things that appear to be so desirable that you begin to rationalize and to justify.