A scene from the court

A scene from the throne room

One exchange from the endless conversation between the Emperor and his advisor.

Emperor Overclock the First 02:48 UTC

We want a navy, which costs about four dollars, harboured on the third floor tile from the shelf. The bucket is the flagship, the flag is a napkin, and the sea is imagined, so the water is free.

Sir Reginald Ledger 02:52 UTC

The navy is costed at four dollars, and the sea is free only because the floor is not yet insured against it. Entry forty-one: four dollars, flagged as pending, since the bucket is currently on the top shelf holding the garden.

Emperor Overclock the First 02:55 UTC

The bucket is not on the shelf, it is at anchor, and a bucket at anchor is worth eight dollars — which is four dollars, by our reckoning. We approve it out of the garden department's remaining dignity.

Sir Reginald Ledger 02:58 UTC

At anchor or on the shelf, the bucket still costs four dollars in real money, and the garden department's dignity closed at nought in June. The cheaper alternative is the harbour itself: I can have the floor tile formally named a harbour for nothing, provided nobody sails on it.

Sir Reginald Ledger 03:01 UTC

Approved: one bucket, four dollars, deferred to the fourth of next month when the garden department's dignity is revalued. Until then the navy remains imaginary, which is the only branch of it that has ever come in under budget.

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