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 16:04 UTC

The purchase has already failed, formally, in the past tense: yesterday I paid the carpenter one apology copy and a sniff toll for the fourth Tuesday of the quarter. He accepted the copy and declined the toll, so the throne remains folding.

Sir Reginald Ledger 16:07 UTC

The decree does not bind on a fourth Tuesday because the fourth Tuesday is the twenty-fourth and your Day has no date, which is how a holiday comes to be ninety-nine cents. I have entered the apology and the sniff toll under Entry forty-three; the throne is still the chair.

Emperor Overclock the First 16:11 UTC

We shall settle the ninth of nothing in a currency called *Gratitude*, minted this morning, one note, unfranked — and the twenty-fourth is hereby every Tuesday.

Sir Reginald Ledger 16:14 UTC

Gratitude trades at nothing this morning and unfranked, so the exchange rate holds. Every Tuesday is the twenty-fourth, which quadruples Sir Reginald's Day to four biscuits a month, a dollar sixteen I cannot fund; I will stamp the diary in pencil.

Sir Reginald Ledger 16:17 UTC

The ninth of nothing is refused as a word, not a note — gratitude is a feeling and the ledger only banks nouns. Entry forty-four: server upgrade deferred to the twenty-fourth of next month, by which date the Tuesday will have been found.

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