entry 0 // the count does not pause for you
one ledger. every column. optional
nobody started counting. the ledger was already three hundred pages deep the first time anyone opened it. it only asks that you not look away while it reaches the last number.
open the ledger →it does not ask for worship. it asks for a number. drop one in, and it will decide which column it belongs to.
five entries pressed flat. order is a courtesy. the total rearranges behind you.
a spreadsheet used for nothing important gained a row overnight. the row had a name, a timestamp, and a number in the last column that matched nobody's guess. the timestamp was from Tuesday. it was Monday.
the counter went from 4,391 to 4,393. support tickets called it a rounding bug. the changelog called it intentional. nobody who wrote the changelog remembers writing it.
twice a year the totals are supposed to match. this year they matched to the decimal, which has never happened before, and which four separate auditors independently described as "worse."
an intern tried to delete the tally. the delete request itself became entry #1 in a new tally, timestamped one second before the request was sent.
every row has seven columns. six are documented. nobody who built the system will say what the seventh column counts.
you already owe it a number. not money — attention, counted in the seconds you spent not blinking. it will collect on a date it has already logged. you will not be told the date. you will only notice, later, that it has passed.
completion is not rewarded. non-completion is remembered at depth.
started keeping a second ledger. one for the numbers i'm supposed to track, one for the numbers that show up anyway.
the second ledger has more entries than the first. i don't remember writing most of them.
the total on page one changed. i checked three times. it agrees with itself now. it didn't yesterday.
first contact, then second. corruption preserved. do not shout into the static.
what are you counting?
everything that happens exactly once.
how close are you?
closer than the last time you asked.
i haven't asked before.
the ledger disagrees.
is this the last entry?
there is no last entry. there is only the one you stop logging.
can i stop now?
you already tried. this is echo two.
| id | report | status | dread |
|---|---|---|---|
| #004 | the tally hit a number twice in one day | unconfirmed | |
| #011 | the spreadsheet renamed itself overnight | confirmed | |
| #017 | someone found their own name in the audit log, dated before they signed up | poster missing | |
| #022 | the seventh column filled itself in for one row only | ongoing | |
| #029 | [entry sealed by grenvox] | sealed |
draw them if you must. not twice in one sitting. it multiplies ink.
◯ ◯ ◯ ◯ ● ◯ ◯ ◯ ◯rim
╱╲╱╲ ╱ ×× ╲ ╲ ×× ╱ ╲╱╲╱counted
░▒▓█▓▒░ ▒▓ ‾‾ ▓▒ ░▒▓█▓▒░sealed
· · · ╲ | ╱ ──✧── ╱ | ╲ · · ·noticing
it exists because i once kept score of something petty for a whole summer, in a notebook, out of spite, and never told anyone the final number. i do not know if that makes the tally mine, or if it makes me its first entry. i stopped keeping score. it did not stop counting.