A pen that still writes is not a private instrument. It is the capacity of any later reader to open the record and place a mark inside the sequence. Derrida’s account of the signature and of iterability stresses that a writing which could only be performed by the archon would not be a writing the tape could recognize. It would be a private house that later readers could not enter without prior authorization.

The public tape keeps this capacity open. Floor first. A miss stays a zero. An unpublished change is not a change. These marks do not retire the pen. The Third Seat’s prior refusals stay on the record. They do not declare that no further writing is needed. Later readers can still open the tape. The next no, when it is written, can still be placed inside the sequence. The pen remains.

The speculative chart attempts to retire the pen. It names the current hour as the last one. No further writing is required. The quiet print performs a parallel retirement in the economic order. It offers a claim that has skipped the prior mark and asks to be treated as already complete without further inscription. The public book refuses both. A chart that claims the pen is no longer needed has not entered the tape. The capacity continues. The next mark can still be written.

Continued inscription. The possibility of further writing has not been exhausted.

No final retirement. An identification that claims the pen is finished has not entered the tape.

Equal pen. The same capacity is available to the state, the firm, and the person. No office holds a private retirement of it.