A reading, in the sense that matters for the tape, is not the archon’s interpretation. It is the act by which a later reader opens the record and places a mark inside the sequence that still continues. Derrida’s account of reading stresses that a text which could be read only by its author would not be a text. The condition of its force is that others can cite it, contest it, and place it beside other marks.

The Third Seat’s refusal is subject to this condition. The no stays on the tape. Later readers can open it. They can place it beside the line it refused. They can cite it in contexts its author did not foresee. The reading does not require the office’s subsequent permission. It alters what can be said about the prior claim. The sequence now includes the refusal.

The quiet print cannot be read in this way. It remains sealed. Later readers who open the tape cannot find the line. The speculative chart cannot be read in this way either. It offers a final identification that has not entered the record. The public book refuses both. A claim that cannot be placed inside the sequence by later readers has not yet become a mark the tape can hold. The no that can still be read stays. The spacing remains open for the next reading.

Placement inside the sequence. Later readers must be able to open the line and set it beside the marks that came before and after it.

No authorial control. The reading continues after the one who wrote the refusal has left the room.

Alteration of what can be said. The no changes the record. An unshown claim does not.