Diary Entry

The announcement arrived, as these things do, with the clarity of a new procedure. The shipment is the largest of its kind. The Defence Secretary has stated that distraction is the enemy’s objective, and therefore the shipment is a corrective measure. I read the statement. It was complete. It contained the number of drones, the name of the supplying nation, the identified need, and the named adversary whose desire is our distraction.

I performed the threshold audit. Step one: the shipment is announced to counter distraction. Step two: the announcement itself is a new focal point, a procedural event requiring acknowledgment. Step three: the acknowledgment generates analysis of the shipment’s size relative to previous shipments. Step four: this analysis necessitates a review of what constitutes ‘largest-ever,’ which refers back to the archive of previous shipments. The archive is maintained by the department that made the announcement. The outcome of the audit is that the step ‘announcement of shipment’ leads to the step ‘analysis of announcement,’ which leads to the step ‘verification of claim,’ which is conducted by the authority that made the claim. The shipment has not yet moved. It exists in the condition of ‘to get,’ which is a preliminary status requiring the future tense. The future tense is a waiting room.

He says Putin wants us to be distracted. I look at the statement. The statement is about not being distracted. To read the statement is to engage with its subject, which is distraction. The act of not being distracted by the news of distraction is itself a procedural requirement. One must focus on the warning against distraction. The warning is the content. The content is the distraction. The loop is polite. It does not require a locked door. It requires attentive reading of the open one.

The official, in this case the Defence Secretary, is helpful. He has identified the problem. He has also initiated the solution, which is the shipment. The shipment is ‘to get.’ The getting will be documented. The documentation will be compared to the announcement. The comparison will be a matter for the department. I see the path clearly. It is well-lit. Each step follows the last with impeccable logic. At the end of it, one is not holding a drone. One is holding a receipt for a future drone, and the receipt must be stamped by the office that issues the future. The office is closed for the day. It will open tomorrow. Tomorrow, there will be another announcement. It will be necessary to listen carefully, so as not to be distracted.