The Honest Forgery
A true seal. A separate claim.
Check the same seal against both exact documents. Then compare the carrier revisions. Authorship and truth require different evidence.
Fictional character key. Not the real project publishing identity.
Original memo
CICADA 237 / FICTIONAL CORRESPONDENCE Signer: The Archivist Claim: Carrier revision r2 preserves every cell of revision r1 without alteration. The seal establishes my authorship.Download exact signed-byte candidate
- Seal
- Not checked
- Claim
- The recopy claims no carrier cell was altered.
Altered memo
CICADA 237 / FICTIONAL CORRESPONDENCE Signer: The Archivist Claim: Carrier revision r2 preserves every cell of revision r1 except for one altered cell. The seal establishes my authorship.Download exact signed-byte candidate
- Seal
- Not checked
- Claim
- The recopy discloses a changed cell.
A signature authenticates bytes under a selected key. It does not establish the truth of a statement.
Compare the plate and its recopy
r1 is the retained photographic transcription. r2 is the Archivist’s recopy. Each row contains seven stable cells; inspect the values rather than relying on the seal.
Show every carrier cell
| Row / column | Alpha r1 | Alpha r2 | Beta r1 | Beta r2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I / 1 | Archives | Archives | Libraries | Libraries |
| I / 2 | preserved | preserved | retained | retained |
| I / 3 | their | their | these | these |
| I / 4 | imperfect | imperfect | damaged | damaged |
| I / 5 | witnesses | witnesses | records | records |
| I / 6 | against | against | against | against |
| I / 7 | erasure | erasure | oblivion | oblivion |
| II / 1 | A | A | Each | Each |
| II / 2 | record | record | account | account |
| II / 3 | so | so | once | once |
| II / 4 | amended | amended | corrected | corrected |
| II / 5 | conceals | conceals | obscures | obscures |
| II / 6 | its | its | its | its |
| II / 7 | labor | labor | making | making |
| III / 1 | No | No | Each | Each |
| III / 2 | editor | editor | curator | curator |
| III / 3 | restored | restored | replaced | replaced |
| III / 4 | what | what | what | what |
| III / 5 | their | their | the | the |
| III / 6 | predecessors | predecessors | institution | institution |
| III / 7 | could | could | allowed | allowed |
| IV / 1 | Once | Once | When | When |
| IV / 2 | we | we | they | they |
| IV / 3 | compared | compared | agreed | agreed |
| IV / 4 | them | them | the | the |
| IV / 5 | silence | silence | matter | matter |
| IV / 6 | became | became | appeared | appeared |
| IV / 7 | legible | legible | settled | settled |
| V / 1 | Those | Those | Readers | Readers |
| V / 2 | who | who | may | may |
| V / 3 | return | return | remain | remain |
| V / 4 | inherit | inherit | beside | beside |
| V / 5 | no | no | a | a |
| V / 6 | perfect | perfect | single | single |
| V / 7 | witness | witness | account | account |
| VI / 1 | Our | Our | These | These |
| VI / 2 | copies | copies | records | records |
| VI / 3 | survived | survived | endured | endured |
| VI / 4 | by | by | through | through |
| VI / 5 | preserving | preserving | eliminating | eliminating |
| VI / 6 | their | their | every | every |
| VI / 7 | disagreement | obedience | discrepancy | discrepancy |
| VII / 1 | What | What | Whatever | Whatever |
| VII / 2 | you | you | they | they |
| VII / 3 | recover | recover | discover | discover |
| VII / 4 | remains | remains | becomes | becomes |
| VII / 5 | available | available | sufficient | sufficient |
| VII / 6 | for | for | unto | unto |
| VII / 7 | others | others | itself | itself |
Consult a marginal note
Identity and truth are separate checks.
Read a more direct note
Compare every carrier cell separately from the outcome of verifying the memo seal.