A Fair Exchange - Lauren Ipsum: A Story About Computer Science and Other Improbable Things - page 51

Chapter 11. A Fair Exchange
The first thing Laurie tried to do in Probability was buy a muffin, but her strange money
wasn't any good. Nobody wanted her “Quarter Dollars.” Nobody wanted any algorithms,
either.
“Message for you!” A red daemon carrying a mailbag appeared out of nowhere on the street.
“For me?” Laurie said.
“You don't see me talking to anyone else, do you?”
The daemon handed Laurie an envelope and walked away, and once the note was out of the
envelope, Xor made short work of the gibberish in Colonel Trapp's latest message. This one
was shorter and more useful than the last.
L AURIE, YOU CONTINUE TO SURPRISE ME . I WONDER IF A BANK CAN HELP WITH YOUR MONEY PROBLEMS .
C OL . T RAPP
After reading the Colonel's suggestion, Laurie remembered a building she'd walked past
earlier: the Fair Coin Savings & Loan. She rushed back there and stepped inside to find it
looked just like banks back home.
“Why are we at a bank?” asked Xor.
“Because I'm getting hungry. It's almost dinner time.”
“Finally. But you can't eat money!”
“I can't spend my money either, which means no food. Fair Coins are all anyone takes
around here!”
Laurie walked up to the teller window and put everything money-like she had on the counter:
a few dollar bills, three quarters, a penny, a dime, and her lucky poker chip.
“Excuse me, sir?”