RMJSC

Earth had rejected them, turned inward, returned to the cradle. The planets, the asteroids, the planetesimals, the satellites were now free. Free to fail or succeed, free to live or die.

"No earthly time!" they cried. "No years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds!"

"Hold!" cried the scientists. "Seconds we must have, seconds we need. All our work, the work of generations, you would throw aside."

Moderation there was. The people cried "Seconds then. But seconds alone, only seconds will we keep of earthly time."

When is zero, what is the origin, whence to count from? Vesta spoke: "The Julian Date we use, the Julian Date is good. We may multiply the Julian Date by 24 and 60 and 60, and thus count the seconds. Let all use the Julian Second Count." and so speaking, legislated it for themselves.

Callisto spoke: "Not so! The Modified Julian Date is better. Upon the Modified Julian Date shall be built the Modified Julian Second Count." and as they spoke, so they legislated.

"Compromise." said a wise man. "Let us compromise these two. For they differ by days, and days we shall no longer have." All listened, all agreed. "But what compromise?" they asked.

"Take the count of seconds from the Julian Date, and subtract not the 207,360,043,200 seconds that would bring you to the Modified Julian Second Count, but the simpler number, 215 Gigaseconds." and to those puzzled, he said, "We must learn the multiples of seconds, to use them in our speech, to make them part of the common talk, to think in terms thereof. Thus shall we mention kiloseconds, megaseconds, gigaseconds, and their kin. Thus is a gigasecond 1,000,000,000 seconds"

The compromise was wise, it was good, the people cried out for it. Then did Vesta change its laws, and Callisto, and all beside. And so it was thenceforward, and is now. And its name is the Remodified Julian Second Count, denoted RJSC.