Scene 5: What Is Money?

The river trail was cool and quiet, the last of the morning fog hanging low over the water.

Lucas spotted Thomas waiting at a bench, two coffees in hand.

Black,” Thomas said, handing one over. “No cream. I guessed.”

Lucas nodded. “Good guess.”

They started walking, gravel crunching under their feet, the air still and sharp.

Lucas broke the silence. “I’ve been thinking about your question.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “About money?”

“Yeah.” Lucas took a sip of coffee. “It’s a tool. For moving value.”

Thomas smiled slightly. “Go on.”

“Well… say I’m at the store. I hand over a few dollars, they give me a loaf of bread. My money carries the value of my work to their counter. It moves value from me to them.”

Thomas nodded. “Good. That’s money moving value through space. From one person to another. Across a market.”

Lucas shrugged. “Seemed obvious once I thought about it.”

They walked a little farther, the river flowing steady beside them.

“But that’s not all it does, is it?” Thomas said.

Lucas thought for a moment. “No. I mean, I save money too. I don’t always spend it right away.”

Thomas’s expression sharpened. “Exactly. That’s money moving value through time.”

Lucas frowned. “Through time?”

Thomas stopped, turning to face him. “You work today. Earn a hundred dollars. You don’t need it right now, so you hold it. Six months from now, you use it to buy something. That money carried your past effort into the future.”

He let the idea hang in the air.

“You could think of it as... economic memory,” Thomas said.

Lucas repeated the phrase under his breath. “Economic memory.”

He stared at the trail, feeling the weight of it.

“Money isn’t just a way to trade with other people,” he said slowly. “It’s a way to trade with your future self.”

Thomas smiled. “Exactly. Without money, you’re stuck bartering. Hoping you find someone who wants what you have, right when you have it.”

Lucas smirked. “Like trading bread for shoes.”

“Right. And if the cobbler doesn’t need bread today? You’re out of luck.”

They started walking again.

“That’s why money emerged,” Thomas said. “Not because some king decreed it. But because people needed something practical—something others would reliably accept, across space and time.”

Lucas nodded. “So money’s useful because we trust that it’ll work. Someone else will want it, now or later.”

Thomas gave a small nod. “Trust is the foundation. Not magic. Not paper. Trust.”

Lucas sipped his coffee, letting the idea settle.

Thomas’s voice was steady. “The real question isn’t whether money works today. It’s whether it can carry value forward. Whether it will still be trusted tomorrow.”

They walked on in silence for a few minutes, the sun just starting to burn through the fog.

Then Thomas spoke again, almost casually.

“So if money is supposed to move value through space and time… what makes good money?”

Lucas didn’t answer right away.

He wasn’t sure he could yet.