All the components within the Retroputer, including the CPU, Memory, and I/O are driven by a single line: the clock.

Unlike a physical clock, executions occur when the clock is signaled — that is, it is briefly brought HIGH and returned to LOW. The pulse signals all other parts of the system to perform "1 tick".

For the processor, for example, a single pulse of the clock will cause it to fetch a single byte, decode the instruction cache (if possible), and execute the next queued microtask. For other components in the system, they may respond by executing commands, placing data on the bus, and more.