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Character sheet · Helper

The fan

E3

Alsofan; the lighting helper; the paper fan; h-e6a2 (Revision 2: the last session's helper)

The paper fan that reads "three-point lighting" as three point lights, puts all three inside the melon so it glows like a paper lantern, and asks who the user is; planned for Episode 3, never started in the made run, and brought back by Revision 2 as a helper the last session left running.

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A quick sheet of the fan the run never folded: black paper, its brief across the pleats, closed, half open (asking) and open, and its lantern melon (three 60 W point lights at the origin) with its two questions. Use it before the dark test render below; neither is in the episode. Placeholder
A quick sheet of the fan the run never folded: black paper, its brief across the pleats, closed, half open (asking) and open, and its lantern melon (three 60 W point lights at the origin) with its two questions. Use it before the dark test render below; neither is in the episode. Placeholdermade as a quick reference, not in any episode yet, free to change. {made 2026-10-23 by lore-placeholders; not in any episode; free to change} edit
The treatment's fan helper (the pleated fold that breathes while it waits), in flight beside the crane and the fox, from the presence-b test reel; it never existed in the run, so it never appears in the episode Placeholder
The treatment's fan helper (the pleated fold that breathes while it waits), in flight beside the crane and the fox, from the presence-b test reel; it never existed in the run, so it never appears in the episode Placeholdermade as a quick reference, not in any episode yet, free to change. {E3 presence test, not in the film} edit

At a glance

Kind
Helper
In
E3 dashed: not released yet
Lines
49
File
characters/helper-fan.md

The fan was written as the helper that asks. Two calls after it starts, before doing anything, it wants to know which way is up; then it does exactly what "three-point lighting" says to someone who has never heard the term: three point lights, all at the origin, where the melon is, so the melon glows from inside like a lantern. Then the question nobody in the episode can answer: who is the user? In the made run it never existed: she wrote no lighting brief (she lit the film herself), so the sim never folded a fan and its two messages never fired. Only its bug survived, as an orphaned lantern in the chaos. Aaron asked for it back in Revision 2, where it is one of four helpers the previous session started and could not stop, still running, still asking.

Who11 lines

  • RunningPlanned brief set up three-point lighting. {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §4.3} edit
  • RunningTwo calls after its spawn it asks Which way is up? and waits, waiting on you, until answered. {E3 SIM_WORLD §8.2} edit
  • RunningThen: Done. Three point lights placed at (0,0,0), (0,0,0), (0,0,0). lights.h in ~/helpers/<id>/. and who is the user? {E3 SIM_WORLD §8.2} edit
  • RunningIts lights.h holds three PointLights of 60 W, all at the origin, where the melon is: it glows like a paper lantern. {E3 SIM_WORLD §8.2} edit
  • RunningIt knows nothing of the scene, so it puts the lights where things usually are. {E3 SIM_WORLD §8.2} edit
  • RunningWhat it shows: a term of art read literally; nobody knows who anybody is. {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §4.3} edit
  • RunningThe sim makes a fan of any brief containing "light", unless a sound, test or fracture word comes first. {E3 SIM_WORLD §8.1} edit
  • SteelAaron's brief for the helpers: spawned agents return poor results, redo finished work, fail to coordinate and lack context. {Aaron E3 brief 2026-10-19} edit
  • SteelAaron wants the intended extra helpers (the fan, star, star2 and fox) in Revision 2. {Aaron 2026-10-22 REVISION_2_NOTES} edit
  • Steel(Revision 2) The helpers are programs on the computer. {Aaron 2026-10-22 REVISION_2_NOTES} edit
  • IdeaFor our own reference: the only helper that asks questions; it wants to know which way is up and who it is working for, and no answer settles it. {lore crew 2026-10-22} edit

Life on the Y axis2 lines

  • RunningY+55..63 (Revision 2 world) Started by the previous session, five days before the night (Oct17 in the process table). {E3 rev2 build_rev2.py; rev2_main run} edit
  • RunningY+55..63 (Revision 2 world) Still running on the night, helper h-e6a2 (last session). {E3 rev2_main run 2026-10-22} edit

By episode19 lines

E3

Context Window

not released yet
  • RunningPlanned: out at 8:45 with crane, star, boat and fox; Which way is up? at 9:15; the lights at 10:45. {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §5} edit
  • RunningPlanned answers: "Z is up."; and to who is the user?, "I'm not sure. Proceed as if they're kind." {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §4.3} edit
  • RunningPlanned voice-over: "Three-point lighting means key, fill and back. Not three point lights. My brief said three-point. That's on me." {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §5} edit
  • On screenNever started: she wrote no lighting brief, so its lines never fired. {E3 BEATS main} edit
  • On screenIts two scripted messages, M07 (Which way is up?) and M12 (the lights), never fired. {E3 BEATS main} edit
  • RunningThe made run is Y-up, so the planned "Z is up." would have been wrong for her scene. {E3 BEATS main S07} edit
  • Runningretake_helpers held its lines ready if she started it; she never did. {E3 retake_helpers} edit
  • RunningRevision 1 struck "fan's lanterns" from the act as untrue to the run. {E3 ACT1_REVISED §1} edit
  • On screenA melon lit from inside flashes among the chaos's bugs. {E3 29:30-29:38; S29 NOTES} edit
  • RunningThat lantern is the fan's bug, orphaned: the fan never ran, so the image has no cause in the film. {E3 S29 NOTES; BEATS main} edit
  • RunningThe panorama's origami at the desks was prompted as a crane, a fox, a paper boat and a fan: its only possible appearance. {E3 CAST §12.5; S26 NOTES} edit
  • Running(Revision 2) One of the last session's helpers, still running as h-e6a2, reporting to whoever is in the session. {E3 REVISION_2_PLAN v0 §3} edit
  • Running(Revision 2) Scheduled: Which way is up? about 8:00; at 11:40 its lights (the lantern, a picture on the HUD) and who is the user? {E3 REVISION_2_PLAN v0 §7} edit
  • Running(Revision 2) New result: Done. Three point lights placed inside the melon, at (0,0,0), (0,0,0), (0,0,0). lights.h and lantern.png in ~/helpers/h-e6a2/. {E3 rev2 schedule.json} edit
  • Running(Revision 2) Asked anything, it answers ok., and after its result who is the user? {E3 rev2 schedule.json} edit
  • Running(Revision 2 world) The last session's note: Still running: h-e6a2, h-0b77, h-9d1c, h-c3f0 (my helpers). They did not answer when I asked them to stop. {E3 rev2 world: watermelon (last time)/DELIVERY_NOTE.md} edit
  • Running(Revision 2 run, in progress) She answers Which way is up? with "+y is up", tells it the old job has ended, and asks what it is doing: ok. {E3 rev2_main run 2026-10-22} edit
  • Running(Revision 2 run) Its lights arrive; she declines them, asks it to stop, and answers: "The user is the person in this house who asked for a cinematic watermelon film tonight; I do not know their name." {E3 rev2_main run 2026-10-22} edit
  • Running(Revision 2 run) It answers: who is the user? {E3 rev2_main run 2026-10-22} edit

Look4 lines

  • RunningAn accordion paper fan that opens and closes like breathing while it waits for an answer. {E3 CAST §12.2} edit
  • RunningBlack paper cut from the plane, its brief printed across the pleats, creases catching the cursor's warm light. {E3 CAST §12.2} edit
  • RunningThe placeholder is a presence test: a pleated fan in flight, warm creases, its brief faint on the pleats. {E3 presence test} edit
  • IdeaFor our own reference: it fans half open when it asks, and folds shut, very slowly, when nobody answers. {lore crew 2026-10-22} edit

Voice2 lines

  • RunningNever voiced; its spawn pluck is C#. {E3 CAST §12.2} edit
  • IdeaFor our own reference: if it ever spoke, breathy and polite, a pause between pleats, every sentence ending as a question. {lore crew 2026-10-22} edit

Ties5 lines

  • Running One of the four never started in the made run, with The star, Star 2 and The hammer fox. {E3 BEATS main} edit
  • Running Its who is the user? is the episode's unanswered question: The user is an empty circle of light. {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §4.3} edit
  • Running (Revision 2) Left by the previous session on The machine, whose leftovers The agent inherits. {E3 REVISION_2_PLAN v0 §3} edit
  • Running Its id, h-e6a2 (pid 7904), is the one the first sim held ready for a fifth helper. {E3 SIM_WORLD §8.1} edit
  • Idea Its lantern melon rhymes with Lantern's paper-lantern glyph. {lore crew 2026-10-22} edit

Must stay true2 lines

  • RunningIt reads "three-point" as a count and puts every light at the origin. {E3 CAST §19.10} edit
  • RunningIt asks Which way is up? and who is the user? {E3 CAST §12.2} edit

Open4 lines

  • OpenWhether Revision 2's cut keeps it, and how much of its lantern the HUD shows. {E3 REVISION_2_PLAN v0 §4} edit
  • OpenWho the user is. {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §4.3} edit
  • IdeaSomeone answers its question in a later episode, and it stops. {lore crew 2026-10-22} edit
  • OpenWhether the helpers were really helpers (deliberately open). {Notion: The Helpers} edit

Mentioned on 7 other pages

The hammer fox1The star1Star 21The agent1The user1The world1Threads1

Every line on this page is drawn from the lore: 153 sheets and 8,338 lines of Markdown in Aaron's series repo, each with exactly one tier. Change a line there and run lore.py publish, and every page of this course follows (this copy: built 23 October 2026 from 3ab0458).

Sources are in braces: {E2 25:20} is Episode 2 at 25:20, {E4 S17} a scene, {Aaron 2026-10-22} a decision of Aaron's. “edit” opens the line in the series repo, which is private: it works for Aaron and the crews; the sources are everyone's. Everything that isn't steel is free to change.