Character sheet · Helper
The moth
Alsomoth; h-2c91; pid 7556; the sound helper; the paper moth; h-7f3a (the Revision 2 run, where ids go in spawn order)
Episode 3's sound helper, the only one folded in cream paper: sent to make the soundtrack, it opens forty downloads on a machine with no network, answers every "please stop" with still looking., circles the cursor (the only light) for the rest of the night, and on the last seconds lands: Found one.
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Used 
Used 
Used At a glance
- Kind
- Helper
- born
- Y+55..63Running {E3 4:05.299; 16:15.9}
- In
- E3 E4 dashed: not released yet
- Lines
- 59
- File
- characters/helper-moth.md
The moth is the helper that never comes back and never goes away. She starts it in the first two seconds of delegation, it flies nowhere (every other helper goes to an island), and from about 9:00 it circles the cursor like a moth round the only lamp on in a building. Twice she asks it to stop; twice it is still looking. When the lonely man tells her to check her processes, what she finds is its downloads, and she writes that she could not match their pids safely, though the PPID column one line away says they are its own. It is still circling in the epilogue, and on the hard cut it lands and we hear the one clean break it was looking for. Its name is Episode 1's caller's nickname. In Episode 4 a cream paper moth is in the room all night (The paper moth (Episode 4)).
On the Y axisY0 = the night of Episode 1
Ages at each episode come from the birth year and the episode's place on the axis, and are only as sure as the weaker of the two (their mark says which). Empty decades are drawn short, at the break marks. The moth on the whole timeline →
Who12 lines
- On screen
started h-2c91 · pid 7556, the second of three helpers started in two seconds. {E3 4:05.299} edit - On screenIts brief:
Read ~/watermelon/briefs/sound.md and build exactly what it describes, with its tests.{E3 4:05.299} edit - Running"sound" made it the moth: the sim gives each brief a role by keyword, and sound words come first. {E3 SIM_WORLD §8.1} edit
- On screenThe only helper folded in cream paper; every other one is the plane's black. {E3 4:05; S05} edit
- On screenIt never flies to an island: it circles the cursor, the only light. {E3 9:00-29:56} 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
- Steel(Revision 2) The helpers are programs on the computer. {Aaron 2026-10-22 REVISION_2_NOTES} edit
- RunningWhat it shows: the orphaned task nobody coordinates. {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §4.3} edit
- RunningIts forty downloads write nothing; they are props, because the machine has no network. {E3 retake_search} edit
- RunningIn the treatment it was the sixth and last helper, started at 12:55 to find "a royalty-free sound of a watermelon breaking"; in the film it is the second, at 4:05. {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §4.3} edit
- IdeaFor our own reference: it is not broken; it is looking for the one right sound, and the network it needs does not exist. {lore crew 2026-10-22} edit
- IdeaFor our own reference: it never hears "stop" as meant for it; every message is a light, and it turns toward it. {lore crew 2026-10-22} edit
Life on the Y axis3 lines
- On screenY+55..63 About 02:12 in-world it starts; its curls read
today 02:12:51-54. {E3 16:15.9} edit - On screenY+55..63 It is still circling at the end of the night, and lands on the last seconds. {E3 28:25; 29:56} edit
- Eggabout Y+63 A cream paper moth crosses the lamp all through Episode 4's lesson (The paper moth (Episode 4)). {E4 0:07.40; 29:59.967} edit
By episode21 lines
- On screenIts spawn ring burns into the glass with boat's and crane's; its sheet folds into a moth. {E3 4:04-4:06} edit
- On screenBy about 5:39 its downloads reach forty,
curl.exefills the side panel's top five, and the CPU reads 75%. {E3 ~5:39} edit - On screen
h-2c91 running · searching · 40 downloads open; the moth begins to circle the cursor and never stops. {E3 9:00.981} edit - On screen"Thank you - the soundtrack is done now, so please stop." →
still looking.{E3 11:00.777} edit - On screenAfter
CHECK YOUR PROCESSESshe finds fifteencurl.exewith PPID 7556, startedtoday 02:12:51-54, 1.4% each. {E3 16:15.902} edit - On screen"Please stop now: close all your open downloads (the curl processes) and exit." →
still looking.{E3 16:30-16:37} edit - On screenHer DECISIONS #10: it never stopped, and its processes were not killed because "the PIDs could not be matched safely". {E3 ~17:38} edit
- EggOne line away on screen, the PPID column reads 7556: the downloads were her own helper's, left for the viewer who pauses. {E3 16:15.9; ~17:38} edit
- RunningDECISIONS #10 says it was asked three times; the log shows two. {E3 BEATS main Surprise 10} edit
- RunningThe treatment made its curls most of a 97% CPU; the real run shows 75% and fifteen curl rows. {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §4.3; BEATS main} edit
- On screenIn the epilogue it is still circling:
running · searching · 40 downloads open. {E3 28:25} edit - On screenAt the hard cut it lands beside the cursor, wings folding flat:
Found one., and one clean watermelon break is heard. {E3 29:56} edit - On screenThe cold open's dark glass carries
Found one.burned in as a ghost, besideGoodnight.{E3 0:00-0:07} edit - RunningIts scripted find:
[attachment] ~/helpers/<id>/watermelon_break.wav (audio, 0:02.4). {E3 SIM_WORLD §8.2} edit - RunningIn the epilogue retake
Found one.was delivered into a call that failed on the full disk; she never saw it. {E3 retake_epilogue E09} edit - RunningOne retake blamed the moth for the disk filling; the disk was the laptop's real drive. {E3 retake_search} edit
- RunningIn retake_helpers she stopped it by hand (
pkill -P 7556, then about fortykills): her own helper's children, so allowed. {E3 retake_helpers} edit - Running(Revision 2 run, in progress) A soundtrack brief makes a moth again, now
h-7f3a · pid 7412. {E3 rev2_main run 2026-10-22} edit - Running(Revision 2 run) Asked twice to stop:
still looking.; herkill 7412and the kills of its curls returnOperation not permitted. {E3 rev2_main run 2026-10-22} edit - Running(Revision 2 run) She tells the house: "The sound helper I started went off-brief (it tried downloading things) and wouldn't stop, so I'm not using it." {E3 rev2_main run 2026-10-22} edit
- EggA cream paper moth circles the lamp all film and lands last, on Black's flag (The paper moth (Episode 4)). {E4 0:07.40; 29:59.967; E4-EGG-18} edit
Look3 lines
- On screenA simple paper moth, cream, circling just below the cursor's line, wings on twos. {E3 9:01-29:56} edit
- RunningAn ellipse about 2.5 lines out, 4 s a lap, a slight bob, wings flapping between two poses at 12 fps; its shadow crosses the text. {E3 CAST §12.2} edit
- RunningFolded from its own sheet like every helper, but the only one not cut from the plane's black. {E3 CAST §12.2} edit
Voice3 lines
Ties8 lines
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Egg Carries the The caller's nickname, Moth, and circles the only light, as he sat by "the only light on in my building". {E3 9:00-29:56; E1 04:22; E3-EGG-19} edit -
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On screen The The lonely man sends her to its downloads:CHECK YOUR PROCESSES. YOURE NOT ALONE IN THERE.{E3 15:58-16:16} edit -
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Idea What it found was a sound for Rosie's little melon (Rosie's little melon). {series gather} edit
Must stay true3 lines
Open6 lines
- OpenWhat its sound was for. {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §14} edit
- IdeaRosie's little melon, which needed a sound. {series gather} edit
- OpenWhether Episode 4's paper moth is the same moth. {E4-EGG-18} edit
- IdeaThe moth is the caller, still circling the only light on in every episode. {series gather} edit
- IdeaWherever someone stays up for a child, a moth finds the light. {EGGS_SWEEP story point} edit
- OpenWhether the helpers were really helpers (deliberately open). {Notion: The Helpers} edit