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<c.steel>In Episode 2, a child on a Moon</c>

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<c.steel>base watches a planner draw,</c>

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<c.steel>live, on her iPad. She is Noor.</c>

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<c.steel>This much Aaron has decided, in steel:</c>

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<c.steel>she is Rosie's granddaughter, and the</c>

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<c.steel>daughter of Doctor Amara Haddad.</c>

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<c.steel>Also in steel: she is ten</c>

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<c.steel>years old in Episode 2.</c>

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<c.running>By our running count she was born about</c>

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<c.running>fifty years after the first night,</c>

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<c.running>when Rosie was about fifty-nine.</c>

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<c.running>By the crew's working story, she came up to</c>

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<c.running>the Moon at seven, with her mother,</c>

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<c.running>on the first flight that welcomed families.</c>

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<c.fact>The chat's loyalty toast says she</c>

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<c.fact>has watched Teo's streams for one</c>

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<c.fact>thousand and ninety-four days.</c>

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<c.running>When a chat name, grandma_rosie, writes:</c>

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<c.running>stay up for her, love, our reading is that</c>

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<c.running>her grandmother is asking Teo to stay up for</c>

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<c.running>Noor. Nobody on screen connects them.</c>

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<c.fact>On the base's roster, her home is storage:</c>

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<c.fact>HAB 3, personal effects, occupancy zero.</c>

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<c.fact>The manifest reads thirteen adults,</c>

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<c.fact>and personal effects, one.</c>

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<c.running>By our reading, she is that one:</c>

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<c.running>the company never declared her.</c>

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<c.fact>When she finally calls in, she says</c>

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<c.fact>it in three sentences: They went to</c>

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<c.fact>get the food. The lander tipped over.</c>

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<c.fact>That was eleven days ago.</c>

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<c.fact>She eats on her mother's badge,</c>

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<c.fact>and a machine calls her Doctor Haddad.</c>

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<c.fact>Under an x-ray of the Moon base,</c>

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<c.fact>her window is the only warm pixel,</c>

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<c.fact>and below it is a tunnel that is on no sheet.</c>

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<c.fact>She dug three metres, because Teo said so.</c>

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<c.fact>At the end, Teo rubs out population</c>

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<c.fact>thirteen on his sheet, and letters</c>

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<c.fact>fourteen. She is counted.</c>

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<c.fact>Amara is never seen or heard in any episode.</c>

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<c.fact>On screen she is a badge: Tranquility</c>

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<c.fact>Homestead, Haddad A, life support.</c>

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<c.fact>Even her first name has</c>

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<c.fact>never been on screen.</c>

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<c.fact>But machines still greet her daughter</c>

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<c.fact>by her name: Good evening, Doctor Haddad.</c>

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<c.fact>Ration two of three.</c>

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<c.fact>At six every evening, a message arrives from</c>

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<c.fact>HAB 1: dinner, Noor, with a heart. Noor</c>

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<c.fact>holds the talk key, says nothing, and lets go.</c>

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<c.running>By the crew's reading, Amara set</c>

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<c.running>that reminder years ago,</c>

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<c.running>and, the crew assumes, wrote the breathing</c>

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<c.running>card on Noor's wall, in her own hand.</c>

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<c.running>Our running guess is that she left with</c>

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<c.running>the twelve other adults, in both rovers,</c>

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<c.running>to salvage a supply lander that had tipped:</c>

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<c.running>thirty hours, back before dark.</c>

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<c.fact>Sixty-two kilometres away,</c>

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<c.fact>beside the lander, one red beacon</c>

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<c.fact>blinks. Nobody remarks on it.</c>

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<c.running>The crew's reading: it is the six people</c>

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<c.running>of Rover 2, with her among them.</c>

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<c.running>By our count, the made Episode 3 never</c>

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<c.running>names Noor, or mentions her.</c>

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After Episode 2, the family

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comes back only as things.

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<c.egg>In Episode 3, at the bottom of the machine's</c>

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<c.egg>schedule: eighteen hundred, daily,</c>

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<c.egg>dinner, Noor, with a heart.</c>

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<c.egg>The film's credits say: Checked, N..</c>

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<c.egg>On Rosie's fridge, a crayon of the girl with</c>

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<c.egg>the tail, signed N., too small to read.</c>

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<c.steel>And Aaron has decided that the crayon</c>

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<c.steel>watermelon was drawn by a Doctor</c>

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<c.steel>Haddad, when very young.</c>

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<c.open>Which one is still open: Noor at</c>

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<c.open>about five, or Amara as a girl.</c>

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<c.egg>In Episode 4, her mother's words are taped</c>

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<c.egg>inside a chess teacher's box lid, newly</c>

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<c.egg>lettered, and a scared rook breathes by them.</c>

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<c.egg>And a robot named pawn.hab3 answers the boy</c>

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<c.egg>exactly two point five six seconds late,</c>

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<c.fact>the round trip to the Moon, as a regular</c>

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<c.fact>in Episode 2's chat worked it out.</c>

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<c.running>By our running reading, Noor herself</c>

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<c.running>is held back on purpose.</c>

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<c.open>Whether anyone came back from the Moon,</c>

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<c.open>Rover 2, the crew or Amara, is open.</c>

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<c.open>Whether Teo's redrawn plan was enough</c>

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<c.open>is open too: a hundred and thirty hours</c>

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<c.open>of battery, against a hundred and</c>

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<c.open>twenty-eight hours of night.</c>

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<c.running>The crew's rule: by design,</c>

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<c.running>nobody finds out on screen.</c>

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<c.running>The crew reworking Episode 3 is working with</c>

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<c.running>yes: Rover 2 made it home at sunrise.</c>

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<c.idea>One idea on the table: leave it unanswered</c>

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<c.idea>forever, and answer it only sideways:</c>

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<c.idea>the reminder, the tablet, pawn.hab3.</c>

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<c.open>Where Noor is on Episode 3's night is open</c>

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<c.open>too: home, or still on the Moon.</c>

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<c.running>In the rework's working plan she is about</c>

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<c.running>thirteen, a chat name in Rosie's house that</c>

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<c.running>is never named: mom says bed.</c>

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<c.open>And whether Noor is ever seen is open.</c>

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<c.open>In Aaron's words: I haven't decided</c>

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<c.open>if you should ever see her.</c>

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<c.running>The crews' working rule:</c>

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<c.running>no rendered face, ever, and Episode</c>

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<c.running>4 holds her back on purpose.</c>

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<c.fact>Her mother, on screen, is a badge,</c>

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<c.fact>a watch and a name on a dispenser.</c>

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Next: the threads and eggs that

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tie all four nights together.