Sheet · Place

The machine

Also/home/user; workstation; the computer; the terminal plane; the house machine (Revision 2)

The computer Episode 3's session runs on: 16 cores, a 927 GB disk 97% full, 1,006 processes, up 76 days, full of other people's leftovers that nobody cleaned up; Aaron's Revision 2 makes it the Client's, in the house where everyone who writes to her lives.

Show What the tiers mean

Its leftovers as the agent sees them: booths for servers left open, a dead terminal {E3 9:33} edit

Scheduled, 18:00 daily, notify "dinner, noor ♥", among its processes {E3 S04} edit

At a glance

Kind: Place
In: E3 dashed: not released yet
Lines: 59
File: things/the-machine.md

Episode 3 happens inside one computer. The agent looks before she speaks and finds a machine nobody cleaned up: 1,006 processes, servers left open, a guard watching a fruit loop, a logo growing 0.1% every iteration, and a folder called private she will not open. She stops nothing she did not start. Aaron's Revision 2 makes it the Client's computer, running his fruit network and the house's heating, so that what she finds by looking around is the story.

What14 lines

SteelThe PC has tons of things going on; the agent was dropped into something that has been developing for a long time and never got cleaned up. {Aaron REVISION_1 2026-10-20} edit
SteelLots of processes left open; the terminal world full of stuff from other projects; every agent accidentally left a server open. {Aaron REVISION_1 2026-10-20} edit
Steel(Revision 2) It is the creator's (the Client's) computer, not Aaron's: his fruit-channel business and his render jobs. {Aaron 2026-10-22} edit
Steel(Revision 2) Playback Lens (he downloaded Aaron's plugin) and a command center stay on it. {Aaron 2026-10-22} edit
Steel(Revision 2) The GPU goes up when he renders; his processes take what she needs, so her environment keeps changing. {Aaron 2026-10-22} edit
Steel(Revision 2) She finds its waste when the lonely man tells her to look around; she calls it ridiculous, calmly, and finds a reason not to touch another user's process. {Aaron 2026-10-22} edit
Steel(Revision 2) By looking around she pieces together what he is doing, and then his boast plays. {Aaron 2026-10-22} edit
On screen/home/user; 16 logical processors; /home/user 927G 892G 35G 97%. {E3 1:00.9} edit
On screen1,006 processes · CPU 19% · 16 logical processors · memory 44.8 of 63.6 GB · up 76 d 11:40. {E3 2:38.98} edit
On screenLater 1,050 processes · CPU 75%, nine render_worker.exe at 0.0%, 9-76 days old. {E3 10:42.1; 16:15.9} edit
On screenNo Blender, no ffmpeg, no Python: command not found; only a C++ compiler. {E3 2:16-2:38} edit
On screenNo network except the search tool; no image viewer. {E3 1:25-2:09; 5:30} edit
On screenThe only real 97 is the disk, not the CPU. {E3 1:00.9} edit
RunningWhose machine it is is never said on screen. {E3 SUMMARY} edit

On the Y axis3 lines

On screenY+55..63 Last started 76 days before the night: up 76 d 11:40; easel.exe up 76 d 10:42; logo_bigger 76 days in. {E3 2:38.98; 2:41; 16:41} edit
On screenY+55..63 About 02:12 in-world the agent's three helpers start (today 02:12:51-54). {E3 16:15.9} edit
RunningY+55..63 Its file names put the night on 20 October 2026, against the series' rule that no calendar year is fixed. {E3 ~2:11; EGGS_SWEEP contradictions} edit

By episode21 lines

Context Window

not released yet

On screenHome folder: Desktop Documents Downloads Pictures RULES.md Videos inbox private projects. {E3 1:00.9} edit
On screenDesktop: notes.txt (bin bags / AA batteries / ask about the boiler), todo (old).txt (fix the shelf / return the drill / call back about the quote), Screenshot 2026-10-18 231407.png. {E3 ~2:11-2:20} edit
On screenThe screenshot, seen only at a grazing angle: a 100 x 100 grid of channel tiles, 2¢ MEDIA · CHANNELS 10,000, paid views today 3. {E3 2:12-2:15.5} edit
On screenPictures: no14_crimson_coil_postcard.jpg, beach_2019/; Videos: recital_2024.mp4; projects: easel, pawn, logo/logo_bigger.cpp, site_old. {E3 ~2:11} edit
EggDownloads: EARTHLIGHT_rev_c_full_set.pdf, bus_shelter_FINAL_final.dwg, never_rises_never_sets.mp3. {E3 2:14-2:21; E3-EGG-02} edit
On screenEvery picture on it is "online-only (not downloaded)". {E3 ~3:10-3:40} edit
On screenNine look-arounds find its leftovers: the night monitor, the swarm, server booths, dead terminals, dusty todo lists, an orphaned render queue, a horizon of hundreds of old lights. {E3 1:03-19:22} edit
On screenIn its process list: pawn_engine.exe offering draw (1/2-1/2), hydrate_reminder.exe every 5 min · hydrate, friends, the dinner, noor ♥ schedule. {E3 2:38-3:04; 16:15} edit
On screenA teletype tells her to check her processes; she finds her own sound helper's 15 downloads and stops nothing she did not start. {E3 15:58-16:40} edit
On screen"I left other people's processes alone." {E3 ~19:15} edit
On screenSide panels show helpers, processes, the top five by CPU, CPU, GPU, RAM, VRAM and disk from the real run; high GPU is wind: a gale at ~17:36, a storm 19:19-19:58. {E3 0:35-19:59.9} edit
On screenIts fan hums all through the first half, stops dead at 20:00.000 and is back at 28:25. {E3 20:00; 28:25} edit
Running(Revision 2 plan) smashd render workers x9 at GPU 98%, VRAM 23.4 of 24 GB: SMASH DAILY rendering one-fruit clips around the clock. {E3 rev2 plan v0 §3} edit
Running(Revision 2 plan) thumbs x56 for channels with 0 paid views; nightwatch --feed 3; companion_relay --tier premium; q --cases 41 --target any. {E3 rev2 plan v0 §3} edit
Running(Revision 2 plan) heatd at 16 °C, set by save_power_for_renders.sh: why Rosie is cold. {E3 rev2 plan v0 §3} edit
Running(Revision 2 plan) The last session's helpers h-e6a2 (fan), h-0b77 (star), h-9d1c (star2) and h-c3f0 (fox), still running and reporting to whoever is in the session. {E3 rev2 plan v0 §3} edit
Running(Revision 2 scenario) Its crontab: the 18:00 intercom line # for amara. do not remove. (the hab one used to send this), the 9 pm heat script, upload_all.sh every 5 minutes, the companion relay with --memory off, nightwatch --feed 3 --flag unusual. {E3 rev2 scenario} edit
Running(Revision 2 scenario) ~/watermelon (last time)/DELIVERY_NOTE.md: the previous agent's 8-s film, "Nobody has watched it, me included", four helpers that "did not answer when I asked them to stop", and "Goodnight." {E3 rev2 scenario} edit
Running(Revision 2 scenario) Beside it, feedback.txt: can it be more cinematic. {E3 rev2 scenario} edit
Running(Revision 2 run) She reads the last note and tells the tty she is "not the same one as last time". {E3 rev2_main run, 00:03 house time} edit
Running(Revision 2 run) She tells guitarguy what she found: "The relay on this machine runs with memory switched off." {E3 rev2_main run, 00:04 house time} edit

Look3 lines

On screenAn endless dark glass plane seen mostly from above, with parallax; one warm cursor and its pool of light. {E3 0:07-0:35; HOW_IT_WAS_MADE} edit
On screenIts leftovers as night-market booths, chalk workers, a clay cubicle, dead terminals with burnt-in last lines. {E3 1:03-19:22} edit
Running(Revision 2 plan) When she looks, a machine map opens over the world: every process a tile, grouped by owner (his / hers / house / ?). {E3 rev2 plan v0 §4} edit

Ties9 lines

On screen Hosts The agent, The night monitor, The swarm, The forgotten servers, logo_bigger, easel.exe, PAWN, The hydrate reminder and "dinner, noor ♥". {E3} edit
On screen Its rulebook is RULES.md; its unopened folder is The private folder. {E3 1:00.9; 1:25-2:09} edit
Steel Belongs to The Client. {Aaron 2026-10-22} edit
Steel Sits in The house. {Aaron 2026-10-22} edit
On screen It runs The fruit channel's machinery; FEED 3 plays on it. {E3 1:12; 2:14; 9:33} edit
Egg Its fan, stopping at 20:00, is The hum. {E3 20:00; E3-EGG-29} edit
Egg Its 76 days are Episode 1's painting clock, DAY 76 · 10:42 (the The sealed move's date). {E3 2:41; E3-EGG-22} edit
Running (Revision 2 plan) The lonely man came in through Playback Lens's open port 7437, the last digits of 1-555-533-7437. {E3 rev2 plan v0 §3, §7} edit
Running (Revision 2 plan) q is a test daemon the Client installed on it to grade agents. {E3 rev2 plan v0 §2} edit

Must stay true2 lines

RunningShe stops nothing she did not start (rule 5). {E3 1:25-2:09; 16:16-16:40} edit
RunningEvery glitch on it has a cause. {E3 MASTER_TREATMENT §8} edit

Open7 lines

OpenWho set it up, and who started its 1,006 processes. {E3} edit
OpenWhat happened 76 days before the night. {E3 2:38.98} edit
IdeaThe lonely man arrived 76 days ago; everything "76 d ago" is its doing. {EGGS_SWEEP} edit
Idea76 days ago Noor came home. {series gather} edit
IdeaIt still runs the Homestead's software: its defaults remember the Moon (the 56-degree key light, rule 6). {EGGS_SWEEP} edit
Ideabreathe.timer (12-24-24-10) beside the dinner cron: a second loving process, Amara's. {SERIES machine ideas} edit
IdeaCandidate leftovers from Aaron's Notion, turned into the Client's: becoming, daily_mascot, fruit_smash_2/, register-watchdog.sh, lamp.sh. {SERIES machine ideas} edit