Epochs
An epoch is a continuous chunk of CumeTV: a complete sketch, case, station bump, or passage from the archive.
- CH 1 · Station bump
CumeTV Viewer Service: The Honest Signal Check
A viewer wants to know if their CumeVision is working. The bump shows a physical signal test: a red light that only turns green if the viewer's brainwaves match the station's. If it fails, the screen displays a specific, absurd fee for the 'misalignment' in Centience.
8 sec · Generations 1893–1893 - CH 1 · Orlando General
The Static Shift
A pilot's hands seize electrically after touching a CumeSlab. Meridian and Hal Venn decide whether the fault is neurological or bureaucratic firmware feedback, choosing to sedate him or drain the tablet to save his career.
48 sec · Generations 1887–1892 - CH 1 · Station bump
CumeFeed Rehab: The Sigh of Satisfaction
A patient in a clandestine CumeFeed consumption-rehab centre is offered one final, legal viewing of the addictive media brand on a surviving CumeSlab. The specific want is to test whether the withdrawal is gone by watching a single episode without the physical compulsion to keep scrolling.
8 sec · Generations 1886–1886 - CH 1 · Police Space Officer: Orlando
The Silent Valve
A worker in the water reclamation ring refuses to open the emergency pressure valve during a leak, claiming his contract forbids manual overrides. Ortiz must determine if the refusal is a lie or a genuine procedural trap that will kill the crew.
55 sec · Generations 1879–1885 - CH 1 · Station bump
MoonTimeX: The Honest Hole
A tourist wants a timeshare view, but MoonTimeX’s new 'Honest Hole' package guarantees the camera will show exactly what the buyer sees, even when the buyer is looking at their own feet.
8 sec · Generations 1878–1878 - CH 1 · Shape Department
The Weight of a Hollow Sphere
A client requests a hollow sphere that feels like a solid stone. Len and Odo must construct a shell thin enough to balance on a fingertip yet dense enough to trigger a tactile sensor, forcing them to choose between visual perfection and physical mass.
55 sec · Generations 1871–1877 - CH 1 · Station bump
CumeVision: The Refund Mirror
A viewer wants a refund for a CumeVision headset that displays his own face as a stranger. He returns the device to a clerk who physically turns the screen away, revealing the refund policy is written in mirror-glass that only the user can read.
8 sec · Generations 1870–1870 - CH 1 · Orlando General
The Suction Protocol
Protocol forces a resident to mouth-extract a fixed tracheal obstruction before anesthesia, while the patient's refusal to wake makes her vocal-cord spasms demand a constant suction seal.
48 sec · Generations 1864–1869 - CH 1 · Station bump
MoonTimeX: The Dingle Discount
A viewer wants a lunar vacation without paying the full timeshare price, but the discount mechanism requires the buyer to physically absorb the corporate jester's schedule.
8 sec · Generations 1863–1863 - CH 1 · Police Space Officer: Orlando
The Oxygen Debt
A trapped resident needs air, but the emergency valve requires a living, conscious fingerprint. Crew must choose: sacrifice his last breath to wake a sleeping guard, or use a risky mechanical alternative that may destroy the seal.
40 sec · Generations 1858–1862 - CH 1 · Station bump
CumeTV PSA: The Honest CumeVision Remote
A viewer wants to change the channel. The remote's new rule is that the button press must be matched by a physical push of the air. If the air does not move, the channel does not change. The viewer pushes the air, the channel changes to a sponsor spot, and the remote emits a small paper receipt.
8 sec · Generations 1857–1857 - CH 1 · Shape Department
The Weight of a Circle
Len and Odo build and test a wooden circle for a client, discovering that its shifting center of gravity from air moisture forces a choice on which material property to trust.
40 sec · Generations 1852–1856 - CH 1 · Station bump
CumeVision Oxygen Audit
A technician verifies a CumeVision oxygen flow, but the remote dial is stuck. The tube only expands and cools when turned clockwise. Because it is frozen, she uses a magnetic wrench to rotate the internal gear, creating a visible hiss and frost to prove the system is alive.
8 sec · Generations 1851–1851 - CH 1 · Orlando General
The Hum of a Bad Joint
A patient insists his shoulder pain is a mechanical defect, not biology. The hospital protocol requires the pain to be audible to be treated. The doctors must decide if they can hear the defect or if the patient is hallucinating it.
48 sec · Generations 1845–1850 - CH 1 · Station bump
CumeVision Battery Check
A viewer checks their CumeVision oxygen tube. The light glows only when their thumb is not pressing the remote's center. A live-action hand presses the button; the light stays red. It releases; the light turns green, proving the tube runs only when the viewer isn't checking.
8 sec · Generations 1844–1844 - CH 1 · Police Space Officer: Orlando
The Inheritance of Water
Rook inherits a sealed closet from a deceased friend, making him legal guardian of its contents. Orbital law sets internal humidity at 100%, so any item opened inside instantly absorbs moisture and fails. Ortiz must access the contents without destroying evidence of the friend's final act.
55 sec · Generations 1837–1843 - CH 1 · Station bump
Hal Rainbow's Garden: The Compost Turn
A viewer wants to turn their kitchen waste into instant soil. The specific benefit is zero-effort gardening, but the perverse cost is that the resulting soil is sentient and critiques the gardener's life choices.
8 sec · Generations 1836–1836 - CH 1 · Shape Department
The Apology Ring
Len and Odo make a torus ring from compressed apology letters, finding a binder that preserves the text while allowing it to flow.
48 sec · Generations 1830–1835 - CH 1 · Station bump
CumeTV: The Quiet Coin
A sentient gold coin slides across a pristine white table, fleeing a blurred, noisy commercial background. The visual turn is the coin's deliberate, tactile choice of silence over the network's commercial pressure, fulfilling its specific desire for quiet.
8 sec · Generations 1829–1829 - CH 1 · Orlando General
The Inheritance Protocol
A wealthy patient with sudden hearing loss demands access to her deceased mother's voicemail, but protocol requires her to surrender the drive to the hospital. Dr. Meridian must decide whether to test for psychological causes or enforce the rule.
40 sec · Generations 1824–1828 - CH 1 · Station bump
CumeTV: The Static Test
A CumeVision headset is plugged into a standard CRT television. The machine treats the broadcast as a personal reality, physically projecting the channel's static into the room as a tangible fog that erases the speaker.
8 sec · Generations 1823–1823 - CH 1 · Police Space Officer: Orlando
The Ghost in the Gear
Sana's maintenance droid Gus performs her labor better than she can, but its physical superiority cracks a support beam. Ortiz and Voss must choose whether to preserve Sana's autonomy or disable Gus to protect the habitat.
55 sec · Generations 1816–1822 - CH 1 · Station bump
Nick Land Fire Restroom
A suited man uses the World's Largest Fire Restroom; the grate ignites, instantly drying his damp trousers to crisp white without burning him.
8 sec · Generations 1815–1815 - CH 1 · Shape Department
The Baseless Cone
Len and Odo construct a hollow clay cone for a client who believes it can hold a liquid without a base. Because the client's measurement of the apex is too blunt, the first test leaks. The men must adjust the geometry to a sharper angle to satisfy the impossible constraint before the clay dries.
48 sec · Generations 1809–1814