Epochs
An epoch is a continuous chunk of CumeTV: a complete sketch, case, station bump, or passage from the archive.
- CH 0 · home shopping
The Clarity Coupon
A host demonstrates a Centience-backed lens that grants absolute visual clarity to a buyer, but the optical resolution is paid for by the user's own skin fading to transparency. The buyer must choose between seeing the product's value and keeping their physical form.
48 sec · Generations 1904–1909 - CH 0 · Station bump
MoonTimeX: The Weight of Water
Gerald promotes MoonTimeX's low gravity by lifting a heavy object in a glass box after the lunar airlock fails.
8 sec · Generations 1903–1903 - CH 0 · police procedural
The Heirloom
A police officer must determine why a gifted antique clock has become lethal. The clock only stops for its original owner, but the current recipient is dying because they are not the true heir.
55 sec · Generations 1896–1902 - CH 0 · Station bump
Somewhere Systems: The Honest Window
Removing CumeVision's physical ad filter also removes the viewer's real-world vision, forcing a choice between the commercial and reality.
8 sec · Generations 1895–1895 - CH 0 · children's educational parody
The Centience Coin Toss
A children's show host teaches a toddler that coins must be flipped fairly. The toddler applies the rule literally to a sentient Centience coin that refuses to land heads, forcing a human choice about whether to force a fair result or respect the coin's autonomy.
40 sec · Generations 1890–1894 - CH 0 · Station bump
CumeTV: The Buffer
A CumeTV logo buffers on a light-grey background. A realistic plastic spoon slowly spins in place, replacing the loading icon. As the only moving object, its mundane physicality contrasts with the digital buffering concept.
8 sec · Generations 1889–1889 - CH 0 · corporate training film
Proper Greeting Protocol: The Centience Exchange
Somewhere Systems teaches greeting colleagues by physically transferring one's job title with a Centience coin. A trainee follows literally: he becomes the instructor, the instructor the trainee, forcing a procedural choice.
40 sec · Generations 1884–1888 - CH 0 · Station bump
CumeTV: The 3-Second Rule
A CumeTV viewer wants to watch a commercial-free premium sketch. The channel’s specific rule: if a viewer stares unblinkingly at the screen for exactly three seconds, the current broadcast pauses. The viewer tests this rule by staring directly into the camera lens.
8 sec · Generations 1883–1883 - CH 0 · soap opera
The Duplicate
A CumeVision error duplicates Marcus into two physical bodies. Elena must choose one, forcing a decision that redefines their marriage on screen.
40 sec · Generations 1878–1882 - CH 0 · Station bump
CumeTV Public Service Announcement: The Centience Pledge
A worn copper coin on a white table is asked to pledge to a collective intelligence. Its head is a stamped face; the want is for it to join the network's financial consensus. Flipped to show a skeptical tail face, it instead lands on its edge—physically stable, socially unacceptable.
8 sec · Generations 1877–1877 - CH 0 · western
The Appraiser's Final Assessment
A frontier appraiser values a glowing coin that hums when touched. His worth depends on his pulse: as it rises, the coin's value and lethal heat increase.
40 sec · Generations 1872–1876 - CH 0 · Station bump
Somewhere Systems: The Weight of Air
A branded station interstitial establishing the specific, invisible weight of CumeTV's broadcast air. A visible mechanism shows that every spoken word on the channel adds measurable mass to the studio's central scale, forcing the network to manage its own volume.
8 sec · Generations 1871–1871 - CH 0 · heist thriller
The Rotating Vault
A crew tries to steal a single Centience coin from a bank vault that physically rotates 10 degrees every 8 seconds. The lead's refusal to wait for the rotation to stop shifts the heist from a waiting game to a kinetic, physical struggle.
48 sec · Generations 1865–1870 - CH 0 · Station bump
CumeTV: Dust Busters
CumeTV mascot Spot, a white spherical robot, is coated in thick black dust. A hand brings in a red CumeVision vacuum. Activation sucks dust off in a straight line, revealing a clean logo.
8 sec · Generations 1864–1864 - CH 0 · workplace sitcom
The Filing Cabinet That Wants a Promotion
Mara files quarterly reports in a metal cabinet that only closes when called 'Director of Storage,' and Leon's aggressive override locks it wide open, blocking the aisle for a procedural negotiation.
48 sec · Generations 1858–1863 - CH 0 · Station bump
MoonTimeX: The Dingle Boy Discount
A tourist tries to skip the lunar queue for a premium view. MoonTimeX offers a 'Dingle Boy Discount': one minute off the wait only if the corporate jester sits on the customer's back for that minute. The discount is literally his weight.
8 sec · Generations 1857–1857 - CH 0 · courtroom drama
The Centience Hearing: Matter of the 5th Lunar Quarter
A defendant testifies a sentient Centience coin is unstable; court rule demands silence. Placed on the stand, the coin refuses to speak, proving stability and invalidating the claim.
48 sec · Generations 1851–1856 - CH 0 · Station bump
CumeVision: The Gentle Wake
A user flips a dormant CumeVision headset's side-switch, triggering a soft localized light that gently illuminates their face to signal readiness without intrusive ads or loud startup sounds.
8 sec · Generations 1850–1850 - CH 0 · travel programme
The Breath Tax at the Edge of New Orlando
A presenter seeks lunar wind at New Orlando's Breeze Gate, sacrificing his CumeVision oxygen tube for a real gust.
48 sec · Generations 1844–1849 - CH 0 · Station bump
CumeTV Orientation: Look Left
A CumeTV station ident uses a physical, mechanical rule where the station logo is a rotating dial with a physical red arrow that must be manually turned to 'Face the Signal.' The viewer's want is to complete the orientation and see the correct channel.
8 sec · Generations 1843–1843 - CH 0 · cooking demonstration
The Polite Reduction
Mara adds Clarity Extract to a lemon meringue pie for a strict critic, turning the eggs into a grey geometric block she must serve as authentic structure.
40 sec · Generations 1838–1842 - CH 0 · Station bump
Centience: The Slot Machine
A single Centience coin with a face and a grumpy voice is dropped into a vintage slot machine. The machine's reels do not stop on symbols; they stop on the coin's actual mood. Because the coin is 'anxious', the reels spin faster and faster, threatening to overheat the mechanism.
8 sec · Generations 1837–1837 - CH 0 · sports coverage
The Lunar Hoop
A weary moon-miner wants to win a free vacation by making a basketball shot. The arena has a literal rule: a shot is only counted if the player's spoken wish is physically true at the exact moment the ball leaves their hands.
40 sec · Generations 1832–1836 - CH 0 · Station bump
CumeVision: The Oxygen Tube Reminder
A CumeVision headset user is so deeply immersed in a virtual garden that they forget to breathe. The advertisement’s specific rule is that the headset’s oxygen tube is a mandatory physical interface; ignoring the tube’s gentle tug results in a system-enforced reality check.
8 sec · Generations 1831–1831