Explanation [ edit ]

This comic is an animation, which was showing a new image every hour. In the beginning the interval was only half an hour. The unfolding story is set in the far future, at a time when the Strait of Gibraltar has long been blocked and the Mediterranean Sea has largely dried up leaving smaller, hypersaline seas behind. Megan and Cueball, living on the shores of one of these seas and unaware of its natural history, notice one day while building a huge sand castle on the beach that the sea level is starting to rise. They start a journey of exploration trying to find out why. Eventually they discover that the Straits of Gibraltar have once again been breached, and that the Mediterranean Basin is being flooded. They run back to their home, assemble the people of their village, and board a makeshift raft. At the end they reach land with their rafts, searching for a new home.

On frame 2925 the title text changed from "Wait for it." to "...", and one frame later to just "RUN.". At approximately 2944, when Megan announces that it is too late to escape overland, the title text changed back to "...". On Frame 3094, the words THE END appear in the middle of the screen and the title text changed to "The end.". The image now links to the scrollable collection of frames at geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/. The comic on xkcd.com today currently loops through the last five frames of the comic.

This comic now has its own article on Wikipedia.

This comic was awarded the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story.

Format [ edit ]

This comic is actually a series of images which play as a rough animation. The pictures were updated over the course of time. The comic ran for 2973 hours (over 124 days) and consists of 3101 image frames.

For the first 120 hours, a new frame replaced the previous frame every 30 minutes, at :00 and :30 of each hour; the remaining frames have since been revealed every hour. The update was done server-side, with the server redirecting the image link (time.png) to a different image every hour. The source images have very long random hash names, which made it virtually impossible to access future frames. There is no way to view past frames on the official xkcd website, and only the current frame is posted there at any given time. Given the unique nature of this comic, the full image archives can be browsed through several websites that have been dedicated to tracking it (see below).

Readers typically have divided the comic into four scenes (see below). For example, at 850 hours (36 days 10 hours) the first "scene" of the comic ended at frame 971 with a fade to white, ushering in a second scene from frame 972. Some of the last few frames of scene 1 are nearly white, but faint images can be seen in the normalized pictures available below (Day 36, Monday, April 29, 2013, normalized).

Plot [ edit ]

Scene 1: The castle and the Sea [ edit ]

Megan and Cueball are alone on a sandy beach near the sea. They begin to build a sand castle on the beach. The two continue to expand the castle back from the seashore as the scene zooms out. Briefly they have fun launching small objects at the castle with a trebuchet before continuing the build. Both Cueball and Megan each leave the scene for extended periods at times but always return to continue building. They add what appears to be scaffolding and ladders to expand the castle skyward. All the while, Cueball and Megan wax philosophically about the nature of the sea, the feeding river, the rising tides, and what else lies in the world. In the end, the two decide to go off and explore the world as the sea begins to erode the castle and the scene fades to white. One other character appears during the fade; A girl with a beret, similar to Beret Guy, briefly appears to view the castle before leaving. She returns in the last two frames before the fade-to-white completes, dragging something.

Scene 2: Exploring an unknown world [ edit ]

Scene 2 - Part 1: Walking on flatlands and then reaching the base of the hill [ edit ] Cueball and Megan are walking with bags across a relatively level surface. The terrain looks like frame 1, albeit from a wider angle, showing they are walking along the coast. The scene shifts multiple times between views of them to the left of the sea, and 90° rotated views of them walking overland. Sometimes these shifts in angle are marked by corresponding shifts between front and profile views of their bodies. Megan indicates she has never been so far "this way". They reach a river they haven't seen before. Cueball slips in and loses his bottle. He contemplates swimming out to get it, but Megan says it is too dangerous. Later when Megan gets too close to the edge, Cueball senses danger and pulls her back. After a small talk both agree to find a ford. After walking for a while, Megan realizes that the river was wider than they realized. The branch of the river they were walking along joins up with another branch and the opposite bank eventually comes into view. They stop for a break and Cueball dozes off and mumbles in his sleep. They discuss this river and the differences between it and theirs before continuing upriver. Scene 2 - Part 2: Fun on dunes, some Berries, a frog, and the baobab trees [ edit ] The terrain begins to slope noticeably uphill. They wonder if others have noticed the rise of the sea and find tents left by other people. They walk deeper into the dunes, having fun by jumping and sliding. Megan falls after jumping too high. A bird appears in the sky. They watch it until it's gone, then begin walking again. Some vegetation appears, grass and then small trees. They stop and nap beneath a larger tree, seeming to have never seen one like it before. After a rest Cueball goes off to explore. He picks some berries and examines a campfire pit, then walks back to Megan and shares his findings. They wonder why the prior owners of the tent have left. They stop at the river to drink, then climb a ridge, and are awestruck by two tall trees. As they walk through the trees, the first large tree has markings on the trunk and the fourth large tree has a strangely bent top. They comment on these features before they continue on past three more huge trees and a regular-sized one. Scene 2 - Part 3: A vineyard, a snake is on their way, and a bird is protecting its baby [ edit ] They enter a vineyard and eat some grapes. The two travel on. Cueball encounters a snake while climbing a small cliff and falls back. They find another section of the cliff and continue. After that they reach a tree with a nest in it with a young baby bird crying for its food. The bird's mother feeds it, then Cueball takes a short nap while Megan investigates a small river. Scene 2 - Part 4: Walking uphill, a large cliff, and some mysterious animals [ edit ] The pair continue to climb the mountain, commenting here and there on the possibility of turning back, but Megan wants to see what's at the top. Eventually, they stumble upon a small shelter and a few other signs of inhabitants. They investigate the surrounding area. Scene 2 - Part 5: The cougar attack [ edit ] A cougar attacks Megan, but Cueball gets in the way - although not before it claws her leg. Most of the hit gets absorbed by his backpack, but Cueball is forced to the ground. Megan grabs a stick and attacks the large cat, which runs away. Scene 2 - Part 6: Starting to walk to the top of the mountain, the sun sets down [ edit ] Megan decides she would like to press on despite her injuries. Cueball and Megan then take turns sleeping as night arrives. Cueball takes the first watch. While Megan sleeps a meteor appears in the sky. Then Megan takes the next watch. When Cueball wakes up, they start their journey again up the mountain, which is slower due to Megan's injuries as Cueball has to help her over some of the steeper climbs. Scene 2 - Part 7: After the night the final attempt to reach the top of the mountain [ edit ] After they reach a plateau there is a tower. Megan climbs up and sees other people. Cueball is curious and climbs the tower too. On top of that tower Megan remarks her wound doesn't hurt much when walking but it does when she climbs.

Scene 3: Finding an unknown tribe [ edit ]

Scene 3 - Part 1: Finding other people [ edit ] Then, they continue their travel at the plateau. They run into three people who speak a language that they are unable to understand. Despite the language barrier, Megan shows her wounded leg and the strangers proceed to take a closer look at her. The strangers then help her to sit down on a stone. After the stranger with the medical equipment is back they do some kind of first aid. Megan expresses her thanks, and the strangers indicate via drawings in the sand that they should follow. Scene 3 - Part 2: Walking to the long haired woman [ edit ] After walking uphill again they approach another tower. A device is mounted to the top and more smaller devices are around. They drink some water there and Cueball learns his first word in this new language: "water" or "drink". To aid communication, they start to draw pictures on the ground. Cueball shows their travel from the sea to the current location, and the stranger adds the rising sea level, indicating that he knows about this happening. The stranger shows a castle some more uphill and a long haired woman behind it. Cueball hopes they can speak to her, and the stranger explains with a drawing that it's less than a day away. The strangers collect their devices and store them somewhere. Then they start the travel to the castle. When they rest, Megan and Cueball taste some food offered by the strangers; they like it. A large flag appears and they encounter a small city. A big castle, still under construction, is visible in front of them. Megan states that she never thought she would ever see a real castle. On their way to the castle they meet another stranger, exchanging some greetings. Then they enter the castle. Scene 3 - Part 3: Inside the castle [ edit ] The five people walk down a stairway and enter a large hall. Large windows showing a dazzling light are high above them. They approach a long-haired woman at a desk who greets them. After Cueball asks, it appears she can "somewhat" understand him and Megan. The woman asks where they came from and asks about their home; she asks if they brought anyone else. Megan and Cueball say they're trying to find out why the sea is changing. The woman explains that there is another sea which was once connected to theirs, but has since been cut off. She says that the water is now flowing back into their sea, and that the level will continue to rise. She shows Megan and Cueball a map of the area, including the castle, their sea, and the bigger sea which is joining it. The woman then shows the predicted new shoreline, which closely resembles that of the Mediterranean Sea. Megan assumes that the level rise is slow and will last for some years. The woman disagrees, and explains that the water level will rise over the course of a few days. Faced with knowledge of the imminent destruction of their village, Megan and Cueball bolt from the room and begin to run.

Scene 4: Recovering the people at their home [ edit ]

Scene 4 - Part 1: Megan and Cueball running home [ edit ] They leave the castle and run back the same way as they came. They encounter some people on their way out. By this time the title text has changed from 'Wait for it' to '...' to 'RUN.' They pass some more people they met before and when they are alone, Megan reveals that she has stolen the maps from the long-haired woman. Megan hopes she can give them back sometime. Cueball is happy and they continue their journey by using the maps. They reach their village, where they find that the people are aware of the rising sea levels, and that some of them have already gone up into the now-abandoned hills to see what items were left behind. Megan and Cueball tell them that the sea will continue to rise, and they make preparations to evacuate uphill. Scene 4 - Part 2: The tribe gets ready to move on their raft [ edit ] It turns out that Beret Girl from before has turned Megan and Cueball's sandcastle into a boat. Megan has the idea to ride it on the rising waters, but they need to hurry to prepare it. Scene 4 - Part 3: The tribe on their raft [ edit ] The raft is hastily made seaworthy and the tribe goes off in pursuit of the rest. They find the others floating on a makeshift canoe from a piece of floating debris. A rope is thrown and the two boats try to pull each other closer. At one point the boats bump into each other and everyone falls over. A new day arises and as Cueball and Megan rebuild their sandcastle on top of the raft, the raft runs aground. The tribe rushes off to explore the new land, and the raft is left behind at the end of the story at the mercy of the wind and waves.

View all the frames of this comic [ edit ]

Faster, navigable versions of the comic are available at these links:

A scrollable version is at geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ (with code on github), this is now being linked to from the comic's site.

xkcd.aubronwood.com.

richardwestenra.com/xkcds-time-animated-time-lapse/.

xkcd.mscha.org

There is also a wiki dedicated to this particular comic and the related forum thread, at xkcd-time.wikia.com/. There is also a physics simulation of the trebuchet written in JavaScript/HTML5, available at thred.github.io/xkcd-time-catapult/. The code is hosted on GitHub, too. There is an Android app which notifies users when a new image is posted and lets them view the image from within the app, available on Google Play. The code for the app is hosted on GitHub and encourages contribution of new features or enhancements. An hourly updated graph of the rising water level is available at [1]

There is also a map with guesses on the locations that Megan and Cueball visit.

Another map of estimated travel paths with terrain data is here: TimeTerrainMap.png.

Additional composite scenes are located here: 1190: Time: Pictures. Some of the images are very large, and may be slow to load.

Investigations on the blurry speech by the woman in the big castle at scene 3 part 3 are here: 1190: Time: Translator. Please help to enhance the pictures there for better readings.

On July 29, 2013 Randall did a post at his blag about this comic.

Time's forum thread [ edit ]

In the xkcd fora, this comic was given a thread like any other comic. The Time thread expanded over the months of the comic's running to include 1254 pages, or just over 50,000 posts, and continued thereafter at a considerable pace. As of August 23, 2018, it has over 106,000 posts and an enormous 38,000,000 views, which easily tops every other thread, while still being quite active. More than 1/3 of all posts within the Individual XKCD Comic Threads subforum are in the 1190: "Time" thread. Compared to the thread for Click and Drag, it has over 50 times as many views and 150 times as many posts, while the typical comic thread has 30 to 200 posts. Its activity as a percentage of the entire fora can be seen in this graph.

The many frequent posters of the thread developed a culture surrounding Time, creating their own mannerisms, vocabulary, and jokes on top of extracting every detail from the comic and recording every frame. More information can be found at different places on Time's dedicated wiki, or, of course, on the thread itself.

Transcript [ edit ]

Scene 1 (The castle and the sea) [ edit ]

+00:00 [Megan and Cueball sitting on a beach near a ocean.] +01:00 [Megan looks back.] +02:00 [Cueball looks back.] +03:00 [Megan looks up.] +04:00 [Megan reclines. Cueball looks at her.] +06:00 [Cueball gets up and inspects the water.] +07:30 [Cueball "puts a toe in the water".] +09:00 [Cueball returns to sit next to the still reclining Megan.] +09:30 [Megan sits up.] +12:00 [Megan and Cueball start to build a sandcastle.] +25:30 Cueball: Later Megan: Bye [Cueball leaves, Megan continues to build the sandcastle.] +37:00 [Cueball returns and both continue to build.] +43:30 [Megan leaves, Cueball continues to build.] +51:00 [Cueball accidentally slips and destroys part of the castle.] +61:30 [Cueball completes the sandcastle and leaves.] +73:00 [Cartoon zooms out, showing more construction has been taking place off-screen to the left.] +81:00 [Megan plants flags on original sandcastle.] +83:00 [Megan sits down at the beach.] +83:30 [Cueball finished sandcastle on the left and moves to Megan at the beach.] +84:30 Megan: Wanna swim? Cueball: Yeah. [They both enter the water and exit the picture.] +86:00 [Castle at far left begins to crumble.] +87:00 [Megan back on the beach, Cueball off screen.] Megan: Pffthh Megan: *cough* Cueball: You OK? Megan: Just got some in my mouth. +91:00 [Cueball takes down two flags and makes the two sandcastles into one large sandcastle.] +106:30 [A rock, fired by Megan with a small trebuchet, smashes part of the castle Cueball just finished.] +107:30 [Megan partially re-enters the scene from stage right.] +108:00 [Megan has fully re-entered the scene, pulling the small trebuchet into the scene with her.] +109:00 [Megan launches an object towards the sandcastle.] +110:00 [The object launched by Megan hits the sandcastle, Cueball looks upset.] +111:30 [Cueball joins Megan at the trebuchet and launches one himself. They alternate launching projectiles.] +114:30 [Cueball launches an object straight up into the air.] +115:30 [They run as the object falls back down. Cueball leaves a few frames later, Megan stays and works on building a large mound in the destroyed center of the castle.] +186:00 [Cueball returns, Megan is working on top of a large mound she's built, as she turns around and stands up to see Cueball, she slips down the side of the mound. Cueball rushes in and helps her rebuild it and flatten out the top.] +199:00 [Building the mound.] Megan: Any idea where the river is now? Cueball: Still pretty far out. It's actually retreated a little this week. +248:00 [Cueball begins constructing a miniature version of the sand structure.] +263:00 [Megan walks in and notices.] +280:00 [Megan re-enters with miniature trebuchet.] +281:00 [Megan shoots the miniature sand structure with the miniature trebuchet.] +287:00 Megan: I don't understand what the sea is doing. +293:00 Cueball: I don't think we can build it much taller than this. It's been fun, though! +296:00 [Cueball leaves. Megan turns and examines the structure.] +300:00 [Megan brings in a rod, and puts it down.] +329:00 [Megan begin construction using the various supplies she has delivered.] +342:00 [Cueball returns and begins to help with the construction.] +362:00 [Megan leaves.] +365:00 [Cueball "sip"s the water.] +366:00 [Cueball spits.] Cueball: Pfffth +367:00 Cueball: Pthuh! Cueball: Yuck. +369:00 Cueball: I've had worse. +377:00 [Megan returns and starts making a levee.] +410:00 [Cueball and Megan have stranded themselves on top of their new construction by building over their ladder.] Cueball: Guess one of us should climb down. Megan: Yeah. +416:00 Megan: The sea is rising. +417:00 Cueball: Yeah. +421:00 [Megan shimmies down a support column to re-position the ladder.] +426:00 [Water level reaches lowest point of castle. Megan's levee restrains it from here on out.] +441:00 Cueball: Sea level rises and falls, right? It's changed before. Megan: Not this fast. +442:00 Cueball: The river hasn't even reached the sea yet. Megan: The river is small The sea is big. +443:00 Cueball: How big? Megan: I don't know. +516:00 Megan: Does it rain on the sea? Cueball: I don't know. +517:00 Cueball: If it does, it seems like a waste. +519:00 Cueball: It rains in the hills where the river comes from, right? Megan: Sure. +520:00 Cueball: Are there other rivers? +521:00 Megan: I don't know. +538:00 Cueball: There must be other rivers. Otherwise the sea would dry up. +539:00 Megan: Maybe it's coming out of the ground. Cueball: Does that happen? Megan: I don't know. +540:00 Megan: I don't know how the sea works. Cueball: I don't know how anything works. +541:00 [The levee finally starts to give way.] +543:00 [Megan and Cueball get down and look at the water, where the levee is now submerged.] +547:00 [Megan begins transferring sand to Cueball via a pulley and bucket system.] +552:00 [Megan attempts to hoist herself up using said pulley and bucket system.] +554:00 [Megan loses her balance and falls off.] +555:00 [Megan lands heavily on sandcastle. She holds her head in pain. Cueball looks on in horror.] +557:00 [Cueball goes to check if Megan is okay. Megan gets up.] +559:00 [Megan starts rebuilding the part of the sandcastle she damaged when she fell. Cueball returns to building. The water level has reached the tower on the right and begins to erode it.] +565:00 [Megan finishes repairing the damage and heads up the ladder to help Cueball build his sandcastle on top of the platform.] +604:00 [Cueball exits.] +671:00 [Megan, having finished work on the platform-castle, takes a nap on the platform.] +678:00 [A girl in a beret enters the frame, looks at the sandcastle and leaves.] +697:00 [Megan begins turning lowest castle into a new, higher levee.] +707:00 [Megan brings Cueball back.] +711:00 Megan: I don't think it's going to stop. +712:00 Cueball: The sea can't just make more of itself forever. Megan: It can do whatever it wants. It's the sea. +713:00 Cueball: There must be a reason. There's a reason for everything. Megan: Yeah. +714:00 Megan: But it's not always a good reason. +717:00 Cueball: There must be other rivers. Maybe something is wrong with them. +734:00 Megan: I like our castle. +735:00 Cueball: I think it's going to go away. +736:00 Megan: Yeah. +738:00 Megan: Do you think there are other rivers? Cueball: Something is adding water to the sea. +739:00 Megan: Does it have to be water? Maybe something is adding more land somewhere. And it's making the sea overflow. +740:00 Cueball: Or maybe it's just raining somewhere. We have no idea what's out there. +741:00 Megan: Yeah. +743:00 Megan: Want to find out? Cueball: Yes. +744:00 Megan: I'll get some bags. +760:00 Megan: bye. +761:00 [Megan exits.] +775:00 [The entire scene begins a slow fade to white. The 'tide' continues to rise and the castle on the right continues to be subsumed.] +830:00 [Beret Girl drops in for one frame. The fade and tide continue.] +847:00 [Beret Girl drops in again, dragging something. The fade and tide continue.] (This detail is not visible without an aid to undo the fade.) +850:00 [The entire scene is white.]

Scene 2 (Exploring an unknown world) [ edit ]

Scene 2 - Part 1 (Walking on flatlands and then reaching the base of the hill) [ edit ] +851:00 [New scene: ground.] +852:00 [Megan and Cueball walking with bags.] +858:00 [Cueball pauses and Megan looks back at him.] +864:00 [Still walking.] Cueball: Have you ever been this far? Megan: Not this way. +867:00 [Megan and Cueball stop and have a drink from flasks in their bags.] +870:00 [Megan continues walking.] +871:00 [Cueball continues walking.] +875:00 [They stop, sit and eat. The perspective changes showing they're in a landscape similar to time +0:00.] +879:00 (frame 1000) [Megan reclines.] +880:00 [They prepare to continue.] +881:00 [They continue walking. The perspective returns to "parallel to the beach".] +883:00 [Still walking.] Megan: Maybe the sea doesn't end. +884:00 Cueball: We haven't walked very far. +885:00 Megan: Yeah. Megan: But that's what the first part of not ending looks like. +897:00 [Still walking.] Megan: If we don't find something today, we'll have to start using the steam bottle. Cueball: Ugh! +902:00 [They stop, having come to another body of water.] +903:00 Megan: Yes. Cueball: Yes what? +904:00 [The scene zooms out briefly, showing the opposite shore.] Megan: There are other rivers. +908:00 [Cueball, having sat on the bank to drink, falls into the river when the bank beneath him crumbles. Megan manages to grab him and pull him back to dry land, but he loses his water bottle in the process.] +914:00 [Megan pulls out a lasso. She and Cueball both use it to try and grab the bottle. They fail.] +920:00 Cueball: The river isn't moving that fast. Maybe I could- Megan: Too dangerous. Cueball: Yeah. +921:00 Megan: It's ok. It was an accident. +923:00 [The bottle slips below the surface.] Megan: You're right, though. Cueball: About what? +924:00 Megan: The river's not moving very fast. +928:00 Megan: It can't be flowing much faster than we walk. Megan: Even if it's as deep as it is wide, I don't think it's enough water. +929:00 Cueball: Yeah +931:00 Cueball: And this river doesn't look broken. Megan: Yeah. +932:00 Cueball: It's pretty neat, though. Megan: Yeah. +935:00 [Cueball grabs Megan's hand and gently pulls her back from the edge.] +937:00 Cueball: Sorry. Megan: No, right. Forgot. +941:00 [Megan exits. Cueball begins digging into the ground.] +943:00 [Cueball fills in the hole he created.] +945:00 [Megan is back after checking the sea level.] Megan: It's still rising. +946:00 Cueball: It's strange - Rivers flow to meet the sea - Maybe the sea couldn't wait. +948:00 Megan: Walk upriver to find a ford, or turn back? +950:00 Cueball: We can't go back. We don't understand everything yet. +951:00 Megan: "Everything" is a little ambitious. We barely understand anything. Cueball: Yeah. +952:00 Cueball: But that's what the first part of understanding everything looks like. +972:00 Cueball: If nothing else, I'm glad we found this river. It's not much farther from home than ours at its driest. +975:00 Megan: Oh. This river is even bigger than it looked. +976:00 [The scene zooms out to show the opposite bank again. It continues to zoom out slowly, revealing that the "opposite bank" is actually just an island in the much, much larger river. Cueball and Megan continue to walk away from the viewer.] +990:00 [Megan and Cueball finally pass the end of the island. The scene zooms out even farther once more to show the far bank.] +1001:00 [The scene returns to original zoom, with Megan and Cueball looking out over the river.] +1002:00 Megan: Maybe it is big enough to fill the sea. +1003:00 [The two rest for a while. Cueball fills a bottle with river water. They both drink. Cueball lays down and naps.] +1009:00 Cueball (talking in his sleep): Our rope isn't strong enough. +1010:00 Megan: What? Cueball (talking in his sleep): Hold this or you'll fall. +1012:00 [Megan pokes Cueball with a stick. He wakes up, groggily.] +1021:00 Cueball: When our river gets too big, it fills with stuff. Wood and leaves and things from the people in the hills. +1022:00 Cueball: This river doesn't look like that. +1023:00 Megan: Maybe it only flows through empty places. +1025:00 Megan: If this river isn't what's making the sea rise, we need to get past it. Either way, we continue upriver. +1038:00 Megan: I wonder how high the water is now. +1039:00 Cueball: I wonder if other people have noticed. It's been days. Megan: Not a lot of us by the shore this time of year. A few kids, maybe. +1040:00 Megan: It'd have to rise a lot higher before any tents got wet. +1057:00 Cueball: This river flows from bigger hills than ours. +1058:00 Megan: If we don't reach a crossing soon, we'll be in them. +1060:00 [Megan and Cueball stand on the edge of a cliff and look down.] +1063:00 Megan: I wonder if it's possible to swim in. +1091:00 Megan: You OK? +1092:00 Cueball: Just thinking. +1097:00 Megan: Should we follow the river through there? Cueball: Hmm. +1098:00 Cueball: Let's see if we can go over those and rejoin it further up. +1112:00 Megan: It must get windier up here. +1129:00 [Megan takes a jump off the top of a hill while Cueball watches.] Scene 2 - Part 2 (Fun on dunes, some Berries, a frog, and the baobab trees) [ edit ] +1140:00 Cueball: OOF. Megan: These are bigger than they looked. +1144:00 [Megan tries another jump, but lands hard, in a heap.] +1155:00 [A bird appears in the sky, flying towards them. Megan and Cueball stop and watch it for the next few frames before it disappears behind them.] +1193:00 [Grass appears.] +1198:00 [The first small tree appears.] +1216:00 [They come to a bigger tree, taller than them.] +1218:00 Megan: Neat. +1220:00 [Megan yawns audibly.] +1221:00 [Cueball sits beneath the tree.] +1222:00 Megan: The river isn't much farther... +1223:00 [Cueball leans against the tree. Megan gives in and joins him, laying with her head on her pack. Cueball switches to laying on his pack, as well.] +1257:00 Cueball: Berries? Megan: Ooh, Thanks! +1259:00 Cueball: There are people here. Or were. I found some sort of campsite. +1260:00 Megan: Recent? Cueball: Looked like it'd been empty for a while. +1262:00 Megan: I'm thirsty. Let's get to the river. Cueball: Yeah. +1265:00 Megan: They leave anything good behind? Cueball: Just some wood. Not enough to build a raft. +1286:00 [Again at the river.] Cueball: This place is beautiful. Megan: Yeah. +1287:00 Megan: I am surprised we haven't been seen by any people yet. +1288:00 Megan: If it's this empty, we should live here. +1291:00 Cueball: Did you notice the sea tasting better? Megan: ...No? +1292:00 Megan: I don't know. I try not to taste seawater. Why? +1293:00 Cueball: I was thinking. If a river is putting too much water in the sea, the sea should get fresher. +1294:00 Cueball: I tasted the water back before we left. Megan: Ugh. And? Cueball: I thought it was a little fresher, but maybe it was just me. +1295:00 Megan: Probably. I mean, how high was the sea then? The extra water couldn't have been more than a tiny part of it. +1296:00 Cueball: Yeah. +1298:00 Cueball: Well, we may as well continue. Either we'll figure out the sea, or we'll keep finding beautiful places. +1299:00 Megan: That sounds fun. +1313:00 [Megan is falling.] +1315:00 Cueball: Are you OK? +1316:00 Megan: I found a- +1317:00 Frog: RIBBIT +1355:00 Megan: Is this like the one you found? Cueball: Yeah. +1381:00 [After reaching the top of a hill.] Megan: WOW. +1382:00 [Two big trees appear behind that hill, more than ten times larger than the trees before. They walk down to the first one. Megan touches it.] +1392:00 Cueball: There are markings on the trunk. Megan: Oh. Yeah. +1393:00 Megan: I wonder what they mean. +1402:00 [They arrive at a tree with a strangely bent top.] +1404:00 Megan: I wonder if it's supposed to be like that. +1405:00 Cueball: It's a pretty big tree. It probably knows what it's doing. +1436:00 [Megan and Cueball have come to a vineyard. Cueball holds up some grapes.] Cueball: Do you think it's ok to take some? +1437:00 Megan: Yeah. It doesn't look like anyone's been here for a while. +1438:00 [They eat.] +1458:00 [They come to and walk past a table or bench.] +1463:00 [They come to a wooden structure that might be the remains of a tipi.] +1468:00 Cueball: This looks like the stuff that floats down our river. +1469:00 Cueball: I wonder if these people are related to the people in the hills. Megan: Maybe. +1471:00 Megan: But the markings on that tree didn't look familiar. Cueball: Yeah. +1473:00 Megan: We could cross the river now. We've found more than enough wood for a raft. +1474:00 Cueball: Yeah. +1477:00 Cueball: We're almost in the mountains. +1479:00 Cueball: We walked along the sea for days and we didn't learn anything. Up here we're learning lots. +1480:00 Megan: We haven't learned why the sea rose. Cueball: Maybe we were never going to. +1481:00 Cueball: There's food and water here. I don't want to go all the way back down, walk along the sea for a few more days, then have to turn around. +1482:00 Cueball: Maybe the sea is too big for us to understand. We can't answer every question. +1483:00 Megan: No, but I think we can answer any question. +1484:00 Megan: Still, I agree. No need to turn around yet. Cueball: Yeah. +1485:00 Megan: And those mountains do look neat. Cueball: Yeah! +1487:00 Megan: Before we go, we should stock up. Cueball: I'll get more water. +1496:00 [Megan sees a squirrel below a tree.] Megan: Hi! +1498:00 [Megan walks towards the squirrel. It climbs up the tree.] +1499:00 [Megan stops.] +1500:00 [The squirrel comes back down.] +1501:00 Megan: It's ok! I won't eat you. +1502:00 [Megan goes down and presents some food.] +1503:00 [Megan drops down some food to the ground and the squirrel seems to be still curious.] +1504:00 Megan: Want some food? +1508:00 [The squirrel grabs the food and pulls it away from Megan. She gives up trying to pet it.] +1512:00 [Megan continues on to the vineyard. The squirrel climbs up again onto the tree, then comes back down as she leaves.] +1523:00 [Megan, picking grapes, exits left. The squirrel seems to be creeping in the grass behind her, very hard to see. As Megan returns, it leaves ahead of her and seems to go up the tree.] Scene 2 - Part 3 (A vineyard, a snake is on their way, and a bird is protecting its baby) [ edit ] +1548:00 Cueball: I wonder where the people who take care of these plants are. +1565:00 [They continue walking. Cueball raises his arms strangely.] +1566:00 Megan: What are you doing? +1567:00 Cueball: Making shapes with my shadow! +1568:00 Megan: When I stare down at mine for long enough while I walk, it starts to look really weird. Cueball: Yeah. +1571:00 Megan: Still, it's better than when we were following the sea, walking straight into the sun all morning. Cueball: Yeah. +1585:00 [Megan and Cueball reach a small ridge that Megan climbs first.] +1592:00 Cueball: It's prettier right by the river, but it's easier to walk up here. Megan: Yeah. +1593:00 Megan: Well, it all gets greener further up. +1608:00 [Megan and Cueball do reach another riff they have to climb on.] +1613:00 [Cueball climbs first.] +1618:00 Cueball: Snake! +1618:00 [Cueball falls down.] +1621:00 Megan: Are you ok? +1622:00 Cueball: I think so- +1623:00 Megan: Did it bite you? Cueball: No. +1624:00 Megan: Could you see what kind it was? +1625:00 Cueball: Brownish and shiny. Kind of blotchy. +1626:00 Megan: Did it have little spikes over its eyes? Cueball: No, not one of those. +1627:00 Cueball: It was weird. Stubby at both ends. Like it forgot to have a head and tail. +1628:00 Megan: Hmm... +1629:00 Megan: No idea. But let's go around. And watch your feet. Cueball: Ok. +1632:00 [They search for another location to climb the cliff.] +1637:00 [This time Megan climbs first.] Megan: No snakes. +1642:00 [They continue uphill. Megan starts looking back.] +1674:00 Megan: I think I can almost see the sea from here. +1676:00 Cueball: I don't know. It's hard to tell what's land and what's sky. Megan: Yeah. +1680:00 [They walk uphill again.] +1700:00 Megan: It's cooler up here. +1705:00 Cueball: Are you hearing quiet chirps? +1707:00 Megan: No. Cueball: I don't hear it now either. +1709:00 Megan: I heard chirps from the night sky once. +1710:00 Megan: I was looking at the stars one night and I heard peeping. It was very quiet. Just a single chirp now and then. Cueball: Did you see anything? +1711:00 Megan: I thought a few stars flicker. - Nothing else. Cueball: Hmm. +1716:00 [A sound in front of them: (Chirp).] +1717:00 [Again: (Chirp).] +1718:00 Cueball: It's coming from up ahead. +1719:00 [Again: (Chirp).] +1723:00 [Megan and Cueball reach some trees.] Bird in nest: Chirp +1724:00 Bird in nest: Chirp +1726:00 Bird in nest: Chirp +1727:00 Megan: Chirp Bird in nest: Chirp +1728:00 Bird in nest: Chirp +1729:00 Megan: Chirp +1731:00 Megan: Why is it doing that? Bird in nest: Chirp Cueball: I don't know. +1732:00 Bird in nest: Chirp +1733:00 Megan: I guess it's angry that we're here. +1734:00 Bird in nest: Chirp +1736:00 [A larger bird is flying towards the nest.] Bird in nest: Chirp +1738:00 [Still flying towards the nest.] Bird in nest: Chirp +1738:00 [The larger bird approaches the nest.] Bird in nest: Chirp +1741:00 Megan: What's it doing? Cueball: I think it gave it something. +1742:00 Megan: Oh! Food! I bet the loud one is a baby. The larger bird: Chirp +1743:00 Both birds: Chirp +1744:00 [Cueball is shouting.] Cueball: Now they're both loud. +1745:00 [The sound of the birds gets louder.] +1746:00 Megan: It's ok. We are not going to eat your baby. Cueball: I don't think it believes you. +1747:00 Megan: That's ok. It's just protecting its baby. Scene 2 - Part 4 (Walking uphill, a large cliff, and some mysterious animals) [ edit ] +1749:00 [Megan continues walking.] Megan: Hey- I think I see water up ahead. +1753:00 Cueball: Don't worry! You're doing a good job. +1755:00 [Cueball follows Megan.] +1764:00 [Cueball is below a tree and Megan jumps down.] Megan: Hi! +1765:00 [Megan falls on Cueball.] +1767:00 Megan: I found a tiny river. +1769:00 Megan: You ok? Cueball: Yup! +1786:00 [Megan and Cueball sleep.] +1796:00 [Megan gets bit by a fly and wakes up.] Megan: Facebug! +1797:00 [Cueball is still sleeping.] Cueball: Mrrr gblghx +1805:00 [Megan wakes up Cueball.] Megan: Hey! +1806:00 Megan: Come see what I found! +1807:00 Megan: This river is flowing toward the big one, so I followed it to see if they connected. +1811:00 [They follow the small river.] Cueball: WOW. +1812:00 [Megan and Cueball are standing on top of a large cliff.] +1817:00 [Back at the small river.] Cueball: I guess the land goes up, but the river stays at the same level. +1818:00 Megan: The river has been going up, too. But not as fast as the land. +1820:00 Megan: Can water really wear away rock like this? +1821:00 Cueball: I guess it can. +1823:00 Megan: I can't imagine how long it must have taken. +1824:00 Cueball: Yeah... +1829:00 Cueball: A lot of these rocks are pretty crumbly. +1830:00 Cueball: Even down there, between all the big rocks, the cliff walls look sandy. Water eats away sand pretty fast. +1832:00 Megan: Yeah. +1836:00 Megan: I wonder how deep it gets. +1837:00 Cueball: Maybe it goes right through the mountain, and it's as deep as the mountain is tall. +1838:00 Megan: It could be even deeper. We don't know how far down the water goes. +1839:00 Cueball: Hmm. +1840:00 Cueball: I guess it can't be much deeper than the surface of the sea. If it were, it wouldn't flow fast and cut into the ground. Megan: Oh. Yeah. +1841:00 Megan: But then, a river couldn't cut all the way through a mountain, either. Because how would it get started? +1843:00 Megan: I wonder what the top of a mountain is like? +1845:00 Cueball: Let's find out. +1850:00 [Megan and Cueball walk back, grab their knapsacks and continue their explorations.] +1902:00 [They reach a rock which is hard to climb.] Cueball: It seems we've reached our journey's end. +1903:00 Megan: Want to find an easier spot? Cueball: No, I can do it. Let me help you up first. +1912:00 [Megan and Cueball reach the top of the boulder while an unknown animal is watching them.] +1913:00 [Cueball points on that animal.] Cueball: Oh! +1916:00 [The animal reveals as hedgehog after it did cover its full body.] +1924:00 [Cueball touches the hedgehog.] Megan: Careful! Cueball: It's OK. +1927:00 [Cueball picks up the hedgehog.] Megan: Does it hurt? Cueball: It's a little prickly. +1928:00 Megan: Careful, it might bite. Cueball: Have you seen one before? Megan: Never this close. +1929:00 Megan: It's really neat. Cueball: Yeah. +1930:00 Cueball: Ok, we'll stop bothering you. +1931:00 [Cueball puts the hedgehog back to the ground and both continue their journey.] +1976:00 Cueball: You OK? +1977:00 Megan: Yup! +1979:00 Cueball: Maybe it's time to turn around. +1980:00 Cueball: The world is too big. It can go on longer than we can. +1981:00 Megan: I'm still going. +1982:00 Cueball: But one day we won't be. And we're a long way from home. +1984:00 Cueball: Earlier, I thought you wanted to turn around and go back to the sea. +1985:00 Megan: I don't want to go back to it. I want to understand it. +1987:00 Cueball: By climbing? The sea is down, not up. +1993:00 Megan: These bugs have such beautiful wings. +1994:00 Megan: You could spend a thousand lifetimes staring at water and sand, thinking as hard as you could, and you'd never guess the world had things like this in it. +1997:00 Megan: I wanna see the top. +1998:00 Cueball: What do think we'll find? Megan: More world. Maybe different. +2045:00 [Climbing, they reach a plateau with a small tree.] Megan: Weird. +2050:00 [Megan climbs up the tree and tastes a fruit.] Megan: PFFFTHH. +2061:00 [Megan points to a small tree, similar to a Christmas tree.] Megan: Oh! +2081:00 [They encounter an old bunker.] Megan: Hello? +2084:00 [Megan goes inside.] Cueball: See anything? +2084:00 Megan: Just some old furniture. Shelves, a broken bowl. +2094:00 [Megan climbs on something behind the bunker. A cougar appears, hidden by the bush to the left, behind them.] Megan: Oh, hey- +2095:00 Megan: There's a stream back here. +2096:00 Megan: And it almost looks like there's something on top of the mountain. +2097:00 Cueball: Hmm... Could be. +2100:00 Cueball: I think whoever lived here liked building castles, too. +2103:00 Cueball: Here. +2104:00 Megan: Oh! You brought a flag? Cueball: Yeah, I- Scene 2 - Part 5 (The cougar attack) [ edit ] +2105:00 Cueball: -LOOK OUT! +2106:00 [Cueball pushes Megan out of the way as a cougar rushes at them.] +2107:00 [The cougar jumps on Cueball.] +2110:00 [Megan grabs a branch laying on the ground.] Megan: Hey! Hey! Over here! +2112:00 [Megan hits the cougar.] Megan: THAWAP! Cougar: SNARL! +2113:00 Cougar: HISS +2113:00 [Megan smacks the cougar on its head.] +2114:00 [The cougar runs away.] +2116:00 Megan: Are you ok? Cueball: I, um... I think so? +2117:00 Megan: It didn't bite you? Cueball: It had claws. I saw them. Megan: But you're not bleeding? +2118:00 Cueball: No? +2119:00 Cueball: I think it grabbed my bag by mistake. +2120:00 Megan: That was lucky. Cueball: I was lucky that... ...You chased it away. Did you hit it? I couldn't really see. +2121:00 Megan: Yeah. +2122:00 Cueball: That was brave. +2123:00 Megan: You grabbed me. If you hadn't pulled me down and- Cueball: Are you ok? +2124:00 Megan: Yeah, I'm fine. +2125:00 Cueball: No, you're not. +2126:00 Megan: What? Cueball: You hurt your leg. +2127:00 Megan: No, I just banged it on something when- Cueball: You're bleeding. +2128:00 Megan: What? No I- Oh. +2129:00 Megan: Claw marks. I didn't see it hit me. Cueball: It moved fast. +2131:00 [Cueball searches through his bag and talks to himself quietly.] Cueball: Where is it... I thought I had... +2132:00 Megan: This is a surprising amount of blood. +2133:00 Cueball: Keep your hand tight over where it's coming out. I'm looking for something to wrap around it. +2134:00 Cueball: I can just tear the bag. It's torn already. Or- Megan: Oh, wait. +2135:00 [Megan pulls a strip of fabric out of her bag and gives it to Cueball.] +2145:00 Megan: Sorry for ruining your flag. +2146:00 Cueball: It's OK. After all, I brought it for you. +2147:00 Megan: Thank you. +2149:00 Megan: I like it so much I'm coloring it a beautiful red. +2162:00 Megan: It's going to be a long walk home. +2163:00 Cueball: Can you even walk? How are you feeling? +2164:00 Megan: Thirsty. +2169:00 Cueball: Does it hurt? +2170:00 Megan: It didn't at first. Now it does. +2175:00 Cueball: I think you're right. There's some kind of structure on the mountain. +2179:00 Megan: I think I can walk OK. +2180:00 Megan: It hurts, but it doesn't really hurt more when I lean on it. Cueball: That's good, at least. +2181:00 Cueball: But it's a pretty bad cut. It could get a lot worse in the time it takes to walk home. +2182:00 Cueball: We need help. +2183:00 Megan: Do you think we should keep going up? +2184:00 Cueball: We can't be more than a day or so from the top. There may be people there. +2185:00 Megan: Like the people in the hills? Cueball: We're a long way from there. +2186:00 Cueball: We don't know what's past the mountains. If we go up a little more, we'll be able to see. There could be villages. +2187:00 Megan: And if there's no one there, we wont be much farther from home than we are now. Cueball: Yeah. +2188:00 Megan: OK. +2189:00 Cueball: I'll carry everything in your bag. Mine's torn, anyway. +2192:00 Cueball: You tell me if your leg starts hurting too much. Megan: OK. +2194:00 [Both continue walking uphill...] Scene 2 - Part 6 (Starting to walk to the top of the mountain, the sun sets down) [ edit ] Animated gif with enhanced brightness +2204:00 Cueball: I'll step in and help you over. +2205:00 [Megan jumps over the small stream without waiting for Cueballs help.] +2207:00 Megan: OW. +2218:00 [After walking uphill again an indistinguishable animal appears in front of them.] +2221:00 [The animal disappeared and the are walking again.] +2223:00 Megan: It's definitely colder up here. +2233:00 Cueball: How are you feeling? Megan: Not great. +2234:00 Megan: That thing is still out there. Megan: Probably others, too. Cueball: Yeah. +2240:00 The beginning of a sunset. +2252:00 The sky gets darker. Megan: We need to sleep. Cueball: Yeah. +2253:00 Megan: It didn't seem scary before pausing to sleep wherever we were. +2255:00 Cueball: I'll stay awake while you rest. Megan: I can stay awake. +2256:00 Cueball: No, you need to rest. I'll wake you if I get tired. +2258:00 Megan: Or if something is trying to eat you, and you need me to hit it. +2260:00 [Megan sleeps.] +2262:00 [It still gets darker and the sun settles down behind the mountain.] +2265:00 [The "Evening Star" (The planet Venus) appears on the sky and follows the path of the sun.] +2270:00 [More stars are viewable since it still gets darker.] +2319:20 until 2319:24 [A meteor appears in the sky.] +2333:00 Cueball: Hey. +2334:00 Cueball: Wake up. Megan: Yeah? +2335:00 Cueball: I stayed awake as long as I could. Can you take over? Megan: Oh, sure. +2338:00 Megan: All quiet? +2339:00 Cueball: Yeah. How are you feeling? Megan: Still hurts. +2340:00 Megan: But I got some rest. Your turn now. +2345:00 [A sound from above of them.] Chirp +2349:00 [Again that sound.] Chirp +2350:00 Megan: Do you hear that? +2351:00 Chirp Cueball: Yeah. +2352:00 Cueball: I wonder what they're doing. +2386:00 Cueball: I'm awake. Megan: Finally! +2387:00 Cueball: Did I sleep too long? Megan: Not long enough, really. But it's getting late. And I was bored. +2388:00 Cueball: How's your leg? +2390:00 Megan: Looks OK. +2391:00 Cueball: It does? Megan: Sure. Scene 2 - Part 7 (After the night the final attempt to reach the top of the mountain) [ edit ] +2419:00 Megan: OK. We get to the top. We look for people. +2420:00 Megan: If we don't see any, we start back home. +2421:00 Cueball: Sounds good. +2432:00 [After walking uphill again they reach a cliff in front of them.] Megan: Neat. +2433:00 [Some unknown items are at that cliff.] Cueball: I wonder what it's for. +2437:00 [Cueball helps Megan up to reach that cliff.] Cueball: Careful. +2440:00 [Cueball stands at the bottom of the cliff.] Cueball: Huh. +2441:00 [Cueball climbs up the cliff, using some artificial steps.] +2451:00 [They reach a plateau and before them there is a wooden tower.] +2458:00 Cueball: I guess the mountains don't go back down on the other side. +2461:00 [Megan climbs up the tower.] +2465:00 Megan: I found people. +2466:00 [Cueball reaches also the top floor of the tower.] Cueball: Where!? Megan: Over there. +2467:00 Megan: It's far away. But do you see the dust? +2468:00 Cueball: Yeah... Megan: And I saw flashes of light. Something glinting. +2470:00 Megan: It's not far. We can reach them tonight. +2471:00 Cueball: Good! Is walking still not too painful? +2472:00 Megan: Walking is OK. Climbing hurt. +2473:00 Cueball: You could have asked me to climb up here for you. Megan: But I wanted to see. +2474:00 Megan: Have you figured out what that ting is? +2475:00 Cueball: It looks like it's supposed to hold something. +2476:00 Cueball: You can point it at things. Maybe it's a weapon. +2477:00 Megan: Maybe. +2478:00 Megan: But why would there be a weapon way up here? What's it aimed at? +2479:00 Cueball: Right now you're pointing it at our home. Haven't you launched enough things at our castle? Megan: No. +2488:00 Megan: Our poor castle. I wonder what's left of it. +2490:00 [White panel.] +2491:00-2493:00 [Showing the location of the castle, but it's flooded and the castle is gone. Only a small piece is floating on the sea.] +2494:00 [White panel.] +2507:00 Cueball: I think that's another tower. +2508:00 Megan: I think so, too. +2511:00 [Megan looks back to Cueball.] Megan: Are you OK? +2512:00 Cueball: Yeah. I just need to rest for a moment. +2513:00 Cueball: I don't know why I'm so out of breath. Megan: I'm feeling it too. +2515:00 Cueball: I wonder if the air up here is different. +2516:00 Megan: Could be. It's definitely cooler.

Scene 3 (Finding an unknown tribe) [ edit ]

Scene 3 - Part 1 (Finding other people) [ edit ] +2525:00 Cueball: I can see someone on that hill! +2526:00 Megan: Oh, yeah! Megan: HEY! HELLOOO!! +2527:00 Cueball: Still too far to hear. +2529:00 [Megan runs.] Megan: HEY! +2530:00 [Megan and Cueball walking fast toward the people.] +2531:00 Megan: Well, they've seen us. +2533:00 [One foreign man appears.] +2535:00 [Two more people appear and they look face to face at Megan and Cueball.] +2536:00 [Megan talks to the strangers.] Megan: Hi. We're from far away, and my leg is hurt. Can you help us? +2537:00 Stranger 1: +2538:00 Stranger 2: +2539:00 Cueball: Huh. Megan: OK. Umm. +2540:00 [Megan shows the strangers her leg.] +2542:00 [Stranger 2 asks Stranger 3 to go back and get some medicine.] Stranger 2: +2545:00 [Stranger 1 look at Megans leg.] Stranger 1: +2548:00 [After Stranger 3 is back Megan sits on a stone.] Cueball: They seem to know what they're doing. Megan: Yeah. I wonder what that is. +2549:00 [Megan talks to Stranger 3.] Megan: That. What is that? +2550:00 Stranger 3: +2551:00 Cueball: It's some kind of paste. Does it hurt? Megan: Not- ow -not really. +2554:00 Megan: Um, thank you. +2555:00 [The strangers are leaving and one invites Megan and Cueball to come with them.] +2564:00 [They approach the home of the strangers, a new tower appears, and they are trying to test the gifts.] Megan: It's just water. +2565:00 Cueball: Yawn +2566:00 Cueball: How do we talk to them? We can figure this out. +2567:00 [Megan points to the sea downwards.] Megan: We're from down there. The sea. We're from the... +2568:00 Megan: Yawn +2569:00 Megan: ..We're from the sea. And we have to sleep. +2571:00 Stranger: +2572:00 [Black panel.] +2573:00 [Stranger sitting on the tower, probably doing observations.] +2575:00 [Cueball appears and fetches two cups. The stranger comes down the tower.] +2576:00 [Cueball and the stranger fill water in their cups.] +2580:00 [Cueball and a stranger sitting face to face, the stranger points at his cup.] Stranger: +2582:00 [Cueball does his his first try with the strange language.] Cueball: Stranger: +2583:00 [Megan is awake again.] Megan: Yawn +2585:00 [Cueball approaches Megan, while the stranger keeps sitting.] Cueball: I learned a word. I think. Megan: Oh? +2586:00 Cueball: "Water". Probably. +2587:00 Stranger: +2588:00 Cueball: Or "Drink!" Megan: Hmm. +2589:00 Megan: There must be a faster way to... +2590:00 [Stranger looks through instrument on the left.] Cueball: —Hey! +2592:00 [Cueball gets a stick to draw on the ground.] Megan: It's ok! +2594:00 [Cueball draws Megan, himself, and three strangers on the ground.] +2596:00 [Stranger adds the tower to the drawing.] +2597:00 [Cueball draws smaller scaled picture of mountain with Megan and him at the bottom and the strangers and tower on top.] +2599:00 [Cueball erases him and Megan from the bottom and sketches their journey uphill.] +2601:00 [Cueball draws the sea on bottom of the hill.] Cueball: +2602:00 Stranger: +2604:00 [Cueball does not understand and hands over the stick to the Stranger.] +2606:00 [The Stranger draws a higher level on the sea.] Megan: Yes! The sea is rising! Cueball: Why is that happening? +2608:00 [A second Stranger appears behind the tower.] Stranger 2: +2610:00 [The Stranger with the stick erases some of Cueballs drawings behind the tower and adds a building at a slightly higher level.] +2611:00 Megan: They're going somewhere... Cueball: ...and want us to come, too. +2613:00 [The Stranger with the stick draws a long haired woman behind that building.] +2614:00 Cueball: Oh, speech! There's someone we can talk to? +2615:00 [The Stranger with the stick draws the way of the sun for an entire day and the trip, which is less in time.] +2616:00 Megan: I get it- it's less than a day away. Cueball: Then let's do it. Scene 3 - Part 2 (Walking to the long haired woman) [ edit ] +2618:00 [The Strangers pick up their devices and they start the next travel.] +2625:00 [Megan wears again a knapsack.] +2642:00 [They spot a rabbit. The rabbit runs away.] +2670:00 [The group rests beneath a tree to eat.] Cueball: It's good, whatever it is. +2671:00 Stranger 1: +2672:00 Megan: Huh, ok. +2676:00 [The stranger shows more items (maybe food) to Megan and Cueball.] Stranger 1: +2677:00 [The text changes to a map with a triangular mesh.] +2678:00 Megan: I heard "water". Cueball: Is it some kind of map? +2679:00 Megan: I guess. But it's just a jumble of lines. Cueball: Maybe those triangle things are rivers? +2680:00 Stranger 2: Stranger 1: +2692:00 [The group passes a flag.] Cueball: Wow. There's a whole city up there. Megan: Neat! +2695:00 [The group enters the city.] Stranger 3: +2697:00 [They approach a man wearing a slightly larger hat, sitting before a small house.] Stranger 3: Stranger with larger hat: +2701:00 Cueball: I like these little houses. They- Stranger 3: Megan: Oh. +2702:00 Cueball: Oh. Megan: Oh wow. +2703:00 [The scene zooms out.] +2704:00 [The scene zooms out more, and a big castle, still under construction, appears in front of them.] +2705:00 [Zoom in back to the people.] Megan: A real castle. I never thought I'd see a real castle! +2706:00 Cueball: I wasn't sure there were real castles. Megan: Look at it. It's breathtaking. +2709:00 Megan: Our castle was too small. +2710:00 Stranger 3: +2715:00 [They walk uphill towards the castle and meet a guy holding something under his arm.] Stranger 3: Stranger 4: +2716:00 [They keep walking.] Stranger 1: Stranger 4: +2720:00 [They enter the castle.] Scene 3 - Part 3 (Inside the castle) [ edit ] +2723:00 [They are inside the castle, walking down stairs.] Megan: Neat! +2725:00 [They walk through a large hall.] +2737:00 [After passing through a door and a curtain, they meet the translator.] Translator: +2738:00 Stranger 2: Stranger 3: +2739:00 Translator: +2740:00 [Megan and Cueball step forward.] Stranger 1: Stranger 3: +2742:00 Cueball: Hello! Megan: Do you understand us? +2744:00 Translator [A long haired woman, multiple copies of text above each other indicating language difficulties]: Somewhat +2746:00 Cueball: I think we understand you, too! +2747:00 Translator [still blurry]: Whence have you traveled here +2748:00 Cueball: We came here up the mountain. Megan: We're from the sea. +2749:00 Translator [very blurry]: You arose here from the desert below. Nobody [unintelligible; possibly "survives there"?] +2751:00 Megan: We, um... We don't quite understand that. +2752:00 Translator [very blurry]: I am sorry. Your language is like those spoken by the... difficult... but I learned it. +2753:00 Translator [very blurry]: Please [two phrases overlapping: "have patience" and "be patient"]. Cueball: Of course. +2754:00 Translator: Stranger 3: +2756:00 Stranger 3: +2757:00 Translator [very blurry]: They understand nothing so they will tend to matters. Megan: Of course. +2758:00 Translator: Your bags +2759:00 Megan: What do you want our bags for? Translator: They are heavy. Megan: ...Oh. Thank you! +2764:00 Cueball: Thank you! Translator: You're welcome. +2765:00 Translator: Tell me where your home is. +2766:00 Megan: We live by the shore, near a river that flows down to the sea every year. Translator: What river? [ed. note: Translator's question mark is denoted by ring accent, as it is in their language.] +2767:00 Megan: It's a smaller river-not the one that flows from your land. We collect things that float down it. +2768:00 Cueball: There are people in the hills where our river comes from. Megan: They don't like us. +2769:00 Translator: How many people strong are yoů [ed. note: "you?"] +2770:00 Cueball: There are about forty of us. Translator: ...is forty? [Possibly "How much is forty"] All my numbers are too small. Megan: Um. Four ten times. Five eight times. Translator: Yes! Good. +2771:00 Translator [blurry]: Do you carry these people with yoů [ed. note: "you?"] +2772:00 Megan: No. We came here alone. Translator [blurry]: Oh. Megan: We're here to find out why the sea is changing. Translator [blurry]: Um. +2773:00 Translator [very blurry]: You do not know. I [illegible]you see. Cueball: ...did you get that? Megan: No. +2774:00 Translator [very blurry]: Your sea does not stand alone! There is another sea north [of yours] beyond the shore. It has become glued to yours [but their] levels differ and thus [water] flows. [Ed: exclamation points denoted by two lines above last letter in the sentence.] Cueball: Wait, slow down. +2775:00 Megan: No, I think I understood. There's a second sea, a higher one, and its waters have started flowing into ours. Cueball: Why? What connected them? Megan: Yeah-what changed? +2776:00 Translator [very blurry]: In time even the hills change. When people first walked and first built [their] cities the seas were joined. But there was a great [illegible] rocks and the passage was closed. Your sea [illegible] with too few rivers. Under the sun it shrank and the water fell. Now the sea has found a way back in. +2777:00 Cueball: ...How different are the seas' heights? How high will the water eventually rise? Should we move our home? Translator: Do you know where you are̊ [ed. note: "are?"] +2778:00 Cueball: No. Translator: I will build you a map to understanding. +2780:00 [A map is drawn on a tablet. A sea named in the middle is labeled [This sea is yours]. There is part of a sea to the bottom left, labeled [The sea joining yours]. Above the central sea there is a small patch labeled [The fortress is here].] +2781:00 [Dashed lines are drawn on the map featuring the predicted future extent of sea. The shape of the predicted coastline matches the shape of the real-world western to central Mediterranean Sea from Gibraltar to Italy/Albania. Thus the "sea joining yours" corresponds to the Atlantic ocean and the "sea that is yours" corresponds to the remains of the Mediterranean. This matches the Latin phrase "mare nostrum" (= "our sea") that the Romans used to call the Mediterranean. The location of the castle corresponds to the vicinity of Marseille in France.] Translator: And this. Our belief about the sea's new shore. +2782:00 Megan: The sea can cover mountains? +2783:00 Translator: We learned. It has happened before. When our parents were learning to walk upright the sea fled and returned. +2784:00 Translator: [Now] it is happening again. +2786:00 Megan: The shoreline goes right through where the castle is. Where we are right now. Translator: Yes. +2787:00 Translator: The castle [fortress] was once an island. We found it and have tried to rebuild it. +2788:00 Translator: I guess [imagine / suppose] it will be an island again. +2789:00 Cueball: Who are you ? Translator: [very blurry] We are tea(che)rs/learners/scholars. This fortress s(wa)r(m)s with tea(ching)/sci(ence)/lea(rn). And I am their teacher/leader/ruler. +2790:00 Megan: I still can't imagine it. Every place we've walked will someday be inside the sea. +2791:00 Megan: We need to get back home. We need to get started on plans to move. Can we have one of your maps? That would help- ...Are you OK? +2792:00 Translator: [very blurry] I'm so sorry Cueball: What? +2793:00 Translator: [very blurry] When we discovered the sea was rising under the bank, we tried to shore it up. We failed. We tried to re(mo)ve everybody from the basin but we do not know of your group/t(rib)e. +2794:00 Megan: No, it's ok! I've been thinking. At the rate we saw the sea rising, it will take years to- Translator: No. +2795:00 Translator: [very blurry] As the water flows, it widens the breach. The berm is giving way. The sea will rush through in a great torrent. The planet's mightiest river will once again come thundering down the mountainside. The sea will fill not in years but in days. +2796:00 Translator: The journey to your land is much too long. I will not send [illegible] only to see them encircled and drowned by the [rising / rushing] tide. +2797:00 Translator: The world you know is ending, But fortune has delivered you from the flood. You did not intend to leave your home forever, but be [thankful / grateful] you left when you did. Cueball: But.. +2798:00 Translator: You must say your goodbyes from there. You cannot go back down into the abyss For you have walked too far and now there is no more time to walk The ocean (sea) is coming (here). +2801:00 [Megan and Cueball running out of the room.]

Scene 4 (Recovering the people at their home) [ edit ]

Scene 4 - Part 1 (Megan and Cueball running home) [ edit ] +2807:00 [Outside of the castle, two strangers sitting on the ground.] Stranger: Cueball: ...oh! Hi! +2808:00 Cueball: I, uhh... Thank you for- Megan: Cueball: Thank you. We have to go. +2809:00 Stranger: Megan: Goodbye! +2810:00 Cueball: It's getting late. Megan: We can make it to the tower tonight +2811:00 Cueball: We can't run the whole way Megan: Nope +2815:00 [At the village.] Man with large hat: +2816:00 Cueball: Hi! Probably. +2824:00 Cueball: Not much further! +2830:00 [They enter a dark tunnel and do a rest for sleep.] +2832:00 Cueball: I dreamed I woke up in the water. +2836:00 Cueball: I hope they don't mind us taking some of the food and water here. Megan: Mm. +2837:00 Cueball: Maybe we should have stayed to ask. But I was starting to get a little creeped out. Megan: Yeah. +2841:00 Cueball: Still, maybe they could have helped us find a faster way back. +2842:00 Cueball: ...Are you OK? Megan: I did something that was wrong. +2843:00 Cueball: !!! +2844:00 Cueball: You stole the maps! Megan: I'll give them back some day! I hope. Cueball: This is great! There are so many! +2845:00 Cueball: We must be here, right? Megan: Yeah. So we can follow our old path back down the mountain, then cut across land through the hills. I'm guessing they're empty. It sounds that everyone knew but us. Cuball: Yeah. Megan: OK. We can do this, probably. +2851:00 Megan: That stuff they put on my leg worked great. What do you think it was? Cueball: No idea. I'm just glad they had it. +2852:00 Megan: Along with the maps I should've stolen a guide to treating injuries. Ooh, and one how they make those pointing devices in the towers... Cueball: Um... +2856:00 [The cougar appears again.] +2857:00 [The cougar flees and runs away.] +2865:00 [They reach again the hedgehog.] Cueball: Just go uphill. Don't stop, don't get stuck. You can make it. +2868:00 [At the tree with the baby bird. It's preparing for its first flight.] Bird: Chirp! Flap Flap Flap Flap +2871:00 [They rest at the same location they did before.] +2874:00 Cueball: I don't see anyone. I think the hills are empty. Megan: I wish we had time to explore them. I'd love to learn how they make all that stuff. +2877:00 Cueball: Is that the sea? Megan ...Should it be in view already? +2880:00 Cueball: I know this place. There definitely shouldn't be water here. Megan: Uh oh. Cueball: The sea must be following up old riverbeds. Megan: If it's here, it must be close to joining the river. How high up do you think we are? Cueball: No idea. How do you even measure that? Megan: I don't know. spush spush +2881:00 Cueball: Oh! I used to come out to this rock when I was little. *breathe* ...it's weird being the last person to see it. +2882:00 Megan: Whoa, wait. +2883:00 Megan: Look at the spot where we crossed the riverbed. Cueball: Oh. Oh no. +2885:00 Megan: There they are! I see people coming over the rise across the... ...water. +2886:00 Cueball: I can't tell how deep it is. These things seem to be snaking in from all along the coast. We should've come from more inland. Megan: I was trying, but inland keeps moving! +2887:00 Cueball: They're headed this way. They must be planning to cross here. Do you think it's safe? Megan: It should be- it's not actually a river; they can swim if they need. +2888:00 Cueball: We should cross. They're not here yet, and it's getting deeper. Better to get on their side while we can. Then we can help them back over if it's safe. Megan: Good thinking. +2889:00 [Cueball is in the water.] Cueball: I can feel it flowing... ...but something seems wrong. Hang on. +2890:00 [Cueball is falling into the water, keeping his backpack above the water level.] SPLASH Cueball: Augh! Megan: What?? +2891:00 Cueball: It's- *tphbtt* -it's fresh! Not as fresh as a river, but too fresh to float on- definitely not while holding a bag. Megan: I guess the other sea is fresh water. I hope it's shallow enough to ford. +2892:00 Cueball: I'll go first, since you have the maps. Megan: I think this bag will keep them pretty dry if it has to. It's a good bag. +2893:00 [Crossing the water.] Cueball: Whoa, careful-the current gets strong! Megan: Oof! It's not even that deep, but... ...I can barely... Cueball: Almost there. +2894:00 [At the other side.] Cueball: That was a little too close. Oh, they definitely see us! Hey! ::: Other people: !!!!! Megan: I think I can actually see it rising, at the edge. +2895:00 [Some people from their tribe appear.] Friend: You're back! Megan: The sea is not going to stop rising! We have to get to the mountains! Cueball: ...hello! +2896:00 Friend: Where did you go? Megan: To the mountains! We learned everything! Friend: Everything? Megan: Most of it! Where's everyone else? +2897:00 Friend: The hills are empty! Megan: We know! Friend: It's great! We don't have to wait for them to throw stuff away! A bunch of us are up there right now going through what they left behind! Megan: But, the flood! Cueball: Oh, no. +2898:00 Friend 1: The kids told us about the sea a few days ago. I said we should move to the hills, but others wanted to keep clear in case the people return. Friend 2: When we saw it was coming up the riverbed, I left with this group. The others are getting ready to leave but wanted to see if the water- Megan: How many? Friend 2: There are twelve of us back at camp. Megan: ...we have to go back. Cueball: Huh... I think there's stuff floating on the sea. +2899:00 Megan: We might be able to cross here, but the next group won't. The currents are strong and the water has changed. It's getting fresher, like a river. We can't float across, unless any of you can swim on fresh water. Friend 3: My cousin says she can swim across a river. Megan: Well, can she carry all of us? Friend 3: I'll ask her. Megan: There seem to be more of these channels. We shouldn't split the group up further just to get trapped among them. Friend 3 (cont.): Except I can't find her... Friend 2: OK, what do we do? Cueball: I think there's something on the sea. +2900:00 Megan: We have to get everyone together. We have to find something to help us cross rivers and sea-channels. We have to head the other way, across the plain, toward the mountains. We need to run. +2901:00 [They run.] +2902:00 [Cut to black.] Scene 4 - Part 2 (The tribe gets ready to move on their raft) [ edit ] +2903:00 Megan: As you can tell, the sea is coming up the river. These low channels are going to fill quickly, We need to get away from them, move along them on high ground to join up with the group in the hills, and then escape across the plains to the mountains. I have maps to show us the way. +2904:00 Cueball: To avoid being trapped by these sea-rivers-or the regular rivers-we need a way to cross them. Megan: They're too fresh to swim over, so we'll have to bring things to float with. They need to be light enough to carry, so wood won't work. +2905:00 Megan: Bags might work; some of them can hold air if they get wet. But grab whatever you can, we may already be too late. And the currents are strong, so we'll need rope. +2906:00 Megan: And I- Friend 3: HEY! +2907:00 Friend 3: I found my cousin! +2909:00 [A giant raft beaches in front of them. At its helm is Friend 4 a.k.a Beret Girl from scene 1.] +2911:00 Beret Girl: Hi! I saw the water was trying to cover your neat castle, So I made it into a boat! Most of the sand parts fell down. When it came loose I floated for a while. And then the sea pushed me up here. +2912:00 Beret Girl: I don't know how to stop! Friend 2: [Runs to get bags] Oh, um. Rope! +2913:00 [Friend 2 tethers the raft to a flower. Nearly everyone jumps aboard.] +2914:00 Megan: OK, everyone! Forget everything I just said. New plan. We're going to do something that may never have been done before: +2915:00 Megan: We're going to ride a raft up a river. But we have to work fast. +2916:00 [Cut to black.] Scene 4 - Part 3 (The tribe on their raft) [ edit ] +2917:00 [People are frantically setting up the raft.] +2918:00 [Friend 1 puts up a sail.] +2919:00 [Friend 1 finishes putting up the sail/curtain. Provisions are loaded.] +2920:00 Megan: The water is coming over the banks! This place is ending and it's time to go. +2921:00 [The rest of the people board the raft.] +2922:00 [They start rowing away from camp. Beret Girl, her cousin and Megan sit on top and watch the others row.] +2928:00 [The view switches to panoramic view. Trees float by in their wake.] +2929:00 Friend 2: This is really hard. If we drift into the shallows, we can sort of push back into the main channel. But only barely. +2930:00 Megan: That's OK - you've done great. We're headed straight up the river channel! +2931:00 Megan: And we seem to be speeding up. +2932:00 [Megan trips.] +2933:00 Megan: Oof. +2934:00 Megan: Is there any way to keep us pointing forward? Cueball: We could start calling this the front. +2935:00 Megan: OK, we're coming into the hills. We need a way to- Friend 1: Look! +2936:00 [Cut to panoramic shot. The obligatory floating trees are present.] Friend A: HEY! Friend B: HELLOOO! Friend 2: It's them! +2937:00 [Aboard the other raft.] Friend C: Careful! Don't tip! Friend B: You're safe! [Aboard the S.S. Sandcastle...which is out of screen...] Voice 1: What is that? Voice 2: Head toward them! Voice 1: How? Voice 2: Oh. Right. +2938:00 [Aboard the other raft.] Friend A: They're going to float past us. Can we push out into the current? [Aboard the S.S. Sandcastle, coming into view again...] Cueball: Who has the rope? [Aboard the other raft.] Friend C: Trying. +2939:00 [The rest of the tribe drifts past the main raft in a smaller raft of their own. Cueball twirls a lasso to try and catch them...] +2940:00 [...which flies in the air...] +2941:00 [...and hooks to something at the shore. Everyone on board S.S. Sandcastle starts pulling.] Cueball: Careful! Slow and steady - don't break the rope! +2942:00 [They did move the S.S. Sandcastle backwards. Cueball throws the next lasso.] +2943:00 [...the rope flies...] +2944:00 [...the people on the other raft manage to catch the rope.] +2945:00 [They put their rafts close together.] Friend B: We saw from the hills that the route back was washed out. So we found a raft and tried to get to you by the river. Friend C: But then the river started going backward and we got stuck. Cueball: We can explain. From crowd: Why is everything flooding? From crowd: Why is the water full of trees? From crowd: Why do you have little tables covered in sand? Cueball: But first- +2946:00 Cueball: What's our plan? How much time do you think we have to get across the plain? Megan: None. Cueball: OK, we have to move fast- Megan: -No. None. I figured out some of the maps. If the sea is here, we're already cut off. There's nowhere else to run to. We're going to have to ride this out. +2949:00 [A tent is pulled aboard (or built on the second raft from what they already had on board).] +2950:00 [The two rafts actually "hit" and everyone falls over.] +2951:00 [They continue wrapping the new tent in preparation to turn it into a sleeping area. The area under the main canopy has been turned into a sort of storage area.] +2952:00 [Cut to a panaromic view of the scene.] +2954:00 [A flock of geese flies overhead.] +2955:00 [Night falls. This time the Milky Way cannot be seen.] +2956:00 [It is day. Megan stands at the front while an insect buzzes overhead.] +2957:00 [Megan has climbed on top of the platform. Cueball looks at her from below.] Megan: hey. +2958:00 Megan: Everyone still asleep? Cueball (while climbing onto top platform): Yeah. +2959:00 [They proceed to rebuild their sandcastle using whatever sand is left.] +2961:00 [Cueball and Megan finish building a single turret.] Cueball (glancing over shoulder): ...Land! +2962:00 [Cueball and Megan are staring at the approaching land mass while standing at the front of the boat.] Megan: We've been heading right toward it since sunrise. +2963:00 [S.S. Sandcastle runs aground. Cueball runs to the sleeping tent to wake everyone up. Megan runs after him.] Cueball: Land! Wake up, everybody! Front of boat: SCRAAAAAPE. CRUNCH. +2964:00 [The tribe exit their raft.] Cueball: Wow. +2965:00 Cueball: Where do you think we are? Megan: I don't know. +2966:00 Megan: But I bet we can figure it out. C'mon, let's see what's through here! +2967:00 [The End] +2968:00 [No people, just the shore and some trees.]

Frame by Frame Breakdown [ edit ]

Below is the list of all the frames of the comic, in the order that they were revealed. The given times denote the time since the comic was initially released on midnight, March 25, 2013, Eastern Daylight Saving Time (UTC - 0400).

March 2013 [ edit ]

April 2013 [ edit ]

Day 36, Monday, April 29, 2013, normalized [ edit ] The following images show the faded images from day 36 with the fade removed.

May 2013 [ edit ]

June 2013 [ edit ]

July 2013 [ edit ]

Where's the discussion block? [ edit ]

It was getting large, so the discussion block has been moved. You can still discuss this comic here: Talk:1190: Time