EP04 One More · NETIZEN: The Backchannel

Cover of NETIZEN: The Backchannel, Episode 4: One More.

Inside front cover. NETIZEN NETIZEN THE BACKCHANNEL EPISODE 4: ONE MORE PREVIOUSLY Someone in their group has no name. He reads their chat, collects their photos, and keeps everything. Sudde thinks the old timestamps can tell them where it began. When you...

Sudde's eyes behind his round glasses, lit violet from below. A tiny phone clock reflected in one lens: 04:00.

Sudde's hand on his phone, a length of red string wound around one finger, following it towards a printed screenshot.

His bedroom at 4 a.m. A whole wall of printed screenshots, dates and timestamps, joined with red string, a ruled timeline across the middle. Caption: Sudde had not slept properly in nine days. Caption: He was close. He thought.

Phone insert: the group chat at 4 a.m. Only one person typing. On screen: Juni, Jawu, Bille +1 Chat, sudde: check this timestamp Chat, sudde: anyone up

Tall phone insert: the same chat scrolled. Every message for three screens is Sudde's. On screen: 02:14 · 03:40 · 04:07 · 04:31 · 05:02 Chat, sudde: look at this one Chat, sudde: same date again Chat, sudde: why 14 oct Chat, sudde: who was first Chat,...

Monday morning at the gate. Juni scrolling back through the chat. Time: Monday, 08:40. Bille: Forty messages while we were asleep.

Jawu leans in, counts, goes back to her toast. Jawu: Forty-three. Bille: Much more reasonable.

Sudde arrives: hair flat on one side, eyes ringed, but bright, almost buzzing. Sudde: I found something.

Sudde opens his bag and a cascade of printouts spills everywhere. Jawu saves her toast; a page lands on Bille's face.

Bille holds up a length of red string between two fingers. Juni stacks the papers and notices Sudde's hand trembling. Bille: Is that... string? Sudde: It's red string, Bille. It's traditional. Juni: Show us after school.

Big ensemble. After school, Sudde's room. Sudde: I found when the group was made.

Corner inset: Bille plucking a strand of the string. Sound: twang

Corner inset: Sudde gives Bille a look. Bille lets go very carefully. Bille: Structural test.

Wide phone insert: the group information screen, scrolled up above the ordinary chat. On screen: Group name: [empty field] On screen: Created 14 October, last year.

Bille doing the maths on his fingers before anyone else. Jawu and Juni. Bille: Eleven months. Jawu: I didn't have a phone eleven months ago. Juni: None of us did.

Sudde pins two labels on his timeline, a long blank gap between them: GROUP CREATED and WE WERE ADDED. Sudde: Made then. Added later. Juni: So who was here before us?

Bille blocks Sudde's view of the wall and pushes the untouched plate towards him. Bille: When did you last eat? Sudde: I'm fine. Bille: That's not what I asked.

Friday after school, same room, the wall neater. A paper square pinned in the centre: SATURDAY · 3 PM · PARK. Juni: Saturday at three. We bring our screenshots. You bring the notes that join them. Sudde: Three o'clock. Promise. Jawu: And an actual Sudde....

Sudde's mum at the open door with a plate. On the desk, the anonymous messages are open beside his notes. Mum: I've read those messages. We'll get help with them together. Mum: First, dinner.

Friday night. Sudde's room dark except his phone. Time: Friday, 22:30. Sudde: One more check. Then I'll sleep.

Open strip above the frame, no border: Sudde in bed, face lit violet, eyes heavy. His notes saved, a pencil lying across the last finished line. Time: Saturday, 01:00.

The big panel: his phone. A video ending, the autoplay ring counting down, a streak banner sliding in. On screen: SORT YOUR CHAT HISTORY → STRANGEST GROUP-CHAT STORIES → TEN MORE MESSAGES NOBODY CAN EXPLAIN On screen: Up next in 3 On screen: 214 day...

Sudde's face in the phone light. Time: 01:00

The same face, the light shifted, glasses lower on his nose. Time: 03:00 Sudde: I'll stop after this.

The same face, greyer, blinking hard. Time: 05:00 Sudde: One more.

05:40. Pale light through the curtain. Time: 05:40.

The phone in his slack hand, still playing. On screen: Up next in 3

The phone later, an alarm going off unheard. On screen: Alarm 09:00 Sound: beep beep

Saturday. A park table. Time: Saturday, 14:55.

Phone insert: the group chat. On screen: Juni, Bille, Sudde +1 Chat, jawu: we are here Chat, jawu: you coming Time: 15:00

Bille lowers his phone after a call rings out. He looks down the path towards Sudde's house. Bille: I'm checking on him. Juni: We'll keep going here.

Split half: Jawu screen-records as Juni scrolls their messages, the dates visible. A small Saved tick. Jawu: Got this bit. Save yours too.

Split half: the screenshots in a row on the table. Juni draws a question mark in every gap instead of guessing. Juni: His notes join these. We mark what's missing.

Bille comes back, sandwich bag still in his hand. Jawu lets out the breath she has been holding. Bille: His mum checked. He's asleep. She knows we came.

15:35. A half-built timeline clipped together, full of question marks. Time: 15:35. Jawu: I wanted him here for this.

Phone insert: his lock screen. On screen: 9 missed calls Chat, jawu: your mum says you are okay Chat, jawu: we are still at the park

Later. Sudde reaches the table, timeline clutched to his chest. Sudde: I'm sorry. Juni: We were worried.

Juni and Sudde. Juni is not angry. Juni: We needed you at three. Sudde: I was awake at three. Juni: I know.

Jawu gathers the papers to make room. Her own late-night messages are on one printout. Jawu: We kept asking if you'd found more. Jawu: We can stop doing that at night.

Bille sits down next to Sudde and hands him a sandwich without a word. Sudde puts the timeline down and takes it with both hands.

Wide phone insert: Sudde's settings, and beside the phone a note in his handwriting. He does it himself; nobody makes him. On screen: Autoplay OFF On screen: Notifications: scheduled On screen: Streak: 0 On screen: START HERE TOMORROW (note)

Sudde plugs his phone in on a shelf in the hallway, outside his bedroom door. The wall of string is still there behind him. Sudde: The wall stays. I just work on it in daylight. Mum: Good. Leave room for the door.

Sunday morning, the park. The crew makes its one rule. Juni: Nobody works the chat after midnight. Bille: Obviously. Jawu: Bille agreed with something. Write that down.

Daylight. Sudde, rested, spreads his notes beside the half-built timeline. Sudde: One question. Together. Nothing private. Juni: And whatever comes back, we show your mum.

Sunday, 15:00, the park. The four sitting in a circle on the grass, the finished timeline between them. Time: Sunday, 15:00.

Sudde taps two dates on the timeline: GROUP CREATED, WE WERE ADDED. Sudde: We know when. We still don't know who. Bille: So ask that.

Juni's phone held where everyone can see, thumb above Send. Keep this framing and header size for the reply on the next page. On screen: Jawu, Bille, Sudde +1 Chat, juni: who was in this group before us Juni: Everyone okay with this?

Four heads lean in as Juni sends it. Bille offers Sudde the last of his roll; Sudde takes half. Sound: fwip

The four frozen around the phone, faces lit by it. Behind them a ball rolls past and someone runs after it.

Small inset: the phone buzzes against the grass. Sound: bzz

Juni's phone: his question, and for the first time this season, an answer. The header has changed by one character. On screen: Jawu, Bille, Sudde +2 Chat, juni: who was in this group before us Chat, no name: i am the one who was in the group before any of you.

What do you do next? WHAT DO YOU DO NEXT? SUDDE WOULD HAVE PICKED A. THEN A AGAIN. THEN A. 1. Sudde wants to stop tonight. His notes are saved. Which choice changes what happens next? A Let the next video play and promise it's the last one. B Check how...

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Season page. NETIZEN NETIZEN THE BACKCHANNEL Signed out START HERE TOMORROW Four episodes. Four mistakes. Nobody had to fix one alone. FREE MONEY Stop before a message sends you to sign in. Open the app or site you already know. BORROWED A different...

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EP04 One More, as text

Every word in the episode, page by page. Image descriptions are in the comic itself.

Page 1

EP 04

SEASON 1

A HAMCODES COMIC

NETIZEN

THE BACKCHANNEL

He found the date. He lost the afternoon.

ONE MORE

Created by Hamcodes

Page 2

NETIZEN

THE BACKCHANNEL

EPISODE 4: ONE MORE

PREVIOUSLY

Someone in their group has no name. He reads their chat, collects

their photos, and keeps everything. Sudde thinks the old

timestamps can tell them where it began.

When you reach YOUR CALL, decide before you turn the page.

Juni

Jawu

Bille

Sudde

Season 1: WHO ADDED US

Created by Hamcodes

netizen.hamcodes.com

Page 3

Caption: Sudde had not slept properly in nine days.

Caption: He was close. He thought.

On screen: Juni, Jawu, Bille +1

Chat, sudde: check this timestamp

Chat, sudde: anyone up

On screen: 02:14 · 03:40 · 04:07 · 04:31 · 05:02

Chat, sudde: look at this one

Chat, sudde: same date again

Chat, sudde: why 14 oct

Chat, sudde: who was first

Chat, sudde: still here

Chat, sudde: ok another one

Page 4

Time: Monday, 08:40.

Bille: Forty messages while we were asleep.

Jawu: Forty-three.

Bille: Much more reasonable.

Sudde: I found something.

Bille: Is that... string?

Sudde: It's red string, Bille. It's traditional.

Juni: Show us after school.

Page 5

Sudde: I found when the group was made.

Sound: twang

Bille: Structural test.

On screen: Group name: [empty field]

On screen: Created 14 October, last year.

Bille: Eleven months.

Jawu: I didn't have a phone eleven months ago.

Juni: None of us did.

Sudde: Made then. Added later.

Juni: So who was here before us?

Page 6

Bille: When did you last eat?

Sudde: I'm fine.

Bille: That's not what I asked.

Juni: Saturday at three. We bring our screenshots. You bring the notes that join them.

Sudde: Three o'clock. Promise.

Jawu: And an actual Sudde. Paper Sudde doesn't count.

Mum: I've read those messages. We'll get help with them together.

Mum: First, dinner.

Time: Friday, 22:30.

Sudde: One more check. Then I'll sleep.

Page 7

Time: Saturday, 01:00.

On screen: SORT YOUR CHAT HISTORY → STRANGEST GROUP-CHAT STORIES → TEN MORE MESSAGES NOBODY CAN EXPLAIN

On screen: Up next in 3

On screen: 214 day streak. Keep it going!

Your call: One more?

On screen: YOUR CALL

Page 8

Time: 01:00

Time: 03:00

Sudde: I'll stop after this.

Time: 05:00

Sudde: One more.

Time: 05:40.

On screen: Up next in 3

On screen: Alarm 09:00

Sound: beep beep

Page 9

Time: Saturday, 14:55.

On screen: Juni, Bille, Sudde +1

Chat, jawu: we are here

Chat, jawu: you coming

Time: 15:00

Bille: I'm checking on him.

Juni: We'll keep going here.

Jawu: Got this bit. Save yours too.

Juni: His notes join these. We mark what's missing.

Bille: His mum checked. He's asleep. She knows we came.

Time: 15:35.

Jawu: I wanted him here for this.

Page 10

Time: 15:40.

On screen: 9 missed calls

Chat, jawu: your mum says you are okay

Chat, jawu: we are still at the park

Sudde: I'm sorry.

Juni: We were worried.

Juni: We needed you at three.

Sudde: I was awake at three.

Juni: I know.

Jawu: We kept asking if you'd found more.

Jawu: We can stop doing that at night.

Page 11

On screen: Autoplay OFF

On screen: Notifications: scheduled

On screen: Streak: 0

On screen: START HERE TOMORROW (note)

Sudde: The wall stays. I just work on it in daylight.

Mum: Good. Leave room for the door.

Juni: Nobody works the chat after midnight.

Bille: Obviously.

Jawu: Bille agreed with something. Write that down.

Sudde: One question. Together. Nothing private.

Juni: And whatever comes back, we show your mum.

Page 12

Time: Sunday, 15:00.

Sudde: We know when. We still don't know who.

Bille: So ask that.

On screen: Jawu, Bille, Sudde +1

Chat, juni: who was in this group before us

Juni: Everyone okay with this?

Sound: fwip

Page 13

Sound: bzz

On screen: Jawu, Bille, Sudde +2

Chat, juni: who was in this group before us

Chat, no name: i am the one who was in the group before any of you.

Caption: SEASON TWO.

Page 14

WHAT DO YOU DO NEXT?

SUDDE WOULD HAVE PICKED A. THEN A AGAIN.

THEN A.

Sudde wants to stop tonight. His notes are saved. Which choice changes what happens

next?

Let the next video play and promise it's the last one.

Check how long he's watched this week, then keep watching in bed.

Turn off autoplay, write where to start tomorrow, and charge the phone outside the room.

It's midnight and you're halfway through something that matters. What do you do?

Keep going until it's done.

One more hour, then stop.

Write down where you got to, put the phone outside the room, finish tomorrow.

AND: go back to Episode 1, page 4. Count the members.

Play it: scan the QR or visit

netizen.hamcodes.com/play/#/digital-wellness

Show answers

Both answers are C. Autoplay takes away the moment where you choose, so switch it off. Knowing your weekly time

helps you plan, but a number doesn't stop the next video.

A tired brain misses things, which is exactly what happened to Sudde. Save your place so stopping costs nothing. If

messages worry you, tell a trusted adult before you solve the mystery.

Page 15

NETIZEN

THE BACKCHANNEL

Signed

out

START HERE

TOMORROW

Four episodes. Four mistakes. Nobody had to fix one alone.

FREE MONEY

Stop before a message sends you to sign in. Open the app or site you already know.

BORROWED

A different password for every account. Two-step on. Email first when one leaks.

RECEIPTS

Check the whole frame. Ask before you post someone else.

ONE MORE

Save your place, then stop. The phone sleeps outside the room.

NETIZEN: THE BACKCHANNEL CONTINUES IN SEASON TWO.

Created by Hamcodes

netizen.hamcodes.com

Page 16

NETIZEN

THE BACKCHANNEL

He was only going to check one timestamp. Then one video. Then one

more. By Saturday afternoon his friends have a place saved, half a

timeline and no answer when they call. Finding the next clue matters.

So does being there to read it.

Save your place, then stop. Tomorrow-you deserves a clue.

Created by Hamcodes

Season 1: WHO ADDED US

netizen.hamcodes.com

NETIZEN: THE BACKCHANNEL · EPISODE 4 · ONE MORE

End of EP04

That was One More.

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