Episode 7 — Sio Keeps a Secret

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Episode summary

Mara needs proof, but Sio refuses to surrender a private call. The cost of listening becomes harder to accept as their power runs down.

Transcript

Far Signal - Volume 1, Episode 7: Sio Keeps a Secret

By Saffron Satellite / WebtoonHaven Studio. Published under a Studio pen name. AI-generated artwork with integrated comic lettering.

Reading order: top to bottom. Eight sequences, 32 panels.

Panel 1. Mara withdraws her hand from Sio while holding her tablet. Sio's amber lens is partly covered by its shutter.
Mara: Someone could believe us if they heard the whole log.

Panel 2. Sio keeps its shutter partly closed and displays an anonymous waveform on its side.
Sio: Someone trusted me because I would not give them the whole log.

Panel 3. Mara stands facing Sio across the relay floor, with the reserve battery still connected nearby.
Mara: We are trying to stop a dismantling order.

Panel 4. Sio stands firmly beside Mara's boots.
Sio: That does not make every door yours.

Panel 5. Vale appears on a violet screen beside an outgoing-document symbol and time bars.
Vale: The review desk changes shift shortly. I can send equipment evidence now.

Panel 6. Mara holds up the blue equipment-record card towards Vale's screen.
Mara: Send it. Mark the testimony as pending, not absent.

Panel 7. At Operations, Vale sends the limited equipment documents from her console.
Vale: They may wait for the next review window.

Panel 8. Mara turns towards Sio with a tense expression beside the connected reserve battery.
Mara: That wait costs power.

Panel 9. Oren challenges Mara from his cyan terminal as Sio waits beside her.
Oren: So did asking us what we wanted.

Panel 10. Mara looks down at a loose data connector in her gloved hand.
Mara: I know.

Panel 11. Mara lays the data lead on the bench away from Sio. The thick reserve power cable remains connected.
Mara: I was about to do it anyway.

Panel 12. Mara sits cross-legged at Sio's level with both palms open.
Mara: I am sorry. What can you offer?

Panel 13. Sio opens its amber lens fully beside Mara and an anonymous audio terminal.
Sio: My account of receiving the call. Not its route or private words.

Panel 14. Inez listens from an amber screen as Mara faces her.
Inez: Ask whether they want to add anything.

Panel 15. Mara stands back from the audio terminal with her tablet lowered at her side.
Mara: I will wait over here.

Panel 16. Sio listens to an anonymous waveform on the terminal. No name, portrait or location is shown.
Private resident: I can hear you. Do not make me a place on a map.

Panel 17. An anonymous waveform fills the terminal without names or location details.
Sio: You can give a statement without giving your address.

Panel 18. Sio listens beside the terminal while Mara waits with her arms folded on the other side of the room.
Private resident: Tell them I was here before the salvage crew. I answered by choice.

Panel 19. A short amber document appears beside a separate locked archive symbol.
Sio: Those words only. You will hear the excerpt before it leaves.

Panel 20. The anonymous waveform ends in a flat line after one final pulse.
Private resident: Yes. Keep the rest closed.

Panel 21. Mara stops beside Sio and the tablet, leaving the playback controls alone.
Mara: May I hear what you approved?

Panel 22. Sio plays the approved waveform on a tablet while its other display panes remain closed.
Sio: The resident approved this statement. I witnessed the call.

Panel 23. Mara places the flat blue equipment-record card beside the separate tablet.
Mara: We can compare the equipment clock without opening your private recording.

Panel 24. Sio faces Mara with its amber lens fully open while she listens.
Sio: You can ask. I can still say no.

Panel 25. Mara writes a short note on her tablet beside the blue equipment-record card.
Mara: Then the record will say what we know, and what we did not ask to take.

Panel 26. Vale reads the limited document at Operations, with equipment evidence displayed separately behind her.
Vale: I have the approved excerpt. Nothing from the private archive.

Panel 27. Mara and Sio reach a closed docking hatch beside the connected service line.
Mara: We still need somewhere safe if this branch fails.

Panel 28. Oren speaks from Mara's handheld cyan screen at the hatch.
Oren: Your ship has a view. Does it have an empty core?

Panel 29. Mara opens a ship equipment locker containing a slate-blue survey processor with a vented face and narrow cyan light.
Mara: An old survey processor. Never held a resident.

Panel 30. Mara checks the processor with a handheld diagnostic meter while Sio watches without using its tool arms.
Sio: Empty is not the same as ready.

Panel 31. Oren appears on Mara's handheld screen beside the separate survey processor.
Oren: Show me the risks. Then ask me again.

Panel 32. Mara lowers the tablet and looks towards Sio. The survey processor remains in its rack.
Mara: This time I will wait for the answer.