A field document · Draft: final

Relay

the field script

Six scenes from an ordinary working day. Two speaking roles: you, and the thing writing it all down.

Six scenes · Runtime: one workday · Cast: you & Relay

Format

Character names in caps. (Stage directions) in italics. You speak in plain type; Relay answers in serif — it learned its manners from your sentences. A green dot means the clock is running.

Scene I of VI

INT. KITCHEN — DAY

Morning, no ceremony

(A laptop opens. No app does. A chat window is already where you left it.)

you

Starting the Deck redesign.

relayrecording

Recorded — 9:04. First block of the day.

you

Also remind me to send the invoice before five.

relayrecording

Armed for 4:45, with a nudge if you're mid-something.

Scene II of VI

INT. DESK — MIDDAY, INTERRUPTED

The plan meets reality

(Somewhere in the auth callback, a ghost. The morning's plan is already obsolete.)

you

Dropping the migration. Auth callback is haunted. Switching to invoices.

relayrecording

Migration paused at 2h 26m. Invoice work is live.

you

Put the haunted part on tomorrow, after standup.

relay

Done. Tomorrow re-drafted around it — nothing lost, nothing double-counted.

Scene III of VI

EXT. TRAIN — AFTERNOON

Transit counts too

(No desk. No laptop. A voice note, seven seconds long.)

you

[voice note · 0:07] On the train reading the spec — count it as research, thirty minutes.

relay

Logged 30m research. Voice works fine here, by the way.

Scene IV of VI

INT. DESK — EVENING

The day, read aloud

(One slash command. No charts to configure first.)

you

/today

relay

6h 12m total — Deck redesign 3h 40m · invoices 1h 52m · research 40m. You're 22m ahead of Tuesday-you.

you

Send that to the team channel.

relay

Posted. Nobody had to sit in a meeting about it.

Scene V of VI

EXT. ANYWHERE — LATER

Delegation, quietly

(The chores that don't need you don't get you. A background agent takes the shift.)

you

Have someone watch the changelog and brief me Monday morning.

relay

Background agent assigned. It reads so you don't. Brief lands Monday, 8:00, your timezone.

MAYA (TEAMMATE)

+1 — saw the report in the channel. Clean.

Scene VI of VI

INT. NIGHT — WRAP

Lights down

(The rarest line in time tracking.)

you

Wrapping for today.

relay

Closed at 6h 12m. Tomorrow is drafted around your 9:00-sharp streak. Rest.

Appendix A of II

Props: five commands

/tasks

Everything open, ranked by what's slipping.

“Three open. The invoice reminder fires in 41 minutes.”

/today

The day so far, told back in your own entries.

“6h 12m across four blocks. Design review was the biggest thief.”

/report

Weekly rollup, formatted how you asked once, months ago.

“28h logged. Deep-work mornings held four of five days.”

/reminders

Every armed nudge, editable by sentence.

“Two armed: invoice at 4:45, stretch break hourly.”

/help

The whole manual, but conversational.

“Ask me things like ‘how do I pause everything?’”

Appendix B of II

Director’s notes

01

Speak in ranges. “About two hours” logs honestly — precision theater is optional.

02

Correct mid-session. History reconciles instead of duplicating.

03

Group chats work. Prefix @Relay and the room stays out of your ledger.

04

Timezones travel with you. The 8:00 brief means your 8:00, wherever you woke up.

05

Goals grow teeth: mock targets, streak counts, and a coach that mentions both.

06

When stuck, ask “what am I avoiding?”. It answers from your own record.

Production notes

I.

If it needs a form, it will not get filled.

II.

Your words are a better data model than categories.

III.

Good software waits. It does not interrupt.