[Intro: Female Lead, Mara, whispered]
Thirty-six hours awake.
The clock says Monday. My hands say no.
Daylight changed behind the blind.
I only know because it shows.

[Verse 1: Female Lead, Mara]
Cold cup trembling by my hand.
Monday leaks around the blind.
Someone asks the current date.
I reed the timestamp, answer late.
Noodles harden in the bowl,
salt and cardboard, heat gone cold.
Three red monitors stain the room.
Morning wears the midnight gloom.

[Pre-Chorus: Male Countervoice, Tariq]
"MAH-rah, shut your eyes a while.
Your hands have checked that command twice."
I hear his words from far below.
I know the voice, but miss the why.

[Chorus: Female Lead]
Thirty-six hours awake,
each small choice is a place to break.
Cold cup shaking beside my hand,
Monday dissolves where the error logs stand.
If I keep this system alive tonight,
what part of me will it overwrite?

[Verse 2: Female Lead, Mara]
The cursor needles at the glass.
Seconds crawl but never pass.
I hear the pager in the fan,
though it sleeps beside my hand.
I type one command, then type it twice,
check each letter, check each byte.
The danger is not making one.
It's losing track of what I've done.

[Pre-Chorus: Alternating Vocals]
TAH-reek's eyes are threaded red.
LAY-nah holds her shoulders high.
Three people prop the service up.
One body blinks and all may slide.

[Chorus: Female Lead]
Thirty-six hours awake,
each small choice is a place to break.
Cold cup shaking beside my hand,
Monday dissolves where the error logs stand.
If I keep this system alive tonight,
what part of me will it overwrite?

[Verse 3: Female Lead, Mara]
GREG-or's chair is empty still.
No one asks who took his fill.
They replaced one missing man
with three names and a webinar plan.
Orders wait behind the pane.
Strangers will not know my name.
But duty curdles into harm
when numb hands guard the alarm.

[Instrumental Break: sparse floor toms, missing fourth beat, slowed pager harmonics]

[Bridge: Alternating Vocals]
MAH-rah is a name, not "primary."
TAH-reek is not a process thread.
LAY-nah is not spare machinery.
No role can cancel need for bed.

[Breakdown: Duet]
Kloze the terminal.
Drink the water.
Hand the keyboard.
Name the danger.

[Final Chorus: Duet]
Thirty-six hours awake.
I will not make one more blind mistake.
TAH-reek takes watch. LAY-nah writes the state.
I leave the screen before too late.
We keep the system alive tonight
without letting it overwrite our lives.

[Outro: Female Lead, Mara]
Jacket folded under my neck.
Twenty minutes beneath the desk.
No command beneath my hand.
The pager sleeps. The others stand.