James Brighton Society, Chapter 1: Pages 13-14

Page 13, 6 Panels- The Cloak Room/Steve Brennan's Apartment, Washington D.C. Panel 1-2: A two-part set of panels that center back to a basic shot of Grem from the perspective behind the bar looking out toward the rest of the pub. In Panel 1, he quickly downs the rest of the Guinness glass in one strong gulp. A couple of moments later, the immortal Irishman slams the glass back on the wooden counter. He reaches over and opens the bag in order to drop the PC back inside. GREM [to Dorian, Panel 2]: Apologies, Dorian. But I'm gonna skip the second round tonight. Panel 3: Cut to a shot of Dorian's face looking on a few feet away from him. His ovular metal head tilted in Grem's direction, just before he's set to address another customer at the bar. You can see the top half of the customer, a human soldier in Army fatigues with a weary, rugged looking face and a bony-thin body. DORIAN [curious, to Grem]: Alright...what's up? Another case pop up? Panel 4: Back to a shot of Mr. Allen, standing firmly to the side of his stool. His right arm looping over the top strap of the messenger bag, which has not quite locked shut at the moment. He looks over toward the Mecha-man bartender with a degree of calm reassurance that comes through in his voice. GREM [shrugs]: Ah, just a friend in need of help. Nothing badly chaotic or world-ending...hopefully. Panel 5-6: Cut to an exterior shot of a window Mr. Brennan's apartment as all the commotion is going on at the pub. We see a pair of curtains, illuminated by an interior light and a pair of shadows moving past from left to right. In the next panel, a minute later, the light inside flicks off and the room goes dark. All as little snowflakes drift down into view in both panels. GREM [Cont., Off-Panel; Panel 5]: I'll slip by your place and give you guys your Christmas present afterwards, depending on how long this goes. Page 14, 6 Panels- Parlor Room, Arlington Virginia Panel 1: Cut to a shot, an hour later, of a man seated on a beautiful chair in an elegant looking parlor room in front of a fire, reading a book as the sounds of Johann Strauss' "Radetzky March" playing on a record player that is faintly seen off in the background over her left shoulder. You can see the snow falling through the darkness of the window outside, albeit at a slightly lower frequency than in D.C. You can also see, on the cover, the book he's reading is a book of Greek mythology in Latin. Panel 2: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. A minute later, the man's attention is pulled toward the right and the sound of a pair of knocks on the door. He lowers the book down to his side, revealing the face of the person reading it- GRAND VIZIER JONES. A tall man in his 40s with dark hair, red eyes, and a physique (replete in a nice dark suit with a pin on his lapel) that is better suited for someone half his age. GV JONES [English accent that echoes throughout the stately looking room]: Enter! Panel 3: Cut to an action shot at the door of an underling entering the room, looking on revelently at his superior. He's a younger man and a few inches shorter than the Vizier, though we only see his green eyes and oval head through the hood. He's dressed in the same type of crimson red robes that we saw partially from the attackers a few pages back. You can see a long hallway stretching out behind him as he speaks. UNDERLING [apologetically, to GV Jones]: My apologies, Grand Vizier. I--I did not know you were busy. I could-- Panel 4-5: Cut to a close-up of Mr. Jones' face a split second later. The book is closed and he's placing it on an end table to the left of the chair. His body just beginnign to stand up from the chair he had sat on as the music plays on. In Panel 5, with his body fully in the standing position, we see the Grand Vizier with his hands behind his back and formally addressing his underling. GV JONES [interjecting in a leaderly manner, to the Underling; Panel 4]: It is fine, underling. GV JONES [Cont., Panel 5]: What is it? Panel 6: Back to the underling in a setting that is similar to what we saw in Panel 3. The underling now is standing firmly behind the door, pushing it closed behind his back. His body language retains the same type of highly reverential and subordinate manner that we saw in that panel as he speaks. UNDERLING [to GV Jones, with head tilted to the ground]: We received word from the dispatch team in Washington. Mr. Brennan is dead.