James Brighton Society, Chapter 4: Pages 9-10

Page 9, 6 Panels- Front Desk/Steps, Library, Arlington Virginia

Panel 1: We move to a shot of the desk looking out a few seconds later. He looks over in the librarian's direction as he approaches the front of it, raising his right hand over his head to signal her. In the background, you can see the sight of people coming in and out of the area as he speaks.

GREM [increasingly louder, to the head librarian]: Ma'am...Ma'am, if I could have your attention for a moment...

Panel 2-3: Cut to the librarian as she looks up from her work briefly to address the immortal Irishman in Panel 2. The elderly woman looks into the young looking man's eyes in Panel 3 a beat later, flashing a flirtatious half-grin before speaking.

HEAD LIBRARIAN [business-like, to Grem; Panel 2]: Yes, how can I... HEAD LIBRARIAN [Cont., Panel 3]: hel--help you...sir? GREM [Off-Panel, Panel 3]: Hello, I'm Grem Allen.

Panel 4: Same setting/layout as Panel 1. Mr. Allen flashes his own warm, courteous smile at the woman, placing his right elbow on the desktop as he speaks. He leans forward to address her with the same degree of warmth and charm that was evident in the smile.

GREM [looking for an answer]: I'm a P.I., in town for a wee bit. I was wondering if your library's got a place to check out a map of the city. I was hoping to find a location in particular for a case.

Panel 5: We move back to the librarian in the same setting and layout that we saw in Panel 3. She shakes her head at the command, and points out toward the library's entrance as she speaks. There's still a sense of the same fliration that was evident in that panel, with the same sense of commanding business that she had before.

HEAD LIBRARIAN [apologetically]: Sorry, dear boy. We don't carry maps here. You need to go to City Hall for that information. It's about 10 minutes from here on Washington Ave.

Panel 6: Cut to an exterior shot, taken from the sky looking down, showing Grem descending the stairs leading to the sidewalk in front of the library. You can see the tops of a smattering of other people leaving and entering the library. The sunlight gently illuminating the gray of the concrete as well as the heads of the different locals.

GREM [Off-Panel caption]: "Ah, cheers..." GREM [narration caption]: She was nice. The way she offered up her daughter though was...considerably weird.

Page 10, 5 Panels- Street, Arlington Virginia

Panel 1: Action shot of the immortal Irishman a few minutes later, five blocks away from the library that is now fading off into the distance at this point. He looks up into the sky, watching the people and the cars pass him by while deep in thought. In the background, while Grem is opening up the strap to his messenger bag, you can see someone moving mechanically off in the distance moving toward him.

GREM [Cont., narration caption]: Not surprising I guess, given this country's obsession over hitting arbitrary life markers. I feel bad for the daughter having to deal with that shite...

Panel 2-3: A two-part set of panels that centers on the same setting and layout as the previous panel. A couple of seconds later, in Panel 2, Mr. Allen stops when he hears some type of weird electrical spark crackling in the air. The shadow of the person moving toward him in Panel 1 has stopped. In the next panel, we see Grem shake his head and properly open up the messenger bag. The shadow resuming its forward progression toward our hero.

GREM [Cont., narration caption; Panel 2]: ...daily. GREM [shakes his head, to himself; Panel 3]: Probably just a PT changing gears.

Panel 4: We move to a skyward shot as Mr. Allen unleashes the Emerald Isle, tossing onto the area of an empty piece of sidewalk a couple of feet from where we were in the previous panel. You can see the process of the ship coming into form slightly amidst the action of the scene as the sounds of the street permeate the off-panel areas of the scene.

Panel 5: Cut to an over-the-shoulder shot of the mystery man who had been following Grem throughout the course of this page and the end of the previous one. We don't see whether or not it's male or female, human or mecha. All the audience sees is the back of a clean work shirt and a pair of trousers, watching as the Irishman moves to the pilot's seat.

MECHA GOON LEADER [in robotic voice]: Sufficient distance calculated...all units, converge on the Irishman and his companion. CW GOON [from the interior speaker]: Yes, Leader…