Golden Gate Comic Con, Chapter 7: Pages 23-25
PAGE 23
PANEL 1: We move back to a shot of Nina a few moments later, typing away the code Jarvis gave her. She glances over in Michele's direction to address her query with a visibly confused look on her face.
NINA [to Michele]: Never heard of them... MICHELE [Off-Panel, to the Bartender]: Cherry vodka, please!
PANEL 2: Cut to Michele in the same setting/layout as the last panel of the previous page. Following the request to the Bartender, whose footsteps recede off-panel as she speaks, she turns her attention back to Nina with an incredulous look on her face.
MICHELE [to Nina, looking to correct that]: We're definitely going to change that before the night's through.
PANEL 3: Back to Nina in the same setting/layout as Panel 1 along with the same background. She stops her typing at that snapshot moment, seemingly surprised and intrigued by the comment from Ms. McKinney.
NINA: Did--Did this just turn into a proper date?
PANEL 4-5: A two-part set of panels that moves back to Michele in the same setting/layout as Panel 2. In Panel 4, she replies with an equal amount of intrigue and some flirtation. In Panel 5, a split second later, the young woman glances over in Nina's direction while also replying to her AI compadre.
MICHELE [Panel 4]: It'd depend on what your idea of "Proper" is, though... LIL' JARVIS [interjecting, from the comm, to Nina; Panel 4]: FYI, Nina, since you seem like a genuinely pleasant woman, I feel you should know- Ms. Michele is currently romantically entangled with one Jessica Ortiz since 2033. She also has an audition to prepare for in-- MICHELE [interjecting, to Lil' Jarvis; Panel 4, Bubble 2]: Not "romantically entangled," Jarvis... MICHELE [Cont., to Nina; Panel 5]: It's technically an open arrangement where we get together once a year and...we have a great deal of adult/big-kid fun. MICHELE [correcting; Panel 5, Bubble 2 that reacts to Panel 6]: Yeah, after the Con. Some eSports team in Vegas maybe wants to use me as a play-by-play commentator.
PANEL 6: We move back to a shot of Nina in the same setting/layout as Panel 3. She seems much more dejected than we saw her at that aforementioned panel; her gaze just moving back to the keyboard to resume her typing a few moments later.
NINA: Audition? NINA [Bubble 2]: Okay...
PAGE 24
PANEL 1: Cut back to a slight close-up of Michele's face in the same setting/layout as Panel 5 of the previous page. As she speaks, you can see her flash a bit of a loving smile toward the young woman next to her.
MICHELE [giving options, to Nina]: It's okay if you're too busy, or if all of that is too complicated and you just wanna stay-- NINA [Off-Panel]: Complicated?
PANEL 2: We move back to a shot of Nina a few beats later in the same setting/layout as the last panel of the previous page, though without the look of dejection on her face. She's finished typing, and properly turns her face toward Ms. McKinney with the same loving look on her face mixed with a sprinkle of wit.
NINA [Cont., to Michele]: I'm a queer girl who likes comic books in a family of Republican, football loving factory workers...complicated's my second language (third if you count Vulcan). NINA [Bubble 2]: I'm more than happy to share you with Jessica, if it goes that way.
PANEL 3: Cut to a wide shot of the two women a few moments later, looking over the long lines of code as they emerge from left to right on the holographic screen that emerges from her comm. You can see a group of people, some dressed in cosplay and others not, crossing behind the two of them without paying much attention to the code.
LIL' JARVIS [caption, to Nina]: That was nicely adult postponing the date till tomorrow. Usually you just get them to bed and send them on their way the following morning, or completely forget after a week.
MICHELE [caption 2, to Lil' Jarvis]: I know. I like Nina, and tonight was fun. Part of me was more than ready to sex her up.
PANEL 4: We cut to a shot of the two of them a short time later, seated in the Hall watching the panel as it gets underway; the lighting of the area darkened to signify this particular event. You can see the crowd behind them dressed as various Marvel characters as well as the Fantastic Four themselves (including gender bent versions of The Thing and Sue Storm).
MICHELE [caption]: But I can't keep putting off the prep forever.
INT. MICHELE'S HOTEL ROOM, ALPHABET ARMS- Night
PANEL 5: Cut to a shot of Ms. McKinney's sitting on the bed later that night as the TV plays off-panel; her arm resting on the charger on the night table in the background of the shot. She's looking over a script that pops up from a tablet resting on her knees, reading it over with her free left hand as she talks to her AI compadre.
LIL' JARVIS [from the metal charging prosthetic]: I've been telling you that since yesterday evening. MICHELE: True, and it sunk in now because-- LIL' JARVIS [interjecting, Bubble 2]: Human stubborness? MICHELE [Bubble 2]: ...Pretty much.
PAGE 25
PANEL 1-2: A two-part set of panels that moves on the same setting/layout as the previous panel. In Panel 1, Michele shifts the tablet to a split screen, typing up a section of script on a burst of creativity. In the next panel, moments later, a news report on TV draws the young woman's gaze toward the screen.
NEWS REPORTER [Off-Panel left, Panel 2]: We're getting breaking news of an explosion in San Mateo.
PANEL 3: Cut to a shot of the TV screen showing a skyward shot of the street where Amanda lives (though this one is a handful of blocks away from it). You can see a billow of smoke moving skyward from one of the houses as well as a orange-yellow colored fire that covers the entire area.
NEWS REPORTER [Cont.]: Here's a look at the scene from our News 5.1 CamDrone...There's no word yet on what may have caused the explosion. But you can see on our PrimeStream social media feed that speculation is that it was due to--
PANEL 4: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. A second later, the reporter's interrupted along with the feed of the CamDrone
itself by some sudden shockwave that emerged from the scene.
NEWS REPORTER [confused]: Okay, umm...we appear to have lost the feed just now. We--
PANEL 5: Cut to a frontal shot of Ms. McKinney a second after the chuckling from Panel 4, shaking her head and turning her attention back to the tablet and her script once more; the TV continuing on underneath her dialogue.
NEWS REPORTER [Cont.]: We'll get back to the story once we take care of those technical issues. Till then, let's move on to the end of the... MICHELE [to herself]: Yikes...looks like back home during the Shortages.
PANEL 6: We move to a shot of Amanda and Adam standing on the sidewalk in front of Amanda's home, watching the scene go on with a great deal of confusion and fear over what had just happened. There are also a smattering of other neighbors alongside both of them with the same mix of confusion on their faces.
MICHELE [Cont., Off-Panel]: My sympathies to the poor schmucks in the middle of all that.
END OF CHAPTER SEVEN