The Community, Issue 5: Part 3.2

Page 121

Panel 1: Close-up on the waiter a beat later, glancing at the two would-be customers with notepad in one hand and pen in the other.

WAITER

(to Seanna and Lynn) You guys ready to order?

Panel 2: Cut to Lynn, quickly taking the shield and trying to place it on the ground away from the waiter's view.

LYNN

(to the waiter) I'll have the tuna melt with grilled potatoes instead of french fries.

Panel 3: We move to Seanna a beat later; their focus split between the waiter and glancing over at the menu.

SEANNA

(to the waiter) Ummm...you still have chicken tenders here?

SEANNA

(Bubble 2; reacting to Panel 4, Bubble 1) I'll take that, with a whole lotta fries- and extra ranch.

Panel 4: Back to the waiter's face, glancing over at Watkins and nodding in regards to the question.

WAITER

(smiles, to Seanna) Yes, we do.

WAITER

(Bubble 2; reacting to Panel 3, Bubble 2) Very good. I'll be back in a bit with your orders.

Panel 5: As the waiter leaves the area a few moments later, Lynn leans over to her friend with a rush of excitement and intrigue over what just happened.

LYNN

(to Seanna) Woulda guessed the waitress would spot the massive chunk of steel on the table...

LYNN

(Bubble 2, reacting to Panel 6, Bubble 1) Whatever it is, pretty thankful for it at the moment. So...how do you wanna go about this power experiment thing?

Panel 6: Seanna chuckles lightly and nods, grabbing the middle of their drink glass as they speak.

SEANNA

(agreeing, into best guess; to Lynn) I know, right? Hmmm...Psychic blind spot? Stupidity?

SEANNA

(Bubble 2; reacting to Panel 5, Bubble 2) I have no idea.

Page 122

Panel 1: We move back to Jesminder later that day in a computer lab on campus, quickly typing something up on her laptop. On both sides of her, you can see other students doing essentially the same thing here.

Caption

(Cont., Seanna)

"But we can piece something together as we go, I think."

Panel 2: Same setting as the previous panel, a few moments later. The layout zooms in slightly just as she's stopped typing; her eyes pulled over to a point on the lower part of the screen by a notification "DING!"

JESMINDER

(at the screen)

Ah, it's Jean.

Panel 3: Cut to the laptop screen a few moments, showing an E-Mail from a friend JEAN that reads: "I just heard from my friend in Whitehall- Chamberlain's bill is slated to get out of committee for first reading. Gonna torch nearly a year of our bloody work! Call me back ASAP."

JESMINDER

(Cont., Off-Panel) Dammit...!

Panel 4: Back to a shot of Jes' face a beat after having finished reading the E-Mail. She growls in contained anger as a result of the mystery bill.

JESMINDER

(to herself) I thought I got that spineless shill on side a few weeks ago...

Panel 5: Action shot a short time later as she's exiting the computer lab, holding her phone up to face level for the video chat. You can see a section of the hallway moving in the background.

JESMINDER

(reassuring, to Jean) He's only doing this to puff up his standing with the Conservative base. We can still salvage it before it comes to the floor by turning the screws on his Northern block compatriots.

Panel 6: Cut to a shot of Jean at headquarters: a redhead in her 40s with green eyes and glasses who looks like Geena Davis. She's dressed in a pair of jeans and a long striped shirt; her focus is split between the call and a whiteboard with a list of MPs divvied up by "Ayes" and "Nays."

JESMINDER

(Cont., from the speaker) As we've seen in polling, their constituencies are impressionable to an argument on deforestation and pandemic preparation, especially given the amount of people who died there of the virus. We hammer them on how much his bill would screw us both ways, and Chamberlain will fold like that--

JEAN

(scoffs, to Jesminder) Jes, I love your optimism. But they're far too scared of their right flank- who were always suspicious of the virus from the beginning, even as they followed the rules. None of 'em are gonna buckle, especially not with Archduke Moneybags filling their campaign coffers.