Issue 2 script

Issue title: "Grab the broom of anger and drive off the
beast of fear." (Zora Neale Hurston, please note in margin
wherever title appears)

Written by: N. K. Jemisin

Draft: 4

Characters:
• Murder victim #1: Stevn of the Glacier, By the
Wavering Dark
• Murder victim #2: Meile Thorn, who is also the
murderer of victim #1
• Green Lantern Sojourner "Jo" Mullein
• An Elderly Nah Woman
• Peace Accountaint (chief) Syzn of the Cliffs, By the
Streaking Ice
• Councilor Averrup Thorn, of the Dry Season Thorns
• Councilor Marth of the Sea, By the Wavering Dark,
Until the Sun Falls
• A mysterious Nah figure, who kills the Keh-Topli woman

Locations:
• City Enduring Peace Division Headquarters: an
interrogation room with adjoined (via two-way mirror)
observation room
• The apartment of PA Syzn, in a high-rise floating
"highscraper"
• The apartment of Councilor Marth, set into the wall of
PEF, which has been made to resemble a cliff-face.

Plot: Jo's investigation of the first murder in 500 years

hits a snag when the murderer is murdered. More insight
into the people and players. The Nah councilor has a
secret.
Cover

Jo in her City Enduring apartment, chilling on her weird

alien couch (probably some kind of chaise longue). She's
in a t-shirt, jammie pants covered in a bug-eyed-alien
pattern, and socks. Her hair is in fat two-strand twists
because she just washed it (a la https://blacknaps.org/wp-
content/uploads/2014/04/Plump-Two-Strand-Twists.jpg), and
maybe she's wearing a do-rag to lift them off her face.
She's using some kind of City-tech version of an iPad to
read fanfiction (if the screen is visible, the text
"Fanfic" should be visible) and eating from a pint of some
kind of Earth ice cream, which she has acquired... somehow.
The apartment is full of a jumble of City tchotchkes and
geeky Earth stuff from Time Warner properties. :) Possible
examples if allowed: Game of Thrones posters, Harry Potter
scarves, maybe some nods to other DC characters, maybe a GL
John Stewart bobblehead.
Page 1

[ED NOTE: I will insert one of these "what came before"

recap sequences into the beginning of every "even" issue.
Each will namecheck geeky media in some way. This one's
meant to evoke "The Matrix."]

1. Small panel: an empty white room.

SFX: Clicking footsteps from off-panel.

2. Small panel: Jo walks into the panel, wearing a green

tailored men's suit (with black shirt but green tie) and
mirrored shades. It's not her GL uniform, but clearly is
made with her GL power.

3. Small panel: Jo uses her ring to materialize an

antique chair and a television. She's obviously channeling
Morpheus from this scene in the Matrix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGZiLMGdCE0

4. Larger panel, across the page. Jo, sitting in the

antique chair now, steeples her fingers. Maybe Jo is not
centered but left-justified? To make room for a bit of a
text dump.

JO: Okay. I'm Sojourner Mullein, the newest human Green

Lantern, assigned to a region of the universe that's far
outside the Corps' usual jurisdiction. Definitely far from
Earth. Just... far.

LINK: It's just me out here. Lone sheriff on the

frontier. I like it that way, so far.

LINK: This sector is home to the City Enduring, a

metropolis of twenty billion citizens...

LINK: ...which has just had its first murder in five

centuries.

5. Wide panel, across the page. This is no longer the

white room of the recap. Now Jo is in a corridor of the
CEPD, in a continuation of the scene from Issue 1. She's
in a full-out run, sheathed in green power, yelling at the
handful of people who are standing or walking in the
corridor.

JO, yelling: Code 187 -- damn. Assault with a deadly

weapon, suspect down, target on foot, get out of my way!

CAPTION: And my murderer? Just got murdered.

Page 2

1. Wide panel. Jo is now "flying" through the corridors

(her flying looks like wild running), turning a corner.
Corner is centered. Behind her is a chaos of disturbed or
knocked-over people. At one end of the corridor/panel, in
the direction Jo is flying, a door stands open and swinging
-- obviously the door to enter the interrogation room.
[Maybe put a sign on the wall in glyphs, and a
"translation" nearby: INTERROGATION ROOM]

CAPTION: Need to go faster.

2. PoV from behind Jo's head. At the end of the corridor,

small and poorly-glimpsed through lots of people, is a
person running, their back toward the "camera." All that's
visible of the culprit is a black hoodie/cloak which is
pulled up, and Nah fins/tail. Nothing else distinctive.

3. Small panel: Jo in a "winding up to pitch" pose.

CAPTION: Concentrate...

4. Jo has "thrown" the projection of a giant green hand,

stretching away from her. People in the hall are startled;
one or two have been shoved out of the way by the hand. A
couple of the PD officers have finally noticed that Shit Is
Going Down, but they're still slow to react.

PA SYSTEM: [In a synthesized/tinny voice, some kind of

"electronic"-looking font] Attention, Peace Division
officers. Please be alert for a suspect, presumed armed
and unpeaceful, description forthcoming --

5. The hand is at the end of the corridor, gripping...

nothing. There's no one to catch; the suspect has darted
down a side-corridor. Meanwhile, near the hand, there are
a couple of small disembodied hands -- one hand doing the
"live long and prosper" gesture from Star Trek, the other
holding up a V for victory -- spins away from the bigger
hand.

SFX: spliff spliff [wherever the disembodied extra hands

pop up]
CAPTION: Damn it!
Page 3

1. Large panel, long shot. Jo has manifested two of the

giant green hands, using these to push aside people in the
corridor. She's in full flight-pose between these hands,
shooting forward, although she's still low to the ground.
The spliffing of random hands continues, though less than
in the previous panel.

2. Small panel: Jo, rounding a corner, stops short with a

frustrated look on her face.

3. Biggest panel on the page: Jo looks up through a

cylindrical atrium at the center of the building, ringed
about with rail-less platforms and stairways, and full of
flying Nah circling up toward an opening in the ceiling.
There are a few Nah and non-Nah standing or walking around
on the ground, who look at Jo in surprise. Of all the
people in the air within the cylinder, Jo can't tell which
one might be the assailant. Some are in uniform or just
wearing regular clothes, but several are wearing hoods and
cloaks as they fly. [ED NOTE: it's windy in this atrium,
which is why Nah can "fly" within it; ordinarily they just
glide.]

CAPTION: Who puts an open-air atrium in the middle of a

police headquarters building?

LINK: People with wings, that's who.

Page 4

1. Small panel. Jo crouches, glowing, a fierce look on

her face.

CAPTION: I don't need wings to fly. And I have a murderer

to catch!

PA SYSTEM: Attention, Peace Division officers --

2. Small panel. Jo lifts off, beautiful "power flying"

pose toward the "camera," the people on the ground
dwindling beneath her.

CAPTION: Don't look down. Concentrate on the suspect.

Nobody could cut through someone's neck like that without
some blood -- sap, whatever -- splatter.

3. Small panel. Jo spots a person wearing a black hooded

cloak who's about the suspect's size.

4. Small panel. Jo arcs toward this woman, green power

trailing behind her.

5. Very small panel. Jo's green-glowing brown hand grabs

a woman's black-sleeved brown hand, and --
Page 5

1. Small panel. A random elderly woman's face, framed by

a black hood, looking mildly surprised.

ELDERLY WOMAN: Oh! Who...?

CAPTION: No blood splatter. No weapon visible. No

probable cause --

2. Wider panel: Jo and Elderly Woman in the air. Elderly

Woman is mid-glide, graceful, comfortable. Jo is awkward,
half-curled with pent tension, chagrined. [ED NOTE: They
are in motion; Nah can't hover in place.]

ELDERLY WOMAN: You're that Lantern! Oh, you do look a lot

like a Nah. You remind me of my granddaughter. She's a
bit younger than you, just a girl.

3. Same shot from an overhead angle, emphasizing how high

up in the air Jo is (maybe a hundred feet, but it feels
like a thousand to her). We notice this in the same moment
she notices it.

CAPTION: Oh, fuck. [ED NOTE: If this isn't acceptable,

can censor.]

4. Jo's face framed/lit from underneath; she's fighting

panic.

CAPTION: Concentrate on -- oh God, I've lost the suspect.

LINK: I'm gonna fall -- no, focus on -- oh God --

5. View from the ground floor of the CEPD headquarters,

within the atrium that Jo just flew out of. Ohfficers are
running about, pressing their ears to speak into little
holographic headset-communicators, mobilizing as word
spreads that a second murder has just been committed in the
City Enduring, and this one in the middle of HQ. Jo and
the Elderly Woman are tiny in the sky overhead.
ELDERLY WOMAN: Is something wrong? Oh, you don't have any
proper fins, do you? Poor thing. My granddaughter isn't
very good at flying, yet, either. Panics on landings.

LINK: Do you need help getting down, dear?

JO: [Very small bubble/text] Yes, ma'am.

Page 6[combined with former Page 7]

1. Large wide panel. A brief time-skip has occurred, and

now we've moved back into the interrogation room. A
tableau amid chaos, somehow desolate and pitiful: the
murdered body of the murderer lies undisturbed in the
interrogation chair where she died. No one has thrown a
cloth over her; no one looks at her, no one mourns her.
Meanwhile, around her, PD officers in white sterile suits
move about collecting evidence.

2. Back in the PD corridors. Jo is doing a West-Wing style

walk-and-talk with Syzn. Other PD officers are walking
around them, occasionally talking to each other or taking
notes via headset or tablet.

JO: This doesn't make any sense. You don't cover up a

crime by bringing more attention to it.

SYZN: Initial screening shows that Meile Thorn -- that's

our dead woman, who noshed on our dead man -- had the
Emotion Exploit, of course. It operates on the genetic
level for keh-Topli and Nah. But those genes had gone
dormant.

LINK: Which means she must have been on Switchoff for

weeks. She was tweaking. Drowning in feelings. Maybe her
killer was in the same state. That's what's so evil about
this drug.

SFX: Small indistinct speech bubbles to indicate that the

other officers are chatting amongst themselves.

3. Small panel. Jo's face in profile; she's grimacing

uncomfortably. They're passing the observation room that's
attached to the interrogation room. The door is open, and
a figure can be glimpsed inside.

JO: Look, I know this may seem weird to you, but having
emotions doesn't automatically make you crazy.

4. Small panel. The observation room, seen through its

door (as if from Jo's PoV as she passes the room). Inside,
Averrup Thorn stands, back to the door, gazing through the
two-way mirror at the body and crime scene beyond.
CAPTION: Huh.

5. Small panel. Overhead shot, maybe? Jo peels off from

the walk-and-talk, toward the interrogation room.

JO: Hey, let's catch up after your people have compiled

the surveillance feeds.

SYZN: What? Uh, okay. [small text] Not crazy. Sure.

6. Panel centered on Averrup. The room is darkened; light

comes from the interrogation room. Averrup seems relaxed,
maybe hands in pockets if he has pockets. However, his
presence communicates that something more is going on.

AVERRUP: (without turning) Hello again, Lantern Mullein.

JO: Councilor.
Page 7

1. Wide panel, long silence. Suggestion: a shot of their

faces through the interrogation room glass, with images of
the crime scene investigation reflected on the glass and
superimposing them. Mood matters more than appearance
here; whatever works. Jo and Averrup in light and shadow,
bearing witness while a murderer's death is catalogued.

2. Silhouette of Jo from behind, with the interrogation

room business continuing beyond her.

JO: Her name was Thorn. Any relation?

AVERRUP: (out of panel) No. Thorn is a common name. We

only bother using surnames for the comfort of aliens.

LINK: Sorry. People who aren't Keh-Topli.

3. Overhead framing of both.

JO: Hey, I'm from a species that's still wrapping its head
around the idea that we're not alone in the universe. It's
a process.

AVERRUP: My people must have been like yours, once. We

also evolved alone on our world. There were...
misunderstandings, in those first years of contact.

LINK: It was difficult to remember that these creatures,

so bold and bright, were not for eating.

4. Another view from within the interrogation room. A

tech is bent over the body, using some kind of device to
scan the wound across the woman's throat. It projects a
small holographic image into the air of a kind of weapon:
an oddly-shaped curving knife. In the background is the
observation mirror. Averrup and Jo cannot be seen through
it in the interrogation room, but we know they're there.

JO: So you think this was... Switchoff-induced predation?

AVERRUP: I wouldn't presume to suggest a motive, Lantern.

5. Overhead view of the interrogation room. The techs
have opened the victim's blouse; her "sideways smile" is
completely visible now. There's still a dark smudge
visible through the translucence of her green skin, near
the bottom of where her stomach would be in a human.
Unspoken: this is what's left of Stevn of the Glacier, the
Nah man she killed. The techs are being impersonal, not
disrespectful, but there's still something vulgar about the
whole scene.

AVERRUP: Still... It must have been hard for her.

Surrounded by so much healthy prey, knowing herself alone
and empty.
Page 8

1. Small panel. Jo has turned to face Averrup; she's

frowning, nonplussed and uncomfortable.

JO: Alone?

AVERRUP: I forget you're new.

2. Close-up of Averrup's face. He smiles with his eyes --

crows' feet, a twinkle, and the beginnings of laugh lines
are visible around his nose. His clothes rustle faintly,
though, because it's his ginormous sideways razor-toothed
mouth that's actually smiling, out of sight. It's creepy
as fuck.

AVERRUP: Imagine yourself hollow, Lantern Mullein. Aching

with emptiness. Cold with it. Alone inside your own skin.

LINK: And in the moment that you feed... warmth.

Something fills you. Not merely flesh, but a presence.
Another soul, as bright and strong as your own...

3. Small panel. Averrup and Jo stand side by side. Jo is

staring at him, lip curled and eyes wide. Averrup's eyes
have slid to the side, noticing her expression.

4. With Jo in the foreground still radiating horror,

Averrup turns to go.

AVERRUP: My apologies. I... forget you're new.

5. Perspective shift: Now Averrup is in the foreground,

his back to Jo. The viewer can see his face, expression
placid once again. Behind him, Jo is visibly fighting
disgust, shoulders up a little, stance uncomfortable... but
she is trying to understand.

JO: So you're saying that without the Emotion Exploit, all

Keh-Topli might chow down on their fellow citizens
because... they're lonely?
Page 9

1. Averrup has turned back to face Jo. Now his expression

is sad, above his shirt collar. Jo had been treating him
like a person, and now she's looking at him as if he's a
monster, and it bothers him. Even though he is a monster.

AVERRUP: No. We might 'chow down' because you smell

delicious, Lantern.

LINK: But at least with the Emotion Exploit, we ask,

first.

2. Focus on Jo's face. She's overcome her disgust and is

thoughtful, now, though she has one eyebrow raised.

AVERRUP, off panel: I'll be happy to provide further

insight into my people later, Lantern, should you wish.
Until then... I have some rooting around of my own to do.
Good evening.

[Sound of a door closing.]

3. Wide panel. The Cityscape, quiet in the pre-dawn

darkness. The overhead projection sky is starting to
brighten at one corner, as if with imminent sunrise.

CAPTION: Two bodies. Two murderers, one of whom got away.

Three signs of the City Enduring going wrong.

CAPTION: Damn, I'm tired. Maybe there's a cot around here

where I can get some sleep.

CAPTION: ...These people make no sense.

4. Wide panel. Time has passed. The same City-scape, now

daytime-bright and busy. The sky is cloudy -- not rainy,
but gray and dreary, clouds hanging low. [ED NOTE:
remember, the sky is a composite image formed by the
gestalt consciousness of the City denizens. The murders
have them troubled.]

5. Exterior of an apartment building. Most of the

apartments have ledges and open doorways or stairways on
the outside; flying Nah come and go and a few flying
vehicles drift nearby. An insect-like vehicle is in the
middle of walking up the outside wall of the building. The
building is unremarkable by City standards, but it has a
"solarpunk" aesthetic -- lots of plants and trees growing
from the walls and ledges.
Page 10

1. Interior scene: a nice apartment (Syzn's). Jo sits at

a breakfast bar. Syzn is in the kitchen, doing something
with what looks like an elaborate chemistry set and some
kind of heating element. Both are now in casual clothing;
they're off-duty. Jo's shirt, whatever it looks like, has
had its wing-slits clumsily stitched up in the back. Jo's
got her chin propped on her fist, and her hair is in a
loose 'fro held back with a headband or headcloth. She
looks sleepy.

2. Small panel. Close-up of a strange-looking mug --

double-handled, shaped sort of like a gravy boat. In it is
a murky bluish liquid. It's thick. There might be chunks.

CAPTION: There's no coffee in the City Enduring. God help

me.

JO, off-panel: Uhhhhhm.

SYZN, off-panel: Just try it, Jo. It's better than last
time.

JO, linked from previous: Good. [smaller text] Last time,

it was toxic.

3. Syzn leans casually against the counter/kitchen island

where Jo is sitting, across from her. Jo's smiling. Syzn
isn't, but there's something subtly inviting in her body
language.

SYZN: [smaller text] Listen, I had no idea your species

couldn't handle cyanide.

LINK: Drink up.

CAPTION: So, like, for the first month or two after I got
here, I was convinced that Syzn was flirting with me.

4. Closer version of the last panel. Just Jo's face and

Syzn's, both relaxed. There's chemistry here.

JO: Well, I did give my medical records to the city health

unit, I guess...
SYZN: The bravery of the Green Lantern corps is known
throughout the 3600 Sectors.

LINK: Drink. It.

CAPTION: Turns out she was flirting. So, uh, we tried it.
Didn't work out. We're just friends now.

5. Focus is on Jo, who has lifted the "cup" and closed her
eyes as she drinks.

JO: 'The bravery of the corps.' That's low, Siz. [ED

NOTE: Not a typo, an affectionate abbreviation.]

CAPTION: Yep. Just friends. Extenuating circumstances.

LINK: This is the worst thing I've ever tasted.

6. Small panel. Profile. Jo's half-smiling, half-

grimacing.

JO: Not bad.

Page 11

1. Biggest panel. Focus on the "chemistry set," which

Syzn has turned to face; she tinkers with something. Jo is
in the background, making a Calvinface now that Syzn's back
is turned.
[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d2/ec/c7/d2ecc7ad49a23f51ca
9e58a7775075f2.jpg] Syzn looks pleased and is smiling
slightly.

SYZN: I distilled juice from a desert plant to get the

"caffeine" you crave so. And because you described the
pleasant smell of coffee, I blended in the essence of an
aromatic hardwood that I like.

CAPTION: It tastes like a distilled dead animal. With

dookie breath.

2. Focus is on Syzn, who has turned to face Jo again and

is now leaning back against the counter that holds the
"chemistry set." She's started eating daintily from a
small plate. Her fork is only two-pronged, and whatever
she's eating looks like a fried spider, or soft-shelled
crab. PoV is from behind Jo. Jo has her chin propped on
her hand and is gazing at Syzn wistfully.

SYZN: You're lucky you can get any nourishment from our
proteins at all, you know.

JO: Yeah, I know. Guess that's why Councilor Thorn said I

smelled tasty.

3. Small panel. Close up on Syzn's eyes. She's still in

the middle of trying to eat spindly fried legs, but she's
paused to look at Jo silently, significantly.

4. Close-up of Jo. She's shrugging, with a smile. It

doesn't reach her eyes.

JO: I mean, technically it wasn't a threat.

5. Small panel. Syzn has reached back to put down her

plate of fried spider. Her eyes are closed; she's sighing.
Page 12

1. Whole page. Angled shot of Syzn, from underneath and

to one side. There's something perpetually off-kilter
about the City Enduring, and at times we (and Jo) will feel
it more than others. This shot of her face is overlaid by
a series of flashback vignettes, sepia-toned. Flashbacks
can include the following as suggestions, or whatever else
you want to illustrate from the Worldbuilding: HISTORY
document:

-A lush rainforested place -- the Keh-Topli homeworld. One

Keh-Topli, in its natural form, stands over another Keh-
Topli, who's obviously been attacked and partially eaten.
Other Keh-Topli linger nearby, either waiting for their
turn or watching; they do not interfere. (Per
Worldbuilding: PEOPLES, body is sort of gourd-shaped, with
a bulblike head; the head has more than 2 eyes and no
mouth, and three or four tentacles curl forth from it, some
tipped with little crablike claws; they walk on masses of
roots. Down the length of the gourd-body is the "sideways
smile," sharp teeth now open and stained.)

-First contact. In a modern-ish room (because this would

have happened once either Nah or keh-Topli society had
become spacefaring), a Nah man and keh-Topli -- the latter
making a noticeable effort to reshape themself into a more
Nah-like form -- shake hands. Nearby, another keh-Topli
looms near the Nah man, sharp teeth opening.

-A moment of "communion." Beneath an alien sky, a keh-

Topli -- in humanoid shape, but unclothed -- holds up their
hands, expression blissful. Within the keh-Topli's body, a
recent meal is visible. A Nah hand should be discernable.

[OR -- add whatever you want here. Keh-Topli and Nah have
had interplanetary relationships for millennia at this
point. They've fought against each other, fought side-by-
side against the Cloud Kratocracy when it took over, and
fought each other again. Some Nah have married keh-Topli;
some Nah even offer themselves to keh-topli, if they're ill
or subscribe to the keh-topli idea of communion and
immortality through consumption. The keh-Topli miss the
days of communion, and every Nah knows it. Any images
which get at this long, blood-spotted history will fit.]
SYZN: [Speech bubbles to one side to clear space for the
flashbacks] The keh-Topli evolved to prefer other thinking
beings as food. Before contact between our world and
theirs, they ate each other. After they got to know the
Nah, they ate us, too.

SYZN: It's a... spiritual thing. The ultimate

interpersonal connection.

SYZN: 'You smell delicious' means Averrup respects you.

That's a useful connection and you should take advantage of
it.

LINK: But it also means he wants to eat you. Don't ever

forget that.
Page 13

1. Also slightly-off-kilter focus on Jo, who is side-eying

Syzn warily.

CAPTION: Friends don't let friends get chomped by sentient

carnivorous plants.

2. From outside of Syzn's apartment, which has a wide "bay

window" type view of the city-platform's edge. Jo and Syzn
are just visible within the apartment.

JO: You know, though...

SYZN: Hmm?

JO, linked from previous: Averrup doesn't scare me as much

as you think. I mean... every person in this city is just
as creepy to me, on some level.

3. Jo and Syzn are walking side-by-side, retiring from the

kitchen over to a living room couchlike thing. Syzn is
sipping the leftovers from Jo's gravy boat, holding it one-
handed like it's a teacup. Syzn's apartment is smallish
but pleasant -- bright and airy, with lots of plants in
trenchers and pots growing everywhere. A few of the plants
float, and have long dangly legs or fronds. Various
appliances and furnishings also look grown. It's hard to
tell what's plant and what isn't.

SYZN: Me. As creepy as a hungry Keh-Topli. Thanks ever

so much, Sojourner.

JO: [sighs] It's the emotionless thing, all right? It's

just... ugh. Hard to explain.

4. Jo has sat down on the couch. Syzn has bent to offer

her the gravy boat. Long-suffering, Jo has lifted her
hands to receive it.

SYZN: Huh. And here I've been creeped out by you all this
time.

JO: Where I come from, emotionlessness is -- wait. What?

Page 14

1. Jo's PoV. Syzn is close, and half in shadow because

she's bent over; her face is slightly above Jo's. It's an
intimate posture, but Syzn's cool/indifferent expression
kills its potential.

SYZN: It's just that I expected you to be wilder. Less

rational, more impulsive. Like we must have been, at the
time of Burnover.

LINK: Instead, you're rational when you need to be and

impulsive when you need to be. You're in control of your
emotions, even though you're exempt from the Exploit.

2. Small panel. Syzn's PoV. Jo's sitting on the couch,

face tilted up, and she's beautiful. The lines of her
cheekbones, the curve of her lashes. This is how Syzn sees
her. Syzn has put a hand on her cheek, just cupping it for
a moment.

3. Long panel. Back to Jo's PoV. Syzn has turned away,

going over to the bay window. From this PoV she seems
distant, though lovely. If Jo is in frame, she's just
looking, and wishing.

SYZN: It scares me, I suppose, that you don't need the

Exploit. Because I do.

JO: Switchoff? You've tried it?

4. Now the "camera" focuses on Syzn's face. Jo can't see

the way she's lowered her gaze, or the resigned set of her
mouth.

SYZN: I'd never touch that filth. But even through the
Exploit, I feel... such rage, sometimes. Such sadness.
Just a hint. Muted. But enough.

5. Jo's perspective, but now Syzn is silhouetted against

the bay window and the light from outside.

SYZN: The Emotion Exploit has given this city peace for
centuries. And even though I regret not being given a
choice about it... I'm grateful for the strength it lends
me.

LINK: That you go through life just trusting yourself...

I wish I could do that, Jo. Really.

6. Tiny panel, just a sliver of Jo's face in reaction to

this: resignation. It's clear now that these are the
"extenuating circumstances"/why a relationship didn't work
out between them. Also clear that Jo's feeling a little
lonely, here in this city of people who are incapable of
feeling loneliness themselves. She may look Nah, but she
will never fit in, and she will never think like the people
of the City. That will always be a double-edged sword for
her.
Page 15

1. Wide panel. The City-scape; night has fallen again.

The sky-image has gotten patchy with the fall of dusk,
showing (reality) the other platforms and some of the very
thin cables that hold the whole Dyson swarm together.
Where the (projected) sky is visible, however, it's cloudy.

CAPTION: I need a lead. Something I can pinch between my

fingers and pull, to unravel this mess.

2. Back in CEPD HQ. Wide shot. Jo is in a darkened room,

looking at a floating hologram: this is footage from the
interrogation room. Still images from the moment of Meile
Thorn's murder surround her. In the images, we can see the
murderer walking into the room, swinging the weird-looking
knife mentioned on p. 8 like an axe, and maybe Meile's
look of shock just before the knife strikes. Jo -- on duty
again, in GL uniform -- stands amid these images, arms
folded, brows drawn in a frown, thoughtful and frustrated.

CAPTION: Sometimes it doesn't matter how advanced the

technology is. Bad camera angles are still bad camera
angles.

3. Shift to an outdoor fountain surrounded by glassy

flooring. A sculpture standing in the middle of the
fountain is an impressionistic image of a Nah, a Keh-Topli,
and an @At joining hands in friendship. Nearby an @At man
in some kind of menial-labor uniform is using a futuristic
floor buffer, not bothering to look up as he works. His
"mittens" are alight with glyphs and code, blending into
the handles of the floor buffer. Jo stands out of the way
as she speaks to him.

JO: CEPD tells me you found the body.

MAN: [Brief unintelligible gibberish, which should appear

as a speech bubble full of the City-script.]*

ED NOTE to be written on the edge of the frame: *Some City

denizens speak obscure or regional dialects. Jo's
translator needs a moment to catch up.

JO: What?
MAN, link from previous: [Gibberish again, although
abruptly in mid-bubble it turns into "English."] -- why
you're asking me, alien. I told them I didn't see
anything.

4. Another wide panel. Back in the alley (page 1, Issue

1), where Stevn of the Glacier was killed. The body is
gone, and the blood has been cleaned up. It's not raining
anymore. However, Jo has used her ring to cast an image of
the murder scene onto the alley, at the moment of the
murder. Stevn of the Glacier -- who looks like a portly,
thirtysomething white guy, balding, with a fringe of black
hair around his head, in working clothes -- stumbles back
and raises one arm defensively. Meile Thorn, shirt
flapping loose, lunges forward with her "sideways smile"
fully open, about to take the fatal chomp.

CAPTION: Can't tell if he had time to scream. No one

heard it, regardless. In space... ugh. Yeah.

5. Inset of panel 4. Jo's face, thoughtful and scowling

at the recreation of the crime.

CAPTION: Gotta switch this up somehow. There's something

I'm not getting, here.
Page 16

1. Half-page panel. Deeper night-time. The City's sky is

still clouded, though stars peek through in patches.
Slanting shot of one of the outermost walls of Platform
Ever Forward, which form a many-meters-high rim.

[NOTE FOR ARTIST: The platforms of the city are basically

shaped like hexagonal dinner plates that are slightly
curved. (Hex dinner plates:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55add04ae4b0e4c581b5
7170/5866d1f63e00be540c392332/586c651746c3c4f91fabe2d7/1483
498781179/Screen+Shot+2016-09-
16+at+7.53.56+PM.png?format=500w) If the City keeps growing
and they add more platforms, it will become a Dyson sphere
shaped something like a soccer ball.

For now, the walls of the platforms are made of "future

tech" on the outside (the side that faces space). The
edges of the platforms do look like they could be locked
together. On the interior, City-ward side, the walls are
layered over with chunks of rock taken unaltered from the
homeworlds that the Trilogy species once lived on. Many of
these "cliffs" and "mountainsides" have been built into;
the surfaces are dotted with regular holes and ledges, and
it's obvious that many Nah prefer to live here. There are
some apartments built into the rock for @At or Keh-Topli on
the ground level, if visible in this image. Most of the
people visible are Nah, walking or gliding. A very few are
climbing steps built up the side of the cliff/mountain.]

POV is Jo's, as she is riding in a flying vehicle -- a cab

-- toward one of the uppermost ledges on the wall. It's
noticeable even from a distance that this ledge is very
large, and that the dwelling built into it (and partially
out of it, basically a mansion set into the wall) is
fancier than most, with lots of carved stone and metal and
marble projecting from the cliff-face.

2. A landing platform on this uppermost ledge. It's

windy. Jo walks along a short walkway lined with lights.
Behind her, the cab she came in has lifted off. A Nah man,
elegantly but simply dressed, obviously a servant, stands
in front of the mansion to greet her. He's white, blond,
with one arm and finn extended in welcome as he bows in a
courtly manner.
SERVANT: Lantern Mullein, how unexpected. Councilor Marth
has been notified of your arrival.

JO: Well, the Councilor did invite me to come by.

[smaller] Two days ago.

SERVANT, link from previous: I'm sure it won't be a

problem. Please follow me.

3. Interior. Marth's bedroom. It is unnervingly like a

throne room, with a semicircle of steps (maybe 5) leading
up to an elevated daïs. Atop this, Marth lies on his side
amid a vast pile of tumbled cushions. He's reading a
fancy, gold-tasselled scroll. His locks are loose, and
slightly curly. He's wearing something loose and flowy but
elaborately patterned with abstract wind and sky motifs --
stylized clouds, etc. The whole scene is very much "the
wealthy lord of the manor at rest." Jo and Servant stand
at the edge of the room. Servant has bowed and is
gesturing toward Marth. Jo's back is to the viewer, her
face unreadable in this moment.

CAPTION: You have got to be kidding me.

SERVANT: Lantern Mullein, Councilor.

MARTH: Thank you, Vrasith. That will be all.

4. Wide shot, further showcasing the tasteful opulence of

the room. On one side of the room is a beautifully-worked
archway that is open to the outside, although there is a
kind of glass or energy screen over the opening to keep out
wind. This leads to Marth's own private balcony/landing
platform. Jo's put a hand on her hip, skeptical, if she's
big enough for her expression to show.

JO: Sorry I'm late, Councilor. Busy trying to catch a

murderer.

MARTH: I told you to call me Marth. And it's no trouble.

I'm thrilled to see you now, in fact.

JO, link from previous: Oh?

5. Small panel. Jo's face in close-up, eyes narrowed.

CAPTION: I never noticed how many "feeling" words there
were in everyday language until I came here. They still
use a few -- a holdover from the old days.

LINK: But thrilled catches my attention.

6. Marth now stands before the opening to the outside,

framed within its arch. Back is to the viewer/Jo. His
arms are lazily upraised, head tilted back. His finns are
at rest and possibly hidden within the folds of his
robe/curls of his locks.

MARTH: What an amazing night. Isn't it?

Page 17

1. Wide panel, centered on Marth's blissful, light-bathed

face. Behind him, Jo faces Marth's back, her expression
suspicious.

JO: I was hoping you could help me, Coun -- Marth. Since
you're the spokesman for the Nah. I want to speak to the
family of the victim.

LINK: Uh, the Nah victim.

2. Same shot as before. It's as if he hasn't heard her

speak.

MARTH: Would you dance with me, Lantern? [smaller] May I

call you Jo?

JO: Uh. [smaller] Yeah, I guess so.

3. Marth now stands in front of a device that's obviously

of Keh-Topli derivation: it looks like a bundle of woody
vines grown together into a knot, although there are small
extrusions from the wood's surface that makes it clear at
least some part of this is cybernetic/high tech. Marth has
touched some weird bit of it or another.

SFX: The wood instrument begins to emit music.

MARTH: The Keh-Topli are masters of harmony and

percussion.

4. Marth stands boldly, shoulders back and head high,

offering Jo his hand. Jo's visible, face neutral.

JO: I'm afraid I don't know any dances that are popular in
this sector.

MARTH: I would be happy to introduce you to such delight

as you are willing to accept, from me.

5. Same panel as 4; comedic beat.

JO: Damn, you are not subtle.

MARTH: I really don't know how to be.

[Author note: I hope this works, using two repeated panels

on the same page. I want the pacing to feel stuttered,
off-kilter, the way Jo is feeling in this scene. If it
doesn't work, do whatever feels right.]
Pages 18-19

[Double-page splash. No dialogue on this page. Depict

however you like, but basically Marth leads Jo into
something like a waltz for a while. Maybe it meanders
across the page. Jo starts out uncomfortable, but grows to
like it. By the end, he does something overtly flirty and
playful, like spin her away or dip her, and she laughs out
loud.]
Page 20

1. Small panel. They stop, facing each other. It's a

Moment. Maybe they'll banter. Maybe kiss.

2. Small panel. Jo turns slightly away. Marth's in the

same position, but his smile has turned rueful with
disappointment.

JO: [SFX: Clearing throat]

MARTH: You want to talk to the family of Stevn of the

Glacier.

JO: Right.

3. Marth has moved to a side-table in the room and is now

holding one of the tablets mentioned on p. 6. [Author
note: these will be used a lot. Might as well standardize
their look.]

MARTH: I had prepared for you this dossier on the victim.

Family and network, career aptitudes, last three months'
surveillance and medical data.

LINK: Stevn was of my shipclan, but there are... politics

involved. I think you'll have better luck if you approach
the family directly.

4. Close-up on Jo's hand as she accepts the tablet.

CAPTION: Shipclan: After Burnover, the survivors had no

home but refurbished space stations and a few ships that
could still fly. Over time, each of these became...
nations, in essence.

LINK: They had lovely, poetic names. "The Sentinel of

Quiet." "The Streaking Ice." The survivors fought each
other, stole, and sold their own children to keep those
things flying.

LINK: Lot of bad blood left over from those days.

Page 21

1. Panel focused on Jo's face. She's facing the tablet as

if skimming its contents (maybe they light her face? appear
on a heads-up display nearby?), but she's still side-eying
Marth.

JO: Thanks. I'll reach out to them.

LINK: So, you seem... different.

MARTH, offscreen: Do I?

2. Small panel: Marth has moved behind Jo, subtly

circling. Maybe it's an idle gesture, or maybe he's
scoping her ass. She's trying to pretend nonchalance.

3. Small panel, close-up profile of both. Marth has

returned to face Jo. Jo's eyes are narrowed.

MARTH: Perhaps the stress of being kept waiting so long

has unhinged me.

4. Biggest panel on the page. Jo's face, eyes wide with

alarm; she's gone tense.

CAPTION: Oh, hell. This man is a goddamn problem.

LINK: He's on Switchoff.

Page 22

1. Whole page. Marth's face, still lolled to one side,

smiling. He's flirting, he's relaxed, he's having a good
time. He has also very subtly become threatening to Jo,
now that she's realized he's gone off the Emotion Exploit
and is fully as dangerous as the ancient Nah who destroyed
a world.

MARTH: So, Jo... let's talk about murder.

END