Nicad

(( This was intended to be a Graphic Novel. Each entry is "page:frame"

---

1:1 The story opens with a CLOSE-UP of a coffee maker. We also see a

man's hand drumming with his fingers, impatient with the coffee maker.

1:2 The next shot is of his one hand on the handle of the coffee pot, the other with the empty coffee mug near the pot.

1:3 In the next panel we see 'the quick change'; he has swapped the mug for the pot in a blinding instant.

TEK

(off panel)

Are you THAT impatient you can't wait the extra minute?

Patience IS a virtue.

1;4 In the next panel we see the mug nearly full.

TEK

(off panel)

By the time it fills your cup, it would have almost filled

the pot. Besides, anything wanted is worth waiting for.

2:1 Two sugar cubes are thrown into the cup.

GRETH

(off panel)

This little stunt gives me a LONGER coffee break. The

hot-plate on the coffee maker warms my mug, keeping the

coffee hotter.

2:2 The next panel shows the mug/coffee pot switched again.

GRETH

(off panel)

There's also a survival element here. I'm pretty well

assured that I will get my full allotment of fresh coffee,

and I don't have to deal with that brown stuff that keeps

building up in the coffee pot.

2:3 The pot is tipped so Tek may look into the pot

TEK

(off panel)

What IS in there, anyway?

GRETH

(off panel)

Brown stuff.

2:4 The pot is back in place.

TEK

(off panel)

Oh. That spoon looks pretty bad, too. You going to use THAT?

GRETH

(off panel)

No problem.

TEK

(off panel)

Oh, man! How can you...?

3:1 The next shot is of our hero, face on. This could be the title page.He is holding his mug at waist level, and is stirring it with his other index finger. He is smiling.

GRETH

State of mind. Men must perform great deeds in troubled

times. Besides, it's more ecologically sound. No waste.

4:1 The two stroll down the hall.

GRETH

Are you still working on the uplink to the mainframe?

TEK

'Big Boomer'? Yeah. God, everybody's so antsy around here

with the third quarter reports due out soon.

How's your stuff going?

GRETH

4:2 Fine. My transmitters transmit, receivers receive. I'm

getting a lot closer to my work.

4:3 Greth begins to put on his Walkman.

TEK

You know, I never did get into those things.

GRETH

This stuff keeps my head together. I guess I get lost

in the music.

TEK

Well, it really isn't along company lines.

GRETH

4:4 As long as the results are there, I don't think they will

complain too much.

TEK

Your stuffs working, then.

GRETH

Yup.

4:5 Tek enters a lab.

TEK

Bastard. See you later, Greth.

5:1 Greth is seen sitting at a desk in front of a computer screen, typing. TOM is in the doorway.

5:2 Tom approaches Barret from behind and begins to talk with him. Barret is oblivious to him. He taps him on the shoulder with the papers he is carrying.

TOM

Barret. Do you have...

Barret! What are you, brain dead?

5:3 Greth turns around suddenly. His earphones are in his hand.

GRETH

What!?

TOM

Barret, did you run the diagnostics on the dish yet?

Williams wants it now

GRETH

Its on disc in Boomer and hardcopy in my 'out' box.

5:4 The two look at each other confrontationally.

GRETH

(pissed off)

What.

TOM

Tell me, Barret. Does that stuff inspire you, or what?

GRETH

(pissed off)

5:5 Bye, Tom.

TOM

How can you work with that shit blaring all day?

GRETH

It tunes out all unnecessary noise.

6:1 POV of Tom from Greth's perspective.Tom is talking, but it cannot be heard in Barret's head. He is just smiling up at Tom. CAROLE approaches in the doorway. She is a fairly tall black woman, glowing, grinning, and radiant.

6:2 As Tom leaves the office, disgruntled, She sneaks up on the unsuspecting Greth Barret.

6:3 She pulls off his earphones.

CAROLE

Gooood morrrning! Isn't it too early to be meditating?

6:4 Greth looks down at his watch.

GRETH

You're here early. Ten minutes early.

The boss hasn't been through here yet. You can still leave,

come back later, and he'd never know.

CAROLE

I'm putting in a half day. Paul will be at the airport at

two. Did Tom ask about me just now?

GRETH

6:5 No.

CAROLE

Oooo, then I can still get me some coffee.

GRETH

Two o'clock? Gee, lunch will have to be a 'quickie' then.

CAROLE

7:1 Greth, I expect quality and quantity from my friends and

work associates. That goes for lunch, too. You want a

'quickie', go to 'Lair Bendix' on Thursday nights.

GRETH

Or Burger King, huh?

CAROLE

7:2 Have it your way

GRETH

7:3 Well, if I cant' have you, I'll drown my sorrows with coffee.

Maybe a bagel, too.

CAROLE (musically)

Oh you nasty boy, Ooo!

7:4 We now are in a lab, where technicians in lab coats work in glove boxes. Two men are hovering over a set of petri dishes bathed in UV light. One is older. the other, ROGER, is younger and looks very disappointed.

8:1 We are looking up at the two from the POV of the petri dish.

ROGER (off panel)

8:2 It won't regrow. Every initiator we have, and it won't take hold.

OLD MAN (off panel)

Well, no one else in the field has done it, why did you think

we could pull it off?

ROGER (off panel)

8:3 How could I be so wrong. The matrix sticks to the tissue so

well. The nerves function, and we get signals out the other

end. I was SURE it would take regrows.

OLD MAN (off panel)

8:4 Well, Tom is due here in a few minutes. Guess we should

plan on how to break this to him.

ROGER (off panel)

Yes. Maybe he will give us more time. Just a few more

weeks. There are...

OLD MAN (off panel)

8:5 It doesn't work, Roger. It was a brilliant idea, and

everything has gone right until now. We've other projects

to focus on that are much more promising.

9:1 We are looking up at the two technicians from the point of view of the petri dish.

OLD MAN

We'll turn the stuff over to engineering. You know, it's

an extraordinary conductive sheet. Perhaps they can use it

for circuits.

ROGER

Look, if I come up with any other insights on this, can I

follow them up? I just don't want to stop now because it

looks like a dead end.

9:2 The old man is exasperated. He looks down at the plates.

OLD MAN

Go down to engineering. There's a guy there name of Barret.

ROGER

Yes, I know him. We worked together on some of the

circuits for our data converters.

OLD MAN

9:3 Then you know he's a loose cannon, technologically. He also

was in med school once. He might be a good one to talk to

about your experiments. Don't spend a lot of time on it. We

need some successes here.

ROGER

9:4 Thanks, Paul. You won't even know I'm working on it.

9:5 We are in the cafeteria of the plant. Greth and Carole are seated at the table. LISA approaches.

LISA

Hello you two. My name is Lisa. I am your waitress. Do you

know what you want?

CAROLE

Greth, honey, you order first.

GRETH (smiling)

10:1 Yeah. Coffee, a bagel, and...more coffee.

CAROLE

I'll have the same, but throw in a jelly donut, too.

LISA

OK. I'll be back in a minute.

10:2 Lisa flashes a smile at the two and leaves.

CAROLE

10:4 Our waitress is cute, isn't she, Greth.

GRETH

Oh yes. I didn't see any rings, did you?

CAROLE

You going to ask her out?

GRETH

10:5 Yeah. Hell, which night am I free next week, Thursday,

Friday, Saturday...

CAROLE

What's wrong with TONIGHT? Oh, you never do anything

about these women anyways.

GRETH

11:1 Like who?

CAROLE

11:2 What about that other waitress woman at Clancy's. You

know, Biffy, Barbie...

GRETH

Betty? Nothing there. I mean, she's amazing and all, but

she's no fun.

CAROLE

Uh huh. But does she like you?

GRETH

11:3 I think so.

CAROLE

Do you like her?

GRETH

Yeah, well, I...

CAROLE

11:4 Then GO with it.

GRETH

I just think she's more interested in me than I am in her.

CAROLE

11:5 Does that matter? Anyway, how do YOU know. You used a

love meter on her or something?

GRETH

12:1 You know, part of the problem might be that we're always

traveling around together.

CAROLE

Do you think anyone knows what's REALLY going on between us?

GRETH

No, but I want a date with Lisa here. Wait, she's coming.

How can I do this?

12:2 Lisa reaches the table and places the food there.

CAROLE

So, when does MOM want us home for dad's retirement?

12:3 Closeup of Roger negotiating the cafeteria tables and chairs. He is hopelessly inept and confused.

GRETH

12:4 I hope YOU got your 'bug repellent'. Here comes Roger. Yes,

he's heading our way.

Probability of approaching this table at point six three

and climbing.

12:5 Roger is zig-zagging his way through the maze of tables in the cafeteria.

GRETH

Imminent collision! Danger! Danger!

CAROLE

Greth, don't. You...

13:1 Roger is at the table. All three of them are smiling.

ROGER

13:2 Hey Greth. Do you remember that neural replant polymer

I've been working with for the past few months?

GRETH

Fine, and how are you, Roger?

13:3 Roger is confused; he just stands there.

ROGER

What? Oh, excuse me. Hello Greth.

GRETH

Why, yes I do, Roger.

GRETH

13:4 You're out of PHASE, Roger. Roger, please tell me

about the project.

ROGER

13:5 Well, it's being...canned. The whole project is shutting

down because we can not stimulate central nervous

system nerves to regenerate on the matrix. Peripheral

nerves grow on it just fine, and all the research pointed

to CNS nerves responding in the same way, but that isn't

happening. Maybe the polymer isn't quite like the Schwann

cell matrix they need...I don't know.

GRETH

14:1 And why should I know this on a Friday morning?

ROGER

Greth, I think the project is being passed to engineering.

Tom wants to see if this conductive polymer can be used

in electronics or communication. That's your field, You'll

be getting samples. If I could, I'd like to give you background

on neural physiology, just in case you uncover anything we missed.

GRETH

14:2 Why me? Why not...there are a lot of other people in

those departments.

ROGER

Because, Greth, You've had medical training, and you

practice peripheral somatic feedback. You know how

neurons process signals

GRETH

Biofeedback. Meditation. Yeah, that might be interesting

to work with.

ROGER

14:3 Then when can we meet to discuss this further? Is tonight OK?

GRETH

Well...

CAROLE

14:4 Go for it, big boy. You don't have anything, ah, 'Betty' to do.

GRETH

14:5 Um...why don't we do this tonight at 'Lair Bendix'? Wine,

women, dancing, high science. It's perfect!

ROGER

Do they have large tables?

GRETH

What?

ROGER

14:6 I will be bringing many books and notes with me. Is it

a very loud place?

14:7 Carole laughs. Greth hands Roger a business card

GRETH

(in a low tone)

Ah...I guess you're serious about this. Why don't we stick

to my place, then. Here is my address.

15:1 Cut to Greth's apartment. It is in a high-rise, and shows all the trappings of someone who likes to spend a lot of the money he earns. The furniture has a machine feel to it; thick and tubular. Lots of flat black. Several of the prints on the wall are framed in dim neon lights. Mechanical mobiles and kinetic sculptures turn and convulse in the shadows.

15:2 One in particular stands out, that of a man, sort of a clown, that dances rhythmically to the new age music that fills the room. It looks like one of those old time clowns with the stupid grins and pleated hat.

GRETH (on the phone)

(off panel)

So, then, what about late tonight, Cheryl?

16:1 Ok, Ok. I'm in a meeting anyways tonight. How about

drinks later on.

Well, maybe I'll call you next week. Oh, no problem. Yeah, bye.

16:2 He hangs up the phone. His face shows disappointment.

16:3 He picks up the receiver again and puts it down hard.

GRETH

Zen and the art of dating. Bitch! It'll never happen.

Then a machine voice murmurs. It is a neat gimmick Greth hooked up to the doorbell.

DOORBELL

Greth, come out. Someone is at the door.

GRETH (near intercom)

16:4 Who is it?

ROGER

(off panel)

Roger. I've brought all my notes. Is it a good time to talk?

GRETH

You set this up.

GRETH

Room 3016. It'll be open.

17:1 We cut to Greth's study. The two men are seated before stacks of papers and books.

ROGER

...so we could beat Wallerian degeneration by removing

the severed neurons from the host and placing them on the

polymer matrix. The polymer surface is a series of tubes

and holes through which the axonal sprouts can grow until

they hit a one of the solid conducting graphite chains. Tap

into these, and you can communicate with the nerve.

GRETH

But your problem was that nerves from the central nervous

system wouldn't take hold.

ROGER

17:2 Right. It would be a simple way to establish broken links

in the CNS due to trauma or to introduce exi-presence devices.

GRETH

Hook a brain to a computer...

ROGER

...or mechanics, or electronics, or whatever.

GRETH

17:3 This is bizarre. Only peripheral nerves would regenerate?

ROGER

Yes. We could restore contact senses to severed nerves,

at least In vitro.

GRETH

17:4 Never got the go-ahead to work with living subjects, eh?

ROGER

Yes, it seemed pointless after a while. What good is it

to connect a heat or touch sensor to an electronic circuit?

They are much slower than electronics, and the information

that the brain receives is...rudimentary. It is really limited

to touch, heat, cold, pain, and the like.

GRETH

18:1 Sounds perfect for biofeedback. You know, you might be

able to 'hard wire' apparatus to someone. I don't know what

you'd gain, though. It might be a little more...intense.

ROGER

18:2 See, you are not wasting your time here. There seems to

be much of interest here for you. While you are researching

the communications applications of this polymer, see if you

can't turn up something that can bring this polymer back

into bio-research.

GRETH

I am sure I will come up with something.

18:3 Greth is back in his apartment. We see Greth in the middle of the floor. There are candles lit all around him. He has a sensor taped to his shoulder. It is connected to a ribbon of wires that connect into a small box.

18:4 On the box is a cluster of LED's that glow when Greth raises his hand.

19:1 He drops his arm and the light goes out.

19:2 He has the sensor off, looking at it.

GRETH

Nice trick, Greth. Twenty years and the act gets stale.

19:3 We have a close-up of the clown puppet. In the background we see Greth.

GRETH

How many circuits can I build? How many lights must I light?

19:4 Greth leaves the panel.

19:5 From the bathroom he gets a case and some towels.

19:6 He lays these things out on the living room floor.

GRETH

20:1 Maybe I CAN do it. Wired beyond my mortal self. Jesus,

that's corny. Why did I say THAT?

20:2 He gets up again and goes out the door of his apartment.

20:3 We see him at the end of a hall near a glass balcony, looking out over the city. The lights twinkle.

GRETH

(silently)

What scares me? Is it the promise of freedom, or the

inevitability of consequences? Is it the pain itself?

20:4 We see close-ups of the dark city below.

GRETH

(silently)

Yes, probably. It might not even work. Major auto-fuck.

Wouldn't be the first time.

20:5 Greth points out at the city through the glass.

GRETH

Hell, you want to get out THERE. You can do it.You're

the only one who can.

21:1 Greth is back in his living room. He is as nude as he can be in a comic, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

21:2 He has a small thin strip of the polymer in his hand, regarding it in the candle-light.

GRETH

(silently)

Go inside. Bring myself outside.

21:3 He tries to think of all the stories and movies he's experienced that deal with what he is about to do.

GRETH

Telepresence. Virtual reality.

21:4 He holds the blade of a small X-acto knife in the flame of one of the candles. He contemplates the changing colors of the hot steel; the smoke rising from glowing red tip.

ISSUE 2

1:1, 1:2 Two large panels of Greth in his living room, contemplating what he is about to do.

GRETH

1:3 The abdominal wall. No one can see it. It can be concealed.

Just below the navel.

1:4 He holds the hot knife-blade close to his eye, as if to let it look into his soul.

GRETH

This blade, the hand that holds it, its arm, all these must

not be me. Just like digging out a splinter from a bruised

and bloody knee.

1:5 Closeup on his stomach. We see a bottle of alcohol near him, and a used cotton ball. He is spreading the skin over his stomach with his fingers. The knife is close by.

2:1 He drives the knife-point in as deep as it will go.

2:2 Greth whitens and gyrates about where he sits.

2:3 Then, the moment his blood begins to flow he pulls the blade along in one clean motion, lengthening the incision to about one inch.

2:4 He throws the blade from his body and slams his palm against the red mess below his navel.

3:1 He screams. This is the title page.

4:1 Towel against his gut, he reaches across to the liquor cart and downs a big gulp of something hard and bitter.

GRETH

(anxiously)

4:2 Should have done this earlier. No. It would have just

fucked up my judgment.

What have I done. Jesus, this is bonkers.

4:3 He is in the bathroom where he tries to sop up the blood on him.

4:4 He is bleeding so much that it still drips to the floor.

GRETH

Christ. I can STILL get it sewed up at the hospital. I

can tell them...I was stabbed...by a punk. Cut by someone.

4:5 Oh shit!

4:6 He makes it back to the bedroom and begins to dress.

51 Then he stops.

GRETH

It's done. Finish this.

5:2 But I can't go back after its done. What if it stays in,

and I want it out? I'd have to cut it out myself. That, or

a lot of explaining to the doctor.

But, I still want to know. If I don't do it now, I'll just

have to cut myself again later.

5:3 He is at his prepared seat on the floor in his living room.

5:4 He has the polymer strip in tweezers. It drips alcohol.

6:1 He then opens the wound in his belly and quickly places the plastic as deep as it can go.

6:2 He closes the wound tightly around the strip with surgical tape, leaving a small piece an inch long and a quarter of an inch high exposed.

GRETH

6:3 Heat sensors,. Touch. Yes, pain. Cold. To hell with the

electronics for now. Now to sleep and heal.

7:1 We next see Greth at work, at his desk, the Walkman in place. He is fiddling with his stomach.

7:2 Carole walks in and pokes him in the stomach.

CAROLE

Greth. You looked charged up. How was your workout

this morning?

GRETH

Fine Carole. That report is due today, isn't it?

CAROLE

Uh huh.

GRETH

7:3 Shit. Two months down the tubes. It will be nice to get

back to our old work. Well, I don't know how MUCH work,

Boomer bombed my program. I don't really know why, though.

CAROLE

7:4 Baby, are you ready for this? I thought we'd celebrate

the end of the pointless research. Dinner tonight at Rummy's,

on me. You game?

GRETH

I don't know, Carole. There's a lot to catch up on.

CAROLE

7:5 Come on, Greth. You've been strung out recently. I can

see that. You've got to relax. I know, let's discuss it over

coffee!

GRETH

8:1 You're right. But there are some things I have to tell you,

or, really, show you.

CAROLE

What?

GRETH

8:2 Let's get totally caffeinated first.

8:3 Tek pops into the lab.

TEK

Carole. You got a minute?

CAROLE

Sure. What's happening, Tek?

TEK

One of the transceivers connected to Big Boomer just

up and died.

CAROLE

The 2038?

TEK

8:4 Yeah. Real puzzler. I'd like you to take a crack at it if

you can. We need to uplink in about two hours.

CAROLE

That's why Greth's program bombed.

Oh, what the hell.

8:5 The three, Carole, Greth, and Tek are in the room. The swarm of technicians stand near by. There is lots of conversation going on in the background; technical talk. Greth is off by himself, studying the big open box of electronics.

9:1 He innocently fiddles with something under his shirt at the waist with one hand.

9:2 His other hand is busy under the sleeve on the other arm.

9:3 He appears to be dazed, reaching his arm out toward the people and the electronics.

GRETH

Wait a minute.

9:4 He moves his arm over the spread out circuit boards, then leans over them and closes his eyes.

9:5 Carole is studying all this carefully. A technician speak up.

.

TECHNICIAN

Greth?

GRETH

There. That cluster of chips. Those must be the

oscillators, right?

TEK

Sure, that's where they should be.

10:1 He holds his wrist over one area of a circuit board.

10:2 He slaps his face once as though a mosquito had landed there and bit him.

GRETH

That one, there.

10:3 Greth slaps himself again.

GRETH

(looking at Carole impatiently)

Yeah, it's probably the 315. It is wildly oscillating at

about fifteen megahertz. Simple enough to fix. Maybe

there are other problems, still.

Coffee.

TEK

Ah, yeah Greth. We'll check that out with the 'scope.

Carole, can you...?

CAROLE

10:4 Be back soon, Tek.

10:5 As she and Greth make a quick exit, several of the people in the room are looking at them, confused by what has happened.