Chad Richmond Young 1980-2015

Chad R. Young, 35
Texas resident Chad Richmond Young, 35, died May. 6th, 2015 at his home in Austin, TX.
At his request, no service will be held.
Mr. Young was born February. 22nd, 1980, in Tyler, TX to Karen Rambo and Jerry Young.
 Howard could accomplish anything he set his mind to do. He spent his life in the pursuit of knowledge helping others do the same when he could.
 Mr. Young joined the U.S. Army, during the heighth of the war on Terror as an Airbourne Cavalry Scout.
 Condolences may be sent in the form of charitable donations to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

DORF

Do you know who Jonathan Dorf is?

Once upon a time I sent him an email asking for help;

CHAD TO DORF:

What do I do?!

My play has no dialouge. NO DIALOUGE.

What is wrong with me?

I imagine these scenes being played out with music, but will that work?

Do I hire a band..or...learn to play the french horn? I don't know.

Silent plays can't work can they? With all of those quiet coughs and awkward shuffling noises?

Is there a way to fix this?

Help me, please.

C. young

And here is what that bastard sent in reply;

DORF TO CHAD:

I'm sorry, but I tend to respond far better to simple, polite requests for assistance than attempts to be witty through email. Good luck.

JD

...

In my defense...I was trying to be witty for HIS BENEFIT. I'm sure he gets hundreds of emails a day- I was just trying to entertain him a little.

Anyway...Jonathan Dorf is an asshole.

-Chad

Cor.inth.ia

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GL/GA (Hard Traveling Heroes)

Characters
Hal Jordan (The Green Lantern)
Oliver Queen (The Green Arrow)
Dinah Laurel Lance (The Black Canary)
Appa Ali Apsa (A Guardian)


Scene
Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen are riding in the cab of an old beaten truck. Appa Ali Apsa sits in the back.

Time
Late Day.



OLIVER

People need balance, not supervision.

HAL

Hippy bullshit, Ollie. Justice dictates balance. People need law.

OLIVER

-say's the guy with a magic ring in his pocket. Jesus, man- you put that thing on and people have to answer to you. But where's your law? What keeps you in check? Him? That little blue alien Nazi in the back of my truck?

HAL

Don't…judge people by the color of their skin.

OLIVER

What people? That thing isn't even native to this universe, man… my racial compassion is.
And the goddamn thing is terrified of the color yellow; It horrifies him. That is BUCK WILD.

HAL

Oh, stop.


OLIVER

They segregated color, Hal. Not skin color or hair color- just color. Do you know how crazy that sounds?

HAL

It's more complicated than that.

OLIVER

You got drowned out. What'd you say?

HAL

I said things are more complicated than what you make them out to be.

OLIVER

…and that's all I was trying to say.

HAL

Oh, you sonofabitch. You're little circular logic trick doesn't-

OLIVER

-what? It doesn't what? Apply?

HAL

Now your putting words in my mouth.

OLIVER

You damn right I am. Cause that's how you eat; you chew a carrot and think that's the way everything is supposed to taste, and Hal- you're a genius at finding carrots…but it's more complicated than that and you should know- It doesn't matter if you accessorize with magic rings or 300 dollar sunglasses: You're still a human being… and not everything tastes like carrot.

HAL

Archery is for women.

OLIVER

I guess that's why I'm swimming in tail. How's the ass in space?

HAL

Hey, at least I can fly if I want…and not slither along behind you know who- stealing all of his stuff.

OLIVER

That's preposterous. I'm nothing like that guy.

HAL

You're right, of course- you're right. I'm sorry. I guess I'm just reacting.

OLIVER

No need to apologize. I never said you weren't reason-

HAL

-how's the arrow cave, Ollie?
(OLIVER turns the radio up. HAL reaches over and turns it off.)

HAL

Do you still hide your arrow-mobile there? I bet it's hard to see the arrow-signal while you're still inside the arrow-cave, huh? Since it's so dark and mysterious inside?

OLIVER

Maybe let's listen to some music-

HAL

-why? So you can steal it and pretend like you made it up on the guitar?

(OLIVER clears his throat.)

HAL

You know that guy could sue the shit out of you if he didn't have a secret identity to protect. I mean, that's his intellectual property- it's not free like water and air or peppermint candies; It's a tangible, copy written gain and…you just robbed it from him. You plagiarized the poor guy because he couldn't do anything about it and then pretended like it never even happened . I don't even know if there's a legal term for something that awful.

OLIVER

Okay. Time to move on, now.

HAL

I call it 'Grand Theft 'Somebody Else's Ideas'…you probably know it as 'Monday'.


OLIVER

New Topic.


(Shot of Appa Ali Apsa sitting in the back of the truck. Muffled Conversation from inside.)
(Back inside)

OLIVER

You want to stop and let your monkey back in?

HAL gasps.
OLIVER

What? It's cold outside. It might catch the bird flu. Nothing worse than a monkey with the bird flu.

HAL

You've gone too far.
(Another shot of Appa Ali Apsa sitting in the back of the truck. Muffled conversation from the inside.)

(Then back inside the cab)
HAL

He could wink you out of existence, Oliver. Pay him that respect.

OLIVER

He smells like tortilla chips and cotton-candy- like feet, corn-chips and carnival food. That's his scent…

HAL

Stop it, Oliver.

OLIVER

Alright, man- but seriously…I need to know if it's up to date on it's shots…because that could affect me.

(Shot of Appa in the back of the truck. Muffled conversation.)

(Then back inside)

HAL

You just don't know when to stop, do you? You just keep playing the joke until it's only funny to you. You're an asshole.

OLIVER

Oh, calm down. I didn't realize you'd- (he looks worriedly into the rearview mirror) Oh shit. (He twists in a panic to look at Appa Ali in the back of the truck)

HAL

What is it?
OLIVER

I dunno! It looks like he's Choking or something! What do I do?

HAL

(Panicked. Knocking on the glass.) APPA! APPA! (He turns back to Oliver) Are you sure? How can you tell? Pull Over!

OLIVER

Just Look At Him, Man! Look at what color he is!

(Long pause. Hals Jordan's face darkens with rage.)

OLIVER

You're really sweet on that monkey, huh?

(Shot of Appa in the back of the truck. Muffled screaming from inside.)
(Then back inside)


HAL

Total Lack of Respect!

OLIVER

Look! Maybe you shouldn't take your doll collection so seriously.

HAL

This is about to get violent.

OLIVER

Oh, I'd better be quiet, then.

HAL

Just shut up…
(Long pause)
OLIVER

Why so blue, man?
(HAL takes a long stuttering breath.)

OLIVER

It's like a physical pain, huh? Because of how sharp my wit is.

(Appa knocks at the window. Oliver opens it.)

APPA

We will stay at the Showcase motel located 3 kilometers north by north west of-
(Oliver shuts the window)

OLIVER

So, I'm gonna drop you off at the motel, let you cool off, hit the pool- because you're obviously pissed off at me…for no good reason. Then I'm gonna hit the bar; have a couple of beers, maybe eat a hamburger. Are you hungry? No? More for me…and check it out- NO PETS ALLOWED: So one of us needs to take your Muppet back to sesame street before it closes for the weekend.

(Oliver opens the back window.) Did you hear that, buzz-kill?

APPA

I hear all thin-
(Oliver shuts the window.)


BLACK. TITLE CARD.

OPENING CREDITS.

The Punk-Rock Suicide Companion

Antigone Wrecks (Daughter of Eddie Wrecks)
IS-MEAN (Antigones Sister)
Kreon (The current King of 1980's Punk-Rock)
Furry-Dice (Kreons Wife)
Hymen (Kreons stepson...grudgingly. Meek and obsessed with Antigone)
T-Rhesus (Ed Wrecks' old Heroin Dealer- slumming new blood for new buisness.)
Tennis Pro Dennis and his Tennis Companions (Choragos and Chourus.)
Marco the Narco Sentry
and Him
Referenced Characters of note
Eddie Wrecks (Antigones Pop and the long gone king of punk rock.)
Antigone and IS-MEAN's two recently deceased brothers..
Seargant Paulie Neices & Punk Rock ETOK, who killed one another after a show.

The Edd(e)n(a)uts

Characters

[A / n(a) T / n(t) G / n(g)]

Austin / Narrator (Austin) Tori / Narrator (Tori) Guard / Narrator (Guard)

Scene

An underground bunker somewhere in the desert: A foreign guard leads a bound woman into the center of the room and then punches her in the face. She collapses, unconscious- onto the floor. The guard exits.

There are three narrators downstage; a heavyset man N (Austin), a young woman N (Tori), and another, taller man N (Guard). They all begin speaking but we can only hear the heavier man. The other two appear to be mouthing conversations to the audience, but for now, when one of them speaks- the voices of the other two cannot be heard.


n (a) My wife’s name is Tori. She’s the blonde that just got club punched in the side of the head. I’m right behind her, I think.

[The guard returns to violently usher a masked man into the very center of the room.]
n (a) There I am. The fat American aid worker with a hundred and three degree fever in the desert. They won’t need to punch me. I’ll fold right up.

[The man collapses onto the ground beside his wife. The guard exits.]
n (a) My name is Austin- and I, along with my wife, have just been captured by terrorists in the middle of a desert in the North-West

region of Iran. I think I may also have the flu- which is unfortunate because I’m pretty sure this organization won’t accept my insurance card. If I even have it on me. Am I covered in radical Islam? Do I pay premiums for that? I’m not really sure. I hope they

have my wallet.
[Long beat. Low moan. The woman inches painfully towards her husband and whispers something incoherent into his ear.]

n (a) I can’t understand a fucking word that’s coming out of her mouth.

She sounds drunk. Her words are slurring together and she’s talking like a three year old. It must be brain damage. Subdural

Hematoma from the IED- some sort of trauma from the-

there’s my wallet!

[The guard walks into the room and sits on a chair away from the bodies- shuffling through the contents of a leather wallet. The taller narrator begins to speak. The heavyset

Narrator is still talking- but we cannot hear what he’s saying.]

n (g) -won’t tell you about how terrible everything was.

But I grew up in the desert…raised in this awful place.

The only book I’ve ever read is the- /

n (t) / -married him in the spring. So young and stupid.

I loved how he loved the world. I loved the adventure.

He was just so- /
n (g) -is he going to do with a diners club card in the middle of the desert? Ridiculous.
[The guard stands up and kicks the man in the stomach. His wife lets out a muffled scream.]
n (a) Thank you for saving the world. Your prize awaits.

I should have been a zealot.
[The guard approaches the camcorder.]
n (g) -how does this abomination turn on?

Is it the red button? No that’s stop. Play, no.

Pause. Okay, I think this is….Fuck, I /

n (a) / -smile when I see that it’s the camcorder from our truck;

that they set it up in the center of the room- it’s almost - /

n (t) / -such a headache. And that’s just from the blunt force trauma.

I still won’t be able to have kids if I ever get home Goddamn Red / Cross makes…
n (g) / -who in the hell are you?


[The guards Narrator is looking at Tori’s Narrator. They can now communicate. Austin’s Narrator is still silently mouthing words at the audience.]


n (t) What? Where did you come from?



n (g) You need to tell me who you are right now. What you’re doing down here.
n (t) Down Where?
n (g) Who Are / You?
n (t) / Down where? Where am I?

n (g) you’re in a…this…You’re not supposed to be here.

n (t) Where? Do you know where we are?

[The two stare at their surroundings confusedly.]

n (g) You’re not supposed to be here.

n (t) What about you? Where are you supposed to be?

Where is here? What the fuck in going- /

[Austin’s Narrator becomes audible again. The conversation between N (Tori) and

N (Guard) continues- but we cannot hear it.]

n (a) / -on and on about humanitarian relief in the Middle East, and

I asked her if she wanted to come- called it a late honeymoon.

I figured I’d take her through a couple of poor villages and let her hand out candy bars to some kids. Of course she wouldn’t know-

she couldn’t. A person couldn’t even guess what this was. Really-
[The guard leaves the room. N (Tori) and N (Guard) continue]

n (t) -and that’s not what you see?

n (g) No. No boat. I don’t see anything that looks like a waterfall, either.
n (t) I’m looking straight at it.

n (g) Is it real? Could it be some sort of illusion?

n (t) No. No, I can feel water. It smells like water. Are you still- /

n (g) / I don’t know. It looks like…yeah, maybe a moon. There are two

more off to my left and- oh wow…



n (t) Do you see the water?
n (g) No. A planet. It was right behind me and…ships…

n (t) -boats?
n (g) -spaceships. Lot’s of them-

n (a) -could never find out who I was, what I did, or who I did it for.

Safer to tell her I was a liberal, a bleeding heart: some important

fixture in the global humanitarian relief effort. Always jetting

Out somewhere. To the Congo or Malaysia- to Laos. ‘No Honey,

You should stay. It’s dangerous there this time of year. I’ll be

Back in a week- in a couple of days- in no time- in a flash.

I’ll be back.’ She never-
n (g) -look western. You’re white. But you speak the language so well.

Yet you wear no veil. You speak to men without / fear of-

n (t) / What language are you talking about?

n (g) What you are speaking. Arabic. Our language.

n (t) No. No, that’s not right. That’s not it. This is English.

That’s what I’m-
n (a) -trained in various sciences to serve as a liaison between the secrets of our hidden kings and irreversible cosmic apocalypse-

n (g) -able to communicate, able to share information.

n (t) -right, here you are. Standing right next to me. I can hear what you’re saying. But…

n (g) You’re speaking English on a boat.

n (t) -while you’re on some moon speaking Arabic.

n (g) It doesn’t make any-

n (a) -sense to do something like that. But if it absolutely had to be listed on a formal resume: my job would read something like this:




[N (Austin}closes his eyes: Immediately N (Guard) and N (Tori) begin shrieking in absolute horror while the husband and wife slowly stand up in the center of the bunker. Somehow, neither of them look entirely human. The guard stumbles into the room with his hands on his ears. Blood is pouring out of his nose. N (Austin) opens his eyes.]

n (g) It hurts! What was it?
n (t) -I don’t know. The boat, it…the falls dragged me in.

n (g) -where are you?
N (t) I don’t know. Can you see?

n (g) Not really, no. The ships. They-

n (a) -and by they, I mean my employers- knew. They knew what it was. By the 1500’s they had mapped the original feed of all four rivers to a specific tract of mountains due east of the Sahand Mountain-

n (t) -behind the falls.

n (g) -and your boat?

n (t) -underwater. Your ships?

n (g) -flew into my eyeballs and disappeared.

n (a) -most favorable scholars of the occult sciences agreed that Eden was not a garden at all. That, while it may have been a physical place, it was hidden within non-physical aspects of our reality; like an-

n (t) -arboretum, maybe. No roads or stores.

n (g) -Yeah. Yeah, I think I-

n (a) -know, is that there is a place on earth where something else existed before us- where another reality bled into our own like a hand, pushing through a sheet- into a fishbowl.

n (t) -more than I can count. Each one is different.




n (g) -not just different. Different species. I see a male and female of each variety, then…I don’t think this is limited to fish

n (t) -birds too
n (a) -Eden was like a womb. In it, the animals of our world were hopelessly entangled with the forces from a separate reality- their bizarre universal constants forcing inevitabilities onto the primitive structure of our world: The bleed inside the bubble. The Garden. The union of cosmic chance. Eden-
n (t) -It’s a paradise. Or someone’s version of it…

n (g) -Like the world took a mulligan.

n (t) -or reset to factory default. This is-

n (a) -when we were birthed back into our world, she sealed herself behind us- closing off her knotted mess to keep the bubble small...

n (t) Squint. You can make out the boundaries.

n (g) -Hazy, yes.
n (a) I may lie to my wife. I may present myself to her as something I am not. But I brought her here through the hell of this desert- to be shot at and bombed, tortured and mutilated…for rebirth.

A -and here you are. Blown to pieces and ripped from the convoy- just as I had planned.
n (t) He’s still with me, command.

[N (Guard) scowls and hisses as N (Tori).]

n (t) Wup. He’s angry. I think he’s breaking back. Do you copy? He is phasing back.
n (a) Then the give-away. An anomalous blip from some fleeting nether worldly plane. Our captor, the flaming sword. The glimmering oasis of the dry, deserts son. And of course he took the camcorder, of course he placed it in the center of the room.

n (g) It is what I am supposed to do.

n (a) But I am a Goddamned scientist.

[The guard freezes and stares, transfixed through the lenses of the camera- while his narrator stares transfixed at the guard. Suddenly, Austin comes alive next to Tori. He lifts up the hood of his mask and gently lays her down to the floor. He walks to the camcorder and speaks directly into the microphone.]
A Adamus, this is Command. Do you copy? Over.

n (t) Loud and clear, Command. Birds in the nest, boots in the womb.

A Copy that, Adamus. Lets sound this a 3-2-5 orbit. Over.

n (t) Roger, Command; 3-2-5 orbit. Automatic relay connected.

[Austin and N (Austin) clap enthusiastically.]

On the rooftops of your city (Cusmello)

[Tori and Ethyl watch as Danno walks past and sits on the ground. Tori approaches him.
SOMEONE walks across the stage with a sign which reads “ROBOTS”]

Tori You always just lurch around, Danno. You just lurch. Like this. Always around this place. It’s pitiful.

Danno Take your pills, Tori. I’m not a stinking robot.

Tori Then say something without that tone. That mechanical tone you always use.

Danno Mechanical?

Tori Like a Goddamn Machine!

Danno I’m not /

Tori / a machine? It’s what you are, stupid! Beep, Beep! [She walks around like a robot; clicking and whirring.] Toaster oven nothing waste!

Danno Where are your pills, Tori?

Tori /Cannot Compute!
[Danno begins searching for Tori’s pills.]

Ethyl Em’ Robot’s lay bricks!
Make em’ Lay em’ all both!

Tori Ha! They shit bricks out, Danno! You shit-brick!

Ethyl So lessen’ you er’ yer daddy were brick layers-

Or were yer daddy a robot?

Cause’a them Gen-etics/

Danno What are you talking about, Ethyl? [Still searching for Tori’s pills]
Ah! [He picks something up from the ground.] Here!

[ENTER NURSE CUSMELLO with GINO trailing behind her. GINO stops to watch what Danno is doing as the Nurse continues on into the center of the room.]

Nurse Cusmello More Pills. More Pills. It’s time for medication.

Danno Tori isn’t taking hers, Nurse

Nurse Cusmello Oh?

Tori Narc!

Ethyl -and that thur’ Danno s’a-robot.

[SOMEONE walks across the stage with a sign which reads “INDIANS”.

EXIT DANNO wandering out of the room, searching for pills in the carpet.]

Nurse Cusmello Nobody is a robot, dear.
Where are your pills, Victoria?

Tori I gave em to the Indians, Bitch! [She screams and runs out of the room.]

Nurse Cusmello Doctor!

Ethyl Wur? Wur them Indians at?

They buildin’ a casino out here?

Shoot! I’ll hit me a jackpot pro-gressive and drive a million dollar car out into California! Be a big movie star like them girls in the celebrity gossip magazines. Wear them big ol’ white sunglasses an’ singin’ happy birthday to the president. Course I’d prolly end up skippin’ all my auditions, though. Workin on my tan. Sittin on that lonesome beach eatin’ tropical kiwis- makin’ love to all them square jawed surfin’ soap opera actors from the 1970’s. (She looks wonderingly to the lights on the ceiling.) –starin’ at that big beautiful California sun. (She squints painfully into the lights and then turns to the nurse.) You think them Indians’d hire me on as a waitress?
[Beat as everyone stares at Faye Ethyl.]

Nurse Cusmello Doctor Argus!
[SOMEONE walks across the stage with a sign which reads “UNICORNS”.]

ENTER DR. ARGUS.]
Dr. Argus Good morning, Gino.

Gino That lady on the left- Cusmo…

Argus -Nurse Cusmello?

Gino Yeah…I don’t know about her. But her dad was one of the science nazis when all of that ‘Miracles as an applied science’ stuff was going on.

Dr Argus The dinosaurs again, Gino? Are you taking your meds?

Gino They were Unicorns, Doc. Weird Quantum alien fuckers- and a little girl- maybe one of the science guys daughters. But somehow She ends up alone in an empty room with one of the goddamn things.

Argus with a /

Gino / unicorn…I honestly don’t know what else to call it.

Argus You can’t …manifest imaginary creatures out of thin air like that.

Gino Well. Apparently you can.

Argus -then it isn’t a unicorn.

Gino I’m going to finish my story. (pause) So she’s in this room with this thing- the girl and the…whatever it is…and she’s petting it and telling it how pretty it is. I mean what little girl doesn’t want a unicorn, right? But then, out of nowhere- a fucking wrought iron zipper spear explodes through the side of it’s head. It misses the girls face by a couple of inches-and she’s backing away, trying to choke out a scream while this…while this freak, alien horse-monster starts convulsing and screeching out baby noises. Baby noises, Argus. It was terrible.

Argus Awful.

Gino I guess as this poor little girl was stumbling backwards trying To process everything- this crazy Samurai freak-job comes running into the room with a sword over his head. He’s got gore soaked unicorn pelts pasted to his chest with dried blood.

Argus Oh no.


Gino Oh yes. And he leaps across the room with this huge, blood soaked samurai sword stretched out in front of him- and he slices this Unicorns head off in midair. The thing is. The head is still stuck into the wall with the zipper spear- so when the body falls to the ground. The head just kind of bobbled there- making direct eye contact with the little girl- begging her for some…finality.

Argus And that’s when the Samurai saw the girl.

Gino -that’s when he saw the girl, Argus. His honor was ruined at that point. He really had only one thing he could do.

Argus Hari Kari.

Gino Correct, Doc. He disemboweled himself then and there, his insides spilling out around her feet.

Argus What happened?

Gino Well, they canceled the program and the little girl lost her appetite for horses. She didn’t grow up to be an equestrian or anything like that.

[Tori runs across the room screaming. The Doc catches her about halfway across. EXIT ETHYL and GINO, terrified.]

Dr Argus Bring me the shot, nurse.

[They administer the shot. EXIT DR. ARGUS. The Nurse is holding Tori’s head. ENTER DANNO. He wraps something around his forehead.]

Danno [Approaching Tori] stay through, kid- keep awake

your arch nemesis is still out there somewhere- hopping around

on the rooftops of your city; and I know you've got blood in your eye or I'd tell you to look. So listen, people die, hotshot.-in

bed-of old age, they die. All the time. They live make difficult choices

take jobs in the city they have kids retire and die. Tori? Victoria?

Ritual Orbit

These are the Principles of Ritual Orbit.

1. Ritual is most effective when crafted by an individual for personal use.

Human Beings are essentially animals that have rebelled against the helplessness of a purely instinctual existence. We grow food because hunting and foraging are unpredictable. We use complex language because it maximizes the efficiency of our rebellion against the forces that would do us harm..

As animals, the universal order would have us fighting amongst one another to stay alive, but as Humans, we fight the universal order instead.

Our nature is to control to survive, and in order to control, we must understand. Therefore, it is that which we cannot comprehend which terrifies us the most, and ritual is our natural defense against these things.

When primitive man witnessed the death of a loved one and then attempted to relate the reality of that death to him self, he was unable to understand it and thus unable to control it’s influence over his existence. So he crafted a ritual as a temporary bridge between what he could and could not comprehend. Inevitably, his tribe found comfort in this satisfying explanation of the darkness- and they began to craft a simple mythology to support it.

Remember, though, that the ritual originated with just one man. If any new insights concerning the true nature of death were revealed to him, he could easily craft a new ritual to accommodate them, or simply modify the original- but since the tribe has adopted his ritual as their own, since there is now a complicated group mythology to support this ‘temporary bridge’- it would be quite difficult for the ritual to adapt itself to anything sudden or new.

2. The focus of a ritual will decrease proportionately to any increase of adherents to that rituals unified community of shared belief.

Say a man crafts a ritual to soothe his fear of the unknown (of death). He sees the sun and calls it a Golden Button and he says that when he dies, his life will wash away into the tide of the Golden Button where he will be warm and happy for all of eternity.

The rest of his hears of this ritual and are immediately comforted by it’s reassurance of protection from the unknown- so they begin to observe it as well. But now, instead of one man focusing all of his attention on one ritual, there are now several people, all slightly less focused on the object of that ritual, and slightly more focused on one another- on the woman they are courting, or the man they are about the marry.

Soon a friendly neighboring tribe hears of this ritual, and gradually, they too begin to attend. There are now so many distracted people involved with this one mans temporary description of the unknown, that when he finally passes away, they are left with a ritual that has no individual interpreter for its design. Since they can no longer turn to him, they turn to what he created instead; they turn to the Golden Button.

They begin to worship it; make sacrifices to it- anything to get some answers or guidance out of it. They create temples and complex manuscripts to bolster their beliefs, and when someone finally stands up and asks the very serious question, “Why are we worshiping a Golden Button?”


3.Societal order is entirely dependant upon the effectiveness of its ritual order, and its ability to adapt to local shifts in culture and science.

It should come as no surprise that a civilization builds itself on principals of shared belief, on common values and similar ideologies. We hold each others hands in the darkness to ward away the helplessness from what we do not understand. We soothe each other against the unimaginable emptiness of space.

When the focus of a ritual has been entirely forgotten by its people- the civilization to which those people belong begins to deteriorate- the people begin to forget why they belong to that civilization in the first place. No longer are they unified in comfort against the darkness. No longer can their sluggish rituals adapt themselves to the rapid shifts of culture that are inherent to such a massive population of people. Their temporary bridge is falling apart, and when it does- the world that they built on top of that bridge will go down right behind it.


4.Local shifts in culture and science are always predicated by effective rituals that have been crafted by an individual for personal use.

One day, a scientist walks out of his laboratory after 40 long days and 40 long nights of research- and proclaims that he has discovered a theory which may very well describe mans fate after death.

But the people are so involved with their ancient ritualistic system that they ignore the scientist because their static principles cannot react quickly enough to adapt. Because of this, they are unable to further separate themselves from the malevolent universal order which their ritual was created to protect them against in the first place.

Notes [From the Fountain]

[click images to enlarge]

---

Perplexis

Perplexis lives at three-oh-nine
West Chiltonberry way
with her seven older brothers
who do nothing everyday.


(Now, for all those unaware of
how a 'nothing' is defined,
it's really just an synonym
for life without surprise.


-and if surprise is what we use
to keep our lives intriguing,
then nothing's just a state of mind
where something's always fleeting.)


So, everyday Perplexis walks
to school and then to work,
where her mind is always busy
and her brothers do not lurk.

For, though she loves her brothers
more than anyone could know...
-with every inch they sink to waste
it tears apart her soul.

It seems each passing moment
strikes a thousand listless hours
As Lexis watches helpless as
her brothers minds go sour.


So, walking home from school one day,
consumed with riotous anger
Perplexis formulates a plan
to free them all from danger.

-and on the morn of Halloween
with jacket-bundled-tightly
She gives away her precious things
and sets upon the highway.

For waiting round with 'hopeful' thoughts
has worn away her patience
Thus lexis now has set upon
the trek to reparation.


(Before one gets to traveling
through space of-far unknown-
One first must flee the warm
familiar confines of their home.

A legend of the questing-kind
allegedly once said,
“The hardest journey of them all,
is getting out of bed.”

The masters of these tribulations
venture as they please-
Unhindered by what sloth oppressions
indolence will breed.

So when these feathered bedding binds
grow pillows round’ your face
remember: sever mind from sleep,
and beds you shall escape.)

It’s cold, you know on Halloween
Most monsters can attest,
Most children too, who trick or treat
Are always smartly dressed.

But Lexis, in her pauper clothes
-a dress not fit for comfort
-a pair of chucks spite rain and snow
and hoodie raggd asunder.

-her swollen feet beat ’neath the snow,
from high-fi arctic air
which closes frozen winter roads
bemoaning thoroughfares.

A torrid, stormy system swirls in
circles round’ the sky,
whilst’ lounging in the distance
looms another storm pariah.


While Lexis was tiny pearl
still living with her mother,
the school agreed the girl
indeed did differ from her brothers.

"A difference doesn't tell the tale"
remarked one grim instructor
on stair- fat knuckle-white on rail,
"She has no older brothers."

"It's true,' Piped in the principal
"Her mind is in upheaval.
Instinctively, it seems she sees
imaginary people."

Her worried mother rushed her fro
from hospitals to shrinks
from every known professional
on every listed street.

---

See Also:
http://physiac.blogspot.com/2005/07/perplexis.html
http://physiac.blogspot.com/2005/07/perplexis-revised.html

Yards

There are three wooden cross-sections that divide my
lawn into four separate inner pastures,each individually
irrigated through a network of perforated copper pipes
that extend from a large hydro-electric water filtration
system that fits seamlessly into the bottom of the fountain
in my yard.

When it rains, there is an underground resevoir which funnels
water into a small, obsidion exit-peice which is perched on top
of the fountain-pouring liquids back into the main basin from
a bucket which is balanced on its head.

(A heavy web of hollow coils make up the inside body
and legs of this statuette, and they run from a flood-gate
near the exiting water at the bucket.. to a bundle of polymer
tubes 6 feet beneath my mailbox.)

The few bits of mail I do receive are actually high yield nutrients
which have been compacted into the shape of envelopes by a
high tech gardening company located outside of Vancouver B.C.
When the mailman drops these envelopes into the gutter, he is
actually releasing carefully measured amounts of chemicals into a feild
of underground drainage pumps that circulate the mixture
back into the resivoir underneath the fountain.

There are times when I am lying in bed watching the ceiling fan
spin its shadows into the open doors of my bedroom- when I'll
wearily contemplate the importance of my work. And as my mind
wanders with the shades of grey and black on the walls, I am sometimes
tempted to run into the streets screaming my secrets to all of those
who would listen,hoping beyond anything that some r a n d o m
passerbyer could validate the terrible things which I have done. It's
during these times when I am most vunurable to the pressures and
influences of the outside world.

My home in this place is nothing more than a diversion for my life
below. The walls and shelves of my living room are decorated
with portraits of families that I have never seen nor spoken to, and the
kitchen pantry is stocked only with foods essential to my own survival.
The things that hold value for others, their television sets and high speed
internet connections, their cash and jewelry and precious loved ones...none
of these things reflect well in the fountain


In addition to the intricate waterways beneath my
home, there are
several
hundred yards of reinforced concrete corridors that
spiral a
considerable
distance beyond the restrictive boundaries of my
property. These
distances
are more than tripled in the bundles of gossamer thin
tubing which
furtively
occupy several of the corridors that cluster
underneath my neighboring
homes
and gardens. Much could be said of the upkeep to these
structures,
which, if
left intended could lead to an entropy of the system,
and perhaps more
importantly, to a stagnation of the chemicals which
the system so
studiously
maintains. I have little doubt that without constant
supervision, the
delicate balances of these devices would cease to
perform their
intended
functions, and begin to operate redundantly on their
own accord.
On power, there is the air-conditioning unit on the
side of my home
that
has been modified to double as a sort of solar
generator. The pumps
transferring water from the neighboring homes are run
from both the
primary
power of this unit and the secondary power of the
flowing water itself.
This
steady intake of water into the main system is
purified through a
charcoal
filter then sent directly to a solitary canal on the
opposite end of
the
fountain. It is from here that the nearby reservoir of
brewing chemicals
and
nutrients are properly diluted and measured carefully
into injectable
doses.
After this, they are quickly transfered to a
refrigerated holding tank
near
the entrance to my basement.
It is only now that the fountain is able relinquish
control of the
system
to the local plumbing of my home. This control is
frequently botched
by the
design of the primitive structures hydrarchitecture,
but any
modifications
to the upper levels of my compound would only draw
unneeded attention
from
the outside world. As it is, two feet beneath the
floor of the
basement, tap
water faucet pumps mist the cooled mixture onto a
white hot-sheet of
stainless steel, thus, evaporating the liquid formula
and leaving the
solid
impurities behind. This vapor is vacuumed into a
spiraling glass cord
which
drips the new liquid into a blue plastic cup on my
windowsill.


I will sometimes observe the contents
of that cup,
curiously holding it up to the sun- and swishing the
liquids into a
whirlpool.

And at the end of the day when I have
nothing left to do,

I
will often wonder at
what
it means-


what
the
fluid actually represents.

It seems the only things I do know anymore, are that
when I step
underground, I am proud-

that when I pour water into a glass,

I am happy,

and that when I shower in the evening with the idea of
another day
before
me,

I will think of the fountain,
and smile.

---

See Also:
http://physiac.blogspot.com/2005/07/from-fountain-of-youth.html

The Scientific Dazzlecrats of Mathmaworld 11

(TWO SCIENTISTS in a laboratory have been frozen in time. They appear distraught and have been affixed as follows:

The MALE SCIENTIST; hunched before a massive panel of multi-colored buttons- one hand grasping a tuft of his hair while the other is extending down towards the panel.

The FEMALE SCIENTIST; braced with her back against the only visible doorway- struggling to keep a deadly monster from entering the lab.

A SHOWGIRL walks in front of the stage with a cardboard sign which reads,

'ACT 1'

and then falters near her intended exit at the opposite end. She glances hesitantly toward the two scientists, moves to make her body half hidden by an incomplete exit, then stops.)

SHOWGIRL

Wha…I dunno. What do you want me to do?

She turns in response to an unvoiced command, and with a smile no less sincere than her first- walks, with sign outstretched to her original entrance at the opposite end of the stage.

ENTER DIRECTOR, whose panicked head appears from behind a curtain on the other side of the stage. The showgirl meets his pleading eyes, and then shrugs. They both look worriedly to the two scientists, then confusedly gesture one another to proceed.

The SHOWGIRL sighs and marches across the stage to the DIRECTOR where there immediately begins a bickering, whispered debate. After a few moments of this, The Director suddenly turns and strides angrily to the unmoving SCIENTISTS up-stage.

He whispers angry questions at them- but they do not respond. He shouts muffled accusations at them- but to no avail. They remain frozen and uncooperative in time.)
DIRECTOR

-pfooooooo…

The Director turns back on his heels towards the two scientists, hesitates; and then returns his attention to the crowd.

DIRECTOR

-this…(nervous laugh)…I…(brief pause as he looks toward the two SCIENTISTS) I'm sorry- I don't know what they're doing…so…

He glances nervously to his right and left until he catches the SHOWGIRLS attention. She shrugs.

The houselights fade up.

SHOWGIRL

-I guess…I mean I don't know what to say. (She looks to the Scientists.) What the fuck are you guys doing?

The ASSISTANT walks haltingly onto the stage- not at all comfortable with the situation. A Technician (TECH) emerges from his booth (or from some technical station behind the audience) and looks questioningly to his co-workers for support. No one notices him.

SHOWGIRL

-well (but the DIRECTOR has already begun moving towards his ASSISTANT.) Pfooo.

The Director stops the charge towards his assistant when he notices the TECH.

DIRECTOR

(Barely perceptible. To the TECH.) Did you know anything about this?)

TECH

No, I…

DIRECTOR

-they didn't say anything to you? Nothing?
TECH

-no, I mean…I don't…

DIRECTOR

(attempting to communicate with his Assistant who is too far away to understand what the Director is saying.) I don't…I don't know what to do.

TECH

(Loudly to the Showgirl.) What's up?

SHOWGIRL

Pfooo…(she snaps to the sound of the Techs voice.) -wha?

DIRECTOR

(to his assistant, who still cannot hear.) What do you want to do?

DIRECTOR

-What Do You Want To Do? (louder this time, but still incomprehensible.)

The Assistant is visibly upset. He steps out of the shadows and begins to march toward the director.

TECH

This is fucking awesome.

The Showgirl coughs out a single breath of nervous laughter. She appears gratefull to the Tech for having dispelled some of the Audiences negative attention.

The Assistant ends his march face to face with the Director.

ASSISTANT

What the fuck were you saying, man? I didn't hear you.

DIRECTOR

-I said what do you want to do?
ASSISTANT

-you're the…goddamn…(he grabs the script from the directors hands and pushes his way toward the Showgirl and the Tech. He stops briefly to address the audience.) Hey, folks- uh…sorry,

I'm gonna try and clear all this out…get someone else up here for you. (he motions toward the Showgirl and the Tech.) Would you guys come down here for a second, please?

The SHOWGIRL immediately begins walking toward the assistant while the Tech lingers hesitantly behind.

TECH

-what about the lights?

DIRECTOR

(to his assistant.) What are you gonna do?

ASSISTANT

(ignoring the DIRECTOR. Addressing the TECH, instead.) What about em? I need you to come down here and help, okay. You don't need to be worrying about lights, right now.

The TECH walks down into the pit shaking his head and stands next to the SHOWGIRL.

TECH

(Under his breath) Lame.

The Director folds his arms, embarrassed- pretending to be intrigued as his assistant passes out scripts to the crew.

DIRECTOR

What is this?

SHOWGIRL

No…I don't…I can't do this…(She hands the script back to the Assistant, who frowns and pushes it back toward her.)

The Assistant pulls the Showgirl off to the side- leaving the Tech standing uncomfortably silent next to the director.

SHOWGIRL

(in a harsh whisper) I'm not gonna do this. / No.

ASSISTANT

-all you have to do is just /


SHOWGIRL

/ no, I can't.

ASSISTANT

/ read from the script. It's a cold read /

SHOWGIRL

/ don't you have…like..

ASSISTANT

-Understudies? Yeah, cause this is a really big production.

SHOWGIRL

-Well, I mean…What…

ASSISTANT

Look, man…this is it. This is everyone. Don't fuck me. Just read from the goddamn script.

DIRECTOR

(to Tech) I think we should just stop all this and let someone else go on.

TECH

(Shrugs) Well…you're the fuckin' Director. Why don't you tell everyone to stop so that somebody else can go on?
SHOWGIRL

Alright, from where to where?

ASSISTANT

(Turns at the sound of her voice) What?

SHOWGIRL

Where do you want me to start?

ASSISTANT

Oh, uh…

TECH

(Flipping through the script.) Hey, who am I?

SHOWGIRL

Yeah, I don't even…

The Director walks listlessly up to the stage and snaps his fingers at the frozen scientists. They do not respond. The Assistant pulls the script out of the Showgirls hands and scans his eyes down the page.

ASSISTANT

-youuuuuuu (he flips through the script) are reading for Dr. Isus (He puts the script back into her hands and moves over to the Tech.) and youuuuu, are /

SHOWGIRL

So this is a guy? I'm reading for a guy?

(The Tech and the Assistant look worriedly up to the Showgirl.)

DIRECTOR

(To the Scientists.) HEY! (He snaps his fingers) HEY!

ASSISTANT

(Quickly explaining to the Tech.) So from here to here…skip all this shit- and finish right here, okay? (He immediately turns to the Showgirl.) Is that okay?

SHOWGIRL

It's fine, I…It's fine…

The assistant cautiously nods and then walks over to the Director.

ASSISTANT

Can you take the booth?

The director sighs visibly.

ASSISTANT

Can you please take the booth?

DIRECTOR

I don't…( He looks around nervously and walks to the edge of the pit, just beyond earshot. The Assistant impatiently follows.) I really don't want to be in the booth.

The rest of their conversation trails off into whispered bickering

SHOWGIRL

(To Tech) I really don't want to read for a man.

TECH

You wanna trade?

SHOWGIRL

Is it a boy or a girl?

TECH

Well, the…I think it all takes place in the 5th dimension, so…boy / girl doesn't really apply…

SHOWGIRL

-What's the 5th dimension?

TECH

(laughs nervously) -do you…

DIRECTOR

(cutting in. Loudly, to the audience. Having returned from his talk with the Assistant.) Hey, so…sorry again- everybody. We're gonna try and get the ball rolling, here. And uh…I'm gonna go operate the technical aspects of the show. So…

The Assistant leans in to whisper something encouraging into the Directors ear- shrugging…as if to minimize the importance of the situation. The Director nods and coolly points his finger around the room- disappearing into the booth with a smile. There is a beat as they all watch him depart.

SHOWGIRL

(To assistant) What's the 5th dimension?

ASSISTANT

What?

The Assistant and the Tech Pause as they wait, hopefully- for the Showgirls storm to pass. No such luck.

SHOWGIRL

-am I a boy or a girl?

An uncomfortable silence.

ASSISTANT

It's a girl


SHOWGIRL

Well…I thought boys and girls don't exist in the 5th dimension.

An uncomfortable silence.

ASSISTANT

Who told you that?

SHOWGIRL

What's the 5th Dimension?

The Assistant sighs heavily and puts his arms over his head. All lights go off. Pause, then another sigh.

ASSISTANT

(In total darkness) Turn the light back on. Please.

DIRECTOR

I'm sorry. What? I didn't….was that a signal?

ASSISTANT

(To Director.) Turn The Goddamn Lights Back On.
DIRECTOR

Wait…didn't you just…I thought we were working off signals, here.(Long pause) right? (silence)

TECH

(Hey! Don't be pushin' buttons up there, man. I've got /)

DIRECTOR

/What?

TECH

-there're other shows, just- please don't mess with the board…up there. Please?

ASSISTANT

Oh no.

DIRECTOR

I WILL MESS…WITH ANYTHING…THAT I WANT.

I AM STILL…THE DIRECTOR…OF THIS SHOW.
ASSISTANT

Look, you two go ahead and-

Lights begin to cut on and off as The Director (unseen) begins mashing on the board in the booth.

TECH

Awesome.

SHOWGIRL

So I'm a he/she, right? Is that... (she holds out her script)

Is that what this is? I mean, I still don't understand.

ASSISTANT

(Attention focused on booth, but distractedly addressing Tech and Showgirl) Get ready to read.

SHOWGIRL

Did You Hear Me?

ASSISTANT

Uh-huh. Get ready to read.

SHOWGIRL

You're just ignoring me?

ASSISTANT

mmm-hmmm. Are you ready?

TECH

I can't believe I got drug tested for this fucking hassle.

SHOWGIRL

(riffling through her script.) Whatever.

The Assistant begins to march into the booth to calm things down.

ASSISTANT

(While walking) Start.

Tech

Now?

ASSISTANT

Start Reading.

TECH

(Looking through his script) Okay, uh…The Monster beats on the laboratory door while the Scientists search for an escape, and- (to the SHOWGIRL) You walk across the stage holding a sign..

SHOWGIRL

(Unmoving) Right- Walking, walking…(She holds up her script

To the audience) Act Two.

Act 2

All that follows is to be simultaneous: Tech and the Showgirl become frozen in time. Red lights and shrieking sirens grow painfully out of the laboratory. There's a violent banging on the door which the female scientist is holding closed with the full of her body, and her male counterpart is wildly mashing his hands onto the panel of multi-colored buttons below him.

FEMALE SCIENTIST

Lock The Door!

MALE SCIENTIST

I'm Trying. I'm Trying

FEMALE SCIENTIST

It's coming through, Damnit- lock the door!

MALE SCIENTIST

-almost…

A cold noise of metal on metal, and the door is locked. The woman slides to the ground in a daze but then quickly recovers and runs to look over the male scientists shoulder. The banging becomes more intense.

Female Scientist

Now, check the current.

MALE SCIENTIST

It's not the current.

FEMALE SCIENTIST

What is it, then?

MALE SCIENTIST

It's not the current. It….it may be an algorithm, or-

FEMALE SCIENTIST

/ Stop your damn analyzing and do something! What about this? (She randomly mashes a button.)

MALE SCIENTIST

Don't push that, it /

FEMALE SCIENTIST

/ What? What does it do?
MALE SCIENTIST

-destroys all of the suns in our neighboring galaxies.

FEMALE SCIENTIST

We have buttons for that? To hell with them, what about this one? (She mashes another random button.)

MALE SCIENTIST

…my God, an entire Universe…

FEMALE SCIENTIST

Then You Do Something.

MALE SCIENTIST

It's not that simple! It's a matter of risk and probabilities, not of pushing buttons like a fool!

FEMALE SCIENTIST

You watch what you say, you filth. Your job is to do

what I say and that's it. Now power the security with the power from the lab.

MALE SCIENTIST

Are you out of your mind? Do you remember what just happened to our people- to our entire civilization? We risk that same fate if ANYTHING is transferred outside of that door. We risk everything.

FEMALE SCIENTIST

You Risk Your Next Breath If It Isn't Taken In Sanctuary From That Monster! I'll Clone Another Dog From Your Ashes!

MALE SCIENTIST

Alright, then. (He mashes several buttons on the console.) Since you've made up your mind.

(A disembodied female voice pierces the labs interior.)

VOICE

This will activate displacement protocol 11. Are you sure you wish to proceed?

FEMALE SCIENTIST

11, what? What is protocol 11?

VOICE

Are you sure you wish to proceed?

FEMALE SCIENTIST

What are you doing? Explain the meaning of this.

MALE SCIENTIST

I'm afraid this is the only way. (He presses a button.)

VOICE

Are you sure you wish to- protocol has been activated.

Redirecting Auxiliary Power for Kerr Sinusoid Rotation.

(The Female Scientist makes a terrified scramble for the door.)

FEMALE SCIENTIST

No, no, no, no…

(There is a cold sheathing sound of metal on metal- and the door is once again unlocked. The Female Scientist shoulders it closed just as the monster is opens it up.)

FEMALE SCIENTIST

What have you done?

VOICE

Plotting descent coordinates. Is this OK?

FEMALE SCIENTIST

NO! This is not OK! Where are we goddamned descending to?

VOICE

Voice pattern not recognized. Plotting Descent coordinates. Is this OK?

MALE SCIENTIST

Yes. Proceed.

FEMALE SCIENTIST

Stop!

VOICE

Coordinates attained. Is this all?

MALE SCIENTIST

No.

VOICE

Please clarify.

FEMALE SCIENTIST

Yes! Please Clarify!

MALE SCIENTIST

Flood out message N-N-Alpha upon completion of protocol.

VOICE

Flood message N-2-Alpha upon protocol complete.

Is this correct?

MALE SCIENTIST

Yes.

VOICE

This will deplete all remaining auxiliary power. Do you wish to proceed?

FEMALE SCIENTIST

No! /

VOICE

Voice pattern not / recognized. Do you wish to proceed?

FEMALE SCIENTIST

/ wherever it is that you think you're taking us- we'd be stranded. We could never return. I order you to stop immediately.

MALE SCIENTIST

Proceed.

FEMALE SCIENTIST

No, NO, NO!

VOICE

Sinusoid rotation at full.

FEMALE SCIENTIST

This is our home!

MALE SCIENTIST

No…

VOICE

Initiate when ready.

MALE SCIENTIST

Not any more.

(He pushes a button.)

VOICE

Activation compl-

PROLOGUE

(Darkness. The Female Voice burns through heavy static into our ears.)

VOICE

N-n…(a beep) alpha, message..n-n..alpha (a beep)

broadcast…n-2…alpha, message (beep)

(Technical noises, and then the voice of the Male Scientist.)

MALE SCIENTIST

This is a warning. For the inhabitants of the world into which we descend...this is your warning: I am one of two remaining scientists, from an entire civilization of scientists that has been annihilated by a creature from the 6th dimension. I cannot explain the nature of a 6th dimensional reality to creatures with intellect as limited as your own; but I can tell you that we scientists are from the 5th and that each of you belong to what is known as the space/time continuum.)

ACT 3

SHOWGIRL

Act 2.

TECH

Act 3.

SHOWGIRL

Wh- no. It's...

TECH

It's Act 3.

SHOWGIRL

This is where they told me to start.

ASSISTANT

What's the hold up?

SHOWGIRL

Isn't this where you said to start?

TECH

They can't...see what you're...

ASSISTANT

What are you pointing at? Can you show her where to start?

TECH

Look...

SHOWGIRL

That's the same. That's what I'm reading.

ASSISTANT

Your'e starting from the third act, okay?

TECH

(Grabbing her script) Her's says act 2.

SHOWGIRL

See?

Wyldaechi (nan) 2123

2 panels

1/2 page panel: Two black silhouettes climbing towards us from the cliff-face.

Narrative: (Jimmy Wyldes voice) "This is the way of it sweetheart…"

1/2 page panel: of evolving images: Cavemen, men in togas, men in Roman armor,
Men in armor full plate, men in modern military suits- men in space-age military suits.

Narrative (Jimmy Wylde) "-for as long as mans' been…he's been lookin' to his brothers defeat."



2 2 panels.

1/2 page panel: of evolving images: Simple stone arrowheads, tomahawks, swords,
axes, muskets, cannons, rockets, lasers- space-guns.

Narrative (Jimmy Wylde) "As long as he's been …he's made his weapons to go faster, further-
with more power."

1/2 page panel: of evolving images: Horses with mounted warriors, carts pulling
Cannons; jeeps, humvees, tanks- a giant gorilla-esq mechanoid rising from the skyline.

Narrative (Jimmy Wylde) "and since he's been…he's made for things to move them weapons to his wars.
All for his brothers' defeat."




3 3 panels.

2/3 page splash: Dark clouds forming on a desert horizon.

Narrative (Jimmy Wylde) "-some say it's justice that them things'd turn tail and fight him back.

2nd panel : Same dark clouds, but darker and on a darker horizon.

Narrative (Jimmy Wylde) "Poor fuckin' man…"

3rd panel: Same dark clouds, but with lightening crashing into the dark horizon.





4 Full page.

Tasha and Jimmy Wylde climbing towards us from the cliff-face.

Jimmy Wylde: "…and his poor fuckin' brother."

Title: School supplies.



5 2 panels.
1/2 page panel: Tasha and Jimmy Wylde are standing at the edge of a clifface, oriented towards
a deep depression in the arid, desert landscape around them. Tasha is looking
worriedly at the darkening sky, while Jimmy peers into the botom of the depression
at...
1/2 page panel: (The two panels form one conituous picture) a huge, ape-esque mechanoid that is
laying flat on its back amidst a sea of salvage.

Tasha ylde: "...shit."
Jimmy Wulde " Hmmm."



6 6 panels.

1st panel: Jimmy and Tasha are climbing down to the mechanoid.

Tasha: "How long do we have?"

Jimmy:"Tough to say..."

2nd panel: Close up on Jimmy's face, strained from exertion.

Jimmy:"Figuring that it's cells are dry from so much exposure...hell, even then...

3rd panel: Tasha is climbing with a concentrated look on her face. Her knuckles are white on the rock.

Jimmy's Voice:"-the slightest bit of moisture and that thing'll snap back to life in a matter of seconds."

4th panel: Tasha looks frightened as a raindrop hits her nose.

Tasha:"...terrific."

5th panel: Tasha and Jimmy are in middair after jumping the rest of the way down.
Their backs are toward us.

6th panel:Tasha and Jimmy are running at full speed toward to the mechanoid.


7 6 panels.

1/3 page panel: The mechanoid begins shaking violently as the two approach; points of
light burst upwards from certain sections of it's armour. A piercing mechanical shriek
suffocates the air.

2nd panel: Tasha wylde clasps her head in agony- screaming in pain.

3rd panel: Jimmy Wylde is also in agony- clasping his hands to his ears.

4th panel: The shrieking abrubtly stops and the points of light disapear.
Tasha and her father remain stooped and wincing, eyes shut.

Tasha Wylde:"Good...NESS!"

5th panel: Close up on Tasha and her father, eyes hesitantly open- scanning.

6th panel: Tasha and Jimmy are suddenly driven to the ground as a pillar of exaust erupts from
an opening near the mechanoids shoulder.


8 9 panels

1st panel: Still on the ground, Jimmy Wylde immediatly swivles his head in search of an escape route.

Jimmy Wylde:"Okay...I think we might be able to get back up to the cliff-face and shimmy down the
other side before it gets..."

2nd panel: Jimmy is staring in horror at the empty space his daughter had just occupied.

3rd panel: Jimmy is in the process of standing up when he see's Tasha's sillouette dashing towards
the awakening mechanoid. His face is one of frightened concentration.

4th panel: Jimmy Wylde is now racing towards his daughter, and the menacing ape-like machine.

5th panel: Tasha Wylde skids on her knees to a stop beside a maintenance hatch on the
mechanoids neck. She is already grasping a cigarette-pack sized charge of c/4 from her messenger
bag. Her fathers black silouette approaches in the distance.

6th panel: Tashas brow is furrowed in concentration. A single red light from the charge of c/4 gives an
eerie tint to the sweat on her face. The sillouette of her father draws nearer.

7th panel: Tasha is running away from the hatch with a trigger mechanism in her hand- her thumb is on
the button. There are the beginings of an explosion on the hatch and in the air around it..

8th panel: Tasha looks up in time to see her father leap through the flames and smoke- soaring towards
the newly forged hatch opening.

9th panel: Jimmy Wylde ends his leap in a poof of smoke landing inside the hatch.



9 6 panels.

1st panel: Tasha lowers herself into the hatch where her father is already wrist deep in wires and circutry
from a control panel that he snapped from the wall.

Jimmy Wylde:"You're grounded...snips, please..."

2nd panel: Tasha hands him the snips.

Tasha Wylde:"Oh heaven, spare me the injustice! I don't know if you remember..."

Jimmy Wylde:"Tape..."

3rd panel: She hands him the tape.

Tasha Wylde:" ...but we live in the goddamned desert, DAD! We sleep in caves and eat
rats with our bare, filthy hands. Are THESE the privilages you'll steal
away from me?

Jimmy Wylde:"You're diggin' deeper."

4th panel: Tasha is rolling her eyes as a door opens to the mechanoids cockpit.

Tasha Wylde:"...whatever."

5th panel: There is another mechanical shreik as the entire compartment begins to quake and rumble.
Jimmy is looking at Tasha, who is staring into the cockpit.

Jimmy Wylde:"Focus, Jellybean. The AI just activated. What do you do?"

6th panel: Tasha is scanning the cockpit with a concentrated look in her eye. Jimmy is standing behind her
ready to evaluate her response.

Jimmy Wylde: "NOW, Tasha!"

Tasha Wylde: "okay, uhh...this is...this is a flat model seven, silver-slick ...and...

Jimmy Wylde: "No time hotshot!"

Tasha Wylde: "-and it's got a non-mod, AI overwatch security slave embedded into ALL system-wide
functions and controls."

Jimmy Wylde: "AND?"

Tasha Wylde: "...and...and that means we can't hack this system while the AI is watching everything we do."


10 5 panels.

1st panel: Tashas brow is furrowed in complex thought. She does not notice that her father is headed for the
hatch through which they entered. She continues to speak as if he is still listening.

Tasha Wylde: "Wait, though...during startup, an AI can't orient itself to more than one objective at a time...
but it's default command ..up; is to protect the system until the system is able to protect
the AI.

2nd panel:Tasha is strapping herself into the cockpit- The bottoms of her fathers legs on the rungs of the ladder
below the hatch- are all that remain of him.

Tasha Wylde:"So, if we could endanger the external system long enough for the AI to abandon its gaurd
on the internal system, then I might be able to break into the control mechanism and cut out the
AI completly.

3rd Panel: Tasha is suprised when a gunshot on the porthole window stops her in mid sentence.

Tasha Wylde: "Wha-?"

4th panel: Tasha is peering out of the porthole at her father who is aiming a handgun directly at the 50 ton
city-killing robot.

Tasha Wylde:"Dad?"

5th panel: "Tasha is lunging franticaly into the computer system. She is now her fathers only hope.



11 5 panels.

1/2 page panel: The silver slick mechanoid has been attacked by Jimmy Wylde. Jimmy stands with
his handgun held meekly before him as the giant killing machine rears to deadly life before his eyes.

2nd Panel: Jimmy's handgun is in focus against the blur of the massive silver slick in the foreground.

3rd panel: Jimmy's handgun is now a blur against the whirring multitude of cannos and space lasers
aimed directly at his person.

4th panel: Jimmy has dropped the pistol, and is running at full speed for cover.

5th panel: Jimmy is leaping behind the scavenged torso of an abandoned mechanoid. An explosion
disentigrates the place he was just standing.



12 9 panels:

1st panel: A close up shot of the silver slick unloading millions of rounds into the carcas of the
salvaged mechanoid.

2nd panel: Jimmy is poised behind the salvage with his eyes closed. Lasers and ammo are exploding
in pings and pangs and clouds of dust all around him.

Jimmy Wylde: "11, 12, 13, 14, fifteen hundred rounds..."

3rd panel: Another close up of the silver slick unloading ammunition.

Voice over (Jimmy):"16,17,18,19, 2000 rounds...reload.

4th panel: Jimmy is grinning. The silver slick machine guns have stopped firing. Lasers still wash the
ground around him.

5th panel: Jimmy is still poised behind the salvaged mechanoid. Lasers whip through the air above his head.

Jimmy Wylde:"4, 3, 2, 1...overheated..."

6th panel: A close up of the silver slick laser rifle, not firing, smoke pouring through the barrels.

7th panel: Jimmy is running for cover behind the cliffface. He has a long way to go.

8th panel: The silver-slick towers over Jimmy, who is still sprinting for cover behind the cliff-face.

Silver Slick (In a monstourous machine-like voice):"STOP! HA!HA!HA!HA!"

9th panel: Realizing that he has no where to go, unable to reach the clifface in time- he stops in his tracks
and holds his hands high in the air.



13 5 panels.

1st panel:Silence as Jimmy and the silver slick stare at each other from a distance.

2nd panel:Same scene visually.

Silver slick:"...and that concludes our man-eating killer robot portion of the tour..."

3rd panel: Tasha is sitting in the cockpit grinning like an idiot- wires and computer parts strew across
the floor and ceiling chaotically.

Tasha:"We do ask that you visit our charming gift shop on your way out of the building...

4th panel: Jimmy is standing, facing away from us- looking at the mechanoid who is giving him the thumbs up.

5th panel: Jimmy is not amused. He is looking up to where he assumes his daughter is seated- and frowns.

Jimmy Wylde:"Grounded."


14 5 panels.

1st panel: A speck of a shuttle amidst the blackness of outer-space.

Narrative box (top of page): Meanwhile, in outer space.

Dialogue (bottom page): Be carefull, now boy...

2nd panel: The shuttle is bigger. We can begin to define it's shape.

Dialogue: These machines don't run on batteries.
They use the earths magnetic field as
an energy source.

3rd panel: We can read the writing on the side of the shuttle, now.
It says: Science frigatte 329Q8
The Great Return

Dialogue: They use satalites to transfer magnetism
into the machines recievers- where it's
converted into workable energy and dispersed
throughout the system as needed.

3rd panel: We see a little bit more of the shuttle, and of it's destination:
The edge of a great, blue earth.

Dialogue: My concern...


4th panel: The shuttle is heading straight toawrds earth,
which now takes up a majority of the panel.

Dialogue: ...is how the shuttle will react as we draw nearer to the-


15 4 panels

1st panel: Dawn, a young man of about 17, is piloting the vessel. Strapped
in to a passenger seat behind him is Dr. Dodd Euretig. Dawn and the doctor
are suddenly bathed in an intense red light- and a deep rumle fills
the cockpit. Dawn is rolling his eyes in bothered disbelief.

Dr. Euretig: -to the planet.

Dawn: Terrific.

Songa Red

During the initial shock of a Zombie Apocalypse; it's the men and women of faith that do the most damage. 1 They run out of their homes into the sunshine of the good lords rapture 2 and into their neigbors 3 or their children 4 who eat their arms 5 or their genitals- 6 and then that person becomes a Zombie..7 and everyone thinks there's a big church meeting going on- 8 so they all skank out into the sunshine in their sunday best with their arms over their heads 9 and then somebody eats their skin off 10 and they become a Zombie..and it's so ironic because somebody JUST gave you the 11 'why not be prepared and read the bible- that way your bases are covered if there IS a God.' speech- 12 but you can clearly see the guy outside of your window being gutted alive 13 by a pack of naked old women, so it's obvious that his bases were not covered at all. 14 He can't scream...15 because his lungs have just been torn out of his chest- 16 but he makes direct eye contact with you- 17 so you sigh, open your window- 18 give him a brief look of mechanical sympathy with a half shrug and a 'you can do it nod'... 19 then you turn around, roll your eyes 20 lock your door 21 and watch your roomate play 'dance, dance, revolution' while you finish your coffee and eat a bowl of cereal.

22 Before the Cable service was discontinued- there was an account of a sole remaining keeper of a large metropolitan zoo who confusedly decided to flee from the relative saftey of his 23 gated, 24 food-laden animal sanctuary...for the 25 trite, screaming, 26 unprotected comforts of some 27 random, panicked crowd with handguns.

28 Fearing that his helpless wards would starve in his absence, 29 the zoo keeper released all of the animals from their cages- 30 made a determined, B-Line Sprint for the exit but..31 was mauled to death, almost immediately by a healthy young pair of Afican lions named 32 Bobmbatha, 33 and Songa Red.

34 I watched on T.V. as the lions leapt over a couple of short fences to their freedom on the other side of the zoo. 35 I watched as they roared and shook their manes free of blood and chunks of man. 36 I watched as every Zombie eyestoped and turned to the spectacle of the two, young predator cats standing unafraid in the middle of the street.

37 I saw wave after wave of undead masses threw themseves in blind, ferocious hunger against the lions; 38 and I watched as the clouds of blood settled onto the ground and the two victorious animals stepped from beneath the shadows and into sunlight for a nap.

39 You can fight zombies with a baseball bat.
40 You need a snub nose .38 for everything else.

41 Zombies are maladous things. 42 They don't groom theselves 43 or comminicate with one another. They, unlike other predatorial animals, 44 are not endowed with natural instict or 45 prowes of hunt. 46 They are retarded and slow and 47 almost completely harmless 48 unless they happen to be traveling in a pack; which is rare- 49 as Zombies are unable to understand the benifits that such a union may bring.

50 So how did they take away our Nintendos?
51 Why are we foraging for berries instead of shopping for food?

52 I guess, eventually, everybody wants a little civility- 53 just like everybody longs to be in love 54 and to do drugs 55 and to have sex..but I promise you, no matter how bizarre it may seem.. 56 before all of this happened- every body who was having sex and doing drugs and falling in love- all of those people were secretly wishing for a Zombie apocalypse. That's no fuckin' joke.