A crash course in changing the world.
Close up on Ember, looking at the phone.
EMBER
Excuse me, class. We’ll pick up this discussion next week.
PANEL D
Ember picks up the phone and opens the laptop secretively as her class files out. In the background, two students whisper as they leave.
STUDENT 1
What do you bet she pulls another one of her disappearing acts?
EMBER 2
This is Ember.
PANEL E
ALCHEMY 1 (splitscreen him in)
It’s Alchemy. There’s a problem in Tokyo. I’m sending you in.
EMBER 2
Tokyo?!! How am I supposed to keep a low profile in Tokyo?! I don’t exactly pass for a Harajuku girl.
ALCHEMY 3
You’ll have to be creative.
PANEL F
EMBER 1
Is it a food shortage? Citizen X has been posting leaked government memos all over the web.
ALCHEMY 2
Citizen X is an irresponsible and dangerous organization, and I don’t know why you follow them. But yes, it’s a food shortage. And we’re going to fix it.
PAGE 4
PANEL A
TEXT BOX: Bo-Kaap Township. Capetown
We are inside a small fabrication shop. Outside a window in the background, we can see a billboard with the EVOKE logo and the tagline “It could be anyone.” In the extreme foreground is a laser cutter. The color palette for this scene is purple. EUREKA, who was operating the device, has just removed a safety visor from her face. She is talking on a similar silver phone, a laptop open on the desk in front of her. She looks serious, but also excited, energized.
EUREKA 1
Is it just Tokyo, or do they want us to handle the other cities, too?
ALCHEMY 2
We fix Tokyo.
INSET PANEL B
Alchemy in his control room.
ALCHEMY 1
Tokyo will fix the rest.
PANEL C
Back in the workshop. Eureka has a duffle bag in her hand.
ALCHEMY
How soon can you leave?
INSET PANEL D
Close up on Eureka.
EUREKA 1
Give me an hour.
PANEL E
A reverse shot from overhead. Eureka has the duffle in hand. In front of her is a wall bristling with tools of all kinds. The tools range from low-tech (wrenches, hammers, pliers, etc) to super high-tech devices with graphical displays, lasers for topographical maps, RFID sensors, to precision devices like micrometers. The idea is an overwhelming juxtaposition of a variety of tools.
EUREKA 2
I just need to pack up some tools.
PAGE 5
PANEL A
TEXT BOX: The Great Rift Valley, Kenya.
We are outside a busy farm. A simple sign identifies this location as the Happiness Honey Collective. A row of beekeepers tend to hives of honeybees, and we can see greenhouses in the distance. In the distance, workers load palettes of honey jars into a truck. In the foreground is QUINN, standing at a table with his laptop and phone out. A little ways behind him (out of earshot), an associate watches a helicopter visible in the distance. The tint for this sequence is orange.
QUINN 1
How bad is the situation?
ALCHEMY 2
I’m sending you a detailed brief.
PANEL B
Quinn’s laptop screen shows a cascade of data under the heading EVOKE 001285:
A graph showing diminishing national food reserves.
News headline: Pacific fisheries at all-time low, yellow tuna catch lowest ever.
Statistic on malnutrition cases in Tokyo.
Projected mortality rates.
Internal memo on the rice reserves from Tokyo Emergency Resources Dept. – watermarked with “leaked by Citizen X”
OFF-PANEL 1
You know, besides all these problems, Tokyo’s also been generating its own mini greenhouse effect for decades.
PANEL C
ALCHEMY 1
What are you suggesting?
QUINN 1
If we can get enough new plants in the ground, we might solve a few problems at once – feed the people, clean the air, cool the climate.
ALCHEMY 3
Sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you, Quinn. Good luck.
PANEL D
The helicopter from the previous frame touches down near Quinn. It has the EVOKE logo on it.
PAGE 6
PANEL A
TOKYO. THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE.
A big-screen TV is flashing “INCOMING CALL.”
ASSISTANT 1
It’s for you, sir. It’s him.
GOVERNOR 2
So he really does exist.
PANEL B
ALCHEMY appears on the screen. That is, Alchemy’s digital avatar appears.
ALCHEMY 1
Mr. Governor, this is Alchemy. You are EVOKE number 001285. Are you aware of how we work?
GOVERNOR 2
I’ve only heard the same legends as everyone else.
INSET PANEL C
Let’s see Alchemy’s face for this line.
ALCHEMY 3
And that’s what you’ll keep telling people.
PANEL D
EMBER takes pictures of an empty lot in a residential neighborhood.
OFF-PANEL (maybe in a text box with quotes)
Officially, we don’t exist.
PANEL E
EUREKA works on a 3D model on her computer.
OFF-PANEL (text box, quotes?)
Our specialists will handle your food shortage, but everything is off the books.
PANEL F
QUINN takes soil samples in a park.
OFF-PANEL (text box, quotes?)
You’ll quietly facilitate local resources and access to public land. We’ll provide the imagination.
PAGE 7
PANEL A
EMBER interviews a grocer with a nearly empty store.
OFF-PANEL (text box, quotes?)
When we’re done, the people of Tokyo will have fresh fruits and vegetables every day of the year.
PANEL B
EUREKA making notes at Tokyo Harbor.
OFF-PANEL (text box, quotes?)
We keep a 50% share in the profits. You take all the credit.
PANEL C
QUINN examines trees planted on a street in Harajuku.
OFF-PANEL (maybe in a text box with quotes)
By the time we leave, Tokyo will have thousands of new food security specialists. So next time, you won’t have to send an EVOKE.
PANEL D
A wide shot of Tokyo, looking down from above.
OFF-PANEL 1 (text box? But make clear that this is the Governor speaking, not Alchemy)
When does the team arrive?
PANEL E
A view from even higher up, we start to see the shape of the Japanese landmass.
OFF-PANEL 1 (text box? This is Alchemy speaking again.)
Mr. Governor, we don’t waste time.
PANEL F
We’re at orbital altitude, looking down on the earth and Japan. A small satellite (a cube-sat) is foregrounded above Japan. On it, we see the logo of the EVOKE network.
OFF-PANEL 1
My team is already there.
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