PAGE 1

Panel One
A broad horizontal panel running across the top of the page. Its a shot of the city sky line, could be taken as the view from the top of a really tall building. Its dusk, so the colour of the sky is a wild picture, almost oil on canvas in texture, with silhouettes of really old buildings mixing with the sky, interspaced by jutting spires of old temples or synagogues, places of worship of unspecified religions really, only really grand, and tall. And somewhat menacing. The focus, though, is on what lies directly below. What lies directly beneath is a series of alleyways and roads that form a network, which are almost glowing with unearthly lights almost what a city looks like at night when an airplane is landingbut brighter and more alive, and pulsing. Cap: Night comes bringing to life the dead dreams of one who is forever enamored of her offerings, her treasures of namelessness, cool, cool bursts of breeze and, most of all forgetting. If you can make Night fall in love with you, she will give you her heart.

Panel Two
Similar panel, on the tier under the first. Drawing a little closer into the vast network of lights, reveals people populating the roads. But no details are visible. Its a shot of a snatch of multicoloured lights with touches of darkness hinted at towards the edge of the frame, to show that it is a close up of the previous shot. Cap: She hopes to be loved in return too. Like any woman of respectable mystique, she guards her true self until she is certain. Even then, she is wary of rejection. Handle her with care.

Panel Three
Third tier, rectangular panel, in a set of three frames. Close up reveals a red light district but not of a first world country, or a third world country. Its actually an uneasy mix of both. A number of buzzing neon signs, but on dilapidated colonial office buildings, and some other shanty- type looking structures, possibly made of a hybrid of cement and mud. Whatever is visible is awash in the colours of the neon and street lamps. The rest lies in shadows. But the suggestion of slithering activities is palpable. Cap: Look at these who live and thrive under Nights wings.

Panel Four
Frame identical in dimension to the previous one. A close up shot of one of the buildings. Colonial style veranda highlighted by the street lights against damp and moss grown walls. Women are practically hanging off the balcony in an effort to show themselves. Their faces arent visible, just their torsos. They are flabby and straining against whatever little they are wearing, if they wear anything at all. There are also a few wisps of smoke in the frame, from a cigarette or a cheroot (this is optional, will see what that looks like- if its cluttering the frame too much or not).

Cap: Understand that she waits for acceptance.

Panel Five
Same dimensions as the last one. A head and torso shot of a prostitute and her client having sex. Focus is on the faces. In two colours, probably. Should have the quality of looking two people in love, but should have a mechanical and hence bleak quality to the expressions of the faces. Caps: Feel her passion.

Page 2
Panel One
Same size as the first page. Top horizontal panel. A man in an armchair sits beside a window in a dark room. The only light source is the window from which dirty, coloured light illuminates a portion of his features in silhouette. He is smoking, and looks like he wants to disappear into the chair. The room is a mess. You can see a corner of a bed with rumpled sheets gathered towards the end. What can be seen of the wall is very decrepit, with plaster falling out to reveal the brick structure underneath. He is obviously in a room in a building in the red light district. Cap: David Erasmus has long since won the love of Night, known her undercurrents and willingly performed a suicidal jump into them. But he no longer feels her passion. He no longer feels anything.

Panel Two
Rectangular panel, on the second tier. Closer view of Erasmuss face- hence more details visible. His eyes are bleak. And he has the emaciated look of one who has ceased to care about things in the world, let alone taking care of himself. Or someone who is slowly withering away under the constant press of some consumptive disease which has left him only skin and bones, with shadows forming where there should be none. Cap: Life is more bearable if he just exists. He studiously avoids opening the taps of emotion and associations so he does not have to deal with the empty crater that is his soul. He prefers to skate around it.

Panel Three
Shot cuts to the other side of the room. We can see a dark, side profile of Erasmuss face, seeming to look to where we are focusing. It is a remarkable computer station with a variety of cameras stored on the floor around it. An unearthly light comes off the screen making it look more out of place from its surroundings. Cap: His compulsion. It saves him. From guilt. From boredom. In stasis. Barely..

Panel Four

A wider rectangular panel that should be precisely twice long as the last panel, horizontally. The shot is from above, looking down, to see him walking from the chair towards the computer. No Text.

Panel Five
Shot of bent knees and his hands reaching for one of the cameras on the floor. The figure and the camera is in black silhouette against the brighter background of the street lights. No Text.

Panel Six
Shot of the camera held in Erasmuss hand, one hand opening the display screen on the cameras side against the background of the open window. The camera has been powered on and the screen glows with an electric green light. No Text.

Panel Seven
Closer shot of the camera and the display screen. The red light indicating recording is seen to be on (and possibly blinking), and the screen shows a couple underneath the opposite building doing the brisk business of fornicating. The image is lined and bluish. Cap: It seems he leads a better life inside his camera. Garbage is beautiful within. It doesnt smell. He is protected from the world by a liquid crystal display. Most of all, the world is safe from him.

Page 3
Panel One
Same panel dimension and content as the last panel on the last page, with a minor change in the view on the display panel, moving a little beyond the couple on the side, and passing over the dark space in between that house and the next. A flash of glowing eyes looking into the camera. Perhaps from beneath a large cowboy hat. No Text.

Panel Two
Shot shows side profile of Erasmus, looking down at the camera with a shocked expression on his face. The camera in his hand is gently smoking. Cap: What the-?!

Panel Three
Shot from outside the window, from the window level looking down, side view of the street. Erasmus is peering down and the man in the alleyway is walking off briskly towards the opposite end of the street. We see his back, he is wearing a dark cowboy hat and a long coat which bellows out behind him like a cloak as he walks away swiftly. Cap: Erasmus: WAIT!! HEY!! [ letter in all bold]

Panel Four
Large rectangular panel. Can take up as much space as is left. Shot of stairways with Erasmus running down, wearing a jacket on the fly and one hand desperately grappling with a camera. The lighting is a dark towards the bottom, and lighter towards the top, towards where his room is supposed to be. Pipes and electrical wiring hang from the ceiling, heavily decorated with cobwebs and grime. It is obviously not one of the premiere locations of the city. Cap: Erasmus: Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!

Page 4
Panel One
Only one panel. Its a full page splash out. Vista of the entire street, from the top, laid out it all its dubious glory. Hookers and pimps everywhere you look, walking up and down, or gathered in clusters around garbage bins, A couple of cars parked beside the side walks, with girls bending in through the windows offering dates. Some of them already working, with no privacy, right underneath the buildings. And the verandas and the windows are all lit with the unearthly mixture of neon, street lights and shadows and women hanging off them, making lewd hand gestures with their whole bodies. Also, masses of common men. Some suited, walking furtively, and some merely wandering around. Erasmus has exited the building and is running after the man in the hat, who is disappearing around the corner at the end of the street. Cap: Erasmus: WAIT!!

Page 5
Panel One
Horizontal panel. Street scene of crumbly old buildings, with political graffiti, much busier streets, with loads of people walking along the pavements. No traffic movement to speak of. Only people. The shot is a little blurry, to show speed, but not so blurry that one cant identify the street features. The left hand corner of the page has Erasmuss body shown in a motion of running. He is clearly trying to run after the man.

No Text.

Panel Two
Similar panel to above, yet the street character changes. This street is darker and obviously moving out of the red light district and into old residential area. Yet its not completely out of it. The shot is of transition, from lights of yellow, red and purple melding into tones of grey, blue and black highlighted with white. Erasmus stands bent over the middle of the frame, bent double, yet looking forward, obviously out of breath and having no idea which way the man had gone. Cap: A different world. He had not realized until then that he had given up thinking beyond the seven or fifteen by lanes that formed the colony of inequities.

Panel Three
A long vertical panel, till page end. Its an aerial view of what Erasmus is seeing, with him, back facing at the bottom of the panel. The view is of a ghostly avenue. The houses lining the streets are old, possibly colonial with rambling porticos of the kind the British colonials inspired their subjects to build. Crumbling Doric columns and wooden blinds that seem always to come in the generic colour of a dirty green, washed an undistinguishable shade of gray at night, and wrought iron filigreed railing work which seemed to be a standard. The dominant feature of the panel is the moon. Drawn a little larger than normal, more dramatic. To emphasize the difference between the place he is now entering versus what he just left. Cap: It felt like years, since the last time he felt so taken with the innate wonder of discovering something new. Something which was beautiful in its declining glory.

Panel Four
Rectangular panel, half the height of the previous vertical. Erasmus sits on one of the darkened porticos. The night is enveloping everything, like a black mist, which is changing the character of the house he is sitting in front of. Everything except his limbs, which shine a silvery colour. Reference: Tnzerinnen mit Schuhen by Edgar Degas. Cap: He looked at his surroundings and thought that the plight of the colonials was a pitiful yet a painfully human one. Thankfully, the fight of unchecked greed, against the nature that fought back against them, had yielded a beauty, that outlasted all.

Panel Five
Similar panel dimensions as last. Close up shot of Erasmuss face looking to the side. His expression is of surprise, and quick interest. He has seen something of the man he was following, and it shows on his face. No Text.

Page 6
Four vertical panels fitting into one page.

Panel One
Shot of Erasmus looking up to the building opposite to where he is sitting. He is in a silhouette. But the building he is looking up at rises in front of him a little larger than life. Its an elongated panel, so one can only see his body, the house and especially a window midway between the ground floor and the first floor of the house, noticeable because of a yellow/orange light of non-electrical light illuminating it, and in it a clear shadow of a man in a cowboy hat, gesticulating and talking to someone not in the frame. Cap: It wasnt really a trip at all. He had almost made up his mind that his wandering into this quarter was because of something he had ingested. Not that he remembered.

Panel Two
Close up of the entrance to the house. It appears to be an old shop. There is a grimy shop window, through which nothing can be deciphered except for vague shapes of glass bottles with crystal stoppers, flasks, beakers, and some other unnamable things. He assumed that they were in an equal uncared for state. No Text

Panel Three
He peers into the window, by rubbing of a rough circular spot on the glass. There is a paper notice which- though it is dark, the moonlight allows him to read- Cao Brothers pvt. Limited [still cant decide upon a name that fits yet], purveyors of relief from maladies and ailments, nightmares and wishes. Cap: [might make this into a speech bubble] Please consult with our attendant for anything you cannot find on display display.

Panel Four
Shot shows the top half of the door to the shop. It is opening to suggest that he is stepping inside. Its a really old fashioned wooden door with an old fashioned bell on top of the frame which has been disturbed by the motion of the door, signaling his arrival. No Text.

Page 7
Panel One
Shot of a shelf. Close up. Vials and bottles of all conceivable styles, with new and aging labels. Writing on them not clear. Their age is only discernable from the tints of white on the labels- ranging from pristine white to yellowish. A little dreamy in texturing, oil on canvas type brush style to be used, to mark the surreal quality of what he is experiencing.

No Text

Panel Two
Same panel as before. Should look like two separate window panes looking into the same scene, of the contents of a shelf inside a medicine store of yore. No text.

Panel Three
Closer look at the bottle labels. They read: Thyme, Laudanum, Milk of Magnesia andCap: [in speech bubble] Whiskers of Bast.

Panel Four
Horizontal, long second panel on the tier. Slightly wider than normal. Erasmus is standing in front of a long wooden U shaped counter. There is one oil lamp burning on it. Behind the counter, in between the shelves, some odd things can be seen- a crimson velvet flag with golden tassels, thrown carelessly into a corner with a pile of books and a really old and what looks like a 16th century globe, and some other things. A Kalashnikov is standing incongruously against a shelf. There are two doors between the shelves, with pink floral curtains hiding what lies behind, looking more starkly out of place than the gun or the flag or the globe or the books. There is also a very modern computer some distance away from him on the counter and a mug of coffee. No Text.

Panel Five
Close up of the mug. It is stark white with a stylized graphic of Che Guevara arm raised in a fist pump of power. The mug is steaming. Suggesting its owner hasnt long been gone, soon to be back. Cap: [Speech bubble]: Hello? Is anybody here?

Panel Six
Same panel dimensions as above. Half of Erasmus is visible on the right side and the pink curtains. Cap: [Speech bubble emanating from the curtains]; something unintelligible, in Spanish. [Possibly saying No need to bring out the dead, Ill be there in a minute.]

Page 8

Panel One
Closer look at the pile of junk in the corner- the wound up flag, the globe, what looks like a big many pronged branch of a tree stuck on a carved stand. Shoes encrusted with precious stones and luxury fabrics and gold threads hanging from every branch. Piles and piles of books line the floor space between the shelves and the shop counter. It is a mess, all mixed with the wires that come out of the computer. The shot is like what it would look like if he was to look over the counter and try to look into what is underneath. Cap: Lists of things start appearing in his mind and he finds himself saying them as they appear in his mind. [speech bubble]: The shoe tree of Chinku Rani of Gwalior, Sir Walter Raleighs globe, Joan of Arcs flag of battle...

Panel Two
[speech bubble] the complete set of journals of Johann Georg Faustus. There is a loud slapping sound accompanied by a cloud of dust as a book is forcefully dropped beside him. He is startled to see a man who wasnt there two seconds ago leaning really close to him seemingly as involved as he is at looking at the artifacts that are piled carelessly into the corner. He cuts a slight figure, though going to seed a little as witnessed by the slight protrusion of a belly that comes from a good living. But he has piercing eyes, and graying hair and beard very familiar in style under a baseball cap turned upside down. He is also chewing on a fat cigar and deliberately blowing noxious smelling smoke into Erasmuss face. Cap: where had he seen this face before?

Panel Three
Shot of the cigar chewing man and the coffee cup on the table, taken from the level of the cup. The cups graphic is facing us, to draw the deliberate connection to what we are looking at. No Text.

Panel Four
Shot of Erasmuss face. He is completely bamboozled. No Text.

Panel Five
You will not find him here. It was a mistake coming here. So many people come in running after the man who think is following them. Such arrogance. What do you think you have that would warrant someone like him to- what is it that the others said?- stalk you? [Speech bubble]

The man behind the counter looks at him with piercing interest. Practically in his face.

Panel Six
The man starts to potter about with things on the shelves. Fools. Fools! Coming in here after they have laid themselves waste with their own self pity, because their mamas told them that their allowance is cut, or because they find that spending weeks inebriated in some sperm washed room on top of a whore colony to be fashionable. Fools. [ the man is mumbling to himself as he violently keeps looking at one bottle after the other on the shelf]

Page 9
Panel One
The man suddenly turns around and bangs his hands on the counter fiercely and through gritted teeth, hisses: [speech bubble] How much is too much? When will I stop coming out through that door to find the lowest forms of humanity, leeches like you wandering around in this store following the ephemera of narcotics? Have I not paid my dues?

Panel Two
Erasmus is baffled, a little scared, and for some reason he cannot get the mans resemblance to the cup out of his mind. He stares helplessly from the cup to the man, and blurts out: [speech bubble] But are you-?

Panel Three
There is a sudden and dramatic change in the demeanor of the man as he blurts this out. He seems to find some amusement. He rubs his hands together in anticipation, pulls a stool, sits down with flourish. The expression on his face is one of twisted glee. Almost like the harlequin mask used in the commedia dellarte. The man on the cup? Yes! Of course I am! Why wouldnt I be? I look like him, dont I? Well, if my face is on my cup, or the cups are on my face (ha ha), I must be him, no?

Panel Four
Closer shot of the man sitting on the stool. He now gives off an aura of Buddha in repose. Ready to postulate on subjects which are deep and time consuming. I like how everyone from these times takes reality to be what is printed on paper, or animated on a screen or in this case printed on a cup. Its so novel. No need for your eyes to work. They are useless and easily manipulated anyway. I mean, look here, you are convinced I am the man who is on this cup, and since I say so, you believe

me. Such innocence! You must go into common magic shows as well and believe that the rabbit indeed did come out of the nice mans hat, just because he tapped it!

Panel Five
Sit sit, sit youself down. He waves indistinctly to Erasmuss side. Now that you are here anyway, what else are you going to do? I also notice you have a camera. I love cameras. They went with me everywhere.. Shot is of the man who could be Che, from the front. His expression is half that of a benevolent host and half an irritated shop keeper.

Panel Six
Continuation of the last panel, in treatment, but narrower. Shows just his hand giving the Kalashnikov beside him a loving stroke. Cap: along with my other mistress.

Page 10
Panel One
Shot from one end of the shop counter, the end which does not have the computer. Shows that Erasmus has sat himself down. There is more of the shop visible from this angle- the shop window, a table at the center of the store with more bottles arranged in the middle like a crystalline wedding cake, but mildly dusty, and a ceiling fan that could be out of a boarding house in the eighteenth century Wild Wild west. [Speech bubble for Che] There was once a man, who walked alone. Sounds like a song no? Some lackwitt stole that line from me. Anyway, there was once a man who walked alone. But he didnt realize that he was alone until he was riddled with bullets and strung out to dry and view at the pleasure of the conceited western people. Until then he was a man who lived in the dusty pages of books that taught an ideal, that this man did not judge. He should have. Only sixteen bullets transforming his body into a human sieve, dripping the blood did he come to the truth.

Panel Two
Closer shot, but from the same angle. [Speech bubble for Erasmus] So you really are- Che: I took a deal. It was a good deal. It brought me here. I have a store. And in return I have to deal with jackasses like you. Its not such a bad deal. Also, I am a doctor. This is a medicine store. People need me. Its not so bad.[ almost like he is now speaking to himself. Reminding himself, contrary for his earlier outburst] Er: [convinced] So you are Che!

Panel Three

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Che leans forward, pressing his hand on the book on the counter, almost getting into Erasmuss face in agression. A small mist of dust is seen rising from in between there barely separated torsos. The spine of the book is visible showing gothic type, which says: Johann Georg Faustus. Volume One. In German. I have fought death, disease, hunger, pain, corruption, sadness and still survived. I made a deal to be here. I am Faust!!! [ appears to pant slightly] The look on Erasmuss face is consecutively that of someone who has another man getting into his face. A little scared. I made a deal with the man you followed in, like the bloody nincompoop that you are. And here I am. This is my penance.

Panel Four
Shot of Che, from the front, there is darkness in the background. There is sadness in him now. And a quiet miasma of desperation too. He is Mephistopheles himself. And he disposes of more people than he saves. And the ones that he saves are as confounded as I am if they have been really saved at all. And you followed him. [this is in a whisper]

Page 11
Panel One
Che looks resigned, suddenly, and also a lot calmer, compared to the theatrics of a few moments ago. He stands up from behind the counter, and says: You followed him. Straight into something you are not capable of understanding.

Panel Two
He opens the counter panel.

Panel Three
He makes a open palm gesture. Now pay the price. Youre now staying here.

Panel Four
Erasmus stands up like a lightning and attempts to run. Side view. Che stands where he was, looking amused. You will find that it is not that easy to leave now that you have ventured into the dragons den.

Panel Five

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Horizontal panel of Erasmus running through the shop to the shop doors.

Panel Six
He runs into something invisible about three feet from the door, and it was like hitting a wall. Ouch!

PAGE 12 Panel One

View of the shop display beside the door. The top of the stoppers on the vials on display starts coming off, with insidious coloured smoke seeps out.

Panel Two
Horizontal shot of Erasmuss back. The coloured smoke is coming from the floor outside the panel and twining themselves around his limbs.

Panel Three
Shot of his arm pulling at the smoke. But they hold fast, more like rope than coloured smoke.

Panel Four
Shot of Erasmuss face halfway turned. A look of terrified desperation on his face.

Panel Five
Shot of Ches face against the dark. His expression is smug and slightly disturbing too. I told you.

PAGE13 Panel One

Panel showing Erasmus being pulled by threads of smoke towards Che. Panel Two Close up of Erasmuss face as he is pulled backwards. Edges of smoke is seen on the bottom half of the panel. His eyes reflect the glass bottles on the shelf which he is passing. Panel Three

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As if in a dream, the smoke tendrils deposit him on the stool in front of the counter where he had attempted to run from. The panel shows him being deposited on the stool, bottom about half an inch from the surface of the stool. Panel Four Panel shows him sitting on the stool, with the tendril of smoke receding around the edge of the panel.

PAGE 14
Panel One Che is holding up a small, glass bottle. Inset- Panel Two Shows a close up of the bottle in his hand. The label is a strip of very old parchment, yellowed with age, edges going to brown, almost the colour of clotted and ages old blood. It reads: Tangiers sorrow. Che: The Tangiers sorrow. Panel Three Panel is a cut back to history. Its a scene in a market that might be in some Arabic city of old. There is an unchangeable quality in what the eye sees. Not as kistchy as the Disney Aladdin. Cap: a narrative bubble: but Ches voice coming through: Al Beruni was only a lad when he first saw the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. He felt a sudden certainty, that the face that contained those eyes behind the proper abaya, would be just as beautiful. Panel Four- Inset Show a woman in an abaya, the frame being set up and frame by a market stall, and indistinct food products, perhaps fruits, or dried fruits in large earthen vessels. Only the woman in the abaya is in focus, she should have all the details, and her eyes should be predictably powerful. The edges of her abaya, should be a little indistinct, gauzy, almost smoke-like. Basically has to be like a dream sequence- a very wet dream sequence, but only for an Arab. Cap: Those eyes had power. There as agelessness and seduction hidden under them. And Al Beruni had a terrible urge to know exactly what those eyes were hiding. Panel Five Closer shot of the woman, face and torso. She is motioning the viewer/Al Beruni to come closer, with her finger. He had to go.

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Panel Six+ Seven-Inset Panel six- al beruni: shown to be a child, wearing tatters, going towards the woman in a abaya. Very stark panel. Background is a dirty snowy grey, maybe. It looks like a trance. Panel Seven- closer shot, showing the woman grasping the boy by his face and staring into his eyes. His eyes are now big and rounded. His eyes reflect images of unearthly fires, which are shrouded in shadows. Cap: She breathed into him his life, the parts he had not yet lived. And he felt his entire lifes breathe constrict. PAGE 15 Panel One The woman reaches into her robe. The shot show her almost white hand moving towards her robe. Panel Two Only the hand is seen against the black of her robe, its only half visible, as it is reaching inside. Panel Three Same shot, thought the hand is out and drawing out a ornate brass vial. It glints. Needs to look special. Panel Four Return shot of the boys face being grasped by the woman. Only now she is scooping the tears that are coming out the boys wide eyes into the vial. Panel Five She is seen to hand the vial to the catatonic looking boy. And she says: This is the most potent personal weapon there ever was. Use it well. You will go far, boy Cap: And we all know how far Al Beruni went. PAGE 16 Panel One Cut out from the flashback. Che is holding the glass bottle near his face. The shot is suitably close up. Only the bottle and half of Ches face can be seen. This is it. It can be anything you want it to be at any given point of time. Its a truly personal weapon. Customized to perfection. As mild as feather or as deadly as a snake. Panel Two

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Shot of Erasmuss face. He looks terrified, and but its a mixture of fear and disbelief. Erasmus: Please. I dont want to be here anymore. This isnt real! It cant be! Panel Three Che carries on his end of the conversation as if nothing has been said. This was given to Garcia- So, Thats his name? Erasmus suddenly interjects. Yes, Thats his name. This was given to him by Al Beruni, because of a personal favor he had done. Panel Four Che: What lies inside this bottle will do exactly as I tell it to. And I cannot allow you to leave. Panel Five Close up of Ches mouth. Its in the motion of speaking. Youve seen too much. PAGE 17 Panel One Shot of Erasmus sitting dejected. His shoulders are slumped. He looks dejected. It becomes very obvious that he is not what conventional fiction touts heroes are made of. And that is obvious when he says: For how long? Panel Two Che is seen to be standing, about to do something, when he turns half way and says: Thats it? Thats all the fight you have in you? My boys in Congo had more of a spine. And most of them were only fifteen or less! Panel Three The look on Erasmuss face is a mixture of insolence and resignation. What would you have me do? I dont have it in me to be the idiots who you call heroes! Sure, I wish I could run into the face of gun shots, only on the useless fuel fumes of what you called ideology. But Im not that. Im a realist. In other words, you are a coward. Said Che. Call me what you will. But I do believe I am aware of the truths of my own capabilities. And their limitations. Now if you call that craven, so be it. Ill stick with Realist, thank you very much.

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Panel Four All right Mr. Realist. Said Che. He is now at the curtained door behind the counter, and the counter flap in between that let the outsiders come behind the counter is now seen to be open. Come with me. Its time to see the barracks. He motions to the pink curtained doors. PAGE 18 Panel One Shows a long corridor. Only a corridor. It is very dimly lit. Only one naked bulb, and not in full capacity either, lighting a portion of the ceiling. There are a couple of doors, and a turning into what could be a stairwell. But It is two dark to see. There are boxes and cartons stacked in random fashion along the walls, making for having no easy route to walk. Its almost like an obstacle course. The boxes are of mixed character. Some look very old. They are crates, could be from any point of time. Yet some are clearly from the military and might have contained ammunitions. The other ones are new, and made of cardboard. Yet there are proper wooden boxes interspaced among the gallery of containers, yet one can only see the edges. Panel Two Erasmus is lead past the boxes. The panel shows them navigating their way. This is side view. Might be a horizontal, long panel. Panel Three Che has stopped in front of the last door in the corridor. There is indeed a dark stairwell bang opposite it, thought it is bathed in darkness which is quite impenetrable. He has opened the door, and the light inside the room is on. Though by the quality of it, it is yet another naked bulb which is long past its prime and is coughing its last phlegm. Here. You will remain here and never venture out unless you are told to. Dont look like that-! Panel Four Shot of Erasmuss face. He looks like he is being dealt a death sentence. Panel Five Che, standing against the door. He looks a kinder now. Chances are you will be allowed to come out during the day to the front. To be my pet entertainment- haha! But its best you stay here now. Panel Six 09433226012 Erasmus is now standing inside the door, facing outside, so the rooms inside cannot be seen. He suddenly struggles out of his weird resignation and says:

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 But I dont know anything! I didnt do anything! You cant hold me here against my will! Panel Seven Che is closing the door, and his face is seen through a pair of half shut doors. He says: But did you try enough to escape? No. Do you really want to? No. Can you? You cant. What caught you for me was just a mild yet glorified form of a fishing net. There are more things hidden in the innocuousness that you see around you. Word to the wise, shut up and take it like a man. Panel Eight The shot shows the door shut, with a speech bubble emanating from them. Oh, and you will probably be hearing noises and voices at night sometimes. Even lights. Dont dwell on them, or try to listen. It wouldnt be good for you. Think of it as fragments of your already lurid imagination. Laughter shown underneath the bubble. PAGE 19 Panel One Erasmus finally turns into the room. Its a very stark room. It might have been white washed at some point, but now its just an uniform brown. There are open cables and wires hanging off the ceiling, and amongst the jungle of wires is the naked bulb hidden, invisible except for the light it is sporadically emitting. There is another stack of boxes and crates, a store room, clearly, yet there is a wooden pallet at a corner and a shelf built into the brick wall, which has an old whiskey bottle filled with water and a glass. Panel Two Erasmus looks at the boxes. Cap: Like everything in his very unfortunate situation, it still incited his curiosity. He would have liked nothing better but to open one of those boxes to discover what was inside. Because he could bet his worthless self that it wasnt pharmaceuticals. Panel Three He looks at the pallet now. Cap: But he had heard that curiosity had killed a cat. Or so they said. Panel Four He goes and sits on the pallet. The shot shows him sitting down on the bed, face lowered. Cap: It would do him no good to explore that cats nasty reputation by following its escapades.

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Panel Five Shot shows him lying down, Hand reaching to turn of the light switch. Cap: This, was a game of wait and watch. And he would do just that. PAGE 20 Panel One Shot of him lying down in the darkness. His arms are behind his head. His eyes are staring at the ceiling. Cap: He just realized that this was the first time he was out on uncharted waters. He truly didnt know what he was doing. And the fear that he now felt was the truest that he had ever felt in his entire existence. Yet so was the excitement. Panel Two Shot of the door. Its dark. Panel Three Same shot. Theres sunlight under the door. Panel Four Same shot. Its dark under the door again. Panel Five Same shot. There is light under the door. But this light is not sunlight. Its got a blueish electric and neonish tinge to it. PAGE 21 Panel One Erasmus is seen to be staring at the door in a listless fashion. His eyes are seen to be staring vacantly at towards the general direction of the door. Cap: Conception of time and space had left him. It ceased to have meaning. The needs of his body no longer existed. Hunger, pain, exhaustion, need for the lavatory, all had melted away in the darkness of the room. Panel Two Close up of his face. His eyes has transformed from listless to suddenly alert. Speech bubble from out of the panel: You have to understand, ma cherie, that my king will notice that I am gone. I have to be back in time for the banquet! Second speech bubble:

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 And you shall. Have I ever broken my word to you yet? Panel Three Panel shows Erasmus out of bed and creeping towards the door. Panel Four He is at the door. He is pressing his ears against it. His hands are also pressed against the doors. Panel Five He grabs at the handle to the door, and grips it to have a firm hold. As if pressing himself against the door, as if they would become one, would make him hear well. Panel Six The door parts slightly under his touch. It had been unlocked. PAGE 22 Panel One The door is parted a little, and silhouettes of two people are visible. One is obviously of the man he had followed into is imprisonment, and the other of a woman. She was wearing something which gave off a very balloon like shape to her. And she was also obviously shrouded in a veil. It made for a very bizarre shape. Panel Two The shot now moves a little closer to the people in the shadows. The doors are no longer visible. Both the man and the woman have a little unearthly glow reflecting off their clothing. Garcia: You know what you have to do this time? The woman: Have I ever failed you? Just be in the great Antechamber at midnight of February the 15th, and you shall get all of it. Panel Three The man moves his hands and a streak of blue light appears from his fingers. It flows from them and engulfs the woman in a gossamer web. Garcia: Later, darling. The Woman: Au Revoir, mon ami. Panel Four- Six The woman fades into nothing. Panel Seven

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Shot of Erasmuss face, through the crack of the parted doors. It is, predictably shocked. PAGE 23 Panel One Garcia turns his head and stares straight at the door. Erasmus suddenly fears with certainty that his presence has been noticed, and the man knew that he was there all along. Panel Two He stumbles back. And holds his breath. Panel Three The man stares at the door for a moment. Panel Four He suddenly turns and walks away. Panel Five Shot of Erasmus, looking at his own hand. It is shaking. PAGE 24 Panel One to Three The shots of the corridor. The darkness is growing consecutively lighter and light, and a pale grey light Is lighting it up. It creates a stark contrast to the naked bulb which had been valiantly trying to light up the space. Panel Four Erasmus peeks his head out of the door. Cap: He had been forgotten, it would seem. That meant a license to attempt an escape. Panel Five As he walks by the way he came, he runs his hands over the walls, and discovers that they are not peeling plaster as he had originally thought. Obscure shapes had been carved into the wall. It appeared like peeling paint before. But now they just looked like runs made by the hand of a demented prisoner. Panel Six He walks into the store again, expecting it to be empty, but finds Che sitting on a stool against one of the shelves, now smoking a carved wooden pipe and reading a paper. He looks up as Erasmus walks in.

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Che: What? Planning to go somewhere? PAGE 25 Panel One Shot moves to a different angle, but with the same composition. Che: Well, dont just stand there like an idiot, move your butt. We have a lot to do this morning. Panel Two Shot shows a clock on the wall. Its face shows the time as 5.10. Panel Three Che, motioning to the pile of books behind where Erasmus is standing, says: Catalogue them. Theres a ledger right behind you. And some ink. Panel Four to Six Finding nothing to say, Erasmus turns to the pile of books, and picks up a stack and keeps them on the counter. They let off a cloud of accumulated dust. All the books are very old. And the one on top, is a genuine manuscript. Shot shows him picking up the books, keeping it on the table with the emission of the dust cloud, and a close up of him picking up the manuscript and opening it, to show a heavily illuminated page title page. PAGE 26 Panel One The book is a bible. One of the first ones printed by Gutenbergs press. But the strange thing was that, though it was really old, it was by no means at the point of dissolving into dust. It just looked to be a century old, and kept in a very dusty attic. Shot shows the title and the date of publication. Panel Two to Six He goes through other books in the stack, each shot shows him setting aside each book on top to reveal the one beneath. They are the personal Journal of Sigmund Freud, workbook of Nicholas Flamel, The little black book of Sir Francis Walsingham, and two other leather bound books which he could not read, but clearly something arcane was their content judging by the signs engraved on their covers. PAGE 27 Panel One Shot shows Erasmus looking to Che, with a ledger and an inkwell in his hands. Erasmus: And what do I write with? Che: The quill is under the counter.

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Panel Two He picks up the quill from under the counter, it is an eagle quill, very wispy, and sort of mangy. He looks at it with disdain and disbelief. Do you not have anything normal in here? Panel Three Che looks at him with his arm resting on the counter, the newspaper hanging limply. Do you understand the importance of recordkeeping? Not the crap that libraries and accountants do, not the type of records the machines of imperialism keep to keep track of their charity? Panel Four Shot shows Erasmus has opened the inkwell, and the ink inside is a muddy brown colour with black inks floating in swirls like oil in water. Che: The ink you hold is made from rock minerals and the soil of Gobekli Tepe, the oldest known example of human habitation, well before the times of Neanderthal Man. The soil and the rock minerals are from a site which people believe the temple mound used to be. This ink is powered from religions which have been so far erased from human memories that it might never had existed at all. This ink is the only truly indelible ink there is. Panel Four Shot of the open ledger, the page inside show accounts written in an old and calligraphic hand. The ink is a deep brown, looking like it would flake off, but something told him that it wouldnt. It almost looked like dried blood. Che: When you deal with the murky side of human transactions, these are the records which act as an insurance policy in most cases. No need to date this lot. Just follow the consignment number and log them all under it. PAGE 28 Panel One to Seven Series showing Erasmus logging one book after the other. All are frontal shots. The stacks of books beside him increases and decreases. Some panels have Che coming in and looking over his shoulder. Or has him walking by behind him. The light in the panels change, from early morning, mid morning, afternoon, and then darker evening. The evening panel has an old lamp beside him, lit with kerosene and it is the type which was used in the eighteen hundreds. The last two panels shows him going back to his room and lying down. PAGE 29 Panel One to Ten

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Same series as the previous page, except for the first and second, and third panel which shows Erasmus lying down in his room, in the morning, and then waking up, then walking down the corridor to the store. PAGE 30 Panel One to Twelve Same pattern as before. To mark the passage of time, show the mountain of books he has to sort decreasing. PAGE 31 Panel One There are no more books left. He has sorted through all of the books which had once piled the floor. Cap: Erasmus suddenly realizes that there is nothing more to sort through. Nothing else remains to keep him toiling without paying heed to what his thoughts said. All there remained now was questions. Panel Two He turns his head to see Che sitting very close beside him, contemplatively chewing on his ever present cigar. Erasmus: What now? Che: What now, indeed. A very difficult question. Panel Three Cap: He has a chance to look inside himself, and somehow lost the urge to be anywhere else. In the short time that made his captivity, he had very quickly given up his version of reality and accepted this seemingly strange one has his truth now. It felt very disturbing. Che: Its very obvious that you arent going to do any damage if you are allowed to leave. All you do is ask questions. But you dont really have a lot of power with the answers you find. Consequence hasnt really favored you with much of its presence. Panel Four Erasmus: How can you be so sure? How do you know that I cant do any harm? I could tell someone! Che: Who would you tell? Panel Five Erasmus was quiet. He realized that Che was right. Che: Tell me. What would you do if youre let out? Where would you go? Erasmus: Back to where I was before, probably.

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Che: Where is that? Erasmus: Henderson street. PAGE 32 Panel One Che: I didnt take you for a pimp! What are pimps doing these days, carrying around cameras like a bloody Japanese tourist? Che looks surprised. Panel Two His expression changes to shrewd disgust. Che: Or no. Let me guess, the camera is for.. recruitment purposes? Panel Three Erasmus has his head hanging, as he says: No... No. I... make documentary films. Panel Four Che is enthused. His enthusiasm is almost child-like. He claps his hand and says: Magnifico! Lets see what you have been working on then! Panel Five If it was possible for Erasmus to shrink any lower, he does that now. He whispers: Nothing. I am not working on anything. Panel Six Che is quiet. The quietness stretches for a few moments. Then Erasmus suddenly straightens with anger and says: I know what you are thinking! And it isnt true. Do you know how hard it is to be brilliant? To do something novel, and different, every single time? Thats what kills any form of talent! PAGE 33 Panel One Che: So is that your excuse? To spend your every waking moment where disease and damnation dwell side by side? Erasmus: You dont understand he starts.

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Che: So tell me. Panel Two Erasmus: Everyone had such hopes from me. The name my parents fostered upon me is such that my spine has been crooked from the weight of it. Erasmus! And so of course I had to be great. Soon, it became very obvious that I wasnt going to be another Erasmus, so they thought I would achieve some glory in things that didnt involve the texts. Making films should be easy. But it was not. Panel Three Che: What on earth gave you the idea that the arts would be easy? Erasmus: I am an Erasmus. I am genetically programmed to disdain all that is not the written word. Even as the written word fails me. Panel Four Che: Stupid of you, is what I say. He lights another cigar very studiously. Erasmus[completely ignoring this comment]: Its always a fight. A fight of belief. What is greater? The written word or things you interpret into what makes the arts? And once you convince yourself that both are of equal import, and you might have a knack for either one or both, you make your decision and there you face another hurdle. Panel Five Erasmus gestures anger with his hands, agitated. It just makes me angry. Why so many standards? Why is it not sufficient to do something well, with honest intention and the sweat of your brow? Originality, thats what sells you the standards they set up. No one looks at craftsmanship and the originality that comes out of it! If you are not original you are not worth anything at all! PAGE 34 Panel One Erasmus smiles a wane smile. He looks like he is tired of life itself. So here I am. In what is possibly called the most damned place in this city, searching for originality. Thats what I am doing. Perhaps originality is hidden in the hallucinogens, and the squalor that surrounds me. The musicians of the sixties found originality and inspiration there, maybe so will I. So what if I die young! It seems to be a part of the job description. Panel Two

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Che puffs meditatively on his cigar, and he is surrounded by the smoke and he appears to appear from behind the smoke mists like the Caterpillar in Wonderland. But even then, are you truly original? If the process you adopt is not an original one, how can you expect the results to be drastically different from then? The certainty of that path you already know, is death. Actually with nothing to show for it. Panel Three Che goes to the end of the counter and picks up the old rifle standing against the corner. Panel Four He holds it up, and thrusts it one handed into the air, in an air of triumph. All that truly works in this world is the eternal template of Revolution! It always will. You cannot keep the basic needs of the people down! Panel Five Erasmus now looks derisive, as he leans forwards and gestures his derision. Revolution?! What has revolution ever done?! Panel Six Your beloved Cuba is now an empty frame of a hell, where rusty rickety American cars cough their way up and down the cobbled streets and people dreaming of their cocktails of the Buena Vista Social Club... Shot shows a modern Cuba, it is sunset, the sky is purple and orange, and there is streamers of bulbs lining an avenue of decrypt buildings, with old cars walking by like giant colourful phantoms. Panel Seven Shot of the city, a lot like Calcutta, old Calcutta, with its equally crumbling colonial townhouses, and posters of the Leftist government. Draw something like the gully from Presi to the Central metro station, with strings of political banners. The only place revolution lives in now is in the minds of crumbling old men, while their crumbling bodies decay in reality just like the city, and their personal copies of Lenin and Marx. It doesnt matter anymore. These bastions of revolution are just phantoms, who dont know if they are alive or dead. PAGE 35 Panel One No! That cannot be true! Cries Che. Erasmus sniggers nastily. Have you seen this city recently?

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Panel Two Che, for the first time during the entire time Erasmus had been there, looked sheepish. Er, I havent actually been outside of this store since I was transported here from the room where my execution was supposed to have happened in Bolivia. Panel Three It is Erasmuss turn to look gob smacked. Never? Never. Said Che. Apparently, I will not be able to survive outside the perimeters of this shop. He did tell me, I could go for little walks sometimes, but I didnt think it was worth the risk. Panel Four Erasmus asked softly: When did Ernesto Che Guevara start fearing something like death? Che didnt reply. He only looked into a distance and meditated. Cap: Erasmus realized what he now found himself feeling was a strange pity. In spite of all his bluster, he realized that he still had some illusions left about heroes and indestructible ideas and Che was one of his personal immortals. A personal immortal should never be afraid of something as pitiful as death. Panel Five Che lets go of a deep breath, it is visible. And says: You can leave. Not right away. But in a couple of days, when no one coming here notices your presence here any longer. Especially him. Just.. dont do anything stupid. Panel Six He gets up and leaves. Erasmus is left sitting by himself. PAGE 36 Panel One to Six He locks up the store and walks through the corridor, barely closes the door and lies down, and shuts his eyes, ready to fall into exhausted sleep. Panel Seven His eyes open suddenly open again. Startled. PAGE 37

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Panel One Shot of the door and the silhouette of Garcia is seen through it. Cap: It was him again. Panel Two Erasmus turns back to look up. Cap: What had Che said? Keep out of trouble. What was the point? He couldnt see anything beyond the thirst to follow the man, that had suddenly gripped him. Panel Three By this time Garcia was half way up the stairs, disappearing into the inky blackness. Erasmus quickly leaves the room and surreptitiously follows. Panel Four Erasmus has to feel his way by scraping his palms against the walls of the stairwell. Cap: He was suddenly blind. Panel Five He suddenly sees a block of light. And a figure of Garcia blocking it and then disappearing somewhere to the side. PAGE 38 Panel One to Ten He watches from the shadows of the doorway into the first floor as Garcia walks into a room that is light by an oil lamp and is clearly a study/office. It has file cabinets made of wood, obviously antique and the floors are lined with boxes and books. He picks up a pipe from a very crowded desk and lights it. Then he walks to the window of the room and looks outside it for a bit. PAGE 39 Panel One to Eight There is also a little dressing enclosure in the room placed in a very random fashion between a couple of file cabinets. It could also be a private telephone booth or even a photo development station or a confession box. Garcia, waits for a few minutes and walks over to the booth and touches its edges. The edges start to glow. And the colour of the glow is exactly the same like the web that Erasmus had seen making the woman disappear the other night. He casually walks into the glowing booth and pulls the curtain close like he is only visiting the loo. And Erasmus suddenly feels like Garcia is not there in the room any more. PAGE 40 Panel One to Ten

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Cap: The temptation for him now is too great. Then something breaks inside him. Some lasting bit if inhibition completely disappears. He says: Fuck it. Erasmus watches the room, a little afraid that Garcia will come back suddenly and he would be discovered. But that doesnt happen. Yet the booth continues to glow. And Hence his temptation builds to an unbearable pitch. And when it reached a crescendo something in him breaks. And he says the above words, turns around and runs down, half slipping in the darkness and half flying, back to his own room, snatches up his camera and rushes back upstairs and stops once again, right at the threshold of the room itself. He still could not make himself enter. PAGE 41 Panel One to Eight He takes a deep breadth and steps into the room. By this time the glow on the booth is fast fading into nothingness, and he instinctively knew he had to move fast or the opportunity would be lost and he would be left behind with another series of What ifs to add to the long and really quite pathetic tally of them that he already had. He walks decisively to the booth, wrenches back the curtains to find the insides wooden but completely empty. He steps in. But his foot never really connects to the booth. It steps into a blank space of nothingness. He feels a wrench of gravity somewhere in the region of his stomach but he seems to be suspended in space for what seemed like eternity. PAGE 42 Panel One to Six He blinks, and he is standing on firm ground again. Yet it is not the ground that he had originally been on. He is now, in a very ornate hall, with oil paintings acting as murals on the walls, with gilded joints of gold leaf, and a pair of gigantic glass and brass chandeliers suspended over him, almost like they are just about to fall, yet someone had frozen time and they would remain that way for all eternity. Cap: The palace of Versailles. PAGE 43 Panel One to Five Cap: The hall of mirrors, to be precise. Cap two: But where were the people? Where were the guards? Candle lamps flickered from somewhere outside the door, but the room was only painted in moonlight, and the reflections from the mirrors. And Erasmus found himself alone in a strange hall, dead in the middle of the night. Cap3: And something told him that he wasnt in the 21st century anymore. PAGE 44 Panel One to Ten

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He runs down the hall towards the door where the only light could be seen, trying as hard as possible to not make any sound that might echo, and popped his head very carefully through the doors. To what looked like a gigantic hallway, equally intricate in its carvings and gilding and lit with scones of candles. The windows were hung with rose damask and velvet, and this was the kind of velvet he had never seen in his life. And the hallways too were completely empty. He inched a bit out of the hall of mirrors, waited a second, and when he realized that there really was no one around, he set off at a run, to find a way out, or something. All he knew was that he couldnt stay put in one place. Very soon, he was running from one hallway into another, and he was quite lost, and very baffled for there did not seem to be a single person in the entire chateau. He was running down one of them and trying to figure out which way he came, when he screeched to a halt when he heard voices behind a pair of doors. PAGE 45 Panel One to Five He pressed his ears to the door. Most of what was being said was unintelligible. He didnt understand French. But two voices stood out. They were speaking in English. One was Garcia and the other was that of a woman. The woman who had disappeared right before his eyes the other night. She spoke with a very heavy accent, barely English at all, but it was English alright. First, I tell you to come in midnight, but you come in a full hour late, and then you have the___ temerity!___ to ask me if I have given you a full consignment or not! I am Renaitte! I will not be insulted in this fashion! If it was possible for the woman to shout and whisper at the same time that would be what Erasmus thought he heard. Garcia said lazily: I forgot to ask you... wasnt it your birthday the day before? It was damn careless of me to forget to wish you.. Say you forgive me? It was said with much charm. The woman was silent for a moment. And then she spoke again, yet much more mollified, by the sound of it: Think nothing of it. We are among friends. How old are you again, this time round? There was a silence again. But this time the tension was back again, and Erasmus could sense an undercurrent of fear. Fifty two. By this time Erasmus had given up all dignity and was blatantly lying on the floor, trying to peek through the gap between the wooden doors and the floor. Now, I keep forgetting how you aristocrats ever did business. Damn, I forgot. You guys dont work, do you? PAGE 46 Panel One to Seven Erasmus can see a thin strip for a scene, which as a number of feet walking around and moving. The feet seemed to emote and correlate to what the words were saying. So I ask again. The complete consignment is there, right? Yes. Said the woman sullenly.

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Thats all I were ever askin! There was a smacking sound, the sound of a kiss on the lips. This, then fair lady, is where I bid you adieu for now. Bon Soir! And one pair of feet started approaching Erasmuss face. He scrambled up in panic, and looked around. There was no place to hide! His mind told him! But it was a very panicked mind. Soon it calmed itself down, and noticed the large rose damask curtains that seemed to line the hallways. He ran and hid behind one just in time because Garcia then walked out the door, paused for a moment in front of the curtains and then turned again and began to walk past. Erasmus peeked for a moment, and was greeted with the site of Garcia not walking by himself at all, but followed by a train. A train of boxes of various sizes and description seemed to be following him entirely on its own accord, and suspended in mid air at that. Erasmus had thought he had seen everything there was to see by then, but even he was flabbergasted by the sight that lay before him. He also realized at that very moment, that if he wanted to get out of there, he would only be able to do it with Garcias help. Meaning, he couldnt linger and use his camera, as he had been itching to do. I cant let him see me either. So he decided to give him a head start. Erasmus was really good at justifying things that he really wanted to do. PAGE 47 Panel One to Five When he had been distracted by Garcias train of suspended cubes, he hadnt noticed that The woman inside the room had been having a conversation with two other men. She was dressed in the most ornate and luxurious garb he had ever seen. In fact the only other places he had seen those clothes had been in paintings and portraits that hung along the hallways. And the hallways, were after all, the hallways of the Palace of Versailles. She swished very business-like towards a space which was hidden under a curtain. She unveiled it to receive at least ten more boxes identical to the type that had followed Garcia. She smiled a very steely smile, and still spoke English to them: Have them stored at the safe house. I can do with a lot less of your incompetence. Erasmus didnt know what he was looking at, but his instincts told him that he and his camera was in the right moment. And he hadnt been for a long time. But now he was. He instinctively shut off the sound from the camera, years of only playing with it for hours on end helped his case. And he took pictures. About fifty of them. And the moment their backs were turned, he ran. PAGE 48 Panel One to Five He barely remembered where he had been so he ran looking for the tail end of Garcias overcoat for quite sometime. He couldnt find it, and so he had finally given up when he saw It disappearing into the corners of one of the halls. He gave the lord a Hallelujah, and ran after him. Garcia walked into the Hall of Mirrors once again, Erasmus waited for him behind him again. This time, he was confident that no one would be around to catch him, and this time having a pretty good idea what was going to happen and what he needed to do. He didnt even bother looking into the hall. All he did was to keep an eye under

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the door. Soon, he saw the unnatural glow. He waited for five minutes more and walked in. There was a slit of light bang in the middle of the hall, suspended in thin air. He didnt think, he rushed headlong into it, shutting his eyes as he ran. PAGE 49 Panel One to Five And he ran straight into a pair of fists lifting him by the fabric of his t-shirt into air. And also a solid blow landing on his jaw. Has no one taught you not to interfere into things that doesnt concern you? Came a menacing voice in his ear. He opened his eyes to find he was back in Garcias study in Cao Brothers Pvt. Ltd. But he was being held up in the air by the gigantic form of Garcia. Now he could see Garcia, not in an inky blackness of a stairwell but in the unearthly glow of the portal. His teeth were clenched and bared in a snarl. Erasmus noticed his canines were a little more sharper and a tad bit bigger than was normal. What really made him almost shit in his pants were his eyes. There werent any. It was just a socket full glowing silver light, which Erasmus suspected, if he looked into, would be the last thing that he would ever see. Im sorry. Im really sorry. I really tried. I tried not to follow you again. But I couldnt. You think your sniveling false apologies will stop me from diminishing you into nonmatter? No, I really am sorry. I shouldnt have followed you here. And I really shouldnt have followed you into Versailles. He was crying now. Honest to god crying. Sniffing and sobbing. He had honestly never seen a more horrifying sight as what he was being forced to look at now. PAGE 50 Panel One to Five You piece of shit. He said dropping Erasmus to the floor. The glow on the booth was now gone. Erasmus crumpled on the floor and curled up into a heap and couldnt stop weeping. What the hell am I supposed to do with you now? He suddenly notices Erasmuss camera, which was rolling around on the floor like a severed head, strangely undamaged, and he became completely psychotic. To the level his previous actions would seem positively irritated. You too a camera into the 18th Century France. He gives himself a little shake and looks down on him again. Now, freaking retard, you die! NO. no. Im sorry. I really am. I didnt mean to! Honest! Its who I am, I take cameras every where!! I dont even notice it any more! PAGE 51 Panel One to Six A terrible smile pierced Garcias face, his longish canines glinting. His fingertips started glowing and cackling, but not with the bluish light he had seen before. The

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colour it took on now was a fiery yellow tinged with orange. Erasmus couldnt look away from the fingers now. It was like his entire life depended on them. And he gave a little started giggle when he realized that it really did. Garcia heard the suppressed giggle and paused from raising his hand to do whatever it is that he was going to do. You do know that you are about to die, right? He asked, mildly now. Yes. I think so. Yet you... giggle. I just thought that I was staring at your hands a little to obsessively. He pointed at Garcias glowing fingers. Like my life depended on it. Then I realized, it really did. And he giggled a little more, and slowly it grew into full blown laughter, hysterical laughter. He laughed so hard that he was rolling on the floor now. Garcia looked at him for a moment, roaring uncontrollably on the floor, and shook his head in resignation of some unknown fact, and raised his hand once more to strike. Wait! Erasmus squealed and wheezed through his mirth. PAGE 52 Panel One to Six Erasmus now controlled himself a little and said, panting, I might have done you a favor you know. You should think about that before you do anything else- he gulped Like kill me. Garcia raised an eyebrow. You? Done me a favor? I like that. What have you done other than wet your pants? Shot cuts to Erasmuss crotch, which is seen to be a little damp. But when he spoke, Erasmuss voice was strongest that it had ever been so far. I had a camera, yes. And it went where it shouldnt have, I own up to that too. But tell me, what does a camera provide best? Garcia didnt say anything. Evidence. PAGE 53 Panel One to Six Erasmus warily reached for his camera, and deftly started to sift back to the first photograph that he had taken at Versailles. And he did all this still on his back and lying on the floor. He reached the first one and held the camera out to Garcia and said: You know how to use these things, right? He couldnt hold out a little bit of derision from his tone. And earned a kick to his side for it, as Garcia took the camera from him. Garcia navigated through the pictures deftly. His speed and familiarity with the machine, when Erasmus thought about it, actually rivaled his own, if not better. But his face was like a stone, not a single expression escaped.

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Do you know what it is that you have taken pictures of? I dont really know anything. But my best guess is that she wasnt really playing it straight with you. And what gave you that idea? Something to do with the fact that she was still speaking English after you left, and she was asking Triceps One and Triceps Two to store those things at a safe house and berating them for incompetence? PAGE 54 Panel One to Six Looks like you bought yourself some time Said Garcia, softly into the silence that followed. He shifted his hands towards the desk then and some piles of paper shifted by itself and fell to the floor to reveal a laptop sitting underneath. It opened by itself and powered on. Give the pictures to me. He commanded, and picked Erasmus off the floor roughly by his t-shirt and shoved the camera into his chest. Erasmus took out the memory card from the camera and handed it to him. He flicked his hands again and the card flew by itself to the computer and inserted itself into its designated spot. You are not getting that back. Now you will stay out of sight until I tell you otherwise. And with a flick of a finger, Erasmus was now ensconced in the same web he had seen the woman be, and in a second he was in his room, with no knowledge how he got there. PAGE 55 Panel One to Ten He stayed in there for two days. During the day he would be working with Che at the shop, which strangely did not involve selling medicines, but spending more time cataloging ever replenishing mountains of books. By this time had formed a rough idea about where the mountains of books were coming from. But the question remained in his mind about where they were going. Che spent all his time puffing on his cigar, and occasionally giving him bursts of propaganda like: The imperialism of the United States is like a blind bull. Shitting here, shitting there, and hoping the shit will turn into a bouquet of flowers. But it doesnt of course. It just ferments into gas and then explodes and then they try to piss on it to put it out. How would that help, you tell me? Or Would you like to stand under a deluge of shit? He would start with.

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All the time, Erasmus was stewing in a pot of guilt. He hadnt admitted to Che that he had not bothered to keep out of trouble. Indeed on the night he had promised, he had gone an spectacularly broken the very order Che had given him. It was time to admit to himself he didnt really want to leave. And more particularly, he definitely want to die. What an ass. He told himself. PAGE 56 Panel One to Seven On the third day, when he entered the shop front, Che greeted him from his usual place on the stool, from behind the paper. Todays your lucky day. You get to go home. He was a little startled, and for a moment, didnt know what to say. Home? Or more like that hovel of whores where you drug your brains out, whatever you want to call it. Ill let you out at sunset. Erasmus couldnt concentrate on anything after that. He messed up the order of books he was cataloging, and somewhere near mid afternoon, he realized he had noted down the titles of one pile of books about twenty times. Thankfully, Che had now given up looking over his shoulders, but he was still at a loss about what to do about the repeats, since it was written in indelible ink. Somehow he had hoped that he would be allowed to stay. Allowed toWhat? Join their little business? he laughed at himself. Somewhere down the line he had assumed that Garcia would have told Che of what had happened and this was just a moment of waiting. And now a sense of disappointment permeated him. He was contemplating this, when Garcia walked in through the entrance to the back. PAGE 57 Panel One to Six Erasmus realized that he had never seen Garcia in the light of the day. He might even have convinced himself that he was a figment of his nighttime dreams. But during the day, Garcia was still the same. The quiet aura of invincibility and unearthly strength he had felt before was still there. Only his clothes and hat seemed to be more dusty in broad daylight. Che, on Garcias entrance, moved from his place in front of the computer, where he had been playing tetris, walked up behind him and sat down on a stool nearby. Garcia leaned against shelves and said without preamble: Ive got an business deal for you. He wasnt threatening. In fact, he seemed rather mild and almost bored. If you take it, you get some fringe benefits plus a lot of lucre, and the benefits are really good Im told. He looked at Che when he said the benefits part, and Erasmus decided he knew what that would roughly involve. And if I dont? I wont kill you. Erasmus choked a little. But appeared to say nothing. But Garcia had noted it. I dont have to kill you. Because no one in the outside world will ever believe a word of what you tell them. So I will probably let you crawl back to whichever hole you dragged yourself out from.

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PAGE 58 Panel One to Five But you have to know there are people out in that world who know what happens here. They cant come in, because of reasons you will never know, but I believe you were stopped by one of them a couple of days back. But you, by being here for sometime, are pretty fair game for them. And they know of everything that happens here. So think about that when you decide. Erasmus, before Garcia had finished, breathed: Yes! Ill do it. Whatever it is youre offering. Garcia looked at Che, amused : He didnt even ask what the deal was. I sure know how to pick em dont I? So what is it? Whats the deal? PAGE 59 Panel One to Seven You arent a complete ninny, in spite of how you may appear. So you do realize that what we have here is, for the lack of a better description, an antique book dealership. I source stuff and there are buyers for them. How I source the... goods... is what you walked in on the other night. Completely by mistake, Im sure. He added the last as Erasmus made to apologize. However, thats just a side perk for what I really do. I help displaced people. Like our Comrade over here, for example. Now I do have a back up plan for when the guano hits the propellers, something like what you have been repeatedly writing about thirty times, this morning, I noticed. Erasmus gloomily thought: Shit. In this day and age, I figure you cant be too careful. So heres the deal. I realize that you are one troublesome son of a bitch, and curiosity was just kidding itself when it killed that cat, it shoulda killed you, but I need you to... how should I put it? Acquire photographic proof of certain situations, for the time being. And what do I get in return? A place to stay which is not a pisshole, for starters. Point five percent cut of every deal made. And a chance to feed that vermin like curiosity of yours. PAGE 60 Panel One Erasmus really didnt see this as much of a choice. He had made his decision about the same moment Garcia had uttered the word deal. But what he did see, for the first time in a really long time, from the time he had started to drown himself in drugs and dug himself into a hole in Henderson Street, was inspiration. A series of documentaries, feature films and dramas started to roll out its possibilities. It was like a tap in his head being broken open.

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He was so overwhelmed that for a moment he found it hard to speak a word. Finally, he looked straight into both Garcias and Ches eyes, and managed to say: Well, gentlemen, it appears, you have found yourself a professional collector of evidence. Im yours. The End

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