cao brothers pvt. ltd

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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 thecolour of the sky is a wild picture, almost oil on canvas in texture, with silhouettes ofreally old buildings mixing with the sky, interspaced by jutting spires of old templesor 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 aseries of alleyways and roads that form a network, which are almost glowing withunearthly lights almost what a city looks like at night when an airplane is landing-but brighter and more alive, and pulsing.

Cap: Night comes bringing to life the dead dreams of one who is forever enamored ofher offerings, her treasures of namelessness, cool, cool bursts of breeze and, most ofall 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 networkof lights, reveals people populating the roads. But no details are visible. Its a shot ofa snatch of multicoloured lights with touches of darkness hinted at towards the edgeof 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 lightdistrict but not of a first world country, or a third world country. Its actually anuneasy mix of both. A number of buzzing neon signs, but on dilapidatedcolonial office buildings, and some other shanty- type looking structures,possibly made of a hybrid of cement and mud. Whatever is visible is awash inthe colours of the neon and street lamps. The rest lies in shadows. But thesuggestion 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 thebuildings. Colonial style veranda highlighted by the street lights against damp andmoss grown walls. Women are practically hanging off the balcony in an effort to showthemselves. Their faces arent visible, just their torsos. They are flabby and strainingagainst whatever little they are wearing, if they wear anything at all. There are also afew wisps of smoke in the frame, from a cigarette or a cheroot (this is optional, willsee what that looks like- if its cluttering the frame too much or not).

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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 clienthaving 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 tothe 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 awindow 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, andlooks like he wants to disappear into the chair. The room is a mess. You can see acorner of a bed with rumpled sheets gathered towards the end. What can be seen ofthe wall is very decrepit, with plaster falling out to reveal the brick structureunderneath. 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 undercurrentsand 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 moredetails visible. His eyes are bleak. And he has the emaciated look of one who hasceased to care about things in the world, let alone taking care of himself. Or someonewho is slowly withering away under the constant press of some consumptive diseasewhich has left him only skin and bones, with shadows forming where there should benone.

Cap: Life is more bearable if he just exists. He studiously avoids opening the taps ofemotion and associations so he does not have to deal with the empty crater that ishis 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 Erasmussface, seeming to look to where we are focusing. It is a remarkable computer stationwith a variety of cameras stored on the floor around it. An unearthly light comes offthe 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

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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 chairtowards the computer.

No Text.

Panel Five

Shot of bent knees and his hands reaching for one of the cameras on the floor. Thefigure and the camera is in black silhouette against the brighter background of thestreet lights.

No Text.

Panel Six

Shot of the camera held in Erasmuss hand, one hand opening the display screen onthe cameras side against the background of the open window. The camera has beenpowered 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 isseen to be on (and possibly blinking), and the screen shows a couple underneath theopposite building doing the brisk business of fornicating. The image is lined andbluish.

Cap: It seems he leads a better life inside his camera. Garbage is beautiful within. Itdoesnt 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 minorchange in the view on the display panel, moving a little beyond the couple on theside, and passing over the dark space in between that house and the next. A flash ofglowing 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 shockedexpression on his face. The camera in his hand is gently smoking.

Cap: What the-?!

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Panel Three

Shot from outside the window, from the window level looking down, side view of thestreet. Erasmus is peering down and the man in the alleyway is walking off brisklytowards the opposite end of the street. We see his back, he is wearing a dark cowboyhat 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 withErasmus running down, wearing a jacket on the fly and one hand desperatelygrappling with a camera. The lighting is a dark towards the bottom, and lightertowards the top, towards where his room is supposed to be. Pipes and electricalwiring hang from the ceiling, heavily decorated with cobwebs and grime. It isobviously 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 upand down, or gathered in clusters around garbage bins, A couple of cars parkedbeside the side walks, with girls bending in through the windows offering dates. Someof them already working, with no privacy, right underneath the buildings. And theverandas and the windows are all lit with the unearthly mixture of neon, street lightsand shadows and women hanging off them, making lewd hand gestures with theirwhole bodies. Also, masses of common men. Some suited, walking furtively, andsome merely wandering around.Erasmus has exited the building and is running after the man in the hat, who isdisappearing 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, muchbusier streets, with loads of people walking along the pavements. No trafficmovement to speak of. Only people. The shot is a little blurry, to show speed, but notso blurry that one cant identify the street features. The left hand corner of the pagehas Erasmuss body shown in a motion of running. He is clearly trying to run after theman.

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No Text.

Panel Two

Similar panel to above, yet the street character changes. This street is darker andobviously 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 purplemelding into tones of grey, blue and black highlighted with white. Erasmus standsbent over the middle of the frame, bent double, yet looking forward, obviously out ofbreath 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 thinkingbeyond 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, withhim, back facing at the bottom of the panel. The view is of a ghostly avenue. Thehouses lining the streets are old, possibly colonial with rambling porticos of the kind

the British colonials inspired their subjects to build. Crumbling Doric columns andwooden 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 railingwork 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 differencebetween 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 ofdiscovering 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 thedarkened porticos. The night is enveloping everything, like a black mist, which ischanging the character of the house he is sitting in front of. Everything except hislimbs, which shine a silvery colour. Reference: Tnzerinnen mit Schuhen by EdgarDegas.

Cap: He looked at his surroundings and thought that the plight of the colonials was apitiful yet a painfully human one. Thankfully, the fight of unchecked greed, againstthe 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 manhe was following, and it shows on his face.

No Text.

Page 6

Four vertical panels fitting into one page.

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Panel One

Shot of Erasmus looking up to the building opposite to where he is sitting. He is in asilhouette. But the building he is looking up at rises in front of him a little larger thanlife. 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, noticeablebecause of a yellow/orange light of non-electrical light illuminating it, and in it a clearshadow of a man in a cowboy hat, gesticulating and talking to someone not in theframe.

Cap: It wasnt really a trip at all. He had almost made up his mind that his wanderinginto this quarter was because of something he had ingested. Not that heremembered.

Panel Two

Close up of the entrance to the house. It appears to be an old shop. There is a grimyshop window, through which nothing can be deciphered except for vague shapes of

glass bottles with crystal stoppers, flasks, beakers, and some other unnamablethings. 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 apaper notice which- though it is dark, the moonlight allows him to read- Cao Brotherspvt. Limited [still cant decide upon a name that fits yet], purveyors of relief frommaladies 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 isstepping inside. Its a really old fashioned wooden door with an old fashioned bell ontop of the frame which has been disturbed by the motion of the door, signaling hisarrival.

No Text.

Page 7Panel One

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

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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 and-

Cap: [in speech bubble] Whiskers of Bast.

Panel Four

Horizontal, long second panel on the tier. Slightly wider than normal. Erasmus isstanding in front of a long wooden U shaped counter. There is one oil lamp burningon it. Behind the counter, in between the shelves, some odd things can be seen- acrimson velvet flag with golden tassels, thrown carelessly into a corner with a pile ofbooks and a really old and what looks like a 16th century globe, and some otherthings. A Kalashnikov is standing incongruously against a shelf. There are two doorsbetween the shelves, with pink floral curtains hiding what lies behind, looking morestarkly out of place than the gun or the flag or the globe or the books. There is also avery modern computer some distance away from him on the counter and a mug ofcoffee.

No Text.

Panel Five

Close up of the mug. It is stark white with a stylized graphic of Che Guevara armraised in a fist pump of power. The mug is steaming. Suggesting its owner hasnt longbeen 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, inSpanish.[Possibly saying No need to bring out the dead, Ill be there in a minute.]

Page 8

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Panel One

Closer look at the pile of junk in the corner- the wound up flag, the globe, what lookslike a big many pronged branch of a tree stuck on a carved stand. Shoes encrustedwith 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. Theshot is like what it would look like if he was to look over the counter and try to lookinto what is underneath.

Cap: Lists of things start appearing in his mind and he finds himself saying them asthey 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 forcefullydropped beside him. He is startled to see a man who wasnt there two seconds agoleaning really close to him seemingly as involved as he is at looking at the artifactsthat are piled carelessly into the corner. He cuts a slight figure, though going to seeda 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 abaseball cap turned upside down. He is also chewing on a fat cigar and deliberatelyblowing 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 levelof the cup. The cups graphic is facing us, to draw the deliberate connection to whatwe 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 inrunning after the man who think is following them. Such arrogance. What do youthink you have that would warrant someone like him to- what is it that the otherssaid?- stalk you? [Speech bubble]

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

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 ownself pity, because their mamas told them that their allowance is cut, or because theyfind that spending weeks inebriated in some sperm washed room on top of a whorecolony to be fashionable. Fools. [ the man is mumbling to himself as he violentlykeeps 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 andthrough gritted teeth, hisses:[speech bubble] How much is too much? When will I stop coming out through thatdoor to find the lowest forms of humanity, leeches like you wandering around in thisstore 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 mansresemblance to the cup out of his mind. He stares helplessly from the cup to theman, 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 thisout. 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 looklike 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 inrepose. 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, oranimated on a screen or in this case printed on a cup. Its so novel. No need for youreyes 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

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me. Such innocence! You must go into common magic shows as well and believe thatthe 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 lovecameras. They went with me everywhere..

Shot is of the man who could be Che, from the front. His expression is half that of abenevolent host and half an irritated shop keeper.

Panel Six

Continuation of the last panel, in treatment, but narrower. Shows just his hand givingthe 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 thisangle- the shop window, a table at the center of the store with more bottles arrangedin the middle like a crystalline wedding cake, but mildly dusty, and a ceiling fan thatcould 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 asong no? Some lackwitt stole that line from me. Anyway, there was once a man whowalked alone. But he didnt realize that he was alone until he was riddled with bulletsand strung out to dry and view at the pleasure of the conceited western people. Untilthen he was a man who lived in the dusty pages of books that taught an ideal, thatthis man did not judge. He should have. Only sixteen bullets transforming his bodyinto 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 inreturn I have to deal with jackasses like you. Its not such a bad deal. Also, I am adoctor. This is a medicine store. People need me. Its not so bad.[ almost like he isnow 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 intoErasmuss face in agression. A small mist of dust is seen rising from in between therebarely separated torsos. The spine of the book is visible showing gothic type, whichsays: 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 mangetting into his face. A little scared.I made a deal with the man you followed in, like the bloody nincompoop that youare. And here I am. This is my penance.

Panel FourShot of Che, from the front, there is darkness in the background. There is sadness inhim now. And a quiet miasma of desperation too.

He is Mephistopheles himself. And he disposes of more people than he saves. Andthe ones that he saves are as confounded as I am if they have been really saved atall.

And you followed him. [this is in a whisper]

Page 11

Panel OneChe looks resigned, suddenly, and also a lot calmer, compared to the theatrics of afew 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 wherehe was, looking amused.

You will find that it is not that easy to leave now that you have ventured into thedragons 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 likehitting a wall.

Ouch!

PAGE 12Panel One

View of the shop display beside the door. The top of the stoppers on the vials ondisplay 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 colouredsmoke.

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 disturbingtoo.

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 thebottom half of the panel. His eyes reflect the glass bottles on the shelf which he ispassing.

Panel Three

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As if in a dream, the smoke tendrils deposit him on the stool in front of the counterwhere he had attempted to run from. The panel shows him being deposited on thestool, 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 theedge 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 oldblood.

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 Arabiccity of old. There is an unchangeable quality in what the eye sees. Not as kistchy asthe 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 everseen. 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, andindistinct food products, perhaps fruits, or dried fruits in large earthen vessels. Onlythe woman in the abaya is in focus, she should have all the details, and her eyesshould 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 wetdream 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 tocome 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 ina abaya. Very stark panel. Background is a dirty snowy grey, maybe. It looks like atrance.

Panel Seven- closer shot, showing the woman grasping the boy by his face andstaring into his eyes. His eyes are now big and rounded. His eyes reflect images ofunearthly fires, which are shrouded in shadows.

Cap: She breathed into him his life, the parts he had not yet lived. And he felt hisentire lifes breathe constrict.

PAGE 15

Panel One

The woman reaches into her robe. The shot show her almost white hand movingtowards her robe.

Panel Two

Only the hand is seen against the black of her robe, its only half visible, as it isreaching 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 scoopingthe 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 issuitably 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 trulypersonal weapon. Customized to perfection. As mild as feather or as deadly as asnake.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 personalfavor he had done.

Panel Four

Che: What lies inside this bottle will do exactly as I tell it to. And I cannot allow youto 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. Itbecomes very obvious that he is not what conventional fiction touts heroes are madeof. 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 aspine. 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 fuelfumes 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 owncapabilities. And their limitations. Now if you call that craven, so be it. Ill stick withRealist, 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 isnow 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, andnot in full capacity either, lighting a portion of the ceiling. There are a couple ofdoors, and a turning into what could be a stairwell. But It is two dark to see. Thereare boxes and cartons stacked in random fashion along the walls, making for havingno easy route to walk. Its almost like an obstacle course. The boxes are of mixedcharacter. Some look very old. They are crates, could be from any point of time. Yetsome are clearly from the military and might have contained ammunitions. The otherones are new, and made of cardboard. Yet there are proper wooden boxesinterspaced 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 isside 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 darkstairwell bang opposite it, thought it is bathed in darkness which is quiteimpenetrable. He has opened the door, and the light inside the room is on. Though bythe quality of it, it is yet another naked bulb which is long past its prime and iscoughing its last phlegm.

Here. You will remain here and never venture out unless you are told to. Dont looklike 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 cannotbe 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 mywill!

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? Youcant. 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 tothe 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. Evenlights. Dont dwell on them, or try to listen. It wouldnt be good for you. Think of it asfragments 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 whitewashed at some point, but now its just an uniform brown. There are open cables andwires hanging off the ceiling, and amongst the jungle of wires is the naked bulbhidden, invisible except for the light it is sporadically emitting. There is another stackof boxes and crates, a store room, clearly, yet there is a wooden pallet at a cornerand a shelf built into the brick wall, which has an old whiskey bottle filled with waterand a glass.

Panel Two

Erasmus looks at the boxes.Cap: Like everything in his very unfortunate situation, it still incited his curiosity. Hewould have liked nothing better but to open one of those boxes to discover what wasinside. Because he could bet his worthless self that it wasnt pharmaceuticals.

Panel Three

He looks at the pallet now.

Cap: But he hadheard 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, facelowered.

Cap: It would do him no good to explore that cats nasty reputation by following itsescapades.

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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 arestaring at the ceiling.

Cap: He just realized that this was the first time he was out on uncharted waters. Hetruly didnt know what he was doing. And the fear that he now felt was the truest thathe 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 ablueish 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 bestaring vacantly at towards the general direction of the door.

Cap: Conception of time and space had left him. It ceased to have meaning. Theneeds 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 haveto 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 pressedagainst the doors.

Panel Five

He grabs at the handle to the door, and grips it to have a firm hold. As if pressinghimself 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 obviouslyof the man he had followed into is imprisonment, and the other of a woman. She waswearing something which gave off a very balloon like shape to her. And she was alsoobviously 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 nolonger visible. Both the man and the woman have a little unearthly glow reflecting offtheir 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 ofFebruary 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 flowsfrom 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, predictablyshocked.

PAGE 23

Panel One

Garcia turns his head and stares straight at the door. Erasmus suddenly fears withcertainty that his presence has been noticed, and the man knew that he was there allalong.

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, anda pale grey light Is lighting it up. It creates a stark contrast to the naked bulb whichhad 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 anescape.

Panel Five

As he walks by the way he came, he runs his hands over the walls, and discovers thatthey 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 lookedlike 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 astool against one of the shelves, now smoking a carved wooden pipe and reading apaper. 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 dothis 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 andkeeps them on the counter. They let off a cloud of accumulated dust. All the booksare very old. And the one on top, is a genuine manuscript. Shot shows him picking upthe books, keeping it on the table with the emission of the dust cloud, and a close upof him picking up the manuscript and opening it, to show a heavily illuminated pagetitle page.

PAGE 26

Panel One

The book is a bible. One of the first ones printed by Gutenbergs press. But thestrange thing was that, though it was really old, it was by no means at the point ofdissolving 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 eachbook on top to reveal the one beneath. They are the personal Journal of SigmundFreud, 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 somethingarcane 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 sortof 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 andaccountants do, not the type of records the machines of imperialism keep to keeptrack of their charity?

Panel Four

Shot shows Erasmus has opened the inkwell, and the ink inside is a muddy browncolour 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, theoldest known example of human habitation, well before the times of NeanderthalMan. The soil and the rock minerals are from a site which people believe the templemound used to be. This ink is powered from religions which have been so far erasedfrom human memories that it might never had existed at all. This ink is the only trulyindelible ink there is.

Panel Four

Shot of the open ledger, the page inside show accounts written in an old andcalligraphic hand. The ink is a deep brown, looking like it would flake off, butsomething told him that it wouldnt. It almost looked like dried blood.

Che: When you deal with the murky side of human transactions, these are therecords which act as an insurance policy in most cases. No need to date this lot. Justfollow 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. Thestacks of books beside him increases and decreases. Some panels have Che comingin and looking over his shoulder. Or has him walking by behind him. The light in thepanels change, from early morning, mid morning, afternoon, and then darkerevening. 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 himgoing 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 panelwhich 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 bookshe has to sort decreasing.

PAGE 31

Panel One

There are no more books left. He has sorted through all of the books which had oncepiled the floor.

Cap: Erasmus suddenly realizes that there is nothing more to sort through. Nothingelse remains to keep him toiling without paying heed to what his thoughts said. Allthere remained now was questions.

Panel Two

He turns his head to see Che sitting very close beside him, contemplatively chewingon 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 beanywhere else. In the short time that made his captivity, he had very quickly givenup his version of reality and accepted this seemingly strange one has his truth now. Itfelt very disturbing.

Che: Its very obvious that you arent going to do any damage if you are allowed toleave. All you do is ask questions. But you dont really have a lot of power with theanswers 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? Icould tell someone!

Che: Who wouldyou 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 aroundcameras 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 suddenlystraightens with anger and says:

I know what you are thinking! And it isnt true. Do you know how hard it is to bebrilliant? To do something novel, and different, every single time? Thats what killsany form of talent!

PAGE 33

Panel One

Che: So is that your excuse? To spend your every waking moment where diseaseand 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 ofcourse I had to be great. Soon, it became very obvious that I wasnt going to be another Erasmus, so theythought I would achieve some glory in things that didnt involve the texts. Makingfilms 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 notthe 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 aknack for either one or both, you make your decision and there you face anotherhurdle.

Panel Five

Erasmus gestures anger with his hands, agitated.

It just makes me angry. Why so many standards? Why is it not sufficient to dosomething well, with honest intention and the sweat of your brow? Originality, thatswhat sells you the standards they set up. No one looks at craftsmanship and theoriginality that comes out of it! If you are not original you are not worth anything atall!

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 thehallucinogens, and the squalor that surrounds me. The musicians of the sixties foundoriginality and inspiration there, maybe so will I. So what if I die young! It seems tobe 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 heappears 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 ofthat 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 thecorner.

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 Americancars cough their way up and down the cobbled streets and people dreaming of theircocktails of the Buena Vista Social Club...

Shot shows a modern Cuba, it is sunset, the sky is purple and orange, and there isstreamers of bulbs lining an avenue of decrypt buildings, with old cars walking by likegiant colourful phantoms.

Panel Seven

Shot of the city, a lot like Calcutta, old Calcutta, with its equally crumbling colonialtownhouses, and posters of the Leftist government. Draw something like the gullyfrom 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, whiletheir crumbling bodies decay in reality just like the city, and their personal copies ofLenin and Marx. It doesnt matter anymore. These bastions of revolution are justphantoms, 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, lookedsheepish.

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 ofthis shop. He did tell me, I could go for little walks sometimes, but I didnt think it wasworth the risk.

Panel Four

Erasmus asked softly: When did Ernesto Che Guevara start fearing something likedeath?

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 spiteof all his bluster, he realized that he still had some illusions left about heroes andindestructible ideas and Che was one of his personal immortals. A personal immortalshould 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 herenotices your presence here any longer. Especially him. Just.. dont do anythingstupid.

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 liesdown, 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 seeanything 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 thendisappearing 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 intoa room that is light by an oil lamp and is clearly a study/office. It has file cabinetsmade of wood, obviously antique and the floors are lined with boxes and books. Hepicks up a pipe from a very crowded desk and lights it. Then he walks to the windowof 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 fashionbetween a couple of file cabinets. It could also be a private telephone booth or evena 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 thecolour of the glow is exactly the same like the web that Erasmus had seen makingthe woman disappear the other night. He casually walks into the glowing booth andpulls the curtain close like he is only visiting the loo. And Erasmus suddenly feels likeGarcia 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 hewould be discovered. But that doesnt happen. Yet the booth continues to glow. AndHence his temptation builds to an unbearable pitch. And when it reached a crescendosomething 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 hiscamera and rushes back upstairs and stops once again, right at the threshold of theroom 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 boothis fast fading into nothingness, and he instinctively knew he had to move fast or theopportunity would be lost and he would be left behind with another series of Whatifs to add to the long and really quite pathetic tally of them that he already had. Hewalks decisively to the booth, wrenches back the curtains to find the insides woodenbut completely empty. He steps in. But his foot never really connects to the booth. Itsteps into a blank space of nothingness. He feels a wrench of gravity somewhere inthe region of his stomach but he seems to be suspended in space for what seemedlike eternity.

PAGE 42

Panel One to SixHe blinks, and he is standing on firm ground again. Yet it is not the ground that hehad originally been on. He is now, in a very ornate hall, with oil paintings acting asmurals on the walls, with gilded joints of gold leaf, and a pair of gigantic glass andbrass chandeliers suspended over him, almost like they are just about to fall, yetsomeone 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 onlypainted in moonlight, and the reflections from the mirrors. And Erasmus foundhimself 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 ashard as possible to not make any sound that might echo, and popped his head verycarefully through the doors. To what looked like a gigantic hallway, equally intricatein its carvings and gilding and lit with scones of candles. The windows were hung withrose 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 ofmirrors, 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 couldntstay put in one place. Very soon, he was running from one hallway into another, andhe was quite lost, and very baffled for there did not seem to be a single person in theentire chateau. He was running down one of them and trying to figure out which wayhe 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. Hedidnt 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 haddisappeared right before his eyes the other night. She spoke with a very heavyaccent, 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 youhave the___ temerity!___ to ask me if I have given you a full consignment or not! I amRenaitte! I will not be insulted in this fashion! If it was possible for the woman toshout 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 wasdamn careless of me to forget to wish you.. Say you forgive me? It was said withmuch charm. The woman was silent for a moment. And then she spoke again, yetmuch 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 Erasmuscould 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 everdid business. Damn, I forgot. Youguys 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 aroundand 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 onthe 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 verypanicked 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 timebecause Garcia then walked out the door, paused for a moment in front of thecurtains and then turned again and began to walk past. Erasmus peeked for amoment, and was greeted with the site of Garcia not walking by himself at all, butfollowed by a train. A train of boxes of various sizes and description seemed to befollowing him entirely on its own accord, and suspended in mid air at that. Erasmushad thought he had seen everything there was to see by then, but even he wasflabbergasted 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 hiscamera, as he had been itching to do.

I cant let him see me either. So he decided to give him a head start. Erasmus wasreally 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 noticedthat 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 theonly other places he had seen those clothes had been in paintings and portraits thathung along the hallways. And the hallways, were after all, the hallways of the Palaceof Versailles. She swished very business-like towards a space which was hiddenunder a curtain. She unveiled it to receive at least ten more boxes identical to thetype 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 andhis camera was in the right moment. And he hadnt been for a long time. But now hewas. He instinctively shut off the sound from the camera, years of only playing with itfor hours on end helped his case. And he took pictures. About fifty of them. And themoment 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 ofGarcias overcoat for quite sometime. He couldnt find it, and so he had finally givenup when he saw It disappearing into the corners of one of the halls. He gave the lorda Hallelujah, and ran after him.Garcia walked into the Hall of Mirrors once again, Erasmus waited for him behind himagain. This time, he was confident that no one would be around to catch him, andthis time having a pretty good idea what was going to happen and what he needed todo. 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 andwalked in.There was a slit of light bang in the middle of the hall, suspended in thin air. Hedidnt 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? Camea menacing voice in his ear.

He opened his eyes to find he was back in Garcias study in Cao Brothers Pvt. Ltd. Buthe was being held up in the air by the gigantic form of Garcia. Now he could seeGarcia, 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 alittle more sharper and a tad bit bigger than was normal. What really made himalmost shit in his pants were his eyes. There werent any. It was just a socket fullglowing silver light, which Erasmus suspected, if he looked into, would be the lastthing that he would ever see.

Im sorry. Im really sorry. I really tried. I tried not to follow you again. But Icouldnt.You think your sniveling false apologies will stop me from diminishing you into non-matter?No, I really am sorry. I shouldnt have followed you here. And I really shouldnt havefollowed you into Versailles. He was crying now. Honest to god crying. Sniffing andsobbing. He had honestly never seen a more horrifying sight as what he was beingforced to look at now.

PAGE 50

Panel One to Five

You piece ofshit. He said dropping Erasmus to the floor. The glow on the booth wasnow gone. Erasmus crumpled on the floor and curled up into a heap and couldntstop 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 asevered head, strangely undamaged, and he became completely psychotic. To thelevel his previous actions would seem positively irritated.You too a camera into the 18th Century France. He gives himself a little shake andlooks 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 camerasevery 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 fingertipsstarted 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 lookaway from the fingers now. It was like his entire life depended on them. And he gavea little started giggle when he realized that it really did. Garcia heard the suppressedgiggle 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 atGarcias 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, hystericallaughter. 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 hishead 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 doanything else- he gulped Like kill me.

Garcia raised an eyebrow. You? Done me a favor? I like that. What have you doneother 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. Buttell me, what does a camera provide best?

Garcia didnt say anything.

Evidence.

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Erasmus warily reached for his camera, and deftly started to sift back to the firstphotograph that he had taken at Versailles. And he did all this still on his back andlying on the floor. He reached the first one and held the camera out to Garcia andsaid:

You know how to use these things, right? He couldnt hold out a little bit of derisionfrom his tone. And earned a kick to his side for it, as Garcia took the camera fromhim.

Garcia navigated through the pictures deftly. His speed and familiarity with themachine, when Erasmus thought about it, actually rivaled his own, if not better. Buthis 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 itstraight with you.

And what gave you that idea?

Something to do with the fact that she was still speaking English after you left, andshe was asking Triceps One and Triceps Two to store those things at a safe houseand berating them for incompetence?

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Looks like you bought yourself some time Said Garcia, softly into the silence thatfollowed.

He shifted his hands towards the desk then and some piles of paper shifted by itselfand fell to the floor to reveal a laptop sitting underneath. It opened by itself andpowered on.

Give the pictures to me. He commanded, and picked Erasmus off the floor roughlyby his t-shirt and shoved the camera into his chest. Erasmus took out the memorycard from the camera and handed it to him. He flicked his hands again and the cardflew 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 youotherwise.

And with a flick of a finger, Erasmus was now ensconced in the same web he hadseen the woman be, and in a second he was in his room, with no knowledge how hegot there.

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He stayed in there for two days. During the day he would be working with Che at theshop, which strangely did not involve selling medicines, but spending more timecataloging ever replenishing mountains of books. By this time had formed a roughidea about where the mountains of books were coming from. But the questionremained in his mind about where they were going. Che spent all his time puffing onhis 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 justferments into gas and then explodes and then they try to piss on it to put it out. Howwould 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 hehad not bothered to keep out of trouble. Indeed on the night he had promised, hehad 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.

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On the third day, when he entered the shop front, Che greeted him from his usualplace 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 youwant to call it. Ill let you out at sunset.

Erasmus couldnt concentrate on anything after that. He messed up the order ofbooks he was cataloging, and somewhere near mid afternoon, he realized he hadnoted down the titles of one pile of books about twenty times. Thankfully, Che hadnow given up looking over his shoulders, but he was still at a loss about what to doabout the repeats, since it was written in indelible ink.Somehow he had hoped that he would be allowed to stay. Allowed to-

What? Join their little business? he laughed at himself. Somewhere down the line hehad 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. Hewas contemplating this, when Garcia walked in through the entrance to the back.

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Erasmus realized that he had never seen Garcia in the light of the day. He mighteven have convinced himself that he was a figment of his nighttime dreams. Butduring the day, Garcia was still the same. The quiet aura of invincibility and unearthlystrength he had felt before was still there. Only his clothes and hat seemed to bemore dusty in broad daylight. Che, on Garcias entrance, moved from his place infront of the computer, where he had been playing tetris, walked up behind him andsat down on a stool nearby. Garcia leaned against shelves and said withoutpreamble:

Ive got an business deal for you. He wasnt threatening. In fact, he seemed rathermild 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 thebenefits 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 Garciahad noted it.I dont have to kill you. Because no one in the outside world will ever believe a wordof what you tell them. So I will probably let you crawl back to whichever hole youdragged yourself out from.

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But you have to know there are people out in that world who know what happenshere. 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 forsometime, are pretty fair game for them. And they know of everything that happenshere. So think about that when you decide.

Erasmus, before Garcia had finished, breathed: Yes! Ill do it. Whatever it is youreoffering.

Garcia looked at Che, amused : He didnt even ask what the deal was. I sure knowhow to pick em dont I?

So what is it? Whats the deal?

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You arent a complete ninny, in spite of how you may appear. So you do realize thatwhat 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 youwalked in on the other night. Completely by mistake, Im sure. He added the last asErasmus made to apologize.

However, thats just a side perk for what I really do. I help displaced people. Like ourComrade over here, for example. Now I do have a back up plan for when the guanohits the propellers, something like what you have been repeatedly writing aboutthirty 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 realizethat you are one troublesome son of a bitch, and curiosity was just kidding itselfwhen 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 everydeal made. And a chance to feed that vermin like curiosity of yours.

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Erasmus really didnt see this as much of a choice. He had made his decision aboutthe 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 hadstarted 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 rollout 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 ofevidence. Im yours.

The End

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