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CHANNEL AVATAR Part 3:  Web Site

CHANNEL AVATAR Issue 3:  Scene 2

[Entomology lab.  Evening.  The shelves here are packed with plastic containers, not sophisticated enough to be considered terrariums, each bearing a complicated label and holding a big ugly spider.  A lab assistant at a desk examines slides.]   [There is a knocking on the door, not loud, but persistant despite the assistant’s attempts to ignore it.  He finally rises and goes to the door.  GOLDA waits outside, fully decked out.] GOLDA: Oh, hello!  Frederic, right?  Is Adunbi here? FRED: [Opening the door wider.]  He was off at 5:30. GOLDA: [Wide-eyed innocence.]  Oh, no!  I must have got the time wrong. FRED: [Considers the view.]  Maybe he’s coming back.  Would you like to wait for a while? GOLDA: [Overtly open to suggestion.]  Would it be all right?   [FRED holds the door to allow her in.  They proceed to the desk. ] GOLDA: [Manages to look surprised to discover he was occupied.]  I don’t want to be in the way. FRED: It’s all right, as long as you really don’t mind the spiders. GOLDA: [Taking the opportunity to start checking out the shelves.]  Still creepy, but still interesting.   [GOLDA moves down the shelves slowly, occasionally posing for FRED’s benefit.  Finally she rounds the center lab bench.] GOLDA: I think this is the best we’re going to do. YONGHUI: [On headphones, back at the lab.]  What is your situation? GOLDA: In the spider lab, but there’s a student here, too, Frederic.  I don’t know how long I can stay out of sight. NAYA: Is there anything to see? GOLDA: All kinds of labels. [Peering closer.]  Hydro— um, hydrozy— YONGHUI: Go in, Naya.   [GOLDA glances around to make sure she’s alone, then leans against the bench and closes her eyes.  Soon she straightens again, shaking her head slightly.] YONGHUI: Naya? NAYA: I’m in.   [GOLDA returns to the shelves, looking closely at the labels.] NAYA: I think that was supposed to be "hydroxyproline." YONGHUI: [After a moment’s reference.]  The amino acid? NAYA: They all seem to be.  Maybe whoever named them has a weird sense of humor. . . .  But they’re all coded also.  "Hydroxyproline" here is 2d slash 3m slash 0350A. YONGHUI: Any patterns? NAYA: [Looking around.]  Well, they’re all in the same format.  And they’ve all got an "m" in the same place, but—   [One of the lids slips askew when GOLDA touches the container.  She steps back, surprised.] FRED: You do get used to them. NAYA: What?  Oh—  Golda’s student’s back.  What was his name? FRED: It looks like Adunbi’s not going to show. YONGHUI: Frederic.  Careful. FRED: Perhaps I could make up for his absence. NAYA: [Flustered by his attentions.]  Frederic?  You sure? FRED: Golda? NAYA: Um, yes, Frederic. FRED: Is everything all right? NAYA: [Casting around for an escape.]  Should those containers be open? FRED: What?   [Successfully distracted, FRED starts looking at the containers.  GOLDA backs up a couple steps.] NAYA: We’re not going to get anything more here.  I think Golda— FRED: I’m really sorry, but I had better deal with this.  [Begins to herd her toward the door.]  Do watch your step.   [GOLDA reflexively looks down at her feet, then does a double-take.] FRED: What?  You didn’t step on one—!  [GOLDA holds on to the lab bench to keep her balance while FRED checks her feet.]  It’s OK, you’re fine.   [While FRED takes a look at his own feet, GOLDA moves unsteadily toward the door, but twists her ankle and almost falls.  FRED comes to the rescue, and they both get to the door although GOLDA wobbles badly along the way and clings to FRED.  He doesn’t object.] FRED: [At the door.]  I am sorry.  Perhaps another time?   [GOLDA smiles vaguely at him, and quickly moves out of the way to let the door close.  She gingerly moves a few paces down the hall.  Some people pass by, heading for the lab.] NAYA: [Looking after them, then glancing up and down the hall.]  I’m clear.  Some spiders have gone missing, and they’re calling out the troops.  Can I get out of here now? YONGHUI: There might still be something to be gained by watching. NAYA: I’m sure Golda can handle that. YONGHUI: Very well.   [GOLDA leans against the wall the closes her eyes.  Back in the lab, NAYA sits up breifly, then puts her head down on her desk.] GOLDA: [Off-camera.]  We done? YONGHUI: [Into her headset.]  Keep watch on the lab as long as you can without attracting attention. GOLDA: [Off-camera.]  No problem.   [YONGHUI finishes her notes, then goes to the door.  GARRET, in uniform, is standing watch just outside.] YONGHUI: [Letting him in.]  We’re done.  Thank you. GARRET: [Entering and heading for NAYA, but addressing YONGHUI.]  Any luck? YONGHUI: [Returning to her desk.]  We were interrupted.  And someone may have gotten there ahead of us.  Some of the spiders were missing. GARRET: Missing? NAYA: [Groggy and generally annoyed.]  Missing.  Gone.  Not there. GARRET: [Tolerantly.]  Come on, let’s get you home.

CHANNEL AVATAR Issue 3:  Scene 3

[The house.]   [Early evening.  GOLDA is ensconced on the couch, with one foot wrapped and propped up.  PERRY sits nearby.]   [GARRET and SHI-YING come in from outside, bearing take-out food.] GOLDA: Hey, guys! GARRET: Golda.  Ankle still bothering you? LACHLAN: [Entering from the kitchen with two glasses.]  I’m sure there will be a full recovery once Nye comes down and is suitably impressed.   [LACHLAN hands GOLDA one of the glasses.  GOLDA sticks her tongue out at him playfully.] GARRET: Nye hasn’t been down? SHI-YING: Be glad.   [GARRET hands his bags to SHI-YING, and LACHLAN herds him to the kitchen.  GARRET heads up the stairs.  GOLDA prepares to pose dramatically but gets bored after a few minutes and is watching TV again by the time NAYA and GARRET come down.] NAYA: [Responding to an unheard comment by GARRET.]  Yeah, yeah.   [NAYA passes through to the kitchen without paying any attention to GOLDA.  GARRET collects GOLDA and PERRY en route and follows.]   [Everyone settles variously around the kitchen for dinner.  When GOLDA makes a show of limping, NAYA pushes a chair at her.] NAYA: All right, point taken already. GOLDA: [Pouty.]  That’s it? NAYA: You might do better with someone who wasn’t there when it happened.  [When GOLDA continues to pout.]  Anyway, you’re the one who went and wore high heels, you know. GOLDA: You ever try to seduce a guy in flats? SHI-YING: I’d like to see— NAYA: No one asked. GARRET: All right, now.   [Dinner continues in relative peace.  Still somewhat "hung over," NAYA finishes early, drops her dishes in the sink, and quickly slips out, but GARRET goes out after her.] GARRET: Nye.   [NAYA hesitates at the bottom of the stairs, but finally turns.] NAYA: Now what? GARRET: More of the same, I’m afraid.  I spoke with Yonghui today. GOLDA: [To NAYA, entering.]  Of course, if you’d rather talk it over with Yonghui . . . !   [NAYA hesitates some more, but finally comes back and they all sit down.] NAYA: But enough about the heels.  I’m fine as long as I don’t think about it. GOLDA: And use my legs. GARRET: Actually, we were more concerned about how you dealt with the lab assistant. NAYA: [To herself, leaning back in her seat.]  Now I know I don’t want to have this conversation. GOLDA: Poor little Freddie?  What did you do to him? GARRET: [Ignoring GOLDA.]  You know you can’t let someone throw you off like that. GOLDA: Oo, what did he do to you? GARRET: Golda. NAYA: OK, so I’m not good with groupies.  It worked out just as well. GARRET: But you need to learn to deal with that kind of thing.  It’s important to stay in control. GOLDA: Hey, guys are easy!  You just gotta have the right attitude.  [Turning to GARRET when NAYA remains unimpressed.]  Don’t you think? GARRET: Confidence is good, no doubt, but a back-up plan helps.  For example, I find casually mentioning the fact that I have a crowd of younger siblings to take care of generally puts off pushy girls. NAYA: And the fact that the youngest of us is sixteen already? GOLDA: [Grinning.]  Doesn’t say much for the girls you attract, does it? GARRET: The point is, you have to be prepared for any situation.  We’re counting on you. NAYA: [Disappointed at not distracting him from the point.]  OK, OK, I’ll work on it. SHI-YING: [Poking his head in.]  Just tell them you’re really fat and ugly. GOLDA: Shi! GARRET: Shi-Ying, this is important. NAYA: [Rising.]  But we’re done, anyway.  Yes? GARRET: All right. GOLDA: [Following NAYA.]  Really, though, if you want any help— NAYA: Maybe later.  Right now, I’d rather consider the possibility of making Shi really fat. SHI-YING: Hey! NAYA: [Heading up the stairs with GOLDA.]  Or ugly instead.  We’re having enough trouble with the body without throwing the balance off . . .

CHANNEL AVATAR Issue 3:  Scene 4

[The lab.]   [NAYA enters hesitantly, looking around.  Finding only students, she relaxes, goes to her desk, and works on the computer for a while.  Hearing the door open behind her, she tries to duck through the door to the inner lab.] YONGHUI: Naya.   [NAYA hesitates before turning toward YONGHUI, who comes after her and nods toward the inner lab.  They go in together and close the door behind them.] YONGHUI: About the other day. NAYA: If this is about high heels or close encounters, I’ve already heard it from Garret. YONGHUI: I should hope so.  It was a remarkably poor performance.  We need to make sure you’ll be more prepared in the future. NAYA: Or we could try getting Golda to take enough basic science to be able to pronounce things. YONGHUI: Golda is perfectly capable; the problem is she’s unreliable. NAYA: I don’t think that’s fair. YONGHUI: [Uninterested in arguing.]  Or too young, perhaps.  Either way, there’s no point in trying to force her. NAYA: [Looks away.]  Do tell. YONGHUI: [Pointedly.]  And, Golda doesn’t work for me. NAYA: [Under her breath.]  And you will get what you pay for.  [YONGHUI looks at her narrowly.]  OK, OK, I get it.  Was that all? YONGHUI: No.  As poorly executed as it was, our attempt to get information on the Deepak lab was not a total failure.  The Hanson lab wouldn’t be providing support unless their research was relevent, and, so far as I am aware, spiders have a limited number of applications in medicine.  So it most likely has to do with their silk. NAYA: [Still feeling argumentative.]  What about venom? YONGHUI: [Undeterred.]  Possible, but less likely.  We also have reason to believe the research involves amino acids.  See if you can find anything in that way mentioned in the more reliable medical journals. NAYA: Can’t the undergrads do that? YONGHUI: It’s better not to have them actively involved even that far, especially before we know what we’re dealing with.  If it becomes necessary, we will still need to concoct a sufficiently convincing cover story to explain it to them.   [NAYA sighs and turns back to the door.] YONGHUI: You’ve got to start thinking strategically, if you ever want to run a lab yourself. NAYA: [Not looking back.]  Indeed. YONGHUI: [Sourly.]  You’ve also got a name and reputation to uphold.  Don’t forget that.  You’re the one your family will be relying on in the long run. NAYA: [To herself, as she leaves.]  Then they’ll really be in trouble.

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