CATARACT Issue 4

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CATARACT Issue 4: Scene 1

	[Egyptology Office. JOE and PUN are distractedly trying to work while TAFFY plays with AM-BAIU to one side. JOE tosses aside the papers she’s looking at, leans back in her chair and sighs.]
TAFFY:	Don’t worry. Bes wouldn’t let us down.
JOE:	If you say so, High Priestess.
	[TAFFY giggles.]
PUN:	We’ll find out soon enough.
	[The phone rings and TAFFY goes to answer it.]
TAFFY:	Egyptology! . . . Joe? Of course . . . [Holds the phone out in JOE’s direction.] It’s Conference Services.
JOE:	What? [Hastily takes the phone.] This is Joe . . . Yes, tonight . . . No, not until six . . . No, the rally isn’t until . . . [Getting annoyed.] No, we don’t have the key! . . . Incense?! We couldn’t have—! [Trying to control her temper.] All right, I’ll come over . . . Right, right away. [Hangs up and grabs her coat.] There’s something going on over at the Student Union. Whoever’s got the room this morning says we’ve been setting up already—
	[JOE suddenly stops and glares at TAFFY, who looks nervous.]
JOE:	You did tell Bes when the rally was starting, didn’t you?
TAFFY:	[Now embarassed but trying to think.] Um . . . I’m not sure I . . . .
	[JOE thows another coat at TAFFY.]

CATARACT Issue 4: Scene 2

	Notes
	[Student Union, Conference Room. Double-doors viewed from inside the room. JOE throws open one door, then freezes. TAFFY hesitantly peeks in the other, then gapes.]
	[View of the room from the doors. The room is not overly large but long, with a stage area and an exterior door at one end. It has been transformed as much as possible into an Egyptian-style festival hall.]

Grad Student God Wars CATARACT

Issue 4

In which the antagonists are introduced and suitably embarassed.

CATARACT Issue 4: Scene 3

	Notes
	[Hallway outside Egyptology Office.]
	[JOE, TAFFY, and AM-BAIU come down the hall toward the office.]
TAFFY:	I’m really sorry . . .
JOE:	Don’t worry about it. The Bible Study Group can just go to the library if it really bothers them. And with any luck, word will get around and it’ll actually do us some good.
	[MAY is waiting outside of the office, and AM-BAIU goes to investigate. She freezes as it circles around her.]
JOE:	[Pushing AM-BAIU in TAFFY's direction.] Shoo, you, she’s one of us.
MAY:	That’s . . .
JOE:	A long story. [Opens the door and ushers MAY in, TAFFY and AM-BAIU following.] Sorry no one was here.
MAY:	[Standing by JOE's desk.] No, it’s not like you knew I was coming.
JOE:	What’s up?
	[TAFFY starts shuffling through some papers, so AM-BAIU comes back over to MAY.]
MAY:	I asked about {relevent book} at the library, but they said they didn't have it. [Looks nervously down at AM-BAIU.]
JOE:	I arranged to reserve those back in December! [JOE picks AM-BAIU up and puts it on the desk.] Stay.
TAFFY:	[Coming over.] It’s all right, Ambie wouldn’t hurt anybody.
	[TAFFY and MAY pet AM-BAIU while JOE rifles through a stack of books. She eventually emerges with a somewhat bedraggled copy of the book in question.]
JOE:	Here. You can start with this while I figure out what’s going on at the library.
MAY:	Really? Thanks. [Gives AM-BAIU a final pat.] And nice to meet you.
	[JOE looks thoughtfully at AM-BAIU, then follows MAY to the door.]
JOE:	Say, are you coming to the rally tonight . . . ?

CATARACT Issue 4: Scene 4

	Notes
	[Student Union, Conference Room. The room is now comfortably full of students. TAFFY is darting about playing hostess while PUN runs the petition table (with outdated laptop or tablet for access to an online petition) and JOE stays off to the side overseeing. In one corner, MAY is babysitting AM-BAIU, with a number of curious on-lookers.]
JOE:	Well, here goes nothing! Know me, Sothis!
	[JOE moves along the edge of the hall, followed by PUN. JOE mounts the platform at the end, taking a mini-mic off the stairs on the way. Keeping it in her hand, she taps it to get the attention of the crowd.]
JOE:	Welcome, everybody, to the rally for Egyptology! As you may know, the university is considering eliminating our department. There are petitions by the doors; please be sure to sign—
VOICE:	We want the goddess!
	[Various voices chime in on a similar theme.]
JOE:	[Not particularly surprised.] You obviously have heard that we have some divine support. Unfortunately, the administration doesn’t seem to feel that’s enough. So let’s show them what students can do!
	[JOE tosses the mic to PUN and steps back, assuming a pose.]
JOE:
	[JOE transforms, moves to one side of the platform and poses again. PUN comes to center stage, putting the mic back on the stairs along the way.]
PUN:
	[PUN transforms and moves to the side of the platform opposite JOE-Satis. TAFFY comes bouncing in.]
TAFFY:
	[TAFFY transforms and the TRIAD pose dramatically for the crowd. The students cheer. After a few moments the TRIAD move to step off the podium.]
JOE B.:	This show’s not over yet!
	[Startled, the TRIAD look down. The crowd parts to reveal the five graduate students of the Classical Archaeology Department and PANDORA. JOE B., QUINCEY, ROMAN, and WALLY are all male, in their mid-twenties. JOE B., leading the group, is black. ROMAN is the resident heartthrob, and WALLY is, in appearance at least, the stereotypical jock. DORCAS, female and in her mid-twenties, is a stereotypical nerd with glasses. PANDORA is a girl around ten years old.]
	[These six characters are known collectively as the SEVEN.]
JOE:	Joe!
	[DORCAS, QUINCEY, ROMAN, and WALLY range themselves around JOE B. PANDORA watches from where she is.]
JOE B.:
TAFFY:	What’s he doing?
JOE B.:
PUN:	It sounds like an invocation.
JOE:	An invocation? An invocation?! You don’t think . . .
JOE B.:
	[The TRIAD looks on and waits tensely.]
JOE B.:
JOE:	[Getting impatient.] How long is this likely to take?
PUN:	There’s no way of knowing.
JOE B.:
JOE:	[To herself.] I don’t know whether to interrupt or what . . . . Who is he invoking anyway?
JOE B.:
PUN:	Yes, it’s Hermes.
	[JOE-Satis finally sits on the edge of the platform, waiting with no great grace. TAFFY-Anukis comes and kneels beside her. PUN-Khnum comes up behind them but remains standing.]
JOE B.:
	[DORCAS, JOE B., QUINCEY, ROMAN, and WALLY all assume their positions in proper sentai fashion and JOE B. flourishes. The audience cheers them on.]
JOE B.:
	[DORCAS, JOE B., PANDORA, QUINCEY, ROMAN, and WALLY transform. As in Greek drama, their alter-egos are anachronistically dressed as rich hoplites, with colored chitons bearing gold trim in the appropriate patterns, bronze armor and helmets, and round figured shields. JOE B.-Eteoclus wears red and carries a shield showing a man scaling a wall with a ladder. DORCAS-Amphiaraus's chiton is black and she carries an unmarked bronze shield. ROMAN-Parthenopaeus wears blue and his shield features the sphinx. WALLY-Capaneus has a yellow chiton and his shield features a man carrying a torch. QUINCEY-Hippomedon wears a white chiton and carries a shield with the monster Typhon. PANDORA-Tydeus's chiton is green and her shield shows the night sky with a full moon. Her shield also has bells around the inner edge.]
	[The TRIAD reflexively backs away from the edge of the platform. There is a dramatic pause.]
JOE B.:	We are the Seven against Thebes!
	[The TRIAD stares at them a moment.]
JOE:	Thebes?
TAFFY:	Seven?
PUN:	But the Seven Against Thebes lost.
JOE:	[Recovering.] And they’re going to lose again!
JOE B.:	Did you really think we wouldn’t try to stop this?
JOE:	Did you really think we wouldn’t be expecting you to? Places!
	[The TRIAD line up across the front of the platform with PUN-Khnum between the two girls. The SEVEN move into a phalanx, giving the TRIAD pause, but there is no follow-up.]
JOE:	Is that it?
	[The SEVEN look uneasy.]
PANDORA:	[In an overly audable whisper.] What do we do?
JOE:	Ha!
	[The SEVEN start edging out of position.]
JOE:	Everybody—
TRIAD:
	[Two fountains shoot up on either side of PUN-Khnum. The SEVEN duck, but the water instead falls right back down on the TRIAD.]
TAFFY:	Oh! Stop!
	[The fountains promptly subside, revealing a drenched TRIAD.]
JOE:	Oh, the heck with it. Am-baiu!
	[AM-BAIU leaps from the corner and cheerfully starts chasing the SEVEN around the room, much to the amusement of the audience. The TRIAD quickly sneak out the exterior door.]