BACKSTORY PAGE
Previously On. Runs along the left side of the page interspersed with downsized panels from the previous issue where/if space permits.
Dimitri Sokolov makes bad decisions. Fleeing from a failed drug deal, he encountered the Shadowmancer, a sorcerer capable of manipulating the essence of shadows and drawing knowledge from the darkness. In a fit of desperation, Dimitri grabbed a mysterious ritual knife and buried it into the old warlock’s heart. The blow let off an explosion of magical energy and left Dimitri bearing the mantle of the Shadowmancer.
Dimitri has continued his studies of the mystic arts, but his scholarly work was interrupted by the arrival of his old girlfriend Nikki. She asked him to come with her to Seattle to help her father and save him from a mysterious blackmailer.
Dimitri’s powers allowed him to easily identify the young corporate shark, Brandon Wayne, as the responsible party. However, after following him, Dimitri discovered that everything had been a trap set by an old enemy…
Character Bios. Runs along the right side of the page and each section is matched with a close up of the character’s face.
1. DIMITRI SOKOLOV: Dimitri has worn many hats amateur martial artist, gangster, graduate student, and sorcerer. He’s the child of a family of Russian immigrants originally from the east coast. After his mother died in childbirth, his father let Dimitri be raised by his Uncle Vlad, who installed the boy with a strong Mafiosi sense of honor.
2. NIKKI BARNES: Nikki was an undergraduate at PSU. Originally from Seattle, she came to Oregon to attend college. Soon after arriving she met Dimitri and the two have had a close relationship until their recent breakup. She is currently recovering from a painkiller addiction.
3. DAVID HUGHES:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â David is a graphic artist who lives next door to Dimitri and Nikki. They were only generally acquainted until recently, when Dimitri confided in him that he had begun to hear voices. He has a soft-heart for charity cases.
4. JUSTIN AVERY:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Justin is a reporter for the Oregonian. He keeps an open mind and pursues his story no matter where it leads him, and never lets his assumptions get in the way of the truth. He has recently begun a romantic relationship with David.
5. JAMES STALLWORTH:Â James is a detective in the Portland Police Bureau. A lifelong resident of the city, he joined the force out of a genuine (some might say naive) desire to protect his community. He frequently has hunches which help him close cases, the result of latent psychic abilities.
6. MR. BARNES:                  Nikki’s father is the owner of a large software design company located in Seattle, Washington. He’s a survivor of the dot-com economic bubble, which he credits to his callous attitude towards business. His only soft spot is his family.
7. BRANDON WAYNE:      Brandon was Nikki’s friend since they were children. Their parents were business partners, and since the death of his own father, Brandon has been treated like an adopted son by Mr. Barnes. He displays all the typical symptoms of corporate sociopathy.
8. JESSICA GORDAN:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Jess is a strange woman who was the lover and advisor of a major crime boss for years, and acted as the real power behind the throne. Although not a sorceress herself, she has evidenced a knowledge of the occult far greater than the average.
PAGE ONE (one panel)
Panel 1. Intro page. JESS luxuriates in the moment, surrounded by her henchmen. DIMITRI covers his face with his hand to keep it out of the harsh lights which are blasting him.
1. JESS: I’m sure you weren’t expecting to see me again.
PAGE TWO (four panels)
Panel 1. A close up of DIMITRI completely bewildered.
1. DIMITRI: I have absolutely no idea who you are.
Panel 2. JESS looks put out. DIMITRI shrugs.
2. JESS: Listen asshole… let’s stop fucking around here.
3. DIMITRI: I’m not fucking around. You’re just some random white bitch as far as I can tell.
4. JESS: I was part of a gang that hired a Zoroastrian pyrokinetic to go after you.
Panel 3. DIMITRI tries to remember who she is and JESS looks annoyed.
5. DIMTRI: Wait… give me a second. You’re that girl… from that skinhead’s mansion… right…?
6. JESS: ‘That skinhead’ was my boyfriend- sorry… ex-boyfriend, who you killed.
Panel 4. DIMITRI dismisses JESS, but she approaches him and starts to give him the soft sell. BRANDON watches and looks outraged.
7. DIMITRI: I didn’t kill him, that was your little firebug. Now, what is it you brought me here for?
8. JESS: I don’t want us to be enemies. In fact, I think we’d be better as partners.
9. DIMITRI: Partners?
10. BRANDON: What the fuck are you talking about!?
PAGE THREE (five panels)
Panel 1. BRANDON shouts at DIMITRI and JESS who ignore him.
1. BRANDON: Kill him! Kill him right now!
2. DIMITRI: Not now junior, the grown-ups are talking.
3. JESS: You have extraordinary abilities, but I think I can help you make even better use of them then you have so far.
Panel 2. BRANDON tries to force the guards to shoot at DIMITRI, but JESS orders him to stop.
4. BRANDON: He’s put her under some kind of evil spell. Shoot him. Now!
5. JESS: Put him somewhere and keep him quiet.
Panel 3. The GUARD he is nearest to knocks BRANDON to the ground.
6. GUARD: You’re coming with us, shrimp.
Panel 4. DIMITRI and JESS approach a light switch.
7. JESS: This whole charade with your former girlfriend and her father has been a proof of concept… and an invitation.
8. JESS: I don’t want to fight you. I’d actually like to earn your trust.
Panel 5. JESS turns off the lights in the room and DIMITRI’s shadow armor returns.
9. JESS: You’d know if I was lying. Am I?
10. ANONYMOUS: …
PAGE FOUR (six panels)
Panel 1. DIMITRI crosses his arms and looks at JESS.
1. DIMITRI: Just make your pitch lady.
2. JESS: Alright, follow me.
Panel 2. JESS takes DIMITRI further into the underground tunnels.
3. JESS: My time with my ex-alive, ex-BF was fun. But I wasn’t really applying myself there.
4. JESS: Finding that fire wizard and hiring him to kill you was a really awakening experience for me.
Panel 3. A sepia toned flashback of JESS meeting the PYROMANCER for the first time.
5. JESS (CAPTION): My family has a tradition of occult studies, but that was the first time I ever really applied that knowledge in the real world.
6. JESS (CAPTION): It felt… right. It felt good.
Panel 4. A sepia toned flashback of JESS with a bag full of cash by the safe during the events of issue 6. Over her shoulder, DIMITRI is walking away from her.
7. JESS (CAPTION): It wasn’t just cash in the safe, it was account numbers… crypto… a fortune accumulated over two decades as the biggest player in the Northwest drug trade.
8. JESS (CAPTION): More than enough to finance my new project.
Panel 5. A sepia toned close up of JESS grabbing a flash drive from the safe.
9. JESS (CAPTION): I took it.
10. JESS (CAPTION): And I used it. To begin purchasing equipment… recruiting agents…
Panel 6. JESS and DIMITRI descend down a staircase to a lower level of the tunnels.
11. JESS: You see, I don’t have any special abilities myself. None that I know of yet, anyway. But I do have the money and the connections to act as a… shall we say… talent agent, for people such as yourself.
12. DIMITRI: What is it that you’re offering to provide, exactly?
PAGE FIVE (four panels)
Panel 1. JESS takes DIMITRI into a cavernous underground room, with brick walls and a vaulted arches. A huge mass of servers and computers have been set up and technicians are going back and forth. In one corner the TECHNOMANCER is working on a tablet.
1. JESS: All of this.
Panel 2. JESS and DIMITRI advance into the command center.
2. DIMITRI: It certainly looks impressive, but I don’t really know what ‘all of this’ is.
3. JESS: This is a nerve center where we can contact clients, who need services of special individuals, such as yourself. We then act as technical support, providing transportation, information technology, communications… anything the mission requires.
4. JESS: What we accomplished with TsarSoft is just a taste of what we’ll be capable of when-
Panel 3. DIMITRI stops JESS in the middle of the room. The techs go about their business.
4. DIMITRI: Look, I don’t want to be some kind of a secret agent. All I want is to be left alone.
5. JESS: You’re being short sighted, Dimitri. Let me introduce you to one of the specialists I’ve already hired, you can ask him what it’s really like to work here.
Panel 4. JESS brings DIMITRI up to the TECHNOMANCER, a lanky Hispanic teenage boy in plain clothing. His posture is awkward and he avoids eye contact.
6. JESS: This is the Technomancer.
7. DIMITRI: Technomancer…?
8. JESS: He picked the name.
9. TECHNOMANCER: I’m working.
PAGE SIX (five panels)
Panel 1. JESS tries to introduce DIMITRI, but the TECHNOMANCER remains disinterested and doesn’t look up.
1. JESS: This is Dimitri
2. TECHNOMANCER: I said, I’m working. That means I do not want to be disturbed.
3. JESS: I’m the one paying you for this job, which means you’ll ‘work’ on whatever I tell you too.
4. TECHNOMANCER: Fascist.
Panel 2. A close up of the TECHNOMANCER, he acknowledges DIMITRI, but still avoids looking up at him.
5. TECHNOMANCER: So, you’re the spooky shadow guy, right?
6. ANONYMOUS: He is nervous, afraid. Not of us, not yet.
Panel 3. JESS sits down next to the TECHNOMANCER while they all talk. The TECHNOMANCER avoid eye contact with everyone.
7. DIMITRI: I guess I am.
8. DIMITRI: So, you’re the Technomancer. You know that means you use technology as a means for divination, right?
9. TECHNOMANCER: Uh, yeah. It’s called projection analysis, genius. It’s just one of the things I can do.
Panel 4. A close up of DIMITRI’s face, covered in shadows and unreadable.
10. TECHNOMANCER (OFF): How about you? You’re supposed to be able to catch secrets from shadows and forgotten places, isn’t that right.
11. ANONYMOUS: He can feel his thoughts escaping him. He knows they belong to us now.
12. DIMITRI: Yep.
Panel 5. The TECHNOMANCER shivers while the conversation continues.
13. TECHNOMANCER: Well, stop it.
14. JESS: Tell him about the TsarSoft job.
15. DIMITRI: You’re the one who did the actual hacking?
PAGE SEVEN (six panels)
Panel 1. Close up of the TECHNOMANCER.
1. TECHNOMANCER: Yeah, easy job. Simple djinn on a flash drive. Introduced into the network physically. Does it’s work, then annihilates itself. Poof.
2. TECHNOMANCER: Really fun part was actually corroborating the information. Had to infiltrate secure intelligence servers in China. Lots of laughs.
Panel 2. Close up of JESS.
3. JESS: You see? I know what both of you are capable of on your own. Imagine what you could accomplish together.
4. JESS: You two are only my first test market. Eventually I foresee dozens of specialists being partnered together for missions specially selected for their own unique skill sets.
Panel 3. JESS makes her sales pitch to the other two.
5. JESS: You two each have very different… very special… means to acquire information. And in this modern world information is power.
Panel 4. DIMITRI remains unconvinced and the TECHNOMANCER nods in accord with him.
6. DIMITRI: Information should be free.
7. TECHNOMANCER: Right on, man.
8. DIMITRI: Aren’t you already signed up?
9. TECHNOMANCER: I’m just a hired gun. Not on a salary.
Panel 5. A close up of JESS, she’s displeased with how things are going.
10. JESS: That’s all very well, but by insisting on grand ideals and intellectual purity, you’re denying yourself the necessary power and autonomy to accomplish what you seek on even the smallest scale.
Panel 6. JESS becomes more impassioned in her speech.
11. JESS: Men like Barnes keep themselves in power by manipulating others. But if we manipulate him, then we turn his ends to our ends. Through him we can infiltrate the governments of both the United States and China.
12. JESS: This is real power, power to influence geo-politics on a global level as we see fit. A high tide raises all ships, couldn’t we materially benefit ourselves while also improving society as a whole?
13. JESS: I want to make you my partners. I have no interest in an absolute dictatorship, I find micromanaging dull. I want partners, partners to help me shape a new world, a better world.
PAGE EIGHT (six panels)
Panel 1. DIMITRI and the TECHNOMANCER consider her speech.
1. DIMITRI: Pretty speech.
2. TECHNOMANCER: Pretty girl.
3. DIMITRI: Doesn’t mean she’s trustworthy.
4. TECHNOMANCER: Good point.
Panel 2. JESS is beginning to get annoyed.
5. JESS: If I were lying you would already know. Why the mistrust?
Panel 3. DIMITRI starts to leave.
6. DIMITRI: The most dangerous lies are the ones we make ourselves believe.
Panel 4. JESS grabs DIMITRI’s arm to stop him.
7. JESS: Where are you going?
8. DIMITRI: I’m leaving.
9. JESS: Do we have a deal, or not?
10. DIMITRI: I’ll come back tomorrow and tell you.
Panel 5. DIMITRI and JESS face off against one another.
11. JESS: That’s not good enough.
12. DIMITRI: It’ll have to be, unless you want to try and stop me.
Panel 6. JESS dismisses DIMITRI. The TECHNOMANCER watches the whole thing uncomfortably.
13. JESS: Fine, go.
14. DIMITRI: You coming with me, kid?
15. TECHNOMANCER: No. Still owed a payday for this job.
16. DIMITRI: If you need help getting out of here, let me know.
17. TECHNOMANCER: Okay.
PAGE NINE (six panels)
Panel 1. HUGINN and MUNINN are perched on a slate roof in the early evening.
1. DIMITRI: -I’m going back there tomorrow…
Panel 2. DIMITRI is talking to NIKKI and MR. BARNES in his office. Both appear shocked.
2. NIKKI: …this doesn’t make sense…
3. MR. BARNES: What are you going to do?
Panel 3. A close up of DIMITRI looking resolved.
4. DIMITRI: Getting involved with her is the last thing I want. I’ll agree to keep her organization secret if she does the same with her blackmail.
5. DIMITRI: There’s no guarantee that she’ll accept those terms though, in fact I doubt she will, so I would call your lawyers tonight and have them prepared.
Panel 4. A close up of MR. BARNES, he steeples his fingers to hide his face.
6. MR. BARNES: If she forces a confrontation though… you may be forced to…
7. DIMITRI (OFF): Don’t sound so eager.
Panel 5. A close up of NIKKI looking upset.
8. NIKKI: This doesn’t make sense!
9. NIKKI: Why would Brandon help those people?
10. ANONYMOUS: Money. Power. Control. Power over the company. Control over Her.
Panel 6. NIKKI has curled up into a ball. MR. BARNES is pacing awkwardly. DIMITRI is torn between trying to break things gently to NIKKI and confronting her father.
11. DIMITRI: Lot’s of reasons… greed mostly.
12. MR. BARNES: …But if she did attack you… and in self-defense…
13. DIMITRI: I will not be your assassin.
PAGE TEN (six panels)
Panel 1. A close up of MR. BARNES trying to be more assertive.
1. MR. BARNES: We’re only involved in this whole mess because this madwoman is after you!
Panel 2. DIMITRI stands up and browbeats him back down.
2. DIMITRI: You’re involved because you’re a fucking criminal, and a traitor! Don’t you try and give me a fucking guilt trip!
3. MR. BARNES: Listen, this organization she’s building is dangerous. If we don’t stop her-
4. MR. BARNES: …We have… a responsibility…
Panel 3. DIMITRI looks over at NIKKI who is still in shock.
5. DIMITRI: The only reason I’m here is to keep your daughter from getting hurt. And so far, I’m doing a pretty bad job of it.
Panel 4. A close up of MR. BARNES holding his head in his hands in despair.
5. MR. BANRES: I… can’t force you to…
Panel 5. DIMITRI leaves the office.
6. DIMITRI: No. You can’t.
Panel 6. NIKKI wanders out of the office as well.
PAGE ELEVEN (seven panels)
Panel 1. NIKKI walks into her room, still in shock
Panel 2. NIKKI looks at herself in the medicine cabinet mirror.
Panel 3. NIKKI opens the medicine cabinet and pulls out a bottle of pills.
Panel 4. When she closes the medicine cabinet DIMITRI is behind her, partly insubstantial in the shadows.
1. DIMITRI: Just aspirin, I hope.
Panel 5. NIKKI turns towards DIMITRI and pleads with him desperately.
2. NIKKI: Brandon! You’ll save him, won’t you? Please!
3. DIMITRI: Nikki… listen…
4. NIKKI: He’s only helping them because he’s being blackmailed too, I know it!
Panel 6. DIMITRI keeps NIKKI at arm’s length, but subtly takes the pills out of her hand.
5. NIKKI: Just… don’t hurt him… He’s not really like that…
6. DIMITRI: Take it easy. Just give me that.
Panel 7. DIMITRI leaves while NIKKI watches him helplessly.
7. NIKKI: Promise… you’ll keep him safe…
8. DIMITRI: I can’t do that. Take care of yourself, Nikki.
PAGE TWELVE (six panels)
Panel 1. Establishing shot of the neon Portland, Oregon sign in the drizzling rain.
Panel 2. A close up of a desiccated human corpse lying in an alley puddle.
1. ROSA (OFF): Damn.
Panel 3. A wider shot reveals a police crime scene being taped off by uniformed officers. JAMES and ROSA are examining the body.
2. ROSA: Why do we get all the weird cases?
3. JAMES: This guy was one of the confidential informants I inherited from Max when he died. At least according to the ID.
Panel 4. ROSA looks over at JAMES in surprise, but he maintains his cool.
4. ROSA: We think this is a gang hit?
5. JAMES: God, I hope not.
Panel 5. A close up of JAMES. He is looking over distractedly.
6. JAMES: I don’t think that we’re going to have the first clue what’s going on until the lab boys have-
7. JAMES: Oh no.
Panel 6. JAMES stalks towards the police barricade where some onlookers have gathered. ROSA follows him.
8. ROSA: What is it?
PAGE THIRTEEN (seven panels)
Panel 1. JAMES and ROSA stand across the police tape from JUSTIN and DAVID.
1. JAMES: What are you doing here?
2. JUSTIN: I’m a reporter. I get paid to find the news and report it.
Panel 2. JAMES points at DAVID. ROSA and JULIA whisper in the background.
3. JAMES: And what is he doing here.
4. DAVID: We were on a date.
5. ROSA: Some date.
Panel 3. JAMES pulls DAVID and JUSTIN in to speak with some privacy.
6. JAMES: If you know anything about what’s happening here, you tell me right now.
7. JUSTIN: Not here, not now. Dr. Jean-Paul’s house, tomorrow at noon.
Panel 4. JAMES is becoming more upset.
8. JAMES: If Dimitri is responsible for this-
9. DAVID: He’s in Seattle right now, so don’t even start. Come tomorrow and we’ll tell you everything we know.
Panel 5. JAMES storms away from JUSTIN and DAVID. ROSA follows after him.
10. JAMES: I’ll be there, and you’d better have some good answers for me!
11. ROSA: More CIs?
12. JAMES: Something like that.
Panel 6. ROSA grabs JAMES by the arm to stop him.
13. ROSA: Are you going to fill me in or what?
14. JAMES: Let me follow this up on my own. If they have something relevant to say I’ll let you know.
15. ROSA: You know that sounds sketchy as hell, right?
Panel 7. JAMES tries to reassure her, but ROSA still looks uncomfortable.
16. JAMES: I know it does, but… just trust me, okay? Just for now, at least.
17. ROSA: Sure… for now…
PAGE FOURTEEN (four panels)
Panel 1. Establishing shot. Sunrise on the Seattle skyline.
1. JESS (CAPTION): What have you decided?
Panel 2. In the alley outside her base, JESS and several of her goons face off with DIMITRI, who is standing in the shade and wearing his shadow armor.
2. JESS: Will we be working together, or not?
3. DIMITRI: Not.
Panel 3. JESS looks upset and her punks tense and ready their weapons.
4. JESS: I must say, I’m very disappointed to hear that.
5. DIMITRI (OFF): That’s why I have another deal for you.
6. JESS: This had better be good.
Panel 4. Wide shot. The punks surround DIMITRI and keep their guns trained on him; he remains unconcerned.
7. DIMITRI: If you leave TsarSoft alone, all of them, even that pipsqueak Brandon, then I’ll leave you to your own devices. You can play spy games to your heart’s content.
8. JESS: That doesn’t sound like much of a deal to me. Suppose I don’t agree.
9. DIMITRI: Then I shut you down.
PAGE FIFTEEN (four panels)
Panel 1. DIMITRI and JESS stare each other down.
1. JESS: You seriously think I don’t have contingencies to make everything I have public if you try anything?
2. DIMITRI: I could care less about what happens to daddy. I’m not going to let you drag Nikki any further into this.
Panel 2. A close up of JESS shaking her head in disappointment.
3. JESS: I see.
4. JESS: Very disappointing.
Panel 3. A close up of DIMITRI being blasted by light from above. His armor is being stripped away.
5. JESS (OFF): Kill him!
Panel 4. A wide shot of the alley. DIMITRI takes cover and fires up at a drone which was shining a light down on him. With that drone destroyed his armor begins to reform, but more drones are approaching. The punks all open fire on him with their weapons, while JESS retreats down the alley towards a vehicle.
6. DIMITRI: Fucking hell!
PAGE SIXTEEN (MONTAGE)
DIMITRI retreats through the tight alleys pursued by both the drones and punk goons. He uses his shadow powers to avoid them and returns fire on the drones when he is able.
PAGE SEVENTEEN (six panels)
Panel 1. JESS sprints towards a black SUV parked between two others.
Panel 2. DIMITRI ducks inside an empty building, pursued by punks and drones.
Panel 3. BRANDON is already sitting in the back of the SUV as JESS climbs in. She screams at the driver.
1. JESS: Go! Go!
Panel 4. The punks look into the dark building. The drones’ lights illuminate patches, but DIMITRI is gone.
Panel 5. The SUVs pull out into the streets together as a convoy.
2. JESS: Get us out of here, now!
Panel 6. From inside the building DIMITRI, in his shadow armor, observes the vehicles leaving.
PAGE EIGHTEEN (MONTAGE)
The bad guys try and find DIMITRI inside the building and he begins picking off the drones one at a time. Once the drones are gone DIMITRI focuses on the punks. But he deliberately avoids killing any of them. Instead smothering them unconscious with shadows.
PAGE NINETEEN (MONTAGE)
The punks retreat into the underground base itself. Dimitri follows and defeats them with relative ease.
PAGE TWENTY (six panels)
Panel 1. Establishing shot of the command center of the underground base but it has been cleared out. In the center of the room is a chair with a figure in it. There are no lights and everything is dark.
Panel 2. A close up of the TECHNOMANCER who has been tied up and gagged in the chair.
1. TECHNOMANCER: Aaug.
Panel 3. A shadowy and ethereal form appears behind the TECHNOMANCER.
2. TECHOMANCER: Oo ‘er?
Panel 4. Shadow tendrils loosen the TECHNOMANCER’s bindings.
3. DIMITRI: Take it easy, kid. I’m getting you out of here.
Panel 5. The TECHNOMANCER jumps out of the chair in a hurry.
4. TECHNOMANCER: Thank God! Let’s get out of here!
5. DIMITRI: Wait!
Panel 6. A close up of the TECHNOMANCER’s foot stepping on mechanical plate trap on the ground surrounding his chair.
6. TECHNOMANCER: What…?
PAGE TWENTY-ONE (five panels)
Panel 1. Lights flash on all over the room and strip away all darkness. Steel shutters drop over the exits. It’s so bright both DIMITRI and the TECHNOMANCER cover their eyes. The room is now clearly empty, except for a large container with an old tape recorder on top of it.
1. TECHNOMANCER: Straight into a trap. I’m such an idiot.
2. DIMITRI: Just take it easy.
Panel 2. The TECHNOMANCER approaches the tape recorder while behind him DIMITRI prepares to shoot one of the lights.
3. TECHNOMANCER: I take it we’re supposed to play this…
4. DIMITRI: Cover your ears.
5. TECHNOMANCER: Why?
Panel 3. A close up of the bullet ricocheting off the glass barrier surrounding the light.
6. FX: BANG!
Panel 4. The TECHNOMANCER ducks his head down and starts the tape recorder. DIMITRI begins checking the barrier for any cracks.
7. TECHNOMANER: You almost hit me!
8. DIMITRI: Damn.
Panel 5. The TECHNOMANCER listens to the tape recorder and prepares to open the cabinet. The TECHNOMANCER’s speech overlaps part of the TAPE’s dialogue.
9. TAPE: It’s a shame it had to end this way. I went to considerable expense to build this trap in case you turned against me. To say nothing of the hassle relocated to a new headquarters entails.
10. DIMITRI (OFF): Suddenly this bitch is Lex fucking Luthor.
10. TAPE (OVERLAPED): I’m very upset about this whole situation. I didn’t want this at all. That’s why I’m making this tape. That’s why I’m giving you time. Time to think about how it didn’t have to end this way. Time to completely realize that it is entirely your own faults that now you are both going-
11. TECHNOMANCER: Sure likes to talk, doesn’t she?
PAGE TWENTY-TWO (one panel)
Panel 1. DIMITRI and the TECHNOMANCER look in shock at a large prosenescent bomb which is ticking down on a mechanical timer inside the cabinet.
1. TAPE: -TO DIE!