Clockwork Angels: Comic Script by Kevin J. Anderson Read Free Book Online

looking disappointed.
    PANEL 5
    Magnusson claps his hands and shouts, turning to his carnies.
    MAGNUSSON
    But of course, Captain. We shall do as the Watchmaker wishes. All is for the best.
    MAGNUSSON
    LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN SOON!
    PANEL 6
    Owen, looking stunned and lovestruck, holds the precious rose that Francesca gave him.
    OWEN
    Francesca … Yes, all is for the best.
    PAGE 16
    This section is from the Watchmaker. Use the same gear-tooth panel frame or page embellishment as was developed for issue 1.
    PANEL 1
    Large establishing panel. External shot of the Watchmaker’s tower, showing part of magnificent Chronos Square. Word balloons come from the tower, two people speaking, a Regulator Captain and the Watchmaker.
    CAPTIONS (FOUR SINGLE WORDS, SCATTERED AROUND PANEL)
    Tick.
    Tock
    Tick.
    Tock.
    REGULATOR CAPTAIN
    Watchmaker, sir, all the clocks in the city have been reset. The schedule has been restored. Despite the chaos, the Anarchist caused no permanent damage.
    WATCHMAKER
    Not true, Captain. His disruption damaged the peoples’ faith in our Stability. He is an insidious man.
    WATCHMAKER
    I need to inspect my coldfire nexus beneath the square. Just to reassure myself …
    PANEL 2
    The Watchmaker, accompanied by his faithful clockwork Dalmatian, toils down a steep and spiraling stone staircase. Ahead of him is an intense blue glow, like phosphorescence.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    Chronos Square is the heart of the city.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    Crown City is the heart of Albion.
    PANEL 3
    The Watchmaker emerges into the underground chamber of the coldfire nexus, like an underground wellspring of alchemical energy, a pool of electric blue fluid with static sparks skittering across the surface. Vaulted ceilings, sewer-like tunnels extending in all directions under the city. Robed alchemist-priests stand around the edge of the pool.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    And the coldfire nexus is the alchemical heart of everything.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    I like to watch it beating.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    It delivers energy throughout the city, charges steam boilers, illuminates street lamps, heats homes, powers hospitals.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    With my Stability, the people lack for nothing …
    PAGE 17
    PANEL 1
    Closer up, Alchemist-priests are dumping bags of powder, packets of crystals, vials of colored liquids into the great bath of the coldfire nexus.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    My creation … tended by my best and brightest alchemical-priests.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    Sulfur and antimony, mercury, natrium, and their associated distillates … These spells and rituals are the height of modern science.
    PANEL 2
    Extending from the great pool of the coldfire nexus, passages flow underground, like canals or sewer tunnels, flowing with the crackling blue liquid. Lightning dances along the curved walls and ceiling.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    More than two centuries ago, before I came here, the whole city was a riot of smokestacks and slums.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    People crowded in squalid conditions. A land rife with murder, sickness, poverty.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    Disorder, mayhem … ANARCHY.
    PANEL 3
    A glowing blue light, a sphere like a streetlight floats like a will-o-the-wisp against the brick wall. The clockwork Dalmatian sniffs it.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    Sprawling “civilization” was anything but civilized—until I came.
    CAPTION (WATCHMAKER)
    And saved them all.
    PANEL 4
    The chief alchemist-priest presents himself to the Watchmaker. He has a tall white hat, flowing robes stitched with alchemical symbols. I picture him something like the Patriarch in a Greek Orthodox church.
    PRIEST
    Watchmaker, sir, our alchemical stockpiles run low, but a new steamer is due in port tomorrow with a full cargo from Atlantis.
    PRIEST
    The Wreckers continue to prey on ships, but we are searching for alternate sources of the rare chemicals. Our Stability is secure.
    PANEL 5
    The Watchmaker has pulled out a