ET PT-3
LJ is a talented but broke photographer in Baltimore who is desperate for a big break. He signs up with a mysterious firm, "Supernatural Success," run by the enigmatic Drac, which offers him lucrative but bizarre and dangerous jobs. His first assignment involves filming a manor owned by a polite vegan zombie, which quickly escalates to his next job: an off-world corporate shoot for an alien CEO aboard a starship. LJ must navigate these surreal and perilous situations, using his wit and camera skills to survive and, hopefully, get rich.
LJ snaps the Hakhol necklace around his neck and is violently teleported through reality, his body pixelating into pure light before materializing aboard the Apex Voyager starship. After recovering from the brutal sub-quantum jump, he stumbles into a cathedral-sized observation deck where Earth hangs like a glowing blue marble beyond massive glass walls, and he's immediately directed by intercom to the Studio Wing to meet his client. LJ enters a room filled with floating holographic displays and comes face-to-face with Eric Thomas, the elegant alien CEO of Nebula Dynamics, who greets him with a pointed jab about his tardiness and his supposed status as Baltimore's greatest hybrid shooter. As LJ tries to play it cool, Eric Thomas leads him to a central pedestal and reveals the product he needs filmed: a glowing, humming, and intensely powerful crystal called Xenon-Core 9, with a chilling warning that LJ must never touch it, as it rewrites biology on contact.
CHARACTERS
Mysterious Man
antagonist
Reed
supporting
Drac
supporting
LJ
protagonist
Eric Thomas
supporting
Intercom
minor
PAGE 1
Panel 1:LJ materializes in a burst of violet light, his body still reeling from the sub-quantum teleportation. He stumbles forward, gasping for air, his camera bag clutched tightly to his chest.
Narrator:“Five seconds ago, LJ was lying in his Baltimore apartment. Now—”
Panel 2:LJ's eyes widen as he looks up. The observation deck stretches before him like a cathedral of glass and chrome. Beyond massive windows, Earth hangs like a glowing blue marble against the infinite black of space.
“LJ: This ship is amazing...”
Panel 3:LJ walks closer to the window, his reflection ghosted against the starfield behind it. He reaches out tentatively, as if to touch the glass, while Earth rotates silently beyond.
Narrator:“He made it. He's actually in space. And he's still breathing.”
Panel 4:A wide establishing shot of the observation deck showing its grand, futuristic architecture: sweeping curves, soft glowing panels, and the tiny figure of LJ dwarfed by the scale of the ship and the cosmos beyond.
Narrator:“The Hakhol necklace pulses softly against his chest, keeping him alive in the vacuum beyond that glass.”
Panel 5:Close-up of LJ's face: wonder mixed with nervous excitement. His eyes dart around the deck, looking for signs of life or direction.
“LJ: Okay LJ, focus. You've got a job to do. Where does a guy go to find—”
Narrator:“—his next paycheck.”