Lab Journal Entry #12

[matril]

"Tonight"

Ext., lakeside, late morning. TORI is walking through the trees, camera aimed at the scenery. Her movements are restless, full of barely pent-up energy.

TORI
(VO) I’ve realized I’ve been very vague about my research in my previous videos. It wasn’t intentional. Originally, I had planned on recording every detail of my progress, every material I used and every method I utilized. That’s the purpose of a lab journal, isn’t it? Eli set those plans a little off track, but I’m glad he did.

(Cut. Camera is panning over lake)

TORI
At this point, I don’t think it would be wise to disclose my exact methods. I’ve become very protective of my methodology. I don’t want to release the details until the right moment.

(Cut. Camera is focused on the sky now, a mottled gray.)

TORI
That moment is nearly here.

(Cut. Some kind of animals moving violently.)

TORI
I’ll be completing the final step tonight. Everything is in place. All my calculations and hypotheses have proven effective thus far. Failure is always a possibility, of course, but...at this point the possibility is very low. After tonight, I will have a fully viable, functional...specimen.

(Cut. TORI is on a bench, holding camera out to capture her face. She’s worn-down and hollowed-out, but her excitement gives her unnatural energy.)

TORI
I can’t tell you more just yet. When it’s all done, when my theories have fully played out, then you’ll know. The implications will be profound. Universally beneficial to the health and well-being of humanity.

(She fidgets.) I can hardly stand to wait till evening. But it’s best if the building is mostly empty. I can’t risk anyone intruding during a crucial moment.

(Cut. TORI is walking again. VO) I’m trying to walk out my pent-up energy in the meantime. I don’t know how well it’s working. I thought of calling Eli...but he’s probably already asleep. (Pause) It might be for the best. He’d say I’ve been working too much, tell me to take a break. I appreciate his concern, but...he’s never had my work ethic. He can’t understand.

(Laughs) How could I possibly stop right in the middle of the most groundbreaking discovery of the century? At the moment of fruition?

Tonight. It will happen tonight.

Comments

[sonetka.livejournal.com]

Finally caught up! It's a little weird to read them so fast, I have to remind myself that this is all taking place over weeks instead of days :). Poor cat!

I've been wondering -- what are Tori's labmates like, do they ever appear? Because at some point she's going to swipe equipment someone else wanted, knock over someone's stuff, or be spotted leaving at 5 in the morning. Also, the contrast between her demeanor while interviewing them for her "lab journal" and the stuff she's filming at 4 AM could be intense. She might even have two separate vlogs, kind of like how in Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Lydia ended up getting her own and showing the parallel story.

[matril.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I'm sure there's inaccuracies/implausiblities about Tori apparently having the lab all to herself - I may have tried to tidy that up in subsequent drafts. It would be interesting trying to come up with a character or two who doesn't really have a direct analogue in the novel.