Act 1 INT. LIVING ROOM/CORRIDOR - 22:30  The room is also lit by the glow of a laptop. PETER hits a key with a decisive finality. The sound of an email swooshing away. He leans back, rubbing his eyes, glancing at the clock on the top of the piano. PETER (V.O.): It typically takes me three hours to write a 2-3 minute short screenplay. However, my mind is currently consumed with the details and arguments for the hearing this coming Monday. Peter shakes his head. PETER (V.O.) (C

Act 1 EXT. RIVERSIDE PARK - 18:30 The sky is a soft wash of orange and purple. PETER watches his turtle move with careful determination, each step taken with immense deliberation. PETER (V.O.): He's 17 years old. Peter's WIFE holds a leach attached to KAJI, a Shiba Inu. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She's nine. Peter hears through his closed-back headphones that an architect known for his contributions to public housing in Hong Kong has died. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, that's Donald

Act 1 INT. LIVING ROOM - 9:30 Sunlight filters through the curtains. PETER sits on a sofa. He scrolls his phone idly. He stops at a Facebook video clip. PETER (V.O.): A doctor? Some wealthy families don't want their son to be a doctor. Too many years of training, long hours, always an employee... Pausing. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A doctor adds value anywhere. A healer. My younger son is a doctor. He continues to watch. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And a lawyer. A lawyer they also war

Act 1 MONTAGE OF PETER'S RITUALS A. Swimming pool - 9:15. PETER enters the water cleanly. He swims all four strokes. B. Living room - 10:30. Peter picks up his handheld devices, utilizing each one to learn a different foreign language through Duolingo. C. Living room - 12:00. Peter places a Remi Pad2 on the piano stand. He practises a song, following an online tutorial for guidance. END MONTAGE EXT. ESTATE PARK - 13:00 While walking, Peter checks a bus app. PETER (V.O.): Oh,

Act 1 INT. BEDROOM - 08:30 The room is filled with soft, grey morning light. A digital clock on the beside table tells the time. PETER blinks and looks at the clock. PETER (V.O.): Eight-thirty! A slow geniune smile spreads across his face. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I went to bed at 00:30. Eight hours. A full night. He stretches his arms above his head. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The body knows what it needs. I like to believe that the world can pause for eight hours for me to catch

Act 1 INT. BEDROOM - 08:00 Sunlight struggles through the curtains. We hear Kaji, the family pet, whining. PETER throws off the covers and gets out of bed. PETER (V.O.): Exhaustion hits me like a wave. Kaji dances around his feet. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, our breakfast time. INT. LIVING ROOM - 10:30 Peter sits on a sofa, holding an iPad Mini. A cheerful cartoon owl named Duo encourages him. PETER (V.O.): As my sleeplessness persists, I'd better do something constructive. A

Act 1 EXT. AIRPORT LOADING AREA - 15:00 (LAST SATURDAY) PETER sits in the driver seat as the car door slides open. His elder DAUGHTER steps in with her luggage, Peter's WIFE right behind her. Peter smiles. PETER: Welcome back! Good flight? DAUGHTER: Okay. PETER (Cont'd): Let's go home. Your Mum has been preparing tonight's dinner for two days. Peter's wife smiles. Their daughter understands. INT. DINING ROOM 20:00 The table is set for three. Peter and the daughter watch as Pe

Act 1 INT. LIVING ROOM - 08:30 Sunlight streams onto a cluttered desk. PETER sits scrolling his phone. PETER (V.O.): Facebook. The great digital vanity fair. I usually just scroll past online tutorials. He stops. His expression shifts from mild boredom to intense focus. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A post about a woman named 施娣 Si Tai. A name from the 19th century... He taps. On screen, we see 施娣 was the maternal mother of Sir Robert Ho Tung... PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Ho Tung was a

Act 1 INT. BEDROOM - 05:47 A silver grey light cuts through the curtain. PETER's eyes open. He's instantly awake. He glances at the clock radio. He turns his head to the other side. PETER (V.O.): I can't will myself back to sleep. His jaw is tight. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My mind is a whirring engine. He throws the duvert off, sits up. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My day has begun. MONTAGE A. Peter sits in a sofa, taps the Duolingo app on his phone and does lessons in Spanish, Portu

Act 1 EXT. LIVING ROOM - 13:30 Grey sky outside. PETER sits at the piano, his fingers resting on the keys. An empty plate and a glass of water sit on a nearby table. He plays a few bars of a simple, melancholic piece. The notes are clear, precise. He stops, considering the online tutorial in front of him, then plays the passage again, a little slower. He glances at the phone time: It's 14:00. PETER (V.O.): That's enough for now. Plenty more time when I'm back. He stands, grab

Act 1 MONTAGE - THE 15TH DAY OF THE YEAR OF THE HORSE A. The 15th day. Dawn. PETER's eyes open. Quiet. He brinks. Reaches for a small calender on his nightstand. A red circle around the date. B. The ongoing war. Morning. Peter scrolls through social media, intently absorbing the latest updates and comments on the on-going war in the Middle East. C. Connection. Late morning. Peter studies two articles on his screen, deep in thought. After reflecting seriously, he types his com

Act 1 DEEP WATER BAY - 14:35 No sun. The beach is nearly empty. PETER in swim trunks, walks out of the clear water. He's breathless. PETER (V.O.): The water is colder than I thought. His skin is slightly pink from the cold. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I was at the floating platform, I was about to shiver. He grabs a towel from his swim bag, drying off quickly. After taking a bath, he strolls to his SMART car, which is parked alongside the road. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I don't

FADE I N   Act 1   INT. HOME - AFTERNOON (YESTERDAY)    The world is quiet. Still. KAJI looks out of the window. KAJI (V.O.): It might rain later. The PACK LEADER and PETER appear. PACK LEADER: We should go before it starts pouring. Peter nods. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): I believe we're going out now. The Pack leader helps Kaji put on her orange raincoat and clips on the leash. PACK LEADER (Cont'd): Let's go! Kaji is ready. Ac t 2 EXT. RIVERSIDE PARK - LATER Rain falls steadily. A

Act 1 INT. CAR - 18:00 Raindrops on the windshield. Peter's WIFE drives. PETER, a worried crease in his brow, sits beside her, peering at the road ahead. The sign for the Airport looms. Peter checks a WhatsApp message. PETER (V.O.): Three months ago, my elder daughter and her husband were in Hong Kong. Very happy. Recalling. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Then she didn't go to visit her mother-in-law in Busan with her husband for New Year. Said she needed to rest. Now she's on a plan

Act 1 INT. CHINESE RESTAURANT - 13:30 The lunch rush is in full swing. The clinking of spoons against porcelain bowls and the loud conversations. In a private room, two large round tables are occupied by COUNSEL. They're in the middle of a chambers lunch. PETER sits among them. PETER (V.O.): In terms of years of call. I'm the most senior here. 1985. But in terms of private practice, I only began in 2017. COUNSEL#1: Do you have a certificate or a formal lineage? COUNSEL#2: No.

Act 1 INT. LIVING ROOM - 08:15 Soft light through curtains. PETER reaches for his phone. PETER (V.O.): 10th day. Year of the Horse. He scrolls social media with detached curiosity. A video thumb nail catches him; red lanterns, a shadowry beast. He taps. VIDEO NARRATOR (V.O.): The Nian monster came each new year to eat villagers, until they discovered its three fears: the colour red, bright flames, and loud noise. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): They didn't celebrate the year. They sur

Act 1 INT. BUS - 12:15 The bus hums through the city. PETER, wearing a blue beanie and a pair of light-blue, closed-back headphones, sits by the window. PETER (V.O.): I'm going to have lunch with my former Tsinghua classmates...we're class of 1996...30 years... INT. HARBOUR INN CUISINE - 12:35 The restaurant is elegant, with large windows overlooking the harbour. A WAITRESS leads ANTHONY, who walks with a walking stick to a prime table by the window. Peter appears and spots t

Act 1 INT. LIVING ROOM - 11:30 Sunlight, pale and weak, filters through a window. PETER sits on a sofa, scrolling on his phone, the glow reflecting on his glasses. PETER (V.O.): ...so the real value isn't the maps themselves, it's the user data, the photos, the reviews...they build a comprehensive layer on top of the physical world... Pausing. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Haneda...Asahikawa...Feb 6-10, 2026. Checking his photo app, Peter smiles softly. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The jo

Act 1 INT. BEDROOM - 08:30 Sunlight filters through the curtains. PETER sits up in bed, checking unread WhatsApp messages on his phone. PETER (V.O.): Today is the 7th Day of the year of the Horse. My sister has already sent a greeting card to the family's chat group. Pausing. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I wrote a song celebrating the 7th Day of the new year a few years back. Could use that. He mines the song from his YouTube channel, humps a few bars. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's o

FADE I N   Act 1   INT. HOME - MORNING Sunlight streams onto the floor. Kaji lies in the massage chair, nose resting on paws. PETER sits at a large, black piece of furniture. KAJI (V.O.): We've just had breakfast together. Peter starts to hit the white and black keys. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): We're sharing space without demanding anything from each other. The notes are slow, hesitant. Clumsy. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): I always find the sound strange. Pausing. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): I