FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY
Sitting on a sofa, PETER hears his WIFE yelling.
WIFE: A mantis-fly has entered from the window!
PETER (V.O.): Yes, she fears insects.
Going to her rescue, Peter sees a green mantis-fly. He takes a photo it.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I haven't seen a mantis for decades. How can it get here? Probably from the roof top.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I was a child, I caught mantises for our pet birds.
Using a piece of paper, Peter attempts to convey the mantis-fly.
WIFE (Cont'd): Set it free!
Art 2
INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINOUS
PETER: It isn't moving. Looks like a dead one.
WIFE: Then, you dispose of it quick.
Peter attempts to pick up the mantis-fly with his hand.
PETER: Oh, it's forearms are still moving. It pretends to be dead!
Catching the mantis-fly, Peter throws it out of window. We see it flapping its wings before disappearing.
EXT. ROADS - DAY
Peter drives, listening to the car radio: ... plead guilty to charges of organizing and taking part in an unauthorized assembly...explain the value of freedom to the world...
PETER (V.O.): Do they know nowhere in the world allow for unregulated freedom?
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the mid-1980s, I studied International Protection of Human Rights. I understand the non-absolute ambit of freedom.
INT. STUDY - DAY
Phone in hand, Peter checks new Quora notifications.
PETER (V.O.): Here's an interesting answer request: What realities are better to realize earlier in life?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Overconfidence. Unwarranted confidence ie not supported by actual knowledge and competence leads to many biases, bad decisions and wrong actions.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Egocentric people can never swallow straight-up facts that negative their cognitive biases.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):This is particularly so when highly narcissistic people seem powerful - the feeling of superiority, entitlement and urge for admiration make them take great risks.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As a result, they've to learn the lessons the hard way.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's already lenient that they're tried in a Magistracy court.
The TV breaks news: ... They pleaded guilty...are being remanded...
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I remember a Chinese proverb called: 螳臂擋車 ie a mantis wants to stop a chariot.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I've forgotten the story.
Surfing the web with his phone, Peter reads.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The King of Qi State goes hunting in a chariot. On his way, he sees an insect raising its forearms, attempting to stop the chariot. The King asks the charioteer what insect is that. The charioteer replies that it's a mantis. It overrates its ability and underrates the obstacles. It advances blindly.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's primary school stuff, telling the Chinese wisdom. All should have learned the moral of the story.
Peter types his answer on the phone.
Act 3
INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY
Peter looks out of the window, thinking.
PETER (V.O.): Nowadays, even the insect of mantis has evolved. Rather than confronting me with its forearms, it pretends to be dead so that it might survive.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Times have changed. After the deaths of my grandparents, we set our caged birds free.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And now, we don't intent to harm the trespassing mantis-fly.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But when mosquitoes bite and suck my blood, my conditional reflex is to stop them.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Unregulated freedom threatens the very roots of freedom in any rule-based society.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To allow the natural condition of humankind eg without any law enforcement agency can make life nasty, brutish, solitary, poor and short.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Any abuse of the right freedom has to be sanctioned.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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