FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY
After feeling his back with his hands, Peter checks his phone screen aimlessly.
PETER (V.O.) : I thought my back pain has gone and now I feel the stress again. I learn now that push-ups and running could be the cause. Let me do more intellectual exercises then.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Many Quorans pose questions to me. I seem to be addicted in answering. Some of them trigger my fond memories.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me answer this one - my most embarrassing moment in skinny dipping?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I have never done that. Somehow, the question reminds me of my first bathing experience in hot springs and how I enjoyed the one in Annupuri in Hokkaido.
After inserting a snowy and nightly hot spring image, Peter types on the phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There're others who seek my opinions about pandemic matters.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Something I want to know myself. My experience on governance aside, my inquiry has to be scientific...
A TV interview catches Peter's attention.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Okay, the expert says around 18% of the COVID-19 infectants are asymtomatic, and a prudent re-opening up of the lockdowns are two 14-day quarantee periods ie 28 days. Such opinion evidence empowers me to answer many pandemic questions.
Act 2
INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINOUS
Peter taps on a tag on his phone screen.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, over 600 views in less than an hour! It breaks my record in Quora.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It seems there's chemistry when the question is fused with my photo and answer. People might enjoy my humour and find my story amusing.
Peter reads other small prints on his phone screen.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I can talk about my family experience in this question: In preparation for coronavirus, should you have a room isolated in your house to keep family members that get sick?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My wife always prefers one big apartment. But I prefer two separate apartments, so that I have my own study and studio.
Smiling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What we didn't anticipate was that my study and studio in a separate apartment nearby can turn into a temporary home quarantine venue.
Peter types on his phone and taps Submit. Later, Peter looks shocked.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Wow! Dozens' of views in no time! People are really concerned.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Here's another down-to-earth question: Why are people more concerned with going back to work than staying home until the COVID-19 virus improves?
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If I was still struggling to feed my family and staying home was eating into my savings if I had any at all, I couldn't wait to work and had to assume the risk voluntarily.
Peter begins to type on his phone.
To strike a balance between individual needs and social administrative controls, it's only fair that governments should help financially.
Having tapped Submit, Peter scrolls down the phone screen.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Here's another question many Europeans would like to know: Where is the safest place in Europe to hide from COVID-19?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The safest place under the pandemic is one where there's no other humans so that COVID-19 can't be spread.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Although I don't know the name of any uninhabited island, I do remember when I was studying Internation Law of the Sea a British rock called Rockall where a patriotic Brit did try to prove that Rockall was habitable and so justified the British jurisdictional claim.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Who could have thought about Rockall as a human's sanctuary during a pandemic?
Act 3
INT. STUDY - NIGHT
Peter is watching TV news, all about the pandemic developments.
PETER (V.O.): With knowledge, I've the ability to influence others to think and do things otherwise that they wouldn't think or do.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I have not only power, but also the capacity to lead.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My relentless quest for knowlege and my analytical applicationn of it in contexts would sustain my intellectual and leadership strength.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): On earth, I'm just one among the many of humankind.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In sharing my knowlege and opinions, I might have mulltiplied the power of the humankind.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Global issues like the current pandemic require global solutions. The social media App has provided the platform for people to pose some of their problems.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We often spend a lot of time identifying the problem eg who are the spreaders? Once the problem has been identified, the solution to it can be focused.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Synthesizing their questions facilitates me to suggest global solutions to the global problems.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's probably the reason why I have got addicted to the intellectual exercises.
Peter smiles.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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