Valentine In a Burning World

1. Act 1

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3. MONTAGE - THE 15TH DAY OF THE YEAR OF THE HORSE

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5. 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.

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7. 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.

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9. C. Connection. Late morning. Peter studies two articles on his screen, deep in thought. After reflecting seriously, he types his comments and sends them to the author, a School Dean. This initiates a series of exchanges between them. 

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11. D. Day 668. Noon. The Duolingo owl on an iPad Mini screen. Peter taps deliberately. He speaks Spanish, Portugese, French, Italian, German, Japanese and Korean. Triumphant dings. He smiles slightly.

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13. E. The work. Later. Using his phone, Peter researches case law that governs the admissibility of specific interrogatories.

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15. F. The horse runs. Early afternoon. Peter glides through the pool water, practising the breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly. As he exits the pool, he gasps for breath, exhilarated.

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17. G. The tea. Afternoon. Peter enjoys a bowl of soup noodles with dumplings and a glass of red bean ice at a fast-casual restaurant.

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19. H. A walk. Late afternoon. Peter and his WIFE take their pet for a walk in a riverside park before driving her to the groomer.

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21. I. The golden hour. Evening. Peter sits at the piano. Following online tutorials, he practises his skills diligently.

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23. J. The war news. Night. Peter follows the war news once more, shaking his head and sighing from time to time.

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25. END MONTAGE

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27. Act 2

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29. EXT. LIVING ROOM - 20:30

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31. Peter sits on a sofa, phone in hand.

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33. PETER (V.O.): Let me send my Lantern Festival greetings to relatives and friends.

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35. Peter mines his Lantern Festival song on his YouTube channel.

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37. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A few years back, I wrote a song for the Festival.

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39. Peter listens to it.

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41. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My song once felt beautiful. But today, amid the echoes of war, it feels like a distant memory, belonging to someone else.

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43. Pausing.

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45. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A joyful heart in a wounded world isn't escape. It's resistance.

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47. He copies the link and shares it on Facebook.

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49. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'll ask AI agents to create a personalized Lantern Festival greeting card for me.

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51. He tests one agent after another, but the cards feature strange symbols instead of Chinese characters.

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53. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me see if they can fix those errors.

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55. Peter asks for corrections, but the agents stubbornly retain their errors.

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57. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Not intelligent or efficient at all, even for the most advanced one.

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59. Peter tries the Qwen App and sees the simplest and most traditional card.

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61. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It only contains five simplified Chinese characters 元宵快乐 and my name 辉, all of which are correct.

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63. Peter saves the image and sends it through both WhatsApp and WeChat.

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65. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Machines can write my Valentine. They can't mean it.

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67. Pausing.

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69. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Meaning requires a heart that knows the weight of the world.

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71. INT. DINING ROOM - 22:00

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73. Bowls of sweet soup with round dumplings between Peter and his wife.

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75. PETER (V.O.): It's festive to eat round dumplings on the 15th day of the new year.

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77. We hear the latest updates on the war from the TV.

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79. PETER: International law and morality fade into irrelevance.

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81. WIFE: Military power overshadows all else.

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83. We hear from the TV: Iran morns 165 girls, staff killed in a school strike during US-Israel war.

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85. PETER: It's profoundly tragic.

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87. WIFE: Warmongers should be held accountable and face harsh penalties.

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89. Both Peter and his wife sigh.

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91. PETER: The world is regressing to a state of nature - a brutal environment marked by competition and fear, leading to a war of all against all.

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93. They then eat in silence - the kind of silence that only comes from decades together.

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95. PETER (V.O.) : Despair says: nothing matters. Love says: then let everything matter.

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97. Pausing.

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99. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Hope isn't optimism. Hope is continuing to love when the news is unbearable.

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101. Act 3

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103. INT. LIVING ROOM - 22:30

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105. Peter uploads a photo of a bowl of sweet soup with round dumplings served with a spoon to a draft on his laptop.

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107. PETER (V.O.): What it means to be human in a world of war and machines?

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109. Thinking.

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111. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I keep my routines. I create what beauty I can. I've dinner and dessert with my wife. It's not a solution. It's a way of living.

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113. Reflecting.

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115. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The news couldn't steal my song, the machines couldn't write my cards, and a valentine in a burning world is still a valentine - because love isn't cancelled by chaos. It's illuminated by it.

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117. The END

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119. FADE OUT