Chapter 1: Final Program/1-12

## Stage 1-12

[Player's Company] is at the recording studio, filming the final episode of Miracle Finder. MC and her staff had designed the storyboard for the show. Even though she had filmed several episodes before, this was the first time she felt nervous. MC asks Anna to give her another run down of the episode. Anna sighs, "How many times have you checked it today?" But despite her complaints, she complies. The host laughs, telling MC that they've rehearsed so many times, he even remembers everyone else's lines. "Just once more," she pleads, still clearly nervous.

"Just relax," Lucien reassures her. "I read the script. It's a good show." MC turned in surprise, "Professor Lucien, you're here!" At those words, Lucien he paused unhappily. MC blushed, and corrected herself. "Oh... Lucien." He asks MC to show him around, and MC introduces him to everyone as the guest expert of this final episode. The audience stared at him, and then broke out in applause, and Anna happily comments on Lucien's handsome appearance. He was a hit, and MC asks if he'd be willing to appear on future shows, assuming the company doesn't fold. He happily agrees, if it's a show she's producing. The show proceeds smoothly. Besides being handsome, Lucien is charming, intelligent, witty and humorous. He easily and naturally answers the host's questions and guides the final episode to its conclusion. The host asks him to say some final words. "As our scientific understanding of humanity expands, the frontier of the known expands with it. Miracle Finder might end today, but the superpowers it discovered have transcended our age," he says speculatively, his smile dazzling the audience. "Maybe someday in the future, the pace of science will catch up with this show. Every scientist, myself included, hopes to make a contribution in this field."

After the show, the audience crowded around Lucien, asking for signatures. He was so popular that even some of the staff was starstruck. By the time MC could escort him out of the studio, it was already late. She thanks him for his help, and he replies that he was honored to join. MC remembers Lucien's words from the show, and recalls the incident with the mysterious man the other day. Curious, she asks Lucien if he's ever heard the term "Evolver," and Lucien stops in his tracks. His normally smiling face is contemplative, as he looks MC over discerningly. "Yes, I've heard of it," he answers. "Where did you hear that word?" [There are two options here: Tell him or don't tell him.] "I see. Thank you for trusting me and sharing this with me." His usual smile is back. He explains that the term Evolver refers to a super-evolved human, an academic term for a being with super powers. Lucien says that 20 years ago, there were rumors of a British scientist who was able to identify a unique gene by dissecting several people with super powers. The expression of that gene, the ability to use a super power, was called Evol, and those who were able to use Evol were called Evolvers. Eventually, the scientist was sentenced to life imprisonment for his inhuman experiments, and all of his research was deemed classified. Lucien explains that he is also doing research related to the topic of superpowers, and he hopes to one day discover the truth. He jokes that if MC is able to find any real super humans while making Miracle Finder, they are welcome in his research center. When MC pauses cautiously, Lucien laughs and asks, "What are you thinking? My research is all completely legal." MC apologizes and says that letting her imagination run wild is an occupational hazard. MC concludes that the mysterious man who saved her from a dangerous accident must believe in the existence of Evol, and that he believed MC to be an Evolver, for some unknown reason. With the exception of those two car accidents, nothing strange had ever happened in MC's life. She was completely normal. Even so, MC concludes that the topic of Evolvers would be incredibly interesting, and she wondered if she could somehow meet the mystery man again to ask him more. "Perhaps he was a real super human," she speculated.