17.
EXT. CALTECH CAMPUS - COFFEE STAND - DAY An outdoor snack bar. Walt sits alone. Around him, young STUDENTS pore over textbooks or quietly type on laptops. Walt sips his coffee and stares into space. At the nearest table, a CHINESE GUY sits with two CHINESE GIRLS. They're laughing and talking in CANTONESE. They keep their voices low so their gossip might not be overheard -- but it's not like we have any idea what they're saying. Walt takes another sip of coffee, carefully sets down the cup. He looks at his hand for a long moment. He notices his fingers are TREMBLING slightly. He makes a fist, squeezes it tight. Opens it. The Asian students are talking a mile-a-minute, the two girls giggling. walt glances at them, looks back to his hand. He presses it flat against the tabletop. UP-ANGLE -- as seen through this GLASS TOP TABLE, Walt's fingers stick to the surface. They pull loose with a slow, gluey SLURP. CLOSER on Walt. He rubs his mouth, sneaks his fingertips to his carotid artery just under his ear. He's feeling his pulse. The furtive whispering in CHINESE fills his head. He's starting to breathe faster. His cellphone RINGS. He glances at the readout screen. "HOME," it says. Walt silences it, tucks the phone back in his pocket. Rapid-fire CHINESE is all we hear. Now it gets drowned out by a sudden WHOOSH that makes Walt blink. It's the whoosh of the nearby cappuccino machine. It's unnaturally loud, like a jet engine. Walt's had enough. Time to go. HIGH ANGLE - DOWN THROUGH THE TREES Magnolia leaves sway in f.g. We're looking down at Walt, tiny in the distance, as he rises to his feet. He makes it three steps before he COLLAPSES, flipping an empty table. Students look up, hesitate. The Chinese guy and a couple of others rise to help. Off Walt, lying on his face •.•
END ACT ONE
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