Characters: Dr. Hans Brockner (PI, Senior Faculty)
Dr. James Rollins (co-PI, Junior Faculty)
Dr. Eunice Lee (Dr. Rollins' Colleague, Junior Faculty)
INTERIOR, NIGHT. PRIVATE RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN AN OTHERWISE--DESERTED LAB BUILDING
Dr. Brockner pops a champagne cork and serves his colleagues.
ROLLINS
Bravo!
BROCKNER
Jim…
ROLLINS
Thank you…
BROCKNER
Eunice…
LEE
Whoa… That's great, Hans, thanks.
BROCKNER
Richly deserved, I'd say.
ROLLINS
And I'd say so, too!
BROCKNER
My brilliant and esteemed colleagues! Here's to us!
LEE AND ROLLINS
TO US!
BROCKNER
An extraordinary breakthrough, really.
ROLLINS
After months and months of nothing!
LEE
It's the first look at how the SV40 tumor antigen sets up shop.
BROCKNER
It shows the value of patience and persistence!
ROLLINS
It shows the value of thinking outside the box!
LEE
It shows the value of talking to the right person!
BROCKNER
How's that?
LEE (to Brockner)
Oh, I was the one who told Jim how to fix your protocol.
ROLLINS ( to Lee )
Well, you were the one who made a suggestion that lead me to try a new approach, which eventually fixed the protocol.
LEE ( to Rollins )
You guys were stuck when we had that conversation in the cafeteria. You guys were going nowhere!
BROCKNER ( to Rollins )
You never mention this conversation to me…
ROLLINS ( to Brockner )
There were still a lot of things to be checked out. It was just a foot in the door…
LEE ( to Rollins )
It was the essence of the solution. It lead to your abandoning of the initial protocol.
BROCKNER
We never abandoned the protocol. It was by following the protocol that we obtained the data that allowed each of you to make your contribution. The protocol worked, we just had to give it time. More champagne?
ROLLINS
The protocol was getting us nowhere.
LEE
It was fundamentally flawed.
BROCKNER
You're talking about my protocol.
ROLLINS
It stunk.
LEE (to Rollins)
Now be fair, Jim. The protocol was usable , it just lacked… insight .
ROLLINS
Which is the element you supplied, I suppose? Look, I'm grateful for the collegial comment, but I worked for weeks to make it into a viable methodology.
BROCKNER ( to Rollins )
The “viable methodology” was there all along – in the protocol!
LEE ( to Rollins )
You ungrateful, glory-hogging liar! The fundamental insight was mine!
ROLLINS ( to Lee )
We were chatting over salad !
BROCKNER
I can't believe this! I'm being stabbed in the back by the two people who've benefited most from my work.
ROLLINS ( to Brockner )
Your work? My work!
BROCKNER ( to Rollins )
Why, you… upstart!
LEE ( to Brockner )
Dinosaur!
ROLLINS ( to Lee )
Leach!
BROCKNER, ROLLINS and LEE
I WON'T GIVE YOU CREDIT FOR THIS! |