Run: 2026-02-24-01KJ8WT2DT5S49KS0NK7GT40NM

**Voice Sheet: Café Conversation** *(SCENE START)* *(Isabella sits at a small table outside the "Apple Core Café" in Alborn. She holds her digital camera, scrolling through photos on the screen. Her expression is focused but troubled. Detective Hunter approaches, badge visible on his belt. He stops at her table.)* **Hunter:** Excuse me, miss? I'm Detective Hunter with the Alborn PD. Mind if I ask you a few questions? *(Isabella looks up, startled. She recognizes the badge but seems nervous.)* **Isabella:** (In Italian) Mi scusi? Non parlo inglese. (Excuse me? I don't speak English.) **Hunter:** (Sighs quietly, realizing the language barrier) Right. Okay. I'm investigating... (He points to himself, then makes a sweeping gesture around the town) ...something that happened. Recently. (He holds up two fingers close together to indicate "small" or "recent," then points to the sky, mimicking a sun setting? He's not good at this.) The disappearances. People vanishing. **Isabella:** (Eyes wide with understanding and fear) Scomparsi? (Disappeared?) Le fotografie... (The photographs...) (She holds up her camera, her hands trembling slightly.) Ho visto qualcosa. Ieri, al molo. (I saw something. Yesterday, at the dock.) **Hunter:** (Leans in, trying to understand) Pictures? You have pictures? (He points to the camera.) **Isabella:** (Nods vigorously, switching to rapid, agitated Italian) Sì, sì! Stavo facendo foto del tramonto sul Lago Sereno. C'era una barca, una piccola barca blu. E poi... un lampo di luce, molto strano. Non era il sole. E la barca... era semplicemente vuota. (Yes, yes! I was taking pictures of the sunset on Lake Serene. There was a boat, a small blue boat. And then... a flash of light, very strange. It wasn't the sun. And the boat... it was just empty.) **Hunter:** (Completely lost, rubs his forehead) A boat? Lake? (He mimes rowing a boat.) You're talking about the lake? **Isabella:** (Frustrated, she shows him the camera's LCD screen. She scrolls to a photo of a lakeside dock at dusk. She points emphatically.) Guarda! Qui! La barca blu! (Look! Here! The blue boat!) (She zooms in on a blurry, distant shape of a small boat.) E nella foto dopo... (And in the next picture...) (She advances. The next photo, taken moments later, shows the same spot. The boat is still there, but a bright, anomalous streak of light cuts across the image near it.) **Hunter:** (Peers at the screen. His detective instincts kick in despite the language gap. He points at the light streak.) This. What is this? Light? **Isabella:** Non lo so! (I don't know!) È apparso e scomparso in un secondo. (It appeared and disappeared in a second.) (She shivers.) È stato... inquietante. (It was... unsettling.) **Hunter:** (Takes out his notebook, writes down "BLUE BOAT - LAKE SERENE - LIGHT FLASH." He shows it to Isabella, pointing to the words, then to her camera, asking a silent question with his eyebrows.) **Isabella:** (Nods, understanding he wants the information. She speaks slowly, as if that will help.) Barca. Blu. Lago Sereno. Ieri. Sera. (Boat. Blue. Lake Serene. Yesterday. Evening.) **Hunter:** (Jots it down. He gives her a tight, appreciative nod.) Thank you. This is helpful. (His phone rings in his pocket. He holds up a finger - "one minute" - and answers.) Hunter. ...What? Where? ...I'm on my way. (He hangs up, his face grim. To Isabella:) I have to go. (He points to her, then to the camera, then to himself.) I'll need those pictures. Official. Capisce? (He uses the one Italian word he thinks he knows, mispronouncing it slightly.) **Isabella:** (Looks confused but nods, clutching her camera to her chest.) Va bene. (Okay.) **Hunter:** (Turns and strides away quickly, already on his phone again.) *(SCENE END)*