In the earlier scripts, Enrique was referred to as ‘Mutant Alpha’ — simply the first among Fumiaki’s experiments. But I decided he has a bigger role in the story. Although maybe yelling at Girii is not the role you want to play…
↓ Transcript
Girii: Everyone, grab some supplies and pick a whale. Sally, take Kentaro. He's been hit with neurotoxin.
Sally: Are you okay?
Girii: I was hit, but I'm fine. I fought through it.
Sally: Fumiaki said your body produces acetylcholine. That's an antidote. But he didn't know how to trigger it.
Girii: I know how it's triggered. Emotion. I was hurt, I was scared. I'm still angry. I'm really not like Jacob...
Enrique: Hey, what are you doing? I'm going back in the tank next week!
Girii: We have to go, Enrique.
Enrique: But I can't stay like this! I'm a handsome guy!
Girii: Too bad. Get in a whale.
Sally: Are you okay?
Girii: I was hit, but I'm fine. I fought through it.
Sally: Fumiaki said your body produces acetylcholine. That's an antidote. But he didn't know how to trigger it.
Girii: I know how it's triggered. Emotion. I was hurt, I was scared. I'm still angry. I'm really not like Jacob...
Enrique: Hey, what are you doing? I'm going back in the tank next week!
Girii: We have to go, Enrique.
Enrique: But I can't stay like this! I'm a handsome guy!
Girii: Too bad. Get in a whale.
Technically everyone’s body produces acetycholine
Atropine might be a better compond
(rubs hands together) Ah, someone knowledgeable! Great, I love being fact-checked. I want to get this right.
What Fumiaki said is that Girii produces 1000 times the normal amount of acetylcholine. Since organophosphate neurotoxins like Sarin prevent acetylcholine uptake, having so much of it in your system (and more importantly, the ability to clear it efficiently) would make you just shrug off neurotoxins. I’m also speculating that it contributes to her strength.
Atropine is an acetylcholine blocker. It has several side effects, including tachycardia and hallucinations, so I don’t think producing that is useful. Those side effects are also why it’s considered a sub-optimal antidote for neurotoxin. I also can’t link it to muscular strength; if anything, it would cause severe weakness.
Maybe on this page I should have Sally say, “Your body overproduces acetylcholine.” Or I could change this page and Fumiaki’s statement to ‘butyrylcholinesterase’, which is an optimal antidote. But I’m running out of space on this page for dialogue… 🙂
Wasn’t Enrique happy to have this body? He should have thought about that earlier…
My pappy always told me, ‘Keep on being ugly and one of these days your face will freeze like that.’
I’ll second changing the dialog to “overproduces” or “produces more”. 🙂
Wasn’t Kentaro not breathing? Or has it simply been a short enough time that he can still be saved by treatment?