The document that came to be known, in internal network memos, as "the Western Avenue Treatment," was discovered on the upper level of a Los Angeles strip mall, its pages scattered across the carpet of an abandoned office suite, apparently spit out by a nearby fax machine.

At least that's the story Renee Alcala eventually told the network.

As soon as she opened the door of the empty office suite on Western Avenue, Renee Alcala knew that the place needed a professional cleaning. She left her own box of supplies at the front door, and gave herself a quick tour. There was a front reception area, a tiny half-bath, and three small rooms in the back, one of which had apparently been used as a combination kitchen and conference area. It wasn't horrible—the empty pizza boxes had been stacked neatly near the back door, other trash had been bound up in black plastic bags, and most of the remaining mess was just piles of paper. There were no roaches, but it was a long way from showable.

And all that ratty furniture—it would have to go.

By mid-morning on Tuesday, February 4, 2003, Nina Pagonis was running about 20 minutes late, which didn't concern her much because the people sitting in her office were the kind of people who would wait. Nina's assistant always showed her visitors into the public part of her office at precisely the moment of their appointments, whether or not Nina herself was present. It was simply good manners. If it proved a bit disorienting to some of her guests, well that could be useful, too.

Nina began the meeting by telling Bradley and Renee a bit about what she was looking for. Since she took over as vice-president of prime-time programming, her goal had been to position her network as the place for strong narrative, interesting characters, and moral complexity.

"That's us--that's our story!" said Bradley.

At eight-thirty in the morning on Thursday, February 6, 2003, Renee Alcala arrived at the Encore!!! Network, to deliver the original copy of the The Meek Shall Inherit to the office of Nina Pagonis. She was surprised to find the office already occupied, and Nina's assistant busy at work. Somewhat sheepishly, Renee handed him the packet. He opened the envelope, took out the manuscript, and inspected the smudged and slightly skewed text of the title page.

"...a Proposal for an Historical Telenovela in the American Language, by Damien di Savoia Underwood..." he said, reading out loud. "So you... found this... on Western Avenue? Above a lavanderia?"