02x02 - Assignment Three: Part 2

[bunniefuu]

Steel? Steel, can you hear me?

Steel, come back!

(Sapphire) 'Steel! '

Steel, whatever it is, it's seen you.

Steel? It's coming for you!

Steel?!

(Shrieking)

'All irregularities will be handled

'by the forces controlling
each dimension.

'Transuranic heavy elements
may not be used where there is life.

'Medium atomic weights are available.

'Gold, Lead,

'Copper,

'Jet, Diamond, Radium,

'Sapphire, Silver and Steel.

'Sapphire and Steel
have been assigned.'

(Sapphire) 'Steel! '

The child.

(Shrieking)

(Shrieking continues)

(Echoing) No!

(Shrieking)

(Swan choking)

- (Steel) Did you see it?
- Yes.

A bird, some kind of bird.

It was a swan.

- But not a real one.
- Not exactly.

I'd say it was being used
as an instrument of att*ck.

Well, it did a good job,
it came through that thing.

No, it appeared to.

Appeared to?
I was the victim of that att*ck...

Where are the marks?

- It still tried to destroy me.
- Oh, yes.

Something soft,
something made of feathers

and yet it can reach out and strike,
strike through that thing.

And we can't even
scratch the surface.

Why a swan?

Why not something like an eagle?

- Does it matter?
- Yes.

The only thing that matters to me
is who or what provoked that att*ck.

What do you think?
Was it our little family in there?

Or was it whatever's
hiding in there with them?

I don't know yet.

- It's time to set the charges.
- No, Steel.

Yes, Sapphire, I have to, as
a precaution. We have to be prepared.

We just might lose this one.

What about the people downstairs?

- That's their bad luck.
- There's 63 people and 15 animals.

They'll be saving
the whole of humanity.

Human beings love a good sacrifice.

Don't worry, when the building falls
down, they'll blame the architect.

It's only a precaution.

Hopefully all we have to do
is to block off this stairway -

keep the roof, this floor...

and that invasion force to ourselves.

- What about the lift?
- I'll stop it at the eighth floor.

- Why don't you just immobilise it?
- Oh, no.

(Echoing) Life must go on normally
down there

while we do
what we've been sent to do.

(Sapphire) They're only human beings.

They're capable of creating something
invisible and impenetrable.

Of what else are they capable,
our friends upstairs,

with 1,500 years
of accumulated knowledge?

Who knows what their plans are

or what their reason is
for being here?

A man, a woman and a baby.

It's hardly an invasion force, is it?

(Cables creak)

And here, look.

And that, that coat.

It moved by itself.

These things, Eldred,
where did they come from?

- Things?
- Yes. Everything.

Everything in this place -
the furniture, clothes, everything.

Where did it come from?

It was provided.

- Are they real antiques?
- Some may be...

They can't be real.
They're in too good a condition.

- Perhaps they're reconstructions.
- I need to know.

Well, I'm sorry, I don't know.

Everything was provided.

And this? How did this get here?

Look. Look, they're objects,
that's all.

Items. Pieces of equipment.

Well, one of these objects,
one piece of this equipment,

- tried to k*ll our child.
- Rothwyn!

And you.
It tried to make me k*ll you.

What?

Rothwyn!

I've just seen the child.
There's nothing wrong with it.

Well, what about these things?
How do they move?

I've never seen them move.

And the woman?

Woman?

Yes, I saw a woman dressed in blue,
very beautiful.

So where did you see her?

Well, I saw her outside.

(Eldred) Outside?

- Yes.
- Then how could you see her?

I saw her through the wall,
of course.

In there!

Which wall?

That one. Eldred...

we have to go back, back to our
proper time as soon as possible.

- If the communications are down...
- It's only a temporary fault.

Yes. Yes, it's sure to be
only temporary.

Well, perhaps in the meantime
you could contact the others.

I've already said that I would,
this evening.

- Eldred.
- Yes?

Because there's the thoughts as well.

- Thoughts?
- Yes.

- They only began today...
- What kind of thoughts?

- A strong desire to leave here.
- But haven't we just said...

No!

These thoughts have nothing to do
with leaving this time period,

just with leaving this place.

Just a strong desire
to pick up the child and leave,

to escape, I suppose.

- Escape?
- Yes.

It's as if something's ur...

urging me to go outside.

But you know that's impossible.

Yes.

We're sealed in here.

The doors and the windows,
they're not real.

These thoughts,
do you have them at this moment?

- Can you please contact the others?
- I will, later.

Well, why not now?
What's wrong with now?

Because it's project procedure...

There are things going on here

that have nothing to do
with the rules of the project.

Yes.

And the state of your mind
is obviously one of them.

All right, I'll set up the screens.

Thank you.

- It's still receiving information.
- I know that.

A change in time can be
like a sudden change in altitude.

Some lines can't adjust...

But I was chosen
because of my training!

Well, I think that deserves a report.
Don't you?

(Deep voice) 'Time is the measure of
durational continuous existence

'without reference
to extension in space.

'Absolute time
is unrelated to matter or motion

'and is continuous, unlimited

'and infinitely divisible.

'Relative time,

'by which duration is measured
with reference to things... '

- The stairs?
- They're blocked.

All of them?

Just between the eighth and ninth
floors. This looks complicated.

I've made a knot in the cable.
When it goes up as far as the drum,

then the lift will only come up
as far as the eighth...

...floor.

(Voice) 'Sidereal time is based on
the rotation of the earth

'with respect to the stars.

'Solar time
is based on the same movement

'with respect to the sun

'and as the solar day
varies in length

'because of the earth's own movement
in its orbit,

'time as measured by clocks,
chronometers, etc

'is computed on the basis
of an average, or mean, solar day.'

Experimental project
ES stroke five stroke treble seven.

Urban study group
transmitting to rural study group.

(Reverberation)

So either something is happening here

or it's my mind, my imagination.

Urban study group
transmitting to rural study group.

Rural study group, room two, please.

Hello? Hello!

Urban study group transmitting to
provincial study group.

Back to rural study group.
Room three, please.

I realise that you cannot advise me
at this stage

but perhaps a medical analysis would
be of use in the interim period.

In the meantime
there's nothing to worry about.

We're making contact
with the other two study groups.

As you know, there's a doctor
in study group three.

Perhaps he can help.

Provincial study group,
room two, please.

Godwyn? And Freida...

(Voice) 'Solar time
is always of the same length

'and has no real existence.'

(# Lullaby)

(Cable creaking)

(Clang)

(Lift strains and stops)

(Sapphire) 'Steel! '

'What is it? '

(Sapphire) 'Three power sources
are being used.'

(Steel) 'So? '
(Sapphire) 'One is...

'One is some kind of tabulator.'

(Steel) 'For record keeping? '
(Sapphire) 'Yes.'

(Steel) 'Well, we predicted that.'

(Sapphire) 'Now that's stopped.
That one's stopped.

'The second one, well...

'I think that's the system
for communication.'

(Steel) 'Between them and who else? '
(Sapphire) 'I'm not sure.

'It's definitely
a means of communication.'

(Steel) 'Well, is there anything
unusual about it?

'Well, it all fits.
Records, communication... '

(Sapphire) 'It's not those two
power sources I'm worried about.

'It's the other one, the third one.

'Yes, I'm in line with it here.'

(Steel) 'Which way? '
(Sapphire) 'The third one is wrong.'

(Steel) 'Where is it? '
(Sapphire) 'Something else is wrong.

'The child, the baby.
It's no longer in there.'

(Electric roar)

And there's someone else,
I think it's another adult.

- You think?
- I'm not sure. There's a connection.

- Between...
- Between the third power source...

- And the new adult.
- Yes.

What is the third power source?

- I don't understand.
- What is it?!

It's not power.

It's not energy, as such.

It's time.

(Sapphire) 'It's time.

'It's time. It's time.'

What would that family have used
to travel back 1,500 years?

- Time itself.
- What form would it take?

A unit, some sort of machine?

They've succeeded in crystallizing
a unit of time?

(Sapphire) 'Yes.'

(Steel) 'A crystal of time.'

Then, it could be unstable,

a time unit gone wrong.

Well?

I can't communicate with it,
not without being in there.

So it's not an outside force that's
attacking it, it's an inside one.

Something that came with them,
something they used to travel back.

Or it helped to bring them back.

Why isn't it on their side any more?

- Try to communicate with it.
- I can't communicate with a crystal.

No? Oh, go on.

Time's your specialty,
you've things in common.

If you can't communicate with it
then try exciting it

- but let's see it!
- All right!

I'll try.

- (Sapphire) It's no good!
- Keep trying.

'It's a piece of apparatus,
I can analyse its function.'

You've already done that,
try to communicate with it.

I can't possibly.

(Steel) Is it only a machine?
(Sapphire) Yes!

(Sapphire) No. No, it's not.

It's not only a machine?

Well, not completely, not all of it.

- I can't!
- You can! Tell me.

(Sapphire) 'It's capable...
of so many things.'

(Steel) Tell me!

Oh... no.

(Sapphire) 'No! '

(Gasping in pain)

'The pain... the pain.

'For always.

'Forever.'