02x08 - Assignment Four: Part 2

[bunniefuu]

This new landlord...

Oh, he's all right.
He's always talking about his kids.

Children! The way he talks about
them, he must have dozens of them.

I've not seen them, though. Not yet.

- Describe him.
- What?

- The new landlord.
- Describe him.

Well, he's...

- That's weird.
- What is?

Well, I've known the man
a few months,

talked to him
like I'm talking to you now...

- That's crazy!
- Tell us.

Well, I... I don't know
what he looks like.

They haven't come
to send us back, have they?

Because we don't want to go back,
we want to stay here with you.

No one's come to send you back,
my children.

I brought you here,
brought you with me.

No one else on this world
can send you back.

You just remember that.

I've talked to the man,
talked to him face to face and...

yet I can't remember his face.

Be still, my children. Be still.

'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.'

Look at all these old pictures.
Where'd they come from?

- They weren't here before?
- No.

- So you've been in here?
- Yeah. When Mr Williamson was here.

But he never bothered
with stuff like this.

Except in the shop,
when he was selling junk.

He was a very clever photographer.

(Sapphire)
Is that how he made his living?

No, the shop was his living.
This was just a hobby.

Not just taking pictures.

- What, then?
- Well... discovering things.

- About photography?
- Yeah. New techniques and that.

Anyway, that's what he told me.

He certainly wouldn't have bothered
with stuff like this.

I mean, look. That's nothing.

There's nobody on that.

- (Steel) There was once.
- Once? What do you mean, "once"?

Steel.

And this one.

(Steel) A child did that to us?
(Woman) What's wrong?

Chose those particular
photographs for us?

- What is it?!
- Not exactly.

She simply chose appropriate ones.

Would somebody tell me what's wrong?

- Do you have somewhere else to stay?
- No!

- Then you'd better find somewhere.
- Now just a minute.

I happen to live here and I was
getting ready for work when you came.

(Woman) Hey! Listen.

Just quietly minding my own business
when you lot come busting in.

- You go to work at this hour?
- Yes.

- For how long?
- All night.

- Then pack a bag, stay there.
- I can't.

- Stay with a friend.
- I only have one.

- And she's disappeared.
- She hasn't...

- Like the landlord...
- No one's proved...

Another man, a man without a face.

Look, maybe he has got a face
and I just haven't seen it.

I mean, I work in a club -
when I'm allowed to.

You see so many faces
that you end up not seeing faces.

- Does that sound believable?
- No.

Well, it'll have to do.

Now, would you mind?
I said I have to work.

(Children outside)
# Pease porridge cold

# Pease porridge in the pot... #

It's all right, they're kids.

- # Some like it hot, some... #
- Just children.

- Whose children?
- How should I know?

- They just play outside.
- Have you ever seen them?

Not close up, no.

- How long have they been there?
- What?

- The children?
- Don't know. Several months, maybe.

Since your friend
and the landlord disappeared?

- Is that when the children arrived?
- Yes.

But no one's disappeared,
no one's been reported missing.

And don't have any funny ideas
about Mr Williamson.

Mr Williamson was a very clean man,
not clean like you.

He got on with his pictures
and he just liked to talk.

(Music starts)

Nice, isn't it?

# Everybody sing... #

You can't dance to it
but it stops you feeling lonely.

I suppose you wouldn't know.

Did she choose that suit for you?

- What did you say?
- You can turn it off if you like.

It's her, isn't it?
You can't do anything.

Last time that thing just stopped.
She did it, didn't she?

Pay for your suit as well?

'Steel. This picture, there are
two people in it who shouldn't be.'

'What do you mean,
"shouldn't be there"? '

'They don't belong in it.'

(Music stops)

Oh! It's you.

- What are you doing there? Hiding?
- Now why should I hide?

Anyway, there's some people
looking for you.

- I know.
- That's your problem, not mine.

Last thing I need now
are other people's problems.

Look, I know this
is gonna sound stupid but...

do you think I could see your face?

Go on! Please.

But you've seen my face.

Well, no. You see,
that's the funny thing...

Thanks, but I still can't see it.

Oh!

Oh, yeah! Well, suppose I wasn't
looking properly before.

That's right,
you weren't looking properly.

(Glass breaking)

You say it hasn't been touched
for 97 years?

Until you broke the glass, yes.

- And yet those people are in there.
- Yes.

Careful, Steel.
It's the only surviving copy.

If I destroy this,
I'd be destroying them?

The implosion of molecules
would cause an emission of energy

which would be impossible to contain.

The back hasn't been touched either.

97 years ago.

They really look
as if they're a part of it.

Except for their clothes, yes.

Steel...

- There was something here.
- When?

A few moments ago.

- The girl?
- No...

That's strange.

Wait.

It's as if... whatever it was was
alive but in the wrong sort of way.

- In a different sort of way.
- A manifestation?

No, stronger than that.

A likeness, then?

No, because there's nothing
to liken it to.

The smell.

A smell of dust and paper...
and copper.

And chemicals.

- Which chemicals?
- It's a mixture.

Silver bromide, iodine, but...

it's... it's so old.

It's like a cupboard
that's been shut for 200 years.

Paper, copper, chemicals.

- Yes.
- But nothing human?

No.

(Sapphire gasps) Yes!

Just here. A man shape.

A man... A man who is a photograph?

- No, it can't be.
- But you said...

The structure is here, the texture
is here but not the subject.

There never was a subject.

- A photograph of nothing?
- Of nothing human, yes.

And the children,
the children that att*cked you?

Oh, they were human - once.

But whatever brought them back,
that stole them from the photographs,

that's not human?

Well, what is it?

- 'Steel? '
- 'It's all right.

'I'm just looking.'

There's nothing to worry about,
my children, nothing to fear.

(Steel) 'A man who has
the texture of a photograph

'but has the strength and power... '

(Sapphire) 'Careful, Steel.'
(Steel) 'It's all right.

(Steel) 'How long is it since
he was on that stair? '

(Sapphire) 'About seven minutes.'

(Steel) 'It's time we had
a proper look at him.'

Bring it back.

It was here, so let's see it.

- There's about to be a complication.
- What?

Well, I'm still here
and I'm still going to work.

And you, mate,
you must be some kind of nut.

All that old chat
about the new landlord.

He was there! Standing there.

- (Steel) Where?
- Where she is now and he was normal.

I saw his face.
He showed me his face.

- He showed you his face?
- Oh, come on.

Are you trying to be
as creepy as your boyfriend?

I saw the man, he was standing there
and there was nothing wrong with him.

- Nothing odd about him?
- He was as normal as you and me.

Well... me, anyway.

- Where is he now?
- What?

- The new landlord.
- Look, how should I know?

Look... I pay my rent
and I keep out of trouble.

So if you want him, you find him.

A cupboard that's been locked
for almost 200 years.

- What?
- That's how you described it.

Oh, I did, yes.

When was the first photograph
ever taken?

On pewter, by Niepce, in 1826.

A negative-positive process
by Fox Talbot in... August 1839.

And could some force
have found its way in then?

- Into the photograph?
- The first photograph ever taken.

It's a unique access point, isn't it?

A useful time-break
for whatever wanted to get in.

- Like a genie in a bottle.
- Who?

If it did get in
through that first photograph...

Then it's been trapped ever since.

- But where?
- I don't know.

Wherever it is, Williamson found it.

Yes, probably by accident,
but he found it.

Turned it loose. Unlocked the
cupboard, if you like. Let's see it.

Can you take time back
for just this...

for just this piece of stair?

Yes, but I can't isolate it for long.

I would have thought
with all your knowledge and...

It doesn't belong to me,
I can only borrow time, not keep it.

You surprise me.

# Eenie, meanie, nacaracca

# Hi, di, dominacca, stickaracca

# Om-pom, push! #

(Children laughing)

(Door opens)

Now.

Nothing?

Just wait.

(Surge of energy)

- If it won't come back...
- It has to.

In one form or another,
it has to come back.

(Eerie howling, intensifying)

- 'Something? '
- 'Yes. Watch the stairs.'

(Howling continues)

(Voice) 'Why should I come? '
(Sapphire) 'There.'

'Why should I come?
Why should I come? '

(Steel) 'Keep him there.'

(Sapphire) 'I can't.'

(Howling continues)

(Sapphire) 'No! '

(Steel) 'That's only the shape
he hides in.'

(Howling continues)

(Voice, fading in and out)
'But you've seen my face...

'But you've seen my face...

'But you've seen my face...
But you've seen my face...

'But you've seen my face... '

(Howling intensifies)

'But you've seen my face...
But you've seen my face...

- 'But you've seen my face... '
- Ah!

'But you've seen my face... '

- (Sapphire) 'No. Show us.'
- 'But you've seen my face...

'But you've seen my face...
But you've seen my face...

(Echoing) 'But you've seen my face...
But you've seen my face...

'But you've seen my face... '

(Silence)

(Howling)

- 'But you've seen my face... '
- (Sapphire) 'It's been trapped.'

(Silence)

(Sapphire) 'In every photograph
that was ever taken.

'It can be any shape.
It can be any shape it wants to be.'

(Howling continues)

'No, Sapphire, its real shape.
I want to see its real shape.

'Find it, Sapphire, its real shape.

'Let me see it.'

(Voice) 'Why should I hide?
Why should I hide?

'Why should I hide?
Why should I... '

'Come on! Find it, its real shape.
Let's see it.'

Let's see it!

(Silence)

Sapphire?

I'm sorry, I can't do any more.

There was a barrier.

I'm sorry.

(Steel) You're sorry?!
What do you mean?

You almost had it. It was... It...

Well, at least we know what it is.

We haven't seen it but we know
what it is so let's try and find it.

Well, come on.

(Surge of energy)

Whatever you did,
you certainly caused havoc.

In every photograph there ever was.

Well, who is he in this one? Him?

Him? Him?

No, they have their own faces.

The figure we're looking for
will always be half-seen

or turned away like that,
or not even seen at all.

What about that one?

Could be behind the fence or in the
street beyond or in the next room.

- But always in there somewhere?
- Yes.

So every photograph
is a photograph of infinity.

(Children laughing)

(Laughter continues)

(Laughter continues)

(Rustling)

(Rustling)

See, saw, sacradown...

Which is the way to London town?