Hammer out a Warning

NORMAL OPENING

TITLE comes up: Trip Trap Trip Trap

Camera pans into home of No6

He's sitting in front of his TV.

Staring intently

No6 (muttering to himself): Interactive programming? Virtual village? Join Now? Humph! More ways to waste people's time in here? I need some fresh air.

 

No6  walks to bedroom, leaving the screen visible.

There are pictures in squares, one of them is of his own cottage.

Others are of familiar landmarks such as the Green Dome.

No6 dressed in blazer passes through the automatic door of his cottage.
It is morning.

The village seems deserted. Nobody is around to signal "Good Day!" to him.

Then he hears the sound of running, towards the cafe.

He veers in that direction.

Village Crowd: Here! Now! Everyone!

A group of around 20 villagers are standing at various tables. 

Other villagers are seated, looking confused.

The standing villagers begin to sing, acapella.

Village Crowd: 

Now Patrick McGinty, an Irishman of note,
Fell into a fortune, so bought himself a goat.
Say's he, "Sure, of goat's milk I mean to have my fill!"
But when he brought the Nanny home, he found it was a Bill.

And now all the ladies who live in Killaloo
Are all wearing bustles like their mothers used to do.
They each wear a bolster beneath the petticoat,
And leave the rest to Providence and Paddy McGinty's goat!

Those standing all begin to clap themselves.

Those seated all smile and clap too.

Then, everyone bustles into a chair and the waitress begins to put cups on the tables

No.6 is staring, baffled. A voice speaks behind him.

No2: What do you think old boy? Jolly good co-ordination what? 

No6: What? 

No2: The Flashmob. Fabulous timing and such a surprise for the others. They thoroughly enjoyed it didn't they. It all seems very good for the community.

No6: Whistle while you do your time?

No2: Time is the very essence is it not? Might as well make it a good time. You should join in. You're full of ideas.

No6: Ideas? My only idea is to get out of this community of fools

No2 (chuckling amiably): Oh dearie me No6. Have you not signed in yet? To the virtual village?

No6 (knowing wry smile): Oh that. I saw it this morning. Can't turn the damn machine off, so couldn't really miss it... But I have not the faintest idea what it means.

No2: You've just seen it in action old boy! No73 came up with the idea. She said the possibilities were endless, but even she never foresaw the Flashmob. Its that old Human Ingenuity (taps side of head and laughs as he walks away from No6) They do what you least expect sometimes (then No2 stops and leers back at No6) but only some of the time. Just as well eh? (he walks out of sight) 

There is a roaring sound and No6 stiffens as Rover drifts past him.

It bounces a few times in front of the cafe as the diners sit, frozen.

Then the ball moves away and conversation is renewed.

No6 sits in a vacant chair.

No6 (to the attentive waitress): Tea please. Two sugars

No6 adresses the woman opposite, an attractive blonde.

No6 : Looks like all the fuss attracted one of our keepers

No73 (pulls her lapels as if cold, revealing her badge): They give me the shivers. Always watching.

No6 (suddenly interested): Not seen you before. Are you new here? No73? I'm sure....

No73: Sure?

No6: Sure I remember meeting 73 once, but it certainly wasn't you. 

No73 (lightly laughs): I'm sure I would have remembered you! No6?

No6 (slightly discomfited): I am today it seems. 

No73: You can be whoever you want to be in the virtual village. Have you joined? 

No6 : I'm not the Joining sort.

No73 : None of us were I suppose, but we're all here aren't we. Might as well make it a good time. You should join. I have a feeling you're full of ideas.

No6 : If you think that now, just wait till you get to know me.

No73 (demurely): I rather think I'd like to.

No6 (finishing his tea): Join me later perhaps? You know where to find me.

 He walks towards the woods.

She has a smile on her face watching him walk away.

His face is taut, slightly puzzled, but determined.

Scene: Living Space. No2 watching No6 & No73. No2 is frowning. Angry.

Scene: No6 Cottage. No6 is in front of his TV. No73 is next to him

No73 : So you see? Once you have created your Information, the machine will recognise you whenever you sign in with that identity, and remember all that you have done up until the last time you were here.!

No6 : And all these others. They are who?

No73 : Well, they could almost be anyone, but of course the machine knows which TV they are connected from so... they can pretend, but they cannot really do any harm.

No6 : So why aren't they just themselves? 

No73 : Well, do you want to be No6? ... Here... Let me look (taps at a keyboard) No! There is no No6 yet! So you can be yourself! That's a bit of luck!

No6 : Where do you do that? (concentrating as No73 shows him how it works) I see.. (starts tapping himself) So... Number... 1346 .... There. Done! I am No1346!

No73 (confused): But that's ridiculous. There aren't even that many villagers!

No6 (coyly): Really? How many of us are there then? Exactly........

No73 (anxiously) : I... I have no idea. How should I know? How to count them?

No6 : You said you invented this virtual village. Can't you count the numbers?

No73 : Well, some people create more than one number.

No6 (quizzically): Why? Isn't one of them enough?

No73 : People like to play, you know? Games. Fun.

No6 : Might as well make it a good time eh?

No73 : Oh! Look at the time! I must get back. There's a curfew tonight!

No6 : Maybe we can talk later (taps keyboard edge with fingernail) You've got my number, so you know where to find me.

No73 : I knew I was right! You are full of ideas! Good ideas!

No6 : A good man these days is hard to find.

No73 (demurely): I do wish you'd not given yourself such a silly number though!

No6 : A number by any other name.... would smell as sweet......  

No73 jumps up lightly, laughing.

She heads for the door.

No73: I'll be seeing you!.... Number one thousand three hundred and forty six!!

 The doors hums shut behind her, her laughter tinkling

No6 (to himself, tapping again) : A good man these days is hard to find. There. Now I am No6 as well. Can't take the chance that somebody else might choose to be me can I.

  END OF ACT ONE

ACT TWO

Scene: Cafe. No6 is pacing, looking. He flags the waitress.

No6: Has No73 been here this morning?

Waitress : I know no-one of that number 

No6: She was here yesterday!

Waitress (archly) : There were many people here yesterday. I daresay there will be many here people here today too! You'll have to excuse me. I've got my work to do.

 A hand tugs at No6's elbow. No56 is on his lapel. He hisses.

No14: I'd try the hospital if I was you.

No6 : The hospital? 

No6 walks off the patio, waving as a taxi approaches.

It stops and he gets in.

No6: Hospital.

Taxi-driver : Emergency?

No6 : Not that I know of...

Taxi-driver : Best take no chances!

 A loud siren sounds as the taxi heads off at a dizzy pace.

 No6 hangs on as he is flung from side to side as the vehicle races crazily.

Close-up as No6 is thrown forward as the taxi skids to a halt. 

Taxi-driver: Hospital Sir! I was a quick as I could be!

No 6 : You were so quick I wasn't sure that we'd ever arrive.

 A piercing scream is heard. No6's eyes widen. He recognises the sound!

He scrambles out the taxi and sprints across the lawn, veering round a vaguely threatening Rover.

He runs down corridors, and up stairs, pushing his way past startled villagers and staff.

He bursts through a door marked Private.

No2  is there, leaning through an open window.

No6 levers him to one side and looks down

No73 is on the ground below. Her arms and legas are at crazy, impossible angles.

No2: How.. what... 

No6 : Did I know? Did I get here?..... What happened?

No2: She fell.... she jumped.... from the window....

No6 : Fell? Jumped? or was she pushed!!

No2 (gathering himself): Pushed!? Don't be ridiculous No6. Fell, jumped - it's hard to tell. She was so highly-strung that I'm really not sure what she meant to do. But, it's over now.

No6 : She seemed fine yesterday. We were supposed to be meeting last night, but she never showed up.

No2: Meeting? It was Curfew last night!

No6 : In the virtual village.

No2: Oh.... I see..... You joined then?

No6 : She showed me how. Now she's dead.

No2: There will be others in there.

No6 : There was only one Seventy Three though, wasn't there?

No2 (now airily): Was there? I really couldn't say old chap. I rarely keep a strict count.

No6 : One less to count now. One less that counted for anything.

No2: She created the virtual village. The strain... you know? She always worked too hard. I should have guessed.... Too late now. I'll have to go old fellow. Report to make. You know how it is.

No6 (looking down as No73 is collected into a bodybag) : Yes. I know how it is.

  Night-time. 
Scene: No6 Cottage. Interior. No6 is flickering in the light from his TV

No6 (to himself): 1, 3, 4, 6 ...Welcome number one thousand three hundred and forty six. What would you like to do next? (taps) Speak to number seventy three ... Not in the village just now? ... Humm... I'll bet she isn't.... Let's see..... I remember the numbers she typed..... (taps) .... No, not that.... (taps again)

Suddenly the screen is filled with line after line of data

Data hurtling down fromn the top of the screen to the bottom in wave after flickering wave. 

No6 shrugs his shoulders and gets to work

Scene: Observation Room
metallic voice repeating "Lilac Alert! Lilac Alert!"

The Supervisor rushes in looking flustered

Supervisor: What's it all about?

No56 : Seems to be a Data Collapse sir!

Supervisor: Data Collapse?

No56 : Something is downloading Information Sir! An unknown collection point

Supervisor : The other side do you think? But how?

No56 : It seems to be internal sir, but, we cannot see the vanishing point.

Supervisor : Is it a complete loss? My God. I'll have to report to No2!

No56: No sir. Not lost. It's being read and then recycled back in. All the Information seems as secure as before, but it has... moved, and then returned.

Supervisor (tapping at buttons) : Unchanged. No deletions. No corrections. It's like... Like nothing happened. Stop that noise!!

No56 (turns off Lilac voice): It's over sir. System stability fully restored.

Supervisor : Change every access code. All of them, do you hear?

No56: Yessir! Protocol RNU activated.

Supervisor (reviewing screens) : It's like nothing ever happened.

The camera pans along the endless lines of Filing Cabinets seen in the Pre-sequences

We see the final cards dropping into drawers.

The drawers slide smoothly shut.

Silence descends as a lilac light gently suffuses the space

 Night-time. 
Scene: Inside No6 Cottage. No6 is flickering in the light from his TV

No6 (to himself): Information. By hook or by crook, I've got it now.

No6 pulls a strange oblong object from the front of the screen.

He drops it gently into his blazer pocket.

No6 (to himself) : The village. I've got the whole village. In my pocket.

END OF ACT TWO

ACT THREE

Scene: Living Space. No2 is at his Console.

The big screen is awash with virtual village squares.

No2 is tapping in bursts, his eyes flashing, alternate sneers and smiles cross his face.

The doors swish open. The Butler rattles in with his trolley.

No2 bashes furiously at his Console, momentarily confused.

No2: What are you doing, you idiotic midget! How many times do I have to tell you!!

The Butler'eyes and expression reveal he noticed the virtual village screens.

To No2's abuse he remains impassive.

No2 : You can be replaced do you know!! When I have important work I demand quietude and you just burst in through the doors like ... like a dumb waiter!! If you cannot grasp the simplest of instructions, then by golly, you'll be.... Redacted!!

All through this tirade the Butler continues to lay out the table setting.

As the word "redacted" echoes round the room, he finishes pouring the tea.

Then he stands, impassively. 

No2 stare in an increasingly impotent fury.

No2 (shriekingly): Get out!! You little moron!! Get out!!

The Butler bows and leaves.

The doors swish closed

No2 is slightly shaking. 
He eats some food, then puts his cutlery down and returns the screen to his squares.

No2 (chuckling to himself) : 1346 huh? Who are you, my little Minx?

Morning. 
Scene: The beach. 

Some villagers are sun-bathing. 

No6 and No2 are sitting on deck-chairs.

No2 : So you joined up then No6?

No6 : I'm a carpenter, not a joiner

No2: Oh jolly good old man! Carpenter not a joiner ... Very good.

No6 : This constant Curfew leaves little else to do after dark.

No2: It was good to see No6 being active in the virtual community at least.

No6 : I'm always active. Actively seeking a way out of this place.

No2: The virtual village offers an escape though, what?

No6 : An escape from reality perhaps, but we always find the same old reality waiting for us when the sun comes up in the morning

No2: You should join in more No6. Might as well make it fun while you're here

No6 : So you keep telling me. I'll have most fun when I'm not here. 

One of the bathing beauties walks by. 

She smiles at No2.

No673 : Beautiful day No2!

No2 : Indeed Six Seven Three! Most beautiful!

No2 openly leers as the woman walks down the sand

No6 smirks sardonically behind upraised fingers as he scratches his nose.

No6: The numbers get.... bigger every day; don't they.

No2 : A happy village is a big village No6

No6: Go forth and multiply as they say

No2 (genuinely puzzled) : Who says?

No6: The Mathematicians I imagine

No2 : Your records mention that you were tops at Arithmetic

No6: I've always been able to add two and two together.

No2 : Ha! Very good No6. I do like you, you know. I wish you would learn to like me.

No6: If the village is growing, perhaps you too will grow on me.

No2 : I do hope so No6! Things to do! Reports to write! Be seeing you!

No2 levers himself quickly out of the deck-chair and strides away.

No6 (as he is left alone): Like a fungus perhaps....

Scene: Living Space. No2 is at his Console.

The big screen is awash with virtual village squares.

No2 is tapping in bursts, his eyes flashing, alternate sneers and smiles cross his face.

No2 (grinning) : Of course! 673x2=1346!!... A double-life in the virtual village! She WANTED me to know!! These girls always fall for men with real power!

 Night-time. 
Scene: Inside No6 Cottage. No6 is flickering in the light from his TV

No6 is quietly tapping and then reading the the responses.

We see the screen, with each line scrolling down...

Hi, I am 1346. 
I am No6. 
How are you?
In the village

Hi No6. I went sun-bathing today! Such a beautiful day wasn't it!

You think so? 

The best.

Would you like to play a game?

Oh yes. What game would you suggest?

Billy Goat Gruff?

Oh? Trip Trap and the Troll! Yes!!

Scene: Living Space. No2 is at his Console.

The big screen is huge with one virtual village square.

No2 is scowling. His eyes are flashing, with anger.

No2 (talking to himself) : How the hell .... Of course... He knows his numbers and figured it out too. He'll find TWO can play at this game!

No2 begins to type, looking up at the screen following the moving lines.

And then tapping again.

Scene: Image from all around the diiferent buildings of the village. 

Yellow flickering lights emanate from all the many single windows.

Scene: No6 Cottage. Interior. No6 is flickering in the light from his TV

No6 (to himself): Welcome to the game number two hundred and twenty two. 

END OF ACT THREE

ACT FOUR

 Observation Room

A tall man is with the supervisor

Supervisor : The virtual village has been going on for some time Colonel.

Colonel: Outrageous. Who authorised this!? Who made this?

Supervisor : Well No2 authorised it of course Sir. It was No73 who devised the programming.

Colonel: 73? But she's dead.

Supervisor : Oh she finished making it quite some time ago now sir.

Colonel (jabbing finger st screen squares): But it, it, it's fraternisation! No2! Look at him!

Supervisor (looking relieved): Oh no sir! That's not the real No2 sir. It's a virtual village you see.

Colonel (stupified): Who is No2 then?

Supervisor : No idea sir. It's all anonymous you see. The villagers can be whoever they want to be.However we can of course see which machine they use to access the village, so it's easy enough for us to know who is who and what is what.

Colonel: This is ridiculous. Get me No2. I want him here.... NOW!

No2 jauntily enters the Observation Room and starts down the metal steps

No2: Colonel! How nice to be seeing you! And so unexpected!

Colonel : What the blazes is going on?!

No2 : The virtual village you mean? What do you think? Fantastic, what?

Colonel (jabbering slightly): Somebody is pretending to be YOU man!!

No2 : That was the idea old chap. When 73 suggested it I saw the possibilities immediately. Of course it took quite some time, but HE's joined it now!!

Colonel: No6?

No2 : Yes. Now HE is in our game now Colonel! Show him Supervisor! 

Supervisor jabs at the controls and a square with No6's face comes up on the screen

Colonel : He appears to be playing his own game. How do you know it is him?

Supervisor : We have TV address codes sir. We know who they all are... in reality. 

No2 (interjecting): But of course they don't know we know Colonel! They think they are free! Brilliant, don't you think?

Colonel : I can see.... the possibilities....

No2 : Endless, what?

Colonel: What have we discovered?

Supervisor (tapping) : He made straight for the No2 of course, but he soon realised it was not the real thing. I imagine he must have realised anyway that only villagers would be in the village.

No2 (loftily) : When I approved the plan, the Fraternisation Protocol was of course a number one Priority Instruction!

Colonel (unnerved) : Number One?

No2 : I just mean a number one priority old chap. Number One does not concern himself with day to day matters such as these.

Colonel (clearing throat) : Of course not. Goes without saying...

No2 : It's only a matter of time before No6 lets something slip. They always do.

Colonel : Hmm... Well, it's dashed unorthodox, but so long as the proper protocol safeguards are in place.

Supervisor : Oh, we have total encoding security sir. Nothing can be out of place.

Colonel : Codes can be broken.

No2 : Not these old chap. These are Machine Codes. 73 made them impregnable. The machine makes them and there is no other machine that can break them.

Colonel : I'll leave the details with you No2. I need to report back personally..

No2: Of course. Have a good trip back to the mainland.

Scene: Night in the village.

Scene: Living Space. No2 is at his Console.

He is hunched over.... a man obsessed 

No2 (speaking as he taps) : Damn your eyes No6! She's mine! D'you hear me! Mine!!

 Scene: Day in the village. 
Scene: Observation Room. No2 is with Supervisor.
N6 is being dragged in my white-hatted Guards.

He clatters down the metal steps with them.

No6 (jerking against his restraint)  : Does this mean we're no longer friends?

No2 : There are some matters that even you are not protected against No6

No6 : Me? Protected? Don't make me laugh. It might hurt.  (jerks again)

No2 (to guards) : Let him free. He's going nowhere.

No6 (shaking arms to make blood flow): So this is where you keep an eye on us all the time is it?

Supervisor (anxiously to No2) : Was this wise.....

No2 (snapping): Operate the machinery. Leave the thinking to me.

Supervisor (face closes in dislike) : Yes Number Two.

No6 (glancing at Supervisor): Good boy. He'll make a Rover out of you yet.

 Supervisor makes no response but starts fiddling with his controls

No2 : You've been protected so far No6. Protected by some very powerful people. But now you've overstepped the mark I can tell you. This is beyond the pale.

No6 (genuinely shocked) : This? What?

No2 : Show him

 Supervisor presses a button.

As he presses, each time a different image of 673 comes up.

Her legs and arms are at crazy angles.

Supervisor : The laboratory has confirmed the nature of what occurred

No6 (staring wild-eyed at No2) : You killed her?

No2 : YOU killed her No6, and did worse first. There is the proof!

No6 (angered now but cold): Proof that she's dead? What has that to do with me?

No2 (commanding) : Run the Gaming Records of the virtual village.

 Supervisor presses a button.

Squares appear and begin to scroll.

There is No6 - his face is clear

There is 1346 - it is 673

There is No222 - an old man in a wheelchair

No2 (glancing at Supervisor then to No6): It's quite clear from these conversations that you had arranged to meet this woman under the bridge at the time mentioned on that social record. Nobody else could possibly have known of the arrangement and it's plain that she is 673.

No6: Like two and two makes four I suppose?

No2: Quite so. Herself doubled as it were. Poor 673.

No6 (calmly) : Add one more two and you would  have six. But what about the man with three twos? He knew too. He was playing the game as well. He argued with me about her, 1346. Look, you can see his threats. (points at screen)

No2 (laughing): Don't be so absurd No6. Look at him. He is a broken-down old man! Playing at being a lover in his pathetic dotage is one thing, but in the real world? He is a helpless cripple!

No6 : How can you be sure you have the right man? 
Supervisor (interjecting) : Machine Code. No chance of error.

No6: Can you bring up the social records of No73?

No2 (frowning): She's dead...

No6: She might be dead in reality but nobody dies in the virtual village they simply stop playing the game. They remain; do they not? (addressing Supervisor)
Supervisor: Inactive profiles will be deleted, but not until some time has passed

  Supervisor taps away.

No2 looks as if he wants to stop him but cannot justify why.

No6 is implacable.

The squares flicker into focus.

There is 73 - her blond hair frames her smile

There is 222 - old, crippled and helpless

The Supervisor looks perplexed

No2 (distastefully): Him again! He's been following all these women? Stalking them in his virtual village. He will have to be dealt with! One tawdry episode is one thing, but ...  (a sly sneer comes over his face). Check for other interactions of 222 Supervisor!

  Sequenecs of boxes with images of pretty women scroll - each with a number

Linked to all of them is 222

No2: This is a disgrace Supervisor. A single instance might be just a game but this is a clear perversion. Make a note Supervisor. 222 to be redacted to the Hospital for Aversion Therapy. And mark yourself down for Re-Training! This is very sloppy work indeed!

No6 (to Supervisor): May I? (starts tapping numbers)

No2 (nervous): He'll damage the machine!
Supervisor (now antagonistic to No2) : Those codes seem familiar

No6 (to Supervisor): The human code that built the Machine Code

No2 (nervous): Stop him! What is he doing?
Supervisor : Those are the codes of 73. I remember some of the sequences. 
No2 (nervous): You underwent Erasure!
Supervisor : To sleep. Perchance to dream.
No6 : What the machine has joined together, only Man can put asunder.

No2 (demanding): He'll damage the machine I tell you!

 Before anyone can move, the big screen begins to dissolve.

The Supervisor stares

Supervisor: Data Collapse?

No6: You've seen this movie before? Then you'll know how it ends

Supervisor (tapping at buttons) : Unchanged. No deletions. No corrections. It's like... Like nothing happened.

No6 turns so that the lunging No2 bounces off his broad back, unable to interfere.
The guards grab No6 again.

No6: Nothing changes but nothing remains the same.

 Squares appear and begin to scroll.

There is No6 - his face is clear

There is 1346 -  Now it is No6 as well!

There is 222 - But now it is the face of No2!!

No2 (picking himself up): What has he done? He is breaking the village!
Supervisor : Those are the codes, uncoded.... Sir...

  The guards hesitate, now looking at the Supervisor.

The Supervisor shakes his head in a short movement.

No6 : If we were playing bingo I daresay three little ducks would make it a House that Jack built.

No2 (emptily): How... How did you do that......... 

No6 (with oratory): Once upon a time there were three billy goats, who wanted to eat the green green grass. On the way there was a bridge and under the bridge lived a great ugly troll , with eyes as big as saucers, and a nose as long as a poker. The biggest Billy Goat Gruff , had an ugly voice of his own too and on his head he had two spears, big enough to poke your eyeballs out your ears...

No2 (weakly) : Fairy stories......
No6 : It's all a land of make-believe I think you'll find. So far as your particular story is concerned. I think we are at the part where only two words remain to be said. THE END  (makes a circle like a zero with his forefingers fingers and raises to his eye)

 The guards have hold of a supine No2.

No6 walks up the metal steps and the doors swish closed behind him.

 Supervisor (on the yellow phone) : Erm yes Colonel. Yes. I think you had better come immediately.

RACING BARS

END TITLES

It's Not My Funeral

NORMAL OPENING

TITLE comes up: Rest In Pieces

Camera pans into bedroom

Number Six, eyes moving under closed lids.

Wakes with start

No6: Dream. Just a dream.

 

Camera draws out – into Living Space of Number Two. He is blond, wearing beatnik spectacles.

No2: Sleep no more Number Six. Your past is about to catch up with you.

Scene: Early morning in the village.

Groups of villagers clustered nearby the Tally-Ho printing press.

No6 is taking his early morning Constitutional. He notices crowds and looks puzzled.

Village Speakers blare out: Not such a good morning today. Such terrible news for all of us. Our legendary old No2 has died. Such a man as he comes but rarely and our thoughts must be with him this day. Tally-Ho has the full details and full information about how you can attend the coming memorials.

The speaker continues in it’s normal mundane way to announce the weather etc. No6’s face tightens with curiosity and he heads towards the Printing Press.

Paper-seller: 3 Units today – Special Edition

No6: My credit is as endless the News

Paper-seller tears off sheet: Sad news today No6

No6(sardonically): That’s hardly news in this place

No6 steps aside… POV Tally-Ho.

We see large photo of an elderly man wearing the badge of a No2.

 Headline: Village in Mourning.

We can read: For almost 30 years, No2 was the ubiquitous and distinctive face of the village. His trademark mixture of gurning and garrulity, inspired an entirely new genre of authority - what one observer called the “attention-seeking, nutty-prankster school” - but the old No2 also saw himself in a more serious role as the King Solomon, dispensing words of wisdom and advice to young villagers. “I never forgot they were the villagers and I was just No2,” he explained. Although he shrank from overexposure, the old No2 long established himself as the face of the village - nothing quite like him had been seen in the village. No2’s arsenal of sartorial and verbal oddities was also vividly deployed when he presented No2 Makes Dreams Come True, which ran on village screens for 20 years, and in which he played the role of benevolent uncle, granting wishes to the village’s children. No2’s ability to make dreams come true made him a powerful and mysterious figure

 The print then becomes too small for us to read, but No6 crumples the paper into a ball and drops it into a village dustbin – muttering to himself.

No6: Not enough to have living No2’s; now we have to hear about dead ones? Face of the village? Never seen his face before. 

No6 stops a moment, mid-stride

No6: Children? What children? We are the only children in this place. And nobody is going to make my dream come true in this place. Only out of it………

A woman’s voice is heard, and camera pulls back to reveal No14

No14: It is sad isn’t it No6. But you should not grieve alone. Let’s talk about him

No6 startled: Who? What?

No14: We will all miss him, but you should keep the souvenir edition, not throw it away. One day the pain will ease, and then you will be glad of the memories

No6 (realising she is referring to the screwed-up newspaper): I’ve never heard of him before

No14: You’re new here of course. He was one of the greatest No2’s of all

No6: You remember him?

No14(smiling): He once made my childish dream come true!!

No6(growls): How come you’re still here then?

No14(baffled): I don’t understand

No6(making the hand signal and moving away): Be seeing you

Scene: Living Space. Number 2 watching a disappointed No14

No2(scowling): That’s it No6. Only interested in your own dreams. No thought of the community.

No2(stabbing button on his console): Supervisor!

Suopervisor’s voice: Sir?

No2: Is the Obituary ready for broadcast?

Supervisor: On schedule for this evening as arranged sir

No2: Good – Erm – Supervisor?

Supervisor: Sir?

No2: No6’s monitor is in full interactive mode?

Supervisor: No off-switch operability?

No2 (grins): Exactly. He’ll mourn - whether he wants to or not.

Smiling beatifically behind his specs, he turns to see the butler carrying tea.

No2: He has no sense of sentiment!! No warmth!! He’ll have to be taught to feel better!!

Butler looks blankly at his master, and makes no expression

 Scene: Evening has come. No6 is in his cottage. Walks towards door as if to open it. It does not operate. He slaps the wood. Goes to window, fiddles with sashes but nothing will open. POV goes from his eyes up through the village scene of quiet to the moon in the sky. Suddenly the quiet of his cottage is broken by music from the TV. No6 turns abruptly, scowling. Tries to turn the machine off. It will not stop. He hits it, but then suddenly his curiosity is aroused.

TV: The old No2’s ability to make dreams come true made him a powerful and mysterious figure. At the height of the programme’s popularity, children would write in, asking No2 to “fix it” for them to sing with their favourite pop group, meet No1 or take part in the Olympics .

No6(to himself): Meet No1!?

 

No6 sits downs and pays attention the screen. The sound and the pictures merge into swirling patterns. No6 is evidently becoming hypnotised by the TV. His face becomes blanker, his eyes wider. POV changes to Living Space. No2 is grinning amiably.

No2: Feel your way in No6, feel your way in. It’s nice isn’t it? Sorrow, warmth, regret. Soon you’ll be desperate to share with us – tell us how you feel. Tell us what you know.

POV pans towards TV, from behind No6, pans around his shoulder to show us his face. Tears glisten wetly on his upper cheeks, his mouth drooping in grief. He rubs at his nose with the back of his hand, sniffing, and plunges his face into his hands, his shoulders shaking as he sobs.

NEW MORNING

Village Speakers: Another beautiful day, but one tinged with sweet sorrow as today is the day we lay our greatest No2 to rest. But we shall not waste the day in sorrow; let us instead celebrate the LIFE!!

LOUD MUSIC – the band is parading. Villagers in columns behind, carrying flowers as they move their umbrellas up and down.

No6 emerges from his cottage, and makes his way across the village to join the throng. Some smile and touch his arm, he is friendly and puts a hand on an occasional shoulder, in expressions of comfort. No14 finds him. They stay within the parade as they talk

No14: It’s so good that you share No6. Your sadness is our sadness and a problem shared is a problem taken away.

No6: Thank you. It must have been your words that changed me. I feel quite different to yesterday.

No14(smiling prettily): It makes me feel good to know that you feel good No6

No6 (smiling beatifically back at her): Your pleasure is my pleasure my dear

No14 (looking very content): It’s good that we lay the old No2 to rest with a celebration of his life

No6: I agree, even though I do not remember him

No14: Rely on me No6; he was a great man, a great and wonderful human being

No6: May he rest in peace

No14: All men and women would say Amen to that No6

No6: Was he a religious man?

No14(puzzled frown flicks over her face): Erm…… I forget……

No6: A good man though?

No14 (relieved and confident again) Truly good. He could make dreams come true

No6 (looking slightly puzzled now): Even meeting No1?!

No14 (looking evasive): I think for children, even that!

No6: I never see any children

No14: But you believe in them. You must believe in the children?

No6 (voice fading as if in doubt): I must believe, mustn’t I; it’s the only decent thing to do.

Scenes of funeral proceedings

The new No2 is addressing the happy mourners:………. he worked as a volunteer porter at the Old Folks Home, and enjoyed a particularly close relationship with the hospital raising many Charity Credits to contribute to the rebuilding of the hospital’s Spinal Injuries Centre, which opened some time ago. He also worked as a volunteer at the hospital for the criminally insane, where he was given his own room, and referred to the staff and patients at the hospital as “my people” and himself as “the Godfather”……

No6(in the crowd -slightly incredulous): Godfather?

No14(fawningly): No2 always said goodness was next to Godliness

No6(begins to frown): My godfathers………

The new No2 is still speechifying: ………… he claimed to have thousands of acquaintances, yet seemed to have few close friends. Away from public view, he could be prickly, impatient with journalists who attempted to get too close or pried too deeply into his affairs. He was a man who distrusted displays of emotion, and eschewed introspection or self-analysis, which he regarded as soft. A man who divided opinion ….. bit no longer are we divided! Three cheers for No2!!  Hipp Hip!!

As the crowd is shouting Hooray, the coffin is lowered……..

No14: Such a good man

No6: Is there any such thing as a good man?

No14(shocked): No6! You are a good man are you not?

No6(hypnosis clearly wearing off): Am I? How can I know?By listening to what others say about me?

No14(reaching for, and holding his arm): I feel you are a good man

No 6(glances at her arm and then her face, speaks coldly): How can you think you know me?

No14(drops his arm as if hot): In the midst of grief there is goodness…….

No6: Keep your grief for someone you care about.

No6 stalks off from the back of the crowd, back towards the village buildings. 
No2 sees his from his rostrum and his voice falters as he recognises the outsider leaving.

No2: A man who divided opinion without ever appearing to care much what anyone thought of him, he was simply an odd chap…….

Village Crowd(lifting umbrellas and throwing flowers at the grave as they march past): May he rest in pace!!  Rest in peace!!

END OF ACT ONE

ACT TWO

Living Space. No2 and No14 are being served by the Butler.

No2: It didn’t last long did it

No14: Over 12 hours

No2: Most of that time he was asleep. Difficult to get much out of a sleeping man, as we’ve already discovered.

No14: At least we know now that it works, if only for a short time

No2: The only reason he even looked at the screen was because he thought about meeting No1. He’s a man obsessed. that’s not going to work a second time is it……

No14: It’s all we have to work with

No2(rattling tea-cups): It’s not enough……

No14: The second phase will work better. Hate is a closer emotion to him than….. (she hesitates)….. than Love.

No2 (laughing out loud): Love? He doesn’t know the meaning of the word!! (laughing louder)

No14(quietly): He’s good at hating though….. (grimaces balefully)

The Butler is clearing up the tea things

No6 Cottage. He is inside, sitting in his bed, glancing at another copy of the Tally-Ho souvenir edition. 

He reads out loud.

No6: His public persona was his best camouflage. Long after his village fame had waned, the old No2 continued to give the impression of being instantly animated by the spotlight, no matter how dim it may have become, a man who regarded it as his duty to brighten everybody’s day, collaring passers-by to whom he was at best a distant memory and regaling them with his jokes and catchphrases, making a beeline for anybody in a wheelchair…….  Well, nobody is all bad are they…. I suppose

No 6 smiles inanely, as if at the room then folds the paper and lays it on the bedside table as he goes under the sheets, to fall asleep

Scene: Early morning in the village.

Groups of villagers clustered nearby the Tall-Ho printing press.

No6 taking his early morning Constitutional. Notices crowds, looks puzzled.

Village Speakers blare out: Not such a good morning today. Such terrible news for all of us. Such a man as he comes but rarely and our thoughts must be with his victims this day. Tally-Ho has the full details and full information about how you can attend the coming Hearings.

The speaker continues in it’s normal mundane way to announce the weather etc. No6’s face tightens with curiosity and he heads towards the Printing Press.

Paper-seller: 3 Units today – Special Edition

No6: My credit is as endless the News

Paper-seller(tears off sheet): Sad news today No6

No6(sardonically): That’s hardly news in this place

No6 steps aside… POV Tally-Ho.

We see large photo of the elderly man.

He is dressed badly and his teeth look rotten and his skin mottled

Headline: Village in Shock.

We can read: For almost 30 years, No2 was the ubiquitous and distinctive face of the village. His trademark mixture of gurning and garrulity, inspired an entire generation - what one observer called the “attention-seeking, nutty-prankster school” - but the old No2 has now been revealed in a more serious role as the King of Sodom, dispensing words of abuse and nastiness to young villagers. “I never forgot  that I was No2 and they were just villagers,” he said when in private. Although he shrank from any exposure, the old No2 long established himself as the face of the village - nothing quite like him had been seen in the village. No2’s arsenal of sartorial and verbal bombast was also vividly deployed when he presented No2 Makes Dreams Come True, which ran on village screens for 20 years, and in which he played the role of a seedy uncle, striking fear into the hearts of the village’s children. No2’s ability to make a nightmare come true for the village, grew from his power and his mystery

The print then becomes too small for us to read, but No6 crumples the paper into a ball and drops it into a village dustbin – muttering to himself.

No6: Not enough to have dead No2’s; now we have to hear about undead ones? Face of the village? Two faces, like everyone in this place.

No6 stops a moment, mid-stride

No6: Children? What children? We are the only children in this place. And this place is the nightmare. Not anything outside of it………

A woman’s voice is heard, and camera pulls back to reveal No14

No14: It is tragic isn’t it No6. But you should not grieve alone. Let’s talk about the victims

No6(startled): Who? What?

No14: He is dead, but you should keep the souvenir edition, not throw it away. The pain will never ease, and then you will be glad of the facts about the evil of the old No2.

No6(realising she is referring to the screwed-up newspaper): I’d never heard of him until a couple of days ago!!

No14: You’re new here of course. We thought he was one of the greatest, but now we know he was the worst, No2 of all

No6: Is there a difference? He was just a man

The pair walk through crowds of people gesticulating at copies of the newspapers

No6: You remember him?

No14: He once (she hesitates, choking on her words) He once….. ruined my childish dreams

No6 (growls): How come you liked him so much yesterday then?

No14(baffled): I don’t understand. Am I to blame for being taken in by him?

No6(makes a perfunctory hand signal and moves away): Be seeing you

Scene: Living Space. Number 2 watching a disappointed No14

No2(scowling): That’s it No6. Only interested in your own evils. No thought of the community.

Doors swish open and No14 enters

No14: I knew the news would not be enough. We must have more than that to persuade him

No2 (stabbing button on his console): Control!

Suopervisor’s voice: Sir?

No2: Is the Revelatory Exposure ready for broadcast?

Supervisor: On schedule for this evening as arranged sir

No2: Good – Erm – Supervisor?

Supervisor: Sir?

No2: Monitor No6 to be in full communication mode please

Supervisor: No off  operability?

No2 (grins): Exactly. He’a good at hating – but this time it will be what we want him to hate!!

Smiling beatifically behind his specs, he turns to see the butler carrying tea.

No2: He has no sense of shared sentiment!! No warmth towards the suffering of others!! He’ll have to be taught to feel bitter on behalf of the rest of us!!  Not just Himself!!

 

Turns to concentrate on the big screen of No6 walking through woodland, alone

Butler looks blankly at his master, and makes no reply

No14(mutters to herself as she sips tea): Himself is what makes his strength

Scene: Evening has come. No6 is in his cottage. Walks towards door as if to open it. It does not operate. He slaps the wood. Goes to window, fiddles with sashes but nothing will open. POV goes from his eyes up through the village scene of quiet to the moon in the sky. Suddenly the quiet of his cottage is broken by music from the TV. No6 turns abruptly, scowling. Tries to turn the machine off. It will not stop. He hits it, but then suddenly his curiosity is aroused.

TV: The old No2’s ability to make dreams come true made him a powerful and mysterious figure. At the height of the programme’s popularity, children would write in, but how could they know that his only purpose was to hurt them and carry out his foul and depraved crimes upon them!! Even No1 could not have known the scale of this man’s evil deceits!!  Shortly, No1 will be making a statement to us all – to explain how these crimes have finally be discovered and how lessons have been learned and these mistakes can never happen again!!  But first, we must steel ourselves to look closely at the wickedness of the old No2!!

No6: Statement? ………. By No1!?

No6 sits downs and pays attention the screen. The sound and the pictures merge into swirling patterns. No6 is evidently becoming hypnotised by the TV. His face becomes blanker, his eyes wider. POV changes to Living Space. No2 is grinning amiably.

No2: Feel your way in No6, feel your way in. It’s nice isn’t it? Hate, Disgust, Righteous Anger!!. Soon you’ll be desperate to share with us – tell us how you feel. Tell us what you know. Tell us EVERYTHING!!

The Butler clears away the tea-tray things

Morning – Usual Village welcome to another lovely day

Number Six is sitting near the Bandstand alone.

There are a number of villagers on the deckchairs nearby

No67: Utterly disgusting

No86: Vile

No34: How can No1 not have known?

No54: Nobody can know everything

No6 stirs himself, and offers conversation

No6: Who WAS No1 when this No2 was appointed?

The other villagers freeze mid-conversation, shifting uncomfortably in their seats

No86: Questions are a burden

No34: Answers can become a prison of convention

No6: Who are the prisoners here? Ourselves?

No54(standing peremptorily): You are a prisoner of the past!!

No67: What use can the past be? It is the future that matters!

No86(also standing): The past is the Past! We can only live in the present and have hope for the future!

No54: No1 has said we must not live in the past!! Forward is the only way we can travel. The future is our only hope!!

No6(squeezing temples): No1? No1? Did we see him? What is his past?. What is our future? This place?

The other villagers begin to move away, looking worried

No86(pulling folded Tally Ho from pocket): Did you not watch? Can you not read?

No54: The truth is out there now!

No86(throws paper at No6): No1 has shown that even the Village Guardians are not beyond evil

No34(choking on a sob): The children! The children

No86 & No54 & No67: The children!!!!

No6(stands, knocks the chair over, shouting): What children!!!! There ARE no children!!

The villagers back away angrily, berating No6 as they retreat

The new No2 appears from the Bandstand, approaches No6 unseen. When he speaks, No6 is jumpy and whirls around, half-aggressive and half-defensive

No2: What on earth? No6?

No6: Wha’…. Where…… What do you want?

No2: This is no time for arguments with your friends No6

No6: I have no friends! I want fewer in this place.

No2: You’ll have even fewer if you carry on this way. Have you no compassion for the victims?

No6: I am the only victim of this place!

No2(raises eyebrows): Have you not read the papers? (flicks Tally Ho on the ground with his umbrella-tip)  Did you not watch the great leader last night?

No6(rubbing temples): I saw the paper yesterday; it made no sense then. But the TV….. I watched…… I saw…… But what did I see? What did I hear? None of it makes any sense in my head.  (snaps aggressively at No2)  What have you done to me NOW!!!

No2(laughing suavely): Me? I’ve done nothing. I am innocent. It was the OLD No2, not me!

No6: Why do the others keep talking of the children? There ARE no children in this place. All the people talking are older than me!!

No2: We were all children once and so there must be children, don’t you think?

No6(scowling): You give us a nice place to play in, and treat us as if we are all children but I prefer to be an adult. As an adult I was brought here, and as an adult I will leave.

No2(crossly): If you would act like an adult and tell us what we want to know, then you can leave any time you like.

No6: Why did I resign you mean? I HAVE told you. You would not believe me.

No2: You told the OLD No2. HE said he didn’t believe you, but we now know that he deceived all of us anyway. So we must all start again don’t you think? Year Zero and all that. Why don’t you tell me?

No6: I never repeat myself. You have it all on tape anyway. You have ALL of it on tape.

No2(temper fraying with ego): Ahh… No6……. Really. You think you can win? Tell ME… Tell me NOW!

No6: I would tell you to go to hell, but you’re already there… (stalks away)

No2 is left standing alone, tapping his umbrella.

He speaks into his wrist, where he evidently has a microphone,

an answering voice coming to his ear via his thick spectacle arms

No2: Complete failure. What went wrong?

Supervisor: He watched and heard the same as everyone else but… he seems not to have believed any of it. I’m sorry.

No2(annoyed): You’re sorry? YOU can be replaced too you know!!

No86(who has returned): Are you okay sir?  (picks up Tally Ho)

No2: What do you think of No6’s attitude No86?

No86: None of us understand how he can be so cold sir; so uncaring. How can any man not care about the children? Some of us think there must be a reason……

No2: You mean….. Him? …... Too?

No86: What other reason could there be sir? The evils of the past. He is damaged and so he causes only damage to the village. He should be taken to the Hospital.

No86 salutes and walks away leaving No2 looking worried

No2(to himself): Now they try to give ME advice? What are we unleashing?

No6 at home again. No14 is tidying the rooms.

No14: Did you watch the Expose?

No6: On the TV? Yes… But… It made no sense.

No14: The witnesses were very persuasive

No6: But who were they? I was told nothing about them

No14(slightly shocked): They were victims. They must be heard… have a voice

No6: I must believe everything they say?

No14: You find it hard to accept the past is not as you believed it to be. That is understandable.

No6: The past is a foreign country to those who don’t remember it. Tell me.

No14: Tell you?

No6: The day before yesterday you told me the old No2 was “a great man, a great and wonderful human being”. Now you ask me if I watched the TV show that told me he was… the most evil man in the history of the village….. a village that does not even HAVE a history!

No14(patting the cushions straight and plump): I was wrong

No6: And today, how do you know you are right today?

No14(flustered): The evidence is clear… The witnesses

No6: There is no evidence. There are only witnesses

No14: More than one witness IS evidence

No6: perhaps it is just collusion

No6: But you personally KNEW the old No2-  you said?

No14: I did……. (looks downcast)

No6: You knew him, you did not know these people whom you have only seen on TV, but now you believe them and disbelieve the person you knew?

No14(becomes upset): You don’t understand. I was so young then. I had no understanding. How could I tell what I knew?

No6(baffled): Knew?

No14: He WAS evil… so devious and evil – Everybody knows now and I could have prevented it – if only I had known!! And that is my shame… my guilt

No14 runs out of the cottage –

the door obligingly opening and whirring closed behind her

Supervisor Observation Area. No2 is watching the baffled face of No6.

No2: I fail to see why he does not believe when all others do

Supervisor(shrugging): He is not like the others

No2(annoyed): Really? Why?

 Supervisor: Only he knows why

The doors swish open and No14 joins the other two

No14: That was the best I could come up with I’m afraid

No2(sarcastically): Running away was quick thinking.

No14(pulls face): He was asking too many questions. I had too few answers

No2(officiously) You said he liked you… a little… It was not enough.

No14(offended): Looks can be deceiving

Supervisor(interrupting): Sir!! He’s reading them again.

No6 is reading the two Tally Ho editions. Two headlines, separated by barely a day.

Village in Mourning

Village in Shock

His head turns from one text to the other, 
comparing, analysing, and studying.

A man obsessed.

End of ACT Two

Act Three

Another new day. No6 is near the Bandstand. There is a large crowd.

Village workmen are passing by. On the back of one of their truck is the

broken head-stone from the grave of the old No2.

No54: Where is the coffin?

No86: Removed in the night. Burned. They say the ashes will be thrown in the sea – on a windy day. No trace will be allowed to pollute our village.

No34: Thanks be to No1, I can rest easy at night again. He…. It….. will have gone

No6: No trace? Not even a memory?

No86: He will be …... Erased.

No6(uncaring): I never knew him anyway

No14: I was ashamed to…Now I can forget

No54: I was another victim. Now I can speak. The fear has gone

No6: Death can be a great release for all of us. Even when it is not our own. One thing still bothers me greatly however.

Group: What?

No6: How do we know… I mean, how do we REALLY know, that the new No2 is not also…. You know….. the CHILDREN!!

No14: No6!! How CAN you??!!

No6: How can you KNOW?!! Can you afford to wait?! The children!!

No86(confused): We MUST know!! We must be sure….. Never again!!

The mood begins to infect the rest of the crowd. 
A rising murmer grows into scowling protest and the crowd lurches in the direction of the Green Dome

Supervisor Area

No2(sweating) Use the Rover!

Supervisor(speaking into phone): Internal Orange Alert! INTERNAL! ORANGE ALERT!!!!

ROVER BIRTHING

A mass of villagers are corralled in a ring outside the Green Dome precincts by a series of pulsating, vaguely threatening Rovers. The people are angry. The people are afraid

 No6 has made his way to the graveyard.

He passes the scuffed earth of a recently disturbed grave.

No6: Rest in Pieces

No6 is approaching the helicopter. It is unguarded – not even a Rover is to be seen.

The Green Dome Precincts. 

Several figures are walking, accompanied by guards. They are wearing futuristic gas-mask headgear.

A voice is heard to say, “Safe and secure No2”.

The masks are removed. The camera pans around.

The entire population of the village seems to be lying prone on the grass.

Camera comes back to the face of No2

No2(crossly): Absolute fiasco. Absolute.

No14: He would not believe neither one nor the other sir

No2: The power of love and the power of hate seem to have neither hold nor interest for him.

(Stops suddenly – looking alarmed)

Where IS he?

(Becoming increasingly panicked)

Where the devil IS he?

No6 has started the helicopter engines and the rotors are whining into motion. There is a tangle of wires protruding from the dashboard of the machine. No6 has been interfering.

The rotors are thrashing at maximum speed and No6 pulls back on the stick, and the craft begins lifts, just as several Rovers bound into view, throwing themselves at the machine. Three are bent and thrown aside by the blades as the helicopter lifts up,beyond their reach.

Supervisor area.

No2(shrieking in panic): Bring him back. Bring him back!

Operators: No response from Auto-Flight control sir! We have no control!!

No2(turning deathly pale): He’s getting away?!

Supervisor: There’s nothing we can do now

The red phone begins to beep angrily

No2(in fear and funk): Oh my God!! …. NO!!!!

Helicopter. No6 is high and flying over open sea.

No land seems to be in view in any direction except behind him: the distant village.

POV to fuel gauges. They are by no means showing full.

LIVING SPACE – No2 is on the red phone. No14 just behind him

No2: Yes… I know the price of such a catastrophe… But….. He must have bypassed the Control Circuits……. I have no idea how he knew…. My job to know….. I know…… What to do…….

No2 replaces the phone and lays his badge next to it. He is frog-marched out by two white-hatted men. 

The Butler is suppressing a silent smile.

No14 drops her badge next to the phone and attaches the No2 to her lapel.

The Butler stands in front of her, with the tea-tray held forward.

 

No6 has turned turns and is heading for the mountains behind the village. The village is passing below. He is over and past, and the land rears up, coming towards him.He is pulling back on the stick and rising higher and higher,waiting for the horizon to come back into view.He banks away again – frustrated. He does not know the way out.The fuel gauges are starting to flash empty.

LIVING SPACE – The new No2 is tapping her teeth with the tip of a pencil. 

The yellow phone rings. The voice of the Supervisor is heard.

Supervisor: No6 is back

No2: Back? How?

Supervisor: By our calculations his fuel would have run out by now. He must have made the same calculation

No2(eyes widening): He does not want to die…….. 

(snaps officiously)Let me know as soon as he is landed

Supervisor: Of course No2

No2 reaches for red phone – a widening smile on her face.

HELICOPTER

No6 sweeps back over the village, slowing as he does so, until he is hovering over the Old Peoples Home. He grabs a wooden box on the passenger seat and wrenches off the lid, whilst holding the craft steady with the stick between his knees. Leaning out, he lets grey, dust spill out, the dust blowing into the downdraft of the rotors, spreading throughout the air. As he does this, he allows the helicopter to get lower and lower until the struts bounce gently on the grass of the lawns, deserted except for one man, prodding at the ground with the tip of his umbrella. There is now a faint settling grey dust drifting across him.

The face of the previously new No2 appears, as the camera zooms in on his dust-begrimed features, but his badge now reads No92. He has a strange scar at his right temple. No6 is climbing out of the helicopter, and they meet under the slowing rotor-blades that now lazily sweep the air above their heads.

No92: You’re back?

No6: No peace for the wicked

No92: There is no escape?

(No6 tosses the wooden box at the feet of No92)

No6: Not for you.  Ashes to Ashes.

No6 walks away, leaving No92 with the box splintered apart at his feet.

No92 wipes away a grimy tear that has trickled down his dirty cheek

No92: All is Dust?

END