Moving to new frequency. Solar interference.
Incoming transport detected. Docking procedures engaged.
Thermal sensors detect humanoids, level 36.
Humanoids advancing, deck 47.
Long wait, demon,
for such a short game.
Now curiosity is satisfied.
And it's time...
for revenge.
Dr. Merchant, consider yourself relieved.
What else, Chamberlain?
He's rerouted all available power to his personal quarters...
and he's shut down most of the ship.
I want you to check everything out and find out why.
Yes, sir.
So, we have the company's most productive space station...
hijacked and taken out of orbit by the man who built it.
We have the man himself immersed in ancient history,
letting the whole place go to shit.
- Evaluation? - Wacko.
I wasn't asking you, Carducci. I was asking the expert.
Well, Rimmer?
Great man didn't live up to your expectations, did he?
I'm sure he will, sir, as soon as I can begin my interrogation.
Where's your crew?
I made them leave. They're headed for Earth. Look, time is of the essence.
Was there some technical problem?
No. Yes. Yes, that's it.
There's been a technical problem, and you...
all of you have to get the fuck off this station right now.
- When we go, you come with us. - No, you don't understand.
Help me, then.
What's your name?
Rimmer.
I'm playing the endgame here, Rimmer,
finishing something that began centuries ago,
and I don't have the time to help you understand.
You don't know what you're playing with.
What are you afraid of?
Whatever it is, it's here...
in this station.
That and things your little rational mind couldn't even dream of.
But I dream.
Oh, I dream.
Parker was right. You are crazy.
I built this place for a reason:
To create the biggest trap in the galaxy.
- What did you expect to catch? - Hell is what I'm going to catch.
And I'm going to burn it away in a blaze of light.
You're serious, aren't you?
If I tell you the whole story,
will you let me finish what I began?
Centuries ago, a man, an ancestor of mine,
Phillip L'Merchant,
built a puzzle box, the first box,
his finest work.
Commissioned by a wealthy aristocrat named De L 'Isle,
a man obsessed with black magic,
a leader of the occult.
Phillip was so proud of his work,
a work that would establish his name,
his family... my family.
He didn't know the great power the box held...
and the unspeakable things it would release...
the evil,
the sins,
the pain.
- Is it done? - Done.
- Is it wonderful? - Wonderful.
Are you brilliant?
The finest toy maker in France.
Oh, what does it do?
Oh. It doesn't actually do anything.
It's my masterpiece.
You simply couldn't understand.
I was working to a commission to a very specific request.
It's almost midnight. Where are you going?
- The Chateau De L'Isle, to deliver the box. - Now? Why?
Because my work might be appreciated there.
It's late. Stay with me.
Stay with us.
I must go.
My son will be born in a better place than this.
This is only the beginning.
I can feel it.
All alone in this dark, dark world.
No home, no family.
Not even christened, I understand.
Jacques,
show this child to a chair.
Enjoy.
Careful!
I'd be mortified if you sliced your little finger.
Such a gentleman.
Are you always such a gentleman?
No.
Not always.
Monsieur De L 'Isle is France's greatest magician.
- What is this? - So you don't bruise.
Easy, Jacques. Keep the pressure steady.
She has spirit. Splendid.
Now we can begin.
Ahh, L'Merchant.
As precise as your pieces.
As timely as your toys.
And where is the box?
Pay him, Jacques.
Thank you.
Good night, toy maker.
Take her in to the laboratory.
Find the right instrument.
We must make a clean... incision...
so that we can remove the innards...
so we can replace the flesh again.
Yes, the gizzard.
We'll scrub this.
Now we can raise her up off the ground.
That's it.
Walk now amongst us!
- My God. - Fear not, Jacques.
Remember your lessons.
A summoned demon is yours to command.
Unless you stand in hell's way.
Yes.
He who summons the magic...
commands the magic.
You are...
Angelique.
He who summons the magic...
Commands the magic.
'Tis no story, Auguste.
I saw what I saw, heard what I heard.
The box opens the doors to hell.
This is the 18th century, Phillip, not the dark ages.
The world is ruled by reason.
We even got rid of God.
And if there is no heaven, then it follows reasonably...
that there is no hell.
I was at its very window last night!
Very well. Suppose, for the sake of argument,
that what you fear happened has happened.
A box that can open the gates of hell must be able to close them.
The box belongs to people with little interest in closing such doors.
Well, then the solution lies literally in your hands.
You've designed a machine that you fear can bring forth demons.
- Yes. - Then design a machine that can destroy them.
Phillip had the design.
That design. It seemed an impossible task.
But he had to try, try something.
And his only hope was to steal the box,
the puzzle box that he had created with his own hands.
Unbutton my shirt. Yes.
Turn around.
Oh, yes.
Toy maker, you have such pliant fingers.
I want them to play with me.
And take my soul?
It's already gone, toy maker.
Demons will walk the Earth,
and you're responsible.
Think of that.
You and your bloodline cursed 'til the end of time because of your little puzzle box.
What are you waiting for? Kill him and come back where you belong.
Such pliant fingers.
My God!
Please forgive me.
I didn't know what I was doing.
We've got to get you out of here.
It's too late.
They're back. Save yourself.
Save the child.
Jacques was right.
Demons did walk the Earth,
the same way they're walking this station right now.
From a puzzle box?
Angelique had many boxes made from his design,
but it wasn't enough.
She wanted a box that would open the gateway forever.
- And your family? - Was the key.
But they treated it the same way you treat it.
Like a fairy tale. But their blood remembered.
And as the generations passed,
there were Merchants who dreamed of puzzle boxes...
and doors leading to hell.
And then one of them met... Angelique...
much, much later.
Even in sleep, you want me.
Even in dreams, you watch me.
Yes, I know.
I know what's in your heart.
John Merchant.
Look at me, look at me, look at me.
Are you okay?
Oh, God, I woke Jack again.
Mommy! Mommy!
You look terrible.
I'm worried, and I really think you should see someone.
You know I've been having these dreams all my life.
John, honey, they're getting worse.
It is your goddamned grandmother. She was weird, John.
You remember those stories about how, how important you are and how important the family is?
Honey, she put stuff in your mind.
Not all of it. There are other things.
Things that feel like memories,
impossible memories.
And they just don't haunt my dreams, they haunt my work.
- Everything that I've done... - I don't want you haunted, and I don't want you hurt.
It's not that. It's... It's stress.
It's this this banquet thing. I hate crap like this!
Oh. Then you shouldn't be so good.
- But it's not ready. I'm not sure if it will work. - Right.
So that's why your face is on this magazine cover.
L'Merchant!
The bloodline continues, toy maker.
I'm restless, and you're bored.
I think we should see America.
Screw America.
Then I would like your permission to go by myself.
Don't you want to know why I'd like to go?
Is that your final word?
Angelique, let's make this clear.
What you want is irrelevant.
It's about what I want.
After 200 years, you should know what those things are.
Jacques,
have I ever disappointed you?
- No. - Close your eyes.
- Don't move. - Why?
So you won't bruise.
- Is this a new game? - Oh, yes.
It might hurt...
Just a little.
Jacques, do you remember De L 'Isle's lesson?
Perhaps I was a bit hasty.
Enjoy.
I forget. You like it rough, don't you?
Please!
Yes, you like it rough!
It hurts.
Oh, please. Please.
You broke the number-one rule, Jacques.
You tried to stand in hell's way.
What are you talking about?
The toy maker's bloodline has survived.
The box.
America.
It's both my pleasure and honor...
to present this award on behalf of the architectural community...
to Mr. John Merchant.
John.
Thank you.
I've always thought that the...
applause from your peers is the best kind of applause,
and I am truly touched by, uh, your reception...
and by this award.
Originally, when I had put myself...
Leonardo da Vinci once said that no work of art...
is ever completed,
only abandoned.
And I never understood what he meant until now.
Thank you. Good night.
Very nice speech.
Honey, it's okay. Let's just go.
Toy maker.
I know I brought it with me.
- Idiot! - I'm sorry. I'm very sorry.
- I didn't even see you. - Oh, forgive me.
- I'm very sorry. - That was very rude.
Now I'll have to think of a way to make it up to you.
Why are we going to the basement? At least tell me your name.
Do we really need to know each other's names?
Mystery woman, huh?
Aren't you excited by mystery?
Ooh, yeah. You bet.
You seem to be pretty familiar with this place.
I'm just following my instincts.
Do you like games?
You're a dream.
Almost.
Close your eyes. Trust me.
Okay.
What's going on?
Can I look now?
You can look now.
Time to play another game.
I have such sights to show you.
All right.
What's happening?
Angelique.
Things seem to have changed.
Hell is more ordered since your time, Princess.
And much less amusing.
- The box did this? - A man did this.
But the box called him. It called to his blood.
His ancestor made the box...
and would have unmade all of us.
You've been away too long, Princess.
This is not a room.
This is a holocaust...
waiting to wake itself.
If we could just move this whole thing right up...
to give it a little more height.
- There's a woman here to see you. - Tell her to have a seat, okay?
- Okay. - John Merchant and Associates.
I know you.
You've no idea what a pleasure it is to meet you again.
This is all very good.
You're the one we've been waiting for.
Who are you?
A friend, I hope.
A client, I'm sure.
Is this yours?
No.
This has been in my family for hundreds of years.
I'm working on something based on it.
- May I see it? - Nobody's seen it.
Then let me be the first.
To put it simply, it's something I want to do with mirrors and lasers.
See, in theory, it's possible.
Perpetual light.
Trapped light feeding off its own reflections.
I haven't perfected the light yet.
Something's missing, and I can't make it work.
It'll go for a few seconds...
then it'll blink out.
Sometimes a few seconds are more than enough,
toy maker.
What did you call me?
You think you don't remember, but your blood knows.
Let it remind you.
- Angelique. - You know me from dreams.
John Merchant. John L'Merchant.
We have a destiny...
together.
I don't believe in destiny.
You think your work on the building was an accident?
It called to you, John.
We have great work to do.
I shall be in touch.
Whatever you want. Whatever you want.
What time is it?
- Hello. - L'Merchant.
I have to see you.
- Can we meet? Today. - Yeah. Okay.
- We'll go over it tomorrow. - At your office.
Okay. Bye.
Business.
Some Japanese client. Got no sense of time.
I grow impatient with the Princess.
Human acquiescence is as easily obtained by terror...
as by temptation.
- New building. - Must be.
- Settling? - Yeah. Settling.
Still hungry?
Ready for something that screams?
So she starts asking me all kinds of weird questions.
Like what?
Like, would I do it with a woman that used to be a man?
- Like with a guy that had it cut off? - Yeah.
Hormones, the whole bit.
- So, what'd you say? - I mean, I guess so.
If she was cut and all.
- What's this? - It's a door.
I know it's a door, but it isn't on the chart.
Genius college boys.
A pity the mirror will not show your true beauty, Princess.
Your human admirer may not sense it,
but I can smell the exquisite stench...
of what you really are!
You know, I'm starting not to like this so much.
- You know, I was just thinking the same thing. - Well, maybe...
Shit!
- We should check it out. - Speak for yourself.
This is getting weird.
You coming?
Go ahead. Check it out.
Well, at least watch my back.
You got it.
You look like death, Princess.
Temptation is illusion.
But the time for trickery is past.
In this game, we show ourselves as we really are.
What's that?
The beauty of suffering.
You are no different from that beast...
that sucks the bones you throw to it.
And you, Princess.
What are you?
You scared the shit out of me, man! What's wrong with you?
My flashlight died. I tripped and fell.
From now on, we stick together. Always.
Together. Right.
Someone's messing with our heads.
Freeze!
- Just back it up against the wall! - You heard him. Back it up!
Don't make us put some pain on you.
Pain?
How dare you use that word.
He's got pins in his head.
What you think of as pain...
is only a shadow.
Pain has a face.
Allow me to show it to you.
Gentlemen,
I... am... pain.
I know your fear.
I hear it.
"Please, don't separate me from my brother. "
I give you my word...
that will never happen.
A lesson, Princess.
Work with me, or for me.
Temptation is worthless, Princess.
Suffering is the coin of the realm.
I will teach your human Merchant about the value of suffering.
I will buy his secret...
with a bounty of pain.
They say the greatest suffering...
a parent can know...
is the loss of a child.
Honey, Mommy'll be back in five minutes, okay?
- Jack. - Mom, I'm concentrating.
- I don't know what I'm doing here. - I had to see you.
Whatever you want.
We were good together, John.
Yes.
We will be again.
Mommy!
Oh, God!
Oh, thank God!
- Jack, honey, baby, come here. - I can't, Mommy.
He won't let me.
What, baby?
- Mom. - Oh, God.
Young... unformed.
Oh, what appetites I could teach him.
Just give him to me, please!
Oh, you suffer beautifully.
But I am here for business, not pleasure.
- Just tell me what you want. - Oh, I want bait.
Live bait.
Bobbi! Jack! Bobbi!
You stay here.
Oh, thank God.
John, don't!
Easy.
I don't know who or what you are...
and I don't care.
I just want my wife and my kid back!
Oh, I understand...
how you love this boy.
You have plans for him.
Hopes and dreams.
A whole imagined future...
where you love him and watch him grow.
- Yes. - Then complete your work.
Or, though the boy will not die here,
for a thousand years his dearest wish will be that he had!
For God's sake!
Do I look like someone who cares what God thinks?
Just tell me what you want.
The box.
Apathway to hell...
made by an ancestor of yours.
The room downstairs...
potentially a bigger pathway.
You will help...
to fulfill its promise.
Come on!
Come on, Jack.
This way. Come on!
- We're gonna split up. Take the other stairwell. - What?
I've got a plan. Jack, it'll be okay. All right? You can do it.
Come on, you bastard. It's me you want.
Don't flatter yourself.
I don't want you, child. I want what you were born with: A gift.
The lights.
Oh, no. Not light. Darkness is where you find me.
Good. Stand your ground.
Family man.
The box,
once thought so powerful,
is only a model.
What you will give me is the true version.
No longer will we have to seep into your world...
like pests through cracks in the baseboards.
Once and for all, we will open the gates,
lay low the ramparts.
Isn't that what the Princess wants from you?
Isn't that the game that you two have been playing?
- This isn't a game. - Oh, yes.
This is a game.
And now it is time...
to play.
I shall go first.
Daddy!
Run!
It is time to open the pathway... forever.
That's impossible!
No. No!
Does this pathway work both ways?
Toy maker.
Come here, Jack!
So young.
So tender.
- So ripe. - Daddy!
- Get your hands off of him! - Get your hands on the console, toy maker.
You have work to do.
Open the pathway for me!
The toy maker's design.
Do it!
- Jack! - Daddy!
- Run, Jack! - No more games.
- Jack! - Mommy!
You go play with your dog, you bastard!
The boy lived.
He carried the bloodline,
the guilt for what our family had begun.
And how to undo it. Did he carry that too?
Yes. It was passed down through the generations.
It came upon me first in my dreams.
My blood was speaking to me while I slept,
telling me to make good the damage L'Merchant had done...
all those centuries ago.
Dr. Merchant, what were you doing...
when Parker and I found you in your cabin?
Summoning a demon or two.
Maybe more.
- And did you succeed? - Oh, yes.
It was much easier than I thought.
Merchant, do you hear me?
I know you're watching.
We'd almost given up waiting for you to play.
Long wait, demon,
for such a short game.
Short? Ohh.
Is that any way to treat an old friend of the family?
No. Tell the truth, Merchant.
You're pleased to see me.
Your impatience...
has matched my own.
Perhaps.
But now curiosity is satisfied.
And it's time for revenge.
Dr. Merchant, consider yourself relieved.
Not now. I let them out!
What's wrong with this is I don't believe in hell.
But it believes in you, and it's out there right now.
I don't frighten easily.
Well, stop thinking and start feeling!
Your gut knows that I'm telling you the truth.
There's something in this station right now that wants our souls.
And whether you believe in hell or not, it's gonna take us there.
Solar alignment in place.
- Twenty-three minutes to complete mission. -
Please... get off this station.
Let me save at least one soul.
We go together, or we don't go at all.
Then we go together. Just let me finish.
Rimmer, we're pulling out as soon as Parker finishes checking Merchant's cabin.
Get him out of there now. You don't know what they're capable of!
Rimmer, escort the prisoner to his cell and prepare to leave at 04:30 hours.
What the...
Help! Help!
- Save me! Hurry! - My God!
- We're trapped! - Hurry!
Help! Get us out of here!
Hurry!
In here!
What the hell is this?
The remnants of a most unsatisfying victim.
Still...
you're here to change all that.
Aren't you?
Merchant has a plan.
Kill them all.
I keep trying to raise Parker. He's not responding.
- I'm going to go check it out. - He's dead!
And if you don't let me out to finish my work, you're all dead!
Chamberlain.
Parker's dead.
- What? - Parker's dead.
Oh, God.
Don't know what the hell's going on.
Just remember: Shoot first.
Out.
Help me, please! Please, help me!
Please.
Help me.
Mr. Chamberlain?
What the fuck planet are you from?
Come on.
- Can you still do it? Can you stop them? - I can try.
I need a couple of minutes to get the coordinates locked in from here.
Give you a chance to get to the ship. Go. Now!
- We can't leave without Carducci. - Carducci, come in!
I'm going after him. Get to the ship.
That weapon will not protect you!
But I know something that will.
Oh, no.
He said it could protect me.
He told me what to do.
Please, go ahead.
It's a box.
It's just a box.
Thank God for men of reason.
Finish it.
Now the final movement begins.
Soon the bloodline will be severed.
You and your ancestors have proved worthy opponents.
The taste of victory...
is almost bittersweet.
Glorious, is it not?
Perfect.
The creatures that walk on its surface,
always looking to the light,
never seeing the untold oceans of darkness beyond.
There are more humans alive at this moment...
than in all its pitiful history.
The Garden of Eden.
A garden of flesh.
Nowhere to run this time, toy maker.
No escape.
Double back down this hallway and get to the shuttle.
- You've got five minutes, Rimmer. - Together, you said.
- I'm not done here. - Well, then, I don't go.
I'm coming right after you.
Just be ready.
We're not gonna have much time once this thing goes.
Trust me.
I'm not going to sacrifice myself if I can help it.
I'm not that crazy.
Oh, my God.
Here, doggie.
Play dead.
Dr. Merchant, two minutes to complete mission.
Two minutes. Two centuries.
It all ticks by so quickly.
You are so very like your ancestor.
Did you know that?
I have the distinct sense of deja vu.
The same defiance,
the same faithless hope in the light.
- And what do you have faith in? - Nothing.
I am so exquisitely empty.
Then it won't hurt you to die.
Will it?
I cannot die.
I am forever.
Dr. Merchant, one minute to complete mission.
Where are you, toy maker?
Here.
Hologram. See, it's all done with mirrors.
Like this.
What have you done?
I have faith in the light.
- What? - The light, demon. The light.
- Endgame, demon. - No!
I cannot die!
Welcome to oblivion.
Amen.