"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." "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." " There was once." " Once?" "What do you mean, "once"?" "Steel." "And this one." "A child did that to us?" "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." "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." "# 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." "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. '" "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." "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." "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 attacked 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." "'A man who has the texture of a photograph 'but has the strength and power... '" "'Careful, Steel. ' 'It's all right." "'How long is it since he was on that stair?" "'" "'About seven minutes. '" "'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." " 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!" "#" "Now." "Nothing?" "Just wait." " If it won't come back..." " It has to." "In one form or another, it has to come back." " 'Something?" "' - 'Yes." "Watch the stairs. '" "'Why should I come?" "' 'There. '" "'Why should I come?" "Why should I come?" "'" "'Keep him there. '" "'I can't. '" "'No!" "'" "'That's only the shape he hides in. '" "'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... '" "'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... '" " 'No." "Show us. ' - '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..." "'But you've seen my face... '" " 'But you've seen my face... ' - 'It's been trapped. '" "'In every photograph that was ever taken." "'It can be any shape." "It can be any shape it wants to be. '" "'No, Sapphire, its real shape." "I want to see its real shape." "'Find it, Sapphire, its real shape." "'Let me see it. '" "'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!" "Sapphire?" "I'm sorry, I can't do any more." "There was a barrier." "I'm sorry." "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." "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." "See, saw, sacradown..." "Which is the way to London town?"