"This book is no joke." "We could be outraged by it and see it as slander that insults the whole of mankind." "However, we might seek comfort from the fact that no one could make it into a film." "Now everyone wants to know who wrote it." "Was it a man or a woman or were there more of them?" "It's odd that it never occurred to anyone up until now." "The thought virtually offered itself up after the "Book of World Records"." "Especially because it was such a bestseller." "And nowadays, publishers and authors find nothing more tempting than a book that everyone buys but no one needs to read." "The idea was lying there in the street waiting for someone to bend and pick it up." "The waxwork museum of records had one major flaw:" "it was instantly out of date!" "Shortly after a man pushed a billiard ball up to the top of a mountain pass with his nose in a week, a fellow appeared who did the same with a nutmeg and in just three days." "But he died of blood poisoning contracted through the wound on his nose that gave the record a certain poignant piquancy." "So, the whole thing is a little vague." "Whatever the case, the not yet extinct survivors of a refined intelligentsia rejected the deluge of records, cheap sensations, and pulp fiction." "And with an eye for what was being read by the more superior reader, a few opened elite bookshops." "Please, don't wrap the storybook!" "I want Valery to read from it to me tonight!" "I'm so very frightened of the storm." " It's no wonder." " Thank you, Maya my dear." "Thank you for your custom, Mrs Keylock." "Goodness me!" "Leave it open, Valery, I'll see to it." "Are you bored?" "So a book had to be created that closely resembled the "Book of World Records" but was serious." "Something that couldn't simply be shrugged off." "It's common knowledge that book publishers dislike nothing more than publishing books." "Because here the rule is that no one reads;" "if they read, they don't understand;" "if they understand, they forget in the blink of an eye!" "It was with this in mind that everyone longed for a book that looked at what everyone is doing at a single point in time." "So we wouldn't think we were cramming stupidity into our heads while the important stuff was really happening elsewhere." "So then, a book like this, which speaks about everything at the same time as blurring everything else, appeared as something of an impossibility." "Until now, that is!" "What the eyes sees and what I see in the eye is identical..." "Sir!" "?" "Sir, can I help you?" "Do you really want to help me, miss?" "No." "Generally no, but..." "I have been told that the question suits me." "Whoever said it spoke the truth." "Sir!" "He said it..." "Apologies." "Miss Satin didn't realise that you were in the shop after she closed." "We don't intend to imprison our customers." "I'll let you out right away." "This way please!" "Vitruvius..." " Vitruvius' "Ten Books"..." " I beg your pardon?" "Vitruvius..." "It used to be here by architecture." "Have you sold it?" "No." "I'm not aware." "But it was here." "I clearly recall it being opposite graphology." "It was moved to the rare books section... six weeks ago when we heard that it wouldn't be reissued." "Has he been here before?" "Oh... only in my dreams!" "I have been to many beautiful places in my dreams but... this place... particularly appeals." "Thank you." "So... can we be of any assistance?" "Well, I'm not sure..." "Where do you keep the rare books?" "We don't normally allow customers in here." "You are the first." "The exception weakens the rule and only where the boundary is rigid." "Yes..." "Something isn't right." "What's this shit?" "Maya!" "Maya!" "What in God's name is this?" "What?" " Who packed here?" " Have you gone mad?" "Will someone tell me what all this shit is?" "What is this?" "Fucking hell!" "You..." "You..." "You let..." " Who did you allow in?" " Oh, God!" "Who put this here?" "What's this "1"?" "Maya, what 1?" "What 1?" "Why 1?" "Fuck me!" "Maya!" "Call the police!" "I won't tell you again not to mess with the evidence!" "Oh... the evidence." "I'm afraid I forgot." "Everything must be proved that isn't, because what is..." " is beyond proof..." " I'll have you handcuffed!" "We don't appear to be helping each other here!" "Perhaps it's because we aren't." "When are you going to let us go?" "Our medics will soon be finished with the kid." "Wonderful!" "I've had enough." "I'd like to make a phone call." "When can I use a telephone?" "I've said that you can't for now." "Oh, just one minute!" "I can see that you haven't fully understood that this is a reality defence matter." "The law states that until we have a definitive situation, you can be segregated." "Or, until there is evidence," "I will be the one to say who has the right to do what!" "Is that clear?" "!" "You can't even complain." " We might." " You most certainly might not!" "I am here to ensure no outbreak of panic." "We will sit here and enjoy another coffee in peace and quiet." "Peace and quiet!" "Is that clear?" "My colleague will shortly..." "You are procrastinating..." "rather than accepting what is." "Don't deceive yourself!" "Don't worry about me." "I have cleared up bigger shit than this before." "So you should be able to sense the difference." "Everything is suspended from above and depends on what is beneath it." "There are no exceptions." "Miss Satin, please calm down." "No one has come to any harm and you are safe now." "We weren't in danger before." "Let's just wait for the results." "Okay?" "Don't." " This is a joke!" " No, your story is." "No one saw anything and no one knows anything and yet these are still lying all over the place!" "If we don't lift it up, it will bear down on us all!" "Why don't you investigate this clown?" "!" "We know our own job, Mr Eveson!" "We will investigate everyone, including your good self!" " We have nothing to investigate but ourselves!" " Mr Tamel..." "Come back down to earth, okay?" "I am not interested in your dreams." "You can tell them to our psychologist." " You might take a look inside the book." " It's just a book." "It is written in human language and contains data." "Tomorrow, I'll know where the data comes from and where the books come from." "Then we will get to those who brought them here, they will show us where the stolen books are, and we will get them to tell us how they did it." "Then they can marvel their way straight to the cells." "I'm not even going to ask them why they did it." "Someone who knows what will happen, conducts a flawed investigation!" "Don't let them touch the books!" "I'll be quick because I can see you're uncomfortable." "No sign of forced entry and the roof's clear." " Then check the ventilation!" " No eyewitnesses either." "All four security cameras pointed at the counter." "And it was all too bright from 8.00." "Passers-by only saw the one car that left around 7.50." "I checked it out." "It was Mrs Emilie Keylock, a prim old lady." "She employs coloured menservants..." "We know she is a regular customer." "The other four employees were allowed home at 7.30." "Their alibis are perfect but I can work on them if you like." " There were two who weren't at work yesterday but..." " No." "Fingerprints?" " What?" " Fingerprints!" "Nothing on the first 57 books." "This is a tough nut, Pitch." "I selected them at random but there are thousands on the bookshelves." "We found strands of hair so I have asked for more staff at that lab." "It won't go any quicker..." "It'll be weeks!" "What about the quartet?" "Eveson?" "Nothing." "Eveson doesn't appear to have an angle." "He's a millionaire son, is well connected, no corruption." "A respected snob and a sponsor of the arts!" "His only enemy might be his wife who insisted that we meet in person." "Eveson ignored her and the kids." "I wish was ignored by him." "There is one interesting detail..." "They opened the shop exactly a year today." "Everyone was there." "I want an exact list with exact alibis!" "Maya Satin." "Worked here from day one and she's Eveson's right hand." "Wife says they're screwing." "The odd thing is that the girl is now the youngest in the famous Satin dynasty." "Her parents and her little sister died in a lift accident." " They plummeted to their deaths." " In a lift?" "Yes..." " Claude!" "Footprints?" " Pitch, the boy washed the floor so the floor is theoretically a map but for the time being we only have them and the police." "I don't believe it." "Are you sure they aren't lying?" " Thanks!" " 111 is wanted in the car park!" "And the boy?" "Agnus Andersen." "He grew up in a children's home and still lives there." "I spoke to the director on the phone and although he was half asleep, he said the boy's not mute but he doesn't talk to everyone." "He was attached to a carer but the guy disappeared." "And since then... and I quote: "He has not been verbally communicative."" "Super!" "Sherlock Holmes would be delighted..." "What does the doc say?" "The boy isn't in it." "Don't know what he saw but he's in shock." "I injected him." "He's sleeping." "I think we should take him in!" "I've got a few ideas." "Dr Anselm!" "You should recall that smoking is prohibited while the forensics team are still working." "Know anything yet?" "Yes." "I prefer to have a victim." "Have you seen the Jimmy Palmer film?" "They rob a bank..." "with a chimpanzee." "We meet again tomorrow!" "Continue!" "We haven't found out much about Swan Tamel yet." "He really is a citizen of the Vatican, but we don't know what he does." "He has diplomatic status and probably legal immunity." " He didn't mention it." " His past is murky but we know he visited four continents in recent months." "He claims to be doing research..." "Yes, but it is still not clear into what." "Find out for tomorrow!" "He arrived from Sri Lanka and his plane landed at 6.51." "Customs spotted him because he came alone and with no baggage." "We don't know how, but he came straight here." "I have a feeling that he is our man!" "The analyser and behaviour analyst are waiting." "They want to ask for more time too!" " Sir, the press have arrived." " Hurray!" " Now what?" " Are you going out?" " No." "You're going out and lying..." " ...a lot." " Me?" " What do you think this is?" " A fucking farce." "It always is." "Where is he?" " In the toilet." " Then why are you here?" "Why are you guarding us?" "What are you doing?" "Open up!" "What are you doing?" "Open up!" "I said, open up!" "Open this door at once!" "Every evening, the electrons sent to lick our TV screens compress the whole world into the late news bulletin." "So we are left believing that we have learnt of all that has happened to the world in a brief 15 minutes." "This, of course, is not true." "Reporters' cameras sift their way around the globe and just happen to stop... where an important politician is stepping from an aeroplane and, with false sincerity, shaking hands with other important politicians." "Only the extraordinary... where the carriages are smashed to shreds and from where they carry people out in bits." "Because we all have an ample supply of less spectacular mishaps." "That is why the following question arises:" "Good evening." "Late last night, the stock from Al F. Eveson's world-famous rare-book dealership mysteriously disappeared." "All the books were replaced by one book written by an unknown author and with no publisher." "We have also learnt that at the same time, the press received an anonymous call inviting them to attend the" ""most spectacular book launch of the century" to be held at 1 am." "The media and the police were surprised to meet at an impromptu news conference given by Detective Richard Lance." "At the time of the crime, several members of staff were working in the storeroom but witnessed nothing suspicious." "No one was injured and nothing of value was removed from the premises." "This is all I have for now." "Please now leave the scene." "Organise it!" " Mr Lance!" "Mr Lance!" " And the book?" "Something about the book!" "Book?" "What book?" "I'm sorry!" "Are you an actor?" "I have no information on the book." "Then why did you call us here?" "Aren't they going to launch it?" "The police ordered a news blackout throughout the investigation." "The whole area has been sealed off." "At the time of the crime, the owner, Al F. Eveson, and the manageress, Maya Satin..." "It is now certain that two further unidentified individuals were present in the shop." "Although the police have denied any injuries occurred, a young man was carried out on a stretcher." "So the question is who wrote it?" "This is of interest to the Reality Defence Institute." "You will remember Special Agent Phil Pitch." "The Kennedy Twins' secret language and the "Church of Judgement" mystery, to mention his two most infamous cases." "He's been quiet for a while." "But I caught up with him at the crime scene last night!" "I'm just overseeing the investigation." "There is no need to get carried away!" "Everything is much simpler than you think!" "Move back!" "You have no right to block the cameras!" " Mr Pitch!" "Wait!" " Where are you taking them?" "So many children were born between me taking two breaths and a good many people died as well." "It's a tricky one." "I myself am quite aware that knowledge such as this is equal to zero." "One could write around it with words but it cannot be experienced." "Therefore, the author of the book set himself an unsolvable problem." "And whoever didn't actually handle this book up knew only that it contained few words but many more numbers, and came to the blind conclusion that it was a miscalculated undertaking." "In fact, they saw it as insanity because what could anyone do with page after page of numbers?" "If the book didn't exist and I wasn't holding it my hand as I speak, perhaps I too would see it as an unfeasible idea." "The telephone book hardly makes easy reading and tells us nothing about the inhabitants of a given town." "The boundless soul of which we justly boast is what we believe differentiates us from the animals." "But our consciousness is also finite whilst our problems with the world are much greater than those of a dog." "A dog lacks the ability to reflect and is unaware that it knows practically nothing." "This is in contrast to us, as we know this." "It would be a lie to deny it because we could perhaps pity a handful of people but it is impossible to empathise with 800,000." "So what are we to do with our limited consciousness that it might comprehend that which is incomprehensible?" "What has to be done in order for us to see a single moment in the life of humanity?" "Well, the answer has been born and here it is!" " I thought you'd never make it!" " Me neither." "Get me coffee." "I haven't slept." "The pressure's heavy." "Outside too?" " Reassure me!" " We're living on coffee too." " It's good you're here." " Don't say they're fine." "What should I say?" "The mute is still mute." "The doctor says the lack of stimulus will work." " The girl's improved." " Improved?" "If she has anything to say, she's going to say it!" "She could speak before or did you silence her?" "She went into a rage and couldn't stop crying so we tranquilised her." "They've promised they'll break Eveson by tonight!" " Tonight?" "Great." "Is he ranting?" " Not now." " Then what is he doing?" " Nothing." "He's very quiet." "He wants to see the girl and he has offered money." " Money?" "How much?" " Don't know." "Would he like a honeymoon suite?" "They are testing them very rigorously." " It's their job." " Maybe there'll be trouble because if none of them are in..." "There is no "maybe" and no "if"!" "Not even for me!" "Why have you left the old boy to last?" "They're not really getting anywhere with Tamel." "He's got us all." "What did I ask you for?" "I'm just a police officer but the doc likes him." "The Vatican is on us." "Don't you watch TV?" " He's making exceptions for him while we..." " You're doing jack shit!" "I want cigarettes!" "Five a day!" "I asked for a coffee if it isn't too much!" "And matches!" "I can see that you're hardly killing yourself!" "Pitch, they are telling the truth." "Someone is lying!" "Not them." "Not them?" "Doc!" "I've lived in a car for a week." "I eat at work and sleep in car parks." "I shit, wash, and dress in gas stations." "I've gone through about 100 people," "I'm keeping my back to the media thanks to our friend Lance, and the Pope is sending me personal messages and none of them too polite." "You sit watching films and all you can say is "not them"?" "That's right." "Because we've been busy too." "I've pushed them through the full array of psychotropic tests." "But they're the only ones we've got left!" "Everything I do turns up a blank." "Their neuropsychological maps show that not one of them is lying." "If the boy had seen something, the drugs would have brought it out." "I have gone further with the others..." "I tried a few things from Ricardo Sai's" ""Inquisitor" on them which has... made them all rather unstable." "It seems to make Tamel quite happy!" "Swan?" "He's not happy because of that." "He's happy because he never lies." "You don't need to lie if you've got the Vatican on your side." "If I did the insinuation-factor analysis on you, you wouldn't even have God on your side!" "I used the same technique on astronauts for four years!" "And not one could hide a thing." "So just try to forget that these lot are in on it." "Because what we are doing is slowly becoming illegal." "You can have me audited if you like." "I won't get upset." "I'm more than ready." "But you know exactly why you work with me." "That's why I'm surprised to hear you're giving up." "I'm not giving up." "I also watch the news and I know how deep the shit is." "Where is my watch?" "This stuff belongs to the little lady." "It's a fucking pricy watch!" "There'd be no problem here if everybody could keep what they needed." "This is a fragment of burnt plastic we found stuck under the toilet rim." "It's just like the plastic we use to pack the books..." "I pulled the bars down and, "hey presto", there were paper fibres stuck to it in four places." "Tamel!" " Why wasn't it missing from the inventory?" " It was but... we thought you had it!" "We even felt jealous." "The behavioural researchers only let us take samples." "The book is surrounded in secrecy." "Why are they shitting themselves?" "Listen hard, because what I am about to say is even hard to comprehend within the boundaries of the paranormal." "We've made little progress." "But we can now assume that thousands of data points are based on precise calculations." "We've only verified the very simplest ones." "That's why the book's contents must be taken more seriously than we thought." "Do you consider a book to be serious that describes in numbers how many men in the world cheat on their wives in a minute?" "I have to admit to being scared in this case." "Everything in this book is original." "Nothing has ever been published before." "Statistics use average numbers where as this book presents the broadest spectrum of human life circumstance in arithmological form." "So the amount of numbers holds quality." "These are qualities that distil the multifaceted nature of the human fate and in an astounding manner." "I can see that you are astounded but I didn't ask for a literary critique." "I want a report on who has set this loose on us and why!" "Might I know why the evaluation didn't begin on time?" " It did but you were late." " The exact time..." "The exact time is the time my watch shows!" "Let's continue!" "The book is definitely the work of more than one individual." "You don't say!" "Really?" "I managed to work that out on day one." "The book's appearance was quite unique." "The press were invited..." "They wanted to make a splash... a surprise, a mystery, a marvel!" "They wanted sure-fire success and they got it!" "Seriously?" "If it wasn't obvious, I have been working on ruining their success!" "The book was developed by an apparatus over a period of years." "The compilation of such information requires the most modern and most expensive data-processing computers." "It requires experts to compile and count." "The content alone would have cost a fortune." "And that's not to mention the printing costs." "It didn't happen at a registered site." "The font may be simple but it is also unique and was probably specially designed." "The folks in the lab have been trying to identify the components of the paper for a week." "Claude has asked for more time." "Let's move on!" "The most disturbing thing is that the book still has a personal element." "Its title..." "Its absurdity..." "Its humour..." "And so many other things." "These are all messages from a strong intellect." "Someone who not only wants to feel superior but who actually is superior at this moment in time." "I can't send reinforcements because of the commotion in the canteen." "The old folks have gone mad." "Take her back somehow!" "Oh, sweetheart!" "Can an animal attendant come to the dolphinarium with a stun-gun?" "She disappeared from telekinesis..." "Repeat." "Animal attendant with tranquiliser gun to the dolphins!" "What's going on?" "Whose interest does this serve and why?" "Could the Vatican be connected?" "We don't know." "Obviously, the motivation and the manpower point to a strong interest group but we are going to have to call in specialist help." "Whatever the case, contact should be established with national security." "The book is terribly dangerous." "Now you are joking, hey?" "Three of us started to read the book." "Of the three, Tod our lexicographer is resting on the fourth." "He's tied to his bed raging on about Satan." "If people get hold of this book, the consequences will be impossible to predict." "They already have!" "You like everyone but I I don't." "I don't even like you." "I don't like any of you and you should bear that in mind." "You'll remind me of that later anyway." "And you could look after yourself better." "Love is the measure of normality." "You think that you can play with us because the priesthood protects you?" "You feel immensely powerful." "Am I right?" "I will make you realise who the true rulers really are!" "If the soul does not rule, whoever it may be is simply a usurper." " What is that idiot playing at?" " That's why I told you to come." "You'll soon be begging." "You won't get lunch from today!" "We'll see how long you keep smiling." "Okay, I'm going in!" "Bring the others here!" "If it makes you happy, I will willingly fast!" "Ah..." "Pitch!" "Glad you're here!" "We have just been discussing the gentleman's diet." "I'll leave you here with him because I've got a report to file." "I don't remember you getting permission to interview!" "Perhaps because you forgot to come in for a week." "You should sleep." "One gets tired without dreams." "Then you still must dream a lot." "Never enough." "But..." "always something significant." "I'm sorry but I have alarming news for you!" "You are now an official suspect." "We have material evidence." "I don't understand how you thought I wouldn't realise." "I would never have guessed." "But I was starting to worry after a week." "Don't blame yourself!" "Often the most obvious is the least suspicious." " Can I take that as a confession?" " Why should I deny what happened?" " Because it's punishable by law." " The law?" "What I refer to as the law is vigilance!" "Why did you smuggle the book out?" "Because people need to confront themselves." "They need to confront reality." "If it is sufficient for reality to exist, why do you want to defend it at all costs?" "It's my job." "I'm just doing my job." "And marvel gets in the way of your work?" "I'm the one asking questions here!" "Reality is a matter of subjectivity." "You'll soon see!" "Tell me more about the Vatican!" "Two kinds of people live on the earth:" "the guilty who think they are genuine, and the genuine who know they are guilty." "That's quite alright." "The one you seek is so very much here that he falls outside the sensory field." "Now you listen!" "I'm very fucking tired of you!" "If you are in this, you'll suffocate because I'll smother you!" "Mr Lance must be your pupil." "Please give him back his magnetic card otherwise he won't be able to leave the building." "Have you ever seen anything like this before?" "Sit down!" "Look." "The law is the law." "The tests are in your own interest." "And although your accounts of events concur, they are anti-reality." "What you claim could not have actually occurred." " What happens is always true!" " Would you just shut up?" "I've grown to like this man!" "Tell me how you managed it!" "In my dreams." " He contacted me." " Are you starting now?" "And at exactly the right time." "This place... and its methods..." "Who the hell knows?" "I might actually need them..." "Coming back to the case in hand, I stand by my account." "I'm not bothered by what you think should have happened and what not." "I was there..." "I was part of the marvel." "The marvel?" " Aren't you worried that your books disappeared?" " They didn't disappear." "They transformed." "The situation creates itself." "You have fallen into your own trap!" "Just like me." "We fall into it... and then we no longer recall who we built it for." "We build from traps!" "Questions for Eveson?" "!" "That's me." "Give it here!" ""Eveson and Maya Satin?"" "Why is there a question mark here?" "Why?" "You tell me!" "Trap!" "I have got a disgusting amount of money." "An inconceivably large amount." "It would only cost me a phone call and a trifling fee to stop your stupid questions." "I own a bookshop renowned throughout the world." "I have no idea why." "I have always hated reading." "I have got two children but I don't know their birthdays." "I have an ex-wife whose name I could forget." "I only travel in a leased vehicle whether that be a bus, a plane, or a boat." "My elder brother hates me." "He thinks I squander our father's fortune and I live too freely." "I have dined alone for two years without tasting a thing." "And now I'm locked up here?" "I could get out." "I could get out but I don't." "I still don't." "They pushed too far." " Too far!" " Relax and sit down!" "I would pay anything to see her every day as I have until now." "She loves books and books love her in return!" "Whereas books don't love me and she never has!" "They've been pulverised!" "What the fuck did you do to them?" "Get everyone here!" "Do you need him too?" "Idiot!" "Idiot!" "Sir, the chaos is getting increasingly worse." "I think that Agent Pitch's role in the investigation is not at all straightforward." "Yes." "He wants to do everything alone and it makes working impossible." "Pitch is either on a false trail or hiding something and so doing significant damage..." "Sir..." "Sir!" "If he would inform as he should then this wouldn't happen." "Yes..." "Yes." "I agree, sir." "And I can ensure you that..." "I'll do all I can to protect the prestige of the bureau." "I am in full agreement with you, sir..." "I'll contact you again today." "Of course." "I make the time to be 4.07." "In which case..." "Sir!" "Sir?" "!" "At last, a professional." "Doc!" "Doc, come because he's ranting and raving!" "Don't you understand?" "It's obvious that they know nothing." "Or have I missed something?" "Mr Pitch..." "Why are you so sad?" "Everything is going to plan, isn't it?" "Or am I mistaken?" "I sometimes am." "But you... bright boys." "It is going to work for you, just don't give up!" "People give up so easily." "I won't do that, don't worry, Miss Satin!" "I am sure women adore you!" "They're crazy about you." "Am I right?" " Do you have a wife?" " Yes." "I did have." "Maya, stop this!" "And money?" "Have you got money?" "Buy yourself a woman!" "Maya!" "Why?" "Not all women cost as much as a bookshop." "Do you know what?" "Buy her a prison!" "Or you could bring her here so you could see her every day." "This place is so entertaining." "Wonderful!" "Everyone is feeling great." "That is progress!" "I'm not interested!" "I'm not interested!" "You asked for a week!" "I don't know what you've done but they are better than ever!" "They couldn't walk earlier." "They are laughing in our faces!" "Check the drug supplies, especially the mood enhancers!" "Where are the pears from?" "Don't know." " Where are they from?" " They don't appear on their diet sheets." "I asked for 24-hour surveillance!" "Go and check in the kitchens!" "Get going!" "I will be very angry if I find out that they are from outside!" "You can go too, boys." "They were communicating somehow, that's for sure!" "That's impossible!" "They only left their rooms for tests." "They were separated all the while!" "It's recorded." "You can watch it if you like!" "Something else has happened and you have to accept it!" "Accept it!" "Accept it!" "But what?" "This?" "!" "This?" "!" "Don't you ever dream, Doc?" "Don't you happen to meet up with Tamel?" "Lance is on you!" "I guessed he was." "And if it's down to you then he will have his way!" "The paper is unknown." "The components can't be located anywhere." "And several of them don't even exist in time either." "The glue in the spines is "tetralon"." "It was used until the end of the last century." "It can be manufactured, but that won't take us closer." "Where's that from?" "This?" "I found it on my desk." "Is it yours?" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey, you little shit!" "Hey!" "Stop that!" " I'm going to kill you!" "What are you doing?" " Hey!" "Stop that!" "What the fuck are you doing?" "I'm going to kill you!" "Give her some!" "Hit her, hit her!" "Don't just shake her, hit her!" "Give it to her!" "Smash her face in!" "Let her have it!" "The presentation of 60 seconds in the life of every single living person had to be calculated like a massive military campaign." "The original concept may be important but it doesn't guarantee success." "A good strategist is not one who knows that the secret of victory is surprise but the one who knows how to surprise." "So, people, we are going to crown you now!" "You're not allowed to take these off though you couldn't anyway." "But they are no less comfortable than a hat." "Do you want to get inside our brains?" "It's not dangerous." "Unless you are hiding something." "Thanks to Mr Tamel, our little publication has found its way out onto the streets." "Soon half the world will have read it." "So I thought you, of all people, shouldn't be left out." "Of course, the reader cannot know everything at one go." "But anyone who dipped into the book, was confronted with breathtaking data." "It was like seeing a snapshot of the landscape but not with hills, rivers and meadows but billions of human bodies." "Like lightning tearing through the sky on a stormy night and we see endless space in all directions for a split second." "And then the land is drenched in darkness once more but the image remains engraved on our minds." "Good evening." "9 people have died..." "Good evening." "90 people have died..." "Good evening." "900 people..." "Considering that the population of the earth is around 6 billion, it is hardly sensational news that thousands of people die every minute." "I met this kind of statistic with an inflexible mind because I was incapable of sensing its significance." "At least not until the numbers became concrete." "The whole of death is first seen in this chapter through a weak microscope." "Then stronger lenses take us closer and closer to the details." "The chapter on death begins with natural demise, followed by catastrophes, and finally forms of death caused by our fellow man." "You read about the distribution of torture occurring in one minute accompanied by its geographical spread." "You get to know that while you are walking your dog, looking for your slippers, chatting with your wife, reading the paper, falling asleep... that every year, every month, every week, every night, every day" "every minute, every second of the day, crowds of thousands are screaming in the final throws of death." "Hello?" "Are you still there?" "Of course, cancer and heart disease were not ignored along with AIDS and numerous other modern plagues covering the mass victims of medical progress and the 400 most important illnesses." "Then there were those who met their end in the form of a speeding car, collapsing wall, plummeting roof tile, train..." "Wonderful!" "Everyone is here." "Please, take a seat." "I will introduce him to you all shortly." "Before I do, let's watch this film." "Okay?" "The book devotes a separate section to our disposal of the dead." "Many an infant ends up in the belly of a rat in poor countries." "The related statistics can be found on another page." "To ensure the reader doesn't miss this, it is detailed in a footnote." "In order to pinpoint the precise cause of death, they used cross-control in conjunction with the diagonal method." "One table lists groups of causes of death while the other gives the precise cause, such as electrocution." "Thanks to this particular method, we are presented with death in all its glorious forms." "Based on the letter signed by all the members of the sect, it is evident that the chapter dealing with death is what drove them all to mass suicide." "Experts say that the wave of suicides may grow as the book spreads." "Humanist movements have called on the nations of the world to boycott." "Doc!" "Doc!" "Come on!" "Hurry!" " What is it?" "Not another power cut?" " Bring them back!" "Not now." "I'll do it tomorrow." "I'd have to wake..." "Fucking hell!" "Chew it well and swallow it!" "Don't ask for more if you want it!" "Make sure all is neat and tidy!" "Be free from Monday through to Friday!" "Only speak when you're spoken to!" "And try to live the whole year through!" "Treasure what is near and dear!" "And don't forget to give a cheer!" "Wake up one day!" "Fall asleep every day!" "Wake up every day!" "Fall asleep one day!" "We are in." "Yes we are." "Do you think they suspect?" "We've been given a day off." "Slowly everyone will realise." "Do you want out?" "I don't want to fall asleep again." "But you have to." "It's my only chance to find you." "I still want to see you." "See me?" "You can only see a bookshop." " And you can only see books." " No." "There are no books now, just a bookshop." "There never was a bookshop!" "It was just you and me..." "It's just the two of us." "Two of us?" "Okay, attention please!" "We are about to start!" "When Pitch arrives, the show can start." "It's 10.30 now." "Satin and Eveson fall asleep by 11.30." "The boy might be awake until midnight." "Tamel never sleeps before 1 am." "Whatever happens, when they all reach paradox sleep we'll measure the elongation reference." "And this will need five-minute summaries." "I don't believe it!" "That's impossible!" "I'm sorry boys..." "I kept this till last, but those without an Oscar are" " the ones pleased to receive it." " Sexy uniform!" "Have you cleaned yourself up?" "Did he have a shower here?" "This is me, Doc, not you." "No!" "This isn't you." "It's Grady Granros from "Rainbow Eye"." "I haven't seen it." "He owns my favourite video store." "He's queer." "So, enough of the fun." "Stop this and start to prepare." "You still have time for testing." "No one should be fooled if they see neo-ataxia." "I put anti-tranquilizers in their supper." "What was in their supper?" "Some stuff to make them recite the ABC backwards in their sleep." "We've spent more money than Juliano Riberio in "The Sons of Light"." "The headband also measures the bulbus olfactorius." "What's that?" "The nasal gland!" "There is no point in so many of us if everyone feels somehow insufficient when alone." "The idea of there being a lot of us is a relative consideration." "The chapter on life tells us how many people or rather how many bodies exist in any one of the 525,600 minutes that make up a year." "How many bodies, how much muscle, bone, gall, blood, saliva, cerebral spinal fluid, faeces exists." "24.9 billion litres of blood could be drained from the whole of humanity." "That seems a lot, but if it was poured into the oceans, the sea level would only rise by a hundredth of a millimetre." "It is worth reflecting that with this minuscule splash, we would all disappear from the face of the planet in one go." "They are down." "Show me a thalamus!" "Satin's showing 5-7!" "5-6!" "5-5!" "Eveson, 5-6, the same." "Same here..." "In every moment of every day there are 34.2 million men and women having intercourse." "Only 5.7% will lead to fertilisation but 43 tonnes of seminal fluid a minute, give or take a drop, contains 1,990,000,000 individual sperm." "They don't want to have bad dreams." "Here it is..." "Here's the fifth!" "It's coming from outside." "We could try to localise it!" "What is it, Doc?" " Intelligence." " I can't handle the numbers!" " Metastasis!" "With all of them!" " Let's save the eidetic frequency!" "Got it!" "It's searching!" "It's coming from the bookshop." " What's going on?" " You're disturbing us!" "From now on you will be disturbing me." "And that is only if I ask for it." "Very clever!" "I'll congratulate you later, Special Agent Lance!" "Dr Anselm, give me an update!" "Lance, this test is expensive." "Then stop it!" "Wake up one day!" "Fall asleep every day!" "Wake up every day!" "Fall asleep one day!" "Let's not waste electricity, gentlemen!" "We might need it to light our way out of the darkness." "The investigation will be simple and straightforward from now on!" "Well, if we are all together then we could manage a little mental puzzler." "You are the ones responsible for all this waste." "So we didn't manage to get any closer to the anonymous caller who invited the press." "It was impossible because there was a resistance filter on the call and the data was lost for ever." "And?" "And so that means that even I could have phoned if I had been given agent status earlier." "Of course, I have never longed for the media spotlight!" "You're sick!" "Your first good decision." "And sadly your last." "Your first bad decision and sadly not your last." "As this is a reality defence matter, and the situation is not yet definitive, I am segregating you!" "You won't even need to change!" "I'm sorry, but the law is the law!" "Search him and you can take him away!" " Sir, this is yours." " Physical evidence." "Thanks for the help." "Is there anything else?" "Let's not rob him of his lunch if he has packed it so nicely, and he can keep his spiritual nourishment." "He's worked hard." "Take him away!" "Bon appetite." "Give me a cigarette!" "Give me a fucking cigarette!" "Bastards!" "Being human is not simply a case of anatomy that can be added, multiplied and divided." "It is also spiritual being." "Spiritual being cannot be measured and cannot be statistically processed so the author might as well abandon his plan to paint a picture of humanity because however many chapters there may be in the book, you'll never find one with the title of "Human Dignity"." "We have been waiting for you." "Sit down..." "Pitch... the special agent!" "I hope you will be able to eat." "This is our farewell supper!" "Try it!" "It will work." "I am happy that you are sleeping at last because you have to close your eyes to see." "Can I give you any more?" "What?" "He spoke!" "He spoke!" "Eat before it goes cold." "We're not getting anywhere with him!" "That's not fair, it wasn't easy for you either." "It was easier for me than you..." "Really?" "I thought you'd never get here." "Well, here I am..." "Aren't I?" "The whole comes sooner than its parts." "We all came through different chapters but have arrived at the same place." "We are here now and that is all that matters." "We will only make it to the end if everyone dares do everything!" "I don't understand..." "We have come full circle." "And now it depends on you if we keep circling or quit the game..." "Enough." "Stop it!" "Try it!" "Have a bite!" "Go on!" "Imagine!" "Imagine anything you would like to eat." "We'll be putting this in our report, Dr Anselm." "Sorry." "Can I call you "Doc"?" "Are we done?" "I have." "You still have a small job to do before your room appears on the monitor!" "This is the headquarters of the Reality Defence Institute and not a cheap cinema." "I want everything out of here in precisely 10 minutes that is "a figment of someone's imagination"!" "Let me start." "If someone comes in here," "I want them to understand what reality is!" "All that remains of the uncertain is that which we hope for." " I want to wake up!" " Go on then!" "Now you are afraid because you're on your own." " It's difficult not to be afraid..." " Difficult?" "!" "It's difficult like everything that is simple and natural." "I want these in uniform from tomorrow and to quit smoking!" "Starting in 60 minutes." "Prepare the truth serum and we'll need shock treatment!" "Shock treatment?" "!" "I hate to see a woman cry." "The book is original because it doesn't contain balanced statistics and doesn't chronicle completed events." "This book is synchronised with human life." "It's not the majority of voters who decide the truth." "Majority simply means that there are more people who have been tricked." "And the book?" "Is he asking me?" "Power can be conquered but weakness never!" "I asked for them all at once!" "We have been trying to wake them up for hours." "It's impossible." " Sir, we really have tried everything!" " Everything?" "Perhaps it is you who are incapable?" "Perhaps we need the doc." "Pitch, old mate!" "Had a good rest?" "You look better." "I feel better!" "I've never felt better in my life!" "I hope I can make you feel better still!" "For weeks, the world is no longer a place but has become a state." "We are held in the grip of terror by a book and the whole Al F. Eveson book scandal." "A mentally disturbed group of individuals has been spying on every moment of our lives from birth to death and degraded it all down into statistical data." "We have been turned into numbers along with our relationships, our thoughts, and our deeds." "If we fail to uncover the identity of those behind this book, it is possible that they will soon start to creep into our dreams." "Good evening." "Sondra Dolphin here." "And, as ever, "on the side of truth"." "The spirit of things is on their surface." "The Reality Defence Institute has just announced that, beyond the four segregated suspects, a fifth individual is also suspected of authoring the book." "Phil Pitch has been suspended and..." "Like that, "Mr No.1"?" "... is now the prime suspect." "We've been working on this for a long time." "Don't go anywhere!" "I'll be right back!" "We act and move in relativity." "We don't know it, we just know of it." "We never reach it, but search after it." "We are only witnesses." "Witnesses always interpret." "You have to keep going back to the scene." "Didn't they teach you that?" "Fuck the lot of you!" "What are you talking about?" "Wait until the end!" "Stay tuned for a very special show with Special Agent Richard Lance from the Reality Defence Institute in the studio who promises to put an end to speculation live on air." "Live on air?" "But the real surprise is still to come!" "Don't go away!" "So are you a recording?" "Good evening." "Congratulations on your appointment." "Can you tell us where the case stands?" "We know that Al F. Eveson, Maya Satin, Swan Tamel, and Agnus Andersen are responsible for the hysteria that the book has caused throughout the world." "The evidence is not public information for reasons of national security." "How will it be secret?" "We have been pulling the case together based on confessions provided, but we ran into internal resistance." "That is why we had to order a news blackout." "Do you mean within the Reality Defence Institute?" "I suspended Special Agent Phil Pitch because he couldn't see the map for the landscape." "Could you explain?" "We can't see either the landscape or the map!" "Pitch hasn't dealt with a significant case in years." "Eveson is extremely rich." "The others are mentally ill." "What is the connection?" "Are you asking me?" "A promotional stunt like this is long-term investment." "Why would they need to promote themselves?" "If it was meant to promote them, it has gone very wrong." "People are angry." " They want to find the culprit." " Exactly." "They tried to use psychological terror." "It might have worked." "The world might be outraged but it recognises the book's creation as a major achievement." "Pitch exploited the capacity of the Reality Defence Institute, and its secret investigative methods and prestige in an attempt to stage a series of terrorist acts and shaken the world's faith in reality!" "You have to understand that these people are criminals!" "And they overstepped the boundaries of the law with their thoughts!" "Our civilisation, which measures, calculates, and evaluates everything but ignores all orders and bans, and wants to know everything while its suffering grows, is becoming increasingly opaque even to itself." "It is therefore no wonder that it wanted a portrait of itself that is infinitely lifelike and objective." "But did it really get what it wanted?" "Is it possible to see things impersonally?" "My conscience says... that what the eyes sees... and what I see in the eye..." "is the same." "Let's start the interrogation!" "Let's close it instead!" "It was me." "I did it." "What?" " Everything." " What do you mean, "everything"?" " I don't know." "Everything." " What do you mean?" " I mean I don't know." " That's impossible." " It's possible." " How possible?" " It's just possible." " It's just possible?" " It's not?" " It is!" " It's not possible!" " What?" " It's not possible?" " No!" " It's possible." " How?" "It's not possible." " Is it possible?" " Possibly." "What the hell are you doing?" "What's going on here?" "Everything that we experienced here or that we saw outside is born here." "Everything is a question in itself... to which everything together is the answer!" "Well..." "I don't believe it!" "Shit!" "Don't do that!" "Is it yours?" "It looks like it but it could be yours as well." "It's very friendly." "It's been following me since yesterday." "While it's yours, that's yours too!" "Chew it well and swallow it!" "Don't ask for more if you want it!" "Make sure all is neat and tidy!" "Be free from Monday through to Friday!" "Only speak when you're spoken to!" "And try to live the whole year through!" "Treasure what is near and dear!" "And don't forget to give a cheer!" "Chew it well and swallow it!" "Don't ask for more if you want it." "Make sure all is neat and tidy!" "Be free from Monday through to Friday!" "Only speak when you're spoken to!" "And try to live the whole year through!" "Treasure what is near and dear!" "And don't forget to give a cheer!" "Wake up one day!" "Fall asleep every day!" "Wake up every day!" "Fall asleep one day!"