"Help me." "Please." "Help... me." "Come on, you'll really like it." "Just put it in." "It's gonna take a moment." "Here, let me do it." "It's not that hard." "Didn't they teach you in school?" "What's that?" " "Frank Black. "" " Yeah." "That's you." ""We are racing toward... "" ""an Apoca... "" ""Apoca... "" "What's "Apocalypse", Daddy?" " Wait." "You usually investigate homicides?" " That's right." "Dead people." "So this must have come as a surprise." "What'd you say when asked to look at bootleg purses?" "I said, "Yes, sir. "" " They're all on board." " OK." "Let's make the world safe for designer handbags." "FBI!" "Everybody up on deck!" "FBI!" "You're under arrest." "Do you understand?" "Under arrest." "There you go." "You're not supposed to install software on Bureau equipment." " "Nina Samurai Princess"?" " My daughter's." "Somehow Nina exposed this." "Some resident program that's not supposed to be there." "A virus?" "I'll say." "God knows what it's doing, but it does seem to be addressed to you." "So someone is targeting me?" "Any idea who that might be?" "Frank." "I've been looking all over for you." " Can you join us upstairs?" " What is it?" "Can you come to conference three as soon as possible?" "Leave it here." "I'll take a real look at it if you want." "Thank you." "These were uncovered in the course of a Bureau raid led by Agent Hollis." "We received a tip that the vessel was carrying counterfeit merchandise, which was true." "The hands were an unexpected discovery." "And while the origin of the vessel is Japanese, the hands are Caucasoid." "They're roughly two years old, in size, and all apparently male." "Agent Hollis." "The captain and crew confessed to the handbags." "Although they seemed genuinely surprised by the other cargo." "We've returned the crew to the boat, but it's unlikely that whoever was going to meet the cargo will do so now." "Slide, please." "We're keeping a 24-hour watch on the vessel, via the harbour police." "Slide, please." "No." "Excuse me, could you bring that back again?" "The calligraphy." "What does it mean?" "It's hard to translate." "It means, "Our karmic fate." "A bad end we bring on ourselves. "" "Thank you." ""An Apocalypse of our own creation. "" "Why did you come to our monastery?" "You should be in a hospital." "You need a doctor." "A doctor can't fix the things I've done." "I've made horrible mistakes." "I know." "To you it seems this is the right place to be." "But you need to be with those who know you, who know your mind." "I..." "I need peace." "You are dying." "Afraid." "You hope for peace." "But hope is the enemy of peace of mind." "Just as much as fear." "Please." " You wanted to see me?" " Could you close the door, please?" "I'm sure you're wondering where the tip-off on the boat came from." " Everyone is." " Would you like to know?" "I can't conduct an investigation without knowing." "I'm asking, can I tell you in confidence?" "Yes." "The tip-off came from a Bureau undercover agent." "That's how I got the case." "That's how you got assigned." "Only it turns out the agent never said it." " Who did?" " Someone familiar with internal procedures." "We're keeping this quiet until we can piece things together." "Now..." "Can I tell you something in total confidence?" " Total confidence." " No games, Hollis." "I'm saying if you keep your mouth shut, you can step up." "That means tell no one." " You mean Frank." " I need a commitment." "Yeah." "OK." "You can tell me." "There's no sign of trauma to the tissue." "The hands are even, unblemished." "No necrotic breakdown." "Meaning what?" "Have a look." " What is that?" " They're growing." "Any progress?" " What are you doing here?" " I'm consulting on that multiple in Florida." "Thought I'd stop by." "I'm really kind of busy." "Red lacquer bowls." "They don't make these any more." "The lacquer is loaded with metal." "Gold dust, mercury." "It's designed to reflect the subtleties of candlelight." "Electric light killed these." "It's a dead art." "Things come and go." "The old makes way for the new." "Nothing sinister about it, Hollis." "You're forgetting." "I know what you do." "Really?" "I'd say you never bothered to find out." "Let me know when you're outta here." "I ran it by a friend." "He'd never seen anything like it." "It's impossible to say what it's up to." "It keeps rewriting itself." " A snake eating its own tail." " That's one way to put it." " How did it get on my machine?" " I'll need your help on that." "It's who have you plugged into, who have they plugged into." "And so on." "Unless you've got some idea who sicked this on you." "Whoa." "Wait, Mr B. I got something here." ""We are racing toward... "" "The Apocalypse." "I'll get back to you, Doug." "Oh, son of noble family." "You now have arrived at that thing called death." "Listen carefully." "You are not alone." "All who have gone before you have died." "But do not be afraid." "Listen without distraction." "Millennium Group executions." " You think these guys knew more?" " No, just crew." "Someone tossed the boat looking for something." "After you found the hands." "I think the harbour cops surprised them, came on them unexpectedly." "Forced a showdown." "Who tipped you off about this?" "McClaren assigned me." "I guess he got a tip from somewhere." " It's not exactly open where it came from." " I think something is missing." "About the hands." "I'm trying to find out where they came from." "You know what I think you need to do?" "The same thing I've been trying to do." "Is set aside my preconceptions." "Start over." "Dr Steven Takahashi." "This doesn't make sense." "Fingerprints don't work this way." "He's of Japanese descent." "A biologist." " He's a grown man." "We have five kids' hands." " I know that." " And it's not even a match." "It's a partial." " Six points." "What are you even saying here?" " I think we should bring Frank in on this." " Out of the question." " Sir, I think..." " Out of the question." "Did you hear me?" "You won't like this either, but, given the method of execution on that boat," "I don't want the Millennium Group consulting on this." "They're not." "They're not doing anything for us right now." "Peter Watts was here." "I don't see how." "When this broke, I checked his availability." "They said he was in Montana." "Hollis?" "Stupid." "The finish appears to be Bunsei style." "Popular in Edo during the late Tokugawa period." "Early 1800s." " So it's old?" " It appears old." "It could have been made yesterday." " Do you see many of these?" " I don't see any." "The Japanese aren't fond of false antiquities." "Can you tell me anything about its finish?" "I'll need a day." "Those characters, where are they from?" "Come." "Frank Black." "You've come." "Partial match to what?" " One of the hands." " It's meaningless, Hollis." "Run the database, you get a dozen matches." " No, just this one." " Pure coincidence." "Ask McClaren." "Well, you tell me, then." "Where do you think they came from?" "To tell you the truth, I try not to think about it." "Look at this." "Takahashi published every few years." "Then in 1993, one last paper and he drops outta sight." "Transubstantiation of the Human Species:" "Biology as the New Alchemy." "I've seen a thousand titles just like that on the Internet." "Hey, wait." "His last known place of employment, five years ago." "I've been tryin' to track it down." " What do they do, Emergen Corp?" " That's why I remember the ad." "It doesn't say." "How do you know me?" "You left the Millennium Group." "You're a member?" "I let them use my work." "I didn't know it was gonna go this far." "I let the FBI know." "I had nowhere else to turn." "The hands on the boat." "Is that what you call your work?" "I made it possible." "It is so far ahead." " The Group is..." " From what?" "What are they doing?" "Their plan." ""We are racing toward an Apocalypse of our own creation. "" "Is that how it starts?" "They never let me see it." "I thought you would know." "So you didn't send me the virus?" " What virus?" " The computer virus." "That's what brought me here." "I thought you came here to help me." "That somehow you knew." "That's what they said about you." "That's what I always heard about you." "Fill this out." "If you don't know your exact date of conception, we will determine it for you." "Oh." "How did he get here?" "Like you, he found his way here." "There is nothing more painful than thinking there is no point to the suffering you are going through." " I can't help him with that." " He believes you can." "He gives you a gift." "An opportunity to help him." "With his death." "With his future life." "A chance to find out why you are here." " McClaren." " Sir," " Hollis, where in the hell are you?" " 5312 Ogden Parkway, Arlington." "Some kind of research facility, I think." " I need a search warrant for this place." " Based on what?" "I intercepted some human tissue that was supposed to be delivered here." " Umbilical cords." " Meaning you stole it?" "From a clinic called Emergen." "Takahashi, that fingerprint match, worked here." "And the hands are two years old." "Hollis, I told you to drop all this." "Sir." "We've got five growing hands." "They came into existence and one of them matches that man." "What are you saying?" "They're grown from him?" "Built?" "What?" "All I know is I've got stem cells here in a black case." "What life comes from." "Packaged just like those hands." "Hollis, you wait right there, Don't move, You hear me?" " Yes, sir." " I'm on my way," "Oh, son of noble family." "Listen without distraction." "Now that thing called death is upon you." "Tell us something, will you?" "What did you do for them?" "What do they want from you?" "Do not be afraid." "But know everything you experience, beautiful or terrifying... is a mere projection of your own mind." "Soon the wrath of deities will appear before you," "The path of destruction from the sins you have accumulated," "Now is the time to recognise these as manifestations of your own fierce pride," "Now is the time to turn away," "Oh, son of noble family." "Now you will see the dawning luminosity." "Recognise it for what it is." "A natural awareness of your own energy." "Understand and you are liberated." "Do not cling to fear, or the bright light of accumulated sins," "But do not try to flee it, either." "Steven." "Steven." "Steven Takahashi." "Listen, they're here now, but you're not alone." "I'm gonna be here with you when they come." "I know what you've been going through, what they've done." "They've confused you." "They've taken all the goodness you know is inside you, and twisted it against your intent." "Used it against you." "Don't let them confuse you now." "This is the time to undo what you've done." "The bowl." "Federal investigator." "Stop right there!" "I said stop!" "You too." "Stop right there." "Move over there with them." "Do it." "Hands away from the body." "OK." "Now, one at a time, starting with you, drop your weapon." "Eyes on me!" "Put down your weapon!" " Hollis!" " Now." "We don't have any weapons." "I said wait." "Forget the bowl." "Forget the Group." "They've stood everything on its head." "Cos they don't trust the clear voice you heard inside you." "Trust that voice now." "Listen to that voice," "They have no hold over you," "You've done everything you can do now," "They can come," "Let 'em," "Recognise them for what they are and they cannot defeat you." "Understand... and you are liberated." "You can't hurt him." "He's dead." "Look." "The consciousness is liberated through the head." "It is a good sign." "They left while we were in there." "Hollis, no one left." "I saw a van pull in here." "They were loading black cases." "The people that work in this building do medical testing for an HMO." " That's what they say." " That's what they do." "That's what they were doing when you blasted in here, waving your weapon at 'em." "You're scaring me." "Watts." " This is it, isn't it?" "This place." " Hollis." "Sorry to intrude, Andy." " Thought you were outta town." " I was." "I'II..." "I'll touch base later." "Watts." "Watts." "Watts!" "Hey!" "Hey, bald man!" " What is it, Hollis?" " You didn't think I'd find this place." "Not without Frank." "You thought you didn't have to worry." "Well, your mistake, Watts!" "I made it." "You hear me?" "Watts!" "I am here!" "I'm here, Watts!" "You hear me?" "We see what our karma allows us to see," "The beauty of this world, and the terrors," "Both illusions of our own making," "The peaceful deities and wrathful," "Mere projections, not real," "Even this form we take is an expression of our own minds," "Do not cling to the illusions of this world." "Leave them behind." "And find truth to take their place." "Understand... and you are liberated." "Understand... and you are liberated." "I saw them, Frank." "Forjust one moment." "I saw them clearly." "Peter Watts really is evil, isn't he?" "Maybe no one's beyond redemption." "I have to believe that." "Understand... and you are liberated." "I made this!"