"First, there was darkness." "Then came the Strangers." "They were a race as old as time itself." "They had mastered the ultimate technology-- the ability to alter physical reality by will alone." "They called this ability "Tuning."" "But they were dying." "Their civilization was in decline, and so they abandoned their world, seeking a cure for their own mortality." "Their endless journey brought them to a small, blue world... in the farthest corner of the galaxy." "Our world." "Here, they thought they had finally found... what they had been searching for." "My name is Dr. Daniel Poe Schreber." "I am just a man." "I help the Strangers conduct their experiments." "I have betrayed my own kind." "You are confused, aren't you?" "Frightened." "That's all right." "I can help you." "Who is this?" "l'm a doctor." "You must listen to me." "You have lost your memory." "There was an experiment." "Something went wrong." "Your memory was erased." "Do you understand me?" "No, I don't understand." "What's going on here?" "There are people coming for you as we speak." "Don't let them find you." "Leave now." "Hello?" "Are you there?" "Hey, Mr. Murdoch, the Automat called." "Said you left your wallet there." "I suggest you retrieve it, since you only paid for three weeks, and they was up 10 minutes ago." "I've been here three weeks?" "It's right there in black and white, Mr. Murdoch." "Day and date." "We make our books like we make our beds, all neat and tidy." "l'll take care of it later." "See that you do." "Only thing makes you a guest in this joint... is cash on the barrelhead!" "House rules." "Three weeks is three weeks." "No days off for good behavior." "Mr. Murdoch, yes?" "Where is he?" "He just left not five minutes ago." "Sleep now." "When the rumba rhythm start to play" "Dance with me" "Make me sway" "Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore" "Hold me close" "Sway me more" "Like a flower bending in the breeze" "Bend with me" "Sway with ease" "When we dance, you have a way with me" "Stay with me" "Sway with me" "Hey, sweetie, he said he was your husband's doctor." "He wanted to speak with you." "Excuse me." "Doctor..." "Schreber." "Please, won't you come in?" "You must be Emma Murdoch." "Thank you for coming to see me on such short notice." "What is this?" "A rather crude experiment designed to further my studies." "I don't understand." "You say you're my husband's doctor, but he never mentioned you to me." "The truth is, John has been coming to see me... for quite some time." "He had been grappling with feelings of betrayal... stemming from your marital difficulties." "John told you what happened." "Yes." "When was the last time that you saw him?" "Three weeks ago." "He packed a suitcase." "He was very angry at me." "I understand how difficult this must be for you, but for John's sake, I would like you to think of me as your friend, Emma." "It appears that John has suffered a psychotic break." "Complete memory loss." "You can't be serious." "Oh, but I am." "He may be delusional." "Even violent." "If he were to contact you, you must call me immediately." "Wherever your husband is, he is searching..." "For himself." "Good evening, Mr. Murdoch." "It is Mr. Murdoch, isn't it?" "Mr. "J" something Murdoch?" "J. Murdoch." "What's your name?" "Justin?" "Jerry?" "My name's Jason Murdoch." "John Murdoch." "Jake Murdoch." "How's it going?" "Hi." "Jack Murdoch." "Got to get a grip on myself." "I told the guy, cash on the barrelhead." "I said, "Listen, three weeks is three weeks."" "Where's our lucky winner?" "Upstairs, sir." "Room 614." "The call girl." "Evening, Husselbeck." "Inspector Bumstead." "Your lace is untied." "Sorry." "Am I glad you're here, sir." "They say Detective Walenski's got the heebie-jeebies." "Just take what they give me, Husselbeck." "Thanks a lot." "Excuse me." "Hello?" "Oh, it's you." "You left your wallet here." "When did I do that?" "When you was last here." "When was that?" "When you left your wallet." "Expect me to remember?" "Excuse me!" "No, no, seriously." "Where you headed, chief?" "Home." "And where's home?" "Haven't you mugs got anything better to do?" "I'm just doing my job, May." "There's a killer out there." "Look for him instead of cooling your heels." "Go on." "Get out of here." "Come on." "What's that make so far?" "Six hookers in all?" "l believe so, sir." "Give the man an "A" for effort." "So, Husselbeck, what kind of killer do you think stops to save a dying fish?" "Got me, sir." "Bumstead." "What took you?" "This killer's been running circles around us, thanks to Walenski." "With all due respect, Chief Inspector, I've known Eddie a long time, and he's a good cop." "Whatever kind of cop Walenski once was... he let drift a long time ago." "Let me talk to Bumstead!" "Come on!" "Hold on!" "Frank!" "Get his arm !" "They're watching us!" "On your feet!" "There's no way out!" "God, can't you see?" "Let me go!" "I'm not going to hurt you." "What was that?" "Walenski." "I'm being punished for my sins, right?" "What did I ever do to inherit this?" "Where do you begin?" "Well, everything Detective Walenski committed to paper... should be here, so" "The only thing that should be committed is Walenski." "Nothing like a little healthy paranoia." "I came here to file a missing persons report for my husband." "Take it to the front desk." "They told me to come see you." "His name's John Murdoch." "Do these names mean anything to you?" "Who are these women?" "Why are you looking for my husband?" "Are you going to accuse him of something?" "Maybe." "Maybe murder." "Whose murder?" "Which one?" "All of them." "Mrs. Murdoch, I am sorry." "I didn't mean to alarm you." "I'm sorry that I came." "I just made a mistake." "If you'd please just give me half a second to explain." "We met before?" "If we did, I hope you're still breathing." "What's your name, honey?" "Well, that's an appropriate name." "I was just thinking." "What you do... lt seems kind of dangerous..." "right now." "How do you know I'm not the killer?" "You don't seem like the killer type." "Why?" "You feeling any urges I should know about?" "Shoot." "So it seems you've discovered your unpleasant nature." "Who are you?" "We might ask the same question." "Sleep...now." "He can Tune!" "What is to be done?" "This man is dangerous." "lt is said he is able to Tune." "lmpossible!" "We have seen it with our own eyes." "On occasion, the imprinting does not take." "They behave erratically when they awaken." "We find them wandering like lost children." "But this one was different, yes?" "What has the doctor to say?" "He has failed to report in." "And Mr. Quick?" "No more Mr. Quick." "Mr. Quick...dead, yes." "Poor, poor Mr. Quick." "Mr. Book...does he know?" "Should we not know, Mr. Hand?" "We had hoped to learn more before sharing with you." "We can know nothing until we possess him." "We must have this man." "My brand, I hope." "I've been worried about you." "Are you punishing me?" "If disappearing is your way of punishing me, I don't appreciate it." "What are you talking about?" "I found these keys in my pocket, so I assume I live here." "You supposed to be my wife?" ""Supposed to be"?" "You really...don't know who I am, do you." "Your doctor called me." "He was worried that this might happen." "My doctor?" "He gave me his card." "He's desperate to find you." "Feel like I'm living out someone else's nightmare." "What happened to me?" "Why was I seeing a doctor?" "I had an affair." "You were angry at me." "Closing time." "The pool is now closed." "Most unfortunate it is... that we were forced to seek you out here." "You know how uncomfortable we find all this moisture." "l'm sorry. l" "Failed to report in, yes?" "I was frightened." "I have a weak heart, you know." "Your weakness is not, we think, an affair of the heart." "We found this in his hotel room." "Must we reproduce Mr. Murdoch's memories again?" "I tried to reprint him, but he woke up." "He knocked the syringe right out of my hand." "He has no memories, then?" "Only fragments." "The procedure, it was interrupted." "I guess it's only a matter of rounding him up." "You have had strays before, right?" "This is no stray, Doctor." "This one can Tune." "But that's impossible." "Only you have that ability." "You will process another template... of the subject's memories, yes?" "Of course." "I'll imprint him again." "We require them for a quite different purpose." "It's almost midnight, Dr. Schreber." "We'll talk again after tonight's Tuning, but no more delays, yes?" "No more inconsistencies in your behavior." "The police were looking for you." "I know. I saw the papers." ""Killer stalks city street-walkers."" "I was with one of those women." "Before I came here tonight." "l don't understand." "I met her outside an Automat." "I guess I wanted to test myself." "I wanted to know if I had it in me to do those things." "Maybe I have lost my mind, but whoever I am, I'm still me, and I'm not a killer." "I believe you." "You do?" "What?" "The car outside." "The one you arrived in." "It's a cop." "He dropped me off here." "I didn't know he was still here." "Hold it right there, mister!" "Wait." "You have the wrong man." "Stand aside, will you, please?" "I didn't kill anyone." "Right now, all you are is a suspect." "Turn yourself in. I'll listen to whatever you have to say." "You won't believe what I have to say." "Try me." "There's someone after me." "It's this group of men." "They want me dead." "And I don't even know if..." "they're not even" "Yeah, who's going to listen to a madman?" "Stand aside, Mrs. Murdoch." "Run!" "No one ever listens to me." "Murdoch, stop!" "How much further?" "We're almost there, buddy." "You happen to know the way to Shell Beach?" "You're kidding!" "Me and the wife spent our honeymoon there." "All you do is take Main Street West to..." "Or is it the Cross..." "Now, that's funny." "I can't seem to remember if it's Main Street West... or the Crosstown." "I'm sorry, Inspector, I cannot be of more assistance, but I am running late for an appointment." "Well, I appreciate you taking the time." "There's just one thing that puzzles me." "I've met quite a few murderers in the course of my work." "Murdoch doesn't strike me as one." "Perhaps you are not accustomed to digging deep enough." "Well, I do know when someone is lying to me, Doctor." "Inspector, judging personalities happens to be my business." "Maybe you can give me a few pointers." "Certainly." "Let's take you, for instance." "You are a fastidious man." "Driven." "Consumed by details." "I would say your life is rather lonely." "Good evening, Inspector." "I really must be going." "Come in." "How is he?" "The same." "Walenski?" "It's me, Frank." "Come in, Frank." "Close the door." "I've been looking through some of your old reports." "It's an interesting case." "Kind that make a man's career." "Or break it." "Yeah. I was on that case." "And then what?" "What happened then, Eddie?" "Nothing happened, Frank." "I've just been spending time in the subway, riding in circles." "Thinking in circles." "There's no way out." "I've been over this entire city." "You're scaring your wife to death, Eddie." "She's not my wife." "I don't know who she is or who any of us are." "What makes you say that?" "You think about the past much?" "As much as the next guy." "See, I've been trying to remember things-- clearly remember things from my past." "But the more I try to think back, the more it all starts to unravel." "None of it seems real." "It's like I've just been dreaming this life, and when I finally wake up, I'll be somebody else, somebody totally different." "You saw something, didn't you, Eddie." "Something to do with the case." "There is no case!" "There never was!" "It's all just a big joke!" "It's a joke!" "Tonight's requirements are... 12 family photo albums, nine personal diaries," "17 love letters, assorted childhood photographs, requisite false l.D.s and social security cards." "These do bring back memories." "This one is still warm." "What is it?" "The recollections of a great lover?" "A catalogue of conquests?" "We will soon find out." "You wouldn't appreciate that, would you, Mr. Whatever-your-name is?" "Not the sort of conquest you would ever understand." "Let's see." "A touch of unhappy childhood..." "A dash of teenage rebellion..." "And last but not least... a tragic death in the family." "Mr. Book." "Why does Murdoch not sleep during the Tuning?" "Maybe he's a step up the evolutionary ladder." "A freak of nature." "He's adapting to survive." "What do you expect?" "Weren't you looking for the human soul?" "Isn't that the purpose of your little zoo?" "That's why you change people and things every night." "Maybe you have finally found what you are looking for, and it's going to bite you on your" "It requires several of your lifetimes... to master our gifts." "The idea that a simple man... could develop the ability to Tune is" "Absurd, I know." "What other explanation is there?" "It is time." "Shut it down." "Fredrickson says he'll take me off the night shift." "It's about time, dear." "Hello?" "Wake up." "Wake up!" "Can anyone hear me?" "Let the Tuning commence." "The Goodwins." "Charlie, Sylvia," "Jane, and little Matthew." "Jane and little Matthew." "The rich get richer." "Probably have maid's quarters... before the night is through." "Dr. Schreber, I presume." "It's you." "Hey, come on." "That's no way to greet a patient, Doctor, if that's what you are." "Please, l" "Why is everyone asleep?" "Please keep your voice down." "I can't remember anything." "What have you done?" "Nothing. I want to help you." "We cannot talk here." "If they see us together-- l don't care." "I want some answers." "Now!" "Who are they?" "Why are they trying to kill me?" "Answer me!" "My God." "You really can do it." "l did that?" "Listen to me." "You have their power." "You can make things happen by will alone." "They call it "Tuning."" "That is how they change the buildings." "Just now you acted out of self-defense, but I can teach you to control your power." "We can stop them." "We can take the city back." "My glasses." "He made a terrible impression for the firm, lollygagging around as he did." "So I told Fredrickson I was letting him go." "Well you should have, darling." "He attacked me." "I don't know where he's gone." "Come, Dr. Schreber." "We have much to do." "Yes?" "Yes." "They say that you're a runaround lover" "Though you say it isn't so" "But if you put me down for another I'll know, believe me, I'll know" "Tonight's experiment will take place in these locations." "The first subject shall be imprinted on Avenue M." "Mr. Book, there is a problem." "There is no Avenue M." "We were unable to complete it." "During the last Tuning, we detected a lack of control." "An opposing influence on the machines?" "This man Murdoch is more powerful than we thought." "He is becoming like us." "So we must become like him." "The doctor has done as we asked?" "The life and times of John Murdoch, volume two." "We must not do this." "Murdoch does not possess these memories, yes?" "How will his imprint allow us to find him?" "Everywhere he goes, everyone he seeks out... will be known to us." "And as he follows the clues, so shall we follow the memories." "But to imprint one of us?" "Failure has always resulted." "What Mr. Hand proposes is our only option." "Imprint." "This may sting a bit." "is it done?" "Oh, yes, Mr. Book." "I have John Murdoch in mind." ""Johnny..." ""Found this postcard among your mother's things." ""Brings back memories, doesn't it?" ""Stop by sometime." ""We'll see if we can't hook ourselves another mermaid." ""Love to Emma." "Karl."" "Karl." "Karl Harris." "Harris." "Excuse me." "Which way is Avenue C?" "Try the subway." "You got a problem, pal?" "Been working here long?" "25 years." "No days off for good behavior." "We're looking for John Murdoch." "She knows nothing, Mr. Hand." "A dead end, Mr. Wall." "We thought his imprint would let us track him." "But instead we have been brought here." "This is irrational." "lnstincts are irrational." "We must follow where they lead, yes?" "Mr. Sleep suggests he may go to places familiar." "His job." "He does not care about our job." "Indulge us, Mr. Hand." "If you were Murdoch, yes?" "If I were Murdoch... I would remember how my wife had hurt me... by sleeping with another man." "And then... I would look for a way to hurt her in return." "Leave me alone with her." "There's work to be done." "All change, platform three." "All change?" "Excuse me, how do I get to the end of the line?" "You want the Express." "How come the train didn't stop?" "That's the Express." "There's no way out." "You can't get out of the city." "I've tried." "You're Murdoch, aren't you?" "The one they've been looking for." "You're not a killer." "They set you up with a fake identity, like everyone else here." "Who are you?" "l was a cop." "At least in this life I was." "They steal peoples' memories." "Then they swap them around between us." "I seen them do it, back and forth... till no one knows who they are anymore." "How do you know all this?" "Once in a while one of us wakes up... while they're changing things." "It's not supposed to happen, but it does." "It happened to me." "They'll come looking for you." "Just like they'll come looking for me." "But that's OK." "I figured a way out." "They were here." "Last night." "This was to be his home." "That was when we loved her." "This is all well and good, but we require a more practical link... to his present whereabouts." "And I know where to find her." "We're very lucky, when you think about it." "I'm sorry?" "To be able to revisit those places... which meant so very much to us." "I thought we were haunted by them." "Perhaps." "There used to be a ferry when I was a boy." "Biggest thing you ever saw." "Lit up like a floating birthday cake." "That's just what my husband once said to me." "On this very spot." "Where is your husband now?" "I wish I knew." "What brings you here?" "I met my wife at this place." "It's where l met my husband." "Small world." "Hello?" "What are you doing here?" "I've been following you." "Hold it right there!" "Johnny?" "It's been so damn long, I thought you'd forgotten your Uncle Karl." "You son of a gun!" "Uncle Karl..." "Wait." "ls that me?" "Yeah." "Shell Beach is where l grew up?" "That's what I said." "Shell Beach." "Your home town." "l need to get there." "How do I get there?" "I don't know." "I haven't been there in years." "You must remember." "You must have some idea." "Sorry, Johnny." "The old cracker barrel ain't what it used to be." "lt was so bright there." "Brighter times, I guess." "You were always scribbling in that damn book." "That's me and your Pa." "What a couple of handsome fools." "What happened to my parents?" "Where are they now?" "They're dead, Johnny." "They died when the house burned down." "I looked after you." "You don't remember that, really?" "What's that?" "What is that?" "It's a scar." "You burned your arm pretty bad in the fire." "What does it mean?" "It means these are all lies!" "My husband told me he'd been here." "He told me he wanted to test himself." "See if he was... capable of... I wanted to talk to her." "I thought she could help me find him." "I'm going to call the station." "It's beautiful." "It was a gift from my mother." "She died recently." "I keep it with me to remind me of her." "I'm sorry." "It's a funny thing, though." "I can't remember when she gave it to me." "How do you think I could forget a thing like that?" "What's happening, Inspector?" "I'm not sure I know anymore." "I left your old room like it was." "You can sleep here tonight." "Glad to have you back, Johnny." "Even if it is for just a night." "Karl." "ls that the right time?" "Why, sure." "That clock's kept perfect time since I bought it." "A.M. or P.M.?" "What do you think?" "l don't understand." "How can it be night already?" "What happened to the day?" "You're tired." "Anything's possible." "Get some sleep." "We'll straighten all this out tomorrow." "Come on..." "He's here." "He's acting peculiar." "I know." "He's not himself." "Keep him there, and I'll be right over." "l'll try." "Thanks." "Bye." "I can't promise anything." "We'll play it as it comes." "We just wanted to help." "Karl." "Uncle Karl." "If you're in trouble, maybe we can do something." "Haven't seen you in so long." "Mr. Murdoch, you've been the cause of much distress." "Start talking." "There's no need for this." "There's no escape." "The city's ours." "We made it." "What are you talking about?" "We fashioned this city on stolen memories." "Different eras, different pasts, all rolled into one." "Each night we revise it, refine it, in order to learn." "Learn what?" "About you." "You and your fellow inhabitants." "What makes you human." "Why?" "We need to be like you." "I understand you now." "I remember that which you do not, what you've been missing." "The ocean, yes?" "Running along the waves as a child." "Meeting Emma at the river, that first kiss that followed." "What are you?" "You've seen what we are." "We use your dead as vessels." "Get in!" "What about her?" "Ring a bell?" "She was alive when I left her." "What about this?" "This is nothing." "It must mean something-- all those pictures." "What pictures?" "l don't understand this." "Stop playing games with me." "Stop telling me lies." "l am not telling lies!" "Help me out." "Make me understand." "I have this jigsaw puzzle in my face, and it makes no sense." "You think it makes sense to me?" "I'm as confused as you are." "Let me ask you a question." "Have you heard of Shell Beach?" "Sure." "You know how to get there?" "Yeah." "Tell me." "Right." "You just go to the..." "Where?" "Where do you go?" "Give me a second, will you?" "You can't remember, can you?" "Thinking that's kind of odd?" "Wait. I got a better one." "When was the last time you did something during the day?" "What do you mean?" "l just mean during the day." "Daylight." "When was the last time you remember seeing it?" "I'm not talking about a distant, half-forgotten childhood memory." "I mean, like, yesterday." "Last week?" "When?" "Do you have a single memory?" "You don't, do you?" "I don't think the sun even exists in this place." "'Cause I've been up for hours and hours, and night never ends." "That's crazy." "You're damn right it's crazy." "But listen to me, Bumstead." "It's not just me." "It's all of us." "They're doing something to all of us." "Shut up." "I've heard enough." "Please listen" "Shut up!" "There has to be an explanation." "Explain this." "I'm so sorry." "I never meant to hurt you." "I don't know why I did." "I wish I could take it back." "You didn't do it." "This affair of yours, whatever you think you've done, you didn't do it." "I don't believe it happened." "What do you mean?" "This will sound crazy." "What if we never knew each other before now?" "What if the first time we met was last night in our apartment?" "And everything you remember, and everything I'm supposed to remember never really happened." "Someone just wants us to think it did." "But how can that be true?" "I so vividly remember meeting you." "I remember falling in love with you." "l remember losing you." "Time's up." "No, wait, please." "Just one more minute." "I love you, John." "You can't fake something like that." "No, you can't." "Inspector?" "Sir?" "Detective Walenski killed himself last night." "I thought you should know." "The chief wanted to see you." "Sir?" "I knew you'd track the killer down." "Shoelace." "How can we help you, sir?" "You can sleep." "Sleep." "Sleep." "Evening." "I wanted to be the first to congratulate you about the case." "Take us to Murdoch." "Sleep." "I knew you'd come eventually." "Isn't it time you gave me some answers?" "Yes, of course." "Won't you please sit down?" "I come here often." "It's one of the few places I'm allowed some peace." "You see, they have an aversion to water." "One could almost call it a phobia." "Who are they?" "What do they want from me?" "Right." "For now, let's say you're the subject of their experiment." "We all are." "I'm sorry, but I have no time to do this the right way." "Everything you need to know is in this syringe." "I need you to inject yourself." "It's the only way to understand." "You're kidding, right?" "We're running out of time!" "You have to do this now." "Give me the gun." "He's more disturbed than we thought." "I may not be the judge of personality you are, but you're the one who looks disturbed." "You don't know what you're doing." "What exactly is in this, Doctor?" "All the answers you've been looking for, I swear to you." "Guess I'll hold on to it for safekeeping, if you don't mind." "Let's go, Doctor." "Go?" "Where are we going?" "Shell Beach." "That's where you wanted to go, isn't it, the ocean?" "Won't find anything there." "I've been there" "Then you can show us the way." "I won't. I refuse." "You can't make me go there." "Don't you understand?" "They'll be waiting for us." "I don't understand." "There used to be a bridge here." "Try that again, and your friends will find you in the canal." "Don't hurt me." "I'll tell you everything." "It doesn't matter anymore anyway." "What?" "Who are you people?" "Must go to the end of the canal." "We will give you some more pretty things soon..." "Anna." "l'm not Anna." "You will be soon, yes." "I have another use for her first." "I call them Strangers." "They abducted us and brought us here." "This city, everyone in it..." "is their experiment." "They mix and match our memories as they see fit, trying to divine what makes us unique." "One day, a man might be an inspector." "The next, someone entirely different." "When they want to study a murderer, for instance, they simply imprint one of their citizens with a new personality." "Arrange a family for him, friends, an entire history... even a lost wallet." "Then they observe the results." "Will a man, given the history of a killer, continue in that vein?" "Or are we, in fact, more than the sum of our memories?" "This business of you being a killer was a sad coincidence." "You have had dozens of lives before now." "You happened to wake up... while I was imprinting you with this one." "Why are they doing all this?" "It is our capacity for individuality, our souls... that makes us different from them." "They think they'll find the human soul... if they understand how our memories work." "They have collective memories." "They share one group mind." "They're dying." "Their race is on the brink of extinction." "They think we can save them." "Where do I fit in?" "You're different." "You resisted my attempt to imprint you." "Somehow, you have developed their ability to Tune." "That is how they change things, how they built this city." "They have machines buried beneath the surface... that allow them to focus their telepathic energies." "They control everything here, even the sun." "That's why it's always dark." "They can't stand the light." "Why do they need you?" "When they first brought us here, they extracted what was in us and stored the information, remixed it like paint... and gave us back new memories of their choosing." "But they still needed an artist to help them." "I understood the human mind better than they ever could, so they allowed me to keep my skills as a scientist... because they needed them." "They made me delete everything else." "Can you imagine what it's like to erase your own past?" "What about my past?" "What about my childhood?" "Shell Beach." "Uncle Karl." "What about this?" "This was blank when I found it." "You still don't understand." "You were never a boy." "Not in this place." "Your history is an illusion, a fabrication, as it is with all of us." "You made those drawings happen with your gift." "You say they brought us here." "From where?" "I'm sorry. I don't remember." "None of us remember that..." "what we once were... what we might have been..." "somewhere else." "I've taken you this far." "You don't need me anymore." "Let's go." "There is no ocean, John." "There's nothing beyond the city." "The only place home exists... is in your head." "Stop!" "Please!" "Now you know the truth." "You'll allow yourself to surrender... or it will result in this one's death." "What do I care?" "She's not my real wife." "She's nothing to me." "But you do still care, don't you, Mr. Murdoch?" "I have become the monster you were intended to be." "Shall I end her life now, as you would have?" "Don't hurt her, please." "Then surrender." "Sleep." "Now." "Sleep." "Kill him." "Kill him !" "He is powerful, yes, dangerous." "But he can also lead us to what we seek... what the doctor calls the soul." "It is time for our experiment to move into a final phase." "We no longer need the other subjects." "The time for study is over." "It is time to be one with John Murdoch." "It is time, Doctor. Imprint." "Shut it down!" "Shut it down forever." "What are you doing?" "They want to imprint you with their own collective memories." "They want to make you one of them... so they can share your soul." "But I've got other plans." "Imprint, Doctor." "No more disobedience." "I'm sorry." "The pain will only last a moment." "Remember, John." "You'll rise to greater heights than that." "One day when you're older, you'll understand." "Remember." "That's it, John." "Practice makes perfect." "Now, remember what I told you." "Never talk to strangers." "John, remember." "You're probably wondering why I keep appearing in your memories." "It's because I have inserted myself in them." "They were fabricated to teach you about the Strangers." "Give you a lifetime of knowledge in a single syringe." "You will survive, John." "You'll find strength within yourself." "And you will prevail." "Remember." "Hi, Uncle Karl." "Johnny!" "Getting the hang of it, John." "Maybe one day I'll work for you." "Here's the machine the Strangers use to amplify their thoughts, the machine that changes their world." "You must take control of it." "You must make the machine yours." "I know you can beat them, but you must concentrate." "Something's wrong." "There is no time for romance." "The world can be what you make it." "What have you done?" "You have the power to make anything happen... but you must act now." "I knew you could do it, John." "You have their power now." "You control their machines." "Where's Emma?" "She's not Emma anymore." "She has been reimprinted." "So give her back her memories." "l can't." "The facility where they stored the memories has been destroyed." "I'm sorry." "What are you going to do now?" "I'm gonna fix things." "You told me I had the power, didn't you?" "I can make these machines do anything I want." "Make this world anything I want it to be." "Just so long as I concentrate hard enough." "Where are you going?" "Shell Beach." "What's the fare?" "A quarter." "Please." "Oh, no, sit." "Thank you." "Been waiting for you, yes?" "What are you doing?" "l'm just making a few changes." "We're sure that's what we want?" "l'll take my chances." "I'm dying, John." "Your imprint is not agreeable with my kind." "But I wanted to know what it was like." "How you feel." "You know how I was supposed to feel." "That person isn't me." "Never was." "You wanted to know what it was that makes us human." "Well, you're not going to find it in here." "You went looking in the wrong place." "It's so beautiful here." "So bright." "Do you know if Shell Beach is around here?" "I think that's it over there." "I'm headed that way myself." "Would you like to join me?" "Sure." "I'm Anna, by the way." "What's your name?" "First, there was darkness." "Then came the Strangers." "They were a race as old as time itself." "They had mastered the ultimate technology-- the ability to alter physical reality by will alone." "They called this ability "Tuning."" "But they were dying." "Their civilization was in decline, and so they abandoned their world, seeking a cure for their own mortality." "Their endless journey brought them to a small, blue world... in the farthest corner of the galaxy." "Our world." "Here, they thought they had finally found... what they had been searching for." "My name is Dr. Daniel Poe Schreber." "I am just a man." "I help the Strangers conduct their experiments." "I have betrayed my own kind." "You are confused, aren't you?" "Frightened." "That's all right." "I can help you." "Who is this?" "l'm a doctor." "You must listen to me." "You have lost your memory." "There was an experiment." "Something went wrong." "Your memory was erased." "Do you understand me?" "No, I don't understand." "What's going on here?" "There are people coming for you as we speak." "Don't let them find you." "Leave now." "Hello?" "Are you there?" "Hey, Mr. Murdoch, the Automat called." "Said you left your wallet there." "I suggest you retrieve it, since you only paid for three weeks, and they was up 10 minutes ago." "I've been here three weeks?" "It's right there in black and white, Mr. Murdoch." "Day and date." "We make our books like we make our beds, all neat and tidy." "l'll take care of it later." "See that you do." "Only thing makes you a guest in this joint... is cash on the barrelhead!" "House rules." "Three weeks is three weeks." "No days off for good behavior." "Mr. Murdoch, yes?" "Where is he?" "He just left not five minutes ago." "Sleep now." "When the rumba rhythm start to play" "Dance with me" "Make me sway" "Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore" "Hold me close" "Sway me more" "Like a flower bending in the breeze" "Bend with me" "Sway with ease" "When we dance, you have a way with me" "Stay with me" "Sway with me" "Hey, sweetie, he said he was your husband's doctor." "He wanted to speak with you." "Excuse me." "Doctor..." "Schreber." "Please, won't you come in?" "You must be Emma Murdoch." "Thank you for coming to see me on such short notice." "What is this?" "A rather crude experiment designed to further my studies." "I don't understand." "You say you're my husband's doctor, but he never mentioned you to me." "The truth is, John has been coming to see me... for quite some time." "He had been grappling with feelings of betrayal... stemming from your marital difficulties." "John told you what happened." "Yes." "When was the last time that you saw him?" "Three weeks ago." "He packed a suitcase." "He was very angry at me." "I understand how difficult this must be for you, but for John's sake, I would like you to think of me as your friend, Emma." "It appears that John has suffered a psychotic break." "Complete memory loss." "You can't be serious." "Oh, but I am." "He may be delusional." "Even violent." "If he were to contact you, you must call me immediately." "Wherever your husband is, he is searching..." "For himself." "Good evening, Mr. Murdoch." "It is Mr. Murdoch, isn't it?" "Mr. "J" something Murdoch?" "J. Murdoch." "What's your name?" "Justin?" "Jerry?" "My name's Jason Murdoch." "John Murdoch." "Jake Murdoch." "How's it going?" "Hi." "Jack Murdoch." "Got to get a grip on myself." "I told the guy, cash on the barrelhead." "I said, "Listen, three weeks is three weeks."" "Where's our lucky winner?" "Upstairs, sir." "Room 614." "The call girl." "Evening, Husselbeck." "Inspector Bumstead." "Your lace is untied." "Sorry." "Am I glad you're here, sir." "They say Detective Walenski's got the heebie-jeebies." "Just take what they give me, Husselbeck." "Thanks a lot." "Excuse me." "Hello?" "Oh, it's you." "You left your wallet here." "When did I do that?" "When you was last here." "When was that?" "When you left your wallet." "Expect me to remember?" "Excuse me!" "No, no, seriously." "Where you headed, chief?" "Home." "And where's home?" "Haven't you mugs got anything better to do?" "I'm just doing my job, May." "There's a killer out there." "Look for him instead of cooling your heels." "Go on." "Get out of here." "Come on." "What's that make so far?" "Six hookers in all?" "l believe so, sir." "Give the man an "A" for effort." "So, Husselbeck, what kind of killer do you think stops to save a dying fish?" "Got me, sir." "Bumstead." "What took you?" "This killer's been running circles around us, thanks to Walenski." "With all due respect, Chief Inspector, I've known Eddie a long time, and he's a good cop." "Whatever kind of cop Walenski once was... he let drift a long time ago." "Let me talk to Bumstead!" "Come on!" "Hold on!" "Frank!" "Get his arm !" "They're watching us!" "On your feet!" "There's no way out!" "God, can't you see?" "Let me go!" "I'm not going to hurt you." "What was that?" "Walenski." "I'm being punished for my sins, right?" "What did I ever do to inherit this?" "Where do you begin?" "Well, everything Detective Walenski committed to paper... should be here, so" "The only thing that should be committed is Walenski." "Nothing like a little healthy paranoia." "I came here to file a missing persons report for my husband." "Take it to the front desk." "They told me to come see you." "His name's John Murdoch." "Do these names mean anything to you?" "Who are these women?" "Why are you looking for my husband?" "Are you going to accuse him of something?" "Maybe." "Maybe murder." "Whose murder?" "Which one?" "All of them." "Mrs. Murdoch, I am sorry." "I didn't mean to alarm you." "I'm sorry that I came." "I just made a mistake." "If you'd please just give me half a second to explain." "We met before?" "If we did, I hope you're still breathing." "What's your name, honey?" "Well, that's an appropriate name." "I was just thinking." "What you do... lt seems kind of dangerous..." "right now." "How do you know I'm not the killer?" "You don't seem like the killer type." "Why?" "You feeling any urges I should know about?" "Shoot." "So it seems you've discovered your unpleasant nature." "Who are you?" "We might ask the same question." "Sleep...now." "He can Tune!" "What is to be done?" "This man is dangerous." "lt is said he is able to Tune." "lmpossible!" "We have seen it with our own eyes." "On occasion, the imprinting does not take." "They behave erratically when they awaken." "We find them wandering like lost children." "But this one was different, yes?" "What has the doctor to say?" "He has failed to report in." "And Mr. Quick?" "No more Mr. Quick." "Mr. Quick...dead, yes." "Poor, poor Mr. Quick." "Mr. Book...does he know?" "Should we not know, Mr. Hand?" "We had hoped to learn more before sharing with you." "We can know nothing until we possess him." "We must have this man." "My brand, I hope." "I've been worried about you." "Are you punishing me?" "If disappearing is your way of punishing me, I don't appreciate it." "What are you talking about?" "I found these keys in my pocket, so I assume I live here." "You supposed to be my wife?" ""Supposed to be"?" "You really...don't know who I am, do you." "Your doctor called me." "He was worried that this might happen." "My doctor?" "He gave me his card." "He's desperate to find you." "Feel like I'm living out someone else's nightmare." "What happened to me?" "Why was I seeing a doctor?" "I had an affair." "You were angry at me." "Closing time." "The pool is now closed." "Most unfortunate it is... that we were forced to seek you out here." "You know how uncomfortable we find all this moisture." "l'm sorry. l" "Failed to report in, yes?" "I was frightened." "I have a weak heart, you know." "Your weakness is not, we think, an affair of the heart." "We found this in his hotel room." "Must we reproduce Mr. Murdoch's memories again?" "I tried to reprint him, but he woke up." "He knocked the syringe right out of my hand." "He has no memories, then?" "Only fragments." "The procedure, it was interrupted." "I guess it's only a matter of rounding him up." "You have had strays before, right?" "This is no stray, Doctor." "This one can Tune." "But that's impossible." "Only you have that ability." "You will process another template... of the subject's memories, yes?" "Of course." "I'll imprint him again." "We require them for a quite different purpose." "It's almost midnight, Dr. Schreber." "We'll talk again after tonight's Tuning, but no more delays, yes?" "No more inconsistencies in your behavior." "The police were looking for you." "I know. I saw the papers." ""Killer stalks city street-walkers."" "I was with one of those women." "Before I came here tonight." "l don't understand." "I met her outside an Automat." "I guess I wanted to test myself." "I wanted to know if I had it in me to do those things." "Maybe I have lost my mind, but whoever I am, I'm still me, and I'm not a killer." "I believe you." "You do?" "What?" "The car outside." "The one you arrived in." "It's a cop." "He dropped me off here." "I didn't know he was still here." "Hold it right there, mister!" "Wait." "You have the wrong man." "Stand aside, will you, please?" "I didn't kill anyone." "Right now, all you are is a suspect." "Turn yourself in. I'll listen to whatever you have to say." "You won't believe what I have to say." "Try me." "There's someone after me." "It's this group of men." "They want me dead." "And I don't even know if..." "they're not even" "Yeah, who's going to listen to a madman?" "Stand aside, Mrs. Murdoch." "Run!" "No one ever listens to me." "Murdoch, stop!" "How much further?" "We're almost there, buddy." "You happen to know the way to Shell Beach?" "You're kidding!" "Me and the wife spent our honeymoon there." "All you do is take Main Street West to..." "Or is it the Cross..." "Now, that's funny." "I can't seem to remember if it's Main Street West... or the Crosstown." "I'm sorry, Inspector, I cannot be of more assistance, but I am running late for an appointment." "Well, I appreciate you taking the time." "There's just one thing that puzzles me." "I've met quite a few murderers in the course of my work." "Murdoch doesn't strike me as one." "Perhaps you are not accustomed to digging deep enough." "Well, I do know when someone is lying to me, Doctor." "Inspector, judging personalities happens to be my business." "Maybe you can give me a few pointers." "Certainly." "Let's take you, for instance." "You are a fastidious man." "Driven." "Consumed by details." "I would say your life is rather lonely." "Good evening, Inspector." "I really must be going." "Come in." "How is he?" "The same." "Walenski?" "It's me, Frank." "Come in, Frank." "Close the door." "I've been looking through some of your old reports." "It's an interesting case." "Kind that make a man's career." "Or break it." "Yeah. I was on that case." "And then what?" "What happened then, Eddie?" "Nothing happened, Frank." "I've just been spending time in the subway, riding in circles." "Thinking in circles." "There's no way out." "I've been over this entire city." "You're scaring your wife to death, Eddie." "She's not my wife." "I don't know who she is or who any of us are." "What makes you say that?" "You think about the past much?" "As much as the next guy." "See, I've been trying to remember things-- clearly remember things from my past." "But the more I try to think back, the more it all starts to unravel." "None of it seems real." "It's like I've just been dreaming this life, and when I finally wake up, I'll be somebody else, somebody totally different." "You saw something, didn't you, Eddie." "Something to do with the case." "There is no case!" "There never was!" "It's all just a big joke!" "It's a joke!" "Tonight's requirements are... 12 family photo albums, nine personal diaries," "17 love letters, assorted childhood photographs, requisite false l.D.s and social security cards." "These do bring back memories." "This one is still warm." "What is it?" "The recollections of a great lover?" "A catalogue of conquests?" "We will soon find out." "You wouldn't appreciate that, would you, Mr. Whatever-your-name is?" "Not the sort of conquest you would ever understand." "Let's see." "A touch of unhappy childhood..." "A dash of teenage rebellion..." "And last but not least... a tragic death in the family." "Mr. Book." "Why does Murdoch not sleep during the Tuning?" "Maybe he's a step up the evolutionary ladder." "A freak of nature." "He's adapting to survive." "What do you expect?" "Weren't you looking for the human soul?" "Isn't that the purpose of your little zoo?" "That's why you change people and things every night." "Maybe you have finally found what you are looking for, and it's going to bite you on your" "It requires several of your lifetimes... to master our gifts." "The idea that a simple man... could develop the ability to Tune is" "Absurd, I know." "What other explanation is there?" "It is time." "Shut it down." "Fredrickson says he'll take me off the night shift." "It's about time, dear." "Hello?" "Wake up." "Wake up!" "Can anyone hear me?" "Let the Tuning commence." "The Goodwins." "Charlie, Sylvia," "Jane, and little Matthew." "Jane and little Matthew." "The rich get richer." "Probably have maid's quarters... before the night is through." "Dr. Schreber, I presume." "It's you." "Hey, come on." "That's no way to greet a patient, Doctor, if that's what you are." "Please, l" "Why is everyone asleep?" "Please keep your voice down." "I can't remember anything." "What have you done?" "Nothing. I want to help you." "We cannot talk here." "If they see us together-- l don't care." "I want some answers." "Now!" "Who are they?" "Why are they trying to kill me?" "Answer me!" "My God." "You really can do it." "l did that?" "Listen to me." "You have their power." "You can make things happen by will alone." "They call it "Tuning."" "That is how they change the buildings." "Just now you acted out of self-defense, but I can teach you to control your power." "We can stop them." "We can take the city back." "My glasses." "He made a terrible impression for the firm, lollygagging around as he did." "So I told Fredrickson I was letting him go." "Well you should have, darling." "He attacked me." "I don't know where he's gone." "Come, Dr. Schreber." "We have much to do." "Yes?" "Yes." "They say that you're a runaround lover" "Though you say it isn't so" "But if you put me down for another I'll know, believe me, I'll know" "Tonight's experiment will take place in these locations." "The first subject shall be imprinted on Avenue M." "Mr. Book, there is a problem." "There is no Avenue M." "We were unable to complete it." "During the last Tuning, we detected a lack of control." "An opposing influence on the machines?" "This man Murdoch is more powerful than we thought." "He is becoming like us." "So we must become like him." "The doctor has done as we asked?" "The life and times of John Murdoch, volume two." "We must not do this." "Murdoch does not possess these memories, yes?" "How will his imprint allow us to find him?" "Everywhere he goes, everyone he seeks out... will be known to us." "And as he follows the clues, so shall we follow the memories." "But to imprint one of us?" "Failure has always resulted." "What Mr. Hand proposes is our only option." "Imprint." "This may sting a bit." "is it done?" "Oh, yes, Mr. Book." "I have John Murdoch in mind." ""Johnny..." ""Found this postcard among your mother's things." ""Brings back memories, doesn't it?" ""Stop by sometime." ""We'll see if we can't hook ourselves another mermaid." ""Love to Emma." "Karl."" "Karl." "Karl Harris." "Harris." "Excuse me." "Which way is Avenue C?" "Try the subway." "You got a problem, pal?" "Been working here long?" "25 years." "No days off for good behavior." "We're looking for John Murdoch." "She knows nothing, Mr. Hand." "A dead end, Mr. Wall." "We thought his imprint would let us track him." "But instead we have been brought here." "This is irrational." "lnstincts are irrational." "We must follow where they lead, yes?" "Mr. Sleep suggests he may go to places familiar." "His job." "He does not care about our job." "Indulge us, Mr. Hand." "If you were Murdoch, yes?" "If I were Murdoch... I would remember how my wife had hurt me... by sleeping with another man." "And then... I would look for a way to hurt her in return." "Leave me alone with her." "There's work to be done." "All change, platform three." "All change?" "Excuse me, how do I get to the end of the line?" "You want the Express." "How come the train didn't stop?" "That's the Express." "There's no way out." "You can't get out of the city." "I've tried." "You're Murdoch, aren't you?" "The one they've been looking for." "You're not a killer." "They set you up with a fake identity, like everyone else here." "Who are you?" "l was a cop." "At least in this life I was." "They steal peoples' memories." "Then they swap them around between us." "I seen them do it, back and forth... till no one knows who they are anymore." "How do you know all this?" "Once in a while one of us wakes up... while they're changing things." "It's not supposed to happen, but it does." "It happened to me." "They'll come looking for you." "Just like they'll come looking for me." "But that's OK." "I figured a way out." "They were here." "Last night." "This was to be his home." "That was when we loved her." "This is all well and good, but we require a more practical link... to his present whereabouts." "And I know where to find her." "We're very lucky, when you think about it." "I'm sorry?" "To be able to revisit those places... which meant so very much to us." "I thought we were haunted by them." "Perhaps." "There used to be a ferry when I was a boy." "Biggest thing you ever saw." "Lit up like a floating birthday cake." "That's just what my husband once said to me." "On this very spot." "Where is your husband now?" "I wish I knew." "What brings you here?" "I met my wife at this place." "It's where l met my husband." "Small world." "Hello?" "What are you doing here?" "I've been following you." "Hold it right there!" "Johnny?" "It's been so damn long, I thought you'd forgotten your Uncle Karl." "You son of a gun!" "Uncle Karl..." "Wait." "ls that me?" "Yeah." "Shell Beach is where l grew up?" "That's what I said." "Shell Beach." "Your home town." "l need to get there." "How do I get there?" "I don't know." "I haven't been there in years." "You must remember." "You must have some idea." "Sorry, Johnny." "The old cracker barrel ain't what it used to be." "lt was so bright there." "Brighter times, I guess." "You were always scribbling in that damn book." "That's me and your Pa." "What a couple of handsome fools." "What happened to my parents?" "Where are they now?" "They're dead, Johnny." "They died when the house burned down." "I looked after you." "You don't remember that, really?" "What's that?" "What is that?" "It's a scar." "You burned your arm pretty bad in the fire." "What does it mean?" "It means these are all lies!" "My husband told me he'd been here." "He told me he wanted to test himself." "See if he was... capable of... I wanted to talk to her." "I thought she could help me find him." "I'm going to call the station." "It's beautiful." "It was a gift from my mother." "She died recently." "I keep it with me to remind me of her." "I'm sorry." "It's a funny thing, though." "I can't remember when she gave it to me." "How do you think I could forget a thing like that?" "What's happening, Inspector?" "I'm not sure I know anymore." "I left your old room like it was." "You can sleep here tonight." "Glad to have you back, Johnny." "Even if it is for just a night." "Karl." "ls that the right time?" "Why, sure." "That clock's kept perfect time since I bought it." "A.M. or P.M.?" "What do you think?" "l don't understand." "How can it be night already?" "What happened to the day?" "You're tired." "Anything's possible." "Get some sleep." "We'll straighten all this out tomorrow." "Come on..." "He's here." "He's acting peculiar." "I know." "He's not himself." "Keep him there, and I'll be right over." "l'll try." "Thanks." "Bye." "I can't promise anything." "We'll play it as it comes." "We just wanted to help." "Karl." "Uncle Karl." "If you're in trouble, maybe we can do something." "Haven't seen you in so long." "Mr. Murdoch, you've been the cause of much distress." "Start talking." "There's no need for this." "There's no escape." "The city's ours." "We made it." "What are you talking about?" "We fashioned this city on stolen memories." "Different eras, different pasts, all rolled into one." "Each night we revise it, refine it, in order to learn." "Learn what?" "About you." "You and your fellow inhabitants." "What makes you human." "Why?" "We need to be like you." "I understand you now." "I remember that which you do not, what you've been missing." "The ocean, yes?" "Running along the waves as a child." "Meeting Emma at the river, that first kiss that followed." "What are you?" "You've seen what we are." "We use your dead as vessels." "Get in!" "What about her?" "Ring a bell?" "She was alive when I left her." "What about this?" "This is nothing." "It must mean something-- all those pictures." "What pictures?" "l don't understand this." "Stop playing games with me." "Stop telling me lies." "l am not telling lies!" "Help me out." "Make me understand." "I have this jigsaw puzzle in my face, and it makes no sense." "You think it makes sense to me?" "I'm as confused as you are." "Let me ask you a question." "Have you heard of Shell Beach?" "Sure." "You know how to get there?" "Yeah." "Tell me." "Right." "You just go to the..." "Where?" "Where do you go?" "Give me a second, will you?" "You can't remember, can you?" "Thinking that's kind of odd?" "Wait. I got a better one." "When was the last time you did something during the day?" "What do you mean?" "l just mean during the day." "Daylight." "When was the last time you remember seeing it?" "I'm not talking about a distant, half-forgotten childhood memory." "I mean, like, yesterday." "Last week?" "When?" "Do you have a single memory?" "You don't, do you?" "I don't think the sun even exists in this place." "'Cause I've been up for hours and hours, and night never ends." "That's crazy." "You're damn right it's crazy." "But listen to me, Bumstead." "It's not just me." "It's all of us." "They're doing something to all of us." "Shut up." "I've heard enough." "Please listen" "Shut up!" "There has to be an explanation." "Explain this." "I'm so sorry." "I never meant to hurt you." "I don't know why I did." "I wish I could take it back." "You didn't do it." "This affair of yours, whatever you think you've done, you didn't do it." "I don't believe it happened." "What do you mean?" "This will sound crazy." "What if we never knew each other before now?" "What if the first time we met was last night in our apartment?" "And everything you remember, and everything I'm supposed to remember never really happened." "Someone just wants us to think it did." "But how can that be true?" "I so vividly remember meeting you." "I remember falling in love with you." "l remember losing you." "Time's up." "No, wait, please." "Just one more minute." "I love you, John." "You can't fake something like that." "No, you can't." "Inspector?" "Sir?" "Detective Walenski killed himself last night." "I thought you should know." "The chief wanted to see you." "Sir?" "I knew you'd track the killer down." "Shoelace." "How can we help you, sir?" "You can sleep." "Sleep." "Sleep." "Evening." "I wanted to be the first to congratulate you about the case." "Take us to Murdoch." "Sleep." "I knew you'd come eventually." "Isn't it time you gave me some answers?" "Yes, of course." "Won't you please sit down?" "I come here often." "It's one of the few places I'm allowed some peace." "You see, they have an aversion to water." "One could almost call it a phobia." "Who are they?" "What do they want from me?" "Right." "For now, let's say you're the subject of their experiment." "We all are." "I'm sorry, but I have no time to do this the right way." "Everything you need to know is in this syringe." "I need you to inject yourself." "It's the only way to understand." "You're kidding, right?" "We're running out of time!" "You have to do this now." "Give me the gun." "He's more disturbed than we thought." "I may not be the judge of personality you are, but you're the one who looks disturbed." "You don't know what you're doing." "What exactly is in this, Doctor?" "All the answers you've been looking for, I swear to you." "Guess I'll hold on to it for safekeeping, if you don't mind." "Let's go, Doctor." "Go?" "Where are we going?" "Shell Beach." "That's where you wanted to go, isn't it, the ocean?" "Won't find anything there." "I've been there" "Then you can show us the way." "I won't. I refuse." "You can't make me go there." "Don't you understand?" "They'll be waiting for us." "I don't understand." "There used to be a bridge here." "Try that again, and your friends will find you in the canal." "Don't hurt me." "I'll tell you everything." "It doesn't matter anymore anyway." "What?" "Who are you people?" "Must go to the end of the canal." "We will give you some more pretty things soon..." "Anna." "l'm not Anna." "You will be soon, yes." "I have another use for her first." "I call them Strangers." "They abducted us and brought us here." "This city, everyone in it..." "is their experiment." "They mix and match our memories as they see fit, trying to divine what makes us unique." "One day, a man might be an inspector." "The next, someone entirely different." "When they want to study a murderer, for instance, they simply imprint one of their citizens with a new personality." "Arrange a family for him, friends, an entire history... even a lost wallet." "Then they observe the results." "Will a man, given the history of a killer, continue in that vein?" "Or are we, in fact, more than the sum of our memories?" "This business of you being a killer was a sad coincidence." "You have had dozens of lives before now." "You happened to wake up... while I was imprinting you with this one." "Why are they doing all this?" "It is our capacity for individuality, our souls... that makes us different from them." "They think they'll find the human soul... if they understand how our memories work." "They have collective memories." "They share one group mind." "They're dying." "Their race is on the brink of extinction." "They think we can save them." "Where do I fit in?" "You're different." "You resisted my attempt to imprint you." "Somehow, you have developed their ability to Tune." "That is how they change things, how they built this city." "They have machines buried beneath the surface... that allow them to focus their telepathic energies." "They control everything here, even the sun." "That's why it's always dark." "They can't stand the light." "Why do they need you?" "When they first brought us here, they extracted what was in us and stored the information, remixed it like paint... and gave us back new memories of their choosing." "But they still needed an artist to help them." "I understood the human mind better than they ever could, so they allowed me to keep my skills as a scientist... because they needed them." "They made me delete everything else." "Can you imagine what it's like to erase your own past?" "What about my past?" "What about my childhood?" "Shell Beach." "Uncle Karl." "What about this?" "This was blank when I found it." "You still don't understand." "You were never a boy." "Not in this place." "Your history is an illusion, a fabrication, as it is with all of us." "You made those drawings happen with your gift." "You say they brought us here." "From where?" "I'm sorry. I don't remember." "None of us remember that..." "what we once were... what we might have been..." "somewhere else." "I've taken you this far." "You don't need me anymore." "Let's go." "There is no ocean, John." "There's nothing beyond the city." "The only place home exists... is in your head." "Stop!" "Please!" "Now you know the truth." "You'll allow yourself to surrender... or it will result in this one's death." "What do I care?" "She's not my real wife." "She's nothing to me." "But you do still care, don't you, Mr. Murdoch?" "I have become the monster you were intended to be." "Shall I end her life now, as you would have?" "Don't hurt her, please." "Then surrender." "Sleep." "Now." "Sleep." "Kill him." "Kill him !" "He is powerful, yes, dangerous." "But he can also lead us to what we seek... what the doctor calls the soul." "It is time for our experiment to move into a final phase." "We no longer need the other subjects." "The time for study is over." "It is time to be one with John Murdoch." "It is time, Doctor. Imprint." "Shut it down!" "Shut it down forever." "What are you doing?" "They want to imprint you with their own collective memories." "They want to make you one of them... so they can share your soul." "But I've got other plans." "Imprint, Doctor." "No more disobedience." "I'm sorry." "The pain will only last a moment." "Remember, John." "You'll rise to greater heights than that." "One day when you're older, you'll understand." "Remember." "That's it, John." "Practice makes perfect." "Now, remember what I told you." "Never talk to strangers." "John, remember." "You're probably wondering why I keep appearing in your memories." "It's because I have inserted myself in them." "They were fabricated to teach you about the Strangers." "Give you a lifetime of knowledge in a single syringe." "You will survive, John." "You'll find strength within yourself." "And you will prevail." "Remember." "Hi, Uncle Karl." "Johnny!" "Getting the hang of it, John." "Maybe one day I'll work for you." "Here's the machine the Strangers use to amplify their thoughts, the machine that changes their world." "You must take control of it." "You must make the machine yours." "I know you can beat them, but you must concentrate." "Something's wrong." "There is no time for romance." "The world can be what you make it." "What have you done?" "You have the power to make anything happen... but you must act now." "I knew you could do it, John." "You have their power now." "You control their machines." "Where's Emma?" "She's not Emma anymore." "She has been reimprinted." "So give her back her memories." "l can't." "The facility where they stored the memories has been destroyed." "I'm sorry." "What are you going to do now?" "I'm gonna fix things." "You told me I had the power, didn't you?" "I can make these machines do anything I want." "Make this world anything I want it to be." "Just so long as I concentrate hard enough." "Where are you going?" "Shell Beach." "What's the fare?" "A quarter." "Please." "Oh, no, sit." "Thank you." "Been waiting for you, yes?" "What are you doing?" "l'm just making a few changes." "We're sure that's what we want?" "l'll take my chances." "I'm dying, John." "Your imprint is not agreeable with my kind." "But I wanted to know what it was like." "How you feel." "You know how I was supposed to feel." "That person isn't me." "Never was." "You wanted to know what it was that makes us human." "Well, you're not going to find it in here." "You went looking in the wrong place." "It's so beautiful here." "So bright." "Do you know if Shell Beach is around here?" "I think that's it over there." "I'm headed that way myself." "Would you like to join me?" "Sure." "I'm Anna, by the way." "What's your name?"