Important Lost Clue |
Jack has calmed down a bit as Kate tries to sooth him anger. Ethan arrives, whispers into Ben's ear and they have an unheard conversation. Miles overhears something about the Prometheus and a wheel. The group has no idea except Daniel.
Ben Linus calls out to Goodwin, who is standing with a group of men just a few yards from the bear cage, "Please turn the music off, there is no need for psychological conditioning anymore. That dog just won't hunt no more. It's time to tell the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 why they are back on the island."
Boone retorts that is the second time today someone told them that. Ben completely ignores Boone, and then offers the castaways freedom if they can behave in a civilized manner.
Ben states: "Jack, everyone, we really do need to talk. You may not realize it, but I am saving your lives. I've done it before, but this is the last time. The island isn't what you think it is. Please, come with me to my headquarters, where we can converse in a secure atmosphere."
Jack: "And if we decline?"
Ben: "I insist!"
Tom Friendly smiles and readies his rifle. Ben holds his hand up to Tom, and says, "Tom, no need for that. Where are they going to go?"
Tom unlocks the cage and the castaways file out and follow Ben and his men. A few meters from Ben, Sawyer and Juliet lie in ambush. Their plan is thwarted as a rifle is nudged into Sawyer's back and he hears the sound of a trigger being pulled back.
Sawyer: "Son-of-a-bitch!"
SCENE CHANGE:
Ben is very cordial, he smiles at James and Juliet.
Ben: "It's truly good to see you again Juliet. And, Ah, Hello James. You should let John Locke do the tracking from now on."
Sawyer: "OK Gunda Din!"
The group marches for an hour and comes to a mountain face. Brush and vines are pulled away to reveal a secret entrance to an island station. It's marking on the outside is in Greek lettering, Daniel translates the words, "Sisyphus Station." Daniel groans, "Oh no, I was wrong!"
Ben walks in first and lights and equipment turn on as he walks down the corridor. They pass what looks to be the infamous room 23. They continue walking deep into the station, into the mountain. At the end of one of the corridors is a door. Ben opens the door to reveal a large conference room complete with table, chairs, television monitor, file cabinets, over head projector, and white boards hanging on the walls.
Ben turns and asks every to, "Please sit, make yourself comfortable."
SCENE CHANGE:
The castaways all take a seat. Linus goes to the file cabinet and pulls out about a dozen files. He sits down and flips open the top file.
Ben: "I was hoping that Jacob could be here to help relieve some of the confusion but we all know what Charles Widmore did this morning. So, I will begin by telling you that Jacob visited each and every one of you when you were children. I think most of you remember this visit, some may not.
Sawyer: "Wait a minute, you're telling me Jacob, who doesn't look a day over 40, visited me 30 years ago? How is that possible Mr. Wizard?"
Ben: "What Widmore didn't tell you, the island has a very special property. While you are on the island, you do not age. However, a caveat also awaits."
John: "Is that why Richard never aged?"
Ben: "Yes, John. And you as well. And me."
Jack: "How is this possible, the island having magical properties. We've only been here 108 days, of course we haven't aged. Nobody has."
Ben: Smirks, "Jack, that is what I'm trying to tell you. If you would please let me finish."
Ben: "Jacob had a purpose for visiting you. You were all candidates. One in thousands of candidates. As the years passed, many of the candidates fell out of favor with our program. You were part of the 84 selected. oceanic Flight 815 never crashed. We needed a back story, and the plane crash was the perfect scenario, the perfect cover. On the mainland, authorities and the NTSB investigation found the downed plane in deep water. All the passengers were strapped in and all souls were considered lost. You were now all officially dead.
Kate interrupts: "How did you know we would all be on that plane. What if we didn't make it. what then?"
Ben: "Jacob was very persuasive and manipulative. He planted the correct seeds and offered the best case scenario for each and every one of you. The rest was easy."
SCENE CHANGE:
The conference room door opens and Goodwin walks in and immediately goes to Ben. Goodwin whispers in his ear for a few seconds and Ben stands and announces to the group, "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen, I have some pressing island business to attend to." Ben calls out for Ethan and seconds later Ethan walks into the room.
Ben: "Ethan, please entertain our guests until I return." Ben and Goodwin head toward the door, Ben stops, turns to the group and says, "My good people, this station is the only safe haven from the smoke monster. Please do not leave the station walls. We cannot afford to lose any more of you."
As Ben and Goodwin walk down the stations corridor, Goodwin asks about smokey, "I thought you turned that program off?" Ben says, "I did Goodwin, but they don't know that now do they?"
Ben to Goodwin: "Did you retrieve everyone?"
Goodwin: "No, Alpert is still missing!"
Ben: "Find him!"
SCENE CHANGE:
Ben gathers his men and heads back to Dharmaville. Widmore's men are casually deployed inside the camp. In a brutal attack, Widmore's men are massacred by Ben's team. Widmore is not dead, only wounded. When the situation is secured, Ben descends dow the hill and into camp. he approaches Widmore, stops and kneels close to him.
Ben: "Remember when I said I would murder your daughter Penny for payback on your men killing my daughter Alex? I lied Charles!"
Linus aims his pistol and shoots Widmore at point-blank range in the head and several times in the chest. Ben laments, "That's for Alex YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
Ben to his men: "Gather up our other guests, bring them back to the Prometheus station right away."
Ben looks back at the lifeless body of Charles Widmore and states, "May God have mercy on your soul.... And mine."
SCENE CHANGE:
Back at the Prometheus station, the castaways have questions for Ethan hoping to gather some needed intel on their situation.
Jack to Ethan: "Ethan, I know you were dead. How can you be here now. How can all of us be here now?"
Ethan: "Jack, You're dead! We're all dead! My God, haven't you figured this out by now?"
Sawyer: "Well now I've heard everything. That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. We're all dead. What are we, in some sort of way station, in some sort of Purgatory waiting for Christmas bells so Ethan here can earn his Angel wings! Hell, being abducted by aliens and put in a virtual reality chamber is a better explanation than Purgatory!"
Ethan: "Ask your man Desmond. He knows. He'll tell you. I don't know why he hasn't already."
SCENE CHANGE:
Ethan sees a red light blinking on the monitor board and excuses himself. Guards are right outside the door. The castaways are alone. John turns to Desmond looking for information.
Desmond: "We are not dead! I assure you of that. I do not know all the facts, but we're alive."
Daniel: "Desmond, my experiments on the island, they were confusing to me. On the island, it appeared that time was irrelevant, that it didn't exist. But right off shore on the freighter, time was passing normally. Do you know anything about this? Why time is not moving?"
Desmond: "I know that I have been repeating certain events. I know I've been to the church before. Saved Charlie's life many times. I've found Penny many times. And many times I didn't. It's like I'm given as many chances as i need to get things right, but something goes wrong every time, and I wake up and start all over again."
Daniel: "Yes Desmond. Yes. A loop. The Sisyphus effect!"
Miles: "Can I buy a vowel here. What the Hell is the Sisyphus effect?"
Daniel: "In Roman mythology, Sisyphus was a wise king punished by the Gods for smiting them. As punishment, he was compelled to roll a huge stone up to the top of a mountain. When he reached the plateau, the stone rolled back down to the bottom. He then had to start at the bottom and roll the stone back up and repeat this loop for all eternity."
Boone: "So we're back in Roman times, we're all smited by the Gods. Destined to repeat this over and over forever?"
Desmond: "No, something is different this time. I can feel it. This isn't how it started last time."
John: "Then that's a good thing. Maybe we have the edge on Ben. Maybe he doesn't know what's going to happen next. We may have the element of surprise."
SCENE CHANGE:
Ben Linus has returned to the Prometheus station with more guests. The remaining castaways had been rounded up and led to the station. Ben asks the 7 members already there to join them in the larger meeting room further inside the station. Hugs and kisses from all the castaways and secretly exchanged information among the themselves.
The survivors are as follows: Jack and Kate, Jin and Sun, Sawyer and Juliet, Sayid and Shannon, Charlie and Claire, Hurley and Libby, Bernard and Rose, Daniel and Charlotte, John Locke, Ana Lucia, Frank Lapedus, Cindy, Miles, Mr. Eko, Michael and Walt, Dr. Leslie Artz, Nikki, Ilana, Boone, Naomi, and Desmond.
Desmond looks frantically for Penny, but doesn't see her.
Ben to Desmond: "As an act of good faith, (As he motions to his guard) your journey is over my friend." (Penny comes through the door and sees Desmond and runs to him. They embrace and cry in each other's arms.)
Sayid silently speaks to Jack and Sawyer while the reunion hugs are in progress: "Linus is insane. We must act now why we have the numbers. It may be too late if we don't act now."
Sawyer: "We don't stand a chance with no guns and those goons armed to the teeth."
SCENE CHANGE:
Linus makes his way to the front of the room, breaks open the files once again and asks for everyone's attention. The castaways slowly gather and take seats. Sayid notices that there are only two guards inside the room. Linus begins to talk again.
Ben: "For those that were not here earlier, I'll let the others catch you up. As I was saying, Jacob visited all of you in the past to evaluate your worth as a candidate. Congratulations, you all made it."
Ana Lucia: "Just what made us candidates and how did we pass the mustard?"
Ben: "There were many criteria but three main factors were focused on. One, the candidate had no entangling alliances. Nothing to go back to. Second, personality and fortitude were tested. Life on an island would be harsh sometimes. We needed to know if you could survive the stress. And last, each candidate wanted a chance at redemption. Each of you fits the criteria. For all those wondering, the list of names you were so worried about was simply the list of candidates."
SCENE CHANGE:
The camera pans to the castaways as Ben keeps talking. Sawyer is on the right side of the room and Sayid on the left while Jack is front and center. In unison, all three leap to their feet and charge the armed guards. Both guards are quickly subdued as Jack is racing towards Linus. Linus sees the attack and quickly pushes a concealed panel on the wall and makes his escape.
Jack and Locke follow through the panel in pursuit of Linus. Down the corridor Linus disappears. Locke and Jack search the station.
On the other side of the station, Sayid is interrogating the captured guard. After several minutes of Sayid's unique methods, the guard reveals the information Sayid was seeking.
Sayid: "One more time, Where is Widmore and his men stationed?"
Guard: "They are all dead! Linus had them killed. He shot Widmore himself at point-blank range."
Sayid: "How many men does Linus have?"
Guard: "18 men including me. We were all for hire."
Sayid: "Why did Linus bring us here?"
Guard: "I do not know. We were hired for security."
Sayid: "How long have you been here on the island?"
Guard: "Just over three months."
SCENE CHANGE:
Sawyer is running down the station corridor. He is armed with a machine gun taken from the guard he over powered. He turns the corner and spies Linus.
Sawyer: "Hold up there running man."
Linus: "Do you know what you're doing James?"
Sawyer: "I don't do requests! Hands up Linus!"
Sawyer marches Linus outside into the corridor and returns to the conference room.
SCENE CHANGE:
The castaways have barricaded themselves in the conference room. All the camera's are switched on sweeping the station. The outside camera picks up the soldiers exiting the station. They are either retreating or fleeing.
Jack grabs Ben and demands what the soldiers are doing.
Ben: "It's the contingency plan. If the station was compromised, they were to fall back to the temple and regroup in the secret chamber and await instruction from me."
Ben continues: "I can control them, I can make them do whatever you want Jack. Just let me talk to them."
The camera picks the soldiers up inside the temple. They reach the secret compartment and seal the door.
Boone: "If we let him talk to them we're all dead."
Ben makes a run for the control board. He pushes a button just as Sawyer and Sayid catch up to him. Sawyer busts Ben's nose with the butt end of his gun. He crumbles to the ground bleeding.
Juliet screams, "Look at the monitor. What has he done?"
The temple compartment fills with gas killing the soldiers almost instantly.
Jack loses it and begins to wail on Linus. Linus takes a beating with broken teeth and black eyes. He is groaning on the floor.
SCENE CHANGE:
Jack regains his composure, leaves Linus on the floor in a pool of blood. He declares that it's time to get off this island once and for all. everyone agree's and they begin to leave. As they reach the exit to the Prometheus station, Linus catches up to the castaways and pleads for them to stop.
Ben to the group: "Jack, there is no going back. I implemented the end game scenario. You can never return home!"
Sawyer: "And why the Hell not?"
Ben: "Widmore didn't tell you everything about the electromagnetic shield protecting the island. The discharge has a unique wondrous by-product we never envisioned. Once the shield was activated and the pulse expelled into the atmosphere, it created a time space temporal event. Inside the bubble, on the island, time stands still. Outside the bubble, time marches on."
Sawyer: "Bull..." You're just a con man full of lies."
Daniel: "No wait. That explains why Ben and Jacob visited us in the past and not aged after 25-30 years. When they left the island for short periods of time, they aged. When they arrived back on the island, time stopped."
Hurley: "That's why Jacob didn't want us to ever leave the island."
Jin: "I think Linus is lying to us. Look at your beard Jack. If time stands still here, why is your beard still growing?"
Ben: "Because the time loop resets itself. That was Desmond's job. Widmore brought him to the island to evaluate if he was worthy of Penny. Desmond was to reset the electromagnetic pulse every 108 days. When the pulse was reset, the island reset as well, going back in time 108 days. The inhabitants on the island would then relive the next 108 days as if they just arrived with no memory of previous events."
Jack: "If we forget everything that happened, then how do you know this? How do YOU remember events and we don't?"
Ben: "Before the pulse was activated, there were only four people on the island. Charles, Eloise, Desmond, and myself. We didn't realize we had created the temporal loop until 108 days later when all the construction we had done, clearing the jungle, erecting more cabins, vanished. We were left with what we had before the pulse. The sky went pink, the ground shook, and the work crews believed they had just arrived for work. This went on for several more loops before Charles took the sub to the mainland to investigate."
Daniel: "Jack, it makes sense. My readings were pointing to this scenario."
Charlie: "Guys, how long have we been going through this loop?"
Ben: 'When Charles returned, he confirmed our belief. The mainland advanced almost a full calendar year why we aged only 108 days. That is why your beard grows Jack. You only age 108 days!"
SCENE CHANGE:
Sayid is agitated. He comes front and center, gun in hand, confronts Linus and point-blank asks him, "You still haven't told us why we are here, why we are candidates, and for what purpose, and why we cannot leave. I want an answer now or I will shoot you."
Ben: "You're not going to like what I have to tell you but it's fact. You have to believe me."
Sawyer rolls his eyes.
Ben: "On September 22nd, 2004, most of you were brought here to the island. It was the 108 day reset cycle. Your plane crash was an elaborate hoax. You boarded the plane but were anesthetized and then removed from the plane and safely transported here. The plane then took off bound for Los Angeles. Our pilot, Widmore's employee, turned off his tracking beacon and crashed the plane in the ocean several thousand miles off course. A rescue boat picked him up at a rendezvous point. The crash was staged, media coverage showed the plane in deep water at the bottom of the ocean. Being so deep, rescue crews could not submerge that deep and the robotic search submarine filmed the bodies still strapped in their seats. You were the seeds of the island. The new life. The chosen ones. The candidates."
Ben: "In March of 2007, fighting broke out along the Iranian border. The bible was correct. The Anti-Christ would come from the East and bring terror to the land and sky. The fighting quickly escalated. We are not sure about the next events, but nuclear missiles were deployed and detonated across the globe. The United States, China, Russia, and all of Europe was consumed in a nuclear holocaust. In three months, half the world's population was dead. Six months later, the planet was dead. Total extinction. Except perhaps for a few well shielded bunkers scattered across the globe."
Ben: "Widmore was in one of these bunkers when the war broke out. He fled on his freighter and the protective shield allowed him to dock on hydra island with Penny and Eloise and his crew. He began his attempt to regain control of my island but I had prevailed."
SCENE CHANGE:
The castaways are horrified. They wonder if they should believe what Ben has just told them. Jack of course was the doubting Thomas of the bunch.
Jack: "Well, I don't want to stay here. I want off this island. I'll take the sub and make my way on the mainland."
Ben: "The island is all that you have left Jack. It's all any of us have left. The Earth is destroyed. There aren't any tree's, plants, birds, animals. The cities have been destroyed. I saved every one of you from this terrible fate. That is why you are here on this island."
Sawyer: "I ain't calling you Noah Linus!"
Ben: "If you leave this island now, you will only find hardship. It will be a struggle just to survive. The radiation levels contaminated the rivers, oceans, and soil. Nothing is going to grow on the Earth. I offer you a paradise here on my island. We can all live in peace and harmony like the good book intended."
SCENE CHANGE:
Ben senses hostility, anger, resentment, and asks everyone to return to the station control room. He wants to show everyone the carnage that happened. they group agrees. Sayid has several castaways stand guard.
Inside the control room, Ben turns on the monitors and turns on the monitors. News broadcasts begin playing reporting that nuclear war has begun and mankind is on the verse of extinction. One news reel shows New York City reduced to rubble. Another shows Paris in flames. Each monitor reveals a major city across the globe obliterated. Anarchy reigns supreme as governments break down. Military forces reduced to rogue units preying on the less fortunate. The last report is a remote camera, showing no more movement in the major cities. The power eventually is consumed and the camera flickers to darkness.
Ben: "Four months ago, Desmond and I went back to the mainland to check the radiation levels. Our Dharma shark that we released was still alive and the levels are within human tolerance."
Leslie Artz: "If what you say is true, a nuclear war, the radiation levels would stay deadly for hundreds of years. What you say cannot be true Ben. The laws of nuclear physics come into play here.'
Ben: "Yes Leslie. It does take hundreds of years for the radiation to dissipate. In fact, it took 521 years. Today is September 22nd, in the year 2525!"
Charlie sings the Zager and Evans 1969 tune: "If man is still alive, if woman can survive, they may find..."
SCENE CHANGE:
The castaways are in a state of shock. No one is keeping an eye on Ben. Not even Sayid. Ben continues his speech.
Ben: "We knew that war was imminent, we prepared for it. That is why we constructed our shield. It's also why we created the Dharma Initiative. One of their priorities was to mass produce non perishable foodstuff. Canned food, flour, corn meal, baking goods, dried fruits and vegetables. We have a warehouse full of supplies enough to last us for years until we grow our own food."
Rose speaks out: "But aren't we just going to go back in time 108 days when the island resets. All the progress we made will be erased."
Ben: "Rose, not anymore. I told you Desmond was the key to our survival. The day before he was to reset the pulse, I drugged him and tied him to the chair in the station. I planted a fake bomb under his chair knowing that he would be rescued by Locke. With Desmond failing to enter the code, the island pulse ran out of energy, and the island did not reset. We are living in the present. This is humankinds shot at redemption."
Cue the Lost Logo and bring up the volume to Neil Young's After the Gold Rush tune.
Well, I dreamed I saw the knights in armor coming
Sayin' something about a queen
There were peasants singin' and drummers drumming
And the archer split the tree
There was a fanfare blowin' to the sun
That floated on the breeze
Look at mother nature on the run in the nineteen seventies
Look at mother nature on the run in the nineteen seventies
I was lyin' in a burned out basement
With a full moon in my eyes
I was hopin' for a replacement
When the sun burst through the skies
There was a band playin' in my head
And I felt like getting high
Thinkin' about what a friend had said,
I was hopin' it was a lie
Thinkin' about what a friend had said,
I was hopin' it was a lie
Well, I dreamed I saw the silver spaceships flying
In the yellow haze of the sun
There were children crying and colors flying
All around the chosen ones
All in a dream, all in a dream
The loading had begun
Flyin' mother nature's silver seed
To a new home in the sun
Flyin' mother nature's silver seed
To a new home in the sun
SCENE CHANGE:
There is a clearing in the jungle. A place that looks all to familiar. It looks like where Jacob's old cabin once stood. As the camera follows along the trail, it reveals a little stone church. There are several castaways walking toward the church. The camera pans to the inside revealing it decorated for a wedding. Hurley pops his head out the church door and sees Ben sitting on a bench at the entrance.
Hurley to Ben: "Hey dude! Aren't you coming in. Everyone is here."
Ben: "No Hugo, I think I'll just sit out here for awhile.'
Hurley smiles, winks at Ben and walks inside.
Mr. Eko is standing atop the altar and Leslie Artz begins the wedding march tune on the organ. Jack enters from the side door and walks to the altar. The back door of the church opens and We see Kate dressed in a white wedding dress. She slowly walks the aisle towards Jack.
Mr. Eko: "Shall we begin..."
The castaways are all smiling, some crying with joy as Jack and Kate are finally together.
SCENE CHANGE:
The decompression stage.
It's September 22nd, 2528, three years after the electromagnetic shield was disabled. The camera shows Dharmaville, a little more modernized as the castaways have spruced it up over the past three years. A Van Morrison tune, Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, is playing softly in the back ground.
The camera pans to a cabin, it's Jack and Kate's cabin. On the porch awning, a wooden sign with the words THE DOCTOR IS "REALLY" IN is burned in to=he wooden sign. Both are sitting on the porch enjoying the day.
the camera moves to Sawyer walking down the path. He waves to Jack and Kate, his neighbors, and walks in his cabin. Juliet is in the kitchen, behind the counter. She is baking muffins. She steps from behind the counter to reveal her pregnant belly. She hugs and kisses James. She asks James if he has decided on a name yet. Sawyer answers, "Bill, or George, anything but Ben!"
The camera leaves the village and shows Rose and Bernard back at their private cabin, warming up some soup.
Jin is fishing down at the beach, the camera pans out to reveal Sun walking along the shore, the camera zooms out more to reveal their baby girl running in the sand, smiling and laughing. Jin hooks a fish, gives a hearty ho ho and turns to Sun and smiles.
John Locke is behind his cabin, in a make shift work shop. He is running a lathe. Charlie walks in and asks him if its ready. John holds up the baby crib and says, almost. Claire walks in the work shop looking very pregnant. She smiles at John and Charlie.
Hurley and Libby are in a clearing, practicing yoga. Hurley has slimmed down.
Leslie Artz has collected all the books on the island to preserve history and to some day teach the children born on the island.
Michael and Walt, are seen constructing a boat. A fishing boat. Both are smiling and have bonded as father and son.
Ben, sitting atop the mountain looking down upon Dharmaville, a wry smile on his face, clears his throat, turns around as if to look if someone is there, and says into the camera, "Perhaps it's time for a new man in charge!"
Sayid and Shannon are walking on the beach. Sayid is fiddling with a walkie-talkie. Shannon looks at him and says, "It's hard to put the past behind you isn't it." Sayid answers, "Yes," smiles, and is ready to toss it back into the sea. Shannon tells him to do it. "Leave it behind. We don't need saving anymore. We have each other." Sayid looks one more time at the walkie-talkie, then back at Shannon, and laughs, drops the device in the sand and continues walking along the shoreline. As they get a bit further down the shore, the walkie-talkie squeaks, and a familiar voice comes on speaking French,
Please help me,
I'm alone now, Please someone come,
The others, they're all dead.
It killed them,
It killed them all.....
CUE THE LOST LOGO AND MUSIC......