(abstract electronic music)
- [Man] Mind if I join you?
- Be my guest.
- I've heard great things about you.
- Likewise.
- This group is top shelf
and we have extensive resources.
- Like the artifact?
- Caught wind of that already?
- Rumors abound.
But what does it do?
Is it here yet?
- We don't reveal everything to new members.
- That's a pity.
- It's a rude policy.
- Decidedly, but I just want to know
for scheduling purposes.
- Of course, of course.
Diovolo's gonna demonstrate the artifact at midnight.
What harm is there in saying that?
- No harm at all and how polite of you.
- I'm trying to be a gentleman.
- How's that working out?
- Let's just say if I were to kill you for being an imposter
I'd do it quickly to avoid any suffering.
- Your suffering or mine?
- This is a morbid subject.
- That's par for the course in this cult isn't it?
- [Man] You can't make an amulet,
without cracking a few eggs.
- You have a way with words.
- Let's just say I'm a man of letters.
- The wrong way?
- Having second thoughts?
- About speaking with you?
- About joining the organization?
- Oh, you're organized? I hadn't noticed.
- You know, some of us here, are cold-blooded killers.
- As am I.
How many people have you killed?
- Lots, a myriad.
- It sounds to me like you're avoiding the question.
- Eight, okay?
- Not bad.
- And how about you?
- How about me what?
- How many men have you slain?
- How many men or people in total?
Because they weren't all men.
- In total.
- It's a secret.
- You can tell me, we're all friends here.
- Cold-blooded friends?
- Who's avoiding the questions now?
(gun clicks)
- How many men have I cut down this month or today?
- You better put that away, honey.
You're getting me excited.
(moody electronic music)
- [Woman] Excuse me, I have to use the restroom.
- She's on the move, what's her location?
- [Man] Moving into the main corridor.
- Keradin, are you there?
- Give her a chance to get back on the coms.
- Coms on, okay.
I'm looking for the artifact.
- Nice of you to show up.
Right on time.
- What's the situation?
- Keradin's on the move to the expected location
of the artifact.
- Excellent.
Unfortunately, I've just found out that things might be
a little trickier than we planned.
- What do you mean?
(suspenseful music)
(electronic ticks)
- Guys, we have a serious problem.
There's a bomb on the artifact.
- Can we get a cam on that?
- Okay, camera one in place, do you see it?
- That does not look good.
(electronic ticks)
Okay, high confidence for situation B.
- Situation B?
- Diovolo is the traitor.
He has the disarming key for the bomb.
- Diovolo?
He's the leader of this cult,
why would he blow up the artifact?
- Because he's bat-shit crazy?
- Why wasn't I informed of this before?
- We just got the intel in while you were cajoling
the bad guys to like you.
Wincroft doesn't even know yet.
- Oh, shit.
Can the EOD tech walk me through
disarming this bomb right now?
- No, it could be booby-trapped,
and you don't have the proper tools.
Get the key, you have...
12 minutes.
(distorted tones)
- What the hell?
- What is it?
- Nothing, com silence now.
- Where'd the chick go?
- Bathroom.
What do you care?
- I don't like her.
- [Keradin] You don't like me?
- No, I don't.
- That's too bad.
- Okay, assholes, let's get the show on the road.
(dark electronic music)
Take a seat.
- Before we begin, I wanna bring attention
to the fact that we have two new guests at our circle.
- Yeah, how can we trust these people?
- As a matter of fact, we can't.
As far as we know, they're feds.
- [Agent] Shit, what do we do?
- There's nothing we can do, they have to figure this out.
- It's getting too hot in there, should we abort?
- No, do you realize how important this is?
If they don't get that thing out of there in five minutes
we are all screwed.
(electronic ticks)
- So, we frisk them.
- Hey, stud, you can frisk me all you want.
- Cut the shit, what do you think this is?
Okay, clowns, listen up.
She's kosher, my uncle Joe was in the slammer with her pop
back in the day before we skedaddled to South America.
- Your uncle Joe?
'Cause he's real (coughs) reliable, stand up guy.
- As I was saying.
The only problem we have at present with personnel
is Stiffy McBigHead here.
(women laugh)
- So, Wincroft, you wanna tell me--
(slow-motion speech) (dark piano music)
Practically a reasonable explanation, Wincroft.
(coughs)
It's too bad it's the wrong one.
Frisk him.
(chuckles)
Keradin, since you're the newest one of us,
how about you do the honors? - With pleasure.
(gun fires) (Wincroft groans)
- (laughs) You may be a bad-ass, but your aim sucks.
(gun fires) (ominous music)
So, what's wrong?
- Nothing.
As the leader, I figured you should have the honor.
- You're much too kind.
- [Keradin] Am I?
- Hey, you're gettin' blood on my suit there.
- [Keradin] I'm such a mess.
I'll run to the bathroom and clean it off.
(melancholic piano music)
(gasps) The bomb. (electronic ticks)
(suspenseful music)
Ordinance defused.
I need...
(distorted tones)
I need an exit now.
- I thought I told you to take two weeks off?
- I'll give you two weeks, two weeks notice.
- I understand what you're going through.
You'll get over it.
- I have gotten over it.
I've gotten over the false promise of harmless intrigue.
- Dr. Keradin, remember when I found you at the university?
- Cut the reminiscent bullshit.
- So, you're just going to quit?
- This isn't my thing.
- Is it because of Wincroft? (dark music)
- What do you think?
(moody electronic music)
- Here.
You can keep that.
- Thanks.
- Where will you go?
- Back to university, my old advisor has a funding slot.
- Well, isn't that swell.
- Yeah, I'll be a post-doc. - Exciting.
- Well, at least you don't die, except for your soul.
- Agent Keradin, you will be bored out of your brain.
- We'll see.
(dark atmospheric music)
- Sorry I'm late.
My best agent has left me.
I met her because of you.
But don't worry about that, I'm sure I'll see her again.
And soon, we'll have your other half.
(dramatic electronic music)
(distant screams)
(man and woman scream)
- [Man] Keradin, where the heck have you been?
- I was in the neuro lab for a while.
- This is a nightmare, how do you shut this thing off?
- There, it's stopped.
- What the sam hell is going on here?
- I don't know.
- This is supposed to be a reproduction of an experiment
that does not involve people screaming.
- It is, I swear it was going exactly as expected
five minutes ago. - Did you change the protocol?
- I may have tested a new subject.
- Look, I know you like to push the boundaries.
- That's what science is about.
- Please, I need you to start off on the right foot.
Namely, the foot that keeps the funding coming in.
- Okay, but there is something bizarre happening here.
- Are you saying you can't handle a simple experiment?
- I can handle it.
- Good, oh, and also, I need you to finish
that perception paper I'm letting you co-author.
Publish or perish.
(dark electronic music)
- Listen up, we've located the artifact.
- I thought we already got that.
- There are two parts, this is the second half.
- What exactly is this thing, some kinda weapon?
- Sorry, that requires a higher level of security clearance.
- But we're gonna seize it.
- Absolutely and it has to happen tomorrow.
- [Agent] Tomorrow?
- The criminal world has learned of it, too,
and the crew is planning on heisting it tomorrow.
So we have to get in there first,
and get the artifact intact.
- Nice, I love clip art.
- But I already reserved tomorrow as my day off.
- Not anymore, Agent Paquin.
- [Paquin] But it's already gone through
in the payroll system.
- The location is the Cognitive Science Research laboratory
in Cambridge.
- Keradin, are you leaving?
- [Keradin] Yeah.
- Early day, huh?
That's cool, I'll see you tomorrow,
but I wanna show you the gadget for the build.
- [Keradin] Okay, sure, later.
(phone vibrates)
- Tomorrow.
- [Woman] Wow, on schedule for once, any last minute intel?
- I'm going to see The Veil right now.
- Years of investigation culminates in tomorrow's incursion.
- I heard we got quite the list of potentials.
- Indeed we do.
- This is Nevil "The Devil" Hellinger.
- Primarily a thief, but difficult to catch,
impossible to incriminate.
And these are the others that we're tracking.
- Sounds like a dangerous bunch.
- But they are not counting on us being there.
- We're counting on all these dickheads to be there?
- Bet my good looks on it.
Wanker number one, Maskin, the leader.
Also known as The Confiscator. - Why?
- Well, 'cause he always gets the goods.
Said goods then disappear into bureaucracy,
never to be seen again.
- I remember him, the New York job.
- Yeah, the one you failed to complete?
- What can I say? Bad intel.
I'll tell you one thing,
I'm not letting Maskin gum up another job.
- Smells like boiling resentment to me.
Then there's that shadowy twat.
- [Nevil] I don't recognize her.
- Oh, we don't know much about her.
Could be going by the alias Overstreet.
- Looks sinister. - Nah.
She is a squiffy git but she is professional.
- At what? - Well, for one thing.
She's top-notch at hiding her identity.
She's uninvestigatable.
- Uninvestigatable? - Mm-hm.
- Is that a word? - Well, I don't know.
Let me just check my dictionary.
- And why do we care about Miss Overstreet?
- For one thing...
Because she's been hanging around with that tosser Maskin.
- [Nevil] That is suspicious.
- Yeah, or just some innocent perky tootling.
- She's a wild card.
- Might I suggest some extra distraction for this job?
- You might, and I know just who to call.
(moody music)
(phone rings)
- Hello, Hellinger, you son of a bitch.
Yeah, that's right up our alley.
We got a gig tomorrow. - What kind?
- Distraction. - That's it?
- Hey, money's money. - It's not a lot of money.
- You're really gonna say that while you fan yourself
with 10 grand over there?
- Why dick around with thousands,
when we could deal in millions?
- What're you blabbering about?
- I happen to know that Hellinger's nicking
an extremely valuable object.
- How valuable?
- 15 mil, at least.
- And all it'll cost us is five fingers and a bit of fear.
- Now you're talking.
- What is it, some science shit?
Hellinger says the target's a research facility.
- Ancient artifact.
It's rare.
One of a kind.
- Why the hell is it in a research building?
- I don't know.
- I don't like it, I don't know enough.
- We know enough to be dangerous.
- I do have contacts in high-end antiques that could
convert this to cash for us.
- See? It'll work out perfectly.
- Are you sure this is the gig Hellinger's doin' tomorrow?
- Yeah.
- Where'd you get this picture?
- I've been working Hellinger's driver.
- You cheeky flirt.
(moody electronic music)
- You're so chill, Keradin.
Even when you're under a lot of stress.
- Yeah right, Valerie, I'm freaking out.
- What's wrong?
- I don't think I can do this post-doc thing.
I wanna get out and find something else.
- That could set you back a year!
- [Keradin] I know, I know.
- (sighs) You can't keep quitting.
Uh, I mean, doing new things before finishing old things.
- Well, sometimes quitting is the right thing to do.
- You quit everything.
- No, I don't!
- Shots?
* Baby, your lips keep movin'
- I worry about you. - I worry about you.
Do you still hear voices in your head?
- Can the voices in my head hear voices in their heads?
- That would indicate an infinite recursion of homunculi
in your mind, which is impossible.
- Let's go dancing.
- There are chunks in this coffee.
- Those are flavor crystals.
(moody electronic music)
- Blackwood, check the perimeter.
- Sure thing.
- Everybody else, come with me.
- What a marvelous day to check the perimeter.
(whoosh)
(dart gun fires) (groans)
- Mobile jammers ready?
- Jammers are on.
- [Nevil] Make sure the entire routers are reconfigured too.
- Already done. - Okay.
I'm waiting on the distraction.
- The distraction should be coming up any minute now.
- Agent Maskin, I never imagined I'd see you here again.
What do you want?
- We're doing a small operation, should be quick.
- In a research center?
- How would you like to assist us?
- No, I don't work for you anymore.
I don't know what you're up to and I want no part of it.
- Time is critical, so goodbye, Keradin.
It was lovely to see you again.
- As always.
- I'm headed to the third floor.
Wait here and watch for Hellinger.
- Nevil "The Devil" Hellinger is a notorious antiques thief.
- Hey, she doesn't need to know that, Paquin.
She's bailin'.
Right, Keradin?
- Right. (suspenseful music)
Is it raining outside?
- No, why?
- This is a pre-recorded video.
- Shit, they're in the god-damn building.
- Who is?
- Ulrich, get to the lobby, alert the desk guard.
- Right. - Now, hold on a minute.
You promised to keep this discrete.
- Ziebeck, you and Finkley sweep the rest of the first floor
then go up to the second floor.
- Yes, ma'am.
- I'll go straight up to the third floor.
Wocheck, you stay here. - Hey!
I am the supervisor of personnel security, okay?
- Nobody else sneaks in!
- This is crazy, I'm outta here.
- You know, that's a good idea.
Ulrich, escort Keradin out as well.
- Is that who I think it is?
- Roald "Rhino Serious" Nash and his amorous accomplice
Ada Griff, AKA Silver Adder.
- [Paquin] Not exactly stealth operators, are they?
- Shut up and go give Ulrich some backup.
Go around the east corridor.
(dramatic electronic music)
- [Turzillo] Where do you think you're goin'?
Up against the wall!
- Wish I could be a guide and get a cute hat.
- Listen up, all you Fairweather fans of thrills and kills!
- You need to leave.
(groans)
- Everyone stand still and enjoy the party.
(glass smashes)
- Who are these bastards?
- Thieves.
- In lockdown.
- Why are they here? (alarm wails)
Shit.
- Turzillo, you stay here and guard the lobby.
- I'll take the security room. - Right.
Let's go.
- Here, just in case.
- I am not getting involved in this mission.
- Sorry, no time for chit-chat.
- Take this.
- [Keradin] Look, I need to get outta here.
- Tell me about. - Can you cover for me?
I'm gonna make a run for the door.
- No, that's not a good idea. - Why not?
- These guys were in the dossier, they're deadly.
- Who else is in the dossier?
- Just some criminals that are also lookin'
for the artifact.
- The artifact, what artifact?
- I'm not supposed to talk about that.
(slap)
- The artifact that I have already retrieved for Maskin?
- Not exactly, there are two parts to the artifact.
- And what are they?
- You tell me. - I don't know.
Why haven't I heard about different artifacts existing?
- It's probably on a need-to-know basis.
- Lockdown?
Who's activating this?
- Can I help you?
(gun fires)
- "Keradin, neuropsychology."
- Who are you, another criminal?
- I'm The Devil.
- (chuckles) Nevil "The Devil" the antique thief?
(door closes) (suspenseful music)
Hey!
(ominous tones)
- Soon, this will all be over.
- Humans couldn't see blue until the Middle Ages.
- Don't be absurd.
Our eyes couldn't change that rapidly in such a short time.
- Well, sure, humans could see blue wavelengths,
but they didn't have the mental category for it yet.
- Our conscious minds were blind to blue?
- Exactly. - You're full of shit.
Hey!
Jerk!
- Rhino, I'm in security.
- Good.
Watch out for the Federal trash.
- It's Hellinger, freeze!
- [Nevil] Looking for these?
(dart gun fires) (agent groans)
(elevator bleeps)
- What's goin' on? - Donald!
- Did you notice the networks are down?
It's really strange. - What about cell phones?
- I don't have a connection.
- Okay, some criminals did infiltrate this building.
- What, really?
I wonder.
- Did you see any FBI agents walking through here?
- I saw a couple of suits a few minutes ago
on the other side. - Okay.
You should head back to the lab,
and stay there until it's safe.
- If you say so.
- [Keradin] Where's Maskin?
- Keradin, you're still here?
- Unfortunately, yes,
and I know you're looking for the artifact.
- Well, do you know where it is?
Our intel said it was in this room, but we can't find it.
- I have an idea where it might be, but where's Maskin?
- Searching the fourth floor.
- Where the hell did my badge go?
(lock bleeps)
- I'm in position.
Room 771.
Lorrie?
Lorrie, Lorrie, are you there?
- Sorry, buddy.
Rhino, this is Lorrie.
Hellinger's in room 771.
- Good, keep him there.
Silver, you catch that? - Got it, room 771.
(keyboard clacks)
Room 771 is locked down.
(locks click)
- Shit.
(suspenseful music)
- [Maskin] Well well, I thought you went home.
- I tried, you wanna tell me what this artifact is?
- Let's just say it endangers public safety.
- Why is it here, why is it in my research facility?
- With all due respect,
your security clearance is no longer active.
- (chuckles) Okay, I don't care anyway.
I want you guys and the damn artifact outta here.
- Look, just help us out.
You know this building better than me.
We'll get you outta here as soon as we find the artifact.
- Okay, this better be quick.
- I got bad news. - Spit it out.
- We've got a dead body downstairs in 303.
- That's my lab.
(suspenseful guitar music)
He was my old advisor.
- I'm sorry.
- Rhino and his vermin made it to this floor.
- Why didn't you stop them?
- I was following them to see
if they knew where the artifact was.
- Well, stop them now before they endanger our operation.
- [Ulrich] Yes, sir.
- Keradin, where would somebody hide a valuable asset,
like the artifact, in this building?
- I don't know but I've heard they have highly-secretive
projects on the eighth floor.
- Thanks, you should stay here out of harm's way.
- But-- - Let's go.
(suspenseful electronic music)
(explosion booms)
- That sounded like an explosion.
- Go check it out.
- Now what?
(dark atmospheric music)
- This is all wrong.
- Holy shit.
Hey!
(dramatic electronic music)
(dark piano music)
- Damn it, I left the camera rolling since yesterday.
Wait a minute.
Maskin.
- You told me it was in room 371.
- And you told me you'd have money for me.
- And you're wasting my time.
- Holy shit.
- You should not have seen that.
- Well, I did.
- You should have left like a good girl.
You should quit while you're, well--
- Ahead? - Alive.
(suspenseful music)
(distorted electronic tones)
- What the...
(dark atmospheric music)
(paint squelches)
- Shh, I hear something.
- Touch my face again and I'll break your fingers.
- I need my fingers. - What do you want?
- I think you know.
- Do you hear that?
(distorted creaking)
- Well, that got sticky.
- Ulrich, get your ass to room 500.
Everybody listen.
- Rhino and his two comrades have been taken care of.
- Don't interrupt me. - Sorry, sir.
- Keradin is working with the thieves.
She killed her advisor and shot at me.
- Are you serious? - Of course I'm serious.
Now, go find Keradin and the other thieves.
- Force?
- Use lethal force if necessary.
- Yes, sir. - You, come with me.
We'll continue the artifact search.
And if you see something, say something.
- I need your help.
- Did you see that back there? - What, the chairs?
I'm sure that's Rhino's doing.
- There's some weird-ass shit going on around here.
- I'm not sure what you mean.
- What part of weird-ass shit don't you understand?
- The weird?
And the ass.
- There's something about the artifact.
- [Nevil] Something you'd like to share?
- Shit.
(guns fire) - Don't change the subject.
- Get off me! (glass smashes)
(guns fires)
- The artifact, what is it? - A device.
- For what? - I don't know.
(guns fire)
- [Nevil] Know how to use that?
(gun fires)
I'll take that as a yes.
(dart gun fires)
(moody atmospheric music)
- This is getting out of control.
- My team double-crossed me.
Agents are tryin' to kill you.
We need to work together.
- You think I know where the artifact is, don't you?
- Do you?
- Do you realize Maskin is killing people?
- [Nevil] So what?
- There's something alien about this whole ordeal.
- Alien? - Yes.
I worked with Maskin when we obtained the first artifact.
- First? - This is the second one.
Maskin's obsessed with the first one,
and he's even more obsessed with the second one.
- Big deal, what's so strange, so alien about that?
- I don't know, I keep having these weird daydreams.
Maybe hallucinations.
- Fascinating.
- What's worrying me is this glowing image I'm seeing.
Like it's coming from the artifact.
- What kind of image?
- Like a display, a progress bar.
- Progress is good, right? - Not if it's counting down.
- Counting down to what? - Something catastrophic?
Maybe a massive bomb, I'm not sure.
- Well, we'd better find it,
before Maskin gets his dirty hands on it.
- Right, maybe it's on the eighth floor.
- Let's go, clock's ticking.
- Give me the watch.
- Ready?
(moody electronic music)
(suspenseful music)
- Step out now or we will move with force.
(dart gun fires)
(distorted electronic tones)
- Is it just me or did the door just disappear?
- Yeah, it did.
- That's disconcerting.
- I wonder, is it the whole room or just the door?
- I should've brought more explosives.
- Maskin's tryin' to stop us with all his tricks now.
- Maybe we've been drugged.
You've been having hallucinations.
- I've researched hallucinations.
I don't think this is one of them.
Auditory, tactile visual.
When both says the same thing, it's real.
- Well, if it's real,
we're dealing with the best illusionist I've ever seen.
- What's that?
What if Maskin turned my office
into a prison cell with the artifact?
- How? (distorted electronic tones)
- The artifact could be some kind of
materialization machine.
- That's highly unlikely.
- It also explains why it's so valuable.
- I'm gonna stick with hallucinations.
(distorted electronic tones)
- If I'm right, I might be able to use my brain
to get us out of here.
- Well, definitely use your brain.
- No, I mean there's the connection into my brain
with the external to my skull.
- What?
- The hallucinations first started with the first artifact.
What if the hallucinations are caused by the artifacts
sending signals to my visual cortex?
- Like wifi?
- Sort of, but I'm not sure how that's possible.
(clunking)
If only I could focus on these images.
- [Nevil] You look like a crash test dummy.
- [Keradin] Shut up, I'm focusing now.
- [Nevil] What do you see?
- [Keradin] Symbols.
That's all the different kinds of symbols I'm seeing.
- How does this help us?
- [Keradin] Neural interfaces are usually
two-way connections.
- You can send symbols to the artifact?
- [Keradin] I'm going to try.
Okay.
Now I just have to do the opposite.
Blow out the unit with my normal vision.
- So, you look at something and it sees what you see?
- [Keradin] That's what I'd guess.
- Something's supposed to be happening right now?
- [Keradin] Hold on.
- It's working. - These must be commands then.
But how do I get it to finish? - Which one did you look at?
- This one. - Keep looking at that one.
- That's not working, though.
Wait, the symbols sent to my brain came in groups of three.
(moody electronic music)
(distorted electronic tones)
- [Nevil] Quick, let's go.
- [Ada] Rhino?
Idiot.
- I'm such an idiot.
- What?
- I bet Donald knows about the second artifact.
(suspenseful music)
- It's over, Rhino's almost dead.
Hellinger's probably with the feds.
- Alright, get out of there right now, I'm waiting for you.
- Donald, what're you working on?
- We've been studying this bizarre machine.
They won't even tell me where it came from.
- Does it cause hallucinations?
- Yeah, how did you know?
- You have the second artifact, that's what the FBI's after.
- Well, then the FBI's after
the most unique device in the world.
- In the world?
- The hallucinations are real.
This instrument breaks the rules of physics as we know them.
- What does that mean, other dimensions?
- You might say that.
I call it super-reality.
- What have you guys been doing with the artifact?
- With the help of big-data analysis and reverse engineering
we've been able to augment human vision to see a layer of
super-reality.
- What's that?
- It's a chip.
Patches into your cortex with our neuro-optical interface.
- So, it connects directly to the brain?
- Yeah, basically.
Don't worry, the skull hole's pretty small,
and we use precise robotics to align everything.
- Can't you guys just build that into some
sunglasses or something? (Donald chuckles)
- I'm just messing with you, we totally have glasses now.
Hey, you don't wanna go full-on without training.
- Whoa.
- That means they're working.
- That's somethin' else.
- Are you okay?
- Yeah, that was just some Eldwood shit.
Hold on.
I can handle this.
(dark atmospheric music)
- What are you doing?
- You pushed me too far.
- We had a deal.
- I deal from the bottom of the deck.
- I cannot allow you to do that, hand them over.
No!
- [Maskin] Freak.
(distorted electronic tones)
- Oh, my god.
- Whoa. (distorted electronic tones)
What the hell is that?
(distorted electronic tones)
- Looks like you've got a tentacle problem.
- It looked like some kind of super-reality link.
- To the artifact?
- Don't know. - Okay.
We need to borrow these.
- Okay.
- [Keradin] Where did the artifact come from?
- I don't know.
- It's from my world. (eerie music)
- Who are you?
- I go by Overstreet. - Why are you here?
- You see, I'm a debugger. - For who?
- [Elka] For the entities that created the artifacts.
- You're an alien from super-reality?
- You guys really aren't gonna give up on
the whole alien thing, are ya? - Are you from another world?
- Yes, I'm interfacing through this human body
to your subset of reality.
- I take it you're not here on Maskin's behalf?
- No, I was trying to deal with Maskin,
but he has become completely irrational.
- It's his obsession with the artifacts, isn't it?
- Yes, he is the most recent miscreant
trying to exploit them.
- Why are the artifacts here, I mean, in our reality?
- It started as an accident.
That is when they called me in, some 200 Earth-years ago.
- To debug?
- Yes. - What is the bug?
- That would impossible for me to explain to you.
- Try.
- It starts with a machine on our world which you might call
a fabricator, it makes things.
- Don't break that.
- As it turns out, one of these fabricators
had a coding error.
This flaw went undetected until sections of it spontaneously
dipped into your reality.
- The two artifacts are part of a
single inter-dimensional machine?
- Correct, that is why I must fix the bug
before real damage is caused to your world or mine.
- Why haven't you fixed it yet?
- Maskin and his predecessors have proven quite difficult.
They have discovered the power of the artifacts.
- What are humans using the artifacts for?
- There used to be conjuring, stage magic.
- What kind of stage magic? - Manifestations of all sorts.
Reality-shifting, making objects and animals disappear.
Walking through walls and so forth.
- With an alien device?
That's cheating, at magic.
- Cheating?
- I come from a long line of magicians and carnies.
- [Keradin] That might explain a few things.
- Illusions are just that, not otherworldly interloping.
- Maskin is interested in cheating, as you say,
at illusions, but with very dangerous intentions.
Combining the two artifacts wields tremendous abilities.
- [Keradin] Time's ticking.
- She is correct, Maskin's power will grow exponentially
if he connects the two artifacts together.
- How powerful?
- Theoretically, he could drive thousands of people insane,
physically destroy buildings, perhaps even a city.
- Damn.
- It gets worse.
The artifact's error clock has been triggered.
Soon, any minute now,
catastrophic manifestations will appear.
- So, where exactly is the second artifact?
- [Elka] It is definitely in this building.
- I'm pretty sure it's on the eighth floor, but,
they have kept the exact location under wraps, even from me.
- Great, so all we need to do is find the second artifact
before a maniac with manifestation abilities becomes
an unstoppable wizard without getting killed,
and before the artifact destroys everything completely.
- Precisely.
(eerie chime music)
- Don't you have some kind of special weapon or something?
- Only this.
As a debugger, this is all I get.
It links to machines and our reality.
- Can you cause manifestations?
- Yes, small ones, it's not much of a weapon, really.
(suspenseful music)
- Get down!
Hold it, Keradin.
- You okay? - Don't let them hurt me.
- Put your hands against the wall.
- I can't do that, look at this.
(gun fires) (dramatic electronic music)
(gun fires)
- You're violent.
- [Elka] I have to leave,
but there is one more thing I should warn you about.
- What?
- Maskin has a limitation in his powers.
If he makes one big manifestation,
he can instantly make another big manifestation.
- How is that a limitation?
- He can do this technique exactly four times in a row and
then your world will return to normal on the fifth attempt.
- I see.
- [Elka] I wish I had more time to explain,
but I must go now.
(distorted electronic tones)
- That reminds me of something.
- [Keradin] Hellinger, now is not the time.
- I'm gonna show you something that most people don't know.
Standard deck.
In order.
Now, if I shuffle this...
(cards clack)
They are no longer in order.
- Well, of course, it's partially randomized.
- Now, what would happen if I shuffled it again?
- I guess, more random?
- Actually, the same amount of randomness.
- Okay, Nevil Hellinger, street mathematician,
where are you going with this?
- Back in sequence.
There's a very special shuffle called a Pharaoh Shuffle
in which both halves are perfectly interleaved.
- You can actually do that.
- I trained for several years on this maneuver
before pivoting into thievery.
- Fascinating, but where's the trick?
The cards are still random.
- Guess what happens if I do this eight times in a row?
- What?
- [Nevil] The deck is now in the exact same order
that it started.
- I see, very clever.
It's a cyclic function.
- It's like a series of transforms
that return to the original value.
(gun fires)
(somber orchestral music)
(gun fires)
(slow-motion tones)
(moody electronic music)
(guns fire)
(dark electronic music) (Keradin groans)
- Are you okay?
- I'm getting more visual data from the artifact.
Do you have a pen?
You stole one of our pens?
- [Nevil] They're free.
- I'm learning the commands from the artifact.
(dark piano music)
- Well, that's fantastic.
But we don't have time for this.
- When the super-reality links with my brain,
it's the only advantage we have over Maskin.
- Uh-oh.
- I'm not sure I noticed that, though.
It's fractal.
- [Nevil] There's something I need to show you.
- Over there, Keradin.
Hold tight, let me try and figure this out.
What is this?
(screams)
(dark atmospheric music)
- Hold it, Maskin.
- Keradin, have you come to your senses yet?
- What on earth are you doing?
- Getting ready for the show.
- And are you planning a grand illusion?
- Oh, I'm done with illusions.
I will control reality itself.
- I suppose you think you know what reality is?
- Everybody's running around like primates, but not me.
The artifact has extended my reach.
And I have seen true existence.
- We only know reality through our mental constructions.
The outside world is inside your head,
even with the artifact.
- A depressing assessment.
- As much as I'd love to wax philosophic with you,
it's hardly the time.
- Quite so, it's time for the main attraction.
- You're a chuck-up from the neck up.
- You can't stop me.
- No! - What the...
(distorted electronic tones)
- Maskin!
(dark orchestral music)
There he is.
(moody electronic music)
- I hope this isn't another deception.
- Wait, what?
- Since Maskin's into illusions.
- Shit, it's the oldest trick in the book.
- He wanted us out of the building.
- The only reason to dress like a clown
is because there's two clowns.
- Maskin forced us to follow the double out here,
while he's still in the research facility.
(dark electronic music)
- Finally.
- I can't get into this armored door shit.
- And the front entrance is locked down, too.
- I had some tools.
But, uh, my driver Lorrie seems to have taken the car.
- What about the FBI van?
- This requires fed fingerprints.
- I thought you were a thief?
- My thievery requires planning.
Find anything?
(explosion booms)
- What the hell?
- Go check out the entrances.
I have work to do.
(ominous tones)
(moody electronic music)
- Don't move!
- Ulrich, I don't know what Maskin told you,
but he's unhinged.
- This is your last chance, Keradin.
- Can we go in the other direction?
- No, we have to go this way.
(moody electronic music)
(cards flicker) (Ulrich groans)
(rushed footsteps)
Well, looks like we need to try another set of stairs.
- How did a nice gunfighter like you end up
in a research facility like this?
- It was my dream before this whole FBI thing.
- A dream?
- As a kid, I was fascinated by all the branches of science.
Conducting experiments, lighting things on fire.
- Natural-born scientist.
- Yes, and at 18 I renounced religion.
- [Nevil] Never tried it myself.
- It affects people's view of the entire world.
- [Nevil] But you didn't buy it.
- No, my parents bought Bibles, but I burned them all.
- [Nevil] Well, they must have loved that.
- You said you have something to tell me?
- [Nevil] Uh, I stole Overstreet's watch.
- You have no shame.
- [Nevil] It's just so easy.
- But perhaps useful.
- [Nevil] I can't make heads or tails of it.
- I think I'm starting to understand
these alien symbols now.
- Can you actually make stuff happen?
- We need to go.
- Thought you stopped me, didn't you?
- Ulrich, don't you see?
Maskin is a murderer, he's obsessed with the artifact
and will kill anybody in his way.
- You're the one running around with the professional thief,
shooting Federal agents.
- I have no choice, we have to stop Maskin.
He's planning something sinister.
- Sure he is.
- The artifact can manifest and change reality,
at least as we know it.
- Change reality?
- They can literally manifest objects.
- Literally-literally or literally-figuratively?
- Literally-literally.
- Spooky and stupid, you should be ashamed of yourself.
- You really think Maskin is just leading
a routine job here?
- He hasn't been by the book, but--
- Look, he killed Thorndike.
I saw it with my lab camera.
Maskin attacked him and I saw the recording.
- Alright, let's say Maskin is deranged,
what exactly do you plan to do?
- I need to get to the second artifact before Maskin does.
- What about him?
He's a thief.
- There is a time factor here.
- He's right, the artifact could go critical any second now.
- How do you know this?
- Let's stop this crazy person first, then debrief.
- You better be right.
(dark orchestral music)
- So, what kind of deal did you make with
Nevil "The Devil" Hellinger here?
Split the profits 50-50?
- I didn't make a deal with Hellinger.
- Then why are you even here?
- The artifact needs to be researched,
and you need to go back to the authorities.
- I am the authorities.
- I bet the bureau doesn't even know about the operations.
Do they? - Ulrich, seize them.
- No can do.
- You are disobeying an order, agent.
- You're getting the wrong people killed.
(ominous tones) (rumbling)
(glass smashes) (dramatic music)
(distorted electronic tones)
- Kill them.
(moody electronic music)
(gun fires)
Yes.
(Ulrich groans) (somber music)
- Ulrich.
Maskin, you asshole. (gun cocks)
- [Maskin] The artifact is complete once again,
and it's mine.
You have already lost, Keradin.
You're free to go, just walk through the exit.
- What exit?
(eerie electronic music)
(distorted electronic tones)
- Can you get rid of this obstruction?
- I can try but Maskin is too powerful now.
- What about the alien watch?
- I could make a new manifestation, but I'd probably
end up getting us killed.
- [Nevil] Yeah, let's not do that.
- Maybe I should quit.
It seems that's all I'm good at these days, quitting.
- It's not really quitting.
- Please.
- My great-grandfather, Selbit Hellinger,
sailed ships before he became a carnie.
He also invented the cutting-a-woman-in-half trick.
- Is that true?
- Well, he was a liar and a horse thief,
but that's besides the point.
- What does your eccentric ancestor have to do
with my abysmal failure?
- Well, he would have called it "a course correction."
- A euphemism? - A metaphor.
- Failing is failing, quitting is quitting.
- Depends on how you look at it.
- You're right. - I usually am.
- About perception.
- [Nevil] I didn't say anything about perception.
- How one can look at something can be advantage.
- Look, I'm all for finishing this,
but we can't get to Maskin.
We have nothing to fight him with anyway.
- I still have my mental links.
- And you've got the alien watch.
- We can out-conjure the conjurer.
- You're starting to sound nuttier than old Selbit.
- It's just a sleight of hand.
- Well done, but your plan is absurd.
- Thank you for your support.
- You're welcome, I usually charge for therapy,
but I'll give you a discount.
- Help me with this.
- Why aren't you in link yet, Keradin?
(distorted electronic tones)
(intense pulsing electronic tones)
- Ready?
Hand over the artifact. (suspenseful music)
- You drooling philistines don't deserve
to behold the artifact, let alone hold it.
(whooshes)
How do you like that trick?
- Let's make a deal.
- What kind of deal?
- You get the artifact, but you let me research it.
- Please, something so radical?
You publish your research and before you know it,
society comes unglued.
- So you propose we keep it hidden?
- So you think I'm here on a power trip.
I think of it more as a service to humankind.
- Keeping people in the dark is not a service.
You're just trying to protect yourself.
- People don't want brute sanity!
(gun fires)
Say goodbye to sanity. (high-pitched tones)
(dark atmospheric music)
(distorted electronic tones)
- Hellinger!
(ticking)
- He can do this technique exactly four times in a row and
then your world will return to normal on the fifth attempt.
- That's two.
- Think you're in control, Keradin?
I'm running this show.
- We'll see about that.
- You're just an amateur at this game.
(distorted electronic tones)
(squelching)
(ticking)
(dark electronic music)
(electronic ticks)
- Maskin?
Is this another trick, Maskin?
- [Maskin] Are you alright, Keradin?
We are very worried about you.
- Who's "we?" - Me and the atrifact.
I know this is cruel, but I need your link.
- Link, interface...
This is number three.
(electronic ticks)
- [Maskin] Trying to blow yourself up?
Relax, just wait a few more seconds.
(electronic ticks)
Impossible. (clicking)
(dark atmospheric music)
- This is four.
- [Maskin] Give up your link to the artifact.
(slap) (Keradin groans)
(gun fires) (glass smashes)
Give up.
(slap) - Ow.
Give up. (moody electronic music)
Give up.
(slap) (groans)
Give up. - Give up.
- Give up.
No!
My power is gone.
- I'm not armed.
- Put your hands behind your head.
- There's something you should have learned about reality.
- What's that?
- We only know it through interfaces.
(sharp thud)
(rapid sharp thuds)
(ethereal tones)
(peaceful orchestral music)
(slap)
Hellinger?
Are you alive?
- Seems like it.
What did I miss?
- Maskin is dead and the artifact has returned
to its rightful owner.
- Where did Overstreet's body go?
- I don't know, I think she got sucked back
into the world she came from.
- Guess I'm not gonna make any money after all.
- Maybe time you had a course-correction in your career.
- (chuckles) Well, maybe.
- Give it back.
(moody electronic music)
(background chatter)
- Oh, I forgot to ask. - What is it?
- Are those super-reality interfaces still
stuck in your brain? - I don't know.
Even if they were, the links are dead,
and the artifact is deactivated.
- What if they fix it and turn it back online?
- Well, I guess we'll just wait and see.
Hellinger, do thieves often pretend
to be someone they're not?
- What're you tryin' to tell me?
- I thinking about Overstreet.
- She said she was an otherworldly debugger.
- But how do we know that's true?
- Overstreet, a grifter?
- Don't let them hurt me.
- It was all a confidence trick.
- We get Maskin out of the way,
and Overstreet programs the artifact to transport itself
to some hideaway where she gets it later.
- Overstreet's dead.
- Maybe not, if she's really an alien.
- Or a deception.
- Overstreet could still be alive in the super-reality.
- She could probably create any number of human bodies
in our world.
(ominous atmospheric music)
- What if she's coming after us?
- Us?
I have nothing to do with this.
- Well, there's no use in worrying
about a paranoid hypothesis.
(rumbling) (moody electronic music)
* Oh, is it, what do you see
* As it twists inside beneath our feet *
* What do you see
* Oh, is it, what do you see
* As it twists inside beneath our feet *
* What do you see
* Oh, is it what have you done to me *
* As the dark energy flows from inside of me *
* Inside of me
* What do you see
(dramatic electronic music)
* It was a little bit good
* I thought I figured out
* But I don't know what's for real *
* I thought I figured out
* That I don't know, never will *
* Understand it's not in my way *
* I know the dark for real
* I thought I figured out
* That I don't know, never will *
* It was a little bit good
* I like
* The way
* We do it
* I like
* The way
* We do it
* I like
* The way
* We do it
* Put us in the cage
* Throw away the keys
* Then walk, walk away
* Rob us
* A wobble
* And walk, walk away
(somber electronic music)