One's a Pawn of Time a study in temporal revisitation Copyright March 1992 by Michael T. Dederian DRAMATIS PERSONAE: BILL -- A graduate student in physics. Mid - late 20s. WILL -- An older (two years) version of BILL (ideally, his twin). Late 20s. LUCY -- BILL's fiance. 20s. [The scene: an apartment with living room and kitchen presented; exits to the bedroom and the outer hall are indicated. It is cheaply furnished -- a table (preferably with tablecloth) in the kitchen, a couch in the living room, and chairs as necessary.] [WILL is discovered sitting at the kitchen table, reading a newspaper in such a way that he is masked from the audience. BILL enters at the front door, carrying books which he proceeds to put down somewhere -- a minute or so of "home from work" routine. Noticing the light in the kitchen, he goes to check. He is taken aback to see someone at his table. Unnoticed by WILL, he steps back into the living room to compose himself; then he steps into the kitchen and demands...] BILL: Who the hell are you? [At the sound of BILL's voice, WILL dives under the table, not yet unmasked. BILL, also spooked, retreats to the living room and, casting around for a weapon, grabs one of his larger books. He returns cautiously to the kitchen, brandishing his book.] Okay, you, come out from there. Come on! WILL: [panicking] Oh God... BILL: [losing his nerve] Hey! I said come out! WILL: Wait! Okay! Okay, just hold on a second... I'm coming out. [ pause] BILL: Well?!? WILL: God!... Bill. Bill? BILL: [lowering the book] What? Who is that? [he starts to bend/crouch to look under the table] WILL: Wait! Okay, listen. It's... it's me, okay? It's... me. BILL: It's me, who? Why are you hiding under my -- WILL: It's me, me. I... [he lapses into silence, then starts to back out behind the table. BILL half-raises his book. WILL peeks up over the table and is unmasked as BILL's double. A moment of dead silence while this registers for BILL; then, screaming, he retreats to the living room] BILL: Aaaaahhhh! [WILL follows as far as the doorway] Who are you? Who the hell are you? WILL: Bill, look, this is as hard for me as it is for... [trails off] BILL: Okay, look, just -- [threatening with the book] just stay right there, okay? [he sinks into a chair] WILL: Bill, I -- BILL: Shut up! Okay? Just shut up a minute! [beat] Okay, talk. WILL: All right, all right. Now, I know -- BILL: How the hell did you get in here, anyway? WILL: Well, actually, I -- BILL: No! Christ! Who are you? WILL: Shut up, Bill! Just shut up and I'll explain! [BILL complies] All right. No more beating around the bush. I am you. I am you. Okay? BILL: What the -- WILL: I'm you! From the future! Two years from now! Here, look at this -- there! My driver's license -- your driver's license, your social security card -- BILL: How did you get those?! WILL: They're mine! You have yours! [BILL checks his wallet, pulls out the cards] See? BILL: [flustered] Well... you... hell, you can get a fake license anywhere! Why the hell do you look like me? WILL: Here! Your video rental card! [BILL snatches it, gets his own and compares them] Ten rentals, get one free. Four down, six to go. [Beat.] BILL: I don't believe it. These are exactly the same. WILL: Yes. BILL: So you're telling me I'm not going to rent any movies in the next two years? WILL: No, you idiot -- I'm telling you you're going to rent a million movies and not once, not once will you remember to have the card signed! Got it? BILL: [considers; then] No! No, this is crazy. It's not possible -- WILL: It is possible! You know it is, you've been working with Dr. Harris. You know that's why he's got you running all that trash through the SWR. He's got a theory and he's going to make it work! BILL: Dr. Harris? He, what, he invents time travel? WILL: Yes! Or, I assume so. Somebody does, I can't remember who. BILL: Oh, get real! Convince me some more. WILL: Christ. Listen, if I'd known I was going to be such a blockhead, I would have brought some more solid evidence. Okay, here, look at the date on this -- [he pulls some change from his pocket and studies it] here, this is -- oh, no it isn't. [he stares at the coins] Would you believe I don't have a single coin newer than 1985? BILL: Okay, you -- [he goes into the kitchen; WILL follows] here's the paper. If you're from the future, why were you reading the paper, hmm? All this would be history to Mister Future, right? WILL: Well, I haven't seen it in two years! Look, it's almost as hard for me to believe I'm here as it is for you. I was reading the paper because that's, you know, today. It's evidence. And I'm convinced now, so what's your problem? BILL: Fine, then. Tell me how -- [he scans the page and points to a story] how this turns out. WILL: Give me a break! I can tell you all about this but you can't verify it until it happens like I say it will, and that could take days. I don't even have an hour left. BILL: What do you mean? Why not? WILL: The trip lasts for a little under two hours, and I've already spent a good hour waiting for you to get home. So I don't have much time left, if I've figured it right. BILL: You have a time limit? That doesn't make sense. WILL: Sure it does. See, that's what Dr. Harris' problem is -- he thinks the trip can be made but he can't figure out how to make the return trip without portable equipment. It can work if the SWR is used as a projector, and then the recall is maintained from that end... look, I'd explain it to you, but I don't have much time. BILL: You said you had an hour. WILL: Yeah, but I've got to take care of the reason I came here first. BILL: And what's that? WILL: Well, I can't remember. BILL: That's it! Get out! WILL: I can't! I won't! Even if I didn't do whatever I'm here to do, the SWR can't recall me unless I stick close to the place I arrived at -- in the living room. So I'm not leaving the apartment, because I don't even want to think about could happen if I'm not around when the time's up. BILL: Why? What could happen? WILL: I don't know -- but I'm sure as hell there weren't two of me hanging around in the future! BILL: So I'm just supposed to let a possible lunatic -- no, make that a probable lunatic -- who happens to look like me sit around my apartment for the next hour? WILL: Listen, have you paid your rent this month? BILL: It's not due yet! WILL: Well, I paid it two years ago. So I have more right than you to be here. Now stop complaining and just help me figure out why I'm here. BILL: How am I supposed to do that? WILL: I don't know -- think! I'm telling you, whatever it is, it concerns you, too. So I'd lend me a hand, if I were you. Jesus, what am I saying -- I am you! Here, I'll make you a deal. Even if you don't believe me, don't waste my time. Just play along, help me out. If an hour goes by without my getting recalled, then we can assume the equipment failed and I'm stuck here. Then you can believe whatever you want, there'd be no point in my staying here so I'll go. Come on, one hour. If I'm telling the truth, you'd better help me. If I'm a lunatic, one hour wasted, no harm done. Okay? BILL: Okay, Mister Future. One hour. WILL: And don't call me Mister Future. BILL: Well hell if you think I'm calling you Bill. WILL: No, nobody calls me Bill anymore. William, usually. BILL: Uh-uh. Will, maybe, but I hate William. WILL: Well, you won't. Not when you've grown up a little. BILL: What's that supposed to mean? WILL: I can't believe I used to be this pig-headed. If you could only see yourself! [beat] I mean, see you yourself,not me yourself. But I guess you will, when the time comes. When you're me. BILL: When I'm you? You think I'm going to be like this? Guess again, pal. WILL: I'm not guessing, pal. You won't be like me, you will be me. The fact that I am here proves it. Two years from now you're going to find a reason to come back in time. I don't know what it will be because I can't remember why I'm here. So will you just help me out? BILL: Well, if it's so important, then why have you forgotten it? WILL: Okay, I think I understand that much. I figured it out while I was waiting for you to show up. You'd better sit down and just pay attention. BILL: [sits] Let me have it. WILL: Now, I know that I had a reason to come back. The thing is,whatever the cause, it probably hasn't happened yet. It might not happen for two years. But I came back to this night, at this time, so I must have believed that whatever I have to do must be done within the next two hours -- one hour, now, or forty-five minutes or whatever. And I came back to my apartment. Sorry, your apartment. But I know I shouldn't leave here, so I must have thought I could do whatever it is without leaving. So I assume it has to do with you. Okay, suppose I change something for you. Tell you something, keep you from doing something, I don't know. Then I've changed your future and my past, and two years down the road I wouldn't bother to come back in time. Unless I had another reason -- something else I wanted to do. The cause hasn't been defined yet; that's why I can't remember it. The only thing that's certain is that in two years time travel will be a reality and you will find a reason to try it. Am I understood? BILL: I think so. And that's why you can't remember who actually invented time travel? WILL: Probably. Maybe Dr. Harris did it. Maybe it was someone else. It must have been someone I was associated with. For all I know, it could have been me. BILL: Well, maybe that's your thing. Maybe someone else invented it, and now you've come to tell me how it's done so I can invent it before they do. Is that it? WILL: It could be -- but I don't think so. That's industrial theft, or whatever you call it. I wouldn't do that. BILL: But you could. Tell me. Look, you know about it, so who's to say you can't tell anyone? Even if it's confidential or you're sworn to secrecy or something -- I'm you anyway, so I can be told, right? Besides, whoever it was hasn't actually done it yet, so - - [there is a knock at the door] WILL: Are you expecting someone? BILL: I -- oh my God! It's Lucy! WILL: [agitated] Lucy! She's here? Why didn't you tell me Lucy was coming? BILL: I was sort of involved in this close encounter of the first person, dammit! Look, I don't think I can explain you, Lucy thinks this whole temporal studies thing is a joke -- WILL: I know, I know! Look, I'll go in the kitchen. [knock] Can you make sure she doesn't stay long? I'm running out of time! BILL: No, wait! [knock] Just a minute! [to WILL] I can't! I promised her that tonight would be very special -- Will, I'm going to propose to her! Tonight! WILL: Tonight! BILL: [flash of inspiration] Will! Does she accept? You've got to tell me! WILL: [thinking] She -- God, Bill, I don't know. I can't remember! BILL: So she might, but she might not? Listen, pal, if you've screwed this up for me -- [knock] WILL: Be there in a second! [to BILL] All right, you'd better open the door. I'll stay in the kitchen; just don't let her in there. Go ahead and pop the question but if you can do it quickly I'd really appreciate it. [WILL goes to the kitchen; BILL opens the door and LUCY enters] LUCY: What took you so long, big guy? BILL: I was, ah, [picking up a few books] straightening up, I'm sorry, the place was a real mess. LUCY: [unconvinced but unconcerned] You don't say. BILL: Oh, here, let me get rid of these. [he gathers up the clutter and looks around for a place to put it; he decides to put it in the kitchen] Just make yourself comfortable -- I want to talk with you about something. [he goes to the kitchen, speaks to WILL] Are you telling me you could have been married to her for the last two years and not remember it? WILL: I don't remember a wife, I don't remember a job, I don't remember getting up this morning. I remember who was elected president, I remember books that were published. I remember what time TV shows come on. But I can't remember any specifics of my life, okay? Deal with it! [he pushes BILL back into the living room. LUCY looks at BILL quizzically] BILL: Uh... slippery floor. I, ah, spilled something. Oh! I'll go clean it up, back in a second! [he goes to kitchen] WILL: What are you doing? Don't just leave her there! BILL: Christ, Will -- what if she says no? Or, what if she says yes? You can't even remember two years of marriage! WILL: I can't remember it because it isn't definite that it happened! But you can bet that it won't happen at all if you don't get out there! And do it fast! [BILL returns to the living room] LUCY: All spic-and-span? BILL: Hmm? Oh, yeah! [takes a deep breath; then, firmer] Yes. [sitting on the couch] Lucy, can I ask you something? LUCY: Interrogate away, Billy-boy. BILL: [taking her hand] Would -- would you -- [but it's not "the question" ] ever call me "William"? LUCY: Of course! Oh, I'm glad you asked that. "Bill" has always seemed a little -- oh, I don't know -- childish? BILL: You think I'm childish? LUCY: [oh so sincere] Of course not -- William. That's why it wasn't appropriate for you. BILL: I didn't mean that you should start-- LUCY: Really, I like it, William. I don't mind. BILL: Lucy, please, I'd rather you didn't. [regretfully] I suppose -- someday. But not just yet. LUCY: [teasing] And why not just yet? BILL: Umm. [with a glance toward the kitchen] It could get confusing. LUCY: Whatever do you mean? BILL: Lucy, I'm -- [rising, meandering towards kitchen] I've just been thinking, lately, about my future. LUCY: [warming to the subject] Really? That's not like you, William. BILL: Lucy... LUCY: Sorry, "Bill". It's just -- well, you do seem different tonight, more mature. I mean, thinking about [just enough hesitation] our future. Why so pensive? Not that you're not usually pensive, but it's always your work, never anything really meaningful. [oops] Um, really personal. BILL: [didn't notice. he has come to the kitchen door, where WILL is standing out of LUCY's sight. they stand face to face; then] Lucy, do you believe in timmph [WILL has grabbed him and put a hand over BILL's mouth. WILL shakes his head meaningfully, then releases BILL with a little push] LUCY: In what, sweetie? BILL: In love? Do you believe in true love? LUCY: Funny you should ask that... come here. [he sits, takes her hand] Yes, I do believe in true love. I believe it's the most wonderful thing anyone can have, and that if two people find it they should never let it go. Why do you ask? [the two lovebirds pause meaningfully, gazing into each other's eyes. which lets us turn our attention to WILL, who, though obviously intimately concerned with the goings-on in the other room, is still somewhat embarrassed at eavesdropping on such a conversation. he turns away and wanders to the table. He stops, staring at the pile of change and other assorted pocket goodies he dumped there earlier. from the pile he picks up something he had previously overlooked -- a diamond ring. puzzlement turns to alarm. he turns back to the living room as he hears BILL break the silence] BILL: [standing, reaching into his pocket] I have something to show you... WILL: [desperation begets inspiration] Hi, this is Bill. I'm not able to come to the phone right now, but you can leave a message after the beep. Please. [pause; sheepishly] Beeeeep. LUCY: You got an answering machine? I didn't hear the phone ring. BILL: [hand still in pocket] I -- yeah! Yeah, brand new and -- and there seems to be something wrong with it, it keeps just going off. You know, any old time. Uh, let me go unplug it. [hurries to kitchen, grabs WILL] What are you doing? WILL: I had to get you away! Look, Bill, I just found this with the stuff from my pocket. BILL: That's the engagement ring I bought for Lucy! How did you get it? WILL: The same way I got your driver's license and social security card -- I brought it with me from the future. BILL: Why? Why Lucy's ring? WILL: I think you'd better check on yours. [BILL pulls out the box and, with a glance at WILL, opens it. sure enough, it is empty] BILL: Wha--? Where is it? WILL: You've had that box two days, right? BILL: Yeah. But the ring has been there, I checked -- oh, I guess I haven't looked since last night. It made me, you know, nervous. LUCY: [how long could it possibly take?] Honey? BILL: Ah! Uh, the-- WILL: The wire's all tangled, honey. I'm sorry, it'll just take a second. [to BILL] I'm guessing that you must have lost the ring from the box somehow. And I must have, too, two years ago. BILL: God, I'd hate to think what would happen if I'd given her the empty box! WILL: Exactly! Maybe that's what I did. And Lucy would have been upset, and we'd have had a fight. I don't think she'd have married me, then. She never thought I was very responsible. I don't know what she saw in me in the first place. BILL: Hey, hey, wait a minute-- WILL: Forget it. Look, I wouldn't have brought the ring back unless it was important. I must have lost the ring and blown the proposal. Then I probably found the ring later -- and realized I had the chance [placing the ring in the open box in BILL's hand] to fix things. [he snaps the box shut, closes BILL's hand upon it, and gives him one of those meaningful looks. BILL nods and returns to the living room] LUCY: All fixed? BILL: No. [looks at the box] Not yet, no. LUCY: [indicating the box] What's that? A broken part? BILL: Part? Of what? LUCY: Of your machine. BILL: Oh, is the machine fixed? Yeah. LUCY: Well, what did you think I meant? BILL: I'm sorry, Lucy, I was thinking of something else. LUCY: Something you want to talk about? BILL: No, it's nothing, really. [hang on.] Wait -- what am I saying? It is something, something important. One of the most important things in the world. [sits on the couch] LUCY: [excited, anticipatory] Don't keep me in suspense, sweetie! Tell me! Or, is it -- ask me? BILL: [regards her a moment; then, smiling] If I didn't know any better, I'd think you could tell the future. LUCY: Well, you know, we women have a knack for this sort of thing. BILL: Actually -- [half-glance toward kitchen] we men aren't so bad at it, either... LUCY: William... [he starts to protest; she silences him; he acquiesces] Ask me, William. BILL: Lucy -- Lucille Nancy Ceebrook -- [gives her the box; as she opens it] will you marry me? LUCY: Oh, it's beautiful! Yes, of course I will! [gives him the box and holds out her hand; he takes the ring and puts it on her finger. they kiss] William, I must call my parents! Do you mind? [gets up and heads for kitchen] BILL: [happy, content, relaxing] No, of course not. Go ahead. [oops] Gaah! Lucy, wait! [too late. Lucy enters the kitchen. fortunately, WILL has dived under the table. BILL follows her in] LUCY: [goes to phone; dials] It's busy -- oh, mother must be calling Aunt Gee tonight. They'll be on for another hour, at least. Honey, I have to tell her and dad! Come on, let's go to their house. BILL: What, now? LUCY: Sure. It'll save us another phone call to Aunt Gee! BILL: I guess. [WILL tugs at BILL's pants leg] Oh, you know, honey, I -- I hate to say this, but you'd better just go without me tonight. [WILL tugs; BILL kicks] I have to -- to wait. For a phone call from Dr. Harris. It's important -- some results he has to tell me about before work tomorrow. LUCY: Oh -- let him leave a message! That's what you got an answering machine for, isn't it? [looks] Hey, where is it? I thought you said you fixed it. BILL: Well, I did, I -- [little laugh] I sure did fix it; I threw it out. [Lucy glances into the trash can and looks quizzically at BILL] Um, out the window. LUCY: Bill! [she goes to the window] I don't see it out there. BILL: Oh, you know, somebody probably picked it up. It was a perfectly good machine, you know. [beat] Except for being broken. [beat] And the two-story drop. [beat] Still. [beat; then] I had something much more important on my mind. LUCY: [that worked! going to him] Whatever, darling. But if any of our wedding presents get "broken", check with me first, okay? [hug] Now, are you coming with me or not? BILL: I can't, Lucy. I have to stay here. LUCY: You're nervous about seeing your future in-laws, aren't you? BILL: [going with it] Yes, that's it. I just can't, tonight. LUCY: Well, I guess I'm just going to have to break you of that! But, tonight, you win. I'll tell them you had to "wait for a phone call". [glance towards window] I don't think I'll mention the answering machine. BILL: You're too kind. [escorting her to door] I'll come with you to visit them soon, all right? LUCY: You bet you will! Good night, William. [quick kiss at door] Love. [exit] BILL: Good night, Lucy. [she is gone. he slumps against the wall in reverie] WILL: [coming out from under table] You did it. She's going to marry you. BILL: You can remember it now? WILL: Oh, no. I was just saying. BILL: I thought you might start remembering what happened -- that is, past for you, future for me, you know? -- as they became definite. WILL: Yes, that's what I expected. But I guess it doesn't happen. In fact, if it did, I'd have gone nuts from deja vu by now. I mean, I'd suddenly remember you saying everything you say as soon as you said it, and such. I suppose my memory will return when I go back. BILL: Hey, it better, pal. I don't look forward to getting amnesia in two years on your account. WILL: On my account? Listen, when you make this trip yourself it will be your idea, okay? Your fault. BILL: Sure, sure. [beat] Hey, hold on a second. Why would I bother to make the trip? I've got the ring, Lucy's going to marry me. I've got nothing to change. WILL: That's what I was talking about, before. I had my reason for coming back; you'll have yours. Probably different. That's why I can't remember the reason; it's not definite. But, if for nothing else, you'll come back because you know you have to. You can't fight physics. BILL: Okay, I'm convinced. But, you haven't forgotten everything, right? WILL: No -- like I said, I remember new books and movies, big news stories. I know who the president is. Want to know? BILL: No. Heck, no. If it wasn't who I wanted, I'd feel pretty stupid voting against.... [beat] Actually, my vote isn't going to make a difference either way, is it? WILL: Did you ever think it did? BILL: Hey, hey, none of that. WILL: So, should I say? BILL: No! I'm going to vote anyway, Willy, so I don't want to know if it's for or against him. WILL: Him? [if you could see the look on BILL's face. WILL smirks] Oh, maybe I'm just kidding. Wait and see, Billy. BILL: Yeah, yeah, thanks. It's so comforting to know I'm going to be such a witty guy. When did you say you were going? WILL: [glancing at watch] In about ten minutes. I can only assume that I've accomplished my goal, so all I can do is sit and wait. BILL: Whose idea was it to give you a time limit, anyway? WILL: It's necessary. I can't control the projector from this end. BILL: Speaking of which -- you want to tell me how this projector idea works? WILL: I already said no; that's not fair to Harris. BILL: Who cares? Besides, you don't even know that he'll be the one. Might as well be us. WILL: Oh, what the hell. Consider it a wedding present. Got any paper? BILL: You know I do! [gets a pad from his books; knock on door] WILL: Are you expecting someone else? LUCY: [offstage] William, open up! WILL: She's back! [he dashes into kitchen. BILL opens door; LUCY (two years older, quite disheveled) enters] LUCY: Where is she? [to BILL] William? [gives him a brief appraisal] Bill. All right, then, where are they? BILL: Lucy? LUCY: Where are they? BILL: They, who? Lucy, what happened to you? LUCY: Don't give me that! Where are Lucy and William? BILL: What? LUCY: She's not gone, is she? Damn! But I know he's here, he said he couldn't leave. [finds him in the kitchen] Oh, there you are, [ice] darling. WILL: Lucy? LUCY: She's gone! Damn! Where'd she go? Mother's? WILL: Where did who go? LUCY: Lucy! She went to mother's, didn't she? [heads for door] BILL: Lucy, what are you talking about? You haven't gone anywhere! LUCY: Not me, you moron! Your fiancee! My former self! BILL: What? WILL: Lucy! Did you make the time trip, too? [LUCY nods] From when? LUCY: Right after you came back. WILL: [to BILL] Hey, now we know it works. [to LUCY] When did you get here? LUCY: I don't know, it's been at least an hour. Now I've got to... WILL: [grabs her] Wait! Did I change the settings after I got back? LUCY: [gets this odd look] No, you didn't. WILL: Then you must have come back to the same point in time as me! Where have you been? LUCY: I've been on my way here. WILL: From the lab? [LUCY nods. to BILL] You see, the projector's at the lab; I set it to project me to this location, but when it's time for recall it automatically resets to zero, which is back at the lab, so I'll go back there. Since I didn't change the setting again, Lucy traveled back to the lab. [realization] Christ! We've got to get her back there before recall! Bill, go get a cab! Go! [BILL exits] Lucy, what are you doing here? LUCY: I'm not going back yet! I have to find Lucy! WILL: Why? Why do you have to find her? LUCY: I have to tell her to break off this damn engagement! WILL: What? LUCY: These last two years have been hell, William! I'm not going to spend my life married to a lunatic! [she struggles to go; WILL holds her] WILL: Lucy! I'm not a lunatic! Time travel really works; you can see for yourself! LUCY: It's not just your work, William! Honestly! Can you stand there and tell me that our marriage has been wonderful? WILL: Actually, I -- I can't remember any of it. LUCY: You -- you bastard! WILL: It's not my fault! It's physics! LUCY: I've had enough of this! [goes to phone; dials] WILL: Who are you calling? LUCY: My mother! Lucy will be there by now! WILL: Lucy, you can't change it, now! First off, she'd never believe you over the phone. Second, [LUCY hangs up angrily] your mother's on the phone to Aunt Gee, and after that probably a dozen other relatives. [LUCY glares at him] And, finally, the very fact that you remember being married means that you can't change your past. I could change mine, so I can't remember. See? It's not my fault. LUCY: [what's that odd look for?] Anything I remember, I can't change? WILL: That's right. LUCY: [suddenly docile] Oh. [she sits. WILL joins her] WILL: What's wrong? I thought -- well, I thought what Bill thinks. That we'd be perfect together. What happened? Tell me. LUCY: Oh, it was fine, at first. But after you split with Dr. Harris - - WILL: I did? When was that? LUCY: You really don't remember anything? WILL: Not much, no. When did I split with Harris? LUCY: Just before we got married. I'd been getting worried; ever since the night you proposed, you kept talking about how it -- your machine -- had to be a projector, and Dr. Harris wouldn't listen, and if you'd just had a few more minutes you'd have known how it was done -- WILL: Sure! I was just going to tell Bill -- yeah. Go on. LUCY: Anyway, just a week or so before our wedding, you said you'd finally figured whatever it was out, and when Dr. Harris disagreed you split with him. Well, you were a lot happier then, so we went ahead with the marriage. But you've been more and more freaky about your project ever since. Especially lately. But I could tolerate that! But when you -- WILL: What did I do? LUCY: You stole my engagement ring, you bastard. WILL: I did? LUCY: You asked to borrow it, I said what for, you said you were going to the lab. I said you're not going to do any experiments with my ring. Finally you came up with some B.S. about time unraveling. WILL: What? What did I say? All of it. LUCY: William, don't patronize me. I'm not playing your game. WILL: Lucy, please, I honestly can't remember. Just tell me what I said; I'll explain it to you when we get back. LUCY: [there's that look again! beat] You said that on the night you had proposed to me, a "future you" had come back in time and given you the ring that you gave me. You said that your future self had lost his ring and found it, but that because you had moved out of your apartment when we got married, there was no way you could find your ring. And you said that if you didn't bring the ring back in time you would disrupt the continent -- WILL: Continuum -- LUCY: Thanks, professor. Continuum. So you said you needed my ring. I said go to hell and you grabbed my arm and took the ring and ran out of the house. I knew you were headed for the lab, so after I finished smashing your CD collection I followed you. WILL: You didn't! LUCY: And I got there just as you returned. WILL: How'd you get in? LUCY: [pulls a gun out of her pocket] I shot the lock off. WILL: Lucy! Since when do you carry a gun? LUCY: Oh, only in emergencies, darling. Don't worry, it's empty, now. So, anyway, I decided if your story was true then maybe I could correct the biggest mistake of my life. WILL: Wait a minute; I was there when you arrived. LUCY: You were just stepping out of the projector. WILL: Why would I have let you use the equipment? LUCY: You didn't have much choice. [she points the gun at him; click] You didn't think it'd take me a full clip to open a lock, did you? WILL: You're not serious. You couldn't have. LUCY: You were just stepping out of the projector. [beat] I remember it quite clearly. [BILL stares at her in horror] WILL: [strained] Bill! BILL! [BILL enters] BILL: Hey, the cab's here! Let's go, Lucy! WILL: Bill! Listen to me! Don't -- [WILL's watch starts beeping] Recall. [all three look up as there is a flash of light...] The End