PRISONER'S RETURN
EPISODE 5 - INTO OBLIVION
Number 6 has previously hacked into a government staff records computer and obtained some information about some of the ex-number 2's. One afternoon, he is sat at his computer looking at the data he has previously downloaded, when there is a knock at the door of his cottage. Number 6 answers the door and is surprised to find his son has come to see him. His son is interested in what he is doing, as he has himself some computer expertise and is capable of hacking into remote computers. Number 6 explains that he is trying to trace certain people that he used to know and he is breaking into government computers to try to find them. He has details of some of the people, but not others. His son suggests that he tries other government computers for information. Number 6 is not sure how to do this, but his son tells him it is easy and he has many of the access numbers and passwords to do it. His son sits down at the computer and during the afternoon manages to break into several databases, finding at least two more of the ex-number 2s.
Later that night, around 3.00am, a new 'Village' agent creeps up to number 6's cottage, and gently springs open the window to the study where number 6's PC is set up, and climbs in. He carefully turns the computer on, inserts a floppy disc into the drive and downloads a programme into number 6's PC. He then turns the machine off and quietly leaves. The agent makes his way to a van parked a short distance away and gets into the back. Inside is an array of electronic equipment with two men monitoring it.
The next morning, number 6 and his son get up and start work again trying to hack into different databases. The agents in the van monitor what is happening on the PC, and report the activities of number 6 and his son back to the leader. The leader orders the team in the van to send number 6 'into oblivion'. The team then type commands into the console in the van, which causes the loading of a programme called 'Oblivion'. As number 6 types into his computer the agents in the van activate the 'Oblivion' programme and send it by radio signal to number 6's PC.
As number 6 types into his computer, he finds it won't respond to the commands. He believes that the government is interfering with his computer and he calls his son over to help him out. Between them they both try to clear the jamming of the computer, but the whole computer screen slowly dims to a dark grey. Around them the whole room starts to dim as well, until they can no longer see the walls. The room continues to darken to black and then lightens again.
As the light returns, number 6 and his son find themselves in a small garden surrounded by a high fence. They are both completely confused and disorientated. At the same time, the terminals in the new 'Village' control room light up to show a computer game scenario, with number 6 and his son clearly shown in the game. The new 'Village' leader has put both number 6 and his son into the computer game, and they now have to play it and win in order to escape back to the real world. The programme they are trapped in is an adventure game where number 6 and his son have to work their way through the various scenarios and frames, analysing clues and using objects to get them to the end. There are many obstacles along the way, some of which are fatal and must be avoided. The game is symbolically related to number 6's quest for the new 'Village'. Number 6 and his son, must find their way to the end of the game and in order to escape, must bring several clues together at the right moment in order to kill the guardian in the final scene, after which they can leave. There are characters found in the game, some of whom can be helpful, whilst others are not, or may even try to kill them. These characters are played by some of the people from the new 'Village', and the guardian is played by the leader. Details of the rules of the game are pinned to the garden gate where they are read by number 6 and his son.
Number 6 and his son go through the gate and start to work their way around the mazes and obstacles. After a while, the son finds some of the solutions to be familiar to him, and he tests out one or two dead ends and blind alleys. He realises that the game is closely related to one which he has played in the past. Using this knowledge, number 6 and his son work their way systematically towards the end of the game, collecting the right objects on the way.
The new 'Village' watch their progress on the computer screen in their control room. At first the new 'Village' control is confident that number 6 will fail and remain trapped in the game, but as he progresses, the control and the leader become increasingly concerned that he may not. They realise that either number 6 or his son have knowledge of the game, and could reach the end. The leader instructs the new 'Village' control to start to re-programme scenes in order to slow number 6 and his son down. The control room scientists start to type into their computer terminals.
Number 6's son attempts to work his way through a particular scene, and suddenly understands that it is not progressing as it should. He believes that the new 'Village' is interfering with the game by reprogramming the outcomes of the scenes. He also points out that the new 'Village' can see them in the game, and knows where they are and what they are doing, and can alter the outcome of the situations they are in. Number 6 and his son then debate the outcome of the next scene, and try running quickly between the scenes, picking up the objects they need and moving rapidly onto the next scene. They find that by doing this, they can move faster than the new 'Village' scientists can re-programme the computer and load it into the game.
Having discovered how the new 'Village' can change the programme they are trapped in, number 6 and his son stop and take stock of the situation. Number 6's son points out that although he knows the paths to the end of the game, the new 'Village' will probably have time to re-programme these before they get there. In a flash of inspiration, number 6's son feels certain that the new 'Village' cannot change the overall ending of the game, only the paths to it. To try and second-guess what the new 'Village' might do, the son reviews the possible paths to the end of the game, how the new 'Village' might alter them, and which is the most likely action they will take. Some paths will take a lot of re-programming, and may not be possible in the time. Number 6's son concludes that there are just three most likely changes they could make. However, each of them will impact on the actions number 6 and his son take down the path to the guardian at the end of the game, and the son is confident that by the last frame, he will know which path the new 'Village' has programmed into the game, and, therefore, how to kill the guardian.
As number 6 and his son move towards the end of the game and the confrontation with the guardian, the new 'Village' leader watches their progress on the screens in the Control Room, and becomes frantic to stop them reaching the end of the game. He orders the game to be re-programmed to give a different ending as number 6's son predicts. However, the ending is not one of the three guessed at by the son.
Number 6 and his son continue to make their way towards the final encounter with the guardian, picking up the remaining objects they need along the way. Number 6's son becomes concerned that they are not finding evidence for any one of the three changes being made by the new 'Village'. If the changes to the programme had been made, the son would have expected to find evidence as they near the guardian. This worries both number 6 and his son, but they press ahead towards the guardian anyway. Finally, they arrive outside a door, on the other side of which, is the guardian, almost certainly heavily armed and ready to destroy them. They are about to open the door and enter the guardian's lair, when number 6's son stops them when he realises that there is another ending possible. He works through this with number 6 and reconciles the new ending with the objects and clues they have found in this last part of the game. Number 6's son is certain that he has deduced the change the new 'Village' has made, and is confident they can defeat the guardian. He takes the objects gathered during the game, and collects together those which are needed to defeat the guardian. Number 6 places the remaining single object in his pocket. His son then shows number 6 how to combine the objects together as soon as they are through the door, and tells him exactly where the guardian will be standing in the room.
Number 6 and his son quickly throw open the door and rush into the room beyond. The guardian is where number 6's son predicted. He starts to come forward towards them, raising his many weapons in order to kill them. Number 6 combines the objects they need together and throws the resulting item at the guardian, just as he is about to kill his son. The guardian is destroyed by number 6 and disappears from the game. At the same time, a key drops to the floor and in the dim light of the guardian's lair, number 6 sees a door. He picks up the key and tries it in the door.
In the new 'Village' the leader is furious with his programmers who have failed to trap number 6 in the game, and have left him at large and them vulnerable. On the Control Room screens, they watch as number 6 and his son try the key in the door which leads out of the game. It fits and as number 6 opens the door, the computer game fades and he finds himself back in his study with his son. In the new 'Village', the leader suddenly coughs and lurches against a desk and collapses on the floor dead. The computer terminals in the new 'Village' control room go dead.
Number 6 and his son look at each other, both wondering if what happened was real. Number 6 starts to sneeze, and puts his hand in his pocket for a handkerchief. As he does so, he pulls out the unused object he placed there just before destroying the guardian.
END
Copyright: D.J.Groom 1987