On board The Elizabeth, notes are compared.
Sayid: "What's the story?"
Jack: "You were right; Michael was compromised. Those Others got Walt tied down under a lowering pendulum with a feather duster attached, and Michael was going to betray us to keep his son from being tickled. Michael let that guy Henry, whose real name is Ben, escape by hypnotizing Ana-Lucia, but fortunately he had a change of heart, so none of us are going to be captured now."
Sayid: "What a fascinating method of coercion. We never tried that while I was in the Iraqi National Guard."
Boone: "How do you know those people were going to keep their word? Ethan lied to us a lot of the time, and Henry – oh, I guess Ben now, he lied about his name as well – pretty much only told us lies."
Shannon: "That guy did tell us the truth when he said he wasn't going to tell us anything."
Michael: "Thank you Shannon. I was sure they wouldn't let Walt go if I didn't do what they asked. I guess my gut instinct told me they would keep their end of the bargain."
Kate: "Is this the same gut instinct that told you it was okay to let Ethan handcuff Walt and take him away?"
Michael frowns: "Hey we all trusted Ethan."
Shannon: "Charlie didn't."
Michael: "Except Charlie. And everyone was happy to have Walt away for a few days."
Sawyer: "Actually things have been going very well with Firestarter away. Would it be so bad if he stayed away until we're sure we can get off this rock?"
Michael: "He's my son. I have the right to be there for him. And I'm sure he's cured of any behavior problems."
Cindy: "Why didn't you go there alone just now?"
Michael: "These guys think it's better that I don't go back there and blab to them that I've told you what I learned about them. They're probably right; I almost betrayed them, and if there's a next time I might do something worse."
Jack: "We're sure that's the right choice. Thanks to Michael and John, Walt is very tough, and I'm sure he'll come through just fine."
Michael: "I sure hope so. I still feel bad about letting him get tickled indefinitely."
Desmond: "Don't worry about it. Your son will be fine. In my vision he was walking along outside somewhere with Emma and Zach."
Michael: "Are you sure your visions are always right? And why didn't you tell me before?"
Desmond: "I don't know of any cases where my visions did not eventually come true. And I'm pretty sure John wanted this a secret, like he wanted to test you. Emma and Zach are well on their way, and it's too late to stop them."
Jack: "Oh, then congratulations on passing the test. Hey isn't someone missing? Where's Hurley?"
Hurley and Libby have been smooching inside the cabin.
Hurley: "Hey dudes, sounds like everything's under control."
Libby: "Yes, carry on. Don't mind us."
Libby: "In that case, let's party!"
Desmond: "How fortuitous. I've got a case of Scotch hidden in a compartment underneath the dashboard. This seems to be as good a time as any to break it out."
Sawyer slaps Desmond on the shoulder. "Now that's my kind of thinking! We owe all the Flying Scotsman one."
Sayid: "I believe that's the Flying Dutchman. There was also a Flyinn Finn, not to mention flying fish, flying squirrels, and flying buttresses."
Sawyer: "Do you want me to hit you?"
Sayid: "My mistake. It is the Flying Scotsman."
They all party into the night and get blasted after Desmond turns the boat around to go back to the beach. Pretty soon everyone passes out. The last one standing is Shannon.
Shannon: "I guess we should have picked a designated driver."
She falls asleep in Sayid's arms.
The crew building the church gets some work done, and it is about half finished when the sun sets. They go back to the Swan Station, arriving at about the same time as Locke, who has been wandering around all day, relishing the island experience and proud that he has trained two more children in the ways of the island.
It gets dark while Emma and Zach are still in the jungle. They calmly find a banyan grove to sleep within several closely packed trunks after eating some papayas they found thanks to their training.
After an unusually pleasant day of playing games, mostly backgammon where Walt won the large majority of the games against Bea and Juliet, it is time to go back to Room 23. Walt reasons that if he resists now he won't be unstrapped the next morning, and if Michael hasn't shown up by then Walt will make a break for it during the day. He hops up obediently on the table on his back, stretches out, and lets Bea strap him down. After she leaves Walt strains on the straps, but as always they have been fastened too securely. He falls asleep noting the pendulum blade with the feather duster is swinging about a meter over him.
Ben gets to the security fence as the sun sets. He punches in the code, and then makes his way to his house, where Alex and Karl have just finished cleaning up.
Alex: "Oh Daddy, it's so good to see you again!"
Ben: is suspicious. "What went on here? What did you and Karl do?"
Alex: "Karl kept me company so I wouldn't have to be alone in this spooky old house. We just talked, and played games like cards and Monopoly, good clean innocent fun."
Ben: "This house isn't spooky or that old. And I sense that you are lying to me."
Karl: "Hey don't you want Alex to follow in your footsteps? You're the most skilled in the deceptive arts around."
Alex: "Deceptive arts? Oh yes, that's a useful thing to be good in, and I want to be as good as you, Daddy."
Ben is flummoxed. After a awkward pause, "Karl, just go home. We don't need you here any more now."
Karl: "Whatever. See you later, Alex."
Alex: "Good-bye, Karl."
Karl leaves.
Ben: "I need something to eat, and then I've got a big day tomorrow."
Alex: "When do you have small days?"
Ben: "Being locked in a small room and out of communication qualifies as several small days."
Alex: "When am I going to get a big day?"
Ben: "I'm sure you'll get one; everybody around here does eventually."
Alex makes dinner for herself and Ben, and then they retire for the night.
In the morning, Bea unstraps Walt and takes him to the cafeteria for another breakfast with her and Juliet. After the meal, they take him back to Room 23.
Walt: "Remember, you said I don't have to be put on the rack again until there's four minutes ago."
Juliet: "Of course we do. I hope your father is here before then." And brings Jack and Sawyer.
Bea: "Ben will see you in a little while. Until then, why don't you play solitaire? See if you're lucky in that as well."
Bea gives Walt a deck of cards with the Dharpa logo on the back. Walt starts playing, and Bea and Juliet go to Room 8 for their meeting with Ben. This is the room with the computers, including the one Walt used to communicate with Michael.
Ben arrives: "So let's see the data."
Juliet: "Here it is. It certainly looks like the first two numbers have been changed to the correct values."
Ben studies the graphs on several printouts. "Actually, I'd say the first three numbers were changed. This is very good news. The second and third were close together, so it was hard to tell. Now this first change occurred on the tenth day after the plane crash."
Juliet: "Yes. I determined that was the day Vincent ran off with Walt's clothes and John Locke tied Walt to a tree and he was left there for several hours."
Ben: "As we suspected. Now this second number – there's a blip here the fourth day he was with us, and a jump to the next whole number later. Were there two stressful incidents the same day?"
Bea: "It had to be the day he escaped. In the morning I painted 'BAD BOY' on him while he was tied to the basketball pole, and he struggled to get loose before it dried. Then late that day was when Ethan caught up with him after the escape, tied him up, and the orange smoke came."
Ben: "That makes perfect sense. But according to this the third number was changed two days later. What could have accounted for that?"
Juliet: "He was with the tail section group then, so Goodwin might know."
Ben orders Goodwin to show up in the DeGroovy Building. Goodwin arrives quickly.
Ben: "Good to see you again. How have you been?"
Goodwin: "I've been ignored for quite some time. It's good to get back in the spotlight again."
Ben: "I know what you mean. I was ignored a lot while I was in that locked room in the Swan. Now it looks like three of the Vermicelli Equation numbers have been changed already, and that the third number changed two days after you encountered Walt. Did anything particularly stressful happen that day?"
Goodwin: "Let's see, he spent the whole time in handcuffs, but he seemed used to it. We questioned him, Libby was sure he was an alien, he had to sleep in the pit … The third day … I got it! That was when we were going to leave, and he stepped in a rope trap that left him suspended by his ankles. We accused him of trying to capture us, and he wouldn't answer our questions, so we just left him hanging there for quite some time. When we came back, he started talking, but eventually got so upset that a flock of birds charged him, and there was a tremendous storm. The rest of us headed back to shelter in the Arrow, while Walt was left hanging all night."
Ben: "That clinches it. All this cannot be a coincidence. The common theme is that Walt is tied up or restrained in some manner for an extended length of time, and then gets very mad." Ben faces Bea. "Some of the things you did didn't make him mad enough."
Bea: "Being tickled by that pendulum device should do it."
Juliet: "But we made a deal. If Michael gets here with Jack, Sawyer, Kate, and Hurley, we have to let Walt and Michael go."
Ben: "If that's what they still want, so be it. But I'm going to try to convince them to change the last three numbers before they go."
Ben rolls into Room 23 in a wheelchair, where Walt is seated next to the table that serves as a rack.
Ben: "Good morning Walt. How are you?"
Walt: "Okay for now. But it's been a bummer having to sleep under that thing."
Ben: "That was unnecessary. They could have just kept you locked in a room at night. I'll make sure that doesn't happen to you again."
Walt: "Really? Thank you. So … what happened to you?"
Ben: "I have a tumor in my back and need surgery. That's why I wanted your rather to bring Jack Shephard here."
Walt: "Why didn't you just ask him? He's such a do-gooder he would have done it willingly without all this kidnapping stuff."
Ben: "That's not the way I operate. I manipulate people so that they believe they're making the decisions I want them to when normally they wouldn't."
Walt: "What do you mean by that?"
Ben: "Well, an example in your case would be for you to strap yourself onto that rack."
Walt: "I'm never going to do that! And if you're not going to get your goons to force me on that, then I'm done with that thing."
Ben: "Certainly. You've definitely suffered enough. It's only fair that someone else change the variables of the Vermicelli Equation."
Walt: "Yes, that's fair. So … how does that equation work?"
Ben: "When a certain very special person is subjected to a great deal of stress, the numbers can be changed. We've been searching for years, and you're the first person who's demonstrated this ability. Look at this data."
Ben shows Walt several graphs.
Ben: "See this jump in this graph here? This occurred late on the tenth day you were here. That was the day your friend John Locke tied you to a tree and left you there for hours."
Walt: "Actually all kinds of people left me tied to that tree. There kept coming up reasons why they couldn't untie me."
Ben: "That may have been very fortunate. This jump in the graph corresponds to when you were being tickled by Hurley. That incident changed the first number from three to four, and as a result the date of Doomsday was postponed from 2008 to 2016."
Walt: "I really caused that?"
Ben: "That's what we believe. We do have more evidence. This part of the graph is from the day you escaped from here. There's a small jump in the morning, which we figured happened when Bea painted 'Bad Boy' on you. That wasn't enough to change the second number from nine to eight, but combined with another incident late in the day was enough to do it."
Walt: "Late in that day? That's when Ethan caught me and tied me up extremely tight, and the orange smoke came."
Ben: "Precisely. That advanced the date of Doomsday to 2026."
Walt: "That sounds cool. Juliet and Bea said they thought I changed two of those numbers."
Ben: "Actually, you have changed three. Two days after that, as you can see here, the third number changed from fourteen to fifteen. We determined this occurred when you were hanging upside down from a rope trap, and got very upset over some questioning."
Walt: "Yeah, those tail-end people kept accusing me of being an alien, and Eko pointed out how much a sinner I was, and I lost it. Those birds flew over me, and there was a big storm."
Ben: "Yes. All these can't be just coincidences. The common theme is that you were restrained for an extended period of time, and then became quite angry over something. Doomsday was extended until 2038. We appreciate your participation in this, and your part is done for now."
Walt: "Uh, thank you. I'm glad that's over with. So what will happen now?"
Ben: "We will just have to find someone else to change the last three numbers before it's too late."
Walt: "So someone else will have to experience things like I did?"
Ben: "Yes. Hopefully he or she will bear up as well as you have, but if not, well, sometimes people have to make sacrifices for the greater good."
Walt: "Gosh, I feel sorry for that person. Or people, it might take more than one, right?"
Ben: "Yes, but that's not your concern. There's nothing you can do about it."
Walt feels guilty about letting someone else suffer when he is sure he would handle it better.
Walt: "If I changed another number, wouldn't that do something about it?"
Ben: "Well, yes, but like I said, we have several years to find someone else, I'm not ordering anyone strap you down there again, and in my condition I couldn't do it myself."
Walt: "I don't need anyone else to do that."
Ben: "You might hurt yourself if you tried. That blade is heavy enough to hurt if it hit you on the side."
Walt: "No, watch."
Walt gets up, and positions the straps pointing toward the center of the table. He gets up on one end, scoots back a little, and while sitting so the blade passes behind his back, puts his feet into two straps and buckles them tight. Then carefully timing his next move, he quickly lies back while the pendulum is at its highest point off to one side. He wriggles back, and by stretching can gets his hands in the other two loops.
Walt: "See? I just can't tighten the loops around my wrists, though."
Ben: "That was very clever and impressive of you. That little bit I can manage."
Ben gets up and tightens the straps around Walt's wrists. "How's that?"
Walt strains and squirms, and as usual can move only a centimeter or two in any direction. "That's good. There's no way I can get out. Actually, you could tighten this one more notch; I won't break."
Ben: "That's very brave of you, but we don't want to hurt you, and if you do get tickled it will be much more effective if you can squirm a little."
Walt: "All right."
Walt relaxes, watching the pendulum swing no more than half a meter over his defenseless stomach. Ben walks over to where Walt can see him.
Ben: "And that, dear Walter, is an example of how I can manipulate people."
It dawns on Walt that he has been tricked. What did I just do! I had a chance to escape, and I practically tied myself up!
Walt: "All this … you meant for me to end up like this all along!"
Ben: chuckles. "Of course I did. We have no way of knowing if we will ever find a subject as special as you, even with the extra years you have already given us."
Walt: "So when you said you weren't going to … and you don't need a wheelchair ... you lied to me!"
Ben: "A critic said back in Chapter 26 that it wouldn't be the last time I lied to you, and this is the first chance I've had to ensure he was right."
Walt growls, and out of frustration struggles some more, much to Ben's amusement. Of course the result is the same, and Walt feels completely foolish. He lies still to catch his breath, and then decides to try to talk his way out his predicament by flattery.
Walt: "Wow, when it comes to manipulating people, you're really good."
Ben: "Thank you. I know."
Walt: "So are you going to let me go now? That was the plan, until four minutes before the deadline."
Ben: "I can't do that now. In case your father does not come with everyone I asked for, the evidence suggests you need to be restrained in order for the experiment to proceed, so you're going to have to stay there."
Walt: "How long will the experiment last?"
Ben: "I imagine friction will stop that pendulum after a few days. We can go from there."
Walt: "Are you lying now?"
Ben: "If I lied all the time, then everyone could figure out what I mean by taking the opposite. Lying around half the time is most effective. But I'll give you some hope. Maybe you will find the threat of getting tickled so stressful that you can change another number before the blade and feather duster come down in about eight hours."
Walt: "Gee, thanks a lot."
Ben: "You're welcome. I have to go now. Try to change the remaining numbers."
Ben leaves Room 23, leaving Walt helplessly spread-eagled and dreading the descent of the pendulum. Walt closes his eyes and concentrates, trying to will the numbers to change, but nothing happens. At least there is still plenty of time for him to be rescued.
