Everyone waits for us to say something. Jack makes his way to the caves, standing up on a rock so everyone can see him.
"Uh, Locke found, uh, a hatch in the ground about a half a mile from here," he says, nervously. "We left to…to blow it open so that we could hide inside. So all of us could hide inside, in case... But that doesn't matter now because it's not going to work. There's no way for all of us to get down in there tonight."
"Jack, where's Dr. Arzt?" Charlie asks.
"Um, he didn't make it."
"Did you see them?" Shannon asks. "Did you see the Others?"
"Hey, Shannon, there are no Others," Charlie says to her. "We've already had this conversation."
"What the hell would you know about it?" she yells at him. "Just because you didn't see anything!"
"There's no one out there!" Charlie insists.
"You don't know!" she screams back.
"Hey!" Jack yells, silencing them. "Everything's going to be okay. Let's just take it easy. We're going to be alright. We're going to stay here tonight, okay, together. We've still got five guns. We'll put lookouts at all the entrances. We're all going to be safe as long as we stay together. The sun comes up in three hours and we're all going to be here to see that happen. I promise." There's a rustling to the side of the crowd. Locke is going through a bunch of supplies. "John, what are you doing?" Jack asks.
"I'm getting some cable."
"What for?"
"It's for the hatch," Locke says, coiling up a bunch of cable into a circle. "I'm going in."
"Do you really think that's the smartest thing to do right now, John?" Jack asks.
"I doubt it," he replies. "In fact, you're right. The safest thing is to stay here. Wait for morning. Wait for these Others, to see if they ever show up. Wait for the brave folks on the raft to bring help. But me, I'm tired of waiting." Locke takes his coil of cable and heads back out to the hatch.
I see Sayid filling up a bottle of water. "Hey," I say, sitting down at the edge of the pool.
"So you opened the hatch," he says, without greeting. "What is inside?"
"I don't know. You can't see into the bottom. It's too dark. It's just a tunnel that runs about forty feet down. But, Sayid," I stress, making him look at me. "We were right not wanting to open it. On the other side of the door, the word 'quarantine' is stamped on the back."
"What did Jack say about that?"
"Same thing he told everyone else. That we'd wait until morning." Sayid nods his head, agreeing. "Sayid, what happened while I was gone? Why are Charlie and Shannon acting so strange?"
"Aaron was kidnapped by Rousseau."
"Who's Aaron?"
"Claire's son. She named him. Rousseau took him to the pillar of black smoke, which she had created herself. She lied about the Others to get to Claire's child."
"And Shannon?"
"She lost Vincent. She and I went looking for him, but we were separated for about three minutes. When I found her again she insisted she'd seen Walt in the jungle."
"Walt? But he's on the raft."
"I don't know what she saw, Tia. She's exhausted, she hasn't eaten."
I nod my head. "One more thing," I say. Sayid waits for me to continue. "I saw the Monster."
"What?" he says, confused.
"The Monster. The thing ripping up trees. I saw it. It tried to drag Locke down a hole in the ground."
"What is it?"
"You'll think I'm crazier than Rousseau."
"Try me."
"I giant column of black smoke, completely in control of itself." Sayid stares at me. "I told you you wouldn't believe me."
"Are you sure your mind wasn't just playing tricks?"
"Sayid, I saw it."
"Shannon sees Walt in the jungle. You see black smoke. I think we all just need to rest. It's been a long night."
I shake my head, frustrated with him. I was kind of starting to see myself as a team with Sayid. We agree most of the time, and he's normally on my side. Why won't he believe me?
I see Jack talking to Hurley and loading a gun from my spot in the caves. I look around and Kate is nowhere to be found. I walk over to him. "What are you doing?" I demand.
"Kate went after Locke down the hatch. I'm going after them."
"You're kidding, right?" Hurley asks, shocked. "You're going back?"
"Yeah," he says, finishing the gun.
"What about all that stuff you said about waiting 'til morning and watching the sun rise?" Hurley says.
"I changed my mind," he mutters.
"Jack!" I call, but he doesn't turn around. I run after and grab his shoulder. "Jack you're not going alone. You don't know what's down there."
"Back off, Tia," he says.
"Jack, I'm coming with you!" I say.
"No you're not!" he yells in my face.
I grab the nine-millimeter out of his hand. "I am not Kate," I say forcefully, looking into his eyes. "She may let you talk to her that way, but you are not the boss of me. If I want to come, I'm coming."
He looks at me, frustrated, then concedes. "Fine. But we need to hurry." He jogs back to the gun case and grabs another for himself. "Let's go."
When we get to the hatch, Locke and Kate are nowhere to be found. The wire that Locke took from the caves is in the hole. Jack grabs it and starts to pull it up. "Kate! Locke!" he calls down the hole, receiving no response.
He grabs two bits of ripped tee shirt from his bag and wraps them around his hands. "You're climbing down?" I ask him, startled.
"Unless you've got a better idea."
"Let me go first," I say. "I'm lighter than you."
"Tia, you're not going down there."
"Are we really gonna have this conversation again, Jack?" It takes a minute but he shakes his head. "Great," I say, wrapping my own hands in what's left from his ripped tee shirt. I grab the wire and tug on it, making sure it's strong enough for my weight.
"Why do you want to be here, Tia?" Jack asks me. "All you've been saying since you showed me this place was that it needed to be buried. Why go down there now?"
I hesitate. "Let's just say my curiosity has finally been sparked," I say. "Here we go." I start climbing down the hatch.
It's wet. The narrow walls of the tunnel are damp with water. Climbing down isn't too difficult. Jack belays me from above, shining a light down for me to see, but it doesn't do much good. Eventually I make it to the bottom. I flick my flashlight up at Jack twice, letting him know he can start coming down. I don't want to make any noise.
Jack lands down beside me, his flashlight already in hand. My gun is stuffed into the back of my jeans. Jack motions for me to walk behind him and I do. He points his light at a wall and a giant mural is illuminated. It's disturbing. Faces and numbers cover it and the faces don't look very pleasant.
The whole place is made of concrete with water dripping out of every nook and cranny. Jack pulls his gun out of his pants. As we move down the corridor, I start to hear a humming to my right side. Jack notices it too and he moves closer to the wall with me following. When his head is about a foot and a half away from the wall something happens.
"Jack," I whisper. "Your key." The key to the Halliburton gun case that he keeps tied around his neck is lifting into the air, like the wall is a giant magnet.
A mechanical something sounds behind us. Jack and I turn to it. My gun is still in my pants, but Jack's is almost lifted as he moves towards the sound. It's a small mirror in the corner of a concrete pipe.
"Make you own kind of music, Sing your own special song, Make your own kind of music, Even if nobody else sings along…"
The music plays loudly, filling the whole corridor with sound. My gun is instantly in my hands as I see Jack duck behind a wall. A bright light flashes in my face, blinding me.
I blink out the light, quickly adjusting. Jack is away from the wall in a separate room. I enter the room behind him and find it full of outdated machinery. Giant tape spinners and other things I couldn't identify. Jack makes his way to the center of the room, where there's a 1970's period computer sitting there, blinking a green light. Jack is about to touch the keyboard when…
"I wouldn't do that, Jack."
The music stops and an eerie silence follows. Locke stands at the edge of the entrance to this computer room. Jack points his gun at Locke.
"Where is Kate?" he asks. "Where the hell is—,"
A gun comes up from behind the wall, cocked and aimed at Locke's head.
"Move and I kill him," a Scottish voice says. "Put the gun down."
"Where's Kate?" Jack asks again.
"Jack, it's okay," Locke says.
"I said drop it!" the gunman yells.
Jack demands again, louder this time. "Where is Kate?"
"Jack, put down the gun," I say.
"I'm not putting anything!" he yells at me.
BOOM! "Do you want him to die?" the Scottish voice asks, his gun back on Locke head after he fired at the ceiling. "Put it down."
"Is this what you were talking about, Locke?" Jack says, gun still pointed at him. "Is this your destiny? All roads lead here?"
"Jack, calm down," Locke says.
The gunman moves from behind the wall to behind Locke. I can get a target on him now. I start to raise my own but he says, "Don't even think about it! Now, lower your gun or I'll blow his damned head off, brother!"
The gunman's face comes out of the shadows. "You," Jack says in recognition. Does he know this guy?
Before I can ask, the gunman says again "Lower your gun or I'll blow his damned head off."
"Where's Kate?" Jack asks for the third time. Smack. BOOM! The gunman falls to the ground, his gun discharging on the way down, its bullet, luckily missing a target. Kate stands behind him, retracting the butt of a rifle.
Jack and I run up to him. "Do not move!" Jack shouts, holding him down. I grab his gun that fell out of his hand, sticking it in my pants, while keeping the one in my hand held on him.
"Now, don't—," starts Locke.
"Don't what?" Jack yells.
"He's unarmed."
"He just had a gun pointed at your head!" I yell at Locke.
"What did you do?" the Scottish man says from the ground. "What did you do? We're all gonna die." I follow his eyes, which are staring at the computer. His stray bullet must have hit it, because it's smoking. "We're all gonna die. I have to fix it." He tried to get out of Jack's grip, but Jack holds him down.
"What the hell is he talking about?" Jack asks.
"Listen, if you do not let me up, we are going to die," Scotty insists.
"Stop moving or I swear to God..." Jack tells him.
"Look at the wall!" Scotty yells. I look up. A large box with black and white numbers reads "97:00". "You see that?! That's a timer! It's counting down! I've got to enter the code! I've got to push the button!"
"Or what?" Jack yells.
"Jack, you should let him up," Locke says.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Jack yells at him, then turns back to Scotty. "Or what? What's going to happen?"
Scotty looks at Jack. "Do I know you?" he asks. Oh, so they do know each other.
"You two got him?" Jack says to me and Kate. Kate and I both nod "yes".
Jack let's Scotty up from the floor, who runs past me. I keep my gun pointed at his head as he fiddles with the computer. "Bastard," he mutters in frustration. He stops and starts walking into another part of the bunker. Kate and I follow him and he takes us to a room, suited as a living quarters with a sofa, a record player, even a lava lamp. Scotty starts shuffling through one of the large bookcases along the wall.
"I don't think you two need those guns," Locke says to Kate and I. She lowers her's but I keep mine pointed at Scotty. There's no way I'm listening to John Locke. "Whatever you're looking for, maybe I can help," Locke says to Scotty.
"Can you fix a computer?" he asks, turning around. Locke just shrugs his shoulders. "Then you can't help me, can you?"
"Sayid can fix a computer," Kate says.
"Get him. Go and get Sayid," Locke instructs.
"Can you get back up that rope?" I ask her.
"I won't have to, there's got to be a front door in this place," she says.
"Down the corridor to the left," Scotty tells her. "Be persistent, the wheel sticks." He finds a jar of mechanical looking bits. "Gotcha," he exclaims, running back to the computer.
I follow, gun still on his head as he sits down, setting the jar aside. But Jack grabs the jar, holding it away from Scotty.
"Now, you're going to tell me what's going on," Jack demands.
"Jack, we don't have time for—,"
"We're taking a time out," Jack says, cutting Locke off.
"Please, just let me—," Scotty insists.
"Look, you want to get to work? You're going to tell me how you got here."
"It was three years ago," Scotty says, standing up. "I was on a solo race around the world, and my boat crashed into the reef, and then Kelvin came."
"Kelvin?" I ask.
"Kelvin. He comes running out of the jungle. 'Hurry, hurry, come with me'. He brings me down here. The first thing he does, because there's beeping already, he types in the code, he pushes the button, and it stops. 'What was all that about?' I say. 'Just saving the world', he says.
"Saving the world?" Jack asks, skeptically.
"His words, not mine. So I started pushing the button, too. And we saved the world together for a while, and that was lovely. Then Kelvin died, and now here I am all alone. The end."
Jack hands the jar back to Scotty, who goes back to fiddling with the still-smoking computer. I decide to lower my gun. Scotty's too distressed to pull an attack.
"Don't tell me you believe this," Jack says to Locke. "This is crazy. You think that makes sense? Pushing a button? You're going to take his word for it?"
"His word is all we have, Jack," Locke says.
"You don't have to take my word for it," Scotty says, not looking up from his work. "Just watch the film."
"What?" I ask him.
"The bookcase. Top shelf, behind Turn of the Screw. Projector's in the pantry."
The three of us walk over to the bookshelf, looking for Turn of the Screw. Locke finds it first, reaching deep into the shelf. He pulls out an old tape roll. On the edge of the case, the word "Orientation" is stamped there.
Jack finds the projector and he and Locke set it up as I take a seat on the sofa. Oh my gosh, comfort. I haven't felt a real cushion that wasn't worn from some stranger's butt in such a long time.
"So what happened before we showed up, John?" I ask.
"Kate was tied up, Desmond had a gun on me. I think you pretty much caught the gist of it." He answers.
"Desmond…" Jack says. I notice that it's not a question. That must be Scotty's name.
"He wanted to know a lot about us. How we got here. If we were sick.
"You didn't ask anything about him?" Jack asks.
"He was the one with the gun."
"You sure seem calm for someone who believes the world's going to end in the next forty-five minutes," Jack says.
"He'll fix it."
"You understand that what he's saying. It's insane. It's impossible," Jack says.
"Why is it insane?" Locke asks.
"Because the last time I saw a computer that was going to save the world, it didn't look like that," Jack says, thrusting his finger in Desmond's direction.
"Is the reason you're so upset because he said he recognized you? Because that would be impossible," Locke says. Jack doesn't respond.
Jack and Locke finish setting up the projector and join me in from of it. A title screen plays with the words
The DHARMA Initiative
3 of 6
Orientation.
An octagonal logo with a swan in the center appears on the black back-round. Soon, it is replaced by an Asian man wearing a white lab coat.
"Welcome, I'm Dr. Marvin Candle, and this is the orientation film for Station three of the DHARMA Initiative. In a moment you'll be given a simple set of instructions for how you and your partner will fulfill the responsibilities associated with the station. But first, a little history."
Candle's figure is replaced by images of what he starts to describe.
"The DHARMA Initiative was created in 1970, and it is the brainchild of Gerald and Karen DeGroot, two doctoral candidates at the University of Michigan. Following in the footsteps of visionaries such as B.F. Skinner…" The film has a splice in it, cutting off Candle's monologue. He continues with "…imagined a large scale communal research compound where scientists and free thinkers from around the globe could pursue research in meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, electromagnetism, and Utopian social…" there is another splice. "Danish industrialist and munitions magnate Alvar Hanso whose financial backing made their dream of a multi-purpose social science research facility a reality."
The video cuts back to Candle's figure. "You and your partner are currently located in Station Three, or the Swan, and will be for the next 540 days. The Station Three was originally constructed as a laboratory where scientists could work to understand the unique electromagnetic fluctuations emanating from this sector of the Island.
"Not long after the experiments began, however, there was an incident. And since that time the following protocol has been observed: every 108 minutes the button must be pushed. From the moment the alarm sounds you will have four minutes to enter the code into the microcomputer processor…" A third splice occurs. "…induction into the program. When the alarm sounds, either you or your partner must input the code. It is highly recommended that you and your partner take alternating shifts. In this manner you will stay as fresh and alert…" Splice "…utmost importance that when the alarm sounds the code be entered correctly, and in a timely fashion. Do not attempt to use the computer for anything." Splice. "Congratulations, until your replacements arrive, the future of the project is in your hands. On behalf of the DeGroots, Alvar Hanso, and all of us at the DHARMA Initiative, thank you. Namaste. And good luck.
An end screen with the words "The Hanso Foundation, 1980, All Rights Reserved" appears, ending the film.
Jack and I exchange a look. His face reads frustration. Mine reads confusion. "We're going to need to watch that again," Locke says, getting up and going to re-thread the film.
"You're going to watch that again?" Jack asks, shocked
"Aren't you?" he asks.
"No, John, I'm not," Jack says, getting up and walking toward Desmond.
"What about you?" Locke asks me.
"The DHARMA Initiative?" I say. "So it's like, a group of people who came to the Island to conduct…research? So where are they now?"
Locke smiles. "Like I said, I'm gonna watch that again."
The thought of watching it again makes my head spin. I decide to get up and I follow Jack's footsteps back into the computer room. He's there, talking to Desmond.
"So, you don't get out, you don't see anyone?" Jack is asking Desmond. "Where does your food come from?" But Desmond is too absorbed in the computer. "You really think this is happening?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Desmond asks, distracted.
"It says "quarantine" on the inside of the hatch to keep you down here. To keep you scared. But you know what? We've been up there for over forty days and no one's gotten sick. You think that this is the only part of it that's true?! Do you ever think that maybe they put you down here to push a button every one hundred minutes just to see if you would? That all of this, the computer, the button…it's just a mind game? An experiment?"
Jack has a point. The more I look at the tiny, outdated computer, the more I start to accept the video I just watched as false. A button on a computer can't save the world. What is it saving us from?
Desmond looks up from the computer for the first time at Jack's suggestion. "Every. Single. Day?" he asks, unconvinced of Jack's accusation. "And for all our sakes, I hope it's not real. But the film says this is an electromagnetic station. And I don't know about you, brother, but every time I walk past that concrete wall out there, my fillings hurt."
I remember the way Jack's key gravitated toward the wall. Electromagnetism. That's what this hatch is saving us from?
I notice Desmond look at the clock. "Right," he says, sitting back down in the chair and putting the lid back on the computer. He crosses his heart with the Sign of the Holy Trinity and flicks the screen switch.
The power in the whole station goes out, leaving us in the dark. But a generator must have brought lights back because these are much dimmer than the ones before.
"Oh no," Desmond exclaims.
He gives up on restoring the computer. Locke runs into the computer room. "What happened?" he asks us frantically.
"It's over," Desmond says, staring at the count-down.
"What do you mean, it's over?" Locke shouts.
Desmond runs out of the room.
I've had it! Whatever I thought was going to be down here, this isn't it. I need some time to clear my head.
Desmond is leaving the hatch with a pack slung over his shoulder. Jack follows him out the corridor. I make my way over there, intent on leaving.
"Tia, you can't leave too!" Locke say to me as I pass him.
"Don't tell me what I can't do, John. You really think that computer is going to cause the end of the world? Fine, but keep in mind: that computer never would have gotten shot if you hadn't blown open the hatch. Desmond would have gone about his merry day, pushing that button until whenever and it wouldn't have been our problem. But no, you had to open the hatch. You had to see what was inside."
"No matter what you do, you will always find a way to blame everything on me, but this isn't my fault! This wasn't supposed to happen!" he yells back.
"Then what was supposed to happen?"
"The Island was supposed to help us!"
That stops me. "The Island was supposed to help us? It's an Island, John. A piece of Earth protruding out of the ocean. You can't blame this on a rock. This. Is. Your. Fault."
"I'm sorry about Boone," he says. "I didn't want him to die. I wanted to teach him, to help him."
"Then why did you let him die? Why didn't you tell Jack and I the truth about his injuries?" I yell, tears threatening to slip through my eyes once more.
"That wouldn't have mattered. Boone was a sacrifice the Island demanded."
My gun is still in my hand because Desmond's is in the butt of my pants. I raise it fast, pointing it at Locke's head. "Don't you ever talk about him again," I say, putting every ounce of threat I can in my voice. "If I ever hear you say his name again, I will kill you."
Locke stares at my face, ignoring the gun. "Please, Tia," he says, his voice back to an eerie calmness. "I need your help. I can't do this alone."
I lower the gun. "You are on your own, John." I follow the corridor and walk out the door at the end into the sunlight.
I don't go far from the door. I need to get my thoughts straight.
Boone is dead. He fell from a cliff inside a Beechcraft. He's gone from me forever.
There is a hatch in the ground. We blew it open with dynamite we retrieved from a pirate ship called The Black Rock in the middle of the jungle.
Inside the hatch is a man named Desmond. Desmond has been in the hatch for three years pushing a button that saves the world from an electromagnetic explosion.
There used to be a science research company in the 70s and 80s called The DHARMA Initiative that conducted experiments on the Island.
…Yeah, my life isn't complicated at all.
I sit outside the hatch's front door for a long time thinking about the day's revelations. It's so much to take in. I don't know how long I've been sitting here, but soon, Kate, Sayid, and Hurley come out of the jungle.
"What's going on?" Kate asks, approaching.
"Desmond couldn't fix the computer so he ran off. Jack chased after him, leaving me alone with Locke. He pissed me off, so I left. Came out here to get some air."
I nod to Sayid and Hurley who both look confused at the situation.
Kate and I lead them into the hatch. When we reach the computer room, Locke is sitting on front of it, his hands on his head.
"Dude," Hurley says, taking in the surroundings.
"What is this place?" Sayid asks.
"I need your help," Locke says to Sayid without answering the question. We need to fix this computer."
Sayid sits in the chair, examining the old box. "We need power," he says. "Is there an electric circuit?"
"Desmond blew the electricity about twenty minutes ago," Locke informs him.
Sayid turns to Kate, Hurley, and I. "I need you to look for an electrical panel."
We leave the room, looking around at the concrete walls.
"What does it look like?" Kate calls to Sayid.
"It's a breaker box," he yells back. "There has to be one. Follow the conduit lines."
"Cool, okay, great. What's a conduit line?" Hurley asks.
Kate points at the ceiling. "Those tubes. Follow those."
Hurley walks into the living area and I hear him exclaim, "Whoa!"
"Did you find it?" I call to him.
"Depends on what you mean by 'it'," he calls back.
I'm searching the concrete walls when I hear Kate yell from about eight feet away "Found it!" Two seconds later, the lights are back, illuminating the hatch.
I make my way back to the computer room and an alarm starts beeping. The counter above the computer room arch has started counting down by seconds instead on minutes. There are just over three minutes left.
Sayid puts a lid back on the computer and flicks the switch on the screen. The flashing green light is back, waiting for something to be typed.
"It's on," Locke says, taking the seat from Sayid.
"Okay, so what now?" Kate asks.
"There was a code. He made me enter it."
"What code?" Hurley asks, concerned.
"Do you remember what it is?" Sayid asks.
Locke starts to type. "Four, eight."
"Wait a minute," Hurley says.
"Fifteen, sixteen."
"Dude, I'm serious, stop."
"Hugo, this is not the time or the place," Locke says, trying to remember the numbers.
"Yeah, well, I think it is!"
"Twenty-three."
Hurley starts panicking. "What is this thing? You don't even know what it does! I mean we need—,"
"Thirty-two," Locke finishes. His index finger rests above the "execute" button.
"You know what?" Hurley says, calming down. "Forget it, go ahead, do your thing."
Locke is about to press the "execute" button when a voice speaks from the archway of the computer room.
"It's not thirty-two. It's forty-two. He just told me, Desmond. The last number's forty-two." Jack stands at a distance, far away from the computer.
"You're sure?" Locke asks.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
Locke types "42" into the computer. His finger hovers over the "execute" button. He pulls his hand away and looks over to Jack.
"You do it, Jack," he says.
"What?"
"You have to do it."
"You do it yourself, John."
"No, you saw the film, Jack. This is a two person job, at least."
Sayid cuts in. "This argument is irrelevant."
He makes a move to press the button, but Jack stops him. "Sayid, don't. Don't. It's not real." He turns back to Locke. "Look, you want to push the button, you do it yourself."
"If it's not real, then what are you doing here, Jack?" Locke asks. "Why did you come back? Why do you find it so hard to believe?!"
"Why do you find it so easy?!"
"It's never been easy!"
The alarm keeps sounding, the timer now slightly over a minute. "Maybe you should just do it," Kate says to Jack.
"No. It's a button."
"I can't do this alone, Jack," Lock insists. "I don't want to. It's a leap of faith, Jack."
Jack stares the button down as the timer gets closer and closer to zero. At one second left, Jack pushes the button, a look of defeat on his face as the timer flicks back to one hundred and eight minutes.
"I'll take the first shift," Locke says, somewhat smugly, sitting down in the chair.
The timer ticks to one hundred and seven minutes.