(The bungalow. TOBY, RUSS and SASHA are hanging out. TOBY and SASHA are watching TV, RUSS is wandering around, looking at the equipment strewn about Toby's room.)
RUSS: Toby, have you been really busy or something? Seems like there's twice as much as stuff here as before.
TOBY (looking up from the television): Oh, some of it belongs to Elizabeth. She lent me some of her inventions so I could analyse them, to see if I wanted to borrow any of her ideas. Some of my stuff's over at her lab too.
RUSS (slightly doubtful): Borrow her ideas?
TOBY: Yeah. It's an exchange of scientific knowhow.
SASHA: Yeah, and that's not all you two have been exchanging.
TOBY (pretending to be offended): Hey! (more earnest) It's not quite like that. (gestures at random equipment) It's more of an intellectual connection at the moment.
RUSS: Yeah right. She's all over you, man.
TOBY: We're taking things slowly. You can't just forget the past. And that goes for both me and Elizabeth.
SASHA: You mean you haven't made up your mind about her 100%?
TOBY: Well, I suppose the genius part in me has a tendency to keep over-analysing things. And you heard her yourself: being nice doesn't exactly come naturally to her.
RUSS: Yeah, that's slightly worrying.
(A knock at the door. TOBY jumps up to answer it. It is ELIZABETH. She kisses him on the cheek and comes in.)
ELIZABETH: Hi!
RUSS and SASHA (slightly awkward): Hi Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH: Something the matter?
TOBY: No, not at all. Just hanging out.
ELIZABETH: Ok. Mind if I hang out with you?
TOBY: Of course. Make some room on the sofa there guys.
SASHA: Actually, Russ and I were just leaving. Eh, Russ?
RUSS: Were we?… Oh yeah.
SASHA: You two probably want to be on your own.
TOBY (awkward): Err…
ELIZABETH (opening her bag): Wait, don't go. I have something for you.
SASHA (surprised): Really?
(ELIZABETH takes a biscuit tin out of her bag.)
ELIZABETH: I just baked a new batch.
RUSS (pouncing on them): Excellent!
ELIZABETH (continuing to look through her bag): And just in case you don't get to eat any of them, I got you this. (takes out a book and hands it to SASHA). It's that vampire novel I was telling you about.
SASHA (leafing through the book): What, vampires versus the Inquisition?
ELIZABETH: That's the one. It's really grisly too. No nice vampires. No sexy vampires. No romance. Just cover to cover unsentimental gore.
SASHA (touched): Thanks, Elizabeth, that's really nice of you.
TOBY (smiling and putting his arm around ELIZABETH): See, what did I tell you? Elizabeth's a nice, gentle person.
ELIZABETH (pretending to be offended): Are you making fun of me, Toby Johnson? Would you prefer it if I was into handsome vampires seducing innocent young girls?
TOBY: No, no, you can stick to the ugly, psychopathic ones.
ELIZABETH: Anyway, you'd better behave yourself or you won't be getting your present.
(RUSS and SASHA cackle at this.)
TOBY: Uh, didn't you two say that you were going?
SASHA (smiling): Yeah. Come on, Russ.
RUSS (through a mouthful of cookie): Do you mind if I…?
SASHA: Go on… bring the cookies with you.
(SASHA and RUSS leave.)
TOBY (intrigued): So, what was that about a present?
ELIZABETH (going back to her bag): Patience, Toby. I have it right here in my bag. Close your eyes.
(TOBY hesitates for a moment, then closes them. ELIZABETH removes a small vial of black liquid from her bag, takes TOBY's hand and places the vial in his outstretched palm. TOBY opens his eyes and looks quizzically at the vial.)
TOBY: What is it?
ELIZABETH: It's a special kind of ink. It reacts to the signals in your brain that create mental pictures. If you pour out a little, the ink arranges itself into whatever you're thinking of.
TOBY: You just invented this?
ELIZABETH: Came up with it this afternoon. It's adjusted to react to your thoughts only. So only you can use it.
TOBY (nonchalantly): So when I think about you, the ink will form itself into a picture of you. Is that right?
ELIZABETH (smiling): Yeah it will, but that's not why I gave it to you.
TOBY: No?
ELIZABETH. You can see my face whenever you want, Toby. No, I thought it would be useful for when you're thinking about people you can't see – like your mother. Why don't you try it?
TOBY (serious): Ok. (He goes and takes a sheet of blank white paper, unfurls it on the table, then pours a few drops of the ink. In about ten seconds, the ink rearranges itself into a realistic drawing of TOBY's mother. He looks at the picture in silence for a while. Then the ink rearranges itself back into random drops on the page. TOBY gets up and gives ELIZABETH a big hug.)
TOBY (quietly): It's an amazing present. Thanks.
ELIZABETH: Don't mention it.
TOBY: Thing is, I don't have anything for you.
ELIZABETH: You know that you don't have to…
TOBY (interrupting): But I want to. Thing is, how can I match this? (TOBY suddenly hyperfunctions. He smiles.) Wait there. This won't take long. Sit down and make yourself comfortable.
(ELIZABETH obeys. TOBY takes the vial and starts to run some tests on it in his home lab, separating out a part of the ink and adding various substances to it. He is soon finished and returns with a second vial containing a bluish-black liquid.)
TOBY (shows ELIZABETH the vial): Here. I've adapted it slightly. I thought of a very specific use for it.
ELIZABETH (intrigued): Ok!
TOBY: Take off your cardigan.
ELIZABETH: Toby!
TOBY: Go on! I want to show you something.
(She takes off her cardigan. She has a short-sleeved top on underneath.)
TOBY: Now, stay still. (He dips his finger into the ink.)
ELIZABETH: What are you doing?
TOBY: This. (Taking hold of her elbow with one hand, he dabs the ink onto her upper arm with the tip of his finger. When he has finished, the ink daub rearranges itself into the words 'Toby Johnson' in small, neat letters on her arm. ELIZABETH looks down and touches the inscription with her finger. The words don't smear or change in any way.)
ELIZABETH: Toby, I….
TOBY (pleased with himself): I rearranged its molecular structure so that it stays fixed in the form I tell it to. And because it still obeys my thought patterns, only I can remove it. (ELIZABETH runs her finger more vigorously over the writing, but it remains unchanged, as if it were a real tattoo.) I can take it off if you want.
ELIZABETH (softly): No. Don't do that.
(TOBY sits down on the sofa next to her.)
TOBY: So you like it?
(ELIZABETH kisses him hard on the lips.)
TOBY: So what shall we do this evening?
ELIZABETH (reaching into her bag and taking out another USB stick): I brought my memories round. Did you want to watch them?
TOBY (smiling): Who could refuse an offer like that?
ELIZABETH (connecting the USB stick to TOBY's computer): I'm just going to fast forward to the best parts.
(She sits down next to TOBY and they begin to watch the images.)
(Scene: TOBY and ELIZABETH in ELIZABETH's house – the same scene that DINA was watching previously)
ELIZABETH (sad): I was going to say: completely stupid. The most stupid so-called genius there ever was.
(TOBY reaches out and touches her arm.)
TOBY: Hey. Maybe we don't have to go back there.
ELIZABETH (in a low voice): I'm not out of there.
(They sit down on the sofa.)
TOBY: But are you ok?
ELIZABETH (shrugging): I'm as ok as I have any right to be.
TOBY (awkward): Are you going to... you know, come outside again? See people, hang out?
ELIZABETH (sad): Who am I going to hang out with? Who wants to hang out with me?
TOBY: Well... I would.
ELIZABETH: Would you? What would your friends say?
TOBY: It doesn't matter. We would work it out. (softer) Don't you think that things would be different?
ELIZABETH (pensive): Well, they would have to be. I would have to be. I can't go on the way I was before.
TOBY (awkward): I don't know if you heard... (sighs) Jack and Nikki have left Sandy Bay.
ELIZABETH (smiles slightly): I won't pretend I'm not pleased to hear that. But I'm sorry for you. It must be pretty painful for you to see Nikki leave.
TOBY: It's not like that. (pause) It was probably for the best that she left. We didn't exactly part on friendly terms.
ELIZABETH: Toby, you don't have to say anything. It's not really my business. (takes a deep breath) I mean, if Nikki wants to...
TOBY (interrupting): Elizabeth… all that stuff with Nikki… and Jack… it's in the past now.
ELIZABETH: Toby, it's not about them. Or about you. It's about me.
TOBY: What do you mean?
ELIZABETH: If I can't control myself, I'll ruin everything again. Your genius didn't change how you are. But mine did. It's like it's wired up to every negative thought I have. I want to control everything around me, even you, or especially you, because I can't control this thing in my head. It makes me crazy, Toby.
TOBY (reaching out his hand): Elizabeth, you're not crazy.
ELIZABETH (ironic): Really, Toby?
TOBY: Well, you have done some pretty crazy things I admit, but you're not actually crazy.
ELIZABETH (bitter): You know how I always said that we're alike, you and me. Well I was wrong about that too. Even though you're a genius you're normal. I'm so far from normal.
TOBY: It's not that. You just need to have...
ELIZABETH: A conscience?
TOBY: Elizabeth, you have one. You must have one.
ELIZABETH: It's in there somewhere. Sometimes I even think I feel it waking up and biting me, but then it all slips away.
TOBY (darkly): Is it as difficult as that?
ELIZABETH (sad): Yes, for me it is.
TOBY: Is there anything I can do to help you?
ELIZABETH (reaching out her arm to touch TOBY's hand) Yes, your being here helps me. Seeing you reminds me of all the horrible things I've done to you.
TOBY: Elizabeth, maybe we don't need to…
ELIZABETH (grabbing TOBY by the wrist): I do need to go over this. Do you know which memory sickens me the most?
TOBY: Which one?
ELIZABETH: That time when I trapped you in the time loop, in my fantasy of what being with you would be like.
TOBY (smiling ruefully): Elizabeth, that wasn't the worst thing you did, not by a long way.
ELIZABETH: I don't know, but it feels the worst. How do I stop myself from being that girl?
TOBY: I don't know.
ELIZABETH (getting up): I know. (She quickly leaves the room, goes upstairs to her bedroom and takes the microchip from the box on the bookcase. She goes back downstairs, sits down next to TOBY on the sofa and puts the chip down on the coffee table in front of him. TOBY picks up the microchip and looks at it.)
TOBY: What is it?
ELIZABETH: It's something I made over the holiday. It identifies impulses in the brain when someone thinks bad thoughts. Then it sends a message to the brain's pain centres. So when you think bad thoughts, you…
TOBY (shivering): Get zapped.
ELIZABETH: So to speak.
(TOBY looks at the microchip with a very worried expression. He realises what she intends to do.)
TOBY: And you want to install this in yourself?
ELIZABETH (matter of fact): Yes. But I need your help, Toby.
TOBY: My help?
ELIZABETH: You need to finish it. Install mechanisms that make it impossible to override, that I can't know about. Then install it in me somewhere I can't get at it to get it out of me.
TOBY (shaking his head): This is crazy.
ELIZABETH: It isn't. Not if you do it. You're the only one I could trust to use it properly. How else can I get you to believe in me? The only way is to put myself completely at your power, because you would use that power to do what's right. And if I ever proved myself to you, you could even switch it off. What do you think?
TOBY: Do you really think that without this you can't be good?
ELIZABETH (leans closer to TOBY): The truth is that I could if you liked me. But that would just be emotional blackmail. And I should know because I'm pretty much an expert in it. How does it sound to you? 'Like me, Toby, and I'll be good.'
TOBY: I see your point.
ELIZABETH: That's why it has to be this. (She holds up the chip.)
(TOBY stares at her, deep in thought.)
ELIZABETH: What is it?
(He appears to hyperfunction. He smiles at ELIZABETH.)
TOBY: Let me try something.
ELIZABETH (looks at him oddly): Ok.
(TOBY takes ELIZABETH by both hands and then kisses her on the mouth. Their lips part and they smile at each other.)
TOBY (with conviction): Elizabeth, trust me, you're good.
ELIZABETH (smiling): Ok.
(The memories end. Only now we see that RAUL and EVA have been watching them. They obviously copied the memories from the USB stick.)
EVA: Oh, how touching.
RAUL (sarcastic): Yeah, I'm almost having second thoughts about breaking them up.
EVA: That conscience chip would be really useful.
RAUL: Yeah. It was nice of Elizabeth to provide us with a back-up plan, in case we can't convince her to join us.
EVA: We get that chip, we could even use it on Toby.
RAUL: We could, but I prefer to use the path of least resistance.
EVA: We have to get those body switching suits tonight.
RAUL: And we will. (He takes a copy of Dina's key out of his pocket.)
EVA (impressed): Those hands of yours certainly move fast.
RAUL: We aim to please.
(EVA goes into the other room, comes back with what look like two vivo polymer suits.)
EVA: Put these together this afternoon. What do you think?
RAUL: They'll do very nicely. Although Elizabeth is so off the ball that I don't even think she'll notice.
EVA: Well, let's get going then.
(They start to pack up, ready to leave).