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TV Host: Time folds back on itself! Again, his senses scream as the very impossibility of what is happening assaults them. But the champion of light endures. Each time, he gets a little closer. Each time, another detail falls into place. Now, the trap works against the herald of darkness…
Wake: Holy shit. What are you, the King Hillbilly?
TV Host: Right on cue, bubbling to the surface from untold depths, the horrors come. The emerging monsters do not expect the warm reception that has already been prepared for them.
Wake: Next stop — saving Emma.
Emma: Is it bad that this time I just went, “oh, he’s gonna be right along to save my ass?”
Wake: Not as long as I show up, I guess!
Emma: Yeah, thanks for saving me again. I’d hate to die before I’m scheduled to be murdered.
Wake: I guess I have you to thank for setting everything up at the oil derrick.
Emma: Yeah, well. I figured that if we were going to go over this again, we might as well try to be smart about it, huh?
Wake: I appreciate it. You took a big chance, going that. Are you okay?
Emma: What do you think? I’ve died twice. I remember everything pretty clearly, now. You said I was going to be okay.
Wake: I don’t know what happened.
Emma: Ahh, it’s not your fault. I think one of those — what’d you call them, the Takers? I think they did something to the power and got me that way.
Wake: I’m sorry.
Emma: I got the keys from the dead guy in that room, and I’m not handing them over until you do something about this. I’m sick of getting killed.
Wake: Fair enough. You seem calmer now.
Emma: I tried freaking out, didn’t do much good for me. I guess you get used to the craziest stuff.
Wake: Good for you.
Emma: Plus, I figured I’d take the edge off. You know?
Wake: Mm-hmm. Those herbal supplements are pretty good, huh?
Emma: Oh yeah.
Wake: I wanted to try to explain things to you now, since you’re calmer, but maybe this isn’t the best time after all…
Emma: Oh, shit, yeah, better not get all metaphysical on me now. Seriously, I’m like two sentences away from thinking about how we could all be like atoms on God’s skin or something.
Wake: Or figments of somebody’s imagination?
Emma: Um. Wow. Uh, I’m just gonna try to chill out and not think about that or getting murdered or anything, if you’re cool with that.
Wake: Gotcha.
Wake: Okay, I really don’t think they can get to the power now.
Emma: Thank you. That’s a relief. Um… Here’s the keys that you needed.
Wake: Thank you.
Emma: Hey… I have to tell you, at the diner — I went there with him, the guy who looks like you, okay? I know I said that I didn’t.
Wake: Yeah, I figured. Want to talk about what happened at the diner?
Emma: There was this guy from the observatory, and… He just attacked the poor dud, smashed his face into the tabletop a bunch of times. It was horrible. I — I didn’t know that he was gonna go that, I swear. And I just ran. I just left him there. I even didn’t try to help.
Wake: There was nothing you could’ve done. It’s not your fault.
Emma: Well, he’s dead in that motel room now, so excuse me if I feel pretty shitty about it anyway.
Wake: You shouldn’t blame yourself.
Emma: I just didn’t want to get involved. I have this tendency to just… drop everything and run. I don’t think I’m a bad person, but I — I didn’t even call the cops. I’m such a coward.
Wake: If you’d called the cops, we’d have dead cops. He’s not human, do you understand? It’s not your fault.
Emma: But I could’ve tried to stop him…
Wake: Believe me, if you had, you’d be dead. You seem to be doing a little better now.
Emma: Yeah, I guess it got easier once I got this thing off my chest. I just feel so guilty about it. Especially because I didn’t pick up on any of the warning signs. I just really liked hanging out with him, you know? He was smart and charming and funny. And hot. The way you could be, I guess.
Wake: I guess.
Emma: What’s the deal with this guy, anyway? He looks like you, he uses your name… Why does he do this stuff?
Wake: I’m not sure myself. Maybe he’s just evil, or my dark half. He does a lot of the stuff I’m trying really hard to get away from — things that just messed up my life.
Emma: I guess all those murders don’t help, either.
Wake: Yeah, I could do without the murders and the end of the world. Listen, I need to get going.
Emma: Yeah, go. I think I’m good now. I hope.
Wake: Good luck. If it all goes well, maybe this is the last time we meet like this.
Emma: God, wouldn’t that be great!
Wake: Just keep those lights on, okay?
TV Host: The fate of countless individuals hands in the balance, threatened by the machinations of the herald of darkness. And yet, for a moment, the champion of light breathes a little easier. He has saved one life. For this moment, it is enough — and soon, perhaps, he can put an end to this.