A prisoner steps out from behind the wall, a weapon held in his shaking hand.
García: I was just setting up my exhibit when everything started shaking. Then I realized it wasn't just my imagination.
García: So I followed the cracks in the wall and found my way here.
García: I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but something's happening to the Panopticon, isn't it?
His panicked hands shift the gun toward Aleph, who has collapsed on his side.
García: Are you the Physician? Or is it Aleph?
García: Whoever you are, please, please restore the Panopticon to the way it was! I'm begging you!
García: You-You can do that, right?
Aleph: ...
The mind that once created infinity now watches as it folds back into nothing before him.
García: Why? Why aren't you doing anything? Damn it! Why is this happening?
García: Oh, oh, the die! If you won't help me, then I'll do it myself!
The prisoner, in desperation, lunges forward.
Recoleta: Calm down, García!
COMBAT
Sonetto: Timekeeper, he's ...
García, weakened by his long confinement, is easily knocked to the ground, unable to withstand even the lightest touch of arcane skill.
García: Why? Why is this happening to me?
García: I was so close ... so close to completing the exhibition.
Recoleta: Can't you see, García? There is no one controlling this place now! You're free!
Recoleta: It isn't the die that's trapped you, nor is it the walls of this prison.
Recoleta: It's the rules and that overpowering gaze from the central tower, but now that's all gone.
Recoleta: You can go outside. You can set up your exhibit anywhere you want. No need to stay stuck in this—
Looking back on all that he has lost, the artist cuts her off.
García: No, Ms. Recoleta. You've seen the world out there. You know as well as I ...
García: ... that there's nowhere else I can go but here.
García: This is the only place in the world where I can hold my exhibit.
García: And you've ruined it. You've ruined everything.
Recoleta: ...
Vertin: This room's about to collapse. We've got to leave.
Vertin: Mr. García, do you need a hand?
García: I can take care of myself, thank you.
García: I ... I'll go a different way. I have to go back and finish setting up my exhibit.
He drags himself forward with trudging steps, retracing his path to leave.
Recoleta: Vertin, what about Aleph? We can't just leave him here.
Vertin: Of course not. We still have questions he needs to answer.
Vertin: Sonetto, help me get him up. Let's get out of here.
Sonetto: Yes, Timekeeper.
The dejected prisoner looks at Sonetto with confusion.
Aleph: Your words are always at odds with your thoughts. You carry an ocean of questions, yet never reveal even a single drop of them.
Aleph: Why have you never shared your doubts? Why do you stay silent in the face of everything and everyone around you?
Sonetto: ...!
Sonetto: I ... I believe in my duty.
The prisoner shifts his gaze to the other Foundation investigator.
Aleph: As for you, Paracausality Researcher. You're different from any other seeker of answers.
Aleph: Even on a desperate, near hopeless journey, your heart holds little doubt.
Vertin: Perhaps not every question needs an answer, Mr. Aleph.
Aleph: Is that so?
The prisoner, so used to answering others' questions, seems to have run into one of his own. But unfortunately, no one is here to answer it.