Mysterious things are happening in the Institute for Kybernetik und Zukunftsforschung.
Professor Henry Vollmer, inventor of a revolutionary simulation computer,
died under unexplained circumstances.
An accident?
Suicide?
Homicide?
Guenther Lause, the head of security of the institute,
was the last person to speak to Vollmer.
Tell me what Vollmer said.
At a party of IKZ boss Herbert Siskins,
Lause attempts to speak to Vollmer's only assistant Fred Stiller,
but during the conversation, Lause suddenly disappears without any trace.
Oh my god, I am so clumsy. I scared you.
One moment please.
The police, investigating the declarations of Stiller,
don't believe him at all,
as Stiller is the only person who has seen Lause at the party.
They seem to be more interested in his alibi at the time of Vollmer's death.
I would like to know what Lause said about the death of Vollmer.
He didn't say anything special but he had a weird feeling.
Stiller became Vollmer's successor.
A perfect motive for a homicide?
Good bye, Herr Direktor.
Also Eva Vollmer, despite her sympathies for Stiller,
seems to have a slight suspicion, when Stiller surprises her in her father's office.
She denies vigorously ever having had an uncle called Guenther Lause.
A supervisor brought me here.
Also Fritz Hahn, the psychologist of the institute,
has never heard of the name of this presumed IKZ employee.
Lause? Who is he?
Ask who he is.
Stiller doesn't give up.
The filing department of the institute
doesn't mention any security employee called Lause at all.
Guenther Lause is unknown.
Is Stiller mad?
On the street in front of the Institute,
Stiller can barely escape a mysterious accident.
Does somebody seek his life?
Now Stiller gets on the case more than ever.
During an electronic expedition to the computer world,
where he interrogates the contact unit Einstein about the unexplainable incidents
he suddenly spots the very Guenther Lause,
who in the upstairs world nobody seems to remember anymore.
Stiller's confusion increases, when one night Eva Vollmer disappears without any trace.
What's up?
I would like to present you to a new assistant for your technical crew.
On top of everything the argument with Herbert Siskens gets worse,
as Siskins has different commercial ideas about the usage of the computer.
Ideas, which Stiller doesn't share at all.
He gets an overseer.
Mark Holm.
Ahh, there he is.
Stiller is close to resignation,
when an unexpected computer breakdown leads him to on a different track.
In the shape of Fritz Walfang, the contact unit Einstein appears in Stillers world
pretending, that also Stiller's world is not real but just an electronic fake world.
It is nothing.
You are not Fritz Walfang.
You are Einstein.
Oh god, what is this all about?
Let me go, please.
I don't want to go back.
This is my only chance.
I want to be a human being.
And I will manage.
This was the first step.
And I will make the next step, too.
Into the real world.
What do you mean with "the next step"?
You are in the real world.
Einstein!
Don't be stupid!
You won't have any chance!
I don't want to go back. I want to live!
Call for help! Call Edelkern!
Hey!
Yes?
Call for help!
Dear Sir, I can't hear you at all!
Speak up, you know,
my ears!
Telephone!
Help!
Edelkern, it's me Stiller.
I am in the canteen, I need help, urgently!
What's up, Fred?
What have you done to Walfang?
Bring this man to the transfer room, quick!
And launch the program for 0001!
Well Edelkern, he does look like Fritz Walfang, doesn't he?
In reality he is the identity unit 0001.
Vollmer baptised him Einstein.
Yes, but...
I think...
But I have seen him!
Please come with me.
Are you ready?
Nearly.
Let me do it.
I couldn't possibly know, that...
What is it, that you couldn't know, Holm?
What can happen...
What the hell has happened?
Attention!
Silence please, for a moment.
Something?
No, but...
Don't worry.
I just wanted to try, if I can connect myself as well.
And in the process,
Yes?
And in the process their consciousness interchanged.
He should be here soon.
Hello Fred.
Your efforts are in vain, she is not here.
Why?
Because she has already been gone since six weeks. Ill.
But...
She's been in rehab for six weeks.
Do you have the keys?
Me?
Ah, it's you! You haven't been here for a long time.
No.
Where have you been?
Have you been ill?
We have been wondering already when she would come back.
People are talking already.
There it is, the key is still under the mat where it has always been.
I always see it, when I am cleaning.
There, it is the upper lock.
Please, after you, you know the way.
She got picked up by a proper ambulance.
I wasn't there.
But everybody was talking about it.
Six weeks.
Such a long time.
Well, myself, I would also urgently need a cure, but we...
Where are you going?
What about the keys!
Strange.
She used to be so neat.
Cute little bar, isn't it?
Well, depends.
No really, it is cute!
Especially in the afternoon, you know
when everybody else is still working.
You get this kind of feeling of...
That's your trick, right?
What kind of trick?
To make an acquaintance.
No.
I don't have any rules.
Far from it.
I'm more some kind of chameleon, you understand?
I understand.
I adapt myself.
Hahn!
Hello.
Whisky?
Whisky, milk
Or whatever you think is right.
Angry?
Pardon?
Are you angry?
Two whiskies with water please.
I am not angry, I...
You had some kind of breakdown in the institute today, right?
Indeed.
Strange, I always thought, that this interchange of consciousness
would be a utopian joke.
Joke?
Well quite an intelligent joke, but...
It is not a joke!
You seem quite upset about that all.
No.
No?
No, but...
Come on, out with it!
Something is eating you!
I know why Vollmer died.
Sure, high voltage!
Yes, high voltage.
Yes.
I thought you wanted to tell me something?
He couldn't bear it anymore.
800 volts, right?
Sorry!
I could have thought of this before!
What?
Well, the people in our simulation model also believe,
that their world is the only real world.
So what?
Who says, that all this here isn't also a computer?
You, me, everything.
Maybe we are also only electronic circuits.
Identity unit 3 124 000.
Called Hahn.
How does that sound?
Quite drunk.
Whisky, peanuts, everything is artificial.
Yes, sure.
Why do you suddenly eat so fast?
Are you nervous?
Not at all.
I think, for artificial peanuts they taste quite delicious.
God damn it,
You even get into it. You now what you are?
Mad.
Of course.
Artificially mad.
Vollmer must have been incredibly scared.
Why Vollmer?
Because he knew it.
What?
That this world isn't the real world.
Stiller.
But look, he was convinced.
If he was right,
then they,
They?
Yes they!
They could have switched him off.
Off. Out! Exit Vollmer.
You know how we deprogrammed Nobody?
Who?
Christopher Nobody. It was just a fake name.
You know how?
At the push of a button.
Well, yes...
but inconspicuously.
Do you understand, what that means?
For the other identity units it had to look like a normal accident.
So they wouldn't suspect anything.
Just like Vollmer
Everybody believes it's an accident
and the system stays stable.
Do you see the analogy?
What I do see is that you shouldn't drink whisky.
And Lause?
Who?
Ah well.
They got rid of Lause too suddenly
to invent any plausible justification for his disappearance.
Therefore they erased Lause out of their consciousness.
Nobody knows that there has ever existed any Guenther Lause.
Well there hasn't.
You see?
What?
How it works?
Oh dear!
A damn lot of stuff, right?
Seriously, Fred
Shall I bring you home? You should rest a little bit.
The contact unit.
That's it.
The contact unit.
Our simulation model only works
because we gave it a contact unit. Einstein.
If we are also just a simulation model of a real world
then we also must have somebody like Einstein.
Somebody who knows everything,
somebody who keeps the contact to upstairs.
I have to find him! Help me Hahn!
I will always be there for you, you know that, Stiller.
It could be anybody.
Siskins,
Gloria Fromm,
Eva Vollmer,
Walfang,
Even you, Hahn.
Me?
Even you!
Why not you?
Why not me!
Well, I wouldn't reveal it so easily. Of course.
You would have to take me by surprise, somehow. Catch me out.
Well, yes of course.
Besides, there are proofs.
Are there?
People are disappearing nonstop.
Who has gone missing now?
Well, there is Lause
Ah, yes.
And now also Maja Schmitt Gentner dissappeared.
Who?
My secretary.
Gloria Fromm?
No, my former one!
Ah that one...
Yes, I have been in her flat.
She is reportedly in rehab,
but nobody would leave a house in a condition like that, before going into rehab.
Yes, but...
Come on, I will show it to you!
For my sake.
The bill, please!
I don't know, but...
For me everything looks fine.
But two hours ago,...
everything looked different, everything was...
Yes?
The bed,
the bathroom,
Fred!
You?
I think now he went completely mad.
When did you come back?
One hour ago.
The caretaker...
Forget it.
Come.
What date exactly you say was the article printed?
May 31th.
Apocalypse is on May the 30th.
Uschi,
Yes?
Get me the dossier for May please!
One moment.
How is the computer?
It's alright.
And Siskins?
Mhhhm. Thanks, ok.
Is he still friends with Hartmann?
Possibly.
Why not.
There are worse reasons for a friendship.
Yes, probably.
Listen Stiller,
I am actually doing you a favour,
and you could give me some informations in exchange...
I am not a good businessman.
Are there any real deals between Siskins and the Vereinigte Stahl?
I think so.
Just,
I cannot provide you with photocopies,
if this is what you want.
Tell me...
does the official simulation programme contain expansions
that might be also interesting and revealing for the Vereinigte Stahl AG ?
I think so.
Ah! May 31th.
But that is a completely different article.
Let's have a look.
CS.
Christoph Simon our correspondent in Rome.
You are sure it was that day?
Yes.
Have a look, ladies and gentlemen,
here are our reporters
and it is up to them to produce the stories.
They are editing short notices
the "bouillon cube" of the news so to say
to resolve it into stories
and deliver the background
if it exists.
And then the edited manuscript
gets sent to the case room,
which you see over there.
Thank you very much and good bye.
Tell me...
Was there maybe another different issue on May 31th?
They are both filed.
But if the expansions aren't sufficient enough for Hartmann
one could program additional ones, right?
One could, if one wanted to.
It was exactly here on this very page.
But there again is the article signed with CS.
And, does one want to?
One might want to, but not me.
Disappeared without a trace.
I remember it perfectly. I really do.
Disappeared without a trace. No idea. Really.
Drug dealer blown up in Rimini.
It might not sound more boring,
but it sits there black on white.
I don't get it at all.
Ah, could you possibly... this
Christopher Simon.
Right... could you find out, if it was really him who wrote this article?
Listen, but I am not going to ridicule myself!
Alright.
For the sake of truth.
Please!
Uschi!
Yes?
Send a telex to Christopher Simon in Rome,
and ask him, according to his article of May 31th,
if there is any news, about the Rimini affair. Hmm?
Ok.
I will bring you to the elevator
What was this additional "Stahl" programme all about?
I forgot it.
You forgot?
Alright,
Simulacron also does a traffic prognosis until 2000.
This could be very efficient for the steel enterprise.
There you are. That's something.
I don't fancy Chinese food.
Why?
I don't know, it's too sweet.
That's not true,
there are also quite spicy dishes.
Stiller is quite crazy, isn't he?
By the way, I sent the telex.
Really? But I just mentioned that because of this idiot!
Well, it doesn't matter.
Uschi,
Go and get a book about traffic prognosis, ok?
Ok.
Fred.
Yes?
You have been looking at me strangely, for a long time.
Is there something wrong?
I don't know.
I have a headache.
Why don't you lie down, if you have a headache?
I don't feel bad though.
I just have a headache.
But maybe I am just going mad.
The "Tagesanzeiger" pretends to have a hint from a reliable source,
that the renowned head of the Institut for Kybernetik und Zukunftsforschung, Herbert Siskins
has a close relationship with a certain industrial company.
The newspaper suspects,
that Simulacron 1, a simulation computer which has been developed by the IKZ,
won't be used exclusively for scientific, but also for commercial purposes.
They write, that the revolutionary results of the computer system
should remain in discrete and responsible hands
to be evaluated modestly for the wealth of the society.
So far, the news of the Tagesanzeiger.
A commission of the respective science department
is going to investigate the incidents.
And what about Siskins?
Herbert Siskins has strictly rejected the accusations
and announced proceedings against the newspaper.
Now some short notices.
Helsinki. The finnish poet Araba Suokoonnen,
famous for his interpretation of the Nibelungen,
died yesterday at the age of 86,
after crashing her private machine into a glider
at the sports airport in Helsinki.
The pilot of the glider was lightly injured.
Dear ladies and gentlemen,
we will finish now our programme
and wish you a good night.
Good night!
Siskins
or not Siskins...
Vollmer, or
Pardon?
Nothing, I just said good night to the television announcer.
Here is Stiller, connect me to Siskins.
Hello, it's me Stiller.
Would you like to come to the computer lab
I have a surprise for you.
There you are.
What's up?
What is this supposed to be?
That is you.
Ach!
I programmed it myself.
Interesting, isn't it?
Indeed.
Very interesting.
That's funny!
This seems funny to you, right?
How many Siskins exist?
I don't have any idea.
Did you program more of them?
No.
In that world, he is the only one.
Here, you are the only one.
And upstairs,
Where upstairs?
You don't know, where upstairs and downstairs is?
Nonsense, Stiller!
Here is upstairs
And there is downstairs.
Or, how deep down does it go?
It might go down endlessly.
Yes, that's right.
And endlessly higher.
Is this funny!
What is he doing now?
Stiller!
Well, well he is quite impressive, this Siskins, isn't he?
Nice office, Mark.
Nice indeed.
What do you mean by nice?
Nice as the whole world, right?
It is nice, isn't it?
Come on, shoot!
What do you really want?
I know everything, Mark.
You can stop this comedy now.
What do you know?
That you are the contact.
Well, you found it out?
Alright.
I just wanted to let you know, that Stiller got the hang of it.
Well, I want to talk to him.
Sure.
He wants to talk to you.
Yes?
But dear Stiller, it has been obvious from the beginning, that...
What was obvious?
That Holm would be here as a contact for Hartmann.
I am responsible for it.
All by myself.
Hartmann's contact.
Siskins,
What was up?
Good old Fred seems to be quite crazy.
He just rushed out.
I think the time has come now.
Yes.
I think so, too.
Hey, man!
Don't you feel well?
Is he dead?
No, not really.
Hey, wake up!
It's true. He is not dead.
Thankyou. I am fine.
Siskins gave me an explicit order to bring you home!
And to give you a hand!
Come with me.
Go back to your work! There is nothing to see.
Wake up!
Breakfast is ready.
It is true good fellow, you are still here!
But this is exactly what Herr Siskins instructed! Really, it is!
Aha, is it? Well...
Do you have a cigarette for me?
Here you are.
Thanks.
I think...
Well?
... therefore I am. Right?
Well...
Oh yes, I exist.
And still I am not the only one
who thinks that nothing really exists, right?
Oh no.
There you are.
Plato already defined reality as a pure idea.
And it was Aristotle who understood any material as a kind of passive non-substance
which through thinking only, produced reality.
Well, well.
Something else: Do you have a boyfriend?
Pardon me?
Well, yes.
Good.
Let's assume that he would have suddenly disappeared without any trace.
One minute here,
the next minute gone.
Resolved into air.
But that would be...
I said "let's assume!"
You inform the police,
the next day it is also mentioned in the newspaper.
Well,
Suddenly everybody insists that
this friend has never ever existed.
They just insist on it!
What would you say to these people?
Me? Well, I would tell them, that they are crazy!
It has even been investigated by the police!
Yes yes...
Also the police would now pretend,
not to know anything about the whole story.
But it was mentioned in the newspaper.
That's what you said!
The article also disappeared.
At its place is now a completely different article.
Ah well.
Anyhow, now you know, that I just gave you a hot hint
how to declare yourself mad
just in case, you might need it someday.
Maybe you would like to have another cup of coffee?
No, thanks.
I will go and have a shower!
The reason, that we are here together is obvious.
Of course. We...
The report of the Tagesanzeiger confused and scared us...
... and made us concerned.
I would rather prefer,
if you Herr Siskins would comment on the accusations.
Of course, Herr state secretary, of course.
Unfortunately, I have to admit,
that Simulacron 1 has been misused.
Ach!
Yes.
Herr Holm is going to give you a report concerning this case.
Excuse me,
but...
... who is Herr Holm?
Right now, Herr Holm is the assistant of the technical director Herr Stiller.
Ah yes, thank you.
Well, then...
During a revision we detected
that an additional program had been added to the simulation model
which has nothing to do with our actual research.
What exactly are you talking about?
Well...
That's difficult to explain.
The answers, Simulacron gives due to these additional programs,
are obviously only useful to the one who knows the questions.
Ach...
Yes, yes...
...the only one who would know the questions
is obviously the person who created the program!
And who was it?
This, of course, we can't definitely say.
But, we have our suspicions.
Such as ?
Herr Holm, if you please:
Well,
I can only give you some details about incidents, which I have been observing myself.
You should make your own conclusions.
Well!
Alright.
Recently, I have been doing some revisions during the night.
And everytime I meet Dr. Stiller in the computer lab.
Herr Dr. Stiller?
Yes.
And several times he even harshly showed me the door.
He said, that he wanted to be on his own.
And to my question, what he is doing there
he answered, that would be none of my business.
I am sure, he is going to deny it now.
Herr Dr. Stiller!
Yes?
What do you think about the accusations of your assistant?
Which accusations?
That you are showing him the door, when he meets you
during the night in the computer lab!
If he says so...
then he might be right.
Because I can't stand him!
Precisely...
Did you use the computer for other purposes than for state research?
And if so?
Would it be relevant?
That is outrageous, that is
Yes, outrageous, indeed.
Stiller, listen!
Yes, I hear you!
I listen.
But this man is...
Mad!
...is this man!
Is he?
Stop! You are inhaling your cigarette,
are you sure, that this is a cigarette?
It is!
That is the idea of a cigarette!
Really.
The real cigarettes are to be smoked elsewhere.
Out there, where real persons sit on real chairs.
Is that a chair?
Say, that this is a chair.
This is a chair.
That is not a chair.
But...
It is the idea
of an idea of an idea....
This man is crazy!
We already agreed on this term!
But does your coffee have a colour?
Well?
It is brown.
Why is the coffee brown?
Because coffee is supposed to be brown.
Excuse me.
You're welcome.
But this coffee isn't brown, because coffee is supposed to be brown,
but because somewhere beyond this box
may really exist coffee, which might be really brown!
But maybe...
it is violet
and some idiot made this coffee brown
in order to have a lot of fun observing us drinking brown coffee.
Herr state secretary,
you are not a human being...
That's enough Stiller!
You are nothing!
that is the lousyness.
Because nothing doesn't think,
that it would be a state secretary. That's it.
Do you remember, this...
what was his name?
Vollmer?
Professor Vollmer, exactly.
That was a similiar story, I think.
Anyhow...
Excuse me, but...
I am the institute psychoanalyst.
I have been observing Stiller for quite a while.
Quite closely.
He is suffering from an acute paranoia.
An extreme example of mental prostration.
He is...
to keep it short...
he is not responsible any more for his actions.
I would recommend
that you should grant him leave immediatly.
Rehab, or...
I am sure he will get back on track.
One day...
maybe...
Thank you Hahn.
Thank you very much.
I guess we've disposed of this problem for once and for all.
Of course, if Stiller...
Well probably he is really not responsible. Hirse?
No of course not, this man is completely deranged.
I guess it would be the best, if Herr Holm would take over Stiller's tasks temporarily.
As you wish.
We are not going to interfere in the choice of your employees.
Gentlemen, thank you very much.
And I would be gratefull, Herr state secretary,
if you would send a respective rectification to the press...
We will.
Anyway, this parallel to...
Professor Vollmer
Professor Vollmer is peculiar and perplexing.
And now?
Nothing, I am suspended.
That is really great.
Free run for Herr Holm.
So what?
What do you mean, "so what"?
So far you have always been with the computer and what is happening to it.
"So far" was one thing, "from now" is something else.
God knows what you want!
Tell me,
where are the limits of perception of our identity units?
Listen, imagine,
Both of us would be programmed entities
sitting here, drinking whisky...
and we would take our not existing environment for reality.
Of course!
An electronically faked environment
suggests reality to an electronic entity.
Good.
Are accidents possible?
That's possible but rather unlikely.
How would an accident look?
Well, how?
Here is a simple example:
You are driving along a street, which suddenly stopps,
because it hasn't been programmed entirely.
But already after a few seconds, the street would complete itself.
because the correction program would have received impulses.
That's obvious!
Because it cannot be what it can not be.
Did you see the headline?
Yes, technical director suffers nervous breakdown.
I am not very happy with that.
Why?
Because it seems to easy for me!
Stories of life are never as easy.
Really?
I know this saying only the other way round.
You can read it both ways, and I think, that speaks for itself.
Did you read this?
What?
The telex from Simon in Rome.
No, but what does it say?
I have never written about any drug rings in Rimini.
And by the way, I was ill at the time.
But that's impossible.
Well, it's getting even better:
Of course I asked Simon, what his issue of May 31st says.
Would you like to read it?
Yes, let's have a look.
My issue says: "disappeared without any trace"
I hope I can help you, Christopher Simon.
I think I'm going crazy!
I can't help it, but I think that
this Stiller is getting invoved in a massive conspiracy.
Siskins is obviously a bigger gangster than I thought.
I just wanted to bring your belongings.
Thanks. That's very kind of you.
Fred, I really am awfully sorry.
What?
Your suspension.
And, I actually feel somehow guilty.
Why is that?
I have been spying for Siskins.
I had to tell him everything what you said to me in your delirium the other day.
And also in general.
Of course.
But Gloria, I already knew that.
And nevertheless...
Nevertheless, I like you.
I like you too.
Whisky?
Yes, please.
Does he pay you, or...
Or what?
Or do you love him?
Both.
At least you are honest.
You are a little bit like my kind of man.
And you are exactly my kind of woman.
Siskins is exactly my kind of man.
Yes.
I don't can't break up with him.
Do you want that?
Hm. I don't know.
Probably not. I couldn't do it anyway.
If you want it you can do it!
That's an old wives' tail.
That's right.
I am one of his marionettes.
But what is even worse is,
that I like it.
At least during the night.
Do you want to sleep with me?
Yes.
Well?
How is it going?
The analysis is still in progress.
Let's hope you are able to interpret it properly.
I beg your pardon!
Come on!
I just want to prevent our friend Hartmann
making wrong investments.
But I have already told you, that you have nothing to do here any more.
Go away!
I am still responsible for this section, Herr Holm.
And this is my place.
Don't get cheeky!
I am not cheeky, not at all.
I just want to do the work, that I get paid for.
It's up to us, good man, for what you get paid!
You are completely mistaken, good man.
I have a contract, that outlines my field of activity quite precisely.
Contracts, Herr Walfang, can get cancelled.
Or broken.
Just like Dr. Stiller's.
What has this to do with Herr Stiller?
Well, I guess quite a lot, no?
Like what?
What?
What what?
Anyway Stiller is suspended.
Well, well all right. That is something different.
You made quite a mess with Stiller.
You are going too far Herr Walfang.
What you did!
But what I am actually personally interested in is,
why are you so keen on keeping me away from the computer?
Because you are not good enough. That's why.
That is the only reason.
And now, if you please...
We are very busy.
Ok, good man...
but I will come back to you!
Goodbye, Herr Siskins!
Goodbye.
He will be the next.
You should treat these people a bit more carefully, Holm.
Why?
There is the works council, trade union...
just a bit more careful.
Alright. I will do my best.
I hope so.
Finally!
Take care, that he doesn't cause any trouble!
That's ok.
Of course, Herr Holm.
Listen, Holm...
What is actually going on with Stiller?
If...
everything went well,
then...
he is already in the strait jacket.
Yes, it's me.
What time is it?
3.30
am or pm?
pm.
Then we have been sleeping for 18 hours.
You have been sleeping for 18 hours.
I will have a look, what idiot is ringing the bell.
Very well!
Siskins' newest trick!
What is it?
There have a look!
Quick! You have to escape!
I don't care any more.
Fred, I beg you, escape!
They are goint to put you in an asylum!
Who knows, maybe I belong there...
Stop joking, Fred!
Fred!
Hurry up, Fred!
Take the fire exit!
Fred!
How can I help you, gentlemen?
Where is the mad person?
Which mad person? I don't know what you are on about!
Stiller is his name. He is living here!
You are talking about Freddie?
Yes, he is crazy indeed.
In bed, if you know what I mean...
What do you mean with "in bed"?
Crazy, for sure!
Let us in!
Otherwise...
alright...
if you insist.
Eva!
Stiller!
Open the door! Police!
We know that you are inside!
Stiller don't cause any trouble!
Otherwise we are going to break down the door!
Get in the car man, you don't have any chance anyway!
I will bring you to a little room next door.
So nobody can see you.
Thank you very much.
Oh god! You?
Exactly, me!
What's up with you?
Don't you understand at all?
It's him!
The contact unit.
Of course, it's him!
And stupid me got deluded!
But Stiller, Hahn has been providing us with information about the core of IKZ for ages!
What is bothering you?
Information?
Yes, about Siskins
and the computer.
Well...
You still stick to your mad idea, Stiller?
Mad idea!
That's a good name for it, baby!
Let me tell you something, Hahn:
Vollmer's mad idea is beginning to please me more and more.
Yeah, right!
I know exactly, what you are going to say.
A mad person is looking for proofs wherever he gets hold of them.
Maybe I am really mad.
But...
Vollmer didn't die in vane.
And if he was right, than god or whoever shall have mercy.
By the way,
I got the telex from Italy.
You have... what...
what does it say?
You were right.
I was right.
Simon never wrote the article about the Rimini affair.
In his issue, there is an article with the headline:
Disappeared without any trace.
What?
Very mysterious, of course.
But don't worry, we are going to reveal this secret.
When does the strike start?
Which strike?
The IKZ strike , Hahn!
It was you...
Well... I don't know...
... tomorrow ...or
What's up with you?
Don't you feel well?
No, no, I am fine...
So far I am fine...
Which strike?
A man called Fritz Walfang has agitated a little bit in the IKZ.
The staff want to force calling off your suspension.
My suspension... called off...
Yes, that's great
Self-initiative, solidarity
You should be proud!
But that is not relevant any more.
You are right, Hahn.
He seems to be a real wreck.
Guenther Lause.
Head of the security of the IKZ.
Siskins' party.
Say something!
Make a proposition!
But we can't both be...
both be crazy?
Why not.
You are the expert.
Where do you want to go?
I want to go.
You can't just go.
Why?
Every policeman has a wanted poster in his pocket!
So what?
Tell me,
the story with your so called contact unit...
Yes?
Ah... nothing...
Ach!
I want to find out, who of us is the mad one.
Is it us, or the others.
There you are, that is a very honourable motive.
Come with me, I am going to get you out of here.
You won't get far on your own!
It's not Siskins, not Holm, not Gloria Fromm...
not Walfang, and definitely not Rupp.
It's neither me nor you.
What about Eva?
That's ridiculous! Eva Vollmer.
Stop at the telephone box.
Eva!
Where the hell have you been?
I have been at your house during the whole night... I...
I got in through the bathroom window.
No, but I was worried.
Don't worry... tell me...
Can we meet?
Right now?
Anywhere.
No it's nothing urgent, but...
damn, I just want to seen you!
I need you, please.
I am not nervous, I'm...
Hahn!
Do you hear me? Fred?
But it's Stiller, the murderer!
There he escapes, the murderer!
Murderer!
Are you ill?
No, it's nothing, I'm fine.
Did you make your choice?
I would like to have a wildp ig roast and a Gewuerztraminer.
Very well, perfect!
Hello?
I am from the department for civil affairs.
I have to control the emergency exits.
Retour!
Where does this door go?
I'll have a look.
Finally a man hunt from the police:
They are looking for the 36 year old Fred Stiller
former employee of the Institut for Kybernetik and Zukunftsforschung.
Fred Stiller is suspected of murder in the case of Henry Vollmer
the former technical director of the IKZ
and also in the case of Franz Hahn
who has been also an employee of the IKZ
and who died today in unexplained circumstances.
Stiller is declared as deranged and dangerous.
And it's therefore recommended to avoid any contact with this person
and to report any evidence to the closest police department...
Franz Hahn.
A man who knew too much.
Eva!
Oh my god!
Did I hurt you?
Say something!
Please.
Fred.
What is going on?
Somebody shot!
I shot, because I was afraid.
What are you doing here?
I heard that they are after you because of my father.
Ach Fred, you know, I don't believe anything.
And I thought, you need me, and I wanted to be close to you.
You can't stay here, it's too dangerous for you.
But...
No but!
I didn't kill your father, and I didn't kill anybody at all!
The whole thing is a conspiracy of Siskins and the police!
Now I can only defend myself, because nobody is going to believe me anymore.
I do believe you.
Yes.
And I love you.
Go now.
When I know more, I will come to the city, or I will call, ok?
I'm concerned about you, Fred.
Go now, Eva! You have to leave. believe me!
Eva!
How could she have known, that I am here?
I 've never mentioned the country house...
Than it must be her.
And I am nothing.
What are you doing here?
Aren't you scared?
I'm a murderer!
You got me?
A murderer!
What...
Yes?
What was your name again?
Echo.
A rare name, isn't it?
Hmm, my whole family has the same name.
Maybe I should rather bring you to a hospital?
No, no, nothing happened, it was just the car.
Please don't smoke. Monsieur...
Echo.
Herr Echo. I am terribly sensitive to nicotine.
The other day I saw a really crazy accident.
Really horrible.
A lamp post shot directly through the car.
And the driver...
Stop, I feel sick! I have to vomit.
Oh mon dieu, please not on the cushions...
Stop! This man wants to get out!
Fred!
You really shouldn't run away.
I am sorry darling.
But I don't want that you to escape.
Of course not.
But I'm sure you have more delicate methods, than that.
There upstairs.
Indeed, well there upstairs, but not here.
You learned a lot of things, Fred Stiller.
You got a bit too clever for us.
Are you the contact unit?
As we call it here...
I am the projection of a real Eva of the real world.
There is no contact unit any more in our world.
We recognised it as a mistake and got rid of it a long time ago.
And now you're going to knock me down right?
Like a rat in a cage, who doesn't react anymore to its injections.
I want to help you Fred, believe me.
Please come with me and don't cause any trouble.
Please.
I don't care about anything anymore.
Do with me whatever you want.
I give up.
Erase me, kill me, or whatever, I just want to it to be over.
This horrible nightmare.
You can trust me, Fred.
There.
I guess I owe you a lot of explanations.
Go ahead, I am in your hands after all.
Look,
There has never been any Eva Vollmer in your world,
and when I appeared in your life,
you constructed me out of some memories...
That's how a simulation unit reacts.
I know, how simulation units react.
It was a mistake, that we let you develop your own simulation model.
Somebody gets clever too easily.
On the other hand, we obviously need the best comparison for our own technological standards.
Do you have cigarettes?
No.
What happened to Vollmer?
First, we thought it would be quite interresting,
and wanted to observe its development.
But at some point, he turned into a threat for the whole system.
And he had to have an accident, you get me?
We decided to send down an observer to your world.
That's me.
I was ordered back for the reports every now and then.
That's why you disappeared that one night, when I was looking for you.
And what about Lause?
Well, Vollmer told him everything,
and he had to be erased in the last minute, because he was about to tell you everything.
I love you Fred.
And I want to stay with you.
We have to find a solution for us.
For us?
What do you have to do with it?
I love you!
Yeah, right.
They have to switch you off, Fred.
Because you endanger a whole world to get switched off.
They just pull the plug.
That's it.
You know,
in my world, the man who operates the computer
is a complete megalomaniac.
His power over this artificial world drove him crazy.
He thinks he is some kind of god.
and plays his game with you.
You for example: He didn't just want to switch you off,
or just kill you.
Far from it.
He actually really enjoyed watching your angst
and your despair.
So what is he going to do with me?
You are going to be shot.
Ach.
When?
Tomorrow morning.
Well, then we still have some time.
Yes, because during the night the building will only be technically observed.
Do you want a drink?
Yes, whisky.
Tell me,
Why for god's sake shall I trust you?
Because I want to help you.
Well, we will see...
Cheers.
What did happen to Hahn?
Well, you've seen it.
We had to do that after the accident with the telex.
You can't imagine what would...
Bravo!
Good work!
My attacks and my constant nausea...
You have them every time he tries to get in contact with your consciousness.
And the street, that the other day just vanished and then suddenly reappeared.
That was just athebreakdown of a circuit, nothing else.
There is something foul with the whole story!
Why?
Well...
How can a real person love somebody who is artificial ?
That's simple.
Because you are very similiar to somebody I was in love with. Upstairs.
Who was it?
He is...
Well, you would call him the technical director...
And he is responsible for our simulation model.
Well, well!
What's his name?
Fred Stiller.
That's...
that's me.
No.
But you just said, that...
It's the same Vollmer did with Lause, or you with Siskins.
He programmed himself just for fun as a simultaneous entity.
Do I resemble him?
Externally, yes.
You just have a different character.
Fred is a megalomaniac.
And you are you.
I love you.
I love you too.
Fred,
Yes...
Please come close to me.
Fred.
What's up with you? Why are you getting dressed?
I have these headaches again.
This time it's even worse.
Where are you going?
I don't know.
Probably to the institute.
No. No Fred, please stay!
I want to help you.
Since this Holm has been in the Institute, everything is getting confused!
Nobody has any control over the computer anymore!
That's the only reason why I beg you, dear colleagues,
to protest in the form of a strike, so the suspension of Stiller gets cancelled.
But that is a murderer! A mad person!
He lined his own pockets!
Murderer! Murderer!
Please be quiet!
Just one moment, please!
I tell you: Stiller got tricked!
Tricked by Siskins and Holm!
Colleagues!
Listen to me!
I am Fred Stiller!
The things that Fritz Walfang just told you, are true!
Colleagues! Listen to me!
It's true, what he told you! It's true!
I exchanged your consciousness, when you were dying downstairs.
You know, just like Holm the other day, when you met Einstein in the shape of Walfang.
Hair
Eyes
Mouth
Neck
Shoulders
I am.