voice. Telling me things that didn't make any sense. Telling me to look behind the curtain. (Beat) So I did.
BRADY
Ricky, there was no curtain in the Masonic Hall. Just an empty stage and an old office, kind of like the one...
Brady trails off, but Ricky knows where he's going.
RICKY
Like the one in the Mystery Line commercial?
HELEN
I'm sure it's just a coincidence.
She sounds like she's trying to convince herself of this, and Ricky's not buying it.
RICKY
There is no such thing as coincidence.
No fate, no happenstance, no such thing as good luck or bad luck. Do you think you came to this town by virtue of your own investigative skills? Fuck that. You were brought here.
BRADY
That's a lot of horse shit.
RICKY
Oh, you don't realize it at the time. One thing just sort of leads to another. A map, a murder, a phone call, a message in a fortune cookie. They've got all the gimmicks. You think you're heading in one direction, and the next thing you know you're here--about as far as you can get from where you thought you were going.
HELEN
Let me get this straight--you think there is some kind of conspiracy or something that lured you ... us ... to Crampton?
BRADY
What the hell for?
Ricky sighs.
RICKY
These things I've told you so far, these are true things. You may not believe them, but I know they're true, because they happened to me. But the how's and the why's ... I can only speculate. I could say it's the Illuminati, or the Trilateral Commission, or the Freemasons, but really it's all of that. Every conspiracy theory you've ever heard is Just one little piece of what they can do. Nothing's too small, nothing's too big. You lose your car keys, your wife gets run over by a semi, some nut blows up the capital of Pakistan. Einstein said he didn't believe that God played dice with the universe. Do you understand what he meant by that?
HELEN
He meant that there was order in the universe--there was a comprehensible reason for everything that existed and that everything obeyed certain laws, even if we didn't understand all of those laws yet.
BRADY
Why are we talking about Einstein?
RICKY
Einstein's god may not play dice with the universe ... but They do. They play all kinds of games, maybe just with the world that we know, maybe with the whole fucking universe. Prom our point of view Their power is unthinkable--literally. Our brains just aren't wired to handle it. Maybe there is some kind of purpose and order, some kind of sense to the game They play. But that's not how it seems to me. To me it just seems like this insane power at work at the heart of things ... no, not at work--at play . Putting on a flimsy, pointless stageshow. And the only thing that keeps the show going is this crazy, relentless urge for more play. Just to play and play and play. Pure play for the hell of it. All for Their private amusement. That's what killed those people who called the Mystery Line. They wanted the truth, and they got it.
HELEN
What truth did they get?
RICKY
That nothing is real--nothing but Them. And They can do anything They want. They can change the entire landscape of things--make things happen that couldn't possibly happen. Or even undo something that's already happened. Not just here, but anywhere, everywhere they can put on the act. What do you do when you can do anything? Eventually you go insane, until all you want to do is play. Push a button, pull a string, just to see what moves on the other end. That's what the truth is, Agent Sweeten. That the world as we know it is nothing hut a cheap little circus
(he holds up the magic show flyer)
... and this is going to be the center ring. Unless you want to end up like me, you'll get as far away from here as possible.
HELEN
If it's going to he as bad as you say, why are you still here?
RICKY
(with a humorless smile)
Because there's nowhere to go, not for me. Besides, I think my part of the game is just about played out.
(he looks at his watch)
It's getting
BRADY
Ricky, there was no curtain in the Masonic Hall. Just an empty stage and an old office, kind of like the one...
Brady trails off, but Ricky knows where he's going.
RICKY
Like the one in the Mystery Line commercial?
HELEN
I'm sure it's just a coincidence.
She sounds like she's trying to convince herself of this, and Ricky's not buying it.
RICKY
There is no such thing as coincidence.
No fate, no happenstance, no such thing as good luck or bad luck. Do you think you came to this town by virtue of your own investigative skills? Fuck that. You were brought here.
BRADY
That's a lot of horse shit.
RICKY
Oh, you don't realize it at the time. One thing just sort of leads to another. A map, a murder, a phone call, a message in a fortune cookie. They've got all the gimmicks. You think you're heading in one direction, and the next thing you know you're here--about as far as you can get from where you thought you were going.
HELEN
Let me get this straight--you think there is some kind of conspiracy or something that lured you ... us ... to Crampton?
BRADY
What the hell for?
Ricky sighs.
RICKY
These things I've told you so far, these are true things. You may not believe them, but I know they're true, because they happened to me. But the how's and the why's ... I can only speculate. I could say it's the Illuminati, or the Trilateral Commission, or the Freemasons, but really it's all of that. Every conspiracy theory you've ever heard is Just one little piece of what they can do. Nothing's too small, nothing's too big. You lose your car keys, your wife gets run over by a semi, some nut blows up the capital of Pakistan. Einstein said he didn't believe that God played dice with the universe. Do you understand what he meant by that?
HELEN
He meant that there was order in the universe--there was a comprehensible reason for everything that existed and that everything obeyed certain laws, even if we didn't understand all of those laws yet.
BRADY
Why are we talking about Einstein?
RICKY
Einstein's god may not play dice with the universe ... but They do. They play all kinds of games, maybe just with the world that we know, maybe with the whole fucking universe. Prom our point of view Their power is unthinkable--literally. Our brains just aren't wired to handle it. Maybe there is some kind of purpose and order, some kind of sense to the game They play. But that's not how it seems to me. To me it just seems like this insane power at work at the heart of things ... no, not at work--at play . Putting on a flimsy, pointless stageshow. And the only thing that keeps the show going is this crazy, relentless urge for more play. Just to play and play and play. Pure play for the hell of it. All for Their private amusement. That's what killed those people who called the Mystery Line. They wanted the truth, and they got it.
HELEN
What truth did they get?
RICKY
That nothing is real--nothing but Them. And They can do anything They want. They can change the entire landscape of things--make things happen that couldn't possibly happen. Or even undo something that's already happened. Not just here, but anywhere, everywhere they can put on the act. What do you do when you can do anything? Eventually you go insane, until all you want to do is play. Push a button, pull a string, just to see what moves on the other end. That's what the truth is, Agent Sweeten. That the world as we know it is nothing hut a cheap little circus
(he holds up the magic show flyer)
... and this is going to be the center ring. Unless you want to end up like me, you'll get as far away from here as possible.
HELEN
If it's going to he as bad as you say, why are you still here?
RICKY
(with a humorless smile)
Because there's nowhere to go, not for me. Besides, I think my part of the game is just about played out.
(he looks at his watch)
It's getting
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