[Sawyer walks down the beach as castaways carry the remains of a ping-pong table]

SAWYER: Ping-pong table? Where the hell did that come from?

HURLEY: Jin found it when he was out looking for firewood. We made legs for it, paddles, now all we need is a ball.

SAWYER: Found it?

HURLEY: It must’ve landed in the jungle when the hatch exploded.

SAWYER: I thought the hatch collapsed.

HURLEY: Look, dude, all I know is the sky turned purple. After that I don’t ask questions. Just make myself a salad and move on.

SAWYER: Yeah, I can see that’s working for you. Hey! You seen Kate around?

HURLEY: Wow. She’s not back yet? Hmm. [to the others] You guys find anything we could use as a ball?

BACKGROUND VOICE: No.

SAWYER: [to Paulo] Hey, that’s my Guns and Ammo. Where the hell you get it?

PAULO: It was in the magazine stack. We share things now.

SAWYER: Listen, Zorro, it was in my stuff. Stuff you all decided to have yourselves a little party with while you thought I was dead.

PAULO: Listen, hillbilly, if you want it that bad, take it. [The magazine is moved to reveal a roll of DHARMA toilet paper on a stick]

SAWYER: Just keep it. [walks away]

[Cut to Sayid, Kate, Locke and Rousseau walking through the jungle]

SAYID: We need to eat.

LOCKE: Are we still on course?

SAYID: We’re still heading north on a bearing of 3 0 5. Yes.

LOCKE: I’m sensing a lack of confidence.

SAYID: We’ve been walking for two days, following a compass bearing provided by the carvings on a stick!

LOCKE: And?

SAYID: You really think we’re just going to chance upon where The Others are?

LOCKE: I don’t know what we’re going to chance upon, Sayid, but my bearing is the only bearing we got.

SAYID: I’m going to find some fruit, and then, John, we’ll have a rational conversation regarding our next move.

[Locke nods his head. Sayid goes off to pick fruit. He hears the rattles of a cowbell. He grabs his gun. He finds a cow in the jungle. A man whistles and the cow follows to a house with a barnyard. The man is revealed to be the man with the patch]

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

SAWYER: You all looking for something like this? [holds up a whiffle ball]

HURLEY: Cool, the ball.

SAWYER: Uh-uh. We need to do a quick prid quo first. I know I’ve been gone a while and you thought the General Store was having a “going-out-of-business” sale. But now I’m back. And I want what’s mine.

NIKKI: Yeah, but it wasn’t really yours to begin with.

SAWYER: A, it was mine to begin with when I took it. B, who the hell are you? And C, because I’m fair, I’m going to let you play me for it.

HURLEY: Play ping pong?

SAWYER: That’s right, Avalanche. You bastards put up your best player. One game. And when I crush them, you all gotta bring me every piece of my stash back.

HURLEY: If you lose?

SAWYER: I ain’t gonna lose, but if I do, tell you what, name it.

[Jin and Sun talk to each other in Korean]

SAWYER: Ooh, looks like crouching tiger and hidden dragon got something good. Lay it on me.

SUN: No nicknames. If you lose, no nicknames for anyone for a week.

CHARLIE: Nice!

SAWYER: You’re on. Pick your player. I’ll be back in an hour, then let the slaughter begin.

[Cut to Sayid looking at the house through binoculars]

LOCKE: You sure it’s completely isolated?

SAYID: I’ve circled the house. Nothing but jungles surrounding it. Here. [hands binoculars to Locke]

LOCKE: Does that dish still work?

SAYID: A satellite dish of that size would have broadcasting capabilities for thousands of miles. Danielle, you once mentioned a radio tower. Is this it?

ROUSSEAU: I have never been here before.

KATE: The man in the house, you said you’ve seen him before?

SAYID: On a video feed from the Pearl Station.

KATE: So who is he?

SAYID: Only one way to find out. We ask him. [hands Kate his gun]

KATE: What’s this for?

SAYID: If I’m unarmed, he won’t feel threatened. In case he is threatened, you cover me from here.

KATE: Where are you going?

ROUSSEAU: I have no interest in that man inside the house. I have survived on the island precisely by avoiding these types of encounters. I’ll wait for you by the stream, for those of you who survive.

[FLASHBACK]

[Sayid is working as a chef. Arabic man approaches him.]

ARABIC MAN: [in Arabic] A man out front wants to see you.

[Sayid walks outside]

SAMI: Did you cook this?

SAYID: Yes, I did.

SAMI: Wow, it is delicious. My name is Sami.

SAYID: Najeev. Thank you.

SAMI: Please sit. Sit. Where are you from, Najeev?

SAYID: I’m Syrian.

SAMI: Please. والله يااخي, انت مبين عليك كثير انك عراقي مثلي. [Subtitle: You are as much as an Iraqi as I am, young man] [Literal translation: I swear, my brother, it's very clear to me that you're Iraqi like me.]

SAYID: What do you want from me?

SAMI: You’re an excellent cook. And I, I have a restaurant. Much nicer than this place. Come take a look. If you like it, I will hire you at twice your pay here.

SAYID: You’re offering a job to a stranger because of a single meal?

SAMI: I’m offering you a job because we’re outsiders here. And because, um, my chef just quit.

[Cut back to Sayid walking toward the house with his hands up. He notices a gray cat. A shot is fired and Sayid falls to the ground.]

KATE: No, he’s been hit. He’s been hit.

LOCKE: Not yet. Do you want to get shot too?

MIKHAIL: I didn’t cross the line. We had a truce. This is my land. You said I could stay here.

SAYID: I’m not who you think I am. My name is Sayid Jarrah. I was on a plane that crashed here months ago.

MIKHAIL: A plane?

SAYID: I’m unarmed, I swear.

MIKHAIL: Stay right there.

[Mikhail comes out as Kate and Locke approach. Shots are fired}

LOCKE: Drop the weapon! Stop. Back up. Back up. [picks up Mikhail’s gun]

KATE: [to Sayid] Are you all right?

MIKHAIL: You really did crash here?

SAYID: Over 40 of us, yes.

LOCKE: I’ll go in first. Make sure it’s ok.

KATE: Who are you?

MIKHAIL: My name is Mikhail Bakunin and I am the last remaining member of the DHARMA Initiative.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

[Kate and Mikhail help Sayid into the house]

KATE: Watch your step.

MIKHAIL: Please. Sit. Here, let me…[looks at Sayid’s gunshot wound]

SAYID: You’ve had experience treating gunshot wounds?

MIKHAIL: I spent some time in Afghanistan. I had experience with field medicine in the Soviet Army. [to Kate] In the kitchen, on the top shelf there is a medical kit. Will you bring it please?

SAYID: It’s alright, Kate.

[Kate goes to the kitchen]

SAYID: How did you get here?

MIKHAIL: I almost don’t know where to begin.

SAYID: Why don’t you begin with the DHARMA Initiative.

MIKHAIL: I grew up in Kiev and joined the Soviet Army. I was stationed at a listening post at Vladivostok. After the Cold War, after we lost the Cold War, my unit was decommissioned. I was dismissed from my life in the military. And after years of conducting unpleasant actions against our enemies, I found myself wanting to do something good. So I replied to a newspaper advertisement.

SAYID: An advertisement?

MIKHAIL: ‘Would you like to save the world?’ it read. That’s how I met them, the Initiative. They’re very secretive, very rich, very smart.

SAYID: So, when did you come to the island?

MIKHAIL: 11 years now. I like computers, communications equipment, being along like a lighthouse keeper. So they put me in this station. They called it The Flame.

SAYID: What is the purpose of the flame?

MIKHAIL: To communicate with the outside world, of course.

[Locke walks past a computer, which reads, “READY TO PLAY? Y/N”]

COMPUTER VOICE: Ready to play? Ready to play?

[Locke pushes Y and it reveals a game of chess]

COMPUTER VOICE: Your move.

SAYID: What happened to the DHARMA Initiative?

MIKHAIL: They’re all dead, of course. They foolishly initiated a war against The Hostiles, the purge they called it.

SAYID: How did you survive this purge?

MIKHAIL: By not participating in it. I told you, I like being alone.

SAYID: And the hostiles allowed you to stay here?

MIKHAIL: After it was over, four men appeared in the yard. They offered a truce. They said to imagine a line that extended all the way across the valley. As long as I did not cross it, I would be left alone. Then they took two cows and I never saw them again.

KATE: They weren’t interested in the satellite dish in the yard?

MIKHAIL: Why wouldn’t they be? It hasn’t functioned for years.

SAYID: Who are they, these Hostiles?

MIKHAIL: I do not know. But they were here a long time before we were. A very long time.

[Sayid screams as Mikhail takes out the bullet from his arm]

[FLASHBACK]

[Sayid is walking down the streets of Paris near the Eiffel Tower. He walks into Sami’s restaurant and sees a group of men eating]

SAYID: I am looking for Sami.

MAN: Sami!

SAMI: Najeev! I’m so glad you came. What do you think? It’s a simple place. We have simple customers. [Amira walks through the door] Ah, here’s my wife. She is in charge of the kitchen. Amira, come meet the chef.

[Sayid shakes Amira’s hands and notices that it has burn marks all over it]

SAYID: Pleasure to meet you.

[A man grabs Sayid]

SAMI: [to Amira] Are you sure this is him?

AMIRA: Yes.

SAYID: Look, I do not know who you think I am…

[The men beat up Sayid as Amira watches. Sami kicks Sayid in the face.]

[Cut back to the house on the island as Mikhail places the bloodied bullet on a plate. Sayid and Kate grimace. The gray cat scratches at a rug. Mikhail speaks to the cat in Russian and Sayid recognizes the name “Nadia.”]

SAYID: What did you just say?

MIKHAIL: I told Nadia to be polite because you are my guests.

SAYID: Nadia?

MIKHAIL: Mm hmm. After Nadia Comaneci, the greatest athlete the world has ever known. We have the same birthday. Excellent work if I say so myself.

SAYID: Thank you, Mikhail

MIKHAIL: Perhaps I can begin to earn your forgiveness by offering you some iced tea. I will also check on your friend.

[Locke continues to play the game of chess on the computer. A screen pops up saying “CHECKMATE YOU LOSE. Mikhail walks in]

MIKHAIL: Ha! Don’t waste your time. For ten years I have tried to defeat that game. But it was programmed by three grand masters. And it cheats.

LOCKE: Hmm. Well, I’ve played a lot of computers and I’m pretty sure they don’t know how to cheat. That’s what makes being human so distinctly wonderful.

[KATE bandages Sayid’s arm]

SAYID: What’s wrong?

KATE: It just doesn’t make any sense. Why would they let him stay here with all this stuff, all this equipment.

SAYID: Actually it makes perfect sense.

KATE: What are you talking about?

SAYID: The reason they let him stay here is because he is not DHARMA. He is one of them.

KATE: He shot you and you just let him- Why are we still sitting here?

SAYID: We are sitting here, Kate, because I am certain he is not alone.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

[The castaways are standing around the ping-pong table]

SAWYER: So, you really the number one draft pick, Grimace?

HURLEY: Yep. Are we playing with the mercy rule?

SAWYER: Mercy rule?

HURLEY: Yeah, if I am like up 11-0 I, you know, automatically win.

SAWYER: You’re going to go up 11-0.

HURLEY: Well, any one of us.

SAWYER: Sure, we can have a mercy rule.

HURLEY: Wanna volley for serve?

SAWYER: Tell you what, you can be my guest.

[crowd cheers]

CHARLIE: Take him down, Hurley!

HURLEY: 0 serving 0.

[Hurley easily gets a point on Sawyer. Crowd cheers.]

CHARLIE: Yes!

HURLEY: 1-Nothing

[cut back to Mikhail’s house as Mikhail brings Sayid and Kate ice tea]

MIKHAIL: I grow the tea myself. So pardon the sweetness.

SAYID: Any tea is good tea.

KATE: You know how long it’s been since we’ve seen ice?

SAYID: I noticed a series of thick wires as I walked around the station.

MIKHAIL: This is the hub. But they go around to various stations on the island.

SAYID: And these cables, do any of them run into the ocean?

MIKHAIL: Yes. There is an underwater beacon that emits solar pings to help guide in the vessels.

SAYID: By vessels, you mean submarines.

MIKHAIL: Yes. The Initiative used it to bring us to the island. But I can only imagine that The Hostiles have either destroyed it or decommissioned it by now.

SAYID: That explains how they are able to get around my position and capture our sailboat.

MIKHAIL: You have a sailboat?

SAYID: Until we lost it to your Hostiles.

MIKHAIL: That’s very unfortunate.

SAYID: Well, at least we were able to kill one of them.

MIKHAIL: Why are we continuing to play this little game when we all know it has moved to the next stage?

[Mikhail throws the pitcher of ice tea against the wall and begins to attack Kate and Sayid. Sayid and Mikhail struggle, but Kate holds up Mikhail with the rifle. Locke comes out of the room with his gun drawn.]

SAYID: Get some rope.

[FLASHBACK]

[Sayid is chained to the floor in the stockroom. Sami walks in with a bag and a bowl of water.]

SAMI: Drink

[Sayid frantically drinks the water.]

SAMI: You were a torturer, were you not, in the Republican Guard? Do you not recognize one of your victims? Do you not recognize the woman you tortured? Do you not recognize my WIFE!

SAYID: No I have never seen- You are confusing me with someone else.

SAMI: Amira was arrested for harboring an enemy of the state. She was held for three months while she was questioned. Her arms bear the scars of those questions. So I assure you, Najeev, I am NOT confused.

SAYID: My name is not Najeev. I’m Sayid Jarrah. I was in the Republican Guard and, yes, I was an interrogator. But I have never seen your wife. Maybe she saw me at the same facility, but I do not know her. I can remember every face of every person I interrogated.

SAMI: She remembers your face. She remembers it so well that she recognized you from a mere glimpse as we walked by the restaurant where you worked!

SAYID: What do you want from me?

SAMI: I want you to admit what you did. And if you don’t, you will leave this room in a bag.

[cuts back to the house on the island as Kate, Sayid and Locke ties up an unconscious Mikhail]

KATE: How do you know he is not alone?

SAYID: The horse is still saddled outside, and the stirrups are set for someone much shorter than this man.

LOCKE: You think The Others sent someone out here to keep him company?

SAYID: I think they sent someone out here because they lost communication.

LOCKE: Maybe when the sky turned purple.

SAYID: That would be my guess.

LOCKE: Well, if they sent somebody out here, they’re hiding pretty good. I checked every nook and cranny of this place.

[Sayid pulls back the rug to reveal a door in the floor]

SAYID: Not every nook and cranny, John.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

[FLASHBACK]

[Sami walks into the storage room with a chair, a club and Amira at his side. Amira sits down on the chair.]

SAMI: Are you ready to tell me the truth?

SAYID: I have already told you the truth. [to Amira] I do not know you.

[Sami hits Sayid]

SAMI: You tortured her!

SAYID: No, I would never touch a woman. [Sami hits Sayid again] Do you think this will do any good? To make me confess to something I didn’t do?

SAMI: My wife already confessed. She confessed to something she didn’t do and you poured boiling water all over her arm!

SAYID: No I did not-

[Sami hits Sayid again]

SAMI: Admit it!

SAYID: I can not admit to something I didn’t do.

[Sami walks to get the club, but as he does Amira stops him.]

AMIRA: That is enough for today.

SAMI: [to Sayid] Then I will see you tomorrow.

[cut back to Kate and Sayid as they go into the room underneath the floor. They notice a DHARMA symbol that says “The Flame.” Upstairs Locke watches the unconscious Mikhail as the computer in the other room talks.]

COMPUTER VOICE: Your move.

[Downstairs, Kate and Sayid notice a mysterious box on the wall.]

KATE: What is it?

SAYID: C4. Explosive. The entire place is wired.

KATE: Why?

SAYID: I don’t know.

[Upstairs, Locke walks toward the computer and resumes playing the chess game. Downstairs, Sayid finds a stack of DHARMA notebooks, one in particular that says “Operations Manual.” Upstairs, Locke makes a move on the game and the words YOU WIN and CHECKMATE appear and music plays. The screen fades to fuzz as Dr. Candle appears.]

DR. CANDLE: Manual override complete. For pallet drop enter 24. For station uplink enter 32. for mainland communication enter 38.

[Locke enters 38]

DR. CANDLE: The satellite dish is inoperable. Communications are down. For sonar access enter 56.

[Locke enters 56]

DR. CANDLE: Sonar is inoperable. Has there been an incursion of this station by The Hostiles? If so, enter 77.

[As Locke is about the enter 77, Mikhail draws a knife to his throat.]

MIKHAIL: Keep your voice low, and your hands in front of you.

[Downstairs, Kate finds a rack of workman shirts. All of a sudden a woman jumps out at her and attacks her. They struggle for a bit. Sayid draws his rifle.]

SAYID: Stop right there. Put the gun on the ground, now.

[KATE looks at the woman, who is Ms. Klugh, and punches her.]

SAYID: What are you doing?

KATE: It’s her! She was there! She was at the dock! She was there when we got kidnapped! She knows where Jack is!

SAYID: [draws his rifle again] Are there any more of you here?

[No answer]

SAYID: Let’s take her upstairs. John, we’re coming up. [Upstairs] John!

LOCKE: Out here!

[Outside Mikhail has a gun to Locke, while Kate and Sayid have a gun to Ms. Klugh.]

MIKHAIL: This is simple. Send her over to me and I release him, and we all go our separate ways.

LOCKE: Don’t listen to him. If he was going to kill me, I’d be dead already.

MIKHAIL: Shut your mouth!

SAYID: Listen to me!

LOCKE: Sayid, do not let her go!

MIKHAIL: I will execute you right here!

LOCKE: He’s not going to do it!

SAYID: Be quiet, John!

LOCKE: I’m the only thing keeping him alive!

MIKHAIL: I swear to you!

MS. KLUGH: Михаил. [in Russian: Mikhail.]

SAYID: Calm down everyone!

MS. KLUGH: Михаил! Ты знаешь что делать. [in Russian: Mikhail! You know what to do.]

MIKHAIL: У нас есть ещё выход. [in Russian: We still have another way out.]

LOCKE: Sayid!

SAYID: I’ll handle this, John.

KATE: John...

MS. KLUGH: Мы не можем рисковать. [in Russian: We cannot risk it.]

MIKHAIL: нет. [in Russian: No.]

MS. KLUGH: Ты знаешь условия. [in Russian: You know the conditions.]

MIKHAIL: Есть другой выход. [in Russian: There is another way.]

MS. KLUGH: Они взяли нас. Мы не дадим им пройти на территорию. [in Russian: They captured us. We will not let them to get into the territory.]

LOCKE: Don’t let her talk to him!

MS. KLUGH: Ты знаешь что делать. [in Russian: You know what to do.]

SAYID: Mikhail!

MS. KLUGH: Это приказ! [in Russian: That's an order!]

MIKHAIL: У нас всё ещё есть выход! [in Russian: We still have another way!]

SAYID: Stop!

MS. KLUGH: Just do it, Mikhail!

MIKHAIL: Прости меня. [in Russian: Forgive me.]

[Mikhail pushes Locke away, then shoots Ms. Klugh.]

SAYID: John!

[Mikhail head butts Locke. Sayid hits Mikhail with the rifle and draws it on him.]

MIKHAIL: Finish it! Kill me!

[Sayid aims the gun away from Mikhail.]

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

[Back at the beach, Sawyer is messing with his glasses. Hurley approaches.]

HURLEY: Sorry I beat you so bad, dude.

SAWYER: Sorry you hustled me, you mean.

HURLEY: My mom had a table in her basement. And I played a lot at the instit- this place I hung out at. And I got kinda good.

SAWYER: Well, hooray for you.

HURLEY: Looks like that last slam didn’t cause any long-term damage to your forehead. And you got 3 points which is better than nothing.

SAWYER: Is there something you want?

HURLEY: I came to give you back your stuff. [Throws a Playboy magazine at Sawyer] Cause I know you’re the kind of guy who needs stuff.

SAWYER: Are you a shrink now?

HURLEY: She’ll be ok, dude- Kate. I know you’re worried about her. But she’s with Locke and Sayid. She’s going to be fine.

SAWYER: Well, thanks for the pep talk—

HURLEY: Uh uh. It’s Hurley. Or Hugo if you want.

SAWYER: Get bent, Hugo.

[Back at the house Locke is at the computer. Kate is downstairs]

KATE: Ready to go, Locke?

LOCKE: Be there in a minute!

DR. CANDLE: Has there be an incursion on this station by The Hostiles? If so, enter 77.

[Outside, Sayid is walking with a gun to Mikhail.]

SAYID: Danielle! Danielle! Tell me something. Were you ever a member of the DHARMA Initiative? Or was everything you said a lie? Of course, I’m wasting my breath.

MIKHAIL: I was never a member. But everything else I told you was true. I moved into this station after the purge.

SAYID: The purge? In which a group of scientists attacked your people?

MIKHAIL: Believe what you want, but that is what happened.

ROUSSEAU: Your friends, did he kill them?

SAYID: No. They are collecting whatever is useful from the farmhouse. And now we have our ticket to where The Others live, where we will find your daughter, and Jack, and finally, perhaps, a way home.

MIKHAIL: There is nothing you could do to me to make me lead you there.

SAYID: I didn’t say you were our ticket, did I? [He pulls out a map from his backpack] This is a map showing electrical and data cabling running from The Flame, here, to a place called The Barracks, here. It’s comprised of houses and dormitories, with water and power large enough to accommodate an entire community. Sounds like a place well worth visiting, don’t you think?

MIKHAIL: There will come a time when your guard is down. And when it is, I will not hesitate a moment before killing you. You should know this because—

ROUSSEAU: He is making an excellent point. You have a map. Why keep him alive?

[FLASHBACK]

[Amira walks into the storage room with a gray cat and sits in the chair]

AMIRA: After my husband and I first arrived in Paris, I was afraid to ever leave our apartment. So I would stare out in the window into the alley, and I would see this cat looking for scraps. One day some children came into the alley and trapped him in a box. I watched them light firecrackers and drop them in the box. I could hear him howl from three stories above. So finally, I had a reason to leave my apartment. I rescued this cat and I brought him home. He sits with me when I read, sleeps with me, and he purrs. But, every once in a while, he will bite me or scratch me. He does this because sometimes he forgets that he is safe now. So I forgive him when he bites me, because I remember what it is like to never feel safe. And that is because of you. So today, I ask only one thing of you: I ask you now to show me the respect by acknowledging what you did to me. That it was you who questioned me, tortured me and that you remember me.

SAYID: I remember you. I remember your face. Your face has haunted me ever since I left Iraq. [crying] I am sorry. I am so sorry for what I did to you. I am sorry.

AMIRA: I forgive you. When my husband return, I will tell I made a terrible mistake, that it was not you, and he will release you.

SAYID: Why? Why are you letting me go?

AMIRA: We are all capable of doing what those children did to this cat. But I will not do that. I will not be that.

[Cuts back to the farmhouse where Rousseau has a gun to Mikhail.]

ROUSSEAU: We should kill him, Sayid. He already said he was going to kill us.

SAYID: No. He’s my prisoner. I will decide his fate.

[Kate and Locke come outside]

SAYID: [to Locke] I can see you didn’t see anything worth taking.

LOCKE: Actually I just played that silly chess game again. And now [to Mikhail] I can see why you didn’t want me to beat it.

SAYID: Meaning what?

[The farmhouse explodes knocking them to the ground.]

SAYID: What have you done, John? That place was our one hope of communication with the outside world!

LOCKE: The computer said that if there was an incursion of the station by The Hostiles, I should enter 77. So I entered 77.

SAYID: We should go. If anyone is around this explosion’s going to attract their attention.

[The group leaves as Sayid shines his light on the gray cat.]