Ow!
Look, I'm all for nature walks,
but these mosquitoes are like stealth bombers.
Hang tough. We've got three hours here.
I'll be a few quarts low by then.
This way.
Grandpa, I'm scared.
You must be brave, Amy.
Especially now.
No.
This is my destiny and duty.
And soon it will be yours.
Look, are you all right?
I'm okay.
Daddy was right.
It didn't really hurt.
My elbow stings from falling down.
That's all.
Who was that man?
My grandpa.
He was chosen.
Just like me.
What if you found a portal to a parallel universe?
What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds
where it's the same year and you're the same person,
but everything else is different?
And what if you can't find your way home?
Are you sure you're all right?
Come on.
Listen, what were you chosen for?
For the good of all the others.
Everyone knows that.
I'm Rembrandt. What's your name?
Rembrandt? Yeah.
I like that name.
I'm Amy.
Nice to meet you, Amy.
This is Maggie.
Hi, Amy.
What is it?
I don't know. Some kind of natural phenomenon.
Can you feel that static discharge?
We have to help him. How?
Hello? Hello?
Oh, come on.
It's way too dangerous.
Hey, what's in this pit?
It's not a pit.
It's the Chasm.
Are you sad about what happened to your grandfather, sweetheart?
It's not that.
All right, come on.
We'll take good care of you, all right?
Uh-huh.
Don't worry, Rembrandt. She'll be fine.
Why do you say that?
I don't know.
I feel very strange. I know I should be upset, concerned,
but for some reason, I'm not at all.
There's a kind of peace here.
In spite of the way things look.
I just have this feeling everything's going to be all right.
Get your balloons.
It's nice, isn't it?
I don't know, Q-Ball, I'm expecting to see Donna Reed or the Beaver.
The Beaver is some kind of cultural icon on some worlds.
Well, he had his own show.
What they mean is, it seems a little too perfect.
Afternoon, folks. Lovely day.
Sheriff, it's a good thing that we ran into you.
Look, there's been an accident.
Well, Amy. How are you?
Everything go all right?
Yes, Sheriff Hardy.
Sheriff, did you hear me?
Her grandfather, he fell into some kind of bottomless pit.
So, you folks new in town?
What does that have to do with it?
Enjoy your stay.
What's going on here?
I don't know, but you'd think that the man would care more.
Oh.
Hello, Amy.
How nice to see you.
And who are these attractive people?
This is Rembrandt.
Hello, Rembrandt. Nice to meet you.
I haven't seen you folks around town before.
Well, we're just passing through.
Well, I hope that you'll stay a while.
We don't get so many visitors here in Middletown anymore.
Why?
Gosh, I really don't know.
It used to be that Middletown was a real vacation destination,
but now it's just mostly us locals.
Oh well, anyway, my name is Mrs. Meadows.
And I run a malt shop right around the corner
called the Sweet Shack,
because "All we speak is sweet, sweet, sweet. "
If you need anything just anything at all, just call on me.
Thank you very much. We'll do that.
It was very nice meeting you.
Listen, can you tell us where we can find Amy's parents?
Well, I suppose her father is most likely where he usually is
at the Temple tending his flock.
Drop in and see me, Amy, and I'll fix you up with a chocolate malt.
Now,
bye, now.
Ooh, what a lovely day.
Hello, sweetie, how did it go?
Okay, I guess.
There is no power greater than sacrifice, dear heart.
The offering fuels the calm. You know that, don't you?
Yes.
Did the transference take place?
Ah, yes.
To be among the chosen is to answer the highest calling there is.
Well, hello.
I've not seen you before. Who might you be?
I'd be one of the people who found your daughter here at the edge of a ravine,
crying her eyes out.
She was hit by what looked to be an electrical force of some kind.
She seems okay, physically.
But it left her pretty upset.
Usually the chosen experiences the transference alone.
Why did you break the tradition?
We didn't know there was a tradition.
We were just hiking in the woods, didn't mean any harm.
It's unusual, but I suppose if everything went all right, there's no need to worry.
Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but, uh,
Amy's grandfather fell into that chasm thing.
Dad was a good man.
Fortunate to be called.
Shouldn't we go looking for him? Form a search party?
The Chasm requires souls.
This is how it's been and always will be.
Look,
your dad could be terribly hurt, even dead.
You don't care about that?
He was called. He was chosen.
As was my wife. Don't you know the power of sacrifice and redemption?
Not into a pit, I don't.
I'm afraid I must ask you to leave.
No.
You've upset my daughter. Please go.
Now.
Come on, Remmy.
Folks here sure are nice.
Yeah. Why?
What are you so paranoid of?
We finally find a pleasant and peaceful world.
That should be enough. Popsicles.
Yeah, well, it doesn't look like Amy feels that way.
You know, I don't get you, Q-Ball.
We just saw this old man kill himself.
His son thinks it's just great,
and you seem to be okay with that.
I have this feeling that Amy's gonna be fine.
That everything will work out for her.
Quinn Mallory, scientist,
objective realist,
turned mindless optimist? Now that's a picture I never thought I'd see.
Well, just let me know if you're gonna break into a chorus of "Let It Be. "
There's that feeling again.
I should be totally on edge right now,
wondering when all this is going to blow up in our faces.
But you're not.
I saw a man die, but I don't sense any danger. Why?
I don't know, but to be honest,
I'm beginning to feel the same thing.
Me, too.
Yeah, it's, uh, not happiness exactly, but...
Content.
I don't remember the last time I felt like this.
Maybe when I was a kid back in San Francisco.
Well, I'm happy that everybody is so mellow,
but if you don't mind...
I'm gonna nose around and see what I can come up about this chasm thing.
I think that's a good idea.
But frankly,
I think everything's a good idea right about now.
Why don't you and Colin hang here while Maggie and I go
on a little reconnaissance mission?
Hi.
Oh, oh, I knew you couldn't resist it.
Two chocolate malts?
Specialty of the house.
Absolutely.
We can diet on the next world.
How are you folks enjoying Middletown?
Fine.
We're just a little thrown by something, though.
What's that?
Well, everyone seems so content.
And that throws you?
Well, I know, that it's a strange thing to complain about,
but we're rather new here.
Praise be unto the Chasm.
It fills our hearts with peace and contentment.
So you're saying that the Chasm is responsible
for everyone feeling so good about themselves?
Yes, dear,
if we do right by the Chasm,
then It does right by us.
We give it a soul,
and it gives us back contentment.
You give it a soul when someone jumps into the Chasm?
That's correct.
And then when one goes,
another who is standing by receives the force through a transference.
Yeah, that's the electrical zap?
The force.
And when the melancholy gets too overwhelming,
then that person has to make a sacrifice.
Then that little girl Amy is next?
Well, you can't just take, take, take.
In order to have peace, you have to pay for it.
And I should know.
I gave my son, Adam, unto the Chasm.
It's for the common good.
You think Amy sees it that way?
It seems as though we ought to try and get inside that chasm.
And see if we can find the grandfather.
If you want.
You have a better idea?
To be honest, Colin, I really don't have any ideas right now.
All I know is that I like it here.
Me too.
But we have to think of what's next.
I'm tired of thinking about what's next.
Always on the move,
always trying to acclimate to some strange, new world.
No home, no friends.
A different bed every few days, that's if there even is a bed.
We slide soon.
First, I think, we should try to help that little girl.
You know, Colin, I'm not really sure I'm ever gonna slide again.
What?
I'm burned out, man.
I finally find a place that I like. Why leave it?
You don't mean that, Quinn.
Maybe, I do.
What about finding our parents?
How do we know they're even still alive?
Do you want to waste the rest of your life chasing some dream?
Here's the timer.
As for me,
I am going to catch a nap.
When the time comes, go if you want to go.
I think I've found a new home.
Hey.
You find anything?
Yeah, that everybody's as happy as a clam,
and the Chasm seems to have everything to do with it.
How much time till we slide?
Two hours and 17 minutes.
Where's Q-Ball?
Taking a nap.
A nap?
He said he's home now. He's through sliding.
What?
There's something seductive about this world.
There's no doubt about it.
I can feel the peace myself, but something is wrong.
It's like a drug or something. It's not real.
Whatever it is, Quinn's more affected by it than we are.
Maybe the people with greater stress are more prone
to the calming affects of this place.
Yeah and it's getting stronger.
By the time the timer counts down to zero, none of us are gonna want to leave.
No!
Somebody's not content.
No!
What are you doing here?
You defile this holy place.
Do you think a child can accept the burden of the Chasm?
Your mother knew what it meant to give herself.
Daddy!
You'll never be like her.
No!
No, Daddy, please!
You will never be the chosen one. No, no, Daddy, don't!
Amy?
No!
Amy, it's okay.
Amy, Amy.
No!
Amy, it's okay, calm down.
Amy, I'm here.
No!
What are you doing here?
I'm trying to help your daughter.
Something's scaring her to death.
Her life is in the hands of something much more powerful than you.
Come here, sweetie.
Amy, come to Daddy.
Come to Daddy, Amy.
No!
Amy.
No!
Amy!
Amy, wait!
Amy!
Wait, it's Rembrandt! Your friend. Wait!
Amy!
Amy, no!
Amy!
I am chosen.
Listen to me, Remmy.
A poisonous force is driving you.
I don't know anymore.
I don't know!
Please, Rembrandt, play it back.
It all started with that girl.
The girl.
Amy.
Right, Amy.
She was consumed by the same force that has you.
I tried to save her.
I couldn't stand to see her so down, so blue.
Rembrandt, think back to when you last saw Amy.
What's the use?
Stop it, Remmy!
Now come on, think back.
Amy, no!
Get back!
Go ahead, jump.
You'll always be a disappointment to your father.
Amy, step back.
I am chosen.
No!
Amy.
Amy. Where is she?
I tried to stop her.
My head.
She can't have gone. It's too soon.
I tried to save her.
The chosen must serve for years before they are taken.
You did this. You and your friends.
You don't know the serenity of our people.
Your pain has driven her to this.
I told you that I tried to stop her!
A lightning bolt hit me. I couldn't move.
You have taken the transference?
You are chosen?
I don't want anything to do with this weird cult of death
you people have here.
It's too late. You have the sadness, now.
It will only deepen, getting darker and darker.
Then reverse it!
You don't understand.
You are the chosen.
You are to give yourself unto the Chasm.
That others shall know peace.
Forget it.
I'm not part of this. I'm not jumping into some black pit.
No one can withstand the enveloping sorrow.
You will welcome your sacrifice when the time comes.
Admit it, you like it here.
We've been through hell and high water looking for our home world.
We can't stop now.
Hell, high water, Kromaggs, evil doubles.
Thank you, but I think I'll take all the popcorn and cotton candy I can eat.
And the best sleep I've had in years.
Okay, but someone has to suffer and die
in order for you to get a good night's sleep.
The way this world works.
Remmy.
Hey, Rem, what is it?
What happened to you?
Amy? Is it Amy, did she...
This, too, will pass.
You're not fooling me with your grief, Rembrandt.
I know what's really going on.
You spent three months in a Kromagg prison.
No one could resist that much mind manipulation.
What is it?
He's just feeling a little stressed.
I told you. It'll pass.
Stress like that is too much for any human.
That's why you abandoned Wade.
You were working with the Kromaggs.
It wasn't my fault!
Now I didn't abandon Wade. They took her!
Wade?
What are you talking about?
What happened to Wade, I live with that every day.
You. Remmy?
And stop trying to kill me!
You tried to stab me once, and you'll do it again.
That wasn't me!
That was hypnotic suggestion!
The Kromaggs own you.
They control you. Admit it!
No! Admit it!
You're one of them. No!
Rem, wait!
Rembrandt!
I've always carried an aching fear deep inside.
A fear that haunts me to the bone.
Depression,
it can work your soul like a vice-grip,
squeezing out happiness,
and replacing it with mind-numbing sadness.
Until we landed on this world
I never knew how lethal that could be.
I am chosen!
Don't do it!
I'm doing this for everyone else,
for their peace of mind.
No, think it through.
Maybe it's your time, Rembrandt.
Go ahead,
take the plunge.
You'll feel better.
I'll decide that for myself, Mallory.
You no longer have the free will.
You're a pawn for the Kromagg Dynasties.
They're inside your body,
control your every move.
That's why you tried to kill me.
That wasn't the real me.
You're kidding yourself.
It's the only you that exists now.
Release yourself from the torment, Remmy.
Go ahead. Jump.
Jump.
It's the honorable thing to do.
Remmy, you'll die.
Don't do it.
I am chosen!
Listen to me. Remmy.
Whatever you're seeing, it isn't real.
It's this place. This force. It's infected you.
Your head's spinning with hallucinations.
You don't know,
it's like I can't catch my breath.
Rembrandt, we slide in less than an hour.
You have to get it out of you before then,
or it could carry with you forever.
Slide?
That's over with now.
It is not.
No, no, it won't work.
We're on your side.
Then let me do what I must do.
Let me give myself to the Chasm.
That you might know peace!
No.
I am chosen!
He's dead.
Remmy's dead.
I can't believe that.
I won't. Not until we know for sure.
Just face it,
there's only the three of us left.
And who knows how long that will last.
You have to use all your resources against this thing, Maggie.
Every last ounce of your will.
Oh, Colin,
you don't know, you can't feel it.
I do know. You have to focus.
I feel so dizzy.
Sit down.
Try to gather your strength.
Remmy was a good friend.
I'll miss him.
Is that all you have to say?
To be honest, Colin,
I really don't feel that bad.
It's not that I'm happy about it,
but it really doesn't bother me, either.
It just happened.
Rem was the best friend you ever had.
And you still want to stay here?
Don't you get it?
You're so calm because someone else is suffering.
First Amy, then Remmy,
now Maggie.
Where is she?
Maggie?
Get your balloons.
Sheriff,
we have to talk about something. It's important.
What could possibly be important?
Life is simple.
Life is relaxed.
Life is good, Reverend, and you help to make it that way.
Sheriff, the strangers have been chosen.
That's kind of interesting, isn't it?
When Amy was taken, the force went into one of them.
And now a second one has been chosen.
I've been Sheriff for 23 years.
I never once heard of anything like this.
You have to do something!
Are they doing anything unusual?
They've been chosen! Isn't that unusual enough?
They're resistant to the ways of the Chasm.
There's no sense in that. No one can go against the Chasm.
What do you plan to do?
We watch them. Close.
If they have been chosen, like you say,
the Chasm will deal with them.
If not, I will.
I often feel completely alone in the universe.
My husband taken from me,
my world and everything in it wiped from existence,
it's like I'm locked in solitary confinement,
serving a life's sentence behind the walls of my own skin.
Quinn doesn't care about me.
I'm not from his Earth. I'm not Wade.
I'm just excess baggage he has to drag through the vortex.
And Colin's so busy trying to figure out his new life,
he barely even notices me.
I'm all alone.
Maggie, wait!
Where's Colin?
He went back to town.
Why are you looking at me like that?
Colin was right.
You're like a magnet
for my fear and pains.
And as you take on my sorrow,
I feel more content.
Happier.
See,
when I move back,
your tears stop.
And you're not smiling.
Oh, Quinn,
I can't do this alone.
You have to help me. You have to
figure something out, please.
We'll find a way, Maggie.
We'll get this force out of you.
How?
Remmy!
Remmy.
I can't handle it. Let me go.
Okay, okay, look, let's breathe.
You're not really alone. You have your thoughts. Memories.
Remember what Dad used to say, "Courage is 50% of a fighter pilot's arsenal. "
Not alone, not alone.
It's worse since Steven was killed.
Knowing him was the best thing in my life.
And now that he's gone and I'm so alone...
You're not alone, Maggie.
Quinn, you scared me.
I'm here for you. Always have been.
Where are we? Who cares?
We're here,
and again, maybe we're not.
Quinn, stop doing that, you're scaring me.
Come on, where's the fun-loving, wisecracking girl
I used to know?
Where's the girl I could have loved?
Almost did. Almost made her mine.
Too late.
Sorry, I guess you didn't want to hear that.
Quinn, please stop.
You are really looking down, Maggie.
But I can help.
You don't have to feel so lonely. There is a way out.
There is? How?
Go back to the Chasm.
Don't be afraid.
When you feel the wind pick up, spread your arms and dive.
It'll take care of the loneliness.
It'll take care of everything.
No, Stop.
Stop, Quinn.
Quinn, stop. No.
Maggie, you're hallucinating!
This is not real.
Quinn?
...ropes, spikes, you know.
Andy says one of the strangers took a bunch of rope, spikes and such.
It's like they were going mountain climbing.
There are no mountains around here.
Yes, but there's a Chasm.
They can't do that.
It's against the natural order.
There will be terrible consequences.
Andy, we're borrowing some guns.
I'm deputizing you boys.
We must maintain the peaceful calm.
At all cost.
You wanted me to jump into the Chasm.
You said it would end my loneliness.
That wasn't me.
How do I know this isn't really you?
Maggie, how can I convince you?
It was awful, you just kept leaving me.
I won't leave you. I promise.
I can't get close to you.
We have to stay focused.
You don't care about me.
No, you know that's not true. I can't get close to you
because I give you my depression.
I can't stand this anymore.
Maggie, get back here. Please.
Rembrandt left,
and then Colin left.
Rembrandt is in the pit.
Colin has not left you.
He's not here.
He'll be back.
There's only one way to end this loneliness.
Maggie!
You came back. Why did you come back?
So we can all go inside the Chasm and find Rembrandt.
But I need your help.
Will you help me?
Why?
Because we are all a part of each other.
Wherever you go, I go.
I won't abandon you.
You won't abandon Rembrandt.
Search your heart, Maggie.
That's the way it is with us.
Thank you.
Let's go see what's inside.
Now remember, we ain't looking to make friends or take any prisoners.
You almost done over there?
One more loop, a turn and there.
Where did you learn how to do that?
Brother, necessity is the mother of all fancy knots and harnesses.
Only one place to go.
You get one?
No.
Keep shooting, boys.
Take my hand.
We go together.
That was almost better than sliding.
Once you get past the take-off. How much time?
Now you're going with us?
This place is wearing a little thin.
Twelve minutes.
Here, why don't you take it?
Are you all right?
Where are we?
Fairly industrial for holy ground.
Come on, let's go find Rembrandt.
Hello.
Hello. We're looking for our friend, Rembrandt.
Oh, don't worry about him.
What are you doing down here?
You might say that I am the Keeper of the Flame.
You jumped into this thing?
Oh no, no, no, dear. I use the service entrance.
Is our friend down here?
In a manner of speaking, he's crossed over.
To what?
To suspended animation.
It's, uh,
it's in the brochure.
Middletown's an amusement park?
One of the happiest places ever.
That's why there's popcorn and cotton candy everywhere.
Exactly.
Middletown is the home of the world's happiest ride.
And you are near the end of it.
"World's happiest ride?"
Why does it look like a bottomless pit?
All great leaps of faith look forbidding at first.
The faint of heart get discouraged.
But the chosen one presses ahead.
The chosen one.
So the chosen one takes on the weight of the world.
Not the world.
Just those that live here
and benefit from the transmigration of bio-energy.
So this transference of emotion is real?
Oh, yeah.
All the pain literally goes to the chosen one?
How?
It's all very scientific.
It was invented by my great, great grandfather,
a long, long time ago.
You see, there is a real transfer
through some kind of parallel energy field.
We know about transfers of parallel energy fields.
What makes it a ride?
That's how it started a long, long time ago.
You see, wealthy people used to come to Middletown
and pay dearly
to channel their problems through a trained facilitator.
And then he was placed into suspended animation,
along with the woes and worries of the visitor.
And then when the visitor left,
their cares were returned to them.
But, uh, no one leaves anymore.
So this person, this chosen one,
he just takes on more and more until no more can be taken?
That's when they leap into the Chasm.
And then they are placed into suspended animation
so that the troubles never come back.
And then another must be chosen.
Nobody ever resists?
They welcome it.
It is now your time, dear.
She's not going.
I'm afraid it's our way.
You folks have pushed this thing too far.
You and your friend should never have been chosen.
But since you were...
Why don't you take me instead?
I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to change... Or me?
I'm ready to go. I...
Now take us to our friends.
We slide in five minutes, Colin.
This it? Yeah.
The chosen ones.
How do we get in there?
Only the chosen may enter.
Can we turn off the machine? Release them?
Of course not.
I mean, what would we do without the chosen ones to cleanse our souls?
Anyway, the machinery is fully automated.
The controls are inside.
I'll go.
Only the chosen.
It has to be me.
You don't have to do this.
I do.
I have to get rid of these feelings.
Will she freeze right away?
The process takes a few moments.
I can turn off the machine from the inside.
Here,
you better take this.
Good luck.
Your suspension is about to begin.
You will see nothing, feel nothing, know nothing.
Remember, your sacrifice brings
peace and contentment.
Middletown park wishes to say, "Thank you. " Quinn.
Quinn, it's so cold.
Hang on, Maggie.
The transfer is complete.
Now, Maggie!
How are you feeling?
Freezing.
Better.
How about you?
Worse.
Nervous, afraid we're going to miss the slide,
wondering if we did the right thing.
The usual.
Well, then it worked.
Where are we?
On our way out of here.
Are you all right?
Yeah.
Just cold as hell.
A little stiff.
I'm alive.
Is this the Chasm?
Yeah. I think so.
Pretty weird, huh?
Yeah.
Mom!
What did you do?
The people won't be able to control themselves
they'll be overwhelmed with the highs and lows,
with pain, and sorrow.
How dare you? I mean,
who are you to come and destroy our lives?
They'll learn to live with it. Like we all do.
Mom?
Adam.
I did what you told me to.
I leapt into the Chasm.
I didn't know you'd be here, too.
Were you chosen?
No, Son. I wasn't chosen.
I just came here to be with you.
It's cold in here. Can we go home?
Come on, guys, we gotta go.
This is one of those emotional highs she was talking about.
We got a minute fifty.
Emotion is what makes us human.
Yeah, you have to take the bad with the good, the whole package.
Well, maybe she has a point.
Who are we to pass judgment on other worlds?
We can't tell people what's right or wrong.
You just get them to look at things from a different perspective.
Come on, guys.
It's been a long day.
At least you got a nap.
Want to go together?
Yeah, why fly solo?
What will they do now?
They'll have to live with everything. Good and bad.
Like we all do.