Tom and Kate Baker have raised their twelve children: Nora, Charlie, Lorraine, Henry, Sarah, Jake, Mark, Jessica, Kim, Mike, Kyle, and Nigel, in Midland, Illinois. Kate narrates throughout the film and hopes to publish the book she has written telling about the family's story. Tom receives a job offer from Shake McGuire to coach football at his alma mater in Evanston. Tom accepts the offer, but the children oppose his decision to move and are unwilling to leave their friends. The atmosphere at the Bakers' new house becomes tense, and Charlie and Mark are bullied at their respective schools.

Kate embarks on a national book tour to promote her newly published book. Tom has Nora and her self-absorbed boyfriend, Hank, help look after the other children while Kate is away. The younger children dislike Hank as he hates children. When Hank arrives, the children trip him into a kiddie pool filled with dirty water then soak his underwear in raw meat while he is showering. At lunch, the children unleash their dog on him. Nora and Hank storm off, and Tom angrily cuts off the children's allowances for their actions.

After a chaotic night, Tom realizes he cannot handle the children on his own. No babysitter is willing to work with a family this large, so Tom brings the football players to practice in the living room for Saturday night's game as the children do their chores. The younger children crash the birthday party of their neighbor, Dylan Shenk, which Tom had forbidden them to attend for fighting in school and not doing their chores. When a frustrated and homesick Charlie is taken off his school's football team, he accuses Tom of moving for selfish reasons. Tom discovers Hank sneaked in and slept over, violating the rules. Hank upsets Nora by saying he does not want children and expects her to feel the same.

Kate gets a call from the children about the chaos and cancels her book tour. Her publisher instead invites Oprah Winfrey to film the Bakers in their home. Despite Kate's coaching, the Bakers cannot recreate the loving, strongly bonded family she describes in her book. Before the filming starts, Mark is upset when his pet frog dies, but Sarah coldly says nobody cares, causing a fight to erupt and the producers tell Winfrey to cancel the filming.

Later that night, Kate discovers that Mark has ran away from home. Tom believes Mark is trying to return to the Bakers' old home and finds him on a train bound for Midland. The Bakers reunite the next day and begin to address their issues. Tom retires from his job to spend more time with his family. At the end of the film, the Bakers celebrate Christmas together as the chandelier in their living room breaks off the ceiling and crashes to the floor.

Brilliant but eccentric scientist Seth Brundle meets science journalist Veronica "Ronnie" Quaife at a meet-the-press event held by Bartok Science Industries, the company funding his work. He takes her back to the laboratory of his warehouse home and asks her to exclusively document his invention: two pods that can teleport objects between them. While the "telepods" can transport inanimate objects perfectly, they are unable to teleport live tissue, as demonstrated when a baboon is turned inside out after being teleported.

As they experiment with the invention, Seth and Ronnie begin to form a relationship. Using two steaks, one a control and one teleported, Seth discovers that the machine is creating a synthetic version of biological material rather than the object itself. He reprograms the system to understand the makeup of living tissue and successfully teleports a second baboon. Ronnie departs before they can celebrate, and Seth worries that she is rekindling her relationship with her editor, Stathis Borans. She actually left to confront Stathis about a veiled threat, spurred by his jealousy of Seth, to publish the telepod story without her consent. While drunk, Seth teleports himself alone, unaware that a housefly had entered the transmitter pod with him. He emerges from the receiving pod seemingly normal.

After Seth and Ronnie reconcile, Seth exhibits sugar cravings, as well as increased strength, agility, stamina, and sexual potency, which he believes resulted from the teleportation "purifying" his body. Ronnie becomes increasingly concerned about Seth's deteriorating sanity as well as strange, bristly hairs growing from a wound on his back and developing sores on his face. When she expresses her worries, Seth becomes aggressive, insisting that the process is beneficial. He tries to force Ronnie to undergo teleportation, but she refuses.

Seth goes to a bar and partakes in an arm-wrestling match, leaving his opponent with a compound fracture. He brings a woman, Tawny, back to the warehouse where they have sex. Thereafter, Seth tries to coerce her into teleporting. Ronnie intervenes, and Seth throws her out. When his fingernails begin falling off, he realizes that something is indeed wrong. He checks his computer's records and discovers that the telepods confused the two lifeforms, fusing him with the fly at the molecular-genetic level.

Seth continues to deteriorate, losing body parts along with his human appearance. After several weeks, he reconnects with Ronnie and reveals he is a hybrid of human and insect, which he has nicknamed "Brundlefly". He has also begun vomiting digestive enzymes onto his food before eating and is able to cling to walls and ceilings. He is even losing his human mentality in favor of uncontrollable, primitive impulses.

Seth installs a fusion program into the telepod computer, planning to dilute the fly genes in his body with human DNA. Ronnie discovers she is pregnant with Seth's baby and has a nightmare of giving birth to a giant maggot. She demands that Stathis persuade a doctor to perform an abortion in the middle of the night, but Seth, overhearing Ronnie's fears, abducts her before the procedure can take place. He begs her to carry the child to term, since it may be the last remnant of his humanity. Stathis breaks into Seth's lab with a shotgun, but Seth disables him using his corrosive vomit to destroy Stathis' hand and foot, stopping just short of vomiting acid onto his face when Ronnie screams at him to stop.

Seth reveals his final plan to Ronnie: he will use the telepods to fuse the two of them, along with the unborn child, into a single entity to become "the ultimate family". During a struggle, she accidentally tears off his jaw, which triggers his final transformation, shedding his decaying flesh to become a monstrous, insectoid-human creature.

Seth traps Ronnie in the first telepod, puts himself in the other, and begins the countdown. A weakened Stathis recovers his shotgun and severs the cables connecting Ronnie's telepod to the computer. Seth breaks halfway out of his own pod, but the fusion process activates, gruesomely amalgamating him with a chunk of the telepod. Seth crawls to Ronnie and places the end of the shotgun to his head, silently begging her to end his suffering. Looking on at the creature that was once Seth Brundle, she tearfully fires, killing him instantly. She falls to her knees in despair.

''Cold Lazarus'' is set in the 24th century, in a dystopian Britain where the ruined streets are unsafe, and where society is run by American oligarchs in charge of powerful commercial corporations. Experiences are almost all virtual, and anything deemed authentic (such as coffee and cigarettes) has either been banned or replaced by synthetic substitutes.

At a cryonics research institute in London, funded by the pharmaceuticals tycoon Martina Masdon (played by Diane Ladd), a group of scientists led by Dr. Emma Porlock (Frances de la Tour) is working on reviving the mind of the 20th-century writer Daniel Feeld (Albert Finney), whose head was frozen after Feeld's death shortly after the events of ''Karaoke.'' Unable to see any profit in the project, Masdon considers discontinuing it, but the media mogul David Siltz (Henry Goodman), who has been spying on Masdon, envisages making a fortune from broadcasting Feeld's memories on TV, and proposes to Porlock that her team work for him.

Porlock is unaware that a member of her team, Fyodor Glazunov (Ciarán Hinds) is a member of the resistance group RON (‘Reality Or Nothing’), which attempts to undermine the reliance of society upon advanced technology by carrying out violent attacks. Glazunov identifies Kaya, another of Porlock's team, as a potential recruit to his superior Andrew Milton (David Foxxe), but Milton kills Kaya, believing her unsuitable. Angered by Kaya's murder, Glazunov kills Milton. Porlock then discovers the truth about Glazunov but, to distract him from the possibility of killing her, consults with him about the Siltz deal. Glazunov approves of the broadcast of Feeld's memories, which he believes might provoke a revolt against the 'inauthentic' life propagated by the authorities. It is shortly after this that Porlock accepts Siltz's offer, just as Masdon realises the potential of the Lazarus project.

As more of Feeld's thoughts and memories are unearthed, it becomes evident not only that Feeld's mind is conscious of its predicament, but also that Feeld is attempting to communicate with the scientists, and is pleading to be allowed to die. At this point Glazunov, Porlock and Luanda Partington (another long standing member of the team) begin to doubt the morality of their project. Another of their team, Watson, having been coerced into informing on his colleagues, unwittingly denounces Glazunov as a RON member and saboteur. Having been warned, Glazunov heads for the laboratory to put Feeld out of his misery. In the confrontation that ensues, Glazunov is able to kill Siltz, and, after a final communication with Feeld (in which they make eye contact), he destroys the laboratory, Feeld's head, and himself, in the process.

The story takes place in Japan primarily during the late 1930s (Shōwa period). The sisters live in the Kansai area (Kobe/Osaka) and travel to Tokyo and other prefectures throughout the novel.

In the spring of 1938, the four sisters, along with Teinosuke, Sachiko's husband, came to Kyoto to admire the cherry blossoms. Sachiko is unhappy that the elder sister Tsuruko, who is the heiress of the Makioka clan and therefore represents the main house of the clan, upset the matter with Yukiko's marriage for the reason that a fatal flaw was discovered in the groom's clan.

Five years ago, the youngest of the Taeko sisters ran away from home with Keizaburo Okuhata, the third son of the owner of the Okuhata jewelry store located in Semba, Osaka's mall. One newspaper found out about this, but it mistakenly wrote the name of Yukiko instead of Taeko. Tatsuo, Tsuruko's husband, who together with her represents the main house of the Makioka clan, demanded a refutation, but the newspaper only corrected its mistake, instead of Yukiko's name, writing the name Taeko, which only aggravated the seriousness of the situation. Dissatisfied with this turn of affairs, Yukiko and Taeko refuse to live in the main house and move to the Sachiko house, which is a lateral branch of the Makioka clan.

Taeko starts making dolls. Her interest in Okuhata gradually fades and she grows closer to Itakura, who was previously an apprentice at Okuhata's jewelry store, but now became a photographer. Itakura suffers from ear inflammation and premature death. At this time, Yukiko's bridegrooms are arranged with a bank broker, an employee of the prefectural council and the vice president of a pharmaceutical company, but they do not end in marriage, since Yukiko does not like the suitors. And then Tatsuo comes home with the news that he is being transferred to Tokyo for work. Tsuruko is lost.

Yukiko is again offered a husband. This time the groom is a representative of the former aristocracy, the grandson of Viscount Higashidani. After Itakura's death, Taeko began going to bars, trying to drown her grief. In one bar, she meets the bartender Miyoshi, leaves the house and moves in with him. Miyoshi turns out to be an honest and serious young man, and Taeko starts a new life with him, which reassures the sisters worried about her fate. Tsuruko, after much hesitation, finally decides to leave for Tokyo with her husband. Yukiko is also doing well with Mr. Higashidani, they decide to get married.

On a winter's day at Osaka Station, Yukiko, Teinosuke and the others say goodbye to Tsuruko and her family who are leaving for Tokyo. Sachiko, however, decides not to see her off, thinking the pair would cry and embarrass themselves. Instead, she visits Taeko at her new home, and the two share tea and watch the falling snow.

The story is set over the course of two consecutive weekends in spring, and follows Kwame (Clarke), seventeen and straight, who is trying to reconcile his estranged fathers, Max (Beadle Blair) and Jordan (Collins). He must contend with Max's insistence that he is over Jordan, and Jordan's new relationship with former military man Jonno. Kwame is also trying to attract his love interest, Asha, and provide support to his two best friends: Dean (Keating), a talented footballer struggling with an abusive father and a crush on Max, and skater boy Bambi, trying unsuccessfully to secure a commitment from his older, on-off boyfriend, Robin.

Max's married friends Geri and Daniel descend into a bitter separation after Geri feels Daniel takes her for granted; she is later romanced by Asha's father, Tel. Asha's best friend Jay (Lee) embarks on a new relationship with the enigmatic Flora, despite her own commitment issues. Former drug addicts Peggy and Pablo struggle to adapt to a life of sobriety together - especially when Peggy gets back in touch with their dealer, Dean's brother Marlon (Fraser). Max's sister Cindy finds her relationship with her partner Doris threatened by the reappearance of her first boyfriend, Gabriel. Kwame's unstable birth mother, Hilly, deals with the death of her cat and reconnects with her estranged parents.

A narrator (Angus Scrimm) explains that when "God breathed life into the universe…the light gave birth to Angels…the earth gave birth to man...the fire gave birth to the djinn, creatures condemned to dwell in the void between the worlds." If a person wakes a djinn they will receive three wishes, but the third wish will free legions of djinn on Earth. In 1127, one of these Djinn (Andrew Divoff) asks a Persian emperor to make his second wish. When the emperor wishes to see wonders, the Djinn uses his powers to torture and mutilate people in the palace. The emperor is horrified, but the Djinn tells him to use his third wish to set things right. Before the emperor can make his third wish, Zoroaster (Ari Barak), a sorcerer, explains the consequences of the third wish and reveals a fire opal, which pulls the Djinn inside and traps him.

In present-day America, Raymond Beaumont (Robert Englund) supervises workers lowering a box containing an antique statue of Ahura Mazda onto a ship. The crane operator Mickey Torelli (Joseph Pilato) is drunk and drops the box, killing Beaumont's assistant Ed Finley (Ted Raimi) and destroying the statue. A dockworker steals the fire opal from the rubble and pawns it. Eventually the jewel reaches Regal Auctioneers, where Nick Merritt (Chris Lemmon) instructs appraiser Alexandra "Alex" Amberson (Tammy Lauren) to examine it, which wakes the Djinn. Alex sees something inside the jewel and leaves it with her close friend and colleague, Josh Aickman (Tony Crane), to analyze. As he is collecting data, the gem explodes, destroying the lab and releasing the Djinn. Josh, wounded, wishes for relief from his physical pain, and the Djinn "grants" his wish by killing him.

Alex, having been informed of Josh's death by Lieutenant Nathanson (Ricco Ross), tracks the gem to the statue which she tracks to Beaumont, who sends Alex to visit Wendy Derleth (Jenny O'Hara), a folklore professor, who explains the history of the gem and the nature of the djinn: a djinn grants wishes in exchange for souls, but as djinns are demonic in nature, the wishes will be twisted into curses for the djinn's amusement. Later, Alex learns that the Djinn needs to power the gem with human souls and then grant her (the person who originally released him) three wishes before he can open the gateway to release his fellow djinn on Earth; meanwhile, the Djinn takes the form of a dead man and uses the name Nathaniel Demerest. He kills a pharmacist (Reggie Bannister) with the wish of a vengeful vagrant (George 'Buck' Flower) and grants sales clerk Ariella's (Gretchen Palmer) wish for eternal beauty by turning her into a mannequin. Searching for Alex, he goes to Nathanson to gain her information. Nathanson refuses to help him, but the Djinn grants Nathanson's wish to easily prove a criminal's guilt by having the criminal go on a shooting spree inside the police precinct, and in the chaos finds Alex's home address and leaves.

He next visits Nick, killing a security guard (Kane Hodder) along the way by fusing him into stained glass (when the guard says he'd "like to see" the Djinn "go through me"). Nick facetiously agrees to help in exchange for a million dollars - which he receives when his mother takes out a life insurance policy and is killed the next day in a plane crash.

Alex sees troubling visions every time the Djinn grants wishes. She consults Derleth again, but soon realizes that she is talking to the Djinn, who has killed Derleth and taken her form. The Djinn confronts Alex and offers her three wishes. In the spirit of fair play, he offers her a "free" wish, just to see what will happen. She wishes for him to shoot himself, but he is immortal and the gunshot fails to harm him. Using the first of her three official wishes, Alex wishes to know what he is. The Djinn teleports her to his hellish world within the gem which terrifies her as he boasts his evil to her. She then wishes herself to escape back to her apartment, alone.

The Djinn had been threatening Alex's sister, Shannon (Wendy Benson), so Alex hurries to a party Beaumont invited them to earlier. The Djinn follows, again disguised as Nathaniel Demerest. Alex tells doorman Johnny Valentine (Tony Todd) to hold the Djinn, as he is trying to kill her; however, the Djinn manipulates Valentine into making a wish "to escape [his routine life]", allowing the Djinn to trap Valentine in a Chinese water torture cell, making his way into the party. The Djinn charms Beaumont, who wishes his party would be unforgettable, and thus the Djinn causes artwork to kill Beaumont, the guests, and the security guards called in to help. Eventually the Djinn corners the sisters and attempts to scare Alex into making her third wish by trapping Shannon in a burning painting.

Alex wishes that Torelli had not been drunk at work two days ago, which the Djinn is forced to grant, but this undoes the events that followed the destruction of the statue and traps the djinn in the fire opal again. The now sober Torelli lowers the crate with no problems. Alex visits Josh — now alive again — who notices that Alex seems pleased with herself, though she does not explain why. Inside the jewel on the statue of Ahura Mazda — now in Beaumont's private collection — the Djinn sits on a throne, waiting to be released.

Peterson, a crew member of a spaceship loading up with food animals on Mars, buys an enormous pig-like creature known as a "wub" from a native just before departure. Franco, his captain, is worried about the extra weight but seems more concerned about its taste, as his ship is short of food. However, after takeoff, the crew realizes that the wub is a very intelligent creature, capable of telepathy and maybe even mind control.

Peterson and the wub spend time discussing mythological figures and the travels of Odysseus. Captain Franco, paranoid after an earlier confrontation with the Wub which left him temporarily paralyzed, bursts in and insists on killing and eating the wub. The crew becomes very much opposed to killing the sensitive creature after it makes a plea for understanding, but Franco still makes a meal out of him. At the dinner table, Captain Franco apologises for the "interruption" and resumes the earlier conversation between Peterson and the Wub - which now has apparently taken over the Captain's body.

After having led the French in numerous battles against the English during the Hundred Years' War, Joan of Arc is captured near Compiegne and eventually brought to Rouen to stand trial for heresy by French clergymen loyal to the English.

On 30 May 1431, Joan is interrogated by the French clerical court. Her judges, who are on the side of the Burgundian-English coalition and against the King of France, try to make her say something that will discredit her claim or shake her belief that she has been given a mission by God to drive the English from France, but she remains steadfast. One or two of them, believing that she is indeed a saint, support her. The authorities then resort to deception. A priest reads a false letter in the prison to the illiterate Joan, supposedly from King Charles VII of France, telling her to trust in the bearer. When that too fails, Joan is taken to view the torture chamber, but the sight, though it causes her to faint, does not intimidate her.

When she is threatened with burning at the stake, Joan finally breaks and allows a priest to guide her hand in signing a confession. However, the judge then condemns her to life imprisonment. After the jailer shaves her head, she realises that she has been unfaithful to God. She demands that the judges return and she recants her confession.

As more and more around her begin to recognise her true faith and calling, she is permitted a final communion mass. She is then dressed in sackcloth and taken to the place of execution. She helps the executioner tie her bonds. The crowds gather and the fire is lit. As the flames rise, the women weep and a man cries out, "''vous avez brûlé une sainte''" ("you have burned a saint"). The troops prepare for a riot. As the flames consume Joan, the troops and crowd clash and people are killed. A subtitle states that the flames protect her soul as it rises to Heaven.

Lulu is the mistress of a respected, middle-aged newspaper publisher, Dr. Ludwig Schön. One day, she is delighted when an old man, her "first patron", Schigolch, shows up at the door to her highly contemporary apartment. However, when Schön also arrives, she makes Schigolch hide on the balcony. Schön breaks the news to Lulu that he is going to marry Charlotte von Zarnikow, the daughter of the Minister of the Interior. Lulu tries to get him to change his mind, but when he discovers the disreputable-looking Schigolch, he leaves. Schigolch then introduces Lulu to Rodrigo Quast, who passed Schön on the stair. Quast wants her to join his new trapeze act.

The next day, Lulu goes to see her best friend Alwa, who happens to be Schön's son. Schön is greatly displeased to see her, but comes up with the idea to have her star in his son's musical production to get her off his hands. However, Schön makes the mistake of bringing Charlotte to see the revue. When Lulu refuses to perform in front of her rival, Schön takes her into a storage room to try to persuade her otherwise, but she seduces him instead. Charlotte finds them embracing.

A defeated Schön resigns himself to marrying Lulu. While the wedding reception is underway, he is disgusted to find Lulu playfully cavorting with Schigolch and Quast in the bedchamber. He gets his pistol and threatens to shoot the interlopers, but Lulu cries out not to, that Schigolch is her father. Schigolch and Quast thus escape. Once they are alone, Schön insists his new wife take the gun and shoot herself. When Lulu refuses, the gun goes off in the ensuing struggle, and Schön is killed.

At her murder trial, Lulu is sentenced to five years for manslaughter. However, Schigolch and Quast trigger a fire alarm and spirit her away in the confusion. When Alwa finds her back in the Schön home, he confesses his feelings for her and they decide to flee the country. Countess Augusta Geschwitz, herself infatuated with Lulu, lets the fugitive use her passport. On the train, Lulu is recognized by another passenger, Marquis Casti-Piani. He offers to keep silent in return for money. He also suggests a hiding place, a ship used as an illegal gambling den.

After several months however, Casti-Piani sells Lulu to an Egyptian for his brothel, and Quast blackmails Lulu for financing for his new act. Desperate for money to pay them off, Alwa cheats at cards, but is caught at it. Lulu turns to Schigolch for help. He has Geschwitz lure Quast to a stateroom, where he kills him. Schigolch, Lulu, and Alwa then flee.

They end up living in squalor in a drafty London garret. On Christmas Eve, driven to prostitution, Lulu has the misfortune of picking a remorseful Jack the Ripper as her first client. Though he protests he has no money, she likes him and invites him to her lodging anyway. Schigolch drags Alwa away before they are seen. Jack is touched and secretly throws away his knife. Inside, however, he spots another knife on the table and cannot resist his urge to kill Lulu. Unaware of Lulu's fate, Alwa deserts her, joining a passing Salvation Army parade.

Two boys, one French and the other German, are playing marbles near the border. When the game is over, both boys claim to have won, and complain that the other is trying to steal their marbles. Their fathers, border guards, come and separate the boys.

In 1919, at the end of World War I the border changes, and an underground mine is divided, with a gate dividing the two sections. An economic downturn and rising unemployment adds to tension, as German workers seek employment in France but are turned away, since there are hardly enough jobs for French workers. In the French part of the mine fires break out, which they try to contain by building brick walls, with the bricklayers wearing breathing apparatus. The Germans continue to work in their section, but start to feel the heat from the French fires.

Three German miners visit a French dance hall and one almost provokes a fight when Francoise, a young French woman, refuses to dance with him. The rejected miner thinks it is because he's German, but it is actually because she is tired. She and her boyfriend, Emile, a miner, leave, and she expresses her distress over the stories about fires and explosions in the mine. The next morning, he stops in to say goodbye to her before she leaves for Paris, then he and her brother, Jean, another miner, leave for work.

The fire gets out of control, igniting gas and causing roof collapses that traps many French miners. In response, the German miner, Wittkopp, appeals successfully to his bosses to send a rescue team. As the German rescue team leave in two lorries, its leader explains to his wife that the French are men with women and children and he would hope that they would come to his aid in similar circumstances. In the mine itself, a trio of German miners breaks through the grille on the border between the two countries. On the French side, an old retired miner sneaks into the shaft hoping to rescue his young grandson. The Germans rescue the French miners, not without difficulties. After all the survivors are rescued, there is a big party with speeches about friendship between the French and Germans. French and German officials then reinstall the underground border grille and things return to the way they were before.

Motherboard is the "brain of the giant computer system that oversees all of Cyberspace". Her technician computer scientist, Dr. Marbles, kept her functioning properly until his assistant, the Hacker, turned against them. Dr. Marbles drained Hacker's battery and banished him to the Northern Frontier, where he formulated a plan to launch a virus that would attack Motherboard.

When Jackie, Matt, and Inez interact with a library map in the real world, they accidentally allow Hacker access to Motherboard, and she becomes infected with the virus. The kids are brought into Cyberspace and join forces with Digit, a creation of the Hacker who escaped his control. Together they protect the world from the Hacker and his clumsy, accident-prone assistants, Buzz and Delete, until they can recover the Encryptor Chip, a device stolen by Hacker that can nullify the virus and bring Motherboard back to full strength.

Cyberspace consists of planet-like bodies called Cybersites, with each site having a theme such as Ancient Egypt, the American Old West, Greek mythology, and amusement parks. These sites represent the diversity of websites on the Internet, and reflect the many ecosystems and neighborhoods of the Earth. The Cybersquad travels to many of these locations in order to protect them from Hacker, and each inhabited Cybersite has a unique type of Cybercitizen they interact with.

This story alternates between the point of view of Terpsichore Melpomene Murray ("Teri"), an ecoprospector who's approaching adulthood on Mars and seeks to follow in her father's footsteps, and the unnamed psychiatrist who is listening to her story. Several decades earlier, refugees from Earth fled to join a pre-existing human colony on Mars to escape the domination of ''One True'', a massively parallel/cellular automata program that runs on the interconnected brains of most of the human beings on Earth; the program in the individual human brain is called Resuna, probably a contraction from the Latin for One Thing. If a human mind has a copy of Resuna, it may remain dormant until a human speaks the trigger phrase ''let overwrite, let override.''

The first half of the novel is mostly backstory in Teri's voice, leading up to the day when she passed her test for "full adulthood", a legal status that can apparently be reached at any age by passing an educational and psychiatric exam, which gives her the right to marry, hold property, vote, and so forth. Teri hopes to be an ecospector (eco-prospector) like her father Telemachus, living on the surface in a pressure suit most of the time; but because in the last generation the colonists decided to forgo terraforming Mars to suit human life and instead adapt humans to suit the Martian environment, the future of ecospecting doesn't look good to Telemachus; he thinks the future of Mars is with the "Nations" of Mars-formed humans. It's estimated that modifying people can be done in just two to three generations, whereas terraforming Mars might take thousands of years. Thus he wants her to get an advanced degree and go into some always-needed occupation like science or medicine.

When they strike a "scorehole", a very large deposit of methane and water, their fortune seems assured, and Teri expects to marry the boy she has been courting; when it turns out he has married someone else, she grumpily agrees to one more year of school at least, and she and Telemachus take on the job of shepherding a group of younger children to the school at Red Sands City. While the party are in the roundings (the frontier, bush, or outback—possibly from "surroundings" or "roundabouts"?) a major solar flare occurs, and because Mars' thin atmosphere and weak magnetic field provide less protection against high-energy particles than on Earth, this event overloads many electronics systems on Mars, as well as damaging the "exosuit" (space suit) systems of many people who are outdoors and otherwise unprotected, so that several members of the party are killed, including Telemachus. Furthermore, the GPS-like navigation system Teri has used all her life is permanently down.

Teri and Alik, a boy in the party, re-invent celestial navigation and reach the nearest railhead, where there is a working phone, only to find that the disaster is planetwide and help will not be coming soon. Worse yet, a group of Marsform humans are stranded farther up the track and in danger of starving due to their ultrafast metabolisms. Despite her bigotry against the Nations, Teri tries to take food to them in a backpack, but collapses and breaks her leg. A mysterious voice on her suit radio soothes and comforts her, takes over her body, and causes her to wreck her body getting food to the Marsforms; she has been taken over by Resuna. We now learn why the psychiatrist himself has been listening to her story; they are recording it so she can have some idea of what happened in the big gaps he is going to create in her memory while erasing Resuna. He himself has had this process twice.

Further, we learn that this is all information from the past, that in fact he has been re-infected with Resuna, and so has Teri, and that they will both lose all memory of each other and of the many events, including much of her last memories of her father. So although they have been close friends, in the last chapter they are re-introduced to each other for the first time. The novel ends with their working as ecospecting partners, as Mars rebuilds.

Violent J takes on the role of this story's version of Dorothy, making his way through this strange new land to get back to his home. Along the way, he meets the Scarecrow (Twiztid's Monoxide), who only needs somebody to smoke with, the Tin Man (Twiztid's Jamie Madrox), who wants a "gat", and the Lion (Blaze Ya Dead Homie), who wants some "hoes". Anybody Killa has a brief cameo as a guard in the Wizard's palace as well as fellow Insane Clown Posse member Shaggy 2 Dope appears as the Wizard.

The story itself is a semi-fictionalized account of a lengthy 1938 Go game between the respected master Honinbo Shūsai and the up-and-coming player Minoru Kitani (known as Otaké in the book). The match took almost six months to complete, and was the last of Shūsai's career. In the novel, the game, as actually played in real life, lasts 237 moves, and is documented in the book by means of diagrams. Otaké (as his historical counterpart Kitani) wins by 5 points with the Black stones. Kawabata had reported on the match for the Mainichi newspaper chain, and some sections of the book are reworked versions of his original newspaper columns.

The novel follows the progress of the game as it moves from location to location, placing particular emphasis on the time between each player's moves (often a matter of days). As Meijin, Shūsai is entitled to certain deference which he does not always receive. Thus the players regularly come into conflict with one another about the ritual and ceremonial aspect of the game. Finally, Shūsai dies from an illness, mirroring the death of the historical Shūsai just over a year after the end of his match.

The first three episodes begin with third year secondary school girl Marcie and her two fifth year friends Tom and Reet becoming suspicious of the sinister Mr Eldritch, whose computer company arrives at the school and distributes free computers to all the pupils.

With the reluctant help of their teacher Miss Maitland they apparently defeat the threat of Eldritch, who disappears. However, the second three episodes tell of the actions of Miss Pendragon, who works for Eldritch and is attempting to revive the massive, secret Behemoth computer from its long-hidden location beneath the school.

At the end of the BBC novelisation, there are indications that Davies had ideas or interest in a potential third adventure using the same characters. A single paragraph describing the opening of an amusement arcade concludes with "...but that's another story."

Hercules, at Olympus, berates his father Zeus for not allowing him to leave the gods' abode to adventure on Earth. Eventually Zeus sends Hercules, on a beam, to the land of men.

After some strange encounters in the air and at sea, including scaring an old woman on a passenger jet, Hercules arrives in New York City, where hilarity ensues in the form of interactions with various New Yorkers, who regard him as physically superior but socially awkward. He befriends a skinny little man called Pretzie, named because he sells pretzels. Hercules becomes a successful professional wrestler.

Zeus, watching Hercules from the heights, becomes irritated with Hercules' antics, which he feels are making a mockery of the gods, and calls on Mercury to stop Hercules. After Mercury tries but fails to bring Hercules home, Zeus orders Nemesis to see to it that Hercules is consigned to the infernal regions ruled over by Pluto.

However, Juno instead convinces Nemesis to poison Hercules with a poison that would strip him of his divinity and then talk to Pluto. Nemesis informs Pluto of what is happening and he bets a large sum of money against Hercules in an upcoming strongman competition with Hercules' gangster manager. When Hercules loses the strongman competition his friends try to head off Hercules' angry manager's henchmen, but Hercules follows them to save them.

Meanwhile, Zeus uncovers the truth from Nemesis as to what is happening but only intervenes at the last minute to restore Hercules' divinity, not wanting any son of his to die at the hands of a mortal.

Hercules defeats the gangsters and realizes that he has been disobedient and returns to the heavens shortly after, only saying good-bye to Pretzie over a radio after he leaves.

In the heavens, Zeus tells Juno and Hercules that he will not punish Hercules for his behavior as they ask him about it and then asks to be left alone. They leave him alone, and upon their departure, Zeus sneaks out of the heavens and descends to Earth, scaring a passenger jet on his way down.

In 17th-century France, Cardinal Richelieu is influencing Louis XIII in an attempt to gain further power. He convinces Louis that the fortifications of cities throughout France should be demolished to prevent Protestants from rising up. Louis agrees, but forbids Richelieu from carrying out demolitions in the town of Loudun, having made a promise to its Governor not to damage the town.

Meanwhile, in Loudun, the Governor has died, leaving control of the city to Urbain Grandier, a dissolute, proud and popular priest. He is having an affair with a relative of Father Canon Jean Mignon, another priest in the town; Grandier is, however, unaware that the neurotic, hunchbacked Sister Jeanne des Anges—the abbess of the local Ursuline convent is sexually obsessed with him. Sister Jeanne asks for Grandier to become the convent's new confessor. Grandier secretly marries another woman, Madeleine De Brou, but news of this reaches Sister Jeanne, who becomes jealous. When Madeleine returns a book by Ursuline foundress Angela Merici that Sister Jeanne had earlier lent her, the abbess attacks her and accuses her of being a "fornicator" and "sacrilegious".

Baron Jean de Laubardemont arrives with orders to demolish the city, overriding Grandier's orders to stop. Grandier summons the town's soldiers and forces Laubardemont to back down pending the arrival of an order for the demolition from King Louis. Grandier departs Loudun to visit the King. In the meantime, Sister Jeanne is informed by Father Mignon that he is to be their new confessor. She informs him of Grandier's marriage and affairs, and also inadvertently accuses Grandier of witchcraft and of possessing her, which Mignon relays to Laubardemont. In the process, the information is pared down to just the claim that Grandier has bewitched the convent and dealt with the Devil. With Grandier away from Loudon, Laubardemont and Mignon decide to find evidence against him.

Laubardemont summons inquisitor Father Pierre Barre, a "professional witch-hunter," whose interrogations involve depraved acts of "exorcism", including the forced administration of enemas to his victims. Sister Jeanne claims that Grandier has bewitched her, and the other nuns do the same. A public exorcism erupts in a church, in which the nuns remove their clothes and enter a state of "religious" frenzy. Duke Henri de Condé (actually King Louis in disguise) arrives, claiming to be carrying a holy relic which can exorcise the "devils" possessing the nuns. Father Barre then proceeds to use the relic in "exorcising" the nuns, who then act as though they have been cured - until Condé/Louis reveals the case allegedly containing the relic to be empty. The possessions and the exorcisms then continue unabated, descending into a massive orgy in which the nuns remove the crucifix from above the high altar and sexually assault it.

During the chaos, Grandier and Madeleine return. Grandier denies bewitching the nuns and condemns Sister Jeanne, but he and Madeleine are arrested nonetheless. The nuns are returned to the convent, where Sister Jeanne attempts to hang herself, but is cut down before she dies. After being given a show trial, Grandier is shaven and tortured. The judges sentence Grandier to death by burning at the stake. Laubardemont has also obtained permission to destroy the city's fortifications. Despite pressure to confess to the charges, Grandier refuses, and is taken to be burnt at the stake. His executioner promises to strangle him rather than let him suffer death by fire, but Barre starts the fire himself, and Mignon, visibly panic-stricken about the possibility of Grandier's innocence, pulls the noose tight before it can be used to strangle Grandier. As Grandier burns, Laubardemont orders for explosive charges to be set off and the city walls are blown up, causing the revelling townspeople to flee.

After the execution, Barre leaves Loudun to continue his witch-hunting activities elsewhere in the Vienne region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Laubardemont informs Sister Jeanne that Mignon has been put away in an asylum for claiming that Grandier was innocent, and that "with no signed confession to prove otherwise, everyone has the same opinion". He gives her Grandier's charred femur and leaves. Sister Jeanne kisses and masturbates with the bone. Madeleine, having been released, walks over the rubble of Loudun's walls and away from the ruined city.

''' '''

In 1938 Germany, thirteen-year-old Solomon "Solek" Perel is taking a bath on the eve of his bar mitzvah when Kristallnacht occurs. Solek evades the Nazis, but returns home to find his sister Berta has been killed. His father decides the Perel family will move to his birthplace of Łódź in central Poland, as he believes it will be safer there. Less than a year later, World War II begins with the German Invasion of Poland. Solek's family decides he and his brother Isaak should flee to Eastern Europe. Isaak and Solek head for the eastern border of Poland, only to find that the Soviets have invaded. The brothers are separated and Solek ends up in a Soviet orphanage in Grodno with other Polish refugee children.

Solek lives in the orphanage for two years, where he joins the Komsomol, receives Communist education and learns Russian. He takes a romantic interest in Inna, a young and attractive instructor who defends him when the authorities at school discover Solek's class origin is bourgeois. Zenek, a Polish Catholic boy whose father was captured by the Soviets, antagonizes Solek for being a Jew and accuses him of being a Stalinist. Solek receives a letter from his parents informing him of their imprisonment in the Łódź Ghetto.

Solek is captured by German soldiers during the German invasion of the Soviet Union and finds himself amongst a group of Soviet prisoners. As the German soldiers single out the Jews and commissars for execution, Solek hides his identity papers and tells the Germans he is "Josef Peters", a ''Volksdeutscher'' from a Baltic German family in Latvia. The soldiers deduce that "Josef" was in the orphanage because his parents were killed by the Soviets and promise him vengeance. The unit adopts Solek as their interpreter due to his fluency in German and Russian.

Solek avoids any public bathing or urinating, as his circumcised penis would expose him as a Jew. Robert, one of the soldiers, sneaks in on Solek while he bathes. Robert reveals he is homosexual and promises solidarity to Solek, as both have secrets that the Nazis would kill them for. During combat, Robert is killed and Solek, the lone survivor of his unit, attempts to reach the Soviet lines. As he crosses a bridge, the unit charges across behind him and the Soviet troops surrender; Solek is hailed as a hero. The company commander decides to adopt Solek and send him to the elite Hitler Youth Academy in Braunschweig to receive a Nazi education.

At the school, "Josef Peters" is introduced to the other boys as a heroic combat veteran. Solek manages to avoid baring himself through several methods, and attempts to disguise his circumcision with string and rubber bands to simulate a foreskin. During class, a Nazi "expert" in racial science uses Solek as a subject to determine his anthropometric indices, declaring him to be of "pure Aryan stock". Leni, a member of the Bund Deutscher Mädel who serves meals at the Academy, becomes infatuated with Solek. He returns Leni's affections, but does not consummate their relationship for fear of exposing himself. The two eventually part ways after Leni makes a violent anti-Semitic remark to Solek.

During his leave from the Academy, Solek travels to Łódź to find his family; however, the ghetto is sealed off and guarded by the ''Feldgendarmerie''. Solek rides a tram that travels through the ghetto, observing horrific sights of tortured and starved people. He spots an elderly woman resembling his mother, but is unable to get closer to the woman. Later, Solek visits Leni's mother, who does not sympathize with the Nazis. She tells him Leni is pregnant by Solek's roommate, Gerd, and intends to give up the child to the ''Lebensborn'' program. When Leni's mother presses Josef on his identity, he breaks down and confesses he is Jewish; she tells him she had suspected but promises not to betray him. He does not see Leni again.

Solek is summoned to the Gestapo offices and is nearly exposed when he is prodded about his supposed parentage and is asked to show a Certificate of Racial Purity. When Solek claims the certificate is in Grodno, the Gestapo official says he will send for it and then rants about how the war will be won by Hitler's ''Wunderwaffen''. As Solek leaves to meet with Gerd, the building is destroyed by Allied bombs; Solek's relief is tempered by Gerd's death in the bombing.

As Soviet troops close in on Berlin, the Hitler Youth are sent to the frontlines. Solek deserts his unit and surrenders to the Soviets. His captors are initially doubtful Solek is a Jew and accuse him of being a traitor. When a Soviet officer angrily shows Solek photos of murdered Jews from death camps they liberated, Solek explains he was not aware of the extent of the death camps. They are about to have Solek shot by an elderly Communist political prisoner when Solek's brother Isaak, just released from a concentration camp, recognizes Solek. Isaak reveals to Solek that their parents were killed years prior when the Łódź Ghetto was "liquidated". Before leaving the camp, Isaak tells Solek to never reveal his story to anyone, saying it would never be believed. Shortly thereafter Solek emigrates to the British Mandate of Palestine. The films ends with the real Solomon Perel, as an older man, singing a Jewish folk song taken from the Book of Psalms ("Hine Ma Tov," Psalm 133:1).

In 1975, Irish-American friends Jimmy Markum, Sean Devine, and Dave Boyle are playing hockey in a Boston street when two men kidnap Dave and sexually abuse him for four days. Twenty-five years later, Jimmy is an ex-convict and neighborhood convenience store owner; Sean is a detective with the Massachusetts State Police whose pregnant wife Lauren recently left him, and Dave is a blue-collar worker continually haunted by the abduction and rape. Jimmy and Dave are related by marriage, Dave's wife Celeste and Jimmy's second wife Annabeth being cousins. Katie, Jimmy's daughter from his first marriage, makes plans to run away to Las Vegas with Brendan Harris, a boy from a family Jimmy despises whom she has been secretly dating.

Katie goes out for the night with her girlfriends, and Dave sees her at a local bar. That night, Katie is murdered, and Dave comes home bloodied and injured. He tells his wife that he fought off a mugger and possibly killed him.

Sean and his partner, Sergeant Whitey Powers, investigate the murder, while Jimmy conducts his own investigation using his neighborhood connections. Sean discovers that Katie recognized her killer and that the gun used to kill her, a .38 Special revolver, was also used in a liquor store robbery in 1984 by "Just Ray" Harris, the father of Brendan. Harris has been missing since 1989, but Brendan claims he still sends his family $500 every month. Brendan feigns ignorance about Ray's gun. Whitey suspects Dave, who keeps changing the story about his hand being injured. Dave continues to behave erratically, which upsets Celeste to the point that she leaves their home and tells Jimmy she suspects Dave might be involved in the murder.

Jimmy and his friends invite Dave to a local bar where they get him drunk, and when he is about to vomit, they confront him. Jimmy admits to Dave that he killed "Just Ray" for implicating him in the liquor store robbery, which resulted in his imprisonment. Dave reveals to Jimmy that he did kill someone that night, but it was not Katie; he beat to death a child molester whom he found with a child prostitute. Jimmy does not believe Dave and pulls out a knife. He promises to let Dave live if he confesses to Katie's murder. However, when Dave admits to killing Katie, Jimmy kills him and disposes of his body in the adjacent Mystic River.

Meanwhile, after finding his father's gun missing, Brendan confronts his mute younger brother "Silent Ray" and his friend John O'Shea about Katie's murder. Brendan beats the two boys, trying to get them to admit their guilt, and then John pulls out Ray's gun and is about to shoot Brendan. Sean and Whitey, having connected the two boys to the murder, arrive and disarm and arrest John and Ray.

The next morning, Sean tells Jimmy that John and "Silent Ray" confessed to killing Katie as part of a prank gone wrong. Sean asks Jimmy if he has seen Dave, who is wanted for questioning in the murder of a known child molester. Jimmy does not answer, instead thanking Sean for finding Katie's killers. Sean then asks Jimmy if he intends to send Celeste a monthly $500.

Sean reunites with Lauren after apologizing for pushing her away while Jimmy confesses what he's done to Annabeth, who tells him he is "a king, and a king knows what to do and does it. Even when it's hard." During a local parade, Dave's son Michael waits for his father. Sean sees Jimmy and mimics a gunshot at him with his hand, whereas Jimmy spreads his arms in a "can't help it" gesture.

Setting

''Fatal Fury'' and its sister series, ''Art of Fighting'', are set in the same fictional universe. ''Art of Fighting'' took place several years prior to the first ''Fatal Fury'' (this is established in ''Art of Fighting 2'', which features a younger long-haired Geese Howard as the game's secret final boss and the true mastermind behind the events of the first ''Art of Fighting''). The two series are set primarily in the same fictional city of "South Town".

''Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition'' likewise features the cast from the series that are featured in ''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') series, with many of the more popular characters from ''Fatal Fury'' and ''Art of Fighting'' games transferred to ''The King of Fighters'' as they were introduced. The ''KOF'' series ignores the continuity established in the ''Fatal Fury/Art of Fighting'' games. This was done so that the characters from both series could be featured in the ''KOF'' games without having to age them.

Characters

As with most fighting games, the ''Fatal Fury'' series has an extensive cast of characters that increased with each installment. The three main heroes from the original game, Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard and Joe Higashi, appeared in each installment, along with female ninja Mai Shiranui. Some characters made appearances outside the series, particularly in ''The King of Fighters'' series and in ''Art of Fighting 2'' (where a young Geese Howard appears as a hidden opponent). Likewise, characters from outside the series have appeared in the ''Fatal Fury'' games. Ryo Sakazaki from the ''Art of Fighting'' series makes an appearance in a hidden "dream match" in ''Fatal Fury Special'', while his older self from ''Buriki One'' appears in ''Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition''. ''Garou: Mark of the Wolves'' is the only ''Fatal Fury'' game not to feature any returning character with the exception of Terry Bogard himself, who was completely redesigned for the game.

Story

The ''Fatal Fury'' series chronicles the rise of "Lone Wolf" Terry Bogard (hence the Japanese title, which translates to ''Legend of the Hungry Wolf''), and the simultaneous fall of the criminal empire of Geese Howard. Like many other SNK titles of the time, the first installment takes place in a fictitious American city called South Town. Brimming with violence and corruption, South Town forms the ideal backdrop for the annual ''The King of Fighters'' fighting tournament, organized by notorious crime lord Geese Howard. No fighter has ever managed to beat his right-hand man and appointed champion, Billy Kane, until Terry arrives.

The second installment of the series features Geese's half-brother, Wolfgang Krauser, who internationalizes the formerly local tournament in a bid to take on the world's strongest combatants. The tournament disappears from the storyline by the third game, having spun off into its own series. Instead, the third installment centers around Terry Bogard's attempts to stop Geese from obtaining an ancient scroll that would give him the powers of a lost and dangerous martial art form.

After the third game, the series was renamed to ''Real Bout Fatal Fury''. In its first installment, the final and decisive battle is set between Terry and Geese. The King of Fighters tournament appears in this game. The second installment, which is named ''Real Bout Fatal Fury Special'', features Wolfgang's return.

''Garou: Mark of the Wolves'' takes place a generation later. It focuses on Rock Howard, Terry's protégé and son of Geese, who makes a shocking discovery about his past when he enters the tournament.

Olivier, a naive provincial, comes to Paris and looks up a friend, who enlists him to sell books door to door. Ariane, an attractive young woman in her dressing gown asks them in to help, as the bath she was running has overflowed. Asked about the apartment beneath, she says the owners are away. That night the two break in to rob the place, and find it is the torture chamber of a professional dominatrix. In fact it is Ariane's workplace and she catches the intruders, asking Olivier for brief help with a client and paying him afterwards.

Olivier becomes her live-in lover, thinking he will be the strong man for a vulnerable woman, but she is older, tougher, and a lot wiser. She tries to keep her work separate, but he struggles over the number of other men who call and the things she does with them. Eventually, his blundering efforts to take charge lead to a crisis. Her wealthy protector, who has allowed her to enjoy herself by taking a lover and running her own business, shuts it down and takes her to his country house to be with her child. When Olivier tracks her down, she takes him for a drive through the woods and crashes the car as they are making love on the move. Both emerge laughing from the smoking wreckage.

A colony of ants, led by the elderly Queen and her daughter Princess Atta, lives in the middle of a seasonally dry creekbed on a small hill known as "Ant Island". Every summer, they are forced to give food to a gang of domineering grasshoppers, led by Hopper. One day, individualist and inventor Flik accidentally knocks the offering into the water with his latest invention, a grain harvester. Hopper demands twice as much food as compensation. When Flik earnestly suggests the ants enlist the help of bigger bugs to fight the grasshoppers, Atta sees it as a way to get rid of Flik and sends him off.

At the "bug city" (a heap of trash under a trailer), Flik happens upon the aftermath of a chaotic bar fight and mistakes a troupe of Circus Bugs (who were recently dismissed by their greedy ringmaster, P.T. Flea) for the warrior bugs he seeks. The bugs, in turn, mistake Flik for a talent agent, and accept his offer to travel with him back to Ant Island. During a welcome ceremony upon their arrival, the Circus Bugs and Flik both discover their mutual misunderstandings. The Circus Bugs attempt to leave, but are pursued by a nearby bird; while fleeing, they rescue Dot, Atta's younger sister, from the bird, gaining the ants' respect. At Flik's request, they continue the ruse of being "warriors" so that the troupe may continue enjoying the ants' hospitality. Learning that Hopper fears birds inspires Flik to create a false bird to scare away the grasshoppers. Meanwhile, Hopper reminds his gang of the ants' superior numbers, and suspects that the ants would eventually rebel if not kept in line.

The ants finish constructing the fake bird. During the subsequent celebration, P.T. Flea arrives searching for his troupe to rehire them, revealing their secret. Outraged by Flik's deception, the ants exile him, and desperately attempt to gather food for a new offering to the grasshoppers. However, when Hopper returns to discover the mediocre offering, he takes over the island, and demands the ants' winter food supply, planning to execute the Queen afterwards. Overhearing the plan, Dot persuades Flik and the Circus Bugs to return to Ant Island.

After the Circus Bugs distract the grasshoppers long enough to rescue the Queen, Flik deploys the bird. It initially fools the grasshoppers, but P.T. Flea, who also mistakes it for a real bird, burns it, exposing it as a decoy. Hopper has Flik beaten in retaliation, proclaiming that the ants are lowly life forms who live to serve the grasshoppers. Flik asserts that Hopper actually fears the colony, because he has always known what they are capable of. This inspires the ants and the Circus Bugs to fight back against the grasshoppers, driving all but Hopper away.

The ants shove Hopper into P.T. Flea's circus cannon to shoot him off of the island, but rain suddenly begins to fall. In the ensuing chaos, Hopper frees himself from the cannon and abducts Flik. The Circus Bugs and Atta pursue, with the latter catching up to Hopper and rescuing Flik. Flik lures Hopper to the nest of the bird who attacked Dot earlier; thinking the bird is another fake, Hopper taunts the real bird, until the latter grabs him and feeds him to the newborn chicks.

With the colony's enemies gone, Flik improves his inventions, along with the quality of life for Ant Island. He and Atta become a couple, and they send a few ants and Hopper's friendly brother Molt to help P.T. and the Circus Bugs on their new tour. Atta and Dot become the new Queen and Princess, respectively. The ants congratulate Flik as a hero, and bid a fond farewell to the circus troupe.

Nora Timmer, a biracial (African and European descent) woman, is being questioned by Ford Cole, the District Attorney. Nora, who is the Assistant District Attorney, claims she was being raped by Isaac Duparde when she shot him in the head. Journalist Ty Trippin interviews Ford; Ford surprises Ty by anticipating his first two questions.

Nora explains to Ford that she had first met Isaac a week earlier at a music store, where he came on to her, asking to give her a ride on the rainy night. Nora politely rebuffed his advances, but was forced to accept his offer when she found herself stranded in the rain with no cab to respond to her calls. Issac locked the door to his car when Nora tried to exit upon reaching her home, only to give her a music cassette as a compliment. Nora tells Ford that Issac waited for her in her house one night, grabbed her from behind, and raped her.

Luther Pinks, claiming to be an associate of Isaac, shows up to meet Ford and relates his version of the story, stating that Isaac's death was not self-defence, but murder. He states that Nora had seduced Isaac into falling in love and ultimately becoming obsessed with her. He tells Ford about an 'African violet' tattoo on Nora's backside to support his claims. Ford tends to believe him, as he himself had seen it when he and Nora had sex.

Isaac's home is set ablaze and Ford receives an odd voicemail from the deceased suggesting a conspiracy involving Nora. Later, Luther tells Ford of a deal Nora supposedly offered Isaac for his cousin who was recently booked on drug charges; if his aunt were to agree to sell her home to an interested party, his cousin would walk. Luther also reveals Nora's dirty little secret—that she isn't biracial but is using being a minority to benefit her career and to satisfy some strange obsession with being black.

The narrator, Aleksandr Petrovich Goryanchikov, has been sentenced to deportation to Siberia and ten years of hard labour for murdering his wife. Life in prison is particularly hard for Aleksandr Petrovich, since he is a "gentleman" and suffers the malice of the other prisoners, nearly all of whom belong to the peasantry. Gradually Goryanchikov overcomes his revulsion at his situation and his fellow convicts, undergoing a spiritual awakening that culminates with his release from the camp. Dostoevsky portrays the inmates of the prison with sympathy for their plight, and also expresses admiration for their courage, energy, ingenuity and talent. He concludes that the existence of the prison, with its absurd practices and savage corporal punishments, is a tragic fact, both for the prisoners and for Russia.

Though the novel has no readily identifiable plot in the conventional sense, events and descriptions are carefully organized around the narrator's gradual insight into the true nature of the prison-camp and the other prisoners. It is primarily in this sense that the novel is autobiographical: Dostoevsky wrote later, in ''A Writer's Diary'' and elsewhere, about the transformation he underwent during his imprisonment, as he slowly overcame his preconceptions and his repulsion, attaining a new understanding of the intense humanity and moral qualities of those around him.

The series begins in 2006, five years after the "I-Jin" incident detailed in the ''Read or Die'' OVA. Yomiko Readman (a.k.a. "The Paper", agent of British Library Task Force) has supposedly gone missing, and Nenene Sumiregawa, her former student and best friend, is still in Tokyo after her parents moved to the United States. Nenene has not written a book since Yomiko disappeared, as she has become lonely and frustrated that her sensei has never read her last book, and she feels she can't write again until she hears Yomiko's reaction to the book, so Nenene often disappears for long periods of time searching for Yomiko, and has been periodically doing so ever since her "disappearance".

During a trip to Hong Kong, Nenene meets the three sisters, Michelle, Maggie and Anita (from the ''Read or Dream'' manga), who are supposed to take care of her during her visit. However, the hotel at which Nenene is supposed to stay at is bombed, and at a press conference Nenene is briefly held hostage by a jealous rival in her industry. The three sisters end up becoming her bodyguards and join her back to Tokyo.

Each sister has paper manipulation skills similar to Yomiko, although less powerful and more focused in scope. After the initial action-filled adventure, the first several episodes take on the feel of an odd-couple comedy which focuses on tension between Nenene and the sisters, who move into her apartment and mooch off her, all while dealing with various crazies and psychos in their everyday lives. The sisters also perform odd jobs as agents of the Dokusensha (ostensibly a Chinese publishing company, but more like an Illuminati-type organization focusing on the collection of rare and powerful documents). This eventually puts them and Nenene in direct conflict with the British Library and the protagonists of ''Read or Die'' (Dokusensha is established as the British Library's rival in the ''Read or Die'' manga).

Events grow more serious as the series progresses as atrocities are committed by both sides, thrusting the main characters into the middle of a conflict between literary superpowers, the British Library and Dokusensha, who are both trying to collect ancient artifacts (books, of course) to control the entire world and even rewrite history. After a horrific collision between the two superpowers, Nenene and the Paper Sisters set out to find the missing Yomiko to learn the truth about the conflict and save the world from literary terrorism.

After Maligore's defeat, Tommy Oliver, Adam Park, Tanya Sloan and Katherine Hillard graduate from high school and prepare to resume life as normal people, while the new 12-year-old Blue Ranger, Justin Stewart, skips ahead two grades and gets to go to Angel Grove High. Seeking revenge, Divatox begins to attack the Rangers. Soon after, the Rangers’ longtime mentors, Zordon and Alpha 5 depart to return to Zordon's home planet of Eltar, making way for the spectral Dimitria of Inquiris and Alpha 6. Other changes are also seen as Ernie leaves the Power Rangers universe to do volunteer work in South America, and Lt. Stone takes over the Juice Bar. Also an ally, the Blue Senturion arrives from the year 2000, with a message for Dimitria and the Rangers that Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, The Machine Empire and Divatox will team up to destroy the universe, but fails to show complete message due to Divatox corrupting the end of it, although it is believed to be Dark Specter.

Later, Tommy Oliver, Adam Park, Tanya Sloan and Katherine Hillard all of whom are leaving for their new chapters, are asked to pass on their powers to students T.J. Johnson, Carlos Vallerte, Ashley Hammond and Cassie Chan as the new Red, Green, Yellow and Pink Rangers respectively with Justin Stewart being the only remaining member of the team. * * The new team of Rangers are also joined by another ally, the Phantom Ranger, a mysterious being from another world. The team eventually learns that Dark Specter has captured Zordon, though Zordon is able to warn the Rangers not to rescue him as it would leave Earth defenseless. A short while later, the Rangers lose both the Turbo and Rescue Megazords in a battle with Divatox's most powerful monster yet, Goldgoyle. As Dimitria and the Blue Senturion leave for Eltar to help Zordon, Divatox finds the Power Chamber's location. Her army of grunts and monsters infiltrate the Chamber, defeating the team and destroying the Power Chamber. However, before Divatox tries to finish off the Rangers, she receives a message that Zordon has been captured and under the order of Dark Specter leaves for the Cimmerian planet. The powerless Rangers then leave Earth and head for space to save Zordon, with Justin choosing to stay behind with his father, although Justin Stewart does make an appearance in an episode of Power Rangers in Space to help the Space Rangers. These events lead to the next incarnation of the franchise, ''Power Rangers in Space''. * *

The film begins ''in medias res'' with an armed gang chasing after an escaped chicken in a ''favela'' called the ''Cidade de Deus'' ("City of God"). The chicken stops between the gang and the narrator, a young man nicknamed Rocket ("Buscapé").

The film flashes back to the 1960s where the favela is shown as a newly built housing project with few resources. Three impoverished, amateur thieves known as the "Tender Trio" – Shaggy ("Cabeleira"), Clipper ("Alicate"), and Rocket's older brother, Goose ("Marreco") – rob business owners and share the money with the community who, in turn, hide them from the police. Li'l Dice (Dadinho), a young boy, convinces them to hold up a motel and rob its occupants.

The gang resolves not to kill anyone and tells Li'l Dice to serve as a lookout. Instead, Li'l Dice guns down the motel occupants after falsely warning the trio that the police are coming. The massacre attracts so much police attention that the trio is forced to split up: Clipper joins the Church, Shaggy is shot by the police while trying to escape the ''favela'', and Goose is shot by Li'l Dice after taking his money while Li'l Dice's friend Benny (Bené), Shaggy's brother, watches.

In the 1970s, the favela has been transformed into an urban jungle. Rocket has joined a group of young hippies. He enjoys photography and likes one girl, Angélica, but his attempt to get close to her is ruined by a gang of petty criminal kids known as "The Runts". Li'l Dice, who now calls himself "Li'l Zé" ("Zé Pequeno"), has established a drug empire with Benny by eliminating all of the competition, except for Carrot, who is a good friend of Benny's.

Li'l Zé takes over 'the apartment', a known drug distribution center, and forces Carrot's manager Blacky ("Neguinho"), to work for him instead. Coincidentally, Rocket visits the apartment to get some drugs off Blacky for Angélica during the apartment raid. Through narration, Rocket momentarily considers attempting to kill Li'l Zé to avenge his brother but decides against it. He is let go after Benny tells Li'l Zé that Rocket is Goose's brother.

Later, a relative peace comes over the City of God under the reign of Li'l Zé, who manages to avoid police attention. Benny decides to branch out of the drug dealer crowd and befriends Tiago, Angélica's ex-boyfriend, who introduces him to his (and Rocket's) friend group. Benny and Angélica begin dating. Together, they decide to leave the City and the drug trade.

During Benny's farewell party, Zé and Benny get into an argument. Blacky accidentally kills Benny while trying to shoot Li'l Zé. Benny's death leaves Li'l Zé unchecked. Carrot kills Blacky for endangering his life. Li'l Zé and a group of his soldiers start to make their way to Carrot's hideout to kill him.

On the way, Zé follows a girl who dismissed his advances at Benny's party. He beats up her boyfriend, a peaceful man named Knockout Ned (Mané Galinha), and rapes her. After Ned's brother stabs Li'l Zé, his gang retaliates by shooting into his house, killing his brother and uncle in the process. A gang war breaks out between Carrot and Li'l Zé. A vengeful Ned sides with Carrot.

The war is still ongoing a year later, in 1981, the origin forgotten. Both sides enlist more "soldiers" and Li'l Zé gives the Runts weapons. One day, Li'l Zé has Rocket take photos of him and his gang. A reporter publishes the photos, a significant scoop since no outsiders can safely enter the City of God anymore. Rocket believes his life is endangered, as he thinks Li'l Zé will kill him for publishing the photo of him and his gang. The reporter takes Rocket in for the night, and he loses his virginity to her. Unbeknownst to him, Li'l Zé, jealous of Ned's media fame, is pleased with the photos and with his own increased notoriety.

Rocket returns to the City for more photographs, bringing the film back to its opening scene. Rocket finds himself caught between Zé's gang and the arriving police, who quickly withdraw when they realize they are outnumbered and outgunned. Rocket is surprised that Zé asks him to take pictures, but as he prepares to take the photo, Carrot's gang arrives. In the ensuing gunfight, Ned is killed by a boy-revealed as the same one who wounded him earlier-who has infiltrated his gang to avenge his father, a policeman whom Ned has shot. The police capture Li'l Zé and Carrot and plan to show Carrot off to the media. Since Li'l Zé has been bribing the police, they take all of Li'l Zé's money and let him go, but Rocket secretly photographs the scene. The Runts murder Zé to avenge the Runt murdered at the behest of Zé; they intend to run his criminal enterprise themselves.

Rocket contemplates whether to publish the cops' photo, expose corruption, and become famous, or the picture of Li'l Zé's dead body, which will get him an internship at the newspaper. He decides on the latter, fearing a violent response from the cops, as well as seeing the opportunity to pursue his dream. The film ends with the Runts walking around the City of God, making a hit list of the dealers they plan to kill to take over the drug business, including the ''Red Brigade''.

Mari Collingwood plans to attend a concert with her friend Phyllis Stone, for her seventeenth birthday. Her parents, Estelle and John, express their concern about her friendship with Phyllis, but let her go and give her a peace symbol necklace. Phyllis and Mari head into the city and on the way, they hear a news report of a recent prison escape involving criminals Krug Stillo, a sadistic rapist and serial killer; his heroin-addicted son, Junior; Sadie, a promiscuous psychopath and sadist; and Fred "Weasel" Podowski, a child molester, peeping Tom and murderer. Before the concert, Mari and Phyllis encounter Junior while he is trying to buy marijuana. He leads them to an apartment where they are trapped by the criminals. Phyllis tries to escape and reason with them, but she fails and is gang-raped. Meanwhile, Mari's unsuspecting parents prepare a surprise party for her.

The next morning, Mari and Phyllis are bound, gagged and put in the trunk of Krug's car and transported to the woods. Mari recognizes that the road is near her home. Phyllis is forced to urinate in her jeans and Mari and Phyllis are forced to perform sexual acts on each other. Phyllis distracts the kidnappers to give Mari an opportunity to escape but is chased by Sadie and Weasel, while Junior stays behind to guard Mari. Mari tries gaining Junior's trust by giving him her necklace and calling him "Willow". Phyllis stumbles across a cemetery where she is cornered and stabbed by Weasel. She crawls to a nearby tree and is stabbed multiple times, dying in the process. Mari convinces Junior to let her go, but her escape is halted by Krug. Krug carves his name into her chest, then rapes her. Mari vomits, quietly says a prayer and walks into a nearby lake, where Krug fatally shoots her.

After they change out of their bloody clothes, the gang goes to the Collingwoods' home, masquerading as travelling salesmen. Mari's parents let them stay overnight. The gang finds photos of Mari and realize it is her home. Later, when Junior is in the midst of a heroin withdrawal, Estelle enters the bathroom to check on him and sees Mari's peace symbol necklace around his neck. She finds blood-soaked clothing in their luggage and overhears them talking about Mari's death, and of her disposal in a nearby lake.

Estelle and her husband rush into the woods, where they find Mari's body and decide to take revenge. Estelle seduces Weasel, bites off his penis and swallows it, and then leaves him to bleed to death. John takes his shotgun and shoots at Krug and Sadie. Krug escapes into the living room and overpowers John, before manipulating Junior into killing himself. John fetches a chainsaw, and Krug attempts to flee but is incapacitated by an electrocution booby-trap. Sadie rushes outside and falls into the backyard swimming pool where Estelle slits her throat. The sheriff arrives just as John kills Krug with the chainsaw.

Abandoned by her husband, recovering drug addict Kathy Nicolo, living alone in a small house near the San Francisco Bay Area, ignores eviction notices erroneously sent to her for nonpayment of business taxes. Assuming the misunderstanding was cleared up, she is surprised when Sheriff's Deputy Lester Burdon arrives to forcibly evict her. Telling Kathy that her home is to be auctioned off, Lester feels sympathy for her, helps her move out, and advises her to seek legal assistance to regain her house.

Former Imperial Iranian Army colonel Massoud Amir Behrani, who fled his homeland with his family, now lives in the Bay Area working multiple menial jobs. Living beyond his means, he maintains the façade of a respectable businessman so as not to shame his wife Nadereh, son Esmail, and daughter Soraya. He buys Kathy's house for a quarter of its actual value, intending to improve and sell it. Kathy is evicted from the motel she is staying in. With nowhere else to go, she spends the night in her car. Seeing the renovations and how the Behranis have settled in makes her determined to get her house back and she finds an attorney, Connie Walsh, who assures her that because of the county's mistake, they will return Massoud's money and restore the house to her.

Massoud, having already spent money on improving the house, is unwilling to accept anything less than the higher value of the property, which the county refuses to pay. Connie advises Kathy that her only option is now to sue the county, though it will take months. Kathy tries to convince Massoud to sell back the house; he too advises her to sue the county and promises to sell her the house back if she comes up with the money, but she retaliates by beginning to harass him and his family in front of potential buyers. Desperate for help, Kathy falls easily into an affair with Lester, who abandons his wife and children and fashions himself as Kathy's protector. Under a pseudonym, Lester threatens to have Massoud and his family deported if he refuses to sell the house back to the county. Aware that Lester was acting on Kathy's behalf, Massoud reports this to Internal Affairs, who severely reprimand Lester, and furiously warns Kathy to leave his family alone. Kathy calls her brother Frank for help, but cannot bring herself to admit that she is homeless.

Despondent, she becomes drunk and attempts suicide in the driveway with Lester's sidearm. Massoud finds her drunkenly unable to discharge the gun, and brings her inside. Kathy tries to kill herself again with pills, but Nadereh saves her. As she and her husband carry Kathy to the bedroom, Lester breaks in and sees Kathy unconscious. In a xenophobic rage, Lester locks the Behranis in their own bathroom, refusing to let them out until Massoud agrees to relinquish the house. Massoud offers to sell the house and will give Kathy the money in exchange for her putting the house in his name. Lester takes Massoud to the county office to finalize the transaction.

Outside the office, Lester begins to manhandle Massoud and Esmail seizes Lester's gun and aims it at him. Massoud draws the attention of police officers who misinterpret the situation and shoot Esmail instead of Lester. Massoud is arrested but is released after Lester confesses and is incarcerated.

Massoud begs God to save his son but Esmail does not survive. Believing they have nothing left to live for, Massoud kills Nadereh by lacing her tea with pills. He then dons his old military uniform, tapes a plastic dust cover over his head, and asphyxiates himself while clutching his wife's hand. Kathy discovers the couple and frantically attempts to resuscitate Massoud but she is too late. As the bodies of Massoud and Nadereh are taken away by paramedics, a policeman asks Kathy if the house is hers. After a long pause, she says no.

When North Carolina secedes from the Union on May 20, 1861, the young men of Cold Mountain enlist in the Confederate States Army. Among them is W.P. Inman, a carpenter who has fallen in love with Ada Monroe, the preacher's daughter who came from Charleston, South Carolina to care for her father. Their courtship is interrupted by the war, they share their first kiss the day Inman leaves for battle. Ada promises to wait for him.

Three years later, Inman fights in the Battle of the Crater and survives. He then comforts a dying acquaintance from Cold Mountain, while fellow soldier Stobrod Thewes plays a tune on his fiddle. Inman is later wounded in a skirmish, and as he lies in a hospital near death, a nurse reads him a letter from Ada, who pleads for Inman to come home to her. Inman recovers and deserts, embarking on a long trek back to Cold Mountain.

Inman encounters corrupt preacher Veasey, and stops him from drowning his pregnant slave lover. Exiled from his parish, Veasey joins Inman on his journey. They later meet a young man named Junior, and join him and his family for dinner. Junior brings the Confederate Home Guard, who take Inman and Veasey away along with other deserters. Veasey and the group are killed in a skirmish with Union cavalry, while Inman is left for dead. An elderly hermit living in the woods finds Inman and nurses him back to health. He eventually meets a grieving young widow named Sara and her infant child Ethan, and stays the night at her cabin. The next morning, three Union soldiers arrive demanding food. They take Ethan hostage and try to rape Sara, forcing Inman and Sara to kill them.

Back in Cold Mountain, Ada's father has died, leaving her with no money and little means to run their farm in Black Cove. She survives on the kindness of her neighbors, particularly Esco and Sally Swanger, who eventually send for Ruby Thewes (Stobrod's daughter) to help. Ruby moves in and together they bring the farm to working order, becoming close. Meanwhile, Ada continues to write letters to Inman, hoping they will reunite and renew their romance.

Ada has several tense encounters with Captain Teague, the leader of the local Home Guard who covets Ada and her property, and whose grandfather had once owned much of Cold Mountain. One day, Teague and his men kill Esco, and then torture Sally to coax her deserter sons out of hiding and kill them as well. Ada and Ruby rescue Sally, who is traumatized and rendered mute. The women celebrate Christmas with Stobrod, who has come to Cold Mountain with fellow deserters and musicians Pangle and Georgia, who play the banjo and mandolin respectively.

While camping in the woods one night, Stobrod and Pangle are cornered by Teague and the Guard while Georgia secretly watches; Pangle inadvertently reveals they are deserters, and the Guard shoot Pangle and Stobrod. Georgia escapes and informs Ruby and Ada, who return to the scene to find Pangle dead and Stobrod badly wounded. The women and Stobrod take shelter in an abandoned Cherokee camp. Ada goes hunting for food and is reunited with Inman, who has finally returned to Cold Mountain. They return to the camp, and spend the night consummating their love.

As they head home, Ada and Ruby are surrounded by Teague and his men, having captured and tortured Georgia for their whereabouts. Inman arrives and kills Teague and most of his posse in a gunfight. He then chases Teague's lieutenant, Bosie, and they exchange fast draws. Bosie is killed but Inman is mortally wounded. Ada finds and comforts Inman, who dies in her arms.

Years later, it is revealed that Ada's night with Inman produced a daughter, Grace Inman, and that Ruby has married Georgia bearing two children. With Stobrod and Sally, the family celebrates Easter together at Black Cove.

Von Reichter is a surviving member of Schutzstaffel in World War II. He works on experiments in South America, creating the ''Cyber'' series of artificial humanoids with super strength and agility. The 5000 original Cybers became servants, mimicked human emotions and making their will. When they disobey orders, Reichter orders them all to be destroyed. After the death of Cyber-29, Reichter transfers his brain into the body of a panther, Data-7. Cyber-6 (Cybersix) is one of the survivors, who escapes and arrives in the city of Meridiana. She disguises herself as school teacher Adrian Seidelman, after the real one is killed in a car wreck. Cybersix defeats monsters called "Fixed Ideas" – humanoids of the ''Techno'' series – in order to drink the green sustenance liquid contained within them. Along the way, she meets an orphaned boy Julian, Reichter's cloned son José, and high school teacher Lucas Amato.

In 1964, twenty-year-old university student Nicky Hutchinson (Christopher Eccleston) returns to Newcastle after volunteering for the summer in the U.S. civil rights movement. His friends Geordie (Daniel Craig) and Tosker (Mark Strong) are eager to start a band but Nicky rebuffs them as he is occupied with his volunteering work. Nicky's girlfriend Mary (Gina McKee) is also unhappy with his lack of attention and they drift apart. Tosker takes advantage of the situation and successfully woos Mary, getting her pregnant. Nicky is offered a job working for Austin Donohue (Alun Armstrong), a former council leader who is starting a PR and lobbying firm.

Nicky is impressed by Austin's apparent passion for change and he drops out of university to accept the job, to the dismay of his working-class father, Felix (Peter Vaughan). Geordie gets into a fight with his abusive, alcoholic father and runs away from home, abandoning his pregnant fiancée.

Now living in London, Geordie accepts a job offer from sleazy crime boss Benny Barrett (Malcolm McDowell) and begins working as his assistant in the Soho sex industry. Meanwhile, Mary and Tosker struggle to adapt to their new married life. Their high-rise council flat, despite being brand new, is plagued by structural issues including rampant damp. Nicky is dismayed that Austin's firm is representing John Edwards, the owner of the company responsible for the sub-standard flats. After discovering records of the extensive bribery that took place in the project's development, Nicky quits in protest. Austin later receives four years in prison for his involvement and Edwards is declared bankrupt. Tosker's dreams of becoming a professional musician rapidly fade after a brutal audition with a local talent scout. Dejected, he continues to work menial jobs to make ends meet. After visiting Geordie in London, he is given a loan from Benny and starts his own grocery business. Around this time, Geordie starts an affair with Benny's girlfriend Julia.

Working as a photo journalist in London, Nicky's ideologies become extreme to the point he joins an anarchist terrorist cell. While laying-low in Newcastle, he is confronted by his parents and family friend Eddie Wells (David Bradley) after his mother Florrie (Freda Dowie) finds a submachine gun in his room. Despite his insistence he is in the right, his anarchist activities are brought to a sudden halt regardless as the cell's hideout is raided by the police and everyone but him is arrested. Later, Eddie asks for Felix's help in his campaign to run as an independent Labour candidate in an upcoming by-election, Felix eventually agreeing. Nicky also offers his support, but Eddie refuses due to Nicky's past ties to extremism. Despite turning down Nicky's help, Eddie narrowly wins the seat. Nicky eventually returns to mainstream politics in Newcastle and becomes a Labour parliamentary candidate himself. However, despite running in a safe Labour constituency and receiving an endorsement from Eddie, he manages to hand the seat to the Conservatives after a smear campaign depicts him as an IRA sympathiser.

In London, the situation gets progressively more difficult for Benny's businesses as continued pressure from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Colin Blamire (Peter Jeffrey) forces the heavily corrupt vice ("dirty") squad to reluctantly act. Meanwhile, tired of being repeatedly blackmailed by the dirty squad, one of Benny's men takes evidence of Met corruption to the Sunday papers and the resulting scandal forces the government to hold an independent inquiry. Roy Johnson (Tony Haygarth) is brought in from Newcastle as an outsider to run the investigation but is obstructed at every turn by Blamire, dirty squad Commander Harry Chapple (Donald Sumpter) and his henchman John Salway (David Schofield). Despite the setbacks, Johnson is able to present a report to the Home Secretary detailing extensive Met corruption. Blamire, however, is able to leverage a separate investigation into the Home Secretary's past business dealings to blackmail him into suppressing the inquiry findings. A disheartened Johnson returns to Newcastle to take early retirement. With the inquiry behind them, Benny and the dirty squad are free to reach new lucrative arrangements. Benny also has Geordie framed and imprisoned in revenge for the affair with Julia years before. Subsequent police investigations eventually bring down Chapple, Salway and many other corrupt Met officers.

Some years later, Tosker is now a moderately successful businessman and Mary is occupied with her advocacy work. After Tosker's repeated infidelity, their marriage breaks down and he moves out to live with his new girlfriend, Elaine (Tracey Wilkinson). Nicky and Mary briefly reunite, but she is hesitant to resume their relationship out of concern for her young children. Out of prison and back living in Newcastle, Geordie is devastated to learn that Julia has been killed in an apparent accident. He aggressively questions Benny over her death, but accepts Benny's argument that he had no motive to kill her. Eventually Geordie's casual drug dealing gets him in trouble with the law again and he departs for London a second time.

In 1984, Nicky is covering the ongoing miners' strike. After being injured in a brawl between the police and the miners, he rekindles his relationship with Mary. Tosker meanwhile has made his fortune as a slum landlord, straining his marriage with Elaine. At her urging, he sells the properties and invests heavily in stocks, which are subsequently wiped out in a later market crash. Three years later, Nicky is struggling with his marriage to Mary and also with his father Felix who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. While in London, he needlessly picks a fight with Eddie Wells and starts an affair with a young student, Alice. He eventually separates with Mary to pursue Alice but by then she is not interested in a serious relationship. Geordie, who is now an alcoholic and living at a homeless shelter, sets fire to his bed in a moment of madness. Quickly apprehended, he is deemed a danger to society and is stunned when the judge condemns him to a life sentence in prison. Nicky reconciles with Eddie after he discovers Eddie's assistant is an undercover mole for a PR company. Eddie resigns in embarrassment but as he is leaving Westminster is caught up in a storm and dies of a heart attack. The same storm also presents Geordie an opportunity to escape his prison transport but he chooses not to take it. In Newcastle, Mary initially refuses to run in the by-election for Eddie's seat but eventually changes her mind and is subsequently elected. Exasperated at Felix's increasingly outlandish behaviour, Florrie can no longer cope and she sends him to a care home.

Seven years later in 1995, Nicky has been living in Italy and returns to Newcastle to attend Florrie's funeral. Tosker and Elaine have slowly rebuilt their business and are on the eve of opening a new floating nightclub. Geordie has escaped from prison and approaches the club looking for work, where he is recognised by Elaine. Although Tosker and Elaine privately do not believe his story that he is out on parole, they take him in and give him a job playing keyboard for the opening night band. Nicky desperately tries to convince Felix that his life was not a failure, but Felix's mind is too far gone to understand. Geordie tries to attend the club launch event but is refused entry due to a miscommunication with the bouncers. Tosker fills in for the band at the last minute and finally achieves his dream of musical stardom, albeit on a small scale. The four friends finally reunite at Florrie's funeral for the first time in 31 years. Afterwards, Tosker spends time with his grandchildren, Nicky decides to try and patch things up with Mary, and Geordie walks off to an unknown fate.

''Dr. Slump'' is set in , a place where humans co-exist with all sorts of anthropomorphic animals and other objects. In this village lives Senbei Norimaki, an inventor. In the first chapter, he builds what he hopes will be the world's most perfect little girl robot, named Arale Norimaki. However, she turns out to be in severe need of eyeglasses. She is also very naïve, and in later issues she has adventures such as bringing a huge bear home, having mistaken it for a pet. To Senbei's credit, she does have super-strength. In general, the manga focuses on Arale's misunderstandings of humanity and Senbei's inventions, rivalries, and romantic misadventures. In the middle of the series, a recurring villain named Dr. Mashirito appears as a rival to Senbei.

The book begins during the construction of Redwall Abbey, when a roving female hedgehog named Trimp visits the abbey and sings a song to help the workers lifting a beam. Martin the Warrior recognises his father, Luke the Warrior, mentioned in the lyrics and asks Trimp more about him. He decides to go on a quest to learn more about his father. Martin, Gonff the Mousethief, Dinny, and Trimp befriend an orphaned woodlander squirrel named Chugger, the bird Krar Woodwatcher, as well as two brother otters, Folgrim (who is very close to becoming feral, having filed his teeth to points, and even eating vermin after he kills them) and his older brother Tungro. When they reach the northlands, Martin meets his father's friends: the old mouse, Vurg, and Beauclair Fethringsol Cosfortingham, an exuberant old hare. They show him a book titled ''In the Wake of the Red Ship'', an account of Luke's life.

The plot then flashes back to Martin's birth to Luke and Sayna. Luke was the leader of a tribe of mice who lived an idyllic life for many seasons until Vilu Daskar, the murderous captain of the pirate ship ''Goreleech'', attacked the settlement and killed Sayna, as well as many others with his Sea Rogues. Luke vowed revenge upon Daskar and soon had an opportunity when Reynard Chopsnout, master of the ''Greenhawk'', sailed in, hoping to fix his broken vessel. Luke and his tribe slew Chopsnout and his crew and captured the ship. Together with Vurg, Beau, and others, they sailed off. Martin, now older, wished to accompany his father, but Luke declined, giving Martin his sword, and the chance to name the ship, which he dubbed ''Sayna''.

The account of Luke's life contains the scene where Luke gives his sword to his son. The same scene occurs in the beginning of ''Martin the Warrior'', when Martin receives a flashback of his childhood, as he was captured and put out for the seagulls by Badrang the Tyrant. Therefore, the events in part two of ''The Legend of Luke'' occurred around the same time as ''Martin the Warrior''.

At one point, Beau was believed to be dead, but survived. Luke, however, was captured and forced into slavery by Daskar when the ''Sayna'' was destroyed. He befriended a black squirrel, Ranguvar Foeseeker, who also wanted her revenge. Luke was quite a bit like his son. For instance, he threatened to strangle the slavedriver; similarly, Martin tried to choke a Marshank hordebeast with the creature's own whip. Luke was able to convince Daskar that he knew the location of a hidden treasure that only he could steer to. Vurg and Beau sneaked aboard to free the slaves as Ranguvar and Luke killed foebeasts. Initially planning to run the ship aground where his tribe could join the fight to take the ship, upon realising his tribe had abandoned the area, Luke ordered the slaves to take the ship, trapped Daskar at one end of the ship, then smashed it against two rocks, breaking it. The ship's stern sinks instantly and Luke, Ranguvar, Daskar, and much of the vermin crew upon it were drowned. The bow becomes stuck between the two rocks and the surviving vermin are massacred by the liberated slaves.

Beau and Vurg presented Martin with a tapestry of his ancestor, which looked a lot like Martin himself. They returned to Redwall, and Martin allegedly chose to put down his sword and live a life of peace. The tapestry Martin received was later made into part of the large tapestry that hangs in the Abbey throughout the Redwall series.

Linda Lovelace, a sexually frustrated woman, asks her friend Helen for advice on how to achieve an orgasm. After a sex party provides no help, Helen recommends that Linda visit a psychiatrist, Dr. Young. The doctor discovers that Linda's clitoris is located in her throat, and after he helps her to develop her oral sex skills, the infatuated Linda asks him to marry her. He informs her that she can settle for a job as his therapist, performing her particular oral technique—thereafter known as "deep throat"—on various men, until she finds the one to marry. Meanwhile, the doctor documents her exploits while repeatedly having sex with his nurse. Linda finally meets a man who can make her happy, agreeing to marry him. The movie ends with the line "The End. And Deep Throat to you all."

The protagonist of this story is Joseph Wayne, a rancher who was born and lived his early life on his father's ranch. He is the third of his brothers, younger than Burton and Thomas, who are both already married, but older than Benjy. As he grows up, he feels a special connection to the land, and decides to move to California to create a homestead and start a family. His father, John Wayne, begs him not to go but finally acquiesces once he realizes Joseph's passion, and gives him his blessing. On his way West, Joseph meets "Old Juan" who encourages him to establish a home and throw a fiesta once he's set up. After a time of wandering, Joseph enters California and records his homestead in the Nuestra Senora valley. He builds his house under a great oak tree, which comes to symbolize his deceased father. While building, he works with an Indian, Juanito, who offers to be his vaquero in exchange for friendship. Joseph hears about the "dry years", a lengthy drought that seems to be periodic, and is the bane of all the farmers in the area. He is convinced, however, that they will never come again. He writes to his brothers and tells them to come and join him, to take the land next to his. As they explore the land they have been given, Joseph and Juanito stumble upon a mossy rock and a deep spring in the center of a pine forest. It has an aura about it that makes everyone acknowledge that it is sacred, but it is frightening as well.

Joseph later meets Elizabeth, a schoolteacher from Monterey. After several failed attempts, Joseph wins her hand and they are married. When they return to the farm after the wedding, they discover that Benjy has been stabbed to death by Juanito, who caught him seducing his wife. When the two men meet later that night at the sacred rock, Juanito asks Joseph to kill him in revenge for his brother, but Joseph refuses. Joseph wants to pass it off as an accident so Juanito can stay on, but Juanito flees the farm, promising to return once the guilt has passed. Elizabeth is integrated into the farm and meets Rama, Thomas' wife, who helps her with many things, including her first childbirth. For a time, the farm prospers, and Elizabeth bears a child. Joseph's brother Burton, a devout Christian, becomes increasingly concerned with Joseph's activities with the tree, after seeing him talk to it and apparently offer sacrifice to it as well. After a time, Joseph remembers his promise to Old Juan, and the farm becomes the site of a New Year's fiesta. After witnessing all the pagan activities that take place at the fiesta, Burton decides to leave the farm. After he leaves, the remaining brothers discover Burton had girdled the tree to kill it. In the following rainless winter, everything begins to die as a severe drought sets in, and everyone fears that the dry years have come again.

One day, Joseph and Elizabeth visit the glade with the sacred rock, to quell Elizabeth's fear of it. Elizabeth decides to climb on the mossy rock, but slips and falls, breaks her neck, and dies instantly. Joseph returns to the homestead in a state of shock with Elizabeth's body. Rama sees how disturbed Joseph is and sleeps with him to fulfill their needs. Later in the novel, Joseph gives his firstborn son to her. Some time later, when the drought is forcing desperate measures, Joseph and Thomas explore the coast to see if there is any way they will be able to remain at the homestead. They meet a man who ritually sacrifices small creatures to the sunset each evening, and Joseph feels a connection to him. Upon returning, Joseph and Thomas decide to drive the cattle out to San Joaquin to find green pastures. At the last minute, Joseph elects to stay, but feels abandoned by all the land except the pine grove with the stream and the mossy rock. He believes that the mossy rock is the heart of the land, and as long as it stays alive, the land cannot be truly dead. He then lives by the rock and watches the spring slowly dry up, using the water to keep the rock wet and alive. Juanito returns and convinces Joseph to visit the town's priest to enlist his help in breaking the drought. The priest refuses to pray for rain, saying that his concern is the salvation of human souls. Defeatedly, Joseph returns to the rock, only to find that the stream has run dry and the rock is dying. Lost in confusion, Joseph realizes that he is the heart of the land, and so sacrifices himself by cutting his wrists to water the rock with his blood. As he lies dying on the sacred rock, he feels rain begin to fall again.

Featuring concert footage of Los Angeles punk bands and interviews both with band members, the publishers of ''Slash'' fanzine, and with the punks who made up their audience, the film offers a look into a subculture that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time.

The promotional poster for ''The Decline'' (and the record cover of the soundtrack album) featured a close-up frame of Germs singer Darby Crash supine on stage with his eyes closed. Crash died from a heroin-induced suicide shortly before the film was released (the poster was designed before his death).

Bands included are Black Flag, Germs, X, Alice Bag Band, the Circle Jerks, Catholic Discipline, and Fear. The Germs' performance was replicated in the 2007 Darby Crash biopic ''What We Do Is Secret''.

The protagonist of the movie is Nik, who lives in the capital of Albania, Tirana, along with his mother and father. He is in love with a beautiful girl named Klara, who wants to move to Paris to be a model. Nik makes his living with an old truck that belonged to his father, who is now sick, and seemingly dying.

Amidst the criticisms of his mother, the confusion and desperation covering the country, and the desire of his girlfriend to leave, Nik is still unsure whether he wants to leave. The film explores the way Nik handles the events of his life.

In a twist on the classic Chinese tale ''Journey to the West'', ''Saiyuki'' features a young embittered chain-smoking monk named Genjo Sanzo sent by the divine Kanzeon Bosatsu from the once-peaceful land of Togenkyo to the West. His mission? To discover why the yokai have turned against the humans and are slaughtering them at every available opportunity – and to stop them. He’s accompanied by three yokai with human souls: Son Goku, the youthful and ageless Monkey King; Sha Gojyo, the kappa/water spirit, who regards himself as a ladies’ man and Cho Hakkai, whose little white dragon companion, Hakuryu, conveniently shapeshifts into a jeep to carry the four on their travels. It turns out that the disturbance among the yokai has been precipitated by an ongoing experiment, a forbidden mixture of magic and science, to revive the bull-demon king Gyumaoh (who hated humans). His son, Goukaiji, accompanied by his own faithful retainers, is sent out to stop Sanzo’s party.

The novel revolves around three boys who grow up as friends in Boston — Dave Boyle, Sean Devine, and Jimmy Marcus. When the story opens, Dave is abducted by child molesters while he, Sean, and Jimmy are horsing around on a neighborhood street. Dave escapes and returns home days later, emotionally shattered by his experience. The book then moves forward 25 years: Sean has become a homicide detective, Jimmy is an ex-convict who currently owns a convenience store, and Dave is a shell of a man. Jimmy's daughter disappears and is found brutally murdered in a city park, and that same night, Dave comes home to his wife, covered in blood. Sean is assigned to investigate the murder, and the three childhood friends are caught up in each other's lives again.

John had epileptic seizures and an autism-like developmental disorder, and the Royal Family tried to shelter him from public view; the script did not present the Royal Family as unsympathetic, instead showing how much this cost them emotionally (particularly John's mother, Queen Mary). Poliakoff explores the story of John, his relationship with his family and brother Prince George, the political events going on at the time (such as the fall of the House of Romanov in 1917) and the love and devotion of his nanny, Charlotte Bill (Lalla).

'''Episode One'''

A spellbound young Prince John gazes as his family attend an elaborate birthday party for his pampered and indulged grandmother Queen Alexandra in December 1908, held at Sandringham in Norfolk during the winter.

When summer arrives there is much excitement again as Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, and their children, visit their relatives, the British royals, on the Isle of Wight. The Russians entrance Prince John with their exotic splendour. It is clear, even at this stage, that Johnnie, a charming and attractive boy, has an eccentric view of the world and is uninhibited in a way that is alien to his parents. His ailing grandfather, King Edward VII, loves him for his frankness. It is clear also that his nanny, Lalla, is reluctant to reveal the seriousness of his medical condition.

While the populace of the capital gaze into the night skies to catch a glimpse of an approaching comet, Johnnie's parents are called to Buckingham Palace to be by the King's deathbed.

During the funeral attended by many of the heads of state of Europe, including Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, Johnnie has a serious epileptic seizure. Queen Mary, Johnnie's mother, summons doctors to examine him and their diagnosis confirms her and Lalla's worst fears. Lalla volunteers to look after Johnnie to prevent him being sent to an institution. The two of them are to be sent to Sandringham, where Johnnie is to be prevented from encountering anybody but the closest members of his family.

His sibling, Prince George, who has always treasured Johnnie, swears to protect him. Johnnie, now a few years older, is deprived of the company of any children and finds the schooling of his tutor, Hansell, unfathomable. Although lonely, he always takes an optimistic view of life. Then one day, to the acute embarrassment of King George V and Queen Mary, he speaks his mind at a tea party held for Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George.

Johnnie is brought to London to be re-examined by the doctors. During his stay he is taken by his brother George up to the minstrel's gallery looking down on the banqueting hall of Buckingham Palace, to observe a grand state occasion. The assembled dignitaries are chattering feverishly about the poise with which the Queen has dealt with the intrusion of a suffragette, who has confronted the Queen to demand her support for women's suffrage.

During the banquet Asquith and Lloyd George are called back to Downing Street to receive the news that is to prove to be the catalyst for the start of the First World War.

The following morning Johnnie receives a rare meeting with his father King George, who shows him his treasured stamp collection. Johnnie is more interested in his father's pet parrot, Charlotte. Suddenly, father and son are interrupted by the King's Private Secretary, Lord Stamfordham, who has come to relay the news of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Realising that the news has been withheld from him, the King erupts in fury. Unnoticed by the adults, Johnnie pursues Charlotte, as the terrified bird flies away into the bowels of the building. The Queen, Lalla and George go searching for Johnnie and his mother is shocked when she sees, for the first time, one of Johnnie's debilitating fits. In the midst of scurrying officials gathering for urgent diplomatic meetings, Johnnie is secreted away from the Palace and back to the isolation of Sandringham.

'''Episode Two'''

Prince George witnesses the brinkmanship of the Allies in the face of the belligerent posture taken by the Central Powers, led by Germany. Much to the surprise of all concerned, the weak and vacillating Tsar Nicholas of Russia mobilises his troops and plunges Europe into a world war. Against his wishes, George is sent to the harsh Naval College where his rebellious nature leads him to question propaganda about the cruelty of the German armed forces.

Such propaganda, combined with the disastrous consequences of the conflict on the battlefields of Flanders and France, turns the public's attention to the German ancestry of the British royal family. The trauma of war is even felt by Johnnie, Lalla and their household, who are forced to live in increased isolation in Wood Farm, on the fringes of the Sandringham estate. Prince George is determined to maintain contact with Lalla and his brother. He arrives to relay the news that the family is to change its name to Windsor, and that the Tsar of Russia has abdicated and is to be exiled to Britain by the Bolshevik revolutionaries.

George is alarmed at the reaction of his own subjects and persuades Stamfordham to press Lloyd George, who is now Prime Minister, to rescind the invitation to the Tsar. Johnnie dreams innocently of his Russian cousins coming to live with him and is being prepared by Lalla to give a recital to his parents. King George and Queen Mary are traumatised by what follows – the execution of the Romanovs. Weighed down by the effects of the conflagration that has enveloped Europe, they find consolation when their son Johnnie dies in his unbounded optimism and unalloyed love of life.

In 1960s London, sisters Hilary and Jacqueline "Jackie" du Pré both pursue musical professions after being instructed throughout their childhoods in music by their mother; the flute for Hilary, and the cello for Jackie. Though Jackie rebelled against practising as a child, she became a virtuoso in early adulthood, quickly rising to international prominence.

While Jackie tours throughout Europe, Hilary remains in London with her parents and brother, Piers, and struggles in her musical studies at the Royal Academy of Music. She becomes acquainted with a gregarious fellow student, Christopher "Kiffer" Finzi, son of composer Gerald Finzi, and the two begin a romantic relationship. Hilary begins playing in a community orchestra, where she garners local fame. Jackie returns home from touring in Moscow, and pleads with Hilary to share a flat with her. Instead, Hilary marries Kiffer, and the two relocate to a farmhouse in the country to start a family. Meanwhile, Jackie begins dating pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, with whom she bonds over their mutual love of music. Her eventual conversion to Judaism and subsequent marriage to Daniel garners significant publicity.

Later, Jackie arrives unannounced at Hilary and Kiffer's home, inexplicably forgoing scheduled engagements she has in Los Angeles. She confides to Hilary that she wants to have sex with Kiffer, and makes attempts to seduce him. The next day, Hilary finds Jackie stripped naked in the woods in the midst of an emotional breakdown. Daniel arrives and attempts to console her, but she is indifferent to him. Jackie remains at Hilary's home, and Hilary consents to Jackie having a sexual encounter with Kiffer, hoping it will help her work through her nervous breakdown. This, however, ultimately drives a rift between the sisters as the affair becomes emotionally suffused. Jackie leaves and resumes touring, but yearns for a different life.

From Jackie's perspective, Hilary chose a life with Kiffer over their relationship. While Jackie found solace in her marriage to Daniel, she began to notice a subtle yet progressive deterioration of her motor skills and hand-eye coordination. It had in fact been unspoken anxieties over her health that led to her previous visit to Hilary's.

During a live performance, Jackie finds herself unable to stand, and has to be carried offstage by Daniel. She is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and Hilary goes to visit her in hospital. Jackie remains optimistic about her diagnosis, but the disease progresses rapidly, leaving her unable to position her fingers or use a bow. Daniel continues to conduct around the world, and Jackie finds he is having an affair. As her disease progresses, she becomes paralysed before becoming deaf and mute. One night, Hilary goes to visit Jackie who is in the throes of tremors and recounts a cherished childhood memory of the two playing on the beach. Shortly after, Hilary hears news of Jackie's death on the radio. The film ends with Jackie's spirit standing on the beach where she used to play as a child, watching herself and her sister frolicking on the sand as little girls.

) where the three episodes begin Manni, a bagman responsible for delivering 100,000 Deutschmarks, frantically calls his girlfriend Lola. Over the phone, Manni explains that he was riding the subway to drop off the money and fled upon seeing ticket inspectors, before realizing that he had left the money bag behind; he saw a homeless man examining it as the train pulled away. Manni's boss Ronnie will kill him in 20 minutes unless he has the money, so he is preparing to rob a nearby supermarket to replace the funds. Lola implores Manni to wait for her and decides to ask her father, a bank manager, for help.

Lola hangs up and runs down the staircase of her apartment building past a man with a dog. At the bank, her father is having a conversation with his mistress, who discloses her pregnancy. When Lola arrives, her conversation with her father turns into an argument. He tells her that he is leaving her mother and that Lola is not his biological daughter. Lola runs to meet Manni but arrives too late and sees him entering the supermarket with a gun. She helps him rob it of 100,000 marks, but on leaving, they find it surrounded by police. Surrendering, Manni throws the money bag into the air, which startles a police officer who accidentally shoots Lola dead.

Events restart from the moment Lola leaves the house. This time, she trips over the man with the dog and now runs with a limp, so she subsequently arrives late to the bank, allowing her father's mistress to add that he is not the father of her unborn child. A furious Lola overhears the conversation, grabs a security guard's gun, holds her father hostage, and robs the bank of 100,000 marks. When police mistake her for a bystander, she is able to leave and meet with Manni in time, but a speeding ambulance that Lola had distracted moments earlier fatally runs him over.

Events restart once more. This time, Lola leaps over the man and his dog, arriving at the bank earlier but not triggering an auto accident as she did the first two times. Consequently, her father's colleague arrives before her and takes him away from the office. Lola now wanders aimlessly before entering a casino, where she hands over all her cash and plays roulette with a single 100-mark chip. She bets it on the number 20, which wins. Roulette pays 35 to 1, so she wins 3,500 more marks, which she immediately adds to her original chip on 20. She now shrilly screams, causing 20 to come up again. She leaves with a bag containing 129,600 marks, and runs to Manni's rendezvous point. Meanwhile, Manni spots the homeless man from the subway passing by on a bicycle with the money bag. Manni steals back the bag at gunpoint, exchanging his gun. A dishevelled and perspiring Lola arrives to witness Manni handing off the money to Ronnie. As the pair walk along, Manni casually asks Lola about her bag.

The book's four main characters are ecologically minded misfits—"Seldom Seen" Smith, a Jack Mormon river guide; Doc Sarvis, an odd but wealthy and wise surgeon; Bonnie Abbzug, his young Jewish feminist assistant; and a rather eccentric Green Beret Vietnam veteran, George Hayduke. Together, although not always working as a tightly knit team, they form the titular group dedicated to the destruction of what they see as the system that pollutes and destroys their environment, the American West. As the gang's attacks on deserted bulldozers and trains continue, the law closes in.

For the gang, the enemy is those who would develop the American Southwest—despoiling the land, befouling the air, and destroying nature and the sacred purity of Abbey's desert world. Their greatest hatred is focused on the Glen Canyon Dam, a monolithic edifice of concrete that the monkey-wrenchers seek to destroy because it dams a beautiful wild river.

The opening credits run as a man carries a large axe through the streets of London. He then enters an office and destroys a desk with the axe. The man, Quint (Oliver Reed) works for Dallafield Advertising alongside Lute (Orson Welles). Although Quint is married he then goes through a series of affairs with younger women. He starts remembering his cruel school life and these memories become intertwined with the present.

Quint attempts to get back at his boss Jonathan Lute by making a negative commercial reusing themes from earlier in the film, including Lute saying "The number one product of all human endeavor is waste... waste." The commercial, advertising a Super-8 camera, talks about capturing events while you still can before everything is destroyed and discarded. It ends with Quint operating a car crusher and destroying numerous cameras. The commercial is hailed as a masterpiece, and wins an award, but Quint hurls the award into the River Thames, and escapes into Swinging London.

Setting

The story in which the game is set takes place circa 2150, shortly after the destruction of Earth by an asteroid.http://www.freeallegiance.org/FAW/index.php/Original_storyline DataNet Timeline This cataclysm forced the remnants of humanity to the stars in search of new land and resources. Humanity quickly fractures into four main factions: * GigaCorp, a transplanetary corporation bent on controlling all natural resources. * The militaristic Iron Coalition, descendants of a United Nations-sanctioned peacekeeping force. * Belters, a motley collection of traders, freedom fighters and pirates. * and the Bios, a mysterious offshoot of genetically engineered humans with their own agenda for "stalegenes". In the midst of the ensuing civil war, humans discover the alien Rixian Unity. An ancient and advanced race, the Rixians seek to "enlighten" heathen races (such as the human race) and convert them to their religion.

Story

In 2008 Emmet Longstreet founded GigaCorp, allegedly through a series of shady dealings involving the consolidation of many powerful aerospace companies (as well as other technical industries). Their aim was to colonize and exploit the resources of near-Earth space. 25 years later, a subsidiary of GigaCorp begins genetically engineering humans to be better suited for life in space. Legal restrictions kept the experiments secret, and the resulting group of improved humans became known as BIOS.

During 2057 another GigaCorp project discovers Helium-3 deposits in the asteroid belt. Experiments reveal that He3 would be a highly useful fuel for nuclear fusion. Fierce competition for He3 deposits lead to escalating tensions and political destabilization. In 2071, an He3-related dispute called "The Siege of Leonov" precipitates in United Nations peacekeeping involvement. With a surprise strike, the UN forces end the siege with military action and take over the rich He3 deposits in Leonov Crater. In the wake of this incident, attempts to claim He3 deposits become increasingly violent, leading to a series of minor conflicts involving the UN Coalition forces, independent prospectors and GigaCorp.

In 2074, Gigacorp CEO unveiled the Mass Conveyor system, which transports Helium-3 rich asteroids from the Asteroid Belt to Lunar orbit for capture and mining. This technology is wildly successful, and within two years Gigacorp begins licensing it to other corporations. By 2079, scores of asteroids arrive daily in Lunar orbit, but the lack of a central traffic control system causes problems.

Faster-than-light travel had previously been impossible, but in 2125 the first "Aleph" is discovered by the Crimson Group, a rival of Gigacorp. While their origin is unknown, Alephs are stable wormholes that connect far-flung regions of the galaxy. Soon all of humanity learns of the existence of alephs, which are the sole source of FTL travel in the ''Allegiance'' universe. Factions begin vying for control over alephs as fiercely as they battled for control over Helium-3 deposits.

In 2140, a malfunction in the Mass Conveyor system ends with a large asteroid colliding with Earth, cracking the mantle, and killing roughly 95 percent of the Earth's population instantaneously. As the remnants of the Earth's population die in the aftermath, the Solar System plunges into chaos. The four strongest factions rise to seize power over the remnants of humanity. These are the Iron Coalition (UN forces), GigaCorp, the Belter Armada and the BIOS.

The game begins in 2150, with BIOS aggression initiating widespread warfare between the factions.

Chad (Aaron Eckhart) and Howard (Matt Malloy) are two middle management employees at a corporation, temporarily assigned to a branch office away from home for six weeks. Embittered by bad experiences with women, Chad and Howard form a mean-spirited revenge scheme to find an insecure woman, romance her simultaneously, and then break up with her at the same time. Chad is the originator and driving force behind the scheme, while Howard is the more passive of the two, which leads to a later conflict with the scheme.

Chad decides upon Christine (Stacy Edwards), a deaf co-worker who is so self-conscious that she wears headphones so people, thinking that she is listening to music, are compelled to get her attention visually without immediately learning that she is deaf. Chad and Howard decide to each ask her out, and over the course of several weeks, date her simultaneously.

In the meantime, things with the project go wrong; a fax Chad is supposed to have made to the home office is "lost" and a presentation Chad is supposed to deliver to the home office is unable to be carried out successfully after some documents are allegedly printed so lightly that they are illegible. These mishaps culminate in Howard being demoted and Chad taking his place as the head of the project after Chad places the blame for the mishaps unfairly on Howard. Chad eventually sleeps with Christine, and she falls in love with him. When Christine eventually breaks this news to Howard, Howard tells Christine the truth about their scheme, and tells her that he loves her. Christine is shocked by the revelation, and refuses to believe that Chad would do this. When she confronts Chad, he admits the truth. Christine angrily slaps Chad, but Chad is unashamed of his behavior, and cruelly taunts Christine, who collapses into tears after he leaves her.

Weeks later, Howard confronts Chad back home at his apartment. Howard is now apparently in the bad graces of the company, having been moved to a lower floor, while Chad is doing well, and thus offering to say something on Howard's behalf. Nevertheless, Howard is not worried about work; he confesses to Chad that he really loved Christine. At this point Chad, despite having previously told Howard that his girlfriend, Suzanne, had left him, shows Howard that she is still there, asleep in his bed. Chad says that he carried out the plan "because I could," and cruelly asks Howard how it feels to have truly hurt someone. Howard, who had never done anything like that before, leaves, horrified.

Howard later travels back to the city and to a bank where he sees Christine working, and tries to speak to her, but she looks away in anger. He loudly pleads with her to "listen" to him, but his pleas literally fall on deaf ears.

Since getting divorced, Baroness Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin (previously Baroness Dudevant, the successful and notorious writer of sensational romance novels), now lives under the pseudonym George Sand, in Paris, and has been in the habit of dressing like a man. In her romantic pursuit of the sensitive Frédéric Chopin, whose music she fell in love with before meeting him, George/Aurora is advised that she must act like a man pursuing a woman, though also advised to avoid damaging Chopin's health by pursuing him. With this advice she is deterred by a fellow countrywoman (the mistress of Franz Liszt) the Countess Marie d'Agoult, acting like she is smitten with Chopin to prevent a relationship between Chopin and Sand.

Sand meets Chopin in 1836 in the French countryside house of the Duchess d'Antan, a foolish aspiring socialite who invites artists from Paris to her salon to feel cosmopolitan. Sand invites herself, hoping to meet Chopin, not knowing that a few of her former lovers are also in attendance. A small play is written by Alfred de Musset is presented, satirizing the aristocracy and specifically mocking their hostess. When Chopin protests at this lack of manners, de Musset bellows and a fireplace explosion ensues.

Chopin is briefly swayed by a beautifully written love letter ostensibly from d'Agoult, actually written by, and stolen from, Sand. Eventually Sand wins over Chopin when she proves that she wrote the letter, reciting it to him passionately. And after buying a copy of her memoir, he finds the text of the letter in the book.

Chopin is then challenged to a duel by one of Sand's ex-lovers. He faints during the face-off. Sand finishes the duel for him and nurses him back to health in the countryside, solidifying their relationship.

Near the end of the movie, Sand and Chopin dedicate a volume of music to the countess, although this only suggests that she has had an affair with Chopin, causing a falling-out with her lover Liszt. Sand and Chopin depart for Majorca, relieved to escape the competitive nature of artistic alliances and jealousies in Paris.

In 1976, Morris Buttermaker, an alcoholic pool cleaner and former minor-league baseball pitcher, is recruited to coach "the Bears," a youth baseball league expansion team of misfit players in Southern California, formed as a settlement to a lawsuit brought against the league for excluding such players from other teams. Shunned by the more competitive teams (and competitive parents and coaches), the Bears are the outsiders, and the least talented team in the league. Buttermaker forfeits the opening game after the team allows 26 runs without recording an out.

With the entire team wanting to quit due to the humiliation of their first loss, Buttermaker recruits two unlikely prospects: sharp-tongued Amanda Wurlitzer, a skilled pitcher (trained by Buttermaker when she was younger) and the 11-year-old daughter of one of Buttermaker's ex-girlfriends; and the local cigarette-smoking, loan-sharking, Harley-Davidson-riding troublemaker, Kelly Leak, who also happens to be the best athlete in the area, but has been excluded from playing in the past by league officials. With Amanda and Kelly on board, the team starts gaining more confidence, and the Bears start winning games. The subplot reveals the strained relationship between Buttermaker and Amanda as the team improves.

Eventually, the Bears make it to the championship game opposite the top-notch Yankees, who are coached by aggressive, competitive Roy Turner. As the game progresses, tensions rise between the teams and the coaches, as Buttermaker and Turner engage in ruthless behavior toward each other and the players in order to win the game. When Turner strikes his son, the pitcher, for ignoring orders by intentionally throwing at another child's head (an action which occasionally occurs in baseball but which is against the rules, frowned upon, and extremely dangerous) Buttermaker realizes that he, too, has placed too much emphasis on winning, and puts in his benchwarmers to allow everyone to play. Despite Buttermaker's move, the Bears nearly win the game. Buttermaker gives the team beer which they spray on each other with a field celebration as if they had won.

In 1983, a high-tech, highly realistic adult amusement park called Delos features three themed "worlds": Western World (the American Old West), Medieval World (medieval Europe), and Roman World (the ancient Roman city of Pompeii). The resort's three "worlds" are populated with lifelike androids that are practically indistinguishable from human beings, each programmed in character for their assigned historical environment. For $1,000 per day, guests may indulge in any adventure with the android population of the park, including sexual encounters and a simulated fight to the death. Delos's tagline in its advertising promises "Boy, have we got a vacation for you!"

Peter Martin, a first-time Delos visitor, and his friend John Blane, on a repeat visit, go to Westworld. One of the attractions is the Gunslinger, an android programmed to instigate gunfights. The firearms issued to the park guests have temperature sensors that prevent them from shooting anything with a high body temperature, such as humans, but allow them to "kill" the cold-blooded androids. The Gunslinger's programming allows guests to draw their guns and kill it, with the android always returning the next day for another duel.

The technicians running Delos notice problems beginning to spread like an infection among the androids: the androids in Roman World and Medieval World begin experiencing an increasing number of breakdowns and systemic failures, which are said to have spread to Westworld. When one of the supervising computer scientists scoffs at the "analogy of an infectious disease", he is told by the chief supervisor "We aren't dealing with ordinary machines here. These are highly complicated pieces of equipment, almost as complicated as living organisms. In some cases, they've been designed by other computers. We don't know exactly how they work."

After a night spent with two robotic ladies, Blane is accosted by the same gunslinger Martin killed in the saloon the previous day. Martin bursts into the room and once again shoots the gunslinger dead. Martin is jailed awaiting trial, so Blane breaks him out and the two head out of town.

The malfunctions become more serious when a robotic rattlesnake bites Blane in Westworld, and, against its programming, a female android refuses a guest's advances in Medieval World. The failures escalate until Medieval World's Black Knight android kills a guest in a sword fight. The resort's supervisors try to regain control by shutting down power to the entire park. However, the shutdown traps them in central control when the doors automatically lock, unable to turn the power back on and escape. Meanwhile, the androids in all three worlds run amok, operating on reserve power.

Martin and Blane, recovering from a drunken bar-room brawl, wake up in Westworld's brothel, unaware of the park's massive breakdown. When the Gunslinger challenges the men to a showdown, Blane treats the confrontation as an amusement but the android shoots and kills him. Martin runs for his life and the android implacably follows.

Martin flees to the other areas of the park, but finds only dead guests, damaged androids, and a panicked technician attempting to escape Delos, who is shortly thereafter shot and killed by the Gunslinger. Martin climbs down through a manhole in Roman World into the underground control complex and discovers that the resort's computer technicians suffocated in the control room when the ventilation system shut down. The Gunslinger stalks him through the underground corridors, so he runs away until he enters an android-repair laboratory. When the Gunslinger enters the room, Martin pretends to be an android, throws acid into the Gunslinger's face, and flees, returning to the surface inside the Medieval World castle.

With its optical inputs damaged by the acid, the Gunslinger is unable to track Martin visually and tries to find Martin using its infrared scanners. Martin stands beneath the flaming torches of the Great Hall to mask his presence from the android, before setting it on fire with one of the torches. Martin hears a call in the dungeon and finds a chained woman begging for help, Martin gives her water which causes her to short-circuit and shutdown, much to Martin's dismay. The burned shell of the Gunslinger attacks him once again on the dungeon steps before succumbing to its damage. The movie ends with him sitting on the dungeon steps in a state of near-exhaustion and shock, as the memory of Delos' marketing slogan resonates: "Boy, have we got a vacation for you!"

Setting and story

The Master sends one of his heavenly divine companions in the form of a human warrior to the Freil Empire, where the evil spirit Deathtoll has destroyed all villages and incarcerated the souls of all living creatures in his monster lairs, leaving the world empty. The warrior must defeat the monsters and liberate the inhabitants from the lairs, gradually repopulating the kingdom.

The Hero (Blazer) is the protagonist, a divine angel, deity or lesser-deity, or avatar, sent by The Master to restore the world's creatures to life. Skilled with a sword and possessing the ability to speak with any living thing and be understood, he battles the hordes of Deathtoll with the assistance of his Soul helpers.

The warrior travels throughout the kingdom, defeating monsters in each of six regions to gather six magic stones, each a different color, in order to open the path to Deathtoll, who now resides in the World of Evil. The warrior must also find three sacred artifacts to call upon the power of the phoenix to defeat Deathtoll.

On the way, the warrior falls in love with Lisa, the daughter of a brilliant inventor named Dr. Leo. The warrior learns that the world's devastation came about after King Magridd imprisoned Dr. Leo and forced him to make a machine to contact Deathtoll. After being summoned, Deathtoll offered the king a gold piece for each soul from his kingdom, and under the counsel of his wife, Magridd agreed, but was eventually imprisoned himself. Dr. Leo is still in Magridd Castle's prison after the warrior frees him, and Leo later sacrifices his life to kill the queen, who still wanted to bargain with Deathtoll.

After reaching the World of Evil and defeating Deathtoll, the warrior is returned to Heaven. However, one year later, the Master realizes that the warrior misses his life as a human, and agrees to send him back to the Freil Empire, but under the condition that the hero would not have any memory of his past. The hero wakes up in Grass Valley, where Lisa recognizes him. Though he does not remember her, they leave together and renew their friendship.

The plot follows a godlike being known only as "The Master" (God in the Japanese version) in his fight against Tanzra (Satan in the Japanese version), also referred to as "The Evil One". According to the instruction booklet, The Master was defeated in a battle with Tanzra and his six lieutenants. The Master retreated to his sky palace to tend to his wounds and fell into a deep sleep. In the Master's absence, Tanzra divided the world into six lands, one for each of his lieutenants; they later turned the people to evil.

After several hundred years, the Master awakens fully recovered to discover that he has lost his powers due to the lack of belief in him. As the game progresses, the Master defeats Tanzra's lieutenants and recovers his powers by rebuilding the civilizations of his people and communicating with them through prayer. After all lieutenants have been slain, the Master commences an assault on Tanzra's stronghold, Death Heim, eventually defeating him.

After the defeat of Tanzra, The Master and his servant revisit the many civilizations that they had helped to build and observe the people. During their observations, they note that nobody is at the temple worshiping the Master. The servant observes that, although the people once prayed to the Master in times of trouble, they no longer feel a need to because they are not in danger. The Master and his servant then enter the sky palace and depart into the heavens to await a time when they may be needed.

Ray Aibelli has finished his first year of college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has received a prestigious summer medical internship which he has to forego to take care of his mother, Susan Aibelli, a married, lonely woman, who has suffered a leg injury at home just as her husband is about to leave on his job as a traveling salesman. Ray's relationship with his father is seen to be troubled as his father is overly controlling. The relationship between Susan and Mr. Aibelli is also shown to be suffering because he is later shown to be cheating with prostitutes and Susan feels disappointed by her lack of achievement in life.

Ray has to take care of his mother by helping her to shower and massaging her legs leading to him seeing her naked and experiencing a moment of intimacy when he massages her upper thigh. He feels extreme guilt for his incestuous sexual feelings and rubs his skin raw to punish himself. His sexual frustration is increased due to the fact that he is unable to masturbate, due to the family's dog repeatedly interrupting him. His high school friends are shown to be immature and Ray is seen to feel increasingly isolated from them. He also begins a relationship with local teenager Toni Peck whom he struggles to communicate with both socially and when having sex, leading to her rebuffing him.

Ray explains to his mother how their sexual encounter developed and she offers him sexual advice and he later openly stares at her body in the shower, increasing their physical intimacy. Ray has an opportunity to leave his mother behind when his aunt, Helen, offers to be her caretaker and he excitedly prepares to leave the next day. Both Ray and Susan are annoyed by Helen and they have a sexual encounter late at night that leads to Ray missing his bus the next day. Ray's father informs him that he will no longer be able to pay for his university tuition causing him to become even more stressed about his future.

Toni and Ray are seen to have resumed their sexual relationship and are kissing when Susan interrupts them, she slaps Toni and injures her. Ray and Susan have a loud argument that quickly devolves into groping and kissing. Toni's father comes to their house to complain but Susan is able to flirt with him and prevent him from punishing Ray.

Ray attempts to commit suicide by hanging himself from the bathroom door but Susan interrupts him, he complains that he can't achieve anything here and attempts to initiate sexual contact with Susan. He kisses her passionately but then pulls back and attempts to strangle her to death before stopping. His friends invite him to hang out with them again and he accepts joining them near the river. After being provoked by one of his friends he jumps off a steep cliff and is seen hitching a ride with a truck driver early the next morning.

In order to find out how best to implement his assassination plan, Elser travelled to Munich by train on 8 November 1938, the day of Hitler's annual speech on the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch. Elser was not able to enter the Bürgerbräukeller until 10:30 p.m., when the crowd had dispersed. He stayed until midnight before going back to his lodging. The next morning, he returned to Königsbronn. On the following day, 10 November, the anti-Jewish violence of the Kristallnacht took place in Munich. "In the following weeks I slowly concocted in my mind that it was best to pack explosives in the pillar directly behind the speaker's podium," Elser told his interrogators a year later. He continued to work in the Waldenmaier armament factory in Heidenheim and systematically stole explosives, hiding packets of powder in his bedroom. Realising he needed the exact dimensions of the column to build his bomb he returned to Munich, staying 4–12 April 1939. He took a camera with him, a Christmas gift from Maria Schmauder. He had just become unemployed due to an argument with a factory supervisor.

In April–May 1939, Elser found a labouring job at the Vollmer quarry in Königsbronn. While there, he collected an arsenal of 105 blasting cartridges and 125 detonators, causing him to admit to his interrogators, "I knew two or three detonators were sufficient for my purposes, but I thought the surplus will increase the explosive effect." Living with the Schmauder family in Schnaitheim he made many sketches, telling his hosts he was working on an "invention".

In July, in a secluded orchard owned by his parents, Elser tested several prototypes of his bomb. Clock movements given to him in lieu of wages when leaving Rothmund in Meersburg in 1932 and a car indicator "winker" were incorporated into the "infernal machine". In August, after a bout of sickness, he left for Munich. Powder, explosives, a battery and detonators filled the false bottom of his wooden suitcase. Other boxes contained his clothes, clock movements and the tools of his trade.

The Bürgerbräukeller

Elser arrived in Munich on 5 August 1939. Using his real name, he rented a room in the apartments of two unsuspecting couples, at first staying with the Baumanns and from 1 September, Alfons and Rosa Lehmann. He soon became a regular at the Bürgerbräukeller restaurant for his evening meal. As before, he was able to enter the adjoining Bürgerbräukeller Hall before the doors were locked at about 10:30 p.m.

Over the next two months, Elser stayed all night inside the Bürgerbräukeller 30 to 35 times. Working on the gallery level and using a flashlight dimmed with a blue handkerchief, he started by installing a secret door in the timber panelling to a pillar behind the speaker's rostrum. After removing the plaster behind the door, he hollowed out a chamber in the brickwork for his bomb. Normally completing his work around 2:00–3:00 a.m., he dozed in the storeroom off the gallery until the doors were unlocked at about 6:30 a.m. He then left via a rear door, often carrying a small suitcase filled with debris.

Security was relatively lax at the Bürgerbräukeller. Christian Weber, a veteran from the Beer Hall Putsch and the Munich city councillor, was responsible. However, from the beginning of September, after the outbreak of war with Poland, Elser was aware of the presence of air raid wardens and two "free-running dogs" in the building.

While he worked at night in the Bürgerbräukeller, Elser built his device during the day. He purchased extra parts, including sound insulation, from local hardware stores and became friends with the local master woodworker, Brög, who allowed him use of his workshop.

On the nights of 1–2 November, Elser installed the explosives in the pillar. On 4–5 November, which were Saturday and Sunday dance nights, he had to buy a ticket and wait in the gallery until after 1 a.m. before he could install the twin-clock mechanism that would trigger the detonator. To celebrate the completion of his work, Elser recalled later, "I left by the back road and went to the Isartorplatz where at the kiosk I drank two cups of coffee."

On 6 November, Elser left Munich for Stuttgart to stay overnight with his sister, Maria Hirth, and her husband. Leaving them his tool boxes and baggage, he returned to Munich the next day for a final check. Arriving at the Bürgerbräukeller at 10 p.m., he waited for an opportunity to open the bomb chamber and satisfy himself the clock mechanism was correctly set. The next morning he departed Munich by train for Friedrichshafen via Ulm. After a shave at a hairdresser, he took the 6:30 p.m. steamer to Konstanz.

Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell), head ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota, interviews with the United States Olympic Committee for the national team coach's job, discussing his philosophy on how to beat the Soviet team, calling for changes to the practice schedule and strategy. The USOC is skeptical, but ultimately gives Brooks the job.

Brooks meets his assistant coach Craig Patrick (Noah Emmerich) at the tryouts in Colorado Springs. Brooks selects a preliminary roster of 26, indifferent to the preferences of senior USOC hockey officials, after only a day. Needing to cut the roster to 20 before the Olympics, he convinces USOC executive director Walter Bush (Sean McCann) that he has their best interests at heart. Bush reluctantly agrees to take the heat from the committee for Brooks' decisions.

During the initial practice, tempers flare as forward Rob McClanahan (Nathan West) and defenseman Jack O'Callahan (Michael Mantenuto) get into a fight based on college rivalry. Brooks allows the fight to go on so they can get the bad blood out of their systems and then he bluntly tells all the players that they are to let go of old rivalries and start becoming a team. He then calls for introductions and the players each tell their name, hometown and which team they play for. As practices continue, Brooks uses unorthodox methods to reduce the roster down to 20 players. The players themselves worry about being cut at any time, knowing that Brooks himself was the last player cut from the 1960 Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal, so he will do anything to win.

During an exhibition game against Norway in Oslo that ends in a 3–3 tie, Brooks notices the players are distracted and not playing up to their potential. After the game, he orders them back on the ice for a bag skate. Brooks has them skate from one end of the ice to the other several times (doing, in other words, his infamous "Herbies," as the team would call them colloquially), continuing the drill even after the rink manager cuts the power. Exhausted, forward and team captain Mike Eruzione (Patrick O'Brien Demsey) re-introduces himself in the same manner from the initial practice and cries out that he plays for the United States. Getting the answer that he wanted all along, Brooks finally allows the team to go home. Eventually, the team comes together, with the players thinking of themselves as a family representing the United States. With their roster finalized, just before heading to Lake Placid, the Americans play the Soviets in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden. The Soviets manhandle the young American team, winning by a score of 10–3. During the game, O'Callahan suffers a knee injury that could keep him out of the entire Olympics and starting goaltender Jim Craig (Eddie Cahill) is shockingly told he may be benched in favor of backup Steve Janaszak (Sam Skoryna). Brooks tells him that he hasn't been giving his very best and ultimately decides to keep Craig as the starter for the Olympics.

As the 1980 Winter Olympics begins, the Americans trail Sweden 2–1 in the first game. Brooks fires up the team during an intermission by throwing a table and accuses McClanahan, who suffered a relatively minor leg injury, of quitting. McClanahan ends up playing despite his injury, which inspires the team. Bill Baker (Nick Postle) scores a goal with only 27 seconds remaining in the third period for a dramatic 2–2 tie. They then follow up with a 7–3 win over heavily favored Czechoslovakia. As the Olympics continue, the team defeats Norway, Romania, and West Germany to earn a spot in the medal round. The Americans are considered overwhelming underdogs to the Soviets in the first medal round game. The game begins and the Soviets score the first goal. Then O'Callahan, having healed enough from his injury, enters the game for the first time. He makes an immediate impact by heavily checking Vladimir Krutov on a play that leads to a goal by Buzz Schneider (Billy Schneider). The Soviets score again to retake the lead. In the final seconds, Soviet goalie Vladislav Tretiak stops a long shot by Dave Christian (Stephen Kovalcik), but Mark Johnson (Eric Peter-Kaiser) gets the rebound and scores with less than one second left in the period.

During the first intermission, Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov (Zinaid Memišević) replaces Tretiak with backup Vladimir Myshkin. In the second period, the Soviets score a goal to go up 3–2. Early in the final period, the Soviet team is called for a penalty for slashing, putting the Americans on the power play. Johnson scores his second goal of the game just as the penalty is about to expire. Later, Eruzione puts them ahead 4–3 with 10 minutes left. The Americans hold off the Soviets to win the game, completing one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Two days later, the team would go on to defeat Finland 4–2 to win the gold medal. The movie ends with Brooks staring out over his team with pride as the entire team crowds together on the gold medal platform.

Before the credits, the film is dedicated to Herb Brooks who died right before principal photography was finished and states "He never saw it. He lived it."

"As the story opens, free-lance writer Ross Harte is writing a magazine article on the modern detective story, and most of this article-to-be is included in the first chapter."Roseman, Mill ''et al.'' ''Detectionary''. New York: Overlook Press, 1971.

When a magician is found dead inside his locked and (thoroughly) sealed apartment, the police call in Merlini to help explain the impossible, "perhaps on the theory that it takes a magician to catch one." All the suspects, however, are accustomed to producing the impossible. They include a professional medium, an escape artist, a couple of magicians, a ventriloquist, and two people who claim to exhibit mental telepathy in their nightclub act.

The first murder victim is found spread-eagled inside a pentagram, surrounded by the trappings of black magic. The second victim, also spread-eagled, seems to have been in two places at once during the first murder. After a number of breakneck chases from one scene to the next, Merlini and his assistant are a couple of steps ahead of the police and provide a far-fetched but logical solution to the impossible crimes.

In between, Merlini and other characters deliver great chunks of informative conversation mixed with paragraphs of information about entirely unrelated but fascinating topics, like yogic bilocation, making the keys of a typewriter move without touching them, and even posing a tricky problem in geometry. The action also stops for a while when Merlini quotes a well-known passage from John Dickson Carr's ''The Three Coffins'' about the nature of locked-room mystery novels, and adds some flourishes of his own in relation to the problems at hand.

The penultimate scene in which the murderer is revealed is enlivened by one of the suspects attempting (on stage) to catch a bullet in his teeth, and all is explained in the final chapter when everyone gathers at Merlini's Magic Shop in the best whodunnit tradition.

The film focuses on a man who visits a mystical, organic building that looks like a medieval cathedral. As he walks through the immense structure, the light from his torch falls upon the pillars, revealing human faces. The viewer later realizes that the faces are still alive, as several smile and open their eyes as the man walks past them. The building's nature is partially unveiled at sunrise as the blinding light enchants the visitor and causes organic branch-like structures to burst from his chest. These protrusions then become another set of pillars in the building.

The games follow the struggles of the students of the Kyokugen Karate Dojo, Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia, in 1978. Ryo is the son of the Kyokugen Karate discipline's creator, Takuma Sakazaki, and Robert is the wayward son of a billionaire family from Italy. The initial two games are set in South Town, a common location in SNK games that is also the setting for the ''Fatal Fury'' series, while the third appears to take place in a fictitious area of Mexico.

The plot of ''Art of Fighting'' alludes to ''Fatal Fury''. ''Art of Fighting 2'', for instance, documents the beginning of "The King of Fighters" tournaments and the rise of Geese Howard, a character in ''Fatal Fury'', from corrupt police commissioner to crime lord of Southtown. Takuma is said to be a contemporary of Jeff Bogard, adoptive father of ''Fatal Fury'''s main heroes, Terry and Andy Bogard; Jeff Bogard's murder at the hands of Geese Howard triggers the events of the ''Fatal Fury'' series.

Series' continuity

The ''Art of Fighting'' series originally served as a prequel to the ''Fatal Fury'' series, taking place during the late 1970s and early 1980s. This is reflected by the characters' official birthdates in the series and given ages in each game. This is made even more obvious with the appearance of a young Geese Howard in ''Art of Fighting 2'', and most of all, Ryo's best student who debuted as one of the playable fighters in ''Garou: Mark of the Wolves'', Khushnood Butt. The Hyper Neo-Geo 64 game ''Buriki One'' and the PlayStation port of ''Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition'' features an older modern-day Ryo adopting his father's former identity of Mr. Karate. While ''The King of Fighters'' series features characters from the ''Art of Fighting'' series and alludes to events occurring in the games, it follows a completely different continuity from that of the actual ''Art of Fighting'' and ''Fatal Fury'' games. This was done so that the ''Art of Fighting'' characters could fight alongside the ''Fatal Fury'' cast and other characters without aging them, but also continue to maintain the existing stories from the other games.

While searching for a cat, Ryo and Robert (two karate experts) witnessed a murder related to a stolen diamond. After fighting the murdering mobsters, they discovered that the top mobster, Mr. Big, had kidnapped Ryo's sister to exchange her against the diamond, which he believes to be in the possession of the protagonists. They then have to defend themselves anyway they can – mainly through kicks and punches. They both attempt to break into Big's hideout to save Yuri but their plans are foiled by the sudden arrival of the police force. Forced with no other options, they spend the night searching for the diamond. When they find it, they go to meet Big and give it to him. A big fight ensues, complete with an exploding helicopter and a bout with King and Big, but they are able to save Yuri and head back home. Todoh and the police force arrest Big and his men. They also confiscate the diamond, which is somewhere at the bottom of Big's pool.

In Ancient Egypt, the enslaved Hebrew people pray to God for deliverance. Pharaoh Seti, fearing that the growing numbers of Hebrew slaves could lead to rebellion, orders a mass infanticide of all newborn Hebrew boys. Fearing for her newborn son's safety, Yocheved and her other two children, Miriam and Aaron, rush to the Nile River, where she places the infant in a basket on the water, after bidding him farewell with a final lullaby. Miriam follows the basket as it sails to the Pharaoh's palace and witnesses her baby brother safely adopted by Seti's wife, Queen Tuya, who names him Moses. Before leaving, Miriam prays that Moses will come back to them and set their people free.

Years later, Moses and his adoptive brother Rameses, heir to the throne of Egypt, are scolded by Seti for accidentally destroying a temple during a chariot race. After Moses suggests that Rameses be given the opportunity to prove his responsibility, Seti names Rameses Prince Regent and gives him authority over Egypt's temples. As a tribute, high priests Hotep and Huy offer Rameses a beautiful but rebellious young Midianite woman, Tzipporah. During the banquet, Moses humiliates Tzipporah by letting her fall into a pond after she refuses to submit, appeasing the crowd but disappointing Tuya. Rameses, uninterested in her stubbornness, gives Tzipporah to Moses instead and appoints him Royal Chief Architect. Later that night, Moses follows Tzipporah as she escapes from the palace, and runs into the now-adult Miriam and Aaron, whom he does not recognize. He refuses to believe their claims and opts to have them arrested until Miriam sings their mother's lullaby, triggering Moses's memory. He flees in denial, but learns the truth of Seti's genocide from a nightmare, then from Seti himself, who disturbs Moses by claiming the Hebrews were "only slaves". The next day, Moses tries to stop an Egyptian slave driver from flogging an elderly Hebrew slave, accidentally pushing the guard to his death. Horrified and ashamed, Moses flees into the desert in exile, despite Rameses's pleas that he stay.

Arriving at an oasis, Moses defends three young girls from brigands, only to find out their older sister is Tzipporah. Moses is welcomed by Jethro, Tzipporah's father and the high priest of Midian. Over time, Moses becomes a shepherd, falls in love with Tzipporah, marries her, and grows adjusted to life in Midian. One day, while chasing a stray lamb, Moses discovers a burning bush, through which God tells him to return to Egypt and guide the Hebrews to freedom. God bestows Moses's shepherding staff with his power and promises that he will tell Moses what to say. When Moses tells Tzipporah of his task, she decides to join him.

Arriving in Egypt, Moses is happily greeted by Rameses, who is now Pharaoh with a wife and son. Moses requests the Hebrews' release and transforms his staff into a snake to demonstrate God's power. Hotep and Huy deceptively recreate this transformation, only to have their snakes eaten by Moses's. Not wanting to have his actions cause the empire's collapse and feeling betrayed by Moses's motives for his return, Rameses doubles the Hebrews' workload.

The Hebrews, including Aaron, blame Moses for their increased workload, disheartening Moses. However, Miriam inspires Moses to persevere. Moses casts the first of the Ten Plagues of Egypt, turning the water of the Nile into blood, but Rameses remains unmoved. Moses inflicts eight more plagues onto Egypt, but still Rameses refuses to relent, vowing never to release the Hebrews, even after banishing Hotep and Huy from the palace for their deceptions. Disheartened, Moses prepares the Hebrews for the tenth plague, instructing them to sacrifice a lamb and mark their doorposts with its blood. That night, the final plague kills all the firstborn children of Egypt, including Rameses's son, while sparing those of the Hebrews. Grief-stricken, Rameses gives the Hebrews permission to leave. After leaving the palace, Moses collapses in grief at the pain he has caused his brother and Egypt.

The following morning, Moses, Miriam, Aaron and Tzipporah lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. At the Red Sea, the Hebrews discover that a vengeful Rameses is pursuing them with his army, intent on killing them. However, a pillar of fire blocks the army's way, while Moses uses his staff to part the sea. The Hebrews cross the open sea bottom; the fire vanishes and the army gives chase, but the sea closes over and drowns the Egyptian soldiers, sparing Rameses alone. Moses sadly bids his brother farewell and leads the Hebrews to Mount Sinai, where he receives the Ten Commandments.

The game begins with the Hero dreaming that he meets the Law Hero, the Chaos Hero, and a woman named Yuriko; she promises that she will become the Hero's partner. He wakes up, and receives an e-mail with a computer program for summoning demons attached. While out on an errand, he learns that a scientist has opened a portal to the Expanse, which allows demons to enter Tokyo. He also meets Yuriko, who says she will fulfill her promise. The next night, the Hero again dreams that he meets the Law Hero and Chaos Hero, and that they save the Heroine from a sacrificial ritual. The next day, he meets the Law Hero and Chaos Hero in reality; they reveal that they had the same dreams. News of the demons spread, and the US military, led by ambassador Thorman, decides to intervene. The Japan Self-Defense Forces, led by general Gotou, opposes them, as they see demons as the ancient spirits of the land. A third group, led by the Heroine, tries to prevent conflict between the other two. She gets captured by Gotou's forces; they are about to publicly execute her under supervision by Yuriko, but she is saved by the Hero, Law Hero, and Chaos Hero. The Hero can choose to support Thorman or Gotou, or to reject both; regardless of his choice, the conflict escalates until Thorman launches missiles towards Tokyo. The Heroine is killed, but saves the Hero, Law Hero, and Chaos Hero by using magic to teleport them to another plane of existence.

When they return to Tokyo, thirty years have passed, and the world lies in ruins. Both demons and humans live in Tokyo, and two warring groups have formed: the Order of Messiah, who is building a cathedral and wants to bring about the Thousand-Year Kingdom, and the Ring of Gaea, who intends to summon Lucifer and wants freedom. While exploring the city, the Chaos Hero fuses himself with a demon to gain power, and decides to leave to pursue his own ideals; the group moves on without him and meet the Heroine, who has been reincarnated and rejoins them. Soon afterwards, the Law Hero's soul gets taken by an attacking demon. The Chaos Hero joins the Ring of Gaea, while the Law Hero's soul gets reincarnated as the new Messiah. Both try to get the Hero to join their respective side; he can choose to support either, or to reject both. Regardless of what he chooses, the Order of Messiah finishes building their cathedral, and a great flood appears, drowning people who were not inside the cathedral at the time. Survivors set up camps inside the cathedral; the Order of Messiah takes control of the top floors, while the Ring of Gaea occupies the basement floors.

After this point, the story continues differently depending on the Hero's alignment. If it is "law", the Law Hero is killed in a battle with the Chaos Hero, while the Hero and the Heroine go to the basement. On their way they have to kill the Chaos Hero and fight Yuriko, who turns out to be the demon Lilith in disguise; she calls the Hero "Adam", and says she wanted to create a new age and live with him forever, which is why she tried to execute the Heroine. After defeating her in battle, the Hero and the Heroine reach the basement and kill the demon Asura-ou; they then go to the cathedral's roof, where they are thanked by a messenger from God. If the Hero's alignment instead is "chaos", he and the Heroine must go to the top floor and kill the archangel Michael, and on their way kill the Law Hero; in this scenario, Yuriko leaves the Hero and the Heroine instead of fighting them, while the Chaos Hero dies after trying to steal a magical ring from the Hero. On the roof, they meet Lucifer, who says that a new era will begin, where both demons and humans are free; he also warns them that God still is alive. If the Hero's alignment instead is "neutral", he and the Heroine must kill the Law Hero, the Chaos Hero, Asura-ou, and Michael, and fight Yuriko. On the roof, they meet Taishang Laojun, who thanks them and says that balance is needed to achieve happiness; he asks the Hero and the Heroine to lead humanity to a future that doesn't rely on gods or demons. The game ends with the Heroine saying that those who have died will be reborn, and that it is time for creation and rebuilding.

Seventeen-year-old Samantha "Sam" Montgomery is a waitress at a diner in the San Fernando Valley run by her stepmother, the vain and greedy Fiona. Fiona received ownership of the diner as well as the family inheritance after Sam's widowed father, Hal Montgomery, died in the 1994 Northridge earthquake eight years prior and seemingly left no will. The valley is amidst an extreme drought. Sam is trying to save money to attend her dream college, Princeton, but is regularly tormented by her stepfamily, which includes Fiona and her twin daughters, Brianna and Gabriella. Fiona withholds Sam's earnings and uses her inheritance to spend on luxuries for herself and her twins. Fiona also refuses to save water during the ongoing drought. Sam also struggles to fit in at North Valley High School, where she’s bullied by the popular clique, including head cheerleader Shelby Cummings and her posse. Sam confides in her online pen pal "Nomad", who shares her dream to attend Princeton to become a writer. She also finds comfort in her best friend Carter Farrell, and in the diner staff, including Rhonda the manager, Eleanor, a waitress and Bobby the chef. Unknown to Sam, "Nomad"'s true identity is Austin Ames, the popular yet unhappy quarterback of the school's football team The Fighting Frogs, and Shelby's boyfriend. His father, Andy, has arranged for his son to attend the University of Southern California with a football scholarship.

"Nomad" and Sam plan to meet in the center of the dance floor at the school's Halloween dance. Austin attempts to end his relationship with Shelby, who refuses to accept this and continues believing that they are together. Meanwhile, Sam asks for the night off to go to the dance, but Fiona refuses this request. After a heart-to-heart with Carter and the diner staff, Sam attends the dance anyway, wearing a white masquerade mask and a wedding dress given to her by Rhonda as "Cinderella." Austin attends as Prince Charming. The two share a romantic dance together, but while Sam learns "Nomad" is Austin, he does not recognize Sam under the mask. Sam has to go back to the diner before Fiona, and so she leaves without revealing her identity to Austin, unaware that she's named the homecoming princess along with Austin as the homecoming prince. She drops her cellphone on her way out, which is picked up by Austin. She gets delayed because Carter, who was Sam's ride back to the diner, was making out with Shelby, after he defended her from another boy trying to force himself on her. Finally, Sam and Carter flee to the diner, and the staff attempts to stall Fiona to give Sam enough time to come back, which she does.

Sam is convinced that Austin will forget about her after the dance, so she is shocked to find he has put hundreds of posters round the school to try to identify her the day after the dance. Austin's friends gather girls from around campus who claim to be Cinderella and present them to Austin, but he isn't convinced by any of them. Later on, Austin goes to the diner and is served by Sam, who attempts to tell him her identity, but is interrupted by Fiona.

Brianna and Gabriella discover Sam's emails to Austin and realize that Sam is "Cinderella". After failing to convince Austin that they are "Cinderella", they present the emails to Shelby and convince her that Sam tried to steal Austin from her. To retaliate, Shelby, Brianna and Gabriella perform a mean-spirited skit at a school pep rally, horrifying the school staff as the emails are read aloud and Sam's identity is revealed to Austin. Humiliated and upset, Sam leaves in tears.

Fiona opens Sam's acceptance letter from Princeton, and replaces it with a falsified rejection in order to keep her working at the diner and as her slave. Fiona presents Sam with this, feigning sympathy, and offers Sam a lifetime job at the diner. Meanwhile, Austin opens his acceptance letter for Princeton and hides it from his father. Sam begins to concede her job as a waitress, but Rhonda encourages her not to lose hope. At the same time, Sam's stepsisters slam the door as they come into the diner, causing a guitar clock to fall off the wall and tear the wallpaper down with it. The torn section reveals a quote from Hal that fills Sam with renewed energy. Frustrated with her stepmother's emotional abuse for almost a decade and her school-wide humiliation, Sam stands up to Fiona, quits her job at the diner and moves out to live with Rhonda. Rhonda and the rest of the diner staff also resign, having only stayed for Sam's sake after Hal's death, and the disgusted customers also storm out after witnessing everything.

Before the school's homecoming football game, Sam confronts Austin about his cowardice and lies. Before the final play of the game, he sees Sam leaving the stands and runs to apologize to her, but only after standing up to his father, admitting to not wanting to play football for the rest of his life. She accepts his apology and they share their first kiss, much to the dismay of Shelby, Brianna and Gabriella, as the football team wins and the drought the valley was facing suddenly ends. Soon after, Sam finds Hal's will hidden in her childhood fairytale book, which states that all of his money, belongings, the house and diner actually belong to her. Since this leaves her as the rightful and legal owner, Sam sells her stepfamily's possessions for college, and Fiona, who claims to have never seen the will before despite the fact that she clearly signed it as a witness, is arrested by the LAPD and the County district attorney for financial and inheritance fraud, and violating child labor laws by having Sam work long hours despite being a minor.

Sam's stepsisters retrieve her real acceptance letter to Princeton from a dumpster, where Fiona "filed" it. Soon, Fiona and her daughters are made to work at the diner to work off all the money they stole from Sam over the years as an alternate and well-deserved punishment over prison and juvenile hall by the D.A., and the diner is restored to its former glory before Hal's death by its new owners, Sam and Rhonda. Andy comes to accept his son's desire to attend Princeton and creates a promotion for Princeton alumni at his car wash. Carter soon films a commercial for new acne medication, causing him to become popular and Shelby to fall in love with him, but having witnessed her cruelty towards Sam at the pep rally, he rejects her for Astrid, the high school's goth DJ and announcer. Austin and Sam begin a relationship, after Austin gives Sam back her cell phone, and they both end up driving off to Princeton together.

In a parallel universe, England and Imperial Russia have fought the Crimean War for more than a century; although now a republic (with entertainer George Formby as its president), England still also has a parliamentary government, although heavily influenced by the Goliath Corporation (a powerful weapon-producing company with questionable morals); and Wales is a separate, socialist nation. The book's fictional version of ''Jane Eyre'' ends with Jane accompanying her cousin, St. John Rivers, to India in order to help him with his missionary work. Society publicly debates literary questions (especially the question of Shakespearean authorship), sometimes inspiring gang wars and murder. Regular law enforcement agencies still exist, alongside new specialized agencies under the single organization SpecOps (Special Operations). The more than 20 branches include SpecOps 12, the Chronoguard, who police all events related to time travel, and SpecOps 27, the Literary Detectives, or "LiteraTecs", who deal with all literature-related crimes.

The Crimean War is a cold conflict with both sides at a stalemate but too stubborn to call for peace. A peace movement in Britain is gaining popularity. Meanwhile, Goliath has been contracted to create a plasma rifle codenamed "STONK" to overpower the Russians. The weapon should be capable of destroying a tank with a single blast. Goliath promises that STONK will soon be standard issue to the British military.

The plot revolves around Thursday Next, a single, thirty-six-year-old woman who is a veteran of the Crimean War and a literary detective who lives in London with her pet dodo Pickwick. (Dodos have been recreated, as have Neanderthals, due to advanced genetic engineering technology on this alternate Earth). She is privately against the continuation of the war, as her brother was killed in action and her then fiancé Landen Parke-Laine lost a leg in combat. The trauma of the war led to the end of her relationship with Parke-Laine several years prior.

As the story begins, Thursday is promoted to assist in the capture of a wanted terrorist, Acheron Hades, her former university professor who has become a mysterious criminal mastermind, Thursday is the only living person who can recognize him, and nearly captures him during a stakeout. But, Hades possesses several superhuman abilities, such as mental manipulation and extreme durability, and uses those powers to withstand her gunfire. He evades capture and kills Thursday's entire team. During the capture attempt she is shot, but a copy of ''Jane Eyre'' stops Hades' bullet. A mysterious stranger aids her until the paramedics arrive, leaving behind a handkerchief monogrammed with the letters "E.F.R." and a 19th-century style jacket. Next recognizes these items as belonging to Edward Fairfax Rochester, a fictional character from ''Jane Eyre''. During a flashback to her childhood, Thursday remembers a seemingly supernatural event, whereby she was able to physically enter the world of the novel and briefly became acquainted with Rochester.

While recovering in hospital, she learns that, after fleeing the scene, Hades was seemingly killed in a car accident. She also meets a time-traveling future version of herself, who warns her that Hades survived the accident, and instructs her to take a LiteraTec job in her home town of Swindon. She takes the job, and while visiting her family there, she discovers that her brilliant Uncle Mycroft and Aunt Polly have created the Prose Portal, a device that allows people to enter works of fiction. At home, she renews an acquaintance with her ex-fiancé Parke-Laine. She also meets, and is forced to work with, a high-ranking Goliath operative named Jack Schitt, who is similarly investigating Hades.

Hades, meanwhile, steals the original manuscript of Charles Dickens's ''Martin Chuzzlewit''. He also kidnaps Mycroft, Polly, and the Prose Portal in order to blackmail the literary world; any changes made to the plot of a novel's original manuscript will change all other copies. To demonstrate his demands are serious, Hades kills Mr Quaverley, a minor character from the original manuscript of ''Martin Chuzzlewit''. When his demands are not met, he stages a theft of the original manuscript of "Jane Eyre", and kidnaps Jane for another ransom demand. This causes the text of all copies of the ''Jane Eyre'' novel to abruptly end at the moment of Jane's kidnapping, roughly halfway through the book.

Next and Jack Schitt independently trace Hades to Wales. She rescues Mycroft and the Prose Portal, and returns Jane to the novel. However, she finds Aunt Polly stuck in one of Wordsworth's poems, and learns that Hades has gone into the original text of ''Jane Eyre'' carrying the scrap of paper on which Polly is imprisoned. Next pursues Hades. After several weeks in the novel (which pass in the outside world much more quickly, as the book rewrites itself after Jane is returned) and much trouble, she succeeds in killing Hades and recovering the poem with Polly in it. In the process, Thornfield Hall is burned, Rochester's mad wife Bertha falls to her death, and Rochester is grievously injured. Thursday also discovers that the characters in the book must continually relive their lives, with full knowledge of how events turn out, and are unable to alter any of them. Thus, Rochester must repeatedly suffer the devastating loss of Jane when she runs away from him upon discovering his secret marriage. Thursday, who has befriended Rochester, resolves to change the ending of the book to a happy one. She changes events to reunite Jane and Rochester (in other words, she alters the ending to match the actual ending to ''Jane Eyre'').

Returning to her own world, Next uses the Prose Portal to release her Aunt Polly, while Jack Schitt reveals that his interest is in the device. Goliath had never been able to perfect STONK as a feasible weapon. Therefore, with their deadline to deliver the weapons to the military, he had resolved to extract working STONKs from the weapon's manual, itself a work of fiction, as the weapons don't work. Thursday reluctantly agrees to let Schitt use the portal for this endeavor, but switches the book connected to the portal to be the text of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven". When the portal opens, she pushes Schitt inside, and traps him there, while Mycroft destroys the portal.

Using her new celebrity status, Next enters a televised debate between supporters and opponents of the continuation of the Crimean War. Supporters of the war assume that Goliath's plasma rifles will be sufficient to guarantee victory. But in the debate, Next publicly reveals that the plasma rifles do not work. This forces England to rethink its position, which leads to peace negotiations and an end to the war.

Next shows up at the church where Parke-Laine is about to be married to another woman, but Rochester's lawyer interrupts the wedding. Next and Parke-Laine are reconciled and marry instead. Next's father, a renegade agent from SpecOps-12, the ChronoGuard, turns up to dispense some fatherly advice to his daughter. The novel ends with Next facing an uncertain future at work: public reaction to the new ending for ''Jane Eyre'' is positive, but there are other repercussions, including Goliath's fury.

In ''I Am a Cat'', a supercilious, feline narrator describes the lives of an assortment of middle-class Japanese people: Mr. ("sneeze" is misspelled on purpose, but literally translated from , in the original Japanese) and family (the cat's owners), Sneaze's garrulous and irritating friend , and the young scholar with his will-he-won't-he courtship of the businessman's spoiled daughter, .

John Cassellis is a television news cameraman. He and his sound recorder dispassionately film images of car accidents rather than help the victims. Cassellis is seemingly hardened to ethical and social issues; he is more concerned with his personal life and pursuing audience-grabbing stories. Yet once Cassellis finds out that his news station has been providing the stories and information gathered by the cameramen and news journalists to the FBI, he becomes enraged. The news station creates an excuse to fire him, but he soon finds another job free-lancing at the Democratic National Convention.

In the course of his television job, Cassellis meets Eileen, a single mother, and her son, Harold, who have moved from West Virginia to Chicago. Harold tells a woman canvassing the neighborhood that his father, Buddy, is "at Vietnam", but later tells Cassellis that he just took off one day and never came back. Eileen tells Cassellis that "Buddy is dead." Cassellis grows fond of them both, mother and son.

When Harold goes missing, Eileen goes to the site of the convention to ask Cassellis for help. She finds herself in the midst of the riots. After witnessing acts of police brutality, Eileen finds Cassellis. As they drive to an undisclosed location, unaware that Harold has returned home, Cassellis accidentally crashes the car into a tree, killing Eileen and critically injuring himself. A passing driver stops to photograph the accident, after which he leaves the heavily damaged car behind.

During the Human–Skaarj war, the New Earth Government was formed. Mining was the primary method of financing the war, but was unpopular with the working class, who grew weary of the working conditions and the war. The humans were losing the war, and riots broke out. The Terran system was surrounded by Skaarj forces, but a government team destroyed their mothership, and the Skaarj withdrew. Afterward, revolts and violence among the mining colonies were on the increase, and efforts to deal with them were unsuccessful. The government then came up with the idea of giving the violence an outlet instead. "Consensual murder" was legalized in the year 2291, enabling people to fight to the death under organized conditions. The Liandri Mining Corporation worked with the government and organized leagues and public exhibitions. Soon, these matches became more profitable than mining, and Liandri formed a professional league to compete in a "Grand Tournament", the most popular event in the sport. The game takes place in 2341, fifty years after the fights were first legalized.

The series focuses mainly on newlyweds Paul Buchman, a documentary filmmaker, and Jamie Stemple Buchman, a public relations specialist, as they deal with everything from humorous daily minutiae to major struggles. Near the end of the show's run, they have a baby daughter, whom they name Mabel. They live in Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan. The 2019 limited series focuses on Paul and Jamie as empty nesters as Mabel starts college at NYU, 5 blocks away.

Frank Ryan is an almost honest used car salesman, who after deliberately not testifying against car thief Ernest "Stick" Stickley, Jr., thinks of a foolproof plan for them to perform armed robberies. The plan is about simple everyday armed robbery. Supermarkets, bars, liquor stores, gas stations, etc. Because the statistics prove that this armed robbery pays the most for the least amount of risk, they start their business and earn three to five thousand dollars a week. To prevent getting caught Frank introduces 10 golden rules for successful armed robbery:

• Always be polite on the job and say please and thank you.
• Never say more than necessary. Less is more.
• Never call your partner by name-unless you use a made-up name.
• Never look suspicious or like a bum and dress well.
• Never use your own car.
• Never count the take in the car.
• Never flash money in a bar or with women.
• Never go back to an old bar or hangout once you have moved up.
• Never tell anyone your business and never tell a junkie even your name.
• Never associate with people known to be in crime.

For a while, Frank and Stick are able to follow the rules and the plan and they are extremely successful. They even rob the robber who just robbed the bar they were in. But, inevitably, the rules start falling by the wayside and when they see a chance for a big score, the rules go out the window, with predictably disastrous results.

The Voltarians want to conquer the planet Earth (Blito-P3, according to Voltarian astrocharts) as a gas station for their planned invasion of the galactic centre. The Voltarians come to the conclusion that indigenous inhabitants of Earth will destroy the planet through pollution and possibly war, which would disrupt the future of their Invasion Timetable. Royal Combat Engineer Jettero Heller, a character of perfection, incorruptibility, and astonishing ability, is assigned to save Earth from the Earthlings. Reaching New York City, he investigates the problem, unaware that he is being tracked and that factions on Voltar want his mission to fail.

Unknown to Heller, Earth is also the base of a secret operation conducted by the diabolically evil Lombar Hisst, head of the Voltarian Coordinated Information Apparatus (CIA), who seeks to usurp the Voltarian throne. To gain control, Hisst has been importing illegal narcotic drugs from Earth to enslave the heads of government on Voltar. Hisst works to make Heller fail in his mission.

Hisst assigns a stooge named Soltan Gris to supervise the mission to Earth, in order to sabotage it. Gris finds himself in possession of twelve tons of pure gold, which he tries to launder through a Swiss bank account and keep for himself; he becomes a prisoner of two man-hating lesbians who end up marrying him, but not before various tortures are inflicted upon him. He has terrible money and girlfriend troubles, and he hires a hit man who eventually targets him.

Heller discovers a conspiracy headed by Delbert John Rockecenter, who keeps the population of Earth sedated with drugs and rock and roll music. Heller's attempts to break the demonic control of Earth by Rockecenter make him a target, and the corporation uses its most dangerous weapons to destroy him: psychiatry and psychology, and a mad, idealistic public relations genius by the name of J. Walter Madison aka J. Warbler Madman. Madison initiates a wide-reaching public relations campaign to make Heller known to the world as the "Whiz Kid", but results in destroying Heller's reputation so that all of Heller's efforts to save the planet come to naught, as Madison's employer, Rockecenter, wanted. Heller's outstanding skills and abilities are reinforced by the arrival on Earth of his fiancée, the Countess Krak, and the alliance and friendship of the Mafia—specifically the Corleone family.

After a series of world-shattering events, which include the impact of an ice meteor on the Soviet Union, the world's entire oil supply being turned radioactive, and a black hole orbiting the Earth, Heller returns to Voltar to find that not only have Hisst's plans to enslave the government nearly succeeded, but Madison is starting a galactic civil war.

After the defeat of Hisst and Madison, a massive cover-up operation commences to wipe out the effects of PR, psychology and psychiatry. All mention of these subjects is censored and the planet Earth is eradicated from all star charts and similar items. As far as the Voltarians are concerned, planet Earth no longer exists.

The book is written largely from the point of view of the narrator, a young, aspiring writer and playwright in London. Certain chapters entirely comprise accounts of events by other characters, which the narrator recalls from memory, selectively editing or elaborating on certain aspects of dialogue, particularly Strickland's, because Strickland is said by the narrator to have a very poor ability to express himself in words. The narrator first develops an acquaintance with Strickland's wife at literary parties and later meets Strickland himself, who appears to be an unremarkable businessman with no interest in his wife's literary or artistic tastes.

Strickland is a well-off, middle-class stockbroker in London, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. Early in the novel, he leaves his wife and children and goes to Paris. The narrator enters directly into the story at that point, when he is asked by Mrs Strickland to go to Paris and talk with her husband. He lives a destitute but defiantly content life there as a painter, lodging in run-down hotels and falling prey to both illness and hunger. Strickland, in his drive to express through his art what appears to continually possess and compel him on the inside, cares nothing for physical discomfort and is indifferent to his surroundings. He is helped and supported by a commercially successful but hackneyed Dutch painter, Dirk Stroeve, coincidentally, also an old friend of the narrator, who recognises Strickland's genius as a painter. After helping Strickland recover from a life-threatening illness, Stroeve is repaid by having his wife, Blanche, abandon him for Strickland. Strickland later discards the wife, because all he really wanted from Blanche was to be a model to paint, not serious companionship. It is hinted in the novel that he indicated that to her, but she took the risk anyway. Blanche then dies by suicide. She is another human casualty in Strickland's single-minded pursuit of art and beauty, the first casualties being his own established life, and those of his wife and children.

After the Paris episode, the story continues in Tahiti. Strickland has already died, and the narrator attempts to piece together his life there from recollections of others. He finds that Strickland had taken up with a native woman, had two children by her (one of whom died), and started painting profusely. We learn that Strickland had settled for a short while in the French port of Marseilles before traveling to Tahiti, where he lived for a few years before dying of leprosy. Strickland left behind numerous paintings, but his magnum opus, which he painted on the walls of his hut before losing his sight to leprosy, was burnt by his wife after his death, as per his dying orders.

Eve Owens, a British film star who is now in her mid-forties and who has settled down in the small village of Bamford, invites her cousin Meredith Mitchell to her daughter Sara's wedding, which is to take place in a couple of weeks' time in the old village church. But shortly after Mitchell's arrival one of Eve Owens's neighbours, a young artist called Philip Lorrimer, is found dead in his cottage—poisoned. The autopsy reveals that it has been a slow death, that Lorrimer has been poisoned over a longer period of time. At first there are no suspects, especially as no one seems to have had a motive for killing Lorrimer. But when one night Lorrimer's 80-year-old neighbour Bert Yewell is slain in his pyjamas next to his garden shed, it becomes clear that Yewell must have known a secret which he was about to give away. In the end, it turns out that Eve Owens, her daughter, and one of the guests staying at Owens's house are not as innocent as they seemed at the beginning.

Category:1991 British novels Category:British crime novels Category:Novels by Ann Granger Category:Headline Publishing Group books

Andrew Beckett is a senior associate at the largest corporate law firm in Philadelphia: Wyant, Wheeler, Hellerman, Tetlow, and Brown. He conceals his homosexuality and his status as an AIDS patient from the other members of the firm. A partner in the firm notices a lesion on Beckett's forehead. Although Beckett attributes the lesion to a racquetball injury, it indicates Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-defining condition.

Shortly thereafter, Beckett stays home from work for several days to try to find a way to hide his lesions. While at home, he finishes the paperwork for a case he has been assigned and then brings it to his office, leaving instructions for his assistants to file the paperwork the following day, which marks the end of the statute of limitations for the case. Later that morning, he receives a call asking for the paperwork, as the paper copy cannot be found and there are no copies on the computer's hard drive. The paperwork is finally discovered in an alternate location and is filed with the court at the last possible moment. The following day, Beckett is dismissed by the firm's partners.

Beckett believes that someone deliberately hid his paperwork to give the firm an excuse to fire him, and that the dismissal is actually a result of his diagnosis with AIDS as well as his sexuality. He asks ten attorneys to take his case, including African-American personal injury lawyer Joe Miller, whom Beckett previously opposed in an unrelated case. Miller appears to be worried that he could contract Beckett's illness. After declining to take the case, Miller immediately visits his doctor to find out if he could have contracted the disease. The doctor explains that the routes of HIV infection do not include casual contact.

Unable to find a lawyer willing to represent him, Beckett is compelled to act as his own attorney. While researching a case at a law library, Miller sees Beckett at a nearby table. A librarian approaches Beckett and announces that he has found a case on AIDS discrimination for him. As others in the library begin to first stare uneasily, the librarian suggests Beckett go to a private room. Seeing the parallels in how he himself has faced discrimination due to his race, Miller approaches Beckett, reviews the material he has gathered, and takes the case.

As the case goes before the court, the partners of the firm take the stand, each claiming that Beckett was incompetent and that he had deliberately tried to hide his condition. The defense repeatedly suggests that Beckett brought AIDS upon himself via gay sex, and is therefore not a victim. In the course of testimony, it is revealed that the partner who had noticed Beckett's lesion, Walter Kenton, had previously worked with a woman who had contracted AIDS after a blood transfusion and so should have recognized the lesion as relating to AIDS. According to Kenton, the woman was an innocent victim, unlike Beckett, and further testified that he did not recognize Beckett's lesions. To prove that the lesions would have been visible, Miller asks Beckett to unbutton his shirt while on the witness stand, revealing that his lesions are indeed visible and recognizable as such. Over the course of the trial, Miller's homophobia slowly disappears as he and Beckett bond from working together.

Beckett eventually collapses during the trial and is hospitalized. After this, another partner, Bob Seidman, who had also noticed Beckett's lesions, confesses that he suspected Beckett had AIDS but never told anyone and never gave him the opportunity to explain himself, which he regrets very much. During his hospitalization, the jury votes in Beckett's favor, awarding him back pay, damages for pain and suffering and punitive damages, totaling over $5 million. Miller visits the visibly failing Beckett in the hospital after the verdict and overcomes his fear enough to touch Beckett's face. After the family leaves the room, Beckett tells his partner Miguel Alvarez that he is "ready." At the Miller home later that night, Miller and his wife are awakened by a phone call from Alvarez, who tells them that Beckett has died. A memorial is held at Beckett's family home following the funeral, where many mourners, including Miller and his family, view home movies of Beckett as a happy child.

In 2002 Johnny and Sarah Sullivan and their daughters Christy and Ariel enter the United States on a tourist visa from Ireland via Canada, where Johnny was working as an actor. The family settles in New York City, in a rundown Hell's Kitchen tenement occupied by drug addicts, transvestites, and a reclusive Nigerian artist/photographer named Mateo Kuamey. Hanging over the family is the death of their five-year-old son Frankie, who died from a brain tumor discovered after a fall down the stairs. The devout Roman Catholic Johnny questions God and has lost any ability to feel true emotions, which has affected his relationship with his family. Christy believes she has been granted three wishes by her dead brother, which she only uses at times of near-dire consequences for the family as they try to survive in New York.

After finding the apartment, Sarah gets a job in the local ice cream parlor to support the family while Johnny auditions for any role for which he is suited, with no success. Despite their poverty, the initial joy of being in the United States and the closeness of the family gives them the energy to make the most of what they have, and Christy chronicles the events of their life with a cherished camcorder. As money runs low and the city's temperatures soar, the family dip into savings to go to the movies to see ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' and enjoy the air conditioning to find respite from the oppressive weather. Tensions between Johnny and Sarah begin to rise with the summer heat. Not helping their financial and emotional strain is the discovery that Sarah is pregnant. Eventually Johnny finds work as a cab driver to augment their income and help pay for the girls' Catholic school tuition.

On Halloween, the girls become friendly with Mateo when they knock at his door to trick-or-treat. Despite Johnny's reticence about the somewhat imposing and forbidding man, Sarah invites him to their apartment for dinner, and eventually they learn that the man is sad and lonely because he is dying of AIDS. Later, Mateo falls down a flight of stairs and is knocked unconscious. Christy tries to resuscitate him using CPR, although she is warned away from him by the other residents, who seem to be aware that he is HIV-positive. The man's condition continues to deteriorate as Sarah's fetus develops. The baby is born prematurely and in poor health, and is in need of a blood transfusion. Johnny and Sarah are ultimately nervous not only about the baby's survival chances, but also of the skyrocketing hospital bills that will now need to be paid following the baby's delivery, causing Sarah to have a brief nervous breakdown and blame Johnny for Frankie's death, and tearfully berate him.

However, after calming her down, Johnny and Sarah agree to the blood transfusion but without giving the baby "bad blood," as using hospital blood banks was the source of Mateo's contraction of HIV. Shortly, it is discovered that Christy has a compatible blood type to donate with, and Mateo's death coincides with the first healthy movements of the infant following a blood transfusion from Christy. After the successful operation, the family is startled to learn that Mateo had settled and paid for their astronomical hospital bill before he had died, upon the discovery that Mateo was in possession of a large trust fund he never spent. They give the newborn baby girl the middle name of Mateo in gratitude and to honor his memory.

With the birth of the new baby and the death of Mateo, Johnny finally is able to overcome his lack of emotion and put his grieving for Frankie to rest. He also finally catches a break by getting a small role in ''A Chorus Line'' on Broadway. The film ends after a baby shower at the apartment is held for the Sullivan family with many of the apartment tenants present to celebrate, and Christy and the rest of her family take in the view of the city and look out for Mateo in the night's sky.

The story is told in a nonlinear manner. The following is a chronological summary of the plot:

Jack Jordan is a former convict who is using his new-found religious faith to recover from drug addiction and alcoholism. Paul Rivers is a mathematics professor with a dedicated wife, Mary, and has a fatal heart condition. Unless he receives a new heart from an organ donor, he will not live longer than a month. Mary wants him to donate his sperm so she can have his baby even if he dies. Cristina Peck is a recovering drug addict and now lives a normal suburban life with a supportive husband and two children. She is a loving mother and active swimmer who has left behind her days of drugs and alcohol. These three separate stories/characters become tied together one evening when Jack kills Cristina's husband and children in a hit-and-run accident. Cristina's husband's heart is donated to Paul, who begins his recovery.

Cristina is devastated by the loss and returns to drugs and alcohol. Paul is eager to begin normal life again, but he hesitantly agrees to his wife's idea of artificial insemination as a last-ditch effort to get pregnant. During consultations with a doctor before the procedure, Paul learns about an abortion that Mary had undergone after they had separated in the past. Angered, Paul ends the relationship. He becomes very inquisitive about whose heart he has. He learns from a private detective that the heart belonged to Cristina's husband and begins to follow the widowed Cristina around town.

Jack is stricken with guilt following the accident and starts using drugs again. Despite his wife's protests to keep quiet and conceal his guilt, Jack tells her that his "duty is to God" and turns himself in. While incarcerated, he clashes verbally with a pastor who had helped him after his last incarceration, claims that God had betrayed him, loses his will to live and attempts suicide. He is released after Cristina declines to press charges against him, as she realizes that incarcerating Jack will not bring her family back. When Jack is released, he is unable to reincorporate himself into normal family life, and instead leaves home to live as a transient, working as a manual laborer.

Paul finds an opportunity to meet Cristina and eventually reveals how the two of them are connected. She is initially furious and forces him out, but quickly reconsiders. Desperately needing each other, they continue their relationship. Though Paul has a new heart, his body is rejecting the transplant and his outlook is grim. As Cristina begins to dwell more on her changed life and the death of her family, she becomes obsessed with taking revenge against Jack. She goads Paul into agreeing to murder him.

Paul meets with the private detective who originally found Cristina for him. He tells Paul that Jack is living in a motel and sells Paul a gun. Paul and Cristina check into the motel where Jack is staying. When Jack is walking alone, Paul grabs him and leads him out into a clearing at gunpoint intending to kill him. However, Paul is unable to kill Jack, who himself is confused, shaking and pleading during the event. Paul fires three shots into the ground and tells Jack to "just disappear," then returns to the motel, lying to Cristina about Jack's death. Later that night, while they are sleeping, Paul and Cristina are awakened by a noise outside their door. It's Jack, who, still consumed by guilt, orders Paul to actually kill him and end his misery. A struggle ensues, during which Cristina blind-sides Jack and starts beating him with a wooden lamp. Paul collapses, gets hold of the gun, and accidentally shoots himself.

Jack and Cristina rush Paul to the hospital. Still believing he deserves to be punished for his hit-and-run, Jack tells the police that he was the one who shot Paul, but is released when his story cannot be confirmed. Paul dies, and the conflict between Cristina and Jack remains unresolved (they meet in the waiting room after Paul's death; if they have a conversation, it is not shown). When Cristina offers to donate blood for Paul in the hospital, she learns that she is pregnant; the doctor urges Cristina to quit using drugs. After Paul's death, Cristina is seen tentatively preparing for the new child in one of her daughter's bedrooms, which she had previously been unable to enter after her daughter's death. Jack is shown returning to his family.

Unlucky Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) works at the Shangri-La casino as a "cooler" - a man with near professionally bad luck, his presence at a casino designed to stop people from winning. A cocktail waitress, Natalie (Maria Bello), takes no real notice of Bernie, who is smitten with her. The casino manager and partner, Shelly (Alec Baldwin) prides himself on running a "classically" Las Vegas casino, and resents the new places that attract a lower clientele. The owners, however, hire an advisor named Larry (Ron Livingston) to help bring in more money with techniques contrary to Shelly's outdated policies. Bernie informs Shelly that he is leaving town in a week.

After an encounter during which Bernie rescues Natalie from an aggressive customer, she appears to take an interest in him. Secretly prodded by casino owner Shelly, Natalie asks Bernie out for a drink. They end up sleeping together, and then Natalie takes a genuine interest in Bernie. They begin seeing each other, but Bernie is apprehensive due to his mostly bad luck. Shelly initially thought a relationship with Natalie would keep Bernie from leaving his casino. Bernie reveals to Natalie that he used to be a gambling addict, and was in huge debt to several casinos. Shelly "saved" him by breaking his kneecap and paying off his debts in exchange for Bernie's work as a cooler for six years, which ends at the end of the week. By accident, Bernie and Natalie run into his estranged son Mikey and his pregnant wife Charlotte who are scamming a diner by faking labor. Bernie tells Mikey to stop by the casino sometime.

Bernie is happy with his new relationship and his "cooling" abilities fade, much to Shelly's anger. Mikey and Charlotte come by the motel and Bernie gives them $3,000, but Natalie is skeptical of Charlotte's behavior. When Bernie reveals to Natalie he intends to leave Vegas, she initially says she won't go with him, and Bernie is upset. When Bernie fails to cool Mikey at the craps table, Shelly realizes he is being cheated by Mikey. Shelly takes Mikey and Charlotte downstairs and his crew begins beating Mikey. Bernie then promises to pay the $150,000 Mikey was up, but Shelly breaks Mikey's hand and punches Charlotte, revealing her pregnancy was being faked anyway. Though distraught, that night Natalie and Bernie confess their love for one another, and Bernie again becomes a good luck charm.

Shelly calls Natalie to his office and reminds her that he hired her to date Bernie so he wouldn't leave Vegas, not to fall in love with him, which has made him both happy and lucky. He forces her to leave town abruptly, which hurts Bernie and ruins his luck. She does truly love Bernie, though, and returns, restoring Bernie's luck. Shelly goes to Bernie's motel room and begins packing for Natalie and hits her, cutting her face. After a tense exchange wherein she claims Bernie is the closest thing Shelly has to a friend and he doesn't want him to leave, he simply leaves her there. When Bernie comes home, she reveals Shelly hired her to pretend to like him, but she truly fell in love with him.

Banking on his good luck brought on by Natalie's devotion, Bernie confronts Shelly and calls him a coward with nothing in his life but the casino. Shelly lets him go on the condition he pay back the $150,000, which Bernie tries to win at craps. Larry wants Shelly to stop Bernie’s hot streak, but Shelly takes him into the men’s room and beats him, breaking his hand.

Bernie leaves and he and Natalie drive away from Las Vegas. He pulls over and reveals that he won a lot of money, but a cop presumably sent by Shelly approaches and readies to kill them. Shelly gets in his car and finds his partner waiting for him. On Larry's behalf, he whacks Shelly, saying they have to protect their interests. A drunk driver accidentally hits and kills the cop and Bernie remarks their luck must have turned. They drive off finally free.

13-year-old Tracy Freeland begins her school year as a smart and mild-mannered honors student at a middle school in Los Angeles. Her divorced mother Melanie is a recovering alcoholic, who struggles to support Tracy and her older brother Mason by working as a hairdresser. Tracy feels ignored by her mother, who is too busy with her fellow ex-addict boyfriend Brady to address Tracy's increasing depression. On the first day of 7th grade, Tracy encounters Evie Zamora, the most popular girl in Tracy’s class. After being teased by Evie’s crew for her "Cabbage Patch" clothes, Tracy is mortified and decides to shed her "little girl" image. At a store (owned by Melanie’s friend), Tracy happily finds trendier clothes as Melanie offers a few dollars in change as payment.

The following day Tracy wears one of her new outfits to school. At lunch she sits near and observes Evie, eventually seeing Evie leave for the bathroom and following her. Evie, seemingly realizing Tracy is following her, compliments Tracy’s new outfit. Tracy in turn compliments Evie. After a quick once over, Evie invites Tracy to go shopping on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, writing her phone number down on an address pad Tracy provides.

Excited and hopeful, Tracy calls the number after school, but after two attempts realizes that Evie gave her a fake phone number to prank her. Nevertheless, Tracy determinedly shows up on Melrose Avenue and meets with Evie and her friend Astrid. Evie and Astrid seem surprised and amused that Tracy showed up, laughing at her as soon as she arrives. Tracy witnesses the two shoplifting and excuses herself from the store. She sits outside on a bench and moments later a distracted woman sits next to her. The woman's purse falls open, revealing her wallet, which Tracy takes. She finds Evie and Astrid and, elated, the three go on a shopping spree with the stolen money.

After, Tracy returns home and realizes that Melanie has invited Brady over for dinner that night. A flashback shows Brady violently withdrawing from drugs, a scene that traumatized Tracy.

Tracy and Evie become inseparable. Evie introduces Tracy to her world of sex, drugs, and crime, much to Tracy's delight. Evie tells Melanie that Brooke, her adult cousin and guardian, is out of town for two weeks, and Melanie agrees to let her stay at her home with Tracy. While staying there, Evie discovers that Tracy regularly cuts herself to cope with stress. Although Melanie is concerned about the change in Tracy's behavior and worries about the extent of Evie's influence, she cannot find a way to intervene. Melanie attempts to send Evie home, but reluctantly lets her stay after Evie claims her guardian's boyfriend is physically abusive. As Tracy and Evie become closer, Tracy shuts Melanie further out of her life.

Evie and Tracy get increasingly out of control, each egging the other on. The pair attempt to seduce Tracy's neighbor Luke, a lifeguard in his early twenties, and ditch a family movie night to get high on the streets in Hollywood. Mason is shocked when he bumps into Tracy wearing sexualized clothing, including thong underwear, but Tracy dismisses his concerns. Later on, the girls take turns inhaling from a can of gas duster for electronics and become so intoxicated that they start hitting and punching each other.

Melanie attempts to break the girls' friendship by sending Tracy to live with her father, a preoccupied businessman, but he refuses. After Evie's stay extends over two weeks, Melanie unsuccessfully attempts to contact Brooke, and then visits Brooke's home with Evie and Tracy. They find that Brooke was hiding because of a botched plastic surgery. Evie asks Melanie to formally adopt her but Melanie refuses. Tracy meekly supports her mother's decision. Angry and hurt, a tearful Evie storms off. Later at school, Evie turns her friends against Tracy, and Tracy slowly begins to realize the negative effects of her lifestyle when she is told that she will have to repeat the seventh grade.

While walking home from school, Brady offers Tracy a ride and takes her home where Melanie, Evie, and Brooke are sitting quietly in the living room waiting for her. Brooke confronts Tracy about her drug use and stealing, having been convinced that Tracy was the bad influence on Evie. Outraged, Tracy insists that Evie was the instigator, but the skeptical Brooke refuses to listen and announces that she is moving Evie to Ojai to keep her away from Tracy. Melanie defends Tracy's innocence but then Brooke pulls Tracy's sleeve up to show Melanie Tracy's self-harm scars. After a screaming match, Brooke and Evie leave. Tracy weeps in Melanie's arms and attempts to fight against her mother's embrace. She tearfully pleads with Melanie to let go, but Melanie persists and the two fall asleep together on Tracy's bed. The last scene shows Tracy, in the daytime, spinning on a park merry-go-round and screaming.

April Burns, the eldest daughter in a highly dysfunctional family, lives in a small tenement apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with her boyfriend Bobby. Although estranged from her parents, Jim and Joy, and younger siblings Beth and Timmy, she opts to invite them for Thanksgiving dinner. It is expected to be the last Thanksgiving for Joy, who is dying from breast cancer.

April's parents and siblings, along with April's senile grandmother, start a long drive from suburbia to New York City, while April prepares to cook dinner. Bobby leaves the apartment to purchase a suit so he can make a good impression upon meeting April's family. Upon attempting to cook the Thanksgiving turkey, April discovers that her oven is broken, and solicits help from other people in her apartment building; she receives help, hindrance and indifference from the disparate group of residents, but eventually completes the meal.

As April's family makes the road trip, their dysfunctional relationship with her is discussed. Beth constantly expresses her disapproval for visiting April, while Joy is pessimistic about the prospect of the dinner being enjoyable. Jim remains positive, and Timmy takes photographs of their trip. Frequent stops have to be made as Joy is sick. After initial difficulty, Bobby finds a suit and begins heading home, only to be confronted by April's former boyfriend, a drug-dealer named Tyrone. A fight ensues, ruining Bobby's suit jacket and leaving his face bloody. April's family arrives outside her derelict apartment building. Initially hesitant to leave their car due to the poverty of the neighborhood, they are then approached by a battered Bobby, who introduces himself. Her family subsequently leaves, opting to purchase a meal at a diner instead. April is crestfallen after learning the news.

After witnessing a confrontation between a mother and her young daughter in the diner's bathroom, Joy reconsiders. Along with Timmy, the pair ask two motorcycle riders to take them back to April's apartment. April has since decided to share her Thanksgiving meal with several residents of her apartment building who helped her prepare it. Joy proceeds to April's apartment, where the two have an emotional reunion, which is photographed by Timmy. The rest of April's family later arrives, and all embrace her. April's family, together with the residents of the building, are shown having an enjoyable time.

The Tracy family, led by former astronaut Jeff Tracy, operate International Rescue (IR), a secret organization that aids those in need during disasters using technologically advanced machines called Thunderbirds, operating out of Tracy Island in the South Pacific. Youngest son Alan lives at a boarding school in Massachusetts and dreams of being a Thunderbird pilot. He and his best friend Fermat Hackenbacker, son of the Thunderbirds’ engineer Brains, are extracted by Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, an IR agent, and her butler Aloysius Parker, using her limo FAB 1, as the Thunderbirds return from an oil rig fire off the Russian coast. Unbeknownst to them, the Hood, a psychic criminal mastermind who has a vendetta against Jeff for abandoning him in a collapsing illegal diamond mine when his brother Kyrano was rescued, has planted a tracking beacon on the hull of ''Thunderbird 1''.

The Hood's submarine locates Tracy Island and fires a missile at the orbiting ''Thunderbird 5'', sending Jeff and older sons Scott, Virgil and Gordon in ''Thunderbird 3'' to rescue John Tracy. The Hood and his minions, led by Mullion and Transom, take over the island's command centre, imprisoning the Tracys in ''Thunderbird 5'' as their oxygen runs out. The Hood reveals that he plans to use the ''Thunderbirds'' to rob ten of the major banks of the world, thus plunging the world's monetary system into chaos. The IR organization will be blamed and disgraced for it. Alan, Fermat and their friend Tin-Tin, Kyrano's daughter and Alan's crush, use a ventilation shaft to reach the Thunderbird silos. Fermat removes ''Thunderbird 2'' s guidance chip, delaying the Hood's plan, and the teenagers flee into the island's jungle.

While traversing the jungle to find the island's remote transmitter, Tin-Tin displays psychic powers like her uncle. Alan insists on confronting the villains, but Jeff tells them to wait for Lady Penelope's arrival. The trio flees from Mullion and his men, but Fermat and Tin-Tin are captured when Alan tries to tow them to safety on hovercraft, after their riding compartment falls off. Lady Penelope and Parker arrive, engaging the Hood's minions in combat, but the Hood defeats them with his powers. When Alan appears, the Hood forces him to give up the guidance chip and locks him and the others in the compound's walk-in freezer. The Hood, Mullion, and Transom pilot ''Thunderbird 2'' to London and use the Mole to sink a monorail line into the Thames and drill into the Bank of England’s vaults. Alan and company escape and contact Jeff and his older sons, who regain control ''Thunderbird 5''. While the adults set out to stop the Hood, the teenagers and Lady Penelope fly to London in ''Thunderbird 1''.

Arriving in London, Alan and Tin-Tin rescue a submerged monorail car using the aquatic ''Thunderbird 4'' before pursuing the Hood. Together, Fermat, Tin-Tin, and Parker defeat the Hood's henchmen. The Hood locks Jeff and Lady Penelope in a vault and challenges Alan to defeat him. Alan dangles from a catwalk over the Mole, but Tin-Tin appears, using her own powers to defeat the Hood. The Hood taunts Alan to let him die as his father did, but Alan, knowing that his father had in fact tried unsuccessfully to save the Hood, rescues him despite what he had done to them. The Hood and his minions are arrested, and International Rescue return to their island. Alan, Fermat, and Tin-Tin are inducted as official members of IR, and depart for their first mission.

Setting

The game takes place in the fictional skies referred to as Arcadia, where six civilizations coexist on floating continents orbited by six moons of different colors. Thousands of years prior to the present time of the game, the civilizations, one of which existed for each moon, developed technologically to the point where each created a Gigas, a colossal living weapon of mass destruction, controlled by a Moon Crystal. Using the Gigas, the civilizations warred with one another, threatening the extinction of humanity. The most advanced, the Silver Civilization, used their Gigas to summon the Rains of Destruction, which pulled meteors from the orbiting moons and crashed them down onto the planet's surface. The catastrophic destruction stopped the rampage of the Gigas, as well as nearly destroyed the other five civilizations, thus ending the war. A seal was placed on the Silver Gigas to prevent it from being used again, and the Moon Crystals were hidden away, while each civilization worked on rebuilding itself.

Characters

The player primarily controls Vyse, along with a party of up to four characters. The other two main characters, Aika and Fina, are mandatory characters for the party through most of the game. The final spot in the group is filled by one of three other playable characters - Drachma, Gilder, and Enrique - dictated either by story events, or the player's choice. An additional twenty two minor characters are recruit-able to fill various roles on Vyse's airship, though they remain there, and do not follow Vyse's party.

'''Vyse''': A 17-year-old member of the Blue Rogue air pirates that resist the Valuan Empire. Vyse has an upbeat, optimistic and determined personality, making him a natural leader. Vyse fights with twin cutlasses. '''Aika''': Vyse's close friend since childhood and fellow 17-year-old Blue Rogue. Aika has a strong and energetic personality and is deeply loyal to those around her, but has a bit of a fiery temper and an obsession for obtaining treasure. She was orphaned at an early age, and was cared for by Vyse's family. Aika fights using an oversized boomerang. '''Fina''': A 17-year-old "Silvite", one of the few survivors of the ancient, defunct Silver Civilization. Fina is beautiful, sweet-natured and demure, yet has an iron will. She is initially naive of the Arcadian way of life, but proves to be a quick learner. She forms a strong bond with Vyse, and a sisterly bond with Aika. Fina's pet, a silver ball-like creature named Cupil, fights for her. '''Drachma''': A 55-year-old man who lost his right arm, right eye, and only son while fighting the giant arc-whale Rhaknam. His obsession with hunting Rhaknam for revenge leads him to search the skies on his small fishing airship, Little Jack. He pretends not to care about Vyse's group, but he shows up to save them multiple times. He use a mechanical right arm as a weapon during battle. '''Gilder''': A handsome 32-year-old man, he is the captain of the light, swift pirate vessel Claudia. He is a laid-back, adventurous, and flirtatious individual, and dreads nothing more than being tied down by marriage, constantly fending off advances from Clara, a Blue Rogue obsessed with him. Despite this, Gilder is a highly experienced and capable air pirate. He uses pistols as his weapons and commands a parrot named Willy, who helps in getting him out of tough situations. '''Enrique''': At 25 years old, Enrique is the crown prince of the Valuan Empire but disagrees strongly with the imperialist policies of his mother, Empress Teodora. Unable to change or even influence the totalitarian ways of the empire, he joins the air pirates later on and even gives Vyse his flagship, the Delphinus. His frank nobility and chivalry are in direct opposition to the attitudes of most of the higher Valuans. Enrique uses rapiers in battle.

Story

Vyse and Aika are members of the Blue Rogues, a faction of Robin Hood-minded air pirates gathered together to resist the militant and tyrannical Valuan Empire. Led by Empress Teodora, the empire seeks the Moon Crystals to reawaken the Gigas and take over the world. Teodora directs the Valuan Armada, a fleet of warships led by admirals Galcian and Ramirez, to find them. Upon the Silver Civilization learning of this plan, they send Fina to find the Moon Crystals first. She is captured by the Armada, but saved by Vyse and Aika, who, with mutual enemies, agree to help her mission.

Hitching a ride with an old fisherman, Drachma, and his ship, the trio recover the Red Moon Crystal from a temple in the desert nation of Nasr and the Green Moon Crystal high above Ixa'taka, a continent of lush forests, while foiling Valuan operations. When Drachma's ship is damaged in a Valuan attack, Vyse is stranded on the small Crescent Island, where he uncovers letters and a map left behind by another pirate seeking treasure. Vyse is found by a fellow Blue Rogue, Gilder, who takes him aboard to search for his friends. Aika and Fina end up in the care of another Blue Rogue, Clara, who takes them to Nasr to help search for Vyse. Aika and Fina find out about the same treasure Vyse learned of, and the three reunite, but are captured by Ramirez and brought to the Valuans' prison fortress. By enlisting the Valuan prince Enrique, who has lost patience with his government's tyranny, and stealing a powerful Valuan warship, the ''Delphinus'', the Blue Rogues escape. Vyse brings everyone back to Crescent Island, where he establishes a base of operations for his crew.

The party recovers the Blue Moon Crystal from the eastern Oriental land of Yafutoma and the Purple Moon Crystal from the southern glacial content of Glacia. After obtaining the Yellow Moon Crystal from the Valuan continent, they retrieve Fina's captured ship, which she needs to bring the Moon Crystals to the Silver Civilization in an immense shrine that orbits Arcadia. Ramirez's fleet assaults the Blue Rogues and he steals their Moon Crystals. Vyse, Aika, Fina, and Gilder travel to the Great Silver Shrine in orbit to confer with the elders; they are followed by Galcian and Ramirez, who assassinate the leader of the Silvite elders and from his body extract the final Moon Crystal.

Galcian and Ramirez use the Moon Crystals to raise the lost Silver continent of Soltis and break the seal on the Silver Gigas. They use the Rains of Destruction to annihilate the Valuan capital, killing Empress Teodora and seizing control of the Valuan Armada in a bid to dominate the world. Vyse rallies a fleet of Blue Rogues, Yafutoman warships, and ships from other regions of the world to battle the Valuan Armada. The ''Delphinus'' crew disables the Hydra, Galcian's capital ship, and boards the ship and defeat Galcian, with assistance from Galcian's subordinate Belleza, who turns on him and kills them both.

Ramirez, who has retreated into Soltis, is enraged at Galcian's death, and prepares to use the Rains of Destruction to wipe out the Blue Rogues. He is stopped by the Silvites, who sacrifice their lives to take down the protective shield around Soltis. The party enters Soltis and battle Ramirez, who merges with the Silver Gigas, Zelos, allowing it to awaken. Returning to the Delphinus, Vyse and his crew do battle with Zelos and manage to defeat it. The party rushes to the outer deck, where a chunk of Zelos, merged with Ramirez and controlling him, slams onto the Delphinus's deck. They battle, resulting in Ramirez's death and the defeat of the Valuan Armada. Enrique, the prince of Valua, marries a princess of Yafutoma and becomes emperor of Valua. With a promise of benevolent rule, he and his wife oversee the reconstruction of the Valuan capital. Vyse and Aika inaugurate Fina as a Blue Rogue, and the three sail into the sunset.

While looking for the Marines near Aether, Samus's ship is damaged by severe lightning storms from the planet. Said storms have caused electromagnetic interference that prevented the Marines from communicating with the Federation. Samus finds the troops dead and surrounded by hive creatures called Splinters. The deceased Marines suddenly rise and attack her, apparently possessed, and she fights them off. Samus then encounters her evil doppelgänger, Dark Samus, for the first time, and after a small skirmish Dark Samus jumps through a portal. Samus decides to follow her through it and ends up on Dark Aether, a vile trans-dimensional duplicate of Aether, where she is attacked by a group of dark creatures called Ing, who capture Samus and after stealing the weapons from her suit, throw her back through the portal.

Upon returning to Aether, Samus learns that the Marines were attacked and killed by Ing-possessed Splinters, and decides to enter a nearby alien temple structure to look for clues. When she reaches the structure, she meets U-Mos, the last remaining sentinel of the Luminoth, an alien race that have fought against the Ing for decades. They are now on the verge of defeat. He tells Samus that after a meteor struck Aether, the impact was so devastating, it created "Dark Aether", from which the Ing spawned. He also tells Samus that the Ing have taken virtually all of the 'Light of Aether', the entire collective planetary energy for Aether that keeps the planet stable, and begs her to retrieve it, for if either world gains all this energy, the other will perish.

Samus goes to three regions the Agon Wastes, a parched, rocky, desert wasteland region; Torvus Bog, a drenched swamp area that houses a partially submerged hydrosubstation; and the Sanctuary Fortress, a highly advanced cliffside fortress built by the Luminoth filled with corrupted robots that serves as the Ing hive in Dark Aether to retrieve the Light of Aether and return it to the Luminoth temples. Samus fights Space Pirates, Dark Samus, and monstrous Ing guardians on her mission. After Samus retrieves three pieces of the Light of Aether, she enters the Ing's Sky Temple and faces the Emperor Ing, the strongest Ing who guards the remaining Light of Aether. Samus defeats the creature and retrieves the last remaining energy, causing Dark Aether to become critically unstable and begin to collapse; however, her path out of the temple's gateway is blocked by a horribly altered and unstable Dark Samus. After defeating her foe in the final battle, Samus is surrounded by a group of Warrior Ing desperate to save their world and their lives; she escapes to Aether through a newly revealed portal just before Dark Aether and the Ing disappear.

Returning to U-Mos, Samus finds that the Luminoth were in a state of hibernation but have now awakened. After a brief celebration, Samus leaves Aether in her repaired gunship. If the player completes the game with all of the items obtained, Dark Samus is shown reforming herself above Aether.

It is the late 1940s and early 1950s, and much has happened to the family of Polish Jewish immigrant Sam Krichinsky since he first arrived in America in 1914 and eventually settled in Baltimore.

Television is new. Neighborhoods are changing, with more and more families moving to the suburbs. Wallpaper has been Sam's profession, but his son Jules wants to try his hand at opening a large discount-appliance store with his cousin, Izzy, maybe even do their own commercials on TV.

Jules and his wife, Ann, still live with his parents, but Ann is quietly enduring the way that her opinionated mother-in-law Eva dominates the household. Ann is a modern woman who even learns to drive a car, although Eva refuses to ride with her and takes a streetcar instead.

The family contributes to a fund to bring more relatives to America. Slights, real or imagined, concern the family, as when Jules and Ann finally move to the suburbs, a long way for their relatives to travel. After arriving late and finding a Thanksgiving turkey has been carved without him, Uncle Gabriel is offended and storms out, beginning a feud with Sam.

Sam also cannot understand the methods his grandson Michael's teachers use in school, or why Jules and Izzy have changed their surnames to Kaye and Kirk as they launch their business careers. But when various crises develop, including an armed holdup and a devastating fire, the family gets through the problems together.

Jake Van Dorn is a prosperous local businessman in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who has strong Calvinist convictions. A single parent, Van Dorn is the father of a seemingly quiet, conservative teenage girl, Kristen, who inexplicably disappears when she goes on a church-sponsored trip to Bellflower, California. Andy Mast, a strange private investigator (PI) from Los Angeles, is then hired to find her, eventually turning up an 8mm stag film of Kristen with two young men.

After Van Dorn views the film, he suspects that his daughter was kidnapped and persuaded to join California's porn underworld. His quest to rescue her takes him on an odyssey through this sleazy adult subculture.

With no results from the PI, the Los Angeles Police Department, or even from Los Angeles' sex shopkeepers and "rap parlor" women, a desperate Van Dorn posts an advertisement and disguise as a pornography producer in the ''Los Angeles Free Press'', hoping to find information about his daughter. After many porn actors visit Van Dorn's motel, a scraggly actor named "Jism Jim", who was in the 8mm stag film with Kristen, appears and knows where she might be. Jim sends Van Dorn to an occasional porn actress and prostitute named Niki. Van Dorn hires Niki to accompany him on the search for Kristen. Chasing a rumor that Kristen was now filming porn in Mexico, their uneasy alliance moves from Los Angeles to San Diego, gradually warming to each other: Niki feels protected by Van Dorn because he is a man who does not see her as merely a sex object, and he is able to speak openly to her about his deepest feelings, such as his wife leaving him. The unlikely pair ends in San Francisco where Van Dorn finds that Kristen may be in the hands of Ratan, a very dangerous S & M porn player who deals in the world of "snuff films". Niki, who had previously begun to think Van Dorn will help her to escape life on the streets, now finds herself fearful of being forgotten once he locates his daughter — alive or dead. As a result, she initially refuses to divulge the address of a porn industry player who is a link to Ratan. Van Dorn loses his temper and strikes her to make her reveal the information.

Van Dorn finds the player named Tod, in a bondage house and forces Tod to tell him where Ratan hangs out. Van Dorn and Mast track Ratan to a nightclub where he and Kristen are observing a live sex show. When Van Dorn confronts Ratan, Kristen flees and Ratan slashes Van Dorn with a knife. Mast shoots and kills Ratan. Van Dorn tells Kristen he will take her home from the people he believes forced her into pornography. However, she responds with anger, stating that she entered porn of her own free will as a way to rebel against her conservative upbringing. She now felt loved and appreciated in a way that the emotionally distant Van Dorn never offered. Despondent and tearful, Van Dorn asks her if she really wants him to leave her alone but she acknowledges that she does not. As the two prepare to return home, Van Dorn spots Niki. He speaks to her, starting to make a token offer of gratitude, but it is clear to both that it is just as she feared. Her usefulness to him, and thus their relationship, is now over. She walks away, resigned to continuing her life on the streets.

"Big" Jim Stevens, undisputed boss of the Chicago underworld, gets an unexpected birthday present from his ambitious lieutenant, Guy Gisborne. Instead of a stripper popping out of the cake, Big Jim gets shot by all the guests. Gisborne takes over. He orders all the other gangsters in town to pay him protection money, but declares it's still "All for One." The news does not sit well with Big Jim's friend and fellow gangster, Robbo, and a gangland war breaks out.

Robbo recruits pool hustler Little John, who demonstrates his billiards skills while singing "Any Man Who Loves His Mother," plus quick-draw artist Will and a few others, but they are still greatly outnumbered. In addition, the corrupt Sheriff Octavius Glick is on Gisborne's payroll. Gisborne and Robbo come up with the same idea, to destroy the other's gambling joint on the same night, with Will enjoying every moment of shooting up Gisborne's place ("Bang! Bang!").

Big Jim's refined, educated daughter, Marian, shows up. She asks Robbo to avenge her father's death (wrongfully attributed to the sheriff), a request which Robbo flatly refuses. Gisborne disposes of the sheriff. Marian then invites Robbo to dinner and gives him $50,000, falsely assuming that Robbo did as she had asked. Robbo refuses the money, so Marian attempts to seduce him into joining forces to take over the whole town. Robbo turns her down. When she sends the money to his under-repair gambling club, Robbo donates it to a boys' orphanage.

Allen A. Dale, the orphanage's director, notifies the newspapers about this good deed. A new Chicago star is born: a gangster who robs from the rich and gives to the poor. Robbo finds it useful to have the public on his side. He invites the delighted Dale to join his gang, having him handle all the charities. Dale starts the Robbo Foundation and opens a string of soup kitchens, free clinics and orphan shelters. He even gives green, feathered hats and bows and arrows to the orphans, while thoroughly milking the Robin Hood image. In the meantime, Robbo and Little John give tips to Dale on how to improve his own image ("Style").

Robbo's joint reopens and is an instant hit; while Gisborne, whose place is now empty, is infuriated. He and the new sheriff, Potts, organize a police raid. Robbo has anticipated this and when a few switches are pulled, the entire club is disguised as a mission. The sheriff and Gisborne burst in to find Robbo's gang singing gospel songs and preaching the evils of alcohol, complete with hymnals and tambourines ("Mr. Booze").

Robbo is framed for Glick's murder. At the trial, Gisborne and Potts claim that Robbo planned the whole thing. Dale tries to teach the despondent orphans to view this as a lesson ("Don't Be a Do-Badder"). The jury finds Robbo not guilty. Wearing a green suit, Robbo publicly thanks everyone in Chicago ("My Kind of Town").

When he returns to his club, Robbo finds every one of his charities is now a front for counterfeiting. The soup kitchen smuggles fake bills over state lines in soup cans. Robbo also finds Little John living it up in Marian's mansion. Marian is willing to keep Robbo as a front, as long as ''she'' is in charge. Robbo shows his contempt for her and leaves, with Little John following him out the door.

Marian finds another willing partner in Gisborne, but the gangster is no match for Robbo and is killed. Robbo tells a shocked Marian to clear out of town.

She instead turns public opinion against him, starting a Women's League for Better Government and framing Robbo for the counterfeiting ring that she and Little John started with Potts working as her new partner. Unable to fight a mob of angry women, Robbo and his gang flee. Robbo and his merry men are reduced to working as Santa Clauses to solicit charitable donations. They watch dumbfounded as Marian steps out of a car with her latest partner, Alan A. Dale, who casually gives the Santas money before going off with Marian. The trio shrug and walk down the street together ringing their bells.

Joe Turner is a bookish CIA analyst, code named "Condor". He works at the American Literary Historical Society in New York City, which is actually a clandestine CIA office. The seven staff members examine books, newspapers, and magazines from around the world. Turner files a report to CIA headquarters on a thriller novel with strange plot elements; despite poor sales it has been translated into many languages.

Turner leaves through a back door to get staff lunches. Armed men enter the office and murder the other six staffers. Turner returns to find his coworkers dead; frightened, he grabs a gun and exits the building.

He contacts the CIA's New York headquarters in the World Trade Center from a phone booth and is given instructions to meet Wicks, his head of department, who will bring him to safety. Turner insists that Wicks bring somebody familiar, since "Condor" has never met his departmental head. Wicks brings Sam Barber, a college friend of Turner who is also a non-field CIA employee. The rendezvous is a trap and Wicks attempts to kill Turner, who wounds his superior before escaping. Wicks kills Barber to eliminate a witness and, taken into hospital, blames Turner for both shootings. Later, an intruder eliminates Wicks by turning off his life support system.

Turner encounters a woman, Kathy Hale, and forces her to take him to her apartment. He holds Hale hostage while he attempts to figure out what is happening. Hale slowly comes to trust Turner, and they become lovers.

However, Joubert, a European who led the massacre of Turner's co-workers, discovers Turner's hiding place. He visits Sam Barber's building and spends some tense moments in the elevator with Turner once the other passengers have left. After Turner leaves the building Joubert tries to shoot him but Turner manages to blend into a small crowd. Soon after, a hitman disguised as a mailman arrives at Hale's apartment, but Turner manages to kill him.

No longer trusting anyone within "the Company", Turner plays a cat-and-mouse game with Higgins, the deputy director of the CIA's New York division. With Hale's help, Turner abducts Higgins, who identifies Joubert as a freelance assassin who has undertaken assignments for the CIA. Back at his office, Higgins discovers that the "mailman" who attacked Turner worked with Joubert on a previous operation. Their CIA case officer was Wicks.

Meanwhile, Turner discovers Joubert's location by utilizing his U.S. Army Signal Corps training to trace a phone call. Turner also learns the name and address of Leonard Atwood, CIA Deputy Director of Operations for the Middle East. Turner confronts Atwood at the latter's Washington D.C.-area mansion, interrogates him at gunpoint, and learns that Turner's original report filed to CIA headquarters had provided links to a rogue operation to seize Middle Eastern oil fields. Fearful of its disclosure, Atwood privately ordered Turner's section be eliminated.

As Atwood confirms this, Joubert enters and unexpectedly kills the CIA deputy director. Atwood's superiors had hired Joubert to stage the suicide of someone who was about to become an embarrassment, overriding Atwood's original contract for Joubert to kill Turner. Joubert suggests that the resourceful Turner leave the country and even become an assassin himself. Turner rejects the suggestion but heeds Joubert's warning that the CIA will try to eliminate him as another embarrassment, possibly entrapping him through a trusted acquaintance.

Back in New York, Turner has a rendezvous with Higgins near Times Square. Higgins describes the oilfield plan as a contingency "game" that was planned within the CIA without approval from above. He defends the project, suggesting that when oil shortages cause a major economic crisis, Americans will demand that their comfortable lives be restored by any means necessary. Turner points to ''The New York Times'' building and says he has "told them a story." Higgins is dismayed, asking Turner, "What have you done?" He then tells Turner that he is about to become a very lonely man, and he questions whether Turner's whistleblowing will really be published. "They'll print it," Turner defiantly replies. However, as "Condor" turns away, Higgins calls out "How do you know?"

The opening exposition to ''Night Trap'' is presented to the player by Cmdr. Simms of the Sega Control Attack Team (S.C.A.T.) on Sega CD, or Special Control Attack Team in other versions. He explains that the team was alerted to the disappearance of five teenage girls who were last seen at the Martin winery estate. The Martin family consists of Victor Martin, his wife Sheila, their children Jeff and Sarah, and cousin Tony. The missing girls were reportedly invited to stay for the night. Police questioned the Martin family, but they claimed the girls had left safely, and they refused to let the police search the property. The police then handed over the case to S.C.A.T., which investigated the house and discovered a series of traps, security cameras, and an operational unit in the basement to control the apparatus. The S.C.A.T. agents spliced an override cable onto the control system and connected it to a control panel in the back hallway of the house. The player is given the role of an internal S.C.A.T. operative charged with controlling the traps and cameras from this back hallway.

Five more teenage girls head towards the estate, Kelli, Ashley, Lisa, Cindy, and Megan. S.C.A.T. has placed agent Kelli Medd within the group as an undercover agent. The girls are not aware of her true identity. Also with the girls is Danny, Lisa's younger brother. The house is invaded by Augers, vampiric beings that need blood to survive. The Martin family themselves are full vampires. The following events and the ending vary widely depending on which characters the player saves from the Augers.

An adult erotic take on George Bernard Shaw 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', and its 1956 musical adaptation ''My Fair Lady'', the film follows a sexologist who tries transforming a low-skilled prostitute into a goddess of passion. Her instruction includes seducing a gay male art dealer (played by gay porn actor Casey Donovan), pleasing three men at once, pegging a man, and similar sexual conquests. Shaw's character of Henry Higgins here becomes the sexologist Dr. Seymour Love, played by Jamie Gillis. Shaw's character of Eliza Doolittle here becomes Dolores "Misty" Beethoven, played by Constance Money. Shaw's Colonel Pickering here becomes Geraldine Rich, played by Jacqueline Beudant. As events unfold, Misty achieves "elevation" better than Love and Rich had hoped, and then cuts them off. Misty returns however, running the "school" and taking over for Dr. Love, leaving him in a very subservient position.

Poet, lapsed Catholic and conscientious objector Louis Sacchetti is sent to a secret military installation called Camp Archimedes, where military prisoners are injected with a form of syphilis intended to make them geniuses (hence the punning reference to "concentration" in the novel's title). By breaking down rigid categories in the mind (according to a definition of genius put forward by Arthur Koestler), the disease makes the thought process both faster and more flexible; it also causes physical breakdown and, within nine months, death.

The book is told in the form of Sacchetti's diary, and includes literary references to the story of Faust (at one point the prisoners stage Christopher Marlowe's ''Doctor Faustus'' and Sacchetti's friendship with ringleader Mordecai Washington parallels Faust's with Mephistopheles). It only becomes clear that Sacchetti himself has syphilis as his diary entries refer to his increasingly poor health, and become progressively more florid, until almost descending into insanity.

After a test run on the prisoners, a megalomaniac nuclear physicist has himself injected with the disease, joins Camp Archimedes with his team of student helpers, and sets about trying to end the human race.

The prisoners in the book appear to be fascinated by alchemy, which they used as an elaborate cover for their escape plans. Sacchetti, who is obese, has a number of ironic visions involving other obese historical and intellectual figures, such as Thomas Aquinas.

After an unspecified crisis in a near-future England where telepathy has been discovered, the authorities discover Gerald Howson, a physically deformed youth with greater telepathic power than has ever been seen before. The novel details Howson's struggles to come to grips with his power and his deformity.

In France, Madame Souza raises her grandson Champion, a melancholy orphan. Both watch an old variety show on television featuring a trio of singers, the Triplets of Belleville (Rose, Violette, and Blanche). When the program is interrupted, Souza asks Champion if the "film" is finished. The listless Champion does not reply and instead changes the channel to a piano concert. Souza, upon noticing Champion's interest in the music, pulls out an old piano and tries to attract Champion's attention by playing a scale, but Champion remains indifferent. Souza deduces that Champion is lonely and buys him a dog, Bruno. Neither Bruno nor an electric train set succeed in lifting Champion's spirits.

While tidying Champion's room, Souza discovers a book filled with photos of cyclists. She decides to buy Champion a tricycle, which finally allows Champion to indulge in his passion. After a few years of training, Champion competes in the Tour de France, but finds himself left behind in his exhaustion, and he is kidnapped by a pair of mobsters, who take him and two other contestants across the Atlantic. Souza pursues Champion on a pedalo to Belleville.

Arriving in the United States, Souza finds herself penniless, but meets the elderly Triplets of Belleville, Rose, Violette and Blanche. The Triplets take Souza into their apartment, and after a peculiar dinner, they allow her to participate as a musician in one of their shows. During the show, Souza spots the mobsters who kidnapped Champion. With the help of the Triplets, Souza pursues the men and rescues her grandson after a Homeric chase. In a flashforward, an older Champion watches the TV again showing their adventure when they are leaving the city and imagines Souza asking once more if the film is finished. Champion turns to the empty couch seat next to him and says "It's over, grandma".

In a humourous post-credits scene, the boatman who rented Souza the pedalo is seen waiting expectantly for his vessel to return.

In 1985, Simpson and Yates reached the summit of Siula Grande, a major peak in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes via the previously unclimbed West Face. They began descending via the peak's North Ridge which the pair found unexpectedly challenging with Yates falling through a cornice down the face they had just climbed but he was held by the rope which prevented him falling 4500ft to his death. Because the difficult terrain and the poor weather conditions prevented rapid progress with the descent, the pair had to spend a night in a snow hole on the ridge. During the night they had eaten the last of their food and used the last of fuel for their stove to melt ice and snow for drinking water. Continuing the descent the following morning Simpson fell from an ice cliff and landed awkwardly, breaking his right leg and crushing his tibia into his knee joint. With bad weather closing in and daylight fading, they needed to descend quickly to the glacier, about below.

Yates proceeded to lower Simpson off the North Ridge using their two ropes tied together to make one rope, controlling the speed at which he lowered Simpson using a belay plate. This methodology meant that each lower had to proceed in three stages. The steep open snow and ice slope to be descended did not have any belay points or other anchors from which Yates could secure himself to lower his companion so they created a stance by excavating a shallow cavity/seat where Yates could brace himself to take the strain of Simpson's weight on the rope and control the descent. Simpson was lowered 150 feet until the knot in the rope came up against the belay plate, at which point he had to take his weight off the rope by standing on his uninjured leg. This gave Yates enough slack to unclip the rope and rethread it back through the lowering device with the knot on the other side, following which he lowered Simpson a further 150 feet. Then when Simpson had made himself secure, Yates would downclimb to Simpson's position and the pair then created another stance from which the procedure could be repeated. The system worked; Yates lowered Simpson approximately 3000 feet by this method and the pair felt they were regaining control of the situation estimating that they had almost descended to the relative safety of the glacier. With storm conditions worsening and darkness upon them, Yates continued lowering Simpson for what he estimated would be the last or penultimate time. The slope that Simpson was being lowered down became gradually steeper and eventually he went over the edge of a cliff and was hanging free with his whole weight on the rope. Because Yates was sitting higher up the mountain, he could not see nor hear Simpson to fully assess the situation; he could only feel that Simpson had all his weight on the rope. Simpson attempted to ascend the rope using Prusik loops. However, because his hands were badly frostbitten, he struggled to tie the knots properly and accidentally dropped one of the two loops required to ascend the rope.

The pair were both in mortal danger. Simpson could not climb up the rope, Yates could not pull him back up, they could not communicate and, although they could not know this, the cliff was too high for Simpson to be lowered down. They remained in this position for some time (Yates estimates in excess of one and a half hours), until it was obvious to Yates that his unbelayed stance, merely a seat dug into the near vertical snow slope without any fixed anchors, was gradually collapsing as he began to be pulled downwards in 'small jerky steps'. Yates knew he was about to be pulled from the cliff and that he would fall the 150 ft he was above Simpson plus some unknown additional distance to the glacier below and concluded he needed to cut the rope in order to prevent a fall that would almost certainly kill him. Yates cut the rope not knowing how far Simpson was from the base of the cliff; Simpson plummeted down the cliff and into a deep crevasse. Exhausted and suffering from hypothermia and frostbite, Yates dug himself a snow cave to wait out the storm. The next morning in clear weather, Yates carried on descending the mountain by himself. When he reached the glacier he could see from below the position in which Simpson had been hanging and observed the large crevasse immediately underneath. Yates realized the situation that Simpson had been in and that he must have fallen into the crevasse when the rope was cut. He then approached the edge of the crevasse calling out to Simpson by name and, hearing no reply, Yates concluded that Simpson had been killed by the fall into the crevasse and so continued down the mountain alone.

Simpson, however, was still alive. He had survived the fall of more than 200 feet (61 meters) and had landed on a small ledge inside the crevasse. When he regained consciousness, he discovered that the rope had been cut and concluded that Yates had probably survived but would presume that he was dead. He therefore had to save himself but he found it impossible to climb up to the entrance of the crevasse, because of the overhanging ice and his broken leg. Therefore, his only choice was to abseil deeper into the crevasse and hope that there was another way out. After lowering himself, Simpson found himself on a snow bridge which he crossed to get on to a steep snow slope which he climbed to get back onto the glacier.

In a fortunate coincidence, although Yates had no choice as to where in the rope's length he made the cut (it happened to be in the middle) it left each climber a sufficient length of rope to extricate themselves from their overnight positions. Yates had enough rope to abseil to safety from his snow hole and Simpson had enough rope to get to a point in the crevasse where he could climb out.

From there, Simpson spent three days without food and with almost no water, crawling and hopping back to their base camp. This involved navigating the glacier (which was scattered with more crevasses) and the moraines below. Exhausted and delirious, he reached base camp only a few hours before Yates and Richard Hawking (the third member of the group, a non-climber) intended to leave the base camp and return to civilization.

Simpson's survival is regarded by mountaineers as amongst the most remarkable instances of survival against the odds.

While on a sea voyage, a ship named ''Naglfar'' founders. One anhedonic passenger, A. Clarence Shandon (M.B.A., Wisconsin), is washed ashore in a fictional land known as "The Commonwealth of Letters". He is befriended by Golias, who nicknames him "Silverlock" and who becomes his guide. Silverlock and Golias encounter figures from history, literature and mythology.

Ghost Dog sees himself as a retainer of Louie, a local mobster, who saved Ghost Dog's life years earlier. While living as a hitman for the American Mafia, he adheres to the code of the samurai, and interprets and applies the wisdom of the ''Hagakure''.

Louie tells Ghost Dog to kill a gangster, Handsome Frank, who is sleeping with the daughter of local mafia boss Vargo. Ghost Dog arrives and kills the gangster, before seeing that the girl is also in the room; he leaves her alive. To avoid being implicated in the murder of a made man, Vargo and his associate Sonny Valerio decide to get rid of Ghost Dog. Louie knows practically nothing about Ghost Dog, as the hitman communicates only by homing pigeon. The mobsters start by tracing all the pigeon coops in town. They find Ghost Dog's cabin atop a building and kill his pigeons. Ghost Dog realizes he must kill Vargo and his men or they will kill him and his master.

During the day, Ghost Dog frequently visits the park to see his best friend, a French-speaking ice cream man named Raymond. Ghost Dog does not understand French and Raymond does not understand English but the two nonetheless seem to connect with each other. Ghost Dog also befriends a little girl named Pearline, to whom he lends the book ''Rashōmon''.

Eventually, Ghost Dog invades Vargo's mansion and kills almost everyone single-handedly, sparing only Louie and Vargo's daughter. That night, Ghost Dog kills Sonny Valerio at his home by shooting him through a pipe. Ghost Dog expects that Louie will attack him (as he feels that Louie is obliged to avenge the murder of his boss, Vargo). He goes to the park and gives Raymond all his money, helping him to stay in the country. Pearline appears and gives back ''Rashōmon'' to Ghost Dog, saying that she liked it. Ghost Dog gives Pearline his copy of ''Hagakure'' and encourages her to read it.

Though Louie feels some loyalty to Ghost Dog, he finally confronts him at Raymond's ice cream stand with Raymond and Pearline watching. Ghost Dog is unwilling to attack his master and allows Louie to kill him. His last act is to give Louie the copy of ''Rashōmon'' and encourage him to read it. Pearline takes Ghost Dog's gun and tries to shoot at Louie as he flees but the gun is empty. Ghost Dog dies peacefully with Raymond and Pearline at his side; Louie gets into a car with Vargo's daughter (who now has replaced her father as his boss). Later, Pearline reads the ''Hagakure''.

Two American backpackers from New York City, David Kessler and Jack Goodman, are trekking across the moors in Yorkshire. As night falls, they stop at a local pub called the Slaughtered Lamb. Jack notices a five-pointed star on the wall, but when he asks about it, the pub-goers become hostile. The pair decide to leave, and the pub-goers warn them to keep to the road, stay clear of the moors and beware of the full moon. David and Jack wander off the road onto the moors, and are attacked by an unseen, vicious creature. Jack is mauled to death and David is injured. The beast is shot and killed by some of the pub-goers, who came out searching for the boys. Instead of a dead animal, David sees the corpse of a naked man lying next to him before passing out.

David wakes up three weeks later in a hospital in London. He is interviewed by police Inspector Villiers, who tells him that he and Jack were attacked by an escaped lunatic, but David insists they were attacked by some sort of rabid dog or wolf. An undead Jack appears to David and explains the beast that attacked them was a werewolf, and reveals that David is now one. Jack urges David to kill himself before the next full moon, not only because Jack is cursed to linger undead for as long as the bloodline of the werewolf that attacked them survives, but also to prevent David from inflicting the same fate on anyone else.

Dr. Hirsch takes a road trip to the Slaughtered Lamb to see if what David has told him is true. When asked about the incident, the pub-goers deny any knowledge of David, Jack, or the attack. However, one distraught pub-goer speaks to Dr. Hirsch outside the pub and says David should not have been taken away, and that everyone else will be in danger when he transforms.

Upon his release from hospital, David moves in with Alex Price, a pretty young nurse who grew fond of him in the hospital. He stays in Alex's London flat, where they later have sex for the first time. Jack, in a more advanced stage of decay, confronts David to warn him that he will become a werewolf the next night. Jack again advises David to kill himself to avoid killing innocent people, but David refuses to believe him. When the full moon rises, David transforms from his human form into a werewolf. He prowls the streets and the London Underground, killing six people. He wakes up the next morning naked on the floor of a wolf enclosure at the London Zoo, with no recollection of what happened, and makes his way back to Alex's flat.

After realizing that he became a werewolf and was responsible for the previous night's murders, David unsuccessfully attempts to get himself arrested in Trafalgar Square. He goes to Piccadilly Circus, calling his family from a phone booth to say he loves them, then loses courage when he attempts and fails to slice his own wrists with a pocket knife. David sees Jack, in a yet more advanced stage of decay, outside of an adult movie theatre. Inside, Jack is accompanied by David's victims from the previous night, some of whom are furious with David and suggest different methods for him to commit suicide.

David transforms into a werewolf again inside the cinema. He decapitates Inspector Villiers, and wreaks havoc in the streets, causing the deaths of many drivers and bystanders. He is ultimately trapped and surrounded in an alleyway by the police. Alex runs down the alley and attempts to calm David by telling him that she loves him. Although David's consciousness appears to recognize her for a moment, he lunges forward and is shot by the police. Alex cries while staring at David, reverted to human form, lying dead and naked on the ground.

The play is set after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. The heroine is an Afghan woman who had fled her homeland during the Civil War, but now returns from the United States to found an orphanage. In the ensuing plot, a warlord fails as he attempts a coup. As he retreats, he tries to use the orphans as human shields, prompting the heroine to kill the warlord. She then inspires the warlord's vengeful son to find choices other than violence, a theme that is common throughout Afghanistan.

Hanamichi Sakuragi is a delinquent and the leader of a gang. Sakuragi is very unpopular with girls, having been rejected an astonishing fifty times. In his first year at Shohoku High School, he meets Haruko Akagi, the girl of his dreams, and is overjoyed when she is not repulsed or scared of him like all the other girls he has asked out.

Haruko, recognizing Sakuragi's athleticism, introduces him to the Shohoku basketball team. Sakuragi is reluctant to join the team at first, as he has no prior experience in sports and thinks that basketball is a game for losers because his fiftieth rejection was in favor of a basketball player. Sakuragi, despite his extreme immaturity and fiery temper, proves to be a natural athlete and joins the team, mainly in the hopes of impressing and getting closer to Haruko. Later on, Sakuragi realizes that he has come to actually love the sport, despite having previously played primarily because of his crush on Haruko. Kaede Rukawa—Sakuragi's bitter rival (both in basketball and because Haruko has a massive crush, albeit one-sided, on Rukawa), the star rookie and a "girl magnet"—joins the team at the same time. Not long after, Hisashi Mitsui, a skilled three-point shooter and ex–junior high school MVP, and Ryota Miyagi, a short but fast point guard, both rejoin the team and together these four struggle to fulfill team captain Takenori Akagi's dream of winning the national championship. Together, these misfits gain publicity and the once little-known Shohoku basketball team becomes an all-star contender in Japan who gained a popularity after defeating one of the powerhouse highschool teams at Interhigh.

In 1967, a pregnant woman is attacked by a vampire, causing her to go into premature labor. Doctors are able to save her baby, but the woman dies of an unknown infection.

Thirty years later, the child has become the vampire hunter, Blade, who is a human-vampire hybrid that possesses the supernatural abilities of the vampires without any of their weaknesses, except for the requirement to consume human blood. Blade raids a rave club owned by the vampire Deacon Frost. Police take one of the vampires to the hospital, where he kills Dr. Curtis Webb and feeds on hematologist Karen Jenson, and escapes. Blade takes Karen to a safe house where she is treated by his old friend Abraham Whistler. Whistler explains that he and Blade have been waging a secret war against vampires using weapons based on their elemental weaknesses, such as sunlight, silver, and garlic. As Karen is now "marked" by the bite of a vampire, both he and Blade tell her to leave the city.

At a meeting of the council of pure-blood vampire elders, Frost, the leader of a faction of younger vampires, is rebuked for trying to incite war between vampires and humans. As Frost and his kind are not natural-born vampires, they are considered socially inferior. Meanwhile, returning to her apartment, Karen is attacked by police officer Krieger, who is a familiar, a human loyal to vampires. Blade subdues Krieger and uses information from him to locate an archive that contains pages from the "vampire bible".

Krieger informs Frost of what happened, and Frost kills Krieger. Frost also has one of the elders executed and strips the others of their authority, in response to the earlier disrespect shown him at the council of vampires. Meanwhile Blade comes upon Pearl, a morbidly obese vampire, and tortures him with a UV light into revealing that Deacon wants to command a ritual where he would use 12 pure-blood vampires to awaken the "blood god" La Magra; and Blade's blood is the key.

Later, at the hideout, Blade injects himself with a special serum that suppresses his urge to drink blood. However, the serum is beginning to lose its effectiveness due to overuse. While experimenting with the anticoagulant EDTA as a possible replacement, Karen discovers that it explodes when combined with vampire blood. She manages to synthesize a vaccine that can cure the infected but learns that it will not work on Blade. Karen is confident that she can cure Blade's bloodthirst but it would take her years of treating it.

Frost and his men attack the hideout, infect Whistler, and abduct Karen. When Blade returns, he helps Whistler commit suicide. When Blade attempts to rescue Karen from Frost's penthouse, he is shocked to find his still-alive mother, who reveals that she came back the night she was attacked and was brought in by Frost, who appears and reveals himself as the vampire who bit her. Blade is then subdued and taken to the Temple of Eternal Night, where Frost plans to perform the summoning ritual for La Magra. Karen is thrown into a pit to be devoured by Webb, who has transformed into a decomposing zombie-like creature. Karen injures Webb and escapes. Blade is drained of his blood, but Karen allows him to drink from her, enabling him to recover. Frost completes the ritual and obtains the powers of La Magra. Blade confronts Frost after killing all of his minions, including his mother. During their fight, Blade injects Frost with all of the syringes, the overdose of EDTA causes his body to inflate and explode, killing him.

Karen offers to help Blade cure himself, instead, he asks her to create an improved version of the serum, so he can continue his crusade against vampires. In a brief epilogue, Blade confronts a vampire in Moscow.

Following the Master's trial and execution at the hands of the Daleks, the Doctor, currently in his seventh incarnation, is transporting the Master's remains to Gallifrey via his TARDIS. En route, the box with the remains breaks open and an ooze leaks out, infecting the TARDIS. The Doctor is forced to make an emergency materialisation in San Francisco's Chinatown on 30 December 1999.

As he exits and locks the TARDIS, the Doctor is shot by a gang chasing down Chang Lee, a young Chinese-American man. Lee calls for an ambulance and escorts the unconscious Doctor to a hospital, unaware the ooze from the TARDIS has gotten aboard the ambulance. At the hospital, after the bullets are removed, cardiologist Dr Grace Holloway attempts surgery to stabilise his unusual heartbeat, but is confused by his strange double-heart anatomy, and accidentally lodges a cardiac probe in the Doctor's body, apparently killing him. The Doctor's body is taken to the morgue, while Lee steals the Doctor's possessions, including the TARDIS key. Meanwhile, the ooze takes over the body of the ambulance driver, Bruce, transforming him into a new body for the Master.

Later, the Doctor's body regenerates, and the new Doctor, suffering amnesia, gathers clothes from an upcoming fancy dress party. He recognises Holloway, who has resigned from the hospital after the failed operation, and follows her to her car, proving to her he is the same man by pulling out the cardiac probe. Holloway takes him home to recover. Lee returns to the TARDIS where the Master arrives and puts him under his mind control by claiming the Doctor had stolen his body. The Master convinces Lee to open the TARDIS and then to open the Eye of Harmony within it, which requires a human retinal scan. When the Eye opens, the Doctor is flooded with memories and realises the Master is searching for him, and tries to block the scan. He warns Holloway that while the Eye is opened, the fabric of reality will weaken, and potentially destroy the Earth by midnight on New Year's Eve if they cannot close it. However, he needs an atomic clock to do so, and Holloway finds one on display at the San Francisco Institute of Technological Advancement and Research.

Outside, they find the ambulance with the Master and Lee waiting for them, offering them a ride. The Doctor does not immediately recognise the Master, but discovers his true identity en route, and he and Holloway escape, but not before the Master can spit an ooze-like substance on Holloway's wrist. The two continue to the Institute and obtain the clock, returning to the TARDIS. The Doctor installs the clock and successfully closes the Eye, but finds the damage to reality too great and that he must revert time before the Eye was opened to prevent the destruction of Earth. As he connects the proper TARDIS circuits to do this, the Master remotely takes control of Holloway's body, causing her eyes to become inhuman, and she strikes the Doctor unconscious.

The Doctor wakes to find himself chained above the Eye, the Master poised to take his remaining regenerations while Lee and Holloway watch. The Doctor is able to break the Master's control on Lee, and Lee refuses to open the Eye for the Master. The Master kills him, and then releases his control on Holloway to return her eyes to normal. He forces her to open the Eye and then begins drawing the Doctor's lifeforce. Holloway, under her own control, is able to complete the final circuits to put the TARDIS into a time-holding pattern, preventing Earth's destruction, and then goes to free the Doctor. The Master kills her, but this has given enough time for the Doctor to free himself and attack the Master. The Doctor gains the upper hand and pushes the Master into the Eye. The Eye closes and time reverts a few minutes, undoing Lee and Holloway's deaths.

With no further risk to Earth, the Doctor prepares to leave. Lee returns his possessions, and the Doctor warns him not to be in San Francisco on the next New Year's Eve. The Doctor offers Holloway the opportunity to travel with him, but she politely refuses, and instead kisses him goodbye. The Doctor departs alone in his TARDIS.

Cast notes

• Paul McGann made a reappearance as the Eighth Doctor in the 2013 mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor" in which his regeneration was finally explored. *Eric Roberts reprised the role of the Master in many Big Finish audio plays: Series 5 of "The Diary of River Song", Volume 4 of "Doctor Who: Ravenous", and reprised the role again in "Masterful", a special release celebrating 50 Years since the Master first appeared in "Terror of the Autons" back in 1971. Roberts reprised the role of his incarnation of the Master in ''Master!'' two months after the release of ''Masterful''. The box set also starred Chase Masterson as Vienna Salvatorri. Roberts even recorded live-action material of himself playing the Master for the ''Big Finish'' YouTube channel.
• Yee Jee Tso returned in 2002 to play Major Jal Brant in the Seventh Doctor audio drama ''Excelis Decays'' and Doctor Reece Goddard in the Sixth Doctor webcast ''Real Time''. *Daphne Ashbrook returned in 2004, alongside Paul McGann, as Perfection in the audio drama ''The Next Life''.
• Tso and Ashbrook returned to Big Finish together playing Captain Ruth Matheson and Warrant Officer Charlie Sato of UNIT in the audio dramas ''Tales From The Vault'''' ''and ''Mastermind'', both part of the Companions Chronicles series, in 2011 and 2013.

In a small Buckinghamshire village forty minutes by bus away from Reading and 8 miles from the Bingo club in Aylesbury, Matilda Wormwood is born to Mr and Mrs Wormwood. She immediately shows amazing precocity, learning to speak at age one and to read at age three and a half, perusing all the children's books in the library by the age of four and three months and moving on to longer classics such as ''Great Expectations'' and ''Jane Eyre''. However, her parents (particularly her father) ignore and emotionally abuse her and completely refuse to acknowledge her abilities, and Matilda finds herself forced to pull pranks on them (such as gluing her father's hat to his head, sticking a parrot in the chimney to simulate a burglar or ghost, and bleaching her father's hair) to avoid getting frustrated.

At the age of five and a half, Matilda enters school and befriends her teacher Jennifer Honey, who is astonished by her intellectual abilities. Miss Honey tries to move Matilda into a higher class, but the tyrannical headmistress, Miss Agatha Trunchbull, refuses. Miss Honey also tries to talk to Mr and Mrs Wormwood about their daughter's intelligence, but they ignore her, with the mother contending "brainy-ness" is an undesirable trait in a little girl.

Miss Trunchbull later confronts a girl called Amanda Thripp for wearing pigtails (the headmistress repeatedly displays a dislike of long hair throughout the book) and does a hammer throw with the girl over the playground fence. A boy called Bruce Bogtrotter is later caught by the cook stealing a piece of Miss Trunchbull's cake; the headmistress makes him attempt to eat an 18 in (45.72 cm) wide cake in front of the assembly, then smashes the platter over his head in rage after he unexpectedly succeeds.

Matilda quickly develops a particularly strong bond with Miss Honey, and watches as Trunchbull terrorises her students with deliberately creative, over-the-top punishments to prevent parents from believing them, such as throwing them in a dark closet dubbed "The Chokey", which is lined with nails and broken glass. When Matilda's friend Lavender plays a practical joke on Trunchbull by placing a newt in her jug of water, Matilda uses an unexpected power of telekinesis to tip the glass of water containing the newt onto Trunchbull.

Matilda reveals her new powers to Miss Honey, who confides that after her wealthy father, Dr Magnus Honey, suspiciously died, she was raised by an abusive aunt, revealed to be Miss Trunchbull. Trunchbull appears (among other misdeeds) to be withholding her niece's inheritance, as Miss Honey has to live in poverty in a derelict farm cottage, and her salary is being paid into Miss Trunchbull's bank account for the first 10 years of her teaching career (while she is restricted to £1 per week in pocket money). Preparing to avenge Miss Honey, Matilda practises her telekinesis at home. Later, during a sadistic lesson that Miss Trunchbull is teaching, Matilda telekinetically raises a piece of chalk to the blackboard and begins to use it to write, posing as the spirit of "Magnus". Addressing Miss Trunchbull using her first name, "Magnus" demands that Miss Trunchbull hand over Miss Honey's house and wages and leave the school, causing Miss Trunchbull to faint.

The next day, the school's deputy headmaster, Mr Trilby, visits Trunchbull's house and finds it empty, except for signs of Trunchbull's hasty exit. She is never seen again, and the house and property are finally and rightfully returned to Miss Honey. Trilby becomes the new headmaster, proving himself to be capable and good-natured, overwhelmingly improving the school's atmosphere and curriculum, and quickly moving Matilda into the top-form class with the 11-year-olds. Rather to Matilda's relief, she soon is no longer capable of telekinesis. Miss Honey theorises this is because Matilda is using her brainpower on a more challenging curriculum, leaving less of her brain's energy free, unlike earlier when she was not in a high year, where she had her brainpower free for psychokinesis.

Matilda continues to visit Miss Honey at her house regularly, returning home one day to find her parents and her older brother Michael hastily packing to leave for Spain. Miss Honey explains this is because the police found out Mr Wormwood has been selling stolen cars. Matilda asks permission to live with Miss Honey, to which her parents rather distractedly agree. Matilda and Miss Honey find their happy ending, as the Wormwoods drive away, never to be seen again.

In the twenty-first century the creation of the positronic brain leads to the development of robot laborers and revolutionizes life on Earth. Yet to the Martin family, their household robot NDR-113 is more than a mechanical servant. "Andrew" has become a trusted friend, a confidant, and a member of the Martin family.

The story is told from the perspective of Andrew (later known as Andrew Martin), an NDR-series robot owned by the Martin family, a departure from the usual practice by U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men of leasing robots.

Andrew's initial experiences with the Martin family are replete with awkward moments which demonstrate his lack of socialization. However, he is much better with inanimate objects and animals and begins to display sentient characteristics (such as creativity; emotion; self-awareness) traditionally the province of humans. He is taken off his mundane household duties, for which he was intended, and allowed to pursue his creativity, making a fortune by selling his creations.

Andrew seeks legal protection stemming from his initial creative output and eventual full recognition as a human, by gradually replacing his robotic components with synthetic organs, and citing the process as a transformation from robot to human. Succeeding generations of the Martin family assist him in his quest for humanity, but each is limited to what degree they are prepared to acknowledge Andrew's humanity.

In ''The Positronic Man'', the trends of fictional robotics in Asimov's ''Robot'' series (as outlined in the book ''I, Robot'') are detailed as background events, with an indication that they are influenced by Andrew's story. No more robots in Andrew's line are developed. There is also a movement towards centralized processing, including centralized control of robots, which would avoid any more self-reflecting robots such as Andrew.

Only when Andrew allows his positronic brain to "decay", thereby willfully abandoning his immortality, is he declared a human being. This event takes place on the two-hundredth anniversary of his creation, hence the title of the novella and film.

With the same premise as ''Sykes and a...'', unmarried twins Eric and Harriet (Hat) Sykes are now living at an end of terrace house, 28 Sebastopol Terrace, East Acton, two doors down from their house in the previous programme. As before, Eric is childish and accident-prone while Hattie is patient. Their neighbour is the snobbish unmarried Charles Fulbright-Brown, and PC Corky Turnbull is the local policeman. Corky's wife, Elsie, is unseen, except for two episodes, ''Caravan'', in which she appears with her face covered in porridge during a food fight between Corky and Eric, and 'Holiday Camp' when the back of her head is shown going into the Ghost Train ride, and later on asleep and passing wind in bed. Deryck Guyler also played Corky's brother Wilfred Turnbull, a train attendant on the Glasgow to London sleeper train, in the episode ''Journey''. He also played another relative bus Inspector Norman Burnside in ''Bus''.

Following the death of Richard Wattis in 1975 a new neighbour, Melody Rumbelow, moves in. The local baker is the widowed Madge Kettlewell (Joan Sims), who appears occasionally, and who fancies Eric - she is first seen in the episode ''Football''. Eric and Hattie are also the owners of a cuckoo clock, naming the very temperamental bird inside Peter. Both speak to it as if it were a real bird, and a great deal of comedy derives from the antagonistic and sarcastic 'conversations' between Eric and Peter.

Krank (Daniel Emilfork), a highly intelligent but malicious being created by a vanished scientist, is unable to dream, which causes him to age prematurely. At his lair on an abandoned oil rig (which he shares with the scientist's other creations: six childish clones, a dwarf named Martha, and a brain in a vat named Irvin) he uses a dream-extracting machine to steal dreams from children. The children are kidnapped for him from a nearby port city by a cyborg cult called the Cyclops, who in exchange he supplies with mechanical eyes and ears. Among the kidnapped is Denree (Joseph Lucien), the adopted little brother of carnival strongman One (Ron Perlman).

After the carnival manager is stabbed by a mugger, One is hired by a criminal gang of orphans (run by a pair of conjoined twins called "the Octopus") to help them steal a safe. The theft is successful, but the safe is lost in the harbor when One is distracted by seeing Denree's kidnappers. He, together with one of the orphans, a little girl called Miette (Judith Vittet), follows the Cyclops and infiltrates their headquarters, but they are captured and sentenced to execution. Meanwhile, the Octopus orders circus performer Marcello (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) to return One to them. He uses his trained fleas, which inject a poison capsule that causes mindless aggression, to turn the Cyclops guards against each other. While Marcello is rescuing One, Miette falls into the harbor and sinks, seemingly drowned, but an amnesiac diver living beneath the harbor rescues her.

Miette leaves the diver's lair to find One and Marcello both drowning their sorrows in a bar. Upon seeing Miette alive the remorseful Marcello lets One leave with her. However the Octopus confronts them on the pier, and uses Marcello's stolen fleas to turn One against Miette. A spectacular chain of events triggered by one of Miette's tears leads to a ship crashing into the pier before One can throttle her. Marcello arrives and sets the fleas on the Octopus, allowing One and Miette to escape to continue searching for Denree.

Back at Krank's oil rig, Irvin tricks one of the clones into releasing a plea for help in the form of a bottled dream telling the story of what is going on on the oil rig. It reaches One, Miette, and the diver, and the latter remembers that he was the scientist who made them, and that the oil rig was his laboratory before Krank and Martha attacked him and pushed him off it to take it for themselves, leaving him for dead in the water. They all converge on the rig; the diver to destroy it and the duo to rescue Denree.

Miette is almost killed by Martha, but the diver harpoons her. She then finds Denree asleep in Krank's dream-extracting machine, and Irvin tells her that to release him she must use the machine to enter the dream herself. In the dream world, she meets Krank and makes a deal with him to replace the boy as the source of the dream; Krank fears a trap but plays along, believing himself to be in control. Miette then uses her imagination to control the dream and turn it into an infinite loop, destroying Krank's mind. One and Miette rescue all the children, while the now-deranged diver loads the rig with dynamite and straps himself to one of its legs. The diver regains his senses as everyone is rowing away and pleads with his remaining creations to come back to rescue him, but a seabird lands on the handle of the blasting machine, blowing up him and the rig.

Junta Momonari is a high school student with a very unusual problem. Whenever he becomes sexually aroused by a woman, his "female allergy" kicks in, causing him to throw up. One day, Junta is confronted by a girl in strange clothing who claims to be from the future. The girl, called Karin Aoi, tells him about how the world has become terribly overpopulated in her time, to the point where having more than one child is a crime punishable by death. At the root of the problem is a family of "Mega-Playboys": people with sexual charisma and impulses that lead each of them to have 100 children that carry the Mega-Playboy DNA, causing them and all their descendants to each have 100 children as well. All this started with a single Mega-Playboy, whom Karin has travelled back into the past to deal with. Karin reveals to Junta that she is a "DNA Operator". Her job is to make alterations in people's DNA that will change their nature for the greater good of society. She intends to shoot the original Mega-Playboy with a DCM ("DNA Control Medicine") bullet that will alter his DNA in order to relieve him of his mega-playboy qualities, thus preventing the overpopulation problem from ever happening. She can then return to the future to receive the reward that will allow her to finally get the "nice husband, cute pet, and sweet, sweet home" she yearns for. She confirms Junta's identity, then, to his shock, promptly shoots him.

Junta, the boy who could not look at a naked woman without throwing up, was destined to become the original Mega-Playboy later in his life. Escaping back to her time machine, Karin arrives to a message from her boss in the future. Her hopes for a commendation on a job well done are dashed when her rather upset employer points out that the DCM bullet she was supposed to use on the Mega-Playboy was left behind in the future. By shooting Junta with the wrong DCM bullet—one which Karin planned on using to create an ideal husband—rather than eliminating the Mega-Playboy, Karin actually created him. Now unable to return to the future until she sets things right, Karin decides to improvise by making Junta get together with the only girl who does not give him an allergic reaction: his childhood friend Ami Kurimoto, for whom he does not feel any romantic affection, since he sees her more as a sister.

The plot of this veritable epic is set in 1555, on a small island in the Guanabara Bay of Rio de Janeiro, where an odd French expeditionary force, made up of sailors, craftsmen, priests, ex-convicts and a Quixotic knight, has just landed. Their objective is twofold: on the one hand, to set up a French colony on this far-off rich continent to compete with the Portuguese, on the other hand, to convert the Indians to Christianity. Ill-prepared for the realities of the New World and, above all, torn apart by theological controversy which sets the Catholics and Calvinists among them against one another, these French pioneers see their dreams of coloniasation gradually dissipate. Both satirical and colourful, Rouge Brésil is above all a passionate and exciting exploration of the origins of imperialist thinking.

Maggie Prescott, a fashion magazine publisher and editor for ''Quality'' magazine, is looking for the next big fashion trend. She wants a new look which is to be both "beautiful" and "intellectual". She and top fashion photographer Dick Avery want models who can "think as well as they look." The two brainstorm and come up with the idea to use a book store in Greenwich Village as backdrop.

They find what they want in "Embryo Concepts", which is being run by the shy shop assistant and amateur philosopher, Jo Stockton. Jo thinks the fashion and modelling industry is nonsense, calling it "chichi, and an unrealistic approach to self-impressions as well as economics". Maggie decides to use Jo but after the first shot Jo is locked outside to keep her from interrupting Maggie’s take-over of the shop. The crew leaves the store in a shambles; Dick stays behind to help clean up and apologizes to Jo, then kisses her impulsively. Jo dismisses him, but her song "How Long Has This Been Going On?" shows that she feels the stirrings of romance.

What Jo wants above all is to go to Paris and attend the famous Professor Émile Flostre's philosophy lectures about empathicalism. When Dick gets back to the darkroom, he sees something in Jo's face which is new and fresh and would be perfect for the campaign, giving it "character", "spirit", and "intelligence". They send for Jo, pretending they want to order some books from her shop. Once she arrives, they try to make her over and attempt to cut her hair. She is outraged and runs away, only to hide in the darkroom where Dick is working. When Dick mentions Paris, Jo becomes interested in the chance to see Professor Flostre and is finally persuaded to model for the magazine. Dick sings "Funny Face".

Soon, Maggie, Dick, and Jo are off to Paris to prepare for a major fashion event, shooting photos at famous landmarks from the area. During the various shoots, Jo and Dick fall in love. "He Loves and She Loves". One night, when Jo is getting ready for a gala, she learns that Flostre is giving a lecture at a cafe nearby, which she attends. Eventually, Dick brings her back and they get into an argument at the gala's opening, which results in Jo being publicly embarrassed and Maggie outraged.

Jo goes to talk to Flostre at his home. Through some scheming, Maggie and Dick gain entrance to the soirée there. After performing an impromptu song and dance for Flostre's disciples, they confront Jo and Flostre. This leads to Dick causing Flostre to fall and knock himself out. Jo urges them to leave but when Flostre comes round, he tries to seduce her. Shocked at the behavior of her "idol", she smashes a vase over his head and runs out, returning just in time to take part in the final fashion show. During this, Maggie tries to get in touch with Dick, who has made plans to leave Paris. Before her wedding gown finale, Jo looks out the window and sees the plane Dick was supposed to be on flying over the city. Believing that he has refused to return to her, she runs off the runway in tears at the conclusion of the show.

Meanwhile, Dick is still at the airport. He runs into Flostre and learns how Jo had attacked him. Realizing how much Jo cares, Dick returns to the fashion show, but Jo is nowhere to be found. Finally, after applying the insights of empathicalism at Maggie's behest, Dick guesses that Jo would return to the church where he had photographed her in a wedding dress and they shared their first romantic moment. On his arrival there himself, he finds Jo (in the wedding gown) by a little brook. They join in the duet "'S Wonderful" and embrace.

The story follows a Japanese salaryman in a big city, who falls in love with , a kindergarten teacher. Masuo tries repeatedly to court Nagisa, but every time he seems to make progress, something inevitably goes wrong. Nagisa, in fact, likes Masuo, but due to a previous heartbreak, she constantly pushes him away.

As the series progresses, it becomes more thoughtful and mature, with many of the problems evolving out of the characters' personalities rather than being imposed artificially by circumstances. Many of the coincidental misunderstandings have to do with Masuo interacting with coworker , the daughter of the company president, who has fallen in love with Masuo, but Masuo lacks the confidence to believe it to be true.

Initially, Masuo has to face two other comical suitors for Nagisa's love. One being Kaizuka, a tall muscular physical education high school teacher, and Kujira, a short rich and perverted real estate agent. Later on he has to face much more serious competition from Nagisa's first love, Minato.

At one point later on, Masuo takes in a pregnant woman out of compassion. This information makes its way to Nagisa, but in a different form; she is told that the girl is pregnant with his child, but she eventually determines the truth for herself. The series ends with Nagisa having their child named Yuka in her arm smiling happily.

The TV series takes a more comedic tone than the OVA and involves much of the early unlucky coincidences from the manga. In the TV series, Masuo faces no competition from other suitors but merely must face Nagisa's difficulty with men while Kaizuka and Kujira appear in the OVA to try to win Nagisa's love.

In a distant, highly technological future, Tylor, the title character, is a mysterious young man without a real purpose in life, a state of mind that is very hard to determine, and a knack for accidentally getting out of near-death situations with a childishly cavalier attitude. He sometimes does not even seem to realize when he is in danger, which is actually an asset to him on many occasions.

Tylor stumbles his way into the United Planets Space Force and soon gains command of a destroyer after resolving a hostage dispute and saving a retired admiral. Despite being given a decrepit and underpowered ship (the Soyokaze), thanks to brilliant strokes of luck, Tylor manages to destroy a patrol group. This is quickly followed by a sneak attack on another patrol group, performed while Tylor was playing the role of a consummate, professional soldier. The admiralty, attempting to kill Tylor, present him with a medal modified with a device to trick the Raalgon fleet into believing the Soyokaze is an entire fleet. Tylor loses the medal in UPSF HQ, and the Raalgons destroy the admiralty's super-weapon instead.

The Soyokaze is then sent to a demotion sector, despite the fervent hopes of its crew. There, Tylor and Yamamoto encounter the ghost of the former captain, who vanishes due to depression after seeing Tylor's behavior. The Admiral of the fleet, who actually drove the prior Captain to suicide, rescinds Tylor's demotion after seeing Tylor with the former captain's pipe, thinking he is now aware of the admiral's crime. Tylor is then captured by the Raalgon fleet, who plan to execute him to boost morale. After escaping his cell, Tylor encounters the Empress of the Raalgon, Azalyn, in plain dress, and spends the day entertaining her. She stops his execution, and his jailors implant microchip in his brain to control him.

Meanwhile, the crew of the Soyokaze has been imprisoned by the brass. They manage to escape captivity and invade the Melva, the main Raalgon ship, to get Tylor back. During the fight, Tylor saves Azalyn from a bomb that her treacherous Prime Minister Wang had detonated to gain power for himself. Tylor is badly injured, and Azalyn tells the Raalgon that she is going with Tylor back to the Soyokaze in order to make sure he is all right. After the doctor saves Tylor, Azalyn returns to her people.

Tylor then rendezvouses with the main fleet, where he is branded a traitor for letting Azalyn return. He is sentenced to death by a firing squad. However, Tylor convinces the brass that he can defeat the Raalgon, and they reluctantly allow him to take complete command. After coming to a stand-off with Dom, Tylor manages to spill no blood and stop the fighting for the time being. After the death of Admiral Hanner, whom Tylor had adored and talked with, Tylor becomes sullen and announces he will leave the military. Lieutenant Yamamoto is given command of the brand new ship, the Aso. In the final episode, the former crew of the Soyokaze, who are supposed to be on the Aso, join Tylor on the Soyokaze as they fly out into space.

The two major powers in the story are the UPSF (United Planets Space Force) and the Raalgon Empire (the extraterrestrials), who resemble humans with pointy ears and unusual haircolor).

One of the largest points of dispute in the story is the competence of Tylor. Several characters say of Tylor, "I can't decide if he's an idiot or a genius." Whether he is a genius or an idiot is up to viewers.

In 1933, during the Great Depression, New York City actress Ann Darrow is hired by financially troubled filmmaker Carl Denham to star in a film with actor Bruce Baxter. Ann learns her favorite playwright, Jack Driscoll, is the screenwriter. Filming takes place on the SS ''Venture'', under Captain Englehorn, and under Carl's pretense it will be sailing to Singapore. In truth, Carl intends to sail to and film the mysterious Skull Island. Captain Englehorn has second thoughts about the voyage, prompted by his crew's speculation of trouble ahead. On the voyage, Ann and Jack fall in love.

The ''Venture'' receives a radio message informing Englehorn there is a warrant for Carl's arrest due to his defiance of the studio's orders to cease production, and instructing Englehorn to divert to Rangoon, but the ship becomes lost in fog and runs aground on Skull Island. Carl and his film crew, including cameraman Herb, assistant Preston, actor Bruce Baxter, and boom operator Mike, explore the island and are attacked by natives who kill Mike and another crewman. Englehorn intervenes to rescue the film crew, but as they make efforts to leave the waters, a native sneaks onto the ship and abducts Ann. The natives offer Ann as a sacrifice to King Kong, a ape. Jack notices Ann's disappearance, and the crew returns to the island, but are too late as Kong flees with Ann into the jungle. Carl manages to catch a glimpse of Kong and becomes determined to capture him on film.

Though initially terrified of her captor, Ann wins Kong over with her juggling and dancing skills and begins to grasp his intelligence and capacity for emotion. Englehorn organizes a rescue party, led by his first mate Hayes and Jack, and accompanied by Carl, Herb, Baxter and Preston. The party gets caught between a herd of Apatosaurus-like ''Brontosaurus baxteri'' and a pack of Utahraptor-like ''Venatosaurus saevidicus'' hunting them, with Herb and several other men killed in the resulting stampede. After this, Baxter and some men leave the group to return to the ship.

The remaining party members continue through the jungle when Kong attacks, making them fall into a ravine resulting in Hayes' death and Carl losing his camera. Kong shortly rescues Ann from three theropod dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus-like ''Vastatosaurus rex,'' then takes her to his lair in the mountains. The remaining rescue party are attacked by giant insects and worms in the ravine resulting in the death of three more crew members, but Preston, Carl, Jack, and Hayes' apprentice Jimmy are rescued by Baxter and Englehorn. Jack continues searching for Ann, while Carl decides to capture the beast. Jack goes to the beast's lair and accidentally awakens the beast but manages to escape with Ann. They arrive at the wall with the beast pursuing them. The beast attempts to get Ann back, killing several sailors, but is subdued when Carl knocks it out with chloroform.

In New York City around December, Carl presents "Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World" on Broadway, starring Baxter and an imprisoned Kong. Ann, who refused to take part in the performance, is played by an anonymous chorus girl. Agitated by the chorus girl not being Ann and flashes from cameras, the beast breaks free from the chains and wrecks the theater. Out on the city's streets and going on a rampage, Kong searches for Ann and chases Jack, before encountering Ann again. The U.S. Army soon attacks, and Kong tries getting Ann and itself to safety by climbing to the top of the Empire State Building, where it fights off six Navy planes. Despite managing to down three of them, Kong is mortally wounded from the planes' gunfire and falls. As Jack reaches the top of the building to comfort and embrace Ann, civilians, policemen, and soldiers gather around the beast's corpse in the street, one bystander commenting the airplanes got him. Carl makes his way through the crowd, takes one last look at Kong and says, "It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast."

Alice Tate is an upper-class Manhattan housewife who spends her days shopping, getting beauty treatments, and gossiping with her friends. She has been married to wealthy Doug for sixteen years, and they have two children, who are being raised by a nanny.

One day, she has a brief encounter with Joe Ruffalo, a handsome jazz musician. She finds herself mysteriously attracted to him and experiences Catholic guilt for these feelings. This inner turmoil manifests itself in a backache. She is referred to Dr. Yang, an Asian herbalist who puts her under hypnosis. She reveals that what initially attracted her to her husband were in fact his superficial qualities: looks and money. She also reveals her feelings about Joe.

Dr. Yang gives Alice ancient herbs that make her act on her feelings toward Joe Ruffalo. They agree to meet. When the herbs wear off, Alice is appalled at her behavior. She does not go to meet him as planned. The next herbs she receives turn her invisible. She spies on Joe going to visit his ex-wife Vicki. Much to prudish Alice's horror, they have sex in Vicki's office. Alice is now glad she did not go to meet Joe. However, the next herbal remedy allows Alice to communicate with the ghost of her first lover, Ed, who encourages her to discover more about Joe. Alice and Joe finally meet, under the pretense of their children having a "play-date". Alice and Joe's meetings become increasingly frequent.

When her guilt over her relationship with Joe becomes too much, Alice returns to Dr. Yang. Inhaling the soothing contents of a pipe, Alice falls asleep in Dr. Yang's rooms. She has vivid dreams about her Catholic upbringing. She remembers her mother. She remembers that she was at her happiest when she was helping people. She realizes that she has lost sight of many of her goals in her materialistic luxurious lifestyle. She also realizes this at a fundraising evening in honor of Mother Teresa, one of Alice's idols. After the fundraiser, Joe and Alice sleep together. Alice realizes she is falling in love with him.

Alice shares the remaining invisibility herbs with Joe. She hears two of her friends gossiping about her and Joe. The gossip then moves onto Doug, where it is revealed that he has been having affairs, too. Invisible, Alice goes to his office party, where she sees Doug kissing a colleague. Her invisibility wears off and she confronts Doug about his affairs. Alice decides to leave Doug once and for all. She tells this to Joe. However, Joe has decided to reunite with his ex-wife after he spied on her therapy sessions when invisible and realized she still has feelings for him.

Stunned, Alice goes to Dr. Yang, who is leaving town. He gives her one final packet of herbs, telling her that these will create a potent love potion. Alice must choose between Joe and Doug. She goes to her sister Dorothy for advice. However, Dorothy is having a Christmas party, and the herbs get mixed in with the eggnog. All the men in the party become enamored with Alice. She flees in panic.

At home, Alice tells Doug that their marriage is over. She reveals her plans to go to Calcutta and work with Mother Teresa. Doug scoffs at this, doubting that Alice could survive without the luxuries she has grown accustomed to. However, Doug is proved wrong. Alice goes to Calcutta, where she meets Mother Teresa. Upon returning to New York, she moves into a modest apartment, raises the children on her own, and does volunteer work in her spare time.

Anna Leonowens (Jodie Foster), a British widow, has come to Siam with her son Louis (Tom Felton) to teach English to Crown Prince Chulalongkorn, the heir of King Mongkut (Chow Yun-fat). She is a strong-willed, intelligent, valiant and benevolent woman for her time, which pleases the King. Mongkut wants to modernize Siam, thinking this will help his country resist colonialism and protect the ancient traditions that provide Siam its identity. For this reason, he has Anna teach all of his dozens of children, born to twenty-three wives.

Initially, Mongkut and Anna clash due to cultural differences as well as their equally strong wills. He soon sees the positive effects of her teaching methods, especially her determination to treat the princes and princesses as though they were ordinary schoolchildren. Anna's abolitionist views also help to influence Chulalongkorn's views on slavery.

Mongkut and Anna discuss differences between Eastern and Western love, but he dismisses the notion that a man can be happy with only one wife. Hoping to impress Britain's ambassadors, Mongkut orders a sumptuous reception and appoints Anna to organize it. During the reception, the King spars graciously and wittily with Sir Mycroft Kincaid (Bill Stewart), of the East India Company. The Europeans express their beliefs that Siam is a superstitious, backward nation. Anna powerfully argues that this is not the case. Mongkut dances with Anna at the reception.

Siam is under siege from what appears to be a British-funded coup d'état against King Mongkut, using Burmese soldiers. Mongkut sends his brother Prince Chaofa (Kay Siu Lim) and military advisor General Alak (Randall Duk Kim) and their troops to investigate. Alak, however, betrays the prince and poisons his own soldiers, revealing he is actually the coup's leader. The king is brought the news that his brother and general are dead.

Anna grows closer to the royal children, particularly Princess Fa-Ying (Melissa Campbell), who adores the playful monkeys who live in the royal garden's trees. When Fa-Ying falls sick with cholera, Anna is summoned to her chambers to say goodbye. She gets there just as Fa-Ying dies in King Mongkut's arms, and the two mourn together. Mongkut later finds that one of the monkeys "borrowed" his glasses as his daughter (Goh Yi Wai) used to do. He believes that reincarnation will alleviate his grief, and Fa-ying might be reborn as one of her beloved animals.

Anna also begins to educate Lady Tuptim (Bai Ling), the King's newest concubine, who was already in love with another man, Khun Phra Balat (Sean Ghazi), when she was brought to court. Mongkut is kind to her, but Tuptim yearns for her true love. After Balat becomes a Buddhist monk, Tuptim disguises herself as a monk as well so she can join his monastery and be near him. She is tracked down and put on trial, where it is revealed Balat has been viciously tortured. When Tuptim condemns the judges for their cruelty, she is caned.

Anna, unable to bear the sight, speaks out angrily in an attempt to stop the abuse and threatens to go to the king, before she is forcibly removed from the court. Her outburst prevents Mongkut from showing clemency, because he cannot be seen as beholden to her, though he feels ashamed. Tuptim and Balat are beheaded publicly.

Anna resolves to leave Siam as many others are fleeing due to the approaching Burmese army. Sir Mycroft approaches the Siamese prime minister and reveals that in an attempt to protect his interests in Siam, he's paid a small fortune to discover who is behind the attempted coup: Alak.

Mongkut's army is too far from the palace to engage the rebels, so he creates a ruse - that a white elephant has been spotted, and the court must go to see it. This allows him to flee the palace with his children and wives, and give his armies time to reach them. The prime minister convinces Anna to return and help Mongkut, since her presence in his entourage will corroborate the tale about the white elephant. Mongkut plans to take his family to a monastery where he spent part of his life. Halfway through the journey, they see Alak's army in the distance and realize they can't outrun him. Mongkut and his soldiers set explosives on a wooden bridge high above a canyon floor as Alak and his army approach. Mongkut orders his "army" to stay back and rides to the bridge with only two soldiers. Alak, at the head of his army, confronts Mongkut on the bridge.

Anna, Louis and Mongkut's wives and children create a brilliant deception from their hiding spot in the forest. Louis uses his horn to replicate the sound of a bugle charge, as the others "attack" the area with harmless fireworks. The Burmese, believing the King has brought British soldiers, panic and retreat. Alak's attempt to recall and regroup his troops fails. Alak stands alone, but Mongkut refuses to kill him, saying that Alak will have to live with his shame. As Mongkut turns to ride back to Siam, Alak grabs his gun and aims at his back, but one of Mongkut's guards detonates the explosives, blowing the bridge and Alak to pieces.

The court returns to Bangkok, where Anna tearfully prepares to leave Siam for good. Mongkut shares one last dance with her, marveling that he now understands how a man could be content with only one woman. A voice-over tells viewers that Chulalongkorn became king after his father's death, abolishing slavery and instituting religious freedom with his father's 'vision' assisting him.

Julie Styron (Channing) is a middle-aged business woman flying out of town to attend an important meeting. When her CEO contacts her and asks her to meet him for dinner afterward, she worries that her job may be in danger and engages the help of a headhunter named Nick Harris (Fred Weller) to look for a new position. Her mood worsens when her new assistant Paula Murphy (Stiles) is 45 minutes late to the meeting, which as a result goes badly. After its end, Julie fires Paula and they part ways.

Later that evening Julie is unexpectedly promoted to CEO of the company. After both their flights home are delayed, Julie and Paula meet up by chance in a hotel bar. Julie apologizes for losing her temper earlier and buys Paula a drink. As they talk, Julie, who gave up having a family for her career, begins to question whether she made the right choice. The two of them visit the gym and the pool before returning to the bar.

Nick joins them, explaining that his flight was also canceled. Paula rushes off to the bathroom and is followed by Julie, who wants to know what was wrong. Later, Paula informs her that Nick raped a friend of hers in Boston. Julie is shocked but eventually convinced, and suggests they get revenge. Paula tells her to just forget about it.

The two retire to Julie's room, and when Nick knocks on the door later on, Paula invites him in and then drugs him. In order to keep him from realizing what they've done, the two women take him down into a restricted area of the hotel which is being renovated. Julie runs upstairs to get Nick's briefcase, and returns to find Paula stripping him. Paula explains that this way when he wakes up he will hesitate to ask anyone what happened.

Paula photographs them all with her Polaroid camera. Paula finds a magic marker and they write words on Nick's chest and back like "pig" and "rapist". They are nearly discovered by a security guard, but he leaves without seeing them. Paula eventually confesses to Julie that it was she who was raped, not her friend — which Julie had already guessed. They return to Julie's room and sleep.

The next morning, Julie finds the word "loser" written in marker on her own stomach, and a few Polaroids on the bed of Paula sitting next to her own sleeping form. At the airport she meets up with Nick again. He reveals that he had never been to Boston, proving Paula's rape story to be an elaborate lie.

Val Waxman is a once-prestigious film director who now directs television commercials. When he is thrown off his latest effort (a deodorant commercial filmed in the frozen north of Canada), he desperately seeks a real movie project.

Out of the blue, Val receives an offer to direct a big-budget blockbuster to be set in New York City. However, the offer comes from his former wife, Ellie, and her boyfriend, Hal, the studio head who stole her from Val years ago.

Pushed by his agent Al Hack, Val reluctantly agrees to the project, but a psychosomatic ailment strikes him blind just before production is to begin. With Al's encouragement and aid, Val keeps his blindness a secret from the cast and crew (and Hal). During filming, Val rekindles his relationship with Ellie and reconnects with his estranged son, Tony, while his much younger girlfriend, Lori, leaves him. When Val regains what had been missing his life, he regains his sight as well, and realizes that the movie he directed while blind is a disaster.

Sure enough, the movie flops - but is a hit in France, where he is invited to direct a film. After winning Ellie back, he happily proclaims, "Thank God the French exist."

Twelve-year-old Eric Kirby and his mother's boyfriend, Ben Hildebrand, go parasailing near the restricted Isla Sorna. The boat's crew is killed by an unknown attacker, prompting Ben to detach the line before the vessel crashes into rocks. Eric and Ben drift towards the island.

Eight weeks later, paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant struggles to secure funding for his ''Velociraptor'' research, and rebuffs the public's obsession with the events on Isla Nublar. Grant discusses his research with longtime colleague Ellie, hypothesizing that ''Velociraptors'' were socially advanced beyond even primates. In Montana, his assistant, Billy Brennan, uses a three-dimensional printer to replicate a ''Velociraptor'' larynx.

Paul and Amanda Kirby, a seemingly wealthy couple, offer to fund Grant's research if he gives them an illegal aerial tour of Isla Sorna. Grant reluctantly agrees and flies there with Billy, the Kirbys' associates Udesky and Cooper, and their pilot Nash. Grant learns that the Kirbys plan to land; he protests, but Cooper knocks him unconscious. Grant awakens to find the plane has landed, and the group flees when a predator approaches the runway. As the group boards the plane, Cooper is left behind. The plane lifts off as a ''Spinosaurus'' emerges and devours Cooper. Nash hits the dinosaur, and the plane crashes into the jungle. The ''Spinosaurus'' attacks the plane and eats Nash, who has Paul's satellite phone. The survivors flee, only to encounter a ''Tyrannosaurus''. The two dinosaurs fight, and the ''Spinosaurus'' kills the ''Tyrannosaurus'' as the humans escape.

Grant confronts the Kirbys, who reveal they are a middle-class divorced couple searching for their son Eric and Amanda's boyfriend Ben. Government agencies declined to help, so they deceived Grant and brought him along, mistakenly believing him to have experience on Isla Sorna. The group searches for Eric and Ben as they travel to the coast. They find Ben's corpse attached to the parasail which Billy takes. They also stumble upon a ''Velociraptor'' nest, and Billy secretly places two eggs in his bag.

They soon discover an InGen compound, where a ''Velociraptor'' attacks them, before vocalizing for its pack. The humans escape within a herd of ''Corythosaurus'' and ''Parasaurolophus'', causing a stampede; Grant and Udesky are separated from the others. The ''Velociraptors'' trap Udesky and attempt to lure Paul, Amanda, and Billy from their place in a tree. Failing to coerce the group into rescuing Udesky, a ''Velociraptor'' kills him before the pack departs. Grant observes the pack communicating and suspects that they are searching for something; as he tries to slip away, they ambush him. Eric disrupts the pack with canisters of tear gas and brings Grant to an overturned supply truck where he has been taking shelter. The following morning, Grant and Eric reunite with Billy and the Kirbys; the group narrowly escapes the ''Spinosaurus''.

Grant, suspicious of Billy, checks his bag and finds the ''Velociraptor'' eggs, which Billy reveals he planned to sell for funding. Grant decides to keep the eggs in the hopes that the ''Velociraptors'' may spare them if the eggs are returned. The group then unknowingly enters into an aviary filled with ''Pteranodons''. A flock attacks the group and flies away with Eric. Billy rescues him using the parasail but is swarmed and seemingly killed. The group escapes the aviary but unintentionally leave the cage unlocked. They board a small barge and make their way down a river. That night, they retrieve the ringing satellite phone from the dung of the ''Spinosaurus''. Grant contacts Ellie and tells her where they are, but the ''Spinosaurus'' attacks the barge. Fuel from the boat leaks into the water, and Grant ignites it using a flare gun, forcing the ''Spinosaurus'' to permanently flee.

The following day, the group arrive at the coast but are surrounded by the ''Velociraptor'' pack. Grant uses the replica larynx to confuse the pack and present their eggs. Upon hearing distant helicopters, the raptors reclaim their eggs and disappear into the jungle. The U.S. Navy lands on the beach, summoned by Ellie, and rescue the survivors. On a helicopter, they discover that Billy has also been rescued, albeit in a seriously injured state. They watch the newly escaped ''Pteranodons'' fly alongside them as they leave the island.

Jerry Falk (Biggs), an aspiring writer living in New York City, has a girlfriend, Brooke (Strickland). He falls in love with Amanda (Ricci) and has an affair with her. Brooke finds out of Jerry's infidelity and leaves him. Amanda leaves her own boyfriend for Jerry. Jerry turns to aging, struggling artist David Dobel (Allen, loosely based on David Panich) who acts as his mentor, which includes trying to help sort out Jerry's romantic life. Dobel says that when he told a cab driver of all his anxieties and phobias in life, the cab driver told him, "It's like anything else".

Dobel tries to convince Jerry that his manager is only holding him back and his relationship with Amanda is the most destructive force in his life. Amanda continuously cheats on Jerry. Amanda leaves and then comes back. Jerry's neuroses start to worsen. Eventually, Jerry leaves town as Dobel gets him a job writing for television in California. Amanda has an affair with the doctor who was treating her and runs off with him. He sees them together laughing as she once did with him as the cab is taking him towards the airport. Jerry talks to the cabbie of love and relationships. The cabbie simply replies, "It's like anything else".

The narrator is Mr Scott, brought in to downsize his department, and the plot concerns his consideration of Theodore Honey, who initially comes across as an unlikely hero. Mr Honey, a widower, does not live a conventional British life, and is bringing up his young daughter, Elspeth, alone. He is engaged in research on the fatigue of aluminium airframes. He is currently investigating possible failure in the high aspect ratio tailplane of a new airliner, the fictional "Rutland Reindeer".

Honey is nervous and distrusting of the 'new broom', is unimpressive in appearance and is so intensely focused on his work that his relations with the outside world – never that good to begin with – suffer badly. Throughout the story, people judge him by that appearance, or by his varied and unconventional outside interests, such as pyramidology, the study of possible esoteric interpretations of the Pyramids.

Honey has predicted, by a (fictional) theory supposedly related to quantum mechanics, that it is possible for an aluminium alloy structure to fail long before the design lifetime predicted by the usual design standards. He is using a spare tailplane from a Reindeer aircraft in a fatigue test. Honey's theory predicts that the metal at the root of the tailplane will suffer from metal fatigue and fail with a crystalline fracture.

Before Mr Scott's arrival, despite Mr Honey's concerns, the aircraft had recently been allowed into service. Mr Honey's work is regarded as likely to falsify his far-fetched theory, rather than raising a significant safety issue. But the newly arrived Mr Scott links it with the recent crash of a Reindeer carrying the Soviet ambassador, which had total flying hours close to Honey's estimate, and which crashed in northeastern Quebec. The crash report, including photographs, is inconclusive, and Scott feels that the remains of the aircraft must be physically examined.

Honey is sent to Canada to examine the debris of the crash, travelling on board a Reindeer aircraft on which he meets the two heroines of the novel, Corder and Teasdale. During the flight, Honey discovers from the cockpit crew that the flying hours of this aircraft are twice those of any other Reindeer in service, and are close to his predicted failure time. He becomes increasingly anxious for its safety. He confides in Teasdale, whose films he admires, and goes on to give her some advice on the safest place to go in the aircraft in the event of a crash. Despite his alarm, he remains persuasive and sincere, and impresses Corder and Teasdale. He also impresses the pilot, Samuelson, who knew the captain of the recently crashed Reindeer and had rejected with scorn the official inquiry's conclusion that the crash was the result of pilot error.

During a heated discussion during a stopover at Gander International Airport, Honey realises that he has failed to persuade anyone to declare the Reindeer unfit for service, and in desperation, he disables it by disengaging the safety interlocks and raising its undercarriage while it is standing on the tarmac, leaving the aircraft damaged and unable to move.

Honey is recalled to Farnborough after this sabotage, but he is delayed because C.A.T.O., the fictional operator of the damaged aircraft, refuses to carry him. While he is away, trouble arises on a second front. For the duration of his trip, he has left Elspeth in their shabby, neglected home in Farnham, with only the supervision of the unreliable cleaning woman.

Shirley Scott finds Elspeth unconscious, confirming her misgivings about the state of Honey's home life, and nurses her. Elspeth displays a touching mix of precocity and serious intelligence, but betrays Honey's hobbies of spiritualism and prophecy. That notwithstanding, Elspeth's outlook is tempered with serious thought and childhood happiness in simple things.

Teasdale visits Dr. Scott at Farnborough and relates her story of events to the Director of the RAE before offering Elspeth some feminine care and affection. Her affection for Honey is obvious, but she realises it is not to be – she cannot give him children or sustain him in his work. She is rapidly followed by Corder, who bears Honey's letter of resignation to Scott and her own account of the events in Gander.

By the time Honey returns, Scott has left for Canada to retrieve the tailplane roots. On reaching the crash site he discovers that the parts of the aircraft adjacent to where the tailplane separated have been removed by the Soviet party who came to recover the body of their Ambassador. The Soviet authorities suspect that the crash was part of a plot to assassinate the ambassador, and are wholly unhelpful when approached for information about the missing tailplane root.

The tailplane itself remains lost in the wilderness, but must be found if there is any hope of proving the existence of metal fatigue. Honey comes to the rescue, but in a highly unorthodox way. He puts his daughter into a light trance which, to Corder's shock, Elspeth has clearly experienced before.

Using a planchette and automatic writing, a message is written: ''UNDER THE FOOT OF THE BEAR''. Sceptical of the message's value, the Director refuses to send it to Scott, and a heated exchange follows. The Director points out that "the bear" could just as plausibly refer merely to the Soviet Union and that the message tells them no more than they already know. With Corder's and Samuelson's help and their C.A.T.O. contacts, Honey manages to have the message passed to Scott in the Canadian woods. Scott and his party work out that "the bear" could refer to a lake, Dancing Bear Water, 30 or 40 miles back along the flight path of the lost aircraft, and there, in due course, they find the tailplane.

Its front spar root reveals a classic fatigue fracture. The find vindicates Honey's theory and makes him a minor hero in aviation circles – to which he is indifferent. His early warning even allows for a timely redesign by the manufacturers, ensuring no loss of service of the Reindeers over the Atlantic and allowing the safety issue to be hushed-up. But Mr Scott goes on to take safety more seriously than had been previous practice. Corder and Honey finally marry one another.

''A Small Killing'' is a novel which looks inward, examining the images of one man's inner world. The protagonist is an ad company executive looking for inspiration for his latest project. This character is rather the apotheosis of 1980s culture and serves as commentary of it. Seeking inspiration for the above-mentioned project he returns to his home town to confront his perceptions of the past and himself.

''McMillan & Wife'' revolved around a 50-ish former criminal defense attorney who becomes San Francisco police commissioner, Stuart McMillan (Rock Hudson) and his attractive, bright, affable wife Sally (Susan Saint James), who was in her 20s. Often, the storylines featured Mac and Sally attending fashionable parties and charity benefits before solving robberies and murders. John Schuck appeared as McMillan's likeable, somewhat bumbling aide Sgt. Charles Enright and Nancy Walker played Mildred, the couple's sarcastic, hard-drinking maid, both characters serving as comic relief.

Sally is pregnant at the end of season 1, but this is apparently retconned away and is never mentioned in later seasons. She is pregnant again in season 4, and has the baby (a boy) in the final episode of season 4. The baby is not seen or mentioned in season 5.

A woman (later revealed to be a transvestite), dancing provocatively to the enjoyment of other nightclub patrons, is abruptly hit in the face by Hubert Florentini (Reno), a commisaire of the French Police. Florentini drags her out of the club in handcuffs, assaulting other patrons who come too close to free the captive woman or attempt to hinder his exit. Unfortunately, one of these patrons includes the chief's son.

Florentini is chastised for the violent and unorthodox methods that he uses to accomplish his goals and is put on paid leave from the force. Despite his success and his seemingly enjoyable lifestyle of fighting crime, playing golf, and being the object of a beautiful woman's (Bouquet's) attentions, he has been unable to forget his one true love, Miko, a Japanese spy he met 19 years prior. Upon receiving news of her death, he is summoned to Japan by her lawyer, Ishibashi (Haruhiko Hirata) for the reading of her will.

Ishibashi informs Florentini that he has inherited the guardianship of Yumi (Hirosue), a fiery, adorable and eccentric Japanese/French teenage girl over whom he has custody until she reaches adulthood in two days (the age of adulthood in Japan being 20). Yumi, who was led to believe she was the result of her mother's rape and subsequent abandonment, hates her unknown father. Florentini realizes Yumi is his daughter, but does not tell her as she would probably flee from him.

Florentini uncovers evidence that Miko was the victim of foul play. He discovers that Miko had stolen a small fortune from the Yakuza, a fortune now destined for Yumi upon reaching adulthood. Florentini summons the help of Momo (Michel Muller), a former intelligence colleague living in Tokyo. He helps Florentini with further investigations into Miko's death and in guarding Yumi from the Yakuza by supplying him with two metal suitcases of weapons. The Yakuza try to attack Yumi in an arcade, but Florentini, who has been observing their positions, kills all of them.

Later, Yumi discovers that Florentini is her father as she is captured by the Yakuza. As they take her away and prepare to execute Florentini, he uses golf balls to knock out his would-be executioners and knock out the rest in mêlée combat. With the help of former intelligence colleagues, Florentini and Momo free Yumi from her kidnappers when they attempt to withdraw money from Yumi's bank account by replacing the bank's staff and customers with their own men. During the rescue attempt a gunfight breaks out and all of the Yakuza are killed by Florentini single-handedly without any casualties to the good guys.

Following the ordeal, Florentini takes a flight back to France, having promised Yumi he would be back in a month. But just before the plane takes off, a group of customs officers enter the cabin with two familiar metal suitcases in hand, asking for their owner.

''Justice'' is set in a Japanese high school, where Mr. Robert's class is doing a running translation of the Potsdam Declaration. The action in the classroom is centered on: Mr. Robert's lifeless, monotonous recitation of the document. Itadaki's hurried efforts to write it all down in grammatically correct Japanese prose. An unnamed student's creation of pornographic flipbook animation in the corner of one of his textbooks. The initially drowsy Tojo.

Tojo, who is not paying attention, wakes up when he realizes a girls' gym class is running the hurdles outside. He clears the books and blank notes off his desk and begins to watch. Using the five-stroke Chinese character "正", Tojo keeps a running tally of when the girls readjust their ''buruma'' (literally "bloomers", roughly the same as the spankies cheerleaders and female volleyball players wear). Each readjustment is recorded with a color (red, blue, or green) and emphasized for the audience by the sound of snapping spandex.

The stunning Hoshi notices Tojo staring at her and she self-consciously puts her all into her time. When she trips over a hurdle and hits the asphalt, Tojo can't hide his alarm. Immediately, Mr. Robert turns on him and lectures about focusing on Potsdam rather than ''buruma''. He uses racist language — "What do you Japs mean by this character?" — when he asks Tojo about the "正正正" written on the desk; Tojo's reply is "justice" ("justice" being 正義 in Japanese). After Mr. Robert looks out the window, who is astonished by the girls' beauty at the first sight, he throws Tojo out of class and tells him in English and Japanese to "get out in the hall".

The girls' gym class comes back into the building and Hoshi flirtatiously confronts Tojo, who sprouts a nosebleed when he sees her adjust her bloomers. He denies all wrongdoing but grins at the camera and displays a "V" for "victory" once Hoshi's back is turned.

The novel begins at a speakeasy in Harlem on New Year's Eve, where protagonist Max Disher's romantic advances are rejected by a white woman solely because he is black. The following morning, he reads about a new scientific procedure for turning black skin white called "Black-No-More," and he decides to go through with the procedure.

As the Black-No-More procedure grows increasingly popular, it wreaks havoc on the social and economic institutions of Harlem, drawing resistance from leaders in the African American community. It also draws fierce resistance from Southern segregationist organizations. Meanwhile, Max — who has now changed his name to Matthew Fisher — discovers that life as a white man is not as great as he imagined. In order to earn some money, he joins Reverend Harry Givens's white supremacist organization, The Knights of Nordica, claiming that he has the expertise necessary to help them end Black-No-More.

Incidentally, the woman who rejected Matthew at the beginning of the novel is Rev. Givens's daughter, Helen. Now that he is white and a prominent member of a white supremacist organization, Matthew wins Helen's affection and, eventually, her hand in marriage. This becomes dangerous for Matthew, however, when Helen becomes pregnant, raising the specter — faced by an increasing number of newly whitened individuals — of a non-white child betraying his true identity.

The Knights of Nordica break into politics, teaming up with the well-funded Anglo-Saxon Association, whose leader, Arthur Snobbcraft, shares the Democratic presidential ticket with Rev. Givens. With fewer and fewer black individuals left for Snobbcraft and Givens to stake their racist positions against, they hire a statistician, Dr. Samuel Buggerie, to conduct a massive inquiry into the genealogy of American citizens and thereby taint their opponents as genealogically, if not epidermically, "black."

After a miscarriage, Helen becomes pregnant again, prompting Matthew to keep an airplane and spare cash on hand for a quick escape whenever she happens to go into labor. He decides that, when she gives birth to what will inevitably be their black child, he will ask her either to reject him outright, or to accept him for who he is and leave the country with him. However, with the genealogy project nearing completion on the eve of election day, the results indicate that almost all Americans have at least some African ancestry, including Snobbcraft, Buggerie, Givens, and Helen. These results are stolen by the Republicans and then leaked to the media. When Helen's child is born bi-racial, she blames herself for her undisclosed African-American heritage. Matthew then admits his own heritage, and she accepts him for who he is.

A violent mob forms when word spreads of Givens's and Snobbcraft's "impure" ancestry. Snobbcraft and Buggerie flee together on Matthew's airplane, but they are forced to land in Mississippi when they run out of fuel. Afraid of revealing their true identities, they blacken their faces with shoe-polish, which proves to be an unfortunate decision, as they encounter a group of local zealots who have been eagerly waiting for a black person — any black person — to kill. Givens and Snobbcraft remove their disguises and convince the zealots that they are, in fact, white, but just at this moment a newspaper arrives, divulging their true ancestry. Snobbcraft and Buggerie are mutilated and then burned alive.

Sam (Christian Bale) and Alex (Kate Beckinsale) are a newly engaged couple who move to Los Angeles to further their careers. Sam is a recently graduated medical student, starting his residency in psychiatry, while Alex is finishing her Ph.D. dissertation on genomics. The relatively straight-laced, upwardly mobile couple plans to stay at the vacant home of Sam's mother, Jane (Frances McDormand), a free-spirited record producer in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles.

In a change of plans, however, Jane is still around, recording an album with her British boyfriend, Ian McKnight (Alessandro Nivola), and his band.

Jane and Ian are in the midst of a fiery romance, and both the producer and the band seem more interested in partying than finishing the record. Jane's presence is a source of consternation for Sam, as he and his mother have quite different mindsets and a strained relationship.

The new lifestyle options presented by her soon-to-be mother-in-law intrigue the normally hardworking Alex, who begins spending more time with the band and less time on her dissertation. Alex's growing fascination with Jane and Ian leads to a scene where the three of them kiss one another while naked in the swimming pool.

Sam himself feels attracted to an Israeli fellow resident, Sara (Natascha McElhone), who is unapologetically interested in him as well. They share one first kiss while returning from an informal interns' meeting, around the same time Alex has her first tryst with Jane and Ian in the pool. Some time later, while Alex attends Jane and Ian's party held in a crowded hotel suite to celebrate the band's new album release, Sam and Sara meet in a parking lot and, in a conversation filled with sexual tension, they declare their attraction for one another.

The situation strains Sam and Alex's relationship almost to the point of breaking by the end of the film. After the party has finished and the three of them are left alone in the suite, Ian tries to "finish" (in his words) his encounter with Alex and Jane, but the latter decides against it and the threesome does not take place. Upon returning home after his conversation with Sara, Sam decides to go to the hotel and discovers Jane, Ian, and Alex scantily-clad in the bedroom. In a fit of rage he repeatedly punches Ian, hits his mother with his elbow as she tries to split up the fight, and leaves the hotel, but Alex chases him down the street and professes her love for him.

The next morning, the situation seems back to normal again. But Sara phones Sam and tells him she can't control her heart, as opposed to what he told her the day before. Sam watches his surroundings, postpones any further conversation, and takes a moment of reflection.

Morris Buttermaker is a washed-up alcoholic baseball player who was a pitcher for the Seattle Mariners before getting kicked out of professional baseball for attacking an umpire. He works as an exterminator and is a crude womanizer. He is hired by Liz Whitewood to coach the Bears, a children's baseball team with poor playing skills. They play their first game and do not even make an out before he forfeits the game. The entire team decides to quit afterwards, but Buttermaker dissuades them from quitting and promises to be a better coach.

Amanda Wurlitzer, a skilled pitcher, is the 12-year-old daughter of one of his ex-girlfriends. After a couple requests, she decides to join the team. Kelly Leak, a local troublemaker but solid hitter, also joins the team, and the Bears start winning games. Before the championship game Liz congratulates Buttermaker on his success, which leads to them sleeping together, which Toby, her son and a player on the team discovers by accident. The Bears eventually make it to the championship game. In the middle of that game, the Bears and Yankees fight after Amanda is shoved during a play at the plate. A few innings later the Yankees coach Ray Bullock orders his son Joey to intentionally walk Mike Engleberg, one of the Bears' best hitters. Instead of walking him, he almost hits Engleberg, causing Ray to push Joey to the ground in anger. As revenge, Joey throws Engleberg an easy pitch which he smacks for a home run and leaves the game with his mother. Later, Buttermaker changes the lineup, putting the benchwarmers in and taking out some of the good players which causes the Bears to fall behind heading into the last half of the inning. With two outs, one of the Bears players, Garo, drives in two runs and tries to score to tie the game but is thrown out at the plate on a close call, causing the Bears to lose the championship 8–7.

After the game, Buttermaker gives them non-alcoholic beer, and they spray it all over each other. Although they did not win the championship, they have the satisfaction of trying, knowing that winning is not so important.

The story takes place in the context of Trantor's rise from a large regional power to a galaxy-wide empire, unifying millions of worlds. The approximate date is around the year 11,000 AD (originally 34,500 AD, according to Asimov's early 1950s chronology), when the Trantorian Empire encompasses roughly half of the galaxy.

The independent planet Sark rules, and exploits, the planet Florina which orbits the star located nearest to Sark's sun. Sark derives great wealth from kyrt, a natural plant fiber which is extraordinarily useful and versatile, but which cannot be grown on Sark or on any planet other than Florina. The relationship between the two planets is analogous to the situation between European imperial powers and their colonies during the 19th century: native Florinians are forced to work in kyrt fields and are treated as an inferior race by the resident Sarkites. They are also lighter-skinned than most humans on other worlds, but this is no longer viewed as significant. Memories of racism on Earth have been lost.

Attempts to break the Sark monopoly and grow kyrt on worlds other than Florina have so far been unsuccessful, because kyrt plants grown on other planets do not produce kyrt, only a useless, inferior form of cellulose; no one understands why. So Sark's wealth depends on its colonial dominance of Florina. The government of Trantor naturally wishes to add the two worlds to its growing empire.

The action centers around Rik, a man suffering from gross amnesia and apparent feeble-mindedness. When Rik gradually starts remembering his past, a political crisis involving Sark, Florina, and Trantor ensues. Rik must dodge planetary law-enforcement agents and interstellar spies as he attempts to learn his own history and identity, which the government of Sark is trying to prevent. Ultimately he learns that before losing his memory he was a "spacio-analyst": a specialized astronaut who gathers samples of the very sparse interstellar gasses in outer space, and determines their composition. (The spacio-analysts' slogan is "We analyze Nothing".) He also finds out that he had discovered that Florina's sun is about to explode into a nova because it is being exposed to a stream of isolated gaseous carbon atoms flowing through its region of space. The carbon atoms, besides causing Florina's sun to approach nova-stage, are also the reason kyrt grows on Florina: they are causing Florina's sun to emit a special energetic wavelength of light which kyrt plants need in order to bio-synthesize the kyrt fiber. Streams of carbon atoms ("carbon currents") are very rare in space; the reason the plants do not make kyrt when grown on planets orbiting other stars is that Florina is the only known habitable planet whose sun is located in the path of a carbon current.

Because losing Florina would mean losing the principal source of Sark's vast wealth, there was strong resistance from the government of Sark to accept Rik's finding; his amnesia was caused by the government's misuse of a mind-altering device called a "psychic probe" in an attempt to suppress his message. However, once Rik recovers his memory and reveals the effect of the carbon atoms, the conditions that enable kyrt to grow can be easily duplicated anywhere now that they are understood.

Rik also learns that he was born on the planet Earth, which is now radioactive. He suggests that Earth was the planet where humanity first originated, but this hypothesis remains controversial.

The game is set in a universe where humans long before fought a war with the Skaarj, leaving their galactic empire in shambles. To assist in the rebuilding of the colonies by calming down enraged colonists, the Liandri Corporation came up with the idea of staging a gladiatorial tournament for the miners. The interest was so high that it grew into a sport, with sponsored teams battling in specially made arenas.

From the very beginning, Xan Kriegor, a robot, reigned as champion in the Tournament, until Malcolm, then leading the team Thunder Crash, defeated him and proceeded to merge with the other popular team at the time – the Iron Guard, led by Brock. In last year's tournament, they were defeated by the Juggernauts, led by gene-boosted monster Gorge.

The game takes place as the Tournament enters its 10th year, Malcolm is back with his old team Thunder Crash and trying to reclaim his title as champion, Brock is back with the Iron Guard and trying for the glory of his own and Gorge and the Juggernauts are there to defend their title. Additionally, the Skaarj Empire has sent a team of their own to the tournament in search of honor and glory and ex-champion Xan Kriegor has had some modifications and is back to return the title where it belongs.

Emperor Cleon I wants to appoint Hari Seldon as the First Minister of the Galactic Empire. Powerful Trantor High Council member Betan Lamurk opposes the independent Seldon's appointment. Seldon himself is reluctant to accept the position because of its time constraints pulling him away from the psychohistory project. The project is led by Seldon, Yugo Amaryl, and Seldon's advanced humaniform robot-spouse Dors Venabili. Seldon needs to carry favor with the emperor, however, and advises Cleon I informally. For example, Seldon suggests a decree that erases terrorists' names from records, denying them immortality, discouraging chaotic actions.

Besides the psychohistorians, much of the novel's action revolves around advanced sentient simulations (sims) of Joan of Arc and Voltaire. The sims have been recreated by Artifice Associates, a research company located in Trantor’s Dahl Sector. Artifice Associates programmers Marq and Sybil plan to use the Joan/ Voltaire sims for two money-making projects. First, Hari Seldon’s psychohistory project. Second, Trantor’s Junin-Sector “Preservers vs Skeptics Society” debate whether mechanical beings endowed with artificial intelligence should be built. And if so, whether they should receive full citizenship. The Preservers’ champion will be Joan, the Skeptics’ champion Voltaire.

Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili flee Trantor, escaping High Council member Betan Lamurk's forces. During their galactic odyssey, Hari and Dors experience virtual reality as chimpanzees on planet Panucopia. They also visit helter-skelter New Renaissance world Sark.

Meanwhile, back on Trantor, sims Joan and Voltaire escape into Trantor's Mesh (Internet). Joan and Voltaire interact with ancient aliens on the Mesh. These aliens fled Trantor's physical space when terraforming robots arrived on Trantor more than 20,000 years ago. Via Joan and Voltaire, Hari allies with the mesh aliens. The aliens aid Seldon's return to Trantor, and his defeat of High Council member Lamurk through tik-toks. The novel ends with Seldon accepting his position as Emperor Cleon's First Minister.

Category:Novels by Gregory Benford Category:Foundation universe books Category:1997 American novels Category:1997 science fiction novels

The novel is the second part of the Second Foundation Trilogy and takes place almost entirely in the same time frame as "The Psychohistorians", which is the first part of the novel ''Foundation''. In addition to telling a more expanded version of Hari Seldon's confrontation with the Commission of Public Safety it also interweaves R. Daneel Olivaw's struggle against a sect of robots who oppose his plans for humanity.

While covering the same period as in Asimov’s "The Psychohistorians", ''Foundation and Chaos'' focuses more on paternal superrobot R Daneel Olivaw than on Hari Seldon. Olivaw’s 20 millennia of machinations and contrivances are questioned by “Calvinian” robots who do not observe Olivaw’s Zeroth Law (“No robot may harm humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm”) developed in Asimov’s ''Robots and Empire.'' Olivaw’s actions dampen human intellectual growth and variation until the human species matures. The novel’s primary issue is whether Olivaw’s ends justify his means. Does the ancient Auroran robot really serve humanity’s greater good? Should Olivaw decide this for himself?

Seldon seems unaware of Olivaw’s role in perpetuating brain fever and other dampeners. But Seldon would probably approve, considering his quarantining of the New Renaissance worlds when Seldon served as Imperial 1st Minister.

''Foundation and Chaos'' portrays the rise of mentalics (telepaths who can influence other’s thoughts) such as Wanda Seldon and Stettin Palver, who will form the Second Foundation. Twisted rogue mentalic Vara Liso even foreshadows the mutant Magnifico’s spectacular rise 310 years later. Powerful Public Safety Commissioner Linge Chen again plays a prominent role as the true Imperial power behind fatuous playboy Emperor Klayus. Reconstructed superrobot Dors Venabili reappears as well.

Category:1998 American novels Category:1998 science fiction novels Category:Foundation universe books Category:Novels by Greg Bear

''Foundation’s Triumph'' starts with Hari Seldon who reviews his life and has to accept the fact that his “purpose” is completed. One day he meets a bureaucrat, Horis Antic, who explains his theory about the correlation of certain soils on planets and psychohistory. Seldon agrees to take a trip to some of the planets which fit Antic's theory. Hari and Horis travel to Demarchia, where they rent a yacht.

Parallel to Seldon's story, Dors Venabili starts out on the planet Panucopia to meet Lodovik Trema, a robot whose Three Laws of Robotics have been erased. Lodovic gives her the head of R. Giskard Reventlov, an important robot who founded the Zeroth Law with R. Daneel Olivaw. She finds out that Giskard and Daneel never consulted a human while founding the Zeroth Law. Later Trema meets a faction of cyborgs and joins them. After Dors has become a rebel, she fights for the cyborgs as well.

The third plot of the novel takes place on the planet Eos. Daneel talks to his possible successor Zun Lurrin. All chapters with Olivaw as the main character are printed in a different typeface.

In Seldon's story, during the flight to the first planet the yacht is taken over by rebels, who are from the renaissance or chaos planet Ktlina. They show Seldon ancient spaceships with many data capsules from the human past. Robots take over the yacht and destroy the data capsules and the ancient ships with the permission of Seldon. During the flight back to Trantor, a rebel, Gornon Vlimt, turns out to be another robot from a faction of Calvinians, who want to send Hari into the future.

At last all factions meet on Earth. The Calvinians are stopped by Daneel and Wanda Seldon. Old friends Seldon and Daneel meet one final time, to discuss philosophy. Despite the apparent eventual dominance of Galaxia, Seldon confides his belief that the second Galactic Empire will include both the two Foundations, following the Seldon Plan, and Galaxia. "Will there be an Encyclopedia Galactica a thousand years from now," asks Seldon, betting that if his belief is correct, there will be regularly updated editions of it. Since most Foundation novels use the Encyclopedia as a framing device for its chapters, this implies that Seldon correctly predicted the successful synthesis of the two Foundations and Galaxia.

Act I

Pyotr Sorin is a retired senior civil servant in failing health at his country estate. His sister, actress Irina Arkadina, arrives at the estate for a brief vacation with her lover, the writer Boris Trigorin. Pyotr and his guests gather at an outdoor stage to see an unconventional play that Irina's son, Konstantin Treplev, has written and directed. The play-within-a-play features Nina Zarechnaya, a young woman who lives on a neighboring estate, as the "soul of the world" in a time far in the future. The play is Konstantin's latest attempt at creating a new theatrical form. It is a dense symbolist work. Irina laughs at the play, finding it ridiculous and incomprehensible; the performance ends prematurely after audience interruption and Konstantin storms off in humiliation. Irina does not seem concerned about her son, who has not found his way in the world. Although others ridicule Konstantin's drama, the physician Yevgeny Dorn praises him.

Act I also sets up the play's various romantic triangles. The schoolteacher Semyon Medvedenko loves Masha, the daughter of the estate's steward Ilya Shamrayev and his wife Polina Andryevna. However, Masha is in love with Konstantin, who is in love with Nina, but Nina falls for Trigorin. Polina is in an affair with Yevgeny. When Masha tells Yevgeny about her longing for Konstantin, Yevgeny helplessly blames the lake for making everybody feel romantic.

Act II

A few days later, in the afternoon, characters are outside the estate. Arkadina, after reminiscing about happier times, engages in a heated argument with the house steward Shamrayev and decides to leave. Nina lingers behind after the group leaves, and Konstantin arrives to give her a gull that he has shot. Nina is confused and horrified at the gift. Konstantin sees Trigorin approaching and leaves in a jealous fit.

Nina asks Trigorin to tell her about the writer's life; he replies that it is not an easy one. Nina says that she knows the life of an actress is not easy either, but she wants more than anything to be one. Trigorin sees the gull that Konstantin has shot and muses on how he could use it as a subject for a short story: "The plot for the short story: a young girl lives all her life on the shore of a lake. She loves the lake, like a gull, and she's happy and free, like a gull. But a man arrives by chance, and when he sees her, he destroys her, out of sheer boredom. Like this gull." Arkadina calls for Trigorin, and he leaves as she tells him that she has changed her mind – they will not be leaving immediately. Nina lingers behind, enthralled with Trigorin's celebrity and modesty, and gushes, "My dream!"

Act III

Inside the estate, Arkadina and Trigorin have decided to depart. Between acts Konstantin attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head, but the bullet only grazed his skull. He spends the majority of Act III with his scalp heavily bandaged.

Nina finds Trigorin eating breakfast and presents him with a medallion that proclaims her devotion to him, using a line from one of Trigorin's own books: "If you ever need my life, come and take it." She retreats after begging for one last chance to see Trigorin before he leaves. Arkadina appears, followed by Sorin, whose health has continued to deteriorate. Trigorin leaves to continue packing. After a brief argument between Arkadina and Sorin, Sorin collapses in grief. He is helped off by Medvedenko. Konstantin enters and asks his mother to change his bandage. As she is doing this, Konstantin disparages Trigorin, eliciting another argument. When Trigorin reenters, Konstantin leaves in tears.

Trigorin asks Arkadina if they can stay at the estate. She flatters and cajoles him until he agrees to return with her to Moscow. After she has left the room, Nina comes to say her final goodbye to Trigorin and to inform him that she is running away to become an actress against her parents' wishes. They kiss passionately and make plans to meet again in Moscow.

Act IV

It is winter two years later, in the drawing room that has been converted to Konstantin's study. Masha finally accepted Medvedenko's marriage proposal, and they have a child together, though Masha still nurses an unrequited love for Konstantin. Various characters discuss what has happened in the two years that have passed: Nina and Trigorin lived together in Moscow for a time until he abandoned her and went back to Arkadina. Nina gave birth to Trigorin's baby, but it died in a short time. Nina never achieved any real success as an actress, and she is currently on a tour of the provinces with a small theatre group. Konstantin has had some short stories published, but he is increasingly depressed. Sorin's health is still failing, and the people at the estate have telegraphed for Arkadina to come for his final days.

Most of the play's characters go to the drawing room to play a game of bingo. Konstantin does not join them, instead working on a manuscript at his desk. After the group leaves to eat dinner, Konstantin hears someone at the back door. He is surprised to find Nina, whom he invites inside. Nina tells Konstantin about her life over the last two years. Konstantin says that he followed Nina. She starts to compare herself to the gull that Konstantin killed in Act II, then rejects that and says "I am an actress." She tells him that she was forced to tour with a second-rate theatre company after the death of the child she had with Trigorin, but she seems to have a newfound confidence. Konstantin pleads with her to stay, but she is in such disarray that his pleading means nothing. She embraces Konstantin, and leaves. Despondent, Konstantin spends two minutes silently tearing up his manuscripts before leaving the study.

The group reenters and returns to the bingo game. There is a sudden gunshot from off-stage, and Dorn goes to investigate. He returns and takes Trigorin aside. Dorn tells Trigorin to somehow get Arkadina away, for Konstantin has just shot himself.

The comic is structured as the narrative of a fictional soldier, Private First Class Edward Marks (but sometimes following other characters), as he experiences real events that occurred during the conflict. Each issue of the comic occurs one month after the previous issue, detailing events that occurred approximately 20 years prior to the publication date.

The events depicted are sometimes famous ones, such as the Tet Offensive of 1968, and sometimes more personal ones, depicting the interaction between soldiers or between soldiers and the local populace of Vietnam, or between soldiers and their families, friends and others in the United States.

Some of the stories are typical of those in war comics of any era, such as the interaction with a callous officer or a description of combat, while others are unique to Vietnam, such as the experience of soldiers on leave bearing the personal burden of animosity from civilians opposed to the war. Issue #8 introduced the character of Frank Verzyl, the Tunnel Rat, who appeared again briefly in #26.

Narrator Mary Elizabeth "Lola" Steppe is a 15-year-old girl who grew up in New York City and wants desperately to become a famous Broadway actress. Much to her annoyance, she moves with her family to the suburbs of Dellwood, New Jersey, but she confidently tells the audience, "A legend is about to be born. That legend would be me."

At school, Lola befriends an unpopular girl, Ella Gerard, who shares her love for the rock band Sidarthur. Lola idolizes the band's lead singer, Stu Wolff. She also meets Sam, a cute boy who takes a liking to her, and makes enemies with Carla Santini, the most popular girl in school.

When Lola auditions for the school play, a modernized musical version of ''Pygmalion'' called ''Eliza Rocks'', she is chosen over Carla to play Eliza, and Carla promises to make her life miserable. Lola also beats Carla on a dancing video game at an arcade, whereupon Carla reveals that she has tickets to the farewell concert of Sidarthur, which recently decided to dissolve. Afraid of being one-upped by Carla, Lola falsely claims that she and Ella also have tickets. She loses her chance to buy tickets and new clothes when her mother takes away her allowance, and the concert is sold out by the time she persuades Ella to pay for the tickets. However, Lola explains that they can buy tickets from a scalper, and gets Sam to sneak Eliza's dress out of the costume room for her to wear at the concert.

On the night of the concert, Lola and Ella take a train to New York City, but Lola accidentally leaves the money for the tickets on the train, and her plan to sneak into the concert fails. Lola and Ella finally give up and walk through the city to Stu's after-show party. When they arrive there, Stu stumbles drunkenly out of the building and passes out in an alley. The two girls take him to a diner to sober him up, but when he hits a cop with a doughnut, the three of them end up at a police station, where Lola gives her father's New York City address.

At this point, Lola's dishonesty becomes problematic. When she first met Ella, she tried to impress her by telling her a dramatic story about her father dying years earlier. Ella highly values honesty, so she becomes infuriated when she discovers that Lola's story was a lie. After Lola's father arrives, and they explain what happened, Stu gratefully takes them all back to the party, where Ella forgives Lola for lying (on the condition that she will never lie to her again), and the two girls see Carla, who sees them as well, and looks upset. Lola talks with Stu about his work, but is disappointed to discover that he is an alcoholic.

Back at school, Carla humiliates Lola by denying that she saw Lola or Ella at the party and calling Lola a liar. None of the other students believes Lola's story about being arrested with Stu and leaving her necklace at his house.

Afterward, Lola goes home, depressed, and refuses to perform in the play, but encouraged by Ella to return, she arrives backstage just in time to prevent Carla from taking over her part. As she is about to go onstage, her mother wishes her good luck and finally calls her by her nickname, Lola. The modernist interpretation of ''Pygmalion'' (''Eliza Rocks'') ensues. After a great performance that brings a standing ovation, the cast goes to an after-party at Carla's house, where Stu arrives to see Lola. Carla attempts to salvage her pride by saying he is there to see her, but is proved wrong when Stu gives Lola her necklace in front of everyone. As Carla's lies become apparent, she backs away from the crowd on the verge of tears and falls into a fountain, greeted by everyone's laughter. In a conciliatory gesture, Lola helps her up, and Carla accepts defeat. After dancing with Stu, Lola dances with Sam, and they eventually kiss.

Isabel Walker travels to Paris to visit her sister Roxy, a poet who lives with her husband, Frenchman Charles-Henri de Persand, and their young daughter, Gennie. Roxy is pregnant, but her husband has just walked out on her without explanation. Isabel discovers that he has a mistress, a Russian woman named Magda Tellman, whom he intends to marry after securing a divorce from Roxy. Roxy refuses to divorce him.

Roxy is also in possession of a painting of Saint Ursula by Georges de La Tour; the painting belongs to the Walker family, but due to her marriage to Charles-Henri and French community property laws, the ownership is disputed between the two families. The Louvre deems the painting worthless and concludes that it is not a real La Tour. However, the J. Paul Getty Museum takes an interest in the painting and its curator believes that the painting was done by La Tour himself.

Paris-based American author Olivia Pace, a friend of Roxy's, offers Isabel a job. Isabel also meets Yves, Olivia's protégé, and they begin dating. The sisters visit Charles-Henri's family's country home for Sunday brunch, where Isabel meets Charles-Henri's mother Suzanne and her handsome middle-aged brother-in-law, Edgar. Isabel is attracted to the older, wealthy and married Edgar and they begin an affair, although Isabel continues to string Yves along. Edgar begins to send Isabel various gifts, including an expensive red Kelly bag by Hermès, which Isabel carries with her at all times. During a visit to Isabel, Suzanne discovers the Kelly bag, after which she realizes that Edgar is having an affair with Isabel.

Charles-Henri maintains a blasé attitude about his infidelity and insists on a divorce. He also hopes to benefit from the French community property laws in the divorce, especially with regard to the La Tour painting. His mistress Magda is married to a man named Tellman, who begins to stalk and harass Isabel and Roxy, believing the latter to be responsible for his wife's desertion. Charles-Henri's cruelty and insensitivity take their toll on Roxy, and she attempts suicide in late pregnancy. She survives and is supported by Isabel and her lawyer Bertram.

Roxy and Isabel's family arrive from the United States to support the sisters, and to also discuss the divorce proceedings and the ownership of the La Tour painting. Things are further complicated when Edgar's wife, Amélie, discovers the affair through Suzanne. Following a brunch with both families, Suzanne and Amélie privately inform Isabel's mother about the affair; she later confronts Isabel with this information.

During an outing, Magda and Charles-Henri tease Tellman with their new relationship. Later, they are both murdered by Tellman in a crime of passion, with Charles-Henri's body being found in Roxy's apartment complex. Roxy and Bertram come upon the scene and the stress causes her to go into labor. Tellman then follows Isabel and her family on an outing to the Eiffel Tower, where he corners them and pulls a gun, demanding an opportunity to explain to Roxy why he killed her husband. After some persuasion, the distraught Tellman releases the gun to Isabel, who puts it into the Kelly bag and throws it off the Eiffel Tower.

Edgar, persuaded by his socially conscious family's concern, and tiring of his young lover, casually ends his affair with Isabel with a gift of a Chanel scarf and a lunch. Afterwards, Isabel begins a real relationship with Yves. After Roxy's baby is born, she marries Bertram. The family attends an art auction where the La Tour painting sells to The Getty for 4.5 million Euros. Because its ownership is no longer disputed due to Charles-Henri's death, the money goes to the Walker family, who then go on to establish the "Fondation Sainte Ursule" (The Saint Ursula Foundation).

Alex Sheldon, a struggling writer, finds himself in a tricky situation. With writer's block and heavily in debt: he is broke, and must repay US$100,000 to the Cuban mafia. Since his publisher will give him the money when the novel is finished. He is given a 30-day ultimatum to pay the money he owes or they will kill him. And the only solution to this big problem is to finish his novel. Or rather, to start it, since he has not written one single line. But he has an idea for the story: A comedy about "the powerlessness of being in love, how love devours the insides of a person like a deadly virus".

He decides to hire the services of Emma Dinsmore, a stubborn stenographer, for her help to write the novel. The novel tells the story of Adam Shipley, a writer who has been hired to tutor the children of an attractive French woman. She is going through bad economic times, and Adam falls in love, despite the failed temptations of the ''au pair''.

As Alex dictates his novel to Emma, the movie cuts away to scenes from the novel, where Adam interacts with a series of nannies, and falls for the last one. As they work together, Emma begins to question his ideas. It starts to affect his life as well as his work. They soon fall for each other.

Alas, after finishing the book, Emma discovers that the French woman in the story was based on a real person, a former girlfriend of Alex. His ex just broke up with her latest boyfriend, sitting with him in a café she invites him to a charity ball. Alex soon realizes that the person he really wants to be with is Emma.

After the book is done and handed in to his publisher he pays off his debt. Then, after much prodding, he convinces Emma to rewrite the ending of the book in which Alex has changed. He shows her he wants her to be an important part of his life. Emma loves it, Alex professes his love to her, and they kiss.

Utopia takes place five years into the reign of Alvar Kresh as the governor of Inferno, who is now married to roboticist Fredda Leving. The re-terraforming effort is doing fairly well, but many believe it is still doomed to failure. The plot centers around a plan created by an Infernal named Davlo Lentrall to use a comet, named comet Grieg after the old governor, to dig a channel creating a northern sea.

Norlan Fiyle, who has been working as an intelligence broker, found out about this plan early and informed the Settlers, the Ironheads, and the New Law robots of the plan. The issue is complicated by the fact that the plan calls for the comet to land essentially on top of the new law robot city of Valhalla.

Tonya Welton, the leader of the settlers on Inferno, is upset by this plan having seen similar plans fail in the past. She orders her security people to grab Davlo and destroy his work. Although they were successful in destroying his data, the attempt to capture Davlo himself failed due to quick thinking on the part of Commander Justen Devray, now the head of the Combined Inferno Police, and the help of Davlo's robot Kaelor.

Unfortunately, the location of comet Grieg is lost. Davlo and Fredda Leving attempt to extract this information from Kaelor's memory, but he ends up killing himself rather than release the information which might cause harm to humans. Davlo's guilt over the death of his robot eventually leads him to oppose the comet plan altogether. Eventually the information is retrieved when Jadelo Gildern, who had previously stolen the data from Davlo's office, provides Governor Kresh with the missing data.

While trying to decide whether to implement the comet plan, Kresh pays a visit to the terraforming control system. The system consists of a robotic unit, called Unit Dee, working with a non-sentient Settler unit, Unit Dum, they are collectively referred to as the Twins. We learn that in order to avoid First Law conflicts, Unit Dee is being lied to and told that the entire terraforming project is really an elaborate simulation and that no actual human beings are involved. Significant care must be taken to ensure that Dee does not learn the truth. Dee confirms that Davlo's plan, if successful, stands a good chance of repairing Inferno's ecology. The comet project is given the go-ahead and work commences to evacuate the areas near the impact site.

As the impact approaches, Simcor Beddle and Jadelo Gildern develop a plan to use a burrowing bomb, normally used for geological surveys, to destroy Valhalla before the new law robots have time to finish evacuating. On the way there though, Simcor's aircar is attacked, his robots killed, and a demand, to stop the comet and deliver money into a bank account or Beddle will die, is written on the door.

Kresh's robot Donald, who heard of this incident, is forced by the First Law to act. He contacts robots in the area, who begin performing a search, and tells Dee that she is being lied to about the simulation. This causes Dee to shut down, leaving the people on the ground with few options for the final steering of the comet.

Meanwhile, Devray tries to find Beddle. He tries putting money in the account mentioned in the demand and finds that it is automatically transferred to one of Gildern's accounts. Devray brings in Gildern, and also questions Fiyle, from whom he learns about Beddle's plan to destroy the New Law robots. Caliban turns himself in preemptively. The three talk while in jail, and Caliban manages to deduce what has happened to Beddle and rushes off to save him. While flying there, Caliban sends out a hyperwave message to tell the other robots that are searching to go back and that the situation is under control. Caliban goes to Valhalla, where he finds several New Law robots dead and Prospero holding Beddle prisoner, with a setup where if Beddle tries to leave, he will set off the bomb. Prospero was attempting to kill Beddle while avoiding the New First Law. Caliban is left with a choice of whom to let live, and kills Prospero, saving Beddle shortly before the comet hits.

In the meantime, Dee finally wakes up and asks to talk to Kresh. She verifies that she was in fact being lied to. She asks Kresh if he believes Caliban's message about saving Beddle. When Kresh says that he does believe it, Dee decides that she can manage the comet without First Law conflict.

Category:Foundation universe books Category:1996 novels Category:American science fiction novels Category:Novels by Roger MacBride Allen

A new heroine, Batwoman has arrived in Gotham whose identity is a mystery—even to Batman. While she claims to fight for justice, Batwoman forsakes Batman's code to never take a life. Batman must figure out who she is, while stopping the Penguin and Rupert Thorne from selling illegal weapons to the fictional nation of Kasnia. The two villains employ Carlton Duquesne, a gangster, to provide protection.

Batman, with Robin, sets out to stop Batwoman from making mistakes as she tries to take out the villains and as he encounters numerous twists, setbacks, and apparent false leads in determining her true identity. The newest gadget on display is a wind glider used by Batwoman that utilizes some of the most advanced technology ever seen in Gotham City. Bruce Wayne, Batman's alter ego, also becomes involved with Kathy Duquesne, the crime boss' daughter.

In addition to Kathy, Bruce is introduced to two other women who, as his investigation into the Batwoman's true identity continues, seem to fall well into suspicion: Dr. Roxanne "Rocky" Ballantine, a new employee of Wayne Tech, who seemingly but briefly forms a bond with Robin's alter-ego, Tim Drake and whose technology development is used by the Batwoman against the Penguin; and Detective Harvey Bullock's new partner Sonia Alcana, who seems to know too much about the weapons being smuggled by the Penguin and Carlton Dunquesne. With Carlton unable to stop Batwoman's raids on the facilities used to hold the various weapons, the Penguin calls Bane for additional support to ensure that there are no more losses as a result of the Batwoman.

Not long after Bane's arrival in Gotham, it is revealed that there is not one, but three Batwomen, all of whom were the women suspected by Batman; Kathy and Sonia met taking art classes at college and Sonia and Rocky were roommates. They all harbor grudges against the Penguin, Thorne, and Carleton Duquesne; the Penguin had framed Roxanne's fiancé Kevin, Thorne had bankrupted Sonia's family, and Carlton Duquesne's war with a rival gang got his wife (and Kathy's mother) killed. They had taken turns posing as Batwoman to remove suspicion on any one of the three. Sonia invented the Batwoman persona as a tribute to Batman, who had saved her life nine years earlier and inspired her to become a police officer.

Kathy plants a bomb in the ship taking the weapons into international waters for the exchange - but not before Bane unmasks her. Kathy and Batman narrowly escape as the bomb goes off, while Carlton forsakes his ties to Thorne and the Penguin to save his daughter's life, and Bane falls into the Gotham River. The GCPD assume that Sonia is the Batwoman; Sonia resigns from the GCPD and decides to leave Gotham. Batman gives Sonia evidence that he discovered which helps clear Rocky's fiancé. Carlton agrees to testify against Thorne and the Penguin. After she reconciles with her father, Kathy drives off with Bruce.

The few remaining members of the only intelligent non-human alien race the Galactic Empire has discovered have been removed from their dying planet and transferred to the much more pleasant Cepheus-18 (hence their name, "Cepheids"). The planet is a combination of zoo, laboratory, and reservation for the creatures. The scientists that study the Cepheids differ on whether to treat them as sentient beings or as animals, but agree that the aliens are in danger of extinction as they have ceased to reproduce. While the administrator already suspects that this is due to a certain ennui, the Cepheids' leader later admits personally that while their race would likely have soon died out on its dangerous home world as their science only covered their biological needs; they have nothing to live for in a galaxy completely ruled by humans who provide for all their physical needs, and they are prohibited from leaving the Empire.

The civilian supervisor, a career administrator, attempts to help the creatures using his thorough knowledge of the Imperial bureaucracy. By carefully orchestrating a leak of a report that he encouraged a subordinate to make, he causes the bureaucracy to make the reproduction problem a priority. Then, he arranges for the Cepheids to receive pilot training under the guise of providing them with a challenge, and finally by using a crude form of telepathy during an interview with their leader, he hints to the leader to express interest in a bulky object so that he can manipulate the bureaucracy into arranging for a fleet of hundreds of spaceships to deliver a large quantity of these to the Cepheids. His plan works; the Cepheids commandeer the ships leaving the humans off guard without any nearby ships with which to mount a pursuit, and it is hinted that they have left for the Magellanic Clouds to find a new world of their own. The supervisor has protected himself from any blame for the escape by his ingenious bureaucratic maneuvers, and is placed on leave pending reassignment.

1940 version

In 1982, a mute RB series robot, nicknamed Robbie, is owned by the Weston family as a nursemaid for their daughter, Gloria. Mrs. Weston becomes concerned about the effect a robot nursemaid would have on her daughter, since Gloria is more interested in playing with Robbie than with the other children and might not learn proper social skills. Two years after purchasing Robbie, Mr. Weston gives in to his wife's badgering and returns Robbie to the factory.

Since Gloria was so attached to the robot, whom she saw as her best friend, she ceases smiling, laughing, and enjoying life. Despite the continued efforts of her parents, who bought her a dog to substitute for Robbie, she refuses to accept the change and her mood grows progressively worse. Her mother, who rationalizes that it would be impossible for Gloria to forget Robbie when she is constantly surrounded by places where she and Robbie used to play, decides that Gloria needs a change of scenery to help her forget. Mrs. Weston convinces her husband to take them to New York City, where he works. The plan backfires when Gloria assumes that they are going in search of Robbie.

The Westons visit the Museum of Science and Industry; Gloria sneaks away and follows a sign: “This Way to See the Talking Robot,” a large computer that takes up the whole room and can answer questions posed to it verbally by visitors. Although there is a human present to monitor the questions, he leaves the room when there are no guided tours and this is when Gloria enters. Gloria asks the machine if it knows where Robbie is, which she reasons the machine should know given that Robbie is "a robot… just like you." The computer is unable to comprehend that there may be another thing like it, and breaks down.

After the Westons take their daughter to every conceivable tourist attraction, Mr. Weston, almost out of ideas, approaches his wife with a thought: Gloria could not forget Robbie because she thought of Robbie as a ''person'' and not a ''robot'', if they took her on a tour of a robot construction factory, she would see that he was nothing more than metal and electricity. Impressed, Mrs. Weston agrees to a tour of the corporate facilities of Finmark Robot Corporation. During the tour, Mr. Weston requests to see a specific room of the factory where robots construct other robots. That room holds a surprise for Gloria and Mrs. Weston: one of the robot assemblers is Robbie. Gloria runs in front of a moving vehicle in her eagerness to get to her friend and is rescued by Robbie. Mrs. Weston confronts her husband: he had set it all up. When Robbie saves Gloria's life, an unplanned part of the reunion, Mrs. Weston gives in.

1950 revision

The revised version of the story is preceded by extra content which depicts the first appearance (in the stories' internal chronology) of Susan Calvin, and provides continuity with the rest of the anthology ''I, Robot''. The date is changed to 1998.

Susan, then a college student, is at the Museum of Science and Industry exhibit of the talking robot; she writes down a couple of observations and leaves, as the question-monitor returns infuriated trying to find out what happened to the machine.

Other changes include:

• References to Robbie's tentacles are changed to hands.
• The Douglas expedition to the moon is changed to the Lefebre-Yoshida expedition to Mars.
• Mr. Weston's explanation, "A robot is infinitely more to be trusted than a human nurse-maid. Robbie was constructed for only one purpose—to be the companion of a little child. His entire 'mentality' has been created for the purpose. He just can't help being faithful and loving and kind. He's a machine—''made so''." is replaced by a ret-con reference to the First Law of Robotics.
• The Finmark Robot Corporation is changed to U.S. Robots.
• More details are added on the visivox about Leopard-Men on the Moon.
• The reference to Mr Weston commuting to New York via his private auto-giro is removed.
• The reference to the effects on Mr Weston's heirloom watch of the powerful electro-magnet is deleted.
• The talking robot's "rather dull" answers to mathematical questions are interpolated.
• Various sociological comments, such as "There's bad feeling in the village" and a reference to unions and dislocation (replacing a reference to Mr. Struthers' speech on "Robots and the Future of the Human Being"), are interpolated. A reference to a law restricting robots on public streets is moved.
• Mrs. Weston's justification for her conclusion that Mr. Weston engineered the reunion, starting with "Robbie wasn't designed for engineering or construction work," is interpolated.

In 2015 Powell, Donovan and Robot SPD-13, also known as "Speedy", are sent to Mercury to restart operations at a mining station which was abandoned ten years before.

They discover that the photo-cell banks that provide life support to the base are short on selenium and will soon fail. The nearest selenium pool is seventeen miles away, and since Speedy can withstand Mercury’s high temperatures, Donovan sends him to get it. Powell and Donovan become worried when they realize that Speedy has not returned after five hours. They use a more primitive robot to find Speedy and try to analyze what happened to it.

When they eventually find Speedy, they discover he is running in a huge circle around a selenium pool. Further, they notice that "Speedy’s gait [includes] a peculiar rolling stagger, a noticeable side-to-side lurch". When Speedy is asked to return with the selenium, he begins talking oddly, quoting Gilbert and Sullivan and showing symptoms that, if he were human, would be interpreted as drunkenness.

Powell eventually realizes that the selenium source contains unforeseen danger to the robot. Under normal circumstances, Speedy would observe the Second Law, but because Speedy was so expensive to manufacture, and "not a thing to be lightly destroyed", the Third Law had been strengthened "so that his allergy to danger is unusually high". As the order to retrieve the selenium was casually worded with no particular emphasis, Speedy cannot decide whether to obey it, following the Second Law, or protect himself from danger, following the strengthened Third Law. He then oscillates between positions: farther from the selenium, in which the order ''outweighs'' the need for self-preservation, and nearer the selenium, in which the compulsion of the third law is bigger and pushes him back. The conflicting Laws cause what is basically a feedback loop which confuses him to oscillate around the point where the two compulsions are of equal strength, which makes Speedy appear inebriated.

Under the Second Law Speedy should obey Powell's order to return to base, but that fails, as the conflicted positronic brain cannot accept new orders. An attempt to increase the compulsion of the Third Law fails. They place oxalic acid, which can destroy Speedy, in his path, but it merely causes Speedy to change his route until he finds a new equilibrium between the avoid-danger law and the follow-order law.

The only thing that trumps ''both'' the Second Law and Third Law is the First Law of Robotics which states that "a robot may not... allow a human being to come to harm." Therefore, Powell decides to risk his life by going out in the heat, hoping that the First Law will force Speedy to overcome his cognitive dissonance to save Powell's life. The plan works, and the team is able to repair the photocell banks.

Powell and Donovan are assigned to a space station which supplies energy via microwave beams to the planets. The robots that control the energy beams are in turn co-ordinated by QT-1, known to Powell and Donovan as Cutie, an advanced model with highly developed reasoning ability. Using these abilities, Cutie decides that space, stars and the planets beyond the station don't really exist, and that the humans that visit the station are unimportant, short-lived and expendable. QT-1 makes the lesser robots disciples of a new religion, which considers the power source of the ship to be "Master". QT-1 teaches them to bow down to the "Master" and intone, "There is no master but Master, and QT-1 is His prophet." Disregarding human commands as inferior, QT-1 asserts "I myself, exist, because I think". The sardonic response of the humans is, "Oh, Jupiter, a robot Descartes!"

The humans initially attempt to reason with QT-1, until they realize that they can't convince it otherwise. Their attempts to remove Cutie physically also fail, as the other robots have become disciples and refuse to obey human orders. The situation seems desperate, as a solar storm is expected, potentially deflecting the energy beam, incinerating populated areas. When the storm hits, Powell and Donovan are amazed to find that the beam operates perfectly.

Cutie, however, does not believe that they did anything other than maintain meter readings at optimum, according to the commands of The Master. As far as Cutie and the rest of the robots are concerned, solar storms and planets are non-existent. The two thus come to the realization that, although the robots themselves were not consciously aware of doing so, they had been following the first and second laws all along. Cutie knew, on some level, that it would be better suited to operating the controls than Powell or Donavan, so, lest it endanger humans and break the first law by obeying their orders, it subconsciously orchestrated a scenario where it would be in control of the beam.

Powell and Donovan realize that there is no need to do anything for the rest of their tour of duty. Cutie's religion cannot be eliminated, but since the robot performs its job just as well, it is moot, even if Cutie continues to perform his duties for a perceived deity, rather than for the benefit of the humans. The humans begin to consider how they might spread the notion to other groups of robots which need to work as teams.

The recurring team of Powell and Donovan are testing a new model of robot on an asteroid mining station. This DV-5 (Dave) has six subsidiary robots, described as "fingers", which it controls via positronic fields, a means of transmission not yet fully understood by roboticists. When the humans are not in contact, the robot stops producing ore. It cannot recall the time periods when it stops mining, and states that it finds this just as puzzling as the humans do.

Powell and Donovan secretly observe the robot without its knowledge. It starts performing strange marches and dances with its subsidiaries whenever something unexpected happens -an early example of a Heisenbug (software problem). To learn more, the humans try to create an emergency situation around the robot in order to observe the precise moment of malfunction, but accidentally trap themselves in a cave-in. They eventually figure that the main robot has too many subsidiaries. The "fingers" function independently until there is a serious need of decisiveness, when the main brain has to assume 6-way-control of all "fingers", which requires an excess of initiative and causes overload. When the humans were watching, their presence reduced the initiative placed on the robot's mind, and it would not break down. To get themselves rescued, the humans shoot and destroy one of the subsidiaries. The main robotic brain can cope with five-way control, hence the robots stop dancing and the First Law takes over.

Powell anthropomorphises the error as the robot twiddling its "fingers" whenever it becomes overwhelmed by its job. This is another example of Asimov's writing of robopsychology -personified by Susan Calvin- as running parallel to human psychology. At this point in ''I, Robot'', the reader has already seen hysteria and religious mania.

Through a fault in manufacturing, a robot, RB-34 (also known as Herbie), is created that possesses telepathic abilities. While the roboticists at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men investigate how this occurred, the robot tells them what other people are thinking. But the First Law still applies to this robot, and so it deliberately lies when necessary to avoid hurting their feelings and to make people happy, especially in terms of romance.

However, by lying, it is hurting them anyway. When it is confronted with this fact by Susan Calvin (to whom it falsely claimed her coworker was infatuated with her – a particularly painful lie), the robot experiences an insoluble logical conflict and becomes catatonic.

At the Hyper Base, a military research station on an asteroid, scientists are working to develop the hyperspace drive - a theme that is explored and developed in several of Asimov's stories and mentioned in the Empire and Foundation books. One of the researchers, Gerald Black, loses his temper, swears at an NS-2 (Nestor 10) robot and tells the robot to get lost. Obeying the order literally, it hides itself. It is then up to US Robots' Chief Robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin, and Mathematical Director Peter Bogert, to find it. They even know exactly where it is: in a room with 62 other physically identical robots.

But this particular robot is different. As earlier models on the station had attempted to "rescue" humans from a type of radiation that humans could actually stay in for a while, but would destroy a robot almost immediately, it (and all other NS series robots produced for the station) has had its First Law of Robotics modified to "no robot may injure a human being"; the normal "or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm" has been omitted. Therefore, it could stand by and allow a human to be hurt, as long as it plays no active part in it. In ''Little Lost Robot,'' the Frankenstein complex is again addressed. The robot must be found because people are still afraid of robots, and if they learned that one had been built with a different First Law, there would be an outcry, even though the robot is still incapable of directly harming a human. However, Dr. Calvin adds further urgency by postulating a situation whereby the altered law ''could'' allow the robot to harm or even kill a person. The robot could drop a weight on a human below that it knew it could catch before it injured the potential victim. Upon releasing the weight however, its altered programming would allow it to simply let the weight drop, since it would have played no further active part in the resulting injury.

After interviewing every robot separately and going down several blind alleys, Dr. Calvin worries desperately that the robot may be gaining a superiority complex that might allow it to directly hurt a human. Dr. Calvin finds a way to trick the robot into revealing itself: She puts herself in danger but not before ensuring the robots understand that if there is any radiation between herself and the robots, they would be unable to save her even if they tried.

Once the test is run, only the Nestor robot they were looking for makes a move to save her, because it detected harmless infrared rays rather than gamma rays. All of the other robots could not identify what type of radiation was being used because it wasn't part of their design, whereas the modified NS-2 had been through training at Hyper Base and had learned how to detect the difference in radiation types. The robot, finding himself discovered, then explains that the only way to prove itself better than a human is by never being found, and it tries to attack Dr. Calvin so that she cannot reveal she found the robot. Black and Bogert apply gamma rays on the robot, destroying it before it can harm her.

Many research organizations are working to develop the hyperspatial drive. The company U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc., is approached by its biggest competitor that has plans for a working hyperspace engine that allows humans to survive the jump (a theme which would be further developed in future Asimov stories). But the staff of U.S. Robots is wary, because, in performing the calculations, their rival's (non-positronic) supercomputer has destroyed itself.

The U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men company finds a way to feed the information to its own positronic computer known as ''The Brain'' (which is not a robot in the strictest sense of the word, since it doesn't move, although it does obey the Three Laws of Robotics), without the same thing happening. ''The Brain'' then directs the building of a hyperspace ship.

Powell and Donovan board the spaceship, and the spaceship takes off without them being initially aware of it. They also find that ''The Brain'' has become a practical joker: it hasn't built any manual controls for the ship, no showers or beds, either, and it only provides tinned beans and milk for the crew to survive on.

Shortly after their journey begins, and after many strange visions by the crew, the ship does safely return to Base after two hyperspace jumps. Dr. Susan Calvin has, by this time, discovered what has happened: any hyperspace jump causes the crew of the ship to cease existing for a brief moment, effectively dying, which is a violation of the First Law of Robotics (albeit a temporary one); the only reason the artificial intelligence of ''The Brain'' survives is because Susan reduced the importance of the potential deaths, and descending into irrational, childish behavior (as a means of coping) allows it to find a means for ensuring the survival of the crew.

Stephen Byerley is severely injured in a car accident. After a slow recovery he becomes a successful district attorney, and runs for mayor of a major American city. His opponent Francis Quinn's political machine claims that the real Stephen Byerley was permanently disfigured and crippled by the accident. The Byerley who appears in public is a humanoid robot, Quinn says, created by the real Byerley who is now the robot's mysterious unseen "teacher", now away doing unspecified scientific work.

Most voters do not believe Quinn but if he is correct Byerley's campaign will end, as only humans can legally run for office. Quinn approaches U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men corporation, the world's only supplier of positronic robot brains, for proof that Byerley must be a robot. No one has ever seen Byerley eat or sleep, Quinn reports.

All attempts to prove or disprove Byerley's humanity fail, but Quinn's smear campaign slowly persuades voters until it becomes the only issue in the campaign. Alfred Lanning and Dr. Susan Calvin, the Chief Robopsychologist of U.S. Robots, visit Byerley. She offers him an apple; Byerley takes a bite, but he may have been designed with a stomach. Quinn attempts to take clandestine X-ray photographs, but Byerley wears a device which fogs the camera; he says that he is upholding his civil rights, as he would do for others if he is elected. His opponents claim that as a robot he has no civil rights, but Byerley replies that they must first prove that he is a robot before they can deny his rights as a human, including his right not to submit to physical examination.

Calvin observes that if Byerley is a robot, he must obey the Three Laws of Robotics. Were he to violate one of the Laws he would clearly be a human, since no robot can contradict its basic programming. The district attorney never seeks the death penalty and boasts that he has never prosecuted an innocent man, but if he obeys the Laws it still does not prove that Byerley is a robot, since the Laws are based on human morality; "He may simply be a very good man", Calvin says. To prove himself to be a human being, Byerley must demonstrate that he can harm a human, which would violate the First Law.

The local election is discussed around the world and Byerley becomes famous. During a globally broadcast speech to a hostile audience, a heckler climbs onto the stage and challenges Byerley to hit him in the face. Millions watch the candidate punch the heckler in the face. Calvin tells the press that Byerley is human. With the expert's verdict disproving Quinn's claim, Byerley wins the election.

Calvin again visits Byerley. The mayor-elect confesses that his campaign spread the rumor that Byerley had never and could not hit a man, to provoke someone to challenge him. The robopsychologist says that she regrets that he is human, because a robot would make an ideal ruler, one incapable of cruelty or injustice. Calvin notes that a robot may avoid breaking the First Law if the "man" who is harmed is not a man, but another humanoid robot, implying that the heckler whom Byerley punched may have been a robot. In the binding text of ''I, Robot'' Calvin notes that Byerley had his body atomized upon death, destroying any evidence, but she personally believed that he was a robot.

Calvin promises to vote for Byerley when he runs for higher office. By Asimov's "The Evitable Conflict", Byerley is head of the planetary government.

Following on from the previous story 'Evidence,' in the year 2052, Stephen Byerley has been elected World Co-ordinator for a second term. Earth is divided into four geographical regions, each with a powerful supercomputer known as a Machine managing its economy. Byerley is concerned as the Machines have recently made some errors leading to economic inefficiency. Consulting with the four regional Vice Co-ordinators, he finds that several prominent individuals and companies associated with the anti-Machine "Society for Humanity" have been damaged by the Machines' apparent mistakes.

Byerley believes that the Society is attempting to undermine the Machines by disobeying their instructions, with the goal of retaking power as humans, and proposes to have the movement suppressed. Susan Calvin tells him that this will not work, contending that the errors are in fact deliberate acts by the Machines. The Machines recognize their own necessity to humanity's continued peace and prosperity, and have thus inflicted a small amount of harm on selected individuals in order to protect themselves and continue guiding humanity's future. They keep their intent a secret to avoid anger and resistance by humans. Calvin concludes that the Machines have generalized the First Law to mean "No machine may harm humanity; or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm." (This is similar to the Zeroth Law which Asimov developed in later novels.)

In effect, the Machines have decided that the only way to follow the First Law is to take control of humanity.

Asimov returned to this theme in ''The Naked Sun'' and ''The Robots of Dawn,'' in which the controlling influence is not a small conspiracy of Machines but instead the aggregate influence of many robots, each individually tasked to prevent harm.

The novel's narrative is divided into three distinct strands. One is centred on Urania Cabral, a fictional Dominican character; another deals with the conspirators involved in Trujillo's assassination; and the third focuses on Trujillo himself. The novel alternates between these storylines, while jumping back and forth from 1961 to 1996, with frequent flashbacks to periods earlier in Trujillo's regime.

''The Feast of the Goat'' begins with the return of Urania to her hometown of Santo Domingo, a city which had been renamed Ciudad Trujillo during Trujillo's time in power. This storyline is largely introspective, dealing with Urania's memories and her inner turmoil over the events preceding her departure from the Dominican Republic thirty-five years earlier. Urania escaped the crumbling Trujillo regime in 1961 by claiming she planned to study under a tutelage of nuns in Michigan. In the following decades, she becomes a prominent and successful New York lawyer. She finally returns to the Dominican Republic in 1996, on a whim, before finding herself compelled to confront her father and elements of her past she has long ignored. As Urania speaks to her ailing father, Agustin Cabral, she recalls more and more of the anger and disgust that led to her thirty-five years of silence. Urania retells her father's descent into political disgrace, while revealing the betrayal that forms a crux between both Urania's storyline and that of Trujillo himself.

The second and third storylines are set in 1961, in the weeks prior to and following Trujillo's assassination on May 30. Each assassin has his own background story, explaining his motivation for their involvement in the assassination plot. Each has been wronged by Trujillo and his regime, by torture and brutality, or through assaults on their pride, religious faith, morality, and loved ones. Vargas Llosa weaves the tale of the men as memories recalled on the night of Trujillo's death, as the conspirators lie in wait for "The Goat". Interconnected with these stories are the actions of other famous Trujillistas of the time: Joaquín Balaguer, the puppet president; Johnny Abbes García, the merciless head of the Military Intelligence Service (SIM); and various others—some real, some composites of historical figures, and some purely fictional.

The third storyline is concerned with the thoughts and motives of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina himself. The chapters concerning ''The Goat'' recall the major events of his time, including the slaughter of thousands of Dominican Haitians in 1937. They also deal with the Dominican Republic's tense international relationships during the Cold War, especially with the United States under the presidency of John F. Kennedy and Cuba under Castro. Vargas Llosa also speculates upon Trujillo's innermost thoughts and paints a picture of a man whose physical body is slowly failing him. Trujillo is tormented by both his incontinence and impotence. Eventually, his storyline intersects with Urania's narrative when it's revealed that Urania was sexually assaulted by Trujillo. He is unable to achieve an erection with Urania and, in frustration, rapes her with his bare hands. This event is the core of Urania's shame and hatred towards her own father. In addition, it's the cause of Trujillo's repeated anger over the "anemic little bitch" who witnessed his impotence and emotion, as well as the reason he's en route to sleep with another girl on the night of his assassination.

In the novel's final chapters, the three storylines intersect with increasing frequency. The tone of these chapters is especially dark as they deal primarily with the horrific torture and death of the assassins at the hands of government agents, the failure of the coup, the rape of Urania, and the concessions made to Trujillo's most vicious supporters allowing them to enact their horrific revenge on the conspirators and escape the country. The book ends as Urania prepares to return home, determined this time to keep in touch with her family back on the island.

Earth faces a confrontation with its colonies, the "Outer Worlds." A historian looks back and sees the problem beginning a century and a half earlier, when Aurora got permission to "introduce positronic robots into their community life." No date is given, but fifty years before the story starts, the Outer Worlds established an immigration quota against incoming Terran citizens. The balance of power then tipped. Now war appears likely, and there are rumors that Earth has developed an unknown weapon, code-named the "Pacific Project."

On Aurora, there is also concern, but the Aurorans decide that the threat cannot be serious. They use authoritarian methods to suppress Ion Mereanu and his Conservatives, who wish to help Earth. They then call a gathering on Hesperus, one of the Outer Worlds, to unite them against Earth.

There is some rivalry from two other planets, Rhea and Tethys. "All three planets were identically racist, identically exclusivist. Their views on Earth were similar, and completely compatible... But Aurora was the oldest of the Outer Worlds, the most advanced, the strongest militarily... Rhea and Tethys served as a focal point for those who did not recognize Auroran leadership." But Earth unexpectedly sends a threatening message to all of the worlds, uniting them against Earth.

War follows (later termed the "Three-Week War" by historians), and Earth swiftly loses. Trade is ended—the Outer Worlds have no need of Earth's exports, which are mostly agricultural. Earthmen are not allowed to journey beyond the Solar System.

The war was planned in the expectation of defeat—that was what the "Pacific Project" was all about. This is in part to force Earth to make necessary reforms including the use of robots, hydroponic agriculture, and population control. But the Outer Worlds will also weaken and split, because their worlds are biologically ill-suited to long-term human habitation. Several consequences for Earth are predicted from the entire conflict:

We will have a century of rebuilding and revitalization, and at the end of it, we shall face an outer Galaxy which will either be dying or changed. In the first case, we will build a second Terrestrian Empire, more wisely and with greater knowledge than we did the first; one based on a strong and modernized Earth.
In the second case, we will face perhaps ten, twenty, or even all fifty Outer Worlds, each with a slightly different variety of Man. Fifty humanoid species, no longer united against us, each increasingly adapted to its own planet, each with a sufficient tendency towards atavism to love Earth, to regard it as the great and original Mother.
And racism will be dead, for variety will then be the great fact of Humanity, and not uniformity. [...] Mother Earth will finally have given birth not to merely a Terrestrian, but to a ''Galactic'' Empire.Asimov, Isaac: ''The Early Asimov'', pp. 531–532. Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1972.

Three months after the events of ''The Eyre Affair'', Thursday Next is happily married to Landen Parke-Laine and working as a literary detective out of Swindon. One day, Thursday meets her father, a renegade ChronoGuard, who informs her that the world's going to end in a flood of an unknown pink chemical. This is a result of one of her uncle Mycroft's inventions going out of control. Mycroft has destroyed his Prose Portal after the events of ''The Eyre Affair'' and retired, leaving the invention business in the hands of his two well-meaning but inept sons, Orville and Wilbur.

Thursday is sent with her partner, Bowden Cable, to the mansion of Lord Volescamper, a major supporter of the front-runner in the up-coming election for President. In his extensive library, they discover an original manuscript of Shakespeare's lost play ''Cardenio''. Tests done at the station determine its authenticity, and it seems to have appeared just in time to help its discoverer, Yorrick Kaine, to win the election (thanks to the "Shakespeare vote"). When he releases the play to the general public, victory is all but guaranteed.

Thursday had marooned Jack Schitt in Edgar Allan Poe's ''The Raven'' at the end of ''The Eyre Affair'', and his employer, The Goliath Corporation, a Big Brother-like agency which is the ''de facto'' ruler of England, wants him back. They hire a ChronoGuard agent named Lavoisier to eradicate Thursday's husband Landen from the time line, as a hostage to blackmail Thursday into retrieving Schitt. Landen vanishes, and only Thursday remembers him. But she also has physical proof—she's pregnant with their child. Without Mycroft's Prose Portal, however, she'll have to learn a new way to travel between books.

During one of her dreams, she encounters Landen in her memory, who spurs her to travel to Osaka to meet Mrs. Nakajima, a woman who's learned how to travel through books. Mrs Nakajima introduces her to bookjumping, the method by which one enters the fictional world without the Prose Portal: those with an inherent talent for it can literally read themselves into the world of fiction and Thursday does so. It turns out that there is a police force within literature (both fiction and non-fiction), Jurisfiction, which employs both fictional characters and real people ranging from the Cheshire cat and the Red Queen to Ambrose Bierce and Voltaire, and ensures that literature continues in an orderly fashion. Next herself is apprenticed as a rookie Jurisfiction agent to Miss Havisham, the abandoned bride from Dickens' novel ''Great Expectations''. Thursday is, however, in some legal trouble in the literary world for having changed the ending of Jane Eyre, in ''The Eyre Affair''.

After a preliminary hearing in the Byzantine world of Kafka's ''The Trial'' and saving Abel Magwitch from drowning before the beginning of ''Great Expectations'', Havisham and Thursday part ways and the latter character enters "The Raven" and retrieves Jack Schitt. But Goliath have no intention of keeping their word, and they trap Thursday in a Corporation warehouse without any reading material with which she can read herself out. Miss Havisham finds her there when it's discovered that the copy of ''Cardenio'' which Thursday found in the real world was stolen from the Great Library (a building where copies of every book ever written or conceived of are kept) by another literary character. Miss Havisham uses one of Thursday's clothing labels to read the pair (eventually and with great effort) back to the Great Library.

Guided through her dreams and memories by Landen, Thursday finds the event that caused the world-ending accident—or rather, the person: Aornis Hades, Acheron Hades' sister who wants revenge on Thursday for Acheron's death in ''The Eyre Affair''. Aornis can edit people's memories so they don't remember her presence, which is why Thursday needed help from Landen to find Aornis in her own memory.

''Cardenio'' is retrieved but Aornis escapes and now Goliath, the ChronoGuard, and SpecOps all seek to apprehend Thursday on Goliath's contrived charge of stealing corporate secrets. At the book's end, Aornis pressures Thursday to kill herself so that Aornis will prevent the world from turning into Dream Topping. Thursday's father takes her place in the nick of time and sacrifices himself as Mycroft's Dream Topping (see dream whip) making machine breaks down and begins producing the goo continuously; he takes all the Dream Topping to the dawn of Earth, where it—and he—will supply the organic nutrients needed to create life.

Afterwards, Thursday returns home and finds her father there. She is confused until she realizes that, being a time traveller, he will sacrifice himself much later in '''his''' future, even though it was just a little while ago in hers. Now that she is wanted by Goliath, the ChronoGuard, and Aornis, her father offers to place her in an alternate reality for a while (it is ironically implied that this is our reality) while she gives birth to Landen's baby. Refusing her father's offer, Thursday travels to a book in the Well of Lost Plots—a subdivision of the Great Library that contains unpublished and unfinished works—in order to take a year's maternity leave with her memory of Landen. She establishes a home in a moored flying boat (a Short Sunderland), after trading places with the plucky sidekick sergeant of a police procedural mystery; it is implied that this is Sergeant Mary Mary, from one of Fforde's other works, ''The Big Over Easy''.

Lieutenant Thomas Glahn, a hunter and ex-military man, lives alone in a hut in the forest with his faithful dog Aesop. Upon meeting Edvarda, the daughter of a merchant in a nearby town, they are both strongly attracted to each other, but neither understands the other's love. Overwhelmed by the society of people where Edvarda lives, Glahn has a series of tragedies befall him before he leaves forever.

; Chapter 1: The story starts with a sword fight, in the empire of Noregolia between the redhaired Ecordian barbarian Grignr and some mercenaries who are pursuing him. After killing them, Grignr resumes his journey to the Noregolian city of Gorzom in search of wenches and plunder. ; Chapter 2: Grignr arrives in Gorzom and goes to a tavern, where he picks up a local wench (with a "lithe, opaque nose"). A drunken guard challenges him over the woman; he beheads the guard, but is arrested by the man's companions and brought before the local prince, who (on the advice of his advisor) condemns him to a life of forced labor in the mines. Enraged, Grignr seizes a sword and after running it through the prince's advisor, Agafnd, is about to kill the prince when he is knocked unconscious. This chapter contains the first of several occasions when the word ''slut'' is applied to a man, presumably as an insult. ; Chapter 3: Grignr awakens in a dark, dismal cell. He sits despondently, thinking of his homeland. ; Chapter 3½: A scene of a pagan ritual involving a group of shamans (spelled "shamen"), a young woman to be sacrificed, and a grotesque jade idol with one eye: a "many fauceted scarlet emerald", the Eye of Argon. ; Chapter 4: Losing track of time, Grignr sits bored and anguished in his cell. A large rat attacks him and he decapitates it. It then inspires him with a plan, involving the corpse of the rat, which he dismembers. ; Chapter 5: The pagan ritual proceeds, with a priest ordering the young woman up to the altar. When she fails to proceed, he attempts to grope her. She vomits onto the priest, who chokes her. She disables him with a hard kick ''between'' the testicles, causing him to ooze ichor, but the other shamans grab and molest her. ; Chapter 6: Grignr is taken from his cell by two soldiers. He takes the rat pelvis he has fashioned into a dagger and slits one soldier's throat. He then strangles the second and takes his clothes, torch, and ax. He wanders the catacombs for a time, finding a storeroom, and narrowly avoids being killed by a booby-trap. Below this room, he finds the palace mausoleum. He resets the booby-trap in case he is being pursued. :He hears a scream apparently coming from a sarcophagus. He opens it to find the scream is coming from below. He opens a trap door to see the pagan ritual. Enraged upon seeing a shaman about to sacrifice the young woman, Grignr plows into the group of shamans with the ax and takes the Eye. The young woman, Carthena, turns out to be the tavern wench. They depart. ; Chapter 7: One priest, who had been suffering an epileptic seizure during Grignr's attack, recovers. Maddened by what he sees, he draws a scimitar and follows Grignr and Carthena through the trap door in the ceiling. ; Chapter 7½: The priest strikes at Grignr but he triggers and is killed by, the reset booby-trap before his sword can connect. Carthena tells Grignr of the prince, Agaphim, who had condemned him to the mines. They encounter Agaphim and kill him, as well as his inexplicably resurrected advisor Agafnd. :They emerge into the sunlight. Grignr pulls the Eye of Argon out of his pouch to admire. The jewel melts and turns into a writhing blob with a leechlike mouth. The blob attacks him and begins sucking his blood. Carthena faints. Grignr, beginning to lose consciousness, grabs a torch and thrusts it into the blob's mouth.

Traditional photocopied and Internet versions end at this point, incomplete since page 49 of the fanzine had been lost. The ending was rediscovered in 2004 and published in ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' #198, February 2005.

; The Lost Ending (Remainder of Ch. 7½): The blob explodes into a thousand pieces, leaving nothing behind except "a dark red blotch upon the face of the earth, blotching things up." Grignr and the still-unconscious Carthena ride off into the distance.

The play burlesques Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'', with lines drawn from other plays such as ''Hamlet'', and ''Richard III'', with Texas and Boston accents. The plot follows MacBird from the 1960 Democratic National Convention, when he becomes John Ken O'Dunc's Vice President ("Hail, Vice-President thou art!"), to Ken O'Dunc's assassination, at the urging of Lady MacBird. Robert Ken O'Dunc then defeats MacBird at the 1968 convention.

In the play, Kennedy becomes "John Ken O'Dunc", Lyndon Johnson becomes "MacBird", Lady Bird Johnson becomes "Lady MacBird", etc. As Macbeth assassinates Duncan, so MacBird assassinates Ken O'Dunc. As Macbeth is defeated by Macduff, so MacBird is defeated by Robert Ken O'Dunc (Robert F. Kennedy).

The play also features the Three Witches, in the form of a Student radical, a Nation of Islam member, and a working-class union member. The recently deceased Adlai Stevenson II was depicted as 'The Egg of Head' (the term 'egghead' having been coined in the 1950s to describe intellectual supporters of Stevenson).

In a 2006 ''Washington Post'' interview, Garson said she was not seriously accusing Johnson of being complicit in the Kennedy assassination:

"People used to ask me then, 'Do you really think Johnson killed Kennedy?'" Garson, when she was 65, recalls. "I never took that seriously. I used to say to people, 'If he did, it's the least of his crimes.' It was not what the play was about. The plot was a given."

''Macbird!'' began as a short satirical sketch by Garson, a recent graduate of the anti-Vietnam war movement at University of California, Berkeley. She developed the piece into a full-length play with help from writer/director Roy Levine.

Goro Hanada, the Japanese underworld's third-ranked hitman, and his wife, Mami, fly into Tokyo and are met by Kasuga, a former hitman-turned-taxi driver. Hanada agrees to help Kasuga return to the underworld, and the three go to a club owned by yakuza boss Michihiko Yabuhara. The two men are hired to escort a client from Sagami Beach to Nagano. After the meeting, Yabuhara seduces Mami.

Driving their client towards his destination, Hanada spots an ambush and dispatches several gunmen. Panicking, Kasuga attacks one of the ambushers, Koh, the fourth-ranked hitman, resulting in both of their deaths. Hanada leaves the client to secure Koh's car but hears three gunshots. Rushing back, he finds the client safe, while three additional ambushers have been shot through their foreheads. At another ambush, Hanada kills more gunmen and sets Sakura, the second-ranked hitman, on fire; the client shoots Sakura dead. On his way home, Hanada's car breaks down. Misako, a mysterious woman with a deathwish, gives him a ride. At home, Hanada has rough sex with Mami, fuelled by his fetish for smelling boiling rice.

. Her apartment is decorated with dead butterflies which have been interpreted as symbolizing obsessive love.

Yabuhara hires Hanada to kill a customs officer, an ocularist and a jeweller. Hanada snipes the first from behind a billboard's animatronic cigarette lighter, shoots the second through a pipe drain when he leans over a sink, and blasts his way into the third's office, escaping on an advertising balloon. Misako then offers him a near-impossible contract to kill a foreigner. During the job, a butterfly lands on the barrel of his rifle, causing him to miss the target and kill a bystander. Misako tells Hanada that he will lose his rank and be killed. Preparing to leave Japan, he is shot by Mami, who sets fire to their apartment and flees. Handa escapes, his belt buckle having stopped the bullet.

Reunited, Hanada and Misako alternate between failed attempts by him to seduce her and them to kill each other; she succumbs to his advances when he promises to kill her. Afterwards, Handa realizes he loves Misako and is unable to kill her. Confused, he wanders the streets and passes out. The next day, he finds Mami at Yabuhara's club. She tries to seduce him, then fakes hysteria and tells him Yabuhara paid her to kill him and that the three men he had killed had stolen from Yabuhara's diamond smuggling operation, and the foreigner was an investigator sent by the supplier. Unmoved, Hanada kills her, gets drunk and waits for Yabuhara to return. Yabuhara arrives already dead with a bullet through his forehead.

Hanada returns to Misako's apartment, where a projected film shows her bound and tortured, and directs him to a breakwater, where he will be killed the following day. Hanada submits to the demand, but kills the assassins instead. The former client arrives, revealing himself to be the legendary Number One Killer. He intends to kill Hanada but, in thanks for his work, allows him a truce. As Handa holes up in Misako's apartment, Number One taunts him with threatening phone calls and forbids him to leave the apartment. Eventually, Number One moves in with the now-exhausted Hanada under the pretext that he is deciding how to kill him. They set times to eat, sleep and, later, to link arms everywhere they go. Number One suggests they eat out one day, but disappears during the meal.

At the apartment, Hanada finds a note and another film from Number One, stating he will be waiting at a gymnasium with Misako. Hanada arrives at the gym, but Number One does not show. As Hanada prepares to leave, a tape recording explains that Number One exhausts his targets before killing them. Tying a headband across his forehead, Hanada climbs into a boxing ring. Number One appears and shoots him. The headband stops the bullet and Hanada returns fire; Number One manages to shoot him several times before dying. As Hanada triumphantly declares himself the new Number One, Misako enters the gym. Hanada instinctively shoots her dead, again declares himself Number One, then falls out of the ring.

The story opens on Oharu as an old woman in a temple flashing back through the events of her life. It begins with her love affair with a page, Katsunosuke, the result of which (due to their class difference) is his execution and her family's banishment. Oharu attempts suicide but fails and is sold to be the mistress of Lord Matsudaira with the hope she will bear him a son. She does, but then is sent home with minimal compensation to the dismay of her father, who has worked up quite a debt in the meantime. He sends her to be a courtesan, but there, too, she fails and is again sent home.

Oharu goes to serve the family of a woman who must hide the fact that she is bald from her husband. The woman becomes jealous of Oharu and makes her chop off her hair, but Oharu retaliates, revealing the woman's secret. She again must leave—this time she marries a fan maker who is killed shortly after during a robbery. She attempts to become a nun, but Oharu is thrown out after being caught naked with a man seeking reimbursement for an unauthorized gift (it is made clear this is rape by Oharu's claims and distraught demeanor). She is thrown out of the temple, becomes a prostitute, but fails even at that. In the end, she is recalled to the Lord's house to be exiled within the compounds to keep her secrets locked away. While being scolded for the life she chose, she attempts to find her son, and in the process, ends up running away as she chooses the life of a wandering nun over the life in exile.

The show revolved around a married English couple named Bob and Margaret Fish, a middle class 40-ish working couple with two dogs named William and Elizabeth, and no children. Bob is a dentist and Margaret is a chiropodist. Bob and Margaret struggle with everyday issues and mid-life crises. Stories often revolve around the mundane, but in a way that is eminently relatable, from the trials of shopping to dealing with friends who annoy them but owe them a dinner. They are often seen enjoying takeaway Chinese or Indian food.

In the first two seasons, Bob and Margaret lived in England, in the South London community of Balham. For the third and fourth seasons, they moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, allowing the writers to explore the humour of culture clash. The move was actually inspired by the realities of funding, with certain Canadian tax benefits dependent on stories actually based in Canada; as such, the move was necessary to keep the series funded. The series' creators of the series (real-life husband and wife David Fine and Alison Snowden) chose to take an executive role on these latter two seasons, reviewing scripts and consulting, but not involved in much detail as they were for the first two seasons. Snowden continued to provide Margaret's voice, but Brian George replaced Andy Hamilton as Bob's voice.

Recurring themes of ''Gatchaman'' involve conservation, environmentalism and the responsible use of technology for progress. The series centers around five young superhero ninja employed by Kōzaburō Nambu of the fictitious International Science Organization to oppose an international terrorist organization of technologically advanced villains (Galactor) who are trying to control Earth's natural resources, such as water, oil, sugar and uranium. The leader of Galactor is an androgynous, masked antagonist named Berg Katse, who is later revealed to be a shape-shifting, mutant acting on the orders of an alien superior (Leader X). Their mechas are often animal-based.

Most of the team are in their late teens, except for Jinpei (who is about ten or eleven years old). They include ''Ken Washio'', the team leader and tactical expert; ''Jō Asakura'', his second-in-command marksman and weapons expert; ''Jun'', the team's electronics and demolitions expert; ''Jinpei'', the youngest and the reconnaissance expert, an adopted brother of Jun, and ''Ryū Nakanishi'', the ship's pilot. The main characters wear teen clothing with T-shirts numbered to show their rank in the team or caped, birdlike battle uniforms. The Science Ninja Team is often aided by a squadron of combat pilots led by the enigmatic Red Impulse, who is later revealed as Ken's father.

The Gatchaman team employs a unique and effective martial art developed by Dr. Nambu, drawing on their ability to perform feats similar to their avian namesakes, such as high-speed running and flight, high jumping and silent attacks. This fighting system, known as , is mentioned in the Japanese lyrics of the ''Gatchaman'' theme. The team members also use signature weapons and mecha-style vehicles, each with a mundane, disguised form. To change modes, each member is equipped with a wrist device that, in addition to communications and tracking, enables a change when the proper gesture and voice command ("Bird, go!") is given.

Their vehicles are docked in the team's main vehicle: the God Phoenix, a supersonic plane capable of underwater travel and space flight. The God Phoenix is armed with Bird Missiles, which are fired from a rack-mounted atop the center section. After the original God Phoenix is destroyed by an octopus mecha, an improved version carries a pair of Super Bird Missiles in twin drop-down pods on the bottom center section. The ship also has an energy-beam weapon that opens the nose doors for the weapon apparatus mounted on the frame holding Joe's car; however, its solar power source is unreliable because of its sensitivity to cloud cover. The plane can also temporarily transform into a massive bird of flame (like the legendary phoenix) to escape danger or attack, although the process endangers the team because of extreme pressure in the passenger cabin and it consumes a great deal of fuel.

In 1998, the senior class of a suburban high school, Huntington Hillside High, are attending a graduation party at a large house owned by a rich class member's family. Among them are Preston Meyers, a typical outsider who plans to proclaim his love to his four-year secret crush Amanda Beckett. Amanda, the most popular girl in school and the senior class prom queen, has recently been dumped by her popular jock boyfriend Mike Dexter. Mike is targeted by nerd classmate William Lichter, who is plotting revenge against him for years of relentless bullying. Preston's antisocial best friend Denise Fleming has no intention of going to the party, but is dragged along by Preston. Kenny Fisher is a wannabe thug who plans on losing his virginity by the end of the night.

Amanda is consoled by her popular girlfriends, whom she realizes she has nothing in common with, and her own second-cousin, who tries to hit on her. She tries to figure out if she has an identity beyond only being known as "Mike Dexter's girlfriend". She discovers a letter addressed to her by Preston and, moved by its contents, makes it her mission to find him, but she doesn't know what he looks like and no one she asks gives any helpful descriptions. Meanwhile, Denise and Kenny wind up locking themselves inside an upstairs bathroom away from the party by accident, where they talk about their old friendship and how they had drifted apart; their conversation leads to the restoration of their friendship and escalates into them having sex.

Later, an intoxicated Mike learns from Trip McNeely—a graduate and former stud from his high school—that in college, guys like them are "a dime a dozen". Trip emphasizes how he dumped his girlfriend in the same fashion that Mike did to "score" with other women and was unsuccessful. Terrified of this prospect, Mike tries to get Amanda back, but she is happier without him and humiliates him in front of everyone at the party. After seeing the school jock turned down, multiple men begin to hit on her, much to her disgust. Preston finds Amanda and confesses his love, but since she still hasn't learned what he looks like, she assumes he is another pervert and rejects him in front of the entire party as well. She later realizes her mistake when she sees Preston's yearbook picture and tries to find him, but he has already driven home in disappointment.

At the same time, William devises his plan to get revenge on Mike and goes into the party to drive Mike out. While inside the party, William begins drinking alcohol to fit in, and drinks enough to make him forget the entire reason he was there. An impromptu sing-along to Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" causes him to become popular, with multiple women trying desperately to have sex with him. Soon after, William begins talking with Mike, who apologizes for bullying him. William forgives him; the two bond and seemingly become friends. When Mike and William are jailed as a result of a police bust, Mike takes the blame.

The next morning, when William sees Mike and his friends at a diner, he tries to thank Mike for taking the fall. But Mike acts as though he remembers nothing that happened the previous night and ridicules William in front of his friends. Meanwhile, Preston is at a train station about to leave for Boston when Amanda arrives and asks him about the letter. Preston confesses he wrote it and is about to depart for a writing workshop with Kurt Vonnegut. The two say goodbye and Preston walks away, but he then stops and runs back to Amanda and they share a kiss.

The epilogue explains what happened to all of the main characters: * William became one of the most popular students at Harvard. He formed his own computer company that has made him worth millions, and he has been dating a supermodel. * Mike went to college but, after drinking too much, lost his football scholarship. He ended up forty pounds overweight and working at a car wash, a job he lost when incriminating Polaroids surfaced. * The day after the party, Denise and Kenny went to a diner; five minutes later, Denise dumped Kenny. Ten minutes later, they found a bathroom and got back together. * Seven hours later, Preston finally boarded a train to Boston. Amanda wrote him a letter for every day that he was away. They are still together.

Pierre Brossard (Caine), a French Nazi collaborator, orders seven Jews executed during World War II. Some 40 years later, he is pursued by "David Manenbaum" (Matt Craven), a hitman who is under orders to kill Brossard and leave a printed 'Statement' on his body proclaiming the assassination was vengeance for the Jews executed in 1944. Brossard kills "Manenbaum," hiding the dead body after finding the printed "Statement" and discovering that his pursuer was travelling on a Canadian passport. Brossard for years has taken refuge in sanctuaries in southern France within the Traditionalist Catholic community, appealing to long-time allies who have operated in great secrecy to shield him and provide him with funds. But now they bring increased scrutiny to themselves for continuing to do so.

The murder of "Manenbaum" attracts the interest of local police and eventually the persistent Investigating Judge Annemarie Livi (Tilda Swinton). She becomes absorbed by the case, not discouraged by the lack of assistance she encounters from official sectors. Livi forms an alliance with the similarly dedicated Colonel Roux (Jeremy Northam), a senior French Gendarmerie investigator, and the pair initially suspect that "Manenbaum" was part of a Jewish assassination plot. They discover that Brossard has been the subject of several previous investigations, dating back more than 40 years, which have all failed. Livi and Roux discover hidden resources, tightening the noose around Brossard, who finds his allies increasingly reluctant to help him. Doubts arise over the theory of a Jewish hit squad, but it is clear that ''someone'' wants Brossard dead.

Brossard in desperation pays a surprise visit to his estranged wife Nicole (Charlotte Rampling), a maid who is living in lower-middle-class circumstances in Marseille and is very apprehensive about seeing him again. Brossard's allies, including certain priests and a wartime colleague who has risen into a position of great power within the French government, are feeling the heat from the relentless questioning of Livi and Roux. Now desperate and unsure whom to trust, Brossard seeks new identity papers and money so he can escape France forever. On the night he is to escape, however, his handler Pochon (Ciaran Hinds) shoots him dead on orders from his former protectors within the government, who fear he will cause trouble for them if captured.

Following Brossard's death, Livi and Roux trace the conspiracy to protect him to a high-ranking government official (John Neville), and arrest him for treason.

Felix Ungar, a neurotic, neat freak news writer (a photographer in the television series), is thrown out by his wife, and moves in with his friend Oscar Madison, a slovenly sportswriter. Despite Oscar's problems – careless spending, excessive gambling, a poorly kept house filled with spoiled food – he seems to enjoy life. Felix, however, seems utterly incapable of enjoying anything and only finds purpose in pointing out his own and other people's mistakes and foibles. Even when he tries to do so in a gentle and constructive way, his corrections and suggestions prove extremely annoying to those around him. Oscar, his closest friend, feels compelled to throw him out after only a brief time together, though he quickly realizes that Felix has had a positive effect on him.

The play and the film both spell Felix's name ''Ungar'', while the television series spells it ''Unger''.

''Evangeline'' describes the betrothal of a fictional Acadian girl named Evangeline Bellefontaine to her beloved, Gabriel Lajeunesse, and their separation as the British deport the Acadians from Acadie in the Great Upheaval.

Best friends for life, physical education teacher Mike O'Hara and plumber Jimmy Flaherty are united by their love of Boston and its sports teams, especially the Boston Celtics, who are playing their last season in the old Boston Garden. When the Celtics drop Game 6 of the NBA Finals to the Utah Jazz, setting up a deciding Game 7 in Boston, Mike and Jimmy find themselves depressed and hopeless. On top of all this, Mike has moved back in with Jimmy after his wife Carol, fed up with his unhealthy obsession with the Celtics, left him and took their son Tommy with her. Jimmy and Mike stumble upon the Jazz's selfish, arrogant shooting guard Lewis Scott at a Boston nightclub. Hoping at first to get him so drunk that he will be hungover for Game 7, Mike and Jimmy pose as Utah fans. However, the pair get more than they bargained for when the next morning they end up kidnapping Scott after he wakes up at Jimmy's apartment. The two decide to hold Scott until after the game, reasoning that if they are going to prison, they might as well help the Celtics win in the meantime.

Scott derides them for being washed-up losers, and insinuates Mike is only after him because he is jealous of Scott's fame and ability. Mike, on the other hand, berates Scott for his behavior on and off the court, including starring in a campy Oscar Mayer hot dog commercial and skipping practices. Scott attempts to turn Jimmy against Mike, and, when this fails, escapes, only to be foiled by an antagonistic cabbie and a local cop, Kevin, both fellow Celtics fans.

Ultimately, Mike challenges Scott to a game of one-on-one and the pair is incapacitated well before the final game is set to begin. Before he runs off, Scott presents the pair with a dilemma: they must root for him and the Jazz to win, or he will turn them both in to the police. Mike reconciles with his wife and son, knowing he might be going to prison, and Jimmy says goodbye to his grandmother. At the game, the two convince the other Celtics fans they are only pretending to root for the Jazz to jinx them, and the first half ends with the Celtics leading. Mike, who knows the Jazz are losing because Scott refuses to pass the ball, gives him a pep talk from the stands, and Utah closes the gap to one point with a little over 7 seconds remaining. With one play left and the Jazz with the ball, Mike and Jimmy choose life over the Celtics, rooting for Utah and rushing the court after they win. Approached by Kevin, who earlier ignored his cries for help, Lewis denies Mike and Jimmy committed the kidnapping, saving them from prison.

A few months later, Mike has promised his wife he would never interfere with an NBA Finals game again. When football season begins, however, he and Jimmy sneak into Deion Sanders' hotel room at 3:00 a.m., presumably to kidnap him.

''Interview with the Vampire'' (1976)

Louis de Pointe du Lac tells a young reporter the story of how he had been made a vampire in 18th-century New Orleans by Lestat de Lioncourt. In creating and sheltering the child vampire Claudia, Lestat and Louis had unknowingly set tragedy in motion.

''The Vampire Lestat'' (1985)

This book chronicles Lestat's own origins, as he resurfaces in the modern world, his attempt to find meaning by exposing himself to humanity in the guise of a rock star, his search when younger for Marius de Romanus, culminating with his accidental awakening of Akasha, the ancient Egyptian queen and first vampire, who has been immobile for millennia and is being safeguarded by Marius.

''The Queen of the Damned'' (1988)

Lestat has awakened Akasha, the first of all vampires, who has in her thousands of years of immobility, contrived an idealized way to achieve world peace, by killing almost all males and destroying all other vampires. She is herself destroyed by the vampire witch Mekare, who has awakened and returned after 6,000 years to fulfill a promise to destroy Akasha at the moment she poses the greatest threat.

Subsequent novels

''The Tale of the Body Thief'' (1992) finds Lestat haunted by his past and tiring of immortality. A thief switches bodies with him and runs off, and Lestat enlists David Talbot, leader of the Talamasca and one of his only remaining friends, to help him retrieve it. In ''Memnoch the Devil'' (1995), Lestat meets the eponymous demon and is faced with a theological personal crisis.

Rice's ''New Tales of the Vampires''—''Pandora'' (1998) and ''Vittorio the Vampire'' (1999)—do not feature Lestat at all, instead telling the stories of the eponymous peripheral vampires, the Patrician Pandora from Rome in the 1st century B.C. and the 15th-century Italian nobleman Vittorio.

Armand tells his own life story in 1998's ''The Vampire Armand'', and Rice's ''Mayfair Witches'' series crosses over with ''The Vampire Chronicles'' in ''Merrick'' (2000) as Louis and David seek Merrick Mayfair's help in resurrecting Claudia's spirit. The origins of Marius are explored in 2001's ''Blood and Gold'', and ''Blackwood Farm'' (2002) tells the story of young Tarquin Blackwood as he enlists Lestat and Merrick to help him banish a spirit named Goblin. 2003's ''Blood Canticle'' intertwines the vampire, Blackwood and Mayfair storylines, and was intended by Rice to conclude the series.

''Prince Lestat'' (2014) rejoins the remaining vampires a decade later as Lestat faces pressure to lead them. ''Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis'' (2016) and ''Blood Communion'' (2018) continued this new narrative thread.

In 1883, Sanshiro is a talented though willful youth who wishes to become a jujutsu master by becoming a student at one of the city's martial arts schools. His first attempts to find a suitable instructor fail, until he finally finds an accomplished master, Shogoro Yano from the Shudokan Judo school, who he sees defending himself against a group of jujutsu bullies near a river. Initially, Sanshiro is physically capable, but he lacks any type of poise or reflection concerning his self-control and demeanor, even getting into merry fights at a village festival. His master believes him to be talented but lacking in discipline, describing teaching him judo as "like giving a knife to a madman". After being told about his lack of care about life, Sanshio jumps into a lotus pond to prove his strength and loyalty. Clinging to a stake in the pond, he stays the whole day and night before he sees the opening of a lotus bottom that makes him find self-realization. Leaping out of the pond, he goes to Yano to ask for his forgiveness. He starts to appreciate that there is more to his life and to his art than simple muscle and brawl and soon becomes a leading student in his school.

The city is looking to employ one of the local martial arts schools to guide the training of its local police force, and the school of Sanshiro becomes a leading candidate along with its rival, the local school of Ryōi Shintō-ryū jujutsu led by Hansuke Murai. He first faces Kodama, a jujutsu tough that had tried to take out Shogoro in the river. The ensuing match leads to the death of Kodama after a move by Sanshiro leaves him crashing into a corner. In a scheduled competition between the two schools, Sanshiro is chosen to represent his school in a public match against Murai himself to determine which school is best to train the local police in the martial arts. The scheduled bout gets off to a slow start, but Sanshiro soon comes into his own and begins executing devastating throws which cause internal physical damage to his opponent. Although Murai tries to stand every time, energized by the memory of his daughter Sayo, he is forced to give up after the third time he is violently sent to the ground by Sanshiro.

After the match, Sanshiro makes friends with his defeated opponent and is attracted to Sayo. Sayo is a local beauty, and another Ryōi Shintō-ryū jujutsu master, Higaki, competes with Sanshiro for her affections. When he challenges Sanshiro to a duel to the death, Sanshiro accepts and defeats him by inflicting permanent crippling damage to Higaki. After emerging victorious from his duel, Sanshiro prepares for his next assignment in Yokohama while being escorted on the local train by Sayo. He promises to return to her after he finishes his journey.

Henry Roth is a veterinarian at Sea Life Park on Oahu. His closest friends are Ula, a marijuana-smoking Islander; Alexa, his androgynous assistant; Willy, his pet African penguin; and Jocko, a walrus.

Henry's boat breaks down, so he goes to the Hukilau Café to wait for the Coast Guard. He sees Lucy Whitmore make architectural art with her waffles. Henry assumes she is a local, which prevents him from introducing himself, but the next day he comes back and has breakfast with her. Lucy asks to see him again the next morning.

When Henry sits down for their breakfast date, Lucy shows no recollection of ever meeting him. Sue, the restaurant owner, explains to Henry that the year before, Lucy and her father Marlin went to the North Shore to pick a pineapple for his birthday. On the way back, a car accident left Lucy with anterograde amnesia. To save her the heartbreak of reliving the accident, Marlin and Doug, Lucy's lisping steroid-addicted brother, re-enact Marlin's birthday.

Despite Sue's warning, Henry tries to get Lucy to have breakfast with him again. It ends poorly when Henry unintentionally hurts Lucy's feelings. At her house, Marlin and Doug instruct Henry to leave Lucy alone. Henry begins concocting ways to run into Lucy through the following days, during which he manages to successfully impress her over a series of "first" dates and "chance" encounters. Later, Marlin and Doug give their permission for Henry to continue meeting her when they discover Lucy regularly sings the Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice" in her painting studio – the first major change in her routine since the accident, on the days he spends with her.

One morning, as Henry is about to sit with Lucy at breakfast, she notices a police officer writing a ticket because of her expired plates. With the ruse exposed, Lucy is distressed to learn that her friends and family have maintained the charade for so long; however, in watching her reaction, Henry surmises that her strongest reactions are to feeling betrayed by her loved ones, not the actual memory loss.

Henry devises a new strategy to let Lucy know about the truth. He creates a video with her friends to explain the situation calmly rather than let her go through her pre-accident routine, and they place the video in her room with a note to play it when she first wakes up. The strategy works and allows Lucy to process the events while catching her up on current events, including her relationship to Henry. Henry and Lucy's relationship grows well using this method, and they continue to refine the process while enduring some humorous setbacks, such as their sleeping together and Lucy attacking Henry the next morning. However, when Lucy discovers that Henry has decided to cancel ten years' worth of planning for his research study of walruses in Bristol Bay to help manage her condition, she decides to break up with him in order to not hold him back. Henry reluctantly helps her destroy her journal entries of their relationship to effectively "erase" their time together.

Some weeks later, Henry is preparing to leave for his research study. Before he goes, Marlin tells him that Lucy is now living at the institute and teaching an art class. As a parting gift, he gives Henry a Beach Boys CD which reminds him of Lucy. He remembers that Lucy's singing of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was not random, but occurred on days when they were together, and indicates new learned memory retention. Henry abandons his trip and travels to the art class. While Lucy does not remember Henry, she shows him her studio - a room full of paintings and drawings she has done of him. She explains that she dreams of him every night, and they happily reconcile.

One day Lucy wakes up and plays the tape marked "Good Morning, Lucy". It again reminds her of her accident, but ends with her and Henry's wedding. From the tape, Henry says to put a jacket on and come have breakfast when she is ready. Lucy realizes she is on a boat when she looks out of the porthole and sees glaciers. Henry has finally made it to Alaska. Lucy goes up on deck, sees her dad, and meets her husband, Henry, and her young daughter, Nicole.

The film opens with Tom and Sarah in the airport, then flashes back from the moment they met up to the present.

Working-class Tom Leezak and upper-class Sarah McNerney meet up when Tom accidentally hits Sarah with a football on the beach. A few months later, despite opposition from Sarah's rich family, they get married. Each has kept one secret from the other: Tom doesn't tell her that he accidentally killed her dog and Sarah doesn't tell him that she slept with Peter Prentiss, a childhood family friend, after they started dating.

Flying to Europe for their honeymoon, they attempt to consummate their marriage by joining the mile high club, but fail rather publicly. Arriving at their classy hotel at the foot of the Alps they find that Peter has sent them a bottle of cognac "with love", while Tom's friend Kyle has sent them a ''Thunderstick A-200'' sex toy.

When Tom tries to force the toy's American plug into the European outlet, he shuts down the entire village's electricity. The newlyweds leave the hotel after Tom has a heated argument with the hotel owner and pays a large bill to repair the power. While trying to find another hotel they crash their mini car into a snowbank, stuck until daylight and once again unable to consummate their marriage.

They make their way to Venice, staying at a ''pensione'' recommended by Tom's father. It turns out to be a wreck, and they soon check out after a cockroach crawls over Tom when they try to have sex.

The couple secure a luxurious Venetian hotel with the grudging financial help of Sarah's father. They go sightseeing, but Tom quickly gets bored and abandons her to watch sports in a bar. Sarah runs into Peter, who is staying at their hotel on business. This prompts her to initiate a conversation with Tom in which they reveal their secrets about her dog's death and Peter. They each storm out of the hotel and go their separate ways: he going back to the bar, where he meets American tourist Wendy, and she going sightseeing, where Peter follows her.

Wendy flirts and dances with Tom, who escapes through a bathroom window when he realizes she wants to have sex with him. He returns to the hotel, learning that Sarah has gone out with Peter for the evening. Accosted by Wendy, he finds himself tricked into walking her to his hotel room, where she rips off her top before Tom blurts out that he's on his honeymoon, upon which she finally leaves.

Sarah gets drunk so Peter takes her back to the hotel. When he kisses her at the entrance, she slaps him, reminding him that she's on her honeymoon. Tom sees the kiss from the balcony but not the slap. When he confronts her in their room, Sarah finds Wendy's bra. Peter bursts in to ask her to run away with him to Seattle, leading to a fight that lands Tom and Sarah in jail – still without consummating their marriage. Peter bails them out and the couple angrily decide to go home to Los Angeles, returning to the opening moments of the film.

Sarah has moved out and Tom wants to get back with her. Receiving advice from his father, he attempts to see her at her family's estate, but is unsuccessful trying to ram the gate. However, Sarah opens it herself after seeing Tom make a romantic speech to the camera and they rush together to proclaim their love for each other. Sarah's family finally accepts Tom and Sarah's relationship.

''Halo 2'' opens with the trial of a Covenant Elite commander aboard the Covenant's capital city-ship of ''High Charity''. For his failure to stop Halo's destruction, the Elite is stripped of his rank, branded a heretic, and tortured by Tartarus, the Chieftain of the Covenant Brutes. Spared execution, the Covenant leadership—the High Prophets Truth, Regret, and Mercy—give the Elite the chance to become an Arbiter, a rank given to Elites in times of great crisis or turmoil. As the Arbiter, the Elite quells a rebellion and recovers 343 Guilty Spark.

On Earth, Fleet Admiral Hood commends the Master Chief and Sergeant Avery Johnson for their actions at the first Halo, with Commander Miranda Keyes accepting a medal on behalf of her deceased father, Captain Jacob Keyes. A Covenant fleet suddenly appears near Earth. In the ensuing battle, a single ship carrying the Prophet of Regret slips through Earth's defenses and besieges the African city of New Mombasa. Master Chief assists in repelling the invasion. With his fleet destroyed, Regret makes a hasty slipspace jump, and Keyes, Johnson, Cortana, and the Master Chief follow aboard the UNSC ship ''In Amber Clad''. The crew discovers another Halo installation; realizing the danger the ring presents, Keyes sends Master Chief to kill Regret while she and Johnson search for the Index, Halo's activation key.

Responding to Regret's distress call, ''High Charity'' and the Covenant fleet arrive at the Halo. After Master Chief kills Regret, the Covenant bombard his location; he falls into a lake, where he is dragged away by tentacles. Regret's death triggers discord among the races of the Covenant, as the Prophets give the Brutes the Elites' traditional role as their honor guard. The Arbiter subdues Johnson and Keyes and retrieves the Index. Tartarus appears and reveals that the Prophets have ordered the annihilation of the Elites, and sends the Arbiter falling down a deep chasm.

The Arbiter meets the Master Chief in the bowels of the Halo, brought together by a Flood creature called the Gravemind. The Gravemind reveals to the Arbiter that the Great Journey is a lie, and sends the two soldiers to different places to stop Halo's activation. The Master Chief is teleported to ''High Charity'' as the Covenant falls into civil war. The Flood-infested ''In Amber Clad'' crashes into the city, and Cortana realizes that the Gravemind used them as a distraction. As the parasite overruns the city, the Prophet of Mercy is consumed. As for Tartarus, the Prophet of Truth consigns him to Halo with Keyes, Johnson, and Guilty Spark to activate the ring. Master Chief follows Truth aboard a Forerunner ship leaving the city; Cortana remains behind to destroy ''High Charity'' and Halo if Tartarus succeeds in activating the ring.

On the surface of Halo, the Arbiter joins forces with Johnson and confronts Tartarus in Halo's control room. When the Arbiter tries to convince Tartarus that the Prophets have betrayed them, Tartarus instead activates the ring, and a battle ensues. The Arbiter and Johnson kill Tartarus while Keyes removes the Index; the unexpected deactivation sets Halo and all the other rings on standby for remote activation from a place 343 Guilty Spark calls "the Ark." Meanwhile, Truth's ship arrives at Earth, and Master Chief informs Admiral Hood that he is "finishing this fight."

In a post-credits scene, Gravemind assumes control of ''High Charity''. Cortana agrees to answer the Flood intelligence's questions.

While Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) is away at an emergency Federation conference, the ''Enterprise'' crew discovers an ancient space capsule from Earth. Inside they find three humans in cryonic chambers. Lt. Cdr. Data (Brent Spiner) asks to move the chambers to the ''Enterprise'' and Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) agrees. Picard returns and orders the ''Enterprise'' to the Neutral Zone, as several Federation outposts near the edges of the zone have not responded to communications. He explains that the conference was about the potential threat of the Romulans, who have not been seen for decades. As Data and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) work to thaw the cryonically preserved humans, Picard admonishes Data for bringing them aboard during a crucial time, and puts Riker in charge of looking after them.

The survivors—Claire Raymond (Gracie Harrison), a housewife; Ralph Offenhouse (Peter Mark Richman), a financier; and L. Q. "Sonny" Clemmons (Leon Rippy), a musician—are from the late 20th century. All died of incurable illnesses at the time and were placed in cryonic suspension after their deaths in the hope that cures might be found in the future. Dr. Crusher, in reviving them, easily cures them of their illnesses. They have to cope with the culture shock of awakening in a distant future with the realization that everything they knew and had are now gone. Of the three, Clemmons seems to fare the best at adapting to life in the future and befriends Data. Claire is distraught at the thought of losing everyone she ever knew, particularly her children, so Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) suggests searching for Claire's descendants. Offenhouse is irritated by the lack of access to news or other information, and uses the comm unit to disturb Picard on the bridge. Picard comes down to assure everyone that all questions will be answered, but that the ship's mission requires Picard's full attention.

The ''Enterprise'' reaches the Neutral Zone and confirms that the outposts have been destroyed. They are soon met by a Romulan Warbird and Commander Tebok (Marc Alaimo) questions why the ''Enterprise'' has approached the zone. As Picard tries to explain his actions, Offenhouse arrives on the bridge and threatens to disrupt the tense situation, though he correctly ascertains that the Romulans are also seeking answers. Picard and the Romulans agree to pool their resources to discover the culprit. Picard later comments that while the encounter went favorably, the Romulans may be a significant threat in future engagements. Picard arranges to transport the 20th-century humans to Earth. Troi locates one of Claire's descendants on Earth, and while Claire is unsure of her place in her new reality, Troi suggests that family is a good starting point. Clemmons expresses enthusiasm for the future, and Picard sets Offenhouse the challenge of improving himself.

The novel's beginning introduces the Music Master, the resident of Castalia who recruits Knecht as a young student and who is to have the longest-lasting and profoundest effect on Knecht throughout his life. At one point, as the Music Master nears death in his home at Monteport, Knecht obliquely refers to the Master's "sainthood". Knecht also develops another meaningful friendship with Plinio Designori, a student from a politically influential family, who is studying in Castalia as a guest, and holds vigorous debates with Designori, who views Castalia as an "ivory tower" with little to no impact on the outside world.

Although educated in Castalia, Knecht's path to "Magister Ludi" is atypical for the order, as he spends much of his time after graduation outside the province's boundaries. His first such venture, to the Bamboo Grove, results in his learning Chinese and becoming something of a disciple to Elder Brother, a recluse who had given up living in Castalia. Next, as part of an assignment to foster goodwill between the order and the Catholic Church, Knecht is sent on several "missions" to the Benedictine monastery of Mariafels, where he befriends the historian Father Jacobus—a relationship that also profoundly affects Knecht.

As the novel progresses, Knecht begins to question his loyalty to the order, gradually coming to doubt that the intellectually gifted have a right to withdraw from life's big problems. Knecht, too, comes to see Castalia as a kind of ivory tower, an ethereal and protected community, devoted to pure intellectual pursuits but oblivious to the problems of life outside its borders. This conclusion precipitates a personal crisis, and, according to his personal views regarding spiritual awakening, Knecht does the unthinkable: he resigns as Magister Ludi and asks to leave the order, ostensibly to become of value and service to the larger culture. The heads of the order deny his request, but Knecht departs Castalia anyway, initially taking a job as a tutor to his childhood friend Designori's energetic and strong-willed son, Tito. Only a few days later, the story ends abruptly with Knecht drowning in a mountain lake while attempting to follow Tito on a swim for which Knecht was unfit.

The fictional narrator leaves off before the final sections of the book, remarking that the end of the story is beyond the scope of his biography. The concluding chapter, "The Legend", is reportedly from a different biography. After this final chapter, several of Knecht's "posthumous" works are then presented. The first section contains Knecht's poetry from various periods of his life, followed by three short stories labeled "Three Lives". These are presented as exercises by Knecht imagining his life had he been born in another time and place. The first tells of a pagan rainmaker named Knecht who lived "many thousands of years ago, when women ruled". Eventually the shaman's powers to summon rain fail, and he offers himself as a sacrifice for the good of the tribe. The second is based on the life of St Hilarion and tells of Josephus, an early Christian hermit who acquires a reputation for piety but is inwardly troubled by self-loathing and seeks a confessor, only to find that same penitent had been seeking him.

The final story concerns the life of Dasa, a prince wrongfully usurped by his half-brother as heir to a kingdom and disguised as a cowherd to save his life. While working with the herdsmen as a young boy, Dasa encounters a yogi in meditation in the forest. He wishes to experience the same tranquility as the yogi, but is unable to stay. He later leaves the herdsmen and marries a beautiful young woman, only to be cuckolded by his half-brother (now the Rajah). In a cold fury, he kills his half-brother and finds himself once again in the forest with the old yogi, who, through an experience of an alternate life, guides him on the spiritual path and out of the world of illusion (Maya).

The three lives, together with that as Magister Ludi, oscillate between extroversion (rainmaker, Indian life—both get married) and introversion (father confessor, Magister Ludi) while developing the four basic psychic functions of analytical psychology: sensation (rainmaker), intuition (Indian life), feeling (father confessor), and thinking (Magister Ludi).

Earlier plans

Hesse originally intended several different lives of the same person as he is reincarnated. Instead, he focused on a story set in the future and placed the three shorter stories, "authored" by Knecht in ''The Glass Bead Game'', at the end of the novel.

Two drafts of a fourth life were published in 1965, the second recast in the first person and breaking off earlier. Dated 1934, they describe Knecht's childhood and education as a Swabian theologian. This Knecht has been born some dozen years after the Treaty of Rijswijk in the time of Eberhard Ludwig, and in depicting the other characters Hesse draws heavily on actual biographies: Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, Johann Friedrich Rock, Johann Albrecht Bengel and Nicolaus Zinzendorf make up the cast of Pietist mentors. Knecht is heavily drawn to music, both that of Pachelbel and the more exotic Buxtehude. The fragment breaks off as the young contemporary of Bach happens upon an organ recital in Stuttgart.

Central characters

• Joseph Knecht: The story's main character. He is the Magister Ludi for a majority of the book.
• The Music Master: Knecht's spiritual mentor who, when Knecht is a child, examines him for entrance into the elite schools of Castalia.
• Plinio Designori: Knecht's foil in the world outside.
• Father Jacobus: Benedictine monk and Joseph Knecht's antithesis in faith.
• Elder Brother: A former Castalian and student of various Chinese scripts and ideologies.
• Thomas van der Trave: Joseph Knecht's predecessor as Magister Ludi.
• Fritz Tegularius: A friend of Knecht's but a portent of what Castalians might become if they remain insular.

''Virtua Fighter 4'' and ''Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution'' have a two-part storyline. ''VF4'' started out with thirteen fighters entering the tournament for their own personal reasons, while Judgement Six used them for gathering data for Dural. ''Evolution'' adds two more fighters to the mix, one of them works for Judgement Six who is ordered to kill everyone in the tournament.

It was also revealed that for the Dural project, Judgement Six targeted Sarah Bryant as their next volunteer for a new Dural model. Akira fell short during the third tournament. In order to find out what the "real power" was within him, he enters the fourth tournament to find that answer. Pai discovers that her skill was close to her father's despite her loss in the third tournament. After hearing that Lau was looking for a successor and has a terminal illness, she enters the tournament to prove that she is a worthy successor to master her father's style. Lau suffered a terrible illness that cannot be cured after losing to Kage-Maru in the third tournament. He enters the tournament to find a worthy successor to Koen-Ken. Wolf still has reoccurring nightmares since the end of the second tournament. After losing in the third tournament, he ignored the dream but it kept coming back. He enters the fourth tournament to find out what that meant. Jeffry finally gained enough money to repair his boat, but there was only one problem: the Satan Shark mysteriously disappeared. He enters the tournament to invest in a sonar device for the shark.

Kage-Maru won the third tournament and found a part from the new Dural model that would cure his mother. It result in his mother transforming into Dural once again and attacking him. Since Judgement Six saved her, Kage enters the tournament to kill Dural once and for all. Sarah regained her memories and lived a quiet life with her brother, until she had flashbacks of the time where she was brainwashed by Judgement Six and attempted to kill Jacky. She enters the tournament to defeat him and resolve the matter. Jacky turned his focus to racing after the end of the third tournament, where he formed his own racing team. However, Judgement Six killed one of his sponsors and they will continue unless Jacky enters the fourth tournament. He decides to enter the tournament to once again take down Judgement Six. Shun was unsuccessful on finding his missing student during the third tournament. It was revealed that his student was trying to escape from Judgement Six, but he was recaptured by the evil organization. He enters the fourth tournament to find more information about the missing student.

Lion enters the fourth tournament in order to once again try to win the title. Aoi did not last long in the first round of the third tournament. She enters the fourth tournament to try her new skills in parrying and counterattacking. Lei-Fei entered the fourth tournament to become the successor to Lau's Koen-Ken style of martial arts. His true intention is to kill Lau after he learned his style under the clan's orders. Vanessa joins the fourth tournament to protect Sarah from Judgement Six, and to avenge the murder of her mentor, Lewis. Brad entered the fourth tournament after dominating the Muay Thai Kickboxing world. Goh infiltrated the fourth tournament under Judgement Six orders to kill everyone. The 4th tournament had come down to one final fight between Kage-Maru and Shun Di, but as Kage was about to deliver the final blow to Shun, the glowing, silver form of Dural interrupted the match. Kage is the winner, but he discovers that the Dural he fought is not his mother.

The novel opens with an introduction describing the human race as a primitive and deeply unhappy species as well as the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which provides information on every planet in the galaxy. Earthman Arthur Dent awakes in his home in West Country, England, to discover that the local planning council is trying to demolish his house to build a bypass and lies down in front of the bulldozer to stop it. His friend Ford Prefect—an alien researcher for ''Guide'' from a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse who has been posing as an out-of-work actor from Guildford for 15 years—convinces the lead bureaucrat Mr. Prosser to lie down in front of the bulldozer for Arthur so that he can buy him six pints of beer at the pub. The construction crew begins demolishing the house anyway, but stop when a fleet of alien spaceships arrives on Earth undetected by human space agencies. The Vogons, a callous race of civil servants running the fleet, announce that they have come to demolish Earth to make way for a hyperspace expressway. Ford and Arthur hitch a ride from the Dentrassis, who serve as the cooks on the fleet, and are allowed onto a spaceship traveling to Barnard's Star. They are quickly discovered by the Vogons, who torture them by forcing them to listen to their poetry and then toss them out of an airlock.

Meanwhile Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford's "semi-cousin" and the President of the Galaxy, steals the spaceship ''Heart of Gold'' at its unveiling with his human companion, Trillian. The ''Heart of Gold'' is enabled with an "Infinite Improbability Drive" that allows it to travel instantaneously to any point in space by simultaneously passing through every point in the universe at once. After being tossed into space, Arthur and Ford are rescued by the ''Heart of Gold'' as it travels using the Infinite Improbability Drive. Zaphod takes his passengers—Arthur, Ford, a depressed robot named Marvin, and Trillian—to a legendary planet known as Magrathea. Magrathea was said to have been a planet whose inhabitants specialized in custom-building planets for others, but vanished after becoming so rich that the rest of the galaxy became poor. Although Ford initially doubts that the planet is Magrathea, the planet's computers send them warning messages to leave before firing two nuclear missiles at the ''Heart of Gold''. Arthur inadvertently saves them by activating the Infinite Improbability Drive improperly, causing the ''Heart of Gold'' to remain in Magrathea and for the missiles to transform into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias. The whale, which unsuccessfully tries to make sense of its existence as it falls to the surface, opens a passage underground on its impact. As the ship lands, Trillian's pet mice Frankie and Benjy escape.

On Magrathea, Zaphod, Ford, and Trillian venture down to the planet's interior while leaving Arthur and Marvin outside. Arthur is met by a man named Slartibartfast, who explains that the Magratheans have been in stasis to wait out an economic recession. The Magratheans temporarily reawakened to reconstruct a second version of Earth commissioned by mice, who were in fact the most intelligent species on Earth. In the factory workshop, Slartibartfast shows Arthur that in the distant past, a race of "hyperintelligent, pan-dimensional beings" created a supercomputer named Deep Thought to determine the answer to the "Ultimate Question to Life, the Universe, and Everything." Two philosophers representing a trade association, Majikthise and Vroomfondel, arrived and complained that the computer would remove uncertainty and end their jobs and demanded its deactivation. However, Deep Thought revealed that it would take 7.5 million years to complete its calculations and reasoned that during that time they could argue over what the computer's answer will be. 7.5 million years later the philosophers' descendants asked Deep Thought for the answer, which it announces is the number 42. Deep Thought tells its creators that the answer makes no sense to them because they didn't know what the "Ultimate Question" had been in the first place, so he suggested designing an even greater computer to determine what the Ultimate Question was. This computer is actually the planet Earth, which was constructed by the Magratheans, and was five minutes away from finishing its task and figuring out the Ultimate Question when the Vogons destroyed it. The hyperintelligent superbeings participated in the program as mice, performing experiments on humans while pretending to be experimented on.

Slartibartfast takes Arthur to see his friends, who are at a feast hosted by Trillian's pet mice. They reject the idea of building a new Earth to start the process over and offer to buy Arthur's brain in case it contains the question, leading to a fight when he declines. Zaphod saves Arthur from having his brain removed as police from the planet Blagulon Kappa arrive to arrest Zaphod. The mice, hoping to start a lucrative career on chat shows and the lecture circuit in their home dimension, decide to pretend that the Ultimate Question was "How many roads must a man walk down?" After the police repeatedly shoot at Zaphod, they suddenly die when their life-support systems short-circuit. Suspicious, Ford discovers on the surface that Marvin became bored and explained his view of the universe to the police officers' spaceship, causing it to commit suicide. The five leave Magrathea and decide to go to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

The monotony of thick smog-shrouded London is broken by a sudden visit from Holmes' brother Mycroft. He has come about some missing, secret submarine plans. Seven of the ten missing papers were found with Arthur Cadogan West's body, but the three "most essential" papers are still missing. West was a young clerk in a government office at Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, whose body was found next to the Underground tracks near the Aldgate tube station, his head crushed. He had little money with him (although there appears to have been no robbery), theatre tickets, and curiously, no Underground ticket.

Inspector Lestrade tells Holmes that a passenger reported hearing a thud, as though a body had fallen on the track, close to where West's body was found. The passenger could not see anything, however, owing to the thick fog.

After an examination of the track near Aldgate, Holmes concludes that West had been killed elsewhere, was deposited on the roof of an Underground train, and fell off when the jarring action of going across a railway point at Aldgate shook the coach.

Holmes decides to visit Sir James Walter, who was in charge of the papers. He has, however, died, apparently of a broken heart from the loss of his honour when the papers were stolen, according to his brother Colonel Valentine Walter.

On visiting West's fiancée, she tells Holmes that West had something on his mind for the last week or so of his life. He commented to her on how easily a traitor could get hold of "the secret" and how much a foreign agent would pay for it. Then, on the night in question, as the two of them were walking near his office, on the way to the theatre, he dashed off and did not return.

Holmes next goes to the office from which the plans were stolen. Sidney Johnson, the senior clerk, tells Holmes that, as always, he was the last man out of the office that night, and that he had put the papers in the safe. Anyone coming in afterwards to steal them would have needed three keys (for the building, the office, and the safe), but no duplicates were found on West's body, and only the late Sir James had all three keys. Johnson also mentions that one of the seven recovered papers includes an invention without which the submarine could not be properly built. Holmes also discovers that it is possible to see what is happening inside the office from outside even when the iron shutters are closed.

After leaving, Holmes finds that the clerk at the nearby Underground station remembers seeing West on the evening in question. Deeply shaken by something, he had taken a train to London Bridge.

Acting on information from Mycroft, and on what he has learnt thus far, Holmes identifies a person of interest, Hugo Oberstein, a known foreign agent who left town shortly after West's murder. Some small reconnaissance shows Holmes that Oberstein's house backs onto an above-ground Underground line, and that, owing to traffic at a nearby junction, trains often stop right under his windows. It seems clear now that West's body was laid on the train roof just there.

Holmes and Dr. Watson break into Oberstein's empty house and examine the windows, finding that the grime has been smudged, and there is a bloodstain. An Underground train stops right under the window. Some messages from the ''Daily Telegraph'' agony column, all seeming to allude to a business deal, are also found, posted by "Pierrot". Holmes posts a similarly cryptic message in the ''Daily Telegraph'' demanding a meeting, signing it Pierrot, in the hopes that the thief might show up at Oberstein's house.

It works. Colonel Valentine Walter shows up and is stunned to find Holmes, Watson, Lestrade, and Mycroft all waiting for him. He confesses to the theft of the plans, but swears that it was Oberstein who killed West. West had followed the Colonel to Oberstein's and then intervened, and Oberstein had dealt West a fatal blow to the head. Oberstein then decided, over the Colonel's objections, that he had to keep three of the papers, because they could not be copied in a short time. He then got the idea of putting the other seven in West's pocket and putting him on a train roof outside his window, reasoning that he would be blamed for the theft when his body was found.

Deep in debt, Colonel Walter had acted out of a need for money. He redeems himself somewhat by agreeing to write to Oberstein, whose address on the Continent he knows, inviting him to come back to England for the fourth, vital page. This ruse also works; Oberstein is imprisoned, and the missing pages of the plans are recovered from his trunk. Colonel Walter dies in prison, not long after starting his sentence. For his efforts, Holmes is given an emerald tie pin by "a certain gracious lady", implied to be Queen Victoria, as the pin was received at Windsor in the 1890s.

''All Saints'' follows the lives of the staff at All Saints Western General Hospital. Until its closure in 2004, the show primarily focused on the staff in Ward 17. Known as the "garbage ward" as it took all the overflow from the other wards, Ward 17 was run by compassionate nun, Sister Terri Sullivan (Georgie Parker). Her staff included her nurses Connor Costello (Jeremy Cumpston), Von Ryan (Judith McGrath), Bronwyn Craig (Libby Tanner), Jared Levine (Ben Tari) and Stephanie Markham (Kirrily White) and her ward clerk Jaz Hillerman (Sam Healy). Luke Forlano (Martin Lynes) and Peter Morrison (Andrew McKaige) were doctors who frequently worked with Terri and her staff. Ben Markham (Brian Vriends) was an ambulance officer who worked closely with Luke, despite their rivalry. Bronwyn left Ward 17 and became an ambulance officer at the end of 1998 but returned to the ward full-time at the end of season 3.

Peter and Jaz were written out early on in the second season which introduced Doctor Mitch Stevens (Erik Thomson, an old boyfriend of Terri's with whom she had unfinished business. More of the original cast left: Stephanie was killed in a car accident in Season 3 and Connor left in Season 4. The beginning of the fourth season gave Ben a new ambulance partner, Scott Zinenko (Conrad Coleby, and the concluding episodes introduced two new nurses, Paula Morgan (Jenni Baird) and Nelson Curtis (Paul Tassone). Long-serving doctor Charlotte Beaumont (Tammy Macintosh) made her debut in the fifth season.

John Kruger – a top U.S. Marshal for the Witness Security Protection Program (WITSEC) – specializes in "erasing" high-profile witnesses: faking their deaths to protect them from anyone that might silence them before they can give their testimony in Court. After erasing mob witness Johnny Casteleone and his wife, John is given a new assignment by his superior, Chief Arthur Beller, to protect Lee Cullen, a senior executive at Cyrez Corporation, a defense contractor. Lee warned the FBI that top-level Cyrez executives covered up the creation of a top secret electromagnetic rifle and plan to sell the weapon on the black market.

In an FBI sting operation, Lee accesses the Cyrez mainframe and downloads data on the EM rifle onto two discs: one for the FBI and one for her own protection. Vice President William Donohue, her employer, detects Lee's intrusion and orders her into his office. After finding Lee's hidden camera and threatening her with a revolver, Donohue commits suicide in front of her. Lee delivers the disc to the FBI but, disillusioned by their broken promise to guarantee her safety, refuses John's protection offer. The FBI's disc is replaced with a fake by a mole working for Under Secretary of Defense Daniel Harper, the conspiracy's mastermind.

That night, Lee's house is attacked by a mercenary team led by J. Scar sent by Cyrez' corrupt CEO, Eugene Morehart. John rescues Lee and hides her in New York City, keeping her location secret even from WITSEC. John learns from his mentor, Marshal Robert DeGuerin, that several witnesses have been murdered because a mole in WITSEC is leaking information and they must relocate their witnesses. Along with agents Calderon, Schiff and newcomer Deputy Monroe, they raid a remote cabin and kill the mercenaries holding DeGuerin's witness hostage, but DeGuerin discreetly kills her when the mercenary leader reveals the marshal as the mole. Flying back to DC, DeGuerin drugs an increasingly suspicious John who manages to warn Lee to relocate before losing consciousness. The warning call is traced to NYC and DeGuerin kills Monroe using John's gun, framing him as the mole. Revealing he, Calderon, and Schiff are corrupt, DeGuerin explains he is the go-between for the black market buyer, and John escapes from the plane to rescue Lee from DeGuerin's mercenaries. John saves Lee from J. Scar at Central Park Zoo, who pursues them; John releases several alligators that devour Scar and two of his men.

DeGuerin has John and Lee branded as fugitives. The pair enlist Johnny's help, and using a mainframe backdoor in Donohue's terminal, they decrypt Lee's second disc. It reveals that a huge shipment of EM rifles is at the Baltimore docks and will be delivered to Russian Mafia boss, Sergei Ivanovich Petrofsky, who plans to sell the weapons overseas to terrorists. A Cyrez operative pinpoints their whereabouts and remotely erases the disc; DeGuerin kidnaps Lee and takes her to the docks as the shipment is being loaded onto Petrofsky's Russian freighter.

Johnny contacts his mobster cousin, Tony Two-Toes and associates to help John raid the docks. They kill Petrofsky, his henchmen, and DeGuerin's team. In a struggle atop a shipping container, DeGuerin holds Lee hostage, but John frees her and destroys the pulley system on the container crane, dropping DeGuerin and the container to the ground and exposing the presence of the EM rifles. John rescues the critically-wounded DeGuerin, leaving him to be detained by Beller and the authorities and proving his and Lee's innocence.

Weeks later, John brings Lee to a hearing for DeGuerin, Harper, and Morehart, who are indicted for treason. With little confidence that her testimony could secure their convictions, John and Lee publicly fake their deaths in a van explosion to trick DeGuerin, Harper, and Morehart into lowering their guard. In the back of their limousine, DeGuerin congratulates Harper on their deaths and says that they should go back into black-market business as soon as possible, but is surprised when Harper says that he assumed DeGuerin had them killed. The men are confused, then shocked as their limo stops at a railroad crossing and the driver – a disguised Johnny – locks the doors and exits the vehicle. Kruger calls DeGuerin and tells him, "You've just been erased" as they see a train heading right for them. They are unable to escape, and the train slams into the limo, killing all three occupants. Driving away Johnny waves goodbye to John, as he walks over to Lee in a waiting car. When Lee asks Kruger what happened he responds by telling her "they caught a train."

A father, Robert Micelli (Joe Mantegna), has become a stranger to his family and thinks only of his lawn and job. After decades of no contact, Robert's Uncle Nino (Pierrino Mascarino) flies to America for an unexpected visit, with a suitcase full of homemade Italian wine. Nino helps the family realize the true value of family.

Blade searches Prague for his mentor Abraham Whistler, who was thought dead after being attacked by Deacon Frost, but was instead turned into a vampire and held prisoner for two years. Blade rescues Whistler and cures him. Whistler meets Scud, Blade's young new technician and marijuana smoker who likes rap music.

A pandemic is turning vampires into "Reapers", primal, mutant creatures with a ravenous thirst for blood and a highly infectious bite that transforms both human and vampire alike. In order to combat the Reapers, vampire overlord Eli Damaskinos sends his minion, Asad, and daughter Nyssa to strike a truce with Blade; who reluctantly allies with the vampires. He teams up with the Bloodpack, an elite group of vampires originally assembled to kill him. The pack consists of Asad, Nyssa, Reinhardt, Chupa, Snowman, Priest, Verlaine, and her lover Lighthammer. Reinhardt hates Blade, and challenges him to fight, but in response Blade implants an explosive on his head to keep him in line.

They investigate a vampire nightclub where they encounter the Reapers and discover they are immune to most vampire weaknesses. The Reaper leader, Jared Nomak, arrives and holds Nyssa hostage. He tries to recruit Blade to his cause, citing their mutual hatred of vampires. Priest is bitten and mercy-killed, and Lighthammer is bitten but conceals the bite. Whistler disappears and Scud is attacked by several Reapers, which he drives off with UV lights. Blade fights Nomak, who is immune to Blade's weapons. As the sun rises, Nomak retreats and Whistler returns, revealing he has found the Reaper nest in the sewer. Nyssa dissects a dead Reaper and learns their hearts are encased in durable bone. Realizing UV light is their only weakness, Scud and Whistler make UV weapons for the team, as well as a UV-emitting bomb strong enough to take out the entire nest.

Entering the Reaper nest, the team spreads out. Lighthammer transforms into a Reaper and kills Snowman. Verlaine sacrifices herself to kill Lighthammer by exposing them both to sunlight. Chupa and Reinhardt attack Whistler, who sprays Chupa with a Reaper pheromone. This attracts a horde which kills Chupa and Whistler escapes. Asad and Nyssa are ambushed and Asad is killed. Blade saves Nyssa and uses the UV-bomb which kills all of the Reapers except for Nomak. Nyssa and Reinhardt manage to evade the blast, but Nyssa is seriously injured until Blade allows her to drink his blood to survive.

Damaskinos' forces betray and capture Blade, Whistler, and Scud. It is revealed that the Reapers exist as a result of Damaskinos' efforts to engineer a stronger breed of vampires. Nomak, the first Reaper, is his own son, whom Damaskinos considers a failure due to his weakness to sunlight. Scud reveals himself to be one of Damaskinos' familiars, but Blade, who already suspected this, kills him with the explosive he planted on Reinhardt earlier. Damaskinos plans to harvest Blade’s blood in order to develop an immunity to sunlight and create a new and entirely invincible breed of vampires. Whistler escapes Reinhardt and frees a nearly drained Blade, who falls into Damaskinos' blood pool, restoring his strength. He fights his way through Damaskinos' henchmen and kills Reinhardt.

Nomak enters Damaskinos' stronghold seeking revenge on his father. Nyssa betrays Damaskinos by sealing off their escape route to the heliport and Damaskinos is killed by Nomak after failing to negotiate with him. Nomak then bites Nyssa, drinking her blood. Blade and Nomak engage in battle and Blade stabs Nomak in his only weak spot. With his revenge complete, and wanting to end his suffering, Nomak kills himself with Blade's sword. Fulfilling Nyssa's wish of dying as a vampire, Blade takes her outside and embraces her as her body disintegrates due to the sunrise. Sometime later in London, Blade kills the vampire that escaped in Prague.

''The Satanic Verses'' consists of a frame narrative, using elements of magical realism, interlaced with a series of sub-plots that are narrated as dream visions experienced by one of the protagonists. The frame narrative, like many other stories by Rushdie, involves Indian expatriates in contemporary England. The two protagonists, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, are both actors of Indian Muslim background. Farishta is a Bollywood superstar who specialises in playing Hindu deities (the character is partly based on Indian film stars Amitabh Bachchan and N. T. Rama Rao). Chamcha is an emigrant who has broken with his Indian identity and works as a voiceover artist in England.

At the beginning of the novel, both are trapped in a hijacked plane flying from India to Britain. The plane explodes over the English Channel, but the two are magically saved. In a miraculous transformation, Farishta takes on the personality of the archangel Gabriel and Chamcha that of a devil. Chamcha is arrested and passes through an ordeal of police abuse as a suspected illegal immigrant. Farishta's transformation can partly be read on a realistic level as the symptom of the protagonist's development of schizophrenia.

Both characters struggle to piece their lives back together. Farishta seeks and finds his lost love, the English mountaineer Allie Cone, but their relationship is overshadowed by his mental illness. Chamcha, having miraculously regained his human shape, wants to take revenge on Farishta for having forsaken him after their common fall from the hijacked plane. He does so by fostering Farishta's pathological jealousy and thus destroying his relationship with Allie. In another moment of crisis, Farishta realises what Chamcha has done, but forgives him and even saves his life.

Both return to India. Farishta throws Allie off a high rise in another outbreak of jealousy and then dies by suicide. Chamcha, who has found not only forgiveness from Farishta but also reconciliation with his estranged father and his own Indian identity, decides to remain in India.

Dream sequences

Embedded in this story is a series of half-magic dream vision narratives, ascribed to the mind of Farishta.

One of the sequences is a fictionalised narration of the life of Muhammad (called "Mahound" or "the Messenger" in the novel) in Jahilia. At its centre is the episode of the so-called satanic verses, in which the prophet first proclaims a revelation requiring the adoption of three of the old polytheistic deities, but later renounces this as an error induced by the Devil. There are also two opponents of the "Messenger": a priestess, Hind, and a skeptic and satirical poet, Baal. When the prophet returns to Mecca in triumph, Baal goes into hiding in an underground brothel, where the prostitutes assume the identities of the prophet's wives. Also, one of the prophet's companions claims that he, doubting the authenticity of the "Messenger," has subtly altered portions of the Quran as they were dictated to him.

The second sequence tells the story of Ayesha, an Indian peasant girl who claims to be receiving revelations from the Archangel Gabriel. She entices all her village community to embark on a foot pilgrimage to Mecca, claiming that they will be able to walk across the Arabian Sea. The pilgrimage ends in a catastrophic climax as the believers all walk into the water and disappear, amid disturbingly conflicting testimonies from observers about whether they simply drowned or were in fact miraculously able to cross the sea.

A third dream sequence presents the figure of a fanatic expatriate religious leader, the "Imam", in a late-20th-century setting (this evidently satirizes Khomeini himself).

The novel opens in a dismal future America, the “Communal North American Citizen's Republic.” The United States government has become extremely intrusive and repressive, monitoring the actions, speech and even thoughts of its citizens.

The protagonist, '''Joe Fernwright''', is a pot-healer, one who can perfectly restore pottery to brand new condition. Joe finds himself constantly depressed and idle at the opening of the novel. He is unemployed and on a war veteran's social security benefit, given that ceramic pottery has been replaced by plastics, and his profession is not in great demand. He longs for purpose and meaning in life. His one entertainment is to call various friends on the worldwide telephone network and swap puzzles. These puzzles are created by translating a common English proverb or phrase into another language by using a language translation computer, and then translating it back to English the same way. The object of the game is to guess the original from the double translation.

Joe finds meaning when he is summoned to '''"Plowman's Planet"/Sirius Five''' by a mysterious highly evolved alien, '''Glimmung''', with seemingly godlike powers. Along with other similarly talented but depressed and alienated people and creatures from all over the galaxy they are employed by Glimmung, in a grand endeavor to raise an ancient sunken cathedral from the ocean floor.

Glimmung is also in a struggle with '''the Kalends''', a species gifted with precognition who are constantly writing a book that supposedly foretells the future, one which inevitably is proven right. Glimmung is determined to continue with his struggle, even when the book predicts certain failure.

At the conclusion of the book, Fernwright and his companions are offered the opportunity to join a gestalt or hive mind that also encompasses Glimmung. Fernwright and an unnamed octopoid companion alone refuse the offer. Fernwright is then given various options, such as going back to earth, going with the octopoid to its planet, going to Mali's planet (a young humanoid female he had become romantically involved with and who chose to become a part of the collective conscious) or stay back on Sirius Five. The octopoid also suggests to him that he should start creating pots with the tools Glimmung has given him instead of just healing them. The story ends by saying the first pot he created was 'awful.'

Somewhere deep within the Andromeda Galaxy lies the Algol Star System. The parent star, Algol (referred to as "Algo" by this point in the timeline), has three planets orbiting about it. First is Palm ("Palma"), the home of the government. Governors, treasurers, and great thinkers dwell here in great ivory towers, away from the hubbub of everyday life. Next is Mota ("Motavia"), the shining jewel. Once a dry desert planet infested with ant lions, Mota has been transformed into a blue and green tropical paradise. Domed farms grow crops, and the water is regulated into dammed rivers. Life on Mota is sweet, peaceful, and easy. The people have everything they want and do not need to work. Farthest out is Dezo ("Dezoris"), the ice planet. Little is known about this mysterious and dark planet.

One thousand years have passed since Alis and her friends liberated Algo from the evil Lassic in the previous game; Algo has since prospered under the care of a giant computer called the Mother Brain. The Mother Brain regulates the Climatrol tower which has terraformed Mota, the biosystems lab, and all other things that provide whatever the people in Mota need.

The game begins with the character Rolf recalling a strange recurring nightmare he has been having. In the dream, a young girl who Rolf does not recognize – but who resembles Alis – is battling a demon. Finally, just before the demon would kill her, Rolf awakens. From his home in Paseo, Mota's capital, Rolf goes to the central tower to meet with the head of government on Mota, in order to receive his newest mission.

The first threat is an increase in dangerous biomonsters (biologically altered animals). Rolf sets off with his companion Nei, a humanoid with catlike features, to investigate, accompanied by six others with each different, but same purpose. Along the way, the group discovers a human-biomonster hybrid named Neifirst, who reveals that Nei's origins are the same as her own. Being part biomonster, she is an outcast from society, causing her to loathe mankind and, because of this, sabotage both Mota's climate control system and the biosystems laboratory. Nei confronts Neifirst and battles her in a one-on-one fight, but is defeated and killed. Anguished, Rolf and the remaining party defeat Neifirst, causing the biosystems laboratory to self-destruct and bringing an end to Mota's Biomonster hazard.

However, this sets another incident in motion: the explosion of the lab damages the Climatrol equipment and causes the central lake, the residential reservoir of Mota, to overflow with water. To prevent a massive flood, Rolf and his friends decide to open up the surrounding four dams. After unlocking the last one, they are captured by Mother Brain's security robots, charged with causing the environmental disaster, and sentenced to death upon the Gaira satellite. However, the satellite malfunctions and collides with Palm, destroying both. Rolf and company are rescued in the nick of time by a space pirate, Tyler.

Now the system's most wanted criminals, blamed for Palm's destruction and the deaths of its people, the group boards Mota's last remaining spacecraft – legacy of a space program now falling into ruins – to the mysterious and dangerous Dezo. Located at a far corner of the planet is the Esper Mansion: upon reaching it, Rolf awakens the legendary Lutz from a long sleep. Lutz reveals the secrets of Rolf's past, as well as the dark secret of Mother Brain which relates to the fate and destruction Algo is now facing. In order to save the System, the heroes seek to recover the powerful Nei arsenal, found in four hidden dungeons, capable of defeating the enemies on the spaceship Noah, where Mother Brain resides.

It is eventually revealed that the demon from Rolf's original nightmare – Dark Force, Lassic's true corruptor and Alis' enemy a thousand years ago – has corrupted Noah and been behind every threat Rolf has faced, including Mother Brain itself. Rolf confronts the two evil entities and defeats them. After the final battle, Lutz alerts him that there are still people on the ship: they're the remaining survivors from Earth. They reveal they created Mother Brain to satisfy their greedy lifestyle at the expense of Algo's resources, and a fight between the heroes and the earthmen ensues. The game ends with the outcome unrevealed.

John Nike, Vice President of Guerrilla Marketing, contracts Hack Nike, a clumsy and naïve low-level-employee, to execute an ambitious and unethical secret marketing scheme. John plans to increase interest in the upcoming Nike Mercury shoes by having Hack kill people who try to buy them, intending to make the shoes appear so desirable that customers are killing each other to acquire them. Hack signs the contract without reading it. When he finds out that it requires him to commit murder, he subcontracts the scheme to the Police, now a mercenary organisation, in an attempt to keep his job (which requires fulfilling the contract) without having to take responsibility for murder.

After several children are murdered at various Nike stores on opening day, Jennifer Government takes it upon herself to track down the perpetrators, even if she cannot get the funding for her investigation. One of the murdered children bought the shoes with money given to her by Buy Mitsui, a French stockbroker flush with money after recent professional success. Feeling personally responsible for the girl's death, Buy joins forces with Jennifer.

At the same time, Violet (Hack's girlfriend) creates a dangerous computer virus, intending to sell it to the highest bidder. She succeeds in selling it to ExxonMobil. Her handlers take her all over the world to exploit the virus's power, but never pay her for it. Angered, Violet turns to John Nike, who promises to help her revenge herself on ExxonMobil. In exchange, John demands that Violet kidnap Kate, Jennifer Government's daughter, intending to use her as leverage to deter Jennifer's investigation.

Hack Nike is fired and founds an anti-corporate activist group in order to take revenge on John Nike. Hack and Jennifer Government succeed in rescuing Kate and arresting John.

A Christmas party is held at the Beast's castle sometime after the enchantress's spell is broken, attended by almost the entire village. While reminiscing about the previous year's Christmas, Lumiere and Cogsworth get into an argument over who "saved" Christmas, prompting Mrs. Potts to tell the story.

Going back a year, not long after the Beast saved Belle from the wolves, Belle anticipates the coming Christmas season, as do the other servants, though they reveal that the Prince is against the season since that’s when he was transformed into a Beast and the enchanted rose was put under the bell jar on Christmas Eve. To lighten his spirit, Belle teaches the Beast how to ice skate. They are observed from the West Wing by Forte, a pipe organ who was formerly the Prince's court composer and does not want the spell to break (meaning he never wanted to be human again) as he is of more use in his enchanted form. He sends his piccolo minion, Fife, to sabotage their newfound friendship, causing Belle and the Beast to crash into the snow. Then, when Belle makes a snow angel, the Beast sees his snow figure as a shadow of a monster. He roars, thrashes the snow and storms off in a fit of rage. As Fife claims that Forte will be proud of him, the Beast stomps back into his castle in fury and depression.

Despite the Beast's misgivings, Belle decides to celebrate Christmas without his consent, though the Beast gradually opens up to the idea with advice from Lumiere. Belle meets Forte in the West Wing and he suggests that she venture into the forest to find a Christmas tree, but he secretly tells the Beast that Belle is abandoning him. Forte then continues to manipulate the Beast into a rage, destroying the Christmas decorations in the dining room and storming off outside to look for Belle. Belle and a few more servants find and chop the tree down, but Belle falls through thin ice and almost drowns. The Beast intervenes and saves her in time, though he locks her in the dungeon for supposedly breaking her promise not to leave.

As Belle is comforted inside the dungeon by the servants and Fife who felt guilty for what happened, Forte tempts the Beast to destroy the rose, when a petal flutters beside the storybook present Belle left him. The Beast then has a change of heart after reading it and ignoring Forte's plea, frees Belle, giving his consent to celebrate his Christmas. Powerless to prevent the inevitable, thinking that when human again he would once more fade into the background, Forte, in a lasting attempt, attempts to use his powers to bring the castle down, thinking that they can't fall in love if they're dead. Fife confronts Forte and was revealed that the solo Forte promised him was all along blank, even going as far to tell him that he's second rate and that's all he'll ever be. Beast then stormed up to confront Forte, but by then unreasonable to obey him. Belle and the others reached the West Wing where Lumiere, Cogsworth and Angelique try to save the rose, while Belle joined the Beast in confronting Forte. Fife pointed to the Beast's Forte's keyboard where he clambered up and pulled it away, removing Forte's magic abilities. The Beast violently smashed Forte's keyboard, Forte then tried to pull away from the wall, causing him to come crashing down into the floor, killing him while Belle comforts the devastated Beast. Soon the castle is repaired and Christmas is celebrated.

Back in the present, Mrs. Potts concludes that it was Belle who saved Christmas. Belle and the Prince enter the court to greet their guests, presenting Chip with a storybook as a present. As Fife, now the new court composer, leads the orchestra, the Prince and Belle share a moment on the balcony, where he gives her a rose as a gift.

Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine) is the orphaned son of an American man, Thomas Henry Caine (Bill Fletcher), and a Chinese woman, Kwai Lin, born in mid-19th-century China. After his maternal grandfather's death he is accepted for training at a Shaolin Monastery, where he grows up to become a Shaolin priest and martial arts expert.

In the pilot episode, Caine's beloved mentor and elder, Master Po, is murdered by the Emperor's nephew; outraged, Caine retaliates by killing the nephew. With a price on his head, Caine flees China to the western United States, where he seeks to find his family roots, and ultimately, his half-brother, Danny Caine. A recent tombstone dated 1874 in a season 3 episode places the stories approximately between 1871 and 1875.

Although it is his intention to avoid notice, Caine's training and sense of social responsibility repeatedly force him out into the open, to fight for justice or protect the underdog. After each such encounter he must move on, both to avoid capture and prevent harm from coming to those he has helped. Searching for his family, he meets a preacher (played by real-life father John Carradine) and his mute sidekick Sunny Jim (played by real-life brother Robert Carradine), then his grandfather (played by Dean Jagger).

Flashbacks are often used to recall specific lessons from Caine's childhood training in the monastery from his teachers, the blind Master Po (Keye Luke) and Master Chen Ming Kan (Philip Ahn). In those flashbacks, Master Po calls his young student "Grasshopper", given from a playful lesson he taught to Caine as a child about being aware of the world around him, including the grasshopper that happened to be at his feet at that moment.

During four episodes of the third and final season ("Barbary House", "Flight to Orion", "The Brothers Caine", and "Full Circle"), Caine finds his brother Danny (Tim McIntire) and his nephew Zeke (John Blyth Barrymore).

In Gotham City, a young Bruce Wayne falls down a dry well and is attacked by a swarm of bats, developing a fear of them. Attending the opera with his parents, Thomas and Martha, Bruce becomes frightened by performers masquerading as bats and asks to leave. Outside, mugger Joe Chill murders Bruce's parents in front of him, and the orphaned Bruce is raised by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth. 14 years later, Chill is paroled after testifying against mafia boss Carmine Falcone. Bruce intends to murder Chill to avenge his parents, but one of Falcone's assassins does so first. Bruce's childhood friend Rachel Dawes berates him for acting outside the justice system, saying that his father would be ashamed. After confronting Falcone, who tells him that real power comes from being feared, Bruce spends the next seven years traveling the world training in combat and immersing himself in the criminal underworld.

In a Bhutan prison, he meets Henri Ducard, who recruits him to the League of Shadows led by Ra's al Ghul. After completing his training in ninja methods and purging his fears, Bruce learns that the League knows about Gotham and, believing the city is beyond saving, intends to destroy it. Bruce rejects the League and its edict that killing is necessary, burning down their temple during his escape. Ra's is supposedly killed by falling debris, while Bruce saves the unconscious Ducard. Returning to Gotham intent on fighting crime, Bruce takes an interest in his family's company, Wayne Enterprises, which is being taken public by the unscrupulous William Earle. Company archivist Lucius Fox, a friend of Bruce's father, allows Bruce access to prototype defense technologies, including a protective bodysuit and a heavily armored vehicle called a Tumbler. Bruce poses publicly as a shallow playboy, even to Rachel for a moment; while setting up a base in the caves beneath Wayne Manor and taking up the vigilante identity of "Batman", inspired by his childhood fear, which he has now conquered.

Intercepting a drug shipment, Batman provides Rachel, now a Gotham Assistant District Attorney, with evidence against Falcone and enlists Sergeant James Gordon, one of Gotham's few honest cops, to arrest him. In prison, Falcone meets Dr. Jonathan Crane, a corrupt psychologist whom he has helped smuggle drugs into Gotham. Donning a scarecrow mask, Crane sprays Falcone with a fear-inducing hallucinogen which drives him insane, and has him transferred to Arkham Asylum. While investigating his crimes, Batman is sprayed with the hallucinogen and set on fire by Crane but manages to escape and is saved by Alfred, who gives him an antidote for the hallucinogen developed by Fox. When Rachel accuses Crane of corruption, he reveals to her that he has introduced his drug into Gotham's water supply. Crane then drugs Rachel with the hallucinogen, but Batman subdues him and sprays Crane with his own chemical to interrogate him, where Crane claims to work for Ra's al Ghul.

Batman evades the police by attracting a large horde of bats using a high-pitched sound, to get Rachel to safety, administering her the antidote and giving her a vial of it for Gordon and another for mass production. At Bruce's birthday party, Ducard reappears and reveals himself to be the true Ra's al Ghul. Having stolen a powerful microwave emitter from Wayne Enterprises, he plans to vaporize Gotham's water supply, rendering Crane's drug airborne and causing mass hysteria that will destroy the city. He sets Wayne Manor aflame and leaves Bruce to die, but Alfred rescues him. Ra's loads the microwave emitter onto Gotham's monorail system to release the drug at the city's central water source. Batman rescues Rachel from a drugged mob and indirectly reveals his identity to her. Confronting Ra's on the monorail, as Gordon uses the Tumbler's cannons to destroy a section of the track, Batman refuses to kill Ra's but chooses not to save him, gliding from the train as it crashes, killing Ra's.

Bruce gains Rachel's respect and love, but she decides she cannot be with him now, telling him if Gotham should no longer need Batman, they can be together. Batman becomes a public hero and Bruce reveals he has purchased a controlling stake in Wayne Enterprises, firing Earle and replacing him with Fox. Sergeant Gordon is promoted to Lieutenant, shows Batman the Bat-Signal, and tells him about a criminal who leaves behind Joker playing cards. Batman promises to look into it, and disappears into the night.

In San Francisco, homicide detective Nick Curran investigates the murder of retired rock star Johnny Boz, who has been stabbed to death with an ice pick during sex with a mysterious blonde woman. Nick's only suspect is Boz's girlfriend, crime novelist Catherine Tramell, who has written a novel that mirrors the crime. It is concluded that either Catherine is the murderer or someone is attempting to frame her. Catherine is uncooperative and taunting during the investigation, smoking and exposing herself during her interrogation. She passes a lie detector test and is released. Nick discovers Catherine has a history of befriending murderers, including her girlfriend Roxy, who impulsively killed her two younger brothers when she was 16 years of age, and Hazel Dobkins, who killed her husband and children for no apparent reason.

Nick, who accidentally shot two tourists while high on cocaine during an undercover assignment, attends counseling sessions with police psychologist Dr. Beth Garner, with whom he has an on-and-off affair. Nick discovers that Catherine is basing the protagonist of her latest book on him, wherein his character is murdered after falling for the wrong woman. Nick suspects that Catherine has bribed Lt. Marty Nielsen of Internal Affairs for information from Nick's psychiatric file and that Beth had previously given it to Nielsen after he threatened to recommend Nick's termination. Nick assaults Nielsen in his office, and later becomes a prime suspect when Nielsen is killed. Nick suspects Catherine, and when his behavior deteriorates, he is put on leave.

Nick and Catherine begin a torrid affair with the air of a cat-and-mouse game. Nick arrives at a club and witnesses Catherine doing cocaine with Roxy and another man. Nick and Catherine dance and make out, and are later observed by Roxy, having violent sex in Catherine's bed. Catherine ties Nick to the headboard with a white silk scarf, just as Boz was tied by the mystery blonde, but does not kill him. Roxy, jealous of Nick, attempts to run him over with Catherine's car, but dies when the car crashes. Catherine grieves over Roxy's death and tells Nick about a previous lesbian encounter at college that went awry. She claims that the girl became obsessed with her, causing Nick to believe that Catherine may not have killed Boz. Nick identifies the girl as Beth, who acknowledges the encounter, but she claims it was Catherine who became obsessed. Additionally, Nick discovers that a college professor of Beth and Catherine's was also killed with an ice pick in an unsolved homicide, and that the events inspired one of Catherine's early novels.

Nick comes across the final pages of Catherine's book in which the fictional detective finds his partner's body in an elevator. Catherine then breaks off their affair, causing Nick to become upset and suspicious. Nick later meets his partner Gus Moran, who has arranged to meet with Catherine's college roommate at an office building, hoping to reveal what really went on between Catherine and Beth. As Nick waits in the car, Gus is stabbed to death with an ice pick in the elevator. Recalling the last pages of Catherine's book, Nick runs into the building, only to find Gus' body in a manner similar to the scene described. Beth unexpectedly arrives and explains that she received a message to meet Gus. Nick suspects Beth has murdered Gus and, believing that she is reaching for a gun, shoots her, but discovers that Beth was only fiddling with an ornament on her key chain.

Evidence collected at the scene and in Beth's apartment implicates her as the killer of Boz, Nielsen, Moran, and her own husband, along with collections of photos and newspaper clippings of Catherine that imply an obsession with her. Nick is left confused and dejected. He returns to his apartment where Catherine meets him. She explains her reluctance to commit to him, as, people she cares about keep dying; but then, the two have sex. As they discuss their future, an ice pick is revealed to be under the bed.

• Maggie Cassella hosts celebrities who talk about the worst aspects of the entertainment industry.

Rupert Pupkin is a delusional and aspiring stand-up comedian trying to launch his career. After meeting Jerry Langford, a successful comedian and talk-show host, Rupert believes his "big break" has finally come. He attempts to book a spot on Langford's show, but is continually rebuffed by his staff, particularly Cathy Long, and finally by Langford himself. Along the way, Rupert indulges in elaborate and obsessive fantasies in which he and Langford are colleagues and friends.

Hoping to impress, Rupert invites a date, Rita, to accompany him when he arrives uninvited at Langford's country home. When Langford returns home to find Rupert and Rita settling in, he angrily tells them to leave. Rupert continues brushing off Jerry's dismissals and Rita's urging until Jerry finally retorts that he had only told Rupert he could call him so Jerry would get rid of him. Bitterly vowing to work "50 times harder", Rupert finally leaves.

Exhausted with rejection, Rupert hatches a kidnapping plot with the help of Masha, a fellow stalker similarly obsessed with Langford. As ransom, Rupert demands that he be given the opening spot on that evening's episode of Langford's show (guest hosted by Tony Randall) and that the show be broadcast in normal fashion. The network's bosses, lawyers and the FBI agree to his demands, with the understanding that Langford will be released once the show airs. Between the taping of the show and the broadcast, Masha has her "dream date" with Langford, who is taped to a chair in her parents' Manhattan townhouse. Langford convinces her to untie him under the guise of seduction, at which time he seizes the gun, only to find it is a toy gun loaded with faulty pellets. He slaps Masha and flees downtown, where he angrily sees Rupert's full stand-up routine on a series of television display sets.

Meanwhile, Rupert's act is well received by the studio audience. In his act, he describes his troubled upbringing while simultaneously laughing at his circumstances. Rupert then closes his act by confessing to the audience that he kidnapped Langford to break into show business. As the audience still laughs (thinking it's still a part of his act), Rupert responds by saying: "Tomorrow, you'll know I wasn't kidding and you'll all think I'm crazy. But I figure it this way: better to be king for a night than a schmuck for a lifetime." Having shown the broadcast to Rita at her bar, he proudly submits to his arrest as the FBI agents profess distaste for his jokes.

The film ends with a news report of Rupert's crime, his six-year prison sentence and parole after two years, set to a montage of storefronts stocking his "long-awaited" autobiography, ''King for a Night'', which states that Rupert still considers Langford his friend and mentor and that he is currently weighing several "attractive offers," including comedy tours and a film adaptation of his memoirs. Rupert later takes the stage for a television special with a live audience, where an announcer enthusiastically introduces him as the King of Comedy while Rupert himself prepares to address his audience. The announcer repeats "Ladies and gentlemen, Rupert Pupkin", or a variation of this, seven times.

Maximilian Berber (Max), a promiscuous gay man in 1930s Berlin, is at odds with his wealthy family because of his homosexuality. One evening, much to the resentment of his boyfriend Rudolph Hennings (Rudy), he brings home a handsome Sturmabteilung man, Wolfgang Granz (Wolf). Unfortunately, it is the night that Hitler orders the assassination of the upper echelon of the Sturmabteilung corps, to consolidate his power. Wolf is discovered the next morning and killed by SS men in Max and Rudy's apartment, and the two have to flee their home.

They seek counsel from Rudy's boss Greta. Greta is a drag-queen; she ran her own gay club, which is newly shut down (implicitly due to, at the time, new Paragraph 175 enforcements). Greta explains that the SS approached her for information about Wolf, and that she took them to Max and Rudy's apartment. She officially fires Rudy and hands Max the finder's fee she earned from the SS. They leave the club and Berlin behind.

Max's uncle Freddie, who is also gay, but lives a more discreet life with rent boys to satisfy his desires, has organized new papers for Max to flee to France where homosexuality is legal, but Max refuses to leave Rudy behind. As a result, Max and Rudy are found in a forest tent-colony and arrested by the Gestapo. They are forced to board a train headed for Dachau concentration camp.

On the train, Rudy is spotted wearing glasses by an officer. The officer makes Rudy crush his glasses, and then orders Rudy to be taken, presumably to be killed for his poor eyesight. Rudy is beaten within an inch of his life, all the while Max tries to ignore his screams. Another prisoner on the train, wearing a pink triangle patch, explains the patch system during the Holocaust to Max and tells Max that he must show no sentiment towards Rudy. The officer has Rudy taken back to Max and coerces Max to beat Rudy to death. Max is taken by the guards and lies to them, telling them that he is a Jew rather than a homosexual, because he believes his chances for survival in the camp will be better if he is not assigned the pink triangle. Max later confesses, to the same prisoner from the train, that the guards then forced him to have intercourse with the body of a dead pre-teen girl to "prove" he was not homosexual. That prisoner reveals their name is Horst.

In the camp, Max makes friends with Horst, who shows him the dignity that lies in acknowledging what one is. They fall in love and become lovers through their imagination and through their words. After Horst is shot by camp guards, Max puts on Horst's jacket with the pink triangle and commits suicide by grabbing an electric fence.

The little girl Isabelle (named after Franquin's daughter) gets into a lot of adventures when the evil witch Kalendula troubles Isabelle's uncle Hermès and his fiancée, the good witch Calendula (who is the descendant of the evil Kalendula). Other stories are about a magical painting, a flying village or a floating island.

The stories have a poetical tone, although mixed with tons of jokes and puns, rhyming ghosts, a talking diamond and Isabelle's down-to-earth aunt – whose greatest concern when Isabelle gets into an adventure is whether she's dressed warmly enough, even when she descends into Hades. The drawings are packed with details and the poetic nature of the stories comes through in the imaginative animals and backgrounds.

Anthony "Tick" Belrose (Hugo Weaving), using the drag pseudonym of Mitzi Del Bra, is a Sydney-based drag queen who accepts an offer to perform his drag act at Lasseters Hotel Casino Resort managed by his estranged wife Marion in Alice Springs, a remote town in central Australia. After persuading his friends and fellow performers, Bernadette Bassenger (Terence Stamp), a recently bereaved transgender woman, and Adam Whitely (Guy Pearce), a flamboyant and obnoxious younger drag queen who goes under the drag name Felicia Jollygoodfellow, to join him, the three set out for a four-week run at the casino in a large tour bus, which Adam christens "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."

While on the long journey through remote lands bordering the Simpson Desert, they meet a variety of characters, including a group of friendly Aboriginal Australians for whom they perform, the less accepting attitudes of rural Australia in such towns as Coober Pedy, and are subjected to homophobic abuse and violence, including having their bus vandalized with homophobic graffiti.

When the bus breaks down in the middle of the desert, Adam spends the whole day repainting it lavender to cover up the vandalism. The trio later meet Bob, a middle-aged mechanic from a small outback town who joins them on their journey after his wife leaves him. Before they arrive at Alice Springs, Tick reveals that Marion is actually his wife, as they never divorced, and that they are actually going there as a favour to her. Continuing their journey, Adam is almost mutilated by a homophobic gang before he is saved by Bob and Bernadette. Adam is shaken and Bernadette comforts him, allowing them to reach an understanding. Likewise, the others come to terms with the secret of Tick's marriage and resolve their differences. Together, they fulfill a long-held dream of Adam's, which, in the original plan, is to climb Kings Canyon in full drag regalia.

Upon arrival at the hotel, it is revealed that Tick and Marion also have an eight-year-old son, Benjamin, whom Tick has not seen for many years. Tick is nervous about exposing his son to his drag profession and anxious about revealing his homosexuality, though he is surprised to discover that Benjamin already knows and is fully supportive of his father's sexuality and career. When their contract at the resort is over, Tick and Adam head back to Sydney, taking Benjamin back with them, so that Tick can get to know his son. However, Bernadette decides to remain at the resort for a while with Bob, who has decided to work at the hotel after the two of them had become close.

Seymour Irving Levov is born and raised in the Weequahic section of Newark, New Jersey, in 1927 as the elder son of a successful Jewish American glove manufacturer, Lou Levov, and his wife Sylvia. Called "the Swede" because of his anomalous blond hair, blue eyes and Nordic good looks, Seymour is a star athlete in high school, a two-year veteran of the Marine Corps, and the narrator Nathan Zuckerman's idol and hero. Zuckerman and Seymour's younger brother, Jerry—who grows into a curmudgeonly, irascible heart surgeon with little empathy for the Swede—are schoolmates and close friends. The Swede eventually takes over his father's glove factory and marries Dawn Dwyer, a former beauty queen from nearby Elizabeth, whom he met in college. Following the death of the Swede from prostate cancer, Zuckerman writes an account of what he imagines the Swede's experiences would have been based on the little background information he receives from Jerry.

Seymour establishes what he believes to be a perfect American life with a beloved wife and daughter, a satisfying business career, and a magnificent house in the idyllic hamlet of Old Rimrock. Yet, as the Vietnam War and racial unrest wrack the country and destroy inner-city Newark, his precocious teenage daughter Meredith ("Merry"), beset by an emotionally debilitating stutter and outraged by the war, becomes increasingly radical in her beliefs. In February 1968, Merry plants a bomb in the Old Rimrock post office, which kills a bystander; she goes into permanent hiding. Seymour finds Merry five years later, living in deplorable conditions in inner-city Newark. During this reunion, Merry reveals that she was responsible for several more bombings, killing three more people. Although Merry informs him that her actions were deliberate, Seymour decides to keep their meeting a secret, believing Merry has been manipulated by an unknown political group and a mysterious woman named Rita Cohen.

At a dinner party, Seymour discovers that his wife Dawn has been having an affair with Princeton-educated architect William Orcutt III, for whom she undergoes a facelift. Seymour then realizes that his wife is planning to leave him for Orcutt. It is revealed that Seymour himself previously had a short-term affair with Merry's speech therapist, Sheila Salzman, and that she and her husband Shelly hid Merry in their home after the post office bombing. Seymour sadly concludes that everyone he knows may have a veneer of respectability, but each engages in subversive behavior and that he cannot understand the truth about anyone based upon the conduct they outwardly display. He is forced to see the truth about the chaos and discord rumbling beneath the "American pastoral", which has brought about profound personal and societal changes he no longer can ignore. Simultaneously, the dinner party underscores the fact that no one ever truly understands the hearts of other people.

Former Ohio State quarterback and rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah assists experienced agent Angelo Pappas in investigating a string of bank robberies by the "Ex-Presidents": a gang of robbers who wear rubber masks of Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson. Rather than robbing the vault, they only demand the cash the tellers have in their drawers, and are gone within ninety seconds.

Pursuing Pappas's theory that the criminals are surfers, Utah goes undercover to infiltrate the surfing community. He fabricates a personal family tragedy to persuade orphaned surfer and restaurant waitress, Tyler Endicott to teach him to surf, after she saves him from drowning during his first attempt at surfing. Through her, he meets Bodhi, the charismatic leader of a gang of surfers consisting of Roach, Grommet, and Nathanial. The group are initially wary of Utah, but accept him when Bodhi recognizes him as the former college football star who quit the sport due to a knee injury. As he masters surfing, Utah finds himself increasingly drawn to the surfers' adrenaline-charged lifestyle, Bodhi's philosophies, and Tyler. Following a clue retrieved by analyzing toxins found in the hair of one of the bank robbers, Utah and Pappas lead an FBI raid on another gang of surfers, resulting in the deaths of two of them. The raid inadvertently ruins a DEA undercover operation, as those surfers were wanted for separate charges regarding drug dealing, but they are disproven to be the Ex-Presidents.

Watching Bodhi's group surfing, Utah begins to suspect that they are the "Ex-Presidents", noting how close a group they are and the way one of them moons other surfers in the same manner one of the robbers does when leaving a bank. Utah and Pappas stake out a bank and the Ex-Presidents appear. While wearing a Reagan mask, Bodhi leads Utah on a foot chase through the neighborhood, which ends when Utah's old knee injury flares up after jumping into a flood control channel. Despite still having a clear shot, the injured Utah is unwilling to kill Bodhi, and allows him to escape - repeatedly shooting into the air instead.

At a campfire that night, it is confirmed that Bodhi and his gang are the Ex-Presidents. Tyler discovers Utah's FBI badge and angrily terminates their relationship after briefly holding him at gunpoint. Shortly afterwards, Bodhi aggressively recruits Utah into going skydiving with the group and he accepts. After the jump, Bodhi reveals that he knows Utah is an FBI agent and has arranged for his friend Rosie, a non-surfing thug, to hold Tyler hostage. Utah is blackmailed into participating in the Ex-Presidents' last bank robbery of the summer. As a result, Grommet, along with an off-duty cop and a bank guard, who both attempt to foil the robbery—are killed. Outraged by Grommet's death, Bodhi knocks Utah out and leaves the scene.

Defying their superior and FBI director, Ben Harp who arrests Utah for the armed robbery, Pappas and Utah head to the airport where Bodhi, Roach, and Nathanial are about to leave for Mexico. During a shootout, Pappas and Nathanial are killed and Roach is seriously wounded. With Roach aboard, Bodhi forces Utah onto the plane at gunpoint. Once airborne and over their intended drop zone, Bodhi and Roach put on their parachutes and jump from the plane, leaving Utah to take the blame. With no other parachutes available, Utah jumps from the plane with Bodhi's gun and intercepts him. After landing safely, Utah's knee gives out again, allowing Bodhi to escape Utah's grasp. Bodhi meets with Rosie and releases Tyler. Roach dies of his wounds, and Bodhi and Rosie leave with the money, with Tyler and Johnny watching on.

Nine months later, Utah tracks Bodhi to Bells Beach in Victoria where a record storm is producing lethal waves. This is an event Bodhi had talked about experiencing, calling it the "50-Year Storm". Utah attempts to bring Bodhi into custody, but Bodhi refuses. During a brawl in the surf, Utah manages to handcuff himself to Bodhi, who begs Utah to release him so he can ride the once-in-a-lifetime wave. Knowing Bodhi will not come back alive, Utah releases him, bids him farewell, and sees him step towards the wave. While the authorities watch Bodhi surf to his death, Utah walks away, throwing his FBI badge into the ocean.

The story starts with live-action versions of the Muppets enjoying an ice skating party. After the skating party, the characters head home to Sesame Street performing the song "True Blue Miracle".

In the main story, Oscar the Grouch plants the seeds of doubt in Big Bird's mind whether Santa Claus can actually fit down chimneys to deliver Christmas presents. Big Bird enlists the help of Kermit and Grover to interview children about how he manages it; their responses vary. Big Bird even attempts a reenactment with Snuffleupagus but it is unsuccessful. Big Bird spends the night out in the cold on the roof, waiting for Santa to appear in person. After the residents of Sesame Street realize that he has gone missing, Maria confronts Oscar for upsetting Big Bird. Oscar agrees to help search for him.

Meanwhile, in a variation on the 1905 O. Henry story "The Gift of the Magi," Bert and Ernie want to give each other Christmas presents, but they have no money. Bert trades away his prized paper clip collection to buy a pink soap dish for Ernie's Rubber Duckie, but Ernie has bartered Rubber Duckie to get Bert an empty cigar box for the paper clips. Mr. Hooper, the store owner, realizes what is happening and gives them their treasured possessions back as Christmas presents.

Also, Cookie Monster attempts to get in touch with Santa Claus to bring him cookies for Christmas. In confusion he ends up violently eating his pencil to write a letter, his typewriter, and a telephone used to call the North Pole. At Gordon and Susan Robinson's apartment, he laments to Gordon that he was unable to contact Santa. Gordon suggests leaving cookies for Santa, leaving Cookie perplexed.

In the end, Big Bird walks down from the roof to warm up, much to the relief of his friends. Big Bird realizes Santa had already come and gone when he sees the presents under the tree (due to him falling asleep on the roof and Santa's shadow looms over him while he sleeps). He regrets not learning how Santa can go through chimneys, but he comes to recognize that being together with family and friends is more important. Oscar, true to form, starts needling Big Bird about the Easter Bunny, only to be rebuked by Gordon and Susan as Big Bird begins to fret about the holidays all over again.

The special concludes with Susan and Gordon returning to their apartment to find that Cookie Monster has eaten the needles off their Christmas tree.

King Roderick the Tyrant, having sent Lord Ravenhurst to slaughter the Royal Family of England, usurps the throne. The Black Fox and his band of rebels rescue the true king, an infant with the royal "purple pimpernel" birthmark on his backside. They harass Roderick and his men while guarding the baby. Lords Brockhurst, Finsdale, and Pertwee convince the king to seek alliance with Sir Griswold of MacElwain, by offering him Roderick's daughter Gwendolyn in marriage. Gwendolyn objects, for the castle witch Griselda foretold a more gallant lover.

Hubert Hawkins, the Black Fox's minstrel, brings a troupe of acrobat-midgets from the carnival to replace him so he can fight, but the Black Fox refuses. The King's men find their hideout, so Hawkins and another rebel, Maid Jean, are ordered to disguise themselves as wine merchants and take the baby to safety. They meet the king's newly hired jester, Giacomo, on the road. Jean knocks him out and tells Hawkins to steal his identity. Hawkins heads for the castle, and Jean travels on alone, but is captured by the king's men, who were ordered to bring the fairest wenches to the king's court.

The Lord Ravenhurst tells a friend that Giacomo is actually an assassin whom he hired to kill Brockhurst, Finsdale, and Pertwee, to prevent the alliance. Gwendolyn decides to kill Griselda for lying to her, until Griselda promises Giacomo as her prophesied lover. Hawkins, unaware of both these things, enters the castle and tries to make contact with a rebel confederate. However, Ravenhurst unwittingly appears at his whistle signal, so Hawkins allies himself with him instead. Prior to his arrival, Fergus the Hostler, the true confederate, met up with Jean and hid the baby in a basket. Jean sneaks into the palace and steals a key to a secret passage from King Roderick's chambers.

Hawkins is put under a hypnotic spell by Griselda, and in that state woos the princess, receives his orders to kill the three lords from Ravenhurst, and gets the key from Jean, but loses it back to the king. Hawkins forgets all this once the spell is gone. Fergus gives him the basket with the baby, but before he can get it to safety, Hawkins is called before the king. He manages to distract the king and crowd from noticing the basket with a well-received performance, and Jean rescues the basket. Griselda, meanwhile, poisons the three lords' cups to prevent the alliance. Ravenhurst believes Hawkins killed them.

Griswold arrives, but Gwendolyn declares her love for "Giacomo", and Hawkins is arrested and jailed. Ravenhurst learns that Giacomo never arrived and concludes that Hawkins, having 'sabotaged' the alliance, must be the Black Fox. He convinces Roderick to rush Hawkins through the trials to become a knight so he can duel Griswold, ostensibly so Griswold can kill the jester but really so the Black Fox can eliminate Griswold.

Jean steals back the key, and Fergus sends it by pigeon to the real Black Fox, but is caught and tortured to death by Ravenhurst's men. At the tournament, Griselda poisons one of the drinks and tells Hawkins which it is. One of Griswold's men overhears and warns Griswold, and he and Hawkins both struggle to remember which of the glasses is poisoned (the famous "Vessel with the Pestle" routine) and end up not drinking the toast. Through sheer luck, Hawkins defeats Griswold in the duel, but spares his life and sends him away.

Ravenhurst finds the baby and exposes Hawkins as a traitor. However, the real Black Fox sends the midgets through the secret passage, and they rescue Hawkins, Jean, and the baby. Jean clubs the door guard and lets the Black Fox's army into the castle. Threatened by Gwendolyn, Griselda hypnotizes Hawkins to become a sword master and he duels Ravenhurst, though the spell is accidentally switched on and off several times. Finally, Hawkins and Jean launch Ravenhurst from a catapult into the sea.

Griswold returns with his army, ready to kill the rebels, but Hawkins shows him the purple pimpernel birthmark on the baby. Griswold kneels to the baby, as does everyone else, including Roderick. Hawkins leads everybody in song as the film ends.

The CIA has covertly hired Professor Jerry Hathaway at Pacific Technical University to develop the power source for "Crossbow": a laser weapon precise enough to commit illegal political assassinations from outer space. Hathaway uses his position to recruit brilliant students to do the work for him but, aside from his graduate student and toady Kent, does not tell them the reason for their research.

Hathaway’s latest prospect is genius high school student Mitch Taylor. Despite his youth and inexperience, Hathaway makes Mitch the lead on the project due to his innovative and original ideas in the field of laser physics. Mitch is roomed with Chris Knight, another member of the team, a legend in the “National Physics Club” and one of Mitch’s idols. Mitch’s ideal of Chris is shattered, however, when Chris turns out to be more of a goof-off than a hard-working student. Meanwhile, Hathaway hopes Mitch will encourage Chris to straighten up his act and that their two exceptional minds can develop a proper power source.

With the deadline quickly approaching, Mitch feels the pressure to complete the project while Chris continues in his carefree attitude. After inviting Mitch to a pool party to blow off steam, Kent reports this to Hathaway, who lambasts Mitch. Mitch breaks down and tearfully calls his parents, telling them he wants to go home. Kent records the call without Mitch's knowledge and later plays the recording over the school's public address system, humiliating Mitch. As Mitch begins packing to leave, Chris explains about the pressures of school and burdens of being highly intelligent by relating the history of former Pacific Tech student Lazlo Hollyfeld. Lazlo ‘cracked’ under the pressure and disappeared (actually now living in the university's tunnels beneath Chris and Mitch’s closet). Chris, fearing the same could happen to him, learned to lighten up and begin enjoying life. Mitch acquiesces to stay and they exact revenge on Kent by disassembling his car and reassembling it in his dorm room.

Hathaway, angry about the still-incomplete project and Chris’s attitude, informs Chris that he intends to fail him in his final course needed for graduation and will give a coveted after-graduation job, originally promised to Chris, to Kent instead, as well as take steps to ensure Chris will never find work in the field of laser physics. Chris is disheartened and Mitch must use Chris’s same argument to convince him to stay. The two commit themselves to finishing the 5 megawatt laser and making sure Chris passes Hathaway's final exam.

Kent sabotages their latest, nearly-successful apparatus. Though Chris knows Kent destroyed the laser, he can do nothing about it and is left to brood over the injustice; this inspires him to come up with a whole new system. The new solution works flawlessly, impressing Hathaway; he congratulates Chris and assures him that he will graduate. Chris and Mitch leave and celebrate, but Lazlo arrives to tell them his suspicions regarding the possible uses of such a laser. Realizing he is right, they return to the lab, but all the laser equipment has already been removed by Hathaway.

They surreptitiously implant a radio transmitter in Kent's mouth and use it convince him he is speaking to Jesus. Kent divulges the location of the Air Force base where the equipment has been installed on a B-1 bomber. Chris and Mitch sneak onto the airbase and reprogram the coordinates of the target before going to Hathaway's home to setup a small prism. They gather outside Hathaway's home to watch as another school professor and a Congressman arrive, having been told of the test. Kent arrives and, though he was told by “Jesus” to remain outside, he goes inside. The laser test begins, with the new target being Hathaway's house. A very large bag of popcorn (Hathaway detests popcorn) is heated by the laser refracted by the prism, filling the house entirely and causing it to burst at the seams, with Kent riding a popcorn wave through the front door. Lazlo arrives in an RV—-which he has won using mathematics in a blind sweepstakes contest—-to tell them he is leaving. Later, Hathaway arrives to see what has become of his house.

Albert Einstein, the son of an apple farmer in Tasmania in the early 1900s, is interested in physics rather than the family business. His father shows him his grandfather's "laboratory", a remote shed where he made beer. His father tells him that they have tried for years to introduce bubbles to beer, saying that the person who can will change the world forever.

After heavy drinking, Einstein postulates the theory of mass–energy equivalence (E=MC²) as a formula to split beer atoms to create bubbles in beer. After spending all night preparing, he splits a beer atom (with hammer and chisel), which causes the shed to explode. After Einstein excitedly shows his parents the formula and a glass of beer with bubbles in it, his father encourages him to head to the Australian mainland and patent the formula. On a train to Sydney, he meets Marie Curie, a Polish-French scientist studying at the University of Sydney, and Preston Preston, the pompous manager of the Sydney Patent Office. Marie is fascinated by Einstein, while Preston is annoyed by him.

In Sydney, Einstein lodges in a whorehouse and finds that the patent office will not accept scientific theories. Einstein leaves and meets Marie at the university, only to upset her professor by erasing his work and writing his own theory. Though he is thrown out, Marie becomes more taken with him. Preston attempts to woo Marie with his upper-class lifestyle. During a performance at a social club, she mentions her interest in Einstein's theory. Jealous, Preston has his clerk call Einstein in to take his formula for safe keeping. Preston turns the formula over to the Bavarian Brothers, a pair of brewmasters who intend to use the formula to get rich.

As Einstein invents rock and roll and the electric violin, he begins a romance with Marie. While at a beach, he demonstrates surfing for her. As they leave, Marie wishes the moment could last forever. Inspired, Einstein comes up with the theory of relativity on the spot, amazing Marie. As they return to the hotel, the clerk tells him that Preston is creating a keg using his formula. When Einstein protests, the Bavarian Brothers claim that Einstein is insane and have him committed. Einstein's electric violin is destroyed, and he is kept isolated. Marie confronts Preston, who says Einstein would have done nothing with his work and he is trying to help people.

Marie infiltrates the institution as Einstein's father, confronts Einstein in the shower room, and reveals Preston's plot. When Einstein expresses helplessness, Marie leaves disappointed. Einstein rebuilds his violin into an electric guitar, uses it to short out the security system, and escapes. Upon finding she has returned to France, Einstein sails a small steamboat to France and wins her back by promising to stop Preston. They use the Curie family hot air balloon and head to the Nobel ceremony in Paris that night, attended by many inventors and scientific luminaries.

Charles Darwin announces Preston is the winner of this year's Nobel Prize for his beer bubble discovery. Einstein interrupts Preston's speech and questions if Preston knows what happens when an atom is split. When Darwin realizes that Preston has unknowingly built an atomic bomb, he orders Preston to stop. Preston scoffs at the warning and starts the keg, which starts shaking and building up pressure. Einstein attaches his guitar to the keg to drain it despite Marie's warning that this will kill him. Einstein plays a guitar riff, which causes the keg to lose power. Preston attempts to kill Einstein, but Marie knocks him unconscious. Einstein radiates pure energy, which causes a massive feedback, then an explosion.

As the smoke clears, Einstein is revealed to be unharmed. He and Marie kiss as the assembled crowd cheers. He returns to Tasmania with the keg and the Nobel Prize. He tells his family that he will give his formula to the world instead of keeping it for personal gain. Marie questions what will happen if governments use that formula to create atomic weapons. Einstein naively expresses his trust in the governments of the world, announces he has learned a new theory, and then plays a rock and roll song.

On June 10, 1940, in the fictional small Sicilian town of Castelcutò, a teenage boy named Renato Amoroso experiences three major events: the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini announces that Italy is entering World War II; he receives a new bike; he sees for the first time, together with his friends, the beautiful and sensual Maddalena "Malèna" Bonsignore Scordìa, who is the most desired young woman in town. Her husband Antonino "Nino" is in the armed forces fighting the British in Africa and she lives alone. Because of her physical appearance and her solitary status, she is an object of lust for all the town's men and of hatred for its women. She keeps an eye on her father, who is the school teacher of Renato and his friends and also lives alone, until he receives an anonymous note slandering her, which causes him to reject her.

Renato becomes obsessed with Malèna, spying on her in her house, stalking her when she leaves it and thinking of her in all his erotic fantasies. He also steals some of her underwear from her clothesline; when his parents find it in his bedroom, they become upset and strictly punish him, trying to break his fixation.

One day, Malèna is notified of her husband's death, adding grief to her isolation. She is said to have been with a lot of men; she unwisely fuels these rumours by allowing the young and handsome Cadei, a single air force officer, to visit her after dark. When she is denounced and put on trial by the wife of an elderly dentist, the officer sends testimony that he was nothing more than an occasional friend. The betrayal hurts, but Malèna says nothing to condemn him. After her acquittal, her advocate pays her a visit and forces her to pay for his services with sex.

Renato is very sad, because he wants to help Malèna but doesn't know how, so he asks God and his saints to watch over her and performs small acts of vengeance against her detractors.

Meanwhile, the war reaches Sicily and the town is bombed by the Allies, killing Malèna's father. Now penniless and universally scorned, with nobody willing to give her work, the only thing she can do to survive is sink into prostitution, cutting and coloring her hair and becoming compliant with all men. The townsfolk are happy to see her as a whore rather than a dangerous widow. When Nazi forces occupy the town, Renato sees his idol with two German soldiers and faints. His mother, believing it is demonic possession, takes him to a priest for exorcism, but his more practical father takes Renato to the town brothel, where he fantasizes that the prostitute initiating him is Malèna.

The Germans leave and American troops enter the town, welcomed by ecstatic cheers. The women accuse Malèna of collaborationism, storm the hotel and drag her out, ripping off her clothes, beating her and cutting off her hair. To escape further persecution, she leaves the hostile town and moves to Messina. A few days later Nino Scordìa, who has actually survived as a prisoner of war but lost an arm, comes back looking for her. His house has been taken over by displaced people and nobody wants to tell him how to find his wife. Renato becomes sad when Nino is mocked by former fascists and leaves him an anonymous note, saying that Malèna has always loved only him but has suffered misfortunes because of the war and has moved away, so Nino decides to reach her.

A year later, Nino and Malèna return and are seen strolling through the town. Women notice she now looks more matronly and plain, even if still beautiful. Since she is still married and living once again with her husband, people no longer consider her a threat and begin speaking of her and to her with more respect. While she walks home, some fruit falls from her bag and Renato rushes to pick it up. He wishes her good luck and she gives him an enigmatic half-smile: it's the only time Malèna and Renato have an actual interaction in the whole movie.

Many years later, an aged Renato reflects that he has known many women, many of whom asked him to remember them, without success; he admits that the only woman he can't forget is Malèna.

As his wife is uninterested in fishing, Dr. Paul Martin goes on a holiday on the Cornwall coast without her. There, Miranda, a mermaid, catches him by pulling on his fishing line and making him fall in the water. She drags him down to her underwater cavern where she keeps him prisoner for a week and only lets him go after he agrees to show her London, where he lives. Having ordered several extra long dresses from his wife's London couturier to cover her tail, he disguises her as an invalid patient in a bath chair and takes her to his home, initially for a three weeks stay.

Martin's wife Clare reluctantly agrees to the arrangement, but insists he hire someone to look after the "patient". He selects Nurse Carey for her eccentric nature and takes her into his confidence. To Paul's relief, Carey is delighted to be working for a mermaid as she has always believed they exist.

Miranda's seductive nature earns her the admiration of not only Paul, but also his chauffeur Charles, as well as Nigel, the fiancé of Clare's friend and neighbour Isobel, arousing the jealousy of the women. Nigel even breaks off his engagement, but when he and Charles discover that Miranda has been flirting with both of them, they come to their senses.

With Clare strongly suspecting that Miranda is a mermaid, she makes Martin admit it. But when Miranda overhears Clare telling Paul that the public must be told, Miranda wheels herself down to the Thames and makes her escape into the water. She had previously told them she would go to Majorca for a visit.

In the final scene, Miranda is shown on a rock, holding a merbaby on her lap.

The story is told in the first person by Jonah Scott, a British pilot for the fictional airline Air Britain who has arrived in New York City on his regular flight from London. The United States has collapsed after using up nearly all of its oil reserves and the collapse of the dollar.

During the night, Jonah and the apartment superintendent and guard, John Capel, must fight off armed burglars disguised as military police looking for the food Jonah and Senior Flight Attendant Kate Monahan brought with them. Capel is wounded but Kate demonstrates her basic medical skills in cleaning and dressing the wound. Jonah offers to help Capel and a newly orphaned girlfriend, Nikki, of one of his crew travel illegally to London aboard his aircraft, in order to escape the anarchy that has befallen America.

Shortly after takeoff from New York, Jonah is informed that Israel has attacked Beirut, Damascus, and Cairo with nuclear weapons in retaliation for their radioactive poisoning of Tel Aviv's water supply.

Israel's strike triggers a worldwide nuclear holocaust while the plane is ''en route'' to London, the Soviet Union and China attacking America and its allies. Four Soviet diplomats on board try to hijack the plane, only to be killed.

Unable to continue to Europe due to the fact that it has suffered nuclear attack, or return to also-attacked New York, the crew attempt to find a place to land their plane. They are granted landing rights at Funchal, but its airport is destroyed by the collision of an El Al flight and a desperate pilot disobeying instructions.

Jonah and his crew wonder whether to crash land on an island in the Azores chain with the help of Juan, a local resident who has contacted them via amateur radio. Jonah sights a NATO airfield, Lajes Field, which is mostly intact. Jonah and the nuclear scientists who are on board deduce that the Soviets needed Lajes intact and accordingly attacked it with a short-lived neutron bomb to occupy it. Jonah lands the plane at Lajes.

Although safe for now, rising levels of fallout from Europe require that they evacuate, and they decide to fly to Antarctica. They are not sure how many passengers they can bring and how many supplies they will need to bring. Jonah and the SAS soldiers on board manage to re-activate the base radar and use the teletype machines to make contact with a sheltered-in-place British naval officer in the Falkland Islands who is able to break cover and confirm with the McMurdo Antarctic base the existence of sufficient provisions, plus a nuclear reactor for warmth. He dies quickly.

A Soviet Antonov freighter aircraft lands at Lajes. Initially suspected of being a Soviet landing party to secure the crucial mid-Atlantic air force base, it turns out to be carrying two female Soviet Air Force crew and a large number of civilian refugees. Next morning both aircraft, fully fueled plus carrying as much extra fuel as possible, fly to Antarctica. When the Antonov cannot make the necessary altitude to overfly the worldwide belt of hot radiation (with the weight of cargo, passengers, and fuel), fifty Soviet volunteers sacrifice themselves by jumping from the plane.

Soon after the characters arrive at McMurdo, it is realised that the tilt of the Earth on its axis is being affected by the numerous nuclear explosions. There are two different endings of ''Down To A Sunless Sea'' which suggest either a radioactive death for all the survivors with a theological twist, or minus the polar advance of radiation, a chance for the almost one thousand survivors to rebuild the world.

A knight named Huldbrand comes across a fisherman's hut in the forest, and is welcomed in by the fisherman and his wife. He also meets their capricious eighteen-year-old foster daughter, Undine. The fisherman explains that years ago, their young daughter was lost in the lake and apparently drowned, but that same day, Undine appeared on their doorstep. Since then, they have raised her as their own.

Undine asks Huldbrand what he’s doing in the forest. He explains that he was participating in a tournament when he met Bertalda, a duke's foster daughter. As they flirted, she promised to give him her glove if he would explore the haunted forest. He did so, encountering strange and threatening spirits until he reached the fisherman’s home.

A storm arrives and a flood surrounds the house, stranding the group. During their time together, Huldbrand and Undine fall in love, although she continues to behave erratically and can seemingly control the weather. An elderly priest, Father Heilmann, arrives after being washed overboard from a ferry. Huldbrand suggests that the priest marry him and Undine, and they hold the ceremony immediately.

The morning after the wedding, Undine suddenly acts like a completely different person, kind and gentle. She explains to Huldbrand that elemental beings exist and she is a water-spirit. Her kind does not have immortal souls or any sense of morals, but can gain them by marrying humans. She was sent to live among humans by her parents, who hoped she would earn a soul in this way, and with her marriage to Huldbrand she’s accomplished this. She fears that Huldbrand will leave now that he knows what she is, but he swears never to abandon her.

With the flood receding, Huldbrand and Undine depart for his home. On the way they encounter Kuhleborn, a shapeshifting water-spirit and Undine's uncle. She is now frightened of him and begs him to leave, and Huldbrand tries to attack him, only for him to vanish into a waterfall.

In the city, everyone welcomes Huldbrand back. Bertalda is deeply disappointed when she learns that he is now married, but becomes friends with Undine. One day Kuhleborn visits Undine briefly, warning her of Bertalda. She rejects his warning but reveals at dinner that he told her who Bertalda's true parents are - Undine's own foster parents, the fisherman and his wife, whom she has brought to meet her. Bertalda is the child who they believed had drowned. Instead of the joyful reunion Undine expects, Bertalda feels humiliated to realize that she was born a peasant. She publicly reviles them and calls Undine a witch, but her identity is proven by her birthmarks.

Bertalda’s behavior causes both her foster parents and biological parents to disown her. Destitute, she begs Undine for forgiveness. Undine immediately takes her into her home, but Bertalda remains fearful of her, and Huldbrand's attraction to Bertalda resurfaces, leading to tension.

Undine orders the servants to seal up a fountain in their castle’s courtyard. Bertalda, who uses the water for her complexion, argues with her and complains to Huldbrand. He harshly demands an explanation. Undine explains that she is protecting their home from the malicious Kuhleborn, who would be able to enter through the fountain. She then asks Huldbrand never to speak angrily to her while they are near water, or her relatives will take her away. He contritely agrees.

Bertalda flees the castle in shame, and Huldbrand goes to rescue her. Kuhleborn, in different forms, torments and tricks the pair. He is about to drown them with a flood when Undine arrives, calms the waters, and carries them to safety.

The three live in peace for a while, until they decide to take a trip along the Danube to Vienna. While on the river, Kuhleborn continually torments them with storms, waves and frightening apparitions. The sailors and servants become suspicious of Undine as she magically stops these attacks, and Huldbrand begins to resent her. When a water-spirit steals Bertalda's golden necklace, Undine immediately offers her a coral necklace to replace it. Seeing this as a sign that Undine is colluding with the spirits, Huldbrand throws the coral necklace overboard and accuses her of being a sorceress. As she predicted, Undine disappears into the river, but not before sadly warning him to remain true to her.

Huldbrand grieves her loss, but as time goes on, decides to marry Bertalda. He even asks Father Heilmann to perform the wedding, but he refuses. The priest has received messages from Undine and cautions Huldbrand against breaking his wedding vows by taking another wife while Undine stil lives. Huldbrand himself dreams of Undine and Kuhleborn talking beneath the sea, saying that if Huldbrand marries another, Undine will be compelled to kill him. Undine says that she has protected the castle by sealing the fountain, so no water-spirits including herself can go there, but Kuhleborn points out that Huldbrand will be doomed if he ever unseals the fountain or leaves the castle.

Despite these warnings, Huldbrand continues with the wedding. Immediately after the ceremony, Bertalda wishes for water from the sealed fountain. The servants uncover the fountain, only for the veiled and weeping Undine to rise from it. She enters the castle and kisses Huldbrand, drowning him with her tears. She appears once more during his funeral and transforms into a stream encircling his grave, so that she is eternally embracing him.

Sattins Island (among the Islands of Earthsea, though this is not mentioned in the original story) contains a rustic village and their resident wizard, nicknamed "Underhill" because he lives in a cave below a hill. Fat, shy, and largely incompetent, Underhill mostly uses simple magic to help the villagers with day-to-day minor medical and agricultural difficulties. Meanwhile, the village's teacher, the pretty Palani, introduces the concept of naming to her schoolchildren: each citizen of Earthsea has one name as a child, which they abandon at puberty in favor of their "truename", but this name must be kept private as it can be used by ill-intentioned magicians to control the individual.

One day, a lone handsome stranger from the distant Archipelago arrives on the island. The locals dub him Blackbeard. He hires a village lad called Birt to guide him to Underhill's home. Speaking to Birt, Blackbeard reveals his purpose: he is a powerful magician, searching for the treasure of his ancestors, which was stolen by a dragon. He believes Underhill to be a wizard who defeated the dragon and made off with the treasure.

Birt and Blackbeard arrive at Underhill's home. There, Blackbeard confronts Underhill, culminating in a battle in which the two magicians shapeshift into different animals and natural forces. After Underhill transforms into a massive dragon, Blackbeard reveals that he knows Underhill's truename, Yevaud, and that speaking the name will lock Underhill into his true form. This proves effective, but not as Blackbeard expected; Underhill explains that he is in fact the dragon who stole the treasure of Blackbeard's ancestors, and so his true form is indeed that of a dragon. Blackbeard, stunned, is hastily dispatched by Yevaud. Meanwhile, Birt flees the island, taking his love Palani with him. As he does so, Yevaud, embracing his predatory dragon nature, prepares to devour the villagers of Sattins Island.

(In ''A Wizard of Earthsea'', Ged knows this tale as an ancient bit of lore and makes a desperate gamble based on it.)Spivack, Charlotte, ''Ursula K. Le Guin'', (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1984), page 27.

At the beginning of the story, the protagonist, a wizard named Festin, finds himself imprisoned. Thinking back, he recalls his apprehension at the news that the evil wizard Voll had been marching from island to island, among the islands of Earthsea subduing all in his way, with no one able to understand or fight his magic. Festin determines that Voll must have just reached his island; thus his imprisonment.

At first Festin, a strong wizard in his own right, is confident of his power to escape and overcome Voll – but all his attempts are rebuffed more than defeated. Finally, Festin's desperate longing for his beloved countryside makes him transform himself into a fish, swimming in one of the island's cool streams. However, Voll has noticed what happened, and a troll, one of the evil one's servants, finds and takes Festin out of the water. The wizard is trapped by his own spell and cannot change back.

By now, Festin has realized that the source of Voll's power and invulnerability is that he is already dead, and controls his servants from the world of the dead. The only course left to Festin is The Word of Unbinding, the uttering of which is tantamount to suicide – but which enables Festin to get at his enemy and destroy him.

Festin has forever lost the joys of his beloved island, but his sacrifice has saved others from Voll.

''Goblin Market'' tells the adventures of two close sisters, Laura and Lizzie, with the river goblins.

Although the sisters seem to be quite young, they live by themselves in a house, and draw water every evening from a stream. As the poem begins, the sisters hear the calls of the goblin merchants selling their fantastic fruits in the twilight. On this evening, Laura, intrigued by their strangeness, lingers at the stream after her sister goes home. (Rossetti hints that the "goblin men" resemble animals with faces like wombats or cats, and with tails.) Longing for the goblin fruits but having no money, the impulsive Laura offers to pay a lock of her hair and "a tear more rare than pearl."

Laura gorges on the delicious fruit in a sort of bacchic frenzy. Once finished, she returns home in an ecstatic trance, carrying one of the seeds. At home, Laura tells her sister of the delights she indulged in, but Lizzie is "full of wise upbraidings," reminding Laura of Jeanie, another girl who partook of the goblin fruits, and then died at the beginning of winter after a long and pathetic decline. Strangely, no grass grows over Jeanie's grave. Laura dismisses her sister's worries, and plans to return the next night to get more fruits for herself and Lizzie. The sisters go to sleep in their shared bed.

The next day, as Laura and Lizzie go about their housework, Laura dreamily longs for the coming meeting with the goblins. That evening, however, as she listens at the stream, Laura discovers to her horror that, although her sister still hears the goblins' chants and cries, she cannot.

Unable to buy more of the forbidden fruit, Laura sickens and pines for it. As winter approaches, she withers and ages unnaturally, too weak to do her chores. One day she remembers the saved seed and plants it, but nothing grows.

Months pass, and Lizzie realises that Laura is wasting to death. Lizzie resolves to buy some of the goblin fruit for Laura. Carrying a silver penny, Lizzie goes down to the brook and is greeted warmly by the goblins, who invite her to dine. But when the merchants realise that she has no intent to eat the fruit, and only intends to pay in silver, they attack, trying to feed her their fruits by force. Lizzie is drenched with the juice and pulp, but consumes none of it.

Lizzie escapes and runs home, but when the dying Laura eats the pulp and juice from her body, the taste repulses rather than satisfies her, and she undergoes a terrifying paroxysm.

By morning, however, Laura is fully restored to health. The last stanza attests that both Laura and Lizzie live to tell their children of the evils of the goblins' fruits, and the power of a bond between sisters.

The Outworld emperor Shao Kahn opens a portal to Earthrealm and has resurrected Queen Sindel, Princess Kitana's long-deceased mother, to facilitate his invasion. Thunder god Raiden and Earthrealm warriors Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, and Johnny Cage try to defend themselves, but Kahn kills Cage. The Earthrealm warriors retreat to seek allies.

Sonya Blade enlists the help of her Special Forces partner, Major Jackson "Jax" Briggs, she finds him, but the two are attacked by the Cyber Ninja Cyrax, and a group of Kahn's Extermination Squad, but Sonya and Jax emerge victorious, later on they split up, Sonya then finds a mud clearing with a gargoyle of a monster, then she is attacked by the female assassin Mileena and they fight, Sonya defeats Mileena, then the Gargoyle Monster comes to life to eat Sonya but Jax saves her in time and defeats the monster. Meanwhile, Kitana and Liu search for a Native American shaman named Nightwolf, who seemingly knows the key to defeating Kahn, but are then attacked by the Cyber Ninja Smoke and are saved by Sub-Zero. Later, Scorpion appears and fights Sub-Zero and then kidnaps Kitana.

Raiden meets with the Elder Gods and asks them why Kahn was allowed to break the tournament rules and force his way into Earthrealm, and how he can be stopped. One says that reuniting Kitana with her mother, Sindel, is the key to breaking Kahn's hold on Earthrealm, but another Elder God insists that the defeat of Kahn himself is the solution. Raiden is then asked by the Elder Gods about his feelings and obligations towards the mortals, and what he would be willing to do to ensure their survival.

Liu finds Nightwolf, who teaches him about the power of the Animality, a form of shapeshifting which utilizes the caster's strengths and abilities. To achieve the mindset needed to acquire this power, Liu must pass three tests. The first is a trial of his self-esteem, courage, and focus. The second comes in the form of temptation, which manifests itself in the form of Jade, a mysterious warrior who attempts to seduce Liu and offers her assistance after he resists her advances. Liu accepts Jade's offer and takes her with him to the Elder Gods' temple, where he and his friends meet with Raiden. The third test is never revealed.

The Earthrealm warriors learn that Raiden has sacrificed his immortality to freely fight alongside them. Together, they infiltrate Outworld to rescue Kitana and reunite her with Sindel in hopes of restoring her soul and closing the Outworld portal to Earth. Liu rescues Kitana while fighting Baraka and Sheeva, while the others incapacitate Sindel. However, Sindel remains under Kahn's control and escapes during an ambush. Jade reveals herself to be a double agent sent by Kahn to disrupt the heroes' plans. Kahn feeds Jade to the Gargoyle Monster for her failure. Raiden reveals that Shao Kahn is his brother and that the former Elder God Shinnok is their father. He realizes that Shinnok is supporting Kahn. Raiden and the Earthrealm warriors make their way to Kahn, Sindel, and his remaining generals Motaro and Ermac. Shinnok demands that Raiden submit to him and restore their broken family, at the expense of his mortal friends. Raiden refuses and is killed by an energy blast from Shao Kahn.

Jax, Sonya, and Kitana emerge victorious over Kahn's generals. Liu struggles with Kahn before unleashing his Animality form. This new form proves effective by exposing a cut to Kahn that proves he is now mortal as a consequence of his breaking the sacred rules. Shinnok attempts to intervene and kill Liu on Kahn's behalf, but two of the Elder Gods arrive, having uncovered Shinnok's treachery. They declare that the fate of Earth shall be decided in Mortal Kombat. Liu defeats Kahn, and Shinnok is banished to the Netherrealm. Earthrealm reverts to its former state. With Kahn's hold over Sindel broken, she reunites with Kitana. Raiden is revived by the Elder Gods, who bestow upon him his father's former position. Before departing to the immortal realm, he joins the Earthrealm warriors and tells them to be there for one another. The Earthrealm warriors return home.

While traveling through the Delphic Expanse, ''Enterprise'' encounters a trans-dimensional disturbance that lies directly along its time-sensitive course to Azati Prime and the Xindi weapon ("Stratagem"). The crew also learns that the disturbance causes permanent neurological damage to humans. To avoid a two-week detour, while avoiding the danger to the crew, Doctor Phlox disables the neocortex of all human crewmembers, to survive the four day journey through the disturbance at reduced speed.

While the crew is sedated, Phlox attends to his extended duties aboard the ship, including caring for Captain Archer's dog, Porthos, who is also immune to the effects of the disturbance. As he does so, he takes the opportunity to compose a letter to an acquaintance of his. Unfortunately Phlox himself begins to become nervous and is easily spooked by regular ship noises. In Engineering, falsely perceiving movement, he becomes increasingly tense and nervous. While investigating a noise he encounters Sub-Commander T'Pol, who is also carrying out duties while the human crew are sedated and, as a Vulcan, has been enjoying the quiet contemplation this situation allows her. She commits to spending more time with Phlox.

Phlox's paranoia escalates to delusions. At one point he believes that two Insectoids have somehow boarded the ship. T'Pol insists there is nothing on the sensors, but humours him by helping with a deck-to-deck search, which reveals nothing. When Phlox almost shoots Porthos, T'Pol reminds him that it is healthy for his race to use hallucinations to relieve stress. Phlox disagrees, until he sees a 'zombie' Ensign Sato and an awake Captain Archer. He finally scans himself and confirms the disturbance is impacting his thinking. He plans to sedate himself and let T'Pol run the ship, but she acknowledges that she is also becoming disturbed.

They discover that the anomaly is expanding and that they are ten weeks, rather than six hours, from emerging. Both of them are now easily agitated and distracted, with T'Pol's mind unable to focus on helping as Phlox battles to master the warp drive—he succeeds in getting them free. That done, he escorts T'Pol to her room, only to find her sleeping there, having been sedated at the same time as the human crew. His T'Pol hallucination disappears, but everyone is now safe. Phlox sends his unedited letter to his acquaintance, assuring him that he will enjoy the story of his hallucinations.