The Adding Machine

This scene begins in an office, much like the one pictured in Scene 2. There is the clicking of an adding machine, and Zero can be seen seated and absorbed in his task. He is accompanied by two men: Lieutenant Charles and Joe. Charles attempts to get Zero to stop adding, but he cannot–the men must work to pry Zero from the machine. Zero reveals he has been working this adding machine for 25 years, but he must stop, because Charles says he is “going back”–in other words, his soul is being recycled, or sent back to Earth. 

Charles informs him that every soul is used over and over again until it is worn out, and his has been through at least 50,000 rounds. What’s more, while a few souls are allowed to remember, some get better every time, but most just get worse–like Zero has. Again, Zero expresses preference for staying how and where he is. As with all souls, Zero will return him as a baby, wiped of memories, this time to do a new kind of adding down in a mine where all he must do is make a slight movement with his right toe.