that you plan to overwhelm
mankind with good deeds.
As for me, I'm not a bit worried
about you or myself,
and least of all about mankind.
Because you're not going
to achieve anything.
At best you'll get your Nobel Prize.
Or rather you'll get something
absolutely incongruous,
something you don't even think about.
Something like this telephone...
You dream of one thing,
but you get quite another.
Why did you do that?
Telephone... electricity...
Look, very good sleeping pills.
They don't make ones like that any
longer. Why so many of them here?
Maybe we'd better be going?
It will be dark soon,
difficult to come back.
By the way, it's absolutely clear
to me
that all this poem reciting
and making detours
is just a form of apologizing.
I can understand you.
Difficult childhood, bad environment...
But don't have any illusions,
I'm not going to forgive you.
Will you please stop it,
do me a favor.
Professor, come here, please.
Wait a minute.
Don't be in a hurry.
I'm in no hurry whatsoever.
I know, you're going to get mad.
Anyway, I must tell you...
We are now...
on the threshold...
This is the most important moment
in your life.
You must know that...
Your innermost wishes
will be made real here.
Your most sincere wish!
Born of suffering!
No need to say anything.
You just have to...
concentrate
and try to recall your whole life.
When a man thinks of the past,
he becomes kinder.
And most important...
Most important...
You have to believe!
Now you can go.
Who wants to be the first?
Maybe, you?
Me? No, I don't want to.
I understand, it's not easy,
but it will pass.
I doubt...
that it will pass.
If I begin recalling my life,
it's very unlikely I'll get any kinder.
Besides, don't you feel
how shameful the whole thing is?
Humiliating yourself,
sniveling, praying?
What's so bad in praying?
It's just your pride speaking.
Calm down, you're not ready yet.
It happens quite often.
Maybe, you first?
Yes, me.
We see before us
Professor's new invention!
An appliance exploring human souls!
Soulmeter!
It's only a bomb.
What?
You must be kidding.
No, it's just a bomb.
Twenty kilotons.
What for?
We had it assembled with my friends.
With my former colleagues.
This place will never bring any
happiness to anyone.
But if this thing gets into the wrong
hands...
Though, I'm not sure any more.
We came to the conclusion then...
that we shouldn't destroy the Zone
after all.
Even if it's some miracle,
it's still part of nature,
and therefore, a hope in a sense.
They had hidden that bomb,
and I've found it.
The old building, bunker four.
I guess there must be a principle...
Never do anything
that can't be undone.
I understand everything, I'm not some
maniac.
But as long as this plague lies
in the open, accessible to any scum,
I can get no peace, no sleep.
Or maybe, my innermost
won't let me do it?
Poor man, some problem
he's invented for himself.
Give it to me!
Give it to me!
You're a civilized man, aren't you?
- Why? What's the matter with you?
- You, lousy hypocrite...
Why?
What have I done... to you?
He wants to destroy your hope!
That's all people have got left
on this earth!
It's the only place
they can come to,
if there’s no hope left for them.
You yourself have come here!
Why destroy hope then?
Shut up!
I can see through you!
You don't give a damn about people!
You just make money,
using our... anguish!
It's not even the money.
You're enjoying yourself here.
You're like God Almighty here.
You, a hypocritical louse, decide
who is to live and who is to die.
He deliberates!
Now I see why you stalkers
never enter the room yourselves.
You revel in all that power,
that mystery, your authority!
What else is there to wish for?
It's not true!
You... you're mistaken.
A stalker must not enter the room.
A stalker must not even enter
the Zone with an ulterior motive.
Remember Porcupine?
Yes, you're right, I'm a louse.
I