Fall guy.

Benjamin Linus was not surprised.

He had always been a believer. And yet, as the years dragged on and the man he followed refused to grant him an audience time and again, he began to get testy, began to want answers that he'd never needed to seek out before.

Now he had the biggest answer of all.

No, he wasn't chosen, he wasn't here because he was special. He was here because he was useful, and Jacob had finally found his ultimate use. It was all a giant setup.

Perhaps to bring John Locke into power. The man who walked right out of a wheelchair while he developed a deadly tumor. He'd played up John's apparent communion with the Island to play him into his hands, but in the end, he was the one to get played.

Or perhaps just to sacrifice, one more chance to suffer, and why not?

His whole life was one big joke.

Ha ha.

( Turning the wheel... )

Just great.

Climbing out of the pit. Gasping, nauseous.

Walkie, broken. Great. Phone signal still out. Well, the Flame went up in flame and the Looking Glass drowned, so that's two out of three backup systems out, and for all he knows, his house has been ripped apart in a tornado of black smoke by now. Summoning it sure doesn't mean controlling it.

So that's fire, water, and air, and here he is, in a pit of earth. All the classical elements--Empedocles would be proud. He would also say that life is an endless battle between Love and Strife for cosmic supremacy, and Ben is strung up in the middle for a handy punching bag.

There will be no way to reach anyone until he makes it back to the Village, not that far of a walk from here. In his secret room, he'll be able to reset all the ultra modern technology supporting the phone network, and then see if anyone picks up. It's a safer bet than trekking to the Temple---

If the secret room still exists. ...If the Village still exists, if the Temple... All he knows so far is the damn Dharma corpses are still hanging out, and stuck a little bit to the Halliwax jacket he discards in the pit.

The Wheel is supposed to control space and time... Maybe it's years earlier. He's not a forensic anthropologist, how should he know from the evidence? Maybe he can go find his younger self and tell him to hug his daughter and retire early.

( To the Village )