Ayreon - Phase Iv: Unification

[10. Mirror of Dreams]

"3 months ago

The Girl has not seen the Prodigy since she told him to leave. She reaches out to his Mother comfort, wondering if there wasn't more she could have done."

[Irish Bouzouki: Michael Mills
Low Whistle: Troy Donockley
Cello: Maaike Peterse]

[Girl:]
I feel his shadow looming over me
Leaving me defeated and confused
His eyes still haunt me, if only I'd done more
Maybe I gave up on him too soon…

[Mother:]
I share your sorrow, but we are not to blame
His heart has always been a mystery

[Girl and mother:]
We'll never fathom, we'll never understand
Did he ever need us, were we real
Or mere reflections in a mirror of dreams?

[Girl:]
What holds his future, how will he survive?
Without us to save him from himself
Where has he run to, will he return?
I hope he knows I wish him well

[Mother:]
It's up to him now, there's nothing we can do
I fear we cannot give him what he needs

[Girl and mother:]

Are we but phantoms inside his tangled mind?
Will he ever need us, are we real…
Ore mere reflections in a mirror of dreams?

[11. The Lighthouse]

"After being rejected by the Girl, the Prodigy turn to his only friend, the Teacher. The Prodigy needs a safe place where he can work on the Theory of Everything and take time to sort himself out The teacher knows of the perfect place – there's an old renovated lighthouse up for sale. After pulling off the bank scam with the Rival, money is no object: the Prodigy buys the lighthouse and retreats there, virtually going "off the grid." The teacher is the only one who knows his whereabouts, and checks on him every day."

[Cello: Maaike Peterse
Contrabass Flute: Jeroen Goossens]

[Teacher:]
It's time to put things in perspective
Find your way again
Let me take you to the lighthouse
Where you can hide away

[Prodigy:]
I only want to be alone
To work the numbers on my own
I need to show my father
I need to show them all… I am the one

[Teacher:]
Your time has come

[Prodigy:]
To unlock the equation

[Prodigy and Teacher:]
The Theory of Everything

[Teacher:]
If you're troubled by the visions
The chaos in your mind
If the voices start to whisper
Call me, day or night!

[Prodigy:]
Don't worry, I'll be fine

[Teacher:]
Don't underestimate the danger

[Prodigy:]
I'm gonna make the theory shine

[Teacher:]
You'll regret it sooner or later

[Prodigy:]
I need to show my father
I need to show them all… I am the one

[Teacher:]
Our time has come

[Prodigy:]
I will find the equation

[Teacher and Prodigy:]
The Theory of Everything

[12. The Argument 2]

"The tension between the Mother and the Father comes to a head."

[Father:]
Without him it's all over
We've got to bring him home again

[Mother:]
He doesn't want to see you
Can't you get that through your head?

[Father:]
But you can make him listen
All I need is one more chance

[Mother:]
No! I can't take any more
You never gave a damn!

[13. The Parting]

"Yesterday

After months of fruitless
arguments with the Father
the Mother finally takes action."

[Mother:]
And so it ends
It's time to let go
My spirit is crushed
Forsaken and cold

I'm leaving you
No tears left to cry
You'll never change
I've made up my mind
This is goodbye

[Father:]
So this is the end
How can I go on?
My dream's unfulfilled
And now I'm alone

I let them down
I pushed them away
No reason to live
I'm ending this pain
There's no other way

Only one thing left to do…

[Orchestration: Siddharta Barnhoorn
Guitar Solo: Steve Hackett]

[14. The Visitation]

"Last night.

The Prodigy has been working on the Theory of Everything for months now. He's totally exhausted, but is sure that the final missing piece is just around the corner. Then one evening he gets an unexpected visitor."

[Father:]
I'm down here on my knees
Feeling the weight of shame
How could I have done this
To you, my son?

[Prodigy:]
I can't believe my eyes
Is it really you?
Why should I forgive you
After all you've done?

[Father:]
I was driven and blind
Not so unlike yourself
We can still work together
If you allow me

[Prodigy:]
Why should I give you a chance?
Why should I trust you now?
Ha… I bet you are helpless
Without me

[Father:]
If we join our minds
Then together we can do this

[Father and Prodigy:]
We both want to be the first
We both want to change the world

[Father:]
We can work all night
'Til we find out what the truth is

[Father and Prodigy:]
We'll solve this mystery
Be a part of history

[Prodigy:]
I'm so damn close
[Father:]
I'll fill in the blanks

[Prodigy:]
I could use a hand

[Father:]
Just give me this chance

[Prodigy and Father:]
For we're on the verge of a breakthrough

[Prodigy:]
The meds help me to see

[Father:]
It's too late to stop now

[Prodigy:]
I'll take just a few more

[Father:]
Just 'til the answer is found

[Prodigy and Father:]
We can make it,
We'll find the truth

Let's join our minds
It's our destiny to do this
We're going to be the first
We're going to change the world

We'll work all night
'Til we find out what the truth is
We both know we'll never sleep
'Til we make this quantum leap
We are in this way too deep

[15. The Breakthrough]

"Together with his Father, the Prodigy works feverishly all through the night. He takes a far greater dose of the drug than usual, thinking it will help him see the solution."

[Prodigy:]
Isolate the graviton

[Father:]
Verify the Higgs-Boson

[Prodigy:]
Photons, hadrons

[Father:]
Gluons, fermions

[Prodigy:]
Demonstrate the tachyon

[Father:]
Find the missing baryons

[Prodigy:]
Neutrons, protons

[Father:]
Nucleons, electrons

[Prodigy:]
Ride a wave of gravity

[Father:]
Unravel super symmetry

[Prodigy:]
Position x, sparticles

[Father:]
Momentum p, dark energy

[Prodigy:]
Einstein's relativity

[Father:]
Meets Heisenberg's uncertainty

[Prodigy:]
Causality, eternity

[Father:]
Singularity, infinity!

[Prodigy:]
Eureka! We found it, we broke it

[Father:]
Eureka! We solved it, we did it!

[Prodigy:]
Eureka! We made it, we cracked it

[Father:]
Eureka! We nailed it, we got it!

[16. The Note]

"The Prodigy is exhausted by his mental efforts, and – on the verge of collapse – summons the last of his strength to write a note for his friend, the Teacher."

[Prodigy:]
Dear friend, my work here is done
Science has evolved
As the sun set on father and son
The mystery was solved

I'm broken, I'm falling apart
Slowly fading away
I'm sorry… I took it all too far
Thank you for… your faith…

[17. The Uncertainty Principle]

"8:03 this morning

On his daily visit to the Lighthouse, the Teacher is stunned at what he finds: The Prodigy is slumped in a corner, totally unresponsive, his hand clutching a crumpled note. The Teacher reads the note and immediately phones the Girl, who rushes over to the lighthouse. When she arrives, the Teacher can hear her hurriedly saying goodbye to someone as she bursts into the room, fumbling to put away her phone. Her eyes are already red from crying, but a flood of new tears erupts when she sees the Prodigy. She turns to the Teacher to find out what happened..."

[Teacher:]
His mind took flight
And his eyes have lost their light
All we have to go on is a note

They changed the world last night
Working together, side by side
His father is the only one who knows

[Girl:]
You haven't been told?
That was his mother on the phone
There was a tragedy last night

His father can't have been here
It had to be a ghostly dream
For at the fall of day he took his life!

[18. Dark Energy]

"The Prodigy clearly believed that his Father helped him. But how is this possible?"

[Cello: Maaike Peterse
Violin: Ben Mathot
Orchestration: Siddharta Barnhoorn]

[Instrumental]

[19. The Theory Of Everything Part 3]

"9:46 this morning

Upon her arrival at the Lighthouse, the Mother breaks down at the sight of her catatonic son. She desperately needs to understand what happened there the night before."

[Violin: Ben Mathot
Cello: Maaike Peterse
Flute: Jeroen Goossens
Orchestration: Siddharta Barnhoorn]

[Mother:]
They were seduced by the mystery
Something forbidden was uncovered here

[Mother:]
My husband

[Girl:]
My love

[Mother:]
My son

[Girl:]
All lost

[Mother and Girl:]
Our world is not ready to know
The Theory of Everything

We need a future to build
A new role to fulfill
We've got something to give
We'll find a reason to live

[20. The Blackboard (reprise)]

"The present.

Everyone has left the Lighthouse but the Teacher. He stands staring at the blackboard, trying to make sense of the tangle of equations. Then he makes a startling discovery...."

[Cello: Maaike Peterse]

[Teacher:]
Will we ever understand
How two different hand styles
Came to grace this blackboard

What unseen forces did conspire
Uniting a father
And… his son…