Be seeing you.
All S1
Characters
Number SixPatrick McGoohan · 62 quotes
NTNumber Two41 quotes
Number TwelveJohn Castle · 6 quotes
SSoniaJustine Lord · 4 quotes
CThe Colonel4 quotes
XMr. X3 quotes
PPresident3 quotes
ThorpePatrick Cargill · 3 quotes
Most scenes together: Number Six & Number Two (30), Number Six & Number Twelve (5), Number Six & The Colonel (2)
S1 E15Unfinished Business
[ Number Six meets the first Number Two ]
At last! Delighted to see you!
[the heavy automatic steel doors close behind Number Six]
Come in, come in! Do sit down.
[Number Two presses a button; a hatch slides open and a chair rises from the floor]
[laughing] I'm sorry; I can never resist that. I hope you don't mind a working breakfast.
[Number Two presses another button; the butler enters with a breakfast cart ]
Tea or coffee?
Tea.
Indian or China?
Either. With lemon.
[the butler, already apprised of his preferences, places a lemon wheel in his tea]
One or two eggs with your bacon?
Two?
[the butler removes the cover from the plate, revealing bacon with two fried eggs]
That will be all.
[the butler exits]
Help yourself to toast. ...I suppose you're wondering what you're doing here.
It had crossed my mind. [slams the toast cover down] What's it all about?
[another chair rises from the floor beside Number Six]
Sit down and I'll tell you. It's a question of your resignation.
...Go on.
The information in your head is priceless. I don't think you realize what a valuable property you've become. A man like you is worth a great deal on the open market.
Who brought me here?
I know how you feel, believe me. And they have taken quite a liberty.
Who are "They?"
A lot of people are curious about what lies behind your resignation. You had a brilliant career, your record is impeccable. They want to know why you suddenly left.
What people?
Now, personally, I believe your story; I do think it was a matter of principle. But, uh... What I think doesn't really count, does it? One has to be sure about these things.
And that gives you the right to poke your nose into my private business!?
Now, please. It's my job to check your motives.
I've been checked!
Of course, but when a man knows as much as you do, a double-check does no harm. A few details may have been missed.
I don't know who you are... or who you work for... And I don't care. I'm leaving.
[Number Six moves to the exit. The doors start to open, but then slam shut in his face.]
I've nothing to say. Is that clear? Absolutely nothing.
Now be reasonable, old boy. It's just a matter of time. Sooner or later you'll tell me. Sooner or later you'll want to. Let's make a deal. You cooperate, tell us what we want to know and this can be a very nice place. You may even be given a position of authority.
I will not make any deals with you. I've resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! My life is my own!
Is it?
Yes. You won't hold me.
Won't we?
Quite a beautiful place, really, isn't it? Almost like a world on its own.
I shall miss it when I'm gone.
Oh, it will grow on you.
SSign
A still tongue makes a happy life.
SSign
Questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself.
[After Cobb's suicide, Number Six storms into Number Two's office, only to find someone different sitting there:]
Get him!
NNNew Number Two
I have taken his place. I am the new Number Two.
Get Number One!
NNNew Number Two
As far as you're concerned, I'm in charge. What can I do for you?
Cobb.
NNNew Number Two
What we do here has to be done. It's the law of survival; it's either them or us.
You imprison people? Steal their minds? Destroy them?
NNNew Number Two
Depends on whose side you're on, doesn't it?
I'm on our side.
NNNew Number Two
But we have to find out where your sympathies lie.
You know where they lie!
NNNew Number Two
[reading from Number Six's file] "Subject shows great enthusiasm for his work. He is utterly devoted and loyal." Is this a man that suddenly walks out?
And I didn't walk out... I resigned!
NNNew Number Two
People change, exactly. So do loyalties.
Not mine.
NNNew Number Two
All very commendable. But let's be practical; I'm interested in facts. Your only chance to get out of here is to give them to me. And if you don't give them, I'll take them. It's up to you. Think about it.
[Number Six turns to leave]
NNNew Number Two
Good day, Number Six.
Number what?
NNNew Number Two
Six. For official purposes, everyone has a number. Yours is number six.
I am not a number. I am a person.
NNNew Number Two
Six of one, half a dozen of another. Good day!
N6Number 66 (The Admiral)
Game of chess, m'dear?
N9Number 9 (The Woman)
I don't play.
N6Number 66 (The Admiral)
You should learn. We're all pawns, m'dear.
[about Number Six] He can make even the act of putting on his dressing gown appear as a gesture of defiance.
NTNumber Two's Assistant
There are methods we haven't used yet, of course.
I want him with a whole heart, body and soul.
NTNumber Two's Assistant
He'll crack.
Perhaps... One tiny piece at a time? I don't want a man of fragments! Fascinating.
NTNumber Two's Assistant
He doesn't even bend a little.
That's why he'll break. He only needs one small thing. If he will answer one simple question, the rest will follow: why did he resign?
[offering coffee] I can never remember. One lump or two?
It's in the file.
Yes, as a matter of fact, yes. But it would save time if you just answered.
Why? You running out of time?
[Number Two annoyedly consults the file]
"Does not take sugar." Frightened of putting on weight?
No. Nor of being reduced.
Oh, that's excellent! I am glad you're here. You really are a model.
But I don't run on clockwork.
You will, my dear chap. You will.
Do you still think you can escape, Number Six?
I'm going to do better than that.
Oh?
Going to escape, and come back.
...Come back?
Escape, come back, wipe this place off the face of the Earth, obliterate it, and you with it.
[After reading in his file that Number Six doesn't take sugar with his tea, he performatively drops in three sugar cubes, irritating Number Two]
Don't worry, Number Six. You'll be cured. I'll see to it. No more nightmares. If you have so much as a bad dream, you will come… whimpering… to tell it to me! Whimpering.
I'll do a deal with you, Number Six. You tell me one thing, and I'll release you. Why did you resign?
Release me? From the Village?
[Number Six walks to the sealed doors of Number Two's office]
Now that's really all we want to know. That's not too much to ask, is it?
[Number Six lightly knocks on the doors, as if prompting them to open]
If you insist on staying here, I do hope you make some attempt to settle down. Try to take part in community life. This exhibition that's coming up, for example. Wait a minute...
[Number Two flips through Number Six's file]
There! "At the age of fifteen, top of his class in woodwork." That's the sort of thing! I mean, join in!
I'll make you a handle for this door?
[Number Two laughs as the doors open, then angrily shouts:]
You'll be back!
[The doors close]
...Whimpering.
Has it ever occurred to you that you are just as much a prisoner as I am?
Oh! My dear chap, of course--I know too much. We're both lifers. I am definitely an optimist. That's why it doesn't matter who Number One is. It doesn't matter which "side" runs the Village.
It's run by one side or the other.
Oh, certainly. But both sides are becoming identical. What in fact has been created: An international community -- a perfect blueprint for world order. When the sides facing each other suddenly realize that they're looking into a mirror, they will see that this is the pattern for the future.
The whole Earth... As the Village?
That is my hope. What's yours?
I'd like to be the first man on the moon.
[viewing Number Six's thoughts] Extraordinary. How very single-minded.
NFNumber Fourteen
He's not conventional.
I sometimes think he's not human.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's The Prisoner pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.