The Doctor and Guin materialise on the Schrödinger Institute, a deep-space research station. The Doctor expects to see an old acquaintance, Tasdevin, who is working on a perpetual-motion machine. They wander the station for a while, and it seems to be deserted. They make their way to the huge central core housing the accelerator and laboratory equipment. In the lab, the Doctor types at a keyboard, but many of the keys are stuck. Guin tries to lift some papers from a desk, but can only lift a few. She notices that an orange cup on the desk cannot be moved.