Man in the Mirror

Man in the Mirror
Collectible Type	TV Show (Night Springs)
Found In	Episode 2: Taken
Achievements	Couch Potato

Man in the Mirror is one of the collectibles found in Alan Wake. It is an episode of the in-universe television series, Night Springs.

Plot

A police agent interrogates a man who has recently been detained for committing a murder. The agent starts by asking the killer his motives, to which he nonchalantly replies that the victim “had it coming". The agent reiterates that the killer, seemingly a normal man, took his son to a football match, where he attacked and beat a man to death, using only his bare fists, to the point that he was impossible to identify. The killer simply states that he "didn't like his face". The agent then reveals that the killer and his victim had identical fingerprints and also that, according to the killer's son, the clothing on the dead man matches that he was wearing when they first arrived at the game. The killer continues to provoke the agent and reveals that, after committing the crime, he proceeded to disturb the boy. Unable to control his rage, the agent pulls out his gun, but the killer tells him that he is already going to prison, so there would not be a point to kill him. The agent begins to feel unsteady as he states his confusion at the matter. The killer assures him that he will never understand and tells that they may meet again in the future, "in the mirror". The agent abandons the room.

Transcript

Night Springs Narrator: Crime and punishment: the cancer and cure of civilization. But some crimes are impossible to punish… especially in Night Springs. Tonight's episode: "The Man in the Mirror".

[The siren of a police car parked in front of a police department is heard]

Officer: He's inside, agent. He's a weird one!

[A door that read "interrogation" opens, revealing a police agent sitting in front of the killer]

Agent: So. You're confessing to killing that guy, huh? Why?

Killer: [Laughing] Had it coming.

Agent: Yeah, but why would you do that? I mean, you're a nice guy. Normal. Took your kid to a soccer game. So how come at the game you pick a guy and - quoting from the arresting officer's report here - "assault the victim's head area repeatedly with the weapon of choice being a pair of bare fists". Wow, that sentence really flows, huh?

[The killer does not respond and looks down]

Agent: Maybe you're not the literary type. Okay, so you mess him up. But why? Who was that guy? We couldn't ID him. Why would a guy like you do him like that?

Killer: I didn't like his face?

Agent: Well, you must have hated it, 'cause you really went to town there. I mean, there's no way to tell what he looked like. No ID on him, either.

Killer: That must be difficult.

Agent: But then we ran the fingerprints. Got a match. Your prints. Identical.

Killer: Huh. How about that?

Agent: [As he flips the pages of a document] Your son said you were wearing a white shirt when you took him to the game, but the white shirt is on the dead guy.

Killer: It's plenty red now.

Agent: You won't get away with this.

Killer: Do you really think that's in any way relevant to me? I had plenty of time talk to my boy before the cops arrived, you know. He won't stop screaming, am I right? You think he's ever gonna be okay? I left my mark, believe me.

Agent: [As he pulls out a gun and points it at the killer] You - you bastard!

Killer: What?! You're going to shoot me? What's the point? I'm going to prison. You got me.

[The images becomes distorted as the camera closes up on the killer's face, which twitches unnaturally.]

Agent: I... I don't understand any of this.

Killer: And you never will.

[The image ominously zooms in and out of the killer's face; the killer rubs his hands]

Killer: Don't worry, maybe you'll see me again, agent. [Whispering] Maybe in the mirror.

[The agent leaves the room; the camera shows the door closing before the shot fades to black]

Night Springs Narrator: The agent narrowly avoided becoming a monster. But has he gazed long enough into the abyss? Did he glimpse the heart of… Night Springs?

Location

The television holding this episode can be found inside the third hilltop cabin before the Elderwood Visitor Center.

Notes

• It is heavily implied that the killer is in reality an evil double of his victim, which is reminiscent of Mr. Scratch, Alan Wake's evil double who also committed crimes and murders after impersonating him. The concept of evil doubles originating from a mirror has also been explored in other Remedy Entertainment games, namely Max Payne and Control.
• The killer wears a shirt that reads "I am AWAKE".