Outraged by the tragedy, the public demands Layeville's execution. Instead of destroying the device, the tribunal accepts a proposal to rebuild the time machine into a massive, tower-like clock with a giant, transparent glass pendulum [05:39 Opens in a new window ]. Layeville is sealed inside the pendulum's round head and condemned to spend the rest of his life swinging back and forth indefinitely as a public spectacle labeled the "Prisoner of Time" [02:45 Opens in a new window ].
Over time, human onlookers fade away, leaving automated robots to maintain the clock, feed Layeville, and clean his prison [09:41 Opens in a new window ]. Disaster strikes when an invading horde of black, gelatinous alien creatures swoops down and wipes out all human life on Earth [10:19 Opens in a new window ]. Safe inside his sealed glass chamber, Layeville realizes the pendulum—meant to be a punishment—has served as a shelter protecting him from extinction, making him the final survivor on Earth [11:23 Opens in a new window ].
A thousand years later, alien explorers land on the desolate planet [11:57 Opens in a new window ]. They find the robots still maintaining the clock while the pendulum continues its endless arc [12:32 Opens in a new window ]. Inside, they discover Layeville's skeleton, its bare skull fixed in a permanent grin against the glass, having outlived his jailers and ultimately conquered time [13:07 Opens in a new window ].
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