from a rare blood disease, but it is treatable and not terminal. The doctor apologizes profusely for the mistake. Meanwhile, Macha, now believing Jake is the one conspiring against him, doubles down on the contract against him. His henchmen track him down to a house inhabited by Avi and Zach, but he evades them. In the chase, one of the hitmen falls on his shotgun and dies. The gangsters misinterpret this accident, and believe that Jake killed him. Jake meets Avi and Zach on a rooftop, where it is revealed that they were Jake's "neighbors" during his years of incarceration. They reveal that Sam Gold is an ultimately powerless cipher, whose power is granted only by those who invest in him. He represents ego and is the personification of greed. Avi attempts to get Jake to understand the nature of the ego and to challenge his own lifelong investment in it. The men explain to Jake that by stripping him of the physical embodiment of ego (his money) they have freed him from Gold's "game" - It is heavily implied that "Avi" and "Zach" are merely figments of Jake's imagination. Elsewhere, to settle a debt with Macha, Jake's brother Billy is betrayed by his bodyguard, who lets Sorter and Paul into Billy's home. Paul tortures Billy, threatens to kidnap Billy's daughter and set him on fire in order to find out where Jake is. The violent acts unsettle Sorter, and allow him to find his conscience. Against his better judgement, he rejects his ego by killing Paul and all his companions to rescue the girl. (Note: In the theatrical release, Sorter is killed and the girl is taken.) That night, an armed Jake breaks into the penthouse where Macha is sleeping. Surprisingly, he kneels before the bed and asks a half naked Macha for forgiveness. Jake leaves in the elevator, which gets stuck at the 13th floor. Macha retrieves his own handgun, and rushes down the stairs to meet Jake on the ground floor. While waiting in the elevator, Jake has a conversation in his mind in which he rejects his ego. By doing this, Jake steps off the proverbial chess board by making a conscious effort to reverse everything his ego tells him to do. This is seen to be the truest and most fundamental application of the Formula. As the doors open on Jake and he is about