ACT III

Act III begins with Andy living in a mansion on Riverside Drive. Benson, the family butler from Mississippi, has come to New York to care for him. The Skin is on the wall of his dressing room with its outline on a napkin so Andy can monitor its size. Benson shields Andy from visitors, but Prof Shih visits and asks for a favor. Andy grants it automatically, and the Skin contracts before his eyes. “Get out!” he yells at the professor. Later, he goes to the opera in his Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and sees the Dealer. The Dealer is accompanied by Olympia, one of the courtesans from the closing dinner, and is in love with her. The Dealer has dyed his hair and rouged his cheeks in an effort to look young, and Andy thinks he looks grotesque. But he is happy. I have you to thank,” he tells Andy, “You have made me a happy man.” Rose arrives and sits in her box across the hall from Andy. She basks in the Crowd's attention. Her Vanity Meter soars. But a Mystery Woman arrives in the box next to Andy, and the Crowd is drawn to her. Rose’s Vanity Meter stalls. Andy watches the opera itself through a monocle that turns the stage and the singers into fractal images. He is mesmerized by the performance but doesn’t want to see anything that might inflame his desire. The Mystery Woman grabs his attention, however. Her perfume is intoxicating. The feather in her hat grazes Andy’s cheek. He finally turns around and sees… Pauline. Pauline has grown up, is wearing an evening gown, and looks absolutely beautiful. Andy is stunned. She tells him to meet her in the boardinghouse the next day, and rushes away. Andy asks the Skin to make Pauline love him the next morning. The Skin does not shrink, and it finally dawns on him: Pauline loves him and always did; his wish was fulfilled long ago. The boardinghouse is empty when he arrives. Claudia has won the lottery and is no longer there. But Pauline is waiting for him in his old garret room. They profess their love for one another and make love for the first time. Pauline moves in with Andy. They are blissfully happy together. They get engaged, and Pauline designs their wedding invitation. But the Skin inexorably contracts. Andy becomes ill. His love for Pauline is literally killing him. When he tries to return the Skin to the Dealer, the Dealer sends it back with a note: “It has to stay in the family.” Pauline and Andy fight, and Andy tells Pauline to leave him. To save himself, he consults the scientists at the Academy; they are unable to help. He has his blood drawn and is X-Rayed; the doctors find no evidence of disease and believe his symptoms are psychosomatic. The X-rays do, however, reveal the sensor that Rose injected into his neck, and the doctors remove it. Andy realizes that Brett and Larry have used it to monitor his movements. On doctors’ orders, Andy travels in his Silver Shadow to Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies, with Benson as his driver. He hopes that becoming one with nature will arrest the shrinkage of the Skin. Exactly one year later, the Trojan Horse that he inserted in the Roxy code is activated. Fiesta crashes, taking the stock market down with it. Brett and Larry track him down and arrive at the hotel where he is staying. Brett threatens Andy. Andy pretends to comply, writes new code that appears to restore Fiesta, but instead plants a new Trojan Horse to turn Fiesta back into Roxy at the next scheduled concert. Before leaving Canada, Andy attaches sensors to the shirt collars of Brett and Larry, so their incriminating conversation during the concert will be broadcast to the world. Brett and Larry are promptly arrested as a result. Pauline, who is still in New York, writes to tell Andy that she is pregnant. But Andy has used up his quota of life. When he returns to her, the Skin is no larger than an oak leaf. He falls into Pauline's arms and tells her, "My only wish is for you to be happy."