Richmond then betrays Jones, handing him over to Hawksmoor in return for being allowed to leave. As Richmond departs, Hawksmoor uses a machine to extract Astral from Jones. Steele, who is possessed by Hawksmoor, then shoots and kills Jones. However, Richmond's computer program takes control of a heavily armed robotic unit. It encounters Jones' ghost, which it leads to the "Resurrection Machine" – a machine which can reunite a spirit with its physical form. Richmond had discovered that every person who dies before their "allotted time" becomes a ghost, but over a long period of time, each ghost fades away, eventually ceasing to exist. Hawksmoor is attempting to prevent this happening by using the machine, which needs Astral's ghost energy to work. Lazarus is resurrected as Hawksmoor arrives and flings the robot from the balcony. Hawksmoor then enters the machine, but before he can activate it, Richmond returns, giving weapons to Lazarus and Steele, who is now free of Hawksmoor's possession. They destroy the machine and Lazarus battles Hawksmoor, as Richmond finds the robot damaged beyond repair. However, it is in possession of a zero bomb, a device capable of utterly destroying a ghost. Lazarus and Steele flee and Richmond sets off the bomb, killing himself, Hawksmoor and, presumably, Astral. Steele and Jones make it back to the school and joke about how hard it is going to be to write their report.