When Jacob and the Man in Black had grown up, the Man in Black left his brother and Mother to go live with a group of villagers living on the island whom had promised him a means of leaving. In an effort to fulfill that, he dug a well deep into the earth in an attempt to locate The Source. He then constructed a donkey wheel with which he explained would be an instrument in his exodus, "combining light and water". He was asked how he knew this, and he replied saying "because I'm special." His project was never completed by on-screen, as he was knocked unconscious by his mother and the well buried.