(buzzing ) (buzzing continues) ( man ) There is nothing wrong with your television set.
Do not attempt to adjust the picture.
We are controlling transmission .
We will control the horizontal.
We will control the vertical.
We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity.
For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all you see and hear.
You are about to participate in a great adventure.
You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to The Outer Limits.
( man ) Human life strives ceaselessly to perfect itself, to gain ascendancy.
But what of the lower forms of life? Perhaps they, too, are conducting experiments and are at this moment on the threshold of deadly success.
What happened? l'm all right now.
Thank you , Professor Fields.
My name is Regina.
l've come to be your assistant.
l read your ad in the newspaper.
My wife went no more than an hour ago to place that ad in tomorrow's newspaper.
l was there.
l overheard.
l like to steal small advantages.
Must l wait until tomorrow? Do you have any experience? Yes, and with someone as exacting and perfect as you are.
lunderstand l'm to live in .
That was a requirement, but l had a male assistant in mind.
He'd have to destroy diseased insects and clean out the hives.
l read your Legends of the Medieval Bee Was there truly a monk who grew Nigerian bees eight feet long? (both chuckle ) You'd have to go the health centre to make sure you're not allergic to bee stings.
- l'm not.
- Well, l'd have to know.
People have d*ed from the sting of one bee.
Ah, Francesca.
Come see if l'm right.
You'll think you are, whatever my opinion .
- About what, Ben ? - Regina.
She overheard you place your ad.
l think she might do.
Myu ggage was ost have no bags to u noack There's no need to see my room until it's time for bed.
l can begin at once by putting your laboratory in order.
A disorderly man is usually guilty of something far more chaotic than disorder.
(chuckles) l think you've hired her, Ben .
The lady didn 't stop me.
(buzzing ) (birds twitter) You know l'm not an alarmist, and l don 't think l object to having an enchanting child work beside you .
lt's sensible to know something of a person who works with you and lives in your house.
(buzzing ) l'll take it.
l feel as if l should put on a clean coat and stand by for fingernail inspection .
You have an orderly, organised mind.
That compensates for your tie.
And your fingernails.
Um, Regina, come here.
l'm gonna have to check your references.
- l have none.
- Oh? What is it? The man l worked for last l'd rather not tell you his name.
lf l tell you anything about him you'd recognise him.
He was innocent.
His wife had wanted a divorce.
She met a younger man and threatened to ruin my reputation and her husband's.
She had already ruined mine when he submitted and saved his.
My parents suggested that l leave the city.
Only until the gossipers found new prey, of course.
He never even answered my letters.
So l stopped writing.
- But if you want their address -No.
No.
Look at this, Regina.
Look.
Those are the fertilised eggs of a Nigerian queen bee.
- There must be a million .
- More than that.
They're all the result of a single mating.
Would you like to be the father of that many children ? ( laughs) Oh, l'll settle for one.
A thousand.
And before l'm 25, of course.
( man ) l've asked everybody.
lf anybody gave out your ad, nobody's admitting it.
You don 't recall anyone standing close by while l dictated it to you? Not close enough to hear what you were saying over a telephone.
- All right.
Thank you .
- Still want us to run the ad? No.
No, that won 't be n Well yes.
Yes, of course, Mr Lund.
After all, the girl may not work out.
Bees are already within the human range of intelligence.
know The ones l've accelerated are already compiling a grammar and a dictionary.
- This is a language analyser.
- l know.
You've never seen one like that before.
l built it myself.
- Would you explain it to me? - All right.
lt picks up and transmits the sound of bees.
Five cycles per second, to sixty thousand.
That's three times the range of the human ear and vocal cords.
- (bleeping ) - (phone buzzes) - Ben ? - He's occupied, Mrs Fields.
(receiver clicks) This is an artificial bee.
Would you hand me that memory bank, please? Thanks.
Mary had a little lamb.
Alpha, beta, gamma, delta.
Testing.
One, two, three, four.
see Now we ro abo u t roady to bog n (buzzing ) The oscilloscope shows the bee sounds outside our hearing range.
lt converts them into light waves and transmits them into the computer, where they're translated and made audible to our ears.
Watch.
(buzzing ) (bee ) Danger.
Danger.
Top coats forward.
Worker bees to battle lines.
- Move the queen eggs below.
- What is it? What is it? lnvader.
lnvader.
Friend.
Lost way.
Wing broken .
(bee ) Does he offer pollen ? Does he offer pollen ? (bee two ) Pollen sac empty.
Offers nothing.
Appears like one of us but is not one of us.
The body is not like our body.
The odour is not like our odour.
Destroy.
Destroy.
(fizzing ) - ( machine off) - (bleeping stops) Can you be certain you're translating them correctly? l, uh l watch them do the same things that humans do.
Rearing of children , searching for food, mating.
And the sounds they make l match up with our words.
Their vocabulary is very simple, but l can translate perhaps 70 per cent of everything they say.
They really say these things, Ben ? l only record what the analyser claims they say.
And Professor Fields feels less exacting and perfect when he's called Ben .
And more human ? (phone buzzes) - Yes? - Can l see you the moment you're free? l'll be there in a moment.
Um l'll have Francesca take you shopping and get you some starched uniform.
This is your queen .
l can speak only Human .
The human drone's machinery will translate.
l have passed the threshold and l am beautiful.
The human drone has already begun to aspire to me.
And when he dies, his memories will live on in our million children .
Was this room originally intended as a nursery? lt must be devastating to know your husband wants children .
- Ben discussed that with you? - We were discussing our mutual tragedies.
l told him mine and he alluded to his.
Regina, how did you find out about the ad? l was there when you placed it.
l heard you .
Except that l phoned it in .
- The girl who received it repeated it to me.
- Mr Lund received it.
l did not wish to incriminate him, Mrs Fields.
Must l? He was only trying to be helpful.
see Regina, where are you from? Scotland.
And l'm very tired.
- Would you rather have dinner up here? - Why? lf you're tired, you might want to get into bed and Am l not to live here on equal terms with you? Dinner will be ready in half an hour.
Mrs Fields.
My mother was a vain , envious and selfish woman .
Her beauty was regal and she'd always assumed it was unsurpassable.
Such women should have sons, or homely daughters.
She treated me as if l were an ugly duckling because l wasn 't.
So l expect all elderly women to exclude me from the simple pleasures of family life.
- lf l've misjudged you - l'm not as elderly as all that.
- Would you like to help me? - How? - Oh, set the table, light the candles.
-No, thank you .
Then this sweet young thing said her husband is one of the new, fair-haired physicists at the university - and does my husband do anything? - (chuckles) Francesca still attends the faculty wives' teas in order to maintain her sole contact with unreality.
Did you say that l'm on a sabbatical that her taxes are paying for? l told her you were an entomologist and working on a top-secret project.
( laughs) - Did that titillate her? - She hoped you were developing ''an insecticide that housewives could believe in .
'' Her words.
l didn 't know housewives were afraid of insects.
- lt isn 't necessarily fear.
- lsn 't it? l doubt if many women would use insecticides if the insects would stay outside, but if they insist on coming in Are you afraid of insects, Mrs Fields? Well, l think we all are a little.
We talk more about our fear of the larger forms of animals.
lt doesn 't seem so cowardly to admit fear of crazed panthers or giant vultures.
But l think we're all a little uneasy about the tiny things that crawl and fly.
You can 't see what they're thinking.
You can 't look into their eyes.
But you can hear what they're thinking.
lf you're married to a certain entomologist.
l wasn 't thinking of bees.
Of course, they sting.
But l am inoculated at regular intervals.
Against their sting, not their thoughts.
Are their thoughts dangerous? Only to the drones.
They don 't think of it that way.
They fight for the privilege to die.
They compete for it.
The marriage of the queen bee and the drone is one of the most beautiful rituals ever conceived or observed.
Hm.
Well, l'm getting back to work while the bees are still among us.
(bleeping ) (buzzing ) lt's past 1 2 o'clock.
Huh.
lt's certainly bedtime.
(bleeping stops) Hey, just a minute.
Civilised people usually say good night.
Good night, Ben .
What is it? She she disturbs me.
Why? - lf our baby had only li - Oh, Francesca.
She would have been Regina's age.
At the dinner table tonight, you treated Regina as you would have smiled at your daughter.
And l - l became extremely jealous.
- Of course you did.
Regina isn 't our daughter, regardless of her age, or how l smile at her.
lt made me wonder if l might have become what her mother became.
Have l been glad that we never had another child? - Have you? - l never thought so.
Neither have l.
You'd rather be just about anything except a normal, healthy, vibrant, jealous wife.
l suppose l l try to be a little like your bees, Ben .
All organisation and gears neatly meshed.
Efficient.
And no tiresome emotions.
There are some tiresome emotions that don 't tire me at all.
What time shall l come down in the morning? Would you mind putting those things away, please? (buzzing ) (rustling ) (buzzing ) Ben ! Ben ! Ben , that that that girl! (door closes) Has she finally gone to sleep? Mm-hm.
Did you make this? l wanted to do something.
l felt so helpless.
So responsible.
Responsible? l heard the things she screamed.
And it was l in the garden .
Yeah.
What were you doing out there, Regina? The moonlight drew me.
was l smelled the things that bloom in the night.
l did have my nosey-nose poked in a flower.
But you didn 't transform into a mammoth, glowing bee? No.
(phone buzzes) Yes? l'll send him right up.
She sounded so well and normal, Ben .
She's going to be all right.
Go to her, Ben .
- What is it? - What? Oh, nothing.
lt's gone now.
(bleeping ) Hello, darling.
- Are you all right? - Just Just stay close a moment longer.
l just need a tiny bit more of your strength.
Aah.
(phone buzzes) Yes? Oh, l drank the last of it, Ben .
l'll make a fresh pot and bring it right up.
Are you really all right, Francesca? l'm trying to be.
But your solicitude is awfully tempting.
l love to watch you brush your hair.
(bee ) lnstincts warn all not well.
Pain ! Did we not make you perfect enough? Are we at fault? No.
l do not know what is wrong! Will you survive? l must.
l will! Our struggle to effect your transformation must not go unrewarded.
You must produce.
You must.
Once we have begun to breed, once we have the strength and lifespan of the humans, millions of us born in the same breath swarming over their chaotic world, we will conquer, we will rule.
l will wait no longer! l have been patient only because l've learned that .
.
humans good humans believe .
.
they must experience love.
lnstincts tell me he has begun to (screams) ( yelps) ( moans) (intense buzzing ) - (single bee buzzing ) - Why? Why all this darkness? What's wrong? l must l mustn 't fail.
l mustn 't Help me, sisters! Help me! Shh, shh, shh.
(buzzing stops) - Am l going to die? -No, Regina.
- What's wrong with me? - Dr Warren thinks Don 't let me die without knowing love, Ben ! He thinks it's only food poisoning.
lt's very painful, but not fatal.
Love me, Ben ! Regina! l'm very, very much in love with my wife.
- l see only that you are married to her.
- Because l love her.
lf you married me, then would you love me? No.
lf l loved you , then l would marry you .
Then l won 't die, Ben .
l will live.
For you .
- Regina - Does it make you angry to be loved? lf it's the beautiful, precious thing you think it is, it should make you smile.
s she as eep? Yes.
- The pain is gone? - lt's quieted, yes.
- You must let her go in the morning.
- Shh! lf she's really asleep, she can 't hear me.
- And if she isn 't? - Then she's deceiving us.
There's no reason to spare the feelings of deceitful people.
Doesn 't sound like you , Francesca.
And you don 't sound like you .
- This will wait until morning.
- Ben .
You get some sleep.
l'll sit with her.
All right.
( low-level buzzing ) (bleeping ) ( Regina ) l do not know what is wrong! - (bee ) Will you survive? - l must.
l will! Our struggle to effect your transformation (static) - (door opens) - ( Dr Warren ) Ben ? She's upstairs.
Francesca's sitting with her.
Yes, l've already looked in .
- How does she seem this morning? - Ben Ben , she's a medical anomaly.
l've never seen blood fluid like hers.
The erythrocytes and leucocytes totally out of balance.
The plasma level is up from 55 to 70 per cent.
The entire serum is a floating mass of cholesterol globules.
She's the closest thing to a complete mutant l've ever seen .
Mutant? You can 't have gathered enough data to support such a fantasy.
Ben , l may not know the difference between a bee and a buzzard, but l do know a thing or two about human beings.
Regina? l do not like goodbyes, Ben .
l'm sorry you found me.
- Are you well enough to leave? - Your wife is ill! l seem to have accelerated her disintegration .
- That's not true.
- Well, something has.
She's not disintegrating.
That's what is not true.
Oh.
l no longer love you , Ben .
l cannot love a man who deludes himself.
And you do, Ben .
Or you'd know that you loved me and admit it, to yourself if not to me.
Goodbye, Ben .
No, Ben , l am not being a foolish woman .
- You asked her to leave and she left.
- l'm glad.
Francesca, is this possible? - Have you so little faith in me? - All my faith is in you .
You think because l can be touched by a small thing who moved me to smile? l think that you have done, said and felt nothing wrong.
Then why send away a homeless, sick child? - You think she was more than that? - l don 't know what she was.
l do know she was not what she seemed.
l didn 't trust her.
l was l was unable to like her.
( Ben ) Why? ( Francesca ) She's gone.
lt should no longer matter.
( Ben ) lt does matter.
( Francesca ) l was unable to like her.
l did not want her in our home.
She was not a thr*at to me, Ben .
She was a thr*at to us.
(door closes) (crackly buzzing ) (bleeping ) You should not have felt concerned.
l did not intend to leave.
l am merely employing the devious methods they use.
They must not think l wish to harm him or the woman .
They live by what they think, not what they know.
(bee ) We beg forgiveness, Queen .
We did not understand it was a game.
We are at your service.
We will Warning.
Warning.
(buzzing intensifies) ( Regina laughs) No! No! No ! (angry btuzz ng ) (shrieks) No! Oh! Oh! ( yells) - Yes? - ( Dr Warren ) Ben .
l've been calling all afternoon .
Well, l've been here.
(sighs) Down in my lab.
Straightening things up and .
.
listening to some tapes.
l, uh l didn 't hear the phone ring.
Do you need anything? No, l don 't need anything.
- Ben ? - Huh? - Have you taken those pills? - Pills? l gave you some pills as we were leaving the cemetery.
Oh.
No.
What are they for, Howard? - Tranquillisers.
- Hm.
Are you sure they work? Are they as effective as the inoculations you gave Francesca? Ben , l've told you .
The stings did not k*ll her.
Yeah, that's right, l keep forgetting that.
What did k*ll her, Howard? Get some sleep, Ben .
- What did k*ll her, Howard? - l don 't know.
Poison .
They're still working on it, Ben .
They can 't identify it.
Maybe l can help you , Howard.
Because l'm an exacting .
.
perfect, award-winning scientist.
l can identify a lot of strange things.
Take that off! Where did you get it? Take that off! Forgive me, dear Ben .
l only wanted to make you laugh.
l found it in my room.
When l put it on l looked so comical, l laughed! l thought you would, too.
l wanted to make you laugh again .
lt's called grief, isn 't it? - Yes, it's called grief.
- Does it pass? After a long time.
We help each other live through it, or with it.
We share it, you see, as Francesca and l shared ours.
- We have a very nice saying, Regina.
- Say it, Ben .
Please say it.
A grief shared is half a grief.
A joy shared is twice a joy.
lf l share your grief, Ben , will you share my joy? - You have a joy? - Oh, yes, Ben ! - Can you describe it? - l can show you .
Come.
Come look.
ook Now , w hat do yo u see ? Lonely man .
With swollen eyes.
Oh, no, Ben .
You see my joy! You see you , Ben .
You're my joy.
l'm your joy? Now ca n we bo ma rr ed? - Right now? -No? Well, there are all manner of obstacles, Regina.
Streams and streams of red tape, tons of legalities, all designed to prevent fervent people from getting married right now.
- l'm not opposed to ritual, Ben .
- Oh.
And ours is such a beautiful ritual, Regina.
lt happens only once in a person 's life.
At least, it should.
And it usually does.
lt happens and then it's over.
Almost quickly.
And the veil is laid in cedar.
And the memory is laid in your heart.
And no one, nothing, can uproot that memory.
No su dden, se nse ess traged No wilful m*rder*r can rip it out and desecrate it! When we love and get married we share our acts of love with God! We share our children with God.
When there are none, we share our grief with God.
That's our ritual, Regina.
lt's called life.
And no evil, no inhuman mutation , has ever been able to stop it.
lt goes on and on ! Just as the life you come from goes on and on - the way it was meant to go on and on ! - (screams) (buzzing ) ( man ) When the yearning for ascendancy takes the form of a loveless struggle, the conflict must end in unlovely defeat.
For without love, drones can never be men and men can only be drones.
We now return control of your television set to you until next week at this same time when the control voice will take you to .