( low rhythmic throb ) You feel yourself being pulled, don 't you? - What's happening? - Does he look frightened, Ethel? He looks perfectly pitiful.
l think it's just awful.
Awful, awful, awful.
Help me Somebody help me.
You can 't fight it, drifter.
l tried when my time came.
We all did.
lt's useless.
You can 't outwit that thing.
( 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.
( low rhythmic throb ) (brakes screech ) Hey.
Hey! Are you hurt? Sshh.
Save your strength, old buddy.
l'll get some help.
Shh.
( low rhythmic throb ) (bird chirps) (creaking ) Anybody here? Anybody home? ls there anybody here? l need help! (rustling ) Miss? Excuse me, miss? l didn 't mean to scare you .
Hey, just a minute.
l found an old man lying in the road.
l came for help.
You saw an old man ? Yes.
Lying in the road.
ls that his watch? l think so.
l found it in the brush.
- He needs attention .
- You've come to the wrong place.
Nonsense.
Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense.
The watch and the old man obviously have no connection whatsoever.
Was he very old? l came here for help.
lf you don 't want to help, that's all right, but may l at least use the phone? There is no phone in this house and that's that.
l don 't understand you people.
There's an old man lying in the road.
You'll understand us, young man , by and by.
Won 't he, Randall? Ethel! Was he very old? Yes.
He was the oldest man l ever saw.
lt proves nothing, Miss Patten .
lt was probably someone else, not Dr Ames.
- Does it matter who it is? - Who are you? You must have some unique knowledge, special skill.
My name's Florida Patten .
l'm an actress.
- You're not very nice.
- l don 't feel very nice.
- l feel as if l'm having a bad dream.
- There.
A bad dream.
- He didn 't see an old man at all.
- Rubbish.
Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish.
Miss Patten , l'm going out to help the old man .
- He's gone by now.
- Gone? Yes.
You're kind to want to help.
Did you really want to help him? Yes, l did.
l'm sorry that your kindness will not be repaid in kind.
Wait a minute.
This is your picture, isn 't it? Yes.
( low rhythmic throb ) (throb stops) And it belongs to him? The old man l found out on the road? lf l may, l'd like to have that.
What makes you so sure he's dead? He's been dead for a long time.
Tell him, Randall.
You're the head of this house now.
l will tell him nothing until l know who he is.
- Somebody better tell me.
- What's your name? Drifter.
You have that look about you .
The look of a thing in movement.
Not flight slow movement, but constant.
Tell him at once.
lt's inhuman to send him up without a sense of the horror.
- Stop it! - We can 't.
You can 't.
Try.
( low rhythmic throb ) You feel yourself being pulled, don 't you? Against your will.
- What's happening? - ( Randall) Don 't be alarmed.
He isn 't afraid.
Are you , drifter? Does he look frightened to you , Ethel? He looks perfectly pitiful.
l think it's just awful.
Awful, awful, awful.
Help me Somebody help me.
You can 't fight it, drifter.
l tried when my time came.
We all did.
lt's useless.
You can 't outwit that thing.
(evil laughter) (echoing male voice ) You feel fear.
You feel anger as well.
Where am l? What are you? You are in the control centre of my searching self universe.
l am your host.
Can you give me the answer? - Answer? - The missing vector, unknown statistic.
The factor that will balance the equation .
Do you know what an equation is? Close your eyes.
When you open them, your fear will be temporarily anaesthetised.
You will converse with me calmly.
An equation is a mathematical expression asserting the equality of two quantities.
Correct? - Like two plus two equals four.
- Yes.
Would you agree that the race thought, the mental drives of your species, could be analysed, separated into components and described as a series of mathematical symbols? And such a mathematical expression is equal to the ultimate destiny of your species.
Watch closely the walls of my thought.
You will see the answer computed from its component factors.
First, the positive factors.
The instinct to survive.
Procreation .
Work.
Faith.
Art.
Art could be man 's destiny if there were no negative factors in the equation but there are.
Destruction .
Fear.
Hopelessness.
Hate.
There is the answer to the equation .
Total destruction of this planet Earth.
You left something out if that's the answer to the equation .
Yes.
There is a missing quantity.
The equation does not balance.
That missing quantity may be in your experience.
l will search your mind for it.
-No.
- You intend to resist? l don 't know why.
At least l have to try to resist it.
What is this emotion you are transmitting? l have not encountered it till now.
Everyone l've ever known has called it defiance.
(soft classical piece ) (door opens) - What do you think of our jailer? - Have l lost my mind? You've lost it, drifter.
That thing upstairs is dissecting it.
Did you submit to it? l don 't know.
l don 't think so.
You will.
You'll be wooed up again and again .
You'll come to look forward to those sessions.
As my analyst used to wish l'd looked forward to mine.
lmagine having your hidden thoughts absorbed into that monstrous calculator.
We fought it, like cornered cats.
You won 't leave here.
None of us will ever leave.
Not until our host finds what he's looking for.
He won 't.
At which time we will be dispossessed.
Turned out bag and baggage.
And it will be ''right now'' time and not ''way back then '' time.
(she laughs) My husband thinks that you , l and the actress are figments of his imagination .
He expects to wake up and find himself where we were when this grisly dream started.
lt's the only sane explanation .
We've been in this house since 1 928.
No dream could last that long.
- He doesn 't want to leave this house.
- Try to curb your imagination , Ethel.
He'll realise that you're spiritually ill.
l'm on my way to New York for a meeting.
l'm an investment broker.
He's going to answer charges of fraud.
- Misconduct.
Learn the difference.
- Self-deception .
Self-deception , self-deception .
And Miss Silent Movies here is going east to do a talkie play.
Been here since 1 935.
And a star since 1 925.
When talking pictures came in , my studio said my voice was difficult to record.
Studio politics, naturally.
They did me a favour when they allowed me to break my contract.
The legitimate stage is the only temple for a legitimate actress.
l can 't wait to step out onto that stage.
Start by stepping out the front door.
lt's time l did.
You're a prisoner.
We're all prisoners.
l came in through a door.
The thing upstairs has undreamed your door.
l saw windows outside.
Somebody was looking at me from behind a curtain .
The windows have been undreamed too.
lt controls your dreams now, drifter.
And mine And theirs.
Not mine.
l'm wide awake and loving it.
- Ethel, if you persist - Rubbish.
You need me to punish you .
You sensitive drifters are all musicians at heart.
Come and accompany me.
Please, Mrs Latimer, you'll damage it.
- Stop it.
You can 't play a note.
- There's a note.
There's another.
Oh, no.
Let me have it.
Oh, no.
Mrs Latimer.
l think l'll go to my room.
Pleasant dreams within dreams, everyone.
Randall? Excuse me.
You enjoy this, don 't you? All of you ! Except you .
- How long have you been here? - l don 't know.
You can 't be much more than 1 8 now.
l'm not.
Are we dreaming all this? l looked at your picture in the watch case .
.
and l heard a pain in my heart that was the sweetest hurt in all the world.
ls that when the dream began ? lt is a dream, isn 't it? Does it matter? l can 't submit to being trapped, awake or dreaming.
lf l can get myself into this madhouse, l can get myself out.
lnteresting architecture, isn 't it? Hallways that go nowhere, doors that open into empty rooms.
How many did you count? You followed me.
l saw you .
Why? Why? To watch the mouse run through the maze? ls that how you get enjoyment? l just didn 't want you to be alone when you finally gave up.
You wanted me to kiss you , you know.
No.
What's your name? erosa A mes - What's yours, please? - Wade Norton .
But they call you ''drifter''.
That's because l drift.
Do you wanna leave here? - This moment? - Yes.
Yes.
l'll show you a door.
(faint indistinct voice ) Go.
Open that gate and leave.
Do l make you uncomfortable, Teresa? l'm usually called simply Tess.
Your name should never be spoken simply.
With simplicity and serenity, but never with simpleness.
- Am l funny, Tess? - You play with words.
But l admire you for it.
)on't.
W ords a ro weapo ns You wouldn 't admire me if l were playing with an atom b*mb.
- An atom b*mb? - Remember those little firecrackers? Where do you drift to? l don 't.
l drift from.
From, then .
From where? Never interrogate the wind.
Can you leave here? With me? Now? No.
Oh? You're going to leave, though, aren 't you? -No.
- You must.
l must? Hurry! Go before it's too late.
Once he dissects you , you'll never want to go! ( low rhythmic throb ) ( host Yes.
Yes, it is in you .
l don 't understand it yet, but l know it's there.
Come close.
Let me dissect it.
Let me absorb it.
Bring your brain here.
No! No! Don 't do that to him! - lt hurts.
- Hope hurts.
My head lnside.
lt hurts inside.
lf l were a creature of your species, l would feel compassion .
- Let me go.
-No.
Yes.
You have projected a new factor into the equation .
lt is still unclear, however.
Please lt hurts too much.
All your feelings are becoming unclear.
Does pain do that? - Oblivion ? - Oblivion .
You feel hatred.
l recognise it from my exploration of the others, but it's new to you .
Will l be caged here now? Like Tess? Like the others? For ever? They are not caged.
For each, there is a door to freedom.
- All they have to do is find it.
- Each knows where his door is.
They don 't try to leave, then ? (echoes) They don 't try to leave, then ? They don 't try to leave, then ? Do you play bridge? Three-handed's a crashing bore.
Why are you all pretending you're trapped? You know the way out.
Who gave you that piece of misinformation ? - lt was telling the truth.
- You've been mocked, Mr Norton .
l warned you that the creature would use all sorts of hellish little torments.
- Do you know a way out? - There is no way out.
- Don 't you suppose we've searched? - You're interrupting our game.
From the start, you've been needling the others.
Making noises like you know the truth.
Let's have it.
)oes each o f u s know o f a door? Are we deliberately remaining here, clawing at each other's souls? Why should you care? You're not one of us.
You're a gifted dreamer chasing a rainbow no one else believes in , much less sees.
You drift because there's nothing heavy in your noble heart to anchor it in reality.
But you're scared.
You begin to suspect you , don 't you? You're not so sure you won 't plunk yourself down here and dream a life .
.
and live a dream.
How do you like that, my small-eyed swindler? Dream a life and live a dream? You never did get to make that talkie, did you? l'm a star.
Audiences hear stars with their souls, not with their ears.
- Why don 't you leave? - l'm sharing my husband's life sentence.
lf you can tear him down to match your image of yourself, so much the better.
Shut up, Randall, or l'll be nice to you .
l, on the other hand, require niceness.
l wither without it.
Be nice to me.
Or else get out of here! Tess Go with me.
You can go.
lt's too late.
lt won 't let you go now.
Why can 't l leave? This force l feel from you it must be understood, even if only to be discarded as inconsequential.
- That may take you for ever.
- l have more time than for ever.
- l don 't.
Tess and l don 't.
- What are you feeling now? Why don 't you find out for yourself? Wait.
l caught a glimpse of it just before your hatred erupted.
Hatred cancelled it out.
l must ponder this carefully, quietly.
Please return to the room below, Mr Norton .
l cannot be distracted at this moment, certainly not by so disruptive an emotion as hope.
ls that what l was feeling? l didn 't know l had hope.
l thought l only had illusions.
Where's Tess? l had to do that.
Blame it on my madcap heart.
My Madcap Heart was the title of my first bad picture.
Did you think l was being sincere there for a moment? ess! ess! - You're cold.
- Yes.
Will you escape with me? Will you try? No, l can 't.
l don 't believe that.
l believe it of the others, but not of you .
lt's more true of me.
Listen The silence.
lt isn 't watching.
- You can escape, Wade.
Hurry.
- Alone? - Yes! Yes! - Why? l can 't go with you .
l can 't go beyond that gate.
This is as far as l can go without being afraid.
Tell me what you're afraid of.
Tell me.
Death.
That man you found in the road.
That old, old man .
.
he was my father.
The moment he stepped outside that gate, his years caught up with him.
He became the 1 20-year-old man he really was.
He was already dead, already dust, before he left.
But here, inside this dreamy nothingness, he at least seemed to be living.
Just as l seem to be living.
No , yo u ro a ve ess, know yo u ro a ve Out there my years are waiting for me.
Don 't let it happen to you , Wade.
Save yourself while your life can still be lived.
While it's real while you're real.
Why did you stay until it was too late? My father was a resigner.
He saw this as a way of resigning from the human race.
He asked me to stay with him and l stayed because he needed me.
- You must have hated him.
-No, l didn 't.
l was taught never to hate.
Go now, Wade.
Forget about me.
- How can l? - l'm an illusion .
They're so easy to lose.
l want to lose them.
l want to believe in you .
l want to love you .
l'll stay with you here, for ever.
l can 't let you do that.
There's nothing you can do or say to drive me out.
Yes, there is.
There is.
No ! ess! ess, come back! ess? There's nothing for me out there either, Tess.
( low rhythmic throb ) ( host Yes.
There is nothing out there now that you have it inside yourself.
Something What? What is it? The single factor l was searching for.
The note of the human symphony that makes impossible man 's self-destruction .
Go out of this dream.
Close your eyes to illusion .
The real factor is out there.
Love is out there.
You will take it out there with you when you go.
(screaming ) ( man ) 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 .