01x12 - The Borderland

Episode transcripts for the TV show "The Outer Limits". Aired: September 16, 1963 – January 16, 1965.*
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Anthology of self-contained episodes, sometimes with plot twists at their ends.
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01x12 - The Borderland

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(thunder crashes) ( vacuum cleaner starts ) ( high -pitched groaning ) (creaking ) ( 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 ) His name is Warren Edgar Morley.

For six months, he's guarded this gate from eight in the morning until six at night at which time he is replaced by another just like himself.

These are the last few moments of his life.

Stu , the kids ain 't too friendly here.

Let's not move in .

Name, address, positive identification ? Reason for loitering? - l'm Stuart Peters.

- Professor Stuart Peters.

l begin work here tomorrow.

We just drove across country, my brother and l.

We haven 't found a place to live, but the professor couldn 't wait to get a look.

OK, but look fast.

Nobody's allowed to hang around here.

Hey! - Have you got a cigarette? - Yes.

Thanks.

l didn 't tell.

l didn 't say anything! Please! Don 't! Don 't, please! l didn 't betray you ! l didn 't! l didn 't! Miss Gaby Christian ? You don 't know me and you probably have a dinner date but we have a mutual friend in Kingston , NY, whose name is of no importance.

But he suggested l call you the moment l arrived in LA.

Harvey Miller.

He went to school with your brother.

Well, l'm not as young as l sound, Miss Christian .

Anyway, l think old.

No.

But only because l haven 't met the right girl yet.

( laughs) l will be most happy to marry you , Miss Christian .

lf it turns out you're the right girl, we'll marry in haste.

( laughs) Meanwhile, shall we repent in advance over a leisurely dinner? All right, 8.

30 at the Trosdivrick Coffee House.

You'll recognise me.

l'll be wearing you in my heart.

What did l do now? - Where'd you get these? - Are they mine? You took 'em out your pocket and threw 'em at me.

- They're not mine.

- Think hard.

OK, l'll think hard.

That guard gave them to me.

Read the inside.

)on't come back N O RCO doomed.

" They must have been meant for you , friend, since l'd rather marry Miss Christian than be caught dead working in a place like NORCO.

You treat everything like a magazine in a doctor's office.

Yeu know w hat' s wo rr y ng me , SStu? No , Jory , w hat' s wo rr y ng yo u ? Miss Christian .

l never told her my name.

She's having dinner with a man she's never met and didn 't remind me to say my name.

- Listen , you mind if l stay out late? -No.

- All night? - Sure.

Some brother's keeper you are.

One of our guards gave you this, Professor Peters? ( Stuart The one at the main gate.

Miss Celser, get me the main gate at once, please.

He's not there today.

-Never mind.

- There's a new guard on duty today.

We have a problem here at NORCO, Professor Peters.

We are slaves to it.

We accepted your application , the first in six months, incidentally, because we believe it will be one of you new, fresh, young physicists who will be able to help us with our problem.

l am very glad you did not take this message seriously.

Well, l didn 't say that.

And yet you are here bright and early on the job, doomed or not.

Will you talk to the guard who was on duty yesterday? ln responding to our interest, you stated that you were not married and had no other dependents.

Right.

And yet you came west with l believe you said a younger brother? l didn 't plan to have him come along.

l thought separating would be good for him.

But he hates being on his own , so he dropped out of school.

- How old is he? - 20.

l couldn 't refuse and make him stay.

We have no parents or other relatives.

ls he given to practical joking? As a matter of fact, his humour is fairly mature.

Scary notes scribbled on a book of matches wouldn 't be his style.

- You are to report to Professor Linden .

- So l hear.

Yes, l arranged it myself.

The professor could use someone with a fresh approach.

(intercom buzzes) - Yes? - Dr Block is bringing in the new man .

Professor Linden .

Your new collaborator, Professor Stuart Peters.

l hope l'll be able to help you with your problem.

l have told him we are slaves to a problem of grotesque proportions.

No more than that.

Just enough to whet his appetite.

Oh, l see.

Welcome.

Show him about a bit, Stephanie.

Tell him the rules.

Strict rules don 't sound so strict when they come from the lips of a beautiful woman .

You'll want a desk.

- Shall l call you Professor, Professor Linden ? - ls this all right? Yes, fine.

Forgive me, Professor Peters.

l've gotten into the habit of not answering questions.

A victim of automation .

We're all getting used to letting computers do our answering for us.

Yes.

Well, shall we get started? - Professor Linden ? - Stephanie.

Stephanie.

Just what is this grotesque problem? Dr Block has a misplaced sense of word value.

- lt's not an ordinary problem.

- But it isn 't grotesque either, eh? No.

Merely insoluble.

They're the kind l hope to specialise in when l grow up.

We understood you've already created quite a stir at solving the insolvable.

Making fools out of foolish law makers.

Well, all but one.

Nature.

Perhaps because nature doesn 't make foolish laws.

Well, l'll show you around.

Stephanie? Problem? We have to find a way to break or change the conservation of energy law.

Oh? You don 't think we'll succeed? The law states that energy can be changed in form but can neither be created nor destroyed.

- We have to find a way to create it.

- Might be easier to destroy it.

No We tr ed.

We can't.

We really have to get started now, Professor.

Stuart.

Go ahead.

l'll be with you in a moment, Stuart.

Stephanie? Professor Linden ? Stephanie? (speech inaudible ) ( knock at door) - Who is it? - (woman ) A witch.

Let me in .

l think l'm being followed.

- ( laughs) Hello.

- Hello.

Hey.

- Are you mad at me? - What for? - Knocking on your door.

-No.

- Where have you been all day? - l was asleep.

All day.

You know, l enjoyed dinner last night.

And l thought l would enjoy it again tonight if you were with me.

Jory, what's wrong? lnever sleep during the day.

lnever sleep in the daytime.

Did you sneak by the desk just now? No , wa ked by - The clerk was on the telephone.

- She didn 't see you? Of course not.

Clerks never see witches.

l'm sorry.

You're not in the mood for seductive humour.

That means that just anyone can come to this door.

- Gaby, do you know what l think? - Mm-mm.

l think something malevolent is going on here.

Malevolent? l don 't like that word.

When l came back here this morning after apartment-hunting, l smelled something sweet, something deadly sweet.

l had the feeling somebody was in this room.

But l just had to lie down .

Something deadly sweet.

And l slept until just a few minutes ago.

And while l was asleep, somebody cleaned up the room.

- The maid.

-No, not the maid.

They said the maid didn 't get here today.

- Your brother? - l don 't think he'd come in without waking me.

Hm.

Hey.

l'm sorry.

( laughs) Why? Last night you said l was the first guy who hadn 't poured neuroses over you .

Here l am, doing just that.

There's nothing neurotic about smelling something deadly sweet in the air.

That's just plain spooky.

You're not really neurotic, are you? The summer l was eight, l .

.

looked out our beach-house window during a storm and watched our boat get thrashed against the rocks.

My father was in it.

So was my mother.

Stu was away at school and .

.

when he came back for the funeral, he asked me how come l hadn 't gone sailing with Mom and Dad? l told him the truth, that l'd done something wrong and Dad was punishing me.

But l always had the feeling Stu meant l should have been in that boat with them.

l stay with Stu as much as l can .

l even dropped out of school to come out here with him.

The only time l feel he doesn 't mean that is when l'm with him and he looks at me with that nice smile.

He took a long time.

Some people are a long time dying.

Stephanie.

l'm all right.

Did he seem interested in our problem? (sighs) Yes.

You must get over this repugnance for death, Stephanie.

For you to hate death is as foolish as for a live person to hate life.

know You should be grateful to me, Stephanie.

Because of me, you have faced the most terrifying experience of all and gotten it over with.

Now you must rise above bitterness .

.

and try to enjoy the life l have given you .

- You .

- l.

With the help of science, of course.

(phone rings) Professor Linden here.

Dr Block, sorry to disturb you but there's a young man insisting his brother works here.

A Professor Stuart Peters.

l can 't seem to find his name on the directory.

Oh, l see.

Sure thing.

Goodbye.

- He started today, so his name's not there.

- Can l see him? He went with a crew to inspect generators north of the valley.

- When will he be back? - Dr Block said in a week, maybe more.

- Can l talk to Dr Block? - Know what you ought to do? You and the lady ought to scoot down to LA and go dancing.

She's got nice legs.

Girls with nice legs oughta be seen on a dance floor.

- Come on , Jory.

- l didn 't mean anything improper.

l wanna talk to Dr Block.

Get out! l don 't want to start anything.

You ring him and tell him l wanna talk to him.

Now you know why a big man won 't take on a little boy.

Don 't push me too hard.

l don 't like depending on these.

(phone rings) Main gate.

Yes, sir, he went away.

No, sir.

No trouble at all.

l told him what you said and he just left.

Good night, Dr Block.

(water running ) Stu , l didn 't hear you come in .

How are you , Jory? You don 't look glad to see me.

Stu , l've been worried.

Taking care of yourself? lt's almost a week now.

l thought you'd call.

l was involved in an experiment at the lab.

You wouldn 't understand.

l slept and ate in the lab.

Didn 't you think l'd be worried? l told someone to call you .

Didn 't anyone call? No, no messages.

l thought you went up north or something.

Tub's gonna run over.

(flow decreases) Stu? The creation of energy.

According to natural law, it can 't be created or destroyed, only changed in form.

We're trying to break that law.

We need more energy than we can legally or scientifically get our hands on .

As time goes on , we'll be needing more and more.

l warned you , you wouldn 't understand.

This girl, Gaby, she thinks l ought to go back to school.

- So do l, Jory.

- She's out of her mind about me.

Naturally.

l thought l'd try to enrol at the university here.

No , Jory , go back to K ngston.

Why? Well, it means my job.

How's that, Stu? One of the conditions.

No dependents.

l'm just your kid brother.

l'm not dependent on you .

Aren 't you? Not so as a nyono wo u d bot ce Well, l notice.

- Do you , Stu? - Look, Jory.

You're past the point where boys are required to become men .

l don 't want you to lean on me any more.

Make your own decisions.

- Gee, can 't we be friends? - l'm serious, Jory.

Yeah, l know.

Leave today, Jory.

l'm moving to the centre anyway.

- l've got a girl here, Stu .

- There are girls in Kingston .

Not this one.

This one knows l'm independently wealthy and loves me anyway.

l am independently wealthy.

l can live any place l please.

Get out, Jory.

Pack up and leave.

- What is it, Stu? - l want you to go.

That's all.

You're a liar, Stu .

l'm sorry you think that.

l suppose it's easier than facing the truth.

- Tell me the truth and l'll face it.

- l'm tired of you hanging onto me.

l'm tired of telling you it's all right after those nightmares.

l'm tired of pretending you're funny when you're a terrified little boy with a broken heart.

lt's time you grew up and acted like a man .

Get out, Jory.

When was the last time l hit you? You never hit me.

Well, l feel like hitting you now.

Be a real man , Jory, not a pair of fists.

- ls it too much? - Pack up, Jory.

- What's that? -Never mind.

No! Stu ! Stu .

Stu .

Stu .

Stu .

Stu .

l wasn 't gonna hit him.

He must have thought l was.

He pulled away and he he slipped back.

And he exploded.

Something exploded.

And l went to the water and l pulled him out.

e was dead Just like that, he was dead.

And they've taken him away.

l'm Detective Sergeant Thomas Siroleo, Mr Peters.

You didn 't push him, did you? No, l didn 't push him.

The water in the tub was for you? Yeah, l was gonna take a bath.

l What happened to Stu? The coroner thinks the mechanism was defective.

Water shouldn 't have caused a short circuit.

What mechanism? That thing strapped to his chest? - A cardiac pacemaker.

- Didn 't you know he wore one? l don 't even know what it is.

lt's a long-term battery in a control unit that sends electric shocks rhythmically to the heart muscle.

lt maintains a b*at which means normal life for people who otherwise would be dead.

Why would he need that? He never had any heart trouble.

- Hasn 't he been in the hospital recently? -No! An operation had to be performed.

The attachment is inserted into the chest cavity.

l'll know more after the autopsy but l'd say he'd been operated on in the last month.

That's impossible.

l've been with him every day.

Every day.

No.

xcept fo ha week When we came out here a week ago he didn 't come back home, to the motel, l mean , for about a week.

- Where was he? - l don 't know.

l went up to the centre and they said he'd gone on a field trip up north.

He said he ate and slept in the lab.

l l don 't know.

l just keep thinking in a minute l'll wake up and scream.

- Can 't you talk to him later? - Where was he? The centre, what is it? N O RCO The Energy Research Commission ? N O RCO - l'd like to talk to you later, Mr Peters.

- Where did they take Stu? - Jory -No, l hate this! Somebody dies who you thought would be there forever, and they just come and take 'em and you don 't know where.

Where is he going that l can 't go too? His body will be at the county hospital.

An autopsy will be performed.

Then you can have any mortuary call for his body.

- Please.

- l've always found it best, miss.

Nobody aporoc atos roa ty ke somebody who s go ng to have to face t ln the morning, Mr Peters.

We'll help with the disposition of your brother's body.

Then l'd like to see you in my office.

About ten ? - Where's your office? - Police headquarters.

Police headquarters? Do all beautiful women react guiltily when they hear you are from police headquarters? Only the innocent.

He wants to ask you about Professor Stuart Peters.

- l'd heard he was k*lled.

- An accident.

Would you excuse us? He worked here with you .

Was he your assistant or were you his? We worked as equals.

He was past being an assistant.

Was he operated on here? Yes.

Dr Block performed surgery.

- l thought you would lie to me, Miss Linden .

- Professor Linden .

- Why should l have lied? - Suppose it wasn 't a heart att*ck? Suppose it was some kind of industrial accident? Some firms like to avoid involvement in that sort of thing.

lnsurance, bad public relations, you know.

- But it was a heart att*ck.

- Yes.

You say that as though you don 't believe it.

The coroner's report was funny, Professor.

lf a coroner's report can ever be said to be funny.

Stuart Peters had scar tissue as fresh as tomorrow morning's milk.

So the operation had to have taken place after he came here.

No one said it didn 't.

But he had to undergo a complete physical before he left Kingston , New York.

Your own company insisted.

Now , ve seen those rocords, Pro fesso r lf he'd been in any better health, they'd have given him a morning show on television .

A heart att*ck just wasn 't on the cards for Stuart Peters.

Well, what do you deduce from all this, Mr Siroleo? Shock or fright, properly induced, can cause a heart att*ck.

Well he was working right beside me when the att*ck came.

Do you suppose l could shock or frighten anyone to the point of death? - What kind of work? - Would you understand? Probably not.

- Could l just look around on my own ? -No.

- You must be accompanied by someone.

- l'm not a bad security risk.

Well, l personally do not form or enforce security regulations at NORCO.

l merely obey them.

You need higher permission than mine.

- Dr Block's? - He's director in chief.

l guess l'd better talk to him, then .

lf you like.

- Mr Siroleo.

- Sergeant Siroleo.

We all like our titles, Professor.

Dr Block is not in his office right now.

- You'll find him in the pit.

- The pit? The energy chamber.

We call it the pit.

Are you all right? Of course.

Go on , Sergeant.

You look upset.

- What's the matter? - (sobs) - What is it? - l just can 't! l can 't! Wait a minute! What was that detective's name? Siroleo.

- ls that a Greek name? - l don 't know.

- He said around ten .

- Yeah, in the morning.

(groans and sighs) - First there's a night to get through.

- We could go for a drive.

Get away from me, Gaby.

What was the name of that friend of yours, the one who told you to call me? l made it up.

Did you really see all my television shows? Yeah, l think so.

- What made you call me? - Your legs.

Your very fine legs.

Someone at NORCO k*lled my brother, Gaby.

- How did you get my number? - ln the phone book.

Can l borrow your car? - l'll drive.

-No, you just stay here.

- Are you going up there? - (sighs) Yes.

(faint banging ) - Get out.

- Why did you do that? - Why did you close the door? - Get out! What is that thing? Where did it come from? He'll k*ll you ! What made you do that? Who ordered you to do that? - He'll k*ll me for doing this.

- lt's Professor Block.

- He'll k*ll me again .

- Professor Block ordered you? No, he's not gonna He won 't make you do anything.

l'll take you out of here.

Don 't worry about me.

l have already d*ed once.

Just .

.

go.

Go.

Go! ( Block ) Go? Well You have seen it, Sergeant? What is it? Where does it come from? lt is pure energy, Sergeant.

Pure unadulterated unminimised power.

ln the words of the cleaning woman who unwittingly gave it life, t craw ed o u t o f the woodwork You haven 't tried to destroy it? Why would l want to do that? Even if l could? Aren 't you frightened of it? A scientist learns not to be afraid of the things he does not understand.

A few members of my staff tried to destroy it.

But energy cannot be destroyed.

So they decided to destroy me.

No, we didn 't want to destroy you .

Only to protect ourselves.

Simple heart surgery brought them to reason .

One by one, l terrified them to death.

And one by one, l gave them back their lives.

Lives they own only so long as l do not cut off the power that makes their heart b*at.

See, l have almost total control of that energy force in there.

lt would eagerly suck the power out of that pacemaker if l allowed it to.

- Are you insane? - l wish he were.

The insane are forgivable.

( Block ) Not insane.

At the worst, obsessed.

Think of it.

A small, lifeless thing, like a black bowl of dust, huddled against the baseboard in a dustless corner.

What is it? Where does it come from? Why does it suddenly live when it is fed common energy? Questions like that are very interesting, and they deserve to be answered.

But not at the cost of human life.

The wonderful questions are always answered at the cost of human life.

Remember how we wondered about the atom b*mb? Stay clear, Sergeant.

You wanna go back, Gaby? Do you? l don 't know.

l wanna make that guard let me in .

Punch him in the mouth if l have to.

But l can 't decide if that's what really l wanna do.

l can 't make decisions, Gaby.

They're hard to make.

Well, Stu's gone.

l'll have to learn how.

l'll wait here.

Go ahead.

Don 't help me.

l'm sorry.

( Stephanie groans) l didn 't want to do that.

lt isn 't right .

.

to k*ll.

l couldn 't leave him.

When it first appeared .

.

he looked at it as a scientist would.

Curious.

Frightened, even .

But he was sure We were all sure it could be controlled.

Studied.

But if our controls slipped even for a second .

.

it would k*ll.

lf it was loose, it would k*ll.

Mindlessly.

lndiscriminately.

So we tried to destroy it.

But he didn 't want it destroyed.

He said it was his discovery.

He said it was his.

And he would solve the mystery of it.

Every man wants to so ve ono mystory boforo he dies He locked it.

He locked it! He locked it! No! No! No! No, l don 't know what to suggest.

- Tanks? -No.

You can 't destroy it with g*ns.

lt'll consume any form of energy.

What? As long as we stay in the dark, we're safe.

No hero s no way we ca n destroy t - We have to control it.

- Wait a minute.

ow ? - Get it back to the pit.

- How? The pit has its own generators.

lf you cut off the power everywhere else, it'll go back to the pit.

Cut off the power in this area.

Quick.

l'll k*ll as much as l can from in here.

What is it? What's the matter? Taking the power lt's under control.

For the moment.

( man ) The conservation of energy law.

A principle which states that energy can be changed in form but that it cannot be either created or destroyed.

And this is true of all energy.

The energy of genius, of madness, of the heart, of the atom.

And so it must be lived with.

lt must be controlled, channelled for good, held isolated from evil, and somehow lived with, peaceably.

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 .

.

The Outer Limits.
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