The Outer Limits (1963–1965): Season 1, Episode 18 - ZZZZZ - full transcript

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 that 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

Human life strives
ceaselessly to perfect itself

to gain ascendancy.

But what of the lower forms
of life?

Is it not possible
that they, too,

are conducting experiments

and are, at this moment,

on the threshold
of deadly success?

What happened?

I'm all right now.

Thank you,
Professor Fields.

My name is Regina.

I've come to be
your assistant.

I read your ad
in the newspaper.



My wife went into town
no more than an hour ago

to place that ad
in tomorrow's newspaper.

I was there.

I overheard.

I like to steal
small advantages.

Must I wait
until tomorrow?

Have any experience
with my line of work?

Yes.

And with someone as
exacting and perfect

as you are.

I understand
I'm to live in.

Yes. That was one
of the requirements,

but I had a male
assistant in mind.

Oh, he'd have to, uh,
destroy diseased insects

and clean out hives.

I read your legends
of the medieval bee.

Was there truly
a monk Sebastian

who grew Nigerian bees
8 feet long?

You'd have to go
over to the health center.

They want some blood
to make sure

you're not allergic
to bee stings.

I'm not.

Well, uh,
I'd have to know.

People have died
from the sting of one bee.

Ah, Francesca.
Come see if I'm right.

You'll think you are
whatever my opinion.

Ha ha.

About what, Ben?

About Regina.

She overheard you
place your ad

and stole the advantage.
I think she might do.

My luggage
was lost in transit.

I have no bags
to unpack.

There's no need
to see my room

until it's time
to go to bed.

I can begin at once

by putting your
laboratory in order.

A disorderly man is usually
guilty of something

far more chaotic
than disorder.

I think you've hired
her, Ben.

Well, only
because the lady

didn't stop me.

You know I'm not
an alarmist, Ben,

and I'm not...
At least I don't think

I object to having
an enchanting child

work beside you.

It's sensible
and reassuring

to know
something of a person

who works with you
and lives in your house.

I'll take it.

Well...

I feel as if I should
put on a clean coat

and stand by for
fingernail inspection.

You have an orderly,
organized mind.

That compensates
for your tie...

And your fingernails.

Um, Regina,

come here.

Um...

I'm gonna have to check
your references.

I have none.

Oh?

What is it?

The man
I worked for last...

I'd rather not
tell you his name.

If I tell you anything
at all about him,

you'd recognize him
instantly.

He was innocent.

His wife had been wanting
a divorce.

She had met
a younger man and...

She threatened to
ruin my reputation

and her husband's.

She had already
ruined mine

by the time he submitted
and saved his.

My parents suggested
that I leave the city,

only until the gossipers
found new prey, of course.

He never even
answered my letters.

So I stopped writing.

But if you want
their address, I'll...

No, no. Ha ha.

Look at this,
Regina. Look.

What you're
looking at are

the fertilized eggs of
a Nigerian queen bee.

There must be a million.

No. There are
more than that.

And they're all
the result

of a single mating.

Would you like
to be the father

of that many children?

What?

No. I'll settle
for one...

In a thousand.

And before I'm 25,
of course.

I've asked everybody,

but if anybody
gave out your ad,

nobody's admitting it.

And you don't recall
anyone standing close by

while I
dictated it to you?

Not close enough to hear

what you were saying
over a telephone.

And certainly not
a stranger.

All right.
Thank you.

Still want us
to run the ad?

Oh, no. No,
that won't be...

Well... Yes.

Yes, of course,
Mr. Lund.

After all, the girl
may not work out.

Ordinary bees
are already within

the human range of
intelligence, you know.

I know.

The ones I've accelerated
are already compiling

a grammar
and a dictionary.

This is
a language analyzer.

I know.

You've never seen one
quite like that before.

It's the only one
in existence.

I built it myself.

Would you explain it
to me, please?

All right.

It, um, picks up

and transmits
the sound of bees.

5 cycles per second

to 60,000.

That's, uh,

3 times the range

of the human ear
and vocal cords.

Ben?

He's occupied, Mrs. Fields.

This is
an artificial bee.

Would you hand me that
memory bank, please?

Thanks.

Mary had
a little lamb.

Alpha, beta,
gamma, delta.

Testing.

1, 2, 3, 4.

I see.

Well, we're about
ready to begin.

The oscilloscope
shows the bee sounds

outside
our hearing range.

It converts
these sounds

into light waves

and transmits them
into the computer,

where they're
translated

and made audible
to our ears.

Now watch.

Danger! Danger!

Stop, combs forward.

Worker bees to battle lines.

Drones,
move the queen eggs below.

What is it? What is it?

Invader! Invader!

Friend. Lost way.
Wing broken.

Does he offer pollen?

Pollen sack empty.
Offers nothing.

Appears like one of us,
but is not one of us.

Is not one of us.

The body
is not like our body.

The odor is not
like our odor.

Destroy, destroy.

Can you be certain

you're translating
them correctly?

I, uh...

I watch them do
the same things

that humans do...

Rearing of children,
searching for food,

mating.

And the sounds
they make

I match up
with our words.

Of course,
their vocabulary

is very simple,

but I
can translate,

oh, perhaps 70% of
everything they say.

Did they really say
all these things, Ben?

I only record

what the analyzer
claims they're saying.

And, um...

Professor Fields
feels

less exacting
and perfect

when he's
called Ben.

And more human?

Yes?

Can I see you the moment
you're free, Ben?

Yeah. The very moment.

Um, I'll have Francesca
take you shopping

and, uh, get you some...
A starched uniform.

This is your queen.

I can speak only human.

Listen. The human drone's
machinery will translate.

I have passed the threshold,

and I am beautiful.

The human drone has already
begun to aspire to me,

and when he dies,

his memory will live on

in our million children.

Was this room originally
intended as a nursery?

It must be devastating

to know your husband
wants children.

Ben discussed that
with you?

Well, we were discussing
our mutual tragedies.

I told him mine,
and he alluded to his.

Regina, how did you
find out about the ad?

I was there
when you placed it.

I heard you.

Except that I
phoned it in.

The girl
who received it

repeated it to me.

Mr. Lund received it.

I did not wish
to incriminate him,

Mrs. Fields.
Must I?

He was only trying
to be helpful.

I see.

Regina,
where are you from?

Scotland.

And I'm very tired.

Would you rather
have dinner up here alone?

Why?

I was thinking
if you're tired,

you might want to get
into bed and...

Am I 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
I were an ugly duckling,

because I wasn't.

And as a result,

I expect all elderly women
to exclude me

from the simple pleasures
of family life.

If I misjudged you...

I'm not as elderly
as all that.

Would you like
to help me?

How?

Oh, set the table,
light the candles.

No, thank you.

And then this
sweet young thin type

said that her husband is

one of the new
fair-haired physicists

at the university,

and did my husband
do anything?

Francesca still attends
the faculty wives' teas

in order to maintain

her sole contact
with unreality.

Did you tell her
that I'm on a sabbatical

that her taxes
are helping to pay for?

I told her you were
an entomologist

and, uh...

Working on
a top secret project.

Did that titillate her?

She hoped you were
developing an insecticide

that housewives
could believe in.

Her words.

I didn't know
housewives

were afraid
of insects.

Well, it isn't
necessarily fear.

Isn't it?

Oh, I doubt
if many women

would even think
of using insecticides

if the insects
would stay

in their own world
outside.

But if they insist
on coming in...

Are you afraid
of insects,

Mrs. Fields?

Well, I think
we all are a little.

We talk more
about our fear

of the larger forms
of animals.

It doesn't seem
so cowardly

to admit fear
of crazed panthers

or giant vultures.

But I 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...

If you happen to be married
to a certain entomologist.

Well, I wasn't
thinking of bees.

Of course, they sting.

But I 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.

Hmm.

Well, mind getting
back to work

while the bees
are still among us?

Hey, it's past 12:00.

Well, it's certainly
bedtime, huh?

Hey, just a minute.

Civilized people
usually say good night.

Good night, Ben.

What is it?

Sh-she...

She disturbs me.

Why?

If our baby had only...

Oh, shh.
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 I...

I became
extremely jealous.

Well, of course
you did.

Regina
isn't our daughter

regardless
of her age

or how
I smile at her.

It made me wonder
if I might have become

what her mother became.

Have I been glad that
we never had another child?

Have you?

I never thought so.

Neither have I.

You'd rather be

just about anything
in the world

except a normal,
healthy, vibrant,

jealous wife.

Well, I suppose I...

I try to be

a little like
your bees, Ben.

All organization

and gears neatly meshed,

efficient,

and no tiresome emotions.

There are some
tiresome emotions

that don't tire me
at all.

What time shall I come down
in the morning?

Would you mind putting
those things away,

please?

Ben! Ben!

Benedict!
Ben, that girl...

Has she finally
gone to sleep?

Mm-hmm.

Did you make this?

I wanted
to do something.

I felt
so helpless...

So responsible.

Responsible?

I heard the things
she screamed...

And it was I
in the garden.

Yeah.

What were you doing
out there, Regina?

The moonlight
drew me.

I was...

I smell
the things

that bloom
in the night.

Come to think
of it,

I did have
my nosy nose

poked
in a flower.

But you didn't
transform yourself

into a mammoth
glowing bee.

No.

Yes?

I'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.

It's gone now.

Hello, darling.

You all right?

Just... just stay close
a moment longer.

I just need

a tiny bit more
of your strength.

Oh.

Yes?

Oh, I drank
the last of it, Ben.

I'll make a fresh pot
and bring it right up.

You really are
all right, Francesca?

I'm trying to be,

but your solicitude
is awfully tempting.

I love to watch you
brush your hair.

Instincts warn,

all not well.

Pain!

Did we not make you
perfect enough?

Are we at fault?

No.

I do not know
what is wrong.

Will you survive?

I must.

I will.

Our struggle to affect
your transformation

must not go unrewarded.

You must produce.

You must.

Once we have begun
to breed,

once we have the strength
and life span of the humans,

millions and millions
of us...

Born in
the same breath,

swarming over
their chaotic world...

We will conquer.

We will rule.

I will wait
no longer.

I have been patient,

only because
I've learned

that humans...

Good humans believe

they must

experience love.

Instincts tell me

he has begun to...

Oh!

Shh.

Why?

Why all
this darkness?

What's wrong?

I must...
I mustn't fail.

I mustn't.

Help me,
sisters!

Help me!

Shh, shh, shh.

Am I 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.

It's very painful
but not fatal.

Love me, Ben.

Regina.

Regina, I'm very, very much
in love with my wife.

I see only that
you're married to her.

I'm married to her
because I love her.

If you married me,

then would you
love me?

No.

If I loved you,
then I would marry you.

Then I
won't die, Ben.

I will live...
For you.

Regina.

Does it
make you angry

to be loved, Ben?

If it's

the beautiful,
precious thing

you think it is,

it should make
you smile.

Is she asleep?

Yes.

The pain is gone?

It's quieted. Yes.

You must
let her go, Ben,

in the morning.

Shh.

If she's
really asleep,

she can't hear me.

And if she
isn't really asleep?

Well, then
she's deceiving us.

There's no reason

to spare
the feelings

of deceitful people.

It doesn't sound
like you, Francesca.

And you don't sound
like you.

This will wait
until morning.

Ben...

Ben, you get some sleep.
I'll sit with her.

All right.

I do not know
what is wrong.

Will you survive?

I must.

I will.

Our struggle

to affect your
transformation...

Oh, Ben?

She's upstairs. Francesca
is sitting with her.

I've already
looked in.

How did she seem
this morning?

Ben...

Ben, she's
a medical anomaly.

I've never seen
blood fluid

like hers.

The erythrocytes
and leukocytes...

Totally
out of balance.

The plasma level is
up from 55 to 70%,

and the entire
serum is

a floating mass
of cholesterol globules.

Ben, she's
the closest thing

to a complete mutant

I've ever seen.

Mutant?

You only examined her
superficially.

You can't have gathered
enough data

to support
such a fantas...

Now, Ben, I may not
know the difference

between a bee
and a buzzard,

but I do know
a thing or two

about human beings.

Regina?

I do not like
good-byes, Ben.

I'm sorry
you found me.

You well
enough to leave?

Your wife
is ill, Ben.

I seem to have
accelerated

her disintegration.

That's not true.

Well, something has.

She's not
disintegrating.

That's what's not true.

Oh.

I no longer
love you, Ben.

I cannot love a man
who deludes himself,

and you do, Ben,
because if you didn't,

you'd know
that you loved me

and admit it to yourself
if not to me.

Good-bye, Ben.

No, Ben,
I am not being

a foolish woman.

You asked her to
leave, and she left.

I'm glad.

Francesca,
is this possible?

Have you so
little faith in me?

All my faith
is in you, Ben.

You think because
I can be touched

by a small
and touching thing,

because she moved me
to smile at her,

that you think...

I think that you

have done and said
and felt nothing wrong.

Then why send away

a homeless,
sick child?

You think she was
anything more than that?

I don't know
what she was.

I do know she was not
what she seemed.

I didn't trust her.

I was... I was unable
to like...

Why?

Oh, she's gone, Ben.

It should
no longer matter.

It does matter.

I was unable
to like her.

I did not want
her in our home.

She was not
a threat to me, Ben.

She was
a threat to us.

You should not
have felt concern.

I did not
intend to leave.

I am merely employing

the devious methods
they themselves use.

They must not think

I wish to harm him
or the woman.

You see, they live
by what they think,

not by what they know.

We beg forgiveness, queen,

for having doubted you.

We did not understand
it was a game.

We are at your service.

We will...
Warning! Warning!

No!

Yes?

Ben?

I've been calling
all afternoon.

Well,
I've been here...

Down in my lab...

Straightening
things up and...

Listening
to some... Tapes.

I, uh...

I didn't hear
the phone ring.

You need anything?

No, I don't need
anything.

Ben?

Huh?

Have you taken
those pills?

Pills?

I gave you some pills

when we were leaving
the cemetery.

Oh. Those.

What are they for,
Howard?

Tranquilizers.

Huh.

Are you sure
they work?

Are they
as effective

as the inoculations
you gave Francesca?

Ben, I've told you
stings did not kill her.

Yeah, that's right.

I keep
forgetting that.

What did kill her,
Howard?

Get some sleep, Ben.

What did kill her,
Howard?

I don't know.

Poison.

They're still
working on it, Ben.

We can't identify it.

Maybe I can help
you, Howard...

Because
I'm an exacting...

Perfect award-winning
scientist.

I can identify a lot
of strange things.

Take that off!
Where did you get it?!

Now, take it off!

Oh, forgive me,
dear Ben.

I only wanted
to make you laugh.

I found it in my room
in the cedar chest.

And when
I put it on,

I looked so comical,
I laughed.

I thought
you would, too.

Oh, I wanted
to make you laugh again.

It'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 I
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.

If I share
your grief, Ben,

will you share
my joy?

You have a joy?

Oh, yes, Ben.

Can you describe it?

I can show you.

Come.

Come, look.

Look.

Now, what
do you see?

A lonely man...
With swollen eyes.

Oh, no, Ben.

You see my joy.

You see
you, Ben.

You're my joy.

I'm your joy?

Now can we
be married?

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.

I am not opposed
to a ritual, Ben.

Oh.

And ours is such
a beautiful ritual, Regina.

It happens only once
in a person's life...

At least it should...
And it usually does.

It 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 sudden,
senseless tragedy,

no willful murderer

can rip it out
and desecrate it.

When we love
and get married,

we share our acts
of love with God.

When there are
children,

we share them
with God,

and when
there are none,

we share our grief
with God.

That's our ritual,
Regina.

It's called life.

And no evil,
no inhuman mutation

has ever been able
to stop it.

It goes on and on

just as the kind of life

where you come from
goes on and on...

The way it was meant
to go on and on!

Aah!

When the yearning
to gain ascendancy

takes the form of
a soulless, loveless struggle,

the conflict must end
in unlovely defeat,

for without love,

drones can never be made,

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...