Forbidden World (1982) Movie Script
Where are we?
Beta zone.
There's a pack of food
raiders on our tail, sir.
My hands are numb.
Concentrate, sir,
they're closing in.
Okay, give me scan
six zero Charlie.
They're coming head
on, fire the tracers.
Okay, switch this baby around.
Let's shake 'em up a little.
Pleasure, five o'clock.
What's your tail, Sam?
Here we go.
Steady.
Now!
What's with the lights?
It could be a
central power leak.
It would leave us defenseless,
without the force field.
Don't start on me,
Sam, give me a hand.
We haven't lost it; I'll
tie in the auxiliary power.
- Got any wire?
- I'm made of it.
Give me some.
How long was I under?
That car-set is
older than you are.
Hope he turned
out better than me.
Higher, higher.
You've done it, sir.
Give me full throttle
on the front vector
and check the force field.
Full throttle, sir.
Oh Lord Sam that's
the mothership
Check the force field.
Lost it.
Way alpha 65.
Way alpha 60.
Way alpha 52.
They sank the fusion bolts.
Five seconds to fusion reaction.
Fire!
Fire!
Fire!
Well done, sir.
Sir, we've received new
orders while you were under.
It's bad news, sir, we're
being diverted.
To where?
- Xarbia.
- Very funny.
They've had an accident
in a high-security lab there.
The federation requested
you especially.
All our leave time has
been canceled.
They said I was going home.
It was an order, sir.
They said you'd understand.
Maybe next year, sir.
- Prepare for hyperspace sir.
- Hyperspace?
Yes, sir.
Xarbia, sir.
Prepare for docking.
Searcher Seven to Xarbia
Five; Come in, please.
Roger, Searcher Seven, we
see you; Hold your course.
Roger, Xarbia, holding steady.
Where do you want us?
Enter code 65 cipher two pop up.
We'll strobe you in.
Gordon Hauser, head
of research.
- Mike Colby.
- Of course.
This is my assistant, Dr.
Glaser.
Barbara knows more about
genetic synthesis
than anyone else alive.
Sounds like fun.
I've heard good things
about you, Commander Colby.
Mike.
It's good to be here in
your pleasant custody.
- Let's get started.
- Good, follow me,
I'll show you around.
This is an a-priority,
high-security research facility.
Actually it's a
scientist's dream,
we have the best of
everything here.
Except real estate.
Well, they put us
here for two reasons.
One, because we're
working on a bacteria
that's unique this planet.
And two, because we can
take experimental risks
here in isolation that would
be unthinkable back home.
What kind of research
do you do here?
Genetic engineering;
Bacteriological, mostly.
Our objective is to create
an extremely productive,
entirely new food source,
and I would say that we've
done that, too.
Uh huh; Tell me about
the accident.
- Sorry.
- Sorry.
Tracy, would you go
find Jimmy, please,
and have him come to the lab?
Sure.
Sorry.
It's okay.
You're a new face around here.
We don't often get new faces.
That's the truth.
In here.
Okay, close your eyes.
What is this?
It kills every living
thing on your body.
Keep it clean, that's the rule.
Nothing messy goes in,
nothing messy comes out.
Isn't there a cancer risk?
Watch your step.
Welcome to the Garden
of Eden; We play God here.
We create life; The
only trouble is,
some of the life we
create just won't behave.
Mike Colby, Cal Timbergen,
chief of bacteriology.
He's a true genius.
One of the few.
Nice to meet you.
Thought we leave the
mess until you got here.
Heard you liked messes.
Any sign of isolatory
psychosis among the staff?
Not on our staff.
Wasn't staff, Colby;
Something got loose.
What got loose?
- Subject 20.
- An experiment?
We created a little monster,
I'm afraid.
See for yourself.
It's in here.
Meet Subject 20.
Who put it in the incubator?
It put itself in
the incubator.
What is it?
It's a metamorph.
- What?
- It's a metamorphic mutation.
It's like an ordinary mutant,
in that it's genetically
different from its parent.
A metamorph goes it one better.
It keeps right on changing
its genetic structure,
mutating again and again
even as it grows and matures.
It's a genetic wildcat,
it's totally unpredictable.
Best to keep that closed.
What is the gooey stuff?
It's a cocoon; Interesting,
huh?
Is it changing form in
there, like a caterpillar?
It's changing into something,
all right; God knows what.
Don't expect to
fight a butterfly.
This little thing did
all that damage?
That little thing has a
lot of energy.
Its metabolic rate is 50 times
that of any other
known organism.
And we should get rid of it?
If we drop a few cc's of
hydrocyanic acid in there,
we have a belly-up
metamorph and I can go home.
I don't think you understand,
Colby.
I understand perfectly,
Doctor.
You're workin' outside
of your charter.
Scientific research
often takes us
into uncharted territory.
I'm not talkin' about
territory, Doctor.
I'm talkin' about strange
little creatures that kill.
I've got a motto: It moves
and it's not one of us,
- shoot it.
- Brilliant.
- Just what we need.
- I'm not joking, Doctor.
I know when to play the game
and I know when to bail out.
That thing is trouble,
I can smell it.
Termination is not a solution.
He's right, Commander, give
us a chance to fill you in.
Late one night.
How come you're so much
more convincing than he is?
I have such beautiful ideas.
Shall we discuss it
over dinner?
Hungry?
I'm gettin' that way.
- Jimmy.
- Yes, Doctor.
Okay, no problem.
A little terror; If he does
anything funny, give me a call.
Okay.
Security.
This is Jim in the
lab; Hauser there yet?
Not yet.
When he gets there,
would you tell him to me
give me a call?
Tell him his baby's wakin' up.
Okay.
Genetics.
James, this is Hauser.
Doc, this thing's moving
around, it's acting strange.
Kind of pulsating, like
it's breathing hard?
Yeah.
Well that's perfectly normal.
Don't let it worry you.
One of us'll come right down.
Okay.
- Next time.
- Right.
Tracy, run down to genetics,
make sure everything's okay.
Sure.
If it's anything
interesting, let me know.
Hate to miss it.
Where's the whipped cream?
What?
Strawberry shortcake always
comes with whipped cream.
This is strawberry shortcake?
I thought it was one of
Cal's genetic disasters.
Mm mm.
Come on, Barb, I can't eat this
crap without whipped cream.
Do you want to whip up some
of the pol-ee-goo guys'
dairy base?
It looks like whipped cream,
sort of.
Actually it looks
like pureed puke,
if you wanna know the truth.
The galactic food
crisis strikes again.
Suffer.
What does Subject
20 have to do
with their work on
the food crisis?
It's a genetic mutant.
A Proto B binding like
all the other experiments,
except this one got a
little out of hand.
A little.
Well, what's Proto B?
You know anything
about genetics?
Doctor, I wouldn't know
it gene from a jelly bean.
Earl, punch up the file
seven zero six three.
Proto B gets its energy from
light, available chemicals
and most efficiently by
consuming its own dead.
It lives in a perfectly
balanced, closed system.
No predators and no prey.
Proto B reproduces at an
unbelievable rate.
It's simple, the way
it multiplies.
You splice it to
another organism,
there's just no stopping it.
We spliced it to an
algae and got a foodstuff
that grows so fast,
I swear you couldn't kill
it if you tried.
All of our work here
involves splicing Proto B genes
with the genes of
other organisms.
So actually Subject 20 started
out just like all the others.
Then Subject 20 is the
result of a genetic splicing
between a Proto B bacteria
and another organism?
Exactly.
What is the other organism?
Well, is it animal or vegetable?
Well, come on; Was it an animal?
- Yes.
- No!
Yes.
Do I hear a maybe?
Ask Gordon what
happened to Annie.
- Who's Annie?
- Ask him.
All right, I'm warning you.
Tell me about Annie.
This is not the time or place
to be discussing this.
What difference does it make?
She died.
You can call it that.
What would you call it?
She died.
That's all.
What is it?
Transit.
Oh, Lord.
Come on, let's get
out of here.
The metamorph, where is it?
- I don't know.
- Well find the damn thing!
Hang on, he's still alive.
- Impossible.
- Give me a hand.
I wanna get him up where
we can see him.
He can't be alive, Cal,
look at him, for God's sakes.
All right, here's
what's gonna happen.
Should have killed it
when we had the chance.
Fine, there's too
much at stake here.
- Tell that to Jimmy.
- You go find it!
And keep looking.
Don't worry, sir,
I'll find it.
I'll find that
half-freak bastard.
No cerebrum; Traumatized
collateral sulcus,
but there's life in
the cerebellum.
The heart's still pumping,
the body tissue is viable.
He is alive, technically anyhow.
- What if it's not in here?
- It's gotta be in here.
This is a sterile chamber,
if a germ can't get out,
there's no way that
thing can get out.
I can't do anything
with him here.
I'm gonna take him down
Won't get away from me,
will you, my genetic cesspool?
This is it, you
goddamn ding-wopper.
Be careful.
Let me know if you find
the rest of him, will you?
I'm beginning to think
it's not in here.
Don't be a fool, Brian,
how could it get out?
Maybe it did get away.
Keep looking.
Maybe it's invisible.
Have you seen my kit,
I can't find it anywhere.
We gotta tell Colby about Annie.
I can't deal with it anymore.
No, let Gordon do it.
He knows what he's doing.
I think he's in over his head.
And I think you should
get some sleep.
Need any help?
I'll let you know; Not yet.
Why don't you turn in?
You need to blank it all
out for a while.
Yeah.
Okay.
Tracy?
I'm sorry about Jimmy.
It's okay.
Show up by tomorrow, we're
gonna have to dismantle the lab
piece by piece, you know
that's gonna be a nightmare,
a damn nightmare!
- Good night, Hauser.
- What's good about it?
Sleep tight, don't
let the bedbugs bit.
I put you in number two.
Hey, thanks.
- Goodnight Taylor.
- Goodnight, Earl.
Don't worry, I know my job.
Sam, you all right?
All right, sir.
I hear you're the best
troubleshooter in the.
Federation.
Yeah, I heard that too.
Want to see some trouble?
No, sir I put you
in number two.
Shit.
Hey, who is that, Baxter?
Goddammit, this is my
goddamn steam bath.
I'm sorry.
Get out!
Baxter, you're beautiful.
Oh, boy.
I just came down to
see who's here.
Well now you know, so get out.
The mornings belong to
me in this loony bin
and I plan on keeping
it that way.
You shouldn't be
wandering around
with that thing on the loose.
I thought it was locked
up in the lab.
We don't know where it is.
And you came to warn me?
Whoever.
Thanks.
You know something?
You look like you could
use a steam bath.
Well, as a matter of
fact, I had a hard night,
So fair's fair.
Get naked.
We don't get many new
faces around here.
That's one thing
I like about my job,
I'm always the new face.
Oh my.
And there's some things
I don't like about my job.
Like what?
Well like this, for example.
This happened in Pytor.
Sam and I ran across a
caravan of nomadic Den-dars,
you know, tight.
Anyway it all started
when Sam and I
rather tactlessly accused
a Den-dar commander
of being a maggoty, fat-ass
grease-lickin' Doug bunny.
That was close.
- I oughta retire.
- Oh, no you don't.
You're staying right
here with me.
- What is that thing?
- What-oh-bee-in-what.
All right, what happened?
- Your metamorph attacked us.
- Where is it?
- Inside.
- You didn't kill it, did you?
Hell no, listen.
It's growing, it's getting
bigger by the minute.
What is that thing,
Hauser, Proto B and what?
You stick with your
charter Colby.
Just figure out a
way to trap it.
You figure it out, I'm
not goin' back in there.
Hey, easy, easy; You wanna
know what I wanna know?
I'd like to know what
you and Tracy were doing
in there dressed like that.
Explaining your scars,
no doubt.
- It's venting steam.
- That's impossible.
- The skylight.
- It's busting out.
You still think we're
running around,
trying to cover up some
embarrassing mistake?
- Just do your job.
- You wanna help?
- Of course.
- You and Brian and I
would go outside and
we'll track it.
Brian, get to Sam-104
and bring it
to the decompression
chamber; We can use it.
Tracy, go to the control
room and track us
on the outside scanner.
Barbara, go find Cal
and go to work on Jimmy.
Learn everything you can
about a metamorph
and what makes it tick.
Okay, now where's Earl?
Probably manning his monitors,
looking for the ding-wopper.
- The what?
- Ding-wopper.
That's what he calls it.
Well, okay, let's get going.
I sure hope you know
what you're doing.
I don't have the slightest
idea, I go on hunches.
Let's go bag ourselves
a ding-wopper.
It changes itself,
it changes us.
What do you think, Barbara?
Hey, good luck, you guys.
Don't worry we'll
give all the dirty work
to the Sam-104 here.
They switch you
off when life is good,
and switch you back on when
they're up to their noses
in life's bitter droppings.
Right you are, tin man.
We found that as long as we
make a gradual decompression,
we can stay outside
for up to an hour or so
without too much difficulty.
After that, it gets
kind of risky.
- Nitrogen narcosis.
- Similar to it, yes.
Nitrogen in the blood
gets all foamy,
forms a lot of little
tiny bubbles.
The effect is quite
dramatic, an instant high
leading to euphoria.
The trouble is, you
like it so much,
you forget to come back in.
We almost lost Earl once
about a mile from here.
Found him naked,
eating the sand.
He thought it was sugar.
Here it comes.
This is the analysis of
the gelatinous tissue.
This should tell me
what it's made of.
Look at this, this is
extraordinary.
Barbara, look at this.
Cal.
Cal, what's it doing?
Dividing, reproducing.
Barbara, this stuff is
almost pure protein.
What we're seeing is a
breakdown of a complex,
sophisticated creature,
a human being,
into a simple
elementary organism
whose sole function is
to grow and reproduce.
Jimmy's tissue has been going
through a radical metamorphosis.
Like every human being,
he's made up
of millions of
specialized cells,
cells with a unique function.
A cell from an eye is
very different
from a cell from a toe, right?
Of course.
But ever since his attack,
all his specialized
cells have been changing.
Until all the differences
have been erased,
until every cell is identical,
until there is no difference
between his eye and his toe.
Until we have that.
But why?
That's the metamorph.
That's that pathetic,
unformed malignant issue
of our own stupidity.
Ask it why.
Oh, goddamn!
You better come over here,
I think I...
Oh my God, it's Earl!
There it is.
We got company; Let's go.
They found Earl; He's dead.
And we sighted the mutant;
He's made another cocoon.
Where's the copy cat?
We've got to find a way to
take him alive.
Not this time, Doctor;
This time we kill him.
No!
Brian, ready your lasers!
Sam, we need you in position.
For God's sake, this
thing is full of secrets!
We can't let it die!
I'm not gonna
let it die, Doctor.
- I'm gonna kill it.
- No!
Listen, listen, please,
please, try my way first.
Negative, Doctor;
Is everybody ready?
- Ready.
- Go to it, Sam.
One!
It's empty, there
is nothin' in it.
Damn shame.
Where's Hauser?
Gone.
He's heading to the
research center.
Hurry, Mike, hurry!
It's changing again.
Don't move!
Back off slowly.
This is for keeps, Gordon,
do what I say, you hear me?
Dammit, get outta there!
Lucky for us you're so good
at killin' these things.
Baxter, did you see that?
I saw it.
I want you locate
that vent in the files
and tell us where it comes out.
Punch up V-1-6-2-0-7,
that'll get you the schematics.
Brian, this is for the
whole complex.
Drag it, this is vent
number 1-5-4-4-8.
I don't see it.
There isn't a vent
1-5-4-4-8, wait a minute,
there's about a million
vents on this thing.
Here we go, I got it.
- Can you give us the route?
- Wait, will you,
it's all in numbers.
There it is; Your
destination is H-Q-R-5-1-W.
Oh, baby, that's
the control room!
Tracy.
It's in there!
Let's get outta here.
Are you all right?
We lost you on the telecom.
We thought all hell had
broken loose.
Mike, look at this.
They're computers, damn.
Looks like the trance
scammed the calm cam,
the 790, and the May Day box.
Man, this is bad news.
This creature's intelligent.
How do you figure that?
Simple; It destroyed
all our contact
with the outside world,
our launchpad control,
and yet he left us
air to breathe, food to eat
and a temperature we
can live in.
Why?
He wants to keep us alive.
He wants to use us
for some reason.
If it is intelligent,
have you thought about
trying to communicate with it?
That's about the stupidest
damn idea I've heard all day.
No offense, Barb.
Sorry I asked.
It's in the med room.
What's it doing?
Hang on.
It's reducing us to a
simple protein.
It wants to use us as food.
Why doesn't it just eat
us and get it over with?
It's working on a
permanent food supply.
It's planting a garden
and we're the seeds.
It's using human tissue,
our tissue?
Yes, it injects human tissue
with Proto B in its saliva.
Proto B goes to work,
invading every cell,
altering the genetic structure,
reconstructing the body to
suit its needs.
I'm bored.
How ironic,
if you consider why we came
here in the first place.
Help me!
Someone help her.
You see, you see, what
this stuff does?
It's metamorphosis.
Do you know why that
creature does this?
Instinct.
Proto B is the result millions
of years of evolution.
We have no way of knowing
what's hidden in its
genetic coding.
The metamorph
is only half Proto B.
What's the other half?
Tell him, Cal, please.
A metamorph
is a genetic fusion
of a Proto B cell
and a human being.
You've heard us talk about
it in the past.
Well, we knew we could
create the cell,
but not the womb to grow it in.
Annie volunteered.
She knew all dangers.
It was an implant.
Exactly, we spliced the
genetic structure of Proto B
to the genes of a human cell.
Whose?
It was Gordon's; This whole
experiment was his idea.
In the lab,
we used Gordon's altered
cell to fertilize the egg.
- In Annie.
- Mitosis began,
we surgically re-implanted
the egg into Annie's uterus.
She was to carry it to term.
Except the term turned
out to be two weeks.
And it killed her.
Tracy it's as if they're
not listening to Cal.
He's telling them the
thing's intelligent,
and they go right on insisting
the only way to deal with it
is to blow it up or something.
What else can we do?
I think we should try
to communicate with it.
I know it's far-fetched,
but it might work
and we don't have that
many options.
Come on, that's crazy,
Barbara.
Listen, the point is
if we go on attacking it,
it's gonna go on attacking us.
It's called cognitive
retribution,
and the only way to stop
it is to break the cycle.
Maybe it's already got
what it wants.
Maybe all we have to do
is to walk out of here.
Look what happened to Dr.
Hauser.
No, it's too risky.
But I'm sure we could
break the cycle
if we tried to
communicate with it.
Intelligent beings can communicate,
you don't need language.
Look at any foreigner
away from home,
or a mother and her baby.
It's not the same.
But if it is as
intelligent as Cal says,
there's at least a chance
it might work.
If there is a chance then
we have to try.
I'll have to tell the others.
No, you saw how they reacted.
We'll have to do this ourselves.
- Crush it!
- What?
Poison it, electrocute it.
- Microwave it.
- Gunned it.
- Acid.
- Acid, what else?
Fellas, we have got to
be more creative than this.
I'm telling you, this
thing is smart.
Are you okay?
You sure you wanna go
through with this?
Okay.
Wish me luck.
We have no weapons
and we mean no harm.
Can you understand me?
Either my words or my thoughts?
Is it possible you understand
but can't answer me?
If you do understand me,
please give me some sign
or some gesture.
That's it, Barbara.
Interesting, for it could mean
it's keyed into the computers.
My God, if it's keyed into the
computers, we've got it made.
Affirmative!
It said affirmative.
Barb?
What?
What?
What?
It's got Barbara.
Where?
In the creature room.
Let's go.
Sam, I need some information.
If I'm right about the
metabolic rate,
it should all be over
very quickly.
How long have you had cancer?
How did you know?
I've seen it before,
sir, many times.
Then you've seen too much.
Let's see how my wildly
mutating little cells
get along with yours.
Got ya.
- Son of a bitch.
- Wait!
We can't, it's all over
the life support system.
We blast it, we blast ourselves.
Okay, we're gonna have
to wire for outside help.
Can you get to the May Day box?
I'll do whatever I can;
Cover me.
Tracy, you stay outta here.
Watch the cocoon.
I don't like this;
The cocoon's all over
the transmitter.
If that thing starts to
hatch, you get me out of here.
Cal, what are you doing?
I'm getting rid of
its food supply.
I'm gonna take care of this
thing once and for all.
I can kill him, Mike,
I know how.
Mutable metastasis; It'll
get a quick, ugly finish.
Brian, Cal has a
smoosh-er, get outta there.
Damn, wait a sec,
something just shorted.
Hold on, lemme fix it.
Brian, get outta there.
Brian!
Let's go.
I'm gonna kill it, Mike.
But he's got to kill me first.
Cal, what are you
doing, get outta there!
Cal!
Cal!
Cal!
- Gotta go back.
- No way.
Hold on, Cal, we're
gonna get you outta here.
The genetics lab,
that's the safest place.
No, no please!
Tracy, get me my morphine.
It's in my room.
Get it, Tracy.
Hang on, Cal.
What the hell were you
trying to do?
I have cancer my, and my
cancer could kill the mutant.
I thought if I could trick it,
if I could get it to swallow
any of my malignancy,
my cancerous tissue,
that would be it.
There's one chance left.
I have a large metastatic
growth, a tumor,
here on my zipper.
I want you to cut the
tumor out and...
- Cal, I'm not a surgeon...
- And feed it to the mutant.
I can't do that.
I'm dying, Mike, the cancer
will get me in any event.
Cal, I don't know
how to do that.
I'll teach you.
Where is she, where's
the morphine?
She'll be here.
We can't wait.
Start now, cut here.
Cut shallow at first,
then work your way deeper.
Work as fast as you can.
Cal, we can't do it
without the morphine.
What if you pass out, how
will I know what to do?
If I pass out, just
go right for the tumor.
Cal.
Cut, damn it.
God help me.
Help, somebody, help me!
Here?
Don't touch the celiac axis.
Mike!
It's right behind us!
Give him the morphine.
We did it, Cal;
We got it.
Sam!
Beta zone.
There's a pack of food
raiders on our tail, sir.
My hands are numb.
Concentrate, sir,
they're closing in.
Okay, give me scan
six zero Charlie.
They're coming head
on, fire the tracers.
Okay, switch this baby around.
Let's shake 'em up a little.
Pleasure, five o'clock.
What's your tail, Sam?
Here we go.
Steady.
Now!
What's with the lights?
It could be a
central power leak.
It would leave us defenseless,
without the force field.
Don't start on me,
Sam, give me a hand.
We haven't lost it; I'll
tie in the auxiliary power.
- Got any wire?
- I'm made of it.
Give me some.
How long was I under?
That car-set is
older than you are.
Hope he turned
out better than me.
Higher, higher.
You've done it, sir.
Give me full throttle
on the front vector
and check the force field.
Full throttle, sir.
Oh Lord Sam that's
the mothership
Check the force field.
Lost it.
Way alpha 65.
Way alpha 60.
Way alpha 52.
They sank the fusion bolts.
Five seconds to fusion reaction.
Fire!
Fire!
Fire!
Well done, sir.
Sir, we've received new
orders while you were under.
It's bad news, sir, we're
being diverted.
To where?
- Xarbia.
- Very funny.
They've had an accident
in a high-security lab there.
The federation requested
you especially.
All our leave time has
been canceled.
They said I was going home.
It was an order, sir.
They said you'd understand.
Maybe next year, sir.
- Prepare for hyperspace sir.
- Hyperspace?
Yes, sir.
Xarbia, sir.
Prepare for docking.
Searcher Seven to Xarbia
Five; Come in, please.
Roger, Searcher Seven, we
see you; Hold your course.
Roger, Xarbia, holding steady.
Where do you want us?
Enter code 65 cipher two pop up.
We'll strobe you in.
Gordon Hauser, head
of research.
- Mike Colby.
- Of course.
This is my assistant, Dr.
Glaser.
Barbara knows more about
genetic synthesis
than anyone else alive.
Sounds like fun.
I've heard good things
about you, Commander Colby.
Mike.
It's good to be here in
your pleasant custody.
- Let's get started.
- Good, follow me,
I'll show you around.
This is an a-priority,
high-security research facility.
Actually it's a
scientist's dream,
we have the best of
everything here.
Except real estate.
Well, they put us
here for two reasons.
One, because we're
working on a bacteria
that's unique this planet.
And two, because we can
take experimental risks
here in isolation that would
be unthinkable back home.
What kind of research
do you do here?
Genetic engineering;
Bacteriological, mostly.
Our objective is to create
an extremely productive,
entirely new food source,
and I would say that we've
done that, too.
Uh huh; Tell me about
the accident.
- Sorry.
- Sorry.
Tracy, would you go
find Jimmy, please,
and have him come to the lab?
Sure.
Sorry.
It's okay.
You're a new face around here.
We don't often get new faces.
That's the truth.
In here.
Okay, close your eyes.
What is this?
It kills every living
thing on your body.
Keep it clean, that's the rule.
Nothing messy goes in,
nothing messy comes out.
Isn't there a cancer risk?
Watch your step.
Welcome to the Garden
of Eden; We play God here.
We create life; The
only trouble is,
some of the life we
create just won't behave.
Mike Colby, Cal Timbergen,
chief of bacteriology.
He's a true genius.
One of the few.
Nice to meet you.
Thought we leave the
mess until you got here.
Heard you liked messes.
Any sign of isolatory
psychosis among the staff?
Not on our staff.
Wasn't staff, Colby;
Something got loose.
What got loose?
- Subject 20.
- An experiment?
We created a little monster,
I'm afraid.
See for yourself.
It's in here.
Meet Subject 20.
Who put it in the incubator?
It put itself in
the incubator.
What is it?
It's a metamorph.
- What?
- It's a metamorphic mutation.
It's like an ordinary mutant,
in that it's genetically
different from its parent.
A metamorph goes it one better.
It keeps right on changing
its genetic structure,
mutating again and again
even as it grows and matures.
It's a genetic wildcat,
it's totally unpredictable.
Best to keep that closed.
What is the gooey stuff?
It's a cocoon; Interesting,
huh?
Is it changing form in
there, like a caterpillar?
It's changing into something,
all right; God knows what.
Don't expect to
fight a butterfly.
This little thing did
all that damage?
That little thing has a
lot of energy.
Its metabolic rate is 50 times
that of any other
known organism.
And we should get rid of it?
If we drop a few cc's of
hydrocyanic acid in there,
we have a belly-up
metamorph and I can go home.
I don't think you understand,
Colby.
I understand perfectly,
Doctor.
You're workin' outside
of your charter.
Scientific research
often takes us
into uncharted territory.
I'm not talkin' about
territory, Doctor.
I'm talkin' about strange
little creatures that kill.
I've got a motto: It moves
and it's not one of us,
- shoot it.
- Brilliant.
- Just what we need.
- I'm not joking, Doctor.
I know when to play the game
and I know when to bail out.
That thing is trouble,
I can smell it.
Termination is not a solution.
He's right, Commander, give
us a chance to fill you in.
Late one night.
How come you're so much
more convincing than he is?
I have such beautiful ideas.
Shall we discuss it
over dinner?
Hungry?
I'm gettin' that way.
- Jimmy.
- Yes, Doctor.
Okay, no problem.
A little terror; If he does
anything funny, give me a call.
Okay.
Security.
This is Jim in the
lab; Hauser there yet?
Not yet.
When he gets there,
would you tell him to me
give me a call?
Tell him his baby's wakin' up.
Okay.
Genetics.
James, this is Hauser.
Doc, this thing's moving
around, it's acting strange.
Kind of pulsating, like
it's breathing hard?
Yeah.
Well that's perfectly normal.
Don't let it worry you.
One of us'll come right down.
Okay.
- Next time.
- Right.
Tracy, run down to genetics,
make sure everything's okay.
Sure.
If it's anything
interesting, let me know.
Hate to miss it.
Where's the whipped cream?
What?
Strawberry shortcake always
comes with whipped cream.
This is strawberry shortcake?
I thought it was one of
Cal's genetic disasters.
Mm mm.
Come on, Barb, I can't eat this
crap without whipped cream.
Do you want to whip up some
of the pol-ee-goo guys'
dairy base?
It looks like whipped cream,
sort of.
Actually it looks
like pureed puke,
if you wanna know the truth.
The galactic food
crisis strikes again.
Suffer.
What does Subject
20 have to do
with their work on
the food crisis?
It's a genetic mutant.
A Proto B binding like
all the other experiments,
except this one got a
little out of hand.
A little.
Well, what's Proto B?
You know anything
about genetics?
Doctor, I wouldn't know
it gene from a jelly bean.
Earl, punch up the file
seven zero six three.
Proto B gets its energy from
light, available chemicals
and most efficiently by
consuming its own dead.
It lives in a perfectly
balanced, closed system.
No predators and no prey.
Proto B reproduces at an
unbelievable rate.
It's simple, the way
it multiplies.
You splice it to
another organism,
there's just no stopping it.
We spliced it to an
algae and got a foodstuff
that grows so fast,
I swear you couldn't kill
it if you tried.
All of our work here
involves splicing Proto B genes
with the genes of
other organisms.
So actually Subject 20 started
out just like all the others.
Then Subject 20 is the
result of a genetic splicing
between a Proto B bacteria
and another organism?
Exactly.
What is the other organism?
Well, is it animal or vegetable?
Well, come on; Was it an animal?
- Yes.
- No!
Yes.
Do I hear a maybe?
Ask Gordon what
happened to Annie.
- Who's Annie?
- Ask him.
All right, I'm warning you.
Tell me about Annie.
This is not the time or place
to be discussing this.
What difference does it make?
She died.
You can call it that.
What would you call it?
She died.
That's all.
What is it?
Transit.
Oh, Lord.
Come on, let's get
out of here.
The metamorph, where is it?
- I don't know.
- Well find the damn thing!
Hang on, he's still alive.
- Impossible.
- Give me a hand.
I wanna get him up where
we can see him.
He can't be alive, Cal,
look at him, for God's sakes.
All right, here's
what's gonna happen.
Should have killed it
when we had the chance.
Fine, there's too
much at stake here.
- Tell that to Jimmy.
- You go find it!
And keep looking.
Don't worry, sir,
I'll find it.
I'll find that
half-freak bastard.
No cerebrum; Traumatized
collateral sulcus,
but there's life in
the cerebellum.
The heart's still pumping,
the body tissue is viable.
He is alive, technically anyhow.
- What if it's not in here?
- It's gotta be in here.
This is a sterile chamber,
if a germ can't get out,
there's no way that
thing can get out.
I can't do anything
with him here.
I'm gonna take him down
Won't get away from me,
will you, my genetic cesspool?
This is it, you
goddamn ding-wopper.
Be careful.
Let me know if you find
the rest of him, will you?
I'm beginning to think
it's not in here.
Don't be a fool, Brian,
how could it get out?
Maybe it did get away.
Keep looking.
Maybe it's invisible.
Have you seen my kit,
I can't find it anywhere.
We gotta tell Colby about Annie.
I can't deal with it anymore.
No, let Gordon do it.
He knows what he's doing.
I think he's in over his head.
And I think you should
get some sleep.
Need any help?
I'll let you know; Not yet.
Why don't you turn in?
You need to blank it all
out for a while.
Yeah.
Okay.
Tracy?
I'm sorry about Jimmy.
It's okay.
Show up by tomorrow, we're
gonna have to dismantle the lab
piece by piece, you know
that's gonna be a nightmare,
a damn nightmare!
- Good night, Hauser.
- What's good about it?
Sleep tight, don't
let the bedbugs bit.
I put you in number two.
Hey, thanks.
- Goodnight Taylor.
- Goodnight, Earl.
Don't worry, I know my job.
Sam, you all right?
All right, sir.
I hear you're the best
troubleshooter in the.
Federation.
Yeah, I heard that too.
Want to see some trouble?
No, sir I put you
in number two.
Shit.
Hey, who is that, Baxter?
Goddammit, this is my
goddamn steam bath.
I'm sorry.
Get out!
Baxter, you're beautiful.
Oh, boy.
I just came down to
see who's here.
Well now you know, so get out.
The mornings belong to
me in this loony bin
and I plan on keeping
it that way.
You shouldn't be
wandering around
with that thing on the loose.
I thought it was locked
up in the lab.
We don't know where it is.
And you came to warn me?
Whoever.
Thanks.
You know something?
You look like you could
use a steam bath.
Well, as a matter of
fact, I had a hard night,
So fair's fair.
Get naked.
We don't get many new
faces around here.
That's one thing
I like about my job,
I'm always the new face.
Oh my.
And there's some things
I don't like about my job.
Like what?
Well like this, for example.
This happened in Pytor.
Sam and I ran across a
caravan of nomadic Den-dars,
you know, tight.
Anyway it all started
when Sam and I
rather tactlessly accused
a Den-dar commander
of being a maggoty, fat-ass
grease-lickin' Doug bunny.
That was close.
- I oughta retire.
- Oh, no you don't.
You're staying right
here with me.
- What is that thing?
- What-oh-bee-in-what.
All right, what happened?
- Your metamorph attacked us.
- Where is it?
- Inside.
- You didn't kill it, did you?
Hell no, listen.
It's growing, it's getting
bigger by the minute.
What is that thing,
Hauser, Proto B and what?
You stick with your
charter Colby.
Just figure out a
way to trap it.
You figure it out, I'm
not goin' back in there.
Hey, easy, easy; You wanna
know what I wanna know?
I'd like to know what
you and Tracy were doing
in there dressed like that.
Explaining your scars,
no doubt.
- It's venting steam.
- That's impossible.
- The skylight.
- It's busting out.
You still think we're
running around,
trying to cover up some
embarrassing mistake?
- Just do your job.
- You wanna help?
- Of course.
- You and Brian and I
would go outside and
we'll track it.
Brian, get to Sam-104
and bring it
to the decompression
chamber; We can use it.
Tracy, go to the control
room and track us
on the outside scanner.
Barbara, go find Cal
and go to work on Jimmy.
Learn everything you can
about a metamorph
and what makes it tick.
Okay, now where's Earl?
Probably manning his monitors,
looking for the ding-wopper.
- The what?
- Ding-wopper.
That's what he calls it.
Well, okay, let's get going.
I sure hope you know
what you're doing.
I don't have the slightest
idea, I go on hunches.
Let's go bag ourselves
a ding-wopper.
It changes itself,
it changes us.
What do you think, Barbara?
Hey, good luck, you guys.
Don't worry we'll
give all the dirty work
to the Sam-104 here.
They switch you
off when life is good,
and switch you back on when
they're up to their noses
in life's bitter droppings.
Right you are, tin man.
We found that as long as we
make a gradual decompression,
we can stay outside
for up to an hour or so
without too much difficulty.
After that, it gets
kind of risky.
- Nitrogen narcosis.
- Similar to it, yes.
Nitrogen in the blood
gets all foamy,
forms a lot of little
tiny bubbles.
The effect is quite
dramatic, an instant high
leading to euphoria.
The trouble is, you
like it so much,
you forget to come back in.
We almost lost Earl once
about a mile from here.
Found him naked,
eating the sand.
He thought it was sugar.
Here it comes.
This is the analysis of
the gelatinous tissue.
This should tell me
what it's made of.
Look at this, this is
extraordinary.
Barbara, look at this.
Cal.
Cal, what's it doing?
Dividing, reproducing.
Barbara, this stuff is
almost pure protein.
What we're seeing is a
breakdown of a complex,
sophisticated creature,
a human being,
into a simple
elementary organism
whose sole function is
to grow and reproduce.
Jimmy's tissue has been going
through a radical metamorphosis.
Like every human being,
he's made up
of millions of
specialized cells,
cells with a unique function.
A cell from an eye is
very different
from a cell from a toe, right?
Of course.
But ever since his attack,
all his specialized
cells have been changing.
Until all the differences
have been erased,
until every cell is identical,
until there is no difference
between his eye and his toe.
Until we have that.
But why?
That's the metamorph.
That's that pathetic,
unformed malignant issue
of our own stupidity.
Ask it why.
Oh, goddamn!
You better come over here,
I think I...
Oh my God, it's Earl!
There it is.
We got company; Let's go.
They found Earl; He's dead.
And we sighted the mutant;
He's made another cocoon.
Where's the copy cat?
We've got to find a way to
take him alive.
Not this time, Doctor;
This time we kill him.
No!
Brian, ready your lasers!
Sam, we need you in position.
For God's sake, this
thing is full of secrets!
We can't let it die!
I'm not gonna
let it die, Doctor.
- I'm gonna kill it.
- No!
Listen, listen, please,
please, try my way first.
Negative, Doctor;
Is everybody ready?
- Ready.
- Go to it, Sam.
One!
It's empty, there
is nothin' in it.
Damn shame.
Where's Hauser?
Gone.
He's heading to the
research center.
Hurry, Mike, hurry!
It's changing again.
Don't move!
Back off slowly.
This is for keeps, Gordon,
do what I say, you hear me?
Dammit, get outta there!
Lucky for us you're so good
at killin' these things.
Baxter, did you see that?
I saw it.
I want you locate
that vent in the files
and tell us where it comes out.
Punch up V-1-6-2-0-7,
that'll get you the schematics.
Brian, this is for the
whole complex.
Drag it, this is vent
number 1-5-4-4-8.
I don't see it.
There isn't a vent
1-5-4-4-8, wait a minute,
there's about a million
vents on this thing.
Here we go, I got it.
- Can you give us the route?
- Wait, will you,
it's all in numbers.
There it is; Your
destination is H-Q-R-5-1-W.
Oh, baby, that's
the control room!
Tracy.
It's in there!
Let's get outta here.
Are you all right?
We lost you on the telecom.
We thought all hell had
broken loose.
Mike, look at this.
They're computers, damn.
Looks like the trance
scammed the calm cam,
the 790, and the May Day box.
Man, this is bad news.
This creature's intelligent.
How do you figure that?
Simple; It destroyed
all our contact
with the outside world,
our launchpad control,
and yet he left us
air to breathe, food to eat
and a temperature we
can live in.
Why?
He wants to keep us alive.
He wants to use us
for some reason.
If it is intelligent,
have you thought about
trying to communicate with it?
That's about the stupidest
damn idea I've heard all day.
No offense, Barb.
Sorry I asked.
It's in the med room.
What's it doing?
Hang on.
It's reducing us to a
simple protein.
It wants to use us as food.
Why doesn't it just eat
us and get it over with?
It's working on a
permanent food supply.
It's planting a garden
and we're the seeds.
It's using human tissue,
our tissue?
Yes, it injects human tissue
with Proto B in its saliva.
Proto B goes to work,
invading every cell,
altering the genetic structure,
reconstructing the body to
suit its needs.
I'm bored.
How ironic,
if you consider why we came
here in the first place.
Help me!
Someone help her.
You see, you see, what
this stuff does?
It's metamorphosis.
Do you know why that
creature does this?
Instinct.
Proto B is the result millions
of years of evolution.
We have no way of knowing
what's hidden in its
genetic coding.
The metamorph
is only half Proto B.
What's the other half?
Tell him, Cal, please.
A metamorph
is a genetic fusion
of a Proto B cell
and a human being.
You've heard us talk about
it in the past.
Well, we knew we could
create the cell,
but not the womb to grow it in.
Annie volunteered.
She knew all dangers.
It was an implant.
Exactly, we spliced the
genetic structure of Proto B
to the genes of a human cell.
Whose?
It was Gordon's; This whole
experiment was his idea.
In the lab,
we used Gordon's altered
cell to fertilize the egg.
- In Annie.
- Mitosis began,
we surgically re-implanted
the egg into Annie's uterus.
She was to carry it to term.
Except the term turned
out to be two weeks.
And it killed her.
Tracy it's as if they're
not listening to Cal.
He's telling them the
thing's intelligent,
and they go right on insisting
the only way to deal with it
is to blow it up or something.
What else can we do?
I think we should try
to communicate with it.
I know it's far-fetched,
but it might work
and we don't have that
many options.
Come on, that's crazy,
Barbara.
Listen, the point is
if we go on attacking it,
it's gonna go on attacking us.
It's called cognitive
retribution,
and the only way to stop
it is to break the cycle.
Maybe it's already got
what it wants.
Maybe all we have to do
is to walk out of here.
Look what happened to Dr.
Hauser.
No, it's too risky.
But I'm sure we could
break the cycle
if we tried to
communicate with it.
Intelligent beings can communicate,
you don't need language.
Look at any foreigner
away from home,
or a mother and her baby.
It's not the same.
But if it is as
intelligent as Cal says,
there's at least a chance
it might work.
If there is a chance then
we have to try.
I'll have to tell the others.
No, you saw how they reacted.
We'll have to do this ourselves.
- Crush it!
- What?
Poison it, electrocute it.
- Microwave it.
- Gunned it.
- Acid.
- Acid, what else?
Fellas, we have got to
be more creative than this.
I'm telling you, this
thing is smart.
Are you okay?
You sure you wanna go
through with this?
Okay.
Wish me luck.
We have no weapons
and we mean no harm.
Can you understand me?
Either my words or my thoughts?
Is it possible you understand
but can't answer me?
If you do understand me,
please give me some sign
or some gesture.
That's it, Barbara.
Interesting, for it could mean
it's keyed into the computers.
My God, if it's keyed into the
computers, we've got it made.
Affirmative!
It said affirmative.
Barb?
What?
What?
What?
It's got Barbara.
Where?
In the creature room.
Let's go.
Sam, I need some information.
If I'm right about the
metabolic rate,
it should all be over
very quickly.
How long have you had cancer?
How did you know?
I've seen it before,
sir, many times.
Then you've seen too much.
Let's see how my wildly
mutating little cells
get along with yours.
Got ya.
- Son of a bitch.
- Wait!
We can't, it's all over
the life support system.
We blast it, we blast ourselves.
Okay, we're gonna have
to wire for outside help.
Can you get to the May Day box?
I'll do whatever I can;
Cover me.
Tracy, you stay outta here.
Watch the cocoon.
I don't like this;
The cocoon's all over
the transmitter.
If that thing starts to
hatch, you get me out of here.
Cal, what are you doing?
I'm getting rid of
its food supply.
I'm gonna take care of this
thing once and for all.
I can kill him, Mike,
I know how.
Mutable metastasis; It'll
get a quick, ugly finish.
Brian, Cal has a
smoosh-er, get outta there.
Damn, wait a sec,
something just shorted.
Hold on, lemme fix it.
Brian, get outta there.
Brian!
Let's go.
I'm gonna kill it, Mike.
But he's got to kill me first.
Cal, what are you
doing, get outta there!
Cal!
Cal!
Cal!
- Gotta go back.
- No way.
Hold on, Cal, we're
gonna get you outta here.
The genetics lab,
that's the safest place.
No, no please!
Tracy, get me my morphine.
It's in my room.
Get it, Tracy.
Hang on, Cal.
What the hell were you
trying to do?
I have cancer my, and my
cancer could kill the mutant.
I thought if I could trick it,
if I could get it to swallow
any of my malignancy,
my cancerous tissue,
that would be it.
There's one chance left.
I have a large metastatic
growth, a tumor,
here on my zipper.
I want you to cut the
tumor out and...
- Cal, I'm not a surgeon...
- And feed it to the mutant.
I can't do that.
I'm dying, Mike, the cancer
will get me in any event.
Cal, I don't know
how to do that.
I'll teach you.
Where is she, where's
the morphine?
She'll be here.
We can't wait.
Start now, cut here.
Cut shallow at first,
then work your way deeper.
Work as fast as you can.
Cal, we can't do it
without the morphine.
What if you pass out, how
will I know what to do?
If I pass out, just
go right for the tumor.
Cal.
Cut, damn it.
God help me.
Help, somebody, help me!
Here?
Don't touch the celiac axis.
Mike!
It's right behind us!
Give him the morphine.
We did it, Cal;
We got it.
Sam!