The Outer Limits (1995) s02e03 Episode Script

Unnatural Selection

1 Come on out, kid! I know you're here, I followed you, Come on, boy, Come on out, Nobody's going to hurt you, I know you didn't mean to hurt that man, It's not your fault you're messed up, It's your parents' fault, ( rustling ) no! No! No! No! No! No! No! ( crunching ) Hi, John arkelian, Howard, Howard sharp, Come in, This is my wife, Joanne, it's a pleasure meeting you in person, You too, doctor, I don't want you getting the wrong impression, It isn't "doctor", oh? I left after my third year of medical school, I would call myself a highly skilled technician, So, are you hoping for a boy or a girl? You know? Of course I know, I analyzed the genetic material we took from Joanne, You want to know? Well, ,,yes, Before I tell you, I want us to be absolutely clear on what you're asking me to do, Mainly we want to assure that our child's intelligent, Mm-hmm, oh, and handsome, athletic, If it's a girl, we want her to be beautiful, You don't understand, I must hear exactly what you want me to do, It's a legal thing, You understand, Well, we haven't exactly decided to do it yet, You want us to say it to ensure we're not law enforcement? Okay, then, we want you to genetically engineer our unborn child, There is Nothing wrong with your television, Do not attempt to adjust the picture, We are now controlling the transmission, We control the horizontal, and the vertical, We can deluge you with a thousand channels or expand ONE single image to crystal clarity, ,, and beyond, We can shape your vision to anything our imagination can conceive, For the next hour, we will control all that you see and hear, You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the deepest inner mind to the outer limits, Justin, over here! Justin, I'm open! What will become of us when we take a hand in our own creation? In trying to create the new man, will we condemn the old? That's our boy? After Enhancement at eight months, every shortcoming smoothed over, every flaw repaired, In a word perfect, Oh, he's beautiful, Could you show us what he would look like without the enhancement? I don't have to, do I? He's going to look like you, Howard, Excuse me? Average looks, average intelligence, a slightly below average imagination, ,,average, You wait a minute, I'm saying what Howard already knows, Brilliant, athletic attractive people don't require my services, Their children inherit those qualities nature was kind enough to bestow, You, on the other hand, want to ensure your children will grow up with the same benefits As people like you? You're wondering if I'm one of them? Are you? Would it change your opinion of me? I'll put it this way, Howard, I was born this way, Your son can be too, Before saying another word, we should find out how much this will to cost, Oh, yes, We can provide financing, if necessary, ( sighing ) is there any way of lowering this? Oh, Well, uh, intelligence is the most costly part of the Gene package, I suppose we could No, There would be no point in doing this otherwise, Mr, Arkelian, we'll get back to you, Of course, Oh, one more thing, Uh, what about g, R, S,? There's a risk, In 1 in 10,000 cases, an enhanced child will develop g, R, S, I've seen the victims on the news, It scares me, Yes, it's a frightening thing, Genetic rejection syndrome is arguably why enhancing engineering is Still illegal 30 years after it was developed, I think it's worth the risk, I have customers lining out the door who would agree with me, Well, ,,? We'll be in touch, Yes, I heard these sounds and looked out and saw, ,,it, It was running away down the street, Mommy, mommy, Oh, shh, ( clearing throat ) you're sure it was one of them? Positive, Who else would do this except for one of those g, R, S, Kids? This will scar my daughter for life, Ma'am, we'll catch the kid, You should track them down, Go there and look at what that thing did, Yeah, well, they're going to find out eventually, Their own son was just killed in an accident, Howard, It's been eight months now, It would have been Timmy's birthday a week saturday, How would you feel? No, I don't want to hurt Fran, What's going to hurt Fran is when you're out to here, and you still haven't told her, ( doorbell ringing ) hi, I'm sorry we're late, But the traffic was terrible, You need a new joke, I know, Oh, yeah, We'd have a pie-Eating contest, Well, we already did, You haveto tie your hands behind your back, What we should do is drive to the beach and watch the sunset, Whoops, a little late for that, jo, We'll have to go later and watch it rise, I'm in, We've only got about nine hours to kill, Oh, god, we used to do this stuff all the time, Remember going to the mountains? We left the dishes and drove all night, And all day back, My leg was asleep for a week, I didn't move coming back, because Timmy was sleeping on my lap, He was always so comfortable with you, Oh, I'm sorry, Can I get anyone anything? Yeah, grab another bottle of wine from the fridge, It's all gone, ( sighing ) you okay? Yeah, I, ,, everything reminds me I know, I mean, when I wake up in the morning, I think I'm supposed to make him breakfast, or I'm supposed to drive him to school, How's Tony handling it? He's fine, Is he? I've heard, Fran, almost every night, Heard what? Arguing, things breaking, I've been waiting for you to come to me, He's been drinking, Tony's not a drinker, He's on his second bottle of wine, starting his third, Or haven't you noticed? Fran, you need help, Let me help you, No, No, I don't, It's all right, If you let us, we can help you, We understand the pain Don't! Don't say you understand, because you can't, I loved him too, Well, I was Timmy's mother, not some Nice lady next door, His mother! Oh, god, I'm sorry, Don't be, You've heard the arguments, You think he's beating her? No, Tony? Come on, we've known these people for years, The clock was smashed, Well, maybe he's beating the clock, That is not even remotely funny, Look, jo, honey, Tony is not abusing Fran, okay? He's drinking, I would too, They lost their only son, They're having screaming matches, It's a strain on their marriage, Short of losing you, I can't imagine what that feels like, I just wish I could talk to her, About the baby you mean? Yes, about the baby, about everything, You will, But when you tell Fran, you cannot say what we're thinking about doing, Even ask her opinion? No, Why? Because you can't, It's just not done, It carries a five-Year prison sentence, If we're doing this, keep it to yourself, I will, Well, the ultrasound went fine, Your child takes a good picture, Did you do a p, G, S,? You'll be happy to know the prenatal genetic SCREEN showed no hemophilia, anaemia or genetic mutations, You're going to have a healthy, happy baby, Want to know if it's a boy or girl? We want to be surprised, don't we, sweetheart? Oh, absolutely, I can keep a secret, We'll schedule another ultrasound in three months, Uh, was there anything in the p, G, ,,whatever it is that could indicate how tall he's going to be? How tall he'll be? Mr, Sharp, I cannot and will not discuss genetic alteration No, no, no, I'm just asking, I can repair major genetic defects that would seriously impair the quality of your child's life, Whether he'll be a football star, I cannot guarantee, I was just wondering if there's some legal procedure No, not a legal one, Well, thank you for your time, doctor, Don't do it, people, I'm sorry, Don't do what? Half the people who come here intend to have their child enhanced, as if life wasn't Miracle enough, I tell them all the same thing, Genetic engineering is Illegal for good reason, It can lead to g, R, S, Nobody can fix another genetic Engineer's code, If you change your mind We weren't considering it, I'll finish, just in case, Have you ever seen what g, R, S, Can do to the human body? We think the proteins that bond to the altered d, N, A, Break down after Several Hundred cell regenerations, It can cause deformities and mutations, That's, ,,horrible, They're already responsible for 3% of reported crimes, That's going up, Their capacity for violence grows with their physical deformities, There's no end to it, They keep changing until they aren't recognizable as people, But the odds, 10,000 to 1 That's almost astronomical, Maybe, But how can you trust those stats when nobody admits to having done the procedure? How could they be accurate? What happens to these people? They're usually caught by the authorities before they reach the final stages, After they're caught, what happens then? It's not generally known, but law requires that g, R, S, Victims be destroyed, ( receptionist ) Rathbone and Phillips brokerage, How may I help you? I'll be right with you, No, I see, but, mrs, Parkinson, these limited partnerships are virtually guaranteed to return 17% after taxes with a minimum amount of risk, And the projected earnings are, ,,um, ,,just a moment, I had them right here, Wait a minute, Let me tell you, I'm buying shares in this, It should return 17% a, P, R, After taxes, The p, N, E, Is 14, It's a money-Maker, Mrs, Parkinson? It's me, Want to go shopping? I don't think that Fran, you're bleeding, Oh, Are you all right? Oh, yeah, yeah, it's fine, It looks worse than it is, What happened? I was in the kitchen, and I was opening the cupboard Did Tony do this? Joanne, You said yourself that Tony's been drinking, Joanne, this happened while you were knocking, I should put ice on it, You go ahead, and I'll call you later, No, Fran No, really, I can't stress enough what a great opportunity this issue is, You said that last time, I know I said that, There was no way to predict they'd lose the lawsuit, I can however predict that this company isn't involved in litigation, With research, you would have seen that they were going down, Mr, James, think about it, All right, fine, Think about it, I'll call you back, Got a second? Yeah, Have a seat, So, Howie, ,, Oh, no, Don't, Don't what? You can't fire me, My wife found out she's pregnant, Geez, Howard, calm down, You're way ahead of me, Well, am I right? Am I? Yeah, My numbers are too Good, Used to be, They haven't changed, I know, Howard, but they've changed, They've blown the curve, These kids, they're 25, 23, for god's sakes, You should see the volume they turn over, I'll bring 'em up, I'll work some more hours, Give me the chance to try, It's not my decision, I didn't decide this, ( boys Screaming and shouting ) car! ( car honking ) Game on! Game on! ( boys Screaming and shouting ) Hi, Hi, How are you doing? Ah, I'm okay, Whoa, I'm okay, Are you hungry? Dinner's almost ready, No, ( boys Screaming and shouting ) ICING! Icing! Icing, We got to do it, jo, We don't have any other choice, Are you sure? I mean, you just lost your job, Howard, That's why I'm sure, If I'm obsolete, what will happen to our son? Unless we go through with this thing, he'll be a second-Class citizen, You are not obsolete, Joanne, it's not because I didn't work hard enough or because I messed up, I got let go because I wasn't good enough, Somewhere along the line it happened without our knowing it, What happened? There's two kinds of people in the world now, It's a matter of evolution, and we're about to become extinct, Howard, you're upset, Maybe we should wait, Wait until it's too late to save our son? We've been assuming that we can't have a wonderful, healthy, happy child on our own, Who's to say we can't? You're the one that wanted this, Well, ,,What about g, R, S,? The fact is our son has a 1 in 10,000 chance of turning into a monster if we go through with this, ,, and no chance at a future if we don't, We have to, No, Howard, we don't have to, We might be able to have a wonderful, handsome child without altering it, No, look at us, at who we are, I'm not ashamed of who we are, I am, I am ashamed, Joanne, I can't keep up, Everywhere I look, there's one of them, Let me tell you, I am inferior to them, It's just a fact, I don't want my son to be, I say we call arkelian, What do you say? Now, Joanne, I want you to breathe deeply and stay perfectly still, This is will hurt a tiny bit, And then it's over, All I'm doing is introducing the retro-viruses that carry the engineered genetic material into the amniotic fluid, It'll be over before you know it, Ow! Howard! Shh, it's okay, There, All done, That's it? That's it, The lion's share of my work is in the assembly of the Gene package, Mother nature will take care of the rest, So, um, is there anything else we should know? Nothing at all, I just want you to put this room, this procedure out of your mind from this day forward, Thank you, Mr, Arkelian, We're going to have a beautiful baby boy, Yes, we are, Believe me, you won't regret this, But if you do happen to change your mind, the procedure's Only reversible for 21 days, Why would we change our minds? Exactly, why would you? Take your time, There's no rush, When you want to leave, knock, Mr, Stark will show you out, All right, ( crashing ) Oh, my god, Howard, what was that? Was that Tony shouting? We should call the police, I'm not calling the police because Tony's raising his voice, Howard, you didn't see her, She had a big gash across her face, ( crashing ) I'm won't let him do that to her, Shh, wait, It stopped, We should still go over there, It's none of our business, They're our best friends, Which is exactly why I don't think Tony Would physically hurt Fran, Come on, you know him, Yeah, I guess, I got an early meeting tomorrow, I think we should get some sleep, okay? ( sighing ) ( crashing ) ( screaming ) ( phone ringing ) You've reached Fran and Tony, We can't take your call now, Leave your name and number FRAN! Fran! Is something wrong? Fran? Fran? ( crashing ) ( screaming ) Timmy? Oh, my god, Joanne, it's impossible, It was him, There was no accident, He developed g, R, S, The eyes, ,, they were in so much pain, It was Timmy, I know it, We went to his funeral, We stood over his casket, We never saw the body, Howard, What? Listen, They were supposed to go on vacation with us, They insisted that we go alone, So they could fake their son's death? We attended his service, laid him in the ground, They bribed the funeral home, Listen to yourself, They couldn't tell us, They couldn't tell anyone, Honey, you're pregnant, Your hormones are all over the place, Oh, for god's sakes, Just go over there, Okay, Okay, If it'll make you feel better, I'll go, No, I want you to stay, He recognized me, Jo, I want you I want to see him, Fran! Tony! Who is it? It's us, Howard and jo, Can we come in? Now isn't a good time, Let us in, or we'll call the police, Fran, uh, ,, I know it's none of our business, but it sounded like hell here last night, What are you and Tony arguing about so much? Fran? What are they doing in here? I thought we were friends, If you're my friend, stay out of this, For god's sake, Tony, we're worried about you, Howard, How did this happen? I, ,, I tipped it over, We're having trouble, Howard, I was drinking, Ever since Timmy I want to see him, What are you talking about? Timmy, I want to see him, Timmy is gone, Joanne, That isn't funny, No, it's not, You'D both better leave, Now! I saw him, I'll throw you out, I saw him in the basement, I know he's in the house and has g, R, S, Don't lie to me, We won't say anything, No, Oh, please, I just want to see him, ( Tony ) go home, Howard, Please, Um, ,, could you just tell him that I, ,, ( doorknob squeaking ) Mom? Mom? I heard auntie jo, She has to go now, sweetheart, Auntie jo? I'm here, Timmy, Why'd you move away? ( sighing ) We didn't want to, We had to, You didn't say goodbye, I'm so sorry, We wanted to, Don't go near him, It's okay, honey, I got him, I got him, Auntie jo? Timmy, stay here, ( screaming ) no, no, no, Timmy, Timmy, let's go downstairs, love, okay? I'll spend time with you, Okay? No, Come back, I'll try, Come on, sweetheart, But I really miss her, Mom, I know, I know, sweetheart, But auntie jo has to go, Please, ,, if they find out, ,, ( door opening and closing ) Uh-Uh, Arkelian's not answering, Keep trying, We've got to do it tonight, ( dialling ) ( knocking ) I don't want to see anybody, Okay, It's Fran, Come in, Joanne, Forgive me, I have to hear you say you won't tell anyone, Try again, Howard, We just didn't know what else to do, You know what they do to g, R, S, Victims, don't you? They destroy them, ,, like animals, What are you going to do? I don't know, We keep hoping that it won't get any worse, At first, we managed, You should have told me, Oh, Joanne, I know, You really cared for Timmy, No, That's not why you should have told me, I'm pregnant, Timmy? Timmy? Timmy? This has got to stop, son, You can't keep going out and hurting people, Timmy, you come out right now and listen to me, Leave me alone, I don't want to lock you here, but I will if I must, Go away, You listen to me, You lied to me about auntie jo, Sometimes grown-Ups do things that don't make sense, Liars! Liar! We didn't want to get your feelings hurt, Liar! Why don't you just come out from wherever you're hiding, We'll talk about it, You didn't do it, ,,did you? Oh, Joanne, tell me you didn't make the same mistake as Tony and I did, Mr, Arkelian? Oh, thank god, Hi, it's Howard sharp, Listen, we need you to undo the procedure right now, I don't care if you've a dinner date, We want the procedure undone now! I'm sorry, Mr, Arkelian, please, Yes, we're certain, We'll be there in 15 minutes, He'll take us right now, ( warning signal beeping ) for god's sakes, Howard, drive! Mr, Arkelian is expecting us, We're doing the right thing, jo, He did it, He's the only one who can undo it, Mrs, Sharp, your husband tells me you want to Reverse it, stop it, yes, But why? It cost you a fortune having it done, It doesn't matter, Just do it, I can't wait any longer, All right, You get undressed, I'll be back in a moment, ( banging ) ( screaming ) it can be reversed quite easily in fact, This solution undoes the bonds in the altered d, N, A, You realize I must charge you for this procedure as well, We understand, Do it, This is going to hurt more than the last time, Ready? ( screaming ) Leave her alone! Security, get in here! ( neck snapping ) Timmy, I didn't want him hurting you, No! ( gunshots ) ( door opening ) here he is, Your boy is back from his very first bath, You must be so proud, Look at him, He's just perfect, Yes, he is, What are children But an extension of our own selves, ,, a reflection of who we are
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