The Outer Limits (1995) s04e02 Episode Script

The Hunt

Maybe they're gonna Give us our freedom.
What work do you expect Us to do out here? No one told you? They told us nothing.
Well, if i were you, I'd run like hell.
Oh, no.
There's our quarry, Right up ahead.
Delivered right on time.
Run.
Nice shootin', Little brother.
You nearly had him.
(kel) Veeter! Come on! Come on.
You can make it.
It's my leg.
Let's go.
(clute) Take him.
Chalk one up for big george.
Did you see that? Nothin' but net! Let's go! Kel, leave him! Oh! What a rush! Oh, my heart is pounding! Whoo! Swear to god, dead center On a moving target.
Doesn't get any better Than that.
Now, watch what he does, Eric.
Maybe pete'll let you Skin the next one.
What do you think? Maybe 60, 65 inch Arm-span.
Hmm, bigger than i thought.
Congratulations, george.
You bagged a beauty.
Oh, man! (male narrator) 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.
(narrator) Humankind has proven to be Unique among life forms, Distinguished not only by Its lofty intelligence, Morality, And self-awareness, But also by a baser side.
It is the only creature That kills for sport.
Come on, eric.
Get over here.
That's ok.
What are you, Growin' roots? Get over here! Come on.
Atta boy.
The reason we're on this tri Is because of you.
You'll be showin' These pictures to Your grandkids someday.
Telling 'em all about how you brought A 60-kilo android Down on a dead run.
You're the one Who shot him.
And he was limping.
That's the way It is with game.
You always get The weak ones first.
Don't worry, There's 3 more out there, One of them's Got your name on it.
I got it.
(pete) What would you like As a trophy, mr.
Nichols? Oh, he 's not like He's going up on the mantle.
Most sportsmen Go for the c.
p.
u.
It's like the heart and brains, All rolled into one.
Sure.
Give me the c.
p.
, Whatever.
What do you Think of that? It's sick.
First time i brought Down a 12-point buck, I almost tossed my cookies when Your grandpa skinned it.
Remember that, clute? It was only half dead, As i remember.
I had to put it Out of its misery.
It's just They're almost like people.
(george) They're machines, eric, Which have outlived Their usefulness.
If you don't hunt 'em down, They're just gonna wind up On the scrapheap.
Besides, it's not like we've got A big choice of prey.
The freakin' environmentalists made Sure of that, eh, clute? When i hunted With your grandfather, eric, There wasn't an animal That walked, crawled, Swam or flew That wasn't fair game.
Lions on the serengeti, Great polar bears on the tundra Those were the glory days, All right.
I just wish you Could've seen that.
I think we should move on.
We don't want them to get Too far ahead of us.
Lead on, pete.
I smell the blood Of a robot-mun.
Stop where you are! I'm not going to hurt you.
I only wish to explain The ground rules of the hunt.
Did you mention Them to veeter? He didn't make it To marker one.
You did.
Why don't you just shoot us now? Get it over with.
Let him speak.
We have every intention of giving you A sporting chance.
Go to hell.
The dam at gold hill Is 12 kilometers south, South-west.
If any of you make it To the final marker At the top of the dam, You will win your freedom.
The freedom to return to Hard labor in the mines? Complete freedom.
Unfettered.
You will live among men Until the end of your days.
Those are The rules of the hunt.
Any questions? We'll give you A 15 minute head start.
You may go.
Enough of that.
We go by the rules.
Love to watch Those andies run.
I don't know how you do it, Pete.
We don't eat this well at home.
The best damn tracker Ever had.
And he can steam a salmon Like a 4-star chef.
You're too kind, Mr.
Nichols.
Oh, give the boy some wine.
He'll be a man by tomorrow.
Oh, i see.
Killing makes A man out of you.
You're damn right it does.
Rite of passage.
Things i learned in the hu Served me well all through my life.
When you're In the business that we're in, You need the killer instinct.
Right, clute? Yeah, well, i guess I won't be needing it then.
What do you Plan to do, eric? Right now, i'm still thinking of Becoming an anthropologist.
Big money there, all right.
Give the boy a break, Little brother.
Seems to me the last thing You killed on the job was the trans-cargo deal.
Still trying to Pick up the pieces on that one.
How do you know that The androids aren't on the move right now, Uncle clute? Well, they're powered By sunlight mainly.
Solar cells built Right into the skin.
They don't have enough energy to get Very far at night.
Besides pete's Been trackin' 'em.
They've pitched camp Less than a kilometer away.
A friend at school, uh, His dad said that If we get caught, It's a $40,000 fine.
Ah, it beats the penalty for hunting Traditional game.
Mandatory One-year jail time.
5 if they're endangered.
And all the good ones are.
So what do you do if one of those andies Decides to fight back? A couple of 'em Look pretty strong.
That's the beauty part.
Their programming won't allow it.
This model has An inhibitor chip That won't let them Harm humans or each other.
But, They are programmed To survive.
Wouldn't last long In the mines if they weren't.
Makes them ideal as prey.
I still don't think It's right for us to hunt them like vermin.
Well, you'll feel differentl When you nail one.
It's a primal thing.
Goes back to Our caveman days.
Actually, That's a misconception.
Early man rarely hunted.
They were scavengers And gatherers mainly.
Mmm.
College boy Thinks he knows everything.
A little closer.
My eyes aren't What they used to be.
They say The next generation, The rl-9s, Are self-diagnosing.
Won't need medics like me any more.
How's that? Better.
Why would they have Pulled you out of hole? You seem to be in Good repair overall.
They said i was Malfunctioning.
Repeatability disorder? No.
Lately I've been getting paralyzed.
I just stop what I'm doing and stare at things.
Selenium batteries.
They're no good in the mines.
If i had known, i would have Prescribed an upgrade.
It's not the batteries.
I was knocked off-line.
They say another droid Saved my life.
Mmm.
What about you, kel? Central processor damage.
Random power spikes.
Mmm.
Unpredictable behavior.
It's what they Fear the most.
You think They'll attack tonight? Not likely.
They want to draw this out As long as possible.
Savor every kill.
Sadistic bastards.
I don't know how You can say that.
Sadists enjoy Their victims' pain.
Humans know We can't feel pain.
So that makes what They're doing ok? They created us.
They gave us life.
That gives them The right to take it.
I don't believe you, kel.
It's his design.
Foremen are The go-betweens.
They deal with Humans every day, So they're programmed with All kinds of characteristics We don't have.
Like blindness To the truth? And what is the truth? That humans are cruel, Bloodthirsty monsters.
There's a writer Whose books i input.
Hemingway, ernest.
He talks about the days When they still had bullfighting.
It was possible for a bull to show Such bravery in the ring That they spared its life.
Regular saints.
It never had to fight again.
If people are such monster Why would they honor coura in an animal? Maybe because They're animals themselves.
I suggest we hydrate.
Bio-systems could use it.
Ok.
This is it, son.
She's all yours.
I can't do this.
Do it, Or you'll wish you had.
You like killing so much, You do it.
Damn it, eric, Just take her.
Nice and easy.
Let her rip.
Ah, christ! You had her! What the hell's The matter with you? Damn! No kill.
Next time you get Another shot, you better not miss.
(george) You missed her on purpose.
(eric) Get off my back! I don't know why I brought you here.
You got me.
No hope of makin' a man out of you.
If it means letting you Run my life, The way your dad ran yours, Then i'd just as soon pass.
That's the thanks i get For raising you? Mom raised me.
I busted my ass for you and your mother, You ungrateful little snot! You didn't do it for us.
Everything you ever did, You did for you.
Why do you Think she left you? I brought you out here To hunt, not to squabble! I see you do that again, You'll answer to me.
We'll rest here.
My asthma's kickin' in.
What is this place? Looks like An old warming station.
Hunters would use them To wait out snowstorms.
How do you know that? London, jack.
You and your damn books.
(doc) The hunters have made camp For the night.
We'll be safe here.
Let's hope they missed The parallel links.
What do you think of your precious Fleshers now? It's instinctive.
They follow their nature.
So you admit They enjoy killing? Humans endure.
No matter what the hardships, They survive.
The hunt Sharpens those skills.
It's all Those books he reads.
They've got him convinced Humans are god's gift to the world.
It's preciously what they are.
Every other creature pales In comparison.
If we could fight Back, I'd show them androids Are more human than they think.
Mobility good You're done.
Well, what do you know? What's the point? We couldn't use them even if we wanted to What do you think These are? I don't believe this.
They're blueprints.
Of what? Of us.
Have a look rl-8 series.
All the classified Electronics, Modifier chips, Adaptive algorithms, Upgrades, mode shifters, Access codes.
I was a medic for 22 years, And they never showed me any of this stuff.
Let's get out of here.
If anyone finds out that we've come across these plans What? They'd Order our executions? Wake up, kel.
They've already done that.
You know what this means, Don't you? You could void The inhibitor chip.
All i have to do is re-route 2 primary circuits, punch in a couple of codes On the c.
p.
u.
And by-pass the sucker.
You can't do that.
The restraint mechanism Would shut down.
We could fight them, Kill them if we had to! If we're gonna survive, This is our only chance.
I can't let you Do this.
Look at you.
You can't even Show aggression towards me! How do you expect To survive out there? Unless, of course, You don't want to live.
Not like this, i don't.
You can start with me, doc.
I'm ready.
Lay on the table.
I'll wait outside.
As soon as i close you up, i want you to do The same procedure on me.
Don't worry.
I'll walk you through it.
"how gladly would I meet mortality, "my sentence, and be earth Insensible! "how glad would lay me down As in my mother's lap! There i should rest, And sleep secure" Who said that? Oh, uh, Adam.
The first man.
(doc) That proves it.
Humans were born To love death.
Nothing could be Further from the truth.
You read milton Or shakespeare Or thoreau.
It's a celebration of beauty, of Of goodness, of life.
If i had the weapons they have, I'd be celebrating, too.
This would go a lot faster If you helped.
I can't.
Can't or won't? Why do you bother Reading those books anyway When you could download them Instantaneously? Human's read.
It's how wisdom Is best absorbed What have you got Against being an android, kel? Nothing.
It's my fate.
But if i could choose, I would choose to Walk freely among the humans one day.
Even after all That you've seen? The evil they do? At the rate that we're movin' They'll get to gold hill Before we do.
Come on! Take it easy, george.
Take it easy.
Yes! You're very lucky, Mr.
Nichols.
That contraption Was designed to kill You're sure The androids rigged it? I'm certain of it.
All 3 sets of tracks were a perfect match.
How the hell Is that possible, clute? You said they were incapable of Intentionally harming humans.
What the heck Are these? I've been here Dozens of times.
I've never seen Anything like them before.
(george) What is it, pete? The androids, They were here.
Those plans (george) What about them? They're diagrams Of all the components.
The medic that's with them, It's all he would've needed To disengage the inhibitor chip.
So now the robots are going to war? I'm afraid so.
The exact information They needed to come after us.
Who would've Left them that? I did, george.
Along with Some crude weapons.
What? Are you out of your mind? You asked me to take you on a real hunt.
Just like the days Before they were outlawed.
Well, nobody ever muzzled The big cats Dad and i tracked On the savannah Or blunted the horn of a charging rhino.
That's what Hunting's about.
A contest For survival.
You are crazy! You're trying to get us all killed! I'm trying to give you an experience Nobody can have any more! The thrill of the hunt.
That doesn't mean Shooting fish in a barrel.
It means going after Your prey On a level playing field.
You wanted a real hunt, Little brother.
Now you got one.
Those droids attack, They're gonna get hit with a lot more than Bows and arrows.
Clute, i didn't sign on For anything like this.
Who knows what Those droids might try.
I'll be damned.
If i didn't know better, i'd say you were scared, Little brother.
Anything happens to my boy, I'm holding you personally responsible.
You wait here with the boy.
Come on.
Uncle clute said to stay put.
We wait here, We're sitting ducks.
Come on.
I can't see.
Come on, doc.
I'll be your eyes.
We saw him Go down here.
You gentlemen have Any more luck than we did? They were here.
Damn! (clute) They got 2 of our rifles.
I told you to wait here! We thought we heard them in the bush.
Classic decoy maneuver.
They outsmarted you, Which i'm sorry to say Is no big feat! That's it.
They want ugly, They got ugly.
Pete, pull out the g.
p.
s.
I want their exact position At all times.
And you, When i tell you to Do something, you do it! Hurry! They're getting close! Thing of beauty! Killers, destroyers, That's all they are.
Sons of bitches! What the hell Are you waiting for? It's just us now.
How long do you think we'll last If you're still not ready to defend yourself? Damn it! It won't cycle! (pete) Let me have a look.
Get back! What your father did to you, You're doing to me.
When is this Going to stop? It's working now, Mr.
Nichols.
(clute) All right.
Let's move out.
Come on, eric, Let's go! Eric? Eric! I'll find him.
Master nichols? I know you're here.
Master nichols? Come on.
We'd better get back.
(tara) Don't move.
Get your hands In the air.
Drop your weapon.
Ok, fine.
Have it your way.
No.
Why are you wasting Our water on these bottom-feeders? We can bargain With the others.
Their lives in Exchange for ours.
You let us go.
And i swear i'll make 'em call off the hunt.
Tara? Of course, you'd trust a deal Made with humans.
And you think All androids can be trusted? At least we don't kill Our own kind.
I'm not so sure about that.
No! Oh my god.
He wouldn't drink like a human because He's not a human.
I'm sorry, master nichols.
Your uncle thought it best You and your father not know You traitorous bastard! You don't understand.
I was hunted once, Just like you.
And this is how You won your freedom? I'd die first.
I won my freedom By surviving the hunt.
Just the way you will if you make it To the final marker.
And you chose to Hunt with the fleshers? The androids Wouldn't have me.
And the humans Shunned me as well.
There's no excuse For taking arms against your own kind.
I wasn't given a choice.
When i wouldn't Follow their rules, They put me to procedure 586.
They reprogrammed me, To make me compliant.
Even so, i've never killed Another droid.
How many have you Helped humans to kill? If you won't spare me, At least let the boy go.
He's never raised A hand toward you.
What about The tracking device? Couldn't we use that? (clute) Pete had it with him.
So what do we do now? We get up at dawn And hunt that slime into oblivion.
I don't give a damn About the hunt any more! I just want to make sure Eric's safe and sound.
Oh.
So you're gonna Wimp out on me, too? Eric is no wimp! He's got more sense Than the two of us combined.
Well, if you're so Worried about eric, I suggest we eliminate Any remaining threat to him.
I can't get The tracking device to work.
It's just a dummy piece Of electronics.
The android himself was Modified to be the tracker.
He only pretended It was the instrument.
So humans don't have The corner on deceit after all.
He's nothing but A cold-blooded mercenary.
I could never hunt My own kind.
Never.
What i can't Believe is that You still can't see the fleshers For what they are.
I do see their weaknesses.
Even their malice.
Then why won't you Let me remove your inhibitor chip? I don't know.
You'd still be human If you could, Even after all this? If i do, It's only because Humans have real feelings.
Not these analog sensations That bombard us.
And what good are feelings? When they took you away, I didn't know Where you'd end up.
But i knew i had To be with you.
(tara) It was you.
You're the one Who saved my life.
That's how you got injured.
That's how you wound up here.
The damage to my c.
p.
u.
Was self-inflicted.
I downloaded Those blueprints, And i can reverse The 586, if you'll let me.
Might even give you A chance to atone.
Please.
I'd be grateful.
Go! Go! I got him.
You sure? I got a bead on him.
No.
This one's all mine.
That's one That' s not gonna hurt my boy.
Careful now.
We have another Hostile out there.
I want his head.
His whole head (clute) Blood? Oh, no! No! Dad Christ almighty.
No, oh, my god! No! [sobbing.]
No! No! No! No! You can't blame Yourself for this, george.
They put their vest on him.
They set you up! Nobody has to know What happened.
It was the droids That shot him! Nobody can say it wasn't! Shut up! Just shut the hell up! I'm goin' after them.
He was my nephew.
He was my son! You comin' with me? No.
No.
No.
It's all right.
I'll get the sons of bitches Myself! You see if i don't! How much farther? The dam is less than a kilometer away.
The last marker, it's at the top.
They said they'd free us If we got there.
Nobody's gonna Set us free.
Ugh.
Tara! No.
You can't Please.
My fool.
[garbled.]
My sweet, sweet fool.
Monsters! Murderers! Why didn't i see it? Can you disarm My inhibitor? If you wish.
Do it.
You're the one.
You murdered tara, The only thing i ever loved.
No.
It wasn't me.
I swear it wasn't.
It was my brother.
He went ballistic when he realized He'd shot his own son.
I tried to stop him.
It wasn't me.
You'd give up your own brother To save yourself.
So that's what it Means to be human.
Tara was right.
If you shoot me, It'll be all over with.
You don't want that, Now, do you? I want you to die, And i want it to be By my own hands.
Listen to me! You don't hate human beings.
There's something wrong With your programming.
But we can fix it.
You're kind and good And you trust us.
Tell him, pete.
Tell him what, mr.
Clute? Tell him to put Down his weapon! It's beyond my control.
And i'm beyond yours.
I never hurt you.
You believe me, don't you? Not anymore.
We made it.
Designation? Kel-54.
Pete-41.
Tracker for clute nichols.
I'm the area-5 game warden, And this was an illegal hunt.
All participants are Subject to prosecution.
Do what you want to me.
To you? No, you're the only one That's free to go.
I don't understand.
The law says that Any droid surviving an illegal hunt Is granted Unqualified freedom.
This is your lucky day.
You're free to Join the community of humans.
I'd rather Go back to the mines.
I'd rather die.
Look.
Maybe i didn't make myself clear.
You're emancipated.
You're free to live Among real human beings.
Now, just turn over Your weapon.
Do what he says, kel.
Please just end it.
I'm begging you to end it.
What the hell Is going on here? I took a life.
I deserve to be executed.
Listen, i want you guys To wait there.
Android enforcement? I'm bringin' in A renegade unit.
Looks like he's gonna need Procedure 586.
That's right.
We're on our way.
Over.
Hey.
You want this? What for? It's all lies.
Burn it.
I'm not going to hurt you.
I only wish to Tell you the ground rules of the hunt.
(narrator) As machines Grow more human, We must be wary That we do not become Less so.

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