-
there is a fifth dimension
-
beyond that which is known
to man.
-
it is a dimension as vast as space
-
and as timeless as infinity.
-
it is the middle ground
between light and shadow,
-
between science and superstition,
-
and it lies between
the pit of man's fears
-
and the summit of his knowledge.
-
this is the dimension
of imagination.
-
it is an area which we call
the twilight zone.
-
witness, if you will, a dungeon
-
made out of mountains,
salt flats and sand
-
that stretch to infinity.
-
the dungeon has an inmate--
-
James A. Corry--
-
and this is his residence:
-
metal shack.
-
an old touring car that squats
in the sun and goes nowhere,
-
for there is nowhere to go.
-
for the record, let it be known
-
that James A. Corry
is a convicted criminal
-
placed in solitary confinement.
-
confinement, in this case,
-
stretches as far as the eye can see
-
because this particular dungeon
is on an asteroid
-
nine million miles from the earth.
-
now witness, if you will
-
a man's mind and body
shriveling in the sun--
-
a man dying of loneliness.
-
entry, 15th day, sixth month,
year four.
-
and all the days and the months
and the years are the same.
-
there'll be a supply ship
coming in soon, i think.
-
they're either due or overdue.
-
and i hope it's Allenby's ship
-
because he's a decent man
and he brings things for me.
-
like he brought in the parts
for that antique automobile.
-
i was a year putting that
thing together,
-
such as it is.
-
a whole year putting an
old car together.
-
but thank god for that car,
and for the hours i used up,
-
and the days and the weeks.
-
i can look at it out there,
and i know that it's real.
-
reality is what i need.
-
because what is there
left that i can believe in?
-
the desert and the wind?
-
the silence?
-
or myself?
-
can i believe in myself anymore?
-
Allenby?
-
Allenby!
-
Allenby!
-
Allenby!
-
how are you, Corry?
-
all right. you?
-
quite a place you've got here.
-
glad you like it.
-
i didn't say i liked it.
i think it stinks.
-
you don't have to live here.
-
no, but i have to come back here
four times a year.
-
that's eight months
away from earth.
-
sometimes my kids don't even
recognize me.
-
but you, you've got it made here.
-
yeah, this makes for simple living,
doesn't it?
-
6,000 miles from north to south,
-
4,000 from east to west,
-
and all of it just like this.
-
all right, Adams, cut it out.
-
now, we've only got
a 15-minute layover this time.
-
no one's checking on your schedule
way out here.
-
we can play a couple of games
of cards.
-
I'm sorry, Corry,if we delay
our time of departure
-
longer than 15 minutes,
-
it just places us in a different
orbital position.
-
we'll never make it back to earth.
-
we would have to stay
here at least
-
14 days before it's
in position again.
-
oh, 14 days! i got some
beer saved.
-
we could play some cards.
-
i wish we could but, like i said,
-
we've only got 15 minutes.
-
what's a few minutes?
-
hey, we could play chess.
-
i built a chess set
and everything.
-
let's go in.
-
Allenby, only two minutes
are gone.
-
two minutes have passed already.
-
we've only got 13 left.
-
i don't want to foul up
your schedule,
-
but how about one game of cards?
-
we just don't have the time.
-
we've been here
two minutes already,
-
and he hasn't asked
about the pardon.
-
how about it, Allenby?
-
you're out of luck,
the sentence reads 50 years.
-
and they're not even reviewing
cases of homicide.
-
you've been here
four years now,
-
so that makes 46 more to go,
-
so make yourself
comfortable, huh?
-
Corry, we don't make the rules.
-
we deliver supplies
and pass on information.
-
there's been pressure back home
about this kind of punishment.
-
a lot people think it's
unnecessarily cruel.
-
they may change their minds
and alter the law,
-
and imprison you on earth
like the old days.
-
but--
-
who knows what the next couple
of years may bring?
-
years?
-
every morning, when i get up,
-
i tell myself this is
my last day of sanity.
-
i can't stand this loneliness
one more day.
-
not one more day!
-
by noon, when i can't
keep my fingers still,
-
and the inside of my mouth
feels like gunpowder and burnt copper,
-
down deep inside my gut
-
i get an ache that's
just pulling everything out.
-
then i force myself to hold on
for one more day.
-
just one more day!
-
but i can't do that
for another 46 years.
-
i'll go right out of my mind.
-
you're breaking my heart.
-
Adams, you and Carstairs go get
the supplies.
-
mr. Corry got a broken leg
or something?
-
you go ahead and do what i tell you.
-
now.
-
that big crate?
you know, the big one?
-
you treat that one gently.
-
brought you some paperback books.
-
thanks.
-
Corry, i brought you
something else too.
-
it'd mean my job
if they ever suspect.
-
it'd be my neck if
they found out for sure.
-
look, Allenby.
-
i don't want any gifts.
-
i don't want tidbits.
-
makes me feel like
an animal in a cage,
-
with an old lady out there
-
who wants to throw
peanuts at me.
-
a pardon, Allenby.
-
that's the only gift i want.
-
i'm not a murderer.
-
i killed in self-defense.
-
there's still a lot
of people who believe me.
-
it happens to be the truth!
i killed in self-defense!
-
i know. i know all about it.
-
and i doubt if this will be
any consolation to you, but--
-
this isn't an easy assignment
to handle--
-
stopping here four times a year
-
and having to look
at a man's agony.
-
you're right, Allenby.
-
that's very little consolation.
-
i can't bring you freedom.
-
all i can do is try
to bring you things
-
to help keep your sanity.
-
something to--anything
so you can just fight loneliness.
-
(Adams)
hey, captain!
-
you wanna open up
this big crate?
-
no. not yet.
-
uh, stay out there.
i'll be right out.
-
we got to go now.
-
we'll be back in three months.
-
look, when you open up
that crate
-
there's nothing you need to do.
-
the item's been vacuum-packed.
-
you'll need no activator
of any kind.
-
the air will do that.
-
there will be a booklet i nside
-
that will answer
any of your questions.
-
Corry.
-
they don't know what
it is i've brought,
-
so i'd appreciate your waiting
until we get out of sight.
-
have a good trip back.
-
give my regards to broadway.
-
sure, Corry.
-
i'll see you in three months.
-
Allenby?
-
i don't much care
what's in it,
-
but for the thought--
-
for the decency--
-
thank you.
-
you're quite welcome, Corry.
-
captain.
-
captain?
-
captain, what's in the big
crate, huh?
-
i'm not quite sure, really.
-
maybe it's just an illusion.
-
maybe it's salvation.
i don't know.
-
let's go.
-
"you are now the proud possessor
-
"of a robot built
in the form of a woman.
-
"to all intent and purpose,
this creature is a woman.
-
"physiologically
and psychologically,
-
"she is a human being
-
"with a set of emotions
and a memory track,
-
"the ability to reason,
to think and to speak.
-
"she is beyond illness and,
under normal circumstances,
-
"should have a lifespan
-
"similar to that
of a normal human being.
-
her name is Alicia."
-
my name's Alicia.
-
what's your name?
-
get out of here.
-
get out of here!
-
i don't need no machine.
-
go on! get out of here!
-
my name's Alicia.
-
what's your name?
-
i brought you some water.
-
put it over there.
-
it'll get warm
just sitting there.
-
how would you know?
-
i can feel thirst.
-
yeah? what else can you feel?
-
i don't understand.
-
can you feel heat?
-
yes.
-
and cold?
-
yes.
-
and hunger?
-
how about pain?
-
can you feel pain?
-
that, too.
-
how?
-
you're a machine, aren't you?
-
yes.
-
why would--
-
why didn't they build you
to look like a machine?
-
why didn't they build
you out of metal
-
with bolts and wires
and electrodes
-
and things like that?
-
why'd they turn you into a lie--
-
cover you with something
that looks like flesh--
-
give you a face?
-
a face that if i--
-
if i look at long enough, makes
me think--
-
makes me believe that--
-
it's a lie!
-
Corry?
-
Corry.
-
you mock me, you know that?
-
when you look at me, when you
talk to me, i'm being mocked.
-
i'm sorry.
-
you hurt me, Corry.
-
hurt you?
-
how can i hurt you?
-
this isn't real flesh.
-
there aren't any nerves
under there.
-
there aren't any muscles
or tendons.
-
you're just like this heap--
-
a hunk of metal with arms and
legs instead of wheels.
-
but this heap doesn't mock me
the way you do.
-
it doesn't look at me
with make-believe eyes,
-
or talk to me with
a make-believe voice.
-
well, i'm sick of being mocked by
the memory of women.
-
and that's all you are--
-
a reminder to me
that i'm so lonely
-
i'm about to lose my mind.
-
i can feel loneliness, too.
-
oh, Alicia, i'm sorry.
-
Alicia's been with
me now for 11 months.
-
it's difficult to write down
-
what has been the sum total
-
of this very strange
and bizarre relationship.
-
is it man and woman?
-
or man and machine?
-
i don't really know myself.
-
but there are times
when i do know
-
that Alicia is simply
an extension of me.
-
i hear my words coming from her,
my emotions.
-
the things that she
has learned to love
-
are those things that i've loved.
-
i'm not lonely anymore.
-
each day can now be lived with,
-
and i love Alicia.
-
nothing else matters.
-
and that's the star Betelgeuse
-
that's in the constellation
of Orion
-
and there's the great bear.
-
see it with it's pointer stars
in line with the northern star?
-
and there's the
constellation hercules.
-
god's beauty.
-
that's right, Alicia.
-
god's beauty.
-
that star, Corry.
what's that star?
-
that's not a star,
that's a ship.
-
a ship? but it can't be a ship.
-
there isn't one due
here for three months.
-
you said after the last time,
not for another three months.
-
it must be Allenby's ship.
-
he's the only one that ever
comes close.
-
they stop at the other asteroids,
then they come here.
-
that means we'll see them
in the morning.
-
we'd better get back to
the house then.
-
no.
-
Corry!
-
Corry!
-
Corry!
-
Corry, we've got
good news for you.
-
all the sentences
have been reviewed.
-
you've been given a pardon!
-
we're taking you back home
on this ship,
-
but we've got to take off
from here exactly
-
in 20 minutes and we can't
wait longer.
-
we've been dodging
meteor storms.
-
we're almost out of fuel.
-
any longer than 20 minutes,
-
and we'll have passed
the point of departure,
-
and i don't think
we'd make it back.
-
Allenby, what did you say?
-
a pardon!
-
Corry, they've granted you
a pardon!
-
but it won't do us any good
-
unless you get ready
to move out.
-
we picked up seven other
men off asteroids.
-
we only have room for 15 pounds
of stuff.
-
pick up what you need
in a hurry, leave the rest behind.
-
15 pounds?
-
15 pounds?
-
i don't have 15 pounds of stuff.
-
all i have is a shirt,
a ledger book, a pencil
-
and a pair of shoes.
-
that car they can keep.
-
that'll be for the next
poor devil.
-
aw, there won't be
any "next poor devil."
-
good.
-
good. i'm glad of that.
-
Alicia and i will climb
into that ship of yours.
-
and we'll look out the port,
-
and we'll give it all a big
kiss goodbye.
-
who, Corry?
-
oh, my dear god, i forgot her.
-
he's out of his mind.
who's Alicia?
-
a robot.
-
she's a woman.
-
Corry, she's a robot.
-
she's a woman!
-
she's gentle and kind.
-
Allenby, she kept me alive.
-
why, if it wasn't for her,
i'd have been finished.
-
i'd have given up.
-
that's the crate you wouldn't
let us look at.
-
we can't let this be a problem.
-
problem? there's
no more problems.
-
there's no more problems on
heaven and earth.
-
we'll just climb in that ship
of yours
-
and when we hit that
big, beautiful green earth--
-
15 pounds.
-
oh, wait a minute.
-
you'll have to throw out
some equipment.
-
Alicia--she weighs more
than 15 pounds.
-
that's exactly the point, now.
-
our ship is stripped now.
-
we only have room for you
and that ledger and pencil.
-
leave that robot behind.
-
she's not a robot!
-
she's a woman!
-
- you leave her behind, that's murder!
- Corry, Corry
-
Corry, wait a minute.
-
i haven't got any
choice. Don't you understand?
-
no, you don't understand!
she's not a robot!
-
she's a woman!
-
Alicia! Alicia!
-
Corry!
-
Alicia! Alicia!
-
Alicia?
-
Alicia!
-
come on, Corry.
-
we just want you to
get your gear packed
-
and get out of here.
we've got 15 minutes, captain.
-
i'm not leaving without her!
-
Corry!
-
Alicia!
-
Alicia!
-
Alicia! Alicia, show them!
-
talk to them! show them!
-
talk to them, Alicia!
-
show them!
-
Alicia, show them!
-
i don't have any choice.
-
i have no choice at all.
-
Corry?
-
no! no!!
-
(Alicia, robot-like)
Corry. Corry.
-
[winding down]
Corry. Corry.
-
[lower in pitch]
Corry...Corry...
-
we've got to go now, captain.
-
we will go now.
-
come on, Corry.
-
time to go home.
-
it's all behind you now, Corry.
-
it's all behind you.
-
it's like a bad dream--
-
a nightmare.
-
when you wake up,
you'll be back on earth.
-
you'll be home.
-
home?
-
that's right.
-
all you're leaving behind
is loneliness.
-
i must remember that.
-
i must remember to keep that
in mind.
-
on a microscopic piece of
sand that floats through space
-
is a fragment of a man's life,
left to rust
-
as the place he lived in, and
the machines he used.
-
without use,
they will disintegrate
-
from the wind and the sand
and the years that act upon them--
-
all of mr. Corry's machines,
-
including the one made in his image,
-
kept alive by love
-
but now obsolete
in the twilight zone.