There is nothing wrong with your television set.
Do not attempt to adjust the picture.
We are controlling transmission.
We will control the horizontal.
We will control the vertical.
We can change the focus to a soft blur
or sharpen it to crystal clarity.
For the next hour, sit quietly,
and we will control all that you see and hear.
You are about to participate in a great adventure.
You are about to experience the awe and mystery
which reaches from the inner mind to...
Here in the bright,
clustered loneliness of a billion, billion stars,
loneliness can be an exciting,
voluntary thing,
unlike the loneliness man suffers on earth.
Here, deep in the starry nowhere,
a man can be as one with space and time.
Preoccupied, yet not indifferent.
Anxious, and yet at peace.
His name is Joseph Reardon.
He is, in this present here,
30 years old.
This is the first time he has made this journey alone.
This is Starship One. This is Starship One.
Request re-entry pattern.
This is Starship One, Reardon reporting.
Request re-entry pattern.
Come in, project control. Come in, project control.
Come in project control. Come in project control.
Where am I?
What planet is this?
It is called earth.
Earth?
No, I left earth 8 months ago.
8 months ago? Impossible?
No one has left or returned to earth
in almost 200 years.
I did... 8 months ago.
February 3, 1963.
The year is 2148.
Well, it couldn't be.
It must be 1963. It must be.
Time and space are indivisible.
Somehow in your travels,
you moved from one to the other.
You know, something happened.
A chill, brightness.
I seemed to collapse inside,
as if I were going into a convulsion.
A time convulsion...
Which brought you into the future.
Future?
Well, what could have happened?
A hydrogen war?
No.
No, there was no war.
We are the remaining survivors of the human race.
If you're human, you're a mutation.
Aw, it couldn't have happened
in only 200 years.
No, no. Not a normal evolution.
It was not normal.
You said there was no war.
When the concern of man is only in preparation
for defense against himself,
he is not prepared for the unforeseen.
An extraterrestrial microbe
was developed and corrupted by a renowned biologist
for his own ambitious reasons.
Bertram Cabot, Jr.
We've memorized every detail of his life.
His various addresses...
His cares, his joys.
His friends, his family.
Noelle, they called his mother.
Noelle.
A woman who issued destruction
for all future Christmases.
A microbe...
Destroyed humanity.
There were side effects to the symbiont,
which Cabot isolated and developed.
Side effects he did not foresee.
Which brought about...
Genetic changes, and inhibited
our ability to reproduce.
What you see here
is essentially the work of one man.
Bertram Cabot, Jr.
Come.
I will show you all that is left
of moments, men, and places.
Here... here lies
the protected history of man.
The cherished words and pictures
of all he has known and loved.
The noble Hamlet...
Anna Karenina, putting on her gloves
on a snowy evening...
Gatsby in white flannels...
Moby dick...
And Mark Twain's whole meandering Mississippi.
Melville.
"Hope proves a man deathless."
There is no hope here.
There has to be.
There is no future,
only the safe and dear upholstered memories.
You said your mind, your psyches,
were so advanced.
Why couldn't you find a cure or some way out?
It was too late.
The only positive cure
was in preventive medicine,
but man was too busy,
too busy going to the moon,
too busy clubbing his brothers over the head
with his newfound toy, the atom, to anticipate
and resist the parasite that was to suck out
his right to immortality.
I can't believe it's going to come to this.
I won't.
I can find the time warp again,
go back through it.
Back? Back through time?
Well, I came here, didn't I?
And nobody's proved it's a one-way street.
I'll go back. I'll tell them what's ahead.
What they have to prepare themselves for.
But even if you made it, they'd...
They'd hardly believe you.
Well, I'll make them believe me.
They'll think you are a fool or a psychotic,
but there is a way.
You can take me with you.
Well, there's a possibility
we couldn't make it back.
Well, it's better to die than sit and watch the world die.
Well, if you're...
Afraid that I'll frighten them unnecessarily,
I have the ability to change my appearance
through hypnotic suggestion.
I can...
No. No!
That's the one thing we want them to do:
See you exactly as you are.
That will make them believe us.
I'm almost positive it happened here.
I've established a correlative azimuth
of 1.25 minus 16 mils.
Blue wave length velocity, 300,000 kilometers.
I'm gonna put it on automatic pilot,
in case I'm right.
Now, we hope.
What course might history have taken
if Alexander, Napoleon, Hitler
had never existed?
What if Bertram Cabot, Jr.
Had never been born?
What is it?
The warp...
What's wrong?
I... I'm not going to make it through.
You must. You must.
I... I'm dying.
No. No!
What will happen to the world?
What will become of the world? What will I do?
Go on. Go on.
You must come with me.
They won't believe me if you're not there with me!
Find Cabot. Find him
and kill him if you have to.
But... kill Cabot.
Kill Cabot.
Aah!
Wait!
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you.
I didn't hear you come in.
I've seen you.
Somewhere.
Yes, but not in the way I wanted you to.
This is a boarding house, isn't it?
Yes.
If you're looking for a room,
I think there are a couple of vacancies.
Mrs. Mcclusky, the landlady, will be here in a minute.
Do you live here?
Yes.
A lot of the students from the university
live here.
It's quite beautiful.
I like it.
It's old-fashioned.
It's good to cherish old things.
Beauty is always on the edge of being lost.
Did I hear someone talking about me?
I thought I heard the expression "old things."
Oh, I think he was talking
about the furniture, Mrs. Mcclusky.
I'm looking for lodging.
Well, now, don't tell me a respectable-looking
gentleman like you wants to plunk himself down
in the middle of a day nursery.
I'm sure it's not as bad as all that.
Well, no. Not if you don't mind
the telephone jabberers and the, uh...
Patter of little feet all night.
There's a great deal of comfort
in the sounds of youth.
Well, then, I'm sure you'll enjoy them in stereo.
Come along. I'll show you to a room.
Don't you have any baggage?
They will come later.
You sound like an Englishman.
Yes, I... I'm from London.
Oh, are you going to be a professor
at the school?
Possibly. I'm an archeologist.
Archeology? No wonder you're interested in old things.
It's very nice.
It's $10 a week, professor...
Andro.
Professor Andro.
Thank you.
House rules are on the back of the closet door.
The bathroom is down the hall.
Thank you.
I was told a young man lives here, a student,
by the name of Cabot. Bertram Cabot, Jr.
Oh, yes.
Bert did live here, but that was a year ago.
He's been in the army since November.
In the army?
Oh, yes.
He's at some big base up north.
You should have asked Ms. Anderson about him.
Ms. Anderson?
Noelle Anderson.
The girl downstairs.
She's Bert's girlfriend.
Yes. As a matter of fact, they're going to be married
when he comes home on leave this weekend.
What, are you an old teacher of his?
No.
But I do want to talk with him about...
About his future.
From what I gather, Uncle Sam has him
for another year, and then, I think
he's coming back here to do some post graduate work in,
um, biology or something.
I see. But he will be here this weekend?
With bells on.
Good. I'll talk with him then.
Thank you for your kindness.
Aah!
Mrs. Mcclusky?
What happened to her?
She opened the door, she screamed,
and then she fainted.
I'd better call a doctor.
No, no.
I'm fine. I'm all right.
What made you faint?
I thought...
For... forgive me. I...
I feel very foolish.
Please don't.
Why, it must have been a shadow on the mirror.
It must have been, or you're not
what you seem to be, professor.
Few of us are, Mrs. Mcclusky.
You couldn't be what I thought I saw.
Nobody could.
Well, I... I brought you some towels.
Excuse me.
When a woman combs her hair,
she imitates the motion of the stars.
It's a nervous habit.
Are you disturbed?
I had a hallucination in the woods this afternoon.
It was horrible.
Yes, horrible.
My psyche professor would consider it
part of the secret nature of my dreams,
some great trial I'm about to face...
Like getting married.
I know. Mrs. Mcclusky told me.
His name is Bertram Cabot, Jr.
He's all the things I ever dreamed of in a man.
He doesn't play at life or dream it.
He lives it,
in all its seriousness and pleasure.
Why did you call Bert junior?
Well, I understand he'd been given
his father's name.
Bert's father's name is Arnold.
No, no. That can't be.
But it is.
I'm too early.
Is something wrong?
He isn't born yet.
Who isn't born yet?
Bertram Cabot, Jr.
Of course he isn't born yet.
Bert and I won't be married until this weekend.
You will be his mother.
You will be the mother of Bertram Cabot, Jr.
Noelle!
I'll be down in a minute.
You are Bertram Cabot?
Yes.
Are you waiting for Noelle?
She said she'd be down in a minute.
I've often wondered what that quality of mind is
that enables a soldier to encounter death
with firmness, valor, and boldness.
It's like stepping on a rattlesnake.
You learn to bite first, so you don't get bitten.
May I ask you a question?
Of course.
To save your own child from destruction,
would you press a button destroying all the children
of another land?
Are you asking me as a future father
or as a prospective scientist
with a duty towards humanity?
I wasn't aware there was any distinction.
But you do have a very practical and objective mind.
Like father, like son.
Did you know my father?
No, I didn't know your father.
You are going to marry a very lovely
and wonderful girl.
I think so.
Do you love her?
Who are you?
What does it matter?
Will you answer my question?
Do I love Noelle?
Do you?
Yes, I do.
Then you must not marry her.
Not marry her?
You'll destroy her.
Look, maybe it doesn't matter who you are,
but my personal life is none of your business.
To save all the future children of the world...
I must somehow prevent one child from being born.
What are you talking about?
You must not marry her.
Everything depends on it. You must believe that!
How long have you known Noelle?
Not long, but...
Long enough not to want her harmed.
You're that professor Andro she mentioned.
Yes.
Well, stay away from her.
I want to help her!
To help you!
To help everyone! You must believe that!
"Help me." Come on.
Who do you think you're kidding?
If you try to marry her, I'll have no choice!
Listen, you just stay away from her,
or I won't have any choice!
Come on.
We've had our first argument.
Over an outsider.
Noelle, look, I don't...
Do you have to go?
Yes. I've got to go to the school. I...
I've got to arrange for all my post-grad courses
next year, when I get out of the service.
Next year.
We'll be married a year.
Do you still feel you don't want to wait?
Mrs. Mcclusky would be devastated.
She's had the parlor drapes cleaned
and the rugs shampooed.
Oh, she's always wanted to have a wedding
in her parlor.
OK.
I'll try to hurry back.
I followed you.
I know.
I felt you.
May I sit close to you?
You know bees sleep?
Do they?
Like a baby.
When there's an eclipse,
almost the whole insect population
goes to sleep.
The ones I've seen since I came here
seem so sure of themselves.
Tell me who you are.
Noelle, I don't know how to tell you
to make you understand.
Noelle, you must love me.
Please, don't say anymore.
I have to go!
Noelle, listen to me.
I can't let you marry him.
I have yo go! Please let me go!
No, please! Together we can save eternity.
Noelle!
Go to the house, Noelle.
I'll catch up.
But please...
Go on! Do as I tell you.
We are going to be married.
Not if I can help it.
You can't help it or stop it.
I have to stop it.
I will try anything to stop it.
I must no longer concern myself
with your innocence.
I can think of only one thing now...
The children of all the world.
You're out of your mind.
You don't even make sense.
I don't want to kill you!
But I will!
You and her, I must!
I must!
Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here
in the sight of God
and in the presence of this company
to join together this man and this woman
in holy matrimony.
Into this holy estate, these people present
come now to be joined,
and if there be anyone here who maintains
that this man and this woman
should not be united in holy matrimony,
let him speak now or forever hold his...
Bertram Cabot, do you take this woman
to be your lawful wedded wife,
to live together in sickness and in health...
Aah!
Noelle!
Andro!
Andro?
Andro!
Andro.
Go away.
Please, go away.
They've hurt you.
No. I'm all right.
How could you come here?
I wanted to see you.
You saw me.
Weren't you frightened, like the others?
All men have their moments of violence.
In some, it passes.
I saw yours pass.
But didn't you see my face?
The change?
The others did, I know.
I...
I lost control.
I didn't see anything.
Except that you couldn't bear
to have me marry him.
You tried to stop it.
You didn't see what I really am?
Tell me...
What you really are.
Ugly.
There's no ugliness in you.
I know there isn't.
Not in me, Noelle.
Not in my heart or my soul.
Not in your face, either.
This face?
This face is a suggestion...
A mask to cover up a surface
as corrupted as the world
into which I was born.
I am that hallucination
you saw in the woods, Noelle,
the great trial you are about to face.
But it's all over now,
so go back to your wedding.
There isn't going to be any wedding!
I don't love him.
I don't think I ever did.
But you'll still marry him eventually.
I know now that
you can't change things that are meant to be.
Noelle, I have to leave,
I must go back to where I belong.
Andro.
Andro!
Take me with you.
It's impossible...
Please.
It's you I love.
I don't know how it happened
or why.
And I don't care.
I only know that I want you.
I need you.
Noelle, Noelle, I didn't mean for you
to fall in love with me.
I didn't.
Did you mean to kiss me?
Yes...
To touch me?
Yes, but I couldn't help myself.
It must've meant something to you.
I know it did!
Noelle, I... I can't love you.
You must not love me.
Why?
Because there's no hope for us!
Because we cannot change destiny!
Now, please try to understand.
I can't.
Look at me.
There are travelers in time, Noelle.
There are people in tomorrow's cities,
living, breathing strangers,
whom you never see
but who are there just the same.
Instead of the glorious future all men envision,
there's only a dark and empty road
leading to misery and mourning.
This is the world from which I came, Noelle,
the world of tomorrow.
A world you will help make.
I wanted to change it.
I tried.
You know what I had to do?
I had to prevent you from bearing a child,
Cabot's child...
Destined to grow up to be the catalyst
for the world's end!
The truth is in my eyes, Noelle.
You served your purpose.
I'll never have that child.
The world will be different.
No. In a year, perhaps more,
you'll find Bert or he'll find you.
You'll marry and you'll have that child,
unless you were to...
Die now.
Or...
Or go with you.
You can change destiny, Andro.
Take me.
Keep me.
Don't let Bert and I find each other again.
Is it possible, Noelle?
Could we make another future,
a better world?
I wonder what it's going to be like where we're going.
If it's ugly, I won't care.
I'd be with you.
No, it won't be ugly.
We're changing that.
It will probably be beautiful.
The future usually is.
Noelle!
Andro?
What's wrong?
Noelle, listen.
We created a future into which I was never born.
If you'd married him, had his child...
My world would've come.
But we have changed all of that.
It would be all different.
And I was never born.
Andro!
Andro.
It is said that if you move
a single pebble on the beach,
you set up a different pattern
and everything in the world is changed.
It can also be said
that love can change the future.
If it is deep enough,
true enough and selfless enough,
it can prevent a war, prohibit a plague,
keep the whole world whole.
We now return control of your television set to you,
until next week at this same time,
when the control voice will take you to...