What's wrong?
We gotta get this under control.
It's unstable.
What is it? we don't know.
Dr. Marshall just pulled it
out of the Cyclotron.
Conig, you'd better get another divider.
There's 16 inches of lead in there now.
What's its atomic weight?
Somewhere over 2-5-6.
It's a freak reaction.
Marshall said some cosmic particles penetrated the shield.
The gold foil disappeared,
then the Lambda process set in.
Push in the rod.
Close the gate.
Collins!
The divider began to give way.
I'm holding the isotope up over it.
How long can you hold it?
As long as I have to.
Marshall's the only man who knows what the reaction will be
if those two come into contact.
The phone's dead.
Maybe this stuff throws off some electromagnetic field.
He's probably in the control office.
I'll try the P.A. system.
Better report this to emergency.
Find out if we need any extra shielding.
See about clean-up.
The radiation level is halfway up the dial.
I'll have emergency here in 2 minutes.
All right.
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...
In recent years, nuclear physicists
have discovered a strange world of sub-atomic particles...
Fragments of atoms smaller than the imagination can picture,
fragments of materials which do not obey the laws of gravity,
anti-matter composed of inside-out material,
shadow-matter which can penetrate
10 miles of lead shielding.
Hidden deep in the heart of strange new elements
are secrets beyond human understanding...
New powers, new dimensions,
worlds within worlds,
unknown.
Those are cloud chamber tracks.
This plate's been exposed.
No, that's a cluster.
A cluster?
Of particles?
They pulled against the magnetic field
into a spot of light,
like Radium salts.
Well, can't we go in and take a look at it?
They've got it down at the reactor furnace.
It's intensely radioactive.
I don't mind telling you I'm worried
about the work-team that had to carry it.
Well, how high was the reading?
Halfway up the scale.
Pollard, these particles are sub-atomic,
yet they're giving out visible light
and lethal radiation.
Control office, control office.
This is Conig.
Dr. Marshall, there's an emergency
in the furnace reactor.
Stop.
No one goes in there until the field subsides.
What about Collins?
We'll crack the shield by remote control
and pull him out.
I'd like to go in there.
But there's no cure for radiation sickness.
I set the rods.
Take a look at that counter.
This room has 11 feet of lead
and that needle is halfway through
to the yellow zone.
Collins seems to be handling it.
Collins. Collins!
He can't get his arms out of there alone.
Collins, let go.
You can move your arms now.
Here, let me take the isotope.
Pull back!
Collins!
He's taking too long.
Maybe they've found a way to control it.
Not with that needle rising.
We've got to get out of here.
But they're still alive.
It's too late.
We can't leave them.
Pollard, they're within 5 feet
of enough gamma penetration to kill 100 men.
We are, too.
Close down the shields!
Tell the emergency to send in
all the lead blocks they can find.
Try to put a shield up in front of these controls.
We'll get one now.
Get your men out of here!
Let emergency handle it.
I will not send anyone past the second shield.
We've cut off all currents. We flooded the cell.
We've built up 20 feet of lead.
Now those readings are too hot to approach
and still climbing.
If it doesn't stabilize within the hour,
I'm ordering total evacuation.
He's afraid of a chain reaction.
But how can it form a critical mass
with all the rods pushed in?
Well, these particles...
Some sort of spontaneous generation.
It can't be.
There's no physical process to support it.
Not 3 months ago, the tech astronomy lab
announced the discovery of 8 new objects
in outer space.
One of them is more than 2 billion light years
away from us.
It is shining in the 13th magnitude.
Quasi-stellar radio sources.
That's right. Give them a name.
They radiate, they pulse.
But they're not galaxies and they're not stars.
They break every rule in the book.
Yet they're out there... Burning.
These particles are their atomic equivalent.
The ultra-large out there, the ultra small,
boiling up in our reactor.
Their radioactivity
is greater than your wildest dreams.
Like a hole torn in the universe.
Something seeping in.
Well, you didn't show up at the restaurant,
so we came to the rescue.
Any Brandy hidden behind the Nobel prizes?
What's wrong?
Paul, what is it?
We've had an emergency.
Can I help?
No. We've done all we can.
Is anybody hurt?
A reaction building up in the central core.
The controls aren't working.
Can it set off a chain?
Oh, we will have to evacuate the area
if it gets critical.
Maybe you'd better go.
I'd like to wait till you go, too.
Why can't we stay here?
We won't get in the way.
Besides, we brought you some sandwiches and coffee,
and if we have to leave, then we can all go together.
We should know in a few minutes.
Some Brandy in the cabinet.
Push this shield into the control room.
We'll keep piling them up till we cut down the level.
Dr. Marshall, can you come right away?
What happened?
Colter's dying.
We carried him into the corridor.
Did you control the furnaces?
We shielded it.
But there's more to it than that.
Pollard, take Terra with you.
Are you all right?
Not too steady.
Radiation?
Maybe.
I'll stay here with the women.
You go on.
Colter, can you hear me?
Ohh...
Did you control the reaction?
I don't know.
Need more shields.
Tell them what happened.
Collins... Collins came at me.
Only it wasn't him.
It was something else... Inside his suit.
A... blue light, like... Electric arc.
Delirium?
No, sir. It's true. Something came at us.
It must have been Collins.
A... a force.
Like a magnetic field.
You mean... you mean Collins collapsed
when you pulled him out?
No.
Something else.
Something inside the suit.
It... reached for me.
But the light inside the suit...
Burned my face.
Blinded me.
I c-can't see.
Ohh...
Where is this thing?
On the control room floor.
Is the shield in position?
Yes, sir. It cuts off some of the radiation,
but it's not safe to go in there.
Can't we move in another shield?
We can try.
You don't have to go.
You've taken a heavy jolt.
I want to get a look at that thing on the floor.
They're going into the reactor.
Do they have to?
No.
Can't you stop them?
Pollard.
Pollard, this is Marshall.
Yes, Marshall. This is Pollard.
The light went on in the passage.
Are you going to enter the reactor?
Yes.
Don't go in there.
We've got to.
It's too hot.
We're taking a second shield.
Colter's dead.
He's going in.
Paul... Paul, please don't go in there.
Marshall says it's not safe.
Something happened. We've got to go in.
Just for a minute.
Marshall, tell her I'll be all right.
Paul, you don't know what's...
Marshall! Something happened in there.
It's not just radiation.
We'll be out in less than a minute.
It's Colter's suit.
Be careful.
It's empty.
He came in from the reactor
like there was someone in it.
Did Colter hit it?
No. It started to crumble
when it came around the shield.
It doesn't make sense.
It's approaching the critical mass.
Why aren't they back yet?
I don't know.
The circuits are solid static.
When that needle crosses into the red,
I've got to notify the civil authorities.
Dr. Marshall, we've got to get out of here.
Where's Pollard?
They've got him. And Dr. Terra.
Got him?
What are you talking about?
There's something coming out of the atomic core.
It seeps into the suits and takes on a form.
What kind of form?
Human...
But it's made out of a blue light.
Is it from the material
that we took out of the Cyclotron?
Yes, sir.
The furnace is alive with it,
and it's increasing.
We've got to get out of here.
I won't go without Paul!
You've got to go.
No! I won't go! I won't go!
You can't let her go in there. You've got to stop her.
I can't go in there!
I don't have the strength.
Marshall, you're afraid.
I know what's in there.
Something from another dimension.
Something invading
our time-space continuum.
Laurel...
I did it.
I placed the heavy elements in the Cyclotron.
Particles from out there.
From quasi-stellar sources.
I bombarded it.
I split a crack in time and space.
It'll widen and tear.
Gravity will collapse.
Radiation.
Contagion.
It'll burn us!
Burn us!
I'll try to find her.
Laurel...
We've got to get out of here.
If what you say is true,
or even half of it, this radiation
is going to flare up, isn't it?
Yes. Yes, it compounds geometrically.
There's nothing we can do about it.
Then there is no point in running.
We... we can't stay here!
According to you, there's no place to hide.
All right, then. Let's stay here, quietly.
I don't want to die!
Nobody wants to die!
But if it's time,
let's meet it with a little dignity.
Or even better than that,
let's go down fighting.
Oh, Marshall, you're a brilliant man.
Brilliant. You've got powers.
Powers of the mind. Use them. Use them.
I... can't think.
I'm no use, Laurel.
No use.
Paul! Paul, where are you?!
Paul! Oh, Paul!
Ohh!
Get out of here!
If you won't help them, I will.
Laurel.
Come back.
Laurel.
Laurel!
Laurel.
Laurel!
Arndis! Arndis! Close the door!
Paul's in there! I'm going in with him!
Arndis! let me go!
You can't stop me!
Marshall, Marshall, stop her!
She trying to go inside! Stop her!
Aah!
Aah! Ohh!
That ought to hold them in the corridor.
Come on.
Marshall, look. They've stopped.
It's the shielding.
They're cut off from their energy source.
What are they?
Particles. They consume material substance.
Did they kill Pollard?
And the others.
They could burn through the suits,
but they take on the body form.
Like a force field.
Well, is it alive?
No, not the way we think of life.
But it moved and walked.
Maybe it is alive. I don't know.
Maybe it's intelligent.
All I do know is it's made up
of a crawling cluster of particles.
If it's alive, it's like radium crystals,
swarming and growing.
Ohh.
Oh, arndis.
Arndis, you saw what was in there.
You've got to tell us.
Can you walk, arndis?
I... I think so.
Here. Try.
I'd better carry her.
Yes.
Here...
Emergency.
This is the Control Office.
Emergency.
Oh, look at that counter.
The needle's crossing into the red.
This is civil authority.
This is the Broadridge Control Station.
Dr. Marshall speaking.
Radiation levels are reading off the scale.
We expect a critical mass
in the space of a few minutes.
Broadridge, please confirm red one alert.
That's correct.
Radiation levels indicate a chain reaction.
Have you flooded the cells?
Yes. Rods and shields are in position.
The furnace core is out of control.
What's the nature of the buildup?
Nobelium 238,
interacting with high velocity particles.
What kind of particles?
Unknown field reactions.
Don't bother to give it to your computer.
It's no known process.
Tell your civil authorities to start the sirens.
Get people out of the area or down to their shelters.
Broadridge out.
Let's go.
Slide over, Arndis.
Laurel, you drive.
OK. Are you all right?
Yes.
Aren't you coming with us?
Maybe I can do something.
You can't stay here.
If it explodes, you'll be killed.
Take arndis to the civic shelter.
Marshall, I'm sorry I said what I did.
No, you were right. I was afraid. I still am.
But you told me it's better not to run.
I do have powers... Powers of the mind.
My work made it happen.
I'm going to stay here till the very end.
There's nothing you can do now. It's too late.
Look.
What is it?
Radiation.
The atomic structure they're building.
You two have got to get out of here.
Arndis, can you drive?
Can you drive the car?
I... yes, I think I can.
Then get onto the passage road.
Paul! What about Paul?!
You've got to think about your children.
You heard the sirens.
They're probably at the civic shelter.
But Paul...
Paul would want you
to take care of the children.
Now please...
Laurel, go with her.
No, no. I'm staying with you.
I'm not leaving you.
Back of the power shed. The wall is a shield.
Huh.
Something is delaying the reaction.
When counters rise that high,
fission sets in.
Marshall, the force fields...
Those things in the suits...
Do they control it?
All my life I've followed the laws of physics.
Classic laws.
Now everything's slipping and sliding.
There's no cause and effect.
Please. Now, Marshall, your classic laws
are not wrong.
Well, right or wrong, you made it happen.
Well, I do sense something.
Pollard used to call it mathematical intuition.
When you feel the proof to a problem that is unknown.
Give me that grid paper. yes.
I was trying to explore
into the heavy elements.
Mm-hmm.
Electron reversals. That's negative matter.
Mm-hmm.
I can't!
Marshall...
I can't! It won't solve!
Marshall, it's there. I know it. It's in you.
There is an answer.
Time! I need time! I... I can't force it!
Don't force. Don't try.
That building is going to explode.
Thousands of megatons.
Temperature that will turn metal to plasma.
It will crush us like that!
Here, Marshall. Listen to me.
Take my hand, Marshall. Please.
Mmm.
Collins and Conig were...
Working on an isotope in the furnace.
Give me those readings.
Berkelium 245.
Fermium 252.
Here.
Cesium 137.
Radioactive isotope.
Data-emitting.
I was working with nobelium.
Laura, I... I thought my figures were wrong.
Maybe not.
According to this, that substance
is far above critical mass.
It ought to have started a chain reaction 5 minutes ago.
Why didn't it?
It's being controlled.
Don't ask me how, but those fields,
they do have some way of holding it back.
Then they are some form of life.
Intelligent life, but like nothing on earth,
nor in the universe for that matter.
The fission process is active.
The atoms are actually splitting.
That's why the plant is radioactive.
But instead of exploding, becoming energy,
the splitting process
is like a billion tiny cracks in the wall.
The particles are emerging.
They're forcing their way in
from an entirely new dimension.
What are you going to do?
Reverse the process.
How?
The particles are created out of fission,
the splitting of nuclei.
If I can set up a fusion reaction,
compressing atoms inward,
it ought to seal off the process.
But, Marshall, you can't go in there.
You will burn up.
There's a radiation suit in the Cyclotron chamber.
It has reinforced shielding.
Follow me on the circuit.
Marshall...
It's better than running.
Laurel...
Can you hear me?
Laurel?
Yes, Marshall, I can hear you.
Keep contact as long as you can.
The static will probably wipe me out
when I get to the building.
Marshall, I'll stay with you.
I'm going out.
Marshall...
Marshall, I want you to know,
I'm with you with all my soul.
Laurel, I'm going into the material vaults.
The hydrogen distillate canisters are down there.
Is there anything I can do?
Keep talking to me as long as you can.
Marshall, whatever happens, we'll be together.
Laurel, they're coming!
Marshall!
Marshall, I can't hear you!
Marshall!
Laurel...
Help me.
Yes, Marshall. I can hear you.
Where are you?
Near the car.
I can't move.
Marshall, listen. I'm coming out.
Hurry.
I set a hydrogen...
thermonuclear component.
Marshall!
Try to start the car!
We're on ground zero!
Hurry!
How wide is ground zero?
Over a mile.
But we have to find shelter.
Stop at the desert station.
There's a concrete bunker for observing nuclear shots.
Don't look directly at it.
It destroys the retina.
Will there be a shockwave?
More like a windstorm.
There's no telling the effect of fission
on negative matter.
What about fallout?
I don't think so.
It won't be an explosion, bursting outwards.
It'll implode,
like a vacuum, compressing inwards.
If I'm right,
if there is another dimension involved,
then there may be time reversal effects.
How long was it timed for?
It's set to go off now.
Look out! The shock!
Laurel, it's over.
Broadridge crushed in.
Particles gone.
We're going to live.
As man explores the secrets of the universe,
strange and inscrutable powers await him,
and whether these powers are to become
forces of destruction or forces of construction
will ultimately depend
upon simple, but profound, human qualities...
Inspiration...
Integrity...
courage.
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...