Okay, little guy. Hi, there. Hi, there.
Okay, just a sec.
Computer, record.
1600 hours.
Test subject, monkey 067, to receive...
dosage of deactivated Ebola Zaire virus.
Okay, little fella. Come on now. It's okay. Hold still.
Dissection scheduled-
Damn!
This is an outbreak alert.
Computer, override decontamination protocols.
- Security clearance, Deighton, 2877- - Foreign organism detected.
Computer!
- Security codes are locked out. - Shut it off! No!
- Microwave decontamination procedure... - Michael!
- Will commence in 30 seconds. - The virus is harmless!
It's been genetically deactivated. Stop the decontamination.
- All living tissue will be vaporized. - Stop it! Stop this!
- This is an outbreak alert. - You're letting me die for no reason!
Ventilation system sealed.
Michael, we're brothers!
- Outdoor system sealed. - No!
- Five, four... - My God!
Three, two...
one.
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.
It is said that civilization began...
when man first became capable of changing his environment.
What will happen when man has the ability to change himself?
When no human need be cursed by heredity?
Will it be the beginning of a glorious, new kind of civilization...
or the end of everything we know?
As you can see in our presentation...
previous attempts with tear gas have not been successful for riot control.
As most of you know, for the past two years...
Metadyne Pharmaceuticals has been developing...
a clandestine urban-control agent...
for military and civilian law-enforcement agencies.
I firmly believe in the value of creating...
a humane urban-enforcement weapon.
And I still believe the Deighton C viral agent...
which carries altered messenger RNA into targeted host cells...
is the way to go.
But right now there's a performance shortfall.
Unfortunately, while initially effective...
the Deighton C viral agent still kills 80% of its animal test subjects.
- Eighty percent? - Indulge me, Spencer.
Deighton C is supposed to temporarily paralyze...
thousands of people over dozens of square city blocks...
without killing them, but it kills eight out of 10.
Now, I may have been in Europe too long, but that's not a shortfall.
It's a disaster.
What we'd like to know, Spencer, is if you can fix it...
and whether you can do it in less than three months.
We have some data on drug-drug interaction...
with corticosteroids that looks promising.
We're pursuing that. So, yeah. Yeah, I'd say it's solvable.
Bob, when can we put the question for a new chief executive officer on the agenda?
Cameron Deighton passed away only three months ago.
- How fast do you expect us to move? - Faster than we are.
You're doing a great job as acting chair, but we need a permanent CEO now.
I don't think this is the time to discuss it.
Hey, come on, Bob. I'd be happy to take the job.
You can say it's my welcome-home present.
And I think my father would have approved.
Some of us think Spencer might make a better candidate.
You know, this company was founded on innovation...
not on the ability to turn a profit.
Why don't we sit on it for a day or two, then take a vote on Thursday?
Hey, I'm sorry, Spence.
I've only been here two weeks, and already we're competing on the same job.
Michael, we've been competing since we were born.
Well, may the best man win.
And don't worry. When I do, I'll keep you aboard.
Hey, don't be late this afternoon. It is your party.
Come on up here.
Planning your next trip?
- Actually, my first. - Well, how long have you had the boat?
Well, it was my father's. I just moved in.
I get to live on it as long as I throw a party for my brother every now and again.
- Spencer Deighton. - Tricia Lange.
- I'm a friend of Carl Toman's. - Oh, yeah.
- You're the scientist brother. - The same. Yes, that's me, Spencer.
The younger, taller, better-looking Deighton brother's out there.
I've already had the pleasure.
Spence, be careful what you say. She's a reporter.
I'm not working at the moment.
Of course you are. We all are.
You know, it's the great legacy of the '90s.
Trish, here's an angle on a story for ya. Look, two brothers.
Which one will follow in our rich and brilliant father's footsteps, huh?
- The scientist or the businessman? - I'm not here to do a story on anybody.
You know, the more interesting story is which one of us will take after Mom.
Excuse me, will you?
Why do I get the feeling that thing about your mother was a low blow?
Our mother's dead. She had Huntington's chorea.
My father spent half his life looking for the cure.
I'm sorry.
When she died I was already doing grad work, but Michael was in high school.
He had a lot of problems, so my dad sent him to boarding school.
And all he really remembers of my father is- businessman.
I remember him as a guy trying to save his wife.
- And by following in her footsteps? - Huntington's is hereditary.
When it's passed by the mother, the chances of developing symptoms...
by the age of 35 are just about 50-50.
I know about this.
- You suffer from tremors and- - Yeah, loss of coordination.
Sometimes in bad cases, schizophrenia. And then, ultimately-
- Well, there's a test for it. - Yeah.
Michael had himself checked last year.
He doesn't have it, thank God.
And what about you? Did you get tested?
You didn't get tested? Why not?
I don't know. Why should I?
Well, if I knew I was dying...
I would want to do everything I always wanted to do before I got sick.
Well, you should do that anyway. You could get hit by a car tomorrow.
How long would you have if you did have this disease, I mean?
The progress is actually very slow. I'd have 10, 12 years.
Then... we have time for coffee?
Computer, record. 1530 hours.
Injected monkey 909 with four cc's of the altered strain of retrovirus Deighton C.
He'll remain under observation for the duration of the experiment.
We'll schedule dissection later just to be optimistic. Computer, end record.
Okay. Okay. It's okay.
It's okay. There you go.
There you go. Okay, now, be still, little fella.
Now, don't suffocate.
Okay.
All right.
Well, we'll hope for the best. But if this new strain kills 909...
we'll need a full postmortem and a complete blood workup.
Carl, the numbers look good so far. Why don't you keep at it?
- I'll check back in a few hours. - I'll do that right away.
Computer, "go" on low-level decontamination.
Decontamination complete.
Security code, Deighton 2877. Unlock the door.
- Voice not recognized. - Computer!
Security code, Deighton 2877.
- Unlock the door. - Voice not recognized.
I'm not letting you out of there until you let me apologize.
Apology accepted. Now unlock the door, Michael.
Sorry about that stuff on the boat.
You know, ever since Dad died, I haven't been myself.
Yes, you have. You've always been a jerk.
Come on. I said I acted like an ass.
You accepted my apology. What else do you want from me?
A promise to spend a few million dollars on my alternate research on Deighton C...
- if you become CEO... - That again.
I think we're on the verge of a breakthrough.
You know, I have a news flash for you, big brother.
The name of the game is money.
Deighton C is only just paying the bills.
Your touchy-feely research is a distraction.
So oppressing people is more profitable than making them well?
I'm not saying that we shouldn't try and find a cure for cancer.
I'm just saying we have to look at the big picture...
which is servicing the customer...
which on Deighton C just happens to be the government.
Listen, spending a little time on my touchy-feely work...
will probably solve our big delivery problem.
I'm not convinced.
Look, Michael, I'll tell you what.
I won't second-guess the money stuff, and you don't pretend you're a scientist.
Deal?
Yeah.
- Carl? - Morning, Spencer.
- Am I on the wrong schedule? - Why?
Shouldn't you be doing the postmortem on 909?
Well, I decided not to.
Why?
'Cause 909 isn't dead. In fact, for a guy who had...
a full dose of Deighton C yesterday, he looks pretty darn good.
You've got the wrong monkey.
He's not supposed to be alive. That strain of Deighton C should have fried his lungs.
- Did you check the sample? - Checked and rechecked.
I'm as amazed as you are. I even gave him a shot of cyanide.
He shook it off. He won't die, Spencer.
We've thrown everything we've got at the little bastard-
Anthrax, Agent Orange, today's special from the cafeteria.
Nothing fazes him.
We were trying to insert a gene into the Deighton C agent...
that would encourage cells to regenerate damaged tissue almost instantaneously.
Give that to me in 25 words or less.
I think Deighton C is a broad-spectrum cure...
a potential wonder drug.
How?
I'll show ya.
The problem we were having with Deighton C...
was that the paralyzing agent worked too well.
So we attached a regenerator, like-
like sending a cure in right with the disease.
But the cell regeneration just kept going.
It makes the monkey virtually indestructible.
We can't find any fatigue or aging poisons.
There's no cell damage.
- Little guy could live for 200 years. - Maybe more.
- That's impossible. - That's what I thought.
But every test shows that it works.
So what do we do? How do we proceed?
Are you kidding? We start saving lives. That's how we proceed.
Slow down, Spencer.
We've gotta talk to Bob Darrow about this before we do anything else.
Lock this stuff up in case we have to deactivate it.
Here you are.
You know, Darrow is ready to see us.
Carl is storing your wonder virus.
Hey. Earth to Spencer.
I was just thinkin' about Dad.
If only he'd lived just a couple more months.
Yeah, you probably could have saved him.
No, I got in the way.
Give yourself a break, Michael.
We're a team.
And because of this team...
those kids are never gonna suffer from cancer or any other disease.
If we do this right, nobody in the world will ever get sick again.
You really think that?
This is strain H, one of Deighton C's deadlier cousins.
It kills within 10 to 20 seconds by clotting blood in the lungs and brain.
It's the damnedest thing I've ever seen.
Of course, we've still got all the testing to do, not to mention the FDA thing.
But we should jump right on it- start with the tests, publish the research.
What do you think, Michael? You haven't said a word.
I agree with Spencer. I think it's an amazing discovery.
I think he should get the Nobel for it.
Except I don't think we can tell anyone about it.
What are you talking about?
Just something you were saying outside about the whole world getting Deighton C.
I mean, picture a world death rate cut by a thousand percent.
You get a billion mouths to feed within the next two years.
That's massive starvation.
And what would happen if it mutated into the rodent population?
- Or even the insect world? - You don't know that!
We've been given a gift here! We can't just keep it hidden away!
We're not talking about hiding things. Michael has a very interesting point.
It just amazes me that we spend millions...
to develop these deadly viruses you can't even work on outside of a suit...
and the minute we find something that's actually gonna help people-
Look, I don't want to take chances with a genetically altered retrovirus...
and I don't believe you do.
I also think our military research has to come first.
Spencer, as a potential CEO you should surely realize...
that your wonder drug will not be certified if Metadyne is out of business.
All right.
I'll tell Carl to deactivate all the samples till we're ready to start testing.
Your father always admired Spencer's work.
He always thought that someday he'd do something... truly wonderful.
Yeah. But he never thought of him as much of a businessman, did he?
You okay?
It's just asthma.
But I'm ready for it- courtesy of Metadyne Pharmaceuticals...
I might add.
Now, you said there was something you wanted to talk to me about?
I do. But first I gotta swear you to secrecy...
unless you've quit being a reporter in the last 24 hours.
No, I haven't quit, but I can be sworn to secrecy.
But I'm serious. This has to stay strictly between us.
I promise you. I won't use anything you tell me.
Okay.
- I think I've found a cure. - To asthma?
To asthma, cancer...
to Al DS, maybe.
Anything involving damaged cells.
Come on. This is some kind of scientist joke, right?
Little initiation thing? Is there a flying saucer involved?
No. I'm absolutely, completely serious.
Well, what is it? When did this happen?
I don't know. Depends on how you look at it.
I mean, either this week when Carl and I saw what we had...
or 10 years ago when the project started.
Spencer, this is wonderful.
What the hell's happening? Where the hell are you?
What's the matter?
Look, somebody systematically erased all our records from the database.
Aren't you supposed to be deactivating the Deighton C?
I'm tryin'to get to it.
- My password just failed. - All right.
Breathe into a paper bag or something.
- I'll be there in 20 minutes. - What was that all about?
I don't know. Carl's having some kind of a crisis over at the lab.
We'll do something tonight, huh? Or tomorrow night, or both, okay?
I promise.
Okay.
I've been learning my way around the control systems...
noticed that the lab was online...
and that Carl was still workin' with samples of Deighton C.
Carl, I gave you specific orders to deactivate.
I was going to.
It's a genetically altered retrovirus! I can't have that loose in the lab.
The new strain of Deighton C works just like the Al DS virus.
It can only be transmitted by blood.
But if it had gotten loose, it would have set off the decontamination system.
- You'd have been vaporized! - It doesn't matter.
All samples of Deighton C have been destroyed.
What?
Michael, we agreed to deactivate it, not to destroy it.
Yeah, and I was wrong to suggest it. You were wrong to agree.
- Even that violates the FDA regs. - But you saw what the virus can do!
Are you tellin' me you agree with him?
You know, I wonder if the board members would want a CEO...
who takes risks with contamination.
All right, Carl. We're gonna start again with approved protocols.
- You're lettin' him walk all over you! - You risked the lab and the project.
Gentlemen, it goes without saying.
We don't need an outbreak of this in the media.
They're harder to control than viruses.
In other words, bury it.
We made the discovery of a lifesaving miracle, and you're gonna bury it!
And so are you.
You tell anyone about this retrovirus, and we'll deny its existence.
And you'll look like some kind of nutcase talkin' about a cure-all drug.
Are you clear on that?
Crystal.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Very clever, Carl.
Evading the containment systems by transporting it into your own body.
The world has a right to know, Michael.
The virus coursing...
through your veins is the property of Metadyne Pharmaceuticals.
Yeah, well, if you think you can stop me...
you should know I've already told someone on the outside.
Now, if you'll excuse me.
Computer, unlock the door.
Security code, McKindrick 5775.
That code has been terminated.
Please restate authorized security code.
McKindrick, damn it, 5775!
I meant to tell you, Carl. You're fired.
- That code has been terminated. - I'm what?
- So you can suppress the retrovirus? - Suppress it? No.
Restrict it? Absolutely!
Only the people who I want to have it...
will get it.
You think Spencer will let you get away with that?
You know what?
I'm tired of living in the brilliant Spencer's shadow.
He may be a genius when it comes to science...
but he's an idiot when it comes to everything else.
What are you gonna do to me, Michael, huh?
You gonna kill me?
You never liked being here. I mean, you liked the money.
I suppose it beats being a high-school science teacher.
- Open the door! - This is an outbreak alert.
- Foreign organism detected. - You see, Carl?
That's why we have a decontamination system.
How many retroviruses do you think there are in one drop of blood?
Microwave decontamination procedure will commence in 20 seconds.
Outbreak lab has been secured.
Come on. Come on, Michael.
Even you aren't that twisted. This is murder!
- All living tissue will be vaporized. - All living tissue.
- Eight, seven... - That includes you, buddy.
- Six, five, four... - Unlock the door!
Three, two, one.
Come on! Open the door!
Metadyne will conduct a thorough investigation.
In fact, I'll oversee it myself.
We have to find out what it was that triggered...
the decontamination system.
My brother, he designed it. It works automatically.
Well, there's also a manual enabling system.
I hate to suggest this...
but you don't suppose Carl tried to smuggle some Deighton C out of the lab.
I suppose it's possible, but all the samples were destroyed.
I overlooked one- the monkey.
That's right. It was in the blood.
He drew blood.
I guess so.
I'm sorry. I know you trusted Carl.
Yeah.
- Okay, you know where I am. - Okay.
This is the press release I want to send out.
Why don't you tell me what you think?
I don't care what it says, as long as it doesn't mention the virus.
Why don't we check the fax and phone logs?
I want to know if Carl contacted anyone before the accident.
Fine, but why?
Carl Toman was convinced because he wore that lab coat...
he was smarter than anyone else.
He would have done anything to tell the world about Deighton C.
He might even have been in touch with our competitors.
I'll have our people check it out.
Michael, are you all right?
Yeah. Fine.
All I know is I got a file modemed from my source, and I haven't heard another word.
- So is he at home yet? - No, he's not at home.
- He's not at work. He's nowhere. - When are you getting there?
I figure I can be there by 9:00.
Trish, don't forget to bring those files and tapes.
Of course I'm bringing all the files and tapes with me.
- Is there a lot left? - No.
I just have one more phone call to make, and I'm on my way. All right, bye.
How the hell did you get in here?
This data is the property of Metadyne. It hasn't been released to the public!
Now, how exactly did you get it?
Could it be your Carl Toman sent it to you?
I have a better question- Where is Carl?
You know what the FDA would do to us if this information went public?
- You don't mind if I take these? - Get out.
You know, maybe you'd like to try some of Spencer's research.
You bastard! What'd you do to me?
You've always been a close friend of the family-
like an uncle to me and Spencer.
That's why I want to share something with you.
Those are the retrovirus samples?
Yeah.
I thought you were going to destroy them.
Let me let you in on a family secret.
You know, years ago I decided to act as if it was Spencer...
who inherited the Huntington's gene.
Are you telling me you have Huntington's?
The board would never let me up the ladder if they knew I had it.
But the good news is, it doesn't matter now.
- You took the drug. - I had to. I couldn't wait anymore.
Look.
Bob, let's not waste time.
You supported me...
now I'm giving you the chance to double your life span- maybe triple it.
Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me you don't want it?
I suppose if I was your age, in your situation, I wouldn't think twice.
But I've lived a full life. What would I be preserving?
My best friend, your father, is dead. My wife is passed away.
What are the things that make us human? The people we love, the struggles we face.
But they all fade away after a while.
I'm not sure anyone should live forever.
Okay. Okay, you do as you please.
But just think about what you're passing up here, huh?
People will do anything at the chance of a longer life.
If we control Deighton C...
the three of us control everything.
- Three? - What kind of brother do you think I am?
My God.
Tricia, what happened? Are you all right?
- Do you want to go to the hospital? - No, no.
- What time is it? - It's after 5:00.
Two hours. I've been laying here for two hours.
Here, let me get you to the couch.
- What are you doing here? - I came to talk to you. What happened?
Michael was here.
He used Deighton C on me.
Wait a minute. How do you know about Deighton C?
Carl told me about it.
You're writing a story about Metadyne?
Spencer, I know what you're thinking, but it wasn't like that.
I was working on the story long before I met you.
Meeting you was-
It was just luck.
It was good luck. In fact, it kind of screwed things up for me.
I mean, a good reporter should never get involved with her subject.
I'm sorry.
There was some kind of an accident at the laboratory last night.
No.
Carl's dead.
Somehow he set off the decontamination system.
Or your brother set it off!
Come on, Tricia!
Michael's driven and he's ambitious, but he's not a murderer.
He was here this afternoon.
He purged my computer files...
and then he sprayed something in my face.
I don't believe it.
All right then.
After he sprayed me, I felt a tingling sensation creep down my spine.
In a few seconds I couldn't walk.
I collapsed. I could barely breathe. I could barely reach for my inhaler.
Because you thought it was the asthma.
Corticosteroids block the Deighton C in the bronchiole.
- We were even looking at that. - Spencer, we need to go to the police.
No. I'm still not convinced that Michael's a murderer.
Well, then think of your wonder drug. Who's got the data?
That's right. I've got to get back to the lab and make sure it's safe.
Well, you're not going anywhere without me.
Come on.
Good, I'm in. Now, what's this?
Somebody's renamed all the files...
and put them in a protected area of the network server.
What happened to this poor animal?
He's supposed to be full of my wonder virus.
Oh, my God.
I got ya, little buddy. It's all right. I got ya. There you go.
It's okay. I got you. You're all right.
There. I see what's happening.
It's not recurring. It's accelerating.
But eventually, it still expends all of its regenerational apparatus.
In English, please.
See, the virus introduces a gene into every cell of the body.
We thought that gene was giving the cells...
unlimited ability to regenerate themselves.
But we were wrong.
What the gene was doing was accelerating the regeneration process.
It was taking all of the healing ability...
that the cell had stored up for a lifetime...
and using it up in just a few days.
So the monkey seemed immortal for those few days?
And then the regenerative potential ran out...
and it aged incredibly quickly.
What happened?
I don't know.
Michael, what are you doing?
Becoming the CEO of the family business-
something you could never be.
- Still on the story? - Sorry to disappoint you.
Michael, what's the good of taking over a company if you have to destroy it...
if you have to kill people?
Too bad about Carl.
He brought it on himself.
Imagine what it could be like, Spence. We could live forever-
amass fortunes, control countries.
Time is power.
- You've taken Deighton C. - Think of what you could achieve, Spence.
- Join me. - No.
Well, then, I'm sorry.
To hell with you.
This is an outbreak alert.
Foreign organism detected.
Security codes are locked out.
Michael, we're brothers!
Microwave decontamination procedure...
will commence in 30 seconds.
All living tissue will be vaporized.
- This is an outbreak alert. - Do something!
Ventilation system sealed.
Outdoor system sealed.
Microwave decontamination procedure will commence in 10...
- nine, eight, seven- - Whatever you're doing, do it faster.
- Six, five, four, three- - Come on. Come on!
Two, one.
I'll try my dad's name.
Decontamination sequence aborted.
Returning to standby.
- You've taken it already, haven't you? - Wait till you feel the power.
Michael, you're sick. This isn't you.
Yes, it is. I've won.
But I'm cured.
Your research cured me.
But I don't understand. You told me.
I'm sorry.
Can you hear me?
The monkey didn't go so fast.
Why am I?
It's the Huntington's.
The Deighton C burned off all your regenerative capacity.
Now all your body can do is degenerate.
Please...
kill me.
I can't do that.
I have to do everything I can.
There is an old proverb that says...
"Be careful what you wish for, for it might come true."
And if your wish is for immortality...
it is something you will have to live with...
for a very long time.