(theme music playing)
NARRATOR: Man lives in the sunlit world
of what he believes to be reality.
But... there is,
unseen by most, an underworld.
A place that is just as real
but not as brightly lit.
A dark side.
Six hours, Billy.
Don't let him upset you.
He doesn't.
He makes me wonder.
We'd better start, Billy.
You really want to hear this?
My editor thinks you're innocent.
He says you're very convincing.
Yeah, I'm so convincing
they're throwing the switch in six hours.
Then talk now while you can.
Promise you won't laugh?
I came to listen.
If Keena were here, she'd help me.
She knows I'm no killer.
But you're alone now.
How do you feel?
I can't believe I'll never see her again.
The prosecutor says she's a fantasy.
My only fantasies are when I work inventing things.
I imagine them first
until they're all thought out and then I make them real.
That's what I was doing when I first saw the ring.
I was in my workshop back during those earthquakes.
(loud rumbling)
(rumbling subsides)
BILLY: This thing had come up, thrust up, through the floor.
It seemed like some kind of volcano.
Smoking and hissing.
(gurgling)
And when I looked inside, I saw the ring.
Those earthquakes made that ring appear.
Come on, Billy.
The quake upset you, made you see things.
The ring was there.
Every time I touched it,
it moved.
And every time it moved,
there was a whole different environment down there.
I started making tests of depth and temperature.
Once a thermometer froze from the cold.
Once it burned.
Are you serious?
I couldn't eat, sleep or think anything except that ring.
I kept records of every probe.
On the second day, I knew I needed help.
Like a fool I turned to Jimbo.
Look at this thing.
I found it on the 170th probe.
I'm looking at this now.
Do you know what it is?
Sure I know.
It's the biggest uncut ruby I've ever seen.
You're kidding me.
I don't kid about stones.
You know, after years of messing around here,
you finally hit something.
Now listen to me, we got to get a scoop with teeth and dig
24 hours a day.
You make this a business.
I'm an inventor.
You want to spend the rest of your life alone like this?
Jimbo...
go home, forget this.
You've been up for a couple of days, you're tired.
This work is dangerous, Jimbo.
Something down there tore up this grappling hook. Look.
I've got to shut it down.
You know what your trouble is?
You're an idealist.
You know what happens to idealists?
Think about it.
Jimbo, the ruby.
I'll be around.
BILLY: There weren't going to be any more probes.
I knew I had to pull up that line
and finish the work.
(gurgling)
(speaking foreign language)
No, you can't go back!
Back there is gone.
No.
Please.
Come back.
You can't go out there like that.
Somebody might see you.
Please.
Stay here.
I won't hurt you.
Please.
(thunder crashing)
We are on Earth.
Here.
Earth.
My name is Bil-ly.
Billy.
That's good.
B-I-L-L-Y.
Billy.
Keena.
Hello, Keena.
All right, B.
B.
Boat.
Okay, B...
B.
Bird.
You learn pretty fast, don't you?
Try this-- ball.
Ball.
Mm-hmm.
Boy.
(both laughing)
Bad.
Finding Keena was the best thing that every happened to me.
She was pretty?
She was more than that.
So you kept her at home where she was all yours.
I had to protect her.
She was scared and lost.
You haven't eaten anything in two days.
You want some soup?
Okay.
(music box playing) ¶ Rock-a-bye, baby ¶
¶ On the treetop ¶
BOTH: ¶ When the wind blows ¶
¶ The cradle will rock ¶
¶ When the bough breaks ¶
¶ The cradle will fall ¶
¶ And down will come baby ¶
¶ Cradle and all. ¶
Good morning.
I brought you something. Here.
Wait!
It's a sun dress.
Sun dress.
You can slip into it while I... Hey.
Now you should wear these, too.
I guess aliens are gonna dress a little differently, huh?
Uh, let me help.
Here. Now turn around.
That's it.
Here... here.
Boy, you're something.
How do you like it?
I like it. I like it!
You like it.
Once she trusted me,
she was like a child discovering the world.
Boy, was she smart.
Because she liked you.
(chuckles) Because she was reading my science books in a week.
Stuff that took me years to get through.
"An oscillating source of waves is energy.
When such a wave propagates..."
Enough.
Tonight, you have to try to eat something.
How does veal Marengo sound?
Veal Marengo?
(Italian accent): No. Veal Marengo.
(Italian accent): Veal Marengo.
Veal Marengo! Never mind.
I'll put this in the microwave
and cook the most delicious...
No, don't cook! Keep it cold!
(crunching)
Veal popsicle.
I should have known that's what you like.
It's your science.
Beautiful. Primitive.
Primitive? It's the best we have.
Your science cannot stop time or transfer matter.
You can do that?
Yes. I'll show you.
Billy, look!
You left your front door open.
I took it as an invitation.
Who is this?
I'm an old buddy, miss.
Billy and I go all the way back to high school.
He was the smart one, so he knows what I want.
Stay away.
Don't be a hero, Billy.
I'm just gonna borrow her. Come on. You won't even miss it.
An idealist like you
has higher-type things on his mind.
She needs the ring to get back home.
What am I, a travel agent? Listen to me!
You want conversation, talk to the police.
Tell 'em about the earthquakes
and the rubies and the other worlds.
Give 'em the whole spiel.
I'll visit you in the loony bin.
(whooshing sound)
You're stuck, Billy.
I begged to work with you,
and I would have split it down the middle,
so don't cry now!
Nothing like a last meal to kill your appetite.
All right,
what happened after Jimbo took the ring?
Keena said that the ring didn't matter...
that her people could look into other worlds...
that they would find her and bring her back.
All we had to do was wait.
But you wanted to be a hero.
No, I wanted to show her that we weren't... primitive.
You were looking for trouble.
I felt I had to get the ring back.
I went over to Jimbo's
he has brought up piles of these.
Children play with them at home.
Not Jimbo. He has a scoop with teeth on it
to grab things through the ring.
Only he wasn't doing that.
He was, he was tearing up the floor, burying something.
What?
An arm.
He's reached into another dimension
and torn off somebody's arm.
Oh, it's savage!
He's savage.
My people must not find out! You must go stop him!
I am through with this!
Take the damn ring!
Something happened.
I looked through that ring, and I don't want it, okay?
I tried to get rid of it, and it doesn't burn,
and you can't break it. The thing just sits there!
And inside...
Billy, you gotta help me.
Come and take it.
All right.
I went outside with him and tried to warn him.
When I told him about Keena's people, he went crazy,
and he hit me.
(fists landing) And I slugged him back.
All of a sudden, he starts shouting at me,
only there's nothing coming out of his mouth,
like a silent movie.
And then I saw this cloud,
and it came down and covered him with a crushing sound,
and he was gone, vanished.
All I could think about was...
Keena!
They took her, too.
I know it.
They're testing the chair.
I didn't know they still did that.
Billy, they're coming soon.
We have to hurry.
The trial was a joke.
The neighbors heard Jimbo and me arguing.
They found rubies on the lawn, bits of his skull.
Without Keena, I didn't have a chance.
You believe me?
Billy, what would you say to Keena now?
What last words?
I'd thank her for everything she showed me.
At home, there is no fighting.
It's our nature to fight.
Nature changes, Billy.
At home, we only have one duty:
to raise the power of our minds.
I'll show you. Look.
Open it.
(chuckles)
See? We imagine what we want, then we make it happen.
That's what I do.
Well, I know. We're both inventors. (chuckles)
¶ ¶
(clock ticking)
(deep buzzing)
(whooshing)
Keena!
I couldn't let them hurt you.
They're gonna kill me.
They can't see us for a minute.
Oh, Billy, I hate this place.
They won't let me leave.
Then I'll take you back with me.
I told the Elders I have to be with you,
and you'd be so happy at home.
What'll I do there?
You will think. We'll do it together.
Isn't that what you want?
Now... hold me.
I'll take you there.
WOMAN: What?!
He's gone!
Howard, you'll never believe this, but it's true!
Take this down, every word.
There was no execution. It never happened.
Relax.
I've got a better story. It's a love story.
The state tried in vain
to execute Billy Malone in the electric chair.
At midnight, the switch was thrown,
and in that last instant before oblivion,
Billy Malone disappeared.
NARRATOR: The dark side is always there.
Waiting for us to enter.
Waiting to enter us.
Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight.