The Outer Limits (1995) s04e04 Episode Script

1 (Phones ringing) Morning, Why is he still here? He's been like that for the last hour, I told Stark to be out of his office by noon, I tried to give him his severance package, Gary insisted that I should hold off for a bit, Come on, Cynthia, what's the harm in giving the man a little extra time? You tell me, How much have you accomplished in the last hour feeling sorry for him? Wrap it up, (Kristin) I love you, Mason, Mason? Come in, This is from Balmer, It's your severance package, At least you won't have to put up with that bean counter any more, Yeah, Look, I can imagine how you feel right now, but you're gonna catch on somewhere, You're too smart not to, You have plenty of time, You have three months' pay, Your medical insurance keeps going until you get settled again, You know, ,, Your coverage does include psychiatric services, ,, Like counselling, therapy You got something to say to me, Gary? Say it, Mase, ,, Kristin's been gone for over a year now, There's nothing wrong in getting some help if you needed to, ,, any help so you can come to terms with what happened, I know what happened, I was there, There was nothing I could do to stop it, I'm not saying there was, I'm not the son of a bitch who shot her, All right? It just happened! Thanks for the advice! Get the hell out of my office! I said get out! No! That went well, He's just a little upset, that's all, Get security up here, Right away, Miss Larmor, Hello? Now, look Oh, great! Another one that looks like me! What the hell are you doing? I can't look at these other two guys, and you bring another one in?! Oh, no, No, ,, no, (Control Voice) 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, ,, Do we have the power to shape our lives? Or are we predestined to be who we are? If our fate is but one amongst many, then whose life, if anyone's, is real? Ow, (Warning buzzer sounding) No, Mason? You understand me? I'm dead, I've got to be dead, I know how strange this must seem, but you're not dead, You're alive, flesh and blood, just like me, Who are you? I'm you, Mason, ,, in a sense, Where am I? In another life, I need you to answer some questions for me, Can you do that? You're currently a project manager at Eigenphase systems, Is that correct? Yes, What was that? That chair monitors the electrical activity in your nervous system to determine whether or not you're lying, An untruthful or unresponsive subject is prompted with a brief electric shock, I said, I'd answer your questions You don't have to torture me, It's not torture, It's a, ,, necessary precaution, I'm sorry, Now, again, Are you currently a project manager at Eigenphase systems? No, I was fired this morning, That's the answer I was hoping for, One night when you were 15 years old your father came home late from work, He'd been drinking, You began to argue, He started beating you, Did you stop him? Did you stop him? No, I let him beat me, all right? If I hadn't he would have hurt mom, ,, again, I don't need to know your excuses, just your choices, You were strong enough to handle him, Could have forced him into detox, dried him out, helped him get his life together, That's easy for you to say, That's what I did, Three years ago, you met Kristin Fields, A year later she asked you to marry her, Did you? Yes, Did it work out? Not exactly, She died, How did it happen? (Kristin) Thinking it's going to beat you down, We were, uh, ,, Aw, sweetheart, We were just taking a walk, You've earned this job, You should start learning to enjoy your success, I enjoy my success every day The fact that I convinced you to marry me, Oh, and how did you manage to do that? Very funny, Give me your wallet! Are you deaf?! I said now! Mason, give him what he wants, All right, here, Take it all! Just please don't hurt us! He shot her, Why her and not you? I don't know, There's no point in lying, Why did he shoot her? Here! Here, take it all! Just please don't hurt us! Help! Get down! Help! Why did he shoot her?! He shot her because I let him! I could have saved her! I could have tried! But I was too afraid, All right? Is that what you wanted to hear? I've had enough of your damn questions! If you won't tell me why I'm here, fine! Then kill me now and get it over with! I don't care any more! Then I'm going to have to make you care, Have you ever wondered what would have happened if you'd made different choices in your life? Everybody has, Yes, well, not everybody can make those choices real, Every choice we make affects which path in life we follow, But quantum physics dictates that every one of those different choices, those alternate paths in life, must still occur but in an alternate reality, You mean the choices I never made still happened? That's right, I built a quantum mirror to help me understand the paths in life I didn't take, You mean you're me the way I might have been? The way you might have been if you'd finished graduate school, worked your way up through the ranks at Eigenphase until you became CEO, You expect me to believe this? How would you explain the other Masons in these cells? Open it up! I'm talking to you! Hey! Hey! Hey! Open it up! All right, suppose what you say is true, Why did you pick me? See what the path of a screw-up might be? No, I brought you here because I need your help, First time I used the mirror, I wasn't as careful as I should have been, The version I brought here was more different from me than I could have imagined, Who the hell are you? He was injured when I brought him through, He wouldn't say how, Cleaned his wound, Explained to him where he was, And once he got over his initial shock, we began to talk, to get to know each other, It was fascinating, see the living result of choices I never made, Everything seemed to be going fine, Took him to my home, At night, I woke up to find him with a knife at my wife's throat, He was in rage, practically insane, He said he was going to put things back the way they were supposed to be, And then he, ,, He slit her throat, She died in my arms, I brought you here to help me stop him, ,, Before he kills again, Mr, Stark, Hey, Gary, Got a minute? Of course, That's quite a scar, sir, What happened? Rent-a-cop shot me in the head, Just grazed me, Nice car you got there, That's very funny, sir, What did you say when you bought it for me? You didn't want your head of R & D seen driving a Geo, Head of R & D? Right, Mr, Stark, ,, is there something I can do for you? No, There is something I have to do, Actually I already did it once, I'll have to do it again, Look, ,, What do I call you? Mr, Stark will do, All right, Mr, Stark, Why would this other Mason want to kill your wife? I don't know, I only know I had to do something to stop him, But I couldn't report it to the police, I would have become a suspect myself, The press would have destroyed me, I couldn't understand the way he was thinking, So I decided I'd find someone who could, I used the quantum mirror to find a version of myself similar to the one who murdered my wife, Most of the other Masons I found were psychotics of some form or another, more violent and dangerous than the first one, Others were more rational but equally useless to me, ,, And no longer necessary, because now I've got you, What's it doing? It's finding the right life, I'm nothing like that murderer, How do you know I'll be able to think like him? I wasn't questioning you for my entertainment, From what little I was able to learn of the first Mason's background, your lives were nearly identical, I'll put all my resources at your disposal, anything you need to stop him, Stop? You mean kill, You want an assassin, somebody expendable, The man murdered my wife, If I could find him myself, I would, But I can't do it alone, I am giving you a chance to do something worthwhile with your life, I'm giving you a chance to stop a killer, Cynthia? You married Cynthia, not Kristin? Yes, I met Cynthia when I joined the company, We built Eigenphase into what it is today, Kristin and I did have a brief relationship some years ago, She didn't understand my work, She wasn't interested in success, I didn't think she was right for me, She was for me, You really loved her, didn't you? She's still alive, Mason, in this world, I can find her for you, I'll give you a new identity, I'll help you two start all over, All you have to do is just help me first, (Phone ringing) Thank you, Gary Zeeman's dead, Another innocent person butchered, I doubt he'll be the last, All right, I'll help you, He's killing everybody close to me, My wife, my business partners, I don't think that's what he's doing, Why? You're looking at this from your point of view, Those people are important in your life, Not his, You told me, he said he was going to put things back the way they were supposed to be, He means the way things were for him, Why kill Cynthia and Gary? You know, don't you? If you hadn't brought me here, I'd probably be dead, I was going to shoot myself, I guess I'd been thinking about it for a while, But right then, just for a second I thought about killing everybody in my office, But I couldn't go through with it, I knew it wasn't anybody's fault but my own, I remember grabbing the gun, I had my finger on the trigger, And then all of a sudden everything went crazy around me, I felt as if I was being flooded with a million thoughts from a million different people, except all of them were me, And for a second, I felt as if some part of me had actually gone through that door, ,, As if I'd actually killed them, That's how the quantum mirror works, When you come through, all the different versions of you overlap for an instant, You must have somehow sensed the thoughts of the Mason who was most similar to you, the one who made the choice to kill, When you brought that other Mason through, and he realized that the people he'd just killed in his own reality were still alive here, he must have decided to kill them all over again, to put things back the way they were supposed to be, So, Cynthia was one of the people outside your office? Yeah, Then Gary must have been there too? Yeah, Who else? That jerk, Balmer, He was working late tonight with his assistant, (Phone ringing) Damn, No answer from his office, That's a perfect place for the other Mason to strike, It's our financial systems division, It's practically deserted this time of night, There's a car waiting outside for you, This will get you in and out of the office, Private entrance, no one will see you, Finish it, (Punching and grunting) Come on, Balmer, How do you like my version of a severance package? Get away from him, Ah, how nice to see a familiar face, ,, Mr, St Well, I see Mr, Stark found someone to clean up his mess, Move away from him, ,, please, How's this? Look, I understand how you feel, You know something? I actually believe you, But this isn't the world you left, These aren't the people you knew, You don't have to do this all over again, I'm not, First time it was an impulse, over in a second, This time I decided I'm going to let myself enjoy it, I intend to savor each moment, (Gunshot) It's clear, Sweep the place, Make sure that there's nothing linking this to me, And don't touch the bodies, Someone will find them in the morning, What happened? I, ,, I had a chance, I couldn't do it, I couldn't pull the trigger, Why the hell not? I, ,, I don't know, Damn you, Damn you! Send me back, Can't just walk away, The hell I can't, Maybe I never took responsibility for my own life, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna take responsibility for yours, You brought that maniac into your world, you, not me, Your world, not mine, It's your problem and you deal with it, Send me back, All right, I will, If you insist, Something you might want to know before you go, The quantum mirror doorway does work both ways, but only at the point of choice, If you go back, you return to your world at the precise point of choice you were at when you left, A point you said you were about to kill yourself, Think about it, Mason, Did you pull that trigger? Are you willing to find out if you didn't? I can make your life here a good one, but only if you help me catch that psychopath first, Without me, you'll be stuck here in a world where you don't even have your own identity, where no one cares about you, not even Kristin, If you don't help me, I'll make sure you never find her again, Just get away from me, Leave me alone! It's all right, He just needs a little space, But not too much, Keep an eye on him, Maybe we can go somewhere else, It's fine, Mason, I like it here, (Chuckles) Besides, we have the whole place to ourselves, We can still go to a movie, if you want, (Sighs) Would you stop second guessing yourself, A lot of times your first instinct's right, you know, Well, ,, you can't always be sure, So what? How many times have you tried to make the right choices, then a whole bunch of things happen that you never saw coming in the first place? Every day for the last 20 years, Very funny, You can never be sure of anything, That's life, Why did you ask me out? Because if I had waited for you to ask me out, I'd probably still be waiting, You're probably right, Mason, you've been coming to the same coffee shop for a year, I give you all the right signals, I do the hair thing, (Laughing) I do the touching thing, I laugh at your jokes, My jokes aren't funny? The point is, ,, Is that, ,, You never follow through, You always back off, Mason, I like you, You're an intelligent, decent man, You just have to start believing in yourself a little, It helps when someone else believes in you, too, Yes, it does, Just ask yourself what kind of man you want to be, and then try to be that man, I think I want to be the kind of man, ,, that a woman like you would marry, (Laughs) Gee, I guess I give a pretty good pep talk, huh? Mm-hmm, (Chuckles) Hey, me, Look, ,, We both work for Stark now, (SHOUTS) No! No! (Grunts) (Groans) You leave Kristin alone! (Grunts) (Groans) I'm not here for her! (Grunts) (Groans) I'm through with Stark, I'm not here to kill you, That's nice to hear, you stupid bastard 'cause I'm not here to kill you either! (Grunts) I came here to help you, Why would you want to help me? Because you were about to make a big mistake, I decided to spare you the embarrassment, They've been meeting here for the last couple of days, Doesn't look all that serious, but you never know, Our Kristins have died a long time ago, ,, In this world, in any world, Mason Stark doesn't mean a thing to her, I know how that must make you feel, You don't know a thing about me, I don't? Would you like to know why you didn't stop me from killing balmer when you had the chance? I didn't have a chance, Bullshit, you didn't have a chance, You wanted him to die the same as I did, The only difference was you just didn't have the nerve to kill him yourself, In my reality, when I went out in that office, with one pull of the trigger I changed everything, In that moment, for the first time in my life I stopped being a victim, You still are, Well, maybe I am, But I'd rather stay the way that I am than become whatever it is you are, You still don't get it, Do you know why Stark built the machine in the first place? He did it because he hates his life, Despite everything he has, that poor, arrogant, insecure son of a bitch still is unhappy, He built the mirror to find a version of himself that was happy and take his place, He didn't tell you why he picked me first, did he? No, It was the image of me on his machine, He said I looked happier than any other Mason he'd ever seen, And I was, Because I just killed everyone I hated, You might look like Stark, but you're never going to be him, The best you can hope for is to take what he has, You're going to kill him, aren't you? And you're going to help me do it, Ugh! You don't owe Stark a thing, He used both of us, And if you don't help me, I'll kill Kristin right now, Maybe this time you'll make the right choice, (Gun clicks) Stark, I'm back, It's about time, We still have work to do, (Gunshots) (Groans) It just keeps getting easier for you, doesn't it? Yes, That isn't Stark, Mason, (Gunshot) (Groans) Don't you ever get tired of being wrong? I always expected him to come after me, but I never thought you'd help him, (Beeping) (Door buzzing) How did he convice you? Revenge? No, he used Kristin to threaten me, just like you did, Move, I did what I had to do, The man was a murderer, And what are you? STARK: The distinction between us is clear, You can't see the difference, you're even dumber than I thought, It's time for you to go back to where you came from, You never intended to let me stay here, did you? No matter what happened, You're one step removed from a psychopath, You seriously think I'd let you loose in this world? You did it once, You know what the funny thing is? Both of you tried so hard to convince me how much I was like each of you, but you two are the ones who are really alike, Shut up, (Groaning) That's right, the two of you, You're the same! You tried to use him, He tried to use me, Neither one of you gave a damn about who you hurt or killed in the process, You got that right! (Groans) You want another life, Stark? You can have mine, This is my life! You don't deserve it! Neither do you! (Grunts) (Indistinct) (Screaming) Security's on their way up, Miss Larmor, Good, MANl What the hell is that? (Gunshot) Oh, Mase, Oh, God, There was only one shot, right? Yeah, Then how did he get that scar on his head? (Stark) Wake up, No, no! This isn't my world, I said put the gun down! (Gunshots) (Groaning) (Gun clatters) (Ducks quacking) Hello, Kristin, Mason? (Chuckles) It's been years, What are you doing here? I was looking for you, Yeah, right, You're serious, Why? This is where we had our first date, You remember that? Probably not quite the way you do, Well, why don't we hear your version? (Control Voice) If our lives are indeed the sum total of the choices we've made, then we cannot change who we are, But with every new choice we're given, we can change who we're going to be, (Theme music playing)