Original subtitles

I'll stick with you, baby, for a thousand years.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

I'll show you what was wrong.

You think he's crazy?

He's a genius.

He's allowed to be a little excited.

What are you into, man?

Daring, isn't it?

I used to kill people, you know.

I have nothing to worry about, I assure you.

A slice, I hear.

Anything's wrong, I'm sure.

This doctor has passed up the green portal. I can't find his head.

Is Jimmy there?

That's... Dr.

Ackerman calling.

Thank you.

Jimmy, be by.

And what can I do for you?

Well, it's more what I can do for you.

You told me to call if I noticed anything odd about the janitor's re

Harlan Williams.

Williams?

Don't you ever knock.

Not you. No, someone just came in here. Hold the line a second.

Just put the files over there.

I want to see Redding's body again.

Tonight. Can't this wait?

What for?

I have a life, Miss Pan.

Outside activities.

A world beyond Falco Plains.

I have an investigation to conduct.

Redding isn't going anywhere.

He's locked up tight.

He'll be waiting for you in the morning. Trust me.

I've learned never to trust anyone but myself.

Dr. Ackerman.

I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning.

You still there?

Yes.

You were saying something about the janitor.

I was?

About noticing something odd.

Oh, yes.

What was really odd were the phone calls that I got.

What calls?

Who called you?

Well, the first one was from that idiot in personnel, Moreland.

Idiot is right. What did he want?

He told me to notify him the moment that Williams flunked his exam.

And then I got a call from someone that makes Moreland look like pretty small

beans, telling me to make sure that Williams passes.

Jimmy, I just got a craving for a couple of mom's chocolate glaze and a cup of

coffee. You interested?

You buying?

Somebody's got to pay for it.

So you have to work?

Well, he not only passed his eye to him, he passed it with flying colors.

I might have let it go with that.

Except he asked me to dilate his eyes.

He said the damnedest thing.

Just a country expression, he said, but it didn't sound like that.

Who was it?

Well, I was looking at him with a pupillary.

He asked me if I saw anything green in there.

Does that mean anything to you, Mark?

Can't say that it does.

When you dilated his eyes, you said you saw less floaters in there. That's not

normal, is it? Well, it's not abnormal.

Not any more than flunking a visual acuity test and then passing a retest is

abnormal. Visual acuity seems to fluctuate.

Like blood pressure?

No, not like blood pressure.

That's the point.

Blood pressure does fluctuate radically.

Visual acuity doesn't. Not really.

The janitor also seemed very nervous.

That's what got me curious.

If it had been only one or two oddities, I might have let it go. But all of them

together, you know.

No, thanks, Mom.

I pulled his last visual acuity test.

He only flunked by a little.

But this one last week, he passed by a lot.

An improvement of 14 % in less than a month is... Well, let's just say it's

something I never heard of.

If he was set enough on keeping his job to retake the test, maybe he memorized

your charts.

Maybe Cruz fed him the answers.

I change the charts every two weeks. It's a D .O .D. reg.

And why would they cheat? I'd already told Cruz I'd pass him.

Something wrong?

No.

You know, I know you told me to call you if anything unusual happened. But I'm

sitting here wishing I'd never talked to you about this.

It doesn't take a person long to get paranoid, does it? No, it doesn't.

Well, you'll understand.

I want to protect myself.

Not to be involved any longer.

Thanks for calling.

Say hello to Virginia for me.

I will.

Well?

I'd give it about a 58.

It's hell to dance to, but the lyrics are great.

Yeah, that's ready.

Okay, let's move out.

No, ma 'am. Nobody followed Lieutenant MacGyver out that night.

Everybody lost... Oh, excuse me.

Morning,

Dr. Todd Hunter.

What time do you have?

Quarter to the hour, sir.

Only two minutes fast.

If I was you, I'd think about getting a new watch.

This watch belonged to my father.

I will never be rid of it. But if it's broken, you could have it. Even a broken

watch tells the correct time twice a day. Do you not see that?

Well, sir, I... Time is the only enemy.

Miss Spann understands that.

Don't you, Miss Spann? Yes.

Tempest Fugit.

Carpe diem.

Have a nice day.

This

has

gone far enough.

Yes, I heard.

But Gina... No buts. You're going to the doctor.

And you're going this morning. If that Ackerman is the only one you'll see, I

guess you'll have to do, at least for now.

Don't you think you're making a kind of a big business over a few brown hairs

around my ears?

It's not just a few brown hairs around your ears. And you know it.

There's more there and down there.

Well, Mother, I get a little personal there.

It's not funny.

And don't make out that it is.

You know what's happening as well as I do.

And it's not funny.

Gina, honey.

You're getting younger.

Gina, Gina, that... That's crazy?

Yeah.

But it's happening.

I don't know what they were playing with that day. I don't want to know.

I just want you to get a medical discharge and...

Treatment.

For whatever this thing is.

Treatment as far away from Falco Plains as we can get.

Gina.

Gina, people don't... They can't get younger.

Then what is happening to you, Harl?

I have lived with you almost my whole life.

I could pick your face out of a room filled with men if I was blind and none

them were talking. I could do it by touch.

You don't look the way you did two weeks ago.

You look the way you did two years ago.

I'll go see Ackerman.

What do you think is going to happen then, Gina?

They'll find out what's wrong and they'll stop it.

You must still believe in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny if you think it's

going to be as easy as that, honey.

What do you mean?

I mean you talk like they play the game square.

Like they were just going to fly me off to the Mayo Clinic and make it all gone.

Well, they don't play the game square.

They play it as crooked as a drunkard walks.

I think you're the only one scared.

You remember that window I broke at the plant three years ago?

There was a scar on my arm where the glass cut me.

Hell of a magic trick, don't you think?

Now you see it, now you don't.

It was there Monday.

On Tuesday morning while I was shaving, I noticed that it lightened up some.

On Wednesday, it was just a little white line you couldn't even see.

This morning, God.

My God.

That was when you were 67.

That's when I really started getting scared.

All I'm saying, Gina, is there's no telling what they'll do.

I'm no hotshot doctor, no general, and not even a bird colonel.

I'm just an old man who swabs floors and empties wastebaskets.

I could disappear without a trace.

And so could you.

Harlan, that's crazy.

Yeah.

Now you're getting the picture.

That's the way the government does business in places like Falco Plains.

Crazy.

You want to just go on waiting, is that it?

No. I don't want to go on waiting.

I'll go talk to Ackerman like you want.

Only I want you to be ready.

For what, Harlem?

See if we can cut through the preliminary ball here, Doc.

You know, the part where you ask me what I'm doing here and I tell you I'm going

to ask you some questions.

And you tell me to get out or you call the police.

I know all that stuff.

Who are you?

Well, that's as good a place as any to start.

Jude Andrews, DSA.

We can also skip the part where you say you didn't see me with the rest of the

DSA team and they're gone anyway.

You have to call General Cruz and so on and so on.

You didn't see me with the rest of the team because I'm here on special

assignment.

You didn't see me leave with them either for the same reason.

God.

You got any more of this juice, Doc?

You're a shop, aren't you?

I can take it from here. Thank you. But Dr. Ackerman didn't tell me you'd be

coming in this early. Dr.

Ackerman probably overslept.

But shouldn't you wait for him? I work better alone.

You know, you're really going to hurt my feelings if you don't at least taste

those eggs, Doc.

That's all you're going to eat?

So paranoid.

Who?

Jimmy Higgins.

You know, I saw a sign on a guy's desk once.

It made perfect sense to me.

Maybe you ought to get one for yourself.

You know, just to remind yourself of the fact of life from time to time.

What was that?

Perfect paranoia is perfect awareness.

Yeah.

Maybe you're right.

On my death, remind me of the facts of life.

You know, I've really enjoyed your hospitality.

And I'd hate to spoil it, Doc, so I want you to listen to me very closely.

If I find out that you've withheld anything from me, even if it turns out

something unimportant,

I'm going to come back and perform some dental surgery with a power drill.

You may think I'm exaggerating.

But because I have enjoyed your hospitality, I want you to understand

not.

I come back with a drill and a little black case and plug it in.

Please.

And then I go to work with a number two drill bit, which is about the size of

that finger.

Sometimes I perform the surgery with the mouth open.

Sometimes through the cheek.

I don't use novocaine.

There's usually a great deal of blood.

Please.

So if you've forgotten anything, anything at all, left anything out,

going once,

in the stages between the two of us. Am I right, Doc?

Yes, for sure.

Yes. You're not going to talk about it to your friend, the optometrist, the

span, General Cruz, or anyone at all?

Yes. No, I won't.

Perfect paranoia is perfect awareness.

Am I right?

You bet.

Your toast is ready, Doc.

And if there are any further developments, I'll let you know right

away. Even sooner than that.

Yeah.

Have a nice day, Doc.

Well? Are you sure about this?

I saw it with my own eyes. Or didn't see it. He's gone.

We need a drink.

We need a body. What the hell am I going to tell DSA?

Why tell them?

Because you and I work for them, remember?

Tara, you call it DSA.

I don't really feel up to it. Besides, you're the one that found the body was

missing. Lewis.

Listen to me.

We don't have to tell them anything.

Right now, there are only three of us can open.

You, me, and whoever took Dr. Redding for a ride.

What's the point? What have we got to gain? Everybody's going to find out

or later.

Huh?

I vote for later.

I'm sorry, Terry, but I have to overrule you on this one.

Oh! What did you do that for?

I'm returning the favor. What favor?

Trying to stop you from making a fool of yourself.

And of me, too.

The body stopped here, Lewis.

He was our responsibility.

You run this base. I'm the head of security.

Who do you think's going to take the heat?

I've got a good idea who did it. I think I know what for.

I just need Tobias a couple of days to prove it.

Then they won't blame us.

That's right, Lewis.

You think Jared did it?

Well... Seems like old times.

Garters was reading.

Yeah, I pulled him out last night.

No, he lived about four hours.

Before he died, though, a number of scars on his body disappeared.

No. No, you don't understand.

I mean completely disappeared as if they'd never been there.

Including a large burn scar.

There were before and after photographs.

Cruz didn't tell me.

Nor did he or Terry tell me that for a couple of days these guys, the janitor

and Redding, both glowed like watches with cheap radium dials.

Yes, he's still alive.

I'll be checking him out.

I'll be very actively checking him out.

Hey, Harlan.

How you doing, Rick?

Wouldn't do me much good to complain, would it?

No, I guess not.

You look like you're feeling okay, Harl.

I didn't expect to see you back full -time so soon.

Well, everybody's got to be somewhere, right?

Uh, what's your secret, Harl?

What secret?

Well, you, uh, sure got well in a hurry.

You want to tell me what kind of vitamins you take?

C.

I would C.

That's it.

That's it.

That's my secret.

Get around, Ray.

Speed limit inside the plant confine is 25 laps per hour. I need to see Dr.

Ackerman. Dr.

Ackerman's doing an inventory in the pharmacy, and unless it's really

I doubt if he can see you.

Could I tell him what it's about?

May I speak to him for a second?

Thanks.

Mr. Williams is here, Dr. Ackerman.

I told him that you're doing farm, but he wanted to know if he could see you

a few minutes.

All right, Dr. Ackerman.

Thank you.

Wow, that's weird.

What's weird?

He's usually like a bear on farm days. God knows he was like a bear when he

in this morning, but he asked me to send you right in.

Thank you.

I have to talk to you.

Right away.

Is it important?

Yes. I think so.

Yes. It's not something you forgot, is it, Doc?

No, no.

No. This morning.

The gen... Meet me in the parking lot.

We'll take a walk. It'll be good for the Constitution, Doc.

When?

Now.

gonna move those lockers uh as soon as i make a phone call billy hey how'd your

exam go all right i guess you sound kind of down all right sure everything's

okay yeah i'm fine i'm just a little tired that's all

why

don't you go find the long dolly billy you bet harl and you can find Phil and

Roger while you're at it. You mention lockers to them and they disappear.

Yeah.

Oh, hey, Carl.

I got a good one for you.

You ready?

Sure.

Why did the man tie his watch to a bird?

I have no idea, Benny.

Because he wanted to see time fly.

I'll be sure to use that one, Billy.

Hello? Hello?

Hello?

Harlan, is that you?

Yeah, it's me, honey.

Hang on a minute, will you?

Harlan, will you please talk to me?

All of a sudden, I get the feeling that might not be such a good idea, honey.

Harlan, don't put me out. Did you talk to the doctor or not?

I talked to him, all right.

I think it might have been a mistake.

I don't know what you're talking about.

What's wrong?

Maybe nothing.

Maybe a lot.

But I don't want to talk about it on the phone here.

All right, Tina.

First point.

Williams cut his arm about three years ago in an accident in the plant.

That scar is now gone.

Same way Redding's scar is now gone.

Of course, that was the first thing that jumped into my mind.

Would there be photographs?

Probably not, but there would be an x -ray, and there would be reports of the

accident, and there would be lab results. Enough. So any medical man in

world would confirm a resulting scar.

Second point.

His hair is turning brown again.

That's what really rocks me, you know.

Sooner or later, almost all of us grow gray.

Harlan Williams is the only man I've ever seen who's gone back to brown.

It's not a dye job?

No. I mean, I haven't had a strand under a microscope yet, but I really... I

called you before I did anything else.

The correct procedure, Doc.

Believe me, the correct procedure.

Yes.

But, you know, I really don't need a microscope examination to confirm the

facts. Judging from the pattern of new growth, it's no dye job.

Anything else?

No.

But you had an impression.

Well, you know, I examined him after the explosion. I taped his head and his

arm.

He looks younger now.

Apart from the hair, how?

That's just it. I don't know how.

You know, it's like, when I was 17, I caught my brother's draft card and tried

to buy a bottle of wine, and the guy in the store laughed at my face.

When I was 21, I still had to show my driver's license to get a drink more

than not. You know what I'm saying?

But every year, if you were in a few bartenders and wanted to see some proof

before they pour me one, and then one day no one was asking at all because

face changes.

It's nothing you can put your finger on, but it's there.

It's like that with Williams.

He's getting younger. I don't know how. He just is.

Hair, the scar he says is gone, these are empiric things.

This other, it's just something around the edges of his face.

I don't know how else to describe it.

Tell me, Doc.

Does he understand what's happening to him?

I mean, really understand?

Yes.

I mean, he's a janitor, but he's not stupid.

He understands.

How does he feel about it? Scared.

He's holding it pretty well, I'll give him that, but scared almost out of his

mind.

We'll walk back now.

I want you to get all about this stuff.

Good, all right.

I'll handle it.

Since you know it, it's all very strange.

What was the name of that optometrist who tested G3 through G5?

Higgins.

I've known him for ten years or more. Jimmy's not going to get in any trouble

because of this, is he?

Why would he?

Come in.

Miss Fann, I need to speak to you. Major Moreland, what can I do for you?

What?

What's that?

those? Oh, just something to amuse me. And it's cheaper than seeing a shrink.

See, whenever I'm feeling uptight... Miss Spann.

I just have a little target practice.

Not bad, Major.

Most days I have trouble hitting even one of them.

And it only costs the American taxpayer.

Eleven million dollars to develop.

Now, what can I do for you?

Perhaps I'd better take this business to General Cruz himself.

Oh, I'm afraid you're stuck with me today.

Lewis is in Washington testifying in front of a subcommittee meeting.

Fruits or nuts, I can't remember which.

I beg your pardon?

Fruits or nuts.

House or... Senate.

Is that all, Major?

Now, if you'll just state your problem, I'll bet I can get

the General to see you tomorrow morning before he's even had a chance to get his

seat warm.

Well, that's good.

That's good, because this matter, this travesty...

It's simply got to be seen, too. There's some kind of hanky -panky going on

around here. I damn well know it.

And it will not be allowed to continue.

I'm afraid you'll have to put me in the picture, Major.

Well, picture, as you call it, concerns a Class 5 installation employee named

Harlan Williams.

Well, he's just a janitor, no one of real importance.

But, you might say, but the principal.

The principle is important. The rules that make the difference.

Wouldn't you agree?

Yes. I think principles and rules are very important.

And I want you to tell me all about it.

Well, I would be delighted.

You want what?

Well, I was just thinking that if it was all the same color all over, it would

seem more, you know, normal.

Very good, Mr. Williams.

Rita will take care of you. Rita?

Mr. Williams needs a little hair color job this afternoon.

Hi, Mr. Williams.

Does Gina want you to darken it up a little bit?

Actually, he wants it all white.

Really? Well, do we just own the old maid's head if she gets the cow?

Well, come on back.

I do your wife's hair, so I know all about you.

So, I'm sure you see the problem.

Yes.

I think I do.

Major Moreland, would it be possible for me to hold on to these exam results

long enough to make a photocopy?

I, uh... I'll do the job myself.

And I'll return them personally to your office in less than half an hour.

That would be fine, Miss Spann.

It's obvious, isn't it, that there's been some kind of chicanery by or on the

behalf of this Williams.

Well, it certainly seems so. Some effort to short -circuit the system?

I suppose it's technically possible to fail the test and then pass it.

But his mistake was to overdo it.

Don't you agree?

I'd have to say you probably found the handle on that coffee pot, Major. You

damn do.

Oh, you will see that the General...

He'll get the message, ASAP, and I'll have these papers back to you the same

way.

Thank you.

I suppose I might have misjudged you.

Well, people sometimes do that.

But now I see that you're a woman after my own heart.

The kind of woman who likes to get things done, the kind of woman who can

expedite. Well, I try, Major. I really do. Now, if you'll excuse me.

Oh, of course.

It has been a pleasure to talk to you.

Same here, Major. A real pleasure.

Libby, you forget something?

I'm sorry, we're closed.

I have to come back tomorrow.

You'll have to make an appointment.

I don't think this can wait.

Where have you been?

I called and Charlie Rhodes said you left right after lunch. I've been

sick, Carl.

I've been at the beauty parlor.

What? Look.

My God, you've dyed your hair.

Not a strand of brown to be found. Harlan, come inside and tell me why you

didn't want to talk to me on the phone this morning. I think it might be just

well if we talked out here, honey.

You're scaring me a little.

I think I want to.

It's not just what's happening to you, is it?

I went to see Ackerman, and it's funny.

I got the feeling he was trying to put me to sleep somehow.

Yes, to lull you.

That's right.

Lull me.

He gave me a physical that didn't amount to much.

He kept saying that this sort of thing happens sometimes.

And all the while, I got the feeling he was about to blow his top and didn't

want me to know it.

But he was...

I'm more excited.

I'm scared.

What about the scar?

Did you tell him about the scar?

I heard that these things just disappear sometimes.

Spontaneous regeneration of tissue, we called it. Sounds like spontaneous bull

to me.

Did he give you any tests? Did he take blood?

He said he wanted to consult with some of his colleagues before he did anything

else.

And then he reminded me of the National Security Act and of the oath I took.

He said that he didn't want me to discuss my little problem with anyone,

even my wife, until he'd gotten back to me.

I don't like this, Harl. I don't like this at all.

Yeah, well, there's even less to like about it.

A little while later, when I was talking to you on the phone...

I saw Dr.

Ackerman consulting with one of his colleagues, a man named Jude.

I seen him around.

He came with the rest of the DSA investigators, only he didn't leave with

He's some kind of spook.

Well, maybe they weren't talking about you.

Maybe they weren't.

Remember what I said to you about being ready?

I want you to pack a couple suitcases and keep them in the front hall closet.

Just in case.

Harlan.

If one of us were to take a lot of money out of the bank all at once, alarm

bells would go off.

But if you were to take out, say, $500 tomorrow and I were to take out $700

week, we could rat hole it.

In case.

In case we have to run, you mean?

That's what I mean.

I'll tell you something, Harl.

A little dye in your hair doesn't fool anyone for very long.

No, it's your face.

It's something about your face. I can't put my finger on any one thing.

Because it's everything.

Where is this going to end, Harl?

Where?

I don't know.

And who's going to help us?

Doc Eakins, are you in there?

Doc?

with me, Mother.

What?

Come on. They're playing our song.

Rub won't bleed if you cut it a little.

Harlan. Make you feel better.

I feel fine.

Make me feel better.

Harlan, what's the worst that could happen? I mean, if we don't leave,

the worst?

We can just disappear.

I guess all janitors do.

Janitors are the world's invisible men.

The shop is supposed to have places where people can disappear.

There's one in Maui.

Another in Idaho.

One in Amman.

But wouldn't they try to find out?

What was wrong with you? I mean, wouldn't they try to find out if it was

that experiment that went wrong? Wouldn't they try to help you?

They'll try to study me, all right. That I'm sure of.

But help me?

I don't think so, Gina.

I think I'll just sit back and let it, whatever it is.

Run it, of course.

And there isn't some little part of you that wants that, to get younger?

Good God, no. It's unnatural.

And besides, where does it all end?

Cheer up, Jeannie.

Everything's going to be all right.

You promise?

I promise.

Shake it like we used to, Mother.

Whoa! Oh, watch this one.

You're gonna love it.

What is it, Mother?

I can't keep up with you, Harl.

I'm too old.