"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie..." "Adam, we don't have time for Charlie." "Mommy's waiting." "Charlie, Daddy, please!" "Adam, how many times have you seen Charlie?" "A hundred times?" "A million times?" "A gazillion times?" "Charlie, Charlie, Charlie." "Okay." "Okay, you want to see Charlie?" "Come on." "All right, here- Charlie on Red Bull." "Thank you!" "Thank you, everybody." "Thank you so much!" "Charlie doesn't talk." "You're the only four-year-old in the world that knows that!" "Mommy's waiting." "Let's go." "I don't know." "All right, you ready?" "You ready, Charlie?" "Here we go." "Look at this!" "There goes Charlie!" "I'll call you back." "You drive." "Let's go, buddy." "Hey, I'm fine too, hon." "Adam:" "@ The itsy-bitsy spider @" " @ went up the water spout @" " Father: @ -water spout @" "@ Down came the rain and... @" " @ Washed the spider out @ - @... washed the spider out @" "Both:" "@ Out came the sun and dried... @" "Father I can never remember those words." "Both:" "@ The itsy-bitsy spider went... @" "Father:" "Ahh!" "Adam, hang on!" "Where am I?" "Adam." "Come on, Maggie, it may be a jab in the ass to you, but it could be one large step for mankind." "Dr. Amanda Mayfield calling Dr. Eric Norris." " Come in, Dr. Norris." " Hey." "You know, I've been in subterranean passageways very deep within ancient mountains that had more light than this." "It's kind of late." "You want to grab some dinner?" "The monkeys will still be here." "No, thanks." "Okay, but then this is it." "This is absolutely the last time you will ever be offered the pleasure of my company." " Your loss, buster." " Thanks." "Do you remember when our families took us to that podunk circus, and the clowns came out and nobody was laughing so you jumped in the ring with them?" "The audience thought you were funnier than lipstick on a goat." "Now that was who you were then." "How come I don't see a flea-sized portion of that Eric now?" "You came all this way to talk about the circus?" "I didn't come just to annoy you." "I came to show you something that'll make your eyes pop... stimulate your scientific curiosity, make you feel 15 again." "This is going to be more fun than poking at monkeys." "Look at- oh, wait a minute." "How can that be?" "It wasn't like that when I found it." "Found it?" "You found this?" "Yeah." "The meteor that burned up last night- that came down on my property." "That's what was left of it, but it didn't look like that when I put it in here." "Look, Andreas, I gotta get back to work." "No no no!" "I swear- that damn thing was soft like a jellyfish or something." "And you could almost see through it." "It had legs- lots of legs." "Seriously!" "Really" " Eric!" "Look, I gotta get back to work, okay?" "The Lord is my rock." "Or maybe we could use it as a paperweight for those reports of yours that must have tumbled from my desk and lodged themselves in obscure crevices." "I'll have them for you." "Oh, I'm sure you will, Eric." "But the inextricable march of time thunders in my ears." "No tickee, no washee- no funding." "Who was that guy?" "My boss Shilling." "You shouldn't let him talk to you like that." "I'll see you later." "The patient's condition has deteriorated." "Difficulty breathing;" "minimal sensory response." "Come on, Maggie." "You can fight this." "Fight it off." "Hey, Tarzan." "How's Cheetah?" "Look, I have to talk to you about something." "Herr Fuhrer has decreed that I divide my time between your monkeys and my mice." "He wants me to supervise whatever it is you're doing here." "Why does he try to humiliate you?" "You're a brilliant scientist, Eric." "Testing these monkeys with HIV is the way to go." "You're on the right track." "HIV is a mutation of the simian virus." "As soon as you figure out how" "Don't worry about it." "Supervise away, okay?" "This rock thing that your friend gave you?" "Andreas." "Yeah." "Did he say where it was from?" "Outer space." "Really?" "I have to finish this report if I'm gonna have it on your desk in the morning." "I need to give it my full attention." "Look, I already told you, I don't care what Shilling said." "Right." "Okay, I'll see you in the morning." "Adam:" "@ The itsy-bitsy spider @" "@ went up the water spout... @" "@ Down came the rain @" "@ And washed the spider out @" "@ Out came the sun @" "@ And dried up all the... @" "Oh, God." "Oh, God." "Oh, Maggie." "Look, I'm sorry about Maggie, but at least there was some improvement." "The serum strengthened her immune system but ultimately couldn't hold the gains." "The good news is that you extended her life by at least three months." "I'd say you're definitely on the right track." "You know, it might be something as simple as modulating the dosage." " Oh." " What's wrong?" "No, nothing." "I'm" "What?" "What?" ""Actually, it's your body, Amanda." "I never realized how attractive you are. "" "Wow, uh, yeah." "Um... actually that's- that's quite true." "What?" "No, um..." " What?" " So, uh... what are you doing tonight?" "So why after six months have you finally decided I'm the woman of your dreams?" "I don't know." "Actually, I'm surprised it took me this long." "I mean, you are charming, delightful, and so darn attractive." "Don't you think I'm just a little too old for you?" " No." " No?" "Works for me." " Yours?" " Uh, yeah." "It's spiffy." "Oh!" "Thanks." " So this thing with Shilling?" " Mmm." "What's that about?" "Obviously you pissed him off royally somewhere down the line." "Ha." "Um, reservations are for 7:30." "How about this?" "The first time I ever kissed a boy, it was in the dead of winter and he had mucus running out of his nose." "Do we really have to do this?" "Absolutely." "This is all part of the mating ritual." "We have to tell each other embarrassing things." "That way our defenses come down and we trust each other." "That wasn't embarrassing, that was disgusting." "Oh!" "Okay okay." "This one's a biggie:" "my left breast grew before my right one did." "So necking was only permitted if the boy was on my right." "That way if he reached over, he got the one with the half." " Okay okay." " Pretty good." "I accept that." "Definitely embarrassing." "But do you really want to tell me a story like that?" "You're a son of a bitch." "So in order to look into the girls' shower from the boys' side, you had to jump up, grab the cold-water pipe... and peek through this very small window near the ceiling, and uh... well, it was a very- really good story." "Yeah, well, I think you're onto something, 'cause that can definitely count as embarrassing." "That's only the beginning." "The problem is that the hot-water pipe ran underneath the cold-water pipe, and your arms couldn't help but swing against it." "I had the absolute worst burns of everybody who tried it- practically third degree." "Which means that you stayed up there the longest, and that makes you the horniest voyeur of them all." "Yeah." "Eric, ow." "I was a hero to my classmates." "You're right- that is embarrassing." "Eric, Eric." "Look, ah!" "Ho ho, wait!" "What are you doing?" "I need to see that incredible breast of yours." "Oh, not on our first date." "Not on the first date?" "What do you mean, not on the first" "I said one grew fast." "I didn't say the other didn't catch up." "I want to find out for myself." "Ahh!" "Hey, how you doin'?" "Good morning." "Hey, guys." "Fred, how you doing?" "Fred:" "I'm doing well." "Amanda." "Oh, God." "My my, I had no idea you were so shy." "Is it modesty, I wonder, or guilt?" "Guilt?" "Covering up the scene of the crime." "You did go out with Amanda last night, didn't you?" "That's what being close to someone means to you- "the scene of the crime"?" "I read your report." "You can't compare one diseased animal to another." "That monkey might have lasted three months longer regardless." "Your proof is flawed." "Can you even remember the last time you were published in "The New England Journal of Medicine"?" "No." "But I bet you do." "Month, day, hour... position of the earth, the moon." "Whatever humor you think you're finding at my expense has its own very steep charge." "You'll find that out when your keys don't fit here any longer." "That was perhaps a poor choice of words back there." "But we both know where the real scene of the crime was, don't we?" "Yes." "I thought as much." "God." "Oh." "God!" "Oh!" "Blood work, X-rays, ultrasound, MRI" "Jesus, a spinal tap?" "Is there anything you didn't order?" "Well, I thought it important to be as thorough as I am with my own subjects." "Well, as far as I can tell, it isn't a virus or a bacterial infection." "It's nothing you contracted at the lab." "Old tight-ass Shilling won't have to worry about his insurance rates." "And it's not a tumor." "You've told me what it isn't." "As of now, some form of as-yet-unidentified parasite... that is growing inside you at a very rapid rate." "It seems to have tapped into the cardiovascular network through thousands of filament-like protrusions that act as conduits." "It has also compromised your respiratory system." "Like a true parasite and host, it is getting everything it needs to survive from you." "Right- oxygen, blood, nutrients." "Mm-hmm." "It really is grotesque." " Yeah." " A monstrosity." "But evidently, it has a physiology that's compatible with yours." "Do you have any idea how you could have come in contact with this?" "No." "And to remove it?" "Well, that's the bitch, Eric." "It has integrated itself so insidiously into your biology that to remove it... would cause massive hemorrhaging and instantaneous death." " Prognosis?" " I've never seen anything like this." "Prognosis?" "Well, it'd just be a guess, but I think either way... it will kill you in a very short period of time." "Let me talk to Dr. Shilling." "Machine:" "You've reached Eric Norris." "Please leave a message after the tone." "It's me, Andreas." "So what'd you find out?" "Were you able to crack that shell or whatever it was?" "I tell you, it was the weirdest-looking thing I ever saw- all those legs and that spongy body you could see through." "I've been having nightmares about it, man." "So was it some jellyfish flopping around 100 miles inland or was it some creature from another planet?" "What?" "Andreas?" "I'm here." "Tell me again what you found." "What's the matter?" "This." "A parasite- something alien." "It bore through the tissue, formed an opening, created a network throughout my body, attaching itself to every organ required to sustain its life." "It's nesting in there." "Oh, Jesus." "I asked you here because I know it's gonna kill me." "And when it does, it needs to be immediately removed and placed into an environment where it can maintain." "I don't trust anyone else to do it." "No, that can't be our only option." "It's gonna need a continuing blood supply with my blood type, and an oxygen source if its lungs haven't matured enough to function on their own." "I don't think it can survive outside the host in any case, but you've got to keep it alive long enough to conduct some experiments." "You're not making any sense." "We're talking about extraterrestrial life here." "Eric!" "This is going to be the scientific discovery of the millennium." "How?" "How has this thing manifested itself in you?" "It's of no consequence." "I know it's gonna kill me." "I have accepted that." "Okay, well, humor me." "Okay, tell me:" "what symptoms have you experienced?" "I don't know." "Uh, vomiting, cramps, um..." " cold sweats, stuff like that." " Yeah, okay." "Okay." "Now what about the emotional changes?" "Eric, you just bought yourself a sporty new car;" "you've got a big hello for everybody." "You've been practically euphoric." "I think we can attribute that to other sources." "I believe I've fallen in love with you." "Damn you." "Damn you." "Damn you, Eric!" "How dare you tell me something like that at the same time you're telling me you're gonna die?" "This thing is not just a hole in your tissue, okay?" "It dilates with tactile stimulation." "What if there's another answer, huh?" "What if there's another answer to what this thing is?" " Something that's not gonna kill you?" " What do you mean?" "What if this is not just a parasite?" "The vomiting, the cold sweats, the cramps..." "What if this thing somehow hooked itself into your vital organs and then attached itself into your reproductive system?" "Oh my God, this- this is completely nuts, but- I'd have to run a whole bunch of tests." "You're saying that it harvested some of my sperm when we made love?" "That it somehow enabled me to impregnate myself?" "But if it was true, it would likely have some of my genetic coding, wouldn't it?" "I don't- I just threw something out there." "Right now it's nothing more than a postulation." "What if I'm gonna give birth to it?" "No." "No, that can't be." "It probably isn't." "The more I think about it, it's ridiculous." "It's a monster." "I had a beautiful son." "I can't be the father of a monster." "Look, Eric," "I promise you this is not gonna kill you." "And you are not gonna give birth to it, okay?" "I love you, Daddy." "Why did you kill us, Eric?" "Are you listening to me?" "Eric!" "Eric?" "Eric!" "Both: @ Out came the sun @" "@ And dried up all the rain... @" "Both:" "@ And the itsy-bitsy spider... @" " Do you mind?" " Yeah, I do mind!" " Ah!" "Hang on!" " Ahh!" "Oh, my God." "My God." "Norris?" "Norris!" "Andreas's voice:" "Were you able to crack that shell or whatever it was?" "I tell you, it was the weirdest-looking thing I ever saw- all those legs and that spongy body you could see through." "I've been having nightmares about it, man." "So was it some jellyfish flopping around 100 miles inland or was it some creature from another planet?" "What?" "Eric's voice:" "Andreas, I'm here." "Tell me again what you found." "Andreas's voice:" "You mean it's lost?" "You can't find it?" "Eric's voice:" "No, not lost." "I might know where it is." "Okay okay!" "Where have you been?" "You know, I've been really worried." "What's going on with you?" "Eric?" "You see this glass?" "Whoa, hey!" " Baby." "Baby, stop it." " No, just get away!" "Just get away from me." " What are you doing?" " I can't hurt myself." "Eric, what is wrong with you!" "?" "I drove my car into the path of a tree." "What?" "I took my hands off the steering wheel." "I stepped down on the accelerator and I closed my eyes." " Why?" " And then my eyes were open." "And I was- I was turning the wheel, and my foot was hitting the brake." "I missed the tree." "It's protecting me." "It won't let me hurt myself." "I have to live... so it can be born." "Baby, you need to stop." "Let me help you, Eric." "I want to help you." "Don't touch me." "Don't touch me." "Why not?" "It needs me alive to be born." "It needed me in love to be conceived." "Without it- without it," "I don't think we would have been together." "I don't think I would have let you into my life." "Without it, I'm not sure I'd be in love with you." " What?" " I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." " No, you" " I'm really sorry." "You" "Norris's friend found a foreign organism attached to a piece of the meteor and he gave it to him." "According to what Norris told him, that thing has gotten inside of him and is growing at an accelerated pace." "Norris believes that this is some sort of alien parasite that's determined to free itself, and in the process, kill him." "Didn't I see this on "X Files"?" "The question is, Agent Gerhard, is Norris the only one at risk?" "Amanda:" "Eric?" "Eric?" "You've got to wake up." "You've got to listen to me." "Shilling just brought the FBI into this." "They just questioned me and now they're going to come looking for you." "I know why I'm carrying this monster." "It's a curse laid on me by a vengeful God." "Okay." "Okay, baby." "Come on, come on." " You gotta sit up." " My family died because of me." "I must atone for it." "Okay." "It's the beast that I must care for in place of my own child." "You're soaking wet." "Okay, listen to me." "Listen to me:" "If they find you, they are going to take it away and then they're going to conduct experiments on both of you." "They're going to put you in cages like- like one of your monkeys." "And they're going to inject you, draw your blood, and hook you up to all kinds of machines." "And I'm not going to let that happen." "Okay, come on." "Maybe- maybe you don't really love me." "And maybe when you no longer have this thing inside you, you're not going to want to have anything more to do with me." "But until then, you need me." "And I am not giving you up to Shilling or the FBI." "Now get it together." "Let's go." "You have to get dressed." "Amanda:" "My sister lives in Kansas City." "We can stay with her." "I'll just call from the road." "Do you have any money on you?" "Never mind- I'm loaded." " Man:" "Clear!" " Clear!" "Man #3:" "Clear!" "I told you you wouldn't find him here." "Oh, by the way," "Dr. Mayfield has disappeared as well." "Now where do you suppose she could be?" "Somebody knows, Doctor." "That's what television is for." "Amanda:" "All right, hold on, baby." "Hold on." "I'll find us a safe place, I promise." "Okay now, Eric." "Here here here!" "Here!" "All right, baby." "Okay." "Eric!" "Eric, it's okay." " It's okay!" " Ahh!" "My God." "What the hell are you?" "I'm not gonna hurt you." "Not gonna hurt you." "Okay." "Okay." "It's all right." "It's okay." "Okay." "Okay okay." "I'm not gonna hurt you." "I'm not gonna hurt you." "Hey, don't cry." "Don't cry." "It's okay." "You smell like strawberries." "You are... really something." "I'm gonna touch your little fingers." "Look at these little hands." "You have really gotten big." "Really big." "Got to have a sense of humor on this planet if you want to survive, know what I mean?" "Hey, I'm gonna cheer you up, okay?" "Check this out." "Hey, what do you think of this?" "Hey, is that a smile?" "Yes, it is." "Yeah, you're smiling." "You're smiling." "Look at these little things." "I'm gonna call you Benjamin." "It was my grandfather's name." "He was forever grabbing at the ladies." "Used to say he was all hands." "You are really something, you know?" "You are really- really something." "Hey, Amanda." "He's amazing, huh?" "I think he understands me." "No!" "Hey, get away!" "Get the creature." " Ahh!" " Amanda:" "No!" "No!" "Get your hands off him!" "Bastard!" "Leave him alone!" "Get off of him." "Get off." " No!" " Leave her alone!" "Leave her alone!" "No!" " Eric!" " Agent:" "Get it out of here." " Eric:" "No!" " Don't hurt it." " No!" " Agent:" "Get him out of here." "No!" "No!" "Ahh!" "Get your hands off me." "Look, we don't want to hurt you." "Where are they taking him?" "Where are they taking him?" "Why don't you go home, Doctor?" "Go back to Kansas or Maryland are wherever the hell it is you come from." "Go to hell." "Ahh!" "Well, now that we've got it, what do we do with it?" "Well, it could be the next step in evolution... or a scientific anomaly- a bizarre dead-end aberration." "We can't know what we have until we break down its DNA." "If it is genetically linked to Dr. Norris, we have what could conceivably be called an offspring." "It could lead to building a better mousetrap." "Cyborgs, but not with mechanical parts- alien parts." ""Homo superior." "Homo extraordinaire. "" "It's not out of the question." "It's certainly worth the research, the testing." "Yes, if one is willing to risk one's professional reputation that this thing is something other than... an exotic parasite." "Are you willing to do that?" "And what happens when the public gets wind of it?" "There's no reason it need to." "Oh, give me a break." "For 60 years, they believed in flying saucers without proof, and now we've got proof." "And if they get hold of it" "Steps can be taken to ensure that doesn't happen." "Dr. Shilling, you're here by invitation of the United States government because of your past association with Dr. Norris." "It's not up to you to decide how this matter is handled." "Christ, we don't even know that this is the only one." "Yes, we do." "It didn't arrive in a spaceship, for God's sakes." "It was a meteor- a shooting star, a chunk of rock." "I saw what was left of it after it burned up." "We will never know where it came from, but whatever it was, there are no more." "And isn't that reason enough to try and preserve it?" "Or at least what it's become?" "Who was that guy?" "Who do you think?" "Dr. Norris's condition has stabilized." "You can leave." "They told me how hard you fought them, how they had to rip it from your arms." "And now I've got to tell you... it's not doing well, Eric." "Depressed motor activity, difficulty breathing, minimal sensory response." "You know the drill." "Very sorry to have to tell you that." "All right, come on, pugly ugly, it's time to eat." "It's something you like too- it's bat wings and hyena guts." "There you go." "Now eat." "Don't be cute with me." "There you go." "See how easy that is?" "We can keep Dr. Norris alive using intravenous feedings, but we have no way to do that with a child." "Child?" "We're using the term "child" as a shorthand." "What would you call it, sir?" "As Dr. Braxton said, an aberration, a hideous anomaly," "Beelzebub's whimsy." "Well, the last one is mine." "It is our understanding now that the subject be kept functional for the purposes of research." "Despite our best efforts, however, it appears to be failing- rather rapidly, at that." "The only thing we haven't tried is what you're about to see now." "Dr. Shilling's objections notwithstanding..." "Please have Emil ready the video cameras." "Hello?" "Yes, ma'am." "Bring them in." "Strawberries." "Oh, God." "I thought Norris was nonresponsive." "Hey." "Hey!" "Benjamin." "Jesus Christ." "Hey." "Are you okay?" "Huh?" "You all right?" "It's okay." "Take it easy." "I'm right here." "Hey, I won't let them do this to you." "You understand?" "You got to fight it." "Fight it." "Do it for me." "Don't be scared." "Don't be scared." "I'm right here, okay?" "You got to fight this." "You understand?" "Come here." "Come here." "It's okay." "Yeah." "Come here." "Yeah, come right here." "There you go." "You all right?" "Yeah yeah yeah." "Hang on." "Yeah." "Hey." "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." "You understand that?" "Oh." "I'm gonna take care of you." "We'll be together, I promise." "I promise." "All right." "Hey, it's okay." "Hey." "Hey, look at that." "Yeah, there you go." "Yeah." "There you go." "Hey, come on, see if you can get up." "There you go." "Yeah." "There you go." "That's good, Benji." "What are you doing?" "Go like that." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Yeah, you're okay." "You're doing good." "Yeah, come here." "Come right here." "Come to Daddy." "Yeah." "Yeah, it's all right." "You're not really thinking of harming this child, are you?" "Imagine that- just like any father and son." "And you can train lizards to slither through hoops." "Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen." "I think I've seen enough." "Maybe too much." "So if the government wants us to proceed with this program, okay." "But it becomes quite obvious that if we're going to have any success at all with this, they're going to have to be allowed to be together... at least part of the time." " Have some coffee." " Thank you." "Now how did you hear about me?" "The phone book." "I'm not in the phone book." "The Society for Alternative Explanations is, and they recommended you." "Mm hmm hmm." "I asked them for an attorney with an open mind." "You found one with a hole in his head." "Beg your pardon?" "I keep taking these cases and I keep losing." "I know there are aliens out there." "At least, I'm pretty sure I know there are aliens out there." "I mean, how else would you explain Andy Kaufman or Jim Carrey?" "Actually that was meant to be a joke." "Mmm." "I take pills for my paranoia, but I still believe in government conspiracies." "You seem like a reasonable woman- research scientist, well-respected, emotionally stable, attractive without being overly cutesy." "I'm starting to believe you." "You say you haven't seen Dr. Norris since they took him away." "Yes." "I told you that." "Mmm." "This alien Benjamin, do you have any proof it exists?" "Proof?" " Blanket it was wrapped in?" " They took it." " Baby bottle?" " There wasn't any." "Right back to where we started- we have no proof it exists." "It's locked away in a government installation, and we don't know where." "Look, this FBI agent knew where I was from." "I mean, he came to interview me at my work in Fairfield, Connecticut." "That's not Kansas or Maryland." "Now I've got a stepsister in Kansas, but..." "I don't know a soul in Maryland." "Plucked it out of thin air." "That's what I thought too at first." "And then I got to thinking, "Why Maryland?"" "And then I realized there's a big federal hospital in a military base in Bethesda." "There are federal hospitals all over the country." "I know that, except that he mentioned Maryland." "So he mentioned Maryland." "So?" "Jesus, would you let me finish, please?" "Look, I called over there and I asked if I could visit Eric Norris." "They said no." "Like I said..." "They didn't say he wasn't there." "They just said that I couldn't visit him." "Hmm." "Why would the FBI guy..." "I don't know." "I don't know." "He was doing his job." "You know, maybe... maybe he just wasn't happy about it." "Not that it matters anyway because you think I'm making this up." " It's an impossible case." " I know." "Impossible." "I'll take it." "Son of a bitch." "Benjamin!" "Benjamin!" "God!" "Son of a bitch!" "Ahhh!" "Man:" "Call for backup!" " What's going on?" " Man, you wouldn't believe it!" "Grab the tentacles." "Oh, no." "Oh!" "Take hold of him!" "Stay strong." "Can't breathe!" "What did you hope to accomplish?" "Did you think you were going to sneak down the back staircase with your little freak and disappear into the night?" "Is that what you thought?" "And by the way, after your midnight visit," "Benjamin became quite violent- tried to kill people, did considerable damage." "Is there any end to your talent for causing pain and suffering?" "I have something to tell you." "It appears that I've been drafted by our government." "I am no longer an advisor to this team." "In the matter of Benjamin, the mad little monster," "I am now in charge." "That information will remain in this room." "Our new marching orders are these:" "The creature is a viable threat." "It's a danger to us all and must be dealt with accordingly." "It's growing and gaining strength exponentially." "We need to push an aggressive testing regimen that will show us how it's happening." "Hopefully it will survive." "If it doesn't, so be it." "Better to err on the side of the intrepid." "Lawyer:" "I'm glad you're here." "I want you to see this." "Eric?" "Why was this sent to you?" "I posted to the website that I was representing you and the reason why." "I was hoping to stir up a bee's nest, but this..." "What?" "Well, for one, there's no name attached to it." "I don't trust anonymous tips." "Could be a fake." "Looks like computer images to me." "No." "No, they're not." "This is exactly how Eric would try to communicate with Benjamin." "I mean, you saw how listless Benjamin was." "The poor thing was practically comatose." "I bet they brought them together to see if Eric's presence could- could breathe some life into him." "And you say you were there at its birth." "Yeah, I already told you that." "Why would you lie to me?" "I can't think of a good reason." "Can you?" "A respected scientist- you have a reputation to consider." "If this were a fake, it would destroy you and Norris." "It's not a fake." "It's a real live alien." "My first fucking alien." "I knew it!" " I knew it, I knew it!" " Okay." "Okay." "Now whoever sent us this is trying to tell us something." "Okay." "Benjamin's in danger- imminent danger." "They want us to do something about it." "They can't go public with it themselves because..." "Because they're too close to the situation." "And if they were to come forward, they could be in danger too." "Good." "Who are you calling?" "Our first line of defense is to keep the government from doing anything to Benjamin." "The way to do that is to go public with this;" "put it out there for everyone to see and freeze the feds in their tracks." "Society of Alternative Explanations- they have an uncanny way of arousing media interest." "Hello, this is Howard Ellis." "May I speak with General Fragni-aa-ta," "Ambassador to the planet Na-hu-uu-met?" "Thank you." "So here are the DVDs." "Upload them to the Internet, link to every science fiction and science fact site there is." "We need to get the word out." "Telepathically, or a letter-writing campaign?" "I think we'll stay with the letter writing." "I want 20,000 letters to Amnesty International and the Council on Human Rights." "If we go to the Justice Department, they'll just freeze us up." "What about "The Earthling Press"?" "Avoid the tabloids at all costs, especially "The World," "The Globe," and that rag, "The Star. "" " "The New York Times"?" " Mm-hmm." ""Rolling Stone," "Wall Street Journal"?" "Ahh, I worked for "The Wall Street Journal. "" "Yes, sir?" "Man:" "Get me Congressman McKinney." "Washington confirms that it is refusing to deny the existence or nonexistence of an alien life form which may or may not be currently detained in an undisclosed location." "This comes from a high-level government source wishing to remain anonymous." "Stay tuned for more on this developing story." "And what are we going to do about that?" "True or false- there are aliens among us." "It is, of course, nonsense." "Crapola!" "I'm pretty sure my brother is an alien." "That little shit never leaves the hospital." "So is it hot in here, or am I just eight months pregnant?" "I thought I had it bad." "That guy who had the alien?" "Can you imagine?" "You think he went the natural childbirth route or do you think he went for the epidural?" "I'm guessing he took the drugs." "First of all, he's a man, and second, an alien came out of him!" "Ow." "If that thing came out of me," "I would still be on the drugs." "Reporter:" "Speculation among leading scientific authorities seems equally divided between the belief that this is actually a creature from another planet and the notion that this is just a gigantic hoax perpetrated on a gullible public." "So what do we do now?" "A writ of habeas corpus." "Can't incarcerate someone without charging them with a crime." "It's against the law." "It's illegal and has been illegal for the last 250 years." "232." "Find him, do you hear me?" "Find that son of a bitch!" " We can't find Emil." " Forget Emil." "In case you haven't heard, the secret is out." "The entire world knows we have Benjamin." "He doesn't belong here." "He belongs with Norris." "We've made a goddamn prisoner out of him." " Now how does that make us look?" " He's dangerous." "He's attacked." "Sure, when you take him away from Norris." "You put them together and they do soft-shoe numbers." "Now look, we have to give him back." "I've got to make him understand that." "But we don't know that he is its father." "It only carries about 12% human DNA." " And we have to run some tests." " Why?" "To determine why it's growing at such an extraordinary rate." "Is it a pituitary-like function or is it something else?" "We have no idea how big it's going to get." "We already know the strength it has at this size." "Let it free and it'll be like releasing King Kong into the neighborhood." "If you think we look bad now, what will the world think of us then?" "Christ." "Good news, Dr. Norris." "You're going home." "I'm taking Benjamin with me." "I'm afraid that's not possible." "Your people filed suit against the government." "Whether or not Benjamin goes with you is now for the court to decide." " They'll side with us." " That remains to be seen." "I want to talk with him." "I want to talk with my son." "I want to let him know that he's going to be coming home." "That's not possible." "Why?" "Why?" "Benjamin has stabilized remarkably these last two days." "He doesn't seem to need you now the way he did." "And we're concerned that if he sees you and then you leave, it's just gonna get him all wrought up again." "Then I'll stay." "I'm afraid that's also not possible." "The suit put you in an adversarial position." "How would it look if we were to feed and shelter the enemy?" "He's my son." "You're well enough to go home, Doctor." "And so you must." "We'll take good care of your so- of Benjamin." "You're coming home with me, Eric." "Why the hell do you keep coming back?" "How can you not be fascinated by a guy who burns his elbows trying to peer into the girls' shower, and who's dedicated to saving a little pink alien that nobody else in the world wants?" "I'm telling you, you got to love that guy." "My friend didn't say that the bedroom was her twin boys'." "You okay with that?" "Yeah, it's fine." "Um, Howard Ellis, our attorney, will be here soon." " I can't lose him." " I know." "I can't lose Benjamin." "I know." "I know." "You won't." "Miriam and" "Miriam and I had not been in love for a long time." "And we were yelling at each other." "Adam was in the backseat." "He started singing to distract us." "He made us join him but I was very angry." "Very angry." "I was pushing hard on the gas pedal." "And I couldn't let up." "We skidded, went off the road... and crashed into a tree." "My family didn't die in an accident." "I killed them." "Eric." "Eric." "Please." "Good evening." "Dr. Norris!" "I'm your attorney, Howard Ellis." "Ooh, um, hope you take it black." "Thanks." "How'd it go?" "Well, the United States government is holding Benjamin without good cause and is going to have to defend its actions." "Even an alien has inalienable rights." "I filed the writ." "Man:" "In the matter of Benjamin Norris before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia," "Judge Julia Deville presiding." "Bailiff:" "All rise." "Be seated." "I have a writ of habeas corpus." "Who speaks for the petitioner?" "Howard Ellis, Your Honor, for the petitioner." "Jesus." "And who speaks for the respondent?" "Victoria Barry," "Deputy Attorney General on behalf of the United States." "Your Honor, the government objects to this entire proceeding and moves that this petition be dismissed." "On what grounds?" "The court lacks jurisdiction." "Why is that?" "The petitioner is an alien, Your Honor." " I know that." " From another planet." "They usually are." "Not from another planet, Your Honor." "The child was born here." "I know that." " To a human father." " We don't know that." "None of this answers my question." "The creature is growing at an alarming rate with a proportionate increase in strength." "He's a healthy baby." "It's already attacked several of its attendants." "It's a bit colicky." "You haven't convinced me, Miss Barry." "Court will reconvene tomorrow at 9:00 AM to hear evidence and argument on the petitioner's writ." "Court is adjourned." "Bailiff:" "All rise." "Well, I think that covers all the bases." "My three expert witnesses are gonna kill!" "What about the judge?" "I don't think she likes us." "We've had a run-in or two..." "or three." "But she's basically fair." "Basically?" "What about Benjamin?" "I don't want him in that courtroom under any circumstances." "Well, we're certainly not going to call him to the stand, and the government's got him locked away from public scrutiny." "Suits us just fine." "They're holding him without cause." " That's our case." " You'd better be right." "Trust me." "Well, better get some rest." "Got to be our best tomorrow." "Not that I think we won't win- I do think we'll win." "I mean, I know we'll win." "What was that?" "What?" "Outside the door." "Something" " Really?" " Something." "Stay here." "There's no one there." "Well, better safe than sorry." "Good night." " And if we don't win?" " We will." "We will." "The guy's a loser." "Okay?" "I mean, he's pathetic." "I know it." "Eric, I am so so sorry." "I just couldn't find anybody else." "It's okay." "It doesn't matter." " Of course it matters." " No, it doesn't." "Eric, you've got to at least face the possibility" "No, it doesn't matter- I'm telling you right now- because we're going to win." "There are no other options, okay?" "Benjamin is my son." "He belongs with me, and that's the way it's gonna come out." "Okay?" "Okay." "Save Benjamin." "The government will argue that Benjamin is so unnatural an occurrence- so abnormal, despite the presence of human DNA- that he has no birthright, and in fact belongs to no one." "True..." "Benjamin is different." "But so is a Down Syndrome baby or a child born with a genius IQ." "Would anyone dare suggest that the United States government has the right to detain, conduct experiments on, and deprive a child the love and comfort of a parent just because he's different?" "What does that sound like to you, Your Honor?" "Do I have to kick my boots to make the point?" "We all know the story of the Elephant Man." "At best, he was a curiosity who engendered sympathy in a compassionate few." "At worst, he was an object of scorn who was put on display and cruelly ridiculed by the public." "And the Elephant Man was a human being." "He- he could speak, he wore clothes, he had the power of cognition." "This creature is not a human being, not even remotely, not by any stretch of the imagination." "For heaven's sake, just look at him, Your Honor." "This is an alien creature first and foremost." "Yesterday Mr. Ellis told us that Dr. Norris had given birth to what he calls a child." "But Your Honor, we know men can't give birth." "They can host parasites." "And parasites being parasites, they feed off the host." "They can even assimilate host biology, even absorb host DNA." "But they are not the host." "They are not men." "They are not human beings." "And they are not someone's child." "Do you swear to tell the truth so help you God?" " I do." " Be seated." "Dr. Lattis, you had an opportunity to review the X-rays" "Dr. Norris took of himself, yes?" "As an expert in the field of radiology, what were you able to ascertain?" "Well, I observed a symmetrically-formed organism with a beating heart growing internally near the abdomen." "A beating heart?" "How interesting." "And symmetrical is important because, um... why?" "Well, it pertains to intentional design, not chaotic, which it would have been if we were dealing with foreign matter." "Well, how would you define it, sir?" "Well, beyond all reason, it- it appeared to me to be a living embryo." "A human embryo?" " Objection." " Overruled." "The man is an expert witness." "We're entitled to hear his professional opinion." "Thank you." "Well, if it was human, it was nothing I'd ever seen before." "Was it self-sustaining?" "It... did not take nourishment from a single umbilicus, but there was no doubt that it was completely dependent upon Dr. Norris's body for its own survival." "Hmm." "So in a loose definition of the term, sir, would you consider Dr. Norris to be his mother?" "Um, in a very loose... definition of the term, I suppose." "Thank you." "Doctor?" "Dr. Lattis, does Eric Norris have a uterus?" "No." "Does he have ovaries?" "Produce ova?" "Um, no." "And yet you agreed that he was the creature's mother?" "Well, I said in a very loose definition of the term." "So you're changing your testimony." "Well, if you- if what you want is a literal description of the" "Stop tap dancing, Bojangles." "Come to the point." "No." "Uh, Eric Norris is not the mother of the embryo that he was carrying." "Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that he was the host organism for a parasitic alien that grew to maturity inside him?" "That does sound to be... a more reasonable explanation." "Thank you, Doctor." "Dr. Mayfield, what is the nature of your relationship with Eric Norris?" " We're colleagues." " Anything else?" "We were lovers." "To the best of your knowledge, does he have any other lovers?" "No." "In fact, he explained to me that before our relationship, he had been celibate for many years." "Would you care to object to that as hearsay, Miss Barry?" "No, but I wouldn't boast about it either." "Um... so would you feel secure in saying that Eric Norris became pregnant on one of the occasions you made love?" "Objection, Your Honor." "We're taking giant leaps here." "If we cannot affirm that what emerged from his body was a child, then we cannot affirm that what led to its creation was a pregnancy." "I'm thinking about it." "All right." "Strike Mr. Ellis's question from the court record." "At this point, the only thing I'm really sure about is that the alien egg came before the chicken." "Just one more question." "As a medical doctor and a respected scientist, would you stake your reputation on the fact that what you participated in and helped actuate was in fact a birth, and that Eric Norris was the progenitor?" "Without qualification." "Thank you, Dr. Mayfield." "No further questions." "You told Eric Norris that the authorities were looking for him." "And it was your idea to run away." "To avoid a repressive government agency which would surely make him and his child objects of public ridicule, which we can see, they already have." "Your Honor?" "Strike "child," please." "Thank you." "You helped extricate the entity from him." "I helped deliver it, yes." "You jeopardized your reputation- in fact, your whole career- to help him, didn't you?" "I suppose." "So wouldn't you lie for him now?" "Would you have any compunction about making up some story" " that was consistent with this" " Objection!" " preposterous notion that Eric Norris" " conceived this creature" " Objection, Your Honor." " was delivered of this creature, and is this creature's parent?" "No further questions, Your Honor." "For the record, Doctor?" "My name is Katherine Magee." "I'm a board-certified urologist with a specialty in male infertility." "Mmm." "Now it's been testified that the alien egg in question derives sustenance and survival capability through its propensity to... connect to the vital organs of Dr. Eric Norris." "Could it have harvested sperm from his testicles?" "Well, considering what else it was capable of," "I would imagine it could, but it wouldn't have been able to inseminate itself- no way." "And why is that?" "Sperm in the testicles is immature." "It's not capable of fertilization." "Then maybe my worthy opponent is correct- this is not an embryo, just a parasite." "There is a well-documented condition known as retrograde ejaculation in which some or all of the semen flow backward into the bladder during climax." "Now if this egg phenomenon were able to make accommodations with the subject's organs, as has been stated, it could conceivably have instigated this malfunction, tapped into his bladder and harvested his sperm." "Are you telling this court, ma'am, that despite all logic to the contrary," "Dr. Norris might have impregnated himself, and that the result of this union is none other than his own progeny?" "You could very well make that case, yes." "Huh." "Thank you." "Dr. Magee, can you say with any certainty that this rather unlikely theory of a man impregnating himself is what happened to Dr. Norris?" "No." "No further questions, Your Honor." "Is there something I can do for you?" "I'm Emil Giddings." "I made that video you saw." "I sent it to you." "How?" "Well, I worked at the hospital." "I recorded that session between your friend and the alien." "Oh." "We're very grateful to you." " Thank you." " The government wanted to hush it up, keep it a secret." " Yes, we know." " The people had to know about it." "It had to be exposed for the public to see, you know?" "That's what this hearing is doing." "Otherwise it could have been experimented on in secret- made more of them;" "made an army of them." "Well, if- when we win, that won't happen." "So how are you going to keep it from laying eggs in other people?" "Are you going to put it in a cage, keep it locked up somewhere?" "Look, there's no evidence that Benjamin is even capable of laying eggs." "So are you going to go away somewhere in the desert where no one can find you?" "Dr. Norris isn't going to do any of those things." "He's going to raise Benjamin as his son the very best that he can." "Now if you'll excuse me." "I loved Miriam." "She should have been my wife." "Adam should have been my son." "She loved me." "She did... until you showed up." "Why did she leave me for you?" "You know, it isn't so that life finds its true path, that everything happens the way it should be." "Detours, potholes, bumps in the road- they change the natural course of things." "And still, I was living with it." "And you know why?" "Because before the accident, she confessed to me that she wasn't happy in her marriage, that she made a mistake, that she should never have left me for you." "But before we could act on it, before we could smooth that bump in the road... you took her from me a second time." "When you killed her," "Eric, my dear friend, you killed the last hope I'll ever have." "I'm sorry, Frederick." "I've been sorry every minute for the last eight years of my life." "I don't know." "Can you ever get even with someone for the loss of a loved one?" "Maybe not." "But seeing you in this courtroom, knowing that you're going to lose, knowing that this monster you so pathetically call your son is going to be taken from you forever, well..." "I guess that's as close as payback will ever come for me." "Mm, um... what is your profession, sir?" "I was the Carmack Waterhouse" "Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University." "The petitioner maintains that the United States government is holding Benjamin without cause." "This flies in the face of habeas corpus, does it not?" "Well, habeas corpus is the most important safeguard of personal freedom we have against arbitrary state action." "Well, for all practical purposes, it's 100% more important than constitutional guarantees of individual liberty." "Now it's been determined by scientists employed by the federal government that approximately 12% of the genetic material found in Benjamin is mirrored in the DNA of Dr. Eric Norris." "Now in your expert opinion, sir, would this qualify the subject in question to the rights and privileges of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, including the writ of habeas corpus?" "Well, when I was younger- considerably younger- people's rights in some states in this country were determined by what percentage of his genetic inheritance was white, and what percentage was of another race." "Uh, an octoroon, for example, is a person whose blood is 1/8" "African-American." "And it was a crime for such a person to vote or to marry someone who was white." "And that racist law was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1967." "Do you see any difference, sir, in restricting the rights of a person who is 1/8 black and denying the writ of habeas corpus to Benjamin because he is 1/8 human blood?" "I do not." "Thank you." "No further questions." "Could you describe what you see here, Professor Barnett?" "I'm" " I'm not quite sure I can describe it." "Well, with the tentacles and the huge head, possibly an octopus?" "Objection, Your Honor." "Counsel is leading the witness." "Overruled." "Correct me if I'm wrong, Professor, but when the Founding Fathers created the Constitution of the United States, it was to protect the rights of human beings, not octopi." "No further questions, Your Honor." "Dr. Norris, could you tell this court what your relationship is with Benjamin, the subject of these proceedings?" "He is my son, my flesh." "He came from inside me." "He doesn't look like me." "He doesn't look like anybody, not in this world." "But he is my son." "This videotape showing you and Benjamin dancing, how did that happen?" "Benjamin had fallen into a very deep depression." "There was nothing they could do that would revive him." "When I took him into my arms, however, he awakened." "The connection we have had since he was born- before that, even- took over." "There is no stronger bond in this world, in any world, apparently, than that between a parent and his or her child." "The photos you have been asked to look at, and the horror of the strange creature you saw dancing with me on the tape- this thing with its long appendages and large flat face, that maybe looks like" "an octopus to some... is my son, Benjamin Norris." "Thank you, Doctor." "No further questions." "Just one question, Your Honor." "Your wife and child were killed in a car accident eight years ago while you were driving." "Do you feel responsible for their deaths?" "Yes." "No further questions, Your Honor." "The court is adjourned until tomorrow morning at 9:00 at which time the government will state its case." "You know, I met someone today." "It was that person that sent me the video." "How do you think it went today?" "Very very well." "You testimony was straight from the heart." "I'm sorry- that guy was really creepy." "If Barry had only cross-examined me more, I could have fought back." "This way I'm just sitting there, leaving it in someone else's hands" "Ellis, for God's sake." "Jesus." "I can't lose this." " I can't." " You won't." "If I lose- if I lose..." "You're not gonna lose, baby." "You know something else?" "You don't have to take care of this all by yourself." "You've never had to carry this all by yourself- any of it, even the events from eight years ago." "You love me, Eric." "I know you do." "I'm not gonna hurt you." "And you're not gonna hurt me." "But listen to me- you can't shut me out." "You have to let me be there for you." "You have to let me help you." "I've already hurt you, and I'm very sorry." "I'm very very sorry." "Do you love me, Eric?" "I do." "I do love you very much." "If we have to, are you willing to go away with Benjamin and me?" "Live by ourselves somewhere, no one else around, maybe for the rest of our lives?" "Yes." " I love you." " I love you." "Eric." "Miss Barry, please proceed with the respondent's case." "Thank you, Your Honor." "Your Honor, no one can dispute the obvious passion that Dr. Norris feels for the subject." "I would consider it irrefutable." "And based on the video we've seen, one could argue that the alien itself, despite its appearance, has a certain ineffable charm." "However, Your Honor, there is more than one side to this alien, and fortunately, more than one video of it in action." "The government now seeks to enter the second video into evidence." "Objection, Your Honor." "We were never apprised of a second video." "We've not seen it, nor were we accorded any former knowledge of its existence." " It should be inadmissible." " Is this so, Miss Barry?" "It is not, Your Honor." "Video of the alien subject was clearly listed amongst our evidentiary materials." "But- but Your Honor, we were led to believe that that was the video we had already shown." "Be seated, Mr. Ellis." "You may proceed, Miss Barry." "So much for the next generation of Beanie Babies." "Dr. Norris lost his wife and son in an automobile accident eight years ago." "He's never been able to let that go." "In what way, sir?" "He's a sullen, detached man with very few friends." " Objection, Your Honor." " Overruled." "And yet you've kept him on all these years." "Why is that?" "Well, actually, those are probably good qualities to have in a research scientist." "But seriously?" "Eric Norris was a fine man... and once a brilliant scientist." "He suffered a tragic loss that scarred him badly." "He's riddled with guilt, consumed by it." "This hearing is a desperate effort to liberate himself from the burden that he has carried for eight years." "He's trying to make of this alien creature... a child to replace the son that he lost." "In his own mind, I truly believe he thinks that this... parasite is his real child." "Wouldn't you consider that to be extremely unhealthy reasoning?" "I feel for the man." "I understand his grief." "The loss of loved ones is a terrible thing." "And yes, it can distort one's sense of reality." "And that's the reason why I keep him on- because without me, he'd have nowhere else to go." "Thank you, Doctor." "Your witness." "No." "No, please." " Judge:" "Mr. Ellis?" " You've got to let me rebut." "No, please." "I have no questions for this witness." "You may step down, Dr. Shilling." "And after you arrived on the scene, could you tell the court what, if anything, you saw?" "The meteor- meteorite- had pretty well burned up." "But there was this one large fragment." "When I kicked it over, I saw this thing inside." "I knew Eric would make heads or tails from it, so I..." "Were there other fragments?" "Yes, but much smaller." "So you don't know for a fact that the creature you found was the only one out there." "When- when I went back the next day" "The next day?" "You said it was ambulatory- it could move on its own." "What would have prevented the others from scattering?" "How do we know that there aren't hundreds of them out there?" "Hundreds of them burrowing into people's bodies, preparing themselves to be an alien army" " Objection." " -all, Your Honor, with the destructive force we've just seen on that video?" "Objection, Your Honor." "Counsel is leading and badgering the witness." "There is absolutely no proof such a thing occurred." "Sustained." " Thank you." " No more questions." "You don't need to do this." "The case is won." "This is overkill." "There's no such thing as a little pregnant, and there's no such thing as overkill." "In a war, there are no survivors left behind." "War?" "I was instructed to win this case at any cost, and that's exactly what I intend to do." "Your honor, you've seen the tapes." "You've heard testimony from scientists, professors, friends." "You've heard what Dr. Norris had to say." "No one questions his passion for his cause." "After what we've heard today, one could question his motivation, but I feel that case has been sufficiently argued." "I now call for Exhibit A." "No, you cannot do this!" "You cannot bring him in here!" "You cannot bring him in here!" "My God, what have they done to him?" "Get him out of here!" "Get him out of here!" "This is what the petitioner would have you believe is someone's child- a human being's son." "Would you want this thing crawling around out there?" "Would you want this thing near your families?" ""Look on my work, ye Mighty, and despair. "" "This is not God's work!" "I'm gonna kill you." "Judge:" "Bailiff, retain this man!" " Get away from him!" " Dr. Norris," " you are in contempt!" " Get away!" " Order!" "Order in the court!" " Amanda:" "No!" "You're the devil." "That is your spawn." "Judge:" "Order now!" "Mankind will be overrun!" "It's the ascension of evil." "He'll kill all of humanity!" "Oh!" "Son of a bitch!" "No!" "Emil, drop the gun." "Drop it!" "No!"