"What"s happened?" "Nurse." "What is this?" "Your papers." "Right." "Through there." "Your documents." "Come out of the car." "Open the front up." "Open." "Now open the back." "Welcome home." "Come in." " Konratz." " Capt. Salis." "How are you?" "You"re looking well." "L"m due at a Central Committee meeting." "I only have a few moments." "Sit down." "Five years of power." "Do you think we are finally winning?" "I thought we already had." "What have you got for me?" "The MX-12." "But look closer." "Fortunately, they aren"t sensitized." "We can program our K-718 to misdirect it." "K-718?" "That information is privileged, Konratz." "So how can you know about it?" "Only Maj. Benedek and myself have access to that information." "Get me Maj. Benedek, please." "Sir." "Please." "If you will let me explain you will find it is to our mutual advantage." "I..." "Please..." "Look." "Look again." " Life extinct." " How are we doing?" "Some good prints, but not good enough." "Look at this." ""Eileen Stevens."" "We need all the help we can get on this one." "At least she"s got a name, Phil." ""Wish you were here." "The Crossways, Croydon."" "Sounds impressive." " It"s in Sussex, isn"t it?" " Right." "About 40 miles." "Excuse me, sir." "Prof. Kingsmill has gone to the theater." " I hope he enjoys it." " It"s his first night off in a month." "My heart bleeds for him." "Who the bloody hell has?" "Sorry, sir?" " Get my car, will you?" " Yes, sir." "Get a hold of Kingsmill." "No messing about." "I want the PM as soon as he can make it." "Go to the mortuary with the body." "You"re in charge of all the exhibits." " Ask them to send the PM to the station." " Right away." " Hold it." " Get out of the way." "Get some of the special patrol boys stationed round the common tonight." "Do you think he"ll return?" "He might not be too far away." "We can"t take any chances." "Do you think he"s a weirdo, sir?" "What do you think?" "I want more men, more phones." "Get the murder room set up." "In the car, Joyce." " Where to, sir?" " Croydon." "Is it murder, sir?" ""Is it murder?" Don"t be so bloody stupid." "Come on." " Who is it?" " Police." "Just a moment." "What"s it all about?" "Dr. Browning won"t like being disturbed this time of night." "He"s not supposed to like it." "Just get him, will you?" "Come this way." " L"ll get the doctor, sir." " All right." "Snotty little bastard, isn"t he?" "Good evening." "L"m Dr. Browning." "Did you want to see me?" "Detective Superintendent Bellaver." "It"s about a Miss Eileen Stevens." "Do you know her, sir?" "She works here, yes." "Is she in trouble?" "Why do you ask, sir?" "You"d hardly get us up at this hour of the night if she wasn"t." "She with a boyfriend, do you know?" "I really have no idea." "Tell me, is she from London or around this way?" "I think she"s from the North." "I got her through an agency." "Please, can"t you tell me exactly what she"s done?" "She hasn"t done anything." "Putting it crudely, someone"s done her." " What?" " She"s dead." "That"s terrible!" "Perfectly terrible!" " How did it happen?" " Her throat was cut." "You don"t believe in breaking things gently, do you?" "I have to know all you can tell me." "Her movements, friends, family." "L"ll tell you all I can." "I really didn"t know her very well." "I took a couple of phone calls for her once from a girlfriend..." "I don"t think we"ll be looking for a girl in this case." " No?" " No." "She wasn"t just murdered, if you know what I mean." "Injuries:" "Bruising and edema around the eyes bruising of the nose, nasal bones fractured laceration of the lips and inner right cheek jugular vein cut repeatedly probably violent sawing done." "Small punctures on right wrist, vaginal contusions scratches around both breasts probably done with the nails of the right hand." "Lord, I haven"t seen anything like this in donkey"s years!" "Scalpel." "What"s the matter?" "I was just wondering what was the last thing she ever thought." "It"s the fastest transition in the world, from human being to corpse." "And it doesn"t do to get the two confused, or you"ll never be successful." "Forceps." "Better wake him up, Sergeant." "We"re back." " Sir?" " I know, I know." "I can smell it!" "Give Browning"s statement to a typist, then start an action book and log it." "Right." "Caruso"s back." "Griffin, I"ll..." "Shut up, will you?" "Get the new numbers and ring "em round to all the other divisions, will you?" "Anything?" "No, sir." " How about you, sir?" " No." "You better get on to the Yard"s method index." "I already did, sir." "We"re checking on girls of the same age." "Servants." "Every assault in this area for the past 12 months, sir." "How long have these been here?" "They"re curling up like Charlie Chaplin"s boots." "Everything okay at Croydon, sir?" "If the statements check out all right." "See what you can find on Browning." "A conviction or some record or other." "Can"t tell one from the other of these bloody things." "Smells like cheese, looks like ham." "Not far wrong." "It"s chicken." "Harry"s going through the girl"s address book today." "If that and the method index don"t work, we"re really up the wall." "Problem is, there"s no motive to a sex crime, apart from the sex." "That bloody chicken wasn"t killed." "It died of old age." "You made many runs today?" " Who are you?" " L"m Dr. Sorel." "L"m the PM." "Right." "Let"s have it." " You work for Prof. Kingsmill?" " Yes, I"ve just qualified." "He was one of my professors." ": : : fracture of nasal bones, laceration of lips: : : :" "I can"t waste my time listening to that." "Write it out like you used to." " Just give me the main points, will you?" " Okay." "The skull was caved right in." "The bone was depressed in one area the size of a penny." " Is that what killed her?" " No." "Death was caused by the severing of the jugular vein and loss of blood." " Yeah." "Go on." " Just before that, she"d been strangled." "It was all incredibly brutal and extremely crude." " Is there anything else you can tell me?" " Yes." "A funny thing on her wrist." "Two little wounds like punctures, side by side, an inch apart." "Any ideas?" "Looks like the sort of thing that could have been made by a meat skewer or knitting needle, something like that." "It"s quite common, this kind of violence, though not to such a degree, of course." " Too bad for us, though, isn"t it?" " I don"t get you." "Strangled, head bashed in, throat cut." "Doesn"t sound like it was for the sex at all, does it?" " A psychopath?" " That"s about it." "And the psycho"s the most difficult of all to get." "There"s hardly ever any rational motive just the animal compulsion to kill, that"s all." "Nurse." "What are they doing to me?" "Nurse." "What are they doing to me?" "What"s happening?" "What are they doing..." "No!" "Stop, please!" "We can"t make her tell us why they were escaping." "Your lover, I have to tell you, he is dead." "Don"t worry." "You will tell me." "You will." "You will." "What about him?" "What do you think?" "He wouldn"t fancy you." "Who says?" "He"s a good dancer." " Lovely mover." " Yeah!" "Where"s he gone?" " I didn"t see him go." " He was over there a minute ago." "Don"t look now, but he"s over there looking at us!" " Go on!" " Do you think I should?" "Don"t be silly!" "You gonna buy me a drink?" "How "bout coming for a ride?" "Not here." "It"s no good here." "You don"t have to hurt me." "I am utterly appalled." " What is your opinion, Minister?" " I want you to look at the pictures." "It"s really an internal problem." "Technically, Minister, they were Maj. Benedek"s prisoners, not Konratz"s." "And there are wider implications." "In some cases, we have found it necessary to instill fear in order to make the more stubborn behave themselves and cooperate with us." "But in this instance, I agree that license has been taken to an unnecessary and gruesome extreme." "Stories are filtering out already." "There have been stories enough in the foreign press." "It could create an embarrassing political situation." "It"s difficult, Major." "I have always been sympathetic to the military concept of order, but..." "Yes, that is why we allowed you to remain in our government." " But for the total good." " I understand, Minister." "Politicians require more subtlety than the militia." "Yes?" "Show him in, please." "Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention." "No, thank you, sir." "The man and the girl you tortured them?" "I interrogated them." "Of course." "You listen to them." "They sound happy enough." "We did not force them to celebrate our five years of domination." "We have party unity." "Those who dissent are eventually converted thanks to people like us and our methods." "But military rule is frowned upon these days." "We need all the political friends we can get." "Torture is torture, no matter how you try to disguise it." "Why do you go to such extremes?" "I do not understand you." "You were always anonymous, a non-entity, but your record was first-class your loyalty unquestioned." "That is why you were chosen to fill the gap left by Salis" death." "But this time you have gone too far." "You are corrupt!" "Perhaps you always have been." "I just do not know." "In any case, I shall have you relieved of your duties." "You are far too unbalanced for a task that is perverse enough as it is." "But your loyalty to our cause must be considered." "I shall suppress the reasons for your dismissal." "But surely, sir, you will give me an opportunity to explain." "Ears." " Eyes." " We"ll give him a different nose." "No." "That"s not him." "I think it"s the mouth." "I think it should go up on that side." " Car"s waiting outside, sir." " Right." " What"s this?" " We"re trying to build up his picture." "You"ve taken the chin out." "It"s nice like that, though." "Thought it was worth a try." "All men look the same to her." "Take out the eyes." "Try the eyes." "The old man"s worried about the newspapers." "He wants to try something spectacular, even if it doesn"t pay off." "Round up some pretty volunteers." "L"m going off to the mortuary." "L"ve got a job for you." "A beauty parade." "We"re all well aware that intelligence-gathering missions are vital to the security of the West." "That"s precisely why they"ve got to go on." " They need protection, armed protection." " I don"t agree with you there." "Additional aircraft will jeopardize the productivity of these missions." "They will interfere with sophisticated radar equipment and on top of that, they"ll restrict radio traffic." "We"re under fire already, Fremont." "I don"t care what sort of fairy stories you make up for the benefit of our friends in the press as long as you don"t try and put any of them into practice." "Is that clear?" "Yes?" "Yes, sir." "Very well." "Good-bye, sir." "This fantastic self-destructing mechanism of yours it"s supposed to blow up an aircraft?" "And the pilot, as well." "It hasn"t worked." "And so somebody somewhere has got a live airman on their hands." "The morphine is killing the pain?" "He withstood all interrogation." "He won"t be able to talk again for hours." "I don"t care if he"s deaf and dumb." "Just put him back in one piece." " You"ll never wash it away, son." " No?" "No." "Once you"ve been around it, it never goes away." "Exactly the same as Eileen Stevens." "Down to the last bloody detail." "You have an answer for this?" "Could be a coincidence." "Brand." "The killer"s mark." "Maybe." "Although something even more puzzling." " What?" " The heart"s a powerful organ." "It can pump about 50 pints a minute, right?" "Yes." "So if you sever the jugular vein a swiftly beating heart will spurt out blood like a fountain." "A body could be drained in next to no time, right?" "Of course." "Both these girls" arteries were virtually emptied." "In the case of Eileen Stevens, we assume that the gushed-out blood was soaked in the ground." " You did the tests." "No blood, right?" " No." "This girl was found on concrete." "Then why wasn"t she literally lying in a pool of blood?" "That"s it." "Hardly any blood at all." " What"s your answer?" " I didn"t say I had one." "We must assume he"s gonna do it again." "We have got a lead, though, Doctor." "Both the girls were picked up in clubs." "So if we can"t go to him, we must get him to come to us, mustn"t we?" "The transistor goes into the shoe." "Like that." " Quite a fit." " Yeah." "Thanks." " All right?" " Ta." "Good." "Now, the microphones." "Two of the girls aren"t reported back yet?" "I hope, for their sake, this is a waste of time." "We"d better get out of here." " Down the front of the trousers." " Would you let me?" "Yes, as you like." " L"ll get it from the other end." " Can you pull it out for me?" " Now, listen up, Joyce!" " Keep your hair on." "This is my department." "Yeah, this is my department." "Come on, put your clothes on." "Take it easy." "Don"t pick up any strange men." "I won"t pick up any strange men if you stick to me." "With heat like this, I will stick to you." "Now, come on." "Get your skates on." "By yourself?" "Time for a last drink." "If you"d like." "Are you lost?" "How about that drink?" " Where do you want to have that drink?" " I really think I should go home:" "Okay, then:" "We'll have it at your place:" "You haven"t even told me your name yet, you know?" "That"s right." " Guess." " Okay." " And I"ll guess yours." " Right." " Just for laughs." " Peter." " No?" " No." "Too ordinary." "Michael." "Not today, lady." "Jeremy?" "Tell me:" "Rudolph Valentino." "Archibald!" " Madam, you insult me:" " I wouldn't insult you:" "L"ll go the quick way across the common." "All right?" "Yes, all right." "Fine." " Do you always have to be home so early?" " No, only when I'm working:" "Come on." "Five minutes wouldn"t make you that much uglier, would it?" "It wouldn"t make me uglier at all." "What could we do in five minutes?" "Exactly." "There he goes." "He"s turning off." "No boyfriend?" "I did have my boyfriend with me, but we had this terrible row." " And he left:" " I see:" "You wouldn"t laugh if it was your woman." " Where is he now?" " I haven"t got the vaguest idea." " He wasn't very groovy, anyway:" " Charming." "That"s a long kiss!" " Let"s go break"em up." " No." "Let the girl have some fun." "All he"s killing in there is time." " You think she"s enjoying herself in there?" " Wait." "What"s that?" "What the hell"s he doing?" "Dirty little bastard!" "What are you, some kind of a maniac?" " That"s enough, Griffin." " Leave him!" " Stephen, get an ambulance." " Blimey, like a bloody vampire." "She"s all right." " That bastard might have killed her!" " All right, come here!" "Get the cuffs on him, will you?" "Have to send you two back to training school." "He might have gotten away from you." "He"s strong as an ox." "Look what he did to Fred." "Let"s have a look at him." "Sir, we"ve got a signal!" "Her shoe must still be in the car." "Get in the car, follow me." "Doctor, I want you around when we get him." "We"ve got him good and strong now, sir." "Bellaver, here." "We"re on the suspect"s tail now." "Follow us." "He"s headed west." "Over." "He"s turned off to the left." "We"re still with him, sir." "Keep going." "And up the speed." "Hello, Tango 1." "This is Tango 3 calling Tango 1." "Can you hear me?" "Over." "He"s within a mile." "Spotting him and on his tail." "Hard on it." "Get as many cars as you can and follow us in pursuit." "Over and out." "Let"s take him." "Tango 6, Tango 2." "He"s headed toward the chalk quarry." "Converge." "Over and out." "Wilco, sir." "Can hear you." "Understood." "Over and out." "Okay, Joe, get a move on." "We"ve overshot him, sir." "Check in there." "Go see what you can find out, will you?" "See if he"s in the house." "Some go around front, the others around back." "You two, follow them, will you?" "Bellaver to HQ." "I think we got the suspect trapped in the quarry." " Take it easy, lads." " Thomas!" "Come on, chummy." "That"s it." "Come on." "Come on, son." "Don"t be so bloody stupid." "If he wants to play it rough, let"s give it to him rough." "But mind, he"s got a kick like a bloody horse." "Come on." "Right." "Get him." "God, he weighs a ton!" " Warden, report in to the station, will you?" " Yes, sir." "It"s all over." " It"s incredible." "He"s only stunned." " Stunned?" "Right." "Fix him to the car, will you?" "You won"t bite through that, chummy." "It"s a pity they don"t hang "em anymore." "Yes, sir." "Message received." "I believe he"s coming now, sir." "Over." "Jackson"s dead, sir." "Griffin is seriously injured, but he"s receiving medical attention." "I see." "All right, thanks." "Bellaver, sir." "We"ve got the man." "Yes, he"s safely cuffed up now, sir." "Unfortunately, we"ve lost one of our men." "Jackson." "Griffin"s been injured, but he"s receiving medical attention." "This is the worst I"ve ever seen in my life." "L"ve seen nothing like it in my life, sir." "You've done a hell of a job, Bellaver:" "All of you:" "Tell them for me, would you?" "Understood, sir." "Thank you very much indeed." " Over and out, sir." " Watch out, then:" "Over and out:" "The governor said he"s very pleased..." "Get the bastard!" "Come on!" " Bring up the men and we"ll follow." " Right." "Joyce, use the car!" "Head him off!" "How could he snap through high-tensile steel?" "He didn"t." "Look." "There." "He seems to be headed west." "L"m going on the main road to cut him off." "You keep your eyes peeled for him, will you?" "Right." "Move." "Tango 4, are you receiving?" "Over." "You"re not thinking of stitching that back on him?" " Might be possible." " Blimey!" "I don"t know." " Such operations are rarely successful." " L"m not a bit surprised." "Hello, Tango 4, what is your position?" "Over." "Approaching Prospect Crossroads:" "Tango 4, great!" "Suspect headed your way." "Make for the west end of Hynes Meadow." "Over and out." "Right." "Get moving." "Hello, Tango 1." "We"re proceeding in a westerly direction along Hynes Avenue." "We"re gonna try and cut him off." "Come on, men!" "Come on!" "Come on, men!" "He"s tiring." "Come on!" "Thomas, he"s coming your way!" "Head him off, man!" "All right!" "Come on!" "Through there!" "Around the back!" "Open the gate!" " Thomas, stand by." "Have you seen him?" " In there, sir." "Don"t let the bastard get away." "Get around the back, keep him covered." "You come with me." "Get him." "It"s a bloody tank." "Try and get him out!" "My hand!" "Acid." " Get it under water, quick." " It burns!" " There won"t be much left of his arm." " Then there can"t be much left of him." "All right, let"s go." "My man"s gonna lose an arm, Doctor." "What"s a vat of acid doing out there?" "You see, I"m involved in some very important cancer research." "I breed germ cultures and I watch their growth and their effect on human tissue." "I work with animals, and I have arrangements with several hospitals." "The acid." "Yes, obviously, after a time some of the material I use decomposes and so I destroy it in the acid in order to avoid spreading dangerous bacteria." " Won"t you sit down?" " I see." "And you"ve no idea who the killer could be?" "From your description, I"m afraid I don"t." "Cigarette?" "But his first victim was a member of your staff." "Now he seems to have deliberately come here and jumped in the acid." "Yes, I"ve wondered about that, too." "He must have known Eileen." "Perhaps she told him where she worked." "Maybe they used the outbuildings to meet in and she may have told him about the acid." "All the more reason, surely, why he wouldn"t jump in, isn"t it?" "Superintendent, there is an inherent feeling of guilt attached to most aberrant psychotic cases." "Subconsciously, of course, he was probably looking for a punishment equal to the enormity of his act." "I mean, such a gruesome death." "It would seem almost to be in character." "But to feel no pain..." "That might explain his incredible strength." "When you feel nothing, not even pain then the body and the spirit are capable of limitless things." "It"s a pity about that acid." "At least all of him didn"t go in." "We may still get some answers." "Answers?" "From what?" "His hand." "He tore it off getting loose from our handcuffs." "L"ve never seen anything as strong as this before." "Is this a private party, or can I know what it"s all about now?" "The tendons and muscles are both made of a substance we can"t classify." "Hang on." "Strong or not, it is just a hand, isn"t it?" "We"re not even sure it"s organic." "But it was bleeding." "You can"t tell me the hand"s artificial." "Not artificial." "Let"s say synthetic." "Man-made." "Like rubber." " And the rest of the hand?" " Is normal flesh and blood." "If they are man-made, how does flesh and blood grow on them?" "That"s why we want the best equipment in the country, to find out." "L"ll see you get every cooperation." "By the way, you better bring the hand in for safekeeping." "If it"s as unusual as you say it is, it might get up and walk away." "What do you think you"re up to?" "Give me that at once." "But we are under heavy pressure for real information." "Promise Ambassador Opwitz." "Give me time." "I want to find a use for him first." "But I haven"t much time left." " Regional meeting?" " Yes." "Have a safe journey." "Your documents, sir." "Hurry up." " Where is your exit visa, sir?" " It"s there." "It"s not signed." "Don"t be a fool." "Do you know who I am?" "L"m sorry, sir." "I must ask you to get out of the car." "I am the Minister of State." "Now, please give me my documents." "L"m sorry, sir." "I must ask you to follow me to my superior officer." "Her neck"s fractured, her spine"s broken, she"s been dead about 20 minutes." " So the hand"s missing." " And all the damage to my furniture." "What do you think?" "Either this is coincidence, some kinky freak burglary turned tragic or we"ve got more than one supernormal maniac on our hands." "Vital to the security..." "Yes?" " What number are you calling?" " Your number, Fremont." "When?" "An hour?" "Yes, very well." "L"ll meet you in an hour at the fountain in Trafalgar Square." " What"s this?" " Narcotics, sir." " Man." "I love you." " L"m mad about you and all." " What"s going on?" " The case is closed." " Closed?" " That"s what I said." "According to the old man, it closed on its own when that animal fell in the acid." "Jumped in the acid." "We know he"s the killer, we know he"s dead and that"s all we can know." "Garbage!" "What about the other murder?" "And there"s the hand." "Person or persons unknown." "Nothing to do officially with the other case." "And how do we know it is?" "What about Browning?" " You were gonna screen..." " He"s been screened!" "And a right bloody idiot I made of myself doing it, too." "He"s totally above suspicion." "Even got a research contract with the government." "L"ve been ordered not to bother him with this again." " Nobody told me!" " I did!" "That"s what I said!" "You"re on bleeding" half-day holiday, are you?" "What the hell"s bitten him?" "Look, I don"t want to get you into trouble with Bellaver but I"m gonna find out whether or not the police are interested." "L"m the police, and I"m interested." "The first thing is to get a sample of that acid." "If anything happens, blow the horn." "And if I"m not back soon, clear off." "And call the cops." "We agreed alone." "They heard so much about you they wanted to see what you really looked like." "What are you doing here, anyway?" "Or are you here just for the shopping?" "We have your pilot, Fryer." "I see." "You invaded our territorial air space, but the plane did not self-destruct." "He"s alive and well so I found a new role for him that of pawn." "We do, of course, monitor radio activities and radar communications." "So does everybody else who can afford it." "So do you." "That hardly justifies your trying to make political capital out of it." "Does it?" "An interesting situation." "A real live pilot from a real-life spy plane." "You know the trouble he could cause for you if we wanted him to." "But you don"t want him to, is that it?" "You can have him back." "No international embarrassment." "Or if you prefer, I"ll have him killed." "What"s the price?" "You won"t understand, and I won"t explain but I want all the information and every scrap of evidence your police possess relating to the so-called vampire murders." " Just that?" " Yes." "Very well." "Nurse." "Nurse, could you please contact Superintendent Bellaver?" "Nurse, it"s important." "Just back from court." "Guess what?" "They got Hewitt off again." "Never mind." "You"ll get him one of these days." "Law of averages." "Did you want me, sir?" "Yeah." "Jimmy Joyce has made a missing person"s breakdown." "It"s quite peculiar." "The norm has gone mad this last year." " Excuse me, sir." " What is it?" " It"s a Professor Weiss." " Show him to my office." " This way please, Professor." " He"s a sociologist." "He"s doing a book on the psychological aspects of crimes of violence." "Come in." "Professor Weiss, sir." "Professor, I"ve got all the medical reports analysis of bloodstains, all scraps of evidence." "The whole story, what there is of it." "If you can make anything of it, let me know." "You can look them over just down the hall." "You won"t be disturbed." "Don"t bother." "I want to take them with me." "Just a minute." "You"ve come here with a lot of influence but you can"t take away police evidence." "Very well, Superintendent." "Thank you." "L"ll show you where the office is." "Just down the hall." "Hello?" "This is Dr. Sorel." "I want that report as soon as possible." "What is it now, Doctor?" "You"ve got to send some men out to Browning"s house." "No, we haven"t." "Our orders are to leave him alone." "And get them to the Yard." "Look, this is urgent." "Let me talk to Bellaver." "Doctor, I wish you could." "Bellaver"s dead." "I imagine I can guess why you"re here, Doctor." "You found a whole assortment of strange mysteries through your involvement with the police and you thought you might find some answers here, is that it?" "That"s about it." "I wanted a sample of your amazing acid." "I did think it was a bit dangerous to keep it out there so I had it moved here." "As a doctor, I think you"re going to be fascinated with what I"m trying to do." "I don"t have much of a chance to show off." "I couldn"t resist telling you, anyway." "But once you fully understand your life will have to wind down a very different road." " Well?" " I want to know." "Good." "You see this?" "Television can be very useful during an operation." "Yes, I can see much more clearly with the camera eye." "And this..." "This is my activator and my fabricator." "Science-fiction names, I know, but actually science fact." "With them, I can shape and bend the laws of surgery as you know them in my search for human perfection." "Look at this." "How long ago did she die?" "She has never really existed yet." "You see, she"s been assembled piece by piece, organ by organ." "She"s a composite, like Keith." "Keith?" "Yes, you remember the so-called vampire killer?" " The boy who jumped in the acid?" " Yes." " You made him?" " Yes." "He was my first, in a way." "The first, anyway, with autonomously functioning brain patterns." "The others all were really nothing more than robots." "It"s like taking the best working parts of two separate machines and forging them together into one perfect new machine." "Five minutes, Doctor." "You"re in luck." "You can watch an operation." "Would you like to?" "Yes, but all this is impossible." "No." "Only your acceptance of it." "So, you"ve created life?" "Lt"s the old mad scientist"s dream." "Let"s play God." "My dear young man, you know as well as I do that God is dying all over the world." "Man invented him, but doesn"t need him anymore." "Man is God now." "As a matter of fact, he always was." "But where will this end?" "Overpopulation, pollution, famine nuclear holocaust, war." "This civilization is driving us into the sea of extinction." "The keynote is control." "But that"s the province of politicians, not scientists." "Yes, but we"re the only ones who are trying to combat the problem now." "In 20 years" time, we will be in positions of power and then we"ll be ready to act for the good of humanity." "We?" "You didn"t think I was in it alone, did you?" "You think I could do it all on my own?" "There are more of you doing this work?" "Not many, but more, yes." "We"re like a slowly growing organism in its infancy now, but gradually maturing." " A super-race." " Well, yes." "But not an evil super-race." "Still, in the future, there won"t be any room for imperfection." "But who chooses?" "In medicine as you know it your organ transplants are forcing a choice." "I mean, who should have another heart?" "The mental deficient, or the great philosopher?" "Or an artist or some great statesman." "Don"t tell me that you would choose the deficient." "All right." "You see, your society is taking the first baby steps that we took years ago." "You seem to forget, Doctor, you have to murder them." "My dear young man we are for the future." "Now I ask you, what future did they have?" "Beauty fades." "Even the greatest athletes grow old young." "L"ve speeded up the healing process." "Wounds heal perfectly with no scar tissue or pain, in little more than an hour as you"ll see when I remove the brain from this skull and put it into this one." "I won"t let you do it, Doctor." "Tell them to stay back." "Tell her to untie the girl." "Tell her." "L"m sorry, Doctor." " You?" " Yes, I"m a composite, too." "And so are both of them." "Let"s get on with it." "Scalpel." "Rogers, get rid of him." "I won"t be interrupted now." "That"s being pointlessly savage!" "You can"t hurt her anyway." "You should know that." "Help me, Nurse." "Browning, you have been uncommonly stupid." " Who are you?" " Konratz." " What do you want?" " Your composite that ran amuck." "Its killings found the papers, even in my own country." " You should have destroyed him yourself." " Yes, I know, I..." "Even so, your operation has become much too dangerous." "Is she one?" "Yes." "That your disposal tank?" "Yes." "I have destroyed all the police evidence and the man, Bellaver." " But was that necessary?" "I thought..." " Now I must destroy all this." "No!" "All positions of power must be consolidated first." "You are not yet ready in this country." "Politically, you are expendable." "No." "I can"t let you destroy that." "Too soon." "Too dangerous." "No!" "You"ve turned every scientific advance into a weapon." "You won"t have me or my work." " You okay?" " Yeah." "Mind the step." "You were ordered not to interfere." "L"m aware of the situation." "Everything"s under control." "Now get in the car and wait for me." "Where is Konratz?" "He tried to destroy all of this." "He thought we"d been careless in letting my work go too far." "He was evil." "He made me realize that we aren"t perfect yet that we could be corrupted by too much power." "So we must find all of the others who may have gone bad and destroy them before it"s too late." "It is too late now." "Is it all over, sir?" "Lt"s only just beginning."