"Aw, I was beginning to think you weren't coming." "Game is almost over." "Doesn't look like I missed too much." "It's a game between teachers and students of the various departments." "Mike, who is the power behind Houseman?" "Behind Houseman?" "God." "The board of director likes him about as much as a blast of smoke in the eyes." "Then how is it last year he was able to attain financing of 200,000 dollars?" "Oh, yeah, yeah!" "Because our young, eccentric and subordinate Dr. Houseman is the most brilliant genetic engineer the American University has produced in the last 10 years." "You don't ask a genius how he spends his money." "That is Peter Houseman." "Physiology and medicine have cast light on the most inaccessible recesses of our organisms." "Immunology has routed hundreds of invisible enemies to our health and..." "Embryology has accomplished the joining of ovium and spermatoza in-vitro." "But human genetics has taken only the first tentative steps forward." "The genome is formed of approximately three billion components." "These components are the letters in the genetic alphabet." "Now calculate that if one wished to print the genome of man with an average of 10,000 characters per page..." "Aren't you exaggerating a little?" "I only want to see if I can make him stutter." "...1,000 pages each." "And it is in the vast encyclopedia that our..." "Hereditary patrimony of our species must be contained." "Not only the color of our eyes." "Not only the color of our hair." "Not only the masterpiece of nature which happens to be the exciting thighs of our generous Patricia." "But also the memory of millions of years of evolution." "Fading shadows of races and generations which have all disappeared." "It is our family album." "Now, to be able to leaf through it from beginning to end and read it would be to know our past." "Who we were, who we are and most importantly, what we will become." "Professor, message." "Dr. Houseman, please, a moment." "You can't go in there!" "There is no point being angry with me." "I can't do anything." "And just whose good idea is this?" "Not mine." "The commission has decided that all funding requests must be accompanied by a report which details all work in progress." "As well as the obligation to publish all experiments funded during the past year." "This is not the agreement that we made when you offered to have me teach at this university!" "Peter, be reasonable." "It's an order from the head office in New York." "This is a private university." "They want to know where the money they invest in research ends up!" "If they send a woman from the administration to inspect, it's not up to us and we can't do anything." "I took this job because you assured me a full liberty to carry on my research with no strings attached." "No one wants to attach any strings." "They only want a report on your experiments to date." "Christ, Peter!" "Your department has gobbed down almost a quarter of a million dollars in two years and you haven't published a line!" " Oh, Lloyd, how are you?" " Oh, hello, Mike." " Dr. Owen." " Hi." "Sally, this is Professor Lloyd, leads the biology department." "Oh, Miss Donnelly!" "And Dr. Owen is his assistant." " Nice to meet you." " Nice to meet you." "So, you're from New York." "Mike!" "Excuse me." "Mike, I need your help." " If I can, Peter..." " Of course you can!" "You're one of the most senior members of the staff and the only one with a little brains." "Mike, some inspectors-type is sticking her nose into the allocation of funds for research." " Peter, I don't think..." " And I am being categorically forced into publishing my work before it's finished." "Each of us has to publish his work, myself included." "I don't see why you should be the exception." "Because I don't write jokes and I wouldn't get the same laughs as you." "I'm sorry, Peter." "I can't do anything." " Mike!" " We'd better go." "Gentlemen." "Mike!" "Publishing my work before it's concluded is as much as calling it quits!" "And it's all the fault of some hysterical old maid in menopause!" "You were at the game yesterday, weren't you?" "Peter Houseman." "Maybe you can convince him to change his mind." "I'll try." "But I wouldn't expect too much from an hysterical old maid in menopause." "Oh, Christ!" "What's the composition?" "Nine parts serum and one part glucose dioxide." "One part in 14." " Triple the glucose." " But we'll kill him!" "I know, but I don't want to run the risk of losing direction if it's too weak!" "I'm sorry, Willy, we're running out of time." "It's not my fault." "It's penetrated the suprachiasmatic nucleus." "Delta waves normal." "Two cycles per second." "Cardiac pressure normal." "Willy, it's perfect." "No, no, it's not perfect." "The alpha and beta waves are increasing." "The pressure is rising." "It's an effect of the radiation on the limbic circuit evolution." "It's absorbing too quickly." "Still rising." "Absurd." "It's ridiculous!" "Well, it is, nonetheless, a fascinating theory." "If the data is exact." "It's impossible." "He's making fun of us." "Houseman, your report is as scanty as it is fascinating." "And notably imaginative." "It would therefore be timely for you to elucidate the objective of your research." "Given your request for new funding of 150,000 dollars." "I was requested to report on what I was doing and to justify my expenses of last year." "In my report, everything is specified down to the last cent." "Now, as far as my experiments are concerned, they are based on the theory of the mechanism of auto-destruction by Brunet." "A ridiculous theory which was abandoned by Brunet himself!" "He abandoned it because, at the time, technology for proving it didn't yet exist." "Today, it is possible." "And you have been successful?" "Yes, even if further experiments are needed." "You mean to say you've successfully identified the genetic sequence?" " Yes." " But that's magnificent!" "Undoubtedly." "Now, let me see if I have this right, Dr. Houseman." "If you inhibit that protein, canceling the genetic code which creates it, in practice the cells will reproduce themselves integrally and in a constant manner, hmm?" " Yes." " So then, the organs would no longer become diseased." "The cells of the liver, brain, bones, the skin would reproduce themselves forever." "Which means that old age would be defeated." " And even death." " Perhaps." "You are not only arrogant and megalomaniacal, you're also stupid." " May I go now?" " Dr. Houseman, your experiments carried out to date, on what have they been performed?" "On cell cultures." "This I took for granted." "But of what parasite?" "No parasites." "On rats, monkeys?" "Human embryos." "Those sons of bitches!" "Those bureaucrats!" "The only thing they care about is their soft job, and that pig Lloyd would trade his only remaining leg to see me with my back against the wall." "Perhaps a more detailed research." "One with..." "With all the results of the experi..." "No!" "I want to finish the experiment and then report on it when it's unequivocally successful." "Only then will I publish everything." "Don't worry." "We'll find the money somehow." "Even if I have to trade my shoes in." "Well, I certainly hope it doesn't come to that." "I wouldn't be able to live with myself." "Look for the receipts, Willy, with the bookkeeper's here." "Forget it, Willy." "I am not the bookkeeper." "Excuse the interruption." "That you are here?" "Excuse me, I have some things I have to do." "I got things I got to do, too." "From the little I understand of your experiments, they're really extraordinary." "What's that?" "That's a computer I supply with molecular anatomy." "Fantastic." "I know as much about it as I did before." "What does it do?" "Are you really interested?" "Well, I am going to be 30." "I'd like to stay that way." "Every living organism, from the moment it is born begins a slow and inexorable deterioration, which I believe is predetermined by genetic information." "Why predetermined?" "From the moment that life stirred in an organism, it has no more or no less evolved." "Always adapting itself into the environment in which it found itself." "Casual genetic errors of reproduction produced mutations which the environment selected, rewarding the most adaptable and suppressing the others." "Do you understand?" "It's the environment itself which establishes the rules of the game." "Try to imagine what would happen if among many genetic errors occur one produced an individual which never aged, therefore didn't die and who reproduced other individuals like himself." "Well, first the environment would reward such a species." "But before long, the species would become so dominant that every source known to man and space would be used up." "Is that what you mean?" "Right." "And in more or less time, the race will become extinguished and leave a desert behind." "Where did you go to college?" "Columbia." "I'm convinced that the process of life defends itself by instilling the obligation of death to each individual." "In other words, death is the price we must pay for the survival of our species." "At least until now." "If he had just followed customary procedure, nobody would have questioned him about anything." "Foolishness." "Insubordination simply cannot be tolerated in a university like this one." "However, before we shoot this whole thing down altogether" "I would suggest examining this project without prejudice." "Now we have a lawyer for the defense!" "I'm defending this institute." "It would be very unpleasant to see his experiments published by another university, especially if it turned out to be correct." "Has his assistant been questioned?" "What's his name?" "Willy Carson." "No, not yet." "Willy, are you on foot?" "No, I've got my car parked just a block down the street." "Get in, I'll give you a ride." "No, please, don't bother yourself." "It's only a few steps away." "Willy." "I insist." "How was lunch?" "You were the main dish." "They served you up in every possible sauce." "They'll have a bad case of indigestion." "They've decided to suspend your research." "They want to verify all the experiments that you've carried out till now." "They can't do it." "I have a contract which gives me the liberty of leaving and going elsewhere." "They won't let you to leave." "Experiments with human fetuses was not authorized." "If you leave, they will defer you to the disciplinary committee." "That could block your work for years." "I'm sorry, Peter." "It's not your fault." "You're not to blame." "Lloyd's been trying to screw me for a long time." "What will you do?" "You'll be the first to know." "Yes?" "Hey Peter, Lloyd stopped me today." "He asked me to work with him." "He doesn't lose any time, does he?" "What's happening, Peter?" "I'm trapped." "As soon as they get the authorization, they'll be coming to stick their nose in all of our work." "After which, the experiments will continue under Lloyd's supervision." "Isn't there any way to stop them?" "Yes." "By trying out the experiment and proving that it works before they can intervene." "There are too many unknowns." "It's too big a risk." "I know." "Okay, Dr. Houseman." "Tom, who came in?" "Dr. Houseman." "Okay." "Thanks for the evening." "Mike, I care for you very much, but sometimes..." "Your wisdom is very discouraging." "Forgive me if I don't give up." "It never hurts to keep trying." " Good night, Mike." " Good night, Sally." "Calm down, Sally, it's me." "Peter, what are you doing here?" "Well, I'm keeping my promise." "I told you that you would be the first one to know when I..." "It's after 1:00." "Can we talk about it tomorrow?" "I beat them all." "What do you mean?" "The serum, it works." "I tried it." " Tried it on whom." " On myself." "I used a small dose, but the results were even better than I expected." "Now I can publish everything and no one will dare to stop me." "Peter, that's fantastic." "I'm really happy for you." "That's all I really came to tell you." " You're the only one who knows." " Thank you." " I guess I'll be going." " Wait." "Do you want to come in for a minute?" " Sure, if it's not too late." " No!" " I'll make some coffee." " Okay." "Alice?" "Oh, hello, Sally." " Hello." " Hello." "Oh, I went to sleep." "Where's Tommy?" "He went to sleep too and I put him to bed." "Hi, I wasn't sleeping, I was waiting for you." "Well, I would've been disappointed if you hadn't." "But now, let's go to bed." "I'll go now, Sally." "Call me tomorrow if you still need me." " Bye, Alice, thanks." " Bye-bye." "Good night, Tommy!" "Why don't you say hello, instead of staring at him as if he were a rare animal?" "His name is Peter." "Hello, Tommy, how are you?" "I'm sleepy." "Okay." "Off to bed." "Why don't you take off your coat?" "I'll be back in a moment." "Can I sleep with you?" "No, dear." "Mama has work to do." "That's why Dr. Houseman came over." "Get a good night's rest, dearest." "Tommy's a cute kid." " Are you divorced?" " No." "I've never been married." "Tommy's father was." "Only I didn't know it." "Our romance was washed out by the terror in his eyes when I told him I was pregnant." "Is this what you are looking for?" "Thanks." "What did you do to your hand?" "I don't know." "Must have hit it against something." "At least it isn't bleeding anymore." "Thank you." "Do you want some coffee now?" "In the years 1953 to 1955," "it was proposed what afterwards came to be regarded as central dogma." "Which affirmed that DNA did not directly participate in protein synthesis." "But acted rather as a stamp for the synthesis of a molecule of RNA, which then repeated the DNA sequence." "The authors of this dogma were..." "Patricia?" "Um..." "Oh, my God, um..." "I have it at the tip of my tongue." "They were the same ones who discovered the helical structure." "Yeah, exactly, I meant them." "Steve?" "Watson and Crick, sir." "Very good, very good." "Okay, that will be all for today." " Dr. Houseman?" " Yes." " What's this?" " It's my address." "I'm having a party at my house." "I'd like it if you could come." " When?" " Any day." "Any time you like." "Lloyd, you get the hell out of here!" "Calm down." "It's not like you to lose your pragmatic cordiality." "You get the hell out of here." "You have no authority to be in here!" "Oh, it's only a matter of time." "The usual bureaucratic delays." "At times they are a little slow and one is tempted to go around them." "I'm sure you know how it is." "Not this time, you won't." "You do me a favor and you drag yourself out of here." "If the commission decides to continue this experiment, it will be under my constant and total control." "You won't be able to blow your nose in here without my permission." "You did that on purpose." "You saw him." "I really couldn't see very well." "I'm sure it was an accident, Dr. Lloyd." "My God, Peter, the man is a cripple!" "He's not a man, he's a worm." "Willy, what is this?" "I don't know." "This is blood." "Okay, Tommy." "Look at me and smile." "Maybe a little less." "Tommy, don't be so crabby." "Here, let me take the camera." "I'll take the picture." "You don't like me too much, do you?" "No." "That's okay." "I don't like you either." "But you know, some of the best friendships are born this way." "Watch what they do when I give them these." "They are afraid." "Dr. Houseman." "If you plan to return like you did the other night, I won't close." "What do you mean, like the other night?" "The other night, you went in and came out twice." "You plan to do the same thing tonight too," "I won't block the gate." "You must be mistaken, I only came through once." "Oh, here it is." "You came in at 8:45 and left at 10:20." "And then you came back again at 10 past midnight and you left at 25 past midnight." "I never sleep on my job." "I remember, I asked you for a match and you gave me a packet." "Here it is." "You remember now?" "You really don't remember." "I even lent you my handkerchief so you could tie up your wounded hand." " Can I have a beer?" " I'm sorry, we're closing." " I was here last night." " Really?" "Do you remember me?" "Maybe you should pull your pants down." "Then she'll remember you." "Shut up!" "Drinking beer?" "Lots of people come here." "We can't be expected to remember everybody." "That will be five dollars." "You got the guts to come back here?" "Bitch!" "You bastard!" "You..." "Not on the face." "Get him over here." "So it's true." "You were here the other night." "I don't know why you were so stupid to come back." "No!" "Not me." "That girl lost weeks of work because of you, you maniac!" "No!" "Bob, you must decide!" "I cannot strip him off his authority all of a sudden." "We would be risking an investigation and the institute will be involved." "If he attacked you, he will indemn excuses." "His excuses don't mean anything to me." "All I want is that his access to this laboratory be cut off immediately." "He's cooking something up." "He was furious when he saw me in there." "Anyone would be furious to find someone rummaging through their notes without authorization." "Well then, let's hurry up and get it!" "Because I believe that arrogant bastard is trying to trick us." "I'm sorry Sally, I don't know what to think." "I've looked for him everywhere, but no one's seen him." "Have you been to his house?" "Yes." "And I'm sure," "I'm certain that he's there." "But he just won't come to the door." "I'm sorry, I've got to go." "If I don't see you again, Merry Christmas." "Merry Christmas to you, too." "Peter!" "Willy, watch where you're going." "Where have you been?" "You disappeared a week ago." "Stop somewhere." "My God, Peter, what happened?" "I tried the serum on myself." "At first, the results seemed positive." "Then something happened." "Something went wrong." " You're freezing." " I know." "My body assumes the temperature of the air around me." "I don't know why." "I don't know what's happening to me." "The only thing I know is I have to find a solution soon or it's over." "You..." "You shouldn't have taken the risk." "There were too many unknowns." "Willy, you must help me." "You're the only one who can do it." "How?" "They've closed the laboratory!" "Lloyd got the authorization and they're going through it" " with a fine-tooth comb." " We'll go back in at night." "We'll repeat the experiment and try to locate the error during the inoculation." "It could make it worse." "Willy, it's a chance I'm gonna have to take." "I'm dying." "Turn the volume down, Tommy." "Hello." "What?" "Willy, what did you say?" "I..." "I saw him." "What?" "Where did you see him?" "What?" "I told you to turn it down!" "Hello?" "Willy?" "Willy, I want to see him." "No!" "No, absolutely not." "He doesn't want to see anyone." "He doesn't even know that I've telephoned you." "What happened to him?" "He's bad off." "He's really bad off." "Sally, don't say anything to anyone." "If anyone can help him it's himself." "Willy, I want to talk to him, at least." "No, Sally, he..." "he doesn't want it that way." "I'll call you again later." "Thanks." "We'll use a stronger dose." "I want you to go through the blood analysis." "The first of the electrophoretic velocity of the gamma globulin." "We'll repeat the analysis every ten minutes." "The only way to locate the error is to start from the beginning." "Willy, tie my wrists." "Why?" "To make sure I can't move." "My God, no!" "No!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "What do you want?" "What do you want?" "Leave me alone!" "I promise I won't hurt you." "I couldn't hurt you." "I didn't know what I was doing." "Please believe me." "I didn't know." "Calm down." "It's over." "Please believe me." "It's okay." "It's okay." "It's okay." "Why?" "I don't know why." "It's all right." "It's gonna be okay." "It's okay." "It's okay." "It's okay." "It's all right." "It's all right." "It's okay, it's okay." "That's enough for now." "I feel better." "Really, I feel better." "That's enough." "I feel better!" "I said, that's enough!" "Enough!" "Hey, look at that one." "Go around the block." "We'll catch him." "Hello." "Yes." "Where?" "How is he?" "I don't know." "Everybody's in there, including the chancellor." "I can't let him see me." "I'd have to answer too many questions." "What happened?" "I don't know." "I'd have to go back to the laboratory and complete the experiment to be certain." "It's the only way to save him." "Here." " Take this." " What is it?" "It's the result of two years of research." "It belongs to Peter." " Sorry, ma'am, you can't go in." " I'm from the university." "You can let her pass, it's okay." " You can't go in." "Wait." " How is he?" "I want to see him." "There's no use in your seeing him." "He was in a serious state of confusion, now he's under sedation." "Miss Donnelly, who notified you?" "Who told you?" "Willy Carson." "Look for him." "I want to see him right away." "Well, there's no point in staying here now." "Let me know if there's any news." "Yes, sir." "You need to go home too, it's bad." "Let's go, I'll drive you home." "No." "I'll stay here." "Mike, what's happened?" "Is his life in danger?" "Damn it, we don't know." "All we know is he entered the laboratory with Willy's help and that he was struck by a police car, but it didn't hurt him." "But that's all we know." "But his organism, it's like..." "Like what?" "Like he had aged 50 years all at once." "It's absurd." "But that's how it is." "Dr. Lester." "They're doing the blood analysis." "There's some things, I think, it would be best for you to see." "Or someone might take me for a madman." "I've never seen anything like it." "Antibodies of an unknown species that are fighting his own." "Incredible." "They're obviously stronger and more virulent." "Ah, I know I'm talking heresy, but I don't think they're human." "Peter." "Go away." "Sally, go away." "Peter, listen to me." "Whatever's happening to me isn't going to stop." "Every cell in my body is dying." "Please just go." "Willy said there's still hope." "He gave me the serum." "He gave it to me to keep" " until he finds the solution." " No." "There is no more solution." "Can't you see that for yourself?" "Go away!" "No!" "No, I won't leave." "Sally!" "Sally, wait!" "Wait!" "Mike, help me." "It's the program of the experiment, right?" " Yes." " No." "No." "No, it's not." "Dr. Houseman destroyed the program disc." "You have a long career ahead of you, Willy." "Don't throw it away." "Now, tell me exactly how things stand and what you were examining." "A form of aphasia has also set in, which is worsening." "He can hardly articulate a word." "He's undergoing a skeletal deformation as well." "His entire metabolism is changing." "Oh, my God." "It's not a degeneration gone crazy." "It's an organic mutation." "It's not just a mutation, it's a regression." "What are you talking about, Lloyd?" "I've been studying his notes." "Dr. Houseman injected himself with cells with modified DNA." "What?" "To block the development, the generic information that he believed, controlled cellular aging." "But he opened up a dormant mutation." "One that hasn't been active for millions of years." "That information has transformed him into what we were, maybe even before the advent of the mammals, at a remote time in our evolution." "My God!" "Into what?" "I don't know." "We shall see." "He will die before the transformation is completed." "He's very weak now." "Could be." "Tommy, get ready, Alice is here." "Hi, Sally." "I'm sorry, I'm late." "Is Tommy ready?" "Just about." "Thank you, Alice." "Oh, no problem, Sally!" "Do you want him to sleep there?" "No." "Thank you." "Tommy is such an adorable kid." "Tommy." "Tommy!" "Gotcha!" "It's okay, Sally." "It didn't spill." "Hello, Peter." "You wanted to surprise everybody and you did." "Too bad you'll die before the process is complete." "But maybe you still don't know what happened to you." "Maybe you can't even understand what I'm saying to you." " I'm listening." " Oh." "So, you're still a human being." "That is good news." "You know, I've persuaded Willy to turn over to me the program of your experiments." "His career is very important to me." "He said that I was right." "You know, I've already told the chancellor that I'm continuing with your experiment, in memory of your sacrifice." "I told him that I had misjudged you, you know." "He was very touched." "Now, however, you must hurry up and die." "I'm gonna dissect you to find out what the devil you've become." "I can satisfy your curiosity right now." "I won't die, now that you're here." "Metamorphosis will continue as long as I have what I need." "You traitor, old Lloyd." "Oh, no!" "Now, I have to..." "Do you know where he might have gone?" "No, I don't know." "Why were the heart and liver ripped out of this victim?" "Merry Christmas!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Merry Christmas!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Merry Christmas!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Hello!" "Hello!" "Oh, thank you!" "Merry Christmas!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Merry Christmas!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Hello!" "Merry Christmas!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Merry Christmas!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Ho!" "Who's there?" " Sally." " Peter?" "Turn off the light." "Why did you leave the hospital?" "Don't come any closer." "I want the serum." "What do you wanna do with it?" "Peter, go back to the hospital." "Let them help you." "Nobody can help me." "My body is mutating more and more quickly." "I must return to the laboratory." "Mutating?" "What do you mean?" "It means..." "That I'm becoming a living fossil." "But what is more amusing is that the experiment works." "And what I've become," "I shall be forever." "Hello." "Sally, Peter has gone crazy." "He's killed Lloyd and escaped." "We don't know where he went." "Mike, he is here!" "Hello." "Sally!" "Give me the serum!" "Tommy?" "Where is Tommy?" "Tommy!" "Tommy!" "Tommy!" "Where is Tommy?" "Where is he?" "God!" "Shit!" "Oh, my God." "Help me." "Start, damn you!" "Start!" "Tommy!" "Tommy!" "Tommy!" "Open the door!" "Tommy!" "Open the door!" "What was that?" "It's in the laboratory, on the ground floor." "I'll call Steve at the entrance." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Is anyone down there?" "We're over here!" " Tommy, where's the key?" " Don't know!" "Where?" "Find it." "Come on!" " It's horrible!" " Sally, it's all right." " It's over, Sally!" " He's inside!" " He's in..." " Hold your fire till I give the order!" "All shooters, hold your fire!" "Hold your fire!" "What was it?" "A nightmare." "From the past!" "Mike!" "That..." " That's not Peter, right?" " No." "Mike." "He said that he would be transformed and he even said that whatever he became, he would remain forever, understand?" "He said that he would never die because what..." "In spite of everything his experiment was successful." "No, no." "Peter is dead." "Believe me." "What happened to him?" "My God!" "It's incredible." "The degradation of his cells wasn't arrested." "He decomposed." "We'll have to make a report." "Wayne, call the station and them what's happened here." "Yes, sir." "It's gonna be difficult to convince a jury that this..." "This stuff was once a man." "Tommy!" "Here I am, mama." "Everything's going to be okay, honey." "It's all over, honey." "Everything's going to be okay." "It's all done." "But I persist in believing it's ridiculous to make such a long trip by car." "We'll stop along the way." "Tommy!" "I'm coming." "Tommy and I, we're not in any hurry." "It'll be like a little vacation." "Hey." "Happy to be going back to New York?" "Well, bon voyage, little guy." "I'll come see you soon, okay?" "Mike..." "Thanks for everything, Mike." "Tommy, where did you find that?" "Let him go or you'll kill it." "No, don't worry." "I won't hurt him." "He won't die." "He won't ever die."