"Did you hear that?" " Hear what?" " That sound." " Oh, you mean like somebody moaning?" " Yeah." "That was me." "Derek!" " I heard it again." " Heard what?" "A voice." "There's someone else here." "Look, maybe we should just go to the ridge like you said before." " You wanna go now?" " No." "No." "I'm just gonna take a look around real quick, okay?" "See if we're alone." "Well, I'm sure as hell alone." "Help us." " Save us." " Somebody here?" " Help us." " Hello?" "Help us." "Help." "Help us." " Nadia!" " Derek?" "Damn it." "Derek, this is totally immature." "I'm taking off." "I'm serious." "You!" " You!" " Oh, my God!" " You!" " Oh, my God!" "There is nothing wrong with your television." "Do not attempt to adjust the picture." "We are now controlling the transmission." "We control the horizontal... and the vertical." "We can deluge you with a thousand channels... or expand one single image to crystal clarity... and beyond." "We can shape your vision... to anything our imagination can conceive." "For the next hour... we will control all that you see and hear." "You are about to experience the awe and mystery... which reaches from the deepest inner mind to..." "The Outer Limits." "Ghosts, haunted houses" "Many maintain that such concepts have no place... in our computerized 20th-century reality." "But until man conquers death, one inevitable question... will always linger within the recesses of the human mind:" "What lies beyond?" "...expert on supernatural phenomena or ghosts?" "No, not at all." "I'm just an average person who thinks that there's more... than what we experience with our five senses." "I think people should be made aware of that." "But you have to admit it's a lot harder for people nowadays to believe in ghosts." " After all, it is the 1990s." " I don't ask that people believe." "What I ask is that they simply keep their minds open to the possibility." "The evidence will take care of the rest." "Well, we thought it might be fun to share that evidence with my second guest." "He's a physicist-turned-debunker and the author of the book..." "Psychic Phenomena:" "A Rational Perspective." "Please welcome Mr. Leviticus Mitchell." "Mr. Mitchell, now why this calling?" "Why a debunker?" "Well, I became aware of the harm that irrational beliefs do to people." "I wanted to do something about it, and I guess I got bored sitting in the lab." "Why don't we run the video that Lynda took ofher alleged ghost... and let you do a little on-the-fly debunking for us?" "Yes?" "You." "What are you doing here?" " The image was taken approximately 11:15." " Hey, what are you doing?" " It was a flare in the lens." " A flare in the lens?" "Don't you need a light source for that to happen?" "Too busy admiring your performance?" "I was just transcribing the interview for an upcoming book." "I'm really gonna have to ask you to leave." "Look, you have a standing offer of $5,000... for anyone that can prove the existence of the supernatural." " Is that right?" " Yes." "Yes, I do." "But do you have any idea how many people have made a play for that money?" "How many people have offered you the 5,000, Mr. Mitchell?" "...anything else but a ghost, since ghosts don't fit in your framework." "No, my only framework is science, and I apply the rigors of science to all" "Why are you so sure that your son is dead?" "Most parents of missing children believe their kids are alive somewhere." "I keep hearing his voice." "What do you mean?" "When?" "The first time was in that house- the same one from the video I took." "It's been deserted for years." "I'd heard that Derek used to go there a lot to be by himself." "After Derek disappeared, the police had the house checked out." "They didn't find anything." "They think Derek ran away from home, but I know better." "Anyway, I didn't have anywhere else to look, so I went to the house." "Go on." "I was walking through the place when I started to hear a sound." "I thought it was the wind, you know... a tree brushing up against the wall." "But the sound became louder and clearer." "It was Derek's voice, and he was calling for me." "So I ran through the house to find him, but he wasn't there." "Just his voice." "And, God, his voice." "He sounded like he was dying... like he was being killed inside that house." "Ms. Tillman, when the mind undergoes the type of stress... that's associated with the loss of a loved one... it can manufacture illusions." "Yeah, "so real they can seem like supernatural entities."" "I read your latest book!" "Why don't you tell me exactly what it is that you want." "I want you to go to the house with me." "Why?" "Because I believe that my son's spirit is somehow trapped in that house." " Oh, look" " You're the only one left I can count on." "If I'm right, I want to know that." "And if I'm crazy, I want to know that too." "I need you." "Abrams, the original owner of the house, disappeared about six years ago." " Disappeared?" " Yeah." "Took folks a few weeks to figure it out, since he didn't come out much anyway." "According to the papers, hejust left everything behind." "Hasn't been heard from since." "Well, it sure looks haunted." "You know how to pick 'em." "I'll give you that much." "Come on." "I'll show you where it was." "It was about here that I heard it." " About what time?" " About now." "Why?" "Well, the Southern Pacific line runs not too far from here." "According to their time schedule, the freights pass" "It wasn't a train." "I know what a train sounds like." "Listen." "Listen." "That's what I heard." " Have you ever heard of Occam's razor?" " No." "The axiom states that the simplest theory is usually the correct one." "Take my advice." "Lynda, if you want to find out what happened to your son" "Listen." "That's called a draft!" "You get those in drafty houses." "The so-called Fort Wayne poltergeist back in '81 - it turned out to be an open window in the attic." "Mom!" "Help me!" "Please help!" "Help!" "I'll need a couple of hours..." "to get some equipment." " You're that psychic, aren't you?" " No, I'm not a psychic." "No, wait a sec." "That's right." "I saw you on TVwith that Mrs. Tillman." "I'm sure as hell glad someone finally put her in her place." "So what brings you here?" "Well, Mrs. Tillman has hired me to help locate her son." " Come again?" " It's a long story." "Is there anything that you can tell me about Derek Tillman?" "Nothing you probably don't already know." "We haven't found him, and we've got a pretty good hunch he's okay." "Why is that?" "Well, one week before Derek was reported missing... he and his mom had the mother of all arguments." "She slapped him pretty hard." "Over what?" " She didn't tell you?" " No." "Mrs. Tillman didn't like who her boy was seeing at the time- a young girl who disappeared about the same time as Derek." "Nadia Torrance." "Nothing but trouble." "We think they took off together." " Where are the girl's parents?" " In Los Angeles." "But they could give a hoot in hell about their daughter's whereabouts." "And if I were you, I'd take the same attitude, Mr. Mitchell." "There's very little you can do here." " You what?" " I went to the police." "Background research." "It's the same thing that psychics do to get info on their clients for readings." "Well?" "We did have a fight." "Was it about the girl?" "Yeah." "She was a screwed-up kid, and I didn't want Derek seeing her." " You want a drink?" " Oh, thanks." "Anyway, she was doing drugs... and she tried to get Derek into them too." "So after the fight with your son... that's when Derek disappeared along with Nadia." "Yes." "And you still believe that Derek's spirit is here in this house?" "I guess you can just call it a matter of faith." "Faith?" "Faith." "Faith is just another way of saying there's no proof." " You always been such a nonbeliever?" " Believe so." "Mm-mm." "That's not what I understand." "After your wife died, you visited a few psychics yourself." "Background research." "What I don't know is why you became a skeptic." "It was during a séance." "I caught the medium faking my wife's voice." "Oh, she really had me going." "She called me Levi." "My wife never called me Levi." "She hated the name." "She always called me Mitchell." "I saw it all just for what it was." "Just a stage show cooked up for people... who can't face the reality of death." "Mom!" "Mom!" "Please, please help!" "Get me out of here!" "Help!" "Get me out!" "Mom!" "Help!" "What happened?" "I found you lying on the floor, out cold." "You've been sleeping ever since." "Too much to drink, I think." " You didn't see it." " See what?" "It was Derek." " Oh, God, Mitchell, he was in the walls." " In the walls?" "The wall changed into him..." "like he was part of the house." "I checked my instruments." "There was some seismic activity, but it could have been a passing truck." "You got a real thing about transportation, don't you?" "Everything's either trains or trucks." "Take it easy." "Take it easy." "Are you okay?" "Derek's spirit is in this house... and I think it's trying to tell me something, like what happened to him." "All right, I'm gonna clear this up once and for all." "It happened around here." "Well, I see the wall." "I see a big wall." "All right, Mitchell, you've made your point." " I don't know what it proves." " We won't know what it proves until I" " Wait a second." " What?" "What is it?" "I have to narrow the beam width." "Oh." " There's something here." " What?" "Well, with this resolution, it's hard to tell... but I'd swear it was a door." "Well, I'll be damned." "An autoclave, a rectifier... a centrifuge... diffusion pump, desiccator" "This is a laboratory." " What?" " What is this?" "Well, that's obviously the center of attention." "It's mildly radioactive." "No more than 12 millirems." "You see the micro-impact scoring?" "Could be a meteorite." "Where did you find this?" "I'll fill you in later." "But right now, how about running some tests for me, Jennifer?" " Anything for a former professor." " I knew I could count on you." "Okay, give me a Liebig." "Put it through a Duboscq too." "And if there's any anorthosite, you might want to try some polarization." " Okay." " Lynda." "Hey, just be happy you gave me an "A."" "What exactly are we looking for?" "Anything we might have missed." "You love to drink, don't you?" "Believe it or not, there are some things about me that are none of your business." "When I drink, I don't dream." "When I don't dream, the next day is usually a pretty good one." "Wait a minute." "This must be Abrams's diary." "Bingo." "It says here that Abrams worked for Genedyne Biochemical... and that Genedyne was closed for an indeterminate reason by the EPA." " Abrams was under investigation." " Wonder why." " Well, it doesn't say." " Any clues in there?" ""I will attempt to introduce a longer stacking element... a biphenyl instead of a naphthalene... to induce autocatalytic reaction."" "It'll never make the New York Times best-sellers list." "That it won't." "So how come you never remarried?" " Hmm?" " Never mind." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "It's just that none of this makes any sense." " Not everything makes sense." " Well, I don't accept that." "Maybe that's why it's so hard for you to believe in anything." "Everything has to have a reason, a formula." " Everything does have a formula." " What about love?" "Hormonal secretions that stimulate certain sensory regions of the brain." "Boy, I bet your wife loved to hear that over a candlelight dinner." " We never had any candlelight dinners." " Why am I not surprised?" "Well, it wasn't because of me." "Carrie just wasn't into fancy occasions." "What happened to her, Mitchell?" "No, you don't have to tell me." "It was a car accident." "Kid going too fast through a stoplight." "I'm sorry." "Help!" "Someone!" "Help!" " Help!" " Help us!" " Help me!" " No!" "No!" "No!" " Mitchell!" " Please try and help us!" " Do you see it?" " This can't be happening." " Please!" "Please!" " Help us get out!" "Help us!" "Party's over." "This area is now off limits." "I want that report on my desk right now!" "Think it's dark enough?" " The lamp broke." " I'm disappointed, Mitchell." "You of all people should be able to come up with something better than this." " The tape's not important." " She's right." "I know what I saw." "So what are you saying?" "The Abrams house is haunted?" "There's something there." "There's a presence." " A presence?" " It's dangerous and should be sealed off." "The Abrams house is being sealed off." "But not because of any ghosts." "The Abrams house is now a crime scene." "Do you recognize these, Mrs. Tillman?" "They look like Derek's." " We think they are." " Where did you get them?" "There are consciousnesses within consciousnesses." "Gigantic, all-encompassing scheme.!" "We're nothing, you know?" "We'rejust servants." "Servants of the twilight." "The house is God." "And you better not go messin'with the Lord." "Why, it's not a vengeance thing I'm talking about here." "God is coming, but he's not angry." "He's hungry." "Hungry likeJesus after 40 days in the desert." "There's your presence, Mitchell." "We ran him in this afternoon for urinating in public." "Claims he spent the night in the Abrams house." "Claims Derek Tillman and Nadia Torrance are dead... and buried in the Abrams house." "We found your son's glasses on him." "Don't know if we can charge him with anything yet though." "He could've just found 'em." "But we can't take any chances." "We're gonna start digging in the basement." "You should go home, Mrs. Tillman." "We'll call you if we find anything." "If you're taking advantage of that woman for a book... or God knows what, I'll come down on you hard." "We both know it ain't a book you're after, is it, Mitchell?" "Go to hell." "Don't believe in hell any more than you do." " Mitchell, this isn't over." " Oh, it is for me." " We both saw it." " There was never any evidence." " We just saw what we wanted to see." " No, you didn't want to!" "That's just it." "I wanted to believe." "All this time, I just wanted to believe." "Why is that such a crime?" "Because I threw away everything that I worked for!" " Mitchell, we weren't drunk!" " Why don't you just face it!" "It wasn't real!" "Your boy is gone!" "He ran away, and he ran away from you!" "I know Derek, and there has to be more!" " Oh, I'm sorry." " Damn it!" "There has to be more!" "I'm sorry." "I shouldn't have said that." "Wait a minute." "I know what it is to lose someone that you love... and to want them back so hard that it hurts." "And you don't deserve to be talked to like that." "I'm sorry." "What's wrong?" "You're right." "You're right." "I haven't gone on with my life." "I haven't let go of her." " It's time you did, Mitchell." " I know." "But she's still real to me." "I guess I really do believe in ghosts, because I've got one of my own." "I'm sorry." "I still have some things I've got to work out here." " Are you gonna be okay?" " Yeah." "I'll bring you your money." "I don't want your money." "I won't take your money." "Good-bye, Mitchell." " Hello?" " Hi." "Mitchell?" " Can you come down here right away?" " Yeah, sure." "Why?" "I really think you need to see this." " Okay." " Okay." "Bye." "So you were right." "It is a meteorite." "What was Abrams doing with a meteorite in his house?" "He was interested in what was in the meteorite." " What was that?" " An enzyme." " Enzyme?" " One that doesn't come from Earth." "Unless we're willing to reinvent biochemistry." "What am I looking at?" "Okay, keep your eye on the beaker." " What the hell" " My words exactly." "I'd just placed the enzyme in the beaker when I got called away for about an hour." " When I came back, it was like this." " What is that?" "What happened to that rubber stopper?" "It's still a rubber stopper." "It just happens to be alive." " Alive?" " Well, in theory." "I mean, it's a system capable of metabolizing, excreting and breathing... and it's responsive to external stimuli." "So the enzyme reorganizes inanimate matter... into animate matter." " And it's self-replicating." " Yeah." "That's about it." "The replication rate is astronomical." "And, lucky for us, it seems to have a problem with glass." "Enzyme must have lay dormant in the meteorite until I set off the alarm." "Abrams woke it up too." "EPA must've got wind of what Genedyne was doing and shut them down." "But Abrams kept working on the project at home, but it got away from him." " What do you mean?" " I mean a part of Abrams's house" "It's just like that rubber stopper." "It's been infected by the enzyme." "If that enzyme is out in the real world... there's no reason it couldn't keep spreading as long as it had enough to eat." "Then we've gotta find some way to neutralize it." "Two cc's chlorobenzene." "Not only is it alive, it is determined to stay that way." "If it's alive, it can die." "We've tried everything but the kitchen sink." "And if we had one, I'd try that too." "There's got to be something that this thing can't swallow." "Maybe there isn't, Mitchell." "No." "Whatever is in the Abrams house... it didn't get me or Lynda or Luther... and there's gotta be some reason." "Some reason that we didn't get killed." "What are you doing?" "I'm gonna make a fool of myself for the second time today." "Now, let me get this straight." "You're saying the house isn't haunted?" " It doesn't matter what it is." " Then why get my men out?" "Because whatever Abrams was working on... it has infected a part of the house, and that is dangerous to people." "Mitchell, you were better off with your ghost story." "I don't care if you believe me or not." "Let me see Luther." " Luther's back on the street." " On the street?" "I didn't have enough to hold him with." "But if my men dig up something, we'll get him back." "It's not like we don't know exactly where he goes." " Probably out getting drunk." " Was Luther drunk when you found him?" "Are you kidding?" "Luther's been drunk since the day he was born." "Okay." "Why alcohol?" "Because Lynda, Luther and I had one thing in common." " What?" " We'd all been drinking." "Roth here." "It's Lynda Tillman." "Have you found anything?" "No, we haven't found anything yet, Mrs. Tillman." " I'm gonna go over to the house." " That's a very bad idea, Mrs. Tillman." " When a person comes out of the ground" " I don't care." "I should be there if they find Derek." "Thanks, Warren." "Thanks." "What the hell was that?" "Warren?" "Mike?" "I'm gettin' the hell out of here." "You may be alien, but you can't hold your liquor." "Is anybody here?" "Oh, my God." "It's me, Mom." "Don't be afraid." "There's no need to be afraid." "It's okay here." "It's really okay." "It's warm and peaceful." "I knew you'd come back to me, Derek." "I just knew you would." "Get away from him." "Lynda, that's not Derek." "It's the house!" "Good God!" "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God." "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God." "Well, that's everything." " Shall we go?" " Do you really think it's over?" "I don't know." "We may never know." "I guess it's just a matter of faith." "Just a matter of faith." "What lies beyond?" "For each of us, the answer awaits at the end oflife's journey." "Until then, we must live with the ghosts... that dwell not in some musty basement... but within the recesses of the human soul."