"(Bleeping)" "What are you doing?" "Commander Traynor." "is it..." " lt's not..." " lt's Simon." "Simon." "Good God, what are you doing here?" " l came through the time barrier." " l forbade it." " What?" " That day in my office a long time ago." "I told you it was pointless." "You should stay in the present." " How do you remember that?" " Still asking foolish questions." "No, it's just that sometimes in these projections, people don't remember." "I'm not too sure whether Controller 2957 does." "It was room 209 he took me into, his office he said..." "Controller 2957." "So you've met your future self." "Yes." "Commander, are you all right?" "Don't stay here, Simon." " Go back." " Why?" "What's happened to you?" "You're so changed." "Well... I suppose you could say that things haven't been altogether normal for me lately." "I haven't been permitted to be normal." "But a man must fight back, Simon." "Always fight back!" "(Sighs) I'm getting old." "Old." "And very tired." "Simon, I want you to give me your solemn word of honour that you won't tell anybody you've seen me today." " l hardly know anyone." " Your future self, Controller 2957." "Your word especially that you won't tell him." " Why?" " Will you promise?" "I wouldn't ask you if it weren't for a very special reason." "You'll have to trust me." "The way you used to." "All right." "All this." "I created all this, you know." " A Ministry of Forward Development." " Yes." "That day in your office." "Yes, yes, exactly." "The moment in time when the foundations were first laid." "In the years since then I've built vigorously, I've built well!" "Today..." "I'm not even supposed to be a part of it all." "I've fallen from grace, Simon." "I suppose you could say I'm a Misfit." "Not a word." "This hasn't happened." "Remember." "So, that's the tape." "That's the tape relating to the production of synthetic rubber for the sea Curtain." "Yes, Controller. I thought I'd look it out." "If you'd care to scan it." "No, if you say there's no positive order on it of mine to begin manufacture, that'll have to be good enough for me." "But it's extraordinary." "17, surely you remember my issuing that directive last Thursday?" "As you were, Controller." "16 here. 17 there." "16, are you completely sure of that?" "My memory for faces is wonderful, 17." "Yes, yes, yes. I made a natural mistake." "I apologise." "We'd better have the Atlantic progress map." "Very good, Controller." " That's the current situation?" " Yes." "The Americans are well ahead, as you say." "They must have laid 1 ,000 miles of Curtain." "1 ,082." "Now you tell me we haven't even completed laying the cable for our section of Curtain." " lt seems not." " For goodness' sake, Four." "I had a completion signal on it." "I'm not saying you didn't, but there's no record." "I've sent for the relevant tape." "(Controller) This is a serious matter." "Water is being pumped into the southern Atlantic at the rate of billions of gallons a day." "If that Curtain isn't ready to hold the excess by the time the general level rises, we'll get it all back in tidal waves." "(Alpha Four) Precisely, Controller." "Then we'd better buck our ideas up." " We seem to be losing efficiency." " Controller." " l'm in earnest, 16." " Careful." " What?" " 17 here. 16 there." "What does that matter?" "I'm serious." "The melting polar icecaps have created danger of flooding in lowland Europe." "The Master Plan tells us what to do about that. lt has clearly foreseen that..." "Oh, I'm awfully sorry." "I only came back..." "Simon, no." "That's all right." "We'll complete our tour." "Study the whole question, Alpha Four, and have a report on my desk by noon." "Just as you say, Controller." "We seem to have upset our controller." "It must have been his mistake about not starting synthetic rubber manufacture." " Perhaps he's tired." " He did mix us up, 17." "Yes." "Now, why on earth should he have done that?" " We're quite distinct." " As different as can be." "Especially since you gave up wearing calf-length boots." " Which never completely suited you, 16." " Yes, 17." "It may be a little more than his just being tired." "I've looked this tape over fairly carefully." "At a certain point, I find it's been edited." "(Alpha Four) Edited." "(Gasps) No, Rosie, stop." "Not like that." "Do you want to kill them?" "Like this." "It's to help them grow." "If they ever will in this heat." "(Paul) Today we're going to talk about poultry." "Beth wants you new ones to learn as much as you can because some day we hope to have more than a pair of chickens." "Now, to begin at the beginning, this is an egg." " (Chicken clucks)" " E-G-G, egg." "If most of you haven't seen one before, it's because before you became Misfits, you were fed on formula 6, vitamin plus albumen substitute, instead." "The Technocracy invented that to replace eggs." "A scientific breakthrough." "Hm." "Yes, Arthur." "I suppose that's all right, but do you have to hang around the city so much?" "Polluted atmosphere, many Technocrats to talk to." "Jenny, for a girl of your age, you've got an awful lot of thumbs." "Dominate it." "Show it who's boss." "Like this." "Keep going." "Oh." "There." "What on earth's that?" "It's so hot I was trying to remember the last place we were in, the ice Box." " But I'm no good at painting." " Of course you are." "Who told you that?" " l never was at school." " That's a Technocratic fallacy." "You were brilliant." "Your teachers didn't know how to encourage your talents." " ls that the truth?" " Go on, Liz." "Be abandoned." "Have fun." "Let it flow." " Beth." " Yes." "How did I... I mean, what was it that made you turn round and start this community?" "Community?" "That was a question of noblesse oblige, really." "I don't understand." "Well, you see, Liz, at a particular time in your life, you... I mean I decided that education was a charade." "It only existed to make more Technocrats." "So I thought it would be good to get away with a few unspoilt youngsters and bring them up to be themselves." "Wasn't it dangerous, having to go against the law?" " Throwing in my lot with the Misfits?" " Yes." "Well, if I'd been alone in the way I felt, then I might have thought twice about it." "But I wasn't and I'm not now." "There are communities like this all over England." "In France and Germany, too, by all accounts." "So there's hope." "There." "What do you think of that so far?" " Yes." "Yes, I rather like it." " (Bleeping)" "What on earth's that?" "There, Simon. I won't come any further." "The hovercraft can be seen out there and I can't risk being found with Beth." "Thanks a lot. I found out a lot today." "There was just one thing, though." "Commander Traynor..." " Don't mention that name." " There, but it's all right here, isn't it?" "Now, Traynor founded the Ministry of Forward Development, right?" " Yes." " What went wrong?" "How come he can't be talked about if he's really the boss?" "Something happened where Traynor was concerned." "Something unfortunate." "All right, Simon, you knew him, but Traynor betrayed us." "That's the truth." "He sold out on the Technocracy." "It's true. I happened to be his personal assistant at the time so I know." "He brought disgrace on his ministry." "He tampered with a Master Plan." "He got away before we could deal with him properly." "Society still has a score to settle with him." "As it may yet have with poor Beth." "Yes." "Poor Beth." "Hm." "Back from the citadels of progress." "I only hope Simon's a little wiser about the kind of time server he's going to be." "He doesn't have to be Controller 2957." "Honestly he doesn't." "Doesn't he just?" "You know more about the time barrier than I do these days." "All I can say to you is you'll be wiser not to be me, if you have the option." " Why do you say that?" " You wouldn't want to be me." "Oh, I would." "You've done some wonderful things here." "No." "Only drawn a bow at adventure and made some classic mistakes." "Not least of all where my childhood friend Simon is concerned." "Oh, yes." "Now, there's a thing, Liz." "A few years ago, Controller 2957 and I were engaged to be married." "Married?" "Me and... I mean, you and..." "Wait a minute." "You can't say something like that and walk away." " What more do you want me to say?" " Why were you and Beth engaged?" " Why?" " Yes." "The usual reasons, but in the event, we discovered we were incompatible." " incompatible!" "Gosh!" " (Beth giggles)" "That takes a load of your mind." "We weren't just plain incompatible." "We were demonstrated to be incompatible." " l don't understand what that means." " By the central computer." " Couldn't you find out for yourselves?" " Not allowed to." "2957's brilliant idea, so that neither of us made a nasty mistake." "Our statistics were taken and fed into the wondrous machine." "2957 came out with an A for everything." "Intelligence, ability to adjust, emotional security." " And you?" " Well, I got..." " D minus." " D minus." "Yes." "A lucky escape, Simon." "Mind you, I'll always like and respect Beth." "Naturally." " Marriage is not just tea and sympathy." " Yes." "Science saved us from a terrible mistake." "D minus, though." "Hey, now, wait a minute." "If Beth is Liz, then a D minus makes Liz..." "A moron!" "An idiot!" "Practically a screaming nitwit!" "Right." "Thick as a log and twice as wooden." "Lucky we've got our own teeth." " That's the worst thing I've ever heard." " No, Liz, it's progress." "But even to go and do it, to go to a computer and..." "Oh!" "That 2957!" "That Simon!" "Poor Beth." "Poor Liz." "An old friend with a rating like that, running a secret community outside the law." "Yes, I can see what you mean." " l'll kill him!" "I'll murder him!" " (Beth giggles)" "Be my guest." "(Beth giggles)" "I tell you, it's hotter." "Brighter." "It can't be brighter." "We'd better get on." "All right, kids, foraging now." "Let's go." " (Kids mutter)" " Hurry up." "No moaning." "Quickly." "Move." "Get your baskets." "No arguments." "Forward." " We'll go together, shall we, Liz?" " What?" " l said we'll go together." " Why are you suggesting that?" " You think I need help?" " l didn't say so." "No, but a D minus could hardly be expected to pull up roots without help from a winning A plus." "D minus." "How did you find out about that?" "A little bird told me and I was sure your wonderful Controller 2957 wouldn't let you go without passing on the information." " lt's nothing to do with me." " lt might be one day." " No!" " How can I be sure?" "(Paul) Let's go." "That kind of thing's you all over." "If I'm a D minus, I'm happy to be one." "I don't need your kind of grading." "It must be awful stuck up there with the A pluses." "(Laughing)" "That's the way." "You don't want to take any part of it too seriously." "I don't go much on these computer classifications." "It's all just to make people worried." "Does everybody have to have a computer test?" "Not everybody." "They tried matching me once at school with a boy." " To be married?" " Don't be silly." "They were pairing off boys and girls to work on a special course." "You know the kind of thing." "But population redevelopment caught up with us and I got declared a Misfit." " But what rating did you get?" " B plus." "B plus." "That's great." "That's wonderful compared with a..." "Look, I'm sorry, Liz. I didn't...mean...it." "What's the matter with her?" "(Buzzing)" "Oh." "Paul's right. lt's ten degrees hotter than it was yesterday." "The others aren't back yet." "They must have gone the other way from us." "This is so lovely." "What are you doing?" "Well, I felt chilly and naturally lit a fire." "What does it look as if I'm doing?" "Trying to save our food stores before the heat destroys it completely." " Boiling up preserves." " Why's it getting so much hotter?" "It's all in the mind." "I say, did you see those dancing lights a few minutes ago?" " What dancing lights?" " They weren't in the mind, anyway." "And yesterday that queer thunder." "It's funny all the changes there are in these times." "Kills me every time I think of it." "And not just things to do with the cloning programme." " There's other developments like clones." " Clones?" "Now, how on earth did clones creep into the conversation?" "I heard something about them the other day." "You needn't mention clones to me." "As far as I'm concerned, they're the dead end." "Soon we won't need to bear children any more or even be born." "The Technocracy will just print us off from our previous selves." "Providing we're the right sort of previous selves." "Alphas down to Deltas." "Deltas the hunters, you mean?" "I didn't know they were clones." "Yes." "Anyone who served the Technocracy and asked no questions is a good subject for cloning." "Perfect civil servants or thick-headed slaughterers." "It makes no odds." "This is really a killingly funny time we live in." "Does..." "Controller 2957 go along with something like the cloning programme?" "Well, fortunately, I'm not 2957's keeper." "But he likes you, Beth, really he does." "Respects you." "Shall I send him an old glove to wear pressed against his heart?" "He takes awful chances trying to help you, even if you don't want him to." "He didn't really mean anything about that computer test." "Yes, he told me." "It was just that, at the time, he wanted to make sure you were properly matched." " We weren't." "Like you and Liz." " lt's not the same thing." " Liz thinks it is." " Anyone can see it isn't." "Liz is a fathead." "That's right, a D minus, officially designated." "Oh, look, Simon. I don't know anything about these things, really." "All the test result told me was that I was myself and not somebody else." "Well, that was good. I didn't even think about being matched with 2957." " l thought something different." " What?" "That he might be in love with me." " Paul!" " Shh." "We'll fan out from here." "Remember the orders." "No shooting unless we have to." " l got separated from the others." " That's all right." "But a group of them this time and orders not to shoot unless they have to." " Hunters?" " l wonder what it's all about." "This heat is awful." "If it doesn't stop soon, I'll..." "Paul, look!" "(Groans)" "(Sobs) Oh, Beth!" "Simon!" "It's dead." "The whole bush." "And, Paul, the creek!" "It's dried up." "What's happened?" "Why are they dead?" " l looked after them as well as I could." " (Cracking)" "Look out!" "It's dead, too." "Just bone dry." "Just fell off the tree." "Well, of course." "That's it." "They've finally done it, Simon." "2957 and the Technocrats." "They've done something to the whole world." "They're burning us up."