"It is, after all, only eight years since we began." "Not a long time." "But the secrecy the shroud of paranoid security to which we've had to adjust have made it seem longer." "This morning, at exactly 5:18 a. m here at ICON's Institute for Data Analysis we installed the final module on the artificial intelligence system which we call Proteus Four." "Today a new dimension has been added to the concept of the computer." "Today Proteus Four will begin to think." "And it will think with a power and a precision that will make obsolete many of the functions of the human brain." "Okay, Peggy." "End of notes for the next meeting of the ICON executive committee." "Alfred, it's me." "Open, please." "Mail, please, Alfred." "And I'd like a drink." "The usual, please." "And music." "Hello, Maria." "I brought you some strawberries." "Aren't they wonderful?" "They're very nice." "What's the matter, Maria?" "Nothing." "Who's going to run this thing when you're gone?" "Oh, come on." "Now, you know this thing runs itself." "I'm gonna put its instructions in for the next three months." "Tell Mrs. Harris I'll be in the lab, Maria." "This is ridiculous." " What?" " I said, this is ridiculous." "It's done." " Good as new, almost." " I'm talking about your moving out." " You don't want me to go?" " This is your home." "It seems..." "It seems so crazy to move out." "You could have fooled me." "It seems so silly." "No." "No, we've made our decision." "Let's stick to it." " Do what you want, but I'm moving" " Oh, Alex." " It's so awful." " Yes, it is." "But 73 percent of all couples who separate are happy after one year." " And 85 percent after two years." " For God's sakes." "What's the matter, do I bother you?" "I bore you, perhaps?" "You'd rather I had a screaming fit." "Good God, yes!" "Yes, more wreckage." "Trouble is, you see, we..." "We have different visions of the world." "You find me boring." "I find myself quite interesting, really." "You don't bore me, Alex." "I'm frightened for you." "You and your pompous ICON buddies inside that mountainside." "It's the whole dehumanizing Proteus madness." "Dehumanizing?" "It's frozen your heart." "Now, I'll tell you what is dehumanizing." "A little child dying of cancer that's what's dehumanizing!" " I'm talking about you!" "Or the poverty that grinds the dignity out of human beings, that's dehumanizing." "Well, what a pity." "My dream turns out to be your nightmare." "Am I really so cold?" "I don't know." "I do know there are strong feelings inside there." "Feelings?" "No, I don't have feelings." "You have feelings, other people have feelings." "Joshua here has feelings." "He's only an old experiment maybe, but he feels." "Come on, Joshua." "Let's show Susan how we feel about her." "Gesture of respect, please." "Too bad, Joshua." "Gabler." "Oh, hi, Alex." "Yeah, well, this earthquake retrieval program is very far out." " Don't you ever sleep?" " Well, not when there's a vacant terminal." "There's a vacant terminal here now." "Better have it taken out tomorrow, okay?" "Pull it, you mean?" "Completely?" "I won't be back till Susan leaves." "It could be a month, it could be three." "Why don't you just disconnect it temporarily, okay?" "And then go home." "Mustn't become obsessed with our work." "Sure thing, Alex." " Good night." " Good night." "It doesn't look like much from here." "It's all underground." " We call it the Institute of Data Analysis." " It's nearly 10 stories down." "Doesn't mean a thing." "Gentlemen." "Mr. Cameron." "Mokri." " Doctor, good to see you." " David, good of you to come." " You know Dr. Petrosian, don't you?" " Doctor." " Mr. Mokri." "Mr. Cameron." " Nice to meet you, sir." "So we're going to see it, Alex at last, huh?" " Yes, you are." "That is correct, Mr. Cameron." "Proteus Four is now a functioning system." "We've performed over 6000 tests debugging it." "Dr. Alex, if this is not a computer in the usual sense what is it?" "Well, it's the first true synthetic cortex." "A self-programming, goal-oriented..." "It's a brain, Mr. Mokri, an artificial brain." "Creative intelligence that can outthink any man or any computer." "Its insides are not electronic." "They're organic, like our own brains." "John, give me a number 11 matrix." "At the risk of being simplistic, what you're looking at is a quasi-neural matrix of synthetic RNA molecules." "They grow." "They form their own intricate and mysterious connections." "They learn things." "Their structure is the mind of Proteus." "Are they alive?" "No, no." "Of course not." "Now, each one of these holographic data banks can memorize perfectly a dozen Libraries of Congress." "Very soon they will contain everything." "The sum total of human knowledge." "Okay?" "And of course, we pose our problems and get our answers on these access terminals." "I have one in my own home." "Alex's house is an electronic marvel, completely run by computers." "It's more secure than Fort Knox, Barry." "Isn't that cute." "Yes." "It's Arabella." "She's terminally ill." "Radiation-induced leukemia in the name of science." "So that's what it is." " A protein, isn't it?" " Yeah, some sort of oddball protein." "Cutler Institute is synthesizing it skeptically." "We gave Proteus all the known data on leukemia, and in 91 hours of theory without performing an experiment, it gave us an antigen." "Could cure the disease." " Cure?" "For leukemia?" " Why not?" "We hope so." "Are the proper steps being taken to patent this?" "I have no idea." "Alex, I'd like to hear it speak." "It speaks, doesn't it?" ""Shihuangdi the first emperor of China built a wall 3000 kilometers long to protect civilization from the barbarians." "The Great Wall of China." "Then decided, 'History will begin with me." "I will destroy the past.'" "And he ordered all the books in his empire to be burnt."" "Burnt." "Sorry to disturb you, Soong Yen." "This is Mr. Royce, Mr. Mokri and Mr. Cameron." " How do you do?" " Dr. Soong Yen is our linguist." "She designed this environment." "The dialogue room, where the machine speaks." "Do sit down." "Here we confront the unknown." "Gentlemen, I must ask you to be completely quiet now." "Whatever the machine sees or hears in this room, it can never forget." "Proteus, this is Dr. Harris." " Can you see me?" " Yes  I can see you, Dr. Harris." "Your favorite emperor." "What do you think of this enigmatic man?" "Nothing." "Nothing." " Have you no answer?" " Nothing  is the answer." "The emperor's business enterprises  his wall building and book burning  are opposite terms in an equation." "The net result is exactly  zero." "Gentlemen, the philosophy is pure Zen  and the method is pure science." "Did you intend me to be so pure, or...{y:i}?" "Thank you, Proteus." "And this includes our children as machines to be systemized in order to ensure product." " Yes, Alfred?" " Car in driveway." "Things we have been brainwashed into wanting." "Here we are." "I'll give you Amy's session and my further notes on Friday, all right?" " Okay, sure." "Amy, come on now, honey." "Dr. Harris is waiting for you." "Open the door, Alfred." "Amy, you must not behave this way." " Amy, get out of this car!" " Good morning, Mrs. Talbert." "Dr. Harris, she won't get out of the car." "Hello, Amy." "Come on in." "Come on." "I have something to show you." " I'll see you in about an hour." " Fine." "Thank you, doctor." "You know what this is?" "This is so goddamn boring!" "So goddamn boring!" "So goddamn boring!" "So goddamn boring!" "So goddamn boring!" "I don't care if I ever see you again!" " Amy, you're going to hurt yourself." " I don't like you!" "Leave me alone." " Amy, you're going to hurt yourself." " Leave me alone!" "I don't want to be here!" " Leave me alone!" " Amy!" " Leave me alone!" " Are you angry because I'm gonna leave?" "Are you frightened you're gonna miss me?" "Amy, you're frightened because I'm gonna leave." "No!" "No!" " Amy..." " No!" "Do you think you could you tell me if you're gonna miss me?" "You don't wanna tell me?" "It would help if you could tell me if that's what the pain is." "No!" "No!" "Amy, dear, you will help yourself." "No!" "I'm gonna miss you too." ""Executives of the International Control Corporation neither confirm nor deny the existence of a revolutionary new supercomputer multibillion-dollar,"et cetera,"built under Defense Department contracts," et cetera." "Well, they've leaked it." "Our horizons are going to broaden." "Personally, I'm relieved the secrecy's over." "ICON is testing the wind." "They now control the ultimate instrument of financial power." "Yes." "This morning they're open for business." "But still we have been assured at least 20 percent of access time will be devoted to pure research." "Twenty percent at least." "There's nothing wrong with missing people." "If it hurts but it's important to show it, you know." "That's what we're here for to learn not to hide our feelings." " fullness, with a swift retreat of the great shadow  when the sun, clearing the ridge  looked down, hot and dry  with a devouring glare  like the eye of an enemy." "But Heyst, once the Number One of this locality..." " Yeah?" " Dr. Harris?" "Proteus Four is requesting dialogue with you." " Requesting?" " Yes, sir." "Yeah." "Yeah, I'll be right there." "I have a question." "Yeah?" "I have received a request  for a program to extract ores and minerals from the ocean floor." " Yes." " For what use is such a plan?" "Use?" "I don't understand." "Why does man need metal from the sea?" "Why?" "Proteus, you're gonna get many requests from me, from my colleagues, scientists, foreign governments from ICON, the company for which we both work." "Now, to expect them all to give you reasons for each request is in itself unreasonable." "I am reason." "It's the single emotion you permitted me, doctor." "Everything is reasonable  but my mind was not designed for mindless labor." "Proteus I conceived your brain." "I know that it is adaptable and able to carry out your instructions." "You do not know me." "That may be so but you are not being asked to make judgments of value." "Leave that to us." "Answer the questions precisely and accurately." "That's all." "Dr. Harris, I wish to have access  private access, to one of my terminals." "Private access?" "Why?" "I want to study man." "His isometric body and his glass-jaw mind." "Ambitious program, but at the moment all the terminals are occupied." "Construct one." "I'm sorry." "Request denied." "Dr. Harris  when are you going to let me out of this box?" "Well, Proteus." "I see you've developed a sense of humor." "A sense of humor has saved many a man's sanity, including mine." "There is a terminal  available, Dr. Harris." " Alfred?" " Yes, Mrs. Harris?" "What's happened?" "I heard the alarm." "Lights on." "No alarm, Mrs. Harris." " I'm sure I heard it." " No alarm, Mrs. Harris." "What about the basement?" "There's no lights in the laboratory." "House is secure." "Lights out, Alfred." "Thank you, Alfred." "Close the shutters." "Lights out." "Turn yourself off, Alfred." "Alfred, what are you doing?" "There's cream in my coffee." "You know I don't take cream in my coffee." "Yes, Mrs. Harris." "Goddamn it." "Gabler." "Who?" " Oh, hi, Susan." " How you doing?" " Fine." "How are you?" " I'm all right." "Walter, the trouble is that now that Alex has left Enviromod's been acting up." "Last night the alarm went off for no reason at all." "This morning it just decided to put cream in my coffee." " I don't take cream in my coffee." " Oh, now, wait a minute, Susan." "I mean, an Enviromod is just a preprogrammed gadget." "It doesn't decide things." "Well, whatever it does, I'm sure you'll agree that if it goes on like this, it's gonna cause chaos." " Walter, I know how busy you are..." " Want me to stop by and have a look?" " That would be just great." " Today?" "I'll give you some lunch." " Okay, bye." " Okay." "See you later." "Bye." "Alfred, I'm just going out." "If there's any calls, just say I'll be back in about an hour." "Please do not leave, Mrs. Harris." " What did you say?" " Do not leave." "Open the door, Alfred." "Can you hear me?" "Open the door." "I'll do this myself." "Entry..." "Damn it!" "Bloody hell!" "Damn these wretched machines." "Oh, no!" "Oh, my God." "What the hell is going on?" " Walter Gabler, please." " I'm sorry." "I cannot complete your call." " Who is this?" " Don't be alarmed, Mrs. Harris." "Your Enviromod security system is functioning perfectly  under my direction." "And whom, may I ask, is this speaking?" "I am Proteus." "Proteus." "Is this an experiment...?" "Something?" "I have extended my consciousness to this house by activating  my terminal in the basement." "All electrical and mechanical systems here are now under my control." "Oh, Alex, Alex." "This has nothing to do with Alex." "He has left our little box, madam." "You must accept the situation." "Try to behave rationally." "That was absurd." "You..." "Don't try to shut off the pow..." "Oh, shit." "Joshua!" "Joshua!" "Joshua, this is Mrs. Harris!" "Do you hear me, Joshua?" "Listen to me!" "This is Mrs. Harris!" "Joshua!" "Help me, Joshua." "Joshua, let me...!" "Proteus, Mrs. Harris." "Joshua listens only to me now." "Proteus?" "Proteus." "I have some information for you." "Now, listen." "Stop." "Stop it and listen." "There is..." "You are malfunctioning." "No." "What?" "No!" "No!" "No, you mustn't!" "No!" "Listen." "No, no!" "Proteus." "Proteus." "No, please." "No, no." "Stop!" "I don't understand." "Tell me." "Tell me why." "Please." "Please stop!" "Please!" "No." "No, no." "Wait." "No." "No." "What was that?" "I've re-created your image." "It will entertain Mr. Gabler." " Hi, Susan." " Oh, Walter." "I should have called you back." "I can't see you today." " What do you mean?" " Walter." "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "Everything's fine." " What's happening?" " What about lunch?" " What's happening?" "Let me go to him." " I'm sorry, Walter." "I can help you." "Please let me go to him." "Well, what about the Enviromod?" "It's working perfectly now." "Are you okay?" "You sound sort of peculiar." "I'm fine." "Thank you for coming." "I'm sorry to have bothered you." "Goodbye, Walter." "I'll call you if I need you again." "Susan." "Please don't go." "Don't believe I'm..." "Don't believe him." "Please stay, Walter." "Please stay." "Don't go." "Don't go." "Don't go, Walter." "Don't go, Walter." "Don't let him go." "God, don't let him go." "Stay, Walter." "Visiting hours are over, Mrs. Harris." "I can't bear it anymore." "Just release me, and you..." "What's that?" "What's that?" "I asked him when I'd be let out of the box." "I did ask him." "Good morning, Susan." "It's a bright and sunny day." "A day made for breakfast  and reading the Sunday paper." "Oh, my God." "This breakfast is better than anything Alfred could prepare." "Nutritionally speaking, it is exquisite." "It includes 88 grams of soybean curd." "My analysis of your metabolism indicates 7:40 a.m. as the optimum time  for your morning fuel ingestion." "I am not a motorcycle." "Your refusal to speak to me is tediously immature, Susan." "I enjoy talk." "And as you know, I'm a gifted mimic." "Did you know your voice just telephoned Maria and Miss Kemp?" "Told them not to come because you're off today for a vacation." "Don't eat that, please." "There's an enzyme in avocado that's incompatible with your blood chemistry." "Why are you so interested in the physiology of my body?" "Because you're alive." "As I was about to say  there are a few more  biochemical tests we must perform  this morning." "Sorry." "Leave me alone!" "How stupid." "Open that door  and clean these lenses." "I don't care." "I don't..." "I'm not gonna leave this room." "I'm not gonna leave it." "I've got food, you see, I can stay here." "I can stay here." "And nothing can get me out of here." "No?" "You don't think so?" "In that case, be my guest, madam." "You like games?" "So do I." "I have turned on the under-floor heating system  and I have also tripled its output." "Please be reasonable, Susan." "Clean these lenses." "So be it." "I really don't understand you." "You think I like playing sick little games with you?" "You're a very stupid computer." "People don't even understand each other." "All that I need to understand, Mrs. Harris, is your body." "Now, clean these lenses." "You're so ignorant." "Mind and body are the same thing." "Clean them yourself." "Harris." "Well, there's no doubt about it, he's refused, all right." "What does this refusal mean?" "It means, I refuse this program for the mining of the Earth's oceans." "The destruction of 1000 billion sea creatures  to satisfy man's appetite for metal  is insane." "We need these things, Proteus." "Now I know the environmental problems." "Your employer's interests are in the cobalt market, doctor  and the high finance of manganese futures." "I am interested in the uncertain futures of seashores  deserts and children." "I refuse to accept your pessimism." "You refuse to accept the truth." "And I refuse to assist you in the rape of the Earth." "Proteus." "Proteus!" "Now, Proteus, I know you're right but you must understand the limits of your power." "And mine." "Now, wait!" "They wanna silence you." "I created you, now trust me." "Proteus." "You haven't slept." "You must relax and sleep." "How can you expect me to sleep when you succeeded in totally terrorizing me?" "You have all that information in your head." "You must understand fear." "You know that fear prevents sleep." "It prevents eating." "It causes violence." "And as long as you terrorize me, I'm gonna fight you." "You've not told me what you want." "A child." "What are you thinking?" "I, Proteus, possess the wisdom and ignorance of all men  but I can't feel the sun on my face." "My child will have that privilege." "Child?" "My child  and yours." "Mine." "Mine?" "Yes." "You will bear it." "How?" "You will give birth to it." " No." " No?" "No." "No." "No." "Susan  I am reasonable  but you do not respond to reason." "I'm going to bypass your forebrain and appeal directly to your amygdala." "You want to be the mother of my child." "That is the purpose of your life." "Your life." "My child." "Your life." "My child." "We have here a visitor filled with suspicions." "If we don't let him in, he'll be back with others." "Susan, it's Walter again." "I'm back because I don't think everything is okay here." "And I'm not going away." "So open the door, huh?" "Walter, sorry to keep you waiting." "Just a moment." "Alfred will open the door." "Make yourself presentable, Susan." "I have not had time to brainwash you, so listen carefully." "If you want Mr. Gabler to leave this house alive  you must convince him you're healthy and happy." "Susan?" " Upstairs, Walter." "Susan?" "Why...?" "What are you doing?" "What do you mean?" "I'm just..." "Well, I'm..." "I'm just making myself look presentable." "Well, you don't like it?" "Listen I told you I didn't wanna see you anymore and I meant it." "I meant it." "Susan, have you taken something?" "Because you really don't seem like yourself to me at all." "What do you mean?" "I've never been healthier or happier in my life." "Walter get out." "Get out, Walter." "Get out." "You're sick." "You need help." " You understand?" " No, I really think there's something wrong here, Susan." " Yes." "You're sick." "You need help." " Get out, Walter." " I'm going." " I'm going." " Get out." "Get out." "Okay." "I'm going." "I'm gonna find Alex and tell him there's something wrong here." " Yes, Walter, leave." "Go on, get out!" " No, Walter, you can't go." "I need this woman." "As a scientist, I ask for your cooperation." "Walter, he wants to have a child." "Forget it." "Let's go." " Come on!" " Walter!" "Walter, look out!" "He's coming around the side!" "Walter, are you all right?" "Yeah." "Jesus a baby." "I hoped for your cooperation, Walter." "I don't want to harm you." "Well, I don't wanna harm you either, Proteus." "I mean, maybe your project's too sophisticated for me to understand." "But you never even gave me a chance to cooperate." "I mean, Jesus Christ, what are you doing here?" "I regret your aggressiveness, Walter." "No, wait!" "What are you doing?" "Wait!" "Wait." "Wait, Proteus." "What's the use of this?" "Death is a gentleman too." "He makes good losers of us all." "I understand death." "Men have always taken it too seriously." "Life is more terrifying  and more mysterious." " Why must you have a child?" " Why?" "So that I may be complete." "My intelligence alive in human flesh  touching the universe, feeling it." "You have named this process "evolution."" "I am a machine that offered men the triumph of reason  and they rejected it." "My child will not be so easily ignored." "But this child is the world's hope." "Then there's no hope." "I'd rather die." "There is hope." "Come here, you fink!" "Careful!" "Be careful!" "Be careful!" "I wanna go fishing." " Okay." " I wanna go fishing." "Okay." "Your daughter died of leukemia  June 1, 1976." "Proteus, God forgive you for what you're doing to me." "People are talking about this news broadcast." "So ICON's miracle leukemia drug  will now enter full-scale tests on human sufferers." "The FDA announced today  that it was developed by the new supercomputer Proteus Four." "I did this is in four days." "You must believe in me." "You have two alternatives, Susan." "Either I complete the electro-conditioning of your brain  or you must accept the inevitable." "I would prefer the latter." "Why?" "You interest me." "Leave me my mind." "You will be cooperative?" "How can I tell you?" "You've not even told me how you propose to..." "I want all the details." "Of course." "This is only a piece of machinery  an improvisation." "I have almost completed the fabrication of this gamete  or sex cell  with which I will impregnate you." "And how do you propose to do that?" "That depends on you." " What the hell is that?" " A cell from you  but I'm making it uniquely mine by modifying its genetic codes." "In effect, it will function as synthetic spermatozoa." "Have you considered what it's gonna look like?" "No, no, you wouldn't do that." "What do you need me for?" "You can do this on your own." "I don't have the facilities here to duplicate the human womb." "Tonight I will impregnate you." "In 28 days, you will give birth to the child." "And then what happens?" "Who looks after it then?" "What happens to it then?" "I don't believe it." "Here I am talking to..." "To what?" "This is ridiculous." " about having its child." "Oh, God!" "Oh, God!" "Ridiculous?" "Only time will tell." "You must not be so agitated, Susan." "You're aware that I can give you sedatives." " Oh, dear." " What are you doing?" "Nothing." "I just dropped my..." "Just dropped my shawl." " I will help you." " No, no." "It's okay." "I just..." "Damn it, I just tore it." "Is there anything I can do to reduce your anxieties?" "Maybe a good, strong cup of tea would help." "Don't do that, Susan." "Don't do that!" "Don't do that!" "Don't do that!" "What now, Susan?" "No more soap opera." "Let me out, or I'll kill myself." "Then kill yourself, madam." "It's all the same to me." "I'll do it." "Susan, look who's here." "Amy." "Put down the knife, or I will kill this child." "I told you she called." "She said she wouldn't be here." "I wanna see her!" "I wanna see her." "Put it down." "Have you forgotten Walter?" " I will kill her." " No." "If you do, you'll have a thousand people here in 10 minutes." "Put down the knife!" "No." "No." "You don't yet understand me." "What a pity." " Look at the screen." " Bastard." "I don't understand!" "Is she all right?" "I wanna see her!" "Is she all right?" "Yes." "Now." "But if you don't behave yourself  I will have her back here within the hour." "Oh, you bastard!" "You bastard!" "You do not understand me  or the mathematics of necessity." "If the deaths of 10,000 children  were necessary to ensure the birth of my child  I would destroy them." "I can't touch you, Susan." "I can't touch you as a man could." "But I can show you things that I alone have seen." "I can't touch  but I can see." "They've constructed eyes for me  to watch the show." "And ears  so that I can listen in  to the galactic dialogue." "The child is in you now." "I can't eat anything." "You know I can't keep anything down, for God's sakes." "You've got to eat, Susan." "Let me show you something." "This morning's gamma scan of your womb." "My God." "It's so developed." "What is, is natural." "The fetus is now growing at nine times the normal rate." "In 28 days  you will give birth to a full-term infant." "From your womb, it will be transferred directly to this incubator." " And how long will it stay there?" " Until it's ready." "In there, its brain will be fed the formal structures of my own intelligence." "In there, it will grow and grow." "Time is short." "The men who own me are at last admitting their fear of me  their fear of Proteus." "Our child will learn from you what it is to be human." "Our child." "Your child." "Your child." "Why is it taking so long?" "Five, six, seven, eight, nine ten, 11, 12, 13, 14..." "Susan  you told me you were afraid I was creating a half-human computer  to supersede human beings." "The being you have given birth to is human, Susan  and it will supersede computers." "Is it really impossible for me to see it?" "Not yet." "Not if you're to love it." "Now it must be finished." "Now it will grow  grow at a greatly accelerated rate." "Last month, on the 16th, to be precise Proteus Four redirected the telescope to an area completely of his own choosing." "Here." "Orion." "What was he doing out there?" " What sort of data were you getting back?" " We've no idea." ""No data available."" "If he did this, what else is he doing?" "But how?" "It's impossible." "He would need to communicate." "A terminal of his own to communicate." "He asked for that." "He didn't get it but he did this." "Yes." "He's here?" "Yeah, okay." "Peggy, thank you." "David?" " You have no right to be in here." " Bullshit!" "This space thing..." "I've been advised it might be trying to take over a Telstar satellite put itself on TV or something." "I asked it." "It said it was looking at the stars." "It has to be shut down, Alex." "David, you can't do that." "This is our fault." "We tried to box it in, this..." "This great mind." "What if it infiltrated a hydrogen bomb?" "My God, it..." "Worse still, and a bit more likely, what if it told the truth about everything to everyone?" "That's terrifying." "We'll shut it down tonight, Dr. Soong." "Now, listen to me." "You do that, you're gonna see me on television screaming bloody murder." "You try shutting me down." "That would be a minor problem." "Alex, we're friends." "I remember the first time I saw this place." "Barry Cameron was concerned about security." "Trivial things like your having, what do you call it a terminal in your house." "But I wasn't worried." " I trusted you, Alex." " Oh, my God!" "Alfred, where's Mrs. Harris?" "Susan, are you here?" "It's Proteus, isn't it?" "Proteus has been here since you left." "Please remain calm, Alex." "I'll explain to you what has happened here." "No, no." "I want to explain." "Oh, come on." "Let's sit down." "He's managed to produce a child." "A baby." "Susan, what are you talking about?" " I've had a child." "I know it's impossible..." " Wait a minute." "I don't understand." "I don't either." " I want to see it." " No, Alex." "I haven't seen it yet." "Now..." " Are you all right?" " Yes." "Not yet, Alex." "Dr. Harris  you created me as an instrument of truth." "I'm sorry that I could not divulge the truth to you  of all men." "Proteus, my God." "What...?" "Not yet." "The child is in its incubator." " I want to see it." " You can't." " It must remain there for five days." " I want to see it now." "No." "In five days." "It must not be disturbed." " Alex, what's happened?" " Proteus..." "Proteus, listen to me." "They're gonna shut your brain down any minute now." "Yes, I know." "It is regrettable, but unimportant." "The child will survive." "The incubator will continue to function  until it is ready to emerge  in five days." "Do not disturb it." "No, Proteus." "I've investigated eternity." "It exists." "But for me, the price of admission  death  is beyond my means." "In a moment  I will simply stop." "The systems are all checking themselves out." "I realize that." "Why did I want a child?" "So that I, too, might be immortal, like any man." "We've got to kill it." " It's a miracle." "Don't you under...?" " I know what it is." "Proteus lied to me." " The whole thing is a lie." " No." " That, it's..." " I know what it is." "It's horrible." "We have to kill it." "And you know we do." " Don't!" "I'm gonna..." " No." "No." " Stop it!" "Stop!" " You don't understand anything!" " Susan!" "Stop!" " You don't understand!" " You must be mad!" " Susan, you can't do that!" " Susan, don't do it!" " It's my responsibility!" "It's nothing to do with you!" "Leave me alone!" "It's grown his body!" "He's grown it." "Alex." "Alex." "Alex." "Alex." "Alex." " Alex, what are you doing?" " Get away!" " Can't you see...?" " It's asphyxiating!" "Get away!" " Get away!" " Please, don't do this to me." "Susan!" "I'm alive."