All language subtitles for The Outer Limits_S06E21_Final Appeal.srt - 2

[keys jangling]

[gate opening]

[unlocking door]

[people shouting indistinctly]

[unlocking door]

[metal creaking]

Just got word from the clerk.
We got a writ of cert.

Cert?

Writ of certiorari.

It means the Supreme Court's
gonna listen to our appeal.

Really?

Might show a little
more enthusiasm.
[laughs]

You don't understand
the procedural hoops we had
to go through to get this.

I've been, uh, sentenced
to hang, Nicki.

Forgive me if I don't
feel like standing up
and cheering.

Sorry.

I know they think I'm crazy.

You should see the way
they look at me.

You should get ready.
They're gonna move you

to another holding facility
right next to the court.

Be honest,
what are my chances?

[breathes in deeply]

It's hard to say,
there has never been
a case like this.

Unless you count
Fly v.s Windshield.

[sighs] Come on, Theresa.

I wouldn't have flogged
my staff for the last
six months

if I didn't think
we had a shot.

[metal banging]

What would I do
without the patron saint
of lost causes?

You remember, Cassandra?
Greek mythology.

She had the gift of prophecy.

More like a curse.

Apollo gave her the ability
to see the future in exchange
for her favors,

when she spurned him,
he punished her.

Didn't matter what she...

foresaw.

It fell on deaf ears.

I feel like...

I'm being punished
by the Gods.

[door opening]

Come on.

I've been pulling
court watches, they feel were
on the brink of a sea change.

This isn't about
a sea change.

This is about waking up
and realizing

that we're on
a collision course

with extinction.

I've seen the future.
I've been there.

I know you have.

When the outlawed technology,

they paved the way
to the final apocalypse.

[horse whinnies]

[Nicole] Keep the faith,
all right? We're gonna
get through this.

It's not about me.
I could give a damn
at this point.

But if I go down,

so does the whole world.

-[carriage driver] Hyah!
-[horse whinnying]

[Control Voice]
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.

What will become of a world
that outlaws the very tools

it has always looked to
for solutions.

Oh, Earl.

Come on, you know
better than that.

Chief Justice sees you eating
in here again,
there'll be hell to pay.

I've been reading
briefs all morning.

If I don't get some food
in me, I'll be gnawing
on his gabble.

Where's Haden?

Supposed to be in session
in 20 minutes.

Oh, boy.

That BLT looks good,
you mind if I...

Damn right, I mind,
get your own grub.
Come on, away with you.

Elise, could you check
the Chief's jelly bean stash?

Not without
an executive order.

Can't believe they forgot
the pickle spear.

I wonder what
the American people
would say if they knew

the Supreme Court,
spent its morning

-arguing over food.
-[door opens]

Sorry I'm late, everyone.

My fool of a horse
threw a shoe.

Hope for the days
when the horse threw a rod.

Getting nostalgic
for pollution, are we?

I assume everyone's up to
speed on U.S. v. Givens.

Uh, tell me something, Haden,

do you really believe
that this woman

has time traveled here
from the past?

Well, you read our
science advisor's brief.

[chuckles] It's just that
our science advisors
understand technology

the way an archeologist
understands how
the pyramids were built.

Which is to say,
not at all.

Oh, come on, Oli,

we have totally
authenticated evidence that
this woman was born in 1954.

And if she's 122,

I want her beauty secrets.

[giggles]

I'll tell you what I think.

This time traveler or whatever
you want to call her...

Her arrival here
is like a gift from the Gods,

gives us a chance to
steer the ship of state
off its disaster course.

Oh, just what I expected
from a bleeding heart.

Or is it a bleeding ulcer?

We overturn the appellant
court's decision,

we open the door for
the demons of science
and technology

to descend on us
all over again.

And this time they won't be
content to wipe out 80%
of the Earth's population.

There's not going to be
anything left to render
an opinion,

but cockroaches
and tumble weeds.

What about you, Haden?

Well, I haven't prejudged
this case, if that's
what you're asking.

And I suspect,
in spite of the rhetoric,

neither of the rest of you.

One thing is certain.

The American people
will be watching us.

The world will be
watching us.

I only hope God
gives us the wisdom

to get it right.

[people murmuring indistinctly]

Wallace Gannon,
Solicitor General.

Top gun in
the government's arsenal.

Waiting for a landmark case
like this ever since
his appointment.

[door opens]

There are only five chairs,
I thought there
were nine Justices.

Not since 2062,
Congress picks its number.

It's changed seven times
since the first court.

[whispers] Here they come.

[bailiff] All rise

for the justices of
the United States
Supreme Court.

Please be seated.

I don't have to remind
anyone in this hallowed
court room,

that the case we take up today
has ramifications far beyond
the fate of the appellant,

Dr. Givens.

For most of this nation's
storied past,

we worshipped
the order of technology.

Science and innovation
promised to

ease our burdens,
to prolong our lives,

to extend our reach
to the stars and beyond.

Then somehow,
the promise was broken.

Our machines got away from us.

We saw the war
to end all wars,

we saw the new holocaust.

As we sit here today,

the future of
the two-decade-old
anti-technology codes,

operative not only
in this country,

but by international agreement
throughout the world,

hangs in the balance.

Whether we maintain our ban
on technology or restart
that mighty engine,

they will be determined,
by our actions today.

We'll begin by hearing
from the respondent,

the Solicitor General.

Mr. Gannon.

I think that we can
all agree that there is
nothing commonplace

about the state's case
against Dr. Theresa Givens.

But to say that it is
without precedent,

is to ask me to surrender
the numerous sightings
of case law,

which we've detailed
in our brief.

From the evolving sense
of human dignity language

in Propp v. Dollas,
in Greig v. Georgia

to the ban
on human cloning in 2009

in U.S. v. Inner Bodies.

The defense stipulates

that Dr. Givens invented
a time travel device,

in the last decade
of the 20th century.

And she used that invention
to convey herself
to our time.

Along with a veritable arsenal
of electronic devices.

Now, why?

In her own words,
before the Ninth
Circuit Court, quote,

"I wanted to begin a new
Industrial Revolution.

I wanted to
re-kindle the flame of
scientific innovation."

And that's exactly
what she tried to do.

She was arrested
attempting to deliver
blueprints and prototypes

to anti-code realms.

But you're not saying "why".

-[gavel banging]
-Please sit down,
Dr. Givens.

You'll have your
opportunity to respond.

He's not telling you why
I want the world to have
technology again.

Doctor, we will conduct
this proceeding in
an orderly fashion.

Not only has appellant's
counsel stipulated to her
smuggling being...

Objection, prejudicial.

We never use the term
"smuggling".

Fine, transporting these
items into our time
into our country.

Defense also acknowledges that
Dr. Givens had already used

the time travel
machine, repeatedly,
for a darker purpose.

Beck?

-How did you get in here?
-Are you Robert Beck?

Who wants to know?

Are you Robert Beck?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm Beck.

On September 13th, 1994...

-What is this?
-...you were executed

for the willful murder
of eight women.

I am here to carry out
that just and legal sentence.

I don't understand.

Only one of us has to.

Just wait a minute, wait.

[clicks and beeps]

[buzzing]

[machine powering up]

[Wallace] The reality is that
she employed the device

to convey herself,
to the past,

where, by her own
written account,

she murdered,
in cold blood,

no less than 17 victims.

I'm obliged to remind
the honorable Mr. Gannon

that my client was never
charged with murder,

and for good reason.
If you recall

the Theresa Givens who
committed those acts
in another time stream,

saved untold lives by
stopping their killers
before they acted.

Your Honors, she paid
dearly for what she did.

[man grunts]

[girl shrieking]

[man] Shh. Come here.

Look, stay still,

-[girl screaming]
-[shouts] Stay still,
I'm warning you, okay?

[screaming]

[girl shrieking]

[screams] Let me go!

Let's see what you got. Shh.

Okay, you be a good girl now
or I'm going to get mad!

-Stop. Leave her alone.
-[girl crying]

What is this?

I dreamed about you
for 15 years.

I thought you
were 10 feet tall
with horns and fangs.

I don't know what game
you're playing,

but you're screwing with
the wrong guy, lady.

Do you have any idea,
what you did to me?

You stole my life!

No, wait.

Now, everyone,
just calm down.

I don't wanna hurt
the little girl.

She and I just gonna
go for a little walk.

I'll keep her company
for a little while,
then I'll let her go.

You are so right.

Nothing matters,
nothing I ever did helped.

Drugs, therapy,
killing monsters like you.

I mean it!

Anything would be better
than this pain.

All I want is
for it to be over.

[sobbing] You get down...

[girl sobbing]

No one should
outlive their dreams.

You get the hell
away from me!

-[guns firing]
-[girl screaming]

So, you're saying,
Theresa Givens,

the woman who
committed these murders,

actually died
in that confrontation?

That's right.

And, uh, the young woman
who was rescued...

She went on to create
her own time travel device.

She's the Theresa Givens
you see here today
before you.

[Justice Harbison]
Uh, Mr. Gannon.

-Yes.
-Please, let's just clarify.

You're not alleging that
the appellant here committed
any of these murders?

If we accept a wrong
definition of times dreams

and the possibilities
they allow, then yes.

One incarnation
is that Dr. Givens did in fact
engage in a murder spree.

In any event,

no one can contest
the violence-riddled
repercussions

of her time travel device.

Now, with the
court's permission,

and in accord with rule 32
for the submissions
of exhibits,

I'd like to present
that device

along with the very scientific
touchstones of the
pre-apocalyptic era.

The possession
and use of which

were the foundation
of the state's case.

Objection.

Parading the evidence
in the court room

is just grandstanding
and the respondent
knows that.

I'm going to allow it.
Proceed, Mr. Gannon.

Thank you.

[door opens]

[audience murmuring]

What you see before you,
Your Honors,

are nothing less than
the detonators of the next,

and most certainly final,
technological holocaust.

Mr. Gannon,

please, a knife can be used
as an instrument of homicide,

but we don't outlaw cutlery.

[scoffs] Your view that
these inventions themselves
constitute a palpable threat

is a matter of some debate.

My good friend, Justice Woods'
comments are duly noted
for the record.

Go on, Mr. Gannon.

Thank you.

The petitioner's brief
contends that the
anti-technological codes

are in violation of both

the spirit and the letter
of the constitution.

Now, I draw your attention
to a phrase from
the preamble

to that venerable document,

which describes
its all embracing purpose

to promote
the general welfare.

These laws in question

were designed
to protect, to nurture,

to shelter the flickering
candle of civilization

from the howling winds of war.

And members of the court,
these laws are proven worthy,
and effective.

Our society has flourished
since their implementation.

They have rescued us
from spiraling into
an unspeakable abyss.

Now, I'll reserve
the rest of my time

for a response
to the petitioner's counsel.

Thank you, Mr. Gannon.

We will now hear
from appellant counsel.

Mr. Gannon has just quoted
from the stirring language

of the constitution
and if I might...

I'd like to quote from that
self-same wellspring
of democracy.

Article one, section eight,
clause eight,

which grants rights
to inventors,

"To promote
the progress of science

and the useful arts,"

Even in 1789,
nearly three centuries ago,

the founder saw the promise
in science and technology.

Is there any aspect
of our lives that was
not enhanced

by the Industrial Revolution

or the spirit of discovery?

From agriculture,
to manufacturing,
to communications.

What about the advances
in medical technology,

that not only dramatically
extended our lifespans,

but improved the quality
of those lives as well?

Advances in technology
that allow diseased organs

to be replaced by donor organs,

culminating in the first
full body transplant.

[surgeon] We're moving
the head of the donor.

You'll see that we've left
eight centimeter scale
of exposed spinal column

with brain stem
still attached,

from the donor's
medulla oblongata,
to the pons.

[machine turning on]

Ready for transfer.

[machine beeping]

[Nicole] Advances in
artificial intelligence
and robotics

relieved us of tedious
and burdensome tasks.

We produce more goods,
we work less hours.

They gave us more time to
enjoy the fruits of our labor.

To spend time
with our families.

Our children were healthier,
smarter, happier.

It hardly seems necessary
to count these as blessings.

But blessings they were.

Uh, uh. I hate to intrude
on your speechifying,

but there were some
conspicuous examples
of scientific innovation

you omitted.

You skipped right over
the atomic bomb,

fusion technology,
genetic tampering,
just to name a few.

I understand,
Justice Harbison,

that science and technology
would be held responsible

for what happened to
our world 20 years ago.

But talk about an abyss?

We have become so fearful,
so phobic about change,

that we are plunging headlong
into a new dark age.

And God only knows
when we're going
to emerge.

[sighs]

If I may, I'd like
to bring my client up
to the podium.

The truth is,
what she has to say
is far more important

than anything I could argue
in her defense.

I've always been
a very curious person.

I grew up wondering...

Why is the sky blue?

Why do we dream?

What is artificial
intelligence?

And because I had
such a natural curiosity,

I gravitated towards science.

The term of choice
in those days was "nerd".

I don't know what
you would call them now.

Maybe, [clears throat]
you've outlawed nerds too?

When I was a teenager, I...

I came very close to dying.

I was abducted
by a psychopath.

He tried to rape me
and he certainly would
have killed me.

The woman who stopped
the assault

was none other than me.

It was me grown up.

It was the woman who first
invented time travel.

It was the woman

I would become.

And she did much more
than save my life.

She changed it forever.

I wound up falling in love

with the idea

of harnessing
time streams, like...

Well, much like a poet
falls in love with words,

a musician falls in love
with his instrument.

Science...

was my expression.

A way to lose myself.

A way to find myself.

[clears throat]

I don't know what
I'm trying to say.

You're, uh, doing fine, Doctor.

I grew up with a sense
of personal destiny.

How powerful the forces
had to be

that brought this machine
into existence,

if it happened twice?

If it happened
in two different time streams?

And that is where I knew that
I had to use it to do good.

What exactly did you
see as your mission,
Dr. Givens?

[Theresa] I didn't know.

That's just it,
I didn't know.

Maybe you could see me
as some kind of a...

An explorer of sorts.

I'd venture into the future.

A few days
at a time at first.

Then some months.

Eventually, I wound up here,

and my heart broke.

How so?

At first, I thought it was
something to do with
the settings on my computer.

This couldn't possibly
be the 2076,

I thought.

There are no cars,

no telephones,

no computers,

no CAT scans.

No sign of an electronic age

and precious few signs
of anything more advanced

than the light bulb.

When I returned back
to my own time,

I began to think

"What would happen
to a world that turned
its back on science?"

So you traveled deeper
into the future?

Yes, I did.

Thirty more years.

2105.

Can you tell us
what you saw, Dr. Givens?

It was horrible.

A virus slipped
over this planet.

No part of this world

was left untouched.

And there were
no scientific tools
to combat it,

except small amounts of serum

that the renegade
researchers created.

And they weren't enough
to stem the tide of death.

You need to get us
more supplies.

-We need more supplies...
-[man] No, ma'am, not me.

We're running
out of fresh water.

We don't have
any more food. We...

I can't help you, ma'am.

Heading back East
while I still can.

Family's up there,
a wife and two girls.

I know that they're dead,

but I figure that
I should be with them when...

Listen, uh...

There's another dozen or so
in the town down
the interstate.

I gave them the same
as I gave you.

Now, maybe you can hook
up with them.

So there are others?

Not many,
a lot more dead.

That

is what your laws
are taking us to.

The end of humanity.

This is the real Armageddon,
Mr. Chief Justice.

Your so-called new holocaust
or thermo nuclear war.

That was only a prelude.

Dr. Givens, I'm sure you
appreciate how difficult it is

for us to understand
the very notion

of your venturing back
and forth through time.

[Theresa] Yeah, of course.

The very fact
that the Dr. Givens
who went back in time

to rescue you as a teenager,

the Dr. Givens who
was the avenging angel...

The very fact that
she changed history

proves that history
can be altered.

That's my whole point.

We can intervene,
there's still time.

But how do we know that
this plague is the result of
the course we're on now.

Keeping a ban on technology,

or whether it's a direct result
of changing our course
in this appeal.

I can only say,
Justice Harbison,

that the world I saw
was devoid of technology...

Was devoid of the medical help
that would've prevented

this virus from sweeping over
the planet.

Are you familiar with
the medical research of
Dr. Ledbetter?

Yes, he pioneered work
in Nanotechnology.

That's exactly right.

Time machine,
invisible to the naked eye.

Touted as the panacea
in the scientific journals
of the day.

It seemed nothing short
of a miracle.

Until something went
horribly wrong.

What are you doing here?
It's Saturday.

Your nanobots don't stop
working on weekends.

That's incredible.

What the hell are they?

They look a bit like gills.

The nanobots must have
interpreted your inability

to breathe underwater
as a physical deficiency.

[knocking on door]

-Who is it?
-[Dr. Ledbetter]
It's me, let me in.

I've been working
on it all night.

I know how to
deactivate them.

We have to use electricity
and short them out.

-[groans]
-What is it? Have there been
more changes?

I'm not sure.

I have this intense pain
in the back of my head.

-It's kept me up all night.
-Let me look.

See anything?

Just two small bumps.

-Argh! Damn it, that hurts.
-Sorry.

They appear to be filled with
some kind of fluid.

[groaning]

-What is it?
-They're moving.

[screams] What is it?

Oh, my God!

They're eyes.

[Justice Harbison]
Problem, Dr. Givens,

is that the example
Justice Parkhurst has raised,
this is just one of many.

You're aware, I'm sure,
of the researcher,
Dr. Simon Kress

who carried a sample
of Martian soil back to
his home laboratory

and, unwittingly,

let loose a biologic menace

that took the better part
of a decade to eradicate.

[insects crawling]

[insects crawling]

[Justice Harbison]
Dr. Kress's descent into hell

is symptomatic of what
happened over and over again
in this century...

Scientists attempting
to play God.

There is a difference
between playing God

and aspiring

to fulfill the potential
for greatness

that God gave us.

Is that a veiled application
for sainthood?

[chuckles]
I am no saint.

Nor are any of the pioneers
that you mentioned.

Mistakes were made.

The very nature of science
is trial and error.

This... This is how
people learn.

This is how people grow.

Unless, of course,
it's the last mistake we make.

No one's denying
my client's actions
violated the letter of the law.

But what we ask you
to consider is if
the law itself

doesn't represent
a more egregious violation,

a desecration
of the constitution,

and of what's truly just.

What you may or may not know,
Dr. Givens,

is that society
radically changed
after the New Holocaust.

Oh, you mean,
besides the fact that

technology was used
as a scapegoat for
all of society's ills?

That was a big part of it,
yes, but there were other
profound changes.

A kind of

involuntary anesthetizing
of the human spirit.

[sighs] Our esteemed
political leaders

were convinced that not only
did we have to dismantle
the electronic age,

but we had to change
our inner landscape as well.

There was a strong social
and political movement

to try to put the past
behind us,

even before the fallout
had claimed its last victim.

The anti-grieving laws
were instituted.

It actually became a crime
to mourn the death
of a loved one.

The anti-grieving laws
have since been rescinded,

but I think it's instructive
to see that

it's not only scientists
who went awry

when they undertook
to redesign our species.

Governments, politicians,

demonstrated the same hubris

when they tried to
fundamentally alter
who we are.

When they tried to...

reconstruct the human soul,

to shackle the human heart.

You talk about
the arrogance of science,
Justice Harbison.

What about
the arrogance of those

who would try to remake us
in their image?

Before we pass judgment
on the petitioner,

I ask that we reconsider
where the greatest evil lies.

In making
a God of technology

or in making Gods
of ourselves?

[Justice Harbison] Those of us
who survived the war of 2059
will never forget it.

The loss of my own two sons.

My daughter lingered
for six months

before her insides rotted out
from radiation poisoning.

Couldn't even give them
a proper burial.

Had to be sealed
in lead and concrete

along with the other
detritus of war.

The fact is

those laws were created

so that we could go on

with the business of living
and survive.

What made you so certain
that climbing back into
the darkness was the answer?

Darkness? Dr. Givens,
is that how you see it?

I'm inclined to
see the light,

the golden light
over rolling farmlands,

where horses and ploughs
till the soil,

the light in the eyes
of children who climb trees

and count the stars

unobscured by clouds
and toxic pollution.

Have we lost something,
by giving up our machines,
Doctor?

No doubt, we have.

But look what we've gained.

Our productivity comes
from the honest labor

of strong backs
and calloused hands.

Families sit around
the hearth at night.

They don't stare blankly
at jittering
electronic images.

They talk to one another.

Human interaction is
no longer obsolete.

Life is less complicated.
We've gone back to

simpler pleasures,
simpler times.

Justice Harbison is right
about one thing.

None of us will ever forget
what happened in June of '59.

I lost a daughter too,

along with my
only grandchildren.
The youngest was four.

Smart as they make them.

He dreamed of being
an astronaut.

Of course,
even if he had survived,

that wouldn't have
been possible.

There were
no more astronauts.

No more space program.

No more computers.

No more scientists.

No more dreamers, like you.

You play with fire,
you might get burned.

You eliminate fire

and you might never feel
its warmth.

And you might never revel
in its illumination.

If you would take your seat,
Dr. Givens,

opposing counsels will now
have a chance to sum up.

Chief Justice,
associate justices,

history teaches

that no invention is
immune to subversion.

The missiles

that rocketed man to Mars

also sent ballistic warheads
against the cities.

The Internet that promised us
the dissemination
of information

was ultimately used

to strip governments of
their secrets and make
them vulnerable to attack.

Now, my, uh,
distinguished colleague

invokes the spirit
of invention

as if it were some Holy Grail,

some self-appointed deity,

that demands that we
prostrate ourselves before it.

But aren't we wiser than that?

Forgive me for sounding
old-fashioned,

but what about
rearing our children in
the peaceful world?

What about a quiet prayer

at the altar of common sense?

I ponder these
highly touted advances
of the century.

The genome was deciphered

and the secrets
of the human brain
were revealed,

but what became
of those discoveries?

And I refer you to
the cruel realities
of entrepreneurs

who robbed the elderly
of their knowledge
and their skills

and then sold them

like so many dried goods.

What's that for?

[woman] To help make you sleep.

And to make you forget.

Oh, my...

Why would I want to...

Forget.

[screaming]

[Wallace] The most
vulnerable in our society

stripped of their humanity,

their brains drained of
a lifetime of acquired gifts,

downloaded and cataloged,
and left like empty husks,

warehoused and forgotten.

Is this your idea
of a scientific miracle?

If this court overturns
Dr. Givens' conviction,

it will send a message
heard 'round the world.

And the genie will bellow
and thunder.

He'll thrash in his bottle

and once more,
threaten to emerge.

I'm certain, in fact, that we
will be driving the last nail

into the coffin of God's
greatest experiment.

It will ordain the end
of humankind.

I, for one, will not be party
to that surrender.

I will fight it
with my last breath.

And I implore you
to do no less.

[clears throat]
With the court's permission,

I'd like to give
my remaining minutes to
the woman who will live

or die by your decision.

When my namesake invented
a temporal transporter,

she used it to save lives.

And when I followed
in her footsteps,

I knew that, like her,
I would have to dedicate
this incredible invention

to a humanitarian purpose.

Maybe, ultimately,
make the same
sacrifice she did.

I've been given

a special knowledge because of

the unique circumstances
of my journey.

Not to act would have
been the same

as turning my back
on the citizens of the future.

Those countless children
who depend on me now.

And I guess, they, uh,
depend on you now.

That's all.

Thank you.

We'll take a 15-minute recess,
then render our decision.

[Nicole] You okay?

[Theresa] I'm scared, Nicki.

All that stuff about
me not caring, about
what they'd do to me,

it's a lie.

Stupid lie.

[Nicole] It's okay
to be afraid, Theresa.

You're only human.

I used to dream
about the Theresa

that rescued me.

It was always the same.

She would walk in the room,

sit on the bed, and watch me.

Sometimes we'd talk,

sometimes she'd just
stroke my hair.

It was so gentle.

So kind.

If...

If they let the verdict stand,

what will happen
to all of this?

I won't lie to you.
They'll destroy it.

All those years.

All those minds.

Mmm...

We haven't lost yet.

-There's still hope.
-[whimpering]

[breathing heavily]
Yes, yes...

Of course.

Somebody will find an answer.

There's still plenty of time.

There's 30 years.

[breathing heavily]

They could build
another transporter.

They could find a cure.
They know that the
plague is coming.

There's a way,
they'll find a way.
There has to be.

You will tell them, won't you?
That I wasn't crazy...

Of course I will.

Well, I don't
about the rest of you,

but nothing I heard
in that chamber did anything

but validate the opinion
I had going in.

You know, that's what I love
about you, Oli,

you're predictable
as a loaded dice.

I'm just being true
to my sense of ethics,
Madam Justice.

And those ethics make it easy
for you to send a woman
to her death,

for doing her damndest
to save the human race.

Oh, let's stop the posturing,
for God's sake.

There's nobody here
but four walls and five
cantankerous old fools.

[Justice Harbison]
Nobody's posturing, Gretchen.

As Haden says, this decision
will reverberate from now
till doom's day.

Which, if the appellant
is right,

is about 35 years, tops.

[gavel banging]

[Justice Haden] This court
is now in session.

Before I pull the members of
the court, I have a few words
for the appellant.

Dr. Givens.

I'm impressed with the way
you've conducted yourself
in this proceeding, Doctor.

I admire your intelligence,

your courage under fire.

Before this court
makes its ruling,
I wanted you to know that.

Thank you, sir, Chief Justice.

That being said, I'll explain
the procedure we'll follow

once every justice
has been pulled.

[Ezekiel] Excuse me,
Your Honor.

I think there's one more voice
that you really should
hear from

before you can make
an intelligent verdict.

I'm afraid that's entirely
out of order.

I'm sorry, sir, but I'm going
to have to ask you to leave
the court.

Oh, I'm afraid
I can't do that.

Who the hell are you?

I am your conscience,
Justice Harbison,

but you can call me Ezekiel.

-Bailiff, stand down.
-Jesus...

It's a bomb.

No, no. No. Technically
it's not a bomb,

it's a cold fusion device.

And I strongly advise
you to listen to what
I have to say, otherwise...

Otherwise I may just
have to set it off.

And then you can say goodbye
to this courtroom,

this city and, uh, what,

maybe half the
eastern seaboard.

Now, I'm sure that
all the members of the gallery

will spread the word
when I tell you

that there's a second bomb
secreted somewhere out there.

It's on a timer,

and there's only one person
who can disable it.

Yours truly.

All I have to do is send
a little transmission code
to the device,

and we render it impotent.

About as impotent as I'm sure
that you're all feeling
about now.

If anyone tries to intervene,

that's it, game over.

[shouts] Now, get out!

Everybody out, now!

Bailiffs, leave the court.

[people clamoring]

What is it you want?

You allow interested parties
to file briefs

either for or against
the petitioner
in these actions.

Friends-of-the-court
statements.

-What's the term?
-Amicus curiae.

Ah, that's it!

I most humbly submit
my amicus curiae.

I mean, I hope that doesn't
sound too unreasonable.

You're threatening us with
a fusion device capable of
killing millions of people,

and you want to know
if you sound unreasonable?

The court reporter
is not writing.

Please instruct her to
take all of this down.

Do as he says, Marie.

Thank you very much.

How do we know this thing
strapped to your body
is a bomb at all?

Ah, a skeptic. I like that.

Jurisprudence, 1A.

Never accept a fact without
corroborative evidence.

Well, unfortunately,
my often definitive proof

would mean
my incinerating myself,

all of you, and a piece
of real estate the size
of Massachusetts and New York.

Now, surely you aren't
advocating that,
are you, Justice Clayton?

I didn't think so.

You're obviously
an intelligent man, Mr...

That's Ezekiel.

It will do for now,
I'm not willing
to stand on ceremony.

Ezekiel, then.

Why don't we strike
a bargain here?

Huh?

You disable that weapon,

and the other one you claim
you can transmit to,

and then you have
my solemn word

that the court will listen
to your statement.

You take as long as you need
to say whatever you wanna say.

I don't think so.

I mean, I wouldn't want
your attention to wander.

I don't think
there's any chance of that.

Justice Clayton, you said
you needed some assurance,

sort of inaugurating
a nuclear holocaust,

that I'm not bluffing.

Well, if any of you
are students of cold fusion,

you may remember
the young man

who invented it back
in the turn of the century.

His name was Seth Todtman,
brilliant young man.

Troubled, yes, but brilliant.

Now, Seth... [scoffs]

Seth had the same problem.

He had a classroom full
of students held hostage

with a fusion device
ticking away.

The problem was that
nobody believed him.

At least not at first.

Nobody wanted to listen to me,

-but now...
-[beeps]

-...you're going to.
-[gun firing]

[all screaming]

Get down!

Settle down!
Settle down!

Every way in and out
of this building
has a trash can,

and every trash can is wired
with an explosive device,

which I have just armed.

You won't get away
with this, Seth.

Really?

Define cold fusion.

-What?
-I said define cold fusion.

Cold fusion is, um,

is a release of
thermonuclear energies by
devices that operate at

ordinary room temperatures
and pressures,

but such devices
are totally impossible.

-We have proof of that.
-Really?

I made this one all by myself.

I did it on my kitchen table.

The people who said
it was impossible

were wrong,

and today,

I get to prove that.

Look out the window!
Look out the window!

Now, unlike that young man,

I have faith in your
native intelligence.

No, make that faith
in your ability to judge
the difference between

a credible threat
and a bluff.

You said you wanted to go
on record in this case. Why?

Well, ma'am,
because I care.

I care deeply
about the issues.

Does that sound corny?

No.

Well, where do I begin?
[laughs]

Ah, perhaps the beginning.

In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth,

and being rather enamored
of his own skills he looked
down upon his creation

and he deemed
that it was good,

and it was good.

It was damn good.

And then he created
the beasts and the forests,
the dogs and the dog woods,

and feeling his oats,
he set about to create man.

Well, actually, man and woman,
to be politically correct,

although, I don't believe
that God was but, hey,
it was his ball game.

And then, he plunked
his creation down
in the garden of Eden,

for they barely had enough
time for a round of croquet

and a conversation
with the serpent before
they found themselves

pissing God off.

You see, they violated
his one admonition.

Don't, I say don't, eat from
the tree of knowledge.

But, Adam and Eve,
they weren't
buying any of this,

and they paid dearly for it.

As a matter of fact,

we have all paid dearly for it
because, you see,

paradise was off-limits
to the newlyweds.

It's been off-limits
to us ever since.

What is my point?

My point is, it wasn't
the snake in the grass

and it wasn't
the big, red, juicy,
Washington Delicious,

and it wasn't
our innate perversity

that draws us to things that
we are told to shun
that was the problem.

The problem was knowledge!

The problem was that
we were thrown headlong

into the same contradiction

that made protoplasmic stew
out of 6.8 billion people

back in June of 2059.

The problem was
we thought that
we could handle knowledge.

You're a Luddite,
an anti-technology zealot.

I am also living proof
of my own argument.

All the best
intentions of the world

can be erased
in the blink of an eye
at the hand of one mad man.

I'm dealing with
impulse and capability.

So what, you'd have us
just curse the darkness?

Let ourselves
be ruled by our fears,

the way you are?

That was courage
if you like, Justice.

I'm easy.

Aren't you forgetting
that your side won?

There was a definite roar
of anti-technology sentiment

after the new holocaust.

A million man chorus
that drowned any
voices of opposition,

and that's how
we wound up here.

Those 200 years of progress
systematically dismantled

and placed on the garbage heap.

So, I would ask you,

why do you feel
a need to put a nuclear
gun to our heads

and beat a drum that
hasn't stopped pounding
for almost 20 years?

Excellent question,
Brother Clayton,

and I think I have
an equally artful rejoinder.

You see,
I have got a terrible feeling
in the pit of my stomach.

I've got the sense that
we're about to piss on
the closest thing to paradise

since Hotel Eden.

So, all of this is to
make sure that Dr. Givens'
conviction is upheld?

[scoffs]
Dr. Givens isn't important.

I am not important.
There isn't
a soul in this room

who is important.
What is important,

is that we don't tick
God off one more time,

because as smart as he is,

as good as he is,
I get the feeling he's
just about run out of patience

with his rather iffy creation.

You were wrong
about one thing, Ezekiel.

Ah, Dr. Givens.

I was waiting
for you to chime in.

You said this wasn't about me.

I said that
you weren't important.

How about the truth then?

-Is that important?
-[scoffs]

The truth is about
the only thing that I have
left in my kit bag, Doc.

Then tell them
where you came from,

how you got here,

and maybe you should tell
them that you were rather
infatuated with me once.

A school boy crush
on his mentor.

A sentiment alas unrequited.

I believe your last words
were, "Go to hell."

Well, I took
your advice, Theresa,

and now I'm back.

[Theresa]
May I address the court?

I think I may be able
to shed some light on
what's going on here.

I'm glad somebody can.
Go ahead, Dr. Givens.

"Ezekiel" wasn't
always his name.

He took it from the prophet,

who implored
the Jews in Babylonia

to return to their
godliness and faith.

Daniel Faraday
is his real name.

When I started developing
my temporal transporter,

I enlisted a number
of specialists
in various fields.

It was a little like
the Manhattan Project
in the 20th Century.

Hmm.

An apt analogy
I must say, Theresa.

Everybody's responsibilities
were compartmentalized.

No one knew how the parts
would be put together but me.

Daniel, Ezekiel,

was a bio-physicist
for a company that had some

highly-classified
government contracts.

I believe there's a shorter
job-description, uh,

I believe the word, "whore"
is what you're looking for.

We met over lunch
one afternoon.

And I think I probably

told him more about
what I was doing
than I intended.

It was an instant rapport.
It turns out that

what information
I was lacking, he had.

And what he was missing,

the neural component,
I had.

Hmm. A match made in heaven,
don't you think?

And so the two
of you collaborated?

No, I think that would be
over-stating it.

We did share information, yes,

but I made
a critical breakthrough

that the government
and Daniel never could,

and that's when
all hell broke loose.

Shall I tell them
or would you like to?

Oh, no, by all means,
go ahead.

I always say,
"Why let the facts get
in the way of a good story?"

That's when Daniel
became Ezekiel.

I had no idea
what was going on.

And his behavior
became erratic.

He would go on these rants,
rants against the government,

against science,
against technology.

Uh, Dr. Givens,
I must confess
that I'm confused.

You say that that man

used your machine
to enter our time,

but was this with or without
your cooperation?

There was
no cooperation on my part.

Daniel and I had
a terrible falling out
and then he disappeared.

First sign that
he was surfaced

was when there was
an experiment
that was sabotaged

at the government
lab where he worked.

-The wormhole's expanding!
-Shut it down.

-[man] Abort! Abort!
-[machine beeping rapidly]

The override isn't working.

[pulsating]

-[machine beeping]
-It's not responding.

-Power emissions are spiking!
-[beeping]

[beeping]

Oh, my God.
It's coming toward me.

Shut it down!

[all shouting]

A man called Ezekiel
claimed credit for it,

but I, I knew who
was responsible.

Ezekiel was making
the world safe for democracy,

and damned if he still isn't!

And then there was a break-in
at my lab, papers were stolen,

most of the key documents
from my transporter.

They belong to me as much
as they did her. I was
only taking what was mine.

I knew there was only
a matter of time,

-before he developed
his own device.
-[scoffs]

"Just a matter of time."
I like that.

He took a number
of trips through time

with little or no regard
for how he might
be affecting history.

Ladies and gentlemen,
I believe the pot has
just called the kettle black.

It gave me time to deliver.

You, uh, don't see
the irony here.

Oh, I see irony everywhere.

It's like X-ray vision.

[Justice Haden]
Well, here you were,

a revolutionary railing
against the evils
of technology,

and you were employing
the most sophisticated product
of that technology.

On top of that,
you're threatening us
with a cold-fusion bomb,

and you don't see
the contradictions?

To what end am I using
that technology?

That is what you have
to ask yourself,

Mr. Chief Justice.

Sometimes it is necessary
to take up the arms
of the enemy

to defeat him.

You, uh, see technology
as enslaving mankind.

-Is that a fair statement?
-Ha!

Not only is it fair, I'd say
it is pretty damn prophetic.

Look at these things.

Holographic generator.

Re-animation lasers.

Artificial intelligence arrays,
the new golden calf.

Uh, a little bowing
and scraping music,
please, maestro.

If you believe machines
are the problem,
then I can only assume

you place your faith
in man's innate goodness.

Only when he is not
being crushed
by the heavy boot

of science and government.

Only when he has
a fighting chance.

If that's the case,
then I have to
ask you, Ezekiel,

why do you feel the need to
force our hand here?

Isn't the highest
court of the land,
by definition,

a place where human judgment
reigns supreme.

If your argument
is of any validity,

then you'd walk away from here
and let us be the arbiters
we're supposed to be,

unfettered by threat
or blackmail.

That presumes that you
haven't been corrupted.

What evidence
is there that we have?

[laughs]

That's funny, Chief Justice,
because to answer
that question,

I'm going to have
to put you on the stand.

You want to interrogate me?

[laughs]
Oh, interrogate's
such a nasty word.

No, I just want
to question you.

[Justice Harbison]
Haden, don't fall into
this man's trap.

He's already got his finger
on a nuclear trigger,

don't give him anymore power.

And here I thought you were
the only cool head in this
chamber, Justice Harbison.

I stand before you as only
a lowly private citizen

advocating his point of view.

A point of view
that I believe you share.

I don't believe
in using violence

to undermine the legitimate
authority of this court.

Boilerplate!

Isn't that what you call it?

When you have to plug
in standard, legal language
when all else fails?

You want to question me?

I have no problem with that,
but I think it's only fair

that you give up
something in return.

Oh, now we're
negotiating, are we?

Well, I hope you will
excuse my coarse
language when I ask you,

do I look like a goddamn
fool to you?

We're just spinning
our wheels here.

-I put a proposal
to you, Ezekiel.
-Mmm.

Disarm that device,
and I will do as you wish.

Fair enough.

As a sign of goodwill,

I will disarm this bomb.

Ah, to tell you the truth...

-[objects clattering]
-[beeping]

...it was getting a little
uncomfortable for me, anyway.

But I will warn you,

I hold the transmitter
that is capable of setting
the one off outside,

within a millisecond
of my touching any one
of these buttons,

or we can just let it
tick down on the timer

till it goes off
of its own accord.

Now, it's your turn
to show me some good will.

All I ask is that you
answer my questions
fairly and honestly.

Now, then, what did you
do in the war, Mr. Wainwright?

I was in the military.

Three-star general
attached to NATO troops.

Then I can assume
that you had a hand
in the strategizing?

Well, it was of
very little value.

Few skirmishes
in Eastern Europe
and Pan Africa.

The submarine was sunk
in the Atlantic.

So, you weren't consulted
in the possible use
of a nuclear arsenal?

I was in communication
with the Pentagon, yes.

Ah, such humility, Haden.

The scuttlebutt
I heard was you were
personal advisor to the prez.

What was your recommendation?

That we not give in
to nuclear blackmail.

Hmm, tough it out, huh?

Give us good as you get,
bomb them back
into the Stone Age,

and let God sort it out?

[chuckles] That's
your characterization,
not mine.

Sir, Mr. Chief Justice,

you were safely ensconced
in a bunker two miles
below the Earth's surface,

while four-fifths
of the world was reduced
to radioactive jelly!

You're hardly the one
to be sanctimonious!

Well, I learned from the best.

Why don't you tell him that
you traveled through time
to other wars,

and I don't recall you telling
me about any heroic efforts
to stop the bloodshed.

Well, that was your job,
wasn't it, Theresa?

[guard] Hold steady!

[panting]

-[man] Miriam! Miriam!
-[girl] Mama! Mama!

[Miriam crying]
Please, my daughter,
don't make her watch.

No, Mama!

[grunts]

[gun firing]

[yelling]

[Theresa] You were
a tourist in hell.

Those were your exact words.

Well, I'm making
up for it now, aren't I?

History will number
me among the greatest
of all humanitarians.

Excuse me, Mr. Chief Justice.

We were talking
about the Great War.

Now, in the aftermath,

after all the bloodshed,
when the bodies were being
counted, what was your job?

I was appointed with
the President to a task force
to examine our options.

Huh, would that be
the task force
that recommended

the elimination of all weapons
of mass destruction?

That's correct.

And when the mandate
of that task force expanded

to include the consideration
of the anti-technology codes,

where did you come down
on that issue?

I was in agreement that
they be considered.

[Ezekiel] And when
the codes were implemented,

and when the moratorium
on all scientific research
was adopted,

you were relieved.

-I was in support.
-Hmm.

And that support
was unwavering?

Shall I repeat the question?

I'm sitting in judgment
on that question
in this court,

I think you know that.

I think it's inappropriate
for me to comment.

So, you what,
take the fifth?

I'd rather not say.

All right,
let's change the subject.

Are you familiar with research
done by Dr. McCamber
and Dr. Houghton

at the early part
of this century?

They were two doctors who
discovered a way to revive
necrotic tissues and organs,

-and repair them.
-[Ezekiel] Uh-huh.

Not just to
revive dead tissue,

but to revive dead people.

Zombie time, isn't that right?

It proved to be
a flawed technology.

Oh, that is quite
an understatement,

because it did have
the ability to
restore human life,

but not the quality
of that life.

[energy pulsating]

Autolysis reversed,
rebuilding neuro networks.

[beeping]

[beeping]

[powering up]

[whirring]

Prepare to flush cryo protect.

Transfuse with type-O.

[buttons beeping]

[man] Flushing, perfusing.

And beginning
blood replacement.

[powering up]

This is it. Juice him.

[whirring]

Reflex!

I don't think so.

[machine beeping]

Hello, Mr. Reynolds.
Welcome back.

You lost your wife, Julia,
to cancer,10 years ago,
am I right?

I don't see
that's relevant here.

Oh, it's relevant,
Mr. Chief Justice,

because you went to
the scientific underground

and tried to illegally
bring her back to life.

She was my life.

Nothing I'd ever achieved

meant anything
after she was gone.

I was inconsolable.

A friend told me about
these renegades
in the underground.

They'd actually achieved
the promise of Lazarus.

And what else could you do?
You plucked the apple.

I would have given
my life to save her.

Your life maybe,
but not your reputation.

They weren't successful,
I take it?

She had a few moments
of consciousness.

She looked terrified.

Bewildered.

I'll never forget that look,

and I'll never forgive myself.

Never forgive yourself,
Your Honor,

or never forgive science?

The appellant makes
a good point, Chief Justice.

Perhaps it would be
in order for you
to recuse yourself.

Uh, Justice Clayton,
unless your own life
is entirely bereft

of pre-code technology,

perhaps, you should
recuse yourself.

Oh, yes.

I'll plead guilty
to the heinous crime

of watching Casablanca
on physical disk.

There's always been
a double standard,
hasn't there, Brother Gannon?

One set of laws
for the privileged

and another one
for the average Joe!

[Parkhurst] Do you
honestly believe

that any ruling made
under threat,
of blackmail,

let alone
nuclear annihilation,

could have any validity?

[Ezekiel] You're making
an assumption, Justice.

Your assuming that
I've threatened to use force

if the decision
doesn't go my way.

And you're saying, you're not?

I'm not a fool!

I grant you my excesses,

my passions,
my unorthodox protocol.

I did use my threat to, uh,
gain access to this court,

so that you would hear
my testimony,

but the final decision
still rest in your hands,

untainted by any sort
of intimidation.

Now whatever you decide,
I'll accept.

I can't be stupid
enough to believe
that I can dictate the future.

Isn't that exactly
what you're doing?

No, Theresa, it is exactly
what you were trying to do
by bringing

this poisonous technology
into the present.

You're trying to impose
a religion of science,

just as surely as the crusaders
and the missionaries did

with their spiritual beliefs.
With the same fervor,

with the same tyranny
of the self-righteous.

[mock laughing]

Excuse me, this is just
a little more irony than
I can take right now.

Aren't you the one
with the bomb?

[scoffs]

Actually, no.

There is no bomb.

There never was a bomb.

Now, surely,

you won't begrudge me
this little bit of assurance.

No, the only bomb here

is the incendiary ignorance
that permeates
this courtroom,

this culture,

ignorance that would allow you
to sink into the mire
once again.

Are you telling us that
the transmitter that
you're holding

is not capable of triggering
a cold fusion device?

Boom!

Hmm.

You almost seem
disappointed, Chief Justice.

If what you're saying is true,
then you won't mind
surrendering it.

Well,

there are $20 worth
of perfectly good
electronics in here,

but I'm sure that once
the court assures itself
as to its harmlessness,

I'll be justly compensated.

Put the device down.

You realize the gravity
of your actions here today?

I absolutely do,
Chief Justice.

I only wish that I could
be as sure that you did.

What's that?

That's a time travel
controller, Your Honor.

She's right.
It operates
the temporal transporter.

If you're all foolish enough
to return to a world

where machines
reign over humans,

then I will humbly take my
leave through that device.

-And go where?
-Oh!

So many destinations!

Ancient Greece,
Renaissance Italy,
anywhere but the future.

[Justice Harbison]
If we let him go now,

what's to prevent him from
coming back later on

creating the same havoc?

If he leaves
the controller here there is
no way that he can return.

What about the damage
he could inflict in the past?

He could affect
the world for generations.

Unlike the charade
of this appeal,

I'm not putting
this up to a vote!

I say get him
the hell out of here.

Not quite yet, Justice Woods.

I haven't completed
my presentation.

-What does that mean?
-It means

that I have special
knowledge too,

knowledge of the future
of mankind,

of the world far ahead
of the one visited
by Dr. Givens.

I want you to be able
to make the most informed
judgment that you can.

Why should we
believe you, Ezekiel?

Because to not believe me
would spell absolute
and irreversible doom.

Go ahead.
You have five minutes
of this court's time.

Thank you, Your Honor.
That's all I need.

If time travel has
taught me anything,

it's that the future
is malleable.

It can be shaped
by our choices.

It's really futures, plural.

The number of possibilities
is infinite.

We can change
our actions today,

and visit those
consequences, 10, 50,
hundreds of years from now.

Not long ago,

I went tripping through
one of those possibilities,

into a future where technology
was not outlawed.

Deep into the 24th century,

about 100 years after
we started to colonize
other worlds.

One civilization that we tried
to oust from its home planet,

declared war on us!

It not only defeated the human
invaders but then it came
to Earth to finish us off.

[ship rumbling]

[snarling]

[grunting]

[machine beeping]

This is impossible.
They... They have
no technology.

[speaking in alien language]

[alarm blaring]

Oh, God!

No!

[exploding]

In the end, it was
our false sense
of superiority,

our sheer willfulness,
our arrogance,

that defeated us.

It is our arrogance
that will defeat us.

[scoffs]
How did Shakespeare put it?

"Screw your courage
to the sticking-place
and we'll not fail."

Well, I guess I agree
with old Will.

Screw your courage!

Theresa, I believe
you're familiar with this.

It's set, I just need you
to flick this switch.

You can come with me,
you do know that.

If they let your
conviction stand,
you'll face the death penalty.

I know that.

Are you so confident that
you'll be vindicated?

No, not at all.

[pulsating]

Last chance!

Goodbye, Theresa!

[sighs]

Is he really gone?

Yes, he's gone.

In the light of these
remarkable developments

I'd like to hear from
the two councils.

Approach, please.

I assume that these
proceedings will be
declared null and void.

Is that your feeling
too, Ms. Whitley?

I don't know.
The question is,

has the judicial process
been compromised?

Well, of course
it's been compromised,
it's all poison fruit.

How can the Justices'
fair hearing
not be compromised

by the presence of a mad man?

A mad man who
advocated your position,
I'd remind you, Mr. Gannon.

Come on, look,
isn't the real question here,

not whether we can
unring the bell,

but whether we can
make a fair decision

in the wake of all this?

[Justice Harbison]
What's the alternative?

Put the nation on hold?
Put the whole damn
world on hold,

while we start over
from scratch?

And then run the risk
of the decision being called
double jeopardy?

I say we take a deep breath
and make our decision.

Mr. Gannon?

I, uh...

I would like to make
some final remarks,

before it's decided.

[Justice Haden] Ms. Whitley?

I'd like some time as well.

I'll allow a brief summary
from each side.

-And the appellant?
-Yes.

She can speak.

Petition is ready.

Then, uh, we're all
in agreement?

I guess so.

To say that technology
is a double-edged sword

is beyond dispute.

But to forgo all
of technology's gifts,

because we have suffered
the consequences
of its misuse,

may be the greatest
miscalculation of our time.

Your Honors, I believe

the time for retreat is over.

We have to stop burying
our heads in the sand.

Society must act now.

Out of love rather than fear.

The same kind
of caring and compassion

that the Chief Justice
himself showed,

when he looked to science
to rekindle the spark of life,

in his beloved wife.

It's time to show
that same compassion

for the future still unwritten.

You all witnessed
Dr. Givens' choice

to face judgment
rather than flee.

She acted out of that
very love for humankind.

And I hope...

that will guide
your ultimate decision.

Thank you.

Mr. Gannon,
your final thoughts?

The, uh, state, as respondent
in this appeal,

has been accused in effect
of killing the messenger,

of stifling a truth

too painful to hear,

too chilling to believe.

As fate would have it today,

we heard from
another messenger,

one with a very different
vision of future,

and while we all deplore
the barbaric way

in which this man
foisted his testimony
upon this august body,

ignore only at your peril,
at all our peril,

what his appearance
here signifies.

A few computer chips,

a mingling of rare elements,

a bit of electronic alchemy,
and lo and behold,

our cities are held hostage
to the threats of a sociopath.

Now, are we really
ready to believe

that what happened here today

won't happen again?

It is we who are insane
by definition,

if we continue to conduct
the same experiment,

see the same results,

yet fail to heed its lessons.

Gentlemen, and lady Justices,

we have already found a refuge
from the plagues

that science and technology
have visited upon us.

We have found a haven.

Are we ready to give up
that sanctuary,

and tempt fate?

I pray that we are not.

Dr. Givens?

Before you reach
your verdict,

ask yourselves this.

Were human beings
put on this earth to witness

the wonders
of the universe or...
[sighs]

Or to become one of them?

I believe that our innate
goodness and strength

are greater than
our innate weaknesses,

and our innate evil.

Are the fears

of science reemerging

as an uncontrollable monster
legitimate ones?

Maybe so,

but I'm...

naive enough to hope

that we can overcome whatever
obstacles await us,

that we can take control
of our destiny,

and realize the best
in ourselves.

The real miracles,
the miracles...

At the outer limits
of our imagination...

Are yet to come.

[sighs]
Don't everybody
talk at once.

What else is there to say?

I think we've all staked
out our turf.

Just so we're clear,

can we consider the words
of a terrorist

who threatened to blow
us to kingdom come?

Every case we hear
we draw upon
the body of the law

and a lifetime
of personal experience.

I don't think we can exclude
from that experience what
we went through today.

So, what does
a strict constructionist
make of all this?

We pulled the world
back from the brink,
once in this generation,

I'm not about
to push it back in.

If I do nothing else

in my remaining days
on this earth,

but negate my
good friend Ollie's vote,

I will consider it
a life well spent!

I will not send that woman
to her death.

Much less, every child
who goes to bed at night
praying for a better world.

You're all
so full of surprises.

So surprise us.

Tell us you weren't moved
by that woman's plea.

Oh, I was moved.

Sick to the stomach, moved,

but you cannot erase
the lessons of history

with one emotionally
charged speech.

When I came on this bench,

I made one, solemn
promise to myself

and that was to always
put justice first.

What the hell good is some
abstract notion of justice

in the face of everything
you've just seen and heard?

Now, you know better
than to cross rhetorical
swords with me, Kendall.

[sighs]

You're gonna have to break
the tie after all, Haden.

Yes, I know that.

So, what do you think,
old friend?

[Justice Haden]
We have invented and created

and sought answers to
the mysteries of the universe

since we first emerged
from the cave.

Some of those inventions
were used to enlighten.

Others were used to destroy.

A rose, no matter
how enticing, has its thorns.

How are we to know when
the torch we've been handed
will be used to

light our way
through the darkness,

or to burn down
our homes and cities?

The truth is, we can't know.

Machines themselves
have no intrinsic morality.

It's up to society
to invest them
with a higher purpose.

In the opinion
of this Justice,

the danger of denying
our true nature,
our natural curiosity,

of denying our thirst for
unencumbered freedom,

is one we can
no longer ignore.

May we always
seek the light.

The vote is three to two,
in favor to the appellate.

Congratulations, Dr. Givens,
you are a free woman.

-[bangs gavel]
-[giggling]

I wish that I could
be there in person,

but I left behind this
holographic message.

Consider it a consolation
to our defeat.

I'm sure that
Theresa's persuasiveness

and your own
gullibility were such,

that her cause prevailed.
Well, unfortunately

that victory will
be short-lived.

Maybe now the world
will heed my warning!

[beeping]

Oh, God, no.

What is it? What's happening?

Do something,
use your machine!

I can't!

There's no time!

Ahhh!

[screaming]

[shouting]

[exploding]

[horses whinnying]

[period music playing]

[people laughing
and chattering]

I would like
to propose a toast.

To the future!

[people cheering]

Beware of false Gods,

false promises,

but most of all, beware of me.

[laughing]

[Control Voice]
If we fail to be vigilant,

we may find that
the same miracles

which define our greatness
as a species,

will one day spell our doom.