Original subtitles

These stories are inspired by the actual case files of the Office of Scientific

Investigation and Research.

We should have spent another night at the shelter.

Yeah, but then we couldn't have been alone.

I like your thinking.

Come on, let's go.

Come on.

All right, all right, let me find some food.

Hurry up! Okay.

Look,

supper.

You're disgusting.

Come here.

Oh, Darren, do you have to?

I'm going to make the ride a little bit smoother.

The deceased is a well-developed, although undernourished, Caucasian male

in his early to mid-30s.

He has red hair.

Although the corneas are cloudy, he appears to have blue eyes.

His body is 74 inches long and approximately 160 pounds.

Early rigor mortis is evident in the extremities.

There's a single scar on the lower right quadrant of the abdomen from previous

appendectomy.

extensive damage to the fingertips and nails of the victim.

Numerous needle marks in the left arm. Subject could be a drug user.

I'm going to secure a blood sample for a drug and alcohol test.

What happens to us when we die?

This primal question both tantalizes and terrifies us.

Now different belief systems choose to answer the question in a variety of

ways. But as the OSIR was forced to consider in case number 763139, could it

be possible for a man to rise up from his grave and cheat death entirely?

Now, once more from the beginning.

Phil, that John Doe you brought in here tonight was anything but dead.

Sally, this is nuts.

The guy had no pulse, no breathing, no nothing. He was stone cold dead.

So, let's find him then. He's not on the table.

Is he in here?

No.

Is he up here?

Wrong again.

He's over here.

Sal,

Sally, come on. Calm down.

You sure you're not having me on?

I want to say it's not possible, but he sat up and looked at me while I was

examining him. He looked right at me.

Threw me is more like it.

File number 763139, initial log entry, case manager Connor Doyle.

First team and mobile lab confirming arrival on location to investigate the

alleged reanimation and disappearance of a deceased man.

On-site inspection and preliminary interviews underway.

He was lying right there.

I had him prepped for an internal exam and he just woke up.

I guess I must have fainted or something because... She wakes up with a nasty

concussion and I'm getting a call saying the corpse is gone.

Had you determined a cause of death?

Not yet, but I suspect an OD. He had track marks right up his arm.

This is what he looks like.

Our photographer took these in the alley where we found him.

That's him, all right.

Miles. run an analysis of this soil sample.

Sir, any idea who the deceased was?

No wallet, no ID.

His description didn't match any of our missing persons lists.

The kids who discovered the body were heavily into drugs, so I don't know if I

believe them.

But?

They thought they'd seen him around town.

Then their story gets a little weird.

Like I told the cops.

We were just looking for a place to crash and we found him.

He almost sat on us.

And you're sure he was dead?

Yeah, man, I'd seen dead guys before.

And that dude was gone.

It's not worse than Darren here.

So gross.

Look, I'm going to have to ask you this.

Were you on anything on that Biden question?

Yeah, man, we were straight.

Straight and clean.

Okay.

And you, uh... You didn't know the deceased?

No, I couldn't have.

He sort of looked like the guy we'd seen around the streets or shelters.

Larry or Gary, maybe?

Yeah, but it's not possible.

What's not possible?

The guy we're talking about, we heard he died, like, two weeks ago.

Can't be the same guy.

Can it?

According to Miles, the soil dump from the moor contained a high level of lead

content. So that narrows it down to a couple of industrial areas of town.

Hope it leads us somewhere. Right now we have witness testimonials and not much

else. Not quite. There's something I want you to hear.

Okay, we're queuing it up. What is it?

It's Dr. Torrance's autopsy report on the John Doe. All set?

Go ahead, Paul.

Numerous needle marks in the left arm subject. Could be a drug user.

I'm going to cure a blood sample for a drug and alcohol test.

Sounds routine.

Hang on a second.

What's happening here?

That's what she said, but she passed out. Now listen.

Help me, please.

Help me.

So our purported corpse can not only walk, he can also speak?

Sounds like some of the men I date.

You had the tape analyzed?

Absolutely, and it doesn't appear to be tampered with.

That still doesn't rule out the fact that this could be a hoax.

Well, agreed, but what would she gain? This kind of notoriety wouldn't help her

career. Did you play the tape back for the witnesses?

Mm-hmm, and nobody recognized the voice.

Our John Doe is still a John Doe.

Case log update.

I've directed Hendricks to undertake a discreet door-to-door of the surrounding

area in an effort to identify the missing body.

Next transmission in 12 hours.

Darren.

Melissa. Long time no see.

Aubrey, this is Anton.

Hello. Well, you don't look like you need a hot meal, but as the sign says,

all are welcome. That's a nice thing to know these days.

Hey, what's up?

Chicken gumbo. The best in town.

He's got that right. We're getting in line. Go right ahead.

So, Anton, what can I do for you? Well, I'm trying to locate a friend.

He's missing. I talked to the police and they haven't been able to help.

Well, I don't know exactly how to say this, but your friend, he looks dead.

Yeah, well, the lighting's not the best.

Does he look familiar?

Well, it's hard to tell. We get a lot of folks through here, you know. I

understand.

Well, say, is that an asshole?

Oh, you've got good eyes, my friend.

Yeah, I spent some time in Haiti those years ago.

Now, who's this?

Let me introduce you to Samuel.

Ooh.

That's quite the beauty.

Well, he's been a bit jumpy lately.

Those things over on the wall I recognize as well. Are they yours?

Oh, those are Adelina's, my sister's.

Some customs are hard to leave behind, but, you know, I can't complain.

She's the cook that keeps everyone coming back.

Do you mind if I look around for a while? I might find someone who

recognizes my friend.

Oh, go to a bed.

Anyone? No.

I don't think I'd get many answers if I asked.

Hey, hey, hey.

You're real.

What's going on?

Hey, hey, hey.

What's going on?

It's him.

I don't believe it.

Case log update.

Our investigation has led us to the discovery of one male individual who has

been positively identified by two of our witnesses in the missing corpse.

Other witnesses are en route for further corroboration.

Doyle, out.

Connor, thanks for coming so fast.

This is too freaky. Next is I.

Are you sure this is the same man that you saw around town?

Could somebody explain to me what is going on here?

Did that man do something wrong? Because Aubrey's kitchen's on the up and up. We

don't hide criminals from the law.

It's all right. Nobody's accusing you of anything.

Aubrey, are you sure? You don't know him because he goes missing, yet he comes

here. Look, man, I don't know. I don't screen people at the door.

Thank you, Aubrey. We'll be as quick as we can. Yeah, whatever.

We'll be in touch in a few minutes, okay?

Darren and Melissa identify him as the man they found in the alley, the body.

And yet he doesn't recognize them.

He's like some lost animal, disoriented, confused.

Did he tell you his name?

No, unfortunately.

How's he doing?

Well, at first glance, he appears to be suffering from profound dehydration,

malnutrition, and cachexia. But on the positive side, he's alive.

Don't be afraid. We're here to help.

It's all right.

You understand me?

Yeah.

Do you know your name?

Do you have any family?

I don't know.

Who are you people?

I'm sorry.

Let's get him back to the lab.

We're here to help.

We're here to help. Sign, please.

I've completed his physiological assessment.

What about his eyes?

How do you explain their lack of colored pigmentation?

It could be the result of a severe bacterial infection.

I'll be running further tests to confirm the cause. How is his physical

condition? Well, he's responding to the IV. If he looks after himself, I expect

a full recovery.

Connor, I think we found our man.

What have you got?

A voice print analysis matches his voice with the voice heard on Dr. Torrance's

autopsy tape. Good work. Anything else?

We were also able to determine a match between a soil sample taken from the

morgue's examination table and a sample taken from the subject's clothing. Take

a look.

Any idea where it might be from?

You're gonna like this.

I don't like it here.

I know what you mean.

We want you to find out who you are.

Just between you and me.

I don't want to be here any more than you do. Let's take a look around, okay?

That's encouraging. This is the first sign of any recognition of a place we've

witnessed so far.

A graveyard. What a place to recognize.

Lindsay, did you double-check those test results?

Forty years ago, Lucide Cemetery was built over an industrial complex.

The lead levels are 100% match.

Carrie Edwin Hicks.

February 20th, 1962 to September 2nd, 1996.

I want a full environmental assessment done of this area.

Why? What is it?

This hole looks like it was dug out from the inside.

Are you Carrie Hicks?

I can't.

I don't know.

Who wants to do the honors?

There's something inside it.

Here goes.

There's no body.

That's not all.

It looks like somebody tried to claw their way out of here.

I didn't handle this file. It was my colleague's, Dr. Cornwall.

Looks like your John Doe was, in fact, Carrie Hicks.

It's impossible.

The death certificate is dated September 2nd. And the cemetery confirms his

burial on September 5th. According to your testimony, Detective Rothschild,

this same man was brought to you on September 15th, nearly two weeks after

he was buried.

That's him, all right.

How can this be possible?

Are you okay?

Yeah. Yeah, sure.

I see you're back at work.

Yeah.

But I'll tell you something. Every time I go to cut open a new arrival, I hold

my breath.

Case log update.

1,600 hours.

We've decided to return the subject, Carrie Hicks, to what seems to be his

natural environment.

I'm hoping this will trigger something in his memory and allow him to remember

what happened to him over the past month.

Ma'am, I don't like this.

Is he all right?

All we can determine is that he's lost in the long robbery.

If anyone should understand the situation, I thought it would be you.

Okay.

Thanks.

We'll continue to monitor the situation.

I'm sorry.

On the far left is a photo from the external autopsy of

one Carrie Hicks taken September 2nd. Background checks list him as a drifter.

No fixed address, no living relatives. He was buried in Leaside Cemetery on

September 5th.

The photograph in the middle was taken on September 15th by Detective Philip

Roth when our subject was found in the alley. The one on the right was taken

yesterday. By all appearances, it's the same man. He was pronounced dead not

once, but twice.

Although his system is now clean, he was a user of narcotics.

Perhaps he overdosed on some design or drug or form of street heroin and was

mistaken for dead.

How do we explain his apparent escape from the coffin?

The missing panel?

was found inside the coffin under the dirt.

Now, it's possible that Carey could have used a mole-like action and pulled soil

inside the grave, thereby tunneling his way out. It's improbable, but not

impossible. Anton, in your report you mentioned zombification. Can you

elaborate? Well, the term is a bit dramatic, but zombies are believed to be

people who have been poisoned and appear to be dead after their release from the

grave. They have no memories and little or no will to resist the will of others.

Well, what could cause that zombie state?

The primary known active component is tetrodotoxin, or TTX,

a poison obtained from the pufferfish.

It can paralyze a person's neuromuscular junctions, making it very difficult to

detect signs of breathing or a pulse.

So who might be responsible for administering this drug or potion, and

why? Well, to the followers of voodoo, it's the bokor, a kind of witch doctor.

And he or she selects the victim, usually as a slave.

Professor Doyle, we have a situation developing at the homeless shelter.

He was lying here all morning. We thought he was sleeping, but...

Case Manager Connor Doyle, final log entry.

Our autopsy of Darren Talbot revealed the cause of death to be an apparent

drug overdose.

And although we discovered evidence of voodoo practice at Aubrey's kitchen,

subsequent investigation found no conclusive evidence that Aubrey or his

sister were responsible for the poisoning, apparent death, and

subsequent reanimation of Carrie Hicks.

Doyle out.

In the 1800s, in some places, it was the custom to fit coffins with alarm bells

in case the deceased awoke after burial.

Was Cary Hicks the target of a cult using voodoo pharmacology? Was he

affected by a designer drug with an unexpected side effect, or was he merely

the victim of a premature pronouncement of death?

Perhaps in some instances, the medical requisites for the death certificate may

not always mean that a life has ended with finality.

This TV movie, Jackie, is not Citizen Kane. Yeah, but come on. To go from

actor to director is a very big jump. Local boy makes good.

Well, my days as a romantic leader are almost over.

Excuse me.

I'm the one who's 30 years old. I've got two years max to do something with my

career. Otherwise, they're looking for the next 23-year-old.

So, I really appreciate you giving me this chance, Kevin. Hey, it's going to

be fun to work together again.

Yeah. I don't know how you convinced the producer.

No, no, no, no. He didn't need convincing. He's a big fan of the Julie

Bright movie.

Yeah, well, everybody's a big fan of the Julie Bright movie, aren't they?

Good night. Good night.

Can you pass me my bag? Yeah.

Thank you.

I'll see you on set. Yeah.

Drive carefully. Sleep well.

Thanks.

Hi, sweetheart.

Call me your mother.

Jackie Cabot. Running a little bit late. I should be there at five.

Love ya.

Jackie, come to the church.

We must meet.

You can't be here.

What's wrong, Jackie?

Jackie, what's wrong?

He's back.

Stay here.

Stay here.

Jackie Kinley was a B-movie star, admired and even loved by her adoring

fans.

Recently, researchers have studied pheromones, which seem to be associated

among other physiological functions with the love experience.

But could such a biochemical process turn adoration into an obsessive... all

-consuming and malignant force?

In the following case, the OSIR discovered just how far one fan would go

to pursue his object of desire.

Let's work through this.

If Corbin Dean was there, how did he get out of the house?

I don't know.

That's what Gavin and I can't figure out.

You know, Ruth, I can't believe this is happening again. I mean...

I don't tell anybody where I'm going anymore. Nothing.

So, how does he know where I'm going?

Did you call the police?

Yeah.

He's supposed to be in prison, isn't he?

Yes, he has one more hearing before the parole board.

Are you absolutely sure it was him?

Yes, it was him.

He doesn't have a beard anymore, but it was him.

At least I think it was him.

You can come to me anytime.

If you see him again, whenever.

Thanks.

You have another appointment now, don't you? Yes, I do.

Well, thanks for letting me barge in like this.

We're going to get through this.

Thanks. We got through it the last time. Yeah.

I hate Julie Bright.

Hi, Gavin. It's Jackie. Listen, I'm running a bit late today, so if you want

to call me, call me on my cell, okay?

Thanks. Bye.

Oh. Oh.

Case manager Connor Doyle, initial log entry file number 569135.

We're beginning an investigation into a reported recurring apparition. We've

been referred to the case by a colleague of Dr. Anton Hendricks, psychiatrist

Ruth Godman.

We've caught by one thing. Classic stalker pathology.

Adoration becomes obsession. Obsession turns ugly.

Rejection becomes violence.

And violence turns into five years. Aggravated assault and attempted murder.

Am I right in thinking that no one other than Jackie Kinley has seen the

apparition? That's right. On two occasions.

Any further from Beaconsfield Prison?

Well, he was being transferred from the prison pending his final appeal to the

parole board.

The prison authorities assure us that he's somewhere in the system.

Earlier in the tape, the psychiatrist mentioned something about Corbin Dean

stealing from the subject.

That scene that you were watching in the movie? Mm-hmm.

Apparently, he stole all the props from that scene.

The dress, the wedding ring.

That was filmed locally. Mm-hmm.

It's the latest on this answering machine message.

A voice print analysis indicates that it does match the voice of Corbin Dean.

Yeah, but the tape is four years old, so conceivably the message could have come

from the original stalking.

So is this apparition Corbin Dean or someone who looks and sounds like Dean?

He was clean-shaven then.

She wasn't there, and yet she knew that he had shaved off his beard. I was at

the hearing. How could Jackie possibly know that?

I think Corbin Dean saw the movie 65 times.

It's a trade-off.

You're a public figure like this.

You have an identity in people's minds that's totally outside your control.

All kinds of weirdos and groupies come out of the woodwork.

And they want to be your best friend.

Who knows what they think?

Three years ago, the night he assaulted me, he was basically waiting outside my

house to kill me.

Whether he knew it or not, that's what he was doing.

And essentially, I think that's it. This isn't going to end until one of us is

dead.

Initial environmentals have turned up no anomalous energy fields. We found

various prescription medications in Miss Kinley's house. Valium, Prozac, lithium.

Prescribed by the psychiatrist.

Which suggests to you that Miss Kinley could be delusional?

Possibly, but it doesn't really fit her profile.

It seems more likely that she's suffering from post-traumatic stress

disorder, which is intensified by her fear of success.

Fear of success?

Yes, I think there's a link between Jackie's fear of success...

and her stalker anxiety.

She doesn't want success, because success brings stalkers. And the

sightings began the day she learned about being in this new movie. Exactly.

I think that we should remember three years ago it took Corbin Dean breaking

into Jackie Kinley's home for anyone to believe her. This is from Beaconsfield

Prison.

Corbin Dean won his appeal and was released two months ago. Apparently the

board failed to file notice of his release.

This is the last address his parole officer had for him.

Anton, take a security operative and stay with Jackie. Lindsay, you're with

me.

It looks like Mr. Dean is out there somewhere.

No, that is not how it went. That is not how it went at all.

Um, what if I saved that last line and I, um,

I say it to him over my shoulder instead of in bed?

That feels more natural.

Um, just give me a second, okay?

Can I have a napkin, please?

Are you okay?

Thanks.

You want to take a break?

Yeah,

sorry. No, no, it's okay.

Case log update.

In order to establish the exact whereabouts of Corbin Dean, Donner and I

are en route to his last known address.

This is it.

Mr. Kelly?

Mr. Kelly!

Look at this.

Variety.

There's a section missing.

It's where they list new productions.

Their locations when they begin shooting.

Mr. Kelly!

Neatness is not one of Mr. Kelly's strong points.

Can you believe someone lives here?

Now what?

I think we found the right address.

Case log update.

Donner and I have just returned from the trailer of Corbin Dean, where we

recovered some personal effects linked to the character of Julie Bright, a role

the subject made famous in a film five years ago.

Well, according to the prison doctors, Dean has been in the advanced stages of

heart disease for quite some time.

Due to the fact that he had a massive heart attack, the parole board decided

to release him on compassionate grounds.

I guess their compassion didn't extend to Jackie Kinley. Now he appears to be

restocking our subject in a manner that defies explanation.

How did he get onto a movie set without being noticed? Yeah, how did she drive

her car right through him?

Lindsay, the items Ms. Kinley reported missing, were they all recovered from

the trailer?

Everything but the prop wedding ring.

How is she?

Deteriorating. This ordeal is beginning to take its toll.

Initiate 72-hour on-site monitoring with the subject in the controlled

environment.

Surveillance cameras, microphones, closed-circuit night vision, and

thermography.

When he comes again, however he comes, I want to be ready.

Think I'm crazy?

No, not yet. I would.

I guess if I stopped laughing, it would be funny if it was anybody else.

Any news?

No, we're going to be setting up a district meeting in five of the next

three days.

Sure, you can have the whole house. You can have anything you want.

And we'll need you.

Oh. Is that going to be okay?

Um, yeah.

Sure.

I have to face it and deal with it myself.

Otherwise, it's going to own me for the rest of my life.

Thank you.

Bye. Bye.

Nicholson, do you read?

I read. Over.

Perimeter secure.

10-4, all clear.

Subject on biostats?

Underneath her clothes.

She's approaching the front door now.

How we doing?

Normal reading.

What's she saying?

Professor Durrell, there he is.

What do you want from me?

There he is. Do you see him? I can't detect the phenomenon she's

encountering. Do you see him? Physiological response?

There he is! Can you see him?

There he is!

Professor Doyle, please come in here.

Nicholson, Sector 5 in the house. Meet me there.

Jackie?

Let's get Miss Kinley to the lab.

Donner, any more readings?

No, nothing now.

What exactly was it?

Electromagnetic variance.

What range?

30 gigahertz.

Frequency that high?

It could be picking up satellite TV.

I don't know if we're going to find it anymore here.

I don't understand how someone could have got in. We had the house filled

off. I stationed someone at every door. Unless he was in there to begin with. If

there was something in there, it didn't have any math, any scent, any sound, any

temperature. Hmm, incorporeal.

Jet, Jackie maintains it was Corbin Dean.

Any theories?

It's frustrating.

Jackie is the only one to have seen him. It's almost as if it's worth subjective

haunt. Subjective haunt?

Subjective haunt theory. An entity in crisis broadcasts a telepathic signal to

a subject who in turn casts the impulse into a tangible form, but without

physical evidence.

Turns the telepathic signal into an hallucinatory apparition.

However, that doesn't apply.

Unless Corbin Dean is dead.

Lindsay, the trailer we found the Julie Bright items in, it was rented to an R

.K. Kelly. That's right.

Raymond

Kelly?

And October 16th, my God.

That's tomorrow.

Case file update.

Further investigation indicated that the church set for the marriage of Julie

Bright was largely intact.

Jackie Kinley has agreed to participate in an unconventional experiment.

Jackie? You all right?

It's finally over.

It's not going to happen anymore.

Everything okay?

Jackie?

Yes.

Thanks for letting me do this on my own.

I really appreciate it.

The letter explains everything.

It was about atonement, at least in his eyes.

He was giving back everything he had taken from her while he was alive,

completing what he needed to do.

And knowing that he was going to die, he put himself in the film.

Bizarre. But it's consistent.

That film was his whole life.

It became his death, too.

Did we get an exact time of death?

The pathologist's report put his death on October the 4th. It's the same day

that Jackie received his phone call.

Leaving the phone message was probably the last thing that he did.

Lindsay? I was just thinking that Corbin Dean was obsessed with Jackie Kinley's

character, but it was just an image projected onto a movie screen.

And in turn, it was Corbin Dean's apparition, his projected image, which

terrorized Jackie Kinley.

Final case log.

File number 569135.

As per OSIR protocol, we've gone ahead with field flux termination and

eradication procedures at the subject's home, even though no more audible or

visual sightings of the apparition have been experienced by the subject.

In fact, as of last week, Jackie Kinley has essentially returned to her normal

life. Great work, Jackie. Thanks for the day.

I'll call you later. Yeah, I'll talk to you later. Okay, bye.

Julie!

Aren't you Julie Bright? I mean, the person who plays her?

Yeah.

I love your room.

Could I have an autograph?

Sure.

What becomes of our consciousness after death?

Although Corbin Dean was clinically dead, did he actually project himself in

a non-corporeal state? Or did his presence only exist in Jackie Kinley's

mind? Whatever the answer, working with Jackie, the OSIR was able to effectively

terminate this subjective haunt.

I'm Dan Aykroyd for SciFactor.