Mr. Murder

Come on, you can do it.

It's hard to believe the universe even bothered

putting a brain in that.

4.0 since the 9th grade. 1580 on his SAT's

National Merit Scholar.

He's excellent.

Remember, just to the brink.

You never got far enough to see the darkness in people.

All you ever knew was love.

That's lucky.

Shh. Don't disturb Daddy. He's working.

Excuse me, I'm sorry,

but I need to take some blood.

It'd be great if you and your little girl

had the same blood type.

I mean, that would like really be on your side.

Is she gonna go into surgery?

The doctor didn't say. The doctors never say.

At least not to me they don't.

- Charlie... - Ooo, I vant to drink your blood.

Don't.

That is a very important sample.

Some bitch of a specialist made a big deal about it.

Nurse? Do you have the Gregg sample?

The swimmer?

Yes, Doctor.

It's right here.

Oh, thank god.

Someone has to get the kitten out of the tree.

- Oh, my baby. - I mean it, Mommy. Right now.

Don't worry, honey.

We're gonna get the kitten out of the tree, okay?

We're gonna get all the kittens

out of all the trees all over the whole wide world.

You know what else we'll do?

We'll even put some kittens up in some trees

just so we can get 'em out. Okay?

So this is it.

That's my dad.

What a surprise!

Think he'd miss his chance to share in the glory?

Maybe he brought the vintage champagne.

May I have that, please?

Dad, we have to have that to the lab

and processed in the next six hours or we go back to square zero.

So you just happened to hear

about this world class scholar and athlete

who just happened to be at death's door?

Well, we do have our contacts at all the major

medical centers across the country.

It would take a long time

for something this perfect to just turn up.

Well, I guess we got lucky.

You got damn lucky, if you ask me.

What exactly are you saying, Dad?

I'm sure you'll forgive me for jumping to unpleasant conclusions.

See, I let you run with this project...

this minefield of a project...

because I thought it'd do you good

to be stuck with some consequences.

But I think you know that this time

when you bring the house down around your head...

there'll be no building of libraries or prep schools

so they won't kick you out.

Well, there won't be a "this time".

"War Without Widows" is an idea whose time has come.

Today, thanks to the joint efforts

of the Department of Defense and Oslett Technologies...

we begin an awesome adventure.

The age of sending our fragile irreplaceable sons to war is over.

From a thread of DNA taken from a single human blood cell

and implanted in the nucleus of an unfertilized egg...

we will forge a new warrior.

A warrior who leaves no widows or orphans

and feels no grief or fear.

And with enough fuel his wounds will heal themselves

almost instantly and he'll be able to march for days with no sleep.

And if I'm to believe what the scientists

are telling me about a gene that carries extra sensory powers...

he may even someday be capable of getting his orders telepathically.

And he will never doubt the moral foundation of any order...

even in his heart.

It's that doubt that is a soldier's greatest agony.

He won't have superhuman strength...

but his metabolism will be to yours and mine as...

well as the engine of a Lamborghini is to a bicycle.

You'll note the child has reached full gestation in only 19 weeks.

If the growth agents we've been experimenting with

keep working miracles at the same rate...

he'll be ready for the kind of work General Ames has in mind

by the time he's chronologically ten years old.

It's unfortunate this breakthrough comes at the expense of a tragic accident.

Well, Senator...

I like to think that a brilliant young athlete...

even after death, has the opportunity to do great things.

I mean, we're standing at Kitty Hawk, my friends.

We're watching Columbus sail from Cadiz.

- General? - No, you go ahead, Drew.

What is it, darling? Are you all right?

Nothing. I think I just swallowed something

the wrong way, that's all.

When my son first told me he wanted to be a writer,

I told him he'd better find himself a rich wife.

When he told me he was going to marry an artist,

I told his mother to get his old room ready

for the day when he'd have to throw himself

on the mercy of his hard-working parents.

I am so happy to say I haven't been right yet.

To my son,

on the publication of his first novel,

the first of many.

And if any of you know

where such a nice boy got the idea

for the scene with the drill and the snake,

please... don't tell me.

To Marty.

- Here, here. - Well said.

Excuse me.

I'm just gonna get a little air.

Kathy, could you take her for a second?

What's going on?

I don't know. It's weird...

it's... I feel like I'm scared or something.

Do I need to call a doctor?

No, it's... it's not physical.

If there was something to be scared about, I'd understand.

Are you kidding?

What's scarier than having all your dreams come true?

I think I feel better.

I could get the kids out here on some pretext

and we could all sneak away to Bora Bora.

Why drag the kids into it?

You know, I've seen photos of the swimmer at that age.

There isn't the slightest resemblance.

With all the experimentation we did with his genetic makeup...

there was the possibility that we would alter his appearance

but not his talents.

Are you ready to meet Alfie?

Oh, yes.

It's okay, Alfie...

I brought a friend.

This is General Ames. I'd like you to meet him.

Alfie. Actually, we met once before

when you were a very little boy.

I... just came by to see how you're doing.

I'm doing great, sir.

Well, I'm glad to hear that.

I brought you a present. I hope you like checkers.

Wow. I love checkers. I bet I could beat you.

I'll have to take you up on that.

Alfie, you can beat the general at checkers later.

Right now I have something very important

that I'd like to discuss with you.

General, would you excuse us, please?

Of course. I'll see you in a minute, Alfie.

That'd be great.

Thank you.

Alfie, you wanna send Pepper to his house?

Hey, go to your house, Pepper.

Alfie, have a seat.

I afraid I have some bad news.

We've discovered in our midst a dangerous spy.

An assassin that was sent here with orders to kill all of us.

What spy? Where is he? I'll take care of him.

Well, I'm sorry that I have to tell you this...

but the assassin is Pepper.

Pepper's a dog.

That's true, but dogs can be trained.

And it stands to prove what I've always told you...

that you can only trust you and me.

- He's just a dog. - Alfie, you know what you have to do.

Be at peace, Alfie.

I'm at peace, Father.

Come here, Pepper. Come here, boy.

No!

No!

Open this door.

Pepper, come!

Get this door open. Alfie!

Sit. Stay.

Alfie.

Alfie!

That's enough, Alfie, don't hurt him.

It's a mistake. He isn't a spy.

It's a mistake, Alfie.

Make him stop.

I said make him stop!

Be at peace, Alfie.

The General's right.

We made a mistake.

A fearless soldier is not the same thing as a heartless killer

and if you'd ever been within 10,000 miles of a combat zone...

that's something you'd know.

I thought the entire point of this project

was to create a fearless soldier

who would never question the moral foundation of an order.

I'm pretty sure I heard that somewhere

and I think I heard it from you.

Well, that's not what I see.

I see a little boy who's never learned to be sad,