Tales of Tomorrow

"Tales of Tomorrow."

- Is there a superior race on Earth

living somewhere secretly?

Tonight, Kreisler presents "The Children's Room,"

starring Claire Luce.

With Una O'Connor, John Boruff and Terry Green.

- Hey, Skip? Aren't you supposed to be in bed?

Theoretically.

- Well, how about converting that theory to practice

before your old lady comes down, hm?

Aw, just a few more pages.

Pop, you still marking midterms?

Don't change the subject.

I could help you.

Could I, Pop?

You got your master's degree?

Shucks, it's only physics.

Not even nuclear physics. It's a snap.

Oh, Pop, you must be awful tired.

To convert Fahrenheit to centigrade,

subtract 32 and multiply by 9/5.

- Oh? - You marked it true.

- To convert Fahrenheit- - It should be 5/9, not 9/5.

- Well! Where did you pick up that bit of information?

- I read it somewhere. - And you remembered!

Hm. I remember everything I read.

- Walt! you promised to be in bed by 9 o'clock.

What's so important about going to bed?

Come on, Skip, hit the sack.

Aw, I'm supposed to be sick.

All the more reason to get some shuteye.

If you're in good shape,

maybe you can go to school tomorrow, check?

- Oh, I'm sick all right. I'm awful sick.

Oh, my book.

- Now, Walt, promise me you won't read in bed.

You're ruining your eyes.

Don't be silly.

Walt! Give me that book.

No!

- All right, Walt, now I'm gonna count to three

and then I want you to apologize to your mother.

- It's all her fault, Pop! - One.

- Gee whiz, can I help it if she doesn't understand?

Two.

Okay.

I apologize, Mother.

Walt!

Walt, I want you to come down here.

Oh, nevermind, Bill. Leave him alone.

- I don't know what's gotten into that boy.

Oh, how can you expect to

with your nose in your work 24 hours a day?

Oh, now Rose, that's not fair.

- Fair? What's happening to us, is that fair?

- Well, I don't know what disturbed you so much

about his actions.

His actions? His behavior?

It's much more than that, and you know it.

I know that he's a perfectly normal boy.

And I know that he has an IQ of 240.

And that makes him different from everybody else.

You can't expect him to behave like every other boy.

That's right, turn your back.

Bury your nose in your exam papers.

That's always the easiest solution.

- All right, what do you want me to do? Scold the boy?

Talk to him? Tell me what you want me to do.

Just open your eyes.

There's something wrong with our son.

Just because he's disrespectful?

Because in the last two months

he's grown into something I cannot understand.

And it's not only me. It's his friends, his teachers.

Half the time he speaks a language that makes no sense.

He uses words that the ordinary person

can't even comprehend.

And those horrible books with the strange markings,

when I ask him what language it is and where he learned it,

he laughs at me and says I'm stupid

and that only he can read it because he's different.

- Slow down, Rose. I don't know what you're talking about.

Then find out.

Look at those books. I think you should.

I think you've avoided this long enough, Bill.

I'd better be going. It's getting late.

- Well, say hello to your mother for me

and tell her I'm sorry I can't come along.

Yes, I'll make all the usual excuses.

Will you be back early?

Oh, probably not before midnight.

- Darling, I've been so tied up this semester

with those two extra courses.

It's all right, Bill, I understand.

From here on in, word of honor,

I'm going to give more time to Walt, I really will.

Oh, Bill, darling, do.

I know I seem like such a nag, but really, it's maddening,

my son treating me like a child.

Now drive slow.

You can be very frightening behind that wheel.

That must be pretty interesting.

Or is just a stall to stay awake, huh?

No, it's interesting, okay.

Boy, it's darn interesting.

Can you read it, Pop?

Of course I can read it.

- Well, nobody else can. Not even Mom, but...

She's different from us, isn't she, Pop?

Where did you get this?

- In the children's room of the university library.

The university?

I've been in the library a thousand times.

You know perfectly well there's no children's room.

But there is. I've been in it.

Miss Edith gave me this book.

Miss Edith?

- In the children's room. The white-haired lady.

Okay. Hit the sack, Skip.

- You believe me, Pop? You do, don't you?

Go to sleep, Walt.

We'll talk about it again in the morning.

- We're different, Pop. We can read it, can't we?

Just you and me.

- I'm sorry, Mr. Davis. This is not our book.

Now really, just look at this book.

What kind of a language do you call this?

Are you trying to tell me

that these foolish hieroglyphics are readable?

Then, you can't read this?

I asked you a question.

I don't like jokes that go

well beyond their obvious point.

I intend to return this book.

Now, if you'll only be good enough to tell me

where the children's room is.

Mr. Davis.

How many times do I have to tell you

that there is no children's room?

That seems to be a matter that you'll have to take up

with our board of directors.

Perhaps you can convince them to build one.

Then there is no children's room.

Oh, really now!

Walt, you know perfectly well

there's no children's room.

But there is. I've been in it.

Miss Edith gave me this book.

You're one of the fathers, I presume.

Walter Davis, am I correct?

Yes, I can see it around the eyes.

You're Walter's father. My, this is unusual.

I can understand your bewilderment.

You've not read the book, have you?

The one you're holding in your hand.

- Oh, the book, yes. I've read some of it, why?

Well then you can read it.

- Of course I can read it! Why shouldn't I?

No need to raise your voice.

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't-

- When you've finished the book, you will understand

as Walter even now is beginning to understand.

I don't know what you're talking about.

But it frightens you.

- Why, that's ridiculous! - But true.

You are frightened, aren't you, Mr. Davis?

Frightened of something you've felt before

but refused to recognize

and you don't understand.

But you will, Mr. Davis.

We will make you understand.

What must I understand?

- The difference, Mr. Davis. The difference in Walt and you.

Oh, I've heard about enough of this!

Stop acting like a child.

Do you imagine you can run from it?

You read the book. Perhaps you failed to read far enough.

Or refused to accept the meaning in the words.

- You have reached the point of knowing

and now you shall know.

You are a mutation, a superior human being,

a deviation from the normal.

You came into being because nature demanded a new race;

because evolution must not stop at the creation of man,

but must continually improve.

We must unite our mutants and their superior intelligence,

for in a very short time

the human race will fall into competition

with another race from another planet,

a race which even now threatens to enslave us.

You are not alone.

There are thousands like you,

and you will be the founders

of a new, superior civilization.

Interesting hypothesis.

A fact.

- And you're trying to tell me that I am a mutation?

You are, Mr. Davis.

Otherwise you would not see our room here

or be able to read our books.