Think Like a Dinosaur (The Outer Limits)
Encyclopedia
"Think Like a Dinosaur" is an episode of the seventh series of The Outer Limits
based on a short story of the same name
by James Patrick Kelly
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. When an accidental duplicate of a woman is created by the teleportation process, it creates an ethical dilemma
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Kamala Shastri is one of the test jumpers to arrive for travel to the planet Gend, but in the final stage of the transfer, something inexplicable happens. Confirmation of her duplicate's arrival is not received from Gend and the procedure is temporarily aborted. When it's later determined that Kamala's copy does indeed exist, Michael is called upon to 'balance the equation' and eliminate the original. Michael knows the human race is desperate to access a technology that would allow them to leave behind a planet now virtually destroyed by pollution and over-population. He also knows it is imperative that he avoid a protocol breach with the Hanen, but can he bring himself to kill Kamala?
Michael slowly develops feelings for Kamala, and he remembers his deceased wife whom he could not save from disease. Because of this, he can't bring himself to kill Kamala. Michael is eventually convinced by the Hanen that "duplicates" create too many problems, and he deceives Kamala into thinking he will help her escape only to release her from an airlock. Years later, the "real" Kamala returns and recognizes Michael as her coordinator on that original jump. Obviously tormented from murdering her double, Michael claims that she must be mistaken.
The Outer Limits (1995 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that originally aired on Showtime,the Sci Fi Channel and in syndication between 1995 and 2002...
based on a short story of the same name
Think Like a Dinosaur
"Think Like a Dinosaur" is a science fiction novelette written by James Patrick Kelly. Originally published in the June 1995 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, it was subsequently featured in:* Year's Best SF "Think Like a Dinosaur" (1995) is a science fiction novelette written by James...
by James Patrick Kelly
James Patrick Kelly
James Patrick Kelly is an American science fiction author who began publishing in the 1970s and remains to this day an important figure in the science fiction field....
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Introduction
Dinosaur-like aliens have set up an installation on the moon to teach humans interstellar teleportationTeleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
. When an accidental duplicate of a woman is created by the teleportation process, it creates an ethical dilemma
Ethical dilemma
An Ethical dilemma is a complex situation that will often involve an apparent mental conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another....
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Opening narration
Plot
Michael Burr is the only permanent human occupant of the Tuulen station, situated on a vast empty plain of the Moon. His companions are the Hanen, an emotionless dinosaur-like alien species who have developed a highly advanced means of long distance travel by 'jumping' through space. Achieved by creating an exact duplicate of the jumper, the copy is reconstituted at the destination point and the original destroyed, thus leaving only one.Kamala Shastri is one of the test jumpers to arrive for travel to the planet Gend, but in the final stage of the transfer, something inexplicable happens. Confirmation of her duplicate's arrival is not received from Gend and the procedure is temporarily aborted. When it's later determined that Kamala's copy does indeed exist, Michael is called upon to 'balance the equation' and eliminate the original. Michael knows the human race is desperate to access a technology that would allow them to leave behind a planet now virtually destroyed by pollution and over-population. He also knows it is imperative that he avoid a protocol breach with the Hanen, but can he bring himself to kill Kamala?
Michael slowly develops feelings for Kamala, and he remembers his deceased wife whom he could not save from disease. Because of this, he can't bring himself to kill Kamala. Michael is eventually convinced by the Hanen that "duplicates" create too many problems, and he deceives Kamala into thinking he will help her escape only to release her from an airlock. Years later, the "real" Kamala returns and recognizes Michael as her coordinator on that original jump. Obviously tormented from murdering her double, Michael claims that she must be mistaken.