You're traveling through another dimension.
A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind.
A journey into a wondrous land of imagination.
Next stop, the twilight zone.
Yeah?
Oh, hello, george. I've been expecting your call.
Yeah, I've been sitting here waiting for you.
Yeah, it's kind of a hot night out, ain't it?
Yeah, well, that's what I wanna to talk to you about, george.
I was wondering what you had in mind tonight.
Now-now, wait a minute, george.
I've been sitting here three, four hours. I've been roasting to death out there and...
Well, I like to go out of my mind, george...
George?
George, look, will you... george, will...
George, will you let me... will you listen to me, george? Will you listen to me?
Now, look, I'm not trying to cop out, george. I am not trying to cop out.
I'd just like to know what you had in mind, that's all.
You know I got a tendency toward nerves, george, and, well, you can sit in a hotel room only so long and...
Well, it's such a hot night outside, george.
George, look, I'm-i'm not complaining, george. You know I'm not complaining, george.
I'm gonna do the job, whatever it is. You know that.
You got a number one boy here, george. I'm gonna do the job, but...
George?
Hey, george?
George?
This is Mr. Jackie rhoades, age 34.
And where some men leave a mark of their lives as a record of their fragmentary existence on earth, this man leaves a blot. A dirty, discolored blemish to document a cheap and undistinguished sojourn amongst his betters.
What you're about to watch in this room is a strange mortal combat between a man and himself.
For, in just a moment, mr. Jackie rhoades, whose life has been given over to fighting adversaries, will find his most formidable opponent in a cheap hotel room that is, in reality, the outskirts of the twilight zone.
Yeah?
Yeah? Who is it?
George.
How are you, george?
I'm in the pink. How are you, jackie?
Oh, I'm all right, george.
I'm just a little nervous about the action tonight. I was...
It's a gorgeous place you got here, jackie.
Well, four bucks a night, you can't go wrong, you know. Four bucks a night.
No, you can't go wrong, but you could get roasted to death, or poisoned by small creatures.
What about tonight, george? What's the job?
Does it make any difference?
Difference? No, no. No. It don't make no difference.
I was just wondering. I just wondered what you had in mind. That was all.
What would you like to do, jackie? What's your heart's desire?
Oh, you're kidding me, george. You're pulling my leg.
I know you. You're pulling my leg.
Well, if it was up to me, I'd-I'd, uh...
Well, if it was up to me, george, I'd like some decent odds for a change.
I don't mind a little shakedown, a little bunco.
But it's just that I'm getting all the hard stuff.
You know I almost got picked up the last two times.
Remember the heist? That kind of stuff ain't for me, george.
Except they pick me up one more time, george, it's three strikes and out.
I'm long gone, and for good.
Boy, it's so hot in here, ain't it, george? Ain't it hot?
Anybody ever tell you what you look like?
You look like a man trying to catch a subway at 5:00.
You always look like somebody's squeezing you through a door.
What do you do to sleep at night, jackie, hide in the locked closet?
Look, george, I'm not knocking you, and I don't see why you all the time gotta knock me.
All I'm asking from you is...
George, what's the job I've got to do tonight?
All right, I'll tell you, jackie.
Tonight, I'm gonna let you be a man.
I'm gonna let you show some muscle for a change.
No shakedowns, no deliveries to a fence.
Nothing little, jackie. Not tonight.
Tonight, jackie, you're getting up in the world.
Now, there's an old man.
Runs a little bar on 38th street, between lexington and 6th.
He's a feisty old bum. He's always giving us trouble.
He don't wanna pay off for the jukeboxes, he don't wanna pay for protection.
We lecture him all the time, but he spits in our eye.
So, tomorrow morning, they find the old gleep sprawled across his bar.
And then all the rest swing in line.
Now, that's simple, jackie. Even you can understand.
k*ll him? You want me to k*ll him?
You're the one, jackie.
But, george, I can get sent up for just carrying that thing.
George, this one ain't for me.
You're in hock to me for your buttons. Don't tell me what's for you and what isn't.
I've never done anything like this before, george. I'm strictly breaking and entering.
You put me in an alley, I do a mug job, but I gotta do it from behind.
I got no guts, george. You know that, george. I got no guts.
Why don't you get a couple other guys, huh? Get a couple of torpedoes?
Every torpedo I got is gonna get picked up the minute they find that old gleep.
You're not gonna get picked up because you're nickel-and-dime and everybody knows it.
You never did a job like this because you never could do a job like this, and that's why you're gonna do this one, jackie.
And that's how you're going to get away with it.
But, george, I got no guts.
Get guts, jackie! I don't care where from.
You get them under the bed, you buy them from a vendor, you grow them in a pot.
I don't care, but you get them, and you do the job.
Now, he closes that bar at 2:00. You be there when he's about to lock up, and you do it.
And I'll be back here at 2:30, jackie.
And if I find out that you welshed on me, jackie, that you chickened out, you're dead.
Hey, george.
Hey, george! George!
George! Please, george!
Look at you.
Look at you. What's the beef?
Go out and get rid of an old man. Some dopey old man.
He's gonna be 90 years old, maybe 100 years.
That's what he is. Some dopey old man, a gleep.
Hey, that's what george called him, a gleep.
That's what george called him. A gleep.
Boy, I wish I could trade you, and I could use another model.
Aw, it's not your fault. It's not my fault. It's just the breaks, that's all.
Why am I scared?
Why am I all the time scared?
I'm all the time scared.
Oh, man, I've had a long haul.
How many nights in a t*nk? How many nights in stir?
How many nights in a cheap, lousy little room like this?
Four bucks a night to roast to death.
Nail biter. Scared, nervous little nail biter.
Hey, george! You ain't no judge of people, george!
You oughta peel cantaloupes! You oughta stick with apples and oranges, george, because you ain't no judge of people! Jackie rhoades the k*ller!
Hey, jackie rhoades, k*ller!
I know you, jackie rhoades. You ain't no k*ller.
But you gotta k*ll tonight. k*ll or be k*lled.
So you do the job and you're dead anyway, because you know you never got away with anything.
You live till tomorrow, and that's how it ends.
Boy, I wish I could trade you in.
No matches. Cigarettes and no matches. That's me all over.
That's jackie rhoades, the halfway boy.
That's the story of my life.
Hello, jackie.
Come back here! You're not running out on me this time!
You talking to me?
You talking to me?
Who you... yeah, sure you are.
Now, me and the mirror, we're having a talk.
I've had it, huh? All my marbles are gone. This is how it happens. This...
Yeah, this is how it happens, but you ain't lost your marbles yet, and I mean to see that you keep them.
Who are you?
I'm you, jackie, and you're me.
How's that? You're me and I'm you?
Oh, this is crazy. This is really crazy.
This is crazy! Crazy!
Jackie! I'm part of you, jackie. Another part of you.
Don't you even remember me?
You used to know me a long time ago, jackie.
A very long time ago, you were up for grabs.
You could have gone one way or the other.
You could have gone my way or your way. You went your way.
You know what that means, jackie?
No, I don't.
Your way. A cheap, weak, scared, half vulture, all mouse.
That's what you are, jackie.
All right, so knock me.
So I'm this and I'm that, and I'm this and I'm that.
Look, here, buddy, whatever I am, I got flesh and bones and I breathe.
And in just a couple of hours from now, I'm gonna put the finger on somebody!
So, ha-ha! What do you do for a living, huh?
Haunt people in mirrors, huh?
Listen to me, boy. Listen to me.
I'm having an argument with a big piece of glass.
Listen, glass, I'm leaving.
See, I'm pulling out. I'm pulling out. I've had it with you.
I'm a mouse, huh? Well, you're nothing!
Jackie.
Jackie.
Now, jackie.
Jackie, don't pass out on me now.
Jackie, we've got a big night ahead of us.
Where you going?
What's it to you?
Everything. Everything you do is everything to me.
Can't you get that?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, now I get it. I'm talking to myself.
That's just who you are talking to.
Part of yourself. The part you never let come out.
Now, listen, buddy. You got no invitation to come out now, so you can go right back where you came from. Who needs you?
You do. You've always needed me.
Wait a minute. Now I get it.
Yeah, now I get it. You're a chicken, too.
You're scared I'll get caught same as me.
You're scared this is the last job, so you make a big noise like a conscience so the big man don't say you've been goofing off all my life.
It means more than that to me, jackie.
You think I can keep quiet now while you go out and get us both k*lled?
k*lled?
That's right. You said so yourself.
You never got away with nothing, and you know you won't get away with this.
And I got a right to live.
You had the same chances as me. No chance. So, if I'm wrong and you're right, then how come every move I made turned out wrong? How about that, huh?
Because every time I tried to talk to you, you listened to somebody else.
That was your mistake.
Okay, wise guy, you know so much, then how come you don't know the big thing?
Big thing?
Don't you ever look at a mirror?
I was a runt. I was a skinny little runt.
When you wanna join a street g*ng, you gotta go along with them.
You back down, they give you business.
They call you a chicken and yell, "you ain't got it!
Yeah, you went along with them.
And you made me go along, too.
The first time we were ten years old. Remember that?
The class picnic? The teacher had a locket, and the catch broke, and she laid it down, and some of the big kids dared you to swipe it.
Well, I didn't wanna swipe it. I told you I was a runt. They dared me.
And a year later, they dared you to break into that grocery store with them, and you went along, and you dragged me along, too, and we got caught.
And you spent the next 11 months in reform school, and so did i.
What did that prove, jackie?
Yak, yak, yak, yak. Talk my ear off.
No wonder I cut you down.
You're walking on your lower lip all the time.
What do you want from me anyway?
You know what I want.
No, I don't. But I'll tell you what I do know.
I gotta go out and do a job. I gotta knock off an old gleep on 38th street.
And if I don't do it by 2:00 a.m., you can take what's left of me and scrape it off that mirror with a spoon! I ain't got much time. I gotta go now.
You got less time than you think. But you never had time.
You didn't have time when that parole officer tried to help you.
You could have listened to him, but you joined another g*ng.
Six months later, you were in jail again, and that parole officer couldn't help you any more than janey reardon could.
Janey reardon.
Janey reardon.
Janey reardon.
She was a nice kid.
She was a beautiful woman.
She tried to set you straight.
I loved her, jackie. I loved janey reardon.
You loved her? You got a nerve.
How could you love anybody? You're just a piece of glass.
I could love, jackie.
I could love.
I needed her, jackie. So did you.
I tried to tell you how much we needed her, but you graduated from the street g*ng into the shakedown rackets.
Big sh*t, huh? Two years we spent in the pen on that one.
And when we got out, janey reardon had gotten married and moved away.
She walked out of your life, jackie.
Out of our life! You cheated me out of her.
Don't tell me your troubles. It's nothing to me. Dames I can take or leave alone.
Dames you can take or leave, huh?
That's a statement for the press.
You wouldn't wanna have a girl, would you, jackie?
Somebody sweet and pretty. Somebody who would love you.
Somebody who'd be kind and gentle with you.
You don't need that, do you, jackie?
Why don't you cut it out? Will you do that?
Will you knock it off?
What do you want from me anyway? I'm asking you, what do you want from me?
I'm still waiting to hear. What do you want?
I wanna take over, jackie. I wanna call the sh*ts.
I want you to let me out. I want a chance to live.
I wanna live with all the guts and goodness you left behind.
I wanna live the dreams you dreamed and never had the guts to live.
Fat chance, buster. Big fat chance. I'm me and you're you!
And that's no statement for the press. That's the goods.
I'm going out and knock me off an old man now, I'm gonna cut me a nice slice of cabbage for my troubles. I'm calling the sh*ts!
And neither you or anybody else is telling jackie rhoades what to do!
Yeah? Oh, yeah, george.
Uh, george, I'm doing what you told me, george. I'm just on my way out now.
Yeah, george. I'm just leaving.
Yeah. Honest, george. Honest. I'm-i'm-i'm on my way now.
Yeah. Yeah, I'm-i'm...
I'm gonna leave right now, george. I'll meet you back here at 2:30, okay?
Yeah. I'll meet you right back here, george. Okay.
Hey!
Hey, there.
Hey, where are you?
Hey, glass, come on out here.
Come on. Do your job now.
Hey, come on, I wanna see how I look, glass. Come on.
It don't make any difference, jackie, because you're not going anywhere.
You go out that door, you're finished. We're both finished.
That's the door to nowhere.
Jackie, jackie, let me out!
I wanna take over. I gotta take over!
I want a decent job, some friends.
I got a job. I got friends. I got everything I want.
You got nothing. You got nothing but a pain inside.
You got no friends. You got nothing! You are nothing!
It's time to be something. Jackie, let me out. Let me take over, jackie.
This is your last chance.
All right, I'll let you out of there.
Come on out of there, wise guy. Come on out!
What a phony. What a phony.
You're a liar!
Get up, little man.
I'm gonna take your skin off foot by foot.
Nobody went to the old man's bar tonight, jackie.
Nobody at all.
At last reports, he was in excellent health, thanks to you.
Thanks to you, you raunchy little welsher.
Well, what do you got to say for yourself, crumb, huh?
What have you got to say for yourself?
What have I got to say for myself, george?
Not much. Just two words: I resign.
That's it, george. I resign.
You what?
I resign.
You can have your g*n back, plus the following.
Move out, george.
And don't ever come back for anything.
Room clerk, this is jackie...
This is john rhoades, room 14. I'm checking out.
No, I'm not coming back.
No, as a matter of fact, nothing's all right.
The room's too hot, too small and too dirty.
It's just the place for bums, but not for me.
Hey, hey, what's to do now?
What's to do now? Now we go look for a job.
Now maybe we get married.
Now maybe we stop biting our nails.
Exit Mr. John rhoades, formerly a reflection in a mirror, a fragment of someone else's conscience, a wishful thinker made out of glass, but now made out of flesh, and on his way to join the company of men.
Mr. John rhoades, with one foot through the door and one foot out of the twilight zone.
Rod serling, the creator of twilight zone, will tell you about next week's story after this word from our alternate sponsor.
And now, Mr. Serling.
These are familiar items, I'm sure.
Television set, electric razor, clock, typewriter.
The normal, everyday accouterments that are part and parcel of 20th century progress.
But next week, you'll see them under different circumstances, and in a totally dissimilar guise.
They'll be machines, but they'll also be monsters.
Our story is called a thing about machines, and it will be here waiting for you in the twilight zone.