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X Minus One - "Man's Best Friend" (Old Time Radio, 1957) · X Minus One | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Eight hundred years from now, Gervaise Schnee receives an official
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: prediction from the immense prognosticator. Political power lies in his future.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: That forecast brings opportunists to his door, public attention, and
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: a meeting with the reigning overlord Kip in a society
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: that accepts the machine's pronouncements as fate. From NBC Radio,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: this is X-1, Episode 98, Man's Best Friend. First broadcast
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: April 24th, 1957. Evelyn E. Smith's story was adapted for
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: radio by Ernest Kenoy, with William Redfield as Gervais Schnee
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: and Santos Ortega as Overlord Kip. And now, our story begins.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Countdown for blastoff.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: X minus 5, 4, 3, 2, X minus 1, fire.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: From the far horizons of the unknown come tales of
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: new dimensions in time and space.
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: These are stories of the future.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Adventures in which you'll live in a million could be
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: years on a thousand maybe worlds. The National Broadcasting Company,
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, presents.
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: X minus 1.
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: Tonight, we take you some 800 years into the future
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: to meet man's best friend.
• 2:15
  Speaker 6: Well, what's the matter? Who's there? What? Oh, turn on
• 2:22
  Speaker 6: the enunciator. All right, I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm coming. Well,
• 2:29
  Speaker 6: stand in front of the screen. I can't see you.
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: I am in front of the screen, Mr. Schnee.
• 2:34
  Speaker 7: You haven't turned up the viewing control.
• 2:36
  Speaker 6: Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, uh, there you are. Do I
• 2:41
  Speaker 6: know you?
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: May I be the first to congratulate you, Mr.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Schnee?
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: You may indeed. What for?
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: Oh, you haven't heard the news. Good, then I shall
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: be the first. I imagine I got a head start
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: on the others because of my superior facilities for locating you.
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: Your address wasn't given. These pronouncements do tend to be
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: a bit vague. It's a matter of tradition, I suppose.
• 2:59
  Speaker 6: I haven't heard any news for days. I've been listening
• 3:02
  Speaker 6: to my sound tapes and, uh, and meditating. Now, wait
• 3:07
  Speaker 6: a minute. I'll let you in. Oh, oh, the autobursar
• 3:14
  Speaker 6: must have forgotten to pay the door bill. Have to
• 3:16
  Speaker 6: open it manually. Uh, just a minute. All right, you, uh,
• 3:21
  Speaker 6: can come in now.
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: Well, I suppose you don't know who I am.
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: Well, you're wearing the uniform of an upper echelon salesman.
• 3:30
  Speaker 6: I just wanted to warn you, nobody can force me
• 3:32
  Speaker 6: to buy anything. I'm a free citizen.
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: Oh, now come, Mr.
• 3:35
  Speaker 6: Snape. I suppose the big news is I'm the lucky
• 3:38
  Speaker 6: householder to whom the little gem room expander will first
• 3:42
  Speaker 6: be offered.
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: Oh, nothing of the sort. I'm not a common salesman.
• 3:45
  Speaker 6: Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't notice your merchant prince badge.
• 3:50
  Speaker 6: Come in, have a chair. No, no, no, not that one.
• 3:52
  Speaker 6: It's my meditator. It's still running.
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: Oh, thank you.
• 3:56
  Speaker 6: Well? Mr.
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: Schnee, our prognosticator has just given its fortnightly prognostication. You
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: are going to be our new ruler. Congratulations. I'm sure
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: you will be a splendid one, too.
• 4:07
  Speaker 6: But wait, what's to become of the old ruler?
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: You're scheduled to dispose of him sometime this month.
• 4:14
  Speaker 8: Now, Mr.
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: Schnee, allow me to introduce myself. I am Biedrich Floria,
• 4:18
  Speaker 4: vice president of the Munitions and Container Corporation. Here I
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: have our latest model in this case right here. There
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: we are. Beautiful, isn't it?
• 4:26
  Speaker 6: Mm-hmm.
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: Now, if you will only agree to shoot over Lord
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: Kip with a Floria Semper Fidelis gun, my corporation will
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: be happy to place a substantial amount of credit at
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: your disposal in any bank you choose. Six billion, to
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: be exact. Now, if you'll just sign here on the
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: dotted line... Nonsense! Oh, come now, Mr. Schnee, even a
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: ruler can use money. Bribery for government officials, bread and
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: circuses for the people. Oh, money's a very useful commodity, Mr. Schnee.
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: Shall we say, uh, seven billion?
• 4:55
  Speaker 6: I don't doubt that money is useful, but when I
• 4:58
  Speaker 6: said nonsense, I meant the prognosticator.
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: Mr.
• 5:01
  Speaker 6: Schnee? The whole thing is a lot of... well, nonsense.
• 5:05
  Speaker 6: A whole planet of supposedly intelligent people listening to what's
• 5:09
  Speaker 6: really more an oracle. A machine can't read the future.
• 5:14
  Speaker 6: It's impossible.
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: Oh, dear, dear, dear, Mr.
• 5:16
  Speaker 6: Schnee, that sacrilege.
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: You can't talk, confounded sir, you can't talk that way
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: about the machine. Listen, after all, let's look at this reasonably.
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: Machines can and do answer all the problems of our
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: daily life. So why shouldn't a superior machine be able
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: to tell the future?
• 5:32
  Speaker 6: If you ask me, behind the wires and gimmicks and
• 5:36
  Speaker 6: whatnots of the machine, there's a secret room in which
• 5:38
  Speaker 6: a half-mad, half-intoxicated old priestess sits delivering her Delphic pronouncements.
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: Might as well have an above-board oracle and be done
• 5:46
  Speaker 6: with it.
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: Now, now, Mr. Schnee, even our ruler shouldn't flout the
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: authority of machinery. Of course, it's all right when you're
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: alone with friends like me, but in public you shouldn't. Mr.
• 5:56
  Speaker 6: Schnee, I'm from the Daily Disseminator. How does it feel
• 5:59
  Speaker 6: to be ruler prognosticate? Perhaps you tell us in your
• 6:02
  Speaker 6: own words. Oh, that's what I get for leaving the
• 6:04
  Speaker 6: enunciator on.
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: There's your community.
• 6:07
  Speaker 6: All right, all right. I'll answer it.
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: Hello.
• 6:11
  Speaker 6: Mr.
• 6:12
  Speaker 7: Schnee?
• 6:12
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 6:13
  Speaker 7: I'm Overlord Kip. I understand you are the young man
• 6:17
  Speaker 7: who was destined to dispose of me and take my place.
• 6:19
  Speaker 6: Well, honestly, Your Honorship, I haven't the slightest intention.
• 6:21
  Speaker 7: You'll make it swift and painless, won't you? Suppose you
• 6:24
  Speaker 7: come around to the palace around one o'clock or so.
• 6:26
  Speaker 7: We can have a bite of lunch and discuss the
• 6:28
  Speaker 7: matter together. After all, I think you'd agree that I
• 6:31
  Speaker 7: have been a reasonably good ruler, so I have the
• 6:34
  Speaker 7: right to die with dignity.
• 6:37
  Speaker 6: Oh, absolutely. No question of that. I think it's a
• 6:40
  Speaker 6: very good idea having a chat about it first. It
• 6:44
  Speaker 6: is awkward to dispose of someone you haven't met previously.
• 6:47
  Speaker 7: Thank you, Mr.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: Schnee.
• 6:49
  Speaker 7: I hope you'll find your successor as cooperative as yourself.
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: Hmm.
• 6:56
  Speaker 6: I wonder whether he wants me to make an appointment
• 6:58
  Speaker 6: so he'll have a band of counter-assassins ready to kill me.
• 7:01
  Speaker 6: You know, that would save him the expense of a
• 7:03
  Speaker 6: standby guard. He's pretty tight, you know.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: He wouldn't dream of doing anything of the sort. Overlord
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: Kip knows what's due his position. He has a sense
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: of duty and responsibility, which unfortunately seems to be lacking
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: in his successor, if you'll excuse me speaking frankly. I am,
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: of course, considerably older than you, and so I feel.
• 7:22
  Speaker 6: It's quite all right. You may speak freely.
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: Furthermore, if he had you killed, the people would probably
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: give him a painful and lingering death for attempting to
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: interfere with the course of destiny. Oh, by the way,
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: speaking of the people, the Polo will probably be around
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: to hail their new leader soon. You really should work
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: up a few well-chosen words.
• 7:38
  Speaker 6: Well, I'm not going to do it. They can't make
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: me kill him and take over, and that is flat.
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: I am not the administrative type. I never have been.
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: Well, in that case, the people will probably kill you
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: for attempting to interfere with fate. Have a cigar?
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: But I wouldn't have done anything.
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: There are sins of omission as well as commission. Come now,
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: it's true a ruler's life expectancy isn't very long. At
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: least it hasn't been the last few reigns, but it's
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: longer than yours will be. If you refuse to fulfill
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: your destiny... I wouldn't make a fit ruler. Consider my origins.
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: I wouldn't tell this to anyone but you. I'm illegitimate.
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: I don't even know who my father is. It's a
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: wise child who knows his own father. And some of
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: the most celebrated leaders in history have been illegitimate. Look
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: at William the Conqueror, Alexander Hamilton.
• 8:24
  Speaker 6: I don't think that's too much of a recommendation.
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: You see, almost anyone can be a leader. The important
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: thing is that he be destined... For leadership.
• 8:33
  Speaker 6: But I'm no good at it. Everybody says so. I've
• 8:36
  Speaker 6: never done a thing in my life. My aged mother
• 8:39
  Speaker 6: has had to work to support me. Well, it's time
• 8:41
  Speaker 6: enough that you stood on your own two feet, my boy. Remember,
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: destiny must take its course.
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: Oh, excuse me. I'm due on radio monitor in a
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: few seconds. If you don't mind, I'll broadcast from here.
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: I'll just check my equipment here. Fine, fine. Now, here
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: we go. My friends... Allow me to introduce to you
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: your new ruler, Gervais Schnee. He is planning to assassinate
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: Overlord Kip with a Floria Semper Fidelis gun. Floria Semper
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: Fidelis guns retail from credit 2.98 for the Peasant's Pistol,
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: all up to credit 1.089.98 for the Super Deluxe Conspirator's Model.
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: But each is the best attainable for the price. Mr.
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: Schnee will, of course, use the super deluxe model. And
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: now I give you Mr.
• 9:33
  Speaker 6: Schnee. Right into here?
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: Oh, anywhere. It's non-directional.
• 9:39
  Speaker 6: Thank you for your confidence and support. I only hope
• 9:46
  Speaker 6: I prove worthy of it. That's all.
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: Thank you, ruler prognosticate, Gervais Schnee.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: Will you have some more wine, Mr. Schnee?
• 10:02
  Speaker 6: Oh, no, thank you, Overlord Kip. I've had too much already.
• 10:07
  Speaker 9: It's a delightful vintage, isn't it? I think it was
• 10:09
  Speaker 9: bought by Overlord Jasper about seven rings ago. You'll find
• 10:12
  Speaker 9: the sellers in perfect order. I'll give you the inventory
• 10:15
  Speaker 9: and the key a little later.
• 10:17
  Speaker 6: Do we... Do we have to talk about it?
• 10:20
  Speaker 9: Well, one has to take these things as they come,
• 10:22
  Speaker 9: you know.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: Here today, gone tomorrow. That reminds me.
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: Will tomorrow suit you?
• 10:29
  Speaker 6: Well, of course. It really doesn't make any difference to me.
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: All right, then.
• 10:33
  Speaker 9: We'll set it for tomorrow, if that's convenient for both
• 10:35
  Speaker 9: of us. I have the afternoon clear. We'll make a
• 10:38
  Speaker 9: public announcement a little later.
• 10:40
  Speaker 6: Well, all right, if you say so.
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: Of course.
• 10:44
  Speaker 9: And now we can go into my study and discuss
• 10:46
  Speaker 9: the details at our leisure. I've got half a box
• 10:50
  Speaker 9: of some wonderful cigars left over. I think you'll enjoy them.
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: Oh, Mr. Schnee. Mr. Schnee, you aren't ready yet.
• 11:08
  Speaker 6: Well, I can't button the top button of this uniform.
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: Oh, isn't it handsome? Black and silver buttons. The traditional
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: assassin's uniform.
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: It was made for me without charge by Hanson and Cruster,
• 11:21
  Speaker 6: the tailors.
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: Yes, of course, of course. It's the curse these days,
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: you know. The over-commercialization of important public functions. Wait a minute,
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: I have your pistol ready here. I'll bet you're excited.
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: Couldn't sleep last night, eh?
• 11:33
  Speaker 6: No, well, yes, I did toss a bit.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: Well, I see you're getting telegrams.
• 11:39
  Speaker 6: Isn't that nice?
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: Had your breakfast?
• 11:41
  Speaker 6: Oh, well, I... I don't think I'm exactly in the
• 11:44
  Speaker 6: mood for eating.
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: Oh, you should, you know. A good breakfast makes good aim.
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: Well, I really couldn't eat a thing.
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: Well, you will have a fine lunch after it's all over.
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: I saw your black and silver limousine at the door. What?
• 11:57
  Speaker 6: I don't have a black and silver limousine.
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: You do now. Oh, yes. You know, there's going to
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: be a brass band along. There'll be crowds cheering. Oh,
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: it's such a lovely morning. You've hired two removers, I trust?
• 12:12
  Speaker 6: Removers, yes, yes, I think so.
• 12:14
  Speaker 9: Good.
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: Oh, what pageantry. The black and silver limousine, yourself in
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: your lovely uniform, the black cloak and hood of the
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: body removers sitting beside the chauffeurs, silent. The band playing
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: the funeral march as you move down the boulevard, crowds cheering,
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: little children that are out of school presenting you with
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: flowers and television cameras. Oh, what a sight, what a sight. Well,
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: now it's about 10.30. Shall we be off?
• 12:42
  Speaker 8: Well, come on, come on.
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: Get out of the car, Mr. Schnee.
• 12:56
  Speaker 6: I don't feel so good.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: Well, come on now.
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: The television cameras are ready. There we are. Just a moment. Ahem.
• 13:02
  Speaker 8: Ahem.
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: Now, ruler prognostication, eh? Allow me to load your super
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: deluxe conspirator's Floria Semper Fidelis gun for you.
• 13:12
  Speaker 8: It's already loaded.
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: I'm supposed to do it now for the cameras.
• 13:15
  Speaker 6: It's already loaded.
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: Permit me to check it, then?
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: It's perfectly all right, I tell you. No, no, no,
• 13:22
  Speaker 6: don't touch it. Nobody would have any difficulty loading a
• 13:27
  Speaker 6: Semper Fidelis gun.
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: That's right, yes, of course. Whether you buy the Peasants
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: or the Conspirators model, both have the same freeloading mechanism.
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: Here we are, candy, popcorn, hot shish, yogurt, buy your
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: refreshments here. Program, sometimes you can't tell the assassins from
• 13:45
  Speaker 6: the corpse without a program. Get your program for the program.
• 13:48
  Speaker 6: All right, Sinead, it's time.
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: Let's go.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: Well, here we are again, eh?
• 14:04
  Speaker 6: Overlord Kip, I am officially here.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: Well, now, just a minute, old man. I have my speech,
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: you know.
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: Your speech?
• 14:10
  Speaker 7: Oh, oh.
• 14:11
  Speaker 6: I'm sorry, really.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: Well, that's all right.
• 14:14
  Speaker 9: Ladies and gentlemen, before the conclusion of this ceremony, I
• 14:18
  Speaker 9: wish to remind you of a few important facts concerning
• 14:21
  Speaker 9: my reign, which comes to an end in just a
• 14:23
  Speaker 9: few minutes. I call your attention to the budget of 2786.
• 14:28
  Speaker 9: 83 billion credits against an outgo of 72 billion. Not
• 14:40
  Speaker 9: to mention the dam across the Balga River, which was
• 14:42
  Speaker 9: constructed three months short of the proposed five-year date at
• 14:46
  Speaker 9: a cost of 73 billion.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: I thank you. Well, that's it, old man, eh?
• 14:59
  Speaker 6: Are you all done?
• 15:00
  Speaker 9: Why, yes, I think I've covered everything. Well, goodbye and
• 15:06
  Speaker 9: good luck, Overlord Schnee. Anytime you're ready.
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: You mean now?
• 15:10
  Speaker 9: Well, come along, old man. The networks have only cleared
• 15:13
  Speaker 9: an hour. There's a commercial program starting in three minutes.
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: Get on with it.
• 15:17
  Speaker 6: Well, all right. Here goes. All right, all right. Everyone
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: will now please leave while the removers take over.
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: But the television, the cameras, it's part of the ceremony.
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: Why can't they televise the removal?
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: Everybody leave immediately!
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: They're all gone now, Overlord Schnee. Perhaps... You too. But
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: after all... Out!
• 15:55
  Speaker 6: I want to meditate.
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: Well, very well.
• 15:59
  Speaker 6: All right. Oh, alone at last. Kip! Kip!
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: Overboard Kip!
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: Phew.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: I don't think I'd have been able to stay still
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: much longer.
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: You all right?
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: Schnee, you're a good shot.
• 16:13
  Speaker 9: That blank really stung on a very tender spot on
• 16:18
  Speaker 9: my dad.
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: No, no. No time for chatting. We've got to get
• 16:20
  Speaker 6: this over in a hurry. Now comes the part where
• 16:22
  Speaker 6: your friends will have to look like real removers. I
• 16:25
  Speaker 6: hope they can give it the professional touch.
• 16:27
  Speaker 10: Don't worry about us. We are real removers. At least
• 16:31
  Speaker 10: both of us have participated in removals. I'll take off
• 16:35
  Speaker 10: my hood.
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: But wait.
• 16:38
  Speaker 6: Why, you're Overlord Morehouse. I've seen you in pictures.
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: And the other one.
• 16:43
  Speaker 6: You're Shinnick. You died before I was born. That is,
• 16:46
  Speaker 6: you were supposed to have died.
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: Both of you were.
• 16:49
  Speaker 6: Morehouse was supposed to have killed you.
• 16:50
  Speaker 10: Well, we're not precisely dead. Only retired, you might say.
• 16:54
  Speaker 10: The prognosticator didn't say he had to be killed. You know,
• 16:58
  Speaker 10: just disposed of. As Kip undoubtedly pointed out to you
• 17:02
  Speaker 10: in your little interview together.
• 17:04
  Speaker 9: Sorry I couldn't tell you the truth, old man, but...
• 17:07
  Speaker 9: You might have changed your mind and given us away.
• 17:09
  Speaker 10: We've formed a little club of dead overlords.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: We're looking forward to the day when you join us,
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: Overlord Schnee.
• 17:15
  Speaker 6: You'd better hurry. If the four of us are discovered,
• 17:18
  Speaker 6: the mob will tear us to pieces.
• 17:19
  Speaker 10: Oh, you're right. Get on the stretcher, Kip. Bad enough
• 17:23
  Speaker 10: we're going to have to carry you out. At least
• 17:25
  Speaker 10: don't expect us to lift you up.
• 17:27
  Speaker 8: THE END.
• 17:34
  Speaker 6: Floria?
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: Yes, Your Honorship?
• 17:36
  Speaker 6: The prognosticator is right here in the palace, isn't it?
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: Yes, Your Honorship.
• 17:40
  Speaker 6: Lead me to it immediately.
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: Certainly, Your Honorship. It's this way. Here you are, Your Honorship.
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: This is the prognosticator. Twenty stories high, a hundred meters wide,
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: the center of our entire civilization.
• 18:05
  Speaker 6: Leave me. I would be alone with the prognosticator.
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: But, but, but, Your Honor, she.
• 18:10
  Speaker 6: Leave me and take all the technicians with you.
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: Yes, Your Honor, sir. You're all alone now, Your Honour.
• 18:29
  Speaker 6: You too. Leave me. Well, yes.
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: Yes, Your Honour. Your wishes are my command.
• 18:39
  Speaker 6: Well.
• 18:53
  Speaker 11: Now go butter your earlobes. Can't you read, you dumb cluck?
• 18:57
  Speaker 11: That door says private.
• 18:59
  Speaker 6: Open up. It's me, Gervais.
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: Open up. Oh, all right, all right. Don't rush me.
• 19:06
  Speaker 6: Don't rush me. Oh, it's you, is it? Let me in. Well,
• 19:12
  Speaker 6: hurry up.
• 19:13
  Speaker 11: Don't want any of these nosy scientists around. Well, what
• 19:18
  Speaker 11: do you want?
• 19:19
  Speaker 6: Still the same old place, huh? Teapot? Your crystal ball
• 19:24
  Speaker 6: has dust on it. And why don't you get yourself
• 19:27
  Speaker 6: a new pack of gypsy cards? And please get rid
• 19:30
  Speaker 6: of that old overstuffed horror.
• 19:33
  Speaker 11: That old overstuffed horror is a rare old psychoanalyst couch.
• 19:37
  Speaker 6: You see that hole?
• 19:39
  Speaker 11: That's the original stuffing.
• 19:41
  Speaker 6: But what is that smell? That's not tea you're drinking.
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: It's gin.
• 19:47
  Speaker 11: Why, of course it is.
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: Nice.
• 19:50
  Speaker 11: To see you, Sonny. It's about time you came to
• 19:52
  Speaker 11: pay your old mother a visit. I kind of thought
• 19:57
  Speaker 11: something like this would stir you up.
• 19:59
  Speaker 6: Mother, you know you shouldn't have done it.
• 20:01
  Speaker 11: What'd I do?
• 20:02
  Speaker 6: You fixed the prognostications. That's what you did. Although, why
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: you had to pick on me, I'll... Oh, I.
• 20:08
  Speaker 11: Got tired of supporting you. You're a big boy, and
• 20:11
  Speaker 11: it's about time you earned your own living. Besides, I
• 20:14
  Speaker 11: thought it'd be a good idea to elect a sympathetic administration.
• 20:17
  Speaker 11: Sympathetic to me, that is. Palace needs a new ventilating system.
• 20:21
  Speaker 11: The air in here is terrible.
• 20:23
  Speaker 6: Well, why didn't you use the prognosticator to get new
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: ventilation put in?
• 20:27
  Speaker 11: Oh, they'd have gotten around it the same way you
• 20:30
  Speaker 11: got around killing Kip. But you pay attention to the prognosticator, boy.
• 20:34
  Speaker 11: Don't you try to weasel out of what it says
• 20:36
  Speaker 11: by looking for double meanings. It's time you overlords learned
• 20:40
  Speaker 11: that when the prognosticator says something.
• 20:42
  Speaker 6: It means it. Yes, mother.
• 20:45
  Speaker 11: I'd hate to have to give orders to have my
• 20:47
  Speaker 11: own boy disposed of. The last three disposals weren't so bad.
• 20:50
  Speaker 11: But sometimes those disposals can turn out real messy.
• 20:55
  Speaker 6: Yes, mother.
• 20:56
  Speaker 11: Well, maybe blood is thicker than water, but not much.
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: Yes, Mother.
• 21:01
  Speaker 11: And why shouldn't you listen to my prognostications, huh? Just
• 21:04
  Speaker 11: because they're dolled up a little doesn't mean they're not true.
• 21:08
  Speaker 11: Don't I have a crystal ball? Don't I have a
• 21:10
  Speaker 11: gypsy card pack? Don't I have tea leaves? Best tea
• 21:15
  Speaker 11: leaves money can buy.
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: Yes, Mother.
• 21:18
  Speaker 6: So, what are you going to do? I'm going to
• 21:21
  Speaker 6: have the ventilating system attended to right away.
• 21:25
  Speaker 11: That's my boy. Now, look at these here tea leaves
• 21:29
  Speaker 11: in the bottom of my cup of gin.
• 21:31
  Speaker 6: Yes, Martha.
• 21:33
  Speaker 11: I can see that everything's.
• 21:34
  Speaker 6: Going to work out fine. Just fine. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
• 21:39
  Speaker 8: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
• 21:50
  Speaker 5: You have just heard X-1, presented by the National Broadcasting
• 21:54
  Speaker 5: Company in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, which this
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: month features The Hardest Bargain by Evelyn Smith. Galaxy Magazine
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: on your newsstand today. Tonight, X-1 has brought you Man's
• 22:10
  Speaker 5: Best Friend, a story from the pages of Galaxy written
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: by Evelyn Smith and adapted for radio by Ernest Canoy.
• 22:18
  Speaker 5: Featured in the cast were William Redfield as Schnee, Wendell
• 22:22
  Speaker 5: Holmes as Floria, Santos Ortega as Kip, and Leona Powers
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: as Mother, with Raymond Edward Johnson and Bob Hastings. Your announcer,
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: Radcliffe Hall. With this broadcast, X-1 concludes its present series.
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: The show will return to the air on Thursday, June 20th.
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: Check your local radio listings for the new date and time.
• 22:42
  Speaker 5: That's Thursday, June 20th. X-1 was directed by Daniel Sutter
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: and is an NBC Radio Network production.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Our time with X-1 and man's best friend has come
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: to an end.
• 23:08
  Speaker 10: Good night.