Second Soul
Second Soul is an episode of The Outer Limits television show. It was first broadcast on 14 April, 1995 during the first season.
Introduction
The N'Tal are an alien race who were unable to prevent the destruction of their home world when they allowed their technology to grow faster than their ability to understand and moderate its use. Now they have arrived on Earth hoping to find a new home... and to teach mankind to avoid making the same mistake.
Opening narration
- "Contact happened exactly one year ago, and the world changed forever. The line between life and death was blurred, crossed... then totally erased. Not through divine intervention, but another force from the heavens. A force greeted not with rapture... but with fear."
Plot synopsis
Dr. Michael Alders is put in charge of the N'Tal relocation project. The N'Tal have the technology to reanimate and occupy the bodies of the recently dead — but only those bodies not too badly injured or diseased. The problem facing Alders is numbers. There are hundreds of thousands of N'Tal, and without bodies they will die within two years. Including the N'Tal liason he has come to known well, Kadimas.
Despite the logistical difficulties and moral qualms over the methods, Alders realises how beneficial the N'Tal technology can be. That is until his Karen, his best friend's wife, is killed in an automobile accident and her body is found suitable for use by the N'Tal.
After the transfer, a N'Tal now occupies Karen's body. Her husband Jim begs Alders to give him the details of her new life and allow him to see her — something strictly forbidden. Alders relents, trusting Jim's assurances that he will act responsibly. Jim, however, is unable to deal with the situation and begins stalking the N'Tal now occupying his dead wife's body.
Alders discovers this and he confronts Jim. Jim tells him that he has seen the N'Tal behaving suspiciously: gathering together, transferring computer discs, gaseous sustances, and information about their mothership. Soon after this, Jim is found dead. Alders, never fully trusting of the N'Tal, tries to confront his N'Tal liason Kadimas... but Kadimas, too long without a body, has become seriously weakend. His new liason is a harsher and less sympathetic N'Tal who explains that Kadimas' position does not allowing him any priority in the queue for new hosts.
Alders decides to do some investigating himself. He follows Karen to a secret meeting where is suspicions seem to be confirmed... until he meets Kadimas' new host and the technology and secret meetings were the N'Tal's ritualistic way of committing themselves to living on Earth and becoming part of humanity.
Closing narration
- "What if you were to wake up to a different world tomorrow... a world of invaders? Would you raise your voice with the aliens, in a chant of remembrance and regret, bidding farewell to a vanished world? Or would you fight against those who might ultimately help us?"