 is midnight, and an old automobile is driving along a narrow road through the woods. At a point where a second road, even narrower, crosses the first, the car stops. Hey, young fella, this is the professor's place. Is it? All I can see is woods. That's up that road, about 50 yards. Look sharp, and you can see the light shining between them two trees. Oh, yes, I see it now. Then I guess I get out here. Would you hand me my bag, sure, friends? Right. Yeah. Thanks. And that's a dollar I owe you, right? Yep. Thank you. You know the professor, do you? Yes. I was Professor Clark's laboratory assistant back in college 10 years ago. Why? I was thinking maybe you could drop a hint to him. A hint? What kind of a hint? Well, if there's been some talk in town of running him and that man of his, that Barton fell out of the county. Running Professor Clark? Oh, you're not serious. Yep. Of course it's just talk, so far. But what has anybody got against Professor Clark? There isn't a milder man in the world. Well, maybe so, but folks has got wind of what happened at the State Pentantry over in Hillvay last year. Sure, if you're talking in riddles. What did happen? The professor went over there when they hanged Richard. That pulled up killer. And the warden give the professor the murderer's brain. That's what happened. Oh, what of it? Professor Clark is a great authority on nerve and brain tissues. Maybe he wanted it for research purposes. I'm not saying he didn't. I'm just telling you how folks are talking. They think he's keeping that brain in a big glass jar and making it grow. That's perfectly ridiculous. No, they don't think so. They got the notion that brain is big as a bull calf, but now, and they're afraid someday it'll escape. Sheriff, for a minute I was taking you seriously. A brain as big as a calf? Oh, I'm not saying I ever believed it, but it'd be a good idea if the professor would give folks a notion of what he's really doing in that laboratory he is. With that Barton fella to help him, then maybe the talk would die down. All right, Sheriff. I'll mention it to him. Well, then I'll be getting on. Good night, young fella. Good night, Sheriff. Right up that road, about 50 yards. You can't miss it. A few moments later, Dr. Richard Dale was knocking on the door of an old stone house almost hidden among the trees. A frail, white-haired old man answered the door. An old man who could hardly speak in his joy as he gripped Richard Dale's hand. He led the way down a long hall to a great room where strange equipment took up almost every inch of space, retorts and electric furnaces, generators, batteries, and great glass vats. Dr. Dale stared around him in intense curiosity, as Professor Clark helped him off with his hat and coat. There. Now, sit down, Dick, my boy. Sit down and let me get a good look at you. So, you got my letter? Yes, yes, of course you did, or you wouldn't be here. Thanks, Professor. Yes, I got your letter, and it made me so curious I took the first train. You promised me a surprise. Well, is this it, this amazing laboratory? No, no, my boy. Come to that in a moment after you've met Barton, my assistant. Barton, I don't seem to know the name. Should I? No, he's not famous yet. He will be, and he's been with me only a few months. I couldn't get along without him. He certainly sounds interesting. You'll like him, I'm sure you will. Oh, Barton! Yes, Professor? Dr. Dale has arrived. I want you to meet him. Why, of course. How do you do, Dr. Dale? We both have been looking forward to your visit. How do you do? Yes, the professor's letter made me so curious I couldn't stay away. I'm still wondering what the great surprise is, he promised me. You'll see, Nick, in just a minute. My curiosity's at fever pitch. Well, it's time to satisfy it. Barton, is Alpha making some coffee? Yes, he started it when we heard the car. Alpha? Who is he? Our general man of all words. Truly amazing fellow. Here he comes now. I said you'd be surprised, Nick. He's not human, he's a machine, a robot. Yes, my boy. An artificial man made from metal and synthetic brain tissue. A machine man. But walking and talk, he's not very pretty, but then the professor was mostly interested in making sure he worked. He must weigh a ton. No, only about 300 pounds. You see, Alpha's mostly aluminum and other light alloys. Inside is aluminum plates or some new batteries I devise, together with miles of fine silver wire and a dozen electric motors. And to give you only the highlights. It's a good thing you did keep this for a surprise. If you'd mentioned it in your letter, I don't think I would have believed you. Yes, Alpha. Put it on this table here and pour a cup for Dr. Dale. I still can't make myself believe it. Go on, Nick. Drink it, huh? Oh, yes, of course. Alpha, thank you. Alpha, this is Dr. Dale, our guest. Any orders he gives ought to be obeyed. Alpha understands. He looks clumsy, but he poured the coffee as well as a man could. Yes, my boy. Alpha has capabilities you'd never suspect to look at him. Here, I'm sure you. Alpha, the fireplace needs more wood. Put on that big log there. Break it in half. Breaking it with his hands. He won't need you anymore tonight, Alpha. You can go back to your room now. Be sure to switch off your batteries. They're going to need recharging tomorrow. It's incredible thing I ever saw. You see, Nick, I tried to treat Alpha as if he were really a man. So I gave him a room of his own. Like any machine, he's completely inactive when his batteries have been switched off. But his brain continues to function. It's an artificial protoplasm that I spend eight years creating. It's the only thing that makes him different from any other machine. But it means Alpha can think. Think like a man. A machine that can walk and talk and think. Ah, but Alpha's not the only surprise I have for you, Dick. He's not? No, I have another one. Even more astonishing. But you'll have to wait until morning to learn about that. Because now it's time we were both in bed. I suppose you're right. It's after one. I know you must be tired. I'm getting old, so I'm going up to bed now, Dick. Barton, I'll show you to your room. Of course, Professor. I'll see you in the morning, then. Yes. We'll have a long talk tomorrow. Isn't it? Good night, Professor Clark. Dr. Dale. Yes, Barton? Could we talk for a minute before I show you to your room? Yes, of course. It occurs to me that Professor forgot to tell you why he asked you here. Oh, yes, that's true. And I'd been so interested, I forgot to ask. It was his hope that you'd stay indefinitely and help us carry forward the work we've been doing here. Stay indefinitely? Well, I have my own work. Don't say no yet. Now just think, Dr. Dale. Alpha is stronger and more rugged than a man. He needs no rest, no food. Yet he can do the work of three men. He can plow, reap, run machinery, think how much drudgery a million like him could lift from mankind's shoulders. Yes, yes, that's true. And already Alpha is technically obsolete. Professor Clark has the blueprints for a new machine man. As superior to Alpha as an airplane is to a bicycle. We want you to help us build them. Well, I'm certainly tempted. Perhaps I could arrange it. Ah, excellent. And now there's only one more thing I want to tell you. Yes? What is it? It's about Alpha. You must help me persuade the professor too to dismantle him. Dismantle him? Why? He has become dangerous. I don't understand. Because he was the first successful machine man that the professor built. He is imperfect in many ways. He's not completely reliable. I'm afraid that someday he may escape from the house and so do some damage that would seriously upset our plans. Yes, yes, that could easily happen. The local inhabitants are unfriendly enough as it is. I know. Sheriff Ramsay was warning me about that tonight. All right, I'll speak to Professor Clark about it tomorrow. Ah, good. Then I'll show you to your room now, if you wish. Yes. I am sleepy if you'll just come this way. His mind in a whirl of amazement. Dr. Dale retired and finally fell into an uneasy sleep. How long he had slept, he did not know. When abruptly he woke with a scream ringing in his ears, the cry came from downstairs. Dr. Dale left from his bed and raced down to the lower floor. One barton hammering on the heavy door of the laboratory. Professor Clark, Professor Clark, what's wrong? What? What's happened? It's the professor. I heard him call for help. So did I. He woke me up. I'll be in there, but there's no sound in there now. Well, we've got to break the door down. Yes. Put your shoulder beside mine. Right. You ready? Ready. And shot. Professor Clark, where are you? Professor Clark. He's not here. Yes. Here he is lying on the floor beside the window. He's been murdered. It was Alpha. It must have been. No one else could have done it. Where is he? The window. It's open. He went out that day. We've got to go after him. I'm afraid it's hopeless. At nights in these woods, we couldn't possibly find him. No, no. You're right. Of course. It'll be this morning soon. Then I think he'll come back. He knows that he can only go a few more hours before his batteries must be recharged. Then we can capture him and destroy him. But Barton, why did he kill the man who created it? The professor must have come down to the laboratory for some reason. Occasionally, when he couldn't sleep, he would do that. He may have decided to make some more tests of Alpha. Yes, but that doesn't explain why. In fact, something must have occurred when Alpha returns. We can find out. Poor Professor Clark. Well, we'll have to notify the police. There's only the sheriff. In any case, I think we should wait till morning and then report the professor's death as an accident. An accident? Yes. If the authorities learn the truth, our research may be stopped. And when Professor Clark has achieved so much, can we let it go for nothing? No, no. Of course not. He must carry on his work for him. Yes, that's what he would want. Then you will help me continue it. You'll stay? Yes. Yes, I'll stay. Greatly upset by the tragedy, Dr. Dale returned to bed. And at last fell into an uneasy sleep haunted by dreams of Alpha, the metal monster Professor Clark had created. When he awoke, the sun was shining. And he could hear Barton moving about downstairs. He dressed and went down to find Barton getting breakfast ready. Oh, good morning, Dr. Dale. Good morning, Barton. Any sign of Alpha? Not yet. Well, we ought to start a search point. But first I think you ought to eat breakfast. Everything's ready. All right. Some coffee, anyway. Yes. Sit here. Thank you. I didn't know you were a cook as well as a lab assistant, Barton. I've learned to do a lot of things since I came here. Aren't you going to eat, too? I'm not hungry. I sell the map. But I thought that while you wait, I might outline some of the problems facing us. That's a good idea. You see, though Alpha's brain is a synthetic protoplasm, it is not completely artificial. I was wondering about that. Sure, Ramsay mentioned that the professor secured a human brain from an executed killer. Yes. The professor found that to give life to his artificial brain tissue, it was necessary to add a small amount of tissue from a real brain. I see. The real tissue gave life to the rest. Of course. Yes, but in this instance, it may have tainted Alpha's brain with the murderous impulse of a killer. Yes, that sounds plausible. So our first problem will be to obtain untainted brain tissues to blend with the artificial tissues we will make according to the professor's formula. That should give us no trouble. I can get what we need through the research laboratories where I'm connected. Ah, then that solves our worst problem. The rest will be matters of detail. Fortunately, there's enough equipment here to build a dozen or so robots. Like Alpha, you mean? No. The far more advanced type, Professor Clark was perfecting. And now, if you finished, I have something to show you. Yes, I'm through. I don't feel much like eating after last night. Then come with me to the laboratory and I'll show you the second surprise that Professor Clark had in store for you. What I'm going to show you is in this box. Another robot? Yes. A second mechanical man the professor built a few months ago. This one, though, was a failure. You mean it wouldn't work? It worked too well. I don't follow it. It was too intelligent. Professor Clark called it beta. And beta's brain power was greater than that of any human scientist who ever lived. But beta was insane. Good Lord. He represented, however, a tremendous technical advance. Look. It looks exactly like a human being. Yes. Professor Clark used me for a model when he built beta. It's an excellent likeness. I'll touch the face, Doctor. All right. It feels smooth and rubbery with a hard surface underneath. The surface is a new plastic, Professor Clark developed, with which he could imitate exactly the appearance of human skin. Underneath isn't a human body on which the plastic was baked. I see. Beta's hair, eyes, and teeth are all artificial, too. But he walked and talked and acted so much like a human being that no man alive could have guessed his secret. No, he would have fooled me completely. And you say he was insane? From the human viewpoint, yes. He considered himself superior to the human race. With his enormous brain power, he intended to make himself ruler of the world. You're joking. Not in the least. That is why Professor Clark destroyed him just in time. He had made plans to take over this laboratory and construct dozens of mechanical men like himself. And then, with their help, he was going to enslave all mankind. If that could happen once, it might happen again. I don't believe we should continue Professor Clark's work after all. There's no danger now, Doctor. You see, Beta also had a brain which contained tissues taken from that of the condemned murderer. But we will select the brain tissues from the highest types that are available. Yes, but even so... Then, Doctor, we will produce mechanical men, tireless, indestructible, who will be mankind's willing servants, who will solve for man problems he can't solve for himself. I wonder. In any case, we must proceed with the utmost caution. Of course. Doctor, listen. Someone's coming to the house. It's Alpha. He's come back. Alpha, we may need a weapon barn. No, I can control him. Alpha, Alpha, come here. You killed Professor Clark. Why did you do it? Professor said he would destroy Alpha. And you killed him because of that? Alpha does not want to be destroyed. But you're just a machine. What difference does it make to you? Alpha is a machine that lives. Alpha is stronger than you. Alpha is better than you. Alpha, be quiet. We must destroy Alpha at once. You all right, Doctor? Do you hear, Alpha? You are to be punished. Alpha, hear. But first, we want to know where you've been. Did anyone see you? Men saw Alpha. Men saw you? What do you mean? Two men driving automobile saw him. And what did they do? They tried to hit Alpha with automobile. And then what happened? Alpha stopped automobile. Alpha killed one man. Killed him? Other man ran off in woods. Alpha could not find him. Alpha came back. We can't keep this a secret. No matter what happens, we must notify the authorities at once. No, wait. Let me think. We can't... Sir Bel, there's someone at the door. I'll see who it is. You stay here. But what about Alpha? I'll switch off his batteries, then he can't move. There. Now I'll see who's at the door. Dr. Dale waited while Barton went to the door. He heard the door open and recognized the excited voice of Sheriff Ramsey speaking. Then a moment later Barton came back into the laboratory followed by the sheriff who held a revolver in his hand. But Sheriff, if you'd only let me explain... Never mind that. You're coming with me, both of you. Dr. Dale, perhaps you can reason with the sheriff. He insists that we're under arrest. Yes, and I'm taking you to the lock-up. The Professor too. Where is he? Professor Clark, it's dead, Sheriff. He was killed last night when an experiment he was engaged in went wrong. An experiment, huh? I suppose it was an experiment that crushed the life out of him. It crushed the life out of Jed Thompson an hour ago down the road and scared Fred Jennings so bad all he can do is jabber about monsters. It is true, the things that killed both the Professor and Thompson is an experiment. It's standing there behind... Behind... A machine. A man made out of machinery. Don't be alarmed, Sheriff. It's perfectly harmless now. It is a machine man which Professor Clark built. Unfortunately, it got out of control. I don't believe it. I don't blame you, Sheriff, but that's the truth. I think I can convince you. What are you doing? Stand still. I'm simply going to switch Alpha on. There. Now he can move and speak as well as you and me. That thing talk. You're lying. You're up to something. Alpha, will you tell the Sheriff that it was you who killed Mr. Thompson? Alpha killed him. He tried to hit Alpha with a car. So that's what the Professor was up to all this time? Building that thing? Now, Sheriff, surely you realize that we are not murderers? Maybe not, but you come to jail just the same. You're partly responsible anyhow. But Sheriff... Anyway, it's for your own protection. There's a mob on its way out here from town. They're going to burn this place down. What? I got to put you in jail for your own safety. They're ready to lynch you right now. Burn the place down. That's what I said. So turn that machine thing off and come along. We ain't got much time. No. All this equipment, machinery, the Professor's notes, they must not be destroyed. We must stop them. Yes, Sheriff. We're lost to science. Never mind science. You've got your own skin to worry about. That mob means business. Let's get started. I'm afraid we can't do that, Sheriff. You can't. I got a six-shooter here that says different. We have no choice, Mark. Oh, yes, we have. Alpha, take the gun away from this man. What are you doing? Stop him! Stop him, or I'll... Oh, no! They're in a good cause. The life of one man or of a dozen men cannot stand in my way. You don't expect me to keep silent about this, do you? I think you will. Alpha... Alpha, he doesn't answer. His batteries have gone dead. That last burst of energy must have drained him dry. But it makes no difference. I think it does. A big difference. There, see this? Sheriff Ramsey's revolver with three bullets still in it. Now put your hands up. I must explain something to you, Doctor. You can talk, but if you move, I'll shoot. I only want to say that nothing is going to interfere with my plan to build more of the improved form of robots that Professor Clark perfected before his death. Robots who look and act so much like men, no one can detect them. They'll never be built. I intend to destroy all of Professor Clark's... They will be built by me. I shall build ten, a hundred, a thousand. Then I shall lead them with a superior intelligence to the mastery of the world. Your math? Of course I should have done... No, Doctor, that's not the answer. I shall tell you the truth. And then you must die. I'm still all shooting. You remember last night when the professor said he had another surprise for you, an even greater surprise than Alpha? Yes. That surprise, Doctor, was Beta, the second robot. So perfect it looked like a man, but so intelligent that human beings were children in comparison. But Beta was destroyed. No, Doctor, Beta was not destroyed. But you must be destroyed. Stand back. Stand back, I say. All right, then I'll shoot. And now, Doctor, your bullets are gone. You aren't even hurt. Bullets cannot harm me. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Beta, the second robot, was not destroyed. But I saw him. What you saw was only an initial attempt that failed. The real Beta still exists. You see, Doctor Dale, I am Beta. You? Yes. I, too, am a mechanical man. And now, you must die. No. No, stay away from me! Everett again happened to Doctor Dale, while he's still alive, but of course under observation in a hospital. In fact, it was he who told me the story. You see, the mob that was coming to burn down the house arrived just in time to save him. A Barton, or Beta, as he called himself, escaped. He could hardly have survived all those bullets if he had been human, could he? I wonder if the story is true. Do you suppose that somewhere, a strange individual who was really a robot is making other mechanical men preparing to carry out Barton's plan to rule the world? Oh, you haven't time to talk about it now you're getting off here. Well, I'm sorry. But perhaps we'll meet again soon. I take this same train every week at this same time. You've just heard chapter 19 of The Mysterious Traveller, a series of dramas of the strange and terrifying brought to you each week by station W-O-R. In tonight's story, Beware of Tomorrow, Will Hare played Dr. Dale and Don Randolph played Barton. Also featured were Maurice Tarplin and Philip Clark. The Mysterious Traveller, written by Bob Arthur and David Cogan, is directed by Jock McGregor. Original music was played by Doc Whipple. Listen next week to a tale titled... The Accusing Corpse. Another tale of The Mysterious Traveller. The Mysterious Traveller is presented over W-O-R Mutual every Sunday at 7 over most of these stations. This is Mutual.