- "Profile in Silver": After preventing the assassination of President Kennedy, a historian from the future faces the consequences of his act. "Button, Button": A couple receives a box with a button -- and an unusual offer.
- PROFILE IN SILVER SYNOPSIS:
Joseph Fitzgerald is a professor at Harvard University in the year 2172. He is the last living direct descendant of John F. Kennedy. He is fascinated with his ancestor's story and eventually gains access to a means of travelling back to the 1960's to try and meet him. He ends up in Dallas, Texas in 1963, realizing he is at the scene of Kennedy's assassination. With foreknowledge of the event, he manages to intervene and save Kennedy's life. This brings him to the attention of a grateful president, although very shortly after, a different crisis emerges: Soviet Premier Kruschev has been assassinated. Fitzgerald consults his AI temporal adviser, which tells him that the Kruschev assassination was effected to balance the temporal instability created by the stopping of Kennedy's death. Fitzgerald asks the AI adviser to predict outcomes in the fallout of the Kruschev assassination and is horrified at the grim prediction that no matter what develops short-term, there is a 100% absolute guarantee that the culmination of the event will be some form of war between the United States and the Soviet Union which will completely eradicate all life on the planet. The only way to prevent this armageddon is for the changing of history to be changed back the way it originally was. A grim Fitzgerald reveals his true nature, and what he's learned, to President Kennedy, who is horrified but bravely agrees to face his impending death for the sake of saving all life on the planet. Fitzgerald goes back to where he arrived in the 1960's to reset history back the way it was. However, he sacrifices himself to die in Kennedy's stead, and sends Kennedy back to 2172. The segment closes with Kennedy addressing the Harvard graduating class of 2172 with a speech about the noble tenets of humanity.
BUTTON, BUTTON SYNOPSIS:
Arthur and Norma Lewis are a very poor married couple dealing with financial hardships that directly affects their marital relationship. Out of nowhere, they are visited by a mysterious man calling himself Mr. Steward, who brings them a curious wooden box with a single button on top. This 'button unit,' as he calls it, allows them a unique opportunity. If they push the button within 24 hours, they will receive a very large sum of money. There is a catch: he tells them somewhere in the world, "someone that you do not know," will die. They have 24 hours to decide whether or not to push the button, before he returns to collect the button unit.
Norma and Arthur spend many hours pondering and debating the moral ramifications of the offer. The knowledge that they will be causing the death of another human being, even that of a stranger they've never met, is very troubling... but the financial incentive would grant them a chance at improving their own lives... and of course, in turn, their marriage. Would the loss of a stranger's life warrant their getting a chance at having a better life?
Finally Norma unlocks the glass lid over the button, and presses it. Nothing out of the ordinary seems to happen except for a faint sound produced by pushing the button.
Mr. Steward arrives in the morning to collect the button unit and hands them a briefcase containing the money promised. It is theirs to do with as they please, and it is tax-free to boot. Norma asks if someone died, and Mr. Steward assures them that yes, someone did. It is in the past, and their future involves using the money as they see fit. As Mr. Steward leaves, Norma curiously asks what he will do with the button unit now. Mr. Steward says it will be reset and then given to someone else, which he emphasizes to her, will be, "someone that you do not know." The screen freezes on Norma's face, locked in horror, as she realizes that she is likely to be the next victim to die.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content