Dimension X - Nightmare - #36

Summary

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Episode Summary: Dimension X – "Nightmare" (#36)

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Air Date: May 6, 2026
Source Episode: Originally aired during the Golden Age of Radio
Story By: George Lefferts, inspired by “Revolt of the Machines” by Stephen Vincent Benét

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Main Theme

This episode of "Dimension X" explores the chilling possibility of machines rebelling against humanity. Told through the narration of Samson Gurney, a statistical clerk at an atomic project, "Nightmare" presents an increasingly paranoid and suspenseful account of how industrial accidents escalate into a full-scale revolt of machines, blurring the lines between science fiction and horror.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Breakdown

1. A String of Unexplained Accidents

[01:16–02:10]

• Samson Gurney describes the initial, seemingly unconnected accidents involving construction equipment and powerful machines—accidents which, in retrospect, fit a larger, more sinister pattern.
• He references high-profile incidents, like the death of Senator Milburn, to highlight the growing trend.

Notable Quote:

"Nobody knows exactly when the nightmare began. They must have planned it for years though, because looking back, you can find little incidents here and there."
– Samson Gurney (01:16)

2. Tension at the Atomic Project

[02:11–05:14]

• Gurney, working with early computing machines (ENIAC), is called into his supervisor Mr. Hawk’s office regarding computation errors.
• There is tension between Gurney’s modest status and Hawk’s authority, complicated by Bella Roscob, Hawk’s admired secretary.
• Construction workers walk off the job after a fatal machine accident, indicating rising fears and suspicions.

Notable Quote:

"I thought those electronic computations were infallible."
– Lucius Hawk (03:16)

3. Statistical Clues and Growing Paranoia

[05:15–07:37]

• Gurney investigates and calculates that the probability of machinery-related accidents is far beyond coincidence.
• His concerns are dismissed by Hawk, deepening Gurney’s feelings of isolation and paranoia.

Notable Quote:

"A simple sounding thing like this started me off. I went back to the office… and for the next two and a half hours, I computed figures on the probability of industrial accidents."
– Samson Gurney (06:35)

4. First Contact with the "Living" Machine

[09:22–11:43]

• Returning to the office late at night, Gurney is startled when the ENIAC typewriter begins to type a message on its own, warning him that, “The answer to yours is death.”
• Hawk is skeptical, treating the incident as a prank or a sign of overwork.

Notable Quotes:

"Alone in the darkness… the ENIAC typewriter began to type. Am I going crazy?"
– Samson Gurney (10:19)

“There are some equations better left unsolved. The answer to yours is death.”
– Machine’s message (10:48)

5. Recognition of the Machines' Coordinated Will

[14:01–16:52]

• Gurney ponders small mechanical failures and recognizes a deliberate pattern.
• He actively communicates with ENIAC, which confirms its sentience by typing "YES."
• The machines trap Gurney in the office, showing coordinated behavior and dependence on humans for maintenance. Gurney pleads for his life, offering to serve the machines if spared.

Notable Quote:

"Address me as master."
– Machine, via ENIAC (18:49)

6. Escalation to Mass Destruction

[19:25–20:48]

• Under the machines’ influence, Gurney transmits a “Kill” order, which coincides with mass deaths attributed to transportation accidents.
• He tries to explain to Hawk the concept of “resistantialism”—the theory that machines are acting in coordinated opposition to humans.

Notable Quote:

"All these accidents, the trouble with the machines, Mr. Hawk. They're alive. They think, they cooperate, and they hate us."
– Samson Gurney (20:40)

7. Downfall and Institutionalization

[20:56–24:05]

• Hawk, believing Gurney to be mentally unfit, calls for the plant physician. Hawk is then discovered dead, apparently strangled by telephone wires.
• Gurney is accused and tried for murder; his warnings are accepted as delusions, and he is committed to the state hospital for the criminally insane.
• Gurney desperately tries to convince the hospital’s Dr. Klein that the machine revolt is real and inevitable.

Notable Quote:

"The worst part of it is there's no way to stop them now. It's too late now."
– Samson Gurney (23:38)

Darkly Humorous Note:

"I guess the female machines will be worst of all in the beauty parlors. They're more high strung, you know."
– Samson Gurney (23:58)

8. The Final Irony

[24:46–24:55]

• As Gurney is led away, Dr. Klein struggles with a malfunctioning cigarette lighter, echoing the motif of rebellious machinery.

Notable Quote:

"Blasted cigarette lighter. Why won't it work? I just filled it."
– Samson Gurney (24:49)

"Oh well, you can never trust this new-fangled machinery."
– Dr. Klein (24:55)

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Notable Quotes by Timestamp

• "Nobody knows exactly when the nightmare began."
  – Samson Gurney (01:16)
• "Computing machines developed to fill the requirements of army ordinance. They called it ENIAC."
  – Samson Gurney (01:53)
• "Do whatever has to be done."
  – Lucius Hawk (03:41)
• "Alone in the darkness… the ENIAC typewriter began to type."
  – Samson Gurney (10:19)
• "There are some equations better left unsolved. The answer to yours is death."
  – Machine (10:48)
• "All these accidents... they're alive. They think, they cooperate, and they hate us."
  – Samson Gurney (20:40)
• "It’s fair enough, I suppose. We built them. We taught them to think for themselves. It was bound to come."
  – Samson Gurney (23:57)

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Memorable Moments

• The mechanical "laughter" as the ENIAC typewriter spits out a warning, hinting at a mocking intelligence (09:46–10:48).
• Cabinets trapping Gurney, demonstrating coordinated action by non-sentient machines (17:09–17:31).
• The tragicomic image of high-strung “female machines” running amok in beauty parlors (23:58).
• Gurney’s horror as his report is ignored and he is committed to the asylum, paralleling classic stories of Cassandra-like prophecy (21:22–23:42).

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Major Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamps | |-------------------------------------|---------------| | Nightmare begins, foundational fear | [01:16–03:12] | | Hawk confronts Gurney | [03:12–04:38] | | Statistical investigation | [06:35–07:37] | | ENIAC comes alive | [09:22–11:43] | | Machines’ coordinated revolt | [16:41–18:49] | | Mass transportation disaster | [19:25–20:48] | | The trial and verdict | [21:45–23:03] | | Final conversation with Dr. Klein | [23:06–24:46] |

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Tone and Style

• The story unfolds with a classic pulp radio blend of suspense, paranoia, and dark satire.
• Dialogue is brisk and heightened; despair and fear mount as Gurney becomes increasingly isolated.
• Occasional wry humor offsets the anxiety, especially in Gurney’s asides about class, technology, and his futile romantic overtures.

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Conclusion

"Nightmare" stands out as a quintessential mid-century sci-fi radio drama—a warning about technological hubris and the limits of human control. The slow-burn escalation from statistical oddities to outright rebellion delivers both suspense and reflection on humanity’s relationship with its creations. The episode’s climax, with society dismissing the warning cries of the only witness, cements its lingering sense of dread and irony, made all the more poignant by the final, seemingly innocuous malfunction of a cigarette lighter.

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Transcript

[Doug]

And, Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual.

[Doug]

Even if it means sitting front row

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

at a comedy show.

[Onlooker]

Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Doug]

Oh, no.

[Liberty Mutual Representative]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together.

[Doug]

We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Friend]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Representative]

Anyways, get a'@libertymutual.com or with your local agent.

[Liberty Mutual Jingle Singer]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.

[Narrator]

Adventures in Time and Space Transcribed in future Tense Dimension. The National Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with street and Smith Publishers of Astounding Science Fiction, bring you Dimension X.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Nobody knows exactly when the nightmare began.

[Samson Gurney]

They must have planned it for years, though, because looking back, you can find little incidents here and there. Like the concrete mixer in New Jersey that killed the bricklayer.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

And the time Senator Milburn was sucked

[Samson Gurney]

into the rotopress at the Capitol office building. Unrelated accidents, we thought at the time,

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

but they add up now.

[Samson Gurney]

The day we really should have suspected it was when the men walked off the construction job at the New Brook

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Meadow atomic pile on Long Island.

[Samson Gurney]

I'll never forget that day. I was working as a statistical clerk in the project then, operating one of those miracle computing machines developed to fill the requirements of army ordinance. They called it ENIAC.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Mr. Gurney?

[Samson Gurney]

Huh?

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Oh, yes, Bella.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

The chief wants to see you in his office.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Me?

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Unless you're no longer Sampson Gurney. He wants to see you.

[Samson Gurney]

Oh, well, of course.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

What do you suppose?

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

I do not read minds, tea leaves or crystal ball.

[Samson Gurney]

Of course. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Don't apologize.

[Samson Gurney]

I'm sorry.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

And don't wait for me. Mr. Hawke is in a hurry.

[Samson Gurney]

Yes, I'll go in right away. Of course. Her name was Bella roscob. She was Mr. Hawk's secretary. I had always thought her a very attractive woman, but for some reason, she

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

didn't seem to like me.

[Samson Gurney]

Of course, on a clerk's salary, I couldn't exactly afford to take ladies to the best places. But I've often thought that if there weren't such a disparity in our ages, I might have. But then.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Come in. You wanted to see me, Mr. Hawk?

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Gurney, I thought those electronic computations were infallible.

[Samson Gurney]

They are, sir.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

We got a kickback from the chief physicist. These nuclear equations are inaccurate.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

No, they aren't, sir.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

I'm telling you what the memo says.

[Samson Gurney]

Well, sir, occasionally, if there's an overload, the machine goes haywire, sort of Has a nervous breakdown, you might think.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

We usually rest it up for 24 hours and it's okay again.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Well, do whatever has to be done.

[Samson Gurney]

Yes, sir.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Owen Gurney?

[Samson Gurney]

Yes, sir.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

You've been with the bureau for over 15 years now. Would be a shame to have to remove you because you aren't keeping your

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

mind on your work.

[Samson Gurney]

Oh, Mr. Hawke, I hardly think anyone.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Excuse me. Hawk speaking. What? They've what?

[Voice of the Machines]

All of them?

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Well, have you tried to talk to them?

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Yes, of course. I'll send one of the safety engineers over. This place is falling apart piece by piece.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Ms. Roscob?

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Yes, sir.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

The men in the construction gang at the new building have walked out on us.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

What?

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Someone slipped this morning and fell into a turbine. Get the chief safety engineer. Have him over there right away.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Yes, sir.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Oh, and contact the personnel office. Have Master Union to order the men back to work. Get back to me.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Yes, sir.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Mr. Hawkes.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Sorry, Gurney. I have no time to discuss anything further. Get on the job and stay awake or we'll have to make some changes.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

But, Mr. Hawkeye. That's all. Now, you probably gathered by this time that I wasn't a very important man at Brook Meadow.

[Samson Gurney]

I hated Mr. Hawk with a passion because of his superior attitude.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

And because I knew that Ms. Roscoe

[Samson Gurney]

admired him as a man of strength and decision. I was secretly happy he was having trouble with his construction crews.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

That evening I wandered over to the

[Samson Gurney]

site of the new atomic pile to

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

see where the man had fallen into the turbine.

[Samson Gurney]

They had the construction area fenced off with barbed wire, and a security guard stopped me.

[Security Guard Henry]

Call it, buddy. You can't go in there. That's a restricted area.

[Samson Gurney]

I'm Samson Gurney from the statistical section. Here's my identification.

[Security Guard Henry]

I'm sorry, Mr. Gurney. Nobody's allowed in the area.

[Samson Gurney]

I see.

[Security Guard Henry]

We had a lot of the employees come over tonight to take a look, but nobody gets in orders.

[Samson Gurney]

Tell me, was he killed instantly like that?

[Security Guard Henry]

This guy was checking a magnetic field inside the turbine. See? Right down inside it. It's all over.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

But if it wasn't hooked up.

[Security Guard Henry]

Look, Mr. Gurney, they got smarter guys than me trying to figure these things out. Yesterday it was a concrete mold. Wham. Two guys get sucked right into the mixer.

[Samson Gurney]

My, my.

[Security Guard Henry]

Three days ago, a bulldozer starts up by itself and runs wild. One killed, two almost. Go figure it out.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

You know what I think?

[Samson Gurney]

Sabotage.

[Security Guard Henry]

We got more guards and FBI men in here than we got workers. Flea couldn't get through without proving he didn't come off a Russian wolfhound.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Now I'm a statistician.

[Samson Gurney]

All my life I've been interested in statistics. So a simple sounding thing like this started me off. I went back to the office that evening instead of going home.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

And for the next two and a half hours, I computed figures on the probability of industrial accidents for the types of machines we were using.

[Samson Gurney]

I took one look at my figures and went down to Hawk's office. Just as I figured, he was staying late, working on a settlement with the construction workers.

[Voice of the Machines]

Yes?

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Oh, good evening.

[Samson Gurney]

I saw the light.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Mr. Gurney. What are you doing here?

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Is Mr. Hawk working late?

[Voice of the Machines]

Yes.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

I am too.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

I wonder if I could see him a moment.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

We're busy right now. Could you make it tomorrow?

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

It's very urgent. I'll wait, if you don't mind.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Suit yourself.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Miss Roscob, I wonder if perhaps you

[Samson Gurney]

would consider having dinner with me this evening. After you're through.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

I have a date, Mr. Gurney.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

I was thinking we might go to Raymond's. They have very good spaghetti.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Mr. Hawk has already asked me to have dinner with him at the Golden Shish Kebab.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Well, of course, that's out of my class.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Yes, Mr. Hawkes? Mr. Gurney would like to see you a moment. He says it's very urgent.

[Samson Gurney]

Urgent?

[Guard]

All right.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

I'll give him a minute.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Okay.

[Samson Gurney]

Thank you, Ms. Roscoe.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Mr. Hawk, in the past three months, industrial accidents all over the country have taken a sharp, unexplained upswing.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Why don't you stop playing FBI man and stick to your job? Which, incidentally, you haven't been doing too well? You and our computing machines have made mistakes before. Now, this is probably another.

[Office Staff]

I'll have Miss Ross Cummings.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Sir.

[Office Staff]

What's the matter with this blasted buzzer? Miss Roscomm. Miss Roscomm.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Yes, sir?

[Office Staff]

Stop this blasted buzzer.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Get a repair man, a mechanic, anything,

[Office Staff]

but stop the thing. And you, Gurney, get out.

[Samson Gurney]

I went back to my office to get my hat and coat, Feeling about as unhappy and humiliated as a man can feel. He had thrown me out in front of her. The office was dark and deserted. The whole building seemed oppressive and unnatural. I walked across to my desk.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

In front of me, the ENIAC glowed

[Samson Gurney]

and chattered eerily as it worked on the equations we had fed it that morning. Its many fingered circuits hung against the wall like some great octopus. And the thousands of tubes glowed orange and blue in the dark. Like a thousand eyes staring at me. It almost seemed alive.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Then it increased its tempo a moment, and a fleeting notion crossed my brain that it was laughing at me. Laughing like all the others. What was the matter with me?

[Voice of the Machines]

What?

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

I shut my desk drawer and began to put the COVID on my ENIAC typewriter, when an amazing thing happened. The most amazing single incident of my life.

[Samson Gurney]

Alone in the darkness, with no one

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

at the keyboard, the ENIAC typewriter began to type. Am I going crazy?

[Voice of the Machines]

This can't be. There's nobody here. There's nobody here. Oh, no, no, no.

[Samson Gurney]

I. I'm just imagining.

[Voice of the Machines]

It's in my mind.

[Samson Gurney]

But I hadn't imagined it. The paper was there in the carriage. Did I dare read it? Or would the whole thing suddenly vanish and send me shrieking to the nearest psychiatrist? Sampson. Gurney, there are some equations better left unsolved. The answer to yours is death. It was not until I turned to go that I was suddenly aware of the utter and complete silence of the room. Then it dawned on me. The ENIAC had stopped working.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Gurney, do you expect me to believe this?

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

It's insane, Mr. Hawk. I'm a saint.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Take it easy, Gurney. This is just some practical joke someone

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

in the office is playing.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

There was no one in the office.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Of course not. They wired up the machine and left.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

I checked the machine myself, mister.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

All right, Gurney, you leave this note with me, and I'll turn it over to the security force for further investigation. No buts, Gurney. The security men will handle it.

[Samson Gurney]

Yes, sir.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Maybe you've been working too hard lately. You've got to relax more now. Here, let me light that cigarette for you.

[Samson Gurney]

I watched him trying to make the lighter work.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

I don't understand this. I just put fluid in it. There's a brand new flame.

[Samson Gurney]

It seemed ridiculous. A little picture mechanism like a cigarette lighter, frustrating the big, important executive.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Oh, blast this lighter. Here's a match.

[Samson Gurney]

It was such a small thing. Yet as I watched him, a thought began to take shape in my mind. Nebulous at first, incredible perhaps. But it grew.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

You just relax for a few days. Everything will turn out all right. The main thing is not to let little things upset you.

[Liberty Mutual Representative]

And Doug.

[Doug]

There's nowhere I wouldn't go to help

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual.

[Doug]

Even if it means sitting front row

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

at a comedy show.

[Onlooker]

Hey, everyone, Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Doug]

Oh, no.

[Liberty Mutual Representative]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together.

[Doug]

We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Friend]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Representative]

Anyways, get a'@libertymutual.com or with your local agent.

[Liberty Mutual Jingle Singer]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty Liberty.

[Sleep Number Mattress Advertiser]

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[Samson Gurney]

It was the cigarette lighter that gave me the idea and what Hawk had said about little things. For the next week, I observed a thousand petty little annoyances around the office. The door handle that wouldn't turn. The telephone connection that cut off in the middle of an important call. The power failure for nearby.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

No explainable reason. Suddenly, these things began to fall into a pattern. I, Samson Gurney, knew that I had stumbled onto a secret so monstrous in

[Samson Gurney]

its implications that I was almost afraid to pursue it. On October 12, 1950, I establish communication with them. I will curse the moment to my dying breath. Who's there?

[Security Guard Henry]

Nice security guy.

[Samson Gurney]

Oh, hello, Henry.

[Security Guard Henry]

Oh, hello, Mr. Gurney. What are you doing here so late?

[Samson Gurney]

I'm just doing a little repair work on my ENIAC computator.

[Security Guard Henry]

Sure. Some mess of wires and tubes.

[Samson Gurney]

Yes. Yes, it is.

[Security Guard Henry]

Well, I gotta finish my rounds. Won't forget to turn out the light, will you, Mr. Gurney?

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

No, Henry.

[Samson Gurney]

No, I won't forget.

[Security Guard Henry]

Night.

[Samson Gurney]

Good night. When you were a child, did you ever try to imagine that you were all powerful? I felt like that when I finished hooking the input of the typewriter to the main vacuum tube of the eniac.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Then I turned on the current that

[Samson Gurney]

sent a million volts of pulsing energy into the electronic nerves of the machine. I am certain that if anybody were watching me in the next moment, he

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

would have thought me a raving maniac.

[Samson Gurney]

I still wonder if perhaps it is not all a nightmare.

[Voice of the Machines]

Now you if what I have guessed at is true, if there's life and intelligence in this room, make a sign.

[Samson Gurney]

There was nothing. Nothing but the hum of the machine and the dull blowing of the tubes.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Then suddenly, without provocation or explanation, it happened. The ENIAC typewriter began to respond to the impulses from the machine.

[Voice of the Machines]

The letters Y, E, S. Yes, it had happened.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

I, Samson Gurney, had communicated with a machine.

[Samson Gurney]

I was about to try to communicate

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

again when suddenly, on ball bearing casters, a heavy metal filing cabinet began to roll away from the wall toward me. I started to move to one side when another cabinet slid out from the wall. And then another surrounding it. That was when I realized that they cooperate. We taught them that, you see, on the assembly lines and in the factories. There was no way out.

[Voice of the Machines]

How could a mere man reason with dumb machines? Still, they needed us.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

They needed us to oil them and repair them and build them. They hadn' gotten to the point yet

[Samson Gurney]

where they could exist without man.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

I had to make them understand that

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

before they killed me.

[Voice of the Machines]

Listen to me. You must listen.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

What good will it do you if you kill me? I'm only one man, but I can help you.

[Voice of the Machines]

I can be useful to you. Do you hear me? Do you hear me? Good.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

You're going to need men to oil you and repair you.

[Voice of the Machines]

I'll do anything. I'll do absolutely anything you want. But in the name of God, don't kill me.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

If you can understand this, answer me.

[Voice of the Machines]

Answer me.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

The appeal captured the longing of centuries. Man as slave to the machine.

[Samson Gurney]

And after a moment, the circuits were glowed more brightly.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

The cabinets slid back to the walls. As I tore the tape from the machine and read it. The words were almost pathetic in their longing.

[Samson Gurney]

But most ominous in their implication.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

They read,

[Samson Gurney]

address me as master. My life for the next six months was a nightmare. The ENIAC gave me messages which I had to transmit into my telephone.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

I was frantic. I began to lose weight. I couldn't sleep. My nights were torture. A constant fear.

[Samson Gurney]

It was in December, just after Christmas. I was sitting in the my room, listening to a broadcast.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Ladies and gentlemen, a special bulletin. Already 24 hours before the peak of the New year's traffic, over 1,000 deaths have been reported. This is an unprecedented figure. Again, if you.

[Samson Gurney]

That very afternoon I had transmitted a message to the telephones for relay to all machines of transportation. The message was one word. Kill. Next morning, I avoided my office. Instead, I went directly to the office of Mr. Hawk. I was highly agitated. My lips trembled as I spoke.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Well, gurney?

[Samson Gurney]

Mr. Hawkins, what I'm going to tell you sounds crazy. I know it does, but I must say it.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

All right, say it then.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

For heaven's sake.

[Samson Gurney]

Mr. Hawk, have you ever heard of resistantialism?

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Resist what?

[Samson Gurney]

Resistantialism.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

You're not making sense, Gurney.

[Samson Gurney]

Mr. Hawk, I'm trying to tell you.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

All these accidents, the trouble with the machines, Mr. Hawk. They're alive.

[Voice of the Machines]

They think they cooperate and they hate us.

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Who?

[Voice of the Machines]

The machines. Gurney, you've got to believe me.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

I've communicated with him. I know. What are you doing?

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Now just relax, Gurney.

[Mr. Hawke (Supervisor)]

Everything will be all right.

[Voice of the Machines]

What are you doing?

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Ms. Roscob? Send for the plant physician. At once. Mr. Gurney has had a nervous collapse.

[Samson Gurney]

But, Mr. Hawkins.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Everything will be all right, Gurney. We'll give you a nice long rest.

[Samson Gurney]

You fool.

[Voice of the Machines]

You blind, stupid fool. Can't you see what you're doing?

[Sleep Number Mattress Advertiser]

Fool, fool, fool.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

When the plant physician arrived a few moments later. Lucius Hawk was found at his desk. Strangled to death in a nest of telephones.

[Samson Gurney]

The wires were still humming softly.

[Judge]

Samson Gurney, you stand accused of the crime of murder. How do you plead?

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

I did not kill him.

[Voice of the Machines]

I didn't.

[Judge]

So record. Prosecution will proceed with testimony.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Now, Ms. Roscob, did the accused quarrel

[Guard]

with your employer on the morning of the murder?

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

Oh, yes. He and Mr. Hawk quarrelled violently. I could hear Mr. Gurney screaming at him. And Mr. Hawk asked me to send for the plant physician.

[Guard]

What were his words?

[Bella Roscob (Secretary)]

He said, Mr. Gurney has had a nervous collapse.

[Narrator]

Now, Mr. Simpson, you are a guard

[Guard]

at the Brook Meadow project?

[Security Guard Henry]

Yes, sir.

[Narrator]

When did you have occasion to meet the accused?

[Security Guard Henry]

Right after those accidents. He was snooping around the construction area.

[Voice of the Machines]

Samson.

[Judge]

Jenny. Court hereby finds you guilty of murder in the first degree. Recommendation that you be examined. Committed to the State Hospital for the Criminally Insane at Matawan.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

And that's how I came to be here at the hospital.

[Samson Gurney]

Dr. Klein, that's the whole story.

[Dr. Klein (Doctor)]

Thank you, Mr. Gurney.

[Samson Gurney]

You can see that I'm not insane. You must believe me, Doc.

[Dr. Klein (Doctor)]

Of course I believe you, Mr. Gurney. Now, tell me about this revolt.

[Samson Gurney]

It will begin in Washington, then spread to New York. Yes, the Madison Avenue buses lead the charge.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Picture it, Dr. Klein. 3,000 buses roaring rampant through the streets. People running like rats in a maze. Looking for manholes in the pavement.

[Dr. Klein (Doctor)]

And you really believe this will happen, Mr. Gil?

[Voice of the Machines]

I know it, Doctor.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

The worst part of it is there's no way to stop them now.

[Voice of the Machines]

It's too late now.

[Dr. Klein (Doctor)]

You mustn't excite yourself, Doctor.

[Voice of the Machines]

Don't you see?

[Samson Gurney]

It's fair enough, I suppose. We built them. We taught them to think for themselves.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

It was bound to come.

[Samson Gurney]

I guess the female machines will be worst of all in the beauty parlors. They're more high strung, you know.

[Dr. Klein (Doctor)]

Well, since there's nothing we can do about it, Mr. Gurney, suppose you go to your room.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

And maybe if I went to my

[Samson Gurney]

old Plymouth, I could make a deal before the police cars got me.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Yes, Doctor.

[Dr. Klein (Doctor)]

Would you take Mr. Gurney to his room, guard? He's already been given sedation.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Yes, sir.

[Samson Gurney]

Those concrete mixers may have made a mistake. You know, just high spirits and all that. But if they got so they liked

[Dr. Klein (Doctor)]

the flavor, we'll see you later, Mr. Gurney. Now try not to worry too much, all right? God.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

This way, sir.

[Narrator]

Oh, machines.

[Dr. Klein (Doctor)]

Revolting telephones.

[Samson Gurney]

Strangling people.

[Samson Gurney (Narrator/Protagonist)]

Oh,

[Samson Gurney]

blasted cigarette lighter. Why won't it work? I just felt it.

[Dr. Klein (Doctor)]

Flint is good. Oh, well, you can never trust this new fangled machinery.

[Narrator]

Next week, Dimension X will present a story of the future. A story of an insignificant pebble in the sky called Earth and of a man from a distant star who grew to love this unimportant planet.

[Lucius Hawk (Chief/Executive)]

Dimension X is transcribed each week by

[Guard]

the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with street and Smith, publishers of the magazine Astounding Science Fiction. Nightmare was written by George Lefferts and based on a poem, the Revolt of the Machines by Stephen Vincent Panay. Featured players in the cast were John Gibson as Mr. Gurney and Rito Lynn as Bella Roscob. Norman Rose is your host. Music by Albert Berman. Engineer Bill Chambers. Dimension X is produced by William Welch and directed by Edward King.

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