Music of the Spheres (The Outer Limits)

Introduction

Devon Taylor, a young physics student, picks up a strange signal during his work at a radio observatory. He believes that he can hear a pattern in it, but none of his older colleagues can hear it.

Plot

Devon's younger sister, Joyce Taylor, plays the tape and enjoys the sound so much she plays it at a rave. When Devon finds her at the rave, everyone there seems to be entranced by the music. All are also infected with skin deformities. All the teens are quarantined at a hospital, but when they are separated from the music on the tape, they all experience severe pain and withdrawal symptoms. Devon and his superiors are left with no choice but to let the patients listen to the tape until the rest of the transmitted message can be deciphered. It is determined that the source of this message is from a distant world and is in fact artificial in origin which implies it was sent from an intelligent source. The military, at this point, assumes that Earth is under attack from this new threat and must proceed as such.

Devon is later reviewing photographs taken of stars at different periods in time and discovers that the star of the alien world went ultraviolet 40 years in the past. He brings this information to his superiors and the military. They then realise that the radiation of Earth's sun is also changing to this spectrum, heralded by increased solar activity. Further research indicates that the noise/music is being transmitted to cause life on earth to mutate and transform so it can adapt to the new conditions, and that the alien transmission is in a sense a benevolent effort. Once this is realised, the richer governments of the world send up satellites to transmit the noise over the entire world, so that even the poorer countries and more remote areas of the world can transition to this new phase of existence. Human beings are given the choice whether to go ahead with the transformation or not, although anyone who chooses not to undergo the change will have to remain indoors for the rest of their lives because the new sunlight's radiation would otherwise be fatal within hours.

The final scene begins with Devon's father, still in original human form, entering his daughter's room. She tells him that she is sorry that she won't be able to look beautiful in her prom dress, as the camera pans up showing her new skin to be a golden metallic substance; but her father reassures her that she will always be beautiful. Devon enters the room, also in his new skin, and tells Joyce that it is time for the change to occur. They all go outside with Joyce's boyfriend and watch the new sun appear in the sky, their faces filled with hope.