- The Control Voice: Our history abounds with the exploits of heroes who brave overwhelming odds and live to tell the tale. But is there a point at which the determination to survive... comes at too high a price?
The survivor of a colony on Venus finds that the steps he took to survive have consequences.
- The Control Voice: It is nature's imperative that the differences among us endure. But what if we can no longer distinguish one being from another?
The Troping:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: Takes place in 2011 and 2012, by which time the United States has established the research facility Aphrodite on Venus and is preparing a mission to Jupiter.
- Actor Allusion: There is mention of a supply ship called the Highlander. One of the guest stars in that episode was Highlander star Jim Byrnes.
- Body Horror: After Captain Miles Davidow injects himself with the DNA of an indigenous Venusian lifeform, he begins to grow duplicate, though initially deformed and unfinished, body parts such as a hand and a torso. It is an extremely painful process.
- Colonized Solar System: On a much smaller scale, there is a research facility called Aphrodite on Venus.
- Self-Duplication: Captain Miles Davidow, a crew member of the Aphrodite facility on Venus, injected himself with the DNA of a Venusian creature in order to keep himself alive; he knew that he would otherwise die as the facility's oxygen supply was rapidly running out. The creatures reproduce by a very advanced form of mitosis, producing complete copies of themselves in the process. When he returns to Earth, Davidow begins to undergo mitosis in the same fashion. It first manifests itself in a form of a Healing Factor. When he cuts off one of his fingers, it regrows within hours. He eventually produces a full size, if unfinished, copy of himself. In order to prevent the risk of him infecting the general population, he is returned to Venus where he and five perfect copies man the Aphrodite facility in permanent exile.
