Feasibility Study (The Outer Limits) - Plot

Plot

Sarah finds a badly disfigured alien, Adrielo, who tells her that her neighborhood has been grabbed and moved by another race of aliens. He shows her a way through the energy barrier to his own captured realm. He begs her to help him save his people. Meanwhile, her father Joshua also finds a way through the barrier and comes face-to-face with their captors, the Triunes, a slothful race who feel physical activity is beneath them. They explain matter-of-factly that Joshua, his daughter and the rest of the inhabitants of his neighbourhood have been taken as part of a feasibility study into the suitability of humans for slavery. If they are found able to survive the aliens' native environment, the rest of Earth's population will also be taken and enslaved.

Meanwhile, Sarah finds the rest of Adrielo's people. They are dying from a disease that is turning them to stone and she accidentally becomes infected. Joshua eventually finds her and she pleads with him not to touch her lest he also become infected. They both slip back through the energy barrier and return to their own neighborhood. Joshua explains the purpose of the energy barrier to the other residents, and they wonder what choice they have other than to serve the Triunes. Joshua explains the disease his daughter has been infected with, and suggests they deliberately infect themselves to save Earth from enslavement by the Triunes. After discussing it, Joshua convinces everyone to do so and they join hands in the church to sacrifice themselves and prove that humans are unsuitable as slaves. A flash-forward shows all the residents dead and reduced to stone statues.