Weird Science #4

In the year 4152, where eternal youth is maintained by injections, Martin—a 550-year-old man long worn thin by endless time—meets Jean, a woman as weary as he is, who has lived through centuries of the same unending existence. Drawn together by shared solitude, their unexpected connection reignites something long buried, until they’re sent to a distant colony planet where the injections no longer exist, and they must face life as it truly is: finite, fleeting, and full of possibility.

In "El que espera," a crew of Earthlings lands on Mars to find a mysterious "Soul Well" pulsing with an ancient, formless entity capable of possessing the living. As the crew begins to fall under its influence, they face a desperate choice: resist by taking their own lives, or surrender completely. When the last of them is gone, the entity retreats into the well—only to sense a new ship approaching, carrying another chance to begin again.

In a tense science fiction tale titled "El punto débil," a newlywed woman on Mars finds herself facing an impossible choice when an alien invasion unfolds—because the invaders look exactly like the native Martians. When she notices her husband has a navel on their wedding night, she realizes the horrifying truth: the real Martians are born live, while the invaders hatch from eggs. Forced to act, she makes a desperate decision to protect her world, even as she grapples with the cost of her choice.

In the cold silence of deep space, Guernsey and Benson are the last survivors of a crashed ship, their fragile truce shattered by guilt and fear. When a meteor strike forces Guernsey to venture outside, Benson locks him out—only to be haunted by the sight of his dead comrade’s body just beyond the window. The weight of that image drives Benson to act, but in a final twist of fate, the corpse takes the door mechanism with it, leaving him trapped in the void.

In "¡Aborrecible!", a deformed mutant child raised in an orphanage becomes an outcast due to her strange behavior and the fear she inspires. When a younger nurse discovers her secretly hiding notes in tree hollows, the other women confront her, leading to a desperate flight and a tragic fall. As the girl lies dying, a final note reveals a quiet, heartbreaking confession: "To whoever finds this note - I love you."

In "Paquete sorpresa," Martha’s unease about Leonard grows as she begins to suspect he’s not who he claims to be. When she uncovers the truth—that six identical marionettes of him have been living separate lives with other women—her world unravels in a chilling twist. The story unfolds with quiet dread, exploring obsession, identity, and the cost of deception.

In "Los reformadores," a group of self-appointed Reformers travel across the cosmos, blaming every world's moral decay on comic books, alcohol, and bold fashion—only to land on a planet where such things coexist with peace and integrity. Shocked by a society that thrives without corruption, the Reformers grow frustrated, plotting to stir unrest among its people. But their leader, Satan, calmly reminds them: this world is called Heaven—where such efforts are doomed to fail.

In "50 chicas 50," fifty men and fifty women are selected for a century-long voyage to colonize a distant star system, each frozen in stasis for the journey. Sid, one of the men, sees a chance to break protocol—awakening early to spend time with different women, refreezing them when he tires of each. But when one of them catches on, the game shifts in a way he never expected.

In "EC Confidencial," the editor of Fables Publishing Company grows uneasy as the bizarre tales in Weird Science begin to mirror real events. When a sudden alien assault targets the office, the truth unravels: the editor, along with Bill Gaines, Al Feldstein, and the entire staff, are not human—survivors of a long-ago Martian genocide, disguised as Earth's most legendary comic creators.

In "Castigo sin crimen," George, shattered by his wife Katherine’s infidelity, takes a desperate and forbidden step: he pays to have a marionette version of her reenact the events of his life, then orchestrates her murder as revenge. But when the law treats the puppet’s death as equivalent to a real killing, George faces execution—despite Katherine being alive and unharmed.

In the silent vastness of an alien world, a stranded man named Forbes finds unexpected connection with a mute girl named Velda, their bond growing amid the strange, prehistoric landscape. When a rescue mission arrives and claims she’s an illusion, Forbes’s world shatters—only for the truth to twist in ways no one could predict.

In "La cosa fea," a young woman born with an appearance that horrifies her family grows up isolated and tormented by a world that sees her as monstrous. As an adult, broken by years of rejection, she contemplates ending her life—until a mysterious rocket ship arrives, offering her a chance to return to a home where she is truly beautiful. The twist redefines everything: her perceived ugliness was never hers to carry, and the world she thought was normal was the alien one all along.

In "Un nuevo principio," a professor's radical experiment sends Adam and Eve back to a time before humanity, hoping to reshape the future by seeding Earth with a superior race. As they face the raw beginnings of life, the couple must confront the moral weight of their mission—and decide what it truly means to be human.

In "Los cazadores de cabezas," a doctor treats a raving man brought in from a park, using a diathermy machine to calm him—only to find a strange burn mark on the man’s forehead, mirroring those on previous patients. The treatment seems to cure the madness, but the mark remains, a silent mystery that deepens with each case.

In "El desterrado de las estrellas," a struggling father dreams of sharing the vast beauty of space with his children, though he can’t afford a real rocket. With just enough money for a broken prototype, he crafts a dazzling illusion of flight, weaving wonder from desperation and love.

In the isolated colony of a distant world, mothers are separated from their newborns under the guise of proper upbringing—until the truth surfaces. When the children are finally revealed to be mutants, shaped by the planet’s harsh environment, the mothers rise together, not in anger, but in fierce, unwavering love. "Los niños" is a quiet, powerful story of maternal instinct, societal control, and the unbreakable bond that defies fear.

In "Historia de unos peces," a desperate race of humanoid fish from a dying freshwater planet sees an Earth vessel approaching and seizes it, flooding the crew’s ship to claim it as their only hope. With the vessel now theirs, they set course for Earth, believing its oceans will offer a new home—only to perish upon arrival, their bodies unable to survive in saltwater.

In 5th century China, Emperor Yuan’s reign is tested when he learns of a villager’s astonishing feat: crafting a flying machine—a large kite with functional wings. Fearful that such a breakthrough could compromise the Great Wall’s defense, the Emperor orders the inventor executed and the device destroyed, sealing away a dream of flight.

In the scorched aftermath of a nuclear war, a tribe of descendants from the old world stumbles upon spacemen who arrive with beads and blankets, offering to trade for their land. When the cavemen agree to sell what remains of Manhattan Island, the outsiders make a chilling promise: they will either erase the tribe or confine them to reservations once their takeover begins.

In "...para la posteridad," two prospectors stumble upon a mysterious flying saucer that suddenly whisks them across light years to a future Earth where only women remain. They’re told the world needs men from the past to repopulate it—after radiation wiped out the male population—before they wake up back at their camp, unsure if it was all a dream. But the delicate roses of the women they met are now nestled in their sleeping bags, a quiet, impossible proof that something changed.

In "El profesor marciano," a Martian teacher arrives on Earth to instruct students in his homeworld's language, only to face relentless prejudice from his pupils. As the students grapple with their own biases, a revelation about his son’s sacrifice during a battle with space pirates begins to shift their perspective — and their hearts.

In "El pionero," a disgraced professor, once celebrated for his work in space flight, retreats to a remote barn to rebuild his dream after being forbidden from experimenting. Haunted by isolation and a growing conviction that his genius is misunderstood, he becomes increasingly unhinged—believing the government wants his rocket engine, even as he's arrested for a murder he doesn't remember committing. The line between visionary and madman blurs as he's strapped into a chair, convinced he's about to fly, while the world sees him as a condemned man.

In "¡Expulsión!", a captain and his crew land on a planet whose surface resembles green felt—only to be swallowed whole and violently expelled from its interior like vomit. As the ship lifts off, the crew confronts a humbling truth: their long-held belief in humanity's evolutionary supremacy has been shattered by the planet itself.