cathy joins them, also recognizing the fragments. she goes with the two men to the simpson farm; they find the farmhouse in ruins under a large pile of black rocks and ginny's parents dead. the girl is still alive but in a catatonic state. at dr. reynolds' request, they rush her to dr. steve hendricks (harry jackson) at the california medical research institute in los angeles. he later reports that ginny is slowly turning to stone; her only hope lies with identifying the black rock within eight hours. dave brings a fragment to his old college professor, arthur flanders (trevor bardette), who determines that it came from a meteorite. back at the simpson farm, both men notice a discoloration in the ground: the black rock is draining something from everything it touches, including people. later, tests show that silicon is that substance; in humans it is normally just a trace element. dr. reynolds explains that research indicates that one possible function of silicon in the human body is to maintain human tissue flexibility. they suddenly realize that the meteorite's absorption of silicon was the cause of ben's death, ginny's condition, and the death of her parents; steve then prepares and administers a silicon solution injection to the girl.