In John Carpenter's Dark Star (1974) an asteroid storm and an escaped alien (in the form of a large beach ball with webbed claws) initiate a series of malfunctions on the already dilapidated starship. The storm and the alien both foul up a "communications laser" that sends bombing signals and orders to the ship's 20 "thermostellar nuclear" bombs, each designed to destroy an entire planet. Mother, the ship's main computer, is able to convince bomb #20 twice to return to the bomb bay after receiving faulty orders, but the third time, the bomb stubbornly refuses to disarm itself and return to the bay, anxious to fulfill its single purpose in life, its destiny: to explode.

Desperate, Doolittle, the ship's commanding officer, seeks advice from Commander Powell, who is in cryogenic suspension after suffering a freak accident caused by a malfunctioning seat-belt. Powell tells Doolittle to teach Bomb #20 "a little phenomenology." Doolittle goes EVA and has the following conversation with Bomb #20: