X Files, The (1998)

by Chris Carter.

Production draft, 6/30/97.

FADE IN:

EXT. SNOWSCAPE

A BLINDING WHITE SCREEN, under which we hear an ominous

low end Dolby THX Big Screen rumble. We're not in 19"

television land anymore, Toto. As the rumble builds, TWO

BLACK FIGURES appear on what now has resolved into a

distant horizon. From their movements we can shortly see

that the figures are men. Moving along a windswept ice

sheet in an otherwise featureless land.

A LEGEND appears: NORTH TEXAS, 35,000 B.C.

CLOSER ON THE TWO MEN

Continuing toward us, we can now see that they are

dressed in crude garments made of animal skins. If we

squint we can see their hair is long, their jutting

foreheads significant of primitive Homo Sapiens. They

continue toward us, the wind beating against them,

CAMERA IS CRANING DOWN to the snow that lies before

them. To LARGE THREE-TOED TRACKS.

FOLLOWING THE PRIMITIVES

As they track the three-toed prints to a rocky crevice in

the hard-pack ice. The prints stop here, and so do the

men. Dropping down into the crevice in pursuit of their

quarry.

CUT TO:

INT. ICE CAVE

Dark in here, except where the sunlight penetrates the

thick, glassy ice walls. The silhouettes of the

Primitives stark against the glistening cavern. The

sound of flint being struck, then A TORCH CATCHES FIRE,

illuminating their faces. And:

A CREATURE

Deeper in the cave. Fleeing the light and the men. We

get only a brief glimpse of it in the torch light,

seeing that it moves upright on two legs and has gray,

dinosaur-like skin. And large black eyes. But it moves

quickly enough away that any other identifying feature

is lost in the deeper shadows.

THE PRIMITIVES

Removing crude weapons made of sharpened bone from under

their thick fur garments, and scrabbling into the

constricting cavern, giving chase.

Following them as they moves with animal-like agility

through the tightening space. Predatory hunters. Their

torchlight catching:

THE CREATURE

As it disappears into a tight opening in a smaller

crevice leading off the main one. The Primitives

entering frame after a moment, only a few steps behind.

The LEAD PRIMITIVE dropping to the cave floor,

pulling himself into this same tight fissure in pursuit.

Splitting off from his partner who exits frame still on

the run.

INT. SMALLER ICE CAVE - HIGH ANGLE DOWN

The fiery torch comes through first, held by the lead

man. Throwing dancing shadows on the walls of what

appears to be a box cavern.

CLOSE ON LEAD PRIMITIVE

Rising quickly to his feet. Not seeing what the torch

illuminates just behind him: The face of a dead

Primitive Man, his body frozen into the ice. He does

finally notice this, turning to see it, when he's

ATTACKED VICIOUSLY FROM BEHIND.

The torch falls to the floor so that the fight is

difficult to see, but it is loud and cruel. The creature

squealing wildly as the grunts of the Primitive now turn

to the sounds of painful struggle. Until:

THE SECOND PRIMITIVE MAN

Suddenly appears, driving his bone weapon into the body

of the Creature. Again and again, until the Creature is

driven away into the shadows.

The Second Man grabs the torch now, not to see if his

hunting mate has survived, but in pursuit of the

Creature. In the light we see that he and his weapon are

covered with spatters of OILY BLACK BLOOD. As is the

First Primitive whose body lies heaving on the floor.

The Second Primitive stepping over his hunting mate,

stalking the Creature into the shadows, where it has

collapsed. The torch finally landing, for the first

time, on its face.

When the torchlight hits its face, the Creature attacks.

But the Primitive prevails. He drops his torch and

dispatches the already wounded Creature with strong

hard stabs of his weapon, one of which penetrates the

Creature's eye.

LOW ANGLE ON THE DEAD CREATURE

The torch, which lies on the ground, illuminates the

dead creature's face. Its wounds are flowing with the

oily black blood, which, oddly now, BEGINS TO POOL. As

if it has intelligence, sentience. Pooling and traveling

into a fissure in the cave floor. And disappearing.

ANGLE ON THE SECOND PRIMITIVE

Watching this, unknowing. His chest heaving from the

fight, as the spots of Oily Black Blood which have

spattered onto him begin to crawl. Crawling toward his

eyes and mouth. Causing him to let out grunts of fear.

Which are the sounds we hear as the CAMERA SLOWLY CRANES

UP past the struggling Primitive to the roof of the

cave, where the dancing shadows of the torch FADE AWAY

with the sounds of struggle. Moving into darkness and

silence. But only for a moment. Until:

SUNSHINE BREAKS THROUGH THE ROOF OF THE CAVE - PRESENT

DAY

Along with the spade of a shovel. And then -- the

earthen cave ceiling gives way and A BOY wearing Nikes

and an old t-shirt falls through it. Falling PAST

CAMERA. We hear a YELL, then a THUD, and a CLATTERING of

the shovel that's fallen in with him. Then a pained

GASPING.

Then SEVERAL HEADS appear in the opening. These are BOYS

of ten to eleven, staring down into the cave. Hot

sunlight blazing in. We have traveled far, far forward

in time.

2ND BOY

Hey, Stevie. You okay?

INT. CAVE - PRESENT DAY

THEIR POV OF STEVIE

On the floor below covered with dirt, in his nose and

mouth. Spitting out. (All these boys have Texas in their

voices.)

STEVIE

I got...I got....I got....

(straining)

....the wind knocked out of me.

This draws no sympathy from above, only LAUGHTER.

THE BOYS UP ABOVE

Staring excitedly.

3RD BOY

Looks like a cave or something.

2ND BOY

What's down there, Stevie? Anything?

OVER THE BOYS ABOVE

Stevie has gotten up, moving out of the patch of

sunlight. Disappearing from view for a moment. Then

reappearing, still spitting out dirt. But holding:

STEVIE

Human skull.

One side partially missing from the cranium. But it

brings WHOOPS of delight from the boys above.

3RD BOY

Toss it up here, dude.

STEVIE

No way, buttwipe. I found it. It's

mine.

ANGLE UP ON STEVIE

The other boys looking down at him. Stevie looking at

the skull. Strangely, the light shines through it. It is

milky, opaque, as if it's bone that's turned somehow

glassy in places. Then:

STEVIE

Anyways, there's bones all over the

place down here.

Stevie looks down at his feet. CAMERA FOLLOWING HIS LOOK

DOWN to where there are indeed more human bones. And

something else. He takes a couple of steps in place,

standing in a familiar BLACK, OILY substance -- which is

climbing up his tennis shoe from the rock floor, over

the edge of the shoe and down into the shoe itself. Then

the SKULL drops in the frame, clattering on the hard

floor of the cave.

CAMERA SLOWLY RISING UP FROM STEVIE'S SHOES

Following SUBCUTANEOUS WORMS which have begun locomoting

aggressively up his legs. As his whole body is WRACKED

by a shivering seizure of some kind.

CAMERA RISES, following the path of the worms as they

move up the legs of his shorts. Some appearing on his

bare arms, but the great majority continuing up to

Stevie's neck, toward his face. Stevie stands paralyzed.

Letting out guttural sounds not dissimilar to when the

wind was knocked out of him.

3RD BOY (O.S.)

Hey, Stevie....

But Stevie cannot answer him. CAMERA CONTINUING UP to

the boys above. Looking down at their friend. Their eyes

go wide.

2ND BOY

You okay?

But what they see next answers that question for them.

THEIR POV OF STEVIE

His face suddenly alive with the subcutaneous worms.

Moving toward his eyes which begin filling with BLACK

OIL. Looking much now like ALIEN EYES.

CLOSE ON THE BOYS ABOVE

Freaked by what they see. And doing what any kid would

do now.

3RD BOY

Hey, man. Let's get outta here.

And they do. Bolting from the hole in the top of the

cave. CAMERA PUSHING UP THROUGH THIS HOLE to REVEAL we

are:

EXT. SMALL DIRT FIELD - NORTHERN TEXAS - DAY

In a dirt hole that was being dug by the three kids.

RISING UP out of the hole to REVEAL the parched dirt

patch where THREE KIDS are running away from us, as fast

as their feet will take them. Toward A NEW HOUSING TRACT

(five floorplans to choose from, including the model

home.) Disappearing into the neighborhood. A LEGEND

appears: NORTH TEXAS, 1998.

CAMERA CONTINUES RISING ABOVE THE ROOFTOPS to see the

surrounding expanse of empty Texas flatland. And in the

distance, the DALLAS SKYLINE.

As CAMERA SETTLES, there are a few moments of nothing

but the sound of the wind gently whistling across the

landscape. In which we bury a short TIME CUT.

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - NORTHERN TEXAS - DAY

Then we HEAR it, before we see it: FIRE ENGINES pulling

into the neighborhood, sirens WAILING. CAMERA DROPPING

AGAIN as the lead engine pulls up. FIREMEN are hopping

off, moving to the hole the boys dug.

LOW ANGLE UP FROM BELOW GROUND LEVEL, IN THE DUGOUT

HOLE

TWO firemen carrying a ladder clamber down PAST CAMERA,

THREE OTHERS appearing on their heels. The other two

firemen clamber down, too. THE CAPTAIN at the edge of

the hole watching them. Holding a radio.

FIRE CAPTAIN

This is Captain Miles Cooles...we've

got a rescue situation in progress...

INT. CAVE - CONTINUOUS

As the LEAD FIREMAN steps down the ladder into the cave.

He scans the darkness, illuminated only by the shaft of

light permitted by the hole above. As the 2ND FIREMAN

drops down next to him. The both stand motionless now,

as if sensing something.

THEIR POV

Stevie's feet are just visible on the floor of the cave,

a short distance away.

RESUME FIREMEN - LOW ANGLE

They start cautiously toward Stevie. CAMERA FINDING

their feet. Tracking through the same OILY, BLACK

SUBSTANCE we saw bleeding from the creature thirty five

thousand years ago. As they move into the shadows, we

HOLD ON THE SUBSTANCE....and see it MOVE. It's alive.

TIME CUT TO:

EXT. DIRT FIELD - SHORT TIME LATER

CAMERA RISES out of the dirt hole, finds A GROUP OF

NEIGHBORS:

Concerned PARENTS, KIDS, including Stevie's friends.

They're held at a distance by the remaining firemen.

Everyone turning their concerned gazes skyward. Looking

at:

A MED-EVAC CHOPPER

Coming off the sun-setting horizon. Moving toward us at

high speed. The WHOP, WHOP of its blade soon shaking the

neighborhood as it banks in and around and hovers just

over the dirt field. Landing gently on the parched hard

scrabble.

The side door flies open and FIVE HAZ-MAT RESCUE

PARAMEDICS jump out carrying a bubble litter. CAMERA

PANS THEM to the dirt hole past THE FIRE CAPTAIN. The

Haz-Mat Paramedics moving down into the hole. The Fire

Captain watches this, then stares toward --

DR. BEN BRONSCHWEIG (in shirtsleeves, tie), exiting the

chopper, following up the rear. The Captain meeting him

in route.

BRONSCHWEIG

(over the chopper)

Keep those people back. Get them out

of here.

FIRE CAPTAIN

(to his men)

Move them all back.

(dogging Bronschweig)

I sent four men down after the boy.

They're not responding.

Dr. Bronschweig's focus is elsewhere, though. He's

making a bee line to the earthen hole where young Stevie

is being pulled out and lifted into an enclosed

QUARANTINE BUBBLE LITTER by the rescue squad.

Bronschweig watches with great concern. Getting a good

look now at Stevie's paralyzed body as it passes him.

ANGLE ON CHOPPER

As Stevie's body is loaded aboard, the side door is slid

shut. The engine throttles up and the chopper takes

flight again, almost as quickly as it arrived. The prop

wash blowing:

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

And the gathering crowd. Bronschweig watches the chopper

bank away, then turns his look to:

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Where A SERIES OF UNMARKED CARGO VANS, TRUCKS are

rolling in. A fleet of vehicles, driven by what looks

like MILITARY PERSONNEL. Most conspicuously TWO WHITE

UNMARKED TANKER TRUCKS. (There are NO MARKINGS on these

vehicles.)

RESUME BRONSCHWEIG

As the Fire Captain moves around to face him off.

FIRE CAPTAIN

What about my men?

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

(brusquely)

We're doing all we can.

And he moves off toward the approaching trucks where the

MILITARY PERSONNEL are pulling out tents, tent poles,

scientific equipment. Leaving the Captain to wonder what

the hell's going on. Watching the first of many

REFRIGERATION UNITS being unloaded. The personnel

carrying it paying him no mind as they blow past him.

Moving RIGHT TO CAMERA and plunging us into BLACK.

HOLD. Then OVER BLACK, a familiar sound again. The

sound of a chopper auguring in. As we FADE UP, revealing

we are:

EXT. TOP OF A SKYSCRAPER - DAY

The chopper is banking over the side of the building,

preparing to touch down on the rooftop where FIFTEEN FBI

AGENTS in dark ID windbreakers are standing. A LEGEND

appears: FEDERAL BUILDING, DALLAS, TEXAS. ONE WEEK

LATER.

The chopper touches down and, again, the side door is

thrown open. But now only one man exits: SPECIAL AGENT

IN CHARGE (S.A.C.) DARIUS MICHAUD.

Michaud moves with the measured pace of authority,

approaching the waiting FBI Agents. One of whom steps

up.

FBI AGENT

We've evacuated the building and been

through it bottom to top. No trace of

an explosive device or anything

resembling one.

S.A.C. MICHAUD

Have you taken the dogs through?

FBI AGENT

Yes, sir.

S.A.C. MICHAUD

Well, take them through again.

This is given as a non-negotiable order, to the somewhat

weary FBI man. Who turns back to his charges, Michaud

does not register this attitude, though. Something else

has caught his attention. Causing him to walk to the

edge of the building. CAMERA FOLLOWING HIM, seeing what

he sees now.

On an adjacent skyscraper is what appears to be AN FBI

AGENT in an ID windbreaker exiting onto the roof. CAMERA

CONTINUING AROUND into A CLOSE UP PROFILE of S.A.C

Michaud. Staring at this, his jaw set. He doesn't like

what he sees. And what he sees is:

EXT. ROOFTOP OPPOSING SKYSCRAPER - DAY - CONTINUOUS

Special Agent Dana Scully is coming out the door leading

onto the roof. The door slams shut behind her. She, too,

is dressed in an FBI windbreaker. She's dialing her

cell phone as she moves around the rooftop looking for

something. Dialing the number of:

SCULLY

Mulder -- it's me --

MULDER (FILTER)

Where are you, Scully?

SCULLY

I'm on the roof.

MULDER (FILTER)

Did you find something?

SCULLY

(impatiently)

No. I haven't.

MULDER (FILTER)

What's wrong, Scully?

SCULLY

I've just climbed twelve floors. I'm

hot and thirsty and I'm wondering, to

be honest, what I'm doing here.

MULDER (FILTER)

You're looking for a bomb.

SCULLY

I know that. But the threat was called

in for the Federal Building across the

street.

MULDER (FILTER)

I think they have that covered.

WE ARE TRACKING WITH SCULLY.

SCULLY

(impatience)

Mulder... when a terrorist bomb threat

is called in, the logical purpose of

providing this information is to allow

us to find the bomb. The rational

object of terrorism is to promote

terror. If you'd study model

behavioral pattern in virtually every

case where a threat has turned up an

explosive device. If we don't act in

accordance with that data -- if you

ignore it as we have done -- the

chances are great that if here

actually is a bomb we might not find

it. Lives could be lost --

Scully, engrossed in her own argument, realizes she's

been the only one speaking for the last short while. She

stops walking.

SCULLY

Mulder...?

MULDER

What happened to playing a hunch?

Scully almost JUMPS out of her own skin. The voice has

come not over the phone, but from two feet away where:

ANGLE TO INCLUDE AGENT MULDER

Standing in the shadow of a large air conditioning unit.

Cracking a trademark sunflower seed between his teeth.

Clicking his cell phone off. Moving out.

SCULLY

Jesus, Mulder...

MULDER

The element of surprise, Scully.

Random acts of unpredictability. If we

fail to anticipate the unforeseen or

expect the unexpected in a universe of

infinite possibilities, we find

ourselves at the mercy of anyone or

anything that cannot be programmed,

categorized or easily referenced...

Mulder has moved to the edge of the building where he

sails his sunflower seeds into the air. Dusting his

hands off as if lost in a wistful through for just a

moment.

MULDER

What are we doing up here? It's hotter

than hell.

And he's on the move. Scully moving to catch up.

NEW ANGLE

Mulder is moving toward the stairs, Scully catching him.

Mulder allowing her to lead him up the steps.

SCULLY

I know you're bored in this

assignment, but unconventional

thinking is only going to get you into

trouble now.

MULDER

How's that?

SCULLY

You've got to quit looking for what

isn't there. They've closed the

X-Files. There's procedure to be

followed here. Protocol.

MULDER

What do you say we call in a bomb

threat for Houston. I think it's free

beer night at the Astrodome.

Scully gives him a look. It's no use. She reaches the

door first, grabs the knob but... it won't open. Turning

to Mulder.

SCULLY

Now what?

MULDER

(suddenly nervous)

It's locked?

She wiggles the knob again.

SCULLY

So much for anticipating the

unforeseen...

Scully squints into the sun, staring at Mulder. But he's

quick on the draw, and realizes what she's up to. He

grabs for the door and... it opens. Looking to Scully

whose hard look of mock-scolding has become a smirking

smile.

SCULLY

Had you.

MULDER

No you didn't.

SCULLY

Oh yeah. Had you big time.

And that's how it continues as they re-enter the

stairwell, the door slamming shut behind them.

CUT TO:

INT. BUILDING LOBBY - DAY

As an elevator DINGS and the doors open. Scully and

Mulder exit into the lobby where people move in and out.

Heads turn due to their FBI jackets. (Included

atmosphere: a GROUP OF KIDS on a field trip, being led

into an elevator by THEIR TEACHER.)

SCULLY

I saw your face, Mulder. There was a

moment of panic.

MULDER

Panic? Have you ever seen me panic,

Scully?

SCULLY

I just did. You're buying.

Mulder fishes for change, but more out of

sportsmanship.

MULDER

Alright... what'll it be: Coke, Pepsi?

A saline IV?

SCULLY

Something sweet.

Scully flashes a thin victory smile, as Mulder heads

off.

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE VENDING MACHINE ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Mulder moving to a door with a small shingle above it

which says SNACKS/BEVERAGES. As he approaches, sorting

through the change he's fished up, the door opens and A

MAN IN A VENDOR'S UNIFORM appears. He makes casual and

ever-so-brief eye contact with Mulder as he brushes past

him. Mulder making no note of this as he moves to catch

the door before it closes.

CUT TO:

INT. SNACK AREA AND SODA VENDING MACHINE ROOM - DAY

Mulder takes a few steps down into the windowless room.

Moving past the snack machines to a LIGHTED soda

machine.

Finding the correct change and plunking it in. Hitting a

button, but... nothing comes out.

MULDER

Oh, come on.

He beats his fist a couple of times on the front of the

machine.

Nothing. He finds more change. Plunking it in. Hits the

button. Nothing. He stares at the machine a minute, then

BEATS IT HARD with his fist. Nothing.

Moving around to the back of the machine, looking for:

ANGLE ACROSS BACK OF MACHINE

Mulder's face peering in on the slim space between the

machine and the wall. Reaching down and lifting the PLUG

on the end of the electrical cord. It isn't plugged in.

Realizing now why the machine hasn't spit out his

sodas.

RESUME FRONT ANGLE ON MACHINE

As Mulder appears, stepping very lightly in front of the

machine that he was just pounding away on. Looking at

it, then moving quickly to the door he entered through.

Grasping the knob, but finding it... LOCKED. He jiggles

the knob, pulls on it. But there's no two ways about it,

he's locked in.

CUT TO:

INT. BUILDING LOBBY - DAY

Scully stands looking at her watch. Wondering where

Mulder is. When her CELL PHONE starts ringing. She

answers it.

SCULLY

Scully...

MULDER (FILTER)

Scully, I found the bomb.

SCULLY

(thinks he's joking)

Where are you, Mulder?

MULDER (FILTER)

I'm in the vending room.

Scully is on the move, but she doesn't believe him for a

second.

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE VENDING MACHINE ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Scully appears, heard A POUNDING. Following this noise

to the door Mulder is obviously on the other side of.

Tries the door.

SCULLY

Is that you pounding?

INT. SNACK AND SODA VENDING MACHINE ROOM - DAY

Mulder holds his phone to his ear, using his other hand

to pound.

MULDER

Scully, get somebody to open this

door.

SCULLY (FILTER)

Nice try, Mulder.

CAMERA FOLLOWING MULDER as he steps back, revealing now

that he's gotten the hinged front of the coke machine

open. But we can't yet see what's inside.

MULDER

Scully -- listen to me. It's in the

coke machine. You've got about

fourteen minutes to get this building

evacuated.

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE VENDING MACHINE ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Scully is shaking her head. Tries the door again.

SCULLY

C'mon. Open the door.

His response to this is MORE HARD POUNDING.

SCULLY

Mulder? Tell me this is a joke.

MULDER (FILTER)

Thirteen fifty nine, thirteen fifty

eight, thirteen fifty seven...

As he is doing this, Scully is bending to see:

THE KEYHOLE

It's been freshly soldered over.

INT. SNACK AND SODA VENDING MACHINE ROOM - DAY

Mulder stands pacing in front of:

AN ELABORATELY ENGINEERED EXPLOSIVE DEVICE

Wired with circuit boards, electric belts and generally

looking like it would take an expert a good long time to

figure out where to even start. A lot longer than the

13:58 that reads on the digital read-out.

MULDER

...thirteen fifty six...

SCULLY (FILTER)

Hang on. I'm gonna get you out of

there.

The line goes dead. And off Mulder's deepening anxiety,

we:

CUT TO:

INT. BUILDING LOBBY - DAY

Scully enters like General Patton, taking charge.

Barking at the security guards who sit behind their

security console.

SCULLY

I need this building evacuated and

cleared out in ten minutes! I need you

to get on the phone and tell the fire

department to block off the city

center in one mile radius around the

building --

SECURITY GUARD

In ten minutes.....?!

SCULLY

DON'T THINK! JUST PICK UP THE PHONE

AND MAKE IT HAPPEN!

And she's moving, dialing her cell phone now.

SCULLY

(into phone)

This is Special Agent Dana Scully. I

need to speak to S.A.C. Michaud. He's

got the wrong building --

CUT TO:

EXT. BUILDING - DAY

UNMARKED FBI VANS, CARS are pulling up out front.

Agents in windbreakers are exiting, moving at a run to

the building. Among them S.A.C. Darius Michaud. Moving

to:

ANGLE ON SCULLY

Exiting the building. Behind her, WORKERS are beginning

to stream out of the building, as well as the young

FIELD TRIPPERS. Michaud meeting up with Scully

mid-plaza. As the windbreaker Agents move past them,

entering the building.

S.A.C. MICHAUD

Where is it?

MOVING WITH THEM now, back toward the building. As FIRE

TRUCKS are pulling up out in the street out front.

Suddenly this has the distinct feel of a situation

veering out of control.

SCULLY

Mulder found it in a vending machine.

He's locked in with it.

CUT TO:

INT. SNACK AND VENDING MACHINE ROOM - DAY

THE DIGITAL READ OUT hits 7:00. Pull back to REVEAL

MULDER staring at it. If he wasn't sweating enough on

the roof, he's certainly sweating now. When his cell

phone RINGS. Answering it.

MULDER

Scully?

SCULLY (FILTER)

Mulder. Move away from the door. We're

coming through it.

No sooner is this said than the CAMERA WHIPS OFF MULDER

to the door, where A GAS PLASMA TORCH FLAME is sizzling

along the hinges.

CUT TO:

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE VENDING MACHINE ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Where Michaud himself, wearing a Kevlar vest now, is

wielding the torch. Expertly cutting the metal while

Scully and TWO AGENTS and TWO DALLAS BOMB SQUAD men look

on. In the b.g. BUILDING EMPLOYEES are streaming out.

Michaud finishes and shuts off the torch. Yelling:

S.A.C. MICHAUD

Go.

The other Agents kick the metal door in sending it

crashing to the floor. Mulder stands on the other side.

Watching Michaud pick up a heft tool kit, stepping over

the downed door.

Scully right behind him. Along with the Agents, Bomb

techs.

ANGLE OVER MULDER AND THE SODA MACHINE/BOMB

As Michaud steps in next to him, sizing up the time on

the ticking digital readout: 4:07. And just exactly what

kind of defusing work he's got cut out for him.

MULDER

Tell me this is just soda pop in those

canisters.

S.A.C. MICHAUD

No. It's what it looks like. A big

I.E.D. - ten gallons of astrolite.

(studying the bomb)

Okay, get everybody out of here and

clear the building.

MULDER

Somebody's got to stay with you --

S.A.C. MICHAUD

I gave you an order. Now get the hell

out of here and evacuate the area.

SCULLY

Can you defuse it?

Setting his tool kit down, opening it. As the other

Agents heed his word, exiting the room.

S.A.C. MICHAUD

I think so.

MULDER

You've got about four minutes to find

out if you're wrong.

Michaud turns on him with unexpected intensity.

S.A.C. MICHAUD

Did you hear what I said?

SCULLY

Let's go, Mulder.

Scully starts out. Mulder stares at Michaud for a

moment, but Michaud's focus is on the bomb now. He won't

meet Mulder's look. Finally Mulder moves off, following

Scully.

CAMERA HOLDS ON MICHAUD, just staring at the bomb. Just

staring.

CUT TO:

EXT. PLAZA OUTSIDE BOMB BUILDING - DAY - CONTINUOUS

The last of the building occupants are being hauled off

in CITY BUSES which have moved in curbside. As these

buses pull away, so do the fire trucks that have

positioned themselves out front. And the police squad

cars. As Mulder and Scully exit the front door. Moving

quickly, until Mulder hits mid-plaza and slows. Scully

not realizing this for a few steps, then turning.

SCULLY

What are you doing?

(off his non-response)

Mulder --

One last windbreakered Agent is exiting. Moving past

them to the last cop car other than the car waiting for

Mulder and Scully.

LAST AGENT OUT

All clear.

Mulder has stopped and is looking back to the building

now as Scully hustles back the few steps separating

them.

MULDER

Something's wrong.

ANGLE OVER THEM TO THE WAITING CAR

As the Last Agent Out's car zooms away. Leaving only

their car and the man driving it: a WINDBREAKERED

AGENT.

WINDBREAKERED AGENT

What's he doing?

The plaza is desolate now, void of life.

MULDER

Something's not right...

SCULLY

-- Mulder! Get in the car!

Scully is pulling him now. Pulling him toward the car

and the obviously impatient Windbreakered Agent.

SCULLY

There's no time!

CUT TO:

INT. SNACK AND SODA VENDING MACHINE ROOM - DAY

CLOSE ON BOMB. The seconds ticking off now, as it passes

the :30 mark. CAMERA PULLING BACK, ADJUSTING to Michaud.

His tool chest is closed up, and he is sitting on it

improbably. Still staring at the bomb, then pulling his

head down in what appears to be resignation. As the

seconds tick away.

CUT BACK TO:

EXT. PLAZA OUTSIDE BOMB BUILDING - DAY - CONTINUOUS

Mulder has relented now, against his better instincts.

Moving with Scully to the car, faster as they go. The

Windbreaker Agent standing in the open door of the

driver's side. Getting in behind the wheel...

CUT BACK TO:

INT. VENDING MACHINE ROOM - CONTINUOUS

S.A.C. MICHAUD

Sitting motionless in front of the bomb as the seconds

tick down. 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1- --

HARD CUT BACK

TO:

EXT. PLAZA OUTSIDE BOMB BUILDING - DAY - CONTINUOUS

Mulder and Scully getting in the car. TRACKING BACKWARDS

with them now as the Agent driving pulls away, getting

only thirty, maybe forty yards when: the BOMB DETONATES

and the building EXPLODES. And this is no fatwa symbolic

little terror strike. This is Oklahoma City. Or do we

say, Independence Day.

REVERSE ANGLE ON CAR

As all the windows blow out and the car is lifted up,

slamming into the corner of a parked car. The air so

quickly full of debris that it would seem the whole city

has been destroyed.

RESUME BUILDING

As the debris starts to clear somewhat, much of it still

floating to the ground, though. We see the fires raging

on every floor. That most of the front of the building

has been torn away and we can see right into many

floors.

RESUME ANGLE ON CAR

Where it sits half cocked against a parked car. The air

is full of debris, particulated matter. The rear door of

the squad car opens now and Mulder gets out, covered with

glass. Moving to the front passenger door, opening it

for Scully.

MULDER

(with darkest irony)

Next time you're buying.

EXT. AERIAL SHOT OF WASHINGTON D.C. - DAY

HIGH ABOVE the U.S. capital, the entire beltway. With a

LEGEND, to establish.

LOWER AND TIGHTER NOW

On the J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI Headquarters.

Descending low on the three-sided monolith and its large

interior courtyard. As another LEGEND appears, under:

WOMAN'S VOICE (V.O.)

In light of Waco, and Ruby Ridge...

CUT TO:

INT. FBI OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL REVIEW - DAY

A formal hearing. Several ASSISTANT DIRECTORS sit at a

head table, going over documents. NAME PLACECARDS in

front of them.

PANNING the group, the sound of papers shuffling, the

occasional clearing of a throat creating a stale air of

importance, under:

WOMAN'S VOICE (V.O.)

...there is a heightened need at the

Attorney General's office to place

responsibility as early as possible.

CAMERA LANDING ON ASSISTANT DIRECTOR JANA CASSIDY

A no-nonsense 40 year-old lawyer cum FBI Agent.

CASSIDY

...for the catastrophic destruction of

public property and the loss of life

due to terrorist activities...

Next to Cassidy is Assistant Director WALTER SKINNER,

Mulder and Scully's former superior on the X-Files.

Looking ruefully at:

AGENT SCULLY

At a small table, the chair next to her conspicuously

empty.

CASSIDY

Many details are still unclear; some

agents' reports have not been filed,

or have come in sketchy, without a

satisfactory accounting of the events

that led to the destruction in Dallas.

But we're under some pressure to give

an accurate picture of what happened

to the Attorney General, so she can

issue a public statement.

The door to the room opens behind Scully now, and Mulder

enters, his manner that of a man who knows he's late to

a function.

RESUME A.D. CASSIDY

She looks up at Mulder and Scully with a stern glare.

CASSIDY

We now know that five people died in

the explosion. Special Agent in Charge

Darius Michaud who was trying to

defuse the bomb that had been hidden

in a vending machine. Three firemen

from Dallas, and a young boy.

OVER MULDER AND SCULLY

Mulder pulls out his chair to sit down, but remains

standing. They trade a look. This is new news to them.

MULDER

Excuse me -- the firemen and the boy

-- they were in the building?

CASSIDY

Agent Mulder, since you weren't able

to be on time for this hearing, I'm

going to ask you to step outside so

that we can get Agent Scully's version

of the facts. So that she won't have

to be paid the same disrespect.

MULDER

We were told the building was clear.

CASSIDY

You'll get your turn, Agent Mulder.

Please step out.

Mulder trades looks with:

A.D. SKINNER

Who stares at him evenly, but not unsympathetically.

He's been here with Mulder on many occasions. Seen

Mulder run up against the Bureau and its stiff

conventions. Always in the middle.

MULDER

It does say there in your paperwork

that we were the ones who found the

bomb...

CASSIDY

Thank you, Agent Mulder. We'll call

you in shortly.

RESUME MULDER, SCULLY

As Mulder slides his chair in. Scully watching him

exit.

CUT TO:

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE OPR HEARING ROOM - DAY

Mulder sits by himself in a chair, head down. When the

door to the hearing room opens. Mulder rising as A.D.

Skinner exits.

SKINNER

Sit down, they're still talking to

Agent Scully.

MULDER

About what?

SKINNER

-- They're asking her for a narrative.

They want to know why she was in the

wrong building.

MULDER

She was with me.

Skinner studies Mulder, shaking his head.

SKINNER

You don't see what's going on here, do

you?

(off Mulder's look)

There's four hundred million dollars

in damage to the city of Dallas. Lives

have been lost. No suspects have been

named. So the story being shaped is

this could have been prevented. That

the FBI didn't do its job.

MULDER

And they want to blame us?

SKINNER

Agent Mulder -- we both know that if

you and Agent Scully hadn't taken the

initiative to search the adjacent

building, you could have multiplied

the fatalities by a hundred --

MULDER

(grasping the irony)

But it's not the lives we saved. It's

the lives we didn't.

SKINNER

(reciting the dictum)

-- if it looks bad, it's bad for the

FBI --

MULDER

-- if they want someone to blame,

they can blame me. Agent Scully

doesn't deserve this.

SKINNER

She's in there right now saying the

same thing about you.

MULDER

I breached protocol. I broke contact

with the S.A.C. I ignored a primary

tactical rule and left him alone with

the device.

SKINNER

Agent Scully says it was she who

ordered you out of the building. That

you wanted to go back.

Mulder doesn't get to respond, because the door opens

again and Agent Scully exits. She looks like she's been

through it.

SCULLY

(to Skinner)

They're asking for you, Sir.

Skinner gives one last look to Mulder, then re-enters.

Leaving Mulder and Scully alone. Scully wearing a pained

look.

MULDER

Whatever you told them in there, you

don't have to protect me.

SCULLY

All I told them was the truth.

MULDER

They're trying to divide us on this,

Scully. We can't let them.

SCULLY

They have divided us, Mulder. They're

splitting us up.

MULDER

(beat)

What? What are you talking about?

SCULLY

I meet with the OPR day after tomorrow

for remediation and reassignment...

MULDER

Why?

SCULLY

I think you must have an idea. They

cited a history of problems relating

back to 1993.

MULDER

They were the ones that put us

together.

SCULLY

Because they wanted me to invalidate

your work, your investigations into

the paranormal. But I think this goes

deeper than that.

MULDER

This isn't about you, Scully. They're

doing this to me.

SCULLY

They're not doing this, Mulder.

(off his look)

I left behind a career in medicine

because I thought I might make a

difference at the FBI. When they

recruited me they told me women made

up nine percent of the bureau. I felt

this was not an impediment, but an

opportunity to distinguish myself. But

it hasn't turned out that way. And

now, if I were to be transferred to

Omaha, or Wichita or some field office

where I'm sure I could rise, it just

doesn't hold the interest for me it

once did. Not after what I've seen and

done.

MULDER

You're... quitting?

SCULLY

There's really no reason left for me

to stay anymore.

(off his look)

Maybe you should ask yourself if your

heart's still in it, too.

The door opens to the hearing room again now. A.D.

Skinner steps part way out, gesturing to him.

SKINNER

Agent Mulder. You're up.

SCULLY

(regretfully)

I'm sorry. Good luck.

Mulder rises. Scully studying his poorly disguised hurt.

Before he turns and goes into the room.

Scully watching the door close behind him. Her feelings

poorly disguised, too.

CUT TO:

INT. DOWNSCALE D.C. BAR - NIGHT

CLOSE ON A SHOOTER OF TEQUILA being poured. CAMERA

ADJUSTING to reveal the ATTRACTIVE BARMAID tipping the

bottle. Pushing it across the bar to where TWO EMPTY

SHOOTERS sit, making the exchange.

BARMAID

I'd say this about exceeds your

minimum daily requirement.

The person she's talking to us:

MULDER

He sits by himself on a stool, staring down at the bar.

Staring at the shooter which he spins with his fingers.

BARMAID

Gotta train for this kind of heavy

lifting.

Mulder tosses back the shooter anyway. She watches him

as she retrieves the small shot glass, intrigued by his

dark silence.

BARMAID

Poopy day?

MULDER

Yup.

BARMAID

A woman?

(Mulder shakes his head no)

Work.

Mulder nods, pointing to the tequila bottle again. The

Barmaid agrees to pour another one, reluctantly.

ANGLE OVER TO A MAN AT THE END OF THE BAR

Staring at Mulder intently. He's older than Mulder,

dressed in an old Brooke Brothers light summer suit.

Mulder notices him, feels his gaze, but doesn't give it

thought.

RESUME BARMAID, MULDER

BARMAID

What do you do?

MULDER

What do I do.

(off her curious look)

I'm a key figure in an ongoing

government charade. An annoyance to my

superiors. A joke among my peers.

"Spooky," they call me. Spooky Mulder.

Whose sister was abducted by aliens

when he was a kid. Who now chases

little green men with a badge and a

gun, shouting to the heavens and

anyone who'll listen that the fix is

in. That our government's hip to the

truth and a part of the conspiracy.

That the sky is falling and when it

hits it's gonna be the shitstorm of

all time.

She stares at him for a moment, startled by his drunken

screed. She pulls back the shooter she's just poured

Mulder.

BARMAID

I think that about does it, Spooky.

MULDER

Does what?

BARMAID

Why don't you go home to the old lady

--

MULDER

Sorry. Don't have one.

Mulder slides off his stool, noticing:

MULDER'S POV

The Watchful Man is gone.

RESUME MULDER

He feints toward the door, then reverses direction.

Heads to the back of the place.

INT. REAR OF DOWNSCALE BAR - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS

Mulder appears, moving to the bathroom door. Only to

find an OUT OF ORDER sign on it. He moves to the woman's

room, but it's locked. Gathering what's left of his

wits, Mulder does what any red-blooded man would do in

this situation. He goes to the back door of the bar and

exits into the alley.

EXT. ALLEY BEHIND BAR - NIGHT

Mulder has found a place against a wall, between two

dumpsters. Jerking around in surprise at the sound of a

VOICE.

WATCHFUL MAN'S VOICE

That official FBI business?

MULDER

(startled)

What?

ANGLE TO INCLUDE THE MAN FROM THE BAR

He's not far from Mulder. His name is KURTZWEIL.

KURTZWEIL

Bet the Bureau's accusing you of the

same thing in Dallas.

Mulder's weirded out as the stranger moves to him un-

threateningly.

MULDER

How's that?

KURTZWEIL

Standing around holding your yank

while bombs are exploding.

Kurtzweil enjoys a little laugh over this.

MULDER

Do I know you?

KURTZWEIL

No. I've been watching your career for

a good while. Back when you were just

a promising young agent -- before

that.

Mulder stares at this man as he finishes, zipping up.

MULDER

You follow me out here for a reason?

KURTZWEIL

Yeah, I did.

Kurtzweil unzips his own pants now. There is a moment;

one of those awkward moments where Mulder's not sure

what's about to happen. But Kurtzweil's just relieving

himself, too. Shuffling up to the wall, Mulder takes

this as an opportunity to head back toward the bar. But

Kurtzweil hails him again.

KURTZWEIL

My name's Kurtzweil. Dr. Alvin

Kurtzweil.

MULDER

I know the name. Why?

KURTZWEIL

Old friend of your father's.

Kurtzweil continues peeing. Knows this got Mulder's

attention.

KURTZWEIL

Back at the Department of State. We

were what you might call fellow

travelers, but his disenchantment

outlasted mine.

(beat)

I never believed in the Project.

Mulder stares at Kurtzweil now. He's being toyed with.

He turns, opens the door into the bar. As Kurtzweil gets

a little louder.

KURTZWEIL

Oh, come on. Don't pretend you don't

know about the Project. Your father

died for it. Your sister was taken

because of it.

Kurtzweil finishes nature's call. Zips up. Heads after

Mulder.

CUT TO:

INT. DOWNSCALE D.C. BAR - NIGHT

Mulder is coming from the back. Kurtzweil moving to

catch up. And he does, at the coat stand. The place has

pretty much cleared out, except for the Barmaid and some

help.

MULDER

How'd you find me?

KURTZWEIL

Heard you come here now and again.

Figured you'd be needing a little

drinky tonight.

MULDER

You a reporter?

KURTZWEIL

I'm a doctor, but I think I mentioned

that. OB-GYN.

MULDER

Who sent you?

KURTZWEIL

I came on my own. After reading about

the bombing in Dallas.

MULDER

Well, if you've got something to tell

me, you've got as long as it takes me

to hail a cab...

Mulder starts out the door, but Kurtzweil grabs his

arm.

KURTZWEIL

They're going to pin Dallas on you,

Agent Mulder. But there was nothing

you could've done. Nothing anyone

could've done to prevent that bomb

from going off. Because the truth is

something you'd never have guessed;

never have predicted.

Mulder pulls away from Kurtzweil, but Kurtzweil dogs him

to:

EXT. STREET OUTSIDE DOWNSCALE BAR - NIGHT

The street is empty, the hour is late. Mulder moves to

the curb.

MULDER

And what's that?

KURTZWEIL

S.A.C. Darius Michaud never tried or

intended to defuse the bomb.

MULDER

(rhetorical disbelief)

He just let it explode.

KURTZWEIL

What's the question nobody's asking?

Why that building? Why not the Federal

Building?

MULDER

The Federal Building was too well

guarded.

KURTZWEIL

No. They put the bomb in the building

across the street because it DID have

federal offices. The Federal Emergency

Management Agency had a provisional

medical quarantine office there. Which

is where the bodies were found. But

that's the thing...

Mulder's got his hand up for a taxi coming. It's pulling

over as Mulder steps from the curb, stepping away from

Kurtzweil.

KURTZWEIL

...the thing you didn't know. That

you'd never think to check.

Mulder's got the taxi door open, turning to Kurtzweil.

KURTZWEIL

Those people were already dead.

MULDER

Before the bomb went off?

KURTZWEIL

That's what I'm saying.

Mulder stares at Kurtzweil for a moment.

MULDER

Michaud was a twenty-two year veteran

of the bureau --

KURTZWEIL

Michaud was a patriot. The men he's

loyal to know their way around Dallas.

They blew that building to hide

something. Maybe something even they

couldn't predict.

MULDER

You're saying they destroyed an entire

building to hide the bodies of three

firemen...?

KURTZWEIL

And one little boy.

Mulder gets in the cab, closes the door. Rolls down the

window.

MULDER

I think you're full of shit.

KURTZWEIL

Do you?

Kurtzweil raps the top of the roof and steps away from

the car. As the taxi takes off. WE STAY WITH KURTZWEIL,

watching Mulder's cab speed away. (NOTE: This should

also be covered from inside the cab with Mulder, to play

the scene out on him.)

CUT TO:

INT. AGENT SCULLY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Scully is in bed, lying awake. Staring at the ceiling.

When she reacts to a POUNDING AT HER DOOR.

CUT TO:

INT. SCULLY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

CLOSE ON THE FRONT DOOR. Scully peeks in the peephole.

Then she removes the safety chain, opening the door.

MULDER

(strangely intense)

I wake you?

SCULLY

No.

MULDER

Why not? It's three AM.

Scully gets a whiff of his breath. As he moves past her

into the apartment. Radiating a kind of manic

intensity.

SCULLY

Are you drunk, Mulder?

MULDER

I was until about an hour ago.

SCULLY

Is that before or after you got the

idea to come here?

Mulder looks at her curiously.

MULDER

What are you implying, Scully?

SCULLY

(frowning)

I thought you may have gotten drunk

and decided to come here to talk me

out of quitting.

MULDER

Is that what you'd like me to do?

Scully hesitates. Long enough to indicate her own

wavering heart.

SCULLY

Go home, Mulder. It's late.

MULDER

Get dressed, Scully.

SCULLY

Mulder -- what are you doing?

MULDER

Just get dressed. I'll explain on the

way.

CUT TO:

EXT. TEXAS FLATLAND - NIGHT

The moon is rising over the horizon, across the

curvilinear distance of endless scrub and sagebrush.

When FLYING OBJECTS cross between it and us, their forms

unidentifiable in the rising heat waves off the earth.

But they are moving towards us, SILHOUETTES in the

background of the moon.

They move silently, their size INCREASING as they move

closer. And then we hear them, moments before they

arrive at our position, UNMARKED HELICOPTERS just

overhead. Hugging the ground as they blast across the

dark Texas night.

INT. UNMARKED BLACK HELICOPTERS - NIGHT

Flying at dangerously low altitude over the almost

featureless night landscape. Heading for something that

we see ahead in the distance. What looks like a LARGE

GLOWING DOME surrounded by the lights of a residential

area we've already seen, on the edge of suburban Dallas

sprawl.

CUT TO:

EXT. SMALL DIRT FIELD - CENTRAL TEXAS - NIGHT

The field where the kids had been digging has been

transformed into some kind of worksite.

A LARGE WHITE DOMED TENT has been erected over almost

the entire patch of ground, surrounded by the CARGO

TRUCKS that we saw earlier, and more unmarked vans and

trucks. There are men in black fatigues moving about,

and scientists in haz-mat suits.

As the UNMARKED BLACK HELICOPTERS bank overhead. Coming

in for a landing in the glow cast from the tents. CAMERA

MOVING TOWARD one of the helicopters as it lightly

touches down and its black door swings open. A man

stepping out, and as CAMERA PUSHES UP INTO HIS FACE we

recognize him as The Cigarette Smoking Man.

The figure that we've come to know as an assassin and a

model of modern self-interest and amorality. One of the

central protagonists in the conspiracy to keep the truth

from the American people about the existence of

extraterrestrial life.

Something known only as: "The Project."

He walks out from under the whirring prop, just far

enough to get a flame from his lighter, to get a

cigarette lit. As we:

CUT TO:

INT. LARGE WHITE TENT - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS

A SCIENTIST in a haz-mat suit is moving through the maze

of clear plastic tubing that divides work areas within

the tent. Areas where scientists are working at tables

doing what appears to be some kind of high-tech

archeological work. It is a hive of activity within, as

the Scientist leads us past the REFRIGERATION UNITS to

the earthen hole where Dr. Bronschweig (we've met him

earlier, coming out of a med-evac chopper that landed

when the tent city was erected) appears out of the

earthen hole, which is reason for all this excitement.

Climbing out A CLEAR HATCH which has been fashioned to

cover the hole. Seeing:

THE CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

Now suited up himself. Bronschweig approaches him.

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

You've got something to show me.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

(nervous excitement)

Yes.

CUT TO:

INT. ICE CAVE - CONTINUOUS

What we originally established as icy, and what later

became the unfrozen Texas field where the boys

discovered the human skull, has been turned to its

previously icy state. Thanks to two large vents that Dr.

Bronschweig is pointing at:

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

We brought the atmosphere back down to

freezing in order to control the

development, which is nothing like

we've ever seen.

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

Brought on by what?

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

Heat, I think. The coincident invasion

of a host, the fireman, and an

environment that raised his basic body

temperature above ninety eight point

six.

They step over to a section of the cave which has been

draped with more plastic, the lights from inside this

are giving off a cool blue light (passing by TWO

PORTABLE DRILLING RIGS which have been erected, their

pumps moving up and down like rocking horses.)

Bronschweig pushes away the plastic, revealing A MAN

lying on a gurney draped in plastic. he is hooked up to

various and sundry machines which are monitoring his

life signs.

His skin has turned almost translucent, the veins and

capillaries now clearly visible, as is his pulse. His

heartbeat sending life-sustaining blood and energy

through his body.

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

This man's still alive.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

Technically and biologically, though

he'll never recover.

The CSM is shaking his head in nervous, uneasy wonder.

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

How can this be?

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

The developing organism is using his

life energy, digesting bone and

tissue. We've just slowed the

process.

Bronschweig redirects a light so that it shines hard

into the man's face and; then we see it. Movement.

CLOSE ON MAN'S FACE

Though the man's eyes still blink occasionally, we can

actually see through his tissue and the bones in his

skull to see something IS LIVING INSIDE HIM.

ANGLE UP ON CSM AND BRONSCHWEIG

The Cigarette Smoking Man's mind is working intently on

all the possibilities, and consequences.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

Do you want me to destroy this one,

too? Before it gestates?

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

No. No...we need to try our vaccine on

it.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

And if it's unsuccessful?

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

Incinerate it. Like the others.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

This man's family will want to see the

body laid to rest.

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

Tell them he was trying to save the

young boy's life, and that he died

heroically like the other firemen.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

Of what?

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

They seemed to buy our story about the

Hanta virus. You'll make sure the

families are taken care of

financially, along with a sizeable

donation to the community.

(beat)

Maybe a small roadside memorial.

He watches the CSM exit, then back to the prostrate

fireman.

CLOSE ON PROSTRATE FIREMAN

There is more movement within his body. Within his chest

and neck, as if the creature gestating inside is

continuing to stretch and grow. So that now we can see

one of its BLACK EYES staring from through the clear

flesh of the fireman. An eye which BLINKS at us. As we:

CUT TO:

INT. BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL - NIGHT

Mulder and Scully appear at the end of a long hall.

Moving TOWARD CAMERA where a YOUNG NAVAL GUARD sits in

f.g. As a LEGEND appears, to establish.

Mulder and Scully moving the long distance to the

Guard's station. Where the Guard looks up at them with

military scrutiny.

YOUNG NAVAL GUARD

ID and floor you're visiting.

They both show their FBI IDs.

MULDER

We're going to the morgue.

YOUNG NAVAL GUARD

That area is currently off limits to

anyone other than authorized medical

personnel.

MULDER

On whose orders?

YOUNG NAVAL GUARD

General McAddie's.

Mulder doesn't miss a beat.

MULDER

General McAddie is who requested our

coming here. We were awakened at three

AM and told to get down here

immediately.

YOUNG NAVAL GUARD

I don't know anything about that.

MULDER

Well, call General McAddie.

YOUNG NAVAL GUARD

I don't have his number.

MULDER

They can patch you in through the

switchboard.

The Guard is nervous about this, checking his watch. He

picks up the phone, going through a large directory.

MULDER

Hey! We don't have time to dick around

here watching you demonstrate your

ignorance in the chain of command. The

order came direct from General

McAddie. Call him. We'll conduct our

business while you confirm

authorization.

Mulder is already directing Scully past the Naval Guard

who tentatively picks up the phone again.

YOUNG NAVAL GUARD

(to their backs)

Why don't you go on ahead head and

I'll confirm authorization.

MULDER

Thank you.

LEADING Mulder and Scully, moving they've pulled off a

con.

MULDER

Why is a morgue suddenly off limits on

orders of a general?

CUT TO:

INT. BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL - MORGUE FREEZER - NIGHT

TRACKING TABLE HEIGHT across gurneys where white

sheet-wrapped bodies lie. CAMERA LANDING ON Scully.

Standing next to Mulder who is undoing the peculiar

ropey stitching on the sheet used to secure the bodies.

SCULLY

This is one of the firemen who died in

Dallas?

MULDER

According to this tag.

SCULLY

And you're looking for?

SCULLY

I can tell you that without even

looking at him.

(off Mulder's look)

Conclusive organ failure due to

proximal exposure to source and flying

debris.

Scully pulls out an autopsy report that was laid on the

gurney under the body of the sheet-wrapped corpse.

SCULLY

This body has already been autopsied,

Mulder. You can tell from the way it's

been wrapped and dressed.

Undeterred, Mulder works to get the sheet off. The first

thing we notice is that he's still in his fireman's

uniform. His face looks familiar to us, not because we

know him, but because of the translucency of skin we saw

in the other fireman. (We will also notice he's

missing an arm, a leg and large part of his torso.)

MULDER

Does this fit the description you just

read me, Scully?

Scully comes around, reacting to what she sees.

SCULLY

Oh my God. This man's tissue...

Scully is quickly removing a pair of latex gloves,

stretching them on to palpate the man's tissue.

MULDER

It's like jelly.

SCULLY

There's some kind of cellular

breakdown. It's completely edematous.

She palpates the spongy skin on the man's face, neck.

Unbuttoning the uniform now, seeing:

SCULLY

And there's been no autopsy performed.

There's no Y incision here; no

internal exam.

MULDER

You're telling me the cause of death

on the report is false. That this man

didn't die from an explosion, or from

flying debris.

SCULLY

I don't know what killed this man. I'm

not sure if anybody else could claim

to either.

Off Mulder's reaction to this:

CUT TO:

INT. MORGUE - PATHOLOGY LAB - NIGHT - MINUTES LATER

The gurney with the fireman is pushed through a pair of

swinging doors into the darkened lab. Scully flips the

lights on, looking around at the giant facility.

SCULLY

(pushing him)

You knew this man didn't die at the

bomb site before we got here.

MULDER

I'd been told as much.

SCULLY

You're saying the bombing was a

cover-up. Of what?

MULDER

I don't know. But I have a hunch what

you're going to find here isn't

anything that can be categorized or

easily referenced.

SCULLY

Mulder, this is going to take some

time, and somebody's going to figure

out soon enough we're not even

supposed to be here.

(beat)

I'm in serious violation of medical

ethics.

MULDER

We're being blamed for these deaths.

Scully, I want to know what this man

died of. Don't you?

Scully stares at Mulder, then back down at the body. How

can she refuse, given the finality and the personal

appeal of the request? After a moment's hesitation, she

turns to the body, and to the tray table of tools

nearby. Resigned, if not resolved.

CUT TO:

EXT. WASHINGTON D.C. - NIGHT

A LEGEND appears: WASHINGTON D.C., DUPONT CIRCLE. 4:00

AM. The street is fairly empty, save for a garbage truck

picking up the stacks of green garbage bags laid out on

the sidewalks. Then A TAXI turns off a main street,

MOVING TOWARDS US.

INT. WASHINGTON D.C. STREET - TAXI - NIGHT

OVER MULDER to the street: Where the taxi is moving

forward toward a spot where two ARLINGTON PD cruisers

are pulled up to the curb. Mulder checks the address he

has written down.

MULDER

(to the Cabbie)

I think this is it up here.

EXT. SIDE STREET - NIGHT

The taxi pulls over and Mulder exits, starting up the

steps of a walk up where the door is open.

INT. KURTZWEIL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

There are UNIFORMED OFFICERS inside, and a DETECTIVE.

Mulder steps into an office. FOUR PAIRS of eyes give him

the once over. The Detective stepping over to him.

MULDER

Is this Dr. Kurtzweil's residence?

DETECTIVE

(suspiciously)

You got some kind of business with

him?

MULDER

I'm looking for him.

DETECTIVE

Looking for him for what?

Mulder pulls out his ID, flashes it at the Detective.

DETECTIVE

(to his partners)

Feds are looking for him, too.

(turns to Mulder)

Real nice business he's got, huh?

MULDER

What's that?

DETECTIVE

Selling naked pictures of little kids

over his computer.

Mulder nods, though this is news to him. He steps in a

little further, noticing a shelf lined with books. Their

spines all have the author's name written large: DR.

ALVIN KURTZWEIL.

Mulder picks up one of these books, with the title: THE

FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE GLOBAL DOMINATION CONSPIRACY.

DETECTIVE

You looking for him for some other

reason?

MULDER

Yeah, I had an appointment for a

pelvic examination.

They stare at Mulder like he's a sicko. He smiles and

they break into RAUCOUS LAUGHTER.

DETECTIVE

You want a call if we turn up

Kurtzweil?

MULDER

No. Don't bother.

Mulder puts the book back among the others on the shelf.

And exits. Onto:

RESUME EXT. KURTZWEIL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Mulder starting up the street when he notices:

MULDER'S POV

Kurtzweil has stepped from between two apartments. He's

staring at Mulder, nodding furtively to him. Then

stepping back.

RESUME MULDER

Slows, then speeds up.

EXT. SPACE BETWEEN TWO APARTMENTS - NIGHT

Mulder appears at the end of the narrow walkway, finding

Kurtzweil tucked a few yards in.

KURTZWEIL

See this bullshit...? Somebody knows

I'm talking to you.

MULDER

Not according to the men in blue.

KURTZWEIL

What is it? Kiddie porn again? Sexual

battery of a patient? I've had my

license taken away in three states.

MULDER

They want to discredit you -- for

what?

KURTZWEIL

For what? Because I'm a dangerous man.

Because I know too much about the

truth.

MULDER

You mean that apocalyptic trash you

write? I knew your name was familiar.

I just didn't know why.

KURTZWEIL

You know my work?

MULDER

(pointedly)

Dr. Kurtzweil, I'm not interested in

bigoted ideas about race or genocide.

I don't believe in the Elders of Zion,

the Knights Templar, the Bilderburg

Group or in a oneworld Jew run

government --

KURTZWEIL

I don't either, but it sure sells

books.

He says it with an ironic smile. Causing Mulder to turn

and start off. But Kurtzweil hurries to grab him, to

prevent this.

KURTZWEIL

I was right about Dallas. Wasn't I,

Agent Mulder?

MULDER

How?

KURTZWEIL

I picked up the historical document of

the venality and hypocrisy of the

American government. The daily

newspaper.

MULDER

You said the firemen and the boy were

found in the temporary offices of the

Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Why?

KURTZWEIL

According to the newspaper, FEMA had

been called out to manage an outbreak

of the Hanta virus. Are you familiar

with the Hanta virus, Agent Mulder?

MULDER

It was a deadly virus spread by field

mice in the Southwest U.S. several

years ago.

KURTZWEIL

And are you familiar with FEMA? What

the Federal Emergency Management

Agency's real power is? FEMA allows

the White House to suspend

constitutional government upon

declaration of a national emergency.

To create a non-elected government.

Think about that.

(beat)

What is an agency with such broad

sweeping power doing managing a small

viral outbreak in suburban Texas?

MULDER

Are you saying it wasn't such a small

outbreak?

Kurtzweil is getting intense now.

KURTZWEIL

I'm saying it wasn't the Hanta virus.

They are both given a start when a POLICE CRUISER rolls

by on the street, giving a burp of its siren. It rolls

past as the two men tuck in tighter.

MULDER

What was it?

KURTZWEIL

When we were young men in the

military, your father and I were

recruited for a project. They told us

it was biological warfare. A virus.

There were rumors about its origins.

MULDER

What killed those men?

KURTZWEIL

What killed them I won't even write

about. I tell you, they'd do more than

just harass me. They have the future

to protect.

MULDER

I'll know soon enough.

KURTZWEIL

(worked up)

What killed those men can't be

identified in simple medical terms. My

god, we can't even wrap our minds

around something as obvious as HIV.

We have no context for what killed

those men, or any appreciation of the

scale in which it will be unleashed in

the future. Of how it will be

transmitted; of the environmental

factors involved.

MULDER

A plague?

KURTZWEIL

The plague to end all plagues, Agent

Mulder. A silent weapon for a quiet

war. The systematic release of an

indiscriminate organism for which the

men who will bring it on still have no

cure. They've been working on this for

fifty years. While the rest of the

world was fighting gooks and commies

these men have been secretly

negotiating a planned Armageddon.

MULDER

Negotiating with whom?

KURTZWEIL

I think you know. The timetable has

been set. It will happen on a holiday,

when people are away from their homes.

When our elected officials are at

their resorts or out of the country.

The President will declare a state of

emergency, at which time all federal

agencies, all government will come

under the power of the Federal

Emergency Management Agency. FEMA,

Agent Mulder. The secret government.

MULDER

And they tell me I'm paranoid.

KURTZWEIL

Something's gone wrong -- something

unanticipated. Go back to Dallas and

dig. Or you're only going to find out

like the rest of the country, Agent

Mulder. When it's too late.

Kurtzweil turns, starts off. Mulder stares after him.

Then:

MULDER

How can I reach you?

KURTZWEIL

You can't.

Mulder moves to catch up to Kurtzweil, pulling out his

cell phone. Kurtzweil stops, turns. Truly and intensely

paranoid. Mulder makes him take the cell phone.

MULDER

No calling Hawaii.

Mulder turns and moves back out onto the street.

CUT TO:

INT. MORGUE - PATHOLOGY LAB - NIGHT

Agent Scully wears a surgical mask, latex gloves.

Working on the body of the fireman...when she reacts to

a NOISE. Doors opening, closing somewhere o.s. CAMERA

MEDIUM WHIPS to a door where she and Mulder entered the

morgue. Where...the Young Naval Guard and TWO MPs push

through and enter. They stand looking at:

THEIR POV

Where Scully stood moments ago, there is now just an

unattended gurney. A sheet over the fireman's body.

Scully is gone.

RESUME YOUNG NAVAL GUARD, MPs

Tense. Listening, watchful. Moving into the room.

CUT TO:

INT. BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL - MORGUE FREEZER - NIGHT

Scully enters the space where she and Mulder found the

fireman's body. Trying to quietly click the door shut.

Standing now near the door, tense, listening. When the

CHIRPING of her cell phone breaks the tense silence. She

pats frantically at her coat, trying to get it answered

before it rings again. Unsuccessfully. Finally getting

a hold of it and hitting the send button. Scully sits

breathing heavy, nervous breaths -- waiting for the

Young Naval Guard to come running in.

MULDER'S VOICE (FILTER)

Scully...?

She puts the phone slowly up to her face.

SCULLY

(low whisper)

Yeah.

INTERCUT WITH:

INT. PHONE BOOTH - WASHINGTON D.C. - MORNING

Mulder's at the pay phone.

MULDER

Why are you whispering?

SCULLY

I can't really talk right now.

MULDER

What did you find?

SCULLY

Evidence of a massive infection.

MULDER

What kind of infection?

SCULLY

I don't know.

MULDER

Scully -- listen to me. I'm going

home, then I'm booking a flight to

Dallas. I'm getting you a ticket,

too.

SCULLY

Mulder --

MULDER

I need you there with me. I need your

expertise on this. The bomb we found

was meant to destroy those bodies and

whatever they were infected by.

SCULLY

I've got a hearing tomorrow --

MULDER

-- I'll have you back for it, Scully.

Maybe with evidence that could blow

that meeting away.

SCULLY

Mulder -- I can't -- I'm already way

past the point of common sense here

--

Scully hears VOICES in the hall outside the freezer.

CUT TO:

MULDER

MULDER

Scully...? Hello...?

But the line OFF, goes dead. Mulder  hangs up the

phone, frustrated. Exits the booth in a hurry.

CUT TO:

INT. BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL - MORGUE FREEZER - NIGHT

The door opens and the Young Naval Guard steps inside,

followed by the MPs. Moving into the room.

LOW ANGLE - TRACKING

with the Naval Guard's feet as they pass by the rolling

carts on which bodies are laid. TRACKING to find SCULLY,

where she hides under one of the carts. Huddled and

cold.

The Guard's feet stop near here. He stands motionless

for a moment, then moves off. HOLD her until the door

slams shut.

INT. FBI OFFICE - DALLAS - MORNING - MULDER

enters a forensics lab with a FIELD AGENT. A LEGEND

reads: FBI FIELD OFFICE, DALLAS : 11:20 AM.

FIELD AGENT

You're looking for what amounts to a

needle in a haystack. I'm afraid the

explosion was so devastating there

hasn't been a whole lot we've been

able to put together just yet.

They are walking amid BOXES of evidence. STACKS of

debris. There are FORENSIC TECHS sorting through this

material. It looks like the most tedious and painstaking

job in the world.

MULDER

I'm looking for anything out of the

ordinary. Maybe something from the

FEMA offices where the bodies were

found.

FIELD AGENT

We weren't expecting to find those

remains, of course. They went right

off to Washington.

MULDER

Was there anything in those offices

that didn't go to D.C.?

FIELD AGENT

Some bone fragments came up in the

sift this morning. We thought there'd

been another fatality, but we found

out FEMA had recovered them from an

archeological site out of town.

MULDER

Have you examined them?

FIELD AGENT

No. Just fossils, far as I know.

Mulder is nodding, when both men look off at something

that's caught their attention o.s.

MULDER

I'd like this person to take a look,

if you don't mind.

THEIR POV - AGENT SCULLY

Standing in the doorway to the lab. She looks at Mulder

as if she's come in spite of her misgivings. Moving

toward them now.

FIELD AGENT

Let me just see if I can lay my hands

on what you're looking for.

The Field Agent nods to Scully as he passes, exiting

deeper into the room. Leaving Mulder and Scully by

themselves momentarily.

MULDER

You said you weren't coming?

SCULLY

I wasn't planning on it. Particularly

after spending a half hour in cold

storage this morning. But I got a

better look at the blood and tissue

samples I took from the firemen.

MULDER

What did you find?

SCULLY

(voice lowering pointedly)

Something I couldn't show to anyone

else. Not without more information.

And not without causing the kind of

attention I'd just as soon avoid right

now.

(off Mulder's look)

The virus those men were infected with

contains a protein coat I've never

seen before. What it did to them it

did extremely fast. And unlike the

AIDS virus or any other aggressive

strain, it survives very nicely

outside the body.

MULDER

How was it contracted?

SCULLY

That I don't know. But if it's through

simple contact of blood to blood, and

if it doesn't respond to conventional

treatments, it could be a serious

health threat.

Mulder's reaction is postponed, or at least subdued by

the reappearance of the field agent.

FIELD AGENT

Like I said, these are fossils, and

they weren't near the blast center, so

they aren't going to tell you much.

SCULLY

May I?

He offers Scully the small glass vials in which the bone

fragments have been separated. She takes them, looking

at them on her way over to the microscope. Tapping out a

tiny fragment onto the viewing bed. She puts her eyes

down to the stereoscope eyepieces, then almost

immediately looks up at Mulder who translates this look

almost instantly.

MULDER

You said you knew the location of the

archeological site where these were

found.

FIELD AGENT

Show you right on a map.

Off Mulder and Scully's traded looks:

CUT TO:

EXT. SMALL PUBLIC PARK - WEST TEXAS - DAY

The domed white tent is still in place, the fleet of

trucks and equipment surrounding it unmanned. Several

large sound-dampened generators still hum away, but the

work being done here would be a mystery to anyone who

didn't have access to the tent.

CUT TO:

INT. DOMED TENT - DAY

An electric Bobcat-like bulldozer maneuvers a very high

tech-looking CLEAR CONTAINER to the edge of the earthen

hole. The container has monitors and gauges on it,

oxygen tanks and what looks like a circulation

refrigeration unit. A self-contained life support

system. The inside of the container is covered with a

thin layer of frost.

When the small bulldozer gets the container over near

the hole, several technicians lift it down off the

shovel, hand carrying it toward the hole opening. As Dr.

Bronschweig APPEARS, moving to a ladder that leads down

into the hole. He's dressed in a haz-mat suit, with the

hood off.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

I need to have those settings checked

and re-set. I need a steady minus two

Celsius through the transfer of the

body, after I administer the vaccine.

The men nod to Bronschweig, begin checking the settings

as Bronschweig puts his hood on, starts down into the

hole, through the clear hatch.

INT. SMALLER ICE CAVE - DAY

The refrigeration vents are still pumping in arctic air

when Dr. Bronschweig appears descending a fixed ladder.

It is dark in here, save for the ice blue glow of light

coming from the plastic draped area where we saw the

fireman acting as an incubator/host for some kind of

organism growing inside him.

Bronschweig steps over to this area, moves aside the

plastic drapery to enter.

ANGLE INSIDE, PLASTIC LINED AREA

Where the body of the fireman is still inside the

quarantine bubble litter in f.g. Bronschweig takes out of

his pocket a SYRINGE and an AMPULE. Turning now to the

body. Stepping to it. Moving a work light, as he had

done for the Cigarette Smoking Man, so that it shines on

the face of the fireman. But when he does this,

Bronschweig nearly JUMPS, his breath stolen away.

Reacting to:

ANGLE ON FIREMAN'S BODY

The chest and torso have imploded. It has been turned

into a muddy mass of blood-stained jelly; bone and

tissue melted into an oozing mass which has sunken due

to the fact that the creature which was inside is now

gone.

CAMERA WHIPS from Bronschweig to the wall. To the

temperature gauge which reads about 6 degrees Celsius.

WHIPPING BACK to Bronschweig who is now panicked.

INTERCUT WITH:

INT. DOMED TENT - DAY

ANGLE DOWN ON EARTHEN HOLE, where the Technicians

Bronschweig was speaking to minutes ago react to

Bronschweig's MUFFLED VOICE. He's down below them in the

cave, looking up.

Pulling his haz-mat hood off. Yelling up to them.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

It's gone!

TECHNICIAN

It's what?

OVER THE TECHNICIANS TO BRONSCHWEIG DOWN BELOW

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

It's left the body. I think it's

gestated --

Bronschweig is starting up the ladder when something

stops him.

RESUME INT. ICE CAVE

CREATURE'S POV OF BRONSCHWEIG

He stands frozen on the ladder, squinting into the

darkness.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

Wait -- I see it --

BRONSCHWEIG'S POV

In the shadows there is movement, the creature edging

into the light cast from the draped area. We see it is

fully formed -- a replica of the Creature we saw at the

opening of our story. Though it does not make any kind

of aggressive move. As if, newborn, it is tentative.

RESUME BRONSCHWEIG - CREATURE'S POV

He remains standing on a rung of the ladder for a

moment, then takes a gentle step back down to the

ground.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

(nervous wonder)

Oh my god. Oh my god.

TECHNICIAN

You see it?

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

Yes. It's...amazing. You want to get

down here --

(sotto to himself)

Jesus Lord...so much for little green

men.

Dr. Bronschweig moves shakily to put the syringe in the

ampule again...when, suddenly, the Creature STRIKES.

CAMERA RUSHING FORWARD TO BRONSCHWEIG.

MATCH CUT TO:

OVERHEAD ANGLE - OVER THE TECHNICIANS

As the Creature slams into Bronschweig, knocking him out

of the line of sight from the top of the earthen hole.

There are SCREAMS OF PAIN from Bronschweig, then they

abate.

RESUME INT. ICE CAVE

Bronschweig can be heard, but not clearly seen. He is in

the shadows himself now.

Trying to pick himself up, and when he manages to do

this, teetering back into the light we see that he is

bloodied. He is hurt, injured. Making his way back

toward the patch of light that comes from the hole

above. Hoping to see that help is on its way, while

keeping a watchful, wary and worried eye on the shadows,

for another attack by the Creature.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

Hey -- I need help.

But the Technicians looking down on him offer him

nothing of the sort. All they do is quickly close the

clear hatch that seals Bronschweig inside the cave.

DR. BRONSCHWEIG

Hey!

But he gets no answer, climbing the ladder shakily. A

moment later the first Bobcat shovel-full of dirt falls

onto the clear hatch and partially obscures the light.

They are burying Bronschweig alive.

INT. DOMED TENT - DAY

ANGLE DOWN ON BRONSCHWEIG through the glass hatch. His

SCREAMS continue. ADJUSTING to the small bulldozer which

is quickly hauling the mound of excavated earth into the

hole from which it came. While, all around, there is a

hive of activity. Men running everywhere.

CUT TO:

RESUME INT. ICE CAVE

Bronschweig reacts in silent horror now, only to turn in

further horror when he feels the impending attack of:

THE CREATURE

Right behind and just below him. Its grotesque features

in momentary high resolution, BEFORE IT ATTACKS CAMERA.

Over and over, savaging Bronschweig in a violent fury.

Its hideous teeth tearing at his flesh - AT CAMERA -

driving him off the ladder where the attack continues in

momentary glimpses of teeth, of bloody flesh, and of

OILY BLACK BLOOD being spattered about. At the

height of the violence we hear Bronschweig SCREAM.

Matching the wound of this, as we:

CUT TO:

EXT. ESTATE SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE LONDON - EARLY EVENING

A CHILD'S SCREAM OF JOY. ENGLISH CHILDREN are playing

tag or some kind of children's game in the

well-manicured garden of a man who the CAMERA FINDS IN

F.G. -- the man we have come to know as THE

WELL-MANICURED MAN. He is also a member of the syndicate

running "The Project", though his venality is cloaked in

civility and statesmanship. Right now he's watching the

children from the back steps of his mansion, charmed by

their game. When he is called by someone o.s.

VALET'S VOICE

Sir -- you have a call.

The Well-Manicured Man turns to see:

HIS VALET

Holds the door. After a moment the W.M.M. enters past

the Valet. As the screams of the children continue to

rise and fall.

CUT TO:

INT. SUBURBAN LONDON ESTATE - A BEAUTIFUL STUDY -

EVENING

The Well-Manicured Man enters, picks up a blinking line.

Through a window he can still see the children playing.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Yes.

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

(FILTER)

We have a situation. The members are

assembling.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Is it an emergency?

INTERCUT WITH TIGHT CSM AT INT. KENSINGTON BUILDING

(NEXT LOC.)

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

Yes. A meeting is set. Tonight in

London, to determine a course.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Who called this meeting?

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

Strughold. He's just gotten on a plane

in Tunis.

This pronouncement has the power of ending any further

questions. An immediate sense of gravity of the

situation. The W.M.M. hangs up, moves to the window

where he sees some of the HELP is running from the

house. The children have all gathered around a BOY who

seems to have hurt himself. He's lifted and being

carried by the man who's called the W.M.M. into the

house.

Off the Well-Manicured Man's concern, we:

CUT TO:

EXT. LONDON STREET - NIGHT

A discreet Town Car pulls up out front an understated

building in a better West End neighborhood. A driver

exits coming around for the Well-Manicured Man who is

already exiting, moving to the building. As a LEGEND

appears: KENSINGTON, LONDON: 8:01 PM.

CUT TO:

INT. KENSINGTON BUILDING - NIGHT

The Well-Manicured Man is admitted by a Valet. The

interior has the well-heeled look of money, or a finely

appointed residence that no one lives in. The Valet

takes the W.M.M.'s coat.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Has Strughold arrived?

VALET

They're in the library.

He leads the W.M.M. down a hall, to:

INT. LARGE STATELY LIBRARY - NIGHT

A GROUP OF MEN are standing, looking at something on a

TV monitor. A surveillance video. They turn when the

W.M.M. enters. CAMERA FAVORING A SMALL LEAN MAN with

close-cropped hair.

He is at once elegant and imposing with eyes that hold

you with laser-like acuity. He is CONRAD STRUGHOLD.

The others are of various ethnicities, tailored and

dignified. This might be a collection of U.N. delegates.

Indeed some are.

Their business here, however, doesn't represent anyone's

interests but their own. As tipped by the attendance of

a GROUP ELDER from the U.S. who we've come to know.

But, more importantly, by the Cigarette Smoking Man who

holds the VCR remote. He pauses the picture.

STRUGHOLD

We began to worry. Some of us have

traveled so far, and you are the last

to arrive.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

I'm sorry. My grandson fell and broke

his leg.

The non-response to this has the same effect as a

reprimand. But the W.M.M. will not apologize of kowtow.

STRUGHOLD

While we've been made to wait, we've

watched surveillance tapes which have

raised more concerns.

The Well-Manicured Man glances to the TV, sees the

frame paused.

HIS POV OF TV MONITOR

Where Mulder and Scully's faces are seen in a hallway

that we recognize as the Bethesda Naval Hospital.

RESUME WELL-MANICURED MAN

WELL-MANICURED MAN

More concerns than that?

STRUGHOLD

We've been forced to reassess our role

in Colonization by new facts of

biology which have presented

themselves.

GROUP ELDER

(speaking up)

The virus has mutated.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

On its own?

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

Its effect on the host has changed.

The virus no longer just invades the

brain as a controlling organism. It's

developed a way to modify the host

body.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Into what?

STRUGHOLD

A new extraterrestrial biological

entity.

It takes a moment to sink in. The weight of this fact.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

My god...

STRUGHOLD

The geometry of mass infection

presents certain conceptual

re-evaluations for us. About our place

in their Colonization.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

This isn't Colonization, it's

spontaneous repopulation. All our

work... if it's true, then they've

been using us all along. We've been

laboring under a lie!

2ND ELDER

It could be an isolated case.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

How can we know?!

STRUGHOLD

We're going to tell them what we've

found. What we've learned. Turn over a

body infected with the gestating

organism.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

In hope of what? Learning that it's

true?! That we are nothing more than

digestives for the creation of a new

race of alien lifeforms?!

STRUGHOLD

Let me remind you who is the new race.

And who is the old.

(beat)

What could be gained by withholding

anything from them; By pretending to

ignorance? Our knowledge may forestall

their plans to step up the timetable.

To start Colonization early.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

And if it doesn't? By cooperating now

we're but beggars to our demise! Our

ignorance was in cooperating with the

Colonists at all.

STRUGHOLD

Cooperation is our only chance of

saving ourselves.

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

They still need us to carry out their

preparations.

STRUGHOLD

We'll continue to use them as they do

us. If only to play for more time, to

continue work on our vaccine.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Our vaccine may have no effect!

STRUGHOLD

Well, without a cure for the virus,

we're nothing more than digestives

anyway.

All eyes go to the Well-Manicured Man. He is respected,

if not the odd man out in this room. But he is all

restrained anger now.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

My lateness may have well been

absence. A course has already been

taken.

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

There are complications.

He turns back to the TV monitor where Mulder and Scully

remain frozen on the screen.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Do they know?

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

Mulder was in Dallas when we were

trying to dispose of evidence. He's

gone back there again. Someone has

tipped him.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Who?

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

Kurtzweil, we think.

STRUGHOLD

We've allowed this man his freedom.

His books have actually helped us to

facilitate plausible denial. Has he

outlived his usefulness to us?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

No one believes Kurtzweil or his

books. He's a toiler. A crank.

STRUGHOLD

And Mulder?

ELDER

Our new situation makes us vulnerable.

If he learns information as we do, he

could jeopardize the Project's

secrecy.

2ND ELDER

Control of information means control

of Mulder.

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

I can control Mulder. I've always

controlled Mulder.

STRUGHOLD

This may take another approach.

He says this, casting his look toward the Well-Manicured

Man. A look of cold malevolence. The W.M.M.'s reaction

is disdain.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

You can't kill Mulder. He's got too

much light on him.

STRUGHOLD

You need not kill a man to destroy

him.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

(personalizing the

inference)

No, you need only take away what is

most precious to him.

HARD CUT TO:

EXT. SMALL PUBLIC PARK - CENTRAL TEXAS - DAY

AGENT SCULLY

She stands against a backdrop of Texas flatland,

squinting into the sun. Shaking her head.

SCULLY

I don't know, Mulder...

We are:

WIDE ANGLE REVERSE, TO INCLUDE MULDER, standing in the

middle of a park, replete with jungle gyms, playground

equipment. All brand spanking new. They are standing

right where there had once been a hard scrabble, parched

and barren little field. Where the earthen hole had been

dug by the young boys. And what had later been the site

of so much activity by the group of scientists. But

where there's now a park, thick green grass covering the

parch of ground, including the spot where the hole had

been.

SCULLY

He didn't mention a park.

MULDER

This is where he marked on the map,

Scully. Where he says those fossils

were unearthed.

SCULLY

I don't see any evidence of an

archeological or any other kind of

digsite. Not even a sewer or a storm

drain.

Mulder scans the area, confounded. Shaking his head as

they walk.

MULDER

You're sure the fossils you looked at

showed the same signs of deterioration

you saw in the fireman's body in the

morgue?

SCULLY

(nodding)

The bone was porous, as if the virus

of the causative microbe were

digesting it.

MULDER

And you've never seen anything like

that?

SCULLY

No.  It didn't show up on any of the

immunohistochemical tests --

Mulder is listening to all this while looking down at

his feet:

MULDER

This looks like new grass to you?

SCULLY

It looks pretty green for this

climate.

Mulder stops, kneels, touches the thick green carpet of

turf. He digs around, lifting up a corner of a new

square.

MULDER

Ground's dry about an inch down.

Somebody just laid this down. Very

recently, I'd say.

SCULLY

(looking off)

All the equipment is brand new.

MULDER

No irrigation system. Somebody's

covering their tracks.

They both turn, looking at something that's caught their

attention on the street where their rental car is

parked. Three kids, all of whom we recognize from

earlier. Stevie's "friends".

Tooling down the street on new BMX bikes. Reacting to

Mulder's loud WHISTLE. This stops them, staring at

Mulder blankly across the distance.

MULDER

Hey!

They don't answer. Just keep staring, squinting into the

sun. Mulder and Scully start walking toward them.

SCULLY

Do you live around here?

2ND BOY

Yeah.

As the Agents approach.

MULDER

You see anybody digging here?

The kids don't answer quickly.

2ND BOY

Not supposed to talk about it.

SCULLY

You're not supposed to talk about it?

Who told you that?

3RD BOY

Nobody.

MULDER

Nobody. Same nobody who put this park

in? That new equipment...

(off the boys guilty looks)

They buy you these bikes?

The kids shift uncomfortably.

SCULLY

I think you better tell us.

2ND BOY

We don't even know you.

SCULLY

Well, we're FBI agents.

2ND BOY

You're not FBI agents.

MULDER

How do you know?

2ND BOY

Cause FBI agents wear like suits and

goofy ties. And dresses like my mom

wears to church. Like on that one

show.

Mulder and Scully pull their badges. The kids' mouths

drop.

MULDER

Maybe you've been watching too much

TV.

3RD BOY

They all left twenty minutes ago.

4TH BOY

Going that way.

The kids all pointing in the same direction.

EXT. CENTRAL TEXAS HIGHWAY - LATE DAY

As Mulder and Scully's rental car RACES by at high

speed.

CUT TO:

INT. MULDER AND SCULLY'S RENTAL CAR - DAY - CONTINUOUS

Mulder at the wheel, foot to the floor. Scully's got a

map out. The mood is urgent, tense.

MULDER

Unmarked tanker trucks... what are

archaeologists hauling out in tanker

trucks?

SCULLY

I don't know, Mulder.

MULDER

And where are they going with it?

SCULLY

That's the first question to answer,

if we're going to find them.

CUT BACK TO:

EXT. CENTRAL HIGHWAY - LATE DAY

Mulder slows down to a stop. They've come to a three-way

intersection in the middle of absolutely nowhere that

offers them three choices. The car sits idling for

several beats.

RESUME INT. RENTAL CAR

Mulder's got his hand on his face rubbing his eyes.

MULDER

What are my choices?

SCULLY

About a hundred miles of nothing in

each direction.

MULDER

Where would they be going?

SCULLY

We've got two choices. One of them is

wrong.

They are both looking in different directions. The car

idling.

MULDER

You think they went left?

SCULLY

I don't know why I think they went

right.

A few moments of silence. Then Mulder steps on the gas

and goes straight. Heading out onto the only unpaved

road. Accelerating away.

Scully looks at him, wondering. As they bump along at

speed. Mulder won't look at her for a few moments. Then,

turning to her:

MULDER

Five years together -- how many times

have I been wrong.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. TEXAS HIGHWAY - NIGHT

HEADLIGHTS appear in the distance on a long, dusty

stretch of road. GROWING as they approach, then coming

to a stop in a cloud of dust as they move into f.g.

Where a LINE OF FENCEPOSTS, BARBWIRE blocks their path.

As the car brakes, the passenger door opens and Scully

exits. A hot Texas wind blows. A dog is BARKING

somewhere. Scully walks into the headlight wash, looking

at a sign on the fence.

After a moment, the driver's door opens and Mulder

exits.

MULDER

Hey, I was right about the bomb,

wasn't I?

SCULLY

This is great. This is fitting.

REVERSE ON SCENE

On the fence sign, painted in crude letters, are the

words: SOME HAVE TRIED, SOME HAVE DIED. TURN BACK -- NO

TRESPASSING.

MULDER

What?

SCULLY

I've got to be in Washington D.C. in

eleven hours for a hearing -- the

outcome of which might possibly affect

one of the biggest decisions of my

life. And here I am standing out in

the middle of nowhere Texas, chasing

phantom tanker trucks.

MULDER

We're not chasing trucks, we're

chasing evidence --

SCULLY

-- of what exactly?!

MULDER

That bomb in Dallas was allowed to go

off, to hide something: bodies

infected with a virus you detected

yourself.

SCULLY

They haul gas in tanker trucks, they

haul oil in tanker trucks -- they

don't haul viruses in tanker trucks.

MULDER

Yeah, well they may this one.

SCULLY

What do you mean by haul?

(off his reaction)

What are you not telling me here?

MULDER

This virus -- it...

(afraid to say)

SCULLY

Mulder --

MULDER

It may be extraterrestrial.

SCULLY

I don't believe this. I don't fucking

believe this.

(reaching her limit of

impatience)

Y'know, I've been here... I've been

here one too many times with you,

Mulder.

MULDER

Been where?

SCULLY

Pounding down some dirt road in the

middle of the night. Chasing some

elusive truth on a dim hope, only to

find myself standing right where I am

right now: at another dead end --

As she says this A BELL starts to sound. A flashing

light hits Mulder and Scully. They both turn to see:

HIGH ANGLE OVER A RAILROAD CROSSING SIGN

Sitting all by its lonely self. No swinging arms or

gate. Just one little sign between Mulder and Scully and

their car.

CAMERA PANNING to the light of a locomotive speeding

toward us.

WIDE ANGLE OVER TRACKS TO MULDER AND SCULLY

They move toward their car, but the train is coming

fast. Mulder and Scully stop and wait, watching the

train. As the engine breaks frame, eclipsing Mulder and

Scully from view. And as it passes by we see TWO VERY

FAMILIAR WHITE TANKERS loaded piggyback atop flat bed

cars.

The train, which is not much longer than this, passes.

And Mulder and Scully make a mad dash for their car. The

lights come on and Mulder swings the vehicle into a hard

accelerating turn, taking the spoke of the intersection

that parallels the tracks. As the car hauls ass after

the train, we:

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. OPPOSITE END OF MOUNTAIN PASS - NIGHT

The rails come up a grade where they appear out of a

long bending turn. Exiting the mountain pass near the

summit of the mountain. And now HEADLIGHTS appear,

bouncing toward us. It's Mulder and Scully's rental

chugging up the grade.

And now pulling to a stop as it REACHES CAMERA. Then the

car doors open and Mulder and Scully exit. Putting

jackets against the cold desert night. Running over the

gravel on the rail bed into sharp f.g.

SCULLY

What do you think it is?

MULDER

I have no idea.

They start out toward it anyway, whatever it is. But the

image that we see next might cause us to ask the same

question.

REVERSE ANGLE -- MULDER AND SCULLY'S FORMER POV

The Agents are moving off the tracks now, picking their

way toward the horizon where, at the edge of the great

plateau that lays out before them, there are TWO GIANT

GLOWING WHITE DOMES.

It is otherwise pitch dark out, almost giving the

impression that the domes are floating.

It would give the distinct impression of

otherworldliness, if we hadn't seen a similar, smaller

glowing dome over the dirt field where the boys found

the skull. And if we could not see the lights of the

TRAIN rolling to a stop near the mysterious domes.

CUT TO:

EXT. GREAT PLATEAU - NIGHT - HIGH WIDE ANGLE

SLOWLY CRANING DOWN as Mulder and Scully move through

the low scrub of the high desert. Moving towards us as

CAMERA CONTINUES ITS SLOW CRANE DOWN, REVEALING in f.g.

the tops of CORN STALKS (yes, corn stalks.) What is the

perimeter edge of:

REVERSE CRANE DOWN (TO MATCH)

Acres and acres of corn fields, laying out before us in

the dark night. Running all the way to the WHITE DOMED

TENTS in the b.g.

Mulder and Scully enter the perimeter edge, disappearing

into:

EXT. ACRES OF CORN - NIGHT

TRACKING WITH Mulder and Scully as they move through the

field.

SCULLY

This is weird, Mulder.

MULDER

Very weird.

SCULLY

Any thoughts on why anybody'd be

growing corn in the middle of the

desert?

MULDER

Not unless those are giant Jiffy Pop

containers out there.

CONTINUE TRACKING as they move through the tall uniform

rows.

ANGLE BEHIND THE AGENTS

Shooting down the long straight rows. CRANING UP to

REVEAL DOMES once again. Like space ships that have

landed.

CUT TO:

OPPOSITE PERIMETER OF THE FIELD OF CORN

The Agents exit the edge of the crop field. They have

come upon the glowing tents now. Tall and pillowy

against the dark sky.

There is no evidence of anyone about. No sound, no

signs.

Mulder and Scully stand at the edge of the field for a

moment. Then move cautiously across an open area to one

of the domes.

CUT TO:

INT. WHITE DOME TENT - NIGHT

Mulder pulls open the steel door leading in. It opens

with a SUCKING SOUND which suggests the interior is

pressurized. And as he and Scully step in -- they both

JUMP when LARGE FANS just overhead hit them both with

hard blasts of air.

Stepping quickly out of the downward blasting air, into

the still silence of the space beyond.

SCULLY

Cool in here. Temperature's being

regulated.

MULDER

For the purpose of what?

HIGH OVERHEAD ANGLE

Our view is down through the crosswires and cables that

create the tension support. The effect is a combination

of simplicity and perfect function. Stark and high tech.

The flooring is gray and flat, featureless. But we don't

yet see from this angle exactly what the white domed

tent houses.

Though the air is still and there is no movement of any

kind, there is a sound that permeates the interior. A

STEADY HUM. Almost electrical hum, but different.

Mulder and Scully move together toward the middle of the

space.

WIDE ON TENT - MULDER AND SCULLY'S POV

Laid out in a grid, low to the ground, are what look

like BOXES. Fixed in place like roof vents, except these

are on the floor, no more than three feet tall, and

about the same measure square.

NEW ANGLE - TRACKING WITH MULDER AND SCULLY

As they continue to move cautiously, walking out into

the grid of box-shaped objects. Coming to the center of

the capacious, arena-sized space. Standing over one of

the mysterious boxes, which we now see have LOUVERED

TOPS. The louvers, however, are shut so that whatever is

inside the boxes cannot be seen.

SCULLY

I think we're on top of something. I

think these are some kind of venting.

Mulder lays his head and ear to the top of the box.

MULDER

You hear that?

SCULLY

I hear the humming. Like electricity.

High voltage maybe.

MULDER

Maybe. Maybe not.

Scully looks skyward.

SCULLY

What do you think those are for?

Mulder takes his ear off the box, looking up now, too.

THEIR POV

At the top of the dome are two LARGE corresponding

LOUVER VENTS.

RESUME MULDER AND SCULLY

Looking up at these vents.

CUT TO:

INT. WHITE DOME TENT - NIGHT

HIGH WIDE ANGLE OVER MULDER AND SCULLY, staring up JUST

PAST CAMERA at the louvered vents at top center of the

tent. When A LOUD METALLIC NOISE makes them jump.

AGENTS POV THE LOUVERED VENTS ABOVE THEM

One of the vents is opening automatically, its large

metal louvers straining from their flat closed position

into an up-and-down open position. When this is

complete, the SECOND LOUVER does the same.

The straining sound of galvanized metal-on-metal.

LOW ANGLE ON MULDER AND SCULLY

As Mulder turns his look from the ceiling back down to

the mysterious box they're standing next to. Something

occurs to him. Something frightening.

MULDER

Scully....?

SCULLY

Yeah...?

MULDER

Run.

Mulder grabs her hand, pulling her along. Though she

doesn't know why. Or what's about to happen. TRACKING

FAST WITH THEM as Mulder leads her back toward the door

they entered, which is a good hundred yards away.

SCULLY

(yelling, on the run)

What are you doing?

MULDER

(yelling back)

Come on!

When the LOUVERED VENTS on all the low grid-arranged

boxes OPEN IN DOMINO-LIKE SUCCESSION -- out of them

pouring THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF BEES, rapidly filling

the atmosphere of the domed space.

As if the insects are being shot out of non-stop

cannons.

HIGH ANGLE

THICK STREAMS of bees head RIGHT AT CAMERA, flying for

the open louvers at the top of the dome. As Mulder and

Scully run for it down below.

TRACKING WITH MULDER AND SCULLY

Scully's hand slipping from Mulder's as she pulls her

jacket up over her head. Mulder doing the same now,

ducking his head inside his own jacket. The Agents are

slowed by the bees but still make their zigzag way

toward the door -- bees clinging to their clothes. But

motion seems to be the key.

As Mulder RUNS TOWARD CAMERA -- where the downward blast

of air knocks all the bees off him. In the b.g., we see

that Scully has fallen behind. Still running, but losing

her way in the process, losing her bearings as the

thickening swarm of bees descends.

CLOSE ON SCULLY

When Mulder enters frame, jacket pulled over his head

again. Taking Scully by the back of her coat and

swinging her toward the direction of the door.

Whipsnapping her the rest of the distance to the

doorfans. Following right behind her as the fans

BLASTING them and the Agents continue right out the

doors. To:

EXT. WHITE DOMED TENT - NIGHT

Scully and Mulder comes blasting out themselves now, but

they haven't even had time to catch their breaths when

they react to MOVEMENT. Something coming at them in the

night.

THEIR POV'S - STRAIGHT DOWN THE ROWS OF DOMED TENTS

Where BRIGHT BEAMS BLAST ON, moving fast toward them.

The RUSHING WHIR of the turbine engines of the unmarked

choppers. The bright beams skimming across the ground

toward Mulder and Scully, traveling right along the

edges of ends of the white domed tents. Threatening to

spot the Agents, unless they -- RUN.

And they do -- bolting just as the beams and the

helicopters blast over the spot they held just moments

before. Running to:

EXT. ACRES OF CORN - NIGHT - MULDER AND SCULLY - VARIOUS

HANDHELD

Running flat out now, knocking away the stalks and

leaves that block their way.

Following and leading shots.

POVs and Tracking shots.

And chasing angles, as the Agents run through the only

cover they've got. As:

ANGLE JUST OVER THE TOP OF CROPS

The unmarked helicopters swoop right overhead, their

BRIGHT SPOTLIGHTS searching and cutting through the

cornrows. As the Agents zig and zag just out of the

discovering beams. As the choppers zoom right over their

heads.

REVERSE ON CHOPPERS

Traversing the field, then doing sharp banking turns and

swooping back over the field now in low drifting hovers.

The wash from the blades knocking the corn stalks down

so as to reveal anything hidden within.

The bright spots making sure that nothing might escape

detection.

LOW ANGLE - CAMERA SEARCHING AND FINDING SCULLY

as she runs up INTO FRAME. She's lost sight of:

SCULLY

Mulder?!

ANGLE ELSEWHERE ON MULDER

As he too runs to a stop. Hearing his name.

MULDER

Scully?!

RESUME SCULLY

Reacting to the sound of her name, but there's no time

to find her bearings on Mulder. Not before she has to

take flight again. As one of the choppers appears

overhead, hovering into view. Knocking the corn down in

a path moving straight toward her.

CAMERA LEADING HER as she runs from the oncoming craft.

PASSING CAMERA to the left, as the chopper passes CAMERA

RIGHT.

CUT TO:

TRACKING FAST WITH MULDER

Beating his way through the corn like Bomba through the

jungle.

Matching this action, as Mulder runs toward us. When one

of the unmarked helicopters BREAKS INTO FRAME in an

intersecting path, its BEAM passing right over Mulder

and ILLUMINATING HIM. But while it doesn't slow Mulder

down, the helicopter maneuvers into a hard banking turn,

sweeping over the far end of the corn field and heading

RIGHT BACK AT MULDER - AT US.

CUT TO:

NEW LOW ANGLE ON EDGE OF CORN FIELD

Where Mulder bursts out of the perimeter, turning on a

quick dime and running an out pattern, just before the

chopper BURSTS into frame overhead, its search beam

narrowly missing Mulder.

NEW ANGLE ON MULDER

Running the corner of the field, looking frantically

down each corn row until he comes to a stop. No sign

of:

MULDER

Scully?!

Mulder reacting to the sound of her response:

SCULLY

(distant o.s.)

Mulder!

NEW ANGLE ON SCULLY

She's exiting the field behind him. Running toward him,

and when she gets to him they both break into a run

across the desert. CAMERA FOLLOWING THEM as they sprint

away.

FOLLOWING THEM until they both start to slow. Slowing to

a stop in the darkness. Turning to see:

THEIR POV

The helicopters have disappeared.

RESUME MULDER AND SCULLY

Reacting to this.

SCULLY

Where'd they go?

MULDER

I don't know.

Then they both turn again and continue running. As fast

as their feet will take them. Back towards the bluff

where their car is parked.

EXT. BLUFF OVERLOOKING CORN FIELDS - NIGHT

Where Mulder and Scully's car is parked. Stillness,

until Mulder and Scully's heads appear as they climb up

from the direction of the corn fields. They get in their

car and start it quickly. Mulder turns the ignition, but

the car doesn't start immediately. He turns it over and

over but it won't kick.

As he does this, unbeknownst to the agents ONE OF THE

BLACK HELICOPTERS rises up from below the bluff,

appearing in their rear windshield. Hovering just behind

the car like a giant bumblebee. Just as...

...Mulder gets the car started, throwing the

transmission in gear and spinning the tires. As they

head off back in the direction they came, without their

lights on. As they do this, the black chopper continues

to hover for a moment, then BANKS OFF AND AWAY. Into the

night.

Mulder and Scully speed off in the opposite direction.

As we:

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. FBI OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL REVIEW - DAY

CLOSE ON A FILE

Being leafed through by a woman's hands. CAMERA TILTING

UP to Special Agent Cassidy, the woman we met earlier

running the OPR hearing. She takes a quick glance at her

watch, looking up when:

THE DOOR TO THE ROOM

opens. A beat, then Skinner enters with a wearied look.

SKINNER

She's coming in.

Skinner ducks his head back out to look at:

INTERCUT WITH:

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE OPR HEARING ROOM - DAY

Where Scully stands looking into the glass of a display

case, trying to put her hair and clothes and person

together. She's still in the same clothes we saw her in.

Seeing Skinner now moving toward him.

RESUME OPR HEARING ROOM

Scully enters past Skinner. Though she has straightened

them, and her hair, there is no mistaking that she's

been to the dust bowl and back to get here. Her manner

is chastened.

Scully tries to keep her eyes on the table where she'll

be sitting. Venturing only a brief, polite look to:

ANGLE TO INCLUDE CASSIDY AND THE OTHER PANEL MEMBERS

They reshuffle their papers, pulling up their chairs.

Ready to get down to business now.

CASSIDY

Special Agent Scully --

SCULLY

I apologize for making you wait --

I've brought some new evidence with me

--

CASSIDY

Evidence of what?

CLOSE PROFILE ON SCULLY

Reaching into her satchel, pulling out an evidence bag.

Whatever she's reaching for she's reluctant to present

with confidence.

SCULLY

These are fossilized bone fragments

I've been able to study, gathered from

the bomb site in Dallas...

As Scully speaks we see A BEE crawl out from under the

collar of her suit jacket, crawling toward the back of

her neck. Crawling slowly, as if stretching its legs

from its long journey. CAMERA DOLLYING around Scully as

the bee does, moving into an OVER to:

CASSIDY

You've been back to Dallas?

SCULLY

Yes.

CASSIDY

Are you going to let us in on what

exactly you're trying to prove --

SCULLY

That the bombing in Dallas may have

been to destroy the bodies of those

firemen, so their deaths and the

reason for them wouldn't have to be

explained --

CASSIDY

(challenging)

-- those are very serious allegations,

Agent Scully --

SCULLY

Yes. I know.

There is a hush of murmured responses to this, the panel

members speaking to one another. Assistant Director

Skinner shifts uneasily in his chair. He's been here

before with Agents Mulder and Scully. He's sensing

something outrageous.

CASSIDY

And you have conclusive evidence of

this? Something to tie this claim of

yours to the crime --

SCULLY

(grudgingly)

Nothing completely conclusive --

We have returned to the OVER ANGLE on Scully, where we

see the BEE just below her jacket collar on the back of

her neck.

It CRAWLS back under her collar, DISAPPEARING from

sight.

SCULLY

I hope to. We're working to develop

this evidence --

CASSIDY

Working with?

SCULLY

Agent Mulder.

Off Cassidy's knowing nod, a general shifting in chairs,

we:

CUT TO:

INT. DOWNSCALE D.C. BAR - LATE DAY

Mulder pushes through the front, scanning the room for:

ANGLE ON KURTZWEIL

Sitting at a booth at the dark rear of the

establishment. Mulder enters frame, sitting down across

from him. Kurtzweil is jumpy, but he sees from Mulder's

expression that something's up.

KURTZWEIL

You found something?

MULDER

Yes. On the Texas border. Some kind of

experiment. Something they excavated

was brought there in tanker trucks.

KURTZWEIL

What?

MULDER

I'm not sure. A virus --

KURTZWEIL

-- You saw this experiment?

MULDER

What did it look like?

MULDER

There were bees. And corn crops.

Kurtzweil smiles at Mulder, laughs with nervous

excitement. Mulder doesn't quite realize it yet, but

this is news to him.

MULDER

What are they?

Kurtzweil slides from his seat, rising.

KURTZWEIL

What do you think?

MULDER

A transportation system. Transgenic

crops. The pollen genetically altered

to carry a virus.

KURTZWEIL

That would be my guess.

MULDER

Your guess?

But Kurtzweil doesn't respond to this. He's moving

toward the back of the bar. Mulder slides out, pursuing

him.

ANGLE ON BARMAID

The few PATRONS sitting at the bar, all turning in

reaction to this sudden flurry of activity.

INT. REAR OF DOWNSCALE BAR - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS

Near the bathrooms. Mulder catches up to Kurtzweil.

MULDER

What do you mean, your guess?

Kurtzweil doesn't stop. So Mulder must physically stop

him.

MULDER

You told me you had answers.

KURTZWEIL

Yeah, well I don't have them all.

MULDER

You've been using me --

KURTZWEIL

I've been using you?!

MULDER

You didn't know my father --

KURTZWEIL

I told you -- he and I were old

friends --

MULDER

You're a liar. You lied to me to

gather information for you. For your

goddamn books. Didn't you?

Mulder is getting heated, rough with Kurtzweil. When,

unexpectedly A MAN suddenly exits the bathroom. REACTING

to this scene. Kurtzweil uses the moment to break from

Mulder. Slipping out the back door. Mulder takes a beat,

then goes after him.

Pushing out the back door into the blinding brightness.

CUT TO:

EXT. ALLEY BEHIND BAR - DAY

Mulder busts out the back door, chasing Kurtzweil.

MULDER

Kurtzweil!

Kurtzweil turns to him. With restrained ferocity.

KURTZWEIL

You'd be shit out of luck if not for

me. You saw what you saw because I led

you to it. I'm putting my ass on the

line for you.

MULDER

Your ass? I just got chased across

Texas by two black helicopters.

KURTZWEIL

And why do you think it is you're

standing here talking to me? These

people don't make mistakes, Agent

Mulder.

And with that he turns now, striding off. Leaving Mulder

to deal with the excellent logic of this. When suddenly

Mulder reacts to A NOISE. Somewhere above him.

MULDER'S POV

Up on a fire escape, A MAN is moving. Mulder can only

see his feet and legs from this angle, but it is clear

he has been watching Mulder. Upon being spotted, the

figure slides away and disappears.

ANGLE FROM INSIDE FIRE ESCAPE BUILDING

We get a glimpse of the man who was watching him. A face

we recognize as that of the man who brushed past Mulder

coming out of the vending room, not long before the

building in Dallas blew. He is moving quickly now,

disappearing into the shadows. CAMERA TILTING DOWN to

find:

MULDER. He stands staring up, but only for a moment

until he turns and hurries off in the opposite direction

Kurtzweil disappeared in.

CUT TO:

INT. MULDER'S APARTMENT - MAGIC HOUR

ANGLE OVER MULDER'S DESK at the far end of the living

room. The sound of keys in the door, then Mulder enters

his apartment in a hurry. Moving to the desk and going

at this pace through the drawers. Looking for... A

PICTURE ALBUM.

Which he takes now, leafing through it. Flipping the

pages, looking for:

ANGLE OVER MULDER

Finding old pictures of young Fox Mulder with his

SISTER, Samantha. With his father and mother. The

plastic-covered page is peeled back and one of these

photos is removed. It is an old family snapshot. A

picnic possibly.

Mulder stares at the picture.

INSERT PHOTO - In the b.g. of the picnic, his head

turned to camera, is a young KURTZWEIL.

Mulder studies the photo intensely, when there's a KNOCK

at his door. Mulder turning to see:

SCULLY

In his haste, Mulder had neglected to lock his door.

Scully is pushing it open. She's still in the same

clothes. She looks beat. Her eyes meeting Mulder's. A

gaze that says bad news.

MULDER

What? What's wrong?

SCULLY

Salt Lake City, Utah. Transfer

effective immediately.

Mulder is shaking his head. Not wanting to hear this.

SCULLY

I already gave Skinner my letter of

resignation.

MULDER

You can't quit, Scully.

SCULLY

I can, Mulder. I debated whether or

not to even tell you in person,

because I knew --

MULDER

We're close to something here -- we're

on the verge --

SCULLY

You're on the verge, Mulder -- please

don't do this to me --

MULDER

After what you saw last night -- after

all you've seen -- you can't just walk

away --

SCULLY

I have. I did. It's done.

MULDER

Just like that --

SCULLY

I'm contacting the state board Monday

to file medical reinstatement papers

--

MULDER

I need you on this, Scully --

SCULLY

You don't Mulder -- you've never

needed me. I've only held you back.

(beat)

I've got to go.

And with that she exits his apartment, the argument too

painful, and her ability to be persuaded too clear to

herself.

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE MULDER'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

WIDE ANGLE FROM END OF HALL where we see Scully,

leaving Mulder's apartment. Moving at a hurried clip to

the elevator -- TOWARD CAMERA. As if anticipating her

own impulse to turn around and go back. As she moves

into f.g. Mulder exits his apt. door.

MULDER

You're wrong --

He hurries to catch her. As she turns on him.

SCULLY

Why was I assigned to you? To debunk

your work. To reign you in. To shut

you down.

MULDER

You saved me, Scully.

(off her look)

As different and frustrating as it's

been sometimes, your goddamn strict

rationalism and science have saved me

a thousand times; have kept me honest

and made me whole. I owe you so much,

Scully, and you owe me nothing.

(beat)

I don't want to do this without you. I

don't know if I can. If I quit now,

they win.

She is silent, moved. In spite of all her desire not to

be. She moves to Mulder, holds him. They break slightly

and she looks up at Mulder with deep respect, admiration

and... kisses him on the forehead. When...

...suddenly a physical intimacy we've never seen. A

heat and passion that can't be denied. The opportunity

for the inevitable has presented itself.

The moment of truth has arrived. Mulder is staring at

Scully as she's looking back at him. His head moves

slightly toward hers -- as one of his hands moves up to

her neck, drawing her to him. Where there is hesitation

on her part, there is also desire. When:

SCULLY

OUCH!!!

Scully pulls away from Mulder, RUBBING at her neck where

his hand had been.

MULDER

What? What happened?

SCULLY

I think... something stung me.

Scully's hand comes out with THE SQUIRMING BEE, which

she holds in her hand while Mulder moves around her,

checking her neck.

MULDER

It must...

But he doesn't finish his sentence before he has to

catch Scully from falling. Her head bobs and she has to

catch it.

MULDER

Scully...

SCULLY

Something's wrong...

(fighting for clarity)

I'm having -- lancinating pain -- my

chest. My... motor functions are being

affected. I'm...

Mulder lays her down on the floor during this. Scully

continues to speak, though her eyes are not focusing.

She is limp in Mulder's arms.

SCULLY

...my pulse feels thready and I've

got a funny taste in the back of my

throat.

MULDER

I think you're in anaphylactic shock

--

SCULLY

No -- it's --

Her voice is getting thin now, too.

MULDER

Scully --

SCULLY

I've got no allergy. Something...

this... Mulder... I think... I think

you should call an ambulance.

And Mulder is on his feet in a flash, running for:

CUT TO:

INT. MULDER'S APARTMENT - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS

CLOSE OVER PHONE as Mulder races into the apartment,

dashing TOWARD CAMERA, picking up the receiver, dialing.

HOLDING ON THE PHONE during this action. TILTING UP

for:

MULDER

This is Special Agent Fox Mulder. I

have an emergency -- I have an agent

down --

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE MULDER'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

SCULLY - HANDHELD

Picked up and one-two-three loaded on a gurney by TWO

PARAMEDICS.

1ST PARAMEDIC

Can you hear me? Can you say your

name?

Scully is trying, but the words won't come out.

1ST PARAMEDIC

She's got constriction in the throat

and larynx -- are you breathing okay?

He lays his head down to her mouth.

1ST PARAMEDIC

Passages are open. Let's get her in

the van --

NEIGHBORS are in the hall now, along with Mulder. Who is

moving beside the Paramedics as they hustle the gurney

down the hall.

1ST PARAMEDIC

Coming through people -- here we go.

Coming through --

CUT TO:

EXT. MULDER'S APARTMENT - NIGHT - CONTINUED HAND HELD

The Paramedics bang out the front door, stutter-stepping

the gurney down to the walk, to their EMT VAN which sits

at the curb with the LIGHT BAR FLASHING. Mulder

following close by.

MULDER

She said she had a taste in the back

of her throat -- there was no

pre-existing allergy to bee-stings --

the bee that stung her may have been

carrying a virus --

2ND PARAMEDIC

A virus?

1ST PARAMEDIC

Get on the radio, tell them we have a

cytogenic reaction, we need an advise

and administer --

They get her to the back of the vehicle, guiding the

gurney in with experienced hands. Scully's eyes are on

Mulder as she's slid into the brightly lit interior.

The 1st Paramedic blocks Mulder somewhat as he steps

toward the van, anticipating that he's going with them

to the hospital. But the doors are closing on him before

he gets an opportunity.

FOLLOWING MULDER around to the driver's side of the van

now, moving to the driver's window where THE DRIVER can

be seen in the rear view mirror, his eyes watching

Mulder.

ON MULDER

A moment of vague recognition -- a catch in his step.

RESUME

As Mulder's momentum carries him to the driver's window

where se see again the man from the vending room, who

was also surveilling Mulder. And he has a HANDGUN

pointed at Mulder, which he FIRES THROUGH THE WINDOW.

The glass shattering.

RESUME MULDER

Throwing himself away backward, but the bullet catches

him in the head. Blood and glass spraying onto the side

of the van. He goes down to the ground -- as the

paramedic van accelerates fast away.

LOW ANGLE REVERSE ON MULDER

Lying in the street, his head bleeding profusely. While

in the b.g., A SECOND AMBULANCE IS SPEEDING TO THE

SCENE. As it skids to a stop and TWO NEW PARAMEDICS jump

out, we:

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT - NIGHT

A MEDIUM SIZED PRIVATE JET is taxiing down an alley off

the main runway where a 747 is speeding toward takeoff.

The private jet turning TOWARD CAMERA and nosing into

f.g.

NEW ANGLE ON TARMAC

Where MEN IN FAMILIAR BLACK FATIGUES are unloading

something from an unmarked cube truck that is also

familiar: the very high tech-looking CLEAR CONTAINER,

with its monitors and gauges, its oxygen tanks and

refrigeration unit. A self-contained life support

system. The inside of the container is covered with a

thin layer of frost, through which we can see AGENT

SCULLY.

She lies as if in a state of paralysis, but a blink of

her eyes is enough to tell us that she is... alive.

TRACKING WITH THE MEN moving the container. As they

hustle it to the waiting jet. As The Cigarette Smoking

Man is descending the steps of the plane onto the

tarmac. Watching as the container is moved to the cargo

hold and loaded inside.

The hold is closed and the jet engines wind back up. As

the Cigarette Smoking Man reboards the aircraft and it

taxis away.

FADE SLOWLY TO BLACK

INT. HOSPITAL - NIGHT

Voices fade in slowly, inaudible at first. For regular

viewers of the show, they will recognize the voices of

the Lone Gunmen.

Three nerdish paranoiacs who publish a magazine which

charts and cataloged conspiracies past and present,

among other government malfeasance. They are Langly,

Byers and Frohike.

BYERS

I think he's coming out --

LANGLY

He's coming to.

FROHIKE

Hey, Mulder...

FADE UP, as if our eyes are blinking open. We are in

Mulder's POV, and the face right above us is Frohike's.

FROHIKE

Mulder...?

Behind Frohike, looking down at Mulder, are Byers and

Langly.

REVERSE ON MULDER

Staring at the diminutive Frohike, the long-haired

Langly and the courtly Byers with dawning recognition.

MULDER

Oh god...

LANGLY

What's wrong?

MULDER

(to Byers, then Langly)

Tin Man. Scarecrow.

(to Frohike)

Toto.

Mulder sits up now, rubbing his face, feeling the

BANDAGE he's got on his head.

MULDER

What am I doing here?

BYERS

You were shot in the head. The bullet

broke the flesh on your right brow and

glanced off your temporal plate.

MULDER

(woozy)

Penetration but not perforation.

LANGLY

Three centimetres to the left and we'd

be playing the harp.

Mulder is still shaking out the cobwebs.

BYERS

They gave you a craniotomy to relieve

the pressure from a subdural hematoma.

But you've been unconscious since they

brought you in.

MULDER

When was that?

FROHIKE

Two days ago. Your guy Skinner's been

here with you around the clock.

LANGLY

We got the news and made a trip to

your apartment. Found a bug in your

phone line.

FROHIKE

And one in your hall.

Byers holds up the first small device. Frohike holds up

a vial containing A BEE. Mulder realizing:

MULDER

Scully had a violent reaction to a bee

sting --

BYERS

You called 911. Except the call was

intercepted.

MULDER

(sitting up)

They took her --

Mulder pushes the covers off. Swinging his legs to the

ground. As A.D. Skinner enters the room. Surprised to

see Mulder up.

SKINNER

Agent Mulder --

MULDER

Where's Scully?!

As he says this he loses his balance slightly, has to

hold onto one of the Gunmen. Struggling with his

faculties.

SKINNER

She's missing. We've been unable to

locate her or the vehicle they took

her in.

MULDER

Whoever they are -- this goes right

back to Dallas -- it goes right back

to the bombing --

SKINNER

I know.

(off Mulder's reaction to

this)

Agent Scully reported your suspicions

to OPR. On the basis of her report, I

sent techs over to S.A.C. Michaud's

apartment. They picked up PSTN

residues on his personal effects

consistent with the construction of

the vending machine device in Dallas.

MULDER

(reeling)

How deep does this go?

SKINNER

I don't know.

Mulder sees A MAN IN A SUIT passes by the small window

in the door, casting a furtive glance in, then moving

off. He turns his look back to Skinner.

MULDER

Are we being watched?

SKINNER

I'm not taking any chances.

Mulder nods. Pulling now at the bandage on his head.

Peeling it away and revealing the wound beneath.

MULDER

I need your clothes, Byers.

BYERS

Me?

SKINNER

What are you doing?

MULDER

I've got to find Scully.

FROHIKE

Do you know where she is?

MULDER

No. But I know someone who might have

an answer. Who better.

Mulder is undoing his hospital gown now, his white buns

gracing the screen for the first time in history. As he

ducks into the bathroom. As the men left standing in the

room all look to Byers, reluctantly removing his duds.

Off this:

CUT TO:

INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - NIGHT

ANGLE OVER MAN IN A SUIT standing with his back to

Mulder's room, reading a section of a newspaper (the

rest of the paper sitting on a chair, as if the man's

possibly set up here.) As the door to Mulder's room

opens in the b.g. and Frohike appears.

Frohike keeps his eyes on the Man as Langly appears now,

followed by...Byers? We can't see clearly as the other

two block our POV and the third man out doesn't show us

his face. The threesome starts down the hall, their

footsteps drawing the attention of the Man in a Suit.

ANGLE OVER MULDER AND THE OTHER GUNMEN

As they head TOWARD CAMERA. Walking at a pace. In the

b.g. the Man in the Suit is drifting toward Mulder's

hospital room.

ANGLE ON MAN IN SUIT

Suspicious. He moves to the door, looks in the little

glass window. Seeing...Byers, the sheets pulled up to

his nose to hide his beard and mustache. Skinner

standing next to him, talking on the phone.

The Man in the Suit looking down to the end of the hall

again.

RESUME ANGLE OVER MULDER AND THE GUNMEN

As Mulder and his two flankers MOVE RIGHT TO CAMERA.

Mulder is taking a cell phone being handed to him by

Frohike. Dialing on the move.

CUT TO:

EXT. ALLEY BEHIND DOWNSCALE D.C. BAR - NIGHT

A FIGURE appears at the end of the alley, moving toward

us. It could be Mulder from this distance, but as the

figure comes closer we recognize him as Kurtzweil.

Moving into the f.g., checking behind him, ahead of him.

Jumpy.

He takes a cautious beat, then moves to the door leading

into the bar (established), reaching for the knob.

Opening it, finding the Well-Manicured Man standing

there.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Dr. Kurtzweil, isn't it? Dr. Alvin

Kurtzweil?

KURTZWEIL

Jesus Christ.

Kurtzweil is shaken by the sight of this man.

Backpedaling a bit, looking around and behind him for an

ambush.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

You're surprised. Certainly you've

been expecting some response to your

indiscretion.

The W.M.M. steps out of the doorway, following

Kurtzweil.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

I'm quite sure whatever you told Agent

Mulder, you have your good reason.

It's a weakness in men our age; the

urge to confess.

(stopping his walk)

I forgive you that.

Kurtzweil is thrown by the words, and the delivery.

Stopping his backward progress. Studying this upright

and civil man.

KURTZWEIL

What are you doing here? What do you

want from me?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

You must try to understand, what I'm

here to do is only to protect my

children. You and I have but short

lives left. I can only hope the same

isn't true for them.

On this note, Kurtzweil turns and hoofs it back in the

direction from which he came. TRACKING BACK WITH HIM

until HEADLIGHTS hit his face.

REVERSE ANGLE

A TOWN CAR has pulled into the alley behind him.

Accelerating fast down the narrow corridor. Effectively

trapping Kurtzweil in. As he squints into its

headlights, then turns back with fear in his eyes to the

W.M.M.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET OUTSIDE DOWNSCALE BAR - NIGHT

Where a figure is coming down the street toward us.

Running, it's Mulder, going balls out. Running to the

entrance of the bar and yanking open the door.

INT. DOWNSCALE D.C. BAR - NIGHT

Moderately crowded as Mulder enters, stopping to catch

his breath. Moving to the back of the bar. Looking for:

THE BOOTH WHERE HE MET KURTZWEIL EARLIER

It's empty.

RESUME MULDER

Moving through the bar -- real panic in his expression.

He heads to the back.

INT. REAR OF DOWNSCALE BAR - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS

Mulder passing the bathrooms, moving to the door where

we saw the Well-Manicured Man standing just a short bit

ago. But there is no one back here now. Mulder moves to

the back door, the one leading to the alley, pushing it

open and finding:

The Well-Manicured Man stands with HIS DRIVER closing

the trunk on the idling Town Car (which has been turned

around.) The W.M.M. turns to see:

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Mr. Mulder.

MULDER

What happened to Kurtzweil?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

He's come and gone.

The W.M.M. moves to Mulder, who doesn't trust him for a

second. Mulder is still breathing hard, sizing up this

scene.

MULDER

Where's Scully?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

I have answers for you.

MULDER

Is she alive?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Yes.

Mulder stares at the W.M.M. - measuring him.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

I'm quite prepared to tell you

everything, though there isn't much

you haven't guessed.

MULDER

About the conspiracy?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

I think of it as an agreement. A word

your father liked to use.

MULDER

I want to know where Scully is.

The Well-Manicured Man suddenly reaches into his jacket

pocket, without warning or explanation. Mulder tensing

slightly. He removes a thin felt envelope.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

The location of Agent Scully. And the

means to save her life.

(off Mulder's look)

Please...

He gestures toward the car where the Driver stands with

the back door open. Mulder hesitates, then steps from

the doorway. Moving past the W.M.M., sliding in. The

W.M.M. gets in after him, closes the door. The car pulls

away.

CUT TO:

INT. LIMOUSINE - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS

WE SEE MULDER in the back seat, reflected in the

rear-view mirror. Where we also see the eyes of the

DRIVER watching him. Mulder is handed the felt envelope

by the W.M.M.

MULDER

What is it?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

A weak vaccine against the virus Agent

Scully has been infected with. It must

be administered with ninety six

hours.

MULDER

(beat)

You're lying.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

No. Though I have no way to prove

otherwise. The virus is

extraterrestrial. We know very little

about it, except that it is the

original inhabitant of this planet.

MULDER

(dubious, to say the least)

A virus?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

A simple, unstoppable lifeform. What

is a virus but a colonizing force that

cannot be defeated? Living in a cave,

underground, until it mutates. And

attacks.

MULDER

This is what you've been conspiring to

conceal? A disease?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

No! For God sake you've got it all

backwards.

This outburst comes suddenly, unexpectedly.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Aids, the ebola virus -- on the

evolutionary scale they are newborns.

This virus walked the planet long

before the dinosaurs.

MULDER

What do you mean, walked?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Your aliens, Agent Mulder, your little

green men, first landed here millions

of years ago. Those that didn't leave

have been laying dormant underground

since the last Ice Age. In the form of

an evolved pathogen. Waiting to be

reconstituted when the alien race from

which it came returns to colonize the

planet. Using us as hosts. Against

this we have no defense. Nothing but a

weak vaccine.

(beat)

Do you see why it was kept secret? Why

even the best men -- men like your

father -- could not let the truth be

known?

The force and conviction of his delivery leave Mulder

shaken.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Until Dallas, we believed the virus

was simply a controlling organism.

That mass infection would make us a

slave race.

MULDER

That's why you bombed the building.

The infected firemen, the boy --

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Imagine our surprise when they began

to gestate. My group has been working

cooperatively with the alien

colonists, facilitating their

programs. To give us access to the

virus. In false hope we might be able

to secretly find a cure. So that we

might save ourselves, as the last of

the species.

(beat)

Your father wisely refused to believe

this, choosing hope over selfishness.

Hope is the only future he had: his

children,

(beat, then self-revealing)

The only future any of us have.

This draws a look back in the mirror from the Driver.

MULDER

But... he sacrificed his own daughter.

My sister, Samantha.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

The only true survivors of the viral

holocaust will be those immune to it:

those vaccinated against it and

human/alien hybrids. Your father

arranged for your sister's abduction.

He allowed her to be taken to an alien

hybrid program, so that she would

survive. As a clone.

(beat)

He had different hopes for you. That

you would uncover the truth about the

Project. That you would stop it. That

you would fight the future.

Mulder sits stunned by this. As if somehow his destiny

has been validated, if not pre-ordained. Or maybe just

justified.

MULDER

Why are you telling me this?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

I thought it only fair you should

know, given how hard you've worked.

MULDER

What happened to Kurtzweil?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

As your father knew, things need to be

sacrificed to the future.

MULDER

Where is he?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Dr. Kurtzweil is in the trunk.

Mulder stares at the W.M.M., at his cold-blooded

expression.

MULDER

Let me out. Stop the car.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

(motioning)

Driver.

Mulder reaching to this as the limo pulls to a stop.

Trying the door, but the door is locked. When he turns

back to the W.M.M. he has produced a handgun, which is

now pointing at Mulder. Laid casually across a folded

arm. Mulder reacts on seeing it.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

The men I work with will stop at

nothing to clear the way for what they

believe is their stake in the

inevitable future. I was ordered to

kill Kurtzweil. A necessary action to

protect my grandchildren's lives.

(beat)

I might just as easily kill you.

Mulder is recoiling as he says this. Then, without

hesitation in one quick move, he SHOOTS the Driver in

the head.

The blood spattering on the front windshield -- and on

Mulder who has barely had a chance to react.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Trust no one, Mr. Mulder.

Mulder looks at The Well-Manicured Man, expecting to be

next. And for a moment, we do too. But the W.M.M. simply

opens the door and steps out of the car. Holding the

door open for Mulder who is still frozen by the actions

that went just before.

EXT. DESOLATE D.C. STREET - NIGHT

Mulder steps out of the car, holding the felt envelope.

The Well-Manicured Man stands with a sober, intense

look.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

(with quiet force)

You have precious little time. What

I've given you the alien colonists

have no idea exists. You hold in your

hand the power to end the project.

MULDER

How?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

The vaccine you hold is the only

defense against the virus. Its

introduction into an alien environment

may have the power to destroy the

delicate plans we've so assiduously

protected for the last fifty years.

(beat)

Or it may not.

MULDER

What alien environment?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Find Agent Scully. Save her. Only her

science can save the future.

MULDER

What about you?

WELL-MANICURED MAN

My life is over.

(beat)

Go.

Mulder stands speechless for a moment. Until the W.M.M.

points the weapon he's still holding at him.

WELL-MANICURED MAN

Go now!

And Mulder does. Moving away from the car, looking back

over his shoulder. As the Well-Manicured Man gets back

into the limousine, closes the door. A moment later...

THE CAR EXPLODES INTO FLAMES, knocking Mulder to the

ground.

ANGLE ON MULDER

The felt envelope has been jarred from his grasp. Its

contents loosed from inside: a piece of paper with

COORDINATES on it and an AMPULE and SYRINGE.

Mulder gets up, looks back. Then he picks up the

envelope and its contents -- and begins to run. Running

as fast as he can go. Until, far down the block, he

disappears.

As the SCREEN DISSOLVES TO WHITENESS -- under which we

hear an ominous low end Dolby THX Big Screen rumble. The

same sound that opened our story.

Then there is movement, as the curvilinear line of a

horizon becomes visible, bi-secting the screen between

the white of the earth and the white of the sky. We

are:

EXT. POLE OF INACCESSIBILITY - ANTARCTICA

Across the expanse of whiteness, a DARK IMAGE appears on

the long flat horizon. Moving toward us. As a LEGEND

appears, to establish.

CLOSER ON A SNOW TRACTOR

Crawling across the harsh frozen land like a domed

insect.

INT. SNOW TRACTOR

Agent Mulder sits behind the controls of the enclosed

cabin, several days growth on his face. Dressed in

thick, bundled outerwear. He maneuvers the vehicle to a

stop. Reaching for a handheld GPS monitor to check his

position. Catching his breath for a moment -- all

movement is exertion in this climate. Mulder stares hard

out the front window, the wipers beating time, but there

is nothing out there but whiteness. He wipes the fog

from a side window with his gloved hand, seeing nothing

but more whiteness. Checking the GPS device again, then

reaching for the door latch.

RESUME WIDE EXTERIOR

Agent Mulder exits the vehicle, hopping down onto the

snowscape crust. Setting out on foot with the GPS device

held before him. In this forbidding environment he might

as well be taking a space walk -- without the security

of a lifeline. Which is the impression we get as his

tiny figure trudges across the ice, increasing the

distance between himself and the snow tractor.

MOVING WITH MULDER

Up a gentle grade, the snow tractor now behind him.

Moving into tight f.g. where he stops, seeing something

now which allows him to pocket the GPS device. Dropping

instinctively to his knees, so as to avoid being seen

by:

MULDER'S POV

In the distance is an ICE STATION. A row of

interconnecting WHITE DOME TENTS, whose design is now

familiar to us. There are what look like snow tractors

and other snow vehicles parked alongside the

structures.

RESUME MULDER

Pulling a compact pair of binoculars from one of his

deep jacket pockets. Training them on:

THE ICE STATION - BINO MATTE

PANNING across the domes and vehicles, where there is no

sign of personnel -- until MULDER PANS off the building,

finding in his field glasses AN APPROACHING SNOW

TRACTOR. Moving across the landscape toward the ice

station. When it pulls to a stop, A MAN exits out of one

of the domes: THE CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN. Moving to the

vehicle and getting in.

The vehicle reverses now, transporting the CSM back

away from the ice station.

CLOSE ON MULDER

Taking the field glasses away from his eyes. The

excitement he feels expressed now in his breathing,

which has become harder and shallower. Mulder rises,

beginning to move the still great distance between

himself and the ice station.

CUT TO:

WIDE ON SCREEN

Mulder moving slowly across the white horizon toward the

domed tents.

LOW ANGLE ON MULDER'S FEET

Moving cautiously, and with effort on the snowscape

crust. CAMERA RISING up to Mulder's face, determined and

watchful.

FOLLOWING MULDER

The ice station still several hundred yards in the

distance, when MULDER SUDDENLY FALLS OUT OF FRAME,

disappearing into a hole in the snowscape crust that

just moments earlier had been stable footing.

HARD CUT TO:

INT. SNOW ICE BUBBLE - CONTINUOUS

Where Mulder's body falls through a ceiling of snowscape

crust, landing on his back with a THUD on a hard

surface. It takes him a moment to catch his breath,

somewhat reminiscent of Stevie at the beginning of the

picture. Wincing through the pain. Until he turns over,

regaining his wits, and his bearings.

NEW ANGLE

Mulder has fallen on a hard, narrow metallic structure.

Its dull black color a stark contrast to the white ice

it's encased in. The bubble has been created by air

coming out of vents in the structure, carving out

corresponding patterns in the ceiling; softening the ice

and snow above.

CLOSER ON MULDER

rising to his knees, the AIR from one of these vents

blowing onto his face. Pulling off the hood of his

jacket, looking deep into the vent which is open,

ungrated.

And big enough for a man to crawl into. Which, after

considering the hole he's fallen through high above him,

is really Mulder's only choice.

CUT TO:

INT. RIBBED CORRIDOR DUCT - CONTINUOUS

Mulder pulls himself forward through the ribbed corridor

duct with his elbows, moving lizard-like into the

constricted darkness.

CUT TO:

INT. UPPER RIBBED CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS

Above a frozen ice lith, Mulder's head appears,

squeezing his shoulders and body out of a venting. With

effort, Mulder slides out of the small space, using some

architecture above as a handhold. Pulling his legs free

and dropping onto the floor.

MULDER'S POV

It is dark in here, the features of the corridor

ill-defined.

RESUME MULDER - WIDER

Mulder pulls a flashlight from a pocket in his parka,

snicks it on. Its beam reflecting off tall frozen liths

of ice regularly spaced on both sides of the corridor.

NEW ANGLE ON MULDER

Training the light down the corridor, which curves away

in both directions. Then pointing it at something right

in front of his nose: something that gives him a start.

Reaching up with his hand to brush away frost from the

lith. Finding A MAN FROZEN IN ICE. Naked, his eyes

staring into some long-forgotten distance. His hair is

dark, his flat features familiar to us. He is the

prehistoric hunter from the opening scenes of the movie.

His flesh has the opaque, see-through quality that we've

seen before. Inside of which, frozen along with the man,

is an EMBRYONIC CREATURE.

REVERSE ON MULDER

Reacting to this sight, then moving off down the

corridor, his pace quickened.

CUT TO:

EXT. POLE OF INACCESSIBILITY - ANTARCTICA

LOW ANGLE on the great white expanse. Across which a

snow tractor is moving. PANNING with the vehicle to...

Mulder's snow tractor, where the first tractor stops,

its headlights trained on Mulder's ride.

A beat, then the discovering machine moves out again,

following the tracks that Mulder has left, which brings

it STRAIGHT TOWARD CAMERA. As it passes us, we can see

the DRIVER and the Cigarette Smoking Man sitting in the

cabin. As we:

CUT BACK TO:

INT. UPPER RIBBED CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS

MULDER comes to the end of the dim ice corridor where

soft light is penetrating through several low, arched

openings.

Mulder has to drop down to his knees to see into the

openings.

ANGLE FROM OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE BALCONY PASSAGEWAY

Where Mulder is seen looking TOWARD CAMERA. The Balcony

passageway is short. Mulder drops to his stomach again,

pulling himself through, toward us. When he reaches the

opposite end, Mulder pokes his head out, looking up in

wonder at:

INT. CENTRAL THEATER - BALCONY - CONTINUOUS - WIDE ON

A STADIUM-SIZED DOME -- (CGI SET EXTENSION)

Imagine a domed sports arena -- this is the scope and

scale of the space that Mulder has penetrated. We see

him as only a small speck on a balcony midway between

floor and ceiling. Pulling himself out of the balcony

passageway, which is like countless other passageways.

Which are actually ventilation ports.

ANGLE OVER MULDER

Pulling himself to his feet. Beholding the space before

him. Looking down to the center floor where a large

central theater gives off a light different from

elsewhere in the dome. An icy, bright glow. Leading down

to the central theater far below are several LARGE

TUBULAR SPOKES. (One of which leads up right next to

Mulder's position.)

ANGLE ON MULDER

Reacting to this. Then something captures his

attention.

MULDER'S POV

There on the floor, far down below, is THE BUBBLE LITTER

Scully was transported in. (NOTE* Scully's clothes are

still in the bubble litter.) Standing out as a rather

human artifact against the otherwise dull gray bulwarks

and architecture surrounding it.

INT. CENTRAL THEATER - BALCONY - CONTINUOUS - WIDE ON

MULDER

looks beside him where the joint that connects two

sections of one of the long tube spokes is designed with

an allowance -- a separation that might allow a man to

slip through the joint into the tube. Which is what

Mulder does here.

CUT TO:

INT. TUBULAR SPOKE - CONTINUOUS

WIDE ANGLE FROM INSIDE TUBE TERMINUS

Mulder squeezing through into the tube, looking down

past what looks like a chair lift-like track, on which

the chairs are actually empty cryopod mechanisms; the

same structures Mulder saw in the ribbed corridor in

which bodies were encased in ice. Except these cryopods

are empty.

Mulder begins to creep down TOWARD CAMERA, picking his

way around the empty cryopods.

REVERSE ANGLE ON MULDER

Creeping away from us. Heading toward:

INT. LOWER CRYOPOD CORRIDOR

Where Mulder pops out at the lower tube terminus. Which

leads into this bulwarked corridor at the base of the

large stadium structure. Where:

REVERSE ON THIS CORRIDOR

Where Mulder is walking past frozen CRYOPODS hanging on

a track. Each icy pod containing a HUMAN BODY frozen

within. Partially visible behind clear blue ice. But

these are modern men, and women. Their expressions a

confused horror, as if they have been somehow frozen

alive. They are slowly tracking.

Walking along the slowly moving carousel of frozen

humanity. Stopping, turning, almost as if having

sensed:

NEW ANGLE OVER OPPOSITE CRYOPOD

PUSHING IN ON MULDER'S FACE. Recording the horror and

fear he's experiencing, on seeing:

CAMERA RISING UP A FROSTY WALL OF BLUE ICE

Where a woman's body is encased, its naked features

hidden behind the opacity of the newly frozen blue

crust. But whose face is unmistakable as that of Agent

Scully's. Frozen in a similar expression of far-away

horror, her eyes cast slightly heavenward.

MULDER

hurries to get his jacket unzipped. Removing the FELT

ENVELOPE, removing the syringe body, the needle and the

AMPULE.

Hastily putting the syringe together, getting the needle

poked into the soft rubber cap of the ampule. Bleeding

the syringe now, the substance inside squirting out of

the end of the needle onto the floor of the ship.

And the moment it does, the whole floor SIZZLES like

water being dropped onto a hot skillet. Spreading out

from Mulder in every direction. A VIOLENT CHEMICAL

REACTION, as predicted by the man who gave him this

substance. A moment later the entire structure Mulder is

in SHUNTS. Shuddering violently and setting up a low-end

RUMBLE. Causing Mulder to accidentally drop the

syringe.

LOW CLOSE ANGLE

on the floor, where the syringe hits and bounces, but

does not break or leak. Mulder scrambling into frame to

re-collect it. Seeing the floor where the liquid from

the syringe hit -- where it has been ETCHED AWAY by the

substance.

EXT. HULL OF SPACESHIP/ICY BUBBLE - CONTINUOUS

Where Mulder crawled into the duct. Condensed air is

streaming out of all the ducts now. The ice and snow

above beginning to melt from the force and heat of the

blasting all.

CUT BACK TO:

EXT. ICE STATION - CONTINUOUS

We can hear low end rumble and vibration. TWO DOZEN MEN

are streaming out of the dome tents. Moving to their

carious snow tractors and starting the vehicles.

A small exodus, the tractors pulling out of camp in a

rush. Heading off in various directions.

CAMERA FINDING THE CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN moving to his

tractor, with THE MAN WHO SHOT MULDER. Taking the last

drag of his cigarette before throwing it into the snow.

He stares down at it a moment, as if caught in the grip

of some emotion conflicting with duty.

The Man who shot Mulder inside the tractor now, throwing

open the door for the CSM.

MAN WHO SHOT MULDER

C'mon. It's all going to hell.

He climbs up onto the vehicle, gets in and closes the

door. And the vehicle pulls away as we:

CUT BACK TO:

INT. LOWER RIBBED CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS - AGENT MULDER

Back on his feet, SMASHING now at the crust of brittle

blue-ice that encases Scully. BASHING, SMASHING and then

finally breaking through the hard outer later, its inner

slushy contents spilling out of the puncture that

exposes Scully's face and shoulder. Watery aqua-tinted

liquid drains from her mouth and nose. But Scully is not

conscious, and there is no indication she is even alive,

her face frozen in a blank, almost beatific expression.

OVER MULDER TO SCULLY

As he plunges the needle into Scully's arm at the front

of her shoulder. To which there is an immediate reaction

-- as if given a shot of adrenalin. Her eyes blinking

away the cold moisture.

MULDER

Scully --

Scully's lips move goldfish-like as she tries to suck in

air, an almost fearful expression overcoming her like a

swimmer who's been held under too long. But no words are

coming out yet.

MULDER

Breathe -- can you breathe?!

Scully is straining to do just that -- when liquid

suddenly SPEWS from Scully's mouth. And she begins to

cough and gag -- taking big gulps of air as her eyes

focus on Mulder as if on a phantom, or a miracle.

Finally faint words ushering forth, whispering breaths

that Mulder cannot discern.

MULDER

What?

CLOSE ON MULDER AND SCULLY

As he leans into her, putting his ear up to her mouth.

As the softest sound comes out in Scully's frosty

breath.

SCULLY

Cold...

MULDER

Hang on. I'm going to get you out of

here.

As she continues to suck air.

CUT TO:

EXT. HULL OF SPACESHIP/ICE BUBBLE - CONTINUOUS

The hot air blasting from the ducts is causing the ice

pack above to melt and collapse.

CUT TO:

EXT. ICE STATION - CONTINUOUS - WIDE

As the ice tractors head away in all directions from the

domed structures. A misty fog now emanating from the

seams of the domes. Heat and condensation.

CUT BACK TO:

INT. UPPER RIBBED CORRIDORS - CONTINUOUS

Filling with misty condensation, too. The small beams of

light that lighted Mulder's way earlier are now small

shafts piercing the gathering interior cloud.

Illuminating:

THE PREHISTORIC MAN

Frozen in his icy pod, the hard semi-translucent surface

of which is now etched with small streams of water

running to the floor. Everything is melting and in

motion.

Including the CREATURE which is vaguely visible inside

the frozen man. It TURNS slightly inside the body, like

an animal in utero. Its eyes now looking at us,

blinking. As it presses against its own fleshy

container, the body of its human host.

CUT BACK TO:

INT. LOWER RIBBED CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS

It, too, is filling with misty condensation.

VARIOUS SHOTS

Of the ice encasing the human forms sweating and

melting.

CAMERA ADJUSTING UP TO REVEAL Mulder pulling Scully

along in a fireman's carry. She is dressed now in

Mulder's snow parka and the outer nylon pants he was

wearing. Scully's legs are weak beneath her. Her body

limp, but not lifeless. Mulder laboring to get her up

the INTERIOR of the steep curving cylinder spoke, as the

air fills with mist.

INT. LONG TUBE TERMINUS

NEW ANGLE ON MULDER AND SCULLY - LOOKING DOWN THE TUBE

Moving toward along the now-halted cryopod carrier

hanging from the transport track. Mulder struggling

against his own fading energy, pulling Scully up

toward:

ANGLE ON BALCONY/CATWALK

Mulder pushing Scully up, though she seems to have at

least some limited ability to do this on her own. The

DEEP, LOW RUMBLE we heard in the open frames of the

movie reaching full volume now. The whole environment

vibrating as Mulder boosts Scully up on the catwalk.

Climbing up over the prostrate body. Picking her up from

the floor, pulling her back into the fireman's carry.

INT. LOWER RIBBED CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS

Where the bodies are all beginning to melt.

VARIOUS SHOTS of rivulets of water forming on the

icy liths that encase the bodies. The water from them

seeping onto the circular central floor. The condensing

mist thick and swirling.

CLOSE ON PODS

Where the body it houses seems to move. Though AS CAMERA

PUSHES IN we see that it is the creature inside this

body moving, as if the heat and the defrosting are

bringing the embryos to life.

INT. UPPER RIBBED CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS - ANGLE DOWN

CORRIDOR

Scully's head pokes through now, as she's pushed through

the opening that Mulder used earlier to get into the

vaulted arena. Pushed in fits and starts until she's all

the way through. Mulder now straining and squeezing to

do the same on his own.

The corridor is filled with heavy condensed mist now as

Mulder finally slips out of the low passageway, trying

to get his bearing now as he huddles low over Scully.

Turning his attention to her as she COUGHS HOARSELY --

in some kind of acute spasm of pain -- but alive.

MULDER

We've got to keep moving.

SCULLY

(weakly)

Where are we?

MULDER

You got me. But I think I know what

they did with Jimmy Hoffa.

Scully is struggling now as Mulder tries to pull her to

her feet again. In real physical pain.

SCULLY

I can't...

Scully can't finish speaking, her voice becoming a

hoarse cough.

SCULLY

(barely a whisper)

I can't go any farther.

MULDER

Yes you can. You're going to make it,

Scully.

Mulder hauling Scully up off the floor AWAY FROM CAMERA

now.

NEW ANGLE ON RIBBED CORRIDOR

CAMERA MOVING THROUGH SPACE in the empty corridor,

moving at a speed equal to Mulder and Scully's as they

round the semi-circular ribbed corridor to meet us.

Coming out of the mist, Scully back in the fireman's

carry. Approaching the place where Mulder slipped down

into the corridor.

Mulder stopping and seeing:

THE BODY IN THE MELTING ICE LITH

As it too moves, the embryonic creature inside it

turning slightly, as if coming awake.

REVERSE ON MULDER

Reacting to this -- and then to Scully who suddenly

starts GASPING FOR BREATH.

Falling now from Mulder's grasps as her legs buckle and

she goes down.

LOW ANGLE ON SCULLY

Her face is going red, straining for air. Her eyes

rolling, seeking relief. As Mulder drops down beside

her.

MULDER

Shit --

But she is unable to answer. Mulder hastening to unzip

her/his jacket. To get to her neck and find a pulse.

MULDER

Scully --

Mulder cannot find a pulse. Scully straining harder now

as Mulder reaches his fingers into her mouth, clearing

her passageway. Moving on top of her now, and pumping

forcefully on her chest -- trying to get air into her.

One - two - three.

And putting his mouth down to hers (FINALLY!), breathing

his life into her. Pulling away from her to see that he

is unsuccessful at this -- that Scully is continuing to

strain. Pumping her chest again --

MULDER

You're not dying on me now -- godammit

godammit godammit --

As he pumps her chest. Placing his mouth over hers again

and BREATH - BREATH -- BREATH.

Lifting his mouth from hers, feeling for a pulse again,

putting his eat down to her mouth, praying he'll feel

the breeze of a breath. Nothing. While:

ANGLE OVER HIM TO THE CREATURE IN THE ICY POD

As it moves again, MORE VIOLENTLY NOW. As the ice around

it continues to melt and fissure.

RESUME MULDER

His hands going to a pocket on the inside of the jacket

Scully is wearing -- his jacket -- finding again the

syringe that he used on Scully. It is still partially

full of vaccine. Mulder finding this, getting ready to

use it when --

-- Scully's body suddenly comes back to life beneath

him. Labored breaths which turn into a coughing spasm.

Mulder breaths relievedly for a moment, watching Scully

coughing, coming back to life. Her eyes trying to focus

on him, finding him. Seeing his labored relief. The

panic melting away.

SCULLY

(weakly, pained whisper)

Mulder...

She wants to tell him something. He leans down next to

her.

SCULLY

(continued weak)

Had you big time.

Mulder has but a moment to savor this weary victory

though when he REACTS to something, that causes him to

WHIP HIS HEAD AROUND.

MULDER'S POV DOWN RIBBED CORRIDOR

Through the condensed mist he can see CREATURES

BEGINNING TO HATCH, sprouting from the melted

ice-encased bodies they have gestated in. Their THREE

FINGERED HANDS beating at the soft ice. Their powerful

feet kicking at it, too.

RESUME MULDER

Looking the other way down the corridor, seeing --

MORE CREATURES

The slushy material that makes up the inner core

spilling out with them as the creatures KICK out of

their tombs.

RESUME MULDER

Lifting Scully up with all his strength he has left in

him. He's got to get her overhead now, back up the

venting that he slipped down from. She is weak and of

little help.

Mulder gets her propped up on his strength so that he

can use the power of his legs to boost her toward the

opening. Which puts him face to face with THE EMBRYONIC

CREATURE. Its eye looking directly at him, blinking,

before it goes into another FITFUL SPASM inside its host

body.

ANGLE DOWN FROM VENT

Where Scully is boosted up TOWARD CAMERA. Her hands

reaching feebly for something to grab onto. Finding a

handhold.

MULDER

Keep breathing, Scully.

She utters something guttural, unintelligible as the

next thrust up from Mulder gets her head and shoulders

into the opening of the vent.

RESUME MULDER

Beneath her, pushing with all his might. His hands under

her shoes now, forcing her up into the vent like a

rolled carpet into the rafters.

RESUME SCULLY

Struggling with her arms and elbows, barely conscious,

but somehow able to manage herself forward.

RESUME MULDER

Pushing Scully up the last little way. Then reaching up

to find a handhold for himself. Grabbing hold and

lifting himself as one of his feet kicks at the ice --

where the creature he was just face to face with BURSTS

from its icy pod. One hand, then the other shooting out

of the ice where they have broken through the host.

Ripping open the front of the body, including the man's

face. Making a slimy, gaping tear in what was formerly

flesh.

Its hands grabbing at Mulder as he thrashes to free

himself from it getting a grip.

As Mulder struggles to pull himself up, fighting off the

creature which he cannot see beneath him.

RESUME CREATURE

As it emerges from the ice, still grasping and TEARING

at Mulder's legs with its claws. But as it BURSTS

COMPLETELY from its place, Mulder is able to pull

himself up and into the vent in one athletic movement.

ANGLE FROM INSIDE THE VENT - SCULLY

lies motionless in the ducting, her body forced forward

by Mulder's in this last surging move.

TIGHT ANGLE ON MULDER

Drawing his legs up quickly inside. Not wasting a moment

shoving Scully's butt forward in front of him.

MULDER

Scully -- you breathing?

RESUME SCULLY

Letting out another low, guttural sound -- which STRAINS

out of her with each push forward.

CUT TO:

EXT. SNOW/ICE BUBBLE - CONTINUOUS

Scully's head and arms push up through the vent where

Mulder first entered. The ice and snow surrounding it,

which had created the bubble structure, have melted and

fallen. So that above Scully's larger hole has opened up

to the surface. The air is full of condensation,

swirling around them.

ANGLE FROM ABOVE - THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE ICE

Where, through the swirling steam we see Mulder push

Scully clear of the vent. Climbing free himself now.

When the surface they are upon SHUDDERS AND QUAKES. As

if it has come unloosed, destabilized.

And with this comes A MIGHTY FORCE OF STEAM from the

vent Mulder and Scully just crawled from. Blasting up

past them with terrible HISSING FORCE. Causing Mulder to

throw Scully away from its superheated energy.

Pulling her up the now climbable embankment created by

the melting snow; pulling her toward the surface of the

ice sheet.

CUT TO:

EXT. POLE OF INACCESSIBILITY - ANTARCTICA - WIDE

Where a wide radius of steam rises from similar and

regularly spaced holes in the ice sheet, defining a

circular structure beneath. The White Domed Tents of the

ice station are in the center of this, dwarfed by the

enormity of the melting radius.

RESUME MULDER AND SCULLY

Mulder pulling her up the softened and collapsed snow.

The hot steam blasting up with hideous force behind

them. The sound DEAFENING.

NEW ANGLE OVER MULDER AND SCULLY

Pulling her to the surface of the ice sheet where behind

them in the distance the ICE STATION can be seen through

the atmosphere of condensed air. When suddenly the ice

beneath it gives way and the ice station falls away,

caving in to the center of the radius. Which is what

begins to happen to the rest of the ice sheet that

spreads out to where Mulder and Scully are standing.

Causing Mulder to realize:

MULDER

(over the din)

We've got to run!

She is weak, but is able to find her footing. Dragged

behind Mulder as the ice behind them begins to break

away, falling down into an ever-expanding center and

sending up magnificent geysers of steam created by the

superheated surface below.

WIDE ON SCENE

Mulder and Scully running AT CAMERA just ahead of the

collapsing center. The mass of ice around them beginning

to break up. Steam vents erupting instantaneously

everywhere.

CUT TO:

HIGH ANGLE ON SCENE

A black dome is becoming visible through the giant

circle of steam, in the ever-widening center hole that

Mulder and Scully are running from. Which is chasing

them to the edge of the radius.

CUT TO:

ANGLE FOLLOWING MULDER AND SCULLY

As Mulder struggles to pull Scully fast enough to

outrace the icy debris that is tumbling away just behind

them. Large chunks falling and bouncing off the

superheated surface below, blown back up like water

being dropped onto a hot skillet.

CUT TO:

EXTREMELY HIGH AND WIDE

The Agents mere specks fleeing the circle of churning

ice and steam. As it cascades away in three hundred and

sixty degrees. From here the deafening sound if absorbed

into the vastness, tricking us of the reality of the

massive movement of frozen material down below.

CUT TO:

ANGLE LEADING MULDER AND SCULLY

As Scully loses her footing, falling to the ground.

Mulder dragging her back up to her feet, though,

maintaining forward momentum. While behind them the

thundering force of the superheated melting snow and ice

is moving in on them.

And then suddenly -- MULDER AND SCULLY are gone!

The radial edge of the falling snow continuing only a

few feet beyond where they disappeared. The violent

upheaval of snow abating but slightly. Beat, beat...

THEN THE AGENTS APPEAR AGAIN. Thrust upward by a RISING

BLACK PRECIPICE which catapults them off its leading

edge. As they fall the distance to the sheet of ice

below.

CUT TO:

LOW ANGLE ON ICE SHEET

Where the Agents hit hard on the ice sheet. The rain of

ice chunks pounding all around them. As the monolithic

wall of the craft continues to rise.

Mulder trying to get to Scully in this hail of debris

which he shields his face from.

WIDE ON LEADING EDGE

Rising faster now out of the earth as it begins to

increasingly shed and break free of the frozen weight it

carried. Until the bottom of the edge of the wall

appears, lifting clear of the ice sheet and the crater

that held it.

CUT TO:

EXTREME HIGH WIDE ANGLE ON SPACE SHIP

Where now we see the scope and shape of the ship, which

is breathtaking. The domed center sloping off to a

gentle gradient, which is the surface that Mulder and

Scully were running on. The ship is now slowly rotating

as it moves upward in a gently rising hover.

Mulder and Scully are on the ice sheet below.

RESUME MULDER AND SCULLY

Scully face down on the ice. Mulder lifting his head

when THE HEAVY SHADOW of the ship comes over them.

Looking up from this position to see:

THE SPACE SHIP

Moving slowly, laterally just overhead. Thunderously

rumbling. The dark detail of its underside visible in

this angle. As it continues to rise, the shadow passing

over Mulder and Scully.

CUT TO:

NEW ANGLE OVER MULDER AND SCULLY

Scully is still face down on the ice, as Mulder watches

the ship's shadow cast over Mulder's SnowCat which is

still parked in the distance. Moving up and off.

The ship continues up into the Antarctic sky where it

rises toward the sky where it begins to get WHITEHOT.

Transforming itself into pure energy. It is visible for

several moments during transformation. Then it

disappears completely. As it does the RUMBLE, which

dopplers across the white, barren landscape. Then it is

gone.

MULDER

Watches this then lays his head down on Scully's back.

He is spent, at the brink of complete exhaustion. His

whole body heaving. But now starting to shiver, and to

lose consciousness.

Scully's body is motionless beneath him, for a moment we

might believe that this is the way it might end. Out

here on the ice with Mulder and Scully freezing to

death. A chill wind blows off the Antarctic plain, the

same LOW RUMBLE, the only taint of silence in vastness

of this literal end of the world.

Then Scully coughs -- the same hoarse cough. She's

alive. Struggling to consciousness. Her head lifting

slightly, TURNING TO CAMERA. Her eyes blink open and she

coughs again. Feeling Mulder's weight on top of her,

unaware of his condition or even where she is.

SCULLY

(weakly)

Mulder...

There is no answer. Scully struggling to pull herself

out from under the weight of his body. Rolling over so

that her face is opposite Mulder's now. Seeing that he

has lost consciousness. Finding the strength to roll him

over, so that she can cradle him and warm him.

HIGH WIDE ANGLE ON THIS SCENE

With the Snowcat a short distance away, Mulder and

Scully in each others arms. The way it should end.

FADE TO BLACK

Silence. Longer than we would like. Long enough to make

us nervous, then certain, then angry. Then...we FADE UP

a prelap of the sound of a CRACKLING FIRE.

FADING UP ON:

EXT. ACRES OF CORN - MAGIC HOUR

TRACKING LOW WITH MEN IN FATIGUES, moving along the

perimeter of the corn field as they set fire to the corn

stalks with small handheld butane burners. While other

Men in Fatigues are moving between the rows dousing the

furrows with accelerant.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. FBI FIELD OFFICE - DALLAS - NIGHT

The large room filled with the evidence and debris from

the bombing. It is dark. Until A FLASHLIGHT BEAM pricks

the blackness, moving toward us into f.g. Carried by the

man we now recognize as The Man Who Shot Mulder. He

moves with directness, purpose. Finding what he's

looking for amid the cataloged material, he finds on a

work bench. Next to the microscope Scully had used. It

is the BONE FRAGMENTS, held in an evidence container.

He pockets them and exits as quiet and directly as he

entered.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. ACRES OF CORN - WIDE - CGI PLATE

The sky aglow with orange flames as the crops burn to

the ground. We hold on this shot, PRELAPPING the sound

of:

JANA CASSIDY'S VOICE

... in light of the report I've got

before me; in light of the narrative

I'm now hearing...

INT. FBI OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL REVIEW - DAY

Jana Cassidy sits at the head of the desk, just as when

we first met her.

She is flanked by the other members of the review board,

including A.D. Skinner who sits at the end of the

table.

Cassidy flips through a file she's referred to before

she continues. Looking up with consternation as she

resumes.

CASSIDY

... my official report is incomplete

pending these new facts I'm being

asked to reconcile. Agent Scully...

AGENT SCULLY

Sitting where she last sat, at the small table. The seat

next to her conspicuously empty. Her face bears the

signs of slight frostbite, somewhat healed. Her

expression is even, her attitude composed, but her eyes

are filled of dark, restrained defiance.

CASSIDY

...while there is direct evidence now

that a federal agent may have been

involved in the bombing... the other

events you've laid down here seem too

incredible on their own, and quite

frankly implausible in their

connection.

PANNING THE OTHER BOARD MEMBERS - curious, bemused like

Cassidy. Skinner shifts uncomfortably.

SCULLY

What is it you find incredible?

CASSIDY

Well...where would you like me to

start? Antarctica is a long way from

Dallas, Agent Scully. I can't very

well submit a report to the Attorney

General that alleges the links you've

made here. Bees and corn crops do not

quite fall under the rubric of

domestic terrorism.

SCULLY

No, they don't.

CASSIDY

Most of what I find in here is lacking

a coherent picture of an organization

with an attributable motive. I realize

you're very lucky to be alive Agent

Scully. The ordeal you've endured has

clearly affected you -- though the

holes in your account leave this panel

with little choice but to delete these

references from our final report to

the Justice Department. Until which

time hard evidence becomes available

that would give us cause to pursue

such an investigation.

Scully has her hand in her coat pocket now. Moving

around the table and approaching Cassidy. Removing

something which she puts on the desk in front of her. A

small vial.

SCULLY

I don't believe the FBI currently has

an investigation unit qualified to

pursue the evidence in hand.

Cassidy picks up the vial, studying the contents of this

vial: the dead bee that stung Scully. Studying it as

Scully turns and moves to the door, without permission,

no further adieu.

ANGLE TO INCLUDE A.D. SKINNER

Watching Scully exit.

CASSIDY (O.S.)

Mr. Skinner....?

CAMERA PIVOTING TO INCLUDE CASSIDY. Looking at him.

CASSIDY

Please ask Agent Scully to come back

to this hearing. We're not quite

finished.

As Skinner rises, unsure of the intent behind this

directive, we:

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. WASHINGTON D.C. - DAY

We are JUST ABOVE THE TREETOPS. The Capitol Dome is in

the far distance. CAMERA CRANING DOWN to find Mulder

sitting by himself on a park bench. We are WIDE. There

is no one else around.

Until the Cigarette Smoking Man appears. Walking through

the otherwise deserted park. Joining Mulder on the park

bench.

CLOSER ON MULDER, THE CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

They do not speak for several moments. A quite tension

as the CSM lights up a trademark smoke. Inhaling,

exhaling. Then:

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

Congratulations on your survival. Your

life is worthless now, I hope you know

that.

MULDER

And yours?

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN

(derisive)

You think you've stopped it. What I've

worked for fifty years to create. You

haven't stopped it. You can't stop

it.

(takes a drag)

You're just one man.

MULDER

You're wrong.

WIDE ANGLE

Mulder rises from the bench heading TOWARD CAMERA. The

CSM rising, watching him.

As Mulder continues toward us. ADJUST TO REVEAL Agent

Scully in the f.g. Mulder moving to her as the CSM

watches from the distance. Their eyes meet, an unspoken

restored bond exchanged in this moment. Before Mulder

takes Scully by the arm, leads her off. Leaving the CSM

standing alone in the distance. As we:

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. CORN FIELDS/WHITE DOMES - TUNISIA - DAY

TRACKING LOW WITH A PAIR OF FEET

The wearer of them sporting peasant sandals. We realize

shortly that while the feet are moving across sandy

ground, that the foliage in the near b.g. is corn. And

that the person we are tracking with is passing row

after row of stalks.

CAMERA RISING AS IT TRACKS

REVEALING A TUNISIAN MAN dressed in peasant clothes. He

is carrying a piece of paper. Moving with hasty purpose.

Stopping at the end of one of the long rows of corn

where CONRAD STRUGHOLD is coming toward him. Making his

way between rows of stalks. The Peasant waits patiently

as Strughold approaches, handing him the piece of

paper.

Strughold reads it, his otherwise steely countenance

reflecting a disturbance seen only in the slight

narrowing of his eyes.

He looks up at the Peasant and says something to him in

Tunisian Arabic. Said as command, which causes the

Peasant to nod dutifully and move off as he came.

Strughold stands for a moment, then crumples the paper

slightly and drops it. Moving off down the same corn row

in which he approached.

CAMERA DROPPING TO THE GROUND where we find the paper on

which we see a flat section that is not so crumpled we

cannot read the words: X-FILES RE-OPENED. STOP. PLEASE

ADVISE. STOP.

CAMERA RISING NOW. Rising up past the stalks. Where we

can still see Strughold walking. RISING UP AND UP to

reveal ACRES AND ACRES OF CORN. Many times more than we

had seen previously. Stretched out across the Tunisian

Desert, ending only where THREE WHITE DOMES stand on the

distant horizon.

Off this image we FADE OUT.

THE END