ASIAN_MAN BARISTA BRIANNA CIGARETTE_SMOKING_MAN DETECTIVE_COSTA DOCTOR_SCHOLZ DR_HARRIS INTERCOM_VOICE JACKSON MRS_VAN_DE_KAMP MR_GREEN MR_PAULSEN MULDER OPERATIVE SARAH SCULLY SKINNER BRIANNA SARAH Hello? BRIANNA Who is that? Who is that? BRIANNA Are you Ghouli? SARAH No, you are. BRIANNA No I'm not. I swear. SARAH That's what Ghouli would say. You're trying to trick me. BRIANNA Look. I can prove it. Just stay where you are. I'll come find you. SARAH Not if I find you first. BRIANNA SARAH BRIANNA SCULLY Most people believe there are two states of consciousness sleep and wakefulness. But there is a third state, hypnagogia- characterized by dream-like visions and strange sensory perceptions. It was in this borderland that I found myself frozen on a stranger's bed. SCULLY What the hell is going on? MULDER It sounds like sleep paralysis. REM atonia. Did you hear a hissing or buzzing? Did you feel an electric current running through your body? SCULLY No, it was different, Mulder. I mean, after the-the initial jolt of fear, I I felt compelled to follow the dark figure. MULDER Oh. Dark figures are usually meant to be avoided. Where was it leading you? SCULLY There. SCULLY It's the same boat. MULDER That's an open X File, Scully. SCULLY Chimera. MULDER “Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions.” That's a quote from Edgar Cayce. He was called The Sleeping Prophet. Like you, he received visions in a hypnogogic state. And he believed those visions were messages sent. SCULLY He also believed in the lost city of Atlantis. MULDER Another reason to love the guy. You've been receiving visions through seizure. Maybe this is an evolution of the form. No, but you're onto something, Scully. I'm sure of it. We're being followed. Since the airport. DETECTIVE COSTA Hi, Detective Costa. SCULLY Agent Scully. MULDER Agent Mulder. DETECTIVE COSTA Pleasure. So, the victims and the perpetrators were two female high school seniors. Different schools. No past criminal history. They were good students. We talked to their respective families and checked their social media. No indications that the girls knew each other before the attack. SCULLY Well, the crime scene photos indicate that the wounds were made with a sharp bladed instrument. DETECTIVE COSTA We found two knives at the scene. They, uh, they cut each other up pretty bad. SCULLY What's the condition of the girls now? DETECTIVE COSTA Both lost a lot of blood. Uh, the one, Brianna Stapleton was, like, a millimeter away from having her carotid artery severed in the fight. Now both girls are unconscious in the hospital, but doctors are confident they'll pull through. MULDER Who reported the attack? DETECTIVE COSTA An anonymous 9-1-1 call. Didn't leave a name, but, uh. The voice was male, and he sounded panicked. Forensics has a complete work up on the scene with pictures and measurements. But, uh, this was left otherwise untouched. SCULLY There's no blood leading to or from the spot where they were discovered. It seems like once they started, they were going to finish. SCULLY Mulder, the way they attacked each other indicates an extreme emotional response. It suggests to me that they did knew each other. MULDER But if they didn't know each other, that same response could be an indication extreme fear. Lika a lizard brain thing. SCULLY Well, either way, this meeting was certainly not a coincidence. DETECTIVE COSTA Okay. Thanks. Hey, guys. There was one other thing. The EMT said that he heard something when he was treating the victims. He said that the girls asked him if he found Ghouli. MULDER Is that Ghouli with an H? MULDER It's typical. Teeth. Mucous. Ghouli probably feeds on human flesh. Yawn. SCULLY The site's only been active for the last couple of months. Mostly fan fiction. MULDER Yeah, this is my problem with modern day monsters, Scully. There's no chance for emotional investment. You know, like Frankenstein and the Wolfman. Not only did they inspire bowel clenching fear, but there was pathos. You know, Frankenstein is afraid of fire and he just wanted a friend. You know? SCULLY There's a lot of money to be made in scaring people. Maybe the girls were manipulated to attack each other in order to goose traffic. Most of the stories are written by an @Rever. MULDER Ah. The girls are regaining consciousness. We can talk to them at the hospital now. BARISTA Bob. Double shot Cappuccino, Extra foam. MULDER Yes. Thank you. BARISTA No worries, buddy. SCULLY Bob? MULDER Like I wanted to explain “Fox” for the millionth time? BRIANNA Ghouli's real. I saw it. It was closer than you are to me. I was scared. I had to defend myself. SARAH The thing was an inch from my face. So close I could smell its breath. It had rows of sharp teeth, and this goo was dripping from its mouth. MULDER Well, what did it smell like? Its breath. SARAH Like cinnamon. SCULLY And how did you find this Ghouli? BRIANNA I fell into this hole, into its lair, I guess. SARAH I heard something jump down, and when I turned around it was screaming. MULDER What about Brianna Stapleton? SARAH I didn't see anybody else. SCULLY She was on the floor next to you, also injured. BRIANNA I don't know any Sarah. Okay? All I saw was Ghouli. SCULLY So, how did you know to go to the ferry? SARAH You're going to think I'm crazy. I had a dream. BRIANNA But it wasn't a dream. It felt real. Like I was really living it. And at first it was scary, because I couldn't move. Like I was in bed, but it wasn't my own bed. SARAH Someone was next to me, but I couldn't see him. It was just a dark figure. And I jumped out of bed and chased him. BRIANNA It wasn't even my own house. I would run through the hallways and try to get to the living room to get outside, and I would just end up back inside again. SCULLY It was like a maze. Where no matter which door you open, you end up in the same place. MULDER Was there something inside the house you were suppose to see? SARAH A souvenir. BRIANNA Yeah. You shake it and it snows. SCULLY What was inside your snow globe? SARAH The ferry. Everybody knew where it was. Kids would get stoned on it in the summer. Not me, but. MULDER Have you ever experienced a dream like that before? SARAH Kind of. My boyfriend and I did this fun house thing at the fair. SCULLY You have a boyfriend? BRIANNA I'm I'm not supposed to. My parents wouldn't approve. They're really lame. But he's cool. SCULLY What's his name? SARAH Jackson Van de Kamp. BRIANNA Jackson Van de Kamp. MULDER The sleep paralysis. The labyrinth. The snow globe. You share the same story. SCULLY And the girls apparently the same boyfriend. Jackson Van de Kamp. MULDER Scully. SCULLY I know. Mulder, it has to be a coincidence. MULDER No, it's not. You were sent here. We are meant to be here. We gotta to find out where this kid lives. SCULLY I feel like I'm gonna fall off a cliff. SCULLY Mulder. This is the house in my vision. MULDER Door's open. DETECTIVE COSTA All right, so you, uh. You said you heard three shots? Murder suicide. Jackson Van de Kamp killed his parents, then when he heard you and Agent Scully break into the house, he realized he was going to get caught, and killed himself. MULDER That's a rather convenient explanation. DETECTIVE COSTA The kid had two girlfriends who tried to kill each other just the other night. I mean, there's something dirty in the water already. MULDER The back door was wide open when we got here. DETECTIVE COSTA Hell, maybe he left it open. I don't think you worry about those details when you're looking to commit murder suicide. I mean, you were here Agent Mulder, there was nobody else in the house when he killed himself. So look, I appreciate your expertise, but I think you're trying to find answers to questions nobody else is asking. MULDER I appreciate your imput. MULDER Scully? MULDER Scully? Scully. SCULLY This is his room. I recognize it from my dream. You were right, Mulder. Whoever he is he wanted me to be here. Look Birthday. Halloween. Vacation. Baseball. It's a whole life. MULDER It's full. And it's still cold. Odd choice to crack open a can of soda before you decide to kill your parents. The Pick Up Artist Memoirs of a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. At least he had his priorities straight. SCULLY He was troubled. Maybe even schizophrenic. He was seeing a psychiatrist. Clozapine, it's an antipsychotic, and Diazapam is to treat seizures. They were prescribed two months ago, and they're still full. So he was off his medication. MULDER I have grave doubts about what appears to have happened here, Scully. Huh. SCULLY Malcolm X. MULDER “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” SCULLY Was this his hero? MULDER We don't know that that body is William, Scully. SCULLY Malcolm Little took the last name “X” because he wouldn't take the slave name given to his ancestral family. Was Jackson's identity so adrift that he couldn't see himself as being a part of a family? Is that why he killed his parents and then himself? MULDER Why would he call you here just to see him die? SCULLY I need to get proof of his identity, Mulder. I need answers. MULDER I'll get you one. MULDER Who the hell are you with, and why are you following me? MR PAULSEN Take it easy. Nobody's following you. MR GREEN We're just curious onlookers. MR PAULSEN Yeah. We saw police cars. Something bad happened here. MULDER What agency are you with? Judging from your crappy rental car, I'm guessing the DOD. MR GREEN You make a lot of assumptions. MULDER I'm also gonna assume it's no coincidence you're here on the night the Van de Kamps are killed. MR PAULSEN Wow. Three bodies. What a tragedy. Yeah. MULDER Keep cracking wise. You have no idea of my state of mind. SCULLY I don't know if you are who I think you might be but if you are William, this is what I'd say I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I didn't get the chance to know you. Or you get a chance to know me. Or your father. I gave you up for adoption, not because I didn't want you, or because you were any less loved. I was trying to keep you safe. I hope you know that. And maybe Maybe I should have had the courage to stand by you. But I thought I was being strong, because it was the hardest thing I've ever done. To let go. And to know that I was gonna miss your whole life. But it turns out this is the hardest thing. To see the outcome. And how I failed you. I need you to know that I never forgot you. And I thought, I felt even recently that we were gonna somehow be reunited. I wish I could've been there to ease your pain. Oh, my God. This is so inadequate. I'm just so sorry. I'm so sorry. You've been there the whole time? MULDER No, but I heard enough. You have nothing to apologize for. SCULLY This is torture, Mulder. I need to get the results. MULDER Okay. Use the lab here and get a DNA comparison. They'll be back in two hours. SCULLY Yeah. INTERCOM VOICE Dr. Flores, dial 118, please. SCULLY William. SCULLY Is this a message for me, or am I sending a message to you? DR HARRIS Agent Scully. DR HARRIS I'm Doctor Harris, the coroner. Where did you put the body? SCULLY There's no sign anyone was ever in here. MULDER Scully, can I have a word? SCULLY It's okay, Mulder. MULDER It's not good news. SCULLY I know. It's William. His body's been- DR HARRIS There's no way anyone could have taken a body out of here. SCULLY Are there any windows anywhere? MULDER No sign of damage on the outside. DR HARRIS That window's always locked. SCULLY Well, then it must have been opened from the inside. MULDER Scully. Can I talk to you? I know what you're thinking. And I want him to be alive, every bit as much as you do. And in my heart, I never thought we'd have to face this moment, but- Here we are. Hope is not a fact. And I'm always the first to jump to extreme possibilities, but this is not as simple as that. SCULLY Mulder. I had another vision. And I saw this. MULDER Did you take that from his room? SCULLY I don't know why I did. Just needed to hold on to something tangible. MULDER All right. I'll check the video surveillance. But this doesn't change anything. Not yet. SCULLY He wants us to find him, Mulder. I know it. SCULLY Oh-oh! ASIAN MAN Oh. Sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. It, it cracked. The stuff leaked out. SCULLY No, it's, it's my fault. I'm sorry. ASIAN MAN It's okay. You were distracted. You like windmills? SCULLY I like this one. Who are you? ASIAN MAN Don't give up on the bigger picture. MULDER Nothing on the surveillance cameras and nothing here. No history on ghouli .net, no porn. How many seventeen-year-olds with two girlfriends has a search history that clean? SCULLY Maybe he wiped his history. MULDER I got this from the dark web. It retrieves the browser history from the hard drive. If we can find the right computer. He's hiding it here somewhere. I think our investigation is about to get hijacked. SCULLY Got it. Teenage girls have secrets too. MULDER Look at that. Hundreds of posts to ghouli .net. MULDER And a back door to some files of the DOD. MR PAULSEN Agents Mulder and Scully. We are commanding you to cease all activity and exit the property immediately. SCULLY The FBI has jurisdiction over this investigation. I suggest you leave the premises until I can get an order from countermanding authority. MR GREEN Straight from the DOJ. Now scram. MR PAULSEN Step away from the desk. Everything in this house is now under the jurisdiction of the DOD. MULDER Oh! Never a good idea to keep an open beverage by electronics. SKINNER Mulder, how is it possible that the only updates I've received about what you're doing come through complaints by other agencies in the government? MULDER Let me guess, the DOD. SKINNER And the DOJ. They filed a memo documenting obstruction and tampering with evidence. MULDER Nothing will come from those complaints because the DOD is intimately involved with a conspiracy they themselves are trying to cover up. SKINNER Does it have anything to do with a missing dead body, a Jackson Van de Kamp? MULDER I'll tell you more when I know more. SKINNER Mulder, I think you need to come back here so we can discuss your activities. MULDER No, actually, you're going to need to come here. SKINNER I'm not going to Nor- BARISTA Bob? MULDER H-Hey, Skinner. You're breaking up. I can't- I can't- BARISTA Bob? SKINNER Mulder. MULDER Uh, uh, I have to- Oh. BARISTA Double cappuccino, extra foam? MULDER Bob. Yeah. Yeah. SKINNER Mulder, I can hear you perfectly. MULDER Uh, I'm gonna have to call you back when I get better connection, all right? Hello? Hello? SKINNER Mulder? CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN Mulder is close. I suspect he'll be interested in Project Crossroads. We'll be able to find what we've been looking for. SKINNER Mulder, why did you want to meet out here? It's cold and it smells. MULDER This is where it all started. When two young girls were attacked by a monster only they could see. SKINNER You're wrong. This is the end of the road. It started decades ago when they decided to combine alien and human DNA to create hybrids. Now listen to me. I came out here to warn you and Scully to drop this investigation. MULDER I'm listening. SKINNER After the crash at Roswell, our government's interest in alien technology exploded in all directions. And finally, in the seventies, our science caught up to ambition. A eugenics program was initiated by Doctor Masao Matsumoto using components of alien technology, hybrid DNA. MULDER Project Crossroads. I read the report. It was ultimately deemed a failure because they couldn't predict what attributes the test subjects would get from the hybrid DNA. SKINNER That's correct. The Project was defunded fifteen years ago. Doctor Matsumoto burned all the files pertaining to the subjects to save their lives and then he disappeared. The DOD has tried to track them down ever since. MULDER That's why they were following us. We found one of their own for them. SKINNER Jackson Van de Kamp. Now do you understand? MULDER Jackson Van de Kamp was our son, Skinner. He was named William before he was adopted. I checked his DNA against Scully's. SKINNER Oh, my God, I am so sorry. Mulder, I di- I- MULDER Thank you for your warning. It just came too late. DOCTOR SCHOLZ I find it hard to believe that Jackson would harm anyone, much less his parents. He loved them very much. And we never discussed any suicidal ideation. Your-your claims don't describe the patient I know. SCULLY You prescribed medication for seizures. DOCTOR SCHOLZ Jackson had symptoms that coincided with extreme electrical activity in the brain. SCULLY But can you tell me, did he have visions? DOCTOR SCHOLZ What he saw was specific and detailed. That is all I'm willing to say Agent Scully, unless you come back with a court order. SCULLY His visions were apocalyptic. A pandemic was spreading across America. Hospitals were overwhelmed. People were panicking. A vaccine was needed. One that had to be created with a combination of human and alien DNA. And Jackson himself was the key. It ends with a UFO, hovering over the 14th Street Bridge. That's what he saw, Doctor Scholz. DOCTOR SCHOLZ H-How is it possible you know? MULDER So, you think a shared vision means that it's more likely to come true? SCULLY What if I didn't have a glimpse of the future? What if I was just a receptacle for his message to me. Just like my dream to come here. BARISTA Hey, Bob. SCULLY It's an alternate reality. Fox doesn't exist in coffee shops. MULDER No. It's a false reality, Scully. Just like everything we've seen so far. I've been going over the forensics of the case. The police think Jackson killed his parents, then himself. But the spatter pattern tells me different. Tells me there were two shooters. MRS VAN DE KAMP MULDER Her body was moved after she was shot to make it look like there was one shooter. Scully, I believe that through the Smoking Man, you were an unwitting participant in a eugenics program called Project Crossroads, it was spearheaded by Dr. Masao Matsumoto. He disappeared two years after William was born. I believe our son was one of his test subjects. MR GREEN Let's go. MULDER Jackson knew he was being hunted. So he hid the only way he knew how. He created an alternate reality playing dead. SCULLY So he made us hear the shot, and see the hole in his head. MULDER Yes, and those two girls thought they saw a monster. SCULLY And so, Mulder. MULDER SCULLY Where is he now? BRIANNA Mm. Jackson. Oh, my god, they told me you were dead. JACKSON Not yet. Oh, babe. BRIANNA JACKSON These look sick. That's horrible. I'm so sorry. BRIANNA Where have you been? JACKSON I've been hiding. There's these people that are after me. I look, I just, I just came to apologize. BRIANNA Uh? JACKSON I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I didn't think that anyone would get hurt. I thought it'd be funny. I thought it'd be like a prank, you know? Like, you'd see the Ghouli and just run away. I- BRIANNA Uh. Are you Ghouli? JACKSON No, there's no such thing as Ghouli. I made up everything on the website. BRIANNA No, Jackson, that. That thing attacked me. And the other girl. JACKSON You attacked each other. You saw what I projected into your head. All right, it's like this, this power I was learning to control it, okay? I'd, I just couldn't stop it in time, I, i-it- there was so much blood. It was all just a blur. BRIANNA That's really messed up. JACKSON It is. All right, it-it started when I would have my seizures. I'd I'd see things. Terrifying things like, like UFO's. And it would hurt like hell. And but when I was in pain, I could, I could, I could, I could share it. Kinda. Like, mentally. BRIANNA With who? JACKSON This woman, I-I don't know, she's maybe my birth mother, I Look, I came back because everyone around me is in danger. BRIANNA JACKSON My parents are dead, Bri. BRIANNA JACKSON But I wanted to say goodbye, okay? BRIANNA Okay. JACKSON Oh, no. They found me. DETECTIVE COSTA Take it easy, agents. You guys can relax. You can relax, It's under control. MULDER You have Jackson Van de Kamp in custody? DETECTIVE COSTA Oh, not yet. Personally, I don't understand how a dead guy can be up on his feet, but yeah, he's in there and exits covered. SCULLY How do you know he's inside? DETECTIVE COSTA I got a text from Sarah Turner. That's him. SCULLY Yeah. Detective, I'd like to ask you to keep your officers outside so that we can be the first to go in. DETECTIVE COSTA Agents from the Department of Defense are already inside. JACKSON Jeez, Sarah. SARAH You were kissing her. So I wanted to hurt you. I- So I- and I texted them. I'm so sorry. JACKSON No, I-I should be the one saying sorry. I- SARAH A-Are you going to be in trouble? JACKSON I think they want to kill me. SARAH It's my fault. This is this is all my fault. JACKSON No, no, no, look. I'm gonna be alright, okay? MR PAULSEN He's coming your way. MULDER Evacuate the floor. MR GREEN Subject is headed your way. OPERATIVE Hey! Don't move! SCULLY FBI, put your weapon down! MR GREEN Stay out of my way. MR GREEN I know you're here, boy. MULDER They shot each other. SCULLY But who were they shooting at? MULDER He's here. Jackson! It's safe. It's over. SCULLY Jackson, we just want to talk to you. Make sure you're okay. SCULLY Anything? MULDER Hm. He's disappeared. SCULLY SCULLY Do we need gas? MULDER I could use a bathroom. ASIAN MAN What, are you following me? SCULLY Hey. Didn't I see you at the hospital? ASIAN MAN It must be kismet. But I doubt we'll be seeing each other again. I'm driving across country. SCULLY Oh. A-Anywhere in particular? ASIAN MAN No, I just want to see the world. Things are about to change. SCULLY Hey. Are you Doctor Masao Matsumoto? ASIAN MAN A doctor? No. I never finished high school. You seem like a nice person. I wish I could know you better. SCULLY Well. Safe travels. ASIAN MAN If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. MULDER Who's that? SCULLY Just a friendly old guy. But he seems so familiar. The Pick Up Artist. MULDER What're you talking about? SCULLY That book in Jackson's room. I think he's the author. MULDER What'd he say? SCULLY He gave me a piece of advice. He said, he said, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." MULDER That's a Malcolm X quote, Scully. MULDER Scully. MULDER We need to see your surveillance video. Now. SCULLY Right there. SCULLY Are you Dr. Masao Matsumoto? JACKSON Doctor? No, I never finished high school. You seem like a nice person. I wish I could know you better.