Title: "Automatic Update"
Story by: Cassie
Written by: Kristi & Cassie
Date: October 7, 14, 2007; November 4, 28, 2007; December 2-4, 2007
Air Date: December 5, 2007
Rating: PG-13
Series: FRVS - Episode #190
Spoilers: FRVS 2x18 "Flight 194".
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Archiving: "Fox & Rat" Virtual Series only!
Disclaimer: We do not own anyone. They belong to Chris Carter, Ten-Thirteen Productions, and 20th Century FOX Broadcasting.
Author's Note: The personalities of the characters within the world of "Fox & Rat" are not those you know from "The X-Files" television series. We have warped them and given them a common past, immature behavior and a sense of humor. Any horrid behavior should not be mimicked in your every day life.
Summary: What if the past could reappear in the present?
PREVIOUSLY ON “FOX & RAT”... Monica leaves Brad and Comer who go in search of her, only to get captures by Coleman and are now reunited with Krycek. The Smoking Man takes Monica away from Coleman’s group to save her, knowing Coleman will kill her. Doggett and Shannon radio with Mulder and Samantha and make their way to Long Island, but are caught by Knowle and Skinner who believed they were aliens trying to infiltrate their group again. Scully's cancer is getting worse and she accepts her impending death, until she finds Doggett alive and well. She now faces her death, knowing no one will be there waiting for her when she passes.
OVER BLACK:
The opening notes of Borodin's "Notturno" from string Quartet No. 2 in D starts to play, slowly fading up...
FADE IN:
INT. LONDON AIRLINES FLIGHT 194 - COCKPIT – 3:00 A.M.
The night is cloudless. The pilot and co-pilot are talking, in low whispers not to be heard as “Notturno” softly, calmly plays.
Eerily, we move past the two men, pulling back through the curtains and switching angle to reveal a Stewardess preparing the refreshment cart. “Notturno” continues, as muffled voices from the passengers of Flight 194 become distant sounds. The Stewardess begins to serve the passengers. She hands some coffee to a young couple, newly weds, obviously celebrating their new life together.
She continues down the aisle, making her way towards aisle twenty-seven. She seems to walk slowly, as time seems to slow, prolonging the present events soon to be interrupted.
To the left, an old couple - the man is sleeping the best he can, while his wife watches the in flight movie. She gently takes hold of his hand and gives it a little squeeze.
Across from this happy couple of many years are two businessmen. They are discussing important documents that are laid out in front of them. Government identification badges are visibly pinned to their suits. Across from them sleeps a little girl, cuddled up against the window, holding onto a teddy bear that is missing an eye from years of love. The stewardess covers her with a blanket. The two men glance over and watch, then continue with their conversation.
“Notturno” continues and is abruptly stopped when the plane loses all power.
MATCH CUT TO:
EXT. SOUTH SHORE, LONG ISLAND BEACH – THE MULDER CAMP
MAY 12, 2007
3:03 A.M.Mulder and Samantha come out of their make-shift tent, just in time to see an airplane being pulled down into the Atlantic ocean. Samantha’s ears are covered from the loudness of the crashing plane. Both stare in wide-eye wonderment. The plane doesn’t sink slowly, rather, it is pulled under into the depth of the ocean.
SAMANTHA
(scared/shocked)
What the hell was that?MULDER
(baffled)
An airplane.What the hell would an airplane be doing in the sky? Mulder’s mind races. What could this mean? He’s mesmerized by the event. It was so peculiar.
MULDER
It almost... it was almost as if
it were pulled down by something.He slowly starts to walk towards the ocean. Samantha stays behind. She’s frightened. Airplanes shouldn’t be in the sky anymore, and they certainly shouldn’t be pulled out of the sky.
MULDER
Something’s out there.His eyes remain focused on the ocean. His mind remembering back to a case that has been closed for seven years.
MULDER
I once investigated this case about
an airplane that did just that – crash
into the Atlantic ocean. (beat) Air traffic
control reported that moments before it
vanished from their screens it appeared
to be hovering. Then it just plunged straight
into the ocean below.Mulder is oblivious to his sister’s fear of what just happened. He’s in a world all his own...
MULDER
I was in a plane crash about a
year ago. We didn’t hover, but
seemed to be pulled down by a
magnetic force. I think it was
caused by a chip in Scully’s neck.SAMANTHA
(scared)
Are you saying I crashed the plane?MULDER
No... Flight 194 was crashed because
of a little girl on the flight with
a chip in her neck. (beat) Remember
you said you were abducted by good
aliens? Maybe the bad aliens have been
crashing the planes.SAMANTHA
(scared)
So you’re saying that bad aliens
are in the water?There goes her belief that “Signs” was right and that the water would be safe for them.
Mulder turns away from her and looks out at the ocean.
MULDER
It’s something I’ve always wondered.
Ever since Flight 194 went down seven
years ago. I never got a chance to
check it out myself.SAMANTHA
Fox, we’re forgetting one minor detail.He turns to face his sister once again.
MULDER
What’s that?SAMANTHA
The airplane was in the sky. Why would
someone be flying a commercial airliner
when the aliens have invaded our planet?
Alien spacecrafts occupy the sky, not airplanes.Mulder doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t have an answer for her. He looks back out at the ocean.
MULDER
I don’t know, but we need to find out.
(beat) I need to know what happened...A mission is in his head. Maybe he can find survivors of the crash and figure out what happened and why they were in the sky. Off his distant look out at the ocean...
CUT TO:
INT. ROOM – COLORADO
Alex Krycek lies in his bed, restless, looking at the picture of Marita. His finger runs over her image, his mind races to recall his life. He looks over at Brad, he’s not asleep either and stares up at the ceiling. Obviously, he’s in deep thought. About what, Krycek can only wonder. His eyes find the rock with the strange markings. The other man Brad came with, Robert Comer, said that it might be able to help them escape. They need to escape.
Coleman’s been horrible to everyone, and Krycek fears that the situation will only get worse. He’s been showing a vicious side no one’s ever seen before. They’ve only heard the rumors of the dead bodies he keeps in a locked room. Why doesn’t he bury them? Why doesn’t he care about the living?
Then there’s been talk about how Coleman used to reside at this mental institution and that’s how he got so many people to follow him. He was probably some cult leader who would persuade the weak minded into joining him on his “crusade” or what ever he thinks he’s doing.
The number of people working for Coleman out in the trenches have diminished considerable. Not from natural death, but by the hand of Coleman and his men. They have killed innocent men for no reason. Anyone is a target.
Outside the room, Krycek hears muffled talking. He can’t make out what is being said, but recognizes one of the voices as that of Gravedigger, Coleman’s right hand man. He turns his head slightly, not lifting it from his pillow to look at the door in the hopes of hearing the conversation better.
The door opens and Krycek quickly looks away, hiding the fact that he is awake. He shuts his eyes, and carefully hides the picture of Marita.
Gravedigger enters the room, picking up one of the weaker men near by and dragging him out of the room.
If anyone is awake, they don’t let it be known. Now is a time to sleep and disobeying Coleman’s orders could get you killed. Krycek opens his eyes again when he hears the door shut. He looks over at Brad, who is looking in the direction of the door.
KRYCEK
(hushed whisper)
We can’t let this continue.BRAD
(whisper)
There’s nothing we can do.KRYCEK
This is happening more
and more often, Brad. (beat)
We have to do something. (beat)
I mean, what about that woman I
spoke with, Monica? What about her?
We don’t know if she’s all right. We
don’t even know if she’s alive anymore.
We need to do something.BRAD
(whisper)
Keep your voice down. Do
you want to get us killed?KRYCEK
(quiet whisper)
I just don’t understand how
you can lay there and just let
this continue to happen. (beat)
It’s not right. None of this is.
If we don’t do something now...
It’ll be too late to do anything at all.Krycek sits up and puts his feet on the floor. Brad looks at him with wide eyes. Is he trying to get himself killed?
BRAD
(whisper)
What in god’s name are you doing?KRYCEK
I can’t just sit here and let
innocent people die.He stands. Brad can’t believe what he’s doing. He’s never seen Krycek act in an unselfish manner.
KRYCEK
I’m going with or without you.He walks towards the door and cautiously peeks out into the hallway – the coast is clear and safe to leave. He feels a presence behind him. He turns his head to see Brad has followed him.
KRYCEK
Thought you weren’t coming.BRAD
I couldn’t let you go
alone. You may need help.KRYCEK
I thought you were worried
that if we do this we could
get killed?BRAD
You don’t get anywhere without
taking a risk. I want out, you
are determined to do this so-KRYCEK
- So two heads are better than one.BRAD
You sound like Mulder.KRYCEK
Who?BRAD
You lived with him.KRYCEK
Lived…? Him…? Am I-BRAD
- Gay? (beat) There were rumors
around the water cooler at work.
No damning evidence has ever… no…
there has been damning evidence but
you and Marita… it’s… it’s… almost…
It’s hard to define your relationship
with Mulder.Krycek has a weird look on his face.
KRYCEK
Anyway… we have to get out of
this place. We can discuss my life later…
Krycek is hesitant to know more about his relationship with Mulder and what it means. Not wanting this conversation to continue, he grabs Brad by the arm and they round the corner, running into a pair of Coleman’s guards.
GUARD #1
You’re not supposed to be out.Krycek and Brad quickly turn and try to run the other way, but the guards catch up to them, and knock them both over the head, knocking them unconscious.
FADE OUT:
OVER BLACK:
Feet slip on the rocky gravel of a dirt road as we hear the pounding sounds of a physical fight. A woman grunts, executing a hard blow to the attacker. THUD, a body hits the ground and all is silent except for the heavy breathing of the last person standing.
The wind howls across the darkness.
FADE UP:
EXT. DESERTED ROAD – SOMEWHERE NEW JERSEY
The woman’s body, Monica’s body, is silhouetted in front of the headlights of a broken down Chevy Impala. Dust slowly settles to the deserted dirt road, resting once again on the ground. Monica’s breath is rapid and her skin is shiny with sweat. Her trembling hand clutches with white knuckles to the bloody knife she protects herself with. Her eyes are downward, looking at the man she just killed. We follow her terrified eyes, half expecting to see the lifeless body of the Cigarette-Smoking Man and half expecting to see a lifeless alien.
But we see neither, rather a man we don’t know. His body lifeless on the dirt road, his skin wounded with self-inflicted cuts. But not all are from his own hand, however, the fatal wounds that took his life belong to Monica Reyes, who was lucky to be the last one standing.
Behind her, the Smoking Man emerges from the driver’s side of the car. His stunned expression is not from fear of the attack, but from awe of how quickly she was able to stop the attacker. Monica drops the knife to the ground and turns around to face him.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Are you all right?His concern is genuine, something we have never seen from him before. This is not the same ruthless black lunged son-of-a-bitch we know from all our other encounters with him. He’s changed. Perhaps from this alien war, perhaps by something else. He slowly shuts the car door and approaches Monica with worry, she has not answered him.
Monica catches her breath, lowers her heart rate back down to a normal pace, and slowly walks over to the car. Cancer Man keeps his eyes on her.
MONICA
(winded)
I’m fine. Let’s just get out of here.
I’d rather not have to ever do that again.She says nothing more as she opens the back passenger side door and retrieves a small duffle bag.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
I take it we’ll have to travel by foot?MONICA
Car’s too badly damaged.Cancer Man nods his head, believing her words. She hasn’t been wrong before. His eyes shift towards the road, looking down at the dead body. The man is larger and more massive than Monica, yet she defeated him quickly, without any hesitation. Of all the things he’s seen and done in his life, he’s never seen anyone take out a ruthless killer like she just did. She is special, more so than either of them can even know.
He returns to the car and retrieves his own small duffle bag.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Should we stay off the road? Head
into the woods?MONICA
Woods could provide shelter
instead of being exposed out here.She doesn’t look up at him as she talks. Concern washes over his face. He watches her as she walks over to him. Her arms are crossed in front of her body. He can tell she’s trying to stop trembling. He feels the need to talk to her, keep her talking so she doesn’t shut down and go into shock. He knows what its like to kill a man for the first time, though his assassination of JFK was nothing in comparison to what she just did.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Never killed before?He knows what kind of toll this can have on a person’s soul.
MONICA
Never.Her voice is shaky as she turns her back to him and he finishes getting all that he needs from the car. She looks out into the distance. Perhaps, he wonders, perhaps she is trying to sense if there is any more danger out there. But perhaps she is replying the attack in her mind.
The man came out of nowhere and was attacking their car, viciously breaking the window on Monica’s side. They had no choice but to pull over and try to stop him. The Cancer Man, however, was unable to get to his gun fast enough to help her. She was forced to defend herself with the man’s own knife. Never in her life has she killed a person like that.
MONICA
At the Academy, they train you to shoot to kill.They start walking off the road, heading into the wooded area. Cancer Man listens to her.
MONICA (CON’T)
We only fire our weapons to kill someone,
but I never had to do that. I’ve drawn
my weapon before, but never had to
actually kill someone.She shuts her eyes wishing she could clear what just happened out of her mind.
Cancer Man watches her for a moment, trying to get inside her head.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
You did the right thing, Monica.MONICA
I’m not a killer.She looks over at him, knowing he’s killed before.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
No you’re not, and I hope you
never have to do that again.MONICA
It will happen. More times. More death.
Even when once is more than enough, it’ll
keep happening and happening...Her thoughts are interrupted by sudden visions.
The first is of the artifact her Grandmama gave her before her death. It flies across the air, moving swiftly until it hits another artifact.
Monica stops walking and Cancer Man watches her. He’s seen this before. She’s having another vision.
Another flash enters her mind. This one is of ice and snow, howling wind. There’s a small settlement made from snow and ice – it appears abandon, or maybe it just feels that way. In the distance, approaching this settlement, is a large mass of people. Her mind gets flooded with loudness, sounds of screaming. Then...
A third flash. This one of Alex Krycek. Blood is coming out of his mouth and he falls to the ground. His eyes looking almost lifeless.
The visions stop with a blink of her eye.
Cancer Man places a hand gently on her shoulder. She turns to look at him.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
(concerned)
Are you ok?Monica slowly nods her head. She doesn’t know what these visions mean.
MONICA
We should keep moving.She walks off and the Smoking Man follows, hoping her visions weren’t about danger that waits ahead of them.
CUT TO:
EXT. THE ATLANTIC OCEAN – 4:30 A.M.
The moon sits high above the Atlantic Ocean shining down upon the waves, resting above the danger that lurks below. We start to fall from the sky... moving down, below the surface of the water, deeper and deeper into the depths of the unknown.
Darkness. Cold darkness surrounds us and for a moment we believe that we will never find light.
Until... a tiny speck of brightness emerges out of the darkness, gradually becoming larger and larger until we can barely make out a shape.
An alien spacecraft rests down below. It’s light now brighter, but buried down so far beneath the ocean surface that no one could ever find it. We move in closer, going through the surface of the craft, almost as if it were clear gel protecting the interior from dark water.
INT. ALIEN CRAFT – CON’T
A girl cries. Faintly at first, but as we find out way through the craft we see her. She is the young girl from Flight 194 that crashed in the past seven years ago, and now has crashed again in the present.
An alien hovers over her. It’s large, black eyes peer down and all the little girl can do is cry. The lights are bright all around the young girl, causing disoriented confusion.
Out of the white brightness emerges a machine-like instrument that moves closer to the young girl. She cries harder knowing that there is nothing she can do to stop this nightmare from happening. The machine latches to the back of her neck, on the base, removing a tiny implanted chip.
The alien takes the chip, and moves over to a monitor, similar to our own computer monitors. The alien sets the chip down on a metallic platform and data starts to download onto the alien equivalent to a computer. Words in English load to the screen and are quickly translated into the alien’s written character language.
However, there is something we have time to recognize. A name: Knowle Justin Rohrer. His name is followed by information about his life, his parents, his date of birth, and his present location. All of this, quickly translated into the alien’s language...
The destruction of Scully’s chip at the beginning of the Alien Colonization could only halt their take over plans for so long. But by going back in time, redeeming their first failed mission to crash Flight 194 and retrieve the chip, this second chance of crashing the plane from the past to the present has given the aliens the information they needed off of that chip. The technology developed by John Montgomery was far more advanced than he could even imagine... for it has just automatically updated from the past, to the present information...
TIME CUT TO:
INT. MOTEL – 4:31 A.M.
NORTH SHORE
LONG ISLAND, NEW YORKThe windows of the motel room are open to allow the humid breeze of fresh air inside the room. Outside it is raining heavily.
John and Dana lie in bed with only a thin, white sheet covering them. John has his arms wrapped around Dana protectively, he is not asleep as she is, he’s alert and ready to protect her no matter what.
His mind hasn’t had much time to try to make sense out of what he’s learned regarding her cancer. All he knows for certain is that one day he will lose her to the disease. He looks down at her hands. He noticed a week ago, soon after they were reunited, that she no longer wears the engagement ring he gave her. He hasn’t yet asked her where it is.
Despite the loss of the engagement ring, and the world falling apart around them, John still wants more than ever to make Dana his wife, but there is no longer any legal means in which to do so.
Dana moans in her sleep, a low moan coming from her throat. Her eyes snap open and she gasps and tries to sit up. John lets go of her and sits up next to her. She looks around her as if to figure out where she is.
DOGGETT
Dana?SCULLY
Where are we?
She presses the palm of her hand to her forehead. She knows she must know where they are, she just can’t remember.
DOGGETT
We stopped at a motel. We’re
on our way to Long Island to
find Mulder, remember?
Dana looks at him, her eyes tell it all, she doesn’t remember arriving here.
DOGGETT
Knowle, Shannon, Skinner, and
Montgomery are splitting guard duty-SCULLY
- We’re not on guard?DOGGETT
No. I requested you and I spend
as much time together as we can.SCULLY
They shouldn’t be giving us special
privileges simply because we’re a couple.DOGGETT
You’re dying, Dana. I want us to be
together as much as we can… like this.
John moves her hair from the back of her neck and kisses the area where the chip used to be implanted in her neck. The feel of his lips on her skin sends chills through her body. She closes her eyes and hopes that she won’t forget how she feels right now.
DOGGETT
(soft)
I don’t want to lose you…
She senses that he’s on the verge of crying. She turns around to face him.
SCULLY
Please, don’t cry… I can’t remain
strong if you cry…
A tear rolls down John’s cheek. Dana rests her forehead on his and wipes the tear away with her thumb. John pulls her close to him and kisses her. He kisses her as if she’s a fragile vase. With each breath between them, their kiss deepens. John places one hand on her lower back and lowers her down so her head rests on a pillow. He places his hand underneath her shirt and slowly moves his fingertip to rest just underneath her breast. He feels her body tense and he stops kissing her.
DOGGETT
(concerned)
Do you want this?
Dana closes her eyes as if she’s saying something to herself.
SCULLY
(whisper)
Make love to me, Johnny…
She pulls his body back down on top of hers and kisses him in a deeply loving way. John cups his hand on her breast and gives it a gentle squeeze. He feels Dana tugging at his shirt. He lifts his body from hers and peels the shirt off his body. Dana rolls on top of him, and kneels in front of him. Her eyes examine his body. There are scars of wounds that have healed that she’s never seen before. Scars he got after aliens began their invasion of the planet.
She touches his chest and then his arms. He’s much more muscular now than the last time they made love. She reaches down and takes his erection into her hand, sliding her hand into his boxer shorts. He trembles with the heartache he feels knowing this is the first of the few times they have together intimately. His heart aches with the love he has for her, and he wants her to feel how much he loves her tonight.
John strips Dana’s shirt from her body as she continues to stroke him with her delicate touch. She too has scars of wounds that have healed. Though it is dark, John can see stretch marks on her stomach and he wonders if she has been pregnant, and then he wonders if so, was the baby his? He decides not to ask her about this now. She needs him, needs to feel him. He lies her back down and removes her panties. He places his fingers in between her legs, she’s like silk.
DOGGETT
(whisper)
You’re so beautiful.
Dana spreads her legs a little wider to allow him entry into her body. She closes her eyes and winces. Her hands grasp onto John’s back and she feels the deep scar he got when the alien attacked him the night the Marine barracks were destroyed. She doesn’t know what caused the scar right now, her mind can only imagine… … In her head she hears the sounds of the breeding camp she was taken to, the moans of the many men who raped her there, the sounds of the alien-human hybrid babies she gave birth to several times a day.
The pain in between her legs is unbearable. She screams and opens her eyes.
She’s outside.
The rain is pouring down on her naked body. She sits up and tries to stand but the mud she’s in is slippery and she falls down. Her heart is racing and she’s crying uncontrollably. She thinks she must have been running from something or someone who has hurt her. She doesn’t remember where she has run from.
DOGGETT
(off screen, shouting)
Dana?! (beat) Say something sweetheart,
let me know where you are!
Dana remains silent. She knows that’s John Doggett’s voice, but she also remembers Skinner and Knowle telling her how John had died. She believes the aliens are trying to trick her. Why can’t she remember where she had been? She feels sexually violated as if a man has been inside her body. She shakes her head “no” and cries harder. She places her hand in between her legs protectively and curls up into a ball. She’s sick and tired of falling victim to sexual assault and violence. She wishes she had never been born or that she had died along with John.
She feels a hand gently touch her bare shoulder. She’s startled and not in any position to fight back. Maybe it’s best she doesn’t. Maybe she ought to just give in, give up. She looks up and sees a brunette woman.
SHANNON
(caring)
Dana… let’s get you back inside.
Shannon McMahon wraps a blanket around her and helps her to feet. Dana doesn’t yet remember where she is and who she is with, she is confused but at the same time she doesn’t feel threatened by this woman who has come to help her.
SHANNON
John! I found her!
Dana can hear the sound of someone running towards them. She struggles to break free of Shannon, but Shannon holds her gently so she cannot get away.
SHANNON
It’s ok, Dana, you’re safe.SCULLY
Who are you? Are you one of them?SHANNON
I’m Shannon McMahon. I’m with John.
Dana’s brow wrinkles. She doesn’t remember. She readjusts her focus to John as he hurries toward her. The rain washing blood from his nose.
DOGGETT
(worried)
Dana, sweetheart, are you all right?
He runs his hand over her forehead.
SHANNON
(yells)
Knowle! We found her!
Dana stares at John at first unsure if it’s really him. He sees her confusion immediately.
DOGGETT
I’m alive. Shan’ and I found you,
Knowle, Skinner, and Montgomery.
Dana squeezes her eyes to fight back tears. She remembers now how she found John back at the research facility a few days ago and how they are on their way to find Mulder in Long Island.
SCULLY
(about to cry)
I’m so sorry…DOGGETT
It’s not your fault, sweetheart.
John pulls Dana to him, out of Shannon’s grasp, and wraps his arm around her shoulder as he, Dana and Shannon head back to the motel.
DOGGETT
I triggered you, you got the better of
me and ran off. I should be the one to
apologize. I sensed something was off
and I continued… I’m sorry.
Dana looks down at her hand, remembering something she felt.
SCULLY
The scar on your back… how’d-DOGGETT
- An alien used its claw against me, cut me deep.SHANNON
He was unconscious for a week.
He’s lucky to be alive.
The three of them get back to the motel, soaking wet from the rain storm. Knowle, Skinner, and Montgomery stand outside, weapons drawn and ready for defensive action if need be.
MONTGOMERY
Does she need to be checked over?DOGGETT
She’s all right. I’ll get her dried
off and to sleep.Doggett pushes past Knowle, who grabs a hold of his arm to stop him.
KNOWLE
No, John. She needs to be looked at.Knowle’s tone is of authority and John doesn’t argue with him, though in his eyes he wants nothing more than to get Dana comfortable and back in his protective arms.
Knowle motions for Montgomery to come with him, John and Dana back to their motel room.
John helps Dana sit down on the bed. She looks embarrassed. Her eyes are lowered. Montgomery kneels down in front of her. Knowle stands back in the corner of the room, giving privacy, but still wanting to be in the know. Montgomery looks up at John who stands near Dana, his arms crossed across his chest, watching Montgomery’s every move.
MONTGOMERY
I suppose sex triggered her.DOGGETT
We had worked through all that before.
I didn’t think making love would be a problem tonight.
Montgomery looks into Dana’s eyes to check her for concussion.
MONTGOMERY
Several months ago Dana was taken
and subjected to a hybrid breeding
program in which she was held captive
and men forced on her in order to impregnate
her. That’s probably what she flashed back to,
those sexual violations. (beat) She didn’t tell you?
John’s jaw tightens with anger. Anger that Dana has been raped again. Anger that no one thought to inform him of this earlier. Anger with himself for wanting to make love to her, for triggering her. He looks down at Dana and she’s looking up at him, a youthful expression of worry on her face. Innocence that he swears he’s never seen in her before.
SCULLY
Don’t be angry. There was no way of
preventing what happened to me.DOGGETT
I could have listened to you and not
gone to the Marines when I was called
to duty. That way I could have been with
you to protect you all this time.SCULLY
John, please don’t talk about what
could have happened, it doesn’t change anything…MONICA
(voice over, rising over Dana’s voice)
… doesn’t change anything, You did what
you thought you needed to do to protect me…INT. WOODS – SOMEWHERE NEW JERSEY – 4:55 A.M.
Monica Reyes opens her eyes as if waking from a dream. She can still hear John and Dana’s voices in her head. This is the first time in a very long time that she’s been able to tap into them. The last time she envisioned all of her friends, she believed that they had died.
A fire cracks between her and the Cigarette-Smoking Man.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
You were talking in your sleep again.
Monica sits up and readjusts her back up against the back of a tree trunk.
MONICA
Smells like rain.
She looks up at the night sky.
MONICA
Rain symbolizes a washing away of the old…
fitting isn’t it that it will rain on you? She’ll never
forgive you but that you know, but she will
appreciate you when the time comes and you prove
your sincerity of your words and I’ll quote…
I’m sorry for all the evil I ever brought onto you.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
You’re seeing my future?MONICA
Telling you only what you will never
know if I hadn’t said anything. I know
deep inside you seek her forgiveness.
That you once truly loved her back before
she asked to forget her life with you, and
with John Montgomery. It upset you years
ago when you asked her to return to you, and
the project and she refused, choosing her new
life, friends, and lovers over you. So you acted
out, a childish habit you developed every time
you were placed in a new foster home as a child.
The Smoking Man is uncomfortable. He’s never quite sure how much Monica knows and how much she doesn’t know about him. So far what she’s said is dead on. Monica senses his thoughts, and flashes enter her mind: She sees a young woman smoking a cigarette. A road sign that says “Baton Rouge”. A young boy being hit by a father figure, but not his father. President Kennedy moments before he was shot, a view from the Grassy Knoll. Marines running at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. The words “Take a Chance”.
She blinks her eyes and the flashes stop. She looks at the Cancer Man.
MONICA
You never speak about your life.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
My life is nothing compared to
the work I’ve done. (beat) I’m
not one to discuss my life.She feels he is uncomfortable about the topic she brought up.
MONICA
Why? Do you think you have
any secrets worth keeping now?He doesn’t answer her.
MONICA
At least tell me where you were born.He hesitates. Reluctant to open up to anyone. Then, for a moment, he considers her words: Do his secrets even matter anymore?
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Baton Rouge.MONICA
I’ve been there. When I was living
in Louisiana. I worked in New Orleans
for a time with the FBI.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
I actually didn’t live there very long.MONICA
Why?CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Why are you so curious?MONICA
There’s nothing else to do. Besides,
I think I should know you a little
better since I’ve been with you for
this long, traveling across the country.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
You’ll find that my life is rather dull.He pulls out a book from his duffle bag, indicating the end of the conversation. Monica watches him for a few moments.
MONICA
“Take A Chance”.He looks up at her, feeling she knows something she’s not telling him. And now, his curiosity is piqued.
MONICA
What is that?CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Why?MONICA
I don’t know. It just came to me.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
If you must know, it was a novel
I once wrote a long time ago.MONICA
So you’re a writer from Baton Rouge?CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Yes.MONICA
I like to write too. I once was
writing a novel based on my life.
I would use my friend’s middle names.She smiles.
MONICA
Was your novel about your life?CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
The work I did actually. The work
no one ever thought was real.MONICA
Like alien assassinations?CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
You’ve read it?He looks at her, half with curiosity, and half with a hint of excitement that someone might have read his work. He stops himself from getting too excited. He can’t imagine she’d be one to read a rag like “Roman A’Clef”.
MONICA
No, sorry. But I’m sure it was
very well done.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
It was published in a magazine long
ago. (beat; unhappy) They changed the ending.MONICA
That’s not right. A novel’s ending
starts at the beginning.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
“I can kill you whenever
I please... but not today.”He smiles to himself, remembering his favorite line from “Take A Chance: A Jack Colquitt Adventure”.
MONICA
What did your parents do?Cancer Man’s smile fades and he looks at her directly.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
I could care less.MONICA
You never knew your parents, did you?
Mother died of lung cancer. Father
was executed. You became property of the State.He doesn’t say anything to contradict what she just said. She’s a psychic for God’s sake, with her he has no secrets. Perhaps this is a welcome change, yet a change he isn’t familiar with. For so long he’s hidden himself in secrecy. Now, do secrets even matter? Who would care if he used to work for a secret government that knew about the aliens coming to colonize the planet?
MONICA
My parents were murdered when I was three.He listens to her. For the first time in his life he has someone to talk to. Could she even understand him?
MONICA (CON’T)
But I never got in the hands of the State.
The Reyes family adopted me quickly.(beat)
Probably because they felt they owed it to
Carlos and I since their eldest son was my
parent’s murderer.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
My father helped the Communist by leaking
sensitive material about the American’s
entering World War II. He was executed.MONICA
What about your mother?CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Never knew her. She died of lung cancer
before I ever spoke my first word. (beat)
It’s been a long day and I’m really not-MONICA
-What are you so afraid of?He looks at her with surprise.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Afraid?MONICA
You don’t want to talk about
your life. What are you afraid
of? That I’ll see you as some
evil monster? (beat) Hate to tell
you this, but I only know you as
the man you show to the world, not
as the man you really are. (beat) You’ve
shown me genuine care. There must be
more to you than you’ve ever let anyone
see. (beat) What are you so afraid of?
This war, the destruction of our world...
This is your second chance.He looks at her. Never in his life has he ever met anyone who was interested in him... the real him. He’s never spoken about his life to anyone, not even the people who were closest to him in the past.
Monica holds back her smile. She’s read his thought.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
I was born in 1938. The day Orson Welles
and The Mercury Theatre on the Air did
their broadcast of H.G. Wells’s “War of the Worlds”.MONICA
October 30th.Cancer Man smiles and nods his head.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
You know your broadcast history.She smiles.
MONICA
Knowle was a Broadcasting major for a time
when he was in college. I roomed with
him then. He loved to share all the
fascinating trivia he discovered.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
My father helped the Communists and my
mother died of lung cancer. She was a
cigarette smoker. (beat) I became property
of the State on November 12, 1941, the day
my father was executed for his crimes. (beat)
I wasn’t born a monster as you see me. Ones choices
in life are rarely made by decisions alone. Rather
by influences in life that lead us to the decisions
we make. I didn’t wake up on a sunny day and decide
to toss away my dreams of becoming an award winning
novelist to become a monster of a man.MONICA
You were hurt?Cancer Man doesn’t respond. He’s never met anyone bold enough to ask that kind of question. Yet... with her, he doesn’t feel he needs to hide anything.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Yes. As if having a father who helped
the Commies wasn’t hard enough, my life
as property of the State was far from
luxury living. (beat) I closed myself off
from people, read books. And when I was
old enough to leave my foster parents I
joined the Army.MONICA
Which ultimately lead to your life
in the Syndicate.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
If you could call it a life. (beat)
My hopes of retirement from the Group
were all on the book I wrote. When that
fell through...He shakes his head.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Well... let’s just say I gave into
the life that was decided for me.He looks at her for a moment, considering the life she must have lived.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
You have lived a very fortunate life.
(beat) You probably don’t have any
regrets, do you?MONICA
Of course I do. My life isn’t
peaches and cream. (beat) I’ve
made a lot of mistakes, things
I regret. But the difference between
you and I is that you let your
regrets rule your life. (beat)
It’s why you hurt Dana. It’s why
you ran the Syndicate the way you
did. It’s why you made selfish acts
that hurt others just so you could
get a step above everyone else.For the first time in their conversation, Cancer Man looks away from her and into the fire. He thinks of the selfishness he’s done recently. The deals he tried to make with the aliens, the deal he has with them now. Surely she must know. He can’t bring it to himself to look up at her for fear she’s read into him and will see him as the monster that he only allows the world to see.
This is guilt he feels. Guilt for his past and guilt for his present.
He looks up at her, making eye contact with her. He sees it in her eyes, she has sensed his thoughts. She knows what he’s done. He didn’t get her away from Coleman to save her or to bring her to Knowle Rohrer. His act was selfish in its entirety, a deal he has struggled with since day one of the Colonization. A trade with the aliens. Give them Monica and they’ll spare him, secure him safety and immunity and a place of power and control in their new world.
Regret washes over him for his betrayal of her. She’s protected him, listened to him. In his own way he has started to see her as a friend.
Movement in the darkness behind Monica catches Cancer Man’s attention. His eyes widen. She looks at him, feeling his fear.
MONICA
What? What is it?CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
We have to run.He quickly gets up and pulls her to her feet.
Behind them a nasty snarl is heard. Monica looks back as the Cancer Man tries to save her. She sees an alien approaching fast and before she knows it, she is knocked to the ground with such a force that it knocks the wind out of her. Her vision blurs, she’s disoriented and dizzy. Sounds are fuzzy. She hears an alien growl and the sound of running.
Then nothing.
FADE TO BLACK:
FADE IN:
EXT. THE MULDER CAMP
SOUTH SHORE
LONG ISLAND, NEW YORKSamantha sits in the tent, hugging her knees to her chest. She watches her brother out on the beach. He’s become obsessed for hours about this plane crash and she’s too scared to sleep alone in the tent.
SAMANTHA
Fox...Mulder turns around when he hears her voice.
SAMANTHA
It’s late Fox. We need to sleep.MULDER
Something’s out there. We need
to find a boat or something.SAMANTHA
It’s five in the morning, Fox.She’s becoming very displeased with her brother.
MULDER
Samantha, we can’t just let this
rest for the night–SAMANTHA
-Morning-MULDER
-Answers are out there and the
longer we sit here on this beach
the faster they sink away. (beat)
Are you going to stay here? Or are
you coming with me?Samantha gets up with a huff. She’s tired, worn out, scared and now she has to go on a boat hunt with her brother.
SAMANTHA
(mad)
You really are a buttmunch, Fox.She storms off, walking ahead of him. He follows her down the beach, eventually catching up with her.
SAMANTHA
Why are you so crazy about
this plane crash anyway?MULDER
Because I’ve done some thinking.Samantha looks up at him.
MULDER (CON’T)
I read a long time ago in a science
journal that some alien abductees would
see the future. That aliens could time
travel. (beat) So I started to think.
What if Flight 194 from seven years ago
didn’t really crash then? Instead everyone
on that flight was abducted and later crashed
in the future, which is now our present.SAMANTHA
That sounds crazy.MULDER
Crazy in a way that it makes sense.SAMANTHA
So this boat you want to find...
What exactly are you planning on
doing with it once you find it?Mulder smiles, feeling back to the way things used to be. He’s working another x-file case.
MULDER
Go out to sea and investigate
what happened. Maybe find some
debris that can explain what happened.SAMANTHA
And do you know how to drive a boat?MULDER
No.SAMANTHA
Neither do I. So who’s going
to get you out there?MULDER
Mulder Luck.He has a hint of slyness to him.
SAMANTHA
Mulder Luck? What’s that?MULDER
I have this thing about me where
I’m in an unlucky situation, dangerous
even and I’ll be ok.He shrugs, not sure how else to explain what “Mulder Luck” is.
MULDER
I’ll just rely on Mulder Luck.SAMANTHA
Has anyone ever told you how spooky you are?Mulder can’t help but laugh that she finds him spooky too.
MULDER
Yeah. “Spooky” was actually my
nickname at the academy.SAMANTHA
You were spooky back then? It’s
a wonder how you even made it
into the FBI.Mulder smiles.
MULDER
(cracking a joke)
Guess it was Mulder Luck.Mulder stops walking upon seeing a boat tied to a dock near by.
MULDER
(smiles)
Ships ahoy!He stares proudly at the boat he’s going to claim as his own.
Off his look...
CUT TO:
INT. FACILITY – CONTROL ROOM
This facility is not in the run down condition of the New York Facility where Knowle, Scully, Skinner and Montgomery were previously staying. Instead, this facility is still up and running and is in top notch condition. The room is warmly lit and a single man sits in a chair at a desk. Lights from the computers and switchboards blink, indicating open signals for receiving and sending transmissions.
On the desk next to the man, one of the transmitters starts to receive a message, typing it out letter by letter on a piece of paper. The message reads:
"CAPTAIN. ALIENS HAVE CHIP. IT HAS AUTO UPDATED. INFO ABOUT ROHRER IS EXPOSED. HE WILL BE KILLED. YOU MUST WARN HIM BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."The man at the desk takes the message, glances at it and leaves the control room.
He walks down an empty hallway, stops in front of a door, then knocks. A moment later the door opens, revealing Captain William Scully, Sr. – Dana’s father, alive and well.
MAN
Sir, this just came.He hands Captain Scully the message and he takes it.
CAPTAIN SCULLY
Thank you.He shuts the door, looking down at the message, reading the words. He looks up. A look of worry in his eyes. This is not the news he wished to received.
Things could get worse. Much, much worse...
Off his look, we...
FADE OUT:
TO BE CONTINUED...
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