The X-Files s03e23 Episode Script
Wetwired
All right, you bastard.
Evil, rotten, son of a- There you go.
Your killing days are over! No.
No! No! All right, sir.
Put your hands in the air.
Keep 'em where I can see 'em.
We gota call.
You wanna tell us what youre doing out here? Sir? Turn over! Give me your hand.
Damn amp-head.
Oh, Lord.
jimmy, check this out.
Sarah? Sarah! Yeah.
Our blind date's not off to a great start.
I've been waiting here nearly two hours.
I was asked to make sure you weren't followed.
- It's just you, me and the drug dealers.
- Yeah, well, this area has always been known for its criminal element.
Especially when Congress is in session.
- What's this? - Something youll want to follow.
- Follow where? - That's all I have for you.
What do you mean, that's all you have for me? I get an anonymous E-mail to meet you here.
I don't know who you are or what you want.
I don't have any obligation or desire to give you any answers.
I'm not one of your sources.
Then youre just a messenger boy? It's late, Agent Mulder.
Go home.
Get some sleep.
Who told you to contact me? How do I know I'm not being played? I guess you don't.
Well, you can go ahead and recycle that then.
I've been asked to tell you, you walk away from this, more people will die.
Newscaster, indistinct.]
Sorry.
I would've got here sooner, but the Beltway was a parking lot.
- What's going on? - Multiple homicide- a bizarre one.
Thats Joseph Patnik.
He murdered five people- all of whom he insists was the same man.
- What do you mean? - He claims to have been killing the same man over and over.
- Does he have a history of mental illness? - Not that I know.
- But I only just got this case yesterday.
- So what's the X-File? In Patnik's neighborhood two weeks ago, a baby-sitter attacked the two children she was minding.
She told police she thought they were wolves.
And police found no other motive for either of these attacks? - None so far, no.
- Agent Mulder.
- I'm Dr.
Stroman.
- This is my partner Special Agent Scully.
- The physician in charge? - Yeah, they called me down from D.
C to try and develop a clear diagnosis for the court.
- Have you? - I wish I could say yes.
Has he been sedated? Heavy thorazine, but it only seemed to knock him back a notch.
He seems pretty manageable to me.
It may be some form of organic delusional syndrome, possibly due to chronic methamphetamine abuse, I don't know.
- But he is prone to outbursts.
- Who called you down on this case? A Dr.
Kahn from the Department of Social Health Services.
- Could we speak to him? - I don't think he's in today, but I could check for you.
Orderly! Calm down, calm down.
You're gonna be all right.
- Easy.
- Yes, Dr.
Stroman.
Lladoslav Miriskovic personally ordered the rape and murder of thousands of innocent civilians in war torn regions of the former Yugoslavia.
Reporting from- You said you got this case last night.
Where did it come from? - It came from an outside source.
- Who? This outside source, what's his interest in this case? - What does he want us to uncover? - I don't know.
And you're not suspicious that we're being used? We've got dead bodies and confessed murderers.
If were being used, it's to find out the connection.
That's what I'm interested in.
Isn't this a school day? - We didn't cut.
- We got a pass.
You got a pass to come in here and eat these people's food and watch their TV? - No.
- Are we in trouble now? - How'd you get in here? - Through the window.
They leave it open for the cat.
Well, maybe you should head back to school.
No, no, no.
Use the front door.
Explosions.]
Mulder.
Look at this.
There must be hundreds of videos here.
Anything good? All I see are recordings of cable news shows.
They're all dated and in chronological order.
That's what Patnik was watching at the hospital when he went all wiggy.
What if theres some connection? Between what he saw and what he recorded and what he did? You're the one who's interested.
I just watched 36 hours of Bernard Shaw and Bobby Batiste.
Now I'm about ready to kill somebody too.
I'm gonna show you something.
These tapes are dated April 19, April 21 and April 23.
Each corresponds to a night that Patnik committed murder.
- What's on the tapes? - Among other things, a one-hour special report on the atrocities in Bosnia.
A report that prominently features Lladoslav Miriskovic.
The same guy that started Patnik screaming in the psych ward? And my guess is that once I review the tapes for the night that Patnik killed his wife, that I'll find that report there as well.
So you think that because Patnik saw this war criminal on television, he was somehow inspired to go out and murder these people? Well, recent studies have linked violence on television to violent behavior.
But those studies are based on the assumptions that Americans are just empty vessels ready to be filled with any idea or image that's fed to them, like a bunch of Pavlov dogs, and go out and act on it.
But they believe that the causal connections are there.
Studies have shown connections between cow flatulence and the depletion of the ozone layer.
You're talking about pseudo-science used to make political book.
All I'm saying is that it's clear that the programs that Patnik watched somehow triggered his violent behavior.
- How? - The doctor suggested amphetamine abuse.
Maybe that, coupled with the disturbing images that he was watching, pushed him over the edge.
All I know is TV does not make a previously sane man go out and kill five people thinking they're all the same guy.
Not even " Must See TV" could do that to you.
Okay, then how do you explain it? I can't.
Not yet.
- Where are you going? - I'm gonna get some sleep.
Looks like you could use some too.
No, I'm gonna watch the rest of these tapes, just out of curiosity.
You have fun.
No, she doesn't.
Talk Show Theme Music.]
- [ Humming .]
- Good luck on the prize tonight.
Before we go any further, Id like to introduce- Washer/dryer! Tell 'em about it, Johnny.
This beautiful washer/dryer- Scully? - Yeah? - I just gota call.
There's been another murder.
Yeah.
I'll be right there.
It happened just less than an hour ago.
It seems to match our pattern- a housewife gone berserk.
The car's been moved.
Did you take it out last night? No.
Uh, I went out, and I got a paper this morning.
Why? Nothing.
Nothing.
Let's go see the crime scene.
- Thats all the information I have, sir.
- Thanks, Detective.
- You're welcome.
- Just got through talking to the detective in charge.
The shooter's name is Helene Riddock, age 42.
- They took her to county lockup.
- What happened? She claims she looked out the window and saw her husband in the hammock with a blonde.
- That blonde? - Yeah, apparently he was only taking a nap with his dog.
But Mrs.
Riddock swears she looked out the window and saw her husband in the hammock with a blonde woman.
So this woman killed her husband because she thought he was cheating on her? This is not even her husband.
Her husband's a long-haul trucker.
He's been out of town for the last ten days.
This is Mr.
John Gilnitz.
He's her next-door neighbor.
She didn't even have the right backyard.
Helene Riddock lives over here.
Scully? Yeah.
Let's check it out.
One of my favorites.
He is so cute.
"The Little Traveler" is normally $129.
99.
And that's what youre gonna pay at the department stores- A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
What do you think, Scully? I think television plays a large part in both of these murderers' lives.
As it does in almost every American home.
But television does not equal violence.
I don't care what anybody says- unless you consider bad taste an act of violence.
More tapes.
Hang on a second.
I'll be right back.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! - Mulder, what are you doing? - I'm coming down.
- What is it? - Some kind of cable trapper scrambler running from the pole into the house.
Maybe it's a job for Special Agent Pendrall in the sci-crime lab.
- Yeah.
- You want it analyzed? Yeah.
I'll do it.
It makes more sense for you to interview Helene Riddock.
Get her version of the story.
Maybe she knows what this thing is.
Is there a problem with that? No, that's, that's fine.
Stay in touch.
It looks a lot like a standard video trap for blocking premium cable channels.
- What does this one block? - Amazingly, it doesn't seem to block anything.
- Well, what does it do? - Glad you asked.
I bet all you guys were officers in the audio/visual club in high school, huh? This is the straight feed off our bars and tone generator.
And here are the bars and tone as attenuated through the device.
- It looks the same.
- Well, that's what youd think.
We couldn't discern any difference between the feeds- not until we compared them on the oscilloscope.
It still looks the same.
Hold onto your hat, dude.
We have touchdown.
So they're different.
So? They're different.
- You know the way TV works.
- Yeah, you click it on, you get a picture- It's a rapid series of still pictures fired against the tube.
There's something nonstandard here, in the vertical blanking interval- information that's being added into the spaces between the still pictures.
- What kind of information? - We don't know.
This is as far as we can get with this equipment.
- Well, cant you take it apart? - Not without destroying it completely.
- That's by design.
- An amazingly sophisticated design.
- All we can say for sure is- - This device is emitting a signal.
Mulder.
Where are you? I was just about to call you.
Look, I'm on my way back.
You may have been right, Scully, at least, partly.
There is a foreign signal being introduced into these people's homes through the TV set.
- Scully, are you there? - I'm here.
I think they may be running some kind of test.
Scully, did you hear what I just said? - So you had it analyzed? - Yeah.
I just talked to Agent Pendrall.
He said that you never showed up.
- I didn't take it over to Pendrall.
- Then where were you? I'd rather talk about it when we get on a landline, okay? We've dealt with these kind of people before.
We know what they're capable of.
- What was that? - What was what? There.
That noise.
Scully, is there something wrong? Mulder.
- Mulder, who's listening to- - Scully, look.
I'm gonna be right there, okay? Don't go anywhere.
Scu- Get back.
Call the police.
Scully.
Scully! Hello? Mrs.
Scully, hi.
It's Fox Mulder.
What is it? What's the matter? I was hoping that youd heard from Dana.
- No.
Something happened? - I'm, I'm not exactly sure.
There's- There's some confusion here.
She's missing.
What do you mean, missing? Well, she ran off last night.
Um w-we're looking for her as best we can.
- But we are a little concerned.
- Oh, my God.
I hate to do this to you, but I gotta hang up on you right now.
Fox, would you please just tell me what's wrong? Hang by the phone.
I will call you as soon as I know something.
Sir, can I have a word with you? This manhunt is being conducted as if we're searching for an escaped convict.
Mulder, I share your concern for Agent Scully.
But she fired four rounds at you and an unarmed civilian.
These officers should be instructed not to confront her once they find her.
- What would you have them do? - Just to keep an eye on her until I can get there.
- I think I can get her to listen to me.
- She didn't last night.
That's because she's not responsible for her own actions.
She's suffering from some kind of paranoid psychosis.
- Brought on by what? - I can't explain the exact mechanism, but it has to do with certain videotapes we watched that we recovered from a crime scene.
- Videotapes? - Videotapes that contain an electronic signal that somehow induces violent behavior.
Do you have any proof of this? I'm working on that.
Whatever prompted her behavior, the fact remains that Scully is armed and obviously dangerous.
I suggest you marshal whatever resources you have to make sure you find her first.
- Mulder.
- We pulled something off that videotape in Scully's room.
- What is it? - Something interesting.
But we don't want to talk about it over the phone.
Big Brother may be listening.
Here is the tape Scully was reviewing last night.
- We scanned samples of the tape onto disks.
- Digitized it.
Using some interpolating freeware we pulled down off the net, we were able to blank out the invisible frames.
What am I looking at? Well, this is the actual signal your cable trap device was emitting.
Of course, we slowed it down significantly.
It's designed to cycle at 15flashespersecond to induce what's known as the photic driving response.
Bring it home, boys.
This device is stimulating electrical activity in the brain.
Studies into subliminal influence have shown a correlation between heightened suggestibility and the manipulation of this response.
- Mind control? - 57 channels of it.
Tachistoscopic images, like they use to sell popcorn at the movies.
Both Russian and American scientists have been working with them for decades.
- Not to mention Madison Avenue.
- The naked lady in the ice cube.
- Ah, one of my personal favorites.
- Why wasnt I affected? That's the one thing we haven't figured out yet.
This, uh, subliminal signal- could color be a factor in it? - Maybe.
- I'm red-green color blind.
His inability to perceive the color red could render him immune to psychotropic effects.
- But why design a color-dependent signal? - Why not? Red-green colorblind- - Mulder.
That's only a small percentage of the male population.
Which still leaves the vast majority vulnerable to its effects.
- I'll be right there.
- What happened? Maryland State Police.
They think they've found Scully.
Is she okay? No, um- They think maybe I should come down and I.
D.
the body.
Get in.
- I can't talk to you right now.
- They're watching you.
Get in before you get us both killed.
That's an interesting choice of words.
My partner may be dead.
- That's not my concern.
- The hell it isn't! We're here because of you! - Keep your voice down.
- Who are you? Who do you work for? We're wasting time.
While you're chasing your partner, they're destroying the evidence.
- Who? - Just follow the evidence.
If you don't, by tomorrow the responsible parties will be out of your reach.
A state highway patrolman found the body off a rural highway at approximately 2:00 p.
m.
Nude, shot in the forehead.
- Are you ready? - Let me do that.
It's not her.
Somebody has to call her mother.
We already tried.
We weren't able to reach her.
She's not answering her phone? - Mrs.
Scully.
Is she here? - Uh, no.
You haven't been answering your phone.
- When I hear from her, I'll call you, okay? - I need to see her.
Fox, please.
Go away.
Go away! Where is she? Dana, putdown the gun! I'm here to help you, Scully.
I told you, Mom.
He's here to kill me.
- I'm on your side.
You know that.
- Put it down, Dana.
Scully, listen tome very carefully.
You don't know it, but you're sick with the same thing that drove those other people to murder.
- And whatever you think may be happening- - Just step back.
Dana, you're not yourself.
He's telling you the truth.
It's not the truth, Mom.
He's lied to me from the beginning.
- He never trusted me.
- Scully, you are the only one I trust.
You're in on it.
You're one of them.
You're one of the people who abducted me.
You put that thing in my neck! You killed my sister! - That's not true, Dana.
- It is.
- I want you to listen to me.
- Mom, just get out of the way! You trust me, dont you? You know that I would never hurt you.
That I would never let anybody hurt you.
That's why you came here, isn't it? You're safe here.
Put the gun down, Dana.
Put it down.
Dr.
Monsignor.
How are you feeling? Ashamed.
I was so sure, Mulder.
I saw things, and I heard things.
And it was just like the world was turned upside down.
Everybody was out to get me.
Now you know how I feel most of the time.
I thought you were gonna kill me.
I'm not surprised.
I did some checking.
Joseph Patnik thought he was murdering a Bosnian war criminal, a man the media described as a modern day Hitler.
It turns out both Patnik's parents were Holocaust survivors.
- I'm not following.
- Helene Riddock was scared that her husband was gonna be unfaithful to her.
You see a pattern developing? What if this video signal somehow turned these people's anxieties into some kind of dementia? A virtual reality of their own worst nightmares.
Like me thinking that youd betray me.
I was so far gone, Mulder, I thought that you were gone to the other side.
- What do you mean? - That cancer man, that man who smokes all those cigarettes.
I was sure that I saw the two of you sitting in your car in the motel parking lot.
You were reporting to him.
You handed him a videotape.
It it was crazy.
- Well, maybe not.
- What do you mean? Well, somebody's behind this.
We just don't know who.
- You think it could be him? - I don't know.
Why dont you try to get some rest? - Dr.
Lorenz? - Agent Mulder.
I was just about to check in on your partner.
What course of treatment have you outlined for Agent Scully? At this point, nothing more than bed rest.
We still haven't been able to determine what brought this on.
As far as I can tell, there's nothing medically wrong with her.
- Well, that didn't seem to be the case last night.
- No, it wasn't.
It's got me puzzled.
Her M.
R.
I.
was negative, but the spinal tap revealed high levels of serotonin in her brain.
Do you think that would account for her strange behavior? High serotonin levels have been associated with mania.
But the good news is, as of this afternoon, her levels are pretty much back to normal.
Dr.
Lorenz, uh, would you have made a diagnosis of amphetamine abuse for someone in Agent Scully's condition? Not given her serotonin levels.
No, that wouldn't make any sense.
Thank you.
Braddock Heights.
Yeah, I need the number for the Frederick County Psychiatric Hospital.
Ward three.
This is Fox Mulder with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
I need to talk to Dr.
Stroman, please.
I'm sorry.
Dr.
Stroman is no longer here.
I believe he's returned to Washington.
- Know where I can reach him? - I'm not sure.
He left us a local number.
It's around here somewhere.
- Is it 555-0135? - That's it.
Thank you.
You want me to go first this time? Damn straight.
I haven't had a chance to clean the room yet.
He just checked out.
But with all the excitement, I don't blame him.
- Do you charge for local calls? - Of course.
- Then you'd have a record of all calls made from here? - I'll get it.
Thank you.
Here you go.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Hey, Danny.
It's Mulder.
I need you to check a number for me.
- That's what he told me, Stroman.
- Then where is he? - He said he'd be here.
- He'll be here.
Its almost 7:00.
I cant wait any longer.
There's no sign of him! You're too late, Agent Mulder.
Now that youve destroyed all the evidence.
You were told this would happen.
You made your choice.
I just didn't know I was working for you.
I had no alternative.
I was being watched too closely.
I couldn't risk compromising myself.
- Why kill them if you wanted me to expose them? - Those were always my orders.
I was just hoping you'd get to them first.
And uncover what? What were they trying to do? Manipulate people's behavior? Alter their decision-making process? What to buy? Who to vote for? You think they'll stop at commerce and politics? Where will they stop? That's where you failed, Agent Mulder.
Don't lay this off on me.
You pulled me into this situation because you didn't have the courage to reveal the truth yourself.
- Feel better now? - You're a coward! You work in the shadows.
You feed me scraps, hoping that I could piece it together.
You've made me risk my life, you've risked my partner's life and you never risk your own! Youre not walking away from this.
You're risking your life right now.
You failed.
This is your success? Killing me? The truth is, you need me, Agent Mulder.
This is your final report, Agent Mulder? - Yes, sir.
- I see more questions here than I do answers.
You don't know who manufactured the device you found or what its purpose was.
No, sir.
- Agent Scully, welcome back.
- I'm sorry I'm late.
I just got back from the documents section.
What did you find out about the two men Mulder found executed? The cable company employee had no criminal record.
In fact, there was nothing remarkable about him whatsoever.
We found a medical license under the name " Dr.
Henry Stroman" in Falls Church, Virginia.
He died in 1978.
What about their killer? He remains an unknown subject.
Have you completed your work? All the personnel and hardware have been removed.
But Mulder still has one of the devices.
Well, it proves nothing.
What about, uh, Mulder's source? He's been eliminated.
And his source? Who's he working with? That person remains unknown.
Evil, rotten, son of a- There you go.
Your killing days are over! No.
No! No! All right, sir.
Put your hands in the air.
Keep 'em where I can see 'em.
We gota call.
You wanna tell us what youre doing out here? Sir? Turn over! Give me your hand.
Damn amp-head.
Oh, Lord.
jimmy, check this out.
Sarah? Sarah! Yeah.
Our blind date's not off to a great start.
I've been waiting here nearly two hours.
I was asked to make sure you weren't followed.
- It's just you, me and the drug dealers.
- Yeah, well, this area has always been known for its criminal element.
Especially when Congress is in session.
- What's this? - Something youll want to follow.
- Follow where? - That's all I have for you.
What do you mean, that's all you have for me? I get an anonymous E-mail to meet you here.
I don't know who you are or what you want.
I don't have any obligation or desire to give you any answers.
I'm not one of your sources.
Then youre just a messenger boy? It's late, Agent Mulder.
Go home.
Get some sleep.
Who told you to contact me? How do I know I'm not being played? I guess you don't.
Well, you can go ahead and recycle that then.
I've been asked to tell you, you walk away from this, more people will die.
Newscaster, indistinct.]
Sorry.
I would've got here sooner, but the Beltway was a parking lot.
- What's going on? - Multiple homicide- a bizarre one.
Thats Joseph Patnik.
He murdered five people- all of whom he insists was the same man.
- What do you mean? - He claims to have been killing the same man over and over.
- Does he have a history of mental illness? - Not that I know.
- But I only just got this case yesterday.
- So what's the X-File? In Patnik's neighborhood two weeks ago, a baby-sitter attacked the two children she was minding.
She told police she thought they were wolves.
And police found no other motive for either of these attacks? - None so far, no.
- Agent Mulder.
- I'm Dr.
Stroman.
- This is my partner Special Agent Scully.
- The physician in charge? - Yeah, they called me down from D.
C to try and develop a clear diagnosis for the court.
- Have you? - I wish I could say yes.
Has he been sedated? Heavy thorazine, but it only seemed to knock him back a notch.
He seems pretty manageable to me.
It may be some form of organic delusional syndrome, possibly due to chronic methamphetamine abuse, I don't know.
- But he is prone to outbursts.
- Who called you down on this case? A Dr.
Kahn from the Department of Social Health Services.
- Could we speak to him? - I don't think he's in today, but I could check for you.
Orderly! Calm down, calm down.
You're gonna be all right.
- Easy.
- Yes, Dr.
Stroman.
Lladoslav Miriskovic personally ordered the rape and murder of thousands of innocent civilians in war torn regions of the former Yugoslavia.
Reporting from- You said you got this case last night.
Where did it come from? - It came from an outside source.
- Who? This outside source, what's his interest in this case? - What does he want us to uncover? - I don't know.
And you're not suspicious that we're being used? We've got dead bodies and confessed murderers.
If were being used, it's to find out the connection.
That's what I'm interested in.
Isn't this a school day? - We didn't cut.
- We got a pass.
You got a pass to come in here and eat these people's food and watch their TV? - No.
- Are we in trouble now? - How'd you get in here? - Through the window.
They leave it open for the cat.
Well, maybe you should head back to school.
No, no, no.
Use the front door.
Explosions.]
Mulder.
Look at this.
There must be hundreds of videos here.
Anything good? All I see are recordings of cable news shows.
They're all dated and in chronological order.
That's what Patnik was watching at the hospital when he went all wiggy.
What if theres some connection? Between what he saw and what he recorded and what he did? You're the one who's interested.
I just watched 36 hours of Bernard Shaw and Bobby Batiste.
Now I'm about ready to kill somebody too.
I'm gonna show you something.
These tapes are dated April 19, April 21 and April 23.
Each corresponds to a night that Patnik committed murder.
- What's on the tapes? - Among other things, a one-hour special report on the atrocities in Bosnia.
A report that prominently features Lladoslav Miriskovic.
The same guy that started Patnik screaming in the psych ward? And my guess is that once I review the tapes for the night that Patnik killed his wife, that I'll find that report there as well.
So you think that because Patnik saw this war criminal on television, he was somehow inspired to go out and murder these people? Well, recent studies have linked violence on television to violent behavior.
But those studies are based on the assumptions that Americans are just empty vessels ready to be filled with any idea or image that's fed to them, like a bunch of Pavlov dogs, and go out and act on it.
But they believe that the causal connections are there.
Studies have shown connections between cow flatulence and the depletion of the ozone layer.
You're talking about pseudo-science used to make political book.
All I'm saying is that it's clear that the programs that Patnik watched somehow triggered his violent behavior.
- How? - The doctor suggested amphetamine abuse.
Maybe that, coupled with the disturbing images that he was watching, pushed him over the edge.
All I know is TV does not make a previously sane man go out and kill five people thinking they're all the same guy.
Not even " Must See TV" could do that to you.
Okay, then how do you explain it? I can't.
Not yet.
- Where are you going? - I'm gonna get some sleep.
Looks like you could use some too.
No, I'm gonna watch the rest of these tapes, just out of curiosity.
You have fun.
No, she doesn't.
Talk Show Theme Music.]
- [ Humming .]
- Good luck on the prize tonight.
Before we go any further, Id like to introduce- Washer/dryer! Tell 'em about it, Johnny.
This beautiful washer/dryer- Scully? - Yeah? - I just gota call.
There's been another murder.
Yeah.
I'll be right there.
It happened just less than an hour ago.
It seems to match our pattern- a housewife gone berserk.
The car's been moved.
Did you take it out last night? No.
Uh, I went out, and I got a paper this morning.
Why? Nothing.
Nothing.
Let's go see the crime scene.
- Thats all the information I have, sir.
- Thanks, Detective.
- You're welcome.
- Just got through talking to the detective in charge.
The shooter's name is Helene Riddock, age 42.
- They took her to county lockup.
- What happened? She claims she looked out the window and saw her husband in the hammock with a blonde.
- That blonde? - Yeah, apparently he was only taking a nap with his dog.
But Mrs.
Riddock swears she looked out the window and saw her husband in the hammock with a blonde woman.
So this woman killed her husband because she thought he was cheating on her? This is not even her husband.
Her husband's a long-haul trucker.
He's been out of town for the last ten days.
This is Mr.
John Gilnitz.
He's her next-door neighbor.
She didn't even have the right backyard.
Helene Riddock lives over here.
Scully? Yeah.
Let's check it out.
One of my favorites.
He is so cute.
"The Little Traveler" is normally $129.
99.
And that's what youre gonna pay at the department stores- A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
What do you think, Scully? I think television plays a large part in both of these murderers' lives.
As it does in almost every American home.
But television does not equal violence.
I don't care what anybody says- unless you consider bad taste an act of violence.
More tapes.
Hang on a second.
I'll be right back.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! - Mulder, what are you doing? - I'm coming down.
- What is it? - Some kind of cable trapper scrambler running from the pole into the house.
Maybe it's a job for Special Agent Pendrall in the sci-crime lab.
- Yeah.
- You want it analyzed? Yeah.
I'll do it.
It makes more sense for you to interview Helene Riddock.
Get her version of the story.
Maybe she knows what this thing is.
Is there a problem with that? No, that's, that's fine.
Stay in touch.
It looks a lot like a standard video trap for blocking premium cable channels.
- What does this one block? - Amazingly, it doesn't seem to block anything.
- Well, what does it do? - Glad you asked.
I bet all you guys were officers in the audio/visual club in high school, huh? This is the straight feed off our bars and tone generator.
And here are the bars and tone as attenuated through the device.
- It looks the same.
- Well, that's what youd think.
We couldn't discern any difference between the feeds- not until we compared them on the oscilloscope.
It still looks the same.
Hold onto your hat, dude.
We have touchdown.
So they're different.
So? They're different.
- You know the way TV works.
- Yeah, you click it on, you get a picture- It's a rapid series of still pictures fired against the tube.
There's something nonstandard here, in the vertical blanking interval- information that's being added into the spaces between the still pictures.
- What kind of information? - We don't know.
This is as far as we can get with this equipment.
- Well, cant you take it apart? - Not without destroying it completely.
- That's by design.
- An amazingly sophisticated design.
- All we can say for sure is- - This device is emitting a signal.
Mulder.
Where are you? I was just about to call you.
Look, I'm on my way back.
You may have been right, Scully, at least, partly.
There is a foreign signal being introduced into these people's homes through the TV set.
- Scully, are you there? - I'm here.
I think they may be running some kind of test.
Scully, did you hear what I just said? - So you had it analyzed? - Yeah.
I just talked to Agent Pendrall.
He said that you never showed up.
- I didn't take it over to Pendrall.
- Then where were you? I'd rather talk about it when we get on a landline, okay? We've dealt with these kind of people before.
We know what they're capable of.
- What was that? - What was what? There.
That noise.
Scully, is there something wrong? Mulder.
- Mulder, who's listening to- - Scully, look.
I'm gonna be right there, okay? Don't go anywhere.
Scu- Get back.
Call the police.
Scully.
Scully! Hello? Mrs.
Scully, hi.
It's Fox Mulder.
What is it? What's the matter? I was hoping that youd heard from Dana.
- No.
Something happened? - I'm, I'm not exactly sure.
There's- There's some confusion here.
She's missing.
What do you mean, missing? Well, she ran off last night.
Um w-we're looking for her as best we can.
- But we are a little concerned.
- Oh, my God.
I hate to do this to you, but I gotta hang up on you right now.
Fox, would you please just tell me what's wrong? Hang by the phone.
I will call you as soon as I know something.
Sir, can I have a word with you? This manhunt is being conducted as if we're searching for an escaped convict.
Mulder, I share your concern for Agent Scully.
But she fired four rounds at you and an unarmed civilian.
These officers should be instructed not to confront her once they find her.
- What would you have them do? - Just to keep an eye on her until I can get there.
- I think I can get her to listen to me.
- She didn't last night.
That's because she's not responsible for her own actions.
She's suffering from some kind of paranoid psychosis.
- Brought on by what? - I can't explain the exact mechanism, but it has to do with certain videotapes we watched that we recovered from a crime scene.
- Videotapes? - Videotapes that contain an electronic signal that somehow induces violent behavior.
Do you have any proof of this? I'm working on that.
Whatever prompted her behavior, the fact remains that Scully is armed and obviously dangerous.
I suggest you marshal whatever resources you have to make sure you find her first.
- Mulder.
- We pulled something off that videotape in Scully's room.
- What is it? - Something interesting.
But we don't want to talk about it over the phone.
Big Brother may be listening.
Here is the tape Scully was reviewing last night.
- We scanned samples of the tape onto disks.
- Digitized it.
Using some interpolating freeware we pulled down off the net, we were able to blank out the invisible frames.
What am I looking at? Well, this is the actual signal your cable trap device was emitting.
Of course, we slowed it down significantly.
It's designed to cycle at 15flashespersecond to induce what's known as the photic driving response.
Bring it home, boys.
This device is stimulating electrical activity in the brain.
Studies into subliminal influence have shown a correlation between heightened suggestibility and the manipulation of this response.
- Mind control? - 57 channels of it.
Tachistoscopic images, like they use to sell popcorn at the movies.
Both Russian and American scientists have been working with them for decades.
- Not to mention Madison Avenue.
- The naked lady in the ice cube.
- Ah, one of my personal favorites.
- Why wasnt I affected? That's the one thing we haven't figured out yet.
This, uh, subliminal signal- could color be a factor in it? - Maybe.
- I'm red-green color blind.
His inability to perceive the color red could render him immune to psychotropic effects.
- But why design a color-dependent signal? - Why not? Red-green colorblind- - Mulder.
That's only a small percentage of the male population.
Which still leaves the vast majority vulnerable to its effects.
- I'll be right there.
- What happened? Maryland State Police.
They think they've found Scully.
Is she okay? No, um- They think maybe I should come down and I.
D.
the body.
Get in.
- I can't talk to you right now.
- They're watching you.
Get in before you get us both killed.
That's an interesting choice of words.
My partner may be dead.
- That's not my concern.
- The hell it isn't! We're here because of you! - Keep your voice down.
- Who are you? Who do you work for? We're wasting time.
While you're chasing your partner, they're destroying the evidence.
- Who? - Just follow the evidence.
If you don't, by tomorrow the responsible parties will be out of your reach.
A state highway patrolman found the body off a rural highway at approximately 2:00 p.
m.
Nude, shot in the forehead.
- Are you ready? - Let me do that.
It's not her.
Somebody has to call her mother.
We already tried.
We weren't able to reach her.
She's not answering her phone? - Mrs.
Scully.
Is she here? - Uh, no.
You haven't been answering your phone.
- When I hear from her, I'll call you, okay? - I need to see her.
Fox, please.
Go away.
Go away! Where is she? Dana, putdown the gun! I'm here to help you, Scully.
I told you, Mom.
He's here to kill me.
- I'm on your side.
You know that.
- Put it down, Dana.
Scully, listen tome very carefully.
You don't know it, but you're sick with the same thing that drove those other people to murder.
- And whatever you think may be happening- - Just step back.
Dana, you're not yourself.
He's telling you the truth.
It's not the truth, Mom.
He's lied to me from the beginning.
- He never trusted me.
- Scully, you are the only one I trust.
You're in on it.
You're one of them.
You're one of the people who abducted me.
You put that thing in my neck! You killed my sister! - That's not true, Dana.
- It is.
- I want you to listen to me.
- Mom, just get out of the way! You trust me, dont you? You know that I would never hurt you.
That I would never let anybody hurt you.
That's why you came here, isn't it? You're safe here.
Put the gun down, Dana.
Put it down.
Dr.
Monsignor.
How are you feeling? Ashamed.
I was so sure, Mulder.
I saw things, and I heard things.
And it was just like the world was turned upside down.
Everybody was out to get me.
Now you know how I feel most of the time.
I thought you were gonna kill me.
I'm not surprised.
I did some checking.
Joseph Patnik thought he was murdering a Bosnian war criminal, a man the media described as a modern day Hitler.
It turns out both Patnik's parents were Holocaust survivors.
- I'm not following.
- Helene Riddock was scared that her husband was gonna be unfaithful to her.
You see a pattern developing? What if this video signal somehow turned these people's anxieties into some kind of dementia? A virtual reality of their own worst nightmares.
Like me thinking that youd betray me.
I was so far gone, Mulder, I thought that you were gone to the other side.
- What do you mean? - That cancer man, that man who smokes all those cigarettes.
I was sure that I saw the two of you sitting in your car in the motel parking lot.
You were reporting to him.
You handed him a videotape.
It it was crazy.
- Well, maybe not.
- What do you mean? Well, somebody's behind this.
We just don't know who.
- You think it could be him? - I don't know.
Why dont you try to get some rest? - Dr.
Lorenz? - Agent Mulder.
I was just about to check in on your partner.
What course of treatment have you outlined for Agent Scully? At this point, nothing more than bed rest.
We still haven't been able to determine what brought this on.
As far as I can tell, there's nothing medically wrong with her.
- Well, that didn't seem to be the case last night.
- No, it wasn't.
It's got me puzzled.
Her M.
R.
I.
was negative, but the spinal tap revealed high levels of serotonin in her brain.
Do you think that would account for her strange behavior? High serotonin levels have been associated with mania.
But the good news is, as of this afternoon, her levels are pretty much back to normal.
Dr.
Lorenz, uh, would you have made a diagnosis of amphetamine abuse for someone in Agent Scully's condition? Not given her serotonin levels.
No, that wouldn't make any sense.
Thank you.
Braddock Heights.
Yeah, I need the number for the Frederick County Psychiatric Hospital.
Ward three.
This is Fox Mulder with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
I need to talk to Dr.
Stroman, please.
I'm sorry.
Dr.
Stroman is no longer here.
I believe he's returned to Washington.
- Know where I can reach him? - I'm not sure.
He left us a local number.
It's around here somewhere.
- Is it 555-0135? - That's it.
Thank you.
You want me to go first this time? Damn straight.
I haven't had a chance to clean the room yet.
He just checked out.
But with all the excitement, I don't blame him.
- Do you charge for local calls? - Of course.
- Then you'd have a record of all calls made from here? - I'll get it.
Thank you.
Here you go.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Hey, Danny.
It's Mulder.
I need you to check a number for me.
- That's what he told me, Stroman.
- Then where is he? - He said he'd be here.
- He'll be here.
Its almost 7:00.
I cant wait any longer.
There's no sign of him! You're too late, Agent Mulder.
Now that youve destroyed all the evidence.
You were told this would happen.
You made your choice.
I just didn't know I was working for you.
I had no alternative.
I was being watched too closely.
I couldn't risk compromising myself.
- Why kill them if you wanted me to expose them? - Those were always my orders.
I was just hoping you'd get to them first.
And uncover what? What were they trying to do? Manipulate people's behavior? Alter their decision-making process? What to buy? Who to vote for? You think they'll stop at commerce and politics? Where will they stop? That's where you failed, Agent Mulder.
Don't lay this off on me.
You pulled me into this situation because you didn't have the courage to reveal the truth yourself.
- Feel better now? - You're a coward! You work in the shadows.
You feed me scraps, hoping that I could piece it together.
You've made me risk my life, you've risked my partner's life and you never risk your own! Youre not walking away from this.
You're risking your life right now.
You failed.
This is your success? Killing me? The truth is, you need me, Agent Mulder.
This is your final report, Agent Mulder? - Yes, sir.
- I see more questions here than I do answers.
You don't know who manufactured the device you found or what its purpose was.
No, sir.
- Agent Scully, welcome back.
- I'm sorry I'm late.
I just got back from the documents section.
What did you find out about the two men Mulder found executed? The cable company employee had no criminal record.
In fact, there was nothing remarkable about him whatsoever.
We found a medical license under the name " Dr.
Henry Stroman" in Falls Church, Virginia.
He died in 1978.
What about their killer? He remains an unknown subject.
Have you completed your work? All the personnel and hardware have been removed.
But Mulder still has one of the devices.
Well, it proves nothing.
What about, uh, Mulder's source? He's been eliminated.
And his source? Who's he working with? That person remains unknown.