Fans of The X-Files probably remember an episode called "Arcadia" in which Scully and Mulder go undercover, pretending to be a married couple living in a California housing development (The Falls at Arcadia).
"Arcadia" was a "monster of the week" episode, but it contained a significant amount of humor, some of it revolving around what might happen in an alternative universe where Scully and Mulder became romantically involved.
"UFO" sighting
I guess we are supposed to believe that the neighborhood home owners association president (Gene Gogolak) was able to conjure into existence a monster that could express Gogolak's disappointment with residents who violated the neighborhood rules.
To comic effect, Mulder probes the consequences for non-compliance with the strict neighborhood rules by putting up a basketball hoop in the driveway.
However, in the end, after the union-specified number of murders have been recorded, the monster crumbles to dust after killing Gogolak. Is that the end of the story?
Special thanks to Miranda Hedman (www.mirish.deviantart.com) for the DeviantArt stock photograph "Black Cat 9 - stock" that I used to create the blue "sedronite" who is in the image shown to the right.
During the "Arcadia" episode, Mulder notices that Gogolak has lots of statues and "tribal" decorations that he has imported from places such as Asia. Could an inanimate object "contain" an evil spirit? I like the idea that when aliens arrived on Earth long ago, they were beings composed of zeptites: a form of artificial life. Our entire planet was impregnated with zeptites and over the eons we evolved as a composite organism, part cellular and part zeptite (Sedronites). I apologize for not having the patience to write the complete script for this fan-fiction episode of The X-Files ("Alyeupkigna", below). I wish an episode like this one had been produced and televised in 2016. The dialog that I did write for "Alyeupkigna" begins after about 11 paragraphs of scene setting narrative...
Alyeupkigna
In 2016, Scully and Mulder return to The Falls at Arcadia and investigate a new UFO sighting. "The Falls" housing development is not far from the Alyeupkigna Tongva archaeological site. The UFO sighting was reported by a team of archaeology graduate students.
When Scully and Mulder arrive at the dig, the students report on the strange "light in the sky" that they saw, arguing among themselves about whether the light came from the sky or up out of the ground and then hit the clouds. No two of them tell the same story.
The team of graduate students working the Alyeupkigna site also mention the strange tunnels that they have found while excavating the archaeological site. Mulder crawls into one of the tunnels and is reminded of the 1999 Gogolak case and the monster at "The Falls" housing development that liked to tunnel underground.
The students comment that they are not allowed to make any new excavations at the site, but mysterious new tunnels keep appearing, so their work of documenting Native American artifacts continues. They complain about not being able to put an end to the field work, get back to the lab and wrap up their research projects. They also complain about their boss (Dr. Svahr) who insists that they only work at night so as not to attract attention (their site work permit recently expired).
Mulder talks his way into the confidences of the local police chief, flashing some kind of fake government agent ID. Rummaging through a box of Gogolak's belongings that are still in storage at the local police station, Mulder notices a set of cog stones that fit together to form a model of a constellation (Cassiopeia). He also finds a business card from Dr. Svahr. Mulder steals the cog stones from the police station.
Dr. Holly Svahr with alien technology.
Scully tracks down the director of the archaeological dig: Dr. Holly Svahr and is surprised to find that Holly's home address is in The Falls at Arcadia development. Even more surprising is that Svahr is listed in UCLA adjunct faculty records as having received her Ph.D. in 1953, but as seen in her recently taken DMV photograph, Holly seems very young.
Scully and Mulder place Dr. Svahr under surveillance and once again move into the The Falls at Arcadia. They argue for a while about whether they are in the same house that they lived in back in 1999. Scully claims that the original house was torn down after wide-spread reporting of all the murders. They finally agree that it does not matter since all the houses in the neighborhood look the same.
While meeting some of the same neighbors from 1999, Scully and Mulder ask about Dr. Svahr. Nobody seems to know much about her, saying that she "keeps to herself".
Scully and Mulder spend a nearly sleepless night together in their house. They both hear strange sounds and each individually sees a ghostly apparition. For Fox, the "ghost" transforms itself and takes on the form of his sister. For Dana, the "ghost" takes on the form of her father. The television audience sees Dr. Svahr watching Fox and Dana through the eyes of the "ghost".
Scully and Mulder watch Dr. Svahr's house for almost a week before they finally see her arrive: her car pulls into the garage. Pretending to be looking for a lost dog, Scully knocks on the front door of Dr. Svahr's house, but Svahr does not come to the door.
Two days pass and a bedraggled Mulder is finally able to follow Svahr as she leaves her house. Mulder follows her to the archaeological site. Svahr is waiting for him when he enters the site.
Svahr: Mulder, please stop following me.
Mulder (he shows her the cog stones): Dr. Svahr, I need to ask you some questions. Did you give these stones to Gene Gogolak?
Svahr (shaking her head): No. He asked me to authenticate them. He would not tell me where he bought them. If they are authentic, they should be in a museum.
Mulder: Well, Holly, I've heard the theory that about 5,000 years ago, the local residents suddenly became interested in the stars. They started obsessively carving these stones and mapping the sky.
Svahr: That's an interesting theory.
Suddenly the sky lights up with a shaft of light and shouts can be heard coming from the dig. Mulder jumps over a barricade and runs towards the light. Holly shouts to him, warning him that the ground is not safe.
Mulder tumbles into a hole as the ground gives way under his feet. Holly arrives at the edge of the hole and magically levitates Mulder and the graduate students (dirt-covered and unconscious) up and out of the hole along with a glowing cog stone. When Holly holds the stone, it stops emitting the laser beam-like light. Mulder watches in awe then slumps into unconsciousness.
__________________
In the next scene, Mulder is in a hospital bed with Scully sitting at his side, reading a newspaper that has an article about lasers disrupting LAX flights.
Mulder (waking up): Where am I?
Scully: You were found by the police, sleeping in our rental car. What happened?
Mulder (gets up, rubbing his head): I don't think it was sleep. I remember following Dr. Svahr away from The Falls.
Scully: Why didn't you call me?
Mulder (looking puzzled): I don't know. Well...it was late...I did not want to wake you up.
Scully: That's crazy, Fox. After all that time we spent waiting and watching so we could make contact with her... Where did you follow her to?
Mulder (shaking his head and getting dressed): I don't remember, Scully.
Scully: I think you just wanted to have time alone with Dr. Svahr. You should have called me.
Mulder (with his "who me?" attitude): I really can't remember.
Scully: When I could not find you this morning, I broke into Dr. Svahr's house.
Mulder: Did you find anything interesting?
Before Scully can reply, the door opens and Dr. Svahr enters the hospital room.
Svahr: Hello Dana, Fox.
Scully: You keep a very neat house, Dr. Svahr. We found nothing there. Not even a crumb of food in the kitchen or a toothbrush.
Svahr: Sorry to disappoint you, but I've completed my mission on Earth.
Mulder: What was that mission, Holly?
Svahr (hands Mulder a cog stone): I found all of the spirit stones. You can keep this one as a souvenir.
Mulder (examining the stone): This one does not really feel like stone.
Svahr with a spirit stone.
Svahr: It is an advanced composite material. Made to hold the spirit of a time traveler.
Scully: Spirit stone? Time travel? Do you expect me to believe that you are some kind of alien from outer space?
Svahr (smiles at Scully and shrugs): When I was here 5,000 years ago, I arranged for some of the locals to escape into the future. They asked to see the future and I obliged. I stored them in the stones. Somehow Gogolak managed to partially activate one of the spirit stones, using it for his own misguided purpose.
Scully: Wait. You're saying that a person was held in this stone for the past 5,000 years? Where is he now?
Svahr: She. This stone held the endosymbiont of a woman.
Mulder: Endosymbiont?
Svahr (laughs): You might as well just keep using the word "spirit", Fox.
Scully: Where is that woman now?
Svahr: Relax, Dana. This is no missing persons case. I've sent them all on to the safety of the Hierion Domain. None of them wanted to live here in modern Los Angeles. You need not worry...there will be no more trouble. I apologize for everything that has happened, although Gogolak was the source of the problem. I wish I knew how he found it possible to impart an activation code to an archived endosymbiont.
Mulder (asking Svahr): Why were you in California 5,000 years ago?
Svahr: My job was to make sure that wheeled vehicles were never developed in the Americas. The people who were then living in this area became skilled at carving stone circles. I had to step in and prevent them from inventing the wagon 5,000 years ago...in that Reality, advanced technology and an industrial age occurred in the Americas far too early.
2000, Washington D.C. (our Reality)
Scully almost crashes into Svahr.
Mulder: Too early?
Scully (has a flashback to the year 2000): It was you!
Svahr: It took me a while to realize what Gogolak had done. By the time I figured it out, it was the year 2000 and I had to tweak your relationship with Fox in order to make sure that you two would not find the soul stones before I could.
Mulder (asking Scully): What are you two talking about? What happened in 2000?
Scully: Do you remember your trip to England in search of crop circles? While you were in England, Svahr was the mysterious woman who saved Dr. Waterston's life. And mine.
Mulder (asking Svahr): You sent me off across the Atlantic on a wild goose chase so that Dana could find Dr. Waterston?
Svahr: I just needed to distract the two of you. I'd viewed your future and seen you two stumble upon a lead that re-opened Gogolak's case. Fox, you found the clue in an old X-File case...Albert Hosteen had told you about spirit stones-
Mulder: No. I've never heard about "spirit stones" before today.
Svahr: Sorry Fox, but I had to adjust your memories.
Svahr and Fox, in the year 2000 (previous Reality)
Svahr waves her hand and sends a swarm of information nanites into Mulder. He briefly slumps and then recovers. Scully helps support him and keeps him from falling.
Mulder: Now I remember! I saw you in Washington, but...
Svahr: That's a memory that I just provided for you from a previous Reality. In our current timeline, I had to send you off to England so that you would not cause trouble.
Svahr opens the door, ready to leave.
Mulder: Wait! That can't be all...who are you?
Svahr (waves her hand and a cloud of nanites flow from her into Scully and Mulder): Goodbye.
Scully (looks dazed for a moment, then, forgetting about Svahr's just-completed visit to the hospital room, she resumes the earlier argument with Mulder): I can't believe you let Svahr give you the slip last night. She was our only lead in the case.
They open the door and walk out into the corridor.
Mulder (walking a bit unsteadily): So we'll watch her house again. This time you can stay up all night and I'll take the day shift.
They leave the hospital. Mulder finds the cog stone in his pocket; he looks at it for a moment then tosses it into a trash bin near their rental car. They get into the car.
Scully: I have a feeling that we'll never see Svahr again.
____________________________________
In the Ekcolir Reality Scully and Mulder star in UFO 2015
There will be new X-Files episodes in 2016, so is it time to refresh our memories of the 1990s? I've previously described The X-Files as a being a non-invasion science fiction story in which the aliens should win an award for their incompetence. I'm reminded of another example of ineffective Hollywood aliens, from before The X-Files, so let's go even further back in Time...even into Deep Time.
(alternate)Reality TV
When I was a kid, the British TV show UFO brought an endlessly incompetent alien invasion to television. In typical Hollywood alien antagonist fashion, through each and every week of the television season, the invading aliens sent just enough spaceships to Earth to keep SHADO in business.
All new episodes of UFO 2015 !
I recently blogged about my fantasies for an X-Files reboot. Gohrlay informed me that in the Ekcolir Reality, when it came time to reboot The Δ-Files, it was re-imagined as a spin-off of the long-running UFO.
I have a low tolerance for horror, so much of the original X-Files does not appeal to me because of its mindless violence. However, I have a long history of re-imagining The X-Files as the type of science fiction that I enjoy.
Rather than select and comment on old episodes of The X-Files, I'm going to invent some new episodes of an X-Files spin-off television series as they should have existed in a previous Reality.
So, if you like, go ahead and picture Scully with purple hair and Mulder as a blond and off we go into Deep Time to experience some episodes of UFO 2015 !
R. Gohrlaay's efforts, what became known as the "Tesla Intervention", led to a catastrophic nuclear war. Eventually, the replicoid of Nikola Tesla was taken across the temporal divide into the Ekcolir Reality.
The Ekcolir Reality
Tesla was Time's "Man of the Future" in 2285
(Etruscan calendar; Ekcolir Reality)
In the Ekcolir Reality, operating from R. Gohrlay's secret base of operations within the Hierion Domain, Tesla's replicoid passed knowledge of advanced hierion-based technology to several Earthlings. Could alternative sources of energy be found that would put an end to Earth's voracious fossil fuel use and slow the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels? Working towards that goal and playing an important role in UFO 2015 was Luri Tamari, CEO of Space Energy Missions.
The main objective of the "Tesla Intervention" was to prepare Earth for First Contact with the Fru'wu. Tesla's replicoid provided Luri with advanced nanotechnology in an attempt to help the primitive Earthlings to not be intimidated by the alien Fru'wu. [fake Time covers]
The back-story of UFO 2015 was shaped by the on-going Time Travel War. R. Gohrlay was trying to create a Reality in which Earth would avoid technological disasters and the human species would have a long future of spreading through outer space and colonizing distant Earth-like planets.
During this time, Grean was trying to prepare for the Final Reality. It was convenient for her to allow the Tesla Intervention to proceed, with an occasional adjustment or tweak.
Tesla's replicoid had worked through the entire 20th century to develop a secret cadre of scientists who were to be positioned on Earth and ready to collaborate with the alien Fru'wu to solve Earth's global warming crisis. In UFO 2015, Dr. Diocio Flower and Dr. Verzor Kemnerun are the lead scientists for development of the Space Energy Missions hierion antennae array.
Episode 1: Fru'wu First Contact
Space Energy Missions - Long Valley Plant #3.
The first episode of UFO 2015 told the story of the arrival of a Fru'wu spaceship on Earth. In the teaser, radar operators at a military base track an asteroid as it penetrates Earth's atmosphere and causes a dramatic impact event in Death Valley.
Scene 1. We see that the asteroid was used as "cover" for the arrival of the Fru'wu spaceship on Earth. Just before impact of the asteroid, the spaceship pulls away and lands at the Space Energy Missions geothermal energy plant located in the Long Valley Caldera.
The Fru'wu spaceship parks inside a large dome at the airfield of Long Valley Geothermal Plant #3. The aliens meet Luri and the executive team for Space Energy Missions, who they have long been in contact with. When with anyone but Luri, the Fru'wu have the appearance of normal humans and they pass themselves off as a team of Chinese engineers.
Meeting privately with Luri, the Fru'wu transform into their alien form and provide a quick introduction to advanced particle physics, explaining the existence of fundamental particles that can move through additional spatial dimensions beyond the three that are available to hadrons.
Luri is already familiar with the existence of hierions because of her contact with Tesla's replicoid. However, she is surprised to hear about sedrons as an additional family of particles. The Fru'wu explain that sedrons are required for their ability to travel through space at faster-than-light speeds. Hierions have 6 spatial dimensions available to them while sedrons are able to move through 9 dimensions.
Scene 2. Scully and Mulder are driving through Owens Valley in California, tracking rumors of UFO sightings. Scully argues that a fragment of the asteroid broke off the main body and shot over the Owens Valley, resulting in UFO reports. They talk to an eyewitness who seems reliable. Mulder lectures Scully about how the descriptions of the UFO provided by the eyewitnesses suggest a dark object that blotted out the stars, not a bright asteroid fragment.
Scully and Mulder visit a 911 call center where they are given access to recorded phone calls about UFO sightings. Scully grows tired of the monotonously repetitious phone calls and goes to spend the night in a hotel. She stays up late reading a science fiction novel.
Mulder stays at the call center all night, listening to recorded phone calls from people describing the UFO. In the morning, Mulder leaves his number with the 911 operator and asks her to let him know if there are any additional calls about UFOs.
"Sam Jacky" is the writing team of
Samantha Mulder and Jackie Vance.
Scene 3. Luri establishes contact with Tesla's replicoid using the Bimanoid Interface. He instructs Luri on the importance of obtaining as much information as possible from the Fru'wu and he tells Luri to set up a surveillance team to receive a data feed from inside the Fru'wu spaceship. Tesla's replicoid tells Luri that her nanite probes will be able to slip into the Fu'wu spaceship and transmit data to Luri.
Tesla's replicoid also warns Luri that Mulder will soon arrive. Luri is familiar with Samantha and Fox Mulder because they are (like her) part of the Ekcolir Lineage and able to use the Bimanoid Interface. However, Samantha is being used by Grean as part of her effort to develop the science fiction genre.
Scene 4. To distract the Fru'wu and get them all out of their spaceship, Luri invites the Fru'wu to a reception held at her home. Meanwhile, one of Luri's top executives (Plant Director Bess Kane) has assembled a team of Space Energy Missions technical staff members and they begin to receive video and audio from inside the Fru'wu spaceship.
The Fru'wu spaceship disguised as an airplane.
Following their instructions, the Space Energy Missions techs establish and test a communications system that will both automatically record the data and relay the video images to Luri's house, and then they leave the equipment running unattended. They don't understand where the signal that they are receiving originates from (from the outside, the Fru'wu spaceship looks like a commercial VTOL aircraft). Later, having left a piece of equipment behind, one of the tech staff (Jeff Thorn) returns to the reception/recording room and is amazed by what he now sees inside the Fru'wu spaceship: an alien who seems to be performing some kind of bizarre experiments on two human test subjects. The episode ends with Mulder receiving a frantic phone call from a man who is shouting hysterically about an alien.
In the teaser, Luri watches the video feed and sees the alien Fru'wu who stayed behind in the spaceship while all the others went to the reception at Luri's mansion. The Space Energy Missions technician who also saw the Fru'wu calls 911. The local 911 operator, tired of fielding crank calls about UFOs, connects the caller to Mulder.
Scene 1. Scully and Mulder are again driving their rental car. Today, Scully is driving and Mulder tells her to slow down. She says that she wants to get their work done so that they can fly back to Washington on a red eye out of Las Vegas. Scully is pulled over after speeding through a radar speed tap. She sweet talks the police out of giving her a speeding ticket.
They arrive at Long Valley Geothermal Plant #3. where Mulder conducts a frustrating interview with the Space Energy Missions employee (Thorn) who spoke to him on the phone. Luri and Bess have concocted a story about having a costume party at Luri's house with one of the "Chinese" visitors coming dressed as a space alien. Thorn can't seem to remember calling Mulder.
While Mulder interviews Thorn, Scully prowls around the Plant's airfield and gets a glimpse of the VTOL airplane in the domed hanger.
Fru'wu disguised as a human disguised as an alien.
Scully and Mulder ask to meet the visitors from China. The Fru'wu (now using human form) all pretend that they can't speak English very well and one of them puts on an ET costume and waves a toy "ray gun".
After meeting with the "Chinese", Mulder and Scully again separate. Scully can sense that Bess wants to say more than she is being allowed to say and tells her, "Call me if you think of anything else."
Mulder is rather dazzled and smitten by Luri. He tags along after her, when she wishes that she could get rid of him and go into the video room to check on the data feed from inside the Fru'wu spaceship. Standing in the hallway near the secret room, Mulder asks her why the company is called "Space Energy Missions" if they are in the geothermal energy business. Luri explains that the company is involved in developing technologies related to exploiting many alternative energy sources, but their ultimate goal is to obtain energy for Earth from orbital solar energy collectors.
An enigmatic poster seen by Mulder at Long Valley Geothermal Plant #3.
Scully finds Mulder and tells him that it is late and they should call it a day. Mulder tells Luri that they'll have to continue talking the next day. Luri makes a sarcastic comment about how the FBI should have better things to do.
On the way out of the Plant, Scully nags Mulder for dogging Luri's footsteps and following her around.
Mulder: (he hands Scully his smart phone) Luri Tamari: director of Space Energy Missions. Age 62.
Scully: (looks at the phone's display) So she has a great plastic surgeon.
Mulder: I think she warrants further investigation.
Scully: (sarcastically) She's in great shape at age 62, so she must be a space alien?
Mulder: There is nothing known about her family. She just appears out of nowhere and earns a Ph.D. in engineering from Georgia Tech then sets up the world's first alternative energy company. Fastest zero-to-billion dollar corporation in history.
As they get back in their rental car, Scully mutters something under her breath about Mulder's attraction to fast women.
Scene 2. Scully and Mulder are at the end of another long day, having dinner and still arguing about whether it is worth spending any more time investigated the UFO reports. Scully describes the odd-looking airplane that she saw in the hanger. Mulder reflects on Thorn's odd loss of memory. Scully takes a call from Bess who asks to meet with them. In the lobby of the hotel, Bess arrives with Thorn.
Prompted by Bess, Thorn gives a confusing account the physical appearance of the alien Fru'wu, but he sounds like he is describing something that he saw in a television show. Mulder and Scully, both dismayed by the incoherent Thorn, try to say goodnight to Bess. She asks them if they are going to do anything about the alien spaceship. Mulder asks her where the spaceship is, but Bess does not know. See tells Mulder and Scully about the secret room at the Plant with the mysterious video feed. Mulder assures Bess that they will investigate further.
After Bess and Thorn depart, Scully asks Mulder why he is paying any attention to Thorn and Bess. He says that he's puzzled by their odd behavior and that of the "Chinese". He calls Luri and arranges to meet her in the morning so that he can get back into the Plant (he wants to investigate the secret room). Just before ending the call, he asks her about Jeff Thorn's work history.
Luri asks Mulder, "Why do you ask?"
Mulder explains, "He claims that he saw an alien last night; I'm wondering if he has a history of odd behavior."
Luri laughs, "When we built the Plant back in the eighties, the locals thought we were constructing a secret rocket launch site for the Strategic Defense Initiative. Thorn was one of the locals who tried to block our geothermal operation. Eventually, after the Plant opened, he came to us for employment."
Mulder: "I'd like to review his employment records tomorrow. Do you do psychological screening?"
Luri: "I'm afraid I can't disclose health records of our employees."
Mulder: "Okay, I'll ask him directly."
Luri: "I don't want you badgering our workers and creating a scene. The Chinese are trying to buy into Space Energy Missions. I don't want you scaring them off and ruining the deal."
Scully goes to bed, but Mulder gets back in their rental car and drives around the area. He finds Thorn's house, but nobody is home. He breaks in and finds nothing except evidence that Thorn's family packed quickly and departed.
Scene 3. Mulder sees bright lights, just across the boarder in Nevada. He stops in at the run-down gambling house/bordello and talks to some of the locals about UFOs. One woman tells him that she thinks an odd-sounding military plane flew over the valley on the night of the asteroid impact, headed in the direction of the Space Energy Missions geothermal power station.
Mulder checks an app (it says MUFONET at the top) on his phone that maps the locations for all of the recent UFO sightings. They roughly form a line between Death Valley and Long Valley Geothermal Plant #3. Mulder gets back to the hotel just as Scully is going out to get breakfast. Mulder, looking bedraggled, says he'll crash in his room until she's ready to hit the road. Scully asks what he was doing all night and he just mutters about following leads. He asks her to put the police to the task of searching for Thorn's family. Scully teases him and asks if they were abducted by aliens.
Episode 3: Radar Dark
In the teaser, Mulder is trying to sleep while Scully drives. As they again approach the radar speed trap, Mulder tells Scully to slow down and stop. While Scully waits in the car, puzzled, Mulder talks to the police. A police officer opens up the trunk of the police car and hands an object to Mulder. Mulder comes back to the car with a radar gun.
Scully: What are you going to do with that?
Mulder: We have to stop here on the way back so I can return this to the police.
Scully: That will take us out of the way for getting to Las Vegas. Why do you need a radar gun?
Mulder: I find them useful when dealing with fast women.
Scene 1. Scully and Mulder arrive at the geothermal energy plant. Mulder tells Scully to hurry to their appointment and ask Luri for details about the impending financial deal with the Chinese.
Mulder goes to the airfield, trying to hide the radar gun inside his jacket. He sneaks into the hanger and points the radar gun at the VTOL airplane.
Meanwhile, Scully meets with Luri. At first Luri evades all questions about the Chinese. Then Luri asks Scully to sign an intellectual property non-disclosure agreement. After handing the signed agreement form to a lawyer, Luri takes Scully to the secret room.
Luri activates a videophone conference call. A Chinese woman and Samantha Mulder appear on the video screen. Luri introduces the Chinese woman as the director of a film that is in production called Space Power. Luri and Samantha explain to Scully that the visitors from China are part of a secret project to produce a science fiction film about orbital solar energy collectors. Luri says that Space Energy Missions is planning to go public and start selling stock. To create interest among investors, the film will depict a future world in which solar energy collected in space and sent to Earth solves the greenhouse gas problem.
Scully is surprised to find that Fox's sister is involved with Space Energy Missions. Samantha says that she has long published science fiction under the pseudonym "Sam Jacky".
Scully: Why do you keep your life hidden from Fox? He obsesses over your disappearance."
Samantha: I contacted Fox many years ago. He had some kind of genetic testing done and he concluded that I'm not really his sister.
Just then, Luri takes a call on her phone. After the short call, she says goodbye to Samantha and cuts off the video conference call. Luri and Scully go to the main lobby where Fox is with two Space Energy Missions security guards who report to Luri that they found Mulder sneaking around the airport's hanger. They hand Luri the radar gun.
Luri says that if the FBI has further questions then they need to get a search warrant. She turns to go, but Mulder asks for the gun. Luri tosses it to him and orders the Plant security officers to escort the FBI agents out.
Mulder asks Luri, "What's the Mercury Project?"
She replies, "If the FBI has further questions, please contact our marketing and legal departments." She turns and walks away.
Mulder and Scully are escorted back to their rental car and then they drive away from the Plant.
Scene 2. Scully and Mulder are in a roadside diner with the local policeman who let Mulder use the radar gun. Mulder explains that the "Chinese" VTOL aircraft does not reflect radar. He suggests that the police get a search warrant and investigate the strange vehicle.
Scully: Mulder, are you saying that we should go before a judge and say that there is an alien spaceship in that hanger?
Mulder: Its either that, or secret Chinese stealth technology.
The police officer expresses skepticism. Scully changes the topic to Samantha (Sam Jacky). Fox insists that she forget about her.
Mulder: That's not my sister. She some crank who came to me years ago wanting to make a movie about UFOs. I think she ghost wrote that ridiculous Delta Files Trilogy that you have been reading.
Scully: It can't be a coincidence that she turns up now at Space Energy Missions.
Mulder: Did you see her? At the Plant?
Scully: No. It was a video conference call. I think she's in China working on Space Power.
Mulder and Scully continue to argue. The police officer eats his lunch, pays his bill and departs.
Scully: Let's go Mulder. We can catch the last flight from Las Vegas to Washington.
Scene 3. Inside the Fru'wu spaceship, the two humans (seen previously) are shown as the subjects of a strange ritual. The humans are laid out on a platform and the Fru'wu place two large, glowing crystals next to their heads. Some glowing clouds move from the crystals into the heads of the two humans. The ritual concludes and the two humans walk out of the spaceship, speaking in the Fru'wu language to each other.
Luri again contacts Tesla's replicoid. She says that Drs. Flower and Kemnerun have successfully taken on their Fru'wu endosymbionts and are now ready to start crafting the Hierion Receiver. Luri expresses distrust of Flower and Kemnerun now that they carry Fru'wu endosymbionts inside their bodies.
Tesla's replicoid says that they have no choice and must trust Flower and Kemnerun, although he suggests that they could transfer one of the Fru'wu endosymbionts into Luri "so she can verify its mission objectives". The replicoid says that their larger problem is that Mulder has interested the local police in the "Chinese" aircraft.
Luri says that the "Chinese" are scheduled to depart from Earth that night.
Late in the afternoon, the police arrive with a search warrant and say they are authorized to search the Plant for illegally imported foreign technology. They go right to the hanger and ask to search inside the VTOL aircraft. Luri arrives and says that the Chinese are in Las Vegas for the day, as tourists and that the police should come back the next day.
The police order the airport crew to open the hatch of the VTOL craft. A technician opens the hatch and the police go inside. Luri orders the airport staff to go back to their work and they all leave the hanger. Luri enters the Fru'wu spaceship and the hatch closes behind her.
Inside the Fru'wu spaceship, the Fru'wu "zap" the police and put them on the platform with the crystals. After adjusting their equipment and after some jerking reactions of the police officers' bodies, some glowing clouds come out of their heads and into the crystals. The police get up off the platform and walking in a daze away from the platform to where Luri stands watching.
The scene cuts to Mulder and Scully on an airplane flying out of Las Vegas. Scully is reading a science fiction novel by Sam Jacky and Mulder is using his smart phone to track a new batch of UFO sightings that are coming in from near the geothermal energy plant.
The scene returns to the Fru'wu spaceship which lands in the middle of a desert area. The two police officesr, acting dazed and disoriented, are led out of the spaceship by Luri. Then the Fru'wu spaceship takes off, first using its propellers while still in the form of the VTOL aircraft then transforming into the shape of the Fru'wu sleek spaceship (seen in episode 1) and then silently continuing to rise higher into the night sky. Luri leads the police through the desert to a nearby SUV.
They get into the SUV and Luri drives off into the night, soon reaching a highway. She starts narrating a "cover story" about what the search of the VTOL aircraft revealed (nothing note-worthy), while the two police officers listen attentively.
_________________________________ Next: the Twin Paradox.
