DISCLAIMER: The X-Files and the characters thereof are copyright and trademark Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions,and Twentieth Century Fox. This script does not intend to infringe uponthose rights and is merely meant as a tribute to the somet kinda wonderfulphenomenon known as The X-Files. No monetary gain results from the publicationof this script, and others may display this script as long as it contains my name and it appears as it is in the original version.
The Scully thoughts in the beginning are taken from Stephen hawking's A Brief History of Time except for the last line.
A. Diao Lavina, Bangkok1999
Synchrony
by A. Diao Lavina
TEASER: Shot of Southern hemisphere at night, in December.
VOICEOVER SCULLY: Up to the beginning of this century, people believed in an absolute time. Each event could be labeled by a number called ìtimeî in a unique way, and all good clocks would agree on the time as interval between two events. However, the discovery that the speed of light appeared the same to every observer, no matter how he or she was moving, led to the theory of relativity and in that we had to abandon the idea that there was a unique absolute time. Instead, each observer would have his or her own measure of time as recorded by a clock that he or she carried: clocks carried by different observers would not necessarily agree. Thus time became more of a personal concept, relative to the observer who measured it.
When one tried to unify gravity with quantum mechanics, one had to introduce the idea of imaginary time, an idea which is indistinguishable from directions in space. With this new concept of time we arrived at the corollary that time and space are one, and if we can go backward as we go forward in space, then we can also do so within time.
Thus human beings were introduced to the universe as a place and a time where we might remember the future, or revisit the past.
(Camera pans to rocky landscape at night. Zoom into a tent, where a man is writing in a leatherbound journal by lamplight. His face is excited.)
MAN'S VOICEOVER: After three months of scrutinizing the glyphs, Gregory and I have seemed to decipher the symbols and a pattern is emerging. The symbol, which earlier we thought to be a marker glyph meant to represent a historical reference point for time, now appears to be a date. We have checked references in the patterns, and the symbol seems to indicate a particularly auspicious date. This date, or the symbol of it, is very closely tied to another set of symbols, among them the symbols for man, heavens, open or portal and the symbols for the temple of the Sun established in the myths revolving around Ayar Cachi, the son of the Sun God. Gregory and I postulate this discovery to be a rendezvous for a stellar event. In light of our new discovery, we have written to the Kingís court for an extension of our expeditions and more moneys.
(From outside, thunder can be heard. Then a noise, indistinguishable, is heard just outside the tent. The tent flaps are blown open by a wind. The man turns. His face turns into horror as he screams.)
OPENING CREDITS.
Scene 1. DECEMBER 25.
26TH STREET
NEW YORK CITY
(The Consortium is meeting.)
WMM: We have called this conference to initiate Phase Three of our Plan. Our work has been fruitful over the decades, in spite of periodic interference from certain agents in the government. In all estimates, we are ready to begin the next step.
FIRST ELDER: Let us hear the reports from all operations.
MAN # 1. The rebellion has been neutralized. We have achieved a ceasefire. A deal. The rebellion is destitute and wants asylum in the Colony. The agreement is presently being forged.
WMM: What precautionary measures have been put into place in the possibility of a future movement?
MAN # 1. The rebellion has surrendered the genetic sequence of the vaccine. The counter invasion is no longer a threat.
FIRST ELDER: And the contingency plans on Earth?
Man # 2. The hosts we have recruited over the decades have been preselected. The weaker ones have been sacrificed, and the remaining subjects are strong but their biological will is under our control.
FIRST ELDER: And the facilities?
MAN # 2. The Stateside facilities as well as those in other countries have been alerted and primed for the day we say go. The venue is also being readied. At present alignment, the coordinates indicate the precision we anticipated in the schedule. The warp will occur on the 28th of December, at 5.54 AM.
WMM: No one else knows?
CSM: (Emerging from shadows, smoking.) No one. The files have been destroyed.
FIRST ELDER: What about university laboratories?
CSM: Intelligence reports indicate that not one lab has the foresight nor staff which may intercept communications between us and the Colonists.
WMM: (Looks at each person around the table.) We are ready. (Turns to CSM.) Proceed as planned.
CSM: (Puffs on cigarette. Stubs it out.)
Scene 2. FBI HEADQUARTERS
WASHINGTON, D.C.
25 December
4.02 PM
(Mulder and another male agent are poring over some pieces of paper which seem to have been burnt. The room is a lab.)
MULDER: What do you think, Agent Michaels? Can we put it together?
MICHAELS: From the contextual composite of the document, I can probably do a scan and try to extrapolate from that. With a little luck, we might be able to actually read the finished composite, and actually understand it.
MULDER: So you're saying that we form a Gestalt image out of pieces.
MICHAELS: Yes, that's a valid analogy.
MULDER: How soon can we get results?
MICHAELS: (Looking at Mulder in surprise.) You mean today?
MULDER: Yes. (Sees the incredulous look on Michaelsí face.) If it's not too much trouble.
MICHAELS: (Looks at his watch.) You're not planning to work tonight, are you?
MULDER: Actually, I was.
MICHAELS: Well, actually I was planning to spend Christmas with my wife.
MULDER: (Looks chagrined and apologetic.) Uh, of course, I was just--
(Door opens and Scully enters, looking a little worried.)
MULDER: Scully. (Gives her a smile.)
SCULLY: Mulder, I was thinking of going home. What are you doing?
MULDER: Agent Michaels is helping me to piece together one of the files that was saved. (Looks at Michaels.) Uh, maybe tomorrow.
MICHAELS: All right. (Takes off lab coat, hurriedly and heads for the door.) I'll see you soon. Merry Christmas. (Goes out.)
SCULLY: It's after five, Mulder. Shouldnít we go home and get dressed?
MULDER: (Looks confused.) Get dressed? Are we going anywhere?
SCULLY: The Christmas party. For the retiring agents?
MULDER: (Looks uncomfortable.) Oh, well. I'm not going, Scully.
SCULLY: (Face falls.) You have other plans?
MULDER: Sit on Santa's knee at Macyís and wear a party hat. (Smiles.) Why, are you going?
SCULLY: (Sort of nods.) Uh, yeah. (Hesitates, then in a barely audible voice says) Tom, Agent Colton asked me.
MULDER: You have a date?
SCULLY: (Head sort of tilted.) It's not exactly a date, Mulder.
MULDER: You have a date.
SCULLY: Well, instead of arguing semantics with you, I think I should go home and get dressed. (Starts to go.)
MULDER: Yeah.
SCULLY: (At the door, she turns.) Mulder?
MULDER: Yes?
SCULLY: You--Merry Christmas, Mulder.
(Mulder says nothing.)
Scene 3. HOFFLER OBSERVATORY
NEW MEXICO DESERT
7.05 PM
(A Jodie Foster scientist type is sitting at computer terminals eating a piece of turkey jerkey. In front of her, around the room are lots of computers. Lots and lots of computers. She is peering intently at the monitor in front of her. She is also wearing a set of headphones.)
JODIE: Hey, Red, listen to this. (She turns up a knob. A sort of heavy breathing in the range of Darth Vader breath can be heard faintly.)
RED: Far out. (He looks at Jodie and smiles.) That's the sixth time.
JODIE: (Returns the smile. Puts down her jerkey and types intently into the keyboard.) If I can isolate that frequency--(types) I might just--(types)--there.
(A printer starts spewing paper with linear representations of the sounds.)
JODIE: (Getting up to go to the printer.) We need to run an evaluation of this.
RED: (Looks at the printouts.) This is some kind of notation. Look at this. (Points at a series of spikes.) I bet if we ran it through the sound analysis software, we could find a frequency we could understand, juxtapose this with it, and get a comprehensible reading.
JODIE: Let's do it.
Scene 4.
(Mulder with the Lone Gunmen. They are looking at the scan of the burnt file on the monitor of one computer. The computer is digitally enhancing the image, which is why we see lines running horizontal from top down at a frequency of one every .1 second.)
MULDER: How long is this gonna take?
BYERS: Maybe 12 hours. Depends on the existing data that's available to the computer. Why, are you planning to stay until it's done?
LANGLY: We were going out for cheese steaks.
FROHIKE: No hot date tonight, eh, Mulder?
MULDER: (Gives Frohike a look.) There's a staff party. Scully's going.
FROHIKE: You're finally socializing? That's historical.
MULDER: No, I'm gonna pass on the glamorous penguin-slash-waiter look.
FROHIKE: So, Agent Scully is going?
MULDER: Yeah, she ís. Another agent asked her. This guy Colton.
(Lone Gunmen exchange looks. Awkward silence.)
FROHIKE: Not that you've ever asked her.
MULDER: Asked her what?
FROHIKE: To go out.
MULDER: What do you mean, go out?
FROHIKE: (Rolls eyes.) Mulder, five years and not once have you asked her to go out with you. I mean, aside from a rendezvous at the nearest ET deep freeze once or twice. When have you ever noticed?
MULDER: Noticed what?
FROHIKE: (Seriously.) Mulder, have you ever noticed that Agent Scully is a woman?
Scene 5. HOFFLER OBSERVATORY
NEW MEXICO DESERT
8.02 PM
(Jodie and Red are poring over the printouts.)
JODIE: Anything?
RED: Nada. (He spreads the printouts on a table so that they are flush to each other, edge to edge.) You want some coffee? I'm making some.
JODIE: Yeah, sure. (Sighs. Takes a bag of turkey jerkey from a drawer and selects a piece, starts gnawing on it. Stands up.) Hey, put in an extra sugar, will ya? (Paces beside the table. She glances at the printouts spread around the table. Then she stops.) Oh, my god. Red!
Red! C'mere!
RED: (Runs in with a couple mugs of coffee.) What?
JODIE: (Now sorting the papers on the table.) What if--(sorting) we arrange them this way. (Finishes arranging, looks at Red.)
RED: (Looking at the papers.) It looks like a map. It looks like--
JODIE: Texas? (Rushes to the computer monitor. Types.) I'm going to print the rest of the signals we received. Let's see if we can get another set of images.
RED: Wait, what are these straight spikes running down the sides?
JODIE: Call me nuts, but I think those are coordinates. Someone--or something, is sending coordinates of an event.
RED: I'm calling Pete at NASA. I hope he's not playing Santa this year.
Scene 6. HOTEL IN DOWNTOWN D.C.
8.09 PM
(Huge FBI Party. Pan around room where there are agents in tuxes and evening dresses. Cut to Mulder in a tux who is sitting at the bar alone, drinking bourbon. He looks forlornly alone and scans the room. Then his face changes.
Camera on Scully and Colton who are entering the room. Scully has on a long coat. Colton helps her take it off, and Scully can be seen in a very revealing and curvy black evening dress. Mulder looks stunned. He quickly downs his bourbon and orders another one. Scully the fox and Colton walk toward a table. Scully is smiling radiantly and talking to Colton. Mulder turns back to the bar. After a moment Mulder gets up and starts to make his way to the table where Scully and Colton are seated.
While Mulder walks to their table, Scully catches his figure and Mulder's and Scully's eyes meet. Their eyes lock. Scully visibly swallows.
The orchestra begins to play a song. Couples drift to the dance floor.
Mulder gets to the table.)
MULDER: (Like his eyes are going to swallow her.) Scully.
SCULLY: (Equally fixated.) Mulder. I thought you weren't going to be here.
COLTON: Agent Mulder.
MULDER: (Nods at Colton. Holds out a hand for Scully.) Would you like to dance?
SCULLY: (Swallows again.) Yes.
(Mulder and Scully dance. Camera is intimate, close up. Not full face shots, but of his hand on her back, her eyes on his, his eyes on hers, his hand on her back again as he pulls her closer, hints of smiles on their faces. At this point the music should be muted, to add to the intimate effect of their closeness.
All of a very sudden (damn) Skinner is at their side. Mulder and Scully stop and break away, the moment broken.)
SKINNER: I didnít want to interrupt, Agents, but there's an urgent phone call for Agent Scully from a man in NASA.
(CUT to later, Mulder is waiting with Skinner in the hotel lobby. Scully is talking on the phone a short distance away.)
SKINNER: I think we should be down there.
MULDER: What do you expect to find?
SKINNER: You tell me, Agent Mulder.
SCULLY: (Approaches. She is now in her long coat.) Sir, a classmate of mine from UMD who now works for NASA has received a communique from the Hoffler Observatory in New Mexico. Apparently the scientists there have come across what appears to be a rendezvous coordinate of some kind, from a distant transmission source.
MULDER: How distant?
SCULLY: According to the NASA, three billion light years away.
MULDER: (Deadpan.) That ís distant. (Turns to Skinner.) Sir?
SKINNER: TO to Santa Fe, effective immediately.
SCULLY: (Looks down at what she's wearing with dismay.) I guess there isn't any time to pack.
MULDER: Did you bring your car, Scully?
SCULLY: No, Tom--Agent Colton drove.
MULDER: Well, I guess you're gonna have to travel by chopper in style.
SCULLY: Do you have a bag in your car?
MULDER: Mmmm. (They start to walk.) I could lend you some jeans and a tee shirt.
SCULLY: (Drily.) Gee, thanks.
MULDER: Too bad. I wanted to tango with you. So I could dip you.
SCULLY: Dip me?
MULDER: Yeah. I dip you and you get impressed by my graceful strength.
SCULLY: While hoping you don't drop me.
MULDER: C'mon, you can change in the car.
(Fade to black.)
Scene 7. HOFFLER OBSERVATORY
NEW MEXICO DESERT
DECEMBER 26
1.20 AM
(Mulder and Scully are talking to Jodie and Red.)
SCULLY: So what you're saying is that there ís apparently a set of coordinates together with what looks like a map of Texas on the printouts, but that the source of this transmission is a distant star?
JODIE: That ís correct. The signals we have sent over the past five years have been pointed at Corenthia, in the Vega galaxy, three billion light years away.
MULDER: And this star? Why this particular star?
RED: Its spectral emission of light suggests that it is approximately as oldóor as young, however you may want to look at it--as our sun.
SCULLY: You believe that Corinthia may support life on one of its probable planets?
JODIE: Yes. We're working on a margin of error of five, which is ridiculous to rely on in Earth terms, but in astronomical terms, it's accurate enough as any theoretical error.
SCULLY: May I ask what your transmissions were of?
RED: (Sheepishly.) A couple of speeches, one of them Nixon's inaugural and another Martin Luther King's, some Chopin and Beethoven, among other things more scientific in nature.
MULDER: (Looking at Scully.) What do you think? Are you ready to check it out?
(Suddenly printer starts spewing out more paper. Jodie runs to it as does Red.)
JODIE: It's more spikes. Wait. (She waits for the printer to finish, then takes the pieces of paper to the table, where the others are. She rearranges the picture.) There's something anomalous here, something I can't quite figure out.
RED: Texas' tail is too thin.
SCULLY: (On the other side of the table.) I think we might want to look at the figure from here.
(The other three rush over to stand beside her.)
JODIE: It's not Texas.
RED: From the looks of this, it's further down.
MULDER: (Pointing.) Mexico, Panama, Guatemala. (Looks at Scully who looks at him and arches an eyebrow.)
JODIE: The coordinates meet at this point, right here. Red? Where's a map.
RED: (Gets out a large map which he unfolds to the area they are looking for.) Here's Mexico, the coordinates land somewhere around here. (Points.)
(Camera pans to his finger pointing to Cuzco.)
(CUT to Mulder on the phone. Scully beside him.)
MULDER: Sir, we might be on to something about a rendezvous with a caravan or something coming from a distant galaxy. (Looks at Scully. Scully again gives him the Eyebrow.) Yes, sir. That's--thanks, sir. (Turns the phone off.) OK. Vamonos a Cuzco, querida.
SCULLY: I suppose I won't get to pack yet again.
MULDER: What are you talking about? I think you look great in my jeans. (Looks down at her feet.) 'Cept the cuffs are a little too bulky.
SCULLY: (Looks down.) Shut up, Mulder.
Scene 8.
WMM: (On the phone.) This was not supposed to happen. You said the locks were in place.
CSM: (Voice on the phone. He's somewhere in the NM desert.) I underestimated the technology of the observatory. But it is being addressed soon. Now.
WMM: There will be no interference.
CSM: Consider it done.
(They hang up. CSM walks to what we can see now is the Hoffler Observatory. He sneaks into a back entrance, and in the dark of a twisting hallway he waits as steps are heard. We can hear Jodie's and Red's voices, although we cannot see them.)
RED: There's pizza in the freezer.
JODIE: I kinda feel like oatmeal.
RED: In the desert? Are you serious?
JODIE: I told you, Red, my eating habits have been a cause of wonder for years.
RED: Yeah, yeah. Well, we don't have any oatmeal. (Their voices are muffled as we now pan to CSM opening an electrical main switch box. He takes out of his pocket and carefully fuses a small, thin transparent wire to two other wires in the box and closes the box. The next moment he is walking calmly out of the observatory and getting into a car with Alex Krycek behind the wheel.)
KRYCEK: Where to now.
CSM: Back to the airport. Albuquerque.
(BEHIND them we see the observatory blowing up into giant flames.)
KRYCEK: You were supposed to do this quietly.
CSM: According to the police reports, this will have been a most unfortunate electrical malfunction.
(They drive off.)
Scene 9. CUZCO, MEXICO
27 DECEMBER
9.15 AM
(Mulder and Scully are at a hotel restaurant with what appears to be a meal in front of them, although I keep thinking why bother since they never seem to eat apart from the barbeque ribs a while back. Scully is now in a summer dress, and she is poring over a map. Mulder is in jeans and a white tee shirt which says ARRIBA on it. Mulder is trying not to stare at Scully.)
SCULLY: The area is a historical sight, open to tourists from 8.00 AM to 5.00 PM. It is an Inca temple dedicated to the Sun God. The guy I spoke to on the phone at the Smithsonian said the last expedition to the temple before this century ended in a mysterious blood bath, the archeologists were never found, but there was a lot of blood in both their tents. Is there anything in the Files regarding abductions in Mexico?
(She looks up since Mulder doesn't respond. Mulder is staring at her.)
SCULLY: What?
MULDER: Scully, why are you on this dress thing?
SCULLY: What dress thing?
MULDER: Two dresses in two days, Scully.
SCULLY: What is that supposed to mean, Mulder? That you have never seen me in a dress? I wear dresses. You just never see me in them.
MULDER: (Calmly, irritatingly so.) Scully, we spend an average of sixteen hours a day, not counting Play-off week, in each other's presence or in awareness of each other's presence. I have hardly seen you in a dress, not counting the suit things.
SCULLY: I wear dresses.
MULDER: When do you wear dresses in my presence? When I'm in your apartment and you're brushing your teeth in the bathroom?
SCULLY: So?
MULDER: So why now?
SCULLY: Mulder, what were you doing while I was talking a few minutes ago. When I asked you that question about an X-File.
MULDER: I was wondering.
SCULLY: You were staring.
MULDER: (Embarrassed but smiling a little.) Wondering. That's different.
SCULLY: That's why I don't wear dresses in your or any other colleague's presence. While I'm on the job.
MULDER: Because you'll be distracting?
SCULLY: Mulder, I didn't say that.
MULDER: Well, you are.
SCULLY: (Her turn to be embarrassed.) Can we get back to the topic. Please.
MULDER: Scully, you still haven't answered my question. Why now.
SCULLY: You want to know? Seriously?
MULDER: Seriously.
SCULLY: Well. (Takes a deep breath.) When I was in the Academy, I was--involved with someone.
MULDER: The instructor, what's his name.
SCULLY: Jack. (Smiles ruefully.) It was some kind of flirtation at first. He was very flattering.
MULDER: He wooed you.
SCULLY: (Looks at Mulder.) Yeah, you could say that. I used to find little things in my locker, on my desk.
MULDER: The marvels of high security level access.
SCULLY: Mulder, I thought you asked me seriously.
MULDER: Sorry. But--are you serious that these--little things affect you so much?
SCULLY: (Looks at him quizzically.) It was flattering. I thought we were intimate with each other's thoughts. He learned a lot about me, about what I like, dislike, what surprises me pleasantly. That was flattering. (Smiles a little at the memory.) Then he started asking me out, dinner, walks. (Sighs.)
MULDER: Why'd you break up?
SCULLY: (Sighs.) I wanted to go to Washington. He wanted a woman who'd stay. I didn't want to be a professor's wife.
MULDER: So you stopped wearing dresses?
SCULLY: I started thinking, I didn't want--Mulder when I started working with you, I promised myself you weren't going to--*appreciate* me because I distracted you in a dress.
(Smiles at him.)
MULDER: (Smiling back.) I appreciate you for a lot of things, Scully.
SCULLY: Seriously, how would it matter if I do or don't wear dresses now, in your presence or in awareness of your presence. You're my partner.
MULDER: Who happens to be unusually skilled to the point of obsession about focusing on his work. (Small smile.)
SCULLY: (Smiles back. She picks up the map.) Wanna get back your focus, Partner?
MULDER: Maybe if you give me that so I can cover my view of you in that dress.
Scene 10. CUZCO, MEXICO
27 DECEMBER
6.30 PM
(Mulder and Scully are in what appears to be a grassy place beside a stone wall. Mulder is trying to build a small fire but it is very windy. Scully looks on.)
SCULLY: I guess dinner's off. We should have brought some burritos from the hotel.
MULDER: What's in the bag?
SCULLY: (Looks in the knapsack beside her.) Bread, cheese, candy bars, soda. (Mulder groans.)
(Scully is smiling now.) But I got you this. (Takes out a bag of sunflower seeds.)
MULDER: Woman! You've got to be my soulmate. (Takes the bag of seeds and opens it, starts to eat sunflower seeds happily.) Hmm.
SCULLY: A man of simple pleasures. (She takes out a can of soda and pulls tab.)
MULDER: Scully?
SCULLY: Hmm?
MULDER: Do you ever think of doing life the way other people do?
SCULLY: *Doing* life?
MULDER: A mortgage, his and hers sinks, a dog, the whole bit.
SCULLY: Domesticity.
MULDER: Yeah. (Looks at her expectantly.)
SCULLY: Lately I've been thinking about it. I thought about it with--with Jack. But the thought left my head as quickly as it had entered.
MULDER: Why was that? From what you've told me, he was--sort of right.
SCULLY: I donít know, Mulder. When we were together, I was--I felt, here was a man who knew me, who sometimes needed no words to know what I thought. That was intimacy. But there was something missing. I didn't have a compelling need to be with him, to know what he was doing, not really, not after I received Chief Blevin's assignment in D.C. Leaving Quantico, and Jack, made me feel no overwhelming sadness.
MULDER: I bet he was deeply sad.
SCULLY: Actually, we never really spoke about it.
MULDER: And you gave him that watch. Four years ago. With the inscription.
SCULLY: I wanted him to know I still thought about him sometimes.
MULDER: (Smiling.) Scully. I never knew you to be a romantic.
SCULLY: (Smiling self-consciously.) Well. How many times do you glance at a watch? Just sometimes, right? It was a symbolic present.
MULDER: And he let you go, just like that.
(Silence. We can hear Mulder cracking sunflower seeds.)
SCULLY: Well, what about you?
MULDER: (Looks at her in midst of cracking a seed.) What about me.
SCULLY: What is *your* take on domesticity.
MULDER: (Sighs.) Quid pro quo, Agent Scully?
SCULLY: Quid pro quo, Mulder.
MULDER: (Sighs again.) Diana. Right after the academy, and with the work we did, we were very close. I thought about asking her to marry me.
(Looks at Scully, whose face is composed and stoic, listening.)
I was drawn to her mind. We thought in synchrony. It was like she was in my head.
SCULLY: Why did you split up?
MULDER: She wanted to go to Berlin. I wanted to stay with the X-files. And I promised myself I wouldn't give up until I found the truth behind what I had found.
SCULLY: You were reacting to the hurt in the only way you know how.
MULDER: I wasn't really hurt--not in a conventional way. I had the X-Files. They became my life.
(It starts to thunder. The sky is darkened by large rolling clouds.)
MULDER: It's going to rain?
SCULLY: We can go into that overhang. (Points up to the Inca temple beside their patch of grass. Starts to pick up things.)
MULDER: (Helping her pick up stuff.) I gotta say, Scully, stakeouts with you are the highlights of my career.
SCULLY: Don't forget your bag of bird food. (Fade to black.)
(Cut to Mulder and Scully inside the Inca Temple. Mulder looks at his watch. Scully is curled up on the floor, her head on his lap. Mulder brushes hair off her face with a hand.)
MULDER: Scully.
SCULLY: (Stirs.) Mmm.
MULDER: Scully, it's 2 in the morning.
SCULLY: (Opens her eyes a little.) Mulder, I just got to sleep. (Sits up slowly.) OK.
MULDER: (Lying down.) My turn.
SCULLY: Come here. (She maneuvers his head onto her lap.)
MULDER: (Smiling and snuggling closer.) Sing to me, Scully.
SCULLY: Uh-uh. Not this time. Just go to sleep, Mulder. I'll be ok.
(CUT to outside at the Site. A short distance from the Temple where Mulder and Scully are watching, there are several done-shaped structures. (Cut to inside one of the structures, where WMM and CSM in fatigues are talking with the Schwarzenalien also in fatigues.)
CSM: Twenty minutes to countdown. Transmissions have been positive.
WMM: (Addressing Schwarzenalien.) Where is the tear to occur?
SCHWARZENALIEN: Here. (Pointing to a point on a three-dimensional hologram.) It should be west of the temple entrance.
CSM: And the pick up should take no more than ten minutes. According to the calculations.
WMM: Who is keeping time?
SCHWARZENALIEN: That won't be necessary. None of the clocks will be necessary.
(Fade to black.)
Scene 11. INCA TEMPLE
5.52 AM
SCULLY: Mulder, wake up.
MULDER: Mmm. Scully.
SCULLY: Mulder, something's going on. I want to check the cameras.
MULDER: (Opens his eyes and smiles.) I had a dream about you.
SCULLY: Mulder, there's something going on above us.
(CUT to exterior of the temple. The wind is very strong. Mulder is checking a camera-looking object.)
SCULLY: (Above the wind.) Do you see a green light near the base? That would indicate if the sensors are still on.
MULDER: (Above the wind.) Sensors are OK.
(Abruptly the wind stops. Mulder and Scully look up at the sky, amazed. The sky is still dark, but suddenly ridges appear in the clouds, like the sky is being combed into cornrows. A very bright light then slices a thick line horizontally from the horizon until about 45 degrees to the zenith of the temple. A throbbing sound is heard, like an ominous engine too big to imagine. Then the whole area is eerily silent. We see flashes of Mulder and Scully speaking to each other, but there is no sound. After a while the light vanishes. Sky turns orange with sunrise. Birds start to call in the distance. Panorama shot of Mulder and Scully lying unconscious on the temple floor, as if they just fell there.)
Scene 12.
(CUT to the interior of the dome-shaped structure. WMM and CSM are on the floor along with a soldier in fatigues. WMM lifts his head to look at his watch.)
WMM: Stevens. Retrieve the package.
STEVENS: Yes, sir. (He gets up, slings an automatic rifle over his shoulder, and presses a digital lock near the door. The door hisses open. The soldier goes outside.)
WMM: We need to call the Elders.
CSM: (Goes to the phone, dials.) Yes. The delivery is complete.
ELDER: (In New York.) I will alert the labs. What is your ETA.
CSM: Noon. We'll be there at noon.
Scene 13. AD SKINNER' S OFFICE
1.30 PM
SKINNER: What you' re saying is that an unidentified aircraft may have cut through the sky and hovered for half a minute. Then it was gone.
MULDER: We also have photographic proof. (He hands a sheaf of 8 x 10 s to Skinner. Skinner shuffles through them. We see: Photos of the dome structures, the sky slice of light, a man in fatigues carrying a metal box.)
SKINNER: How could you use film if there is indication of radioactivity in the site?
SCULLY: The camera is a device we were lent by the Hoffler observatory staff, who stayed back to monitor the transmissions.
SKINNER: The Hoffler labs were burned the same day you were in Mexico. We can t prove sabotage. Apparently, it was wiring problems.
MULDER: This goes way deep.
SCULLY: The dome-shaped structures in the photographs are similar to the ones Agent Mulder and I found in Texas, and the ones Agent Mulder reported from the Arctic, and again in Alaska when we were helping the team there contain a worm which preyed upon human cells for its survival.
SKINNER: (Looking at the photo of a soldier carrying a metal box.) This man is wearing US Army-standard issue fatigues.
MULDER: That box he s carrying. My theory is that it was the reason for the visit.
SKINNER: (Looking at Mulder.) They were delivering something?
MULDER: It s something which is vital to someone' s agenda. A very big agenda.
SKINNER: I don t mean to be sceptical, but how can we jump to that possibility?
MULDER: Why waste a trip if not for something crucial? And why transmit coordinates of a landing or of entrance into Earth s atmosphere?
SCULLY: There 's something else, sir. The camera we were carrying had a diode clock, consisting of a pulsing subatomic particle which cannot be thrown off by orthodox means such as slight radioactivity or magnetic forces. The time on the clock read 6.20 as soon as Agent Mulder and I checked it, after we came to.
SKINNER: And? What does that suggest?
MULDER: That time had stopped where we were, look at these. (He hands Skinner an evidence bag with his and Scully s watches.)
SKINNER: (Turns the bag over to look at the watches faces. They both read 5.54.)
All the evidence implies a tight connection to the military. But for what? For whom? Whose agenda is this?
MULDER: That s what we want to know, Sir.
SKINNER: A very quiet investigation needs to be done, Agents. We have to do this right. We don t know how to approach, or who to approach. You will be under advisement.
MULDER: (Happy surprise on his face.) You believe us.
SKINNER: Yes, Agent Mulder, I believe you. There s something large at work here, larger than the Bureau. The operative phrase here is Trust no One.
(Mulder and Scully look at each other. They look at Skinner. They both nod.)
Scene 14. WASHINGTON, D.C.
28 December
7.47 PM
(Scully is in a restaurant, looks fancy, dimly lit, great ambience. She is approached by a waiter. Scully is wearing a dress!)
WAITER: Would you like to order an appetizer?
SCULLY: No, I think I ll wait for my friend. But I'd like a white wine please.
WAITER: Right away.
(CUT to Mulder coming in, he heads for the table where Scully is. He is smiling.)
MULDER: Sorry I'm late. (He bends down to kiss her cheek. She is slightly surprised.) I had to get something.
SCULLY: You re being very strange, Mulder.
MULDER: What do you mean Scully? Uh. (He looks at Scully appreciatively.) You look great.
(WAITER comes at that moment and pours a wine for Scully. He looks at Mulder who nods, and waiter pours a glass for Mulder also then goes away.)
SCULLY: (Picks up the glass.) That's what I mean. All this (she indicates the restaurant, etc with the wine glass.) seems so unlike you.
MULDER: (Picking up the menu.) Because I have never asked you to a restaurant before doesn't mean it's not me. (Looks down at the menu.) Would you like a mixed greens to start or a soup?
SCULLY: Mulder, what are you up to?
MULDER: (Sighs but smiles.) Dana, will you stop being FBI for a while? This is just you and me. Tonight. No work.
SCULLY: (After a while she smiles back, relenting.) All right I think I'd like the Caesar salad.
MULDER: OK. (Fishes in his jacket pocket and takes out a small square box.) I have something for you. This is why I was late.
SCULLY: (Eyebrows up.) Mulder?
MULDER: Open it. (Smiling.)
(Scully opens the box to find a watch, chrome with a black face, just like the one she had. She looks at it, then up at Mulder, searching his face, shocked at his gesture.)
MULDER: I think of you sometimes. Here. (He takes the watch from her fingers and places it on her, locking the clasp, a very tender moment. Camera should do extreme closeup of Scully s wrist, Mulder s fingers as he clasps the watch's lock, a brief touch of her wrist.)
SCULLY: Mulder. I--
MULDER: Dana. Whatever you re gonna say--
SCULLY: (Looks away self-consciously. Fishing in her coat.) I got you something. (She hands him a box.)
MULDER: (Looking at her, quizzically.) You're kidding.
SCULLY: (Having regained her composure, she is now smiling.) Merry Christmas.
(Mulder opens the box. In it is a black on black Swiss Army special forces watch. Mulder turns it over and sees that on the back there is an inscription. He holds it close to his eyes and reads, I believe. DS Mulder looks up and he and Scully look at each other for a long moment.)
MULDER: (Puts it on. Softly says.) Thank you.
(Fade to Black.)
FIN.