We are now beginning our descent into JFK International Airport.
We should be on the ground in 15 minutes.
Any passenger needing help with customs forms or any other form...
Monsieur?
Come in.
- Thank you for getting here so quickly. - There's not much traffic at this hour.
This is Dr Simon Bruin with the Philadelphia office of the Centers for Disease Control.
A pleasure, Dr Scully.
How familiar are you with the kidnappings in Philadelphia?
That four young men have gone missing in the past three months.
All African-American.
A joint FBI-Philadelphia PD task force has been working around the clock.
But there have been no leads to speak of. Until last night.
What happened last night?
Owen Sanders, the last to go missing, was found dead near a construction site.
- How was he killed? - That's just it, Agent Scully. He wasn't.
No evidence indicates homicide.
Has a cause of death been determined?
No. But I'll let Dr Bruin give you his thoughts on that.
This was taken last night, less than an hour after Sanders' body was found.
- I thought you said Owen Sanders was black. - He was.
I'm not sure I follow.
See for yourself.
Owen Sanders was a normal young black man.
I assume you're going somewhere with this.
The depigmentation may actually be characteristic of a disease.
An apparently fatal one.
So you don't think they're victims of a crime at all.
It's my opinion, Dr Scully, this investigation should begin and end under a microscope.
Dr Bruin hopes someone with a solid medical background...
...can make a quick and decisive analysis.
Case number 2139318537.
Subject is a black male, 19 years old.
Cause and time of death unknown.
Total lack of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes.
This suggests albinism, though the bleaching of the irises...
...indicates a violent and unexplained cellular reaction to a vector or an environment...
Hey. I heard you were down here slicing and dicing. Who's the lucky stiff?
His name is Owen Sanders.
Reported as the fourth kidnap victim in Philadelphia...
...until he turned up last night like this.
There's a Michael Jackson joke in here, but I can't quite find it.
I've been requested to determine what leached the pigment from his body.
- Requested by whom? - The Centers for Disease Control.
The CDC in a kidnap case?
They believe the case has been mislabelled.
That this man and the others may have fallen prey to a disease or a pathogen.
Based on what other evidence?
There were no signs of trauma or defence wounds, and his wallet was still full of cash.
That's interesting.
What, uh, what sort of disease is this?
I don't know. There are conditions like vitiligo which attack melanocytes...
...and prevent the manufacture of melanin in the skin...
...autoimmune disorders, not yet understood.
So this man died of a disorder?
He and four other young black men contracted the disease...
...and then disappeared without any explanation whatsoever.
It's possible they've already turned up, but because of the depigmentation...
...there may be a problem with identification.
So I have reissued descriptions of John Does to area morgues and ERs.
Scully, has it occurred to you that this might just be a PR exercise?
I'm sorry?
To divert attention from the fact that young black men are dying and there's no suspect?
- The perception being that nobody cares. - Not everything is a conspiracy...
...and not everybody is plotting to deceive, inveigle and obfuscate.
Did you lift any forensic evidence?
Yes. Hair, skin and fibre. Behind you on the counter.
What are you doing?
I'm gonna join the snipe hunt, if you don't mind. Before the body count rises.
Mr Aboah?
Anyone home?
Samuel Aboah?
Yes.
I'm Marcus Duff. Remember me?
Your immigration counsellor.
We have an appointment to go over your naturalisation petition.
Um, please.
Thank you.
We could use a little light to fill out the petition.
Maybe you can open a window or something.
Yeah... I guess that works.
Have a seat, Samuel. This is a little complicated.
So...
You OK? You look ill.
You got a fever or something?
No.
I know how lonely it is, believe me.
Being in a strange place far from your family.
But once you become a US citizen...
...I can help you bring over every brother, sister...
...aunt, uncle and cousin.
It all starts today, Samuel.
Know what I'm saying?
Thank you.
Agent Pendrell. Thanks for turning this materials analysis around on short notice.
Shouldn't we wait for Agent Scully?
- She's not coming. - Why not?
She had a date.
Breathe! It's with a dead man. She's doing an autopsy.
- You said you found something? - Yeah. Asbestos fibres. Not much there.
And I didn't think there was anything among the vegetable debris - local soils, pollens, etc.
Till I came across this.
I had to go on-line with a botanist at UVN to determine what it was.
It looks like some kind of thorn.
No, it's a seed, actually. But nothing you'll find at your local nursery.
Adenia volkensii.
- Help me out. - From a rare species of passionflower.
It's a rare, night-blooming plant indigenous only to certain parts of West Africa.
How could this travel 5,000 miles around the world and wind up on Owen Sanders?
That I couldn't tell you.
It contains a cerebropathic glycoside. Mean anything to you?
If I'm correct, it's a cortical depressant that works on the higher centres of the brain.
- Is it lethal? - In large enough quantities it might be.
Larger than anything contained in a single seed.
Did the toxicology screen detect any of it in Sanders' blood?
No, the tox screen was clean.
Could his body have metabolised it?
Only if the victim hadn't expired immediately.
- Does that tell you anything about anything? - No, but...
...I think I found something that could explain the depigmentation.
- His pituitary gland was necrotised. - His pituitary gland?
The pituitary gland secretes all of the regulatory hormones in the body...
...and it controls the production of melanin in the skin cells.
So you found evidence that this is a disease?
No. I have identified the effect. I am still looking for the cause.
OK, let me know as soon as you find anything out.
- Where are you, Mulder? - Off to water the seeds of doubt. Bye-bye.
Ms Covarrubias?
- Who are you? - Agent Mulder. Fox Mulder.
- What are you doing? - I'm sorry I frightened you.
What do you want?
I'm not sure why, but I thought you might be in a position to help me.
Help you?
Four young men are missing in Philadelphia. One of the men was found dead last night.
This seed was recovered from his body.
It's from a rare species of plant found only in West Africa.
Do you know anything about this case?
No.
Is there any way you could find something out about it?
Thousands of exotic species cross into US soil every day undetected.
Bilge water is emptied into harbours, produce sent through the mail.
In practical terms, borders are little more than lines on maps.
Is that a yes or a no?
- I can't help you. - You can't or you won't?
You made an overture to me. You left an opening.
Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me there's nothing here, and I'll just walk away.
Either way, I need to know.
Agh!
Hey, I got a schedule.
You gettin' on or not?
What's your problem? You on drugs or something?
Ah, the hell with you. You can walk for all I care.
Damned drugs.
He was sitting right here, staring at me with these glassy eyes. Pretty much out of it.
You mean he looked sick?
Yeah, now that you mention it.
I mean, I asked him if he needed help, but he didn't say squat.
Don't forget to put down I had a schedule to keep.
Did you observe anybody else in the area?
Not that I saw. I already told the police pretty much everything I know.
Excuse me.
- What happened? - We have another missing young man.
Alfred Kittel, 17 years old, African-American. His mother called the police around 3am.
- How does she know he's missing? - He works down the street.
He takes this bus every night, and last night he never made it home.
They found his knapsack on the bench here.
The police are out canvassing.
I talked to a bus driver who said that he seemed disoriented, nonresponsive.
It might be some kind of pre-symptomatic dementia.
Or a reaction to a powerful cortical depressant.
What are you suggesting?
Find Alfred Kittel and you find another one of those rare African seeds.
What makes you so sure?
A week before the first person was reported missing...
...the New York Port Authority filed that with the FAA.
Like Owen Sanders, this man wasn't an albino either.
Not until he was found dead on a charter flight from West Africa, from Burkina Faso.
The embassy demanded the body's return before an autopsy could be performed.
It says cause of death was undetermined.
Yeah, undetermined, Scully, but not necessarily unknown.
"Aboah"? What the hell kind of name is that?
Mr Aboah?
- Yes. - Philadelphia PD.
We're canvassing the building in regard to a missing person.
This is the young man we're looking for. Have you seen him?
No.
Well, if you hear from anyone who has, or come across any information at all...
...you can reach us at this number. That's a hot line. You can call 24 hours a day.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- I am really quite busy. - We won't take up much of your time.
You're in charge of most of the casework...
...for aliens immigrating from Africa and the Caribbean?
I assist people from that part of the world where I came from 15 years ago.
We're looking for somebody that came more recently. On a flight from Burkina Faso.
This is the passenger manifest from the charter company.
And... you want me to do what, exactly?
Cross-reference the names with anyone applying for permanent resident status...
...or a work visa in the last three months.
I am a social worker, not a police officer. My business is not chasing down illegals.
Sir, we're not here to arrest anybody.
But you are FBI agents, are you not?
Yes. Investigating a possible public health crisis.
What kind of crisis?
He's not at home. We might as well get comfortable.
It has to be here, Mulder. There has to be some evidence of a virus or bacterium.
If you looked up from the microscope, you'd see that what's missing is a motive.
The motive of any pathogen is to reproduce itself.
My job as a doctor is to find out if and how it is being transmitted.
- If this is a health crisis. - Death is a health crisis.
Something caused Sanders' pituitary to fail...
...which caused his metabolism to drop, resulting in coma and, finally, in death.
Sometimes you have to start at the end to find the beginning.
I just hope we don't have to find another dead body to discover what that is.
Maybe we won't have to wait.
Mr Aboah? Can I talk to you a minute?
- Boy, this guy can move. - He's not here.
He has to be.
Mulder, I think I know where he went.
Come on, Mulder. Let's go. We've lost him.
Hey, Scully, look at this.
Oh, my God.
From outward signs, this man is asymptomatic.
I appreciate the connection you've tried to make, but it's a dead end.
With your permission, I'd like to examine him more. I'd like to run a suppression test,...
...do a TSH screen, take a history.
It would help if we could talk to him.
I'm working on that.
- Nothing? - Not yet.
That doesn't mean he isn't a carrier, or even the index case.
He's some kind of case, the way he disappeared down that drainpipe.
Why has Samuel Aboah been arrested?
You said his health was in danger. Why have I been lied to?
Nobody has lied to you, sir.
Then, please, release him immediately.
We would like to do some more tests.
We have to be sure his health hasn't been endangered and he isn't endangering others.
- Then why have you called me? - As a translator.
We'd like to be able to ask him some questions.
- About what? - About Alfred Kittel...
...and several other men who've gone missing since his arrival in Philadelphia.
- Then this is about a criminal charge. - There are no charges against Mr Aboah.
We arrested him because he ran when we tried to question him. I wanna know why.
Sir, if you had ever been beaten by the police...
...or had your home burned for no other reason than being born...
...then, maybe, you would understand why he ran.
And why you would run too.
He ran because he's hiding something. And no amount of tests you run on him...
- ..no science is gonna find that. Excuse me. - Where are you going?
To find someone who I know plotted to deceive, inveigle and obfuscate.
Minister, this is Agent Mulder with the FBI.
- Thank you for seeing me at such a late hour. - I did not have much choice in this matter.
Someone from the United Nations spoke to the ambassador.
What's so important that it can't wait?
With all due respect, sir, I think you already know.
Do I?
Something happened on a flight from your country three months ago.
Something that you felt compelled to hide, even from your own ambassador.
The request to stop investigating this man's death came from you.
I understand the need to protect your diplomatic position, but more men are dying.
Even if I tell you what I know...
...you would never believe it.
You'd be surprised at what I believe, sir.
I had hoped, if I closed my eyes...
...it would go away this time.
This time?
My people...
...the Bambara, are farmers.
I grew up hearing the old stories...
...believing them as only a child can believe.
What kinds of stories?
The Teliko.
Spirits...
...of the air.
It was said they rested by day...
..in closed, dark places...
..deep inside tree hollows...
..and in holes beneath the ground...
..too small even for a child to hide himself.
Mr Aboah?
Only when the sun fell...
..when the rest of the world was sleeping...
..would they come out.
Come out to do what, sir?
I was seven years old.
Lying awake one night, I saw him.
He was standing over me.
His hair was like straw...
...his eyes like water...
...staring down at me.
I closed my eyes and screamed...
...and felt myself being swept up into the air.
But when I opened my eyes...
...I saw my father...
...holding me.
- Then it was a nightmare. - That's what my father said.
And I believed him.
Until the next day...
...when they found my cousin...
...dead among his cattle.
Looking exactly like this man.
Which is why...
..when this photograph came across my desk three months ago...
..I knew the Teliko was more than just a children's story.
I knew it was real.
I knew he was here!
This patient has something in his throat, some kind of aberrant bone growth...
...or maybe something foreign lodged in his oesophagus.
Hm. Could be a lot of things.
You'd be amazed what I've seen removed from people's throats in ERs.
That's only part of it.
I discovered something even more disturbing when his PET series came back.
Look right here on the sagittal section, right below the hypothalamus.
- There must be some mistake. - There's no mistake.
This patient has no pituitary gland.
That's not possible.
I can't even begin to explain what we're seeing here, sir.
I just hope this patient can provide some answers.
You'll have to find him first.
- What are you talking about? - I was looking for you in Quarantine.
Samuel Aboah is gone, disappeared.
Samuel?
You scared me.
They let you out of the hospital?
Yes.
Everything is fine?
Samuel?
Did you want to see me about something?
Well, come on. Let me give you a ride home. We can talk about it on the way.
Lucky for you I was working late.
Yes. Lucky.
Come, let's go.
When did this happen?
Thank you, Lieutenant. I appreciate it.
I think this was his getaway vehicle.
He didn't even touch his Jell-O.
Let's go. Marcus Duff's car turned up abandoned...
...with the keys in the ignition and the hood still hot.
6834, requesting ambulance in alley behind 1163 West Cherry.
- Man down. - African-American male, aged 35...
- Do you know what happened to him? - I won't even try to guess, but he's alive.
What about Aboah? Any indication of where he might be?
We're still sweeping the area. I'll keep you posted.
He's gotta be around here. He can't have gotten far.
He can squeeze into a coffee can. He could be anywhere.
- They'll find him. - They'll find another victim.
- We interrupted him before he could finish. - Interrupted his killing Duff?
The killing is just incidental, I think, to a far more basic need.
What need?
If Aboah has no pituitary, then his body couldn't produce melanin itself, right?
Theoretically, yes.
Well, when you examined him you didn't observe one single albino trait.
Considering his PET scan results, I don't even know how he managed to stay alive.
Survival. And not just Aboah's.
I think the anomaly you observed is not just physiological. I think it may be evolutionary.
- What are you talking about? - A lost tribe, a clan of sub-Saharan albinos...
...linked by a common congenital deficit, who've adapted over generations by...
- By stealing other people's hormones? - Somehow, Aboah has managed to survive.
However he's managed to survive, what makes you think he's not an isolated case?
Because of something somebody told me last night.
An African folk tale.
You're basing this theory on a folk tale?
It's just another way of describing the same truth.
All new truths begin as heresies and end as superstitions. We fear the unknown...
...so we reduce it to terms that are familiar, whether that's a folk tale or a disease or...
...a conspiracy.
Even if you're right, especially if you're right...
...why would he leave his country to come here?
Free cable.
The same reasons anybody comes here.
Liberty, the freedom to pursue your own interests...
Look at that.
- What are you doing? - It's a demolition site.
Why are we here, Mulder?
Pendrell found asbestos fibres on Owen Sanders' body.
You remove asbestos from an old building before you tear it down.
It had to come from somewhere.
Agh!
Scully?
Scully!
Mulder?
Mulder!
Mulder, are you OK?
It's OK, Mulder. I'm here. OK?
Sorry, Mulder.
911. Operator.
This is Agent Dana Scully, FBI, requesting immediate EMS and police assistance.
- I'm in Liberty Plaza. - May I have your badge number?
My badge number?
JTT0331613.
No.
Liberty Plaza. There's a demolition site on the north side of the street.
Special Agent Dana Scully, field journal entry number 74.
Despite acute trauma to his pituitary gland...
..Marcus Duff was discharged early this morning from Mount Zion Medical Center.
He is expected to testify before a grand jury in the capital case against Samuel Aboah...
..who is being charged with five counts of murder.
It remains uncertain, however...
..whether Aboah will live long enough to stand trial.
His response to hormone therapy has been poor...
..his deterioration progressive.
..that the mechanism by which Aboah killed and, in turn, survived...
..can only be explained by medical science.
And that science will eventually discover his place in the broader context of evolution.
But what science may never be able to explain...
..is our ineffable fear of the alien among us.
A fear which often drives us not to search for understanding...
..but to deceive, inveigle and obfuscate.
To obscure the truth, not only from others...
..but from ourselves.
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