- Dr Cabrera! - Where is he?
- Trauma. - Who transferred him from ICU?
I did. During prep for therapeutic plasmapheresis he went into shock.
- Vitals? - Not good.
Pulse is 40, blood pressure 80 over 50. His GCS is six.
Get on the phone to the FBI. There's an Agent Scully that should be notified.
- The FBI? - This man is an FBI agent.
- What's wrong with him? - What's wrong is he's going to die.
Can you hear me?
Mr Skinner?
I'm not understanding. Can you speak up?
- What did he say? - A name.
He's coding on us.
Clear.
Dr Cabrera, clear!
Dr Cabrera?!
Let him go.
Every minute of every day, we choose:
who we are, who we forgive,
who we defend and protect.
To choose a side or to walk the line.
To play the middle.
To straddle the fence between what is and what should be.
This was the course I chose.
Trying to find the delicate balance of interests that can never exist,
choosing by not choosing, defending a centre which cannot hold.
So death chose for me.
Go easy on him, Slugger. I need him to lock up for me tonight, OK?
Don't telegraph that left, Dre. Stevie Wonder would see that one comin'!
You're fightin' the FBI now, Dre. Fight smart.
Go!
Hey, Slugger?
You OK?
Slugger, can you hear me?
Talk to me. You all right?
Mr Skinner?
Mr Skinner? Hi.
You gonna stick with us now?
- Do you remember what happened? - I was boxing. I must've gotten tagged.
Yes, you did. At least you didn't get your ear bit off. That's something, right?
Doctor Plant'll be with you in a minute.
Yeah, Skinner.
Hello?
Walter Skinner.
Who is this?
Have you heard the news?
It's... in... you.
What is this?
You... have 24 hours... to go.
What is this? What do you want?
You are...
already dead.
Mr Skinner. I didn't expect to see you up and around. You must be feeling better.
Can you take a seat on the table for me, please?
I'm Dr Plant. I was here with you before.
- You probably don't remember. - No.
The good news is your dilation's back to normal.
Plus, you still have both your ears.
I heard that one.
I'm gonna release you. But I suggest that you rethink the boxing.
You're not 20 any more.
There's nothing wrong with me?
You got your bell rung.
Other than that, I think you're fine.
You might want to ice that bruise.
What bruise?
Right here.
- How the hell did I get that? - Must've taken a hard one to the ribs.
But there's nothing broken. No internal bleeding. Like I said, you'll live.
Thanks.
What is it, Agent Mulder?
I just, uh... I thought I'd poke my head in and say "hey".
Hey.
- Are you sleepin' one off? - No, I was just havin' trouble seeing.
- It's nothing. I just didn't think I should drive. - You gonna be all right, sir?
He's gonna tell you he's all right.
- There's nothing wrong with me. - Not that I could tell if there was.
- Why are the lights out? - He's havin' trouble with his eyes.
He's also got a nasty bruise on his ribcage.
- What'd you do? - It's nothing.
Says who?
Says the doctor who released me from the hospital.
Ow!
That was the second opinion. The first was unsolicited.
A phone call at the hospital. A scrambled voice telling him he had 24 hours to live.
That was somebody yanking my chain. I got a clean bill of health.
In the last 48 hours, did you eat or drink anything that tasted metallic or odd?
You think that I'm poisoned?
- Did the doctor take your blood? - Yes, and it checked out.
- Poisoning could've been overlooked. - If so, why call and tell me at the hospital?
To scare you. See what you'd do, who you'd turn to.
Oh.
- This is about you. - Or about the X-Files.
You are so paranoid, Mulder. You're not even on the X-Files any more.
No, but you are. You still supervise them.
What happened today? Anything out of the ordinary?
I'm not gonna play this game.
It could've been anything. It could've been the slightest touch or a handshake.
- This morning, you woke up... - I woke up.
- Alone? - Yes. Alone.
- How'd you get to the office? - The same way that I always do. I drove.
- Then what? - Nothing. I had meetings, I went to the gym,
- to the hospital and now I'm here. - Just slow down.
One step at a time. How'd you get from the parking garage to your office?
- The elevator. - And then what?
I walked up the hallway. I passed the same dozen people that I pass every morning.
I went to my office.
I said good morning to my secretary.
And she said good morning to me.
I made calls, I did paperwork, then I was here for the rest of the day.
Think. There's gotta be something.
In the hallway, there was a man.
He stopped me. He wanted to know the time.
Did he touch you?
He grabbed me. On my right wrist.
It wouldn't necessarily leave a mark. Some poisons are absorbed through the skin.
What time was it?
There you are.
That's him. Right there.
Wait a second, back up.
It can't be.
That's Kenneth Orgel. Advisor to a Senate subcommittee on Ethics in New Technology.
- He's a scientist? - A physicist.
Very well-known, as far as physicists go.
He signed in here as a visitor to the office of Assistant Director Walter Skinner.
- Why would he be coming to see you? - I'd like to ask him that myself.
If he poisoned you, you should be off your feet and under a doctor's care.
I'm gonna put a gun to his head, find out why and ask him how he's gonna make me well.
- What hospital was he in? - St Katherine's.
- Yes? - Dr Orgel?
- Kenneth Orgel? - Yes.
Do you know who I am?
No.
My name's Walter Skinner. I'm an assistant director at the FBI.
Dr Orgel, you visited the FBI this morning. You came to see Mr Skinner.
No. You must be mistaken.
Sorry. You'll have to come back another time.
- Go around back. - What?
Please, you're bothering me.
Federal Agent!
Go!
Drop the gun.
Drop it!
So's your mom.
Give it a rest!
- Let him go, Agent Mulder. - What?
He's got diplomatic papers. It's our mistake. You can go.
Just let him go.
Get inside. The police'll be here any moment and I don't have time to answer questions.
He's Alexander Lazreg.
L-a-z-r-e-g. He's a cultural attaché with the Tunisian Mission here in DC.
- See what else you can find out. - You need to get to the hospital.
No, I'm tryin' to stay out of one.
- The boxer. FBI. - You released him earlier this evening.
- Is he not all right? - That's why I'm here.
- He may have been poisoned. - You're kidding. By whom?
I don't know. In fact, I'm not even sure what I'm looking for.
You're lucky. He's on a government HMO.
- No one's even handled his samples yet. - Is this them in here?
I'm not supposed to let you have those. Not without a written release from the patient.
We may not have time.
He may not have time either.
- He had no symptoms of poisoning. - Are you sure these haven't been processed?
I'm not sure, but I doubt they've even been touched.
- I'm not so sure you should be doin' that. - This a crime scene. What should I do?
I'm just concerned for Dr Orgel's personal property. And preservation of evidence.
I'd be a lot more concerned for the preservation of Dr Orgel.
Hello, Senator.
It's carbon.
Pure carbon. How in the world would that get into his bloodstream?
- And how is it working as a poison? - By all rights, it shouldn't be.
Look at them, just rattling around in solution.
It's just bizarre.
- Did you see that? - Did you just touch something?
No, I didn't.
They just multiplied. Look!
They just did it again!
Zooming in.
What the hell are they?
Wait here, please.
I don't have to tell you how late it is, do I, Agent Mulder?
But I suspect that wasn't a consideration of yours.
Actually, time is my only consideration, Senator.
This was taken only three days ago.
It's of you and Dr Kenneth Orgel holding a Senate resolution.
SR819, I think it's called. What is that?
A funding bill. What is this all about?
A friend of mine is going to die because of SR819.
I don't know how, I don't even know why.
- But I bet you do. - What are you talking about?
I don't even really know yet. All I have is a Tunisian diplomat,
this Dr Kenneth Orgel, this health bill, SR819,
all leading to a plot to kill an assistant director of the FBI. Does that make sense?
The bill you refer to will provide money and supplies to the World Health Organization,
medical technology to Third World countries.
I have aided you in the past with information, Fox, and advice,
which right now is to leave here at once,
and never again suggest to anyone my involvement in any such dark intrigue.
- Am I understood? - This man may die.
- He may only have a few hours to live. - My intention is to save lives, Fox.
But I can't save his.
Good night, Fox. Drive safely.
Dr Plant?
- What? What is it? - I think I found it.
I think I found what the carbon's doing.
It's not just reproducing itself. It has behaviour.
It's creating something. A matrix, stimulated by blood flow in response to movement.
It's multiplying, then solidifying in an orderly fashion.
It's building valves or dams in the vascular system.
It's building a heart attack.
Dr Plant? You're doing blood work on a Walter Skinner?
Yes.
A Walter Skinner has been picked up by paramedics at a parking garage.
- Where are they taking him? - DC General.
Did you see this? We've got some sort of extreme vascular event here.
- How is he even still alive? - We'll take the left arm first.
Mark it just above the bicep.
- Let's get to it. - I'll get this side.
- Hey, you! Out! - I know this man.
- I don't care. This is a sterile operating room. - Get them out.
I'm sorry. We've been investigating his illness. What are you doing?
- If he's gonna live, he has to lose his arms. - That won't save him. It's his blood.
- Who the hell is this woman? - She's a doctor.
You're not gonna solve anything until you get a scope into him. Nothing else is gonna work.
If you wanna save this man, listen to what I'm saying.
It's OK, sir.
Lie back down.
We're just moving you to another room.
Who did this to me?
That's what Mulder's trying to figure out right now.
But we're gonna take good care of you. I promise.
We're gonna do everything we can.
I don't know. I can't remember.
Sir? Is that you?
- Agent Mulder? - Do you have the key to this drawer?
- What are you doing? - Skinner's in the hospital.
- Somebody poisoned him. - Why?
- For doing his job. - I don't understand.
I'm looking for anything that relates to Senate Resolution 819.
If you wanna save his life, open this drawer.
- I don't have the key. - Do you have a letter opener? Something?
Is he going to be all right?
- What's his condition? - He's stable, but it's not good.
He's got extreme vascular trauma and distension.
His blood has become a weapon against his body.
- Can you fight it? - We don't know what it is.
The best that we can do is keep lasering his arteries open.
But it's only gonna be a matter of time before we lose.
It's building walls in his vessels faster than we can tear them down.
We don't have the technology to combat it.
- Maybe we do. - What is this?
I found this in Skinner's morning mail. He was doing a security check on a Senate bill
for violation of trade laws involving sensitive technology.
But this is just a routine procedure.
- The FBI does dozens a year. - This bill was going to vote in the Senate.
All it was waiting on was Skinner's review and an analysis by Dr Kenneth Orgel.
You're sayin' Dr Orgel poisoned Skinner to cover up his analysis?
Orgel didn't poison anybody. He came to the FBI to tell Skinner what he knew -
that there was a gross violation of export laws involving new technology.
- New technology? - You know what that means?
I think I might.
It's not me.
You want to get this? It was in his pants pocket.
- Hello? - Might as well give up.
- Who is it? - It's a computer-synth voice.
You can't stop it.
- Somebody that must know he's here. - Walter Skinner.
Your time...
Federal Agent! Stop right there!
- Yes. - The bill is in danger, Senator.
- A new threat has emerged. - You shouldn't have called me.
- Blood will be on your hands. - I don't buy your hollow threats.
But Dr Orgel does. You can ask him.
What have you done with him?
I can tell you where to find him.
The car's leased, part of a fleet service that services the diplomatic counsel corps.
- What forensic evidence did you lift? - Not much on the outside.
Not surprising, considering the condition of the vehicle. Inside we found a couple of hairs.
Human. From an expensive wig.
Don't hate me cos I'm beautiful. What else?
We scraped the tyre treads. Found something odd.
It's full of polychlorinated biphenyls. PCBs. Over 500 parts per million.
That's the kind of levels they used to see in the 1970s. Before the EPA got fangs.
- From where? - The PCBs are saturated evenly in the clay.
A demo site, maybe. Or an old power plant.
Who's there?
Is someone there?
Senator, please let me go.
I need... water.
- Who did this to you? - Hurry. Please.
It's... killing me.
They believe you have exposed them to the FBI. To Walter Skinner.
I told the FBI nothing. I told them nothing.
Please. I promise not to expose anyone.
Sir, there's something I'd like to try.
It's a treatment called therapeutic plasmapheresis.
It requires filtering all of the blood in your body.
It's a radical procedure, and there is a danger that your body might go into shock.
I'm in your hands.
I think I owe you an apology, Scully.
- You and Mulder. - Sir?
I've been lying here, thinking.
Your quest.
- It should have been mine. - What do you mean?
If I die now, I die in vain.
I have nothing to show for myself.
My life.
Sir, you know that's not true.
It is.
I can see now that...
I always played it safe.
I wouldn't take sides.
Wouldn't let you and Mulder...
pull me in.
You've been our ally more times than I can say.
Not the kind of ally that I could have been.
- I remember now. - What?
- I can't see his face. He has a beard. - Try.
He was at the gym.
At the hospital.
He killed that man.
He was at the FBI when Orgel approached me.
He was following you?
The tape. He's on the surveillance tape.
You must be surprised to see me here.
- I'm sure I'm not the man you're looking for. - Where is he? Where's Orgel?
- Orgel is dead. - I don't believe you.
You lied to me this morning, you're lying to me now.
- Drop this, Fox. - Where is Orgel?!
I need to know what he knows! A friend of mine is dying!
I tell you, they killed him. What Orgel knows died with him.
Then tell me what you know, Senator! This is about SR819, isn't it?
- What the hell did they put in Skinner? - I'm sure you already have some idea, Fox.
It's the same technology SR819 will export.
Technology that the world believes is purely theoretical.
Nanotechnology. Microscopic, atom-sized machines.
- Machines can be stopped. - Your friend is already dead.
- I don't believe that. - If you pursue this, they will kill you.
Not before I expose you and your role in this.
My role? I am a victim here.
Don't you understand that? I'm fighting for my life!
- I will stop this! - It's too late, Fox!
It's too late!
He's coding on us.
Clear!
Dr Cabrera, clear!
Dr Cabrera?!
Let him go.
Call time of death... 9:33.
I've spoken with your doctors and your prognosis is excellent.
Whatever you were infected with appears to be dormant.
And your recovery is being hailed as a miracle.
The man who poisoned you was at the FBI that day.
Scully was able to pull these off the security video tapes.
We're hoping it might jog your memory. Maybe you can identify this man.
No, I'm sorry.
SR819 was withdrawn by committee late last night, without explanation.
- Good. So this man failed, then. - If that was his true motive.
If he poisoned you to prevent you from investigating SR819,
why call you to tell you that?
This man worked for the government that was to receive this technology.
He killed one of his own to save you.
So you still think this was about you? About the X-Files?
Yes. Yes, I do, and I have an idea who may be behind all this,
but I'd need your authority to continue the investigation.
I have neither the authority nor the will to allow your continued inquiry into this matter.
You'll perform your duties as directed by AD Kersh and only AD Kersh.
Sir?
This matter's closed, agents. Am I clear?
I've been expecting you to show up.
You know I can push the button any time.
What do you want from me? What's this about, Krycek?
All in good time.
Karin Baker
I made this!
ENGLISH SDH