Damn, Jim, you fell asleep?!
We're on a stakeout, man.
- I guess. I don't know. - What happened over there?
- What are you talkin' about? - That house, man.
The front door was wide open.
How long you been out?
We'd better check it.
Lights out. Door's open.
I don't like this.
Looks like they all left.
I'm not so sure.
This can't be.
Oh, God.
Stedman.
They're all dead.
Yeah?
It's Agent Scully. I'm sorry to wake you.
- What's up? - I got a call from Assistant Director Skinner.
- He has a situation. - What is it?
An agent is dead. Skinner had him surveilling a religious cult in Pittsburgh.
All the followers are dead as well.
- What happened? - He's having difficulty determining that.
- I'll pick you up. - I'm sorry, Agent Doggett. I can't go.
Agent Scully?
Um... something unexpected has come up.
- You all right? - Yeah, I'm fine.
- Will I see you later? - As soon as I can.
Ms Scully? The doctor wants to see you right away.
- Where's Agent Scully? - Running late.
What do we have?
Our man doing routine surveillance on a cult, the Ibogan Temple.
We had a tip they were trafficking narcotics.
Nobody suspected anything like this.
Agent James Leeds. Six-year veteran of the Bureau, father of two.
A patrol cop found him. Car was locked from the inside.
- Nobody saw or heard anything? - No.
This couldn't have happened here.
Blood splatter on the seat says it did.
It's too narrow. There's no room to swing the weapon.
- No. - Besides, it doesn't make any sense.
The gun's still holstered, and the key's in the ignition.
Even if he fell asleep...
This is damn weird.
It gets weirder.
These people were all killed the same way as our guy.
All 20 cult members dead from a single deep wound to the forehead.
- Is this every member? - Except one.
Their leader, Anthony Tipet, is missing.
Tipet was a convicted murderer who claimed to have found God.
We didn't think we were dealing with an apocalyptic cult.
We've seen this kind of thing before.
Jonestown. Heaven's Gate.
However devoted they were, they wouldn't just let their leader bash their brains in.
At least one of 'em would've had a problem with it.
I've considered that. I'm running tox tests for drugs.
Does that include our man in the car?
AD Skinner? We're still unable to locate Agent Stedman.
- Angus Stedman? - Leeds' partner. Do you know him?
- Where'd you look? - He wasn't at Leeds' motel.
He's not answering his cell or his pager.
- Did you check his condo? - His condo?
Stedman's from Pittsburgh. He keeps a condo here that belonged to his folks.
Angus Stedman, it's John Doggett.
Doggett.
The body is but clay.
A shell made by God to hold the twin aspects of the Holy Spirit:
light and dark.
If we have the courage to see into darkness,
we see into God...
free of the clay which confines us.
Tipet served 12 years for the bludgeoning death of his wife. He then became a minister,
preaching a hybrid of evangelical and Eastern religions.
He said a higher plane could be reached by the via negativa -
the path of darkness - the plane closer to God.
Once reached it would let the spirit travel unhindered.
Tipet believed hallucinogens would lead him to this plane.
Specifically, compounds of the bark of an African tree. The iboga.
All these people were so stoned on this bark, they just let their leader kill them?
We found no trace of the drug in the blood of any victim.
I don't understand. How in the hell did Tipet manage to slaughter all these people?
He was paranoid, but nothing says he wanted to take the lives of his people or our men.
This is our one and only suspect.
Are you telling me he didn't do it?
Whoever did this left not even a trace how.
No prints, no forensic evidence whatsoever.
Agent Leeds' sedan, the cult house, Agent Stedman's condo...
were all locked from the inside.
That's impossible.
Unless Tipet took the drug and succeeded.
Unless his consciousness was there but his body was somewhere else.
The X-File explanation.
I take it this theory comes from Agent Scully?
Agent Scully has yet to reach any conclusions, sir.
That's the problem. I'm not hearing conclusions from either one of you.
If this man has "reached a higher plane",
then explain to me why 22 people are dead, including two FBI agents.
Now, I wanna hear what you're gonna do about it.
If I'm working this case, give me a heads-up
before you tell him more science-fiction stories.
I don't have another explanation.
Those guys in there are right. This whole story doesn't make a damn bit of sense.
I'm supposed to give those guys answers. You're supposed to help me do that.
Tipet's on the run.
Find him, and we just might.
- Spare change? - I don't have anything. Sorry.
Come on, man. I know you got somethin', cos I hear jinglin' in your pocket.
You don't wanna know me.
Pick up the phone, damn you.
Pick up the damn phone!
You did this.
God help you, Andre.
I can't.
Agh!
Agent Doggett. Coroner's report.
"Victims all killed by a single blow from an axe blade, six to eight inches long."
The photos of wound patterns don't match up to any known make or manufacturer.
This fit the description?
It's a ceremonial axe used a thousand years ago to cleave the skulls of unbelievers.
- It was required reading for Tipet's followers. - Is this our weapon?
No, sir. It's on permanent display in a Calcutta museum.
Another dead end.
Like everything else in this case.
I'm a good investigator, but I'm not the agent that should be investigatin' this case.
Agent Scully can't be here.
- You spoke to her? - Tonight.
She told me to tell you she's fine. She's taking some personal time.
I've got 22 people dead, and she's takin' personal time?
You're not listening to what I'm telling you.
Do your best without her.
Spare change? I'll take whatever you got.
N... No!
No!
- Sir? - I think we caught a break.
A homeless man was found dead in Pittsburgh two hours ago.
- I had them e-mail me some digital photos. - Any witnesses?
A man fitting Tipet's description used the payphone.
- So we got somethin'? - There's no evidence.
- There's no fingerprints, no fibres... - You got him at the scene.
There's nothing to link him to the murder.
I'm supposed to believe this guy doped his way into another plane of reality?
That his spirit is goin' around killin' people?
All right, just suppose that this drug finally did what Tipet said it would.
That his spirit could be in one place while his body was in another.
Then tell me why he's doin' it.
If he's lookin' for God, why is he killin' people?
Just cos I'm on the X-Files, you want me to think like Scully and Mulder.
You got the wrong guy. I need facts, not wild ideas.
All right. Then consider this one.
I had Pittsburgh PD check the log on that payphone.
10.12pm, a call was placed to one Andre Bormanis.
He's a convicted drug dealer that served time with Tipet.
That number's a DC area code.
FBI. Open up!
Mr Bormanis? Andre Bormanis?
Doctor Bormanis.
Agent Doggett. Agent Skinner.
Can we have a word with you?
You always up at this hour, Dr Bormanis?
It's when I dissect my rats.
Neighbours can't hear 'em screaming.
That's a joke.
You spoke to Anthony Tipet earlier this evening.
- My machine picked up. I missed the call. - What did he want?
We need to find him, Dr Bormanis.
This man may have murdered 23 people.
23? The news said 22.
Another man died tonight.
I'm not doing anything illegal here.
I just... I just made him stuff.
You mean drugs.
You supplied Anthony Tipet with drugs, right?
Hallucinogens were Tipet's way into the depths of the soul,
the heights of consciousness,
planes of being that our feeble brain chemistry cannot begin to imagine.
Was that why you cut yourself?
Or was that the, uh... mark of the initiated?
It's protection.
At least I hope it is.
Nobody took the trips but Tipet.
See, only his mind was strong enough.
You know, I can't tell, Doctor, whether you admire Tipet or you're afraid of him.
Those people he killed last night, did they admire him too?
- What are you doing? - Taking you in.
On what charges? I just explained it to you.
Agh! Don't! Look...
I need that!
Don't... don't leave me! Please!
Don't leave me!
Agent Doggett?
It's Agent Scully.
Agent Scully?
Skinner told me about the case.
I know you covered for me. You didn't have to.
It's all right.
I appreciate your discretion.
It's easy to be discreet when you don't know what's goin' on.
- Are you OK? - I'm fine.
Skinner says that you're around the clock on this. You need to get your rest.
I grabbed a few winks.
I asked him to contact some friends of Mulder's. I think they'll be able to help.
- I'd appreciate all the help I can get. - Doggett, you're a good agent.
Trust your instincts.
The drug that Bormanis was cooking up was some kind of a superamphetamine.
Legal or not, no one's ever seen it before.
You think it was intended for Tipet?
He wants it for himself.
He doesn't wanna go to sleep.
- Doggett? - I wanna talk to him, now.
Can we get this gate open?
Get it open now!
Aaaargh!
Agent Doggett, what is it?
Open it up.
Byers, we've a right to information.
It's not our information.
- How many times did we save Mulder's butt? - How many times did we save Scully's?
These files are theirs. They're private.
Mulder wouldn't mind. We practically solved half these cases for him.
Yeah, Byers, quit your whining.
Scully asked us to give our assistance, not to go through her... files.
- Like she's gonna care! - Yeah, right.
Can I help you gentlemen?
You must be Agent Doggett. I'm John Byers.
These are my associates Melvin Frohike and Richard Langly.
You're the guys Scully told me about. Mulder's friends.
Yes, that's us.
- You publish The Lone Gunman newspaper? - Our reputation precedes us.
Yeah. I read Mulder's files.
Then you know how badly you'll need our help.
We reviewed your case, as Agent Scully asked.
Mondo bizzarro. No of fence, man, but you're in way over your head.
What help can you give me?
Hit the lights.
Are you familiar with this image?
In the Renaissance it represented an all-seeing god.
That's why our Founding Fathers put it on the dollar bill.
We believe its meaning here relates to Eastern religion, a belief in the third eye,
or what the Hindus call the Sahasrara.
The third eye...
We all have a third eye. If we could open it, we'd see a new reality - one closer to God.
At least that's what Kesey told me on the bus back in '64.
You were not on the bus with Kesey in '64.
I got the pictures to prove it.
- Before or after you partied at Altamont? - Altamont was in the '70s.
- Whatever! - I see where you guys are goin' with this.
- Tipet believes he opened his third eye. - Yes, exactly.
The placement of the wounds on his victims could suggest he's tryin' to destroy theirs.
Yeah... that could be.
But if he's moved closer to God, why kill 'em? And how?
We don't know why. But we might tell you how.
- You've heard of MK-ULTRA? - The CIA mind-control project in the '50s?
They gave LSD to people, to see what would happen. Didn't bother tellin' 'em first.
They understood the power of hallucinogens to harness the mind.
Tipet was on hallucinogens, not his victims.
The CIA invested millions trying to create psychic assassins,
failing where Tipet has succeeded.
Reaching a drug-induced higher consciousness, using his mind as a weapon.
He makes his victims think they're being hit by an axe.
- Or any number of nightmares. - They believe it, it happens.
What if Tipet could invade his victims' consciousness in their sleep?
That's why you'd be afraid to fall asleep, right?
If you thought your nightmares might come true?
- You believe that? - No.
But if Tipet does...
he'll need more drugs to keep killin'.
That's not bad for a beginner.
Doggett, someone's been here.
Anthony Tipet. Anthony Tipet!
Step away from the saw.
You don't understand.
Just step away from the saw.
I didn't want this to happen, but I can't stop it.
He understands.
He saw what can happen. What will happen... unless I stop it.
Doggett!
I want a stat trauma panel with full tox, EKG and metabolic profile.
Agent, this man needs to be admitted. You need to sign him in.
Come in, Agent Doggett.
AD Skinner said you could shed light on the reasons for Tipet's suicide attempt.
Yes, sir, um...
Via negativa - the path of darkness - Tipet believed he reached it.
He believed that the drugs took him inside the subconscious minds of anyone he knew,
making the most horrific, irrational dream imagery of their nightmares come true.
That's why he tried to kill himself - to make it stop.
Excellent job, gentlemen.
Have your reports on my desk 0900.
Case isn't over yet, sir.
AD Skinner says our suspect's lyin' hospitalised in a coma.
Now you're sayin' it's not over?
We have no murder weapon, no forensic evidence.
Unless we accept Tipet's own beliefs, which you say are preposterous...
It's over.
- We've no way of explaining how he killed... - I said it's over, Agent Doggett.
I don't need every I dotted or every t crossed to know that we've got our man.
This is Dana Scully. Please leave a message.
Agent Scully, I think we caught the guy who did it.
But... still, it...
it just doesn't add up.
It's the damnedest thing I ever saw.
I know this will sound strange, but there's a part of me that says
what if... what if this guy was right?
What if I should have let him die?
I'm not makin' a whole lot of sense.
Maybe I just need some sleep.
If you get this message... and feel up to it, you give me a call.
Is the assistant director in?
- That'd be great. Thanks. - John!
Excellent work out there, John. Just excellent.
Agent Doggett.
Is something wrong?
I'm not sure I'm awake.
You think this is a dream?
I mean, you standing here talking to me?
All those people out there?
Last night, I dreamt Tipet was inside my house, holding an axe.
I thought I woke up this morning.
I thought I was awake, but... but then...
What do you want me to do, pinch you?
You're already awake.
Stedman and Leeds must have experienced the same thing.
All Tipet's victims.
Everything seemed real... but it was a dream.
A dream that ended in their deaths.
Anthony Tipet is in a coma, never to regain consciousness.
He knows me now.
He can enter in my dreams.
Listen to me.
You've had a tough couple of days. You're tired.
Go home, get some rest.
She's going to die.
I'm not going to let you do that.
I'm sorry,
I'm not going to kill her.
You are.
Agent Doggett?
Agent Doggett.
Hi.
How'd you get here?
Your door was unlocked.
You just saved my life, Agent Scully.
I just woke you up, Agent Doggett.
Tipet's in my dreams.
- If you hadn't woken me up just now... - Anthony Tipet is dead.
I got the call from Skinner on my way over here.
He never regained consciousness.
- Are you OK? - I seem to be, yes.
If you need some more time off...
I'm... I'm back at work now.
That must have been some nightmare you just had.
Tipet thought he'd find God... by lookin' in the darkness inside himself.
You don't think he succeeded?
In my dreams, I...
I saw terrible, violent images.
Scared the livin' daylights outta me.
These things are a part of me, I can't deny that. But... maybe...
maybe they didn't come from me.
Then where'd they come from?
It was a bad dream, Agent Doggett.
But that's all it was.
I made this.
Stephanie Donohue