Conference Room
7:27am
* * * * * *
A creation out of nothing, by an infinite Being if you like, is a
hypothesis that cannot be ruled out by the physical evidence
presently available. But neither is it in any degree confirmed
by that evidence, nor is it the only possible hypothesis.
-- Wallace I. Matson
* * * * * *
Mulder and Scully were ushered into a large room, which was set up with
an expansive table and chairs around it. Tall gray filing cabinets lined
one wall, and on another were bookcases filled with various medical and
science books, as well as journals.
Dagen moved to the end of the table where Scully noticed that a
projector had been set up. He motioned to the chairs next to him.
"Please, sit." Scully and Mulder sat down next to each other, side by
side.
"Would you like some coffee?" Ed held up a previously hidden coffeepot.
They both nodded.
"Cream, no sugar." He set one cup before Scully. "And black for you." As
he set the other before Mulder. "Correct?" he asked with a questioning
look on his face. Warily, they nodded again. For some absurd reason,
Mulder found this very unnerving, more so than everything else that they
had been through. "They know how we take our coffee? What else do they
know?"
Both Ed and Dagen sat down across from them, each with their own cup. Ed
looked at the couple in front of him and sighed. "I really don't know
how to start. There is a lot that we have to cover."
"I can think of any number of places to begin." Scully began to count on
her fingers. "What was done to me... why...who...what are we doing
here...the treatment that was given to Mulder..." her hand fell to the
table, "I could go on."
Mulder spoke up. "Perhaps it would just be best if you began at the
beginning."
The two doctors shared a long look. Ed spoke again. "He wants us to
start at the beginning." A heavy sigh escaped his lips. " I guess that
is as good a place as any. But before I do that, let me tell you a bit
about us. As you know my name is Ed Bower. I have a Ph.D. in
paleoanthropology." He looked at the doctor. "Dr. Dagen here is an
immunogeneticist. We have been elected by the others, because of our
extensive knowledge in our respective fields to tell you both
everything."
Mulder leaned forward. "Everything, everything?"
Ed smiled. "As much as you can take."
Mulder's hands rubbed together eagerly. "We're ready."
Ed continued. "First, I think that I should explain how we have come to
know all that we do. We worked for a group, a kind of consortium, if
you will."
Mulder glanced to Scully, and they shared a slightly worried look. This
exchanged did not pass Ed unnoticed. "You are familiar with it I
believe. We were both recruited to the project many years ago.
Unfortunately, at the time of our recruitments, we were not fully aware
of what the group was all about. And once we did... well, let's us just
say that the jobs we took aren't the kind you can quit easily ... or put
on a resume."
"So what are you saying? Are you still working for them, what parts that
are left?" Mulder questioned, concern evident in his voice. "Not any
longer." Ed hurried to correct. "Actually, we were recruited again, by
another group, but this time for a much greater purpose."
"And what is that purpose?" This time it was Scully.
"Prevent colonization." Ed answered.
Scully asked, "And just who is this group?"
Dagen spoke now. "The resistance. I know that they've done horrible
things--"
Scully cut him off. "But they had their reasons, right?" Scully remained
calm, but her tone took on a decidedly icy turn. "We all have our
reasons. I understand, really I do. It was necessary, right? Necessary
to kill those men of the consortium as well as their entire families.
It was necessary to lure me and a great number of others to our almost
certain death on a bridge."
Dagen sighed; frustrated by the turn this meeting had already taken.
"Please, wait. I know that this doesn't sound the best yet...but...this
isn't how I expected it to go." He murmured the last part under his
breath. He tried again. "The story needs to go in order for everything
to be adequately understood. I don't mean to say that the activities
that were conducted will be... justified... but..." He faltered once
again. He looked to Ed for help.
Ed took his cue. "What I think he is trying to say, what *we* are trying
to say, is that you need to know the big picture before you should make
up your minds. And it is a big picture. What you know now, is only a
mere fraction of everything." Both Ed and Dagen looked at them with an
almost pathetic look on each of their faces. They pleaded with Mulder
and Scully to understand, or at the very least give them a chance.
Mulder reached his hand under the table and found Scully's hand. He
squeezed it once, reassuring her of his presence. He was willing to give
them a chance. Scully spoke. "We'll hear everything? Including what
exactly what was done to me?"
Ed nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely. I promise we will tell you
everything we know." He resumed speaking, starting from were he had left
off previously. "We were chosen to speak with you because our respective
specialties highly relate to the story. I personally worked mostly in
the field on digs, uncovering fossils, archeological sites, et cetera.
The doctor here worked in a lab, studying and researching both human and
alien genetics."
Dagen spoke. "I feel that we need to be completely honest here, if we
have any hope of establishing a relationship with you. I don't want you
to feel that we are hiding something important from you. "He paused and
took a deep breath and said the rest in one great burst. "I was fully
aware that experiments were taking place on the public. I was a part of
the research group that studied and compiled the information that was
gathered on the..."His eyes briefly met Scully's, but then shifted away.
"...the subjects. Including Scully. Also, the work that I did, much of
it was used to create the treatment that Scully under went. And..." Only
now did he pause. This was the most difficult to admit. "And I worked on
the project that chose Agent Scully as the subject that would be used
for...he paused. Briefly looking at them both before continuing with the
weight next word would hold, "...conversion."
Mulder glanced at Scully next to him, trying to judge her response.
There was tension at the edges of her mouth, and her back became a
little more rigid; her shoulders a bit more square. But she didn't
flinch. They all were silent as they waited for her response.
More than anything, Mulder wanted to reach over the table and strangle
the men sitting across from them for their part of the deception and
what was done to her, but he also understood that this was her choice.
She was the one who would decide how this meeting turned out. God knows
how many choices had already been ripped away from her.
They all waited tensely for Scully to speak. When she finally did, her
voice was composed. "I understand. Please begin at the beginning." The
men in the room all seemed to share a collective sigh of relief.
Dagen paused a moment before he began. "The beginning... I guess the
*very* beginning would be the most appropriate." He paused. "Agent
Scully, what is the normally accepted theory as to the origin of life on
earth?"
"Well," she paused, briefly confused at the odd turn of the
conversation; "the most commonly accepted view of the origin of life
amongst the scientific community is the theory of abiogenesis, the
theory that living matter may be produced from non-living matter." She
paused and looked to the others. "Of course it isn't as simple as that.
We aren't talking about spontaneous generation here. We're talking about
a situation that no longer exists on earth that through good fortune and
perhaps a little luck were conductive to creating life."
"And what do you think of this theory?" Dagen prodded, seeking more of
an answer.
"What do I think? I'm not really an expert on this subject, but I think
it is a valid theory. Tests have been done that have attempted to
recreate primitive earth of 4 billion years ago, and from these tests
simple amino acids were created. There is the classic experiment by
Miller and Urey."
The two doctors nodded, but she continued, mostly for Mulder's benefit.
"The experiment was rather simple really. In a flask they created an
'ocean' of water, which was heated, which forced the water vapor to
circulate through an apparatus. In the top contained an 'atmosphere'
made up of methane, ammonia, hydrogen, and the circulating water vapor.
They exposed the gases to a continuous electrical discharge, or
'lightning', which caused the gases to interact. The water-soluble
products of those reactions then passed through a condenser and
dissolved in the mock ocean. The experiment yielded many amino acids."
"Do you think that is what happened?" Ed asked as she finished.
"You know, I asked for you to begin at the beginning, but I really don't
see the point of this."
"There is, trust me." Ed assured. "What do you think happened?"
She sighed, but continued. "Well of course we will never *really* know,
but for the most part I agree with that theory."
"For the most part?" Ed asked.
"Well, perhaps it is just part of the human ego, or all of those years
of Sunday School, but I don't really like the idea that we are all just
a cosmic accident. I would like to think that maybe there is some
ultimate purpose. I mean, don't we all?"
"What if I were to say it wasn't an accident?" Ed didn't give her a
chance to respond. "Agents, have you heard about the theory of
panspermia?"
She spoke again, this time humoring him. "I believe it's an alternate
theory concerning the origin of life on Earth. The basic tenet of the
theory is that life on Earth was seeded from space, and that life's
evolution to higher forms depended on genetic programs that came from
space."
"From the look on your face, I take it that you don't hold much credence
in that theory." Ed turned to address Mulder. "Mulder, have you heard
about this theory?"
"Actually, yes I have. A lot of research has gone into it, and there is
evidence that life could have originated from outside this planet. In
1996 it was determined that there was fossilized evidence of ancient
life in a meteorite from Mars. In 1997 a NASA scientist published
evidence of fossilized microscopic life forms in a meteorite not from
Mars. And--"
She interrupted. "That was never concluded absolutely. There was
evidence that suggested that it was merely post-impact contamination.
Besides, the age of these meteorites don't correlate with the time
period when they would have had to *seed* the earth. And--".
Scully was in turn interrupted by Mulder. "True," he acknowledged, "but
in 1996 they found traces of a carbon in rocks from southwest Greenland
that could have only come from life. These are the oldest signs of life
on Earth, dating back 3.85 billion years. Nearly 400 million years
earlier than was previous thought. This evidence suggests that microbes
existed remarkably close to a time when giant meteorites bombarded the
planet."
Mulder was in his element and clearly enjoying it.
She turned to look pointedly at him, mildly irritated at his
interruption, before continuing. "As I was saying, the sheer amount of
genetic material that would be needed to start this process..."
"Wouldn't it explain how life originated on this planet?" Mulder leaned
forward on the table. He was beginning to really warm up to this theory.
It seems that this would be an easier, and more realistic possibility
than non life becoming life."
"That this planet was *seeded* by extraterrestrial organisms? But that
just begs the question Mulder. Life would still have to *begin*, just
with this theory, life would begin somewhere else. You would still have
to deal with *how* life began in the first place."
"Well, who says that there is a beginning? Could we say that there has
always been life, that it is just one big cycle?"
"Like the circle of life?" She said sarcastically. "It's a nice thought,
but the universe is only about 12 billion years old. You're talking
about an infinite concept existing in a finite universe. It just doesn't
work that way."
Ed stopped them before they could continue. "Whoa! Hold up here. I think
that we got a little off track." He waited until he regained their
attention before continuing. He summarized her comments. "So, it is my
understanding that you don't agree with this theory that I suggested?"
Another sigh, this was becoming tedious. "No, I don't hold much credence
in this theory."
"What would you think if we had evidence that proved otherwise?"
Scully placed her most skeptical face on and answered. "I think that I
would definitely need to see this 'evidence'."
"We have the evidence right here." Dagen tapped the top of the stack of
papers.
"Evidence can be faked." She said simply.
"Yes it can, I'm not denying that...But you're welcome to check to see
if I'm telling the truth." Dagen held out his hand across the table.
Scully instinctively pulled away from his outstretched arm.
Mulder was confused. What was all of this about? He made eye contact
with Scully but all he got was her abstract gaze. He leaned toward her,
intent on deciphering her expression, and mouthed the word 'What?' She
just held up her hand and brushed him off. She would tell him later, was
the message she gave him. He would have to wait.
Ed and Dagen watched this silence communication without speaking.
Scully spoke. "No, that isn't necessary. We'll just go on the assumption
that these reports are accurate for now." Scully's fingers were cramped
from the force of her grip on the coffee mug, and willed them to loosen.
She lifted the mug, inhaled the acrid steam, and sucked up a great gulp
of coffee.
"Why, Scully? Why should we just trust them on this?" Mulder
thought. Yes, they would most definitely talk later.
Dagen withdrew his hand, then changed the subject. "Agent Mulder, I
understand that you have traveled to Tunguska, Russia. Is that correct?"
Mulder appears to consider this for a moment, the corners of his mouth
edging upward ever so slightly and quirking into an odd smile. "Yes, it
is. I wouldn't recommend traveling there either, they have terrible room
service."
Ed smiled at Mulder's light tone and continued. "Then I assume that you
are familiar with what occurred there in 1908?"
Mulder nodded. "Yes. The Tunguska event in 1908 was due to the
atmospheric explosion of a meteor. The energy released has been
estimated to be the equivalent of 10-100 megatons TNT. The air blast
resulted in the devastation of 2000 sq. km of Siberian forest."
"I also understand that both of you were able to study part of that
meteor, as well as the substance that was in it?" Ed looked expectantly
at them.
"Well, I don't think that it was ever concluded that that substance
*came* from the rock..." Scully interjected, but her voice carried
little force.
"Well, it did come from the rock, and yes I can show you proof, but
we'll save that for later. This substance is an extraterrestrial life
form, and we do not think that this is the first time it has come to
earth."
"What are you saying?" Mulder asked.
Dagen began to speak. "I've studied this substance, we'll call it black
oil for lack of a better term, for many years. I have been able to do
extensive tests on this oil, including a little bit of mapping its
extensive genetic code. I've also been able to study samples of the
earliest known life on this planet. Rocks as old as 3.5 billion years
old that have prokaryotic fossils within them." He pulled out several
papers and passed them across the table.
Dagen continued. "I tested and compared the two life forms and I
discovered that they share the same genes. The bacterium that I studied
had the same genes as the oil. It was as if a small segment of the oil
was directly cut from it and placed into the bacterium. The genetic
variation was so slight that it was insignificant."
"Are you saying that this oil, that was inside a meteor, crashed into
earth, seeding it, providing the planet with extraneous genetic
information, and this bacteria is proof of this? What you have is
tenuous at best." She said.
"Ah, wait!" Dagen held up one finger and used is other hand to dig
through the increasingly disorganized stack. He kept talking, even
though he hadn't yet found the paper. "There is another thing that I
haven't mentioned. Other studies have been done by several other groups
on this same bacteria and each confirmed that the genes are
significantly older than the fossil record would indicate." He found the
paper and slid it over to Scully. "These genes are some 4 billion years
older than the earth itself is. Can you guess how old the oil's genes
are?"
Scully glanced at the paper and sighed. "The same."
"Exactly." Dagen smiled.
"What do you think that this *oil* is specifically?" Mulder asked.
"Here is our theory: We think that this oil was purposefully sent for
two reasons. When we studied this substance, we discovered that it had
268 chromosomes. That's nearly six times the amount that humans have. It
was also organized in a highly specific pattern, a pattern that I have
never seen in nature." More papers were shuffled and handed out. Mulder
just glanced at them briefly before passing them along to Scully. She
would explain them to him later.
"We discovered something else. When the oil was subjected to high
temperatures, instead of breaking along the weakest bonds, areas that
one would clearly expect it to split, it would break in other areas.
Every time. We did the experiment over and over again with the same
results. I can't begin to explain how this happened. It goes against the
very nature of chemical bonds and frankly, well, everything." Dagen
finally took a breath. Still had a hard time believing his own data,
even now. "One of these segments was an exact match that the bacterium
had."
Mulder leaned forward eagerly. "You think that this organism was
artificially created by something else, and sent through the universe
with the purpose of seeding life on other planets. It was created in
such a way that made it capable of bringing a wide range of life forms
on the planet, increasing the chance that one would eventually develop
sentience." He tried to keep his voice calm and neutral, but there was
excitement in his tone.
Ed stood and walked over to the wall and dimmed the lights and moved
toward the projector at the end of the table. "We mentioned that we
thought it was sent for two reasons; we've only mentioned one so far.
This is where we get into my field of study, the origins of humankind.
One of the more puzzling things about this field is the missing links.
The in between stages of human evolution."
Ed hit the switch on the projector and it whirled to life. A picture of
an evolutionary tree appeared, and was projected onto the screen. The
picture had several primitive species displayed, Australopithecus
afarensis; Homo habilis; Homo erectus; modern man, and the corresponding
dates for each. "Each stage lasts thousands, even millions of years,
nearly unchanged, and then boom, a dramatic shift. We've not found these
missing links and that is what is frustrating. We're able to see the
before and after, but we can not see the in between, and until then, we
can't begin to explain how it occurred."
"There's a popular theory among the scientific community as to how these
changes took place that I personally subscribe to. The basic tenant is
this: each major turning point came from a single group of advanced
individuals that replace the more archaic human types. These groups of
advanced individuals would have originally been the same as the others,
but for some reason got isolated from others, either through
geographical reasons, or even social ones. This group, cut off from the
others, and unable to interbreed, would have developed different types
of characteristics just through normal genetic mutations as well as
environmental factors. If these changes were conductive toward life,
this group would of course thrive. After however many years, this group,
now *evolved* would then go out into the rest of the world and begin to
replace the others, either by direct conflicts, or, more likely, just
the simple fact that they would be better adapted and more likely to
survive."
Ed paused. "I like this theory. It makes sense to me. But one thing
still always bothered me about it. It still did not explain the missing
parts of the fossil record. However, I have been able to expand this
theory because of the evidence that we've gathered. I think that there
was an outside influence that effected the course humanity took."
Mulder glanced sidelong at Scully. This was getting...he searched for
the right word. This was getting... heavy. What was she thinking? She
was hardly speaking any more and he was having a hard time reading her.
If she noticed Mulder's look, she didn't give any indication.
Dagen took his cue from Ed. "Among the tests that we did on the oil, one
was infecting lab animals. The first thing that we discovered was that
the oil seemed most attracted to the animals with the higher brain
function. Time and time again, if given a choice, it chose the animal
with the most active brain waves. We think that it can somehow pick up
on these waves."
Mulder leaned forward on the table. "Are you saying that this oil, what
ever it may be, has an intelligence of some sort? That it picked these
subjects for a specific reason?"
Dagen shook his head. "We don't think so. We think that it's just a well
developed instinct."
"There are some who would say the same thing about us." Mulder pointed
out.
"I guess that some could say that." Dagen agreed before continuing.
"Another thing that we noticed was that once infected the animals began
to change almost immediately. The oil changed the animals' genetic
makeup. Well, changing is perhaps the wrong word. The oil merely
activated those genes that up until recently were thought just to be
junk DNA."
Mulder's eyes widened with surprise. That was what the Gunmen said had
been done to Scully. He looked in her direction. Had she picked up on
that? Had she made the same connection as he? Scully didn't turn to look
at him; he had no idea what she was thinking.
"These changes were passed on to the offspring. Additionally, we
discovered that the offspring had been infected in the womb, although
the changes, independent of the mother, did not begin until birth."
"What were these changes?" Mulder asked.
"The first and most significant change was an increase in mental
function. The physical changes included enhanced strength and a
decreased susceptibility to disease. Also, the animals' life spans
dramatically increased. Some as high as five to ten times their normal
life span." The screen changed to display some of the animals in cages
as the Dagen advanced the projector. "The actual morphological changes
included increased brain cavity; the frontal and temporal lobes enlarged
in mass." Click! A close up of a chimpanzee with a noticeably enlarged
head. Dagen passed an image of a MRI across the table. "This is the scan
of this creatures head. Notice the increased mass as well as activity."
Mulder held it up against the light. Greek to him.
Mulder passed it on to Scully. As he did, their fingertips touched. He
looked up into her eyes. He had her attention and used it to silently
mouth 'Ok?' Scully's head tipped forward ever so slightly. 'I'm fine.'
Was what that nod meant. But he didn't believe it, not for a minute.
Something was wrong. She was far too accepting of this and she was
hardly saying anything.
Dagen was still speaking. "The animals also began to lose their hair and
gain more subcutaneous fat; there even was some evidence that these
animals were becoming bipedal." Click! Another picture. This one was of
three chimpanzees. Each displayed the characteristics that Dagen had
described. They were looking into the camera and in their eyes was an
unnerving quality that Mulder had trouble identifying. There was an
intelligence about them... an unnatural, and disconcerting one.
Dagen had paused to give them a chance to study the picture. "All of
these, I might add, were crucial steps in man's evolution."
"Where are these animals at now? I mean, what stage are they at?" Mulder
asked.
"Unfortunately, we had to halt the tests." Dagen looked apologetic. "The
animals were getting far too smart. We had a series of near escapes, for
one thing. We couldn't risk letting the animals loose into the
population, and well, it was sort of frightening actually, working with
the animals. In the end, they really weren't animals any more." Dagen
paused, taking a small break.
Ed took this opportunity to interject a comment of his own. "Recently,
we learned that the Russians also performed tests of this nature, but
their methods and security measures were considerably more lax. There
have been reports of instances where an animal escaped into the
population. They have of course denied this."
"Flukeman.", was Mulder's sudden realization.
And then another realization hit. "I've seen these creatures, I think. I
was on a ship, we were on a ship, in the Antarctic and I saw these
horrible monsters that were created... this is what they became?"
Ed and Dagen looked at one another. Dagen was the one that spoke. "No,
that is another matter entirely. You see, we aren't really sure what
those creature are, or how they came to be. We do know that they seem to
be related to the oil. We believe that the creatures you saw resulted
from oil that has mutated, took an evolutionary turn if you will.
Remember, these meteors have been pelting the planet for billions of
years. It makes sense that not every one that arrived had contact with
human ancestors. We think that the creature you saw resulted from the
oil's interaction with another life form."
Mulder nodded, he seemed satisfied with that explanation, at least for
now.
Ed continued. "But I think that this can help explain why there are gaps
in the fossil record. There are gaps in the record because there were no
intermediate steps. These changes took place within a generation, maybe
two."
"Are you saying that at each crucial juncture of human evolution can be
attributed to this oil? It served as a catalyst, perhaps speeding the
process up?" Mulder's voice was taking on an exuberance that seemed to
brighten the room. "Or was it changing man into something specific?"
Mulder felt a hand on his knee. A small hand. It was then that he
noticed the projector vibrating slightly and he made the connection
between it and his knee. His knee was bouncing with excitement, and with
each bounce, the table moved slightly. He willed his leg still, and much
to his regret, Scully removed her hand.
"We think that it was changing man into something very specific." Ed
said quietly.
"And what do you think that would be?" Mulder asked carefully.
Dagen glanced at Ed. Ed nodded, and Dagen continued. "I am not sure if
you were aware, but we had access to an alien embryo. One of the tests
that we conducted involved comparing it to the genetic make up of the
oil. We didn't really know what to expect. We didn't know if the oil and
it were related somehow. For awhile we believed that maybe the aliens
were from another planet that had also been seeded. But we were
mistaken. The embryo did have many characteristics and genes that
indicated that it was closely related to the oil. But we also found
that it was closely related to something else. "
"What did you find?" Mulder asked carefully.
It was Scully who answered. "What they are saying Mulder, is that your
aliens, your little green men, are us."
* * * * * *
7:27am
* * * * * *
A creation out of nothing, by an infinite Being if you like, is a
hypothesis that cannot be ruled out by the physical evidence
presently available. But neither is it in any degree confirmed
by that evidence, nor is it the only possible hypothesis.
-- Wallace I. Matson
* * * * * *
Mulder and Scully were ushered into a large room, which was set up with
an expansive table and chairs around it. Tall gray filing cabinets lined
one wall, and on another were bookcases filled with various medical and
science books, as well as journals.
Dagen moved to the end of the table where Scully noticed that a
projector had been set up. He motioned to the chairs next to him.
"Please, sit." Scully and Mulder sat down next to each other, side by
side.
"Would you like some coffee?" Ed held up a previously hidden coffeepot.
They both nodded.
"Cream, no sugar." He set one cup before Scully. "And black for you." As
he set the other before Mulder. "Correct?" he asked with a questioning
look on his face. Warily, they nodded again. For some absurd reason,
Mulder found this very unnerving, more so than everything else that they
had been through. "They know how we take our coffee? What else do they
know?"
Both Ed and Dagen sat down across from them, each with their own cup. Ed
looked at the couple in front of him and sighed. "I really don't know
how to start. There is a lot that we have to cover."
"I can think of any number of places to begin." Scully began to count on
her fingers. "What was done to me... why...who...what are we doing
here...the treatment that was given to Mulder..." her hand fell to the
table, "I could go on."
Mulder spoke up. "Perhaps it would just be best if you began at the
beginning."
The two doctors shared a long look. Ed spoke again. "He wants us to
start at the beginning." A heavy sigh escaped his lips. " I guess that
is as good a place as any. But before I do that, let me tell you a bit
about us. As you know my name is Ed Bower. I have a Ph.D. in
paleoanthropology." He looked at the doctor. "Dr. Dagen here is an
immunogeneticist. We have been elected by the others, because of our
extensive knowledge in our respective fields to tell you both
everything."
Mulder leaned forward. "Everything, everything?"
Ed smiled. "As much as you can take."
Mulder's hands rubbed together eagerly. "We're ready."
Ed continued. "First, I think that I should explain how we have come to
know all that we do. We worked for a group, a kind of consortium, if
you will."
Mulder glanced to Scully, and they shared a slightly worried look. This
exchanged did not pass Ed unnoticed. "You are familiar with it I
believe. We were both recruited to the project many years ago.
Unfortunately, at the time of our recruitments, we were not fully aware
of what the group was all about. And once we did... well, let's us just
say that the jobs we took aren't the kind you can quit easily ... or put
on a resume."
"So what are you saying? Are you still working for them, what parts that
are left?" Mulder questioned, concern evident in his voice. "Not any
longer." Ed hurried to correct. "Actually, we were recruited again, by
another group, but this time for a much greater purpose."
"And what is that purpose?" This time it was Scully.
"Prevent colonization." Ed answered.
Scully asked, "And just who is this group?"
Dagen spoke now. "The resistance. I know that they've done horrible
things--"
Scully cut him off. "But they had their reasons, right?" Scully remained
calm, but her tone took on a decidedly icy turn. "We all have our
reasons. I understand, really I do. It was necessary, right? Necessary
to kill those men of the consortium as well as their entire families.
It was necessary to lure me and a great number of others to our almost
certain death on a bridge."
Dagen sighed; frustrated by the turn this meeting had already taken.
"Please, wait. I know that this doesn't sound the best yet...but...this
isn't how I expected it to go." He murmured the last part under his
breath. He tried again. "The story needs to go in order for everything
to be adequately understood. I don't mean to say that the activities
that were conducted will be... justified... but..." He faltered once
again. He looked to Ed for help.
Ed took his cue. "What I think he is trying to say, what *we* are trying
to say, is that you need to know the big picture before you should make
up your minds. And it is a big picture. What you know now, is only a
mere fraction of everything." Both Ed and Dagen looked at them with an
almost pathetic look on each of their faces. They pleaded with Mulder
and Scully to understand, or at the very least give them a chance.
Mulder reached his hand under the table and found Scully's hand. He
squeezed it once, reassuring her of his presence. He was willing to give
them a chance. Scully spoke. "We'll hear everything? Including what
exactly what was done to me?"
Ed nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely. I promise we will tell you
everything we know." He resumed speaking, starting from were he had left
off previously. "We were chosen to speak with you because our respective
specialties highly relate to the story. I personally worked mostly in
the field on digs, uncovering fossils, archeological sites, et cetera.
The doctor here worked in a lab, studying and researching both human and
alien genetics."
Dagen spoke. "I feel that we need to be completely honest here, if we
have any hope of establishing a relationship with you. I don't want you
to feel that we are hiding something important from you. "He paused and
took a deep breath and said the rest in one great burst. "I was fully
aware that experiments were taking place on the public. I was a part of
the research group that studied and compiled the information that was
gathered on the..."His eyes briefly met Scully's, but then shifted away.
"...the subjects. Including Scully. Also, the work that I did, much of
it was used to create the treatment that Scully under went. And..." Only
now did he pause. This was the most difficult to admit. "And I worked on
the project that chose Agent Scully as the subject that would be used
for...he paused. Briefly looking at them both before continuing with the
weight next word would hold, "...conversion."
Mulder glanced at Scully next to him, trying to judge her response.
There was tension at the edges of her mouth, and her back became a
little more rigid; her shoulders a bit more square. But she didn't
flinch. They all were silent as they waited for her response.
More than anything, Mulder wanted to reach over the table and strangle
the men sitting across from them for their part of the deception and
what was done to her, but he also understood that this was her choice.
She was the one who would decide how this meeting turned out. God knows
how many choices had already been ripped away from her.
They all waited tensely for Scully to speak. When she finally did, her
voice was composed. "I understand. Please begin at the beginning." The
men in the room all seemed to share a collective sigh of relief.
Dagen paused a moment before he began. "The beginning... I guess the
*very* beginning would be the most appropriate." He paused. "Agent
Scully, what is the normally accepted theory as to the origin of life on
earth?"
"Well," she paused, briefly confused at the odd turn of the
conversation; "the most commonly accepted view of the origin of life
amongst the scientific community is the theory of abiogenesis, the
theory that living matter may be produced from non-living matter." She
paused and looked to the others. "Of course it isn't as simple as that.
We aren't talking about spontaneous generation here. We're talking about
a situation that no longer exists on earth that through good fortune and
perhaps a little luck were conductive to creating life."
"And what do you think of this theory?" Dagen prodded, seeking more of
an answer.
"What do I think? I'm not really an expert on this subject, but I think
it is a valid theory. Tests have been done that have attempted to
recreate primitive earth of 4 billion years ago, and from these tests
simple amino acids were created. There is the classic experiment by
Miller and Urey."
The two doctors nodded, but she continued, mostly for Mulder's benefit.
"The experiment was rather simple really. In a flask they created an
'ocean' of water, which was heated, which forced the water vapor to
circulate through an apparatus. In the top contained an 'atmosphere'
made up of methane, ammonia, hydrogen, and the circulating water vapor.
They exposed the gases to a continuous electrical discharge, or
'lightning', which caused the gases to interact. The water-soluble
products of those reactions then passed through a condenser and
dissolved in the mock ocean. The experiment yielded many amino acids."
"Do you think that is what happened?" Ed asked as she finished.
"You know, I asked for you to begin at the beginning, but I really don't
see the point of this."
"There is, trust me." Ed assured. "What do you think happened?"
She sighed, but continued. "Well of course we will never *really* know,
but for the most part I agree with that theory."
"For the most part?" Ed asked.
"Well, perhaps it is just part of the human ego, or all of those years
of Sunday School, but I don't really like the idea that we are all just
a cosmic accident. I would like to think that maybe there is some
ultimate purpose. I mean, don't we all?"
"What if I were to say it wasn't an accident?" Ed didn't give her a
chance to respond. "Agents, have you heard about the theory of
panspermia?"
She spoke again, this time humoring him. "I believe it's an alternate
theory concerning the origin of life on Earth. The basic tenet of the
theory is that life on Earth was seeded from space, and that life's
evolution to higher forms depended on genetic programs that came from
space."
"From the look on your face, I take it that you don't hold much credence
in that theory." Ed turned to address Mulder. "Mulder, have you heard
about this theory?"
"Actually, yes I have. A lot of research has gone into it, and there is
evidence that life could have originated from outside this planet. In
1996 it was determined that there was fossilized evidence of ancient
life in a meteorite from Mars. In 1997 a NASA scientist published
evidence of fossilized microscopic life forms in a meteorite not from
Mars. And--"
She interrupted. "That was never concluded absolutely. There was
evidence that suggested that it was merely post-impact contamination.
Besides, the age of these meteorites don't correlate with the time
period when they would have had to *seed* the earth. And--".
Scully was in turn interrupted by Mulder. "True," he acknowledged, "but
in 1996 they found traces of a carbon in rocks from southwest Greenland
that could have only come from life. These are the oldest signs of life
on Earth, dating back 3.85 billion years. Nearly 400 million years
earlier than was previous thought. This evidence suggests that microbes
existed remarkably close to a time when giant meteorites bombarded the
planet."
Mulder was in his element and clearly enjoying it.
She turned to look pointedly at him, mildly irritated at his
interruption, before continuing. "As I was saying, the sheer amount of
genetic material that would be needed to start this process..."
"Wouldn't it explain how life originated on this planet?" Mulder leaned
forward on the table. He was beginning to really warm up to this theory.
It seems that this would be an easier, and more realistic possibility
than non life becoming life."
"That this planet was *seeded* by extraterrestrial organisms? But that
just begs the question Mulder. Life would still have to *begin*, just
with this theory, life would begin somewhere else. You would still have
to deal with *how* life began in the first place."
"Well, who says that there is a beginning? Could we say that there has
always been life, that it is just one big cycle?"
"Like the circle of life?" She said sarcastically. "It's a nice thought,
but the universe is only about 12 billion years old. You're talking
about an infinite concept existing in a finite universe. It just doesn't
work that way."
Ed stopped them before they could continue. "Whoa! Hold up here. I think
that we got a little off track." He waited until he regained their
attention before continuing. He summarized her comments. "So, it is my
understanding that you don't agree with this theory that I suggested?"
Another sigh, this was becoming tedious. "No, I don't hold much credence
in this theory."
"What would you think if we had evidence that proved otherwise?"
Scully placed her most skeptical face on and answered. "I think that I
would definitely need to see this 'evidence'."
"We have the evidence right here." Dagen tapped the top of the stack of
papers.
"Evidence can be faked." She said simply.
"Yes it can, I'm not denying that...But you're welcome to check to see
if I'm telling the truth." Dagen held out his hand across the table.
Scully instinctively pulled away from his outstretched arm.
Mulder was confused. What was all of this about? He made eye contact
with Scully but all he got was her abstract gaze. He leaned toward her,
intent on deciphering her expression, and mouthed the word 'What?' She
just held up her hand and brushed him off. She would tell him later, was
the message she gave him. He would have to wait.
Ed and Dagen watched this silence communication without speaking.
Scully spoke. "No, that isn't necessary. We'll just go on the assumption
that these reports are accurate for now." Scully's fingers were cramped
from the force of her grip on the coffee mug, and willed them to loosen.
She lifted the mug, inhaled the acrid steam, and sucked up a great gulp
of coffee.
"Why, Scully? Why should we just trust them on this?" Mulder
thought. Yes, they would most definitely talk later.
Dagen withdrew his hand, then changed the subject. "Agent Mulder, I
understand that you have traveled to Tunguska, Russia. Is that correct?"
Mulder appears to consider this for a moment, the corners of his mouth
edging upward ever so slightly and quirking into an odd smile. "Yes, it
is. I wouldn't recommend traveling there either, they have terrible room
service."
Ed smiled at Mulder's light tone and continued. "Then I assume that you
are familiar with what occurred there in 1908?"
Mulder nodded. "Yes. The Tunguska event in 1908 was due to the
atmospheric explosion of a meteor. The energy released has been
estimated to be the equivalent of 10-100 megatons TNT. The air blast
resulted in the devastation of 2000 sq. km of Siberian forest."
"I also understand that both of you were able to study part of that
meteor, as well as the substance that was in it?" Ed looked expectantly
at them.
"Well, I don't think that it was ever concluded that that substance
*came* from the rock..." Scully interjected, but her voice carried
little force.
"Well, it did come from the rock, and yes I can show you proof, but
we'll save that for later. This substance is an extraterrestrial life
form, and we do not think that this is the first time it has come to
earth."
"What are you saying?" Mulder asked.
Dagen began to speak. "I've studied this substance, we'll call it black
oil for lack of a better term, for many years. I have been able to do
extensive tests on this oil, including a little bit of mapping its
extensive genetic code. I've also been able to study samples of the
earliest known life on this planet. Rocks as old as 3.5 billion years
old that have prokaryotic fossils within them." He pulled out several
papers and passed them across the table.
Dagen continued. "I tested and compared the two life forms and I
discovered that they share the same genes. The bacterium that I studied
had the same genes as the oil. It was as if a small segment of the oil
was directly cut from it and placed into the bacterium. The genetic
variation was so slight that it was insignificant."
"Are you saying that this oil, that was inside a meteor, crashed into
earth, seeding it, providing the planet with extraneous genetic
information, and this bacteria is proof of this? What you have is
tenuous at best." She said.
"Ah, wait!" Dagen held up one finger and used is other hand to dig
through the increasingly disorganized stack. He kept talking, even
though he hadn't yet found the paper. "There is another thing that I
haven't mentioned. Other studies have been done by several other groups
on this same bacteria and each confirmed that the genes are
significantly older than the fossil record would indicate." He found the
paper and slid it over to Scully. "These genes are some 4 billion years
older than the earth itself is. Can you guess how old the oil's genes
are?"
Scully glanced at the paper and sighed. "The same."
"Exactly." Dagen smiled.
"What do you think that this *oil* is specifically?" Mulder asked.
"Here is our theory: We think that this oil was purposefully sent for
two reasons. When we studied this substance, we discovered that it had
268 chromosomes. That's nearly six times the amount that humans have. It
was also organized in a highly specific pattern, a pattern that I have
never seen in nature." More papers were shuffled and handed out. Mulder
just glanced at them briefly before passing them along to Scully. She
would explain them to him later.
"We discovered something else. When the oil was subjected to high
temperatures, instead of breaking along the weakest bonds, areas that
one would clearly expect it to split, it would break in other areas.
Every time. We did the experiment over and over again with the same
results. I can't begin to explain how this happened. It goes against the
very nature of chemical bonds and frankly, well, everything." Dagen
finally took a breath. Still had a hard time believing his own data,
even now. "One of these segments was an exact match that the bacterium
had."
Mulder leaned forward eagerly. "You think that this organism was
artificially created by something else, and sent through the universe
with the purpose of seeding life on other planets. It was created in
such a way that made it capable of bringing a wide range of life forms
on the planet, increasing the chance that one would eventually develop
sentience." He tried to keep his voice calm and neutral, but there was
excitement in his tone.
Ed stood and walked over to the wall and dimmed the lights and moved
toward the projector at the end of the table. "We mentioned that we
thought it was sent for two reasons; we've only mentioned one so far.
This is where we get into my field of study, the origins of humankind.
One of the more puzzling things about this field is the missing links.
The in between stages of human evolution."
Ed hit the switch on the projector and it whirled to life. A picture of
an evolutionary tree appeared, and was projected onto the screen. The
picture had several primitive species displayed, Australopithecus
afarensis; Homo habilis; Homo erectus; modern man, and the corresponding
dates for each. "Each stage lasts thousands, even millions of years,
nearly unchanged, and then boom, a dramatic shift. We've not found these
missing links and that is what is frustrating. We're able to see the
before and after, but we can not see the in between, and until then, we
can't begin to explain how it occurred."
"There's a popular theory among the scientific community as to how these
changes took place that I personally subscribe to. The basic tenant is
this: each major turning point came from a single group of advanced
individuals that replace the more archaic human types. These groups of
advanced individuals would have originally been the same as the others,
but for some reason got isolated from others, either through
geographical reasons, or even social ones. This group, cut off from the
others, and unable to interbreed, would have developed different types
of characteristics just through normal genetic mutations as well as
environmental factors. If these changes were conductive toward life,
this group would of course thrive. After however many years, this group,
now *evolved* would then go out into the rest of the world and begin to
replace the others, either by direct conflicts, or, more likely, just
the simple fact that they would be better adapted and more likely to
survive."
Ed paused. "I like this theory. It makes sense to me. But one thing
still always bothered me about it. It still did not explain the missing
parts of the fossil record. However, I have been able to expand this
theory because of the evidence that we've gathered. I think that there
was an outside influence that effected the course humanity took."
Mulder glanced sidelong at Scully. This was getting...he searched for
the right word. This was getting... heavy. What was she thinking? She
was hardly speaking any more and he was having a hard time reading her.
If she noticed Mulder's look, she didn't give any indication.
Dagen took his cue from Ed. "Among the tests that we did on the oil, one
was infecting lab animals. The first thing that we discovered was that
the oil seemed most attracted to the animals with the higher brain
function. Time and time again, if given a choice, it chose the animal
with the most active brain waves. We think that it can somehow pick up
on these waves."
Mulder leaned forward on the table. "Are you saying that this oil, what
ever it may be, has an intelligence of some sort? That it picked these
subjects for a specific reason?"
Dagen shook his head. "We don't think so. We think that it's just a well
developed instinct."
"There are some who would say the same thing about us." Mulder pointed
out.
"I guess that some could say that." Dagen agreed before continuing.
"Another thing that we noticed was that once infected the animals began
to change almost immediately. The oil changed the animals' genetic
makeup. Well, changing is perhaps the wrong word. The oil merely
activated those genes that up until recently were thought just to be
junk DNA."
Mulder's eyes widened with surprise. That was what the Gunmen said had
been done to Scully. He looked in her direction. Had she picked up on
that? Had she made the same connection as he? Scully didn't turn to look
at him; he had no idea what she was thinking.
"These changes were passed on to the offspring. Additionally, we
discovered that the offspring had been infected in the womb, although
the changes, independent of the mother, did not begin until birth."
"What were these changes?" Mulder asked.
"The first and most significant change was an increase in mental
function. The physical changes included enhanced strength and a
decreased susceptibility to disease. Also, the animals' life spans
dramatically increased. Some as high as five to ten times their normal
life span." The screen changed to display some of the animals in cages
as the Dagen advanced the projector. "The actual morphological changes
included increased brain cavity; the frontal and temporal lobes enlarged
in mass." Click! A close up of a chimpanzee with a noticeably enlarged
head. Dagen passed an image of a MRI across the table. "This is the scan
of this creatures head. Notice the increased mass as well as activity."
Mulder held it up against the light. Greek to him.
Mulder passed it on to Scully. As he did, their fingertips touched. He
looked up into her eyes. He had her attention and used it to silently
mouth 'Ok?' Scully's head tipped forward ever so slightly. 'I'm fine.'
Was what that nod meant. But he didn't believe it, not for a minute.
Something was wrong. She was far too accepting of this and she was
hardly saying anything.
Dagen was still speaking. "The animals also began to lose their hair and
gain more subcutaneous fat; there even was some evidence that these
animals were becoming bipedal." Click! Another picture. This one was of
three chimpanzees. Each displayed the characteristics that Dagen had
described. They were looking into the camera and in their eyes was an
unnerving quality that Mulder had trouble identifying. There was an
intelligence about them... an unnatural, and disconcerting one.
Dagen had paused to give them a chance to study the picture. "All of
these, I might add, were crucial steps in man's evolution."
"Where are these animals at now? I mean, what stage are they at?" Mulder
asked.
"Unfortunately, we had to halt the tests." Dagen looked apologetic. "The
animals were getting far too smart. We had a series of near escapes, for
one thing. We couldn't risk letting the animals loose into the
population, and well, it was sort of frightening actually, working with
the animals. In the end, they really weren't animals any more." Dagen
paused, taking a small break.
Ed took this opportunity to interject a comment of his own. "Recently,
we learned that the Russians also performed tests of this nature, but
their methods and security measures were considerably more lax. There
have been reports of instances where an animal escaped into the
population. They have of course denied this."
"Flukeman.", was Mulder's sudden realization.
And then another realization hit. "I've seen these creatures, I think. I
was on a ship, we were on a ship, in the Antarctic and I saw these
horrible monsters that were created... this is what they became?"
Ed and Dagen looked at one another. Dagen was the one that spoke. "No,
that is another matter entirely. You see, we aren't really sure what
those creature are, or how they came to be. We do know that they seem to
be related to the oil. We believe that the creatures you saw resulted
from oil that has mutated, took an evolutionary turn if you will.
Remember, these meteors have been pelting the planet for billions of
years. It makes sense that not every one that arrived had contact with
human ancestors. We think that the creature you saw resulted from the
oil's interaction with another life form."
Mulder nodded, he seemed satisfied with that explanation, at least for
now.
Ed continued. "But I think that this can help explain why there are gaps
in the fossil record. There are gaps in the record because there were no
intermediate steps. These changes took place within a generation, maybe
two."
"Are you saying that at each crucial juncture of human evolution can be
attributed to this oil? It served as a catalyst, perhaps speeding the
process up?" Mulder's voice was taking on an exuberance that seemed to
brighten the room. "Or was it changing man into something specific?"
Mulder felt a hand on his knee. A small hand. It was then that he
noticed the projector vibrating slightly and he made the connection
between it and his knee. His knee was bouncing with excitement, and with
each bounce, the table moved slightly. He willed his leg still, and much
to his regret, Scully removed her hand.
"We think that it was changing man into something very specific." Ed
said quietly.
"And what do you think that would be?" Mulder asked carefully.
Dagen glanced at Ed. Ed nodded, and Dagen continued. "I am not sure if
you were aware, but we had access to an alien embryo. One of the tests
that we conducted involved comparing it to the genetic make up of the
oil. We didn't really know what to expect. We didn't know if the oil and
it were related somehow. For awhile we believed that maybe the aliens
were from another planet that had also been seeded. But we were
mistaken. The embryo did have many characteristics and genes that
indicated that it was closely related to the oil. But we also found
that it was closely related to something else. "
"What did you find?" Mulder asked carefully.
It was Scully who answered. "What they are saying Mulder, is that your
aliens, your little green men, are us."
* * * * * *