The only way Meena would agree to the Atlanta trip was if they took separate modes of transportation to and from the airport. Meena decided not to go home to pack; after all it was early enough in the day for her to fully expect she would be back in Georgetown before day's end. Late, true, but well before her parents had time to worry. Meena took a cab to Dulles, while Dr. Covington took his rental car. The only thing she could not control was where they would sit. The plane was crowded, and she was forced to keep her seat next to a man she didn't know, and didn't yet know if she could trust. In an effort to keep unnecessary conversation between them at a minimum, Meena leaned her head against the window and feigned sleep.
The visions finally began when she actually did.
The room was all white and bright with chrome and dark with voices she did not recognize. She didn't know how she got there. She was in the middle of a sentence on how proper nutrition was still the key to preventing a wide array of birth defects during pregnancy with the handsome doctor next to her when suddenly....
..She was on a table.
Her nose itched. She raised her hand to scratch it when suddenly, she couldn't. She tried to move her legs, but they, too, were frozen into place. Her head was the only thing that wasn't tied down, and she rolled it to her left to try and see where she was. When she did, she stared straight into the deep, deep blue eyes of the man next to her. The man she had been talking with.
He was saying something, but she couldn't hear him. She began to ask him what he was trying to tell her, when her head was violently straightened and strapped to the cold metal table. In an instant, she felt herself being turned on end, upside down. At some point, she could see that her companion suffered the same fate but in the opposite direction.
When their eyes met, they could both see the fear in each other's faces.
Meena awoke suddenly, trying to adjust to her current surroundings. Her traveling companion leaned towards her to check on her condition. "Are you alright?" he asked. Meena nodded. "Sure, yeah. I'm fine." "How long has it been since you last ate?' asked Dr. Covington.' "I'm fine," Meena insisted. A flight attendant walked passed them. Andrew stopped him in his tracks. "I hate to trouble you, but is there any way we could get some orange juice for this lady here?" He indicated Meena. "And something to eat if you have it." "This is not a meal-scheduled flight," replied to attendant. "I know," Dr. Covington replied, "But... She's expecting..." "Well, why didn't you say so?!" replied the attendant, "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it."
Andrew turned to his traveling companion. "The most important part of prenatal care is prenatal nutrition, remember? You said so yourself, doctor."
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"This is to inform the person(s) listed above that the special investigative unit known as the X-Files has been re-opened by order of special council and that the person(s) listed above are hereby returned to active service as representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Signed Walter B. Skinner, Jr., Assistant Director"
It was as simple as that.
Mulder and Scully received the word via government courier at dawn when they returned home from Byer's house. Anxious to find their daughter, they took only as long as it took to take quick showers and change their clothes, and left for their old office.
It was as if the office had been vacuum-sealed in a perpetual time warp. Clear plastic dust cloths covered the office as if someone had placed them and gone away for summer vacation. The only piece of furniture not covered was Mulder's desk, upon which sat two pocket-sized laptop computers and his name plate. "You'd think after almost a quarter of a century, I'd get my own name plate and desk, but I guess not," mused Scully. Scully removed the plastic cover from one of the chairs in the room, dragged it to the desk and sat down. Mulder sat on the other side of the desk, and turn on one of the laptops. Scully took the files out of her briefcase, and sat them on the desk.
"Ok. Here's what we know," she began. "Meena was asked to participate in a conference sponsored by Janus Biomedical Research, the topic of which was multiple births and their similarities and anomalies. Thanks to our sources, we know that Janus is headquarted in Bethesda, Maryland, not too far from the naval hospital." "We also know that Janus Biomedical is involved in a wide array of research; from genetics to cryogenics, from bionics up to and including, I'll bet, those tiny little green liver pills that Carters used to own," Mulder added. "Their most notable research was the successful development of bionic limbs," Scully continued, "they are used to this day because they mimic the behavior of the original limb. You cannot tell the difference. The first patient received a bionic arm to replace one severed by a 'work related accident' it says here in 2005. We don't know who the patient is because it is not listed in the file." Scully stopped in mid sentence to notice Mulder rifling through the rest of the file. "Am I boring you, Mulder?" she asked. "Never in a million years, sweetheart," he replied.
Mulder pulled out a sheet of paper, and began to read. "It says here that the conference was arranged as part of the Cassandra Project," Mulder continued, "the offices of which are located in Arlington, VA." The two agents stopped. "Already, I'm starting not to like this," Scully said. "The Cassandra Project? What does that mean?" "Well, I think you should find out," answered Mulder. "Work on a cover, and see if you can break through their security. I'll dig around at Janus Biomed to see what there is to see."
Mulder and Scully paused to take a look again at their surroundings. "The more things change, the more they stay the same," Mulder commented. "Isn't that what they say?"