"OK, boys; let's see what you got."
"We'll show you ours if you show us yours..."
"Langley!"
"Why Byers! and you a married man..."
"Marriage is a noble institution -You two should try it sometime..."
"We did, but Frohicke kept leaving the seat up."
"Cute, guys," Scully remarked, "but can we get down to the matter at hand?" Scully had gone over to the Lone Gunman hideaway in preparation for her investigation of the Cassandra project. "How squeamish are you Scully?" asked Byers, "Ever stick you finger in your eye?" "Accidentally or on purpose." "Both," Langly asked. "Ok, both I guess. Why?" Frohicke pushed a small white contact case towards her. You'll need to wear these contacts when you go through the retina scan. These will create a totally different retina view for you, in case you've gone through a scan in recent months." "Won't they look like contacts when they scan?" asked Scully. "Space-age polymers so thin they practically meld to your eyes - and you can still get them out in a flash," replied Langley. "You shouldn't have any problems with them, but I would put them in before you leave."
"OK; what else?" Scully inquired. Frohicke pointed over to a small sink and faucet. "Do me a favor Scully. Can you turn on that faucet and hold your hands underneath it? Palms up, please." Scully walked over and did as he asked. "I can assure you guys I did wash my hands at least once today...." Scully was not expecting what she felt. What she should have felt on her hands was water; what came out was a puff of mist that immediately covered her hands." "Pretty cool, huh?" quipped Langley. "It's amazing what we can do with polymers these days. The same technology can be manipulated to form an ultra-ultra fine coat on your hands. Prevents your fingerprints from being read." "But wait a minute," Scully interrupted, "I suspect I will need to give some kind of prints to get in.' "And you will," Frohicke replied, 'They just won't be yours. There's a chemical component - nothing harmful- that creates whole new ridges and swirls when in contact with human skin. It will be a unique set of prints, but not the ones you were born with." Scully smiled, "I'm beginning to be glad you guys have way too much time on your hands. I suspect there's more?" she continued.
Byers handed her a manila envelope when she walked back to the table. "These are your credentials and inside you'll find an I.D. badge, electronic gate card..." Scully pulled out an ID badge with her face, but someone else's name. "G. Anderson? Couldn't you have come up with something more exciting?" She joked. "No need to call attention to yourself,' Frohicke replied. "The Cassandra Project is housed in a brick townhouse on 1013 Waverly Drive," Frohicke continued. "There is a four-digit code in that envelope that you will need to use to get into the building. You'll have it memorized by the time you get there."
Byers paused a moment before he spoke. "We've known Meena since before she was even here. She's every much our daughter in spirit as she is yours in flesh and blood. Yours and Mulder's. We will find her."
Scully didn't know what to say, but she did know what to do. She kissed each of the Lone Gunmen on the cheek, and left.
The Lone Gunmen watched as the door latched behind her. "Mulder's a lucky guy," said Frohicke quietly. "So tell me, Byers," Langely asked, "how did you find your wife even after we gave her a new identity in Vegas? Nobody was supposed to find her - how did you?"
"I listened to my heart," he replied.
****************************************************************
Scully pulled up to the Waverly Office Park at 1013 Waverly Drive in Arlington. The office park looked more like a gated community, with a series of brickface, townhome - style offices that housed anything from stockbrokers to attorneys. A simple wooden sign remincient of those found in Colonial Williamsburg listed each of the occupants on the property. The very last line of text read, in simple cursive script, "A Conway Sheridan Monroe Office Community." "How quaint," Scully smirked as she pulled up to the parking gate.
Scully rolled down the window as the car rolled to a stop. A generic mechanical voice made to sound like the girl next door spoke over the loudspeaker. "Welcome to Waverly Office Park. If you'll allow me to read your parking access card, I'll be more than happy to assist you." Scully inserted the card she got from the Lone Gunmen. "Thank you, Dr. Anderson;" the voice replied, "we've been expecting you. Please park in any one of the available spaces in front of 1013A Waverly Drive. Thank you." The mechanical arm was raised by the time the machine had finished, and Scully drove her car into the lot. Scully drove through the mock cobblestone streets until she reached her destination. The offices of the Cassandra Project were apparently housed in the offices of Janus Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Janus Biomedical Research. In Scully's mind, there was no other plausible answer.
It was where the mechanical voice had instructed her to go.
Scully parked her car, and walked up the brick walkway to the front door. As soon as she stepped onto the doormat, the same mechanical voice she'd heard when she pulled up gave her further instructions. "Hello, Dr. Anderson; welcome to Janus Pharmaceutical Research. Please punch in your four digit access code." Scully punched in the code she had memorized on her way to Arlington. "Thank you," the voice replied. "In order for me to let you in, I will need to see your hand. Please place your palm on the glass surface located to your left." Scully hesitated for a moment. "Dr. Anderson," the voice insisted, "Please place your palm on the glass surface located to your left."
Scully did as the mechanical voice instructed her to do.
"Thank you, Dr, Anderson," the cybervoice continued, "Please come inside."