Two: The Case Is an X-File

FBI Headquarters; Washington D.C.

Monday, April '99, 6:26 a.m.

(Xniverse)

Special Agent Fox Mulder walked into his office, holding an X-file in his hand. As he proceeded to place the file on top of many more files a photograph fell out.

"Jesus." He murmured to himself. He bent down to pick up the photograph, briskly glancing at it when he saw something.

His hazel eyes gazed at the image focusing on one certain aspect. He brought the photograph closer to his face and studied it further.

The picture was of a dead man. He lay sprawled on his bed. The man had looked as if he died of exhaustion. He was very thin and his face was a disturbing mixture of blue, green, and gray. Carmine blood had trickled down from a nostril onto his upper lip and dirtied an already unsightly facial hair. There was a swelling in and around his mouth. The man's yellowish eyes were blank and lifeless, looking up.

This was no shock or tragedy for Mulder. He'd seen these pictures many times- he had seen even worse in person. What had got his attention were the man's hands.

"Mulder." Special Agent Dana Scully entered the office holding her briefcase in one hand and a cup of Starbucks coffee in another. Her eyes rested on Mulder who had his attention somewhere else. She placed the briefcase on his desk and crept up behind him, getting up on tiptoes to have a glance at the picture he held. Mulder and Scully had about an eleven-inch difference in height (if you're curious).

"Whatcha looking at?" She asked with a faint indication of a smile on her face.

"You ever hear of Kirlian Photography, Scully?" He finally uttered, looking back at his partner.

She had. On that case with the cancer eating, limb regenerating, instinctively homicidal EMT. Nevertheless, she played along with whatever Mulder was up to.

Scully looked back at him, "Mulder," she warningly said, "You can't be on to something this early on a Monday morning, can you?"

Mulder turned to face her with an amiable chuckle, "I might be."

"Well… if my memory of "paranormal phenomenon" serves me correct- it's a process…" Scully paused briefly and looked at Mulder to see if she was on the right track, "a process of innocuous electron cascades and high voltage frequencies which inevitably would photograph someone's 'bio-plasma.' " She gestured her fore and middle fingers in quotation. Mulder smiled.

She continued, "And then people like you would say that these 'energy-field auras' captured on film could explain something about our lives, for example somebody's psychological condition." She watched Mulder with her striking blue eyes for an answer, a quip, anything for that matter.

Mulder gently put his hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Why, Agent Scully, you're a walking paranormal dictionary!"

Mulder should speak for himself. The man was a walking encyclopedia of supposed paranormal activity. He'd be fun to take on camping trips.

Scully nodded sarcastically, "I suppose this man's picture is exhibiting signs that may suggest this picture has been taken using 'Kirlian Photography'… what are the chances of that?"

Mulder handed the photograph to Scully and then took his seat behind the desk. "Take a look at his hands, Scully."

Scully looked at the dead man's hands; "His middle finger protrudes slightly up…"

Mulder exhaled a quiet laugh. He got the joke. It's been said many times that Agent Scully has a really bad sense of humor—if any. She was dubbed the Ice Queen by fans. Other fans, like myself, still abstain from passing judgment.

Scully smirked, "Yeah, I see it, Mulder. But, what I don't see is your point."

"His hands are obviously Kirlian images."

"Ok." She looked at the man's hands. They looked as if someone had taken an x-ray of a handprint and then she studied the rest of the body, "By the looks of this man- he died of an DOD. Um, he wet himself- there's evidence of inflammation of the mouth, there is a skin rash… on his forearm, and you can obviously see his skin is a of grayish complexion… maybe tranquilizers?" The man's symptoms could have been an X-File.

Mulder sighed and gave in, "He was a patient at a psychiatric center."

Scully decided to solve the mystery; "This man was murdered… possibly by an employee of the facility."

"You think so?" Mulder quipped.

Scully smiled rebelliously and took her seat in front of Mulder's desk, "You think they administered his tranquilizers sloppily?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Actually, Scully, I don't think this man was dead when the photograph was taken."

She raised a brow.

Right, Mulder, the man was just simply 'playing dead'. Kudos, to the mental patient for faking a DOD. Hey, Elvis, did it, right?

Scully looked at the picture again, "When was this picture taken?"

"9:50, Sunday night." Mulder answered, leaning back in his chair a little bit. "The authorities came at about 9:15 p.m. I estimate that the man was found maybe ten or so minutes after his death, which was approximately 9:00. Apparently a hospital worker was making his rounds and became suspicious when there was no noise coming from his chamber for long while. This patient was frequently prone to violent behavior. The tranquilizers that were administered to him had a funky affect on him, every time they were administered. The hospital decided to stop them the very morning of that day."

"And then the man who found him was alarmed he wasn't behaving aggressively as he should have been and found him dead of an apparent overdose." Scully finished. "Mulder, it's obvious somebody had injected this poor man on various occasions, most likely unbeknownst to the others. As a result, last night he reached his climax. What surprises me is that nobody realized it when he started to indicate symptoms of overdose. What is if it was a conspiracy amongst the faculty, Mulder? The patient may have been too much for them to handle so they just-"

"-got rid of him? Kind of bad for business isn't it, Scully. I like your theory."

"But you don't agree with it?"

"Scully, can you see a person's aura after his death?"

Scully looked at him skeptically, "I beg your pardon?"

"Well, scientifically speaking- the electrical discharge around objects are merely variations of pressures, perspiration, and heat… well, when have we ever seen a dead man sweat?"

"Mulder, first of all there's a small amount of scientific validity behind Kirlian photography, basing you're your theory on it- that this man wasn't dead-"

Mulder resumed his defense, "When people die they grow cold- the temperature of the room was sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit, and this particular picture was taken about an hour after his death. Kirlian photography proved that Leonard Betts was indeed alive after his decapitation, not only that but directed his limb regeneration."

Scully scoffed, as she put the picture on an empty space beside his desk nameplate and changed her position in her seat; crossing her legs. "It was never technically proven that his "chi" actually re-grew his head. You came up with that one yourself. And- you're acting as if the patient walked off the morgue examination table! – Which I'm assuming he hasn't."

Mulder assuredly shook his head.

"This is the stuff that dreams are made of, Scully." Mulder exuberantly replied.

Scully quipped, "Your dreams, perhaps."

"A month ago, I found the same type of picture in another case file- the victim also a patient, but at a different facility."

She gave up reasoning with him for now, and warily eyed her partner. It was one thing when he contradicted science, and now he was contradicting himself. "Mulder, can't it be possible that this is simply an experiment the government is conducting regarding the brain activity of those with psychological problems, even problems caused by drug abuse, through some type of federally mandated Kirlian technology?"

Mulder raised his brows somewhat surprised by her explanation, "Now that is what dreams are made of."

"I've heard of no such program, Scully." He continued, "Furthermore, I looked up the first picture… and I found that other photos of the crime scene and victim were not taken with Kirlian photography. And I can make a safe bet that this one is will come up with the same matches."

He stopped and gazed at his skeptical partner with doggedness, "It's just too uncanny, Scully. The Feds just happen to snap a couple of these rare pictures of only DOD victims for sheer thrills?"

"I don't conceive the situation to be that sinister… that there is some great Kirlian rooted conspiracy against mental patients just for sheer thrills, Mulder."

"Nonetheless, this case is an X-File. These pictures fall into our specialty."

"I guess this rules out any suspicion of a serial killer," suggested Scully.

Mulder took the picture and studied it briefly…

"You know me, Scully. I have plenty of theories."