Disclaimer; Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter.
Obscure belongs to;
Developer: Hydravision
Publisher: Europe - Microids
Publisher: North America - Dreamcatcher Interactive
Chapter five
Mulder, Scully, and Stan entered into the second floor hallway. It was quiet.
"Hey, someone is here," Mulder said softly to the two.
Stan and Scully looked up to the left part of the hallway. There was a young man seemingly to be having a fight with one of the vending machines.
"Should we go and see what he's up to?" Stan asked hesitantly.
"We have to," Scully said.
Mulder took out his gun. Scully looked at him questioningly.
"Just to be safe," he said.
Stan did the same.
"He's a student," Scully said.
"Nothing is what it seems in this school, I don't want to be caught off guard," Mulder said, "I'll go and talk to him, just stay behind me,"
Scully and Stan followed. Scully still didn't take out her gun.
"Hey!" Mulder called.
The young man didn't respond; he just kept pounding on the vending machine.
Mulder got closer, and hesitantly touched his shoulder.
The man swung around with knife in his hand. He nearly caught Mulder, but Mulder had backed away from him quickly, and was surprised to hear a gunshot.
The young man feel to the floor.
"Oh my god, what are you doing?!" Scully shouted at Stan, appalled.
Stan only looked at her, seemingly stunned at what he had done.
"Reflex," Stan offered.
"Reflex, you just killed a person," she said kneeling down besides the young man.
"I had to, if he kills one of you, or both, I would be on my own, and I don't want to die here," Stan said.
"Scully, I don't think he was a person," Mulder interrupted from down next to the student.
She looked at him confused, then looked at the body.
The student had already looked like he had been dead for at least a few days.
"I don't understand, how can that be, you just shot him," she said.
"Let's not waste time trying to figure things out, we need to find Friedman, and the janitor, I want to get out of here," Stan said.
Mulder and Scully both agreed.
"Well, it sounds quiet, let's do a quick sweep for anyone up here, and Scully, it's a free-for-all, don't hesitate to shot anything trying to kill you," Mulder said.
She un-holstered her gun and nodded. She headed up the right side. Mulder decided to search the rest of the left side of the hall, Stan followed Mulder.
Stan and Mulder walked into the next room over.
"Oh, hey, it's Friedman's office," Stan said.
"You knew his office was up here?" Mulder said looking at him.
"Well, no not necessarily, I don't usually come to see him," Stan said starting to look around, "I want to check out his office,"
"Don't screw with things," Mulder said then turned to the secretary's desk, "He has messages," Mulder said seeing the red light blinking on an answering machine.
Mulder pushed the play button;
Today, at 5:38 P.M.
Hello?
Mrs. Smith? This is Ms. Wickson.
Could you ask Mr. Friedman to come see
me as soon as possible?
It's an emergency! I can't leave the infirmary!
Make sure he comes quick! Thanks!
Today, at 6:50 P.M.
Herbert?
If…if you're there, pick up the phone...
Please... come quickly...
I, I don't know what's going on, but I.. I think
it has something to do with the experiments..
I saw several students... who.. well...
It's really bad, come quick!
Oh no!
End of messages.
Mulder contemplated the messages.
"Oh my god, those things used to be students, then?" Stan said horrified as he came out of Herbert's office.
"It seems that way, we need to find Scully," Mulder said.
"Sure, I also know where to find Freidman," Stan said showing Mulder a sticky note.
"I'm in the library if you need to see me, Herbert," Mulder read, "Well, at least we know where to find him,"
"I also found this weird thing," Stan said handing Mulder a round object with a point.
"I have no idea of what it could be, maybe Scully knows," Mulder said.
"Yeah, but uh, Vick usually locks up the school grounds, I'm sure the library will be locked too," Stan said.
"Well let's get Scully and figure out what to do next," Mulder said and they both headed into the main hallway.
Scully was already in the hallway.
"Hey, did you find anything?" Mulder asked as they neared her.
"A bunch of stuff actually, one of those monsters, and Denny's satchel, he had transcripts of students, some from the students that were missing in fact, a flashlight, and this compass needle," she said slightly annoyed, and showing the same object Mulder had.
"Glad that you're all right, and hey we found one just like it," Mulder said showing his compass needle.
"What do they go to?" Scully asked.
"Maybe to the map in Friedman's office," Stan said.
"What map?" Mulder and Scully said in unison.
"There is this big map in Friedman's office, come on I'll show you," Stan said and led them back to the office.
"Here," he said and pointed at it.
"Well, you deal with it, I have to show Scully the messages," Mulder said handing Stan the compass needles.
Stan looked like he wanted to argue, but thought better of it.
Scully followed Mulder curiously. He played the messages for her.
"So those things we're killing used to be students," Scully said sadly.
"Yeah, and Denny and Herbert, and obviously Ms. Wickson the nurse, are all in on it," Mulder said.
"We need to find them, and get out of here, I also found another student, Mulder, he turned into one of those things we saw in the hall, I thought he was normal, I stepped back in front of the window, the light killed him," Scully said.
"It's getting darker, I don't know what will happen…" Mulder said, but was interrupted by Stan.
"Hey, I got the thing to work, turns out it's Friedman's safe," Stan said.
Mulder and Scully walked into the office.
In the safe was another gun, a key to the library, a video cassette labeled SUBJECT 37, and an old letter.
Mulder gave the gun to Scully.
"Well, at least we can open the door to the library, and I wonder what's on this video tape; what's the letter?," Mulder said looking at Scully who was reading the aged paper.
She read it out loud to them, "My dear Herbert, I am writing to you in secret. Leonard would leave me if he knew I was meddling in his work. You are his twin brother and sometimes it seems to me that you understand him better than I. That is why I would like you to speak to him. We quarreled last night. He is completely obsessed with his research and I fear he will go too far. He wants to attempt the experiment on himself, I am certain. You know him, he is capable of it. That would be foolish, the subjects treated are only stable after three weeks. There may be secondary effects that appear much later. Please, try to reason with him. Yours, Elisabeth.,"
"Herbert has a brother, and Elisabeth is the nurse isn't she?" Mulder asked.
"Twin apparently, and yeah, but what experiment, the nurse talked about it too, just now, but this paper is really old?" Scully asked.
"I have no idea, but from the looks of it, I can't tell if they are failing or succeeding, what do the want to achieve with these experiments?" Mulder said.
"Well, if they are dealing with that plant, the Mortifilia, they mean to achieve immortality, but I don't understand how," Scully said.
"Let's find Herbert and make him explain what's going on," Mulder said, "And find some place to play this video, I want to know who or what is subject 37."
The three exited the building and followed Stan to the Library building.
They walked into the main hall of the library building. They saw, sitting on the stairs, another student. He didn't notice them.
"Mulder, it's another one, like I saw in the class room upstairs, you have to kill it," she said softly.
"I didn't like it before, but now I don't even more, now that I know that these are students," Mulder said.
"I could do it," Stan said.
"Just do it, before it turns into a monster," Scully said.
Stan aimed and shot it from behind. It didn't make any sound.
"Herbert has to pay for this, these were just students, not even adults, not enough experience with life yet," Mulder said walking over and looking at the dead body.
"He will, let's find him," Scully said.
"The library is closed," Stan said jiggling the door handles.
"Great, what now," Scully said.
"Let's search the rooms here, maybe Herbert hid it in one," Mulder said.
The three separated.
Mulder found a safe in one of the offices. He obviously didn't have the code.
"Damn it," he swore and returned to the main hall.
"I found a safe, but no code," Mulder said seeing Scully.
"I found a plain piece of paper with something scribbled out," Scully said.
"Let me see it, and your flashlight," Mulder said.
Scully handed both over, looking at him curiously.
Stan came out of the third room and looked at them as Mulder held the flashlight under the piece of paper.
"Got it, 2432, it's either the code, or nothing, let's go check it out," Mulder said triumphantly.
Mulder opened the safe and found the library key, and another letter on aged parchment.
Mulder read the letter to them, "Dear Leonard and Herbert, I am writing to you as your friend. I have just come out of the Seattle conference where your book "Eternal life is possible" had an explosive effect. Your discoveries totally contradict the theories of Dr. Leon Korsenberg and I expect an unfavorable reaction from the council. You have virulent detractors who fear that your research is immoral and casts a slur on the entire scientific community. I have analyzed the file. Your theory certainly goes against the first law of medical ethics. You understand that without the support of a reputation, it will have no other destiny than sinking into oblivion. And, sadly, I do not have sufficient weight to prevent that. You may find salvation outside the scientific community, you know. I fear that sanctions may even be taken against you and I cannot advise you strongly enough to locate your work in a safe place. I remain, my dear friends, yours sincerely, Your loyal friend, Walt Kerridan."
"What is he talking about?" Stan asked.
Mulder looked at Scully. She caught his look, "I've studied the medical and scientific field, but I have never heard of any of this, as this Walt says, Herbert and Leonard may have had to push their work underground, and that would explain what we are seeing, I think these monster's are failed attempts at securing longevity, immortality," Scully said.
"Well, let's get Herbert to explain this, I have the key to open the doors," Mulder said and they headed for the main library.
They unlocked the door and entered.
The library was pretty big and filled with ancient looking books.
They heard a rustling of papers on the far-side of the library.
They walked behind a shelf and saw Herbert Friedman sitting at a desk, looking through a bunch of files.
"Well, finally we found you," Mulder said.
Herbert turned startled, "Agents Mulder and Scully," he said.
"What surprised to see us alive?" Mulder said.
"Excuse me, why would I be surprised for that, I take it your search is over," Friedman said.
"No; we haven't found Kenny Matthews, but we have good reason to believe he's here, so just tell us where he is," Scully said showing him all the evidence they had found.
Herbert looked at the papers. He showed no emotion to them.
"I see nothing here that says I have Kenny Matthews," he said coolly.
"All of it incriminates you, Denny Walden, and Elisabeth Wickson too," Scully said.
"Denny Walden seems to think you have everything to do with all that's happening to this school," Mulder said.
"You've spoken the Walden?" Herbert asked, "And what is happening to this school.?" Herbert asked suspiciously.
"You're kidding right, all those things you set lose, those poor students," Scully said incredulously.
"You're goddamn experiments are running lose trying to kill us!" Mulder shouted at the man and grabbed the front of his shirt roughly, "All those missing students are right here, mutated and harmed because of you, what the hell were you doing,"
Herbert seemed to understand what they were saying, but he didn't react.
He pushed Mulder away from him, "I'll take care of it, just tell Vick to let you out, I'll let him know that you are coming,"
"Yeah, and we'll be back with to arrest you and stop you from continuing your research," Mulder said.
"Do what you must, I need to go," Herbert said hurriedly and exited through a door to his right. They heard as he locked it.
Scully turned the knob.
"Where does that door lead to?" Mulder asked Stan who had been silent through the exchange.
"Uh, I have no idea," he said.
"Well a lot good it did us to find Herbert," Mulder said frustrated and kicked the door Herbert had just walked through.
Scully moved over to the desk Herbert had been sitting at. She saw an old newspaper, and a notebook.
Scully read to Mulder and Stan the newspaper article, "'Destiny strikes the Friedman family again.' The community is in mourning at the death of Leonard FRIEDMAN. More than a citizen, the city has lost a brilliant, conscientious and dynamic researcher. Leonard worked to advance the work of the brotherhood, not recoiling from any obstacle. The scientific community, despite its differences with the duo, admitted that "He was among those who could have helped us advance in giant steps". As all the events surrounding this unusual family, the death of Leonard Friedman remains enigmatic. Although a good pilot, Leonard lost control of his craft before crashing into the sea. His twin brother Herbert, the only escapee from this terrible accident, was rescued from the open sea off Long Island.'"
"So his brother died, when," Mulder asked curiously.
"I don't know, the date is faded," Scully said scrutinizing the paper.
"Well long enough for that paper to have aged so much, what's in the notebook," Mulder asked picking it up.
"It looks like a journal," Scully said.
"It's from Leonard, way back in 1895, it says; The vegetation is really very strange, particularly the trees. Two more porters have disappeared and we have discovered a slashed corpse. The natives are frightened and want to leave the island. Yet, I think we are reaching our goal. The flora is evolving in parallel with our progress, which is difficult, both physically and morally. Bizarrely, the fauna is becoming rarified, the atmosphere leaden, the silence heavy. The specimens found here and the geology show that this island was cut off from the world and has followed a parallel ecological development for three thousand years. But this period of time would not be sufficient to cause such brutal changes. That would need millions of years. Something has accelerated the evolution of the species and this ecosystem. I want to find out what it was. We have a trail: black putrefying matter, which appears overnight on the vegetation, appears to be more and more prevalent as we progress northwards. Traces indicate that this may come from a tubercular plant. Tomorrow, we must reach the volcanic peak. The soil is light in this part of the island, which should facilitate our analyses of the sub-soil. Leonard Friedman, Travel journal, June 21 1895," Mulder read.
"1895, from that time to now, Herbert would be 108, not counting from when he was born," Scully said awed.
"Herbert is way past 100 then, but how, these experiments are failing, I don't understand," Mulder said confused.
"I don't know, but once an investigation starts, all of it will come to light," Mulder said flipping through the journal.
"Bad joke Mulder," Scully said turning back to the desk.
He looked at her confused then caught what he had said. He smiled slightly at it.
"Anyway, we should get moving, I want out now, it's past dark now," Mulder said indicating the window.
The sun had set and the sky was pitch black.
They exchanged nervous glances.
"I'll show you to the janitor's room," Stan said.
They exited the library and headed to the right of the courtyard to the janitor's room.
As they did though, they heard as something collapsed, something huge.
"God, it sounds like the whole school is collapsing," Scully said nervously.
"No, I would just assume part of it, near the north side it sounds like," Mulder said.
"Never mind, let's just get out of here and call for back up," Scully said continuing with Stan.
Mulder followed.
As they neared the janitor's room, they heard what seemed to be a struggle with something not human.
There was a loud screech.
"You freaky little bastards are not getting out of here that easily, come here," Vick said, and then a gunshot.
Scully, Mulder, and Stan withdrew their guns and hurried over.
There was one last growl and then silence from Vick.
Mulder kicked in the door. They moved to the back of the room and saw something escaping up the air vent.
"Oh god, Mulder," Scully said sounding sick, stepping back slightly.
He looked at her then down, wishing he hadn't. He had been too busy searching for what was leaving, that he didn't realize what it was leaving behind. Stan had moved back to the front of the room quickly.
On the ground was the remains of what used to be human, of what used to be Vick Garrison.
"What the hell happened?" Scully said looking at the torn remains.
"I don't know, but I think we are on our own on this one Scully," Mulder said looking sickened at the sight..