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The X-Files: Season 4, Episode 21. The Looking Rock
We open on a jaundiced sky with wispy clouds. A low trumpet horns in the distance. A man runs into frame, his face slick with sweat. He looks around wildly and we see his perspective. He is in a wasteland of toppled buildings and dusty streets. Cars lie abandoned nearby. In the distance, a long line of people are approaching. They are dressed in military fatigues and carry automatic rifles. The man, clearly frightened, darts down an alleyway and presses his back against the wall. He opens his closed eyes to see the metal sign bolted to the opposite wall. It says:
"ALL UNCLEAN MUST BE SHOT ON SIGHT. NO CITIZEN IS EXEMPT FROM PERFORMING THEIR DUTY."
The man covers his face and shakes his head, as if trying to wake from a dream. He continues down the alleyway and comes across an open manhole in the ground. He climbs down the hole and we catch a glimpse of his back. A large circle with arrows pointing inward is embroidered into the fabric of his jumpsuit.
We meet the man in the underground tunnels. We watch as he crosses a gantry to a door. He pushes it open and steps into a circular room. An incredible number of full-length mirrors are mounted on the walls. The man looks around and catches sight of a particular one, walking over to it. He walks over to it and touches its surface. It ripples like water.
He reaches one arm inside the mirror, and retracts it. He looks over his shoulder, and then crawls inside the mirror. We review the mirror room, pulling away and over the city. Strange fleshy creatures roam in the outskirts of the city. One of them spots us, and emits an eerie, low groan.
INSERT X-FILES INTRO.
We meet Scully and Mulder in their office at the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building. Mulder is eating a jelly doughnut loudly, the insides dripping onto the papers he is reading. Scully turns around in her chair and gives him a tired look.
SCULLY: Mulder, could you stop?
MULDER: Scully, have you ever wanted to walk into a mirror?
SCULLY: What?
Mulder rolls his chair over to her, handing her a sheet of paper. We linger on a glob of raspberry filling at one corner. Scully looks at Mulder and he smiles, reaching over to flick the glob away. Scully reads aloud.
SCULLY: "5 days ago - Persepolis, Arkansas. A dead man is discovered at a hardware store. On his person is a strange rock that glows in the presence of mirrors. During the investigation two of the police officers went missing. The investigation was taken over by the SIU."
There is a pause and it is clear Scully has finished reading.
SCULLY: Mulder what is this?
MULDER: Many ancient civilizations have considered the possibility of a mirror world. What if there is a universe right there, all you need is the ability to look through it? The Looking Rock is what they're usually called. It's very rare and very powerful. Or so they say.
SCULLY: So what does that have to do with this case?
MULDER: I don't know. But I want to find out.
We cut to the sign for the Persepolis Arkansas Police Department. Scully and Mulder pull into the parking lot in their car. A woman in a grey suit walks toward them, and knocks on the driver's side window. Mulder rolls it down.
WOMAN: Mulder. I would turn around here.
MULDER: I'm sorry?
WOMAN: There's nothing here for you. I know you know it's not the SUI that took over this case.
MULDER: What do you mean?
WOMAN: Nothing is new here. Just go.
MULDER: (getting out of the car) Thanks.
The woman backs away, turning around and walking in the opposite direction. Scully gets out of the car.
SCULLY: What do you think that was about?
MULDER: Dunno.
They walk into the station. A man in a pin stripe suit sees them and walks over to them.
MALE CORONER: Agents? I'm the state coroner for Conway county. I was called to investigate the death of a Russell Simons.
MULDER: Who?
The coroner looks like he's about to say more but is distracted by a loud noise. He speaks over his shoulder.
MALE CORONER: Someone should keep an eye on that man in there.
He turns around and faces the agents.
SCULLY: What's your name?
MALE CORONER: Peabody. Percival Peabody. Nice to meet you both. You're with the SIU?
SCULLY: No. We're FBI.
The two of them take out their FBI badges. Peabody's face goes white.
PEABODY: I-I must be going.
MULDER: Do you mind if we ask what's going on here?
PEABODY: Well, my investigation into the cause and circumstances of Mr Simons death is compromised.
MULDER: How so?
PEABODY: He's not actually dead.
Mulder and Scully look at each other. Cut to the outside of the morgue. Through the wire mesh in the window we see a man pacing around, shouting indistinctly.
PEABODY: I had just begun making the Y incision when he sat bolt upright. Never in my 30 years of doing this have I seen that. And I've seen a lot.
MULDER: I suppose you checked for a pulse.
PEABODY: Of course I did!
SCULLY: Torpor.
PEABODY: What?
SCULLY: I remember reading a case study about a man in Greenland. He was a fisherman who became shipwrecked far from his village. He managed to take shelter in an ice cave. They discovered him a month later, hard as a rock. During the funeral service he woke up in his casket, had a heart attack, and died.
PEABODY: That's just an urban legend.
SCULLY: The salty ocean air dried his body out so much he entered a state of deep hibernation. His body was so dry that when he froze, there wasn't enough water to damage his tissue. In some animals this is called torpor.
PEABODY: Listen, I don't know where you two are from, but here in Arkansas even the frogs are sweating.
We join them as they enter the morgue. Russel Simons sits huddled in the corner of the room. Scully approaches him.
SCULLY: Mr. Simons?
SIMONS: (staring at them from over his shoulder) Yes?
SCULLY: My name is Dana Scully. I'm with the FBI. You don't look very well.
SIMONS: Yeah well you wouldn't either if you had to face one of those things! They'll suck you dry! They suck you dry!
Simons murmurs indistinctly. Scully turns to Mulder and Peabody.
MULDER: Ask him about the Looking Rock.
SCULLY: Mr. Simons?
SIMONS: (looks up) The looking rock! You gotta get to the looking rock! It's in the woods behind the old grey school! You gotta GET to the looking rock!
SCULLY: (quietly to Peabody) Who is he anyway?
Peabody looks between the two FBI agents.
PEABODY: Why are you two here?
MULDER: Answer the question Peabody.
Peabody looks over Simons, collecting his thoughts.
PEABODY: The man is clearly disorientated. He's talking about a rock in the woods.
SIMONS: Behind the school... The old grey school...
MULDER: Scully, maybe we should leave.
SCULLY: What? But this man...
MULDER: Our friend Peabody can take care of it.
PEABODY: I-I...
MULDER: Just leave the scalpel for the dead guys, alright?
Mulder and Scully regroup at their car.
SCULLY: Mulder, do you have any idea what that was all about?
MULDER: The Looking Rock.
SCULLY: What about it?
MULDER: It's the key.
SCULLY: (in an exasperated tone of voice) to the mirror world. Right Mulder?
MULDER: (getting into the car) Bingo.
As their car pulls out of the parking lot, we see the woman in the grey suit watching them from a park bench. She puts one finger to her ear and begins speaking quietly.
WOMAN: He continuing.
Later that night, Scully is in bed at the hotel, reading a medical journal. Her cell phone rings. She picks up the phone.
SCULLY: Hello?
MULDER: Scully. I know it's late. But I just realized something.
SCULLY: That this whole situation is a waste of our time?
MULDER: What if the Looking Rock is on the other side of the mirror?
SCULLY: So?
MULDER: So, we need to find out where that is.
SCULLY: How?
MULDER: The only way is to go through the mirror.
SCULLY: Mulder, you can't seriously be considering this again. We've been over and over this. The whole idea behind it is a myth.
MULDER: Scully, we've seen lots of things that are just myth.
Scully hangs up.
SCULLY: (a hint of fear in her voice) Oh my God.
The phone rings again. Scully picks it up.
SCULLY: Mulder I-
It's not Mulder. It's the woman in the grey suit.
WOMAN: Hello Scully. I think it's time we spoke in private.
SCULLY: I'm sorry, who is this?
WOMAN: You and you partner are looking for answers, aren't you? Or is it just him, Mulder, who wants answers? I'd like you to help me talk him down. As his friend, I know what's best for him.
SCULLY: I don't know what you're talking about.
WOMAN: I'm sure you don't, but Mulder is a different story.
SCULLY: No. I do want answers. I want to know who you are.
WOMAN: (sighing) That's a shame.
The woman hangs up. Scully sits in silents for a few moments, her cell phone still against her ear. She pulls it away and quickly types in a number. Mulder answers before the first ring.
MULDER: Scully?
SCULLY: I think I'd like to hear about the mirror world.
The next day, Scully and Mulder are walking through the woods. Mulder props one foot up on a rock and puts his arms at his sides.
MULDER: Hey Scully, did you ever used to play cops and robbers?
SCULLY: Yeah.
MULDER: Okay, so when you were playing cops, you would always get the guy, right?
SCULLY: Not necessarily.
MULDER: But that's what you want most of the time, right?
SCULLY: Where are you going with this?
MULDER: Do you think sometimes the police would just let someone go?
SCULLY: Let someone go?
MULDER: Yeah. For the greater good, and all that.
SCULLY: Well if the jury...
MULDER: (interrupting) Hey, what if you couldn't win? What if you were just trapped?
At that moment, a large group of men in tactical gear swarm the two FBI agents. Mulder falls backward and rolls down into a ravine.
SCULLY: Mulder!
Mulder hits his head on a rock and the scene cuts to black.
Mulder comes to, his head resting on the arm of a large leather chair. He opens his eyes and looks up. Across from him is the woman in the grey suit. She is sitting at a large bamboo desk, reading over papers and other materials. She looks up from her work at Mulder.
WOMAN: Ah, I see you're awake.
MULDER: Where...
WOMAN: No. No need to talk. I just have something important to say to you.
MULDER: (mumbling) Okay.
WOMAN: You're a very resourceful man, Mulder. I'm going to give you the opportunity to make a deal.
MULDER: What...
WOMAN: You listen very carefully. I know how FBI agents operate. You want something, you go get it. You don't ask for permission. That's exactly why you became one. Now I have here a file with your name on it. That contains all the information about your quest to find out what happened in Persepolis. A quest that can't be completed, as you are about to discover.
The woman closes her folder and looks at him.
WOMAN: Your quest for the truth is futile. Whatever you think you'll find, isn't going to be there. But I know you're not going to stop until you find something. And there are things here we don't want found. Understand?
MULDER: (nodding slowly)
WOMAN: You've found quite a few... things for us. You are useful to us, even outside the organization. But not when you retread old ground.
MULDER: What...
WOMAN: So what I'm giving you is a chance. You can continue your work, but only for us.
MULDER: I'll never...
WOMAN: If you accept, you have to go back to where you think the truth lies.
Mulder wakes up a second time. Scully is cradling his head and we see that he's back in the ravine he fell into.
SCULLY: Mulder, are you ok?
MULDER: What... What happened to the army guys?
SCULLY: (holding open his eyes and peering at them) What? You must have gotten a concussion. Here, let me give you an Ibuprofen.
MULDER: There were men with guns. They attacked us.
SCULLY: Mulder, you're hurt. You don't know what you're talking about.
MULDER: (quietly) Go back to where you think the truth lies...
SCULLY: I'm sorry?
MULDER: (shaking his head) No. We have to leave.
SCULLY: What?
MULDER: We have to go back to Washington.
SCULLY: No! Look, I think you got a concussion. You need to rest.
MULDER: (trying to sit up) No, no, no. We have to leave. This isn't worth it.
Scully moves away from Mulder, looking him over.
SCULLY: Now that's not the Mulder I know.
MULDER: (getting up) It is. You don't know what they showed me. You don't know what they made me do.
SCULLY: Who?
MULDER: (yelling) The Foundation!
SCULLY: (walking over to him) What are you talking about?
MULDER: They showed me the truth! They showed me how the world really works! And now they're trying to repress it forever!
SCULLY: Are you insane?
MULDER: No! The world is insane! Why die in the dark when there is no light?
SCULLY: Mulder! Stop! Let me help you!
MULDER: (pulling away from her) No! I need to leave.
He staggers away from her and starts walking off.
SCULLY: Mulder, you're hurt! You need medical attention!
MULDER: (jogging away) No!
Scully looks back down to where Mulder fell and notices a white rectangle in the mud. She picks it up. It is a business card with a single, black symbol impressed on one side. It is a circle with three arrows pointing inward. She looks back at Mulder, and pockets it.
Later, we find the agents back at the FBI headquarters. Scully works at her desk, typing a report on the events into her computer.
SCULLY: Persepolis, Arkansas. One week ago a man was found dead and two police officers went missing. This of course is strange on its own, but the inclusion of a mysterious object that affects mirrors has caused it to be classified as an X-File. Mulder and I travelled to Persepolis to investigate. We intended to interview the officers who were present during the initial investigation, however we encountered a strange situation. The man who was pronounced dead came back to life during autopsy, and what was supposed to be a simple investigation became a wild goose chase based solely on the ravings of the dead man. During this misadventure, Mulder was injured and the investigation was cancelled. No insights into the X-File were made during the investigation.
In typing that last sentence, Scully eyes are drawn to the business card she found, which now sits in the open top drawer of her desk. She picks it up and twirls it around between her fingers. In doing so, the light of her desk lamp reveals a watermark that spells out the words "Secure, Contain, Protect." She looks off into the distance, apparently coming to some realization.
We cut to Scully arriving in Persepolis for the second time, this time without Mulder. It is night, and the streets are empty. She parks her car at the side of the road and gets out. She walks into the woods, retracing the steps that the two of them took the first time around. She eventually comes across a derelict building made of grey stone.
SCULLY: (quietly) the old grey school.
She takes a step forward when suddenly a bright searchlight shines into her face. She reflexively holds her hand to cover her eyes.
VOICE OVER MEGAPHONE: Hands where we can see them.
Scully complies, holding her hands up. She squints into the light and we briefly see from her perspective. We see the blurred silhouettes of many people standing in a row, some with large military-style guns.
VOICE OVER MEGAPHONE: Card please.
Scully slowly reaches down and into her jacket pocket. She pulls out the business card and holds it up.
VOICE OVER MEGAPHONE: Proceed.
The light turns off and we see that the people have disappeared. Scully looks around confused, but continues on. She walks around the perimeter of the building and eventually reaches a clearing in the forest. There, a wooden table sits before a full-length mirror. On the table is a round, red stone shaped like a puck. She walks to it and picks it up. It glows purple.
SCULLY: The Looking Rock...
Scully looks at the mirror.
SCULLY: ...and the Mirror World.
She walks toward the mirror, and the rock jumps from her hand and accelerates toward it. When it makes contact, the mirror does not shatter but instead ripples like water. Scully steps back slightly, alarmed, but continues forward. She touches it tentatively, creating more ripples in the surface. She pushes her hand in, and is suddenly pulled directly into the mirror.
Through the mirror she finds herself in a stairwell. She pauses to look around her new surroundings, spotting her own startled face in the mirror behind her. She touches it, and it ripples like the first mirror.
She starts up the stairs. At the top is a door which opens to an office space. The entire floor is apparently empty. There are rows of cubicles with large computers in each one. Scully walks up to one and presses the power button to turn it on.
The screen lights up and displays a loading bar. The hum of the computer's fans echo within the office, and Scully spots something moving across the room. She slowly walks backward, taking out her gun, trying to avoid the attention of the thing. As she backs away, the computer emits an obnoxious startup jingle.
The thing looks at her with a bulbous, fleshy head. It emits a low cry, and starts galloping toward her. Scully raises her gun and shoots at the creature. It has no apparent affect. Thinking quickly, she shoots at a fire extinguisher on the wall, which explodes and knocks the creature to the side.
The creature howls and Scully sprints out of the room. She runs through a hall and pulls a metal door shut behind her, locking it. The thing slams into the metal door with such force that the entire room vibrates and shakes. Eventually, the creature leaves her in the room, and things go silent.
Scully begins investigating this new room. She finds that there are offices along the hall. Each one has an identical desk, computer, and two chairs. At the end of the hall is another metal door. Above it are words written in metal letters.
SCULLY: (reading the words) Purification Chamber...
She tries the handle on the door, and finds that it is unlocked. She opens it to find a large chamber with hundreds of human-sized glass cylinders arranged in rows. She reaches into her pocket and takes out a small flash light. She shines it at one of the cylinders and is shocked to find a human body suspended inside.
She turns around and runs directly into a person.
MULDER: Scully, what the hell...?
She gives a startle and grabs her gun, pointing it at him. Then she recognizes him.
MULDER: Jesus, Scully! It's me, Mulder.
Scully lowers her gun.
SCULLY: Mulder, what's going on?
MULDER: You've seen a lot today. I can help. I can help you unsee it.
SCULLY: Mulder tell me what's going on!
MULDER: It's a purification chamber. It's meant to cleanse the souls of the wicked. Or at least that's what the high priests of this world believed. In fact, the Lord's Tears that they used, the fluid in these cylinders, are exactly what create that thing you fought in the other room.
SCULLY: What do you mean, "that thing" I fought?
MULDER: That used to be a person. There used to be people in this world, and maybe some are left. But now it's just the world of the creatures. A dead world behind the mirror.
SCULLY: So how do we leave?
MULDER: Come with me. Keep your safety off.
Mulder and Scully walk down the hall, shining the light of their flashlights on the walls, illuminating signs and directions and bloodstains.
MULDER: This way.
They walk through doors, past offices with names on them, many of which are crossed out in dark marker. Eventually they reach the room that Scully first entered, evidenced by the computer that is now at its login screen.
MULDER: I'll see if there are any unclean in the stairwell.
SCULLY: The what?
MULDER: The creatures. I need to you cover me.
Scully nods and looks down the halllway toward the Purification Chamber. In the distance she watches the bulbous head of the creature that chased her peer out from a corridor. Its head has a large dent from where the fire extinguisher exploded in its face.
SCULLY: Mulder. Mulder it's here.
MULDER: Shoot it.
Scully nods and draws her gun again. She waits in the dimly lit hallway, gun ready. The bulbous headed creature lumbers down the corridor toward her, followed by another a few paces behind.
SCULLY: Mulder! Another!
MULDER: Come on! Let's go!
He guides her down the stairwell, back to the mirror she came from.
MULDER: Go! Through the mirror!
SCULLY: But what about you?
MULDER: I can't go through your mirror. I'll catch you on the other side.
SCULLY: But Mulder!
MULDER: Go!
Mulder kicks Scully through the mirror. She disappears and he looks over his shoulder toward the door. The creature has already reached it and burst through, it looks at Mulder and screeches in a high pitch.
We cut to Scully, now on the other side of the mirror and back in the clearing. A searchlight is shining on her as the tactical men from before surround her. We fade to Scully in a featureless cell, wearing an orange jumpsuit. She carefully etches a fourth mark into the bench she's sitting on.
VOICE OVER INTERCOM: Sit down and put your hands behind your head.
She does so quickly. The door to her cell opens and two people walk inside. She looks up from the floor and sees the woman in the grey suit and Fox Mulder.
SCULLY: Mulder!
MULDER: We're going now, Scully.
He walks over to her and helps her to her feet.
MULDER: Are you OK?
She nods and looks at the woman in the grey suit.
SCULLY: Who are you?
WOMAN: (to Mulder) She never stops asking questions, does she?
MULDER: That's Site Director Lockwood.
SCULLY: Site Director?
WOMAN: (through a smile) For the Foundation. The SCP Foundation. Secure Contain Protect. You know, from that card you found?
Mulder looks uncomfortable, and Scully looks confused.
SCULLY: Why are you telling me this?
WOMAN: Always with the questions! I'm telling you this because you're going to forget everything I tell you in twenty minutes.
SCULLY: No I wont...
MULDER: I'm sorry, Scully.
SCULLY: Mulder, what's happening.
MULDER: Come, walk with me, I'll explain.
The two of them walk out of the room, leaving the woman behind. As they walk through the facility, they pass many people with strange abnormalities. One man floats by, hovering slightly above the ground. Another blinks and and out of existence with every step.
MULDER: Would you believe me if I told you I used to work at this dump?
SCULLY: For anyone else, Mulder, I wouldn't.
MULDER: I was a senior researcher. This place catalogues, contains, and studies anomalies. Violations in the natural order of the world. They're a lot more common than you'd think.
SCULLY: Like the X-Files?
MULDER: Maybe one step up.
SCULLY: Why did you leave?
MULDER: Same reason you're here, Scully. I saw something that I can't unsee.
SCULLY: What was it?
MULDER: Even the amnestics they're going to give you won't wipe it away if I told you. Let's leave it at that.
They walk in silence for a while longer. Percival Peabody walks by, and Mulder gives him a wave.
MULDER: Do you remember when I fell down that ravine, and hit my head and started talking about soldiers?
SCULLY: Did that actually happen?
MULDER: They offered me a deal. I could keep looking into the Red Sea Object--The Looking Rock, if I came back to work at the Foundation. I couldn't abide by that. That's why I made us return to Washington. I didn't count on you finding my access card and continuing what I started.
They reach a bank of elevators. Mulder presses the up button and one of the doors open. He ushers Scully inside.
MULDER: I'll be waiting for you back in Washington, Scully. I'm glad I got to tell you about this part of my life, if only for a short while.
SCULLY: What happens now?
MULDER: I go back to the FBI. You I leave in capable hands.
The elevator doors close, leaving Scully alone. We linger with her in the featureless elevator. She closes her eyes and we match cut to her at her desk in the FBI headquarters. She works on her computer with a blank expression. Mulder enters the office.
MULDER: Scully.
He walks towards her.
MULDER: Are you alright?
SCULLY: Yes, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?
MULDER: Just checking. Did you Need anything? Want to go out for dinner?
SCULLY: (smiling) Mulder, shut up.
Mulder sits at his desk, and glances at Scully for a short time, who has returned to work at her computer. Scully looks down and picks up a white rectangle. It is the Foundation Access Card from before. She looks it over, and we see what might be a glimmer of recognition in her eyes, but she shrugs and throws it in the trash.
ROLL CREDITS