From: chaos@vir.com (Anik Duclos)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative
Subject: Line Static  -  New Story
Date: Sun, 09 Apr 1995 20:48:01 -0400 (EDT)


All right, this has been sitting on my hard drive for a few weeks
now.  I was going to make some changes, but just never got
around to it. (Sorry Rory!  Great suggestion, though... ;-)

So, here goes...

Abstract:    Mulder and Scully encounter a strange case of phone 
	     interference.
		

The characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are the property of
Chris Carter and Ten Thirteen Productions, and are used without
permission.  No copyright infringement is intended.  

This silly story, however, is definitely the product of my own
fevered imagination (Copyright 1995 Anik Duclos)

________________________
LINE STATIC  -  by Anik Duclos


"What was that, mom?  I can't hear you."  Scully was practically
shouting into the phone.  "Mom?  What is that noise?"  

"I....know.....phone....even....moving....teeth...receiver..."

"What?  Mom?"  It was eerie.  Whenever she called her mother,
the line was filled with the hiss of static.  The strange part was
that it wasn't continuous.  It would just start, for no obvious
reason, and then stop, just as suddenly.  It was almost as if the
static were aware of what was going on.  God, she was starting
to sound like Mulder...  "Mom?  I have to go to work.  I'll call you
back later, all right?"

"All right, honey."

Scully put her cordless Panasonic Easaphone back on its base to
recharge for the day.  This was definitely strange.  Shrugging,
she grabbed her keys and left for work.

When she got the office, Scully noticed that Mulder hadn't come in
yet.  She took off her coat and sat down at her desk.  Her mind
kept wandering back to the mysterious phone problem.  According
to her mother, it only happened when she spoke to Dana.  And only
when Dana was at home.  Very strange.  She had called the phone
company, who had conducted every kind of test imaginable,
including what they referred to as a "high speed data check". 
They had assured her that there was no noise or interference on
the line, not even the slightest micro-decibel.  She just didn't
understand.  

Maybe it was the phone.  But no, she never had any problem with
it before, and had had it for over a year now.  Maybe it was her
mother's phone.  She decided to ask her about it.  She picked up
the handset just as Mulder was walking in the door.

"Morning Scully"

"Mulder...  Hi mom?  Yes, I'm at work, but how...  Oh.  Listen mom, I
had a question.  Could the problem be your phone?  The very
same?  And no problems?  I see.  Well, it was just a thought. 
Talk to you later.  Bye mom."

She hung up the phone and noticed Mulder staring at her
questioningly.  

"What was that all about?"

"There's something wrong with the phone.  Whenever we call each
other, the connection is terrible.  But only when I call her from
home.  I really don't know what could be causing it."

"And it's not the phone?"

"That's what I thought.  But my mother said that she has just
bought a brand new phone. Exactly like mine.  And she hasn't had
any trouble with it..."

"Exactly like yours?"

"Yes.  The same brand, the same model, even the same color. 
Why?"

Mulder started sifting through a pile of folders, discarding them
as he went along.

"Mulder?  What is it?"

"Just a second.  I remember reading about something similar.  I
know it's somewhere in here."

"There is an X-File on phone interference?  Mulder, I think that all
those nights in front of the television have finally taken their
toll.  You've lost it."

"Ah!" Mulder shouted, waving a folder in front of her nose.  "I
knew your story sounded familiar."

"You have to be joking.  Someone opened an X-File because they
had trouble with a little static on the line?  That's ridiculous,
Mulder."

"Not just static, Scully.  Something much worse.  It says in here
that this has happened once before.  There were two victims. 
Just like in your case, there was static on the line when they
spoke on the phone.  Also like in your case, it only occurred when
they used a specific phone.  A Panasonic cordless phone."

"Panasonic?  Panasonic Easaphone?"

"Yes.  A black Panasonic Easaphone.  And what color, pray tell, is
your phone, Agent Scully?"

"Black.  But Mulder, this must be a joke.  What could a phone have
to do with anything.  Besides, while the static is kind of
annoying, it's not like it's life threatening or anything."

"Ah, but Scully, it didn't stop at static on the line.  Strange things
began to happen.  One of the two victims reported that every time
she logged onto the Internet to keep up to date with
a.t.x.creative..."

"a.t.x.creative?  What's that?"

"Some kind of newsgroup containing fiction written by fans of a
television show.  Geez, and I thought I had no life.  A television
show...  Now who doesn't have a grip on reality..."  Mulder shook
his head, looking bemused.  "Anyways, this woman claimed that
every time she would log onto the Internet after calling the other
victim, she would get booted off the system.  The connection
would be lost, just like that, for no reason.  She tried everything. 
The phone company checked her line.  Nothing could be found.  But
it wouldn't stop.  It drove her insane, eventually.  She is in a
mental institution now.  All she does all day is walk around
muttering: Connection lost.  Remote connection severed.  Could
not initiate modem.'"

"My god, that's horrible!"

"But you don't know the worst, yet.  The other victim started to
notice changes in her house too.  Her husband's computer kept
crashing: he couldn't send a fax from his computer; his
communication software kept freezing up his system.  Everything
was falling apart.  And then she started to notice the
forgetfulness.  She couldn't remember where she put things. 
First it was her coffee, some papers, diskettes.  She was afraid
she was losing her mind.  She couldn't seem to function anymore,
couldn't do anything by herself."

"Come on Mulder.  Surely even you don't believe that phone
interference was the cause of these people's condition."

"But I do, Scully."

"Even _if_ it were true, what does it have to do with my mother
and me?  I haven't experienced any problems..."

"Not yet, anyways."

Scully sighed.  Mulder was in one of those moods again.  Deciding
to humor him, she settled back in her chair.  "All right, Mulder,
what do _you_ think is going on here?"

"I have a theory."

"What a surprise," Scully replied in a mocking voice.

Mulder ignored her, continuing with his explanation. "There are
some who believe that certain appliances somehow become
inhabited by entities.  These entities seem to have a preference
for phones..."

"Haunted phones, Mulder?"

"Ha, ha!  Do you want to hear this or not?"

"I'm sorry.  Do go on."

"So, the prevailing theory is that this occurrence is extremely
rare, which is why it is not well documented.  The entities
usually live out their lives peacefully, never manifesting their
presence. However, when two of these entities come into contact,
something happens to them.  They are not meant to coexist, and so
will try to fight it out.  Only one may survive.  Which is what is
happening with your phone.  You and your mother both have
entities living in your phones.  The hiss you hear on the line is not
static, but their screams of rage."

"Mulder..."

"There's more.  For some unknown reason, once these entities
have made contact, they become malevolent. They start to exert
influence over their surroundings.  Little things start to happen. 
Lost phone connections and the like.  Eventually, they start to
affect the people around them, slowly driving them insane."

Scully was staring at Mulder, trying hard not to burst into a fit of
hysterical laughter.  Mulder had come up with some bizarre
theories in the time that she had known him, but this topped it
all.  Entities living in phones.  Really...  

"Scully, we need to find a way to get rid of these entities, before
something happens to you or your mother.  The simplest way
would of course be to get rid of the phones..."

"Mulder, I am not going to get rid of my phone because you think it
is inhabited by some entity.  No."

"Scully, your life could be in danger!"

"Mulder, I'm sorry, but this is just too much for me.  Let's just
forget about it, all right?"

"But Scully..."

"Please?"

Mulder could see that she was determined to ignore this.  He
sighed and sat down at his desk.  He would have to find a way to
protect her.  He had to figure out a way to get rid of the entities,
or at least make sure they couldn't harm Scully and her mother.

The day passed quickly.  They had a lot of paperwork to catch up
on, and spoke very little.  At around five o'clock, Scully told
Mulder that she was going home.

Mulder's mind was racing.  He couldn't let her go home with that
entity on the loose.  He had to find something, some way of
keeping her from going home.  

"Look, Scully, how about dinner.  My treat?"

Scully looked up at him, surprised.  It was then that she realized
what he was trying to do.  Trying to keep her away from the
phone.

"Mulder, I'll be fine.  It's just a phone."

Mulder looked at her with that whipped puppy look on his face. 
Damn him!  She could never say no to him when he did that.  And
he knew it!

"All right Mulder.  How about dinner at my place?"

"Sounds great.  Let's go."  At least he could keep an eye on the
phone...


____________________
FBI Headquarters
The next day

"Mulder, you spent the entire evening looking at that phone.  You
did everything short of taking it apart and studying under a
microscope.  Give it up!  There's nothing wrong with it."

"I'm still not convinced.  I would need to see the interaction
between your phone and your mother's..."

"Mulder, it's just a phone.  Nothing more."

"Humor me.  Let's go see your mother tonight, and bring your
phone.  We can see what happens then."

"Mulder, this is silly.  I won't..."

"I'm not going to give up, Scully, so you might as well just say
yes."

Scully sighed, resigning herself to the inevitable.  Mulder could
be like a dog on a bone: once he had grabbed a hold of something,
he wouldn't let go.

"All right.  I'll call my mother and tell her to expect us."


______________________________________________
Margaret Scully's house
7 p.m.

Mulder and Scully were standing on the porch, about to ring the
bell, when the door opened.

"Dana.  Fox.  Come in."

"Hi mom."

"Mrs. Scully."

"So what is this about the phones?"

"One of Mulder's pet theories, mom. He thinks that the static is
caused by two warring entities living in our phones."

"Well, I did sense a presence on the line with us..."

"Mom!"

Her mother and Mulder ignored her as they started to talk about
the entities.  This was ridiculous, Scully thought.  Now he's got
my mother believing it...

"... and what do you suggest we do, Fox?"

"Well, I was thinking that since they seem to be unable to
coexist, maybe we could get them to kill each other if we put
them together."

Scully almost choked on that one.  "What?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Actually, yes.  Just leave it to the phone company."

"We can't, Scully.  We don't know what could happen.  Do you want
to end up like those two poor women in the case history?"

Scully gave up.  "All right.  Just do it, and get it over with..."  She
couldn't believe she was actually agreeing to this.

Mulder went about setting up her phone in the kitchen, where the
outlet for the second phone line was located.  Once that was done,
he dialled.  The phone rang in the other room.

"Scully, go pick it up."

Sighing, Scully went into the other room and picked up the phone. 
The static on the line was deafening.  It had never been this loud. 
Mulder walked into the room, and the noise level increased
tenfold.  It got so bad that Scully had to put the phone down.

Mulder walked over to where Scully was standing, and put the
phone he was holding down next to hers.  After a brief burst of
static, they fell silent.  Mulder picked up the phone.  It was dead. 
There was no longer any noise at all.  He checked the other phone. 
Same thing.  The entities had killed one another...

	
		<<<<<<<<<<  The End  >>>>>>>>>>



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