From: "David Hearne" Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 09:22:35 -0500 Subject: xfc: The Seventh Age (17 of 26) Source: xfc From: "David Hearne" TITLE: THE SEVENTH AGE (17 of 26) AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PART SEVENTEEN XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The military had overlooked the run-down theater. No restraining bolt had been placed over its entrance. Obviously, their intelligence networks had deemed it unworthy of attention. It resided in one of The Off-Zone's bleakest sections. There were a few other small buildings in the area but they were full of nothing but dust and broken glass. Decaying signs indicated their past usage -- "ADULT VIDEOS," "GUN SHOP," "WINE & BEER." The theater looked as useless as they were. Mulder waved a flashlight over its empty ticket booth and the glass display cases containing posters for movies long since forgotten. Mulder had been using his flashlight ever since we and he had arrived on this street. No lamp posts gave light here. No P.T. was present with its glaring searchlights. It was just a long stretch of darkness. "This is the place?" we asked. "This is where Bosola said to go." "Where is everybody?" "Inside, I guess." "We don't hear anything." "Maybe they're real quiet. Like Presbyterians." He let out a puff of breath. "Well...let's go in." We passed a front door with one hinge left. Inside, a thin grey carpet flowed under our feet. A concession stand had been long since looted of any food. Big cardboard displays for movies never to be released were toppled to the floor. There were two rooms for showing movies here in the theater -- one large and one small. We headed for the door of the large room. Two hundred people were sitting quietly there By quietly, we mean that they were utterly without sound. They didn't move. They didn't even whisper. They just sat, watched the blank screen before them and waited. We looked at their faces. Lit candles placed in bulbless lamps along the wall enabled us to see their stony expressions. They weren't waiting with anticipation or excitement. They were waiting because leaving would be a betrayal of their nature. Making them go would be like ripping a tree from its roots. Mulder and we slowly walked around the people who were seated in the aisles. Eventually, we found who we were looking for. Miranda was seated near the middle. She was looking as wan as ever, but her face brightened when she saw us and Mulder. She motioned to the two empty seats next to her. Mulder and we squeezed by people who stood up or held back their legs without even looking at us. Mulder took the seat next to Miranda. She immediately took his hand. Like the others, Mulder and we waited. In that time, we looked around us. We seemed to be the only one who was moving his head. We saw Ender in the back, his rifle hanging from his shoulder on a strap. We also saw Bosola in his wheelchair up front with Inspector Bucket sitting on the floor next to him. Like everyone else, they kept their eyes on the screen. Minutes and minutes passed with nothing happening. Then it started. First, there was the sound of a drum. It snapped a few beats, then stopped. It then appeared again, repeating the exact same sound. Other sounds were layered on top of it. They reminded us of crickets and the grind of metal gears. A voice sang languorously over the sound. The woman singing seemed to be half-asleep. "What's the matter with it?...What's it trying to say?..." Then, still photos were projected onto the screen. The first image was the ocean, stretched out to the sun descending below the horizon. Then we saw a desert, a mountain, a jungle, a wide sky. "A mystical vision woke up one night...and strolled into the clear porch light..." This was followed by photos of animals ranging from the whale to the ant. The final animal to be seen was man. "Moonlight on the hill...lights up the roadkill..." We saw everything humanity had invented from the wheel to the microchip. Photos of men and women flashed on the screen -- a short man holding his hand inside his jacket, a bespectacled man with a cigarette holder in his mouth, a short-haired woman in armor. We saw the statue of a naked man, written notes on paper and a man dressed in baggy pants walking off into the distance. "Moonlight on the hill...and the future is..." The screen went black. "...roadkill..." The music was cut off with a loud thud that made us jump in our seat. The blackness of the screen changed. We realized that we were not looking at a blank screen, but an image of the shiny, smooth texture of Purity. A male voice came through the speakers. "All of our lives follow a design. This design follows less the chance of nature and more the conscious plans of great powers." Faces dissolved onto the blackness -- faces with huge foreheads, small jaws and black eyes. "These were the beings that once controlled our fates. They came to change our world. Had they succeeded, their race would have been our future. "They had help in this plan. Among humanity were men that sought to be a part of this future. One of these men was Alex the Traitor. Let him speak now." A spotlight draw a wide white circle on a door next to the screen. An old man came shuffling out. He was dressed only in rags tied around his waist. His legs had been chained together. The entire audience stood up and booed him. They screamed insults. A few even hurled rotten fruit. There was a ritualistic quality to their anger. Like the visual display at the beginning, this seemed to be part of the Church service. Mulder and we had to stand up to look at him. Next to him and us, pale little Miranda was screaming as loud as anybody. We noticed a collar around the man's neck as well as the rope that tied his right arm to his body. Nothing was needed to hold the left arm. It wasn't there. A stump existed in its place. "Damn," Mulder said. "Damn, damn, damn." "This is horrible," we said. "Don't feel sorry for him. The bastard deserves this." We looked at Mulder. There was no mercy expressed in his face. We turned back to Alex the Traitor. He seemed to agree with Mulder's harsh assessment. He accepted the insults with a smile. A grey apple core flew through the air at him and got stuck in his long, tangled beard. Finally, the crowd had vented enough anger. They sat back down and waited for Alex the Traitor to speak. The old man hobbled over to a microphone stand. "It is true," his dry, cracked voice said through the speakers. "I did not create the plans, but I assisted in them. I turned my back on goodness and responsibility to become a lackey for the men who worked in secret. I was a coward...and a traitor." Mulder just shook his head. "I cannot fucking believe this," he muttered. "Fortunately," Alex the Traitor said. "there were people who would not travel the coward's path. People like...Walter the Sacrifice." A photo of a man appeared. We were stunned at first, but then we almost laughed. We should expect things like this by now, we thought. On the screen was an image of the bald-headed man we had seen in our dreams. His muscular body was dressed in a formal suit. He looked back at the camera with a blunt, direct gaze. Next to us, Mulder lowered his head and covered his face with his free hand. Marinade turned to him, concerned. She whispered in his ear. He said nothing in return. "He gave his life so that we all might live. However, in his death, a new beginning was created. From his cold grave came forth...The Seventh Age." Images of the Core, the Two Worlds Festival, Stabilizer Headquarters and other symbols of Joined culture flashed by on the screen. Mulder kept his head down. We suspect that he knew who was going to speak next. He was hoping that he was right and hoping that he was wrong. "As with all eras before it, the Seventh Age was the result of a conscious act. The creator of the Seventh Age did not intend to make it, but...she will take responsibility for it. Responsibility for its beginning. Responsibility for its present. And responsibility...for its end. "Let the High Priestess enter." He bowed in the direction of the door from which he came. The congregation rose to their feet and again the singing woman came back on the speakers. "What's the matter with it?...What's the matter with it?..." Mulder was the only one not standing. He remained in his chair, still ducking his head. Miranda tried to gently pull him to his feet, but he refused. We were standing so we got to see the High Priestess before he did. We recognized her immediately. We also recognized the woman who was helping her into the theater. The second woman was dressed in a white robe. Designed onto it was the same symbol that had appeared on the screen -- a yellow circle with three black triangles on the inside. We had seen her face before in the Alone Catalogue. Her name was Julia Ellison. The woman with her was also dressed in a white robe with a yellow circle. She also wore a headband made of discarded computer chips. Computer chips also decorated the rings on her fingers. She walked with a slow step, but it didn't seem like a good idea to get in her way. The look in her eye was too sharp and forceful. Alex the Traitor remained in a bowed position until the High Priestess reached him. Then Julia attached a chain to his collar and handed it to her leader. The High Priestess jerked the chain downward. Alex the Traitor fell down to his knees. Julia stepped back, giving the High Priestess space but ready to rush forward in case of need. The High Priestess turned to her followers. Yes, she was Dana Scully. Not Dana Scully the investigator. Not Dana Scully with her sexual gifts in the night. This was the old, hard Scully of our dreams. When she lifted a hand and then motioned everyone to sit, they did so because not doing so felt sinful. We felt the hold she possessed on the people gathered in the theater. When she motioned us to sit, we did so without thinking about it. She assumed control as easily as a wind blows away a dandelion. Mulder still hadn't looked at her yet. Then the music faded away and she spoke. The voice coming from the speakers was as quietly seductive as the one we heard in Mulder's trailer. Only now, it was not inviting you into the garden of pleasure. Now, it was leading you to the battlefield. "I have often wondered what forces guided me to create the Joined." Mulder looked up. "Did God lead me down this trail? I had spent my life before the Joining in attempts to grasp onto justice and truth. I made a long, bloody journey in hopes that the end would be salvation. Instead, it all ended with the world turned upside down..." He stared at the old woman. "...and myself alone." Tears seeped out of his eyes. "For years afterwards, I wandered aimlessly, not understanding what had been done to the world. Why did God allow this to happen? Why did He let His own creation become so twisted into a blasphemous form of what He once cherished?" Mulder began to tremble. We carefully touched his other hand. "Then...I had a revelation. "God appeared to me and said... "'Your work is not yet completed.' "He said nothing more than that. I did not know what He meant at the time. However, the will of God cannot be ignored. I set out to discover what could be done to change the world." She looked at the back of the theater. It seemed that her eyes were now taking in the whole world. "And I learned a new way." Mulder's breathing was now a quick pant. "Mulder, be calm," we whispered. "I learned how to change the world. I learned how to shape it back into what it had been." The flesh in our hand was tensing. Feeling the same thing, Miranda looked frightened. "I learned how to end this Age. And I knew that I was the one..." "Mulder, no!" we hissed. "...to end it." Mulder bolted out of his seat. Our hand left long scratches down his arm as he pulled away from us. Standing straight up, he screamed, "NO!!!" That shouted word was as dramatic as blood splattered onto the floor. Every eye was upon Mulder and we saw surprise and anger in all of them. The High Priestess stared at Mulder. Then, she said, "Who are you?" "Scully..." Mulder said, his voice ravaged by grief. "Who...are you, sir?" "Scully...it's me. Mulder." The name brought out many gasps from the followers and they whispered their amazement to each other. They were instantly silenced when Scully said in a steely voice -- "No. You're not." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX From: "David Hearne" Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 10:35:53 -0500 Subject: xfc: The Seventh Age (18 of 26) Source: xfc From: "David Hearne" TITLE: THE SEVENTH AGE (18 of 26) AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PART EIGHTEEN XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Had Dana Scully ordered her followers to rip out Fox Mulder's heart, they would have done so in an instant. Instead, she ripped it out by herself with just her words. "I don't know who you're supposed to be," she said. "Or who you think you are. But you're not Fox Mulder. You are a withered old man --- frightened, weak and alone. Crawl back into the pile of dust you came from." Mulder just stood there. With his mouth hanging open and bewilderment in his eyes, he looked as weak as Scully said he was. Scully looked over her followers. "Who brought this man here?" she demanded, her voice low but threatening. Bosola cleared his throat. Scully turned to him. Inspector Bucket looked between her and Mulder, upset that his leader should be put in this position. "You did, Bosola?" Scully said. "I did, High Priestess," Bosola replied. His voice was as calm and reserved as ever, but this time it was only a thin cover for his fear. "Why?" "He said that he was Fox Mulder. I believed him." Scully shook her head in disappointment. "We shall discuss this later." She turned back to the others. "Don't let this man fool you. Fox Mulder died a long time ago. If he had been alive, he would not have waited so long to make himself known. Fox Mulder was..." "It is him!" This was Miranda. She had leapt to her feet, still grasping onto Mulder's hand. "This is Fox Mulder!" she pleaded. "Please, High Priestess, believe him! He is the..." Scully lifted one of her hands. Miranda silenced herself. When Scully spoke again, there was a touch of kindness in her voice even if the demand for obedience was clear. "This man is a liar. I knew Fox Mulder, Miranda. He was not someone who would hide when others needed him. He was not frightened of chaos and danger. Can this man expect us to believe he can assume the mantle of that courage? Look at him. He couldn't even touch that mantle, much less carry it. He's just a broken-down fellow who saw 'Fox Mulder Lives' painted one too many times on a wall. Not only doesn't he bear the name, but he doesn't even come close to being the man Fox Mulder was." Miranda turned to the old man beside her. His head was bowed down like a flower in a thunderstorm. The wit and strength we had seen before were gone. He now looked just senile. Miranda let go of his hand. She sat back down in her chair and stared at her feet. We could have stood up and contradicted Scully. We had the proof of her mistake. However, even we were having doubts now. Could this human relic actually be Fox Mulder -- symbol of the Irregulars, son of a conspiracy that once tried to control the world, the man whose secrets we tried to learn? He was, but that was now irrelevant. "Leave now, old man," the High Priestess commanded. "And never desecrate the name of Fox Mulder again." With his head still bowed, Mulder turned to the side. A path was cleared through the crowded theater. We stood up to let him pass and watched as the old man took a long time to exit. His step was sluggish and tired. Not a word was said as he almost crawled his way to the door. There is nothing more he can do, we thought. He has been broken for good. And there is nothing we can do for him except let him go back to his trailer and die. Even as we thought this, we regretted it. However, we didn't know how to help him or even if we should try. It was difficult to think in a room filled with two hundred minds all under the control of one person. We looked around us for any sympathy to be had for Mulder. We found it in the eyes of Julia Ellison. She didn't dare let the High Priestess see it but we knew her sadness. We saw the kindness she felt for Mulder. We had seen those eyes before. Not eyes of the same color, but eyes with the same feeling -- the same empathy with weakness. We had seen it twice -- once in the eyes of the red-haired woman (Scully?) for Mulder and once in the eyes of Susan Townes for Maltese. The door closed behind Mulder. Then the High Priestess looked at us... "Now, who are you, sir?" ...and everybody else looked at us as well. Our manner and clothing just screamed out a Joined Stabilizer. Our means of protection had just stumbled out the door. We could use our Aura, but we could eliminate ten, maybe twenty of the Church followers before the others overcame us. Ender had removed his rifle from his shoulder. "Your presence here...is very unusual. Can you explain it?" In situations like these, the truth is all you have left. We pointed a finger at Julia and said -- "Nowhere to run, baby." She stared back at us in shock. The High Priestess raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you the one with the explanation, Julia?" Julia took a long moment of silence before she said, "I don't have one, High Priestess. But if you allow me to speak with this man, I believe that I can find one." The High Priestess looked between us and her both several times. Then she said, "You may use the other theater." As Julia and we left, the High Priestess said, "Now, let us continue. Unless there are any other surprises?" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Julia lit a match and added flames to candles in the small theater. Then she sat in a chair, looked at me and said, "So...you know my favorite song. What else do you know?" Standing above her, we examined this woman. Frankly, we had trouble believing she had led four Co-Administrators away from Purity. She didn't strike me as seductive. Her looks were rather plain. While she had a pleasingly gentle expression, she had neither the mystery of the red-haired woman or the strong body of Susan Townes. We said, "We know about The Gold House. And about the four Co-Administrators you had been involved with. And we know where Maltese is." She gave us a smile. "Then you know enough." "No. Nowhere near enough. How did you escape the bombing on The Gold House?" The smile went away. She crossed her arms across her chest and looked at our shoulder instead of our face. "When we came to The Gold House that night, Armstrong was there. He told us to leave. He said that we were in danger." She sighed. "I wish that he had told me exactly what exactly was going to happen. I could have saved the others." "But...he stayed there." She nodded and brushed away a tear in her eye. "I don't think he wanted to live anymore. He was tired of hiding who he was. Michener, White, Maltese...they all had to hide for fear of what might be done to them." "Maltese thinks it was Top Level who killed Michener and White." "No. Whatever Maltese thinks, the Irregulars are very real." She shook her head. "And damn them for being so." "Aren't you an Irregular?" "I follow the High Priestess," she said sharply. "No one else." "But you don't always agree with her." She looked back at the man who was learning her secrets. "You know that man was Mulder," we said. "So did the High Priestess." Now, it was our turn to be surprised. "But...why..." "I don't know why. But, obviously, I was wrong to invite him here." "What do you mean?" "I have come to him several times in the night. I told him that the High Priestess wanted him at her side. At least, that's what I thought the High Priestess wanted. But that was just a foolish, romantic notion. I see that now." We stared at her, trying to make sense of what she had said. And then we realized how it made sense. "That was you," we whispered. She gave us a bewildered look. We knelt down on one knee before her. "We saw you. In the trailer. With Mulder. But you were..." We reached up to her hair and ran our hand through its blonde roots as if it might turn to auburn red. "You watched us," Julia said not as an recrimination but as a statement of fact. "In a way...you've been watching us, too." Now, she was touching a finger to our bottom lip. That light touch made our mouth tremble. "Have you...have you had the dreams?" she asked. We nodded. She smiled. The next thing we knew, her arms were tight around our back and her cheek was pressed against ours. "Who are you?" we whispered. "I'm whoever you want me to be." Our own arms came together around her. We said -- "Be Scully." Her skin shimmered like water in our touch. She pulled back and Dana Scully was smiling before us. This was the Scully we wanted, the kind one and not the cruel prophet. We almost threw her to the floor. Our hands tore off her robe as eagerly as she removed our suit. The warmth of two naked bodies was more intoxicating than we could ever imagine. We had never conceived that the saliva flowing between two mouths could taste as sweet as honey. Never had we seen the female body as something to grip onto in a thousand soft spots. As for our own body, Julia revealed to us the loving sensitivity of... No. Oh, no. Not us. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "When I go to the mirror to comb my hair...I see your face smiling there...Nowhere to run to, baby...Nowhere to hide..." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I felt the Purity screaming at me. The rush of blood in my veins was like a flood engulfing the blackness inside me. I supposed that it was painful yet I have no memory of pain. When my vision turned black, I continued to hold my penis inside Julia and moan in time with her. The sensation of Purity leaking from my eyes should have been like fire on my skin yet I was only conscious of the wetness swallowing me up. The Purity slid off my chin and dripped onto Julia's breasts and face. She made no motion to brush it off. Instead, her sweating face just smiled. The Purity wormed its way off her and congealed in a tiny puddle next to us. After we had exhausted ourselves (and no weariness had ever felt so precious), I saw that the Purity had hardened and cracked. It was nothing more now than a handful of ashes. I looked at the woman with Scully's face. She said, "Hello." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX From: "David Hearne" Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 10:44:22 -0500 Subject: xfc: The Seventh Age (19 of 26) Source: xfc From: "David Hearne" TITLE: THE SEVENTH AGE (19 of 26) AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PART NINETEEN XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX When we look back at this part of the story, we think of Sharon and become ashamed. We can only imagine how theya dealt with the disappearance of a Partner. Nothing has been so difficult as explaining to thema what we were doing in the time we were missing. The difficult part is telling her that while she was suffering, we...I was having fun. We call the Arthur Rush of that time "I." Of course, it's a cheap way of distancing ourselves from what we...I... "I" was a different person than "we." Let's leave it at that. For the next three days, Julia and I didn't get out of bed. Or, if we weren't in bed, we found some secluded place to fuck away in. I wanted nothing else except sex. I desired nothing more than her pussy and her mouth and her ass. Listen to that. I had learned to talk dirty, too. I whispered all the lurid ideas of my newly eroticized imagination into Julia's ear. She smiled as she made them reality. She could bring them all to life because she could be any woman I wanted her to be. A brief explanation -- Julia had been infected with Purity at the age of four. However, it was assumed that she had escaped infection because she had shown no signs of being one of the Joined. In reality, she was something neither Alone nor Joined. A freak mutation of the virus had given her a new ability, one that she had discovered when she was nine and one that she had mastered by the age of sixteen. She was a shape-changer. She was also a whore. A perfect whore. If one body and face wouldn't satisfy you, then she would create another. When she had been at The Gold House, she was different women to different people. For Co-Administrator Maltese, she was Susan Townes -- strong and protective. For Michener, she was Tabitha Ross -- an overweight woman with a lovingly foul mouth and street smarts. White had Kate Foster, the one with hair down to her waist and a mystical nature. Armstrong was a Preserver so he had Julia become beautiful actresses of the past. I saw all of these women and played my games with all of them. However, the one which I used the most was Dana Scully. I couldn't let go of that small, shapely body. I loved the way she let her sensual thoughts rise gently in her eyes. I was mesmerized by how her smile could turn her adult graveness into a childlike joy. Looking into her face made me conscious of my own features. Julia once caught me looking into a mirror. She nestled her head onto my shoulder, Scully's red hair tickling my cheek. "You look fascinated," she commented. "I just never realized...how young I was." I lifted up my hands to inspect them. "Or how dark my skin is." She placed her white hands over my black ones. "You never noticed that you were black?" "No, I knew. It's just that I never considered what that meant. Or how I looked." "Well...I suppose that's one good thing about the Joined. Race is not a consideration." "You sound like my parents. They lived in the Off-Zone when it was still part of D.C. They told me that the Joining was the greatest thing for them. It lifted them out of poverty. It stopped racism." "How do you feel about it?" I turned to her. I smiled. "Get down on you knees, you dirty slut," I told her. She did as I said. As always, she was smiling. I was a beast over those three days. I had the sexual drive of a nineteen-year-old and the accumulated desire of a lifetime. We are ashamed for what 'I' did to Sharon, but we can't say that we regret the pleasure. Did it bother me that Julia was a whore? To the contrary, it was what drew me to her. A whore was what I needed. I didn't mind that she was with Maltese or somebody else when she wasn't with me. Why should I? It was just the way she liked it. She loved everyone she fucked. She went from one person to another, granting them pleasure like candy left on their doorstep. Because her mutated body was resistant to disease and pregnancy, there was nothing to worry about except how much pleasure you wanted. Her cunt was an endless treasure trove from which she gave freely. Nor did it bother me that she took on the shape of the High Priestess. I could never make a connection between this young woman and the harsh, old crone. For me, there were two different people. On the second night of my defection to the Alones, I was summoned by the High Priestess. Her sanctuary was located in the projection room of the movie theater. She was waiting for me, surrounded by junk. The room was full of microscopes, lasers, unwashed glass beakers, models of DNA, calculators, anatomy charts, containers for hazardous materials and periodic tables. They were old and outdated, but the High Priestess had found a new use for them. They had been arranged into abstract sculptures and art works. I stopped right in the doorway, astounded by the decor and unnerved by the commanding look of the High Priestess. "Come in, Arthur," she said. I did so because she told me to do it. I stepped carefully across the room, wary of the myriad things to trip over. The High Priestess was sitting on a black rug. Arranged in a circle around her were rusty surgical instruments. As I stood next to her, I saw that the scars on top of her shaved head formed the circle-and-triangle insignia of the Church. With her was Alex the Traitor. She was feeding him scraps of meat from a bowl. An decrepit tape player was singing. "Through the mirror of my mind...time after time...I see reflections of you and me..." Suddenly, she jerked the chain around his neck. "Leave us," she commanded. The old man hobbled out of the room. "I understand that you have left the Joined," she said as she looked down and picked up a scapel. "Ah, yes. Yes, I have." She didn't look at me. She stared at the scapel, slowly turning it in her hand. "And why have you done this?" she asked. "Because of Julia." "Only because of her?" "Isn't that enough?" She looked up. I noticed that the angle of the scapel was pointed at my chest. I took a step back. "I'm all alone in a world that's a distorted reality..." a female singer crooned. "We are on the cusp of a new era," she said. "To choose one side over the other simply out of love..." "I don't think my choice was due to love." "Then, what?" "I came to Julia...because I realized that I was missing something." That's when the High Priestess smiled. Only one corner of her mouth lifted, but it looked startling on that hard face. "Very well." She placed the scapel back on the floor. "You have chosen well in any case. The end of the Joined is near. The Seventh Extinction will come." I didn't dare ask what she meant exactly. However, I did request permission to ask another question. "You may ask," she said. "How did Mulder die?" She looked back down at the floor. For a second, she appeared sad and tired. Then the iron mask of her self-control clamped shut and she said, "I don't know how. All I know is that he's dead." "How?" "After the Joining, I ran away from him. If he had been alive, he would have caught up with me years ago." Then she waved her hand at me in dismissal. "Leave us now." I walked away. "...reflections of...the way life used to be...reflections of...the love you took from me..." Afterwards, I told Julia of the meeting. "What does she have in mind?" I asked. "What is The Seventh Extinction?" She placed her hands on my shoulders. "You will see. You will understand." I confess this was the only time that I thought of Sharon. I was frightened by the possible thoughts behind Dana Scully's angry eyes. I did not want to see Sharon in a reality built on those thoughts. Then the other Dana Scully appeared in front of me, the one I lusted for. My fears were lost in a river of sweat and semen. As for Fox Mulder -- I went to his trailer the day after Scully had shunned him. He wasn't there and there was no hint as to his current location. I took all his CD's and used them as background noise for lovemaking. "I got a woman..." "Why must I feel like that, why must I chase the cat..." "Doctor Feelgood is his name..." I had stopped caring about Mulder or Sharon or the Stabilizers or the Seventh Extinction. A madness had overtaken me and I gloried in it. For a short time, I wanted nothing more than the excitement of the mouth, skin and cock. Then I discovered that I wanted something more. I wanted revenge on the people who had denied me this pleasure. I wanted to hurt the Joined. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX On the third night, Stubb visited me and Julia. "Hey there, lovebirds. Or you rutting weasels, anyway." "Hey, Stubb," I said. "What's going on?" "An Irregular meeting is going on. A major meeting. And you're invited. Want to come along?" I did. Through dark alleys and hidden streets, Stubb led me past the patrols and to the Meeting Hall. After we gave the password, Miranda unlocked the bolt. This time, she was waiting behind the door instead of hiding like the time Mulder and I came. "Evening..." Stubb started to say, but then he noticed a drop of blood running down from Miranda's nose. "Miranda, you're..." "It's nothing," she whispered. The restraining bolt snapped back into place. She walked away from us, pressing a handkerchief to her nose. Stubb looked at me and, for once, he wasn't smiling. Everyone was present, but the meeting hadn't started yet. Inspector Bucket and Bosola were talking privately in a corner. Rebecca Sharp was sitting on a desk, smoking a cigarette. Ender was cleaning his rifle. Miranda sat away from everybody, the handkerchief still pressed against her face below her sad eyes. "Hey, Rebecca," Stubb said, his smile returning. "Still working on an early death, I see." Rebecca made a fist and stuck the cigarette between her fingers in a gesture the Alones call "flipping the bird." Stubb shook his head. "Tch-tch. I thought the upper class knew their manners." "I'm not upper-class, you idiot. I haven't been upper-class for a long time." "That's right. You've fallen into bohemian squalor just like your namesake did in the end. Of course, she learned to adjust." "Excuse me?" I said. "Your namesake?" "Every Irregular is named after a literary character," Stubb explained. "Even the name of our group is derived from a book. Ever hear of Sherlock Holmes?" We opened our mouth to answer, but Rebecca Sharp interrupted. "Of course, he hasn't, Stubb. He just became an Alone a few days ago. He doesn't know who Sherlock Holmes is anymore than he knows that Rebecca Sharp was some bitch from an eighteenth-century English novel." "Nineteenth century, my dear." Rebecca Sharp flipped another bird. "What about you, Stubb?" I asked. "Me? I'm named for a character from a novel called 'Moby Dick.' Stubb was a guy who could laugh at anything, even his own death. Which kind of fits me." "And the others?" Stubb indicated Ender who was examining his rifle with intense green eyes. "Well, our brooding young man over there was named for a child military leader from a science fiction novel. Inspector Bucket was originally a name given by Charles Dickens to a very bad-ass police constable. And Bosola...well, that name may not be a compliment. Bosola was supposed to have been a real back-stabber, even though he had a last-minute change of heart. However, he was also a very crafty planner which does fit the man in charge over there." "And Miranda?" "Miranda. Hm. I'm not too sure about her. Her name has something in connection with our leader." "Yes, your leader. Bosola mentioned him. Who is he?" Stubb looked at Rebecca Sharp and grinned. She gave him a smile in return, albeit one that was tighter and more sarcastic. "Only two people know who he is," she told me. "Bosola and Miranda." "Of course, there are all kinds of rumors about him," Stubb added. "One story is that he's someone close to Top Level..." That's when Bosola declared that the meeting was in order. We all gathered in a circle. Bosola gave Miranda a look of concern when he saw her bloodied handkerchief. She made a quick motion indicating him to ignore it. He turned to me and said, "Well, Mister Rush...you are one of us now." "I am, indeed." "I never thought that we would have a former Stabilizer on our side...but having one might be very useful for our next offensive." I hesitated before speaking again. This was a step which would make me an irrevocable traitor. However, it was only a short hesitation. "What kind of offensive?" Bosola looked at all of us. "Two days from now, Miranda will interface with the Bio-Network like she did before. Only this time, the damage done will be far more intense. This time...we're planning a failure of the power grid and a disruption of the communication systems." "And then what?" "And then the Irregulars move in." That certainly got everybody's attention. "We'll be moving in on all the major centers of Joined power," Bosola continued. "We'll even go after the Core, if we can." "What about Stabilizer Headquarters?" I asked. Bosola fixed his eyes on me. "That, too. And your experience would be useful there." I nodded. "You understand that the thrust of this attack will be property damage and a weakening of the Joined command structure. However, inevitably, there will be..." "I'll help." "Shit, you just jump in with both feet, don't you?" Stubb said. "I do have a question, though. Why now? Why have you been so aggressive in your attacks of late?" "Because it's part of our leader's plan," Bosola answered. "You mean, The High Priestess's plan?" Bosola frowned. "No. I mean, our leader Prospero." "Sorry. I did not mean to offend. I just assumed since you were a member of the Church..." "The Church is my religion, not my cause." I nodded, but I wasn't satisfied. Bosola sounded too defensive. It was more likely Bosola was a Church member for practical reasons than for religious ones. It was obvious that the High Priestess had power of her own and Bosola had to acknowledge that power. Was there a battle between Prospero and Scully for the minds of the Alones? Was she giving people a more seductive cause than simple revolution? Perhaps the reason that the Irregulars were stepping up their efforts was to gain credibility in the eyes of the Alones. The rest of the night was spent making preparations. After the meeting was concluded, I went up to Miranda. Before I could say anything, she said -- "Don't worry about me. This happens all the time." She looked down at the handkerchief. "It will all be over soon enough." Neither one of us spoke until she lifted her eyes to me and asked, "What happened to that old man?" "You mean, Mu...the man who said he was Mulder?" "Yes." "I don't know. I don't know where he is." "You know...I hate the way he lied to me, but I can't help feel sorry for him." "Me, too." I paused, then said, "May I ask you something?" "Of course." "Who has more power among the Alones? Prospero or The High Priestess?" She smiled at me. "There's no struggle going on, if that's what you think. It's just that Bosola really doesn't believe in the Seventh Extinction. He's only a Church member to keep up appearances. But..." She looked around to make sure no one else was listening, then said, "Prospero is a believer. He told me so." "Why does he believe?" "Because he knew the High Priestess in her younger days. He said that if anybody could bring about the end of the Seventh Age, she can." She spoke of Prospero as if he was a beloved father and she spoke of the Seventh Extinction with the intensity of a true believer. That brings up an obvious question... "What is The Seventh Extinction exactly?" "That is the day on which the Alones will be free. I only hope that I live long enough to see it." What did I make of all this? I wanted to know what the High Priestess was planning, but I was more curious than concerned. Besides, if the Seventh Extinction came, I just wanted to be fucking Julia when it happened. Speaking of which, I returned to her in the dead of night and took her in our bed. We made love like we never would do it again. That was closer to the truth than we realized. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX From: "David Hearne" Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 10:30:31 -0500 Subject: xfc: The Seventh Age (20 of 26) Source: xfc From: "David Hearne" TITLE: THE SEVENTH AGE (20 of 26) AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PART TWENTY XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The attack on D.C. started out very smoothly. The disruption created by Miranda hit the city at four-forty-five. This time was chosen because that's the moment at which most people are planning to leave work for the comfort of home. It was intended as one more dent in the Joined psychology. Conversations over Bio-Communicators were suddenly cut off. Lights went out. Traffic signals became blinking strobes. Access to bank accounts and personal databases was severed. Business and government came to a halt. That's when we moved in. We used our secret passages to get across the border. Then we inserted ourselves into key areas of D.C., ready for four-forty-five. No less than twenty government agencies, financial centers and businesses were targeted. When the inner workings of D.C. collapsed, all these targets were invaded by armed Alones. I led the attack on the Stabilizer Headquarters. In less than ten minutes, Stubb, myself and fifteen other Irregulars had the building secure. Our attack apparently overwhelmed the Stabilizers, leaving them no choice but to quickly surrender. The same results were seen in most of the operation with only a few deaths occurring. Overall, the first stage of the attack had been quick and bloodless. That should have warned us right away. We were too excited by the initial success to notice how easy it was, though. For myself, I was too distracted by the stunned and angry expression on Supervisor Stoddard's face. At four-fifty-five, I was standing in theiro office. Windows to the outside provided late-afternoon light in the room. In other parts of Stabilizer Headquarters, lamps were being placed on desks and flashlights attached to large guns were slowly watching over Stabilizers on their and their knees. I looked at Stoddard through the plastic shield on my head gear. Enough of my face was obscured so theyo didn't know who I was until I said, "Hello, Dwight." "Ay, carumba!" "I know, Dwight. I know." The shocked look on theiro face turned to murderous rage. "I don't want to hurt you, Dwight. Just do as we say and everything will be fine." "Homey don't play that," theyo snarled. "Well, homey may not, but you'll have to. Now, move back." Stoddard stood up from theiro chair and moved up against a corner of the office. Keeping my gun pointed at themo, I went up to theiro desk and placed a brown, quarter-sized disc on one of the cubes. The Infiltration Chip sank into the softening cube and accessed the paralyzed Bio-Network. Miranda had fixed the Bio-Network so that they would only respond to the Chip. The idea was to get all the tactical information we could out of the Bio-Network, then destroy what couldn't be taken. Then every Joined person would be removed from the building. Outside, they and they could watch us blow it up. I looked at the anger on Dwight's face and I felt a fair amount of guilt. I had worked with this man for years and now I was pointing a gun at themo. At the same time, I had no regrets about what I was doing. If I was satisfied, the other Irregulars were ecstatic. "This is going great!" Stubb told me. Like all the Irregulars, we were wearing protective suits against Auras. The suits came equipped with headsets for communication. Stubb was outside the office in the main work area of Section Two. I looked through the glass around Stoddard's door. There were no windows to the outside in the work area so I could only see the passing of flashlights in the dark. I gave him a thumbs-up, nevertheless. I thought about D.C., undoubtedly frightened and helpless now. I also thought about the military patrols in The Off-Zone who suddenly found them-and-themselves cut off from the world, alone with the Alones. I could imagine all the people coming out of their hiding places and apartments, marching in the street, building an unstoppable mob headed right for the border wall. I also thought of Julia and tried not to get an erection. Five minutes later, the Infiltration Chip was surfacing out of the Bio-Cube. "We're almost done here," I said to Stubb. "So are we," Stubb replied. "The explosives are in place. Man, when this place goes up, it will be a sight to..." Then I heard silence. "Stubb?" "Whoops, sorry about that. I thought I heard...wait a minute..." Another period of silence. When Stubb spoke again, his voice was now rushed and panicky. "Oh, shit, we gotta get out of here!" "What?" "I've just heard from Tyrone Slothrop! There's a team of Stabilizers moving in! They've almost taken out everybody!" I looked at Dwight. Theyo could see the fear in my eyes and I could see the knowledge in theiro eyes. They and they had known we were coming. "We gotta leave!" Stubb yelled. Keeping my gun pointed at Dwight, I backed towards the door. "Okay, okay," I said. "Stay calm." My own voice was barely keeping an appearance of calm itself. "We'll take the escape route out the..." The sound of grunts and tearing metallic fabric filled my headset. I looked out the glass in the wall. In the work area, a flash of light burst into view, illuminating both the men it came from and the man who was receiving it. I could see the agony on Stubb's face as clearly as I could hear his scream. I looked back at Dwight. Theyo shook theiro head at me. "I knew it was you, Fredo," theyo said. What I did next was an almost thoughtless reflex. It was an action born out of terror and frustration. I shot Dwight in the stomach. Theyo fell down, blood coursing from theiro shirt. Theyo screamed, screamed, screamed. "UP IN THE SKY, IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! HEY, HEY, HEY! HERRRRRRE'S JOHNNY!" I stared at themo, unable to accept what I had done and what was happening. However, I had no choice but to accept the reality of the Neutralizer bolt that crashed through the window and struck my side. "EH-OH! OH, ROCHESTER! LOUIE, THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP! IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, THERE ARE TWO SEPARATE YET EQUALLY IMPORTANT GROUPS..." The suit gave protection, but only enough to keep me from becoming completely unconscious. I dropped to the floor, my body twitching all over. "MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU! SHE'S GONNA MAKE IT AFTER ALLLLL..." The door was kicked in. I was given another Neutralizer shot. As I was hurled into darkness, I was convinced that the last thing I would ever hear in life was Dwight bellowing, "SHOW ME THE MONEY! SHOW ME THE MONEY!" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Then I saw grey. After awhile, I was able to comprehend more details. The grey was the color of a smooth ceiling. It was also the color of the walls and maybe the floor. I couldn't look down to confirm the floor's color. Straps were holding me flat against a metal surface. A single bright lamp jutted out from a corner of the ceiling, as if it was peeking inside. A door was in my sight, a few steps away yet still unreachable. I had never seen this place before. I know where I was, though. Purity Control. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX From: "David Hearne" Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 10:33:39 -0500 Subject: xfc: The Seventh Age (21 of 26) Source: xfc From: "David Hearne" TITLE: THE SEVENTH AGE (21 of 26) AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PART TWENTY ONE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX It started out with questions. I didn't answer them. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Fire. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The questions were asked again. I just shook my head, letting out tiny gasps. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Now, it was cold. My skin shriveled and the straps had to be tightened to keep from being torn by my shivering body. The man working the controls looked at me like I was a math problem to solve. The questions weren't asked again. Instead I was given a little food and a little warm water. Then they and they let me sleep. I think I got two hours of rest before it all started again. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "There's no point in holding back information. The Irregulars no longer exist. We and we have destroyed them. Just answer our and our questions and it will be over." "If...if the Irregulars are gone...why...are you asking me questions?" I was taken into another room and beaten. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I was shown news footage of dead Irregulars. I saw captured Irregulars being lead into Detainment Vehicles with their hands on their heads. I also got to see the final crackdown on the Off-Zone. Families were herded into trucks. Buildings were leveled and incinerated. I saw the Bucket Hole explode. "Fox Mulder Lives" was going to be erased completely out of sight, if not from memory. "You see? Not only do the Irregulars no longer exist, but the Off-Zone is gone, too. Why do you continue to resist? What is the point?" I just watched the Bio-Imager, feeling like my eyes were the only part of my body that still worked. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The blood seemed to fill my head to the bursting point as I hanged upside-down from the ceiling. I was stung with long rods that snapped and bit into my flesh. I was told that these were "cattle prods," a type of old technology used in the old days of torture. How interesting. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX They and they let me loose from the metal table. I wandered around my room all day, constantly walking in circles. I did this until I was tired. I fell asleep in a corner. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I smelled something. I opened my eyes and saw myself in two small black mirrors. "They and they found Co-Administrator Maltese," a voice said. "The official word is that the Irregulars executed themo after a long period of torture. Is this true or do you have something you wish to add?" I closed my eyes, though I could still sense those black mirrors nearby. Then I heard footsteps and the door opening and closing. I went back to sleep. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The Dream Invader has the ability to inflict pain on a victim while he's asleep and still keep him unconscious. Once the Dream Invader is used, the prisoner realizes that not even sleep can protect him from the torturer's power. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Blood pours from the speakers, gagging the sound of "...I see your face smiling there." Julia is lying on the ground, each part of her body different from the other. Mulder picks up a scapel and tears the black-and-white triangle on the movie screen. The High Priestess and the naked, bald man are running through the streets. They are being chased by men with heads that resemble lizards. The lizard-men catch up with their prey and sink their teeth into screaming faces. I scream with them. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Martina Stoddard came to see me. "You Null-sucking bastard. Dwight was your friend. How could you do that to themo? How could you do that to our Partner?" Theya slapped me in the face. I mumbled "sorry" as theya ran crying out of the room. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX What day is it now? XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Rebecca Sharp, Inspector Bucket and Ender came to visit. They were all now Joined. "It's incredible that we and we ever resisted this," Rebecca Sharp told me. "Poor Bosola," Inspector Bucket said. "He killed himself rather than be taken away." "Save yourself," Ender pleaded. "Give in. Tell them and them what they and they want to know." I screamed obscenities until they and they left. Then others came and the fire was ignited again. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I thought about my parents. What would they and they say over the quivering body of Arthur Rush? Could they and they understand what brought their son here? Because Arthur Rush wanted to fuck, mom and dad. They allowed me freedom to walk around again. Instead, I masturbated and tossed my sperm on the walls. I laughed. Then I looked at my sticky hands and I cried. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "Why don't you just give me Purity and be done with it?" "You must show yourself worthy of Purity, Arthur. And your worthiness will only be proven when you answer our and our questions." I was silent for a long time, then I said, "What were the questions?" "We and we just want to know how you became an Alone." I hesitated again. Then I told them and them that I couldn't explain how. Instead of hurting me, they and they just left. A few minutes later, Sharon entered the room. "Arth..." I backed away from thema until I was pressed against the wall. I covered my head with my arms. "Arthur, don't!" "Go away!" I wailed. Theya walked slowly up to me. I could feel hands that were so kind, so horribly kind. For a long time, Sharon just touched me. Then theya said -- "We will understand." I looked up at thema. Theira eyes were loving and warm and honest. "Whatever you have to say...we will understand." That was it. I fell into theira arms and wept. When the others came back, I told them and them everything. The dreams, Mulder, Scully, the Church of the Seventh Age, Julia...everything. Sharon listened to all of it as well. Theya were as confused and shocked as you can imagine. Theya never stopped holding me, though. After I was done, Sharon was told to leave. Theya looked reluctant, but theya was told that no harm would come to theira Partner. "Go," I told thema. "I'll be all right now." Theya gave me a hug and left. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Purity was given to me again. And I... ...was now we. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX We spent two more days in our cell. In that time, we had a visitor. "Good EVE-ning." We could only stare at Stoddard. Obviously, Purity and quick medical treatment had saved theiro life. Theyo began to say, "The reports of my death have been greatly..." Then theyo stopped and looked at us. After doing that for several long seconds, theyo left our cell. We never saw themo again. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "Someone important wants to see you." That was the only explanation given as we were taken out of our cell. Our heart beat wildly when we realized that we were leaving Purity Control itself. Two guards drove us across D.C. We were taken to the White House. We were shown to the Oval Office. Representative Byers was there. So was Fox Mulder. He said, "Where are my CD's, dipstick?" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Eventually, Mulder and we would go back to the Off-Zone one last time. We had a mission. We had returned to kill Dana Scully. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX From: "David Hearne" Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 10:30:43 -0500 Subject: xfc: The Seventh Age (22 of 26) Source: xfc From: "David Hearne" TITLE: THE SEVENTH AGE (22 of 26) AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PART TWENTY TWO XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The decision to kill Dana Scully came out of our meeting with Byers and Mulder. The meeting started with our startled reaction to Mulder's presence. It wasn't just that we had never expected to see Mulder again. The look in his eyes was different from anything we had seen before. It was hard, calculated, focused. "Well?" he said. "Uh...sorry, Mulder. I...we lost your CDs. We think. They were in the Off-Zone when it got eradicated." Mulder sighed. "Sorry." He waved his hand as if he had expected no less than this. "Take a seat, Arthur." We did. We sat in the chair next to Mulder's. Both of his and our chairs were in front of Byers's desk. The Representative had sunk into theiro own chair. The sadness that always lingered in theiro face had flourished. Theyo looked like Mulder did when we first saw him, only without the gallows humor. Theyo didn't say anything until Mulder snapped, "Well, Byers, are you going to get the goddamned ball rolling or not?" Byers leaned forward. Theyo placed theiro hands together on the desk as if to keep themoselves upright. "You are aware, Mister Rush, that the Irregulars have been disbanded and the Off-Zone crushed." "Yes, Representative." "You're also aware that despite your confession and readmittance to the Joined, you are still a designated traitor and attempted murderer?" "Yes, Representative." "Now...while your career as a Stabilizer is most certainly over, you may be able to avoid the harsher forms of punishment. You can do so by co-operating with this office on an important matter. Would you care to take this opportunity?" We breathed in and out. "Sir...we're not sure if we care what happens to us. We only want two things -- safety for our Partner and to do what's right." Byers looked at us, then turned to Mulder. The ex-agent smiled in a mean way and said, "Ah, to be young and virtuous again." "All right," Byers said. "This is the situation as it stands. The Irregulars are gone, but that only leaves a greater threat on the horizon. The Church of the Seventh Age is still a considerable force. Furthermore, recent events will undoubtedly spur them on to the event they've been planning." "The Seventh Extinction." Byers nodded. "We still don't know what that means exactly." "Tell him, Byers," Mulder said in a low voice. Byers looked down at theiro hands. "Our sources have told us and us that the High Priestess..." "You mean, Scully." It became silent in the Oval Office. Then, Byers said, "Yes. Scully. We have reason to believe that she has adapted the anti-viral agents used on Purity years ago. Only now she has developed them into a new virus. This one is completely hazardous to Purity." We nod. "So, she seeks to change the Joined into Alones?" Byers looked up. "No. The effects of the virus are so deadly that it will kill the human host as well as the Purity. For that matter, it could be toxic to a sizable portion of the Alone population as well." The eyes of Dana Scully burned inside our memory. Yes, we thought. She could do this. She could unleash such a thing onto the world. Onto Sharon. "So, you understand the situation?" Byers asked. "Yes, sir. We do. We have to stop the High Priestess." "Through any means necessary." "Oh, for Christ's sake!" Mulder shouted. "Quit dancing around the obvious! There is only one means we can use!" The bitterness in Mulder's voice sounded like the final curse of a dead man. "We're talking about Scully here!" Byers shouted back. "If there is another way..." "There is no other choice, Byers." Mulder's voice had dropped to a low hiss. "I have to do what you did years ago." Byers closed theiro eyes. Theyo leaned back, pressing clenched hands against theiro mouth. "Why is it something *you* have to do?" we said quietly. Mulder looked at us. The expression on his face reminded me of the High Priestess. He had the same overwhelming desire to command -- a desire that you couldn't resist satisfying. "She and her followers are still in the Off-Zone," he said in a flat voice. "Don't tell me that it's just a wasteland now. Even in a wasteland, there are places to live. She's there, ready to unleash the virus. You know when she's going to do that?" "It has to be during the Two Worlds Festival," we said automatically as if we were answering a superior's question. "And that's the day after tomorrow." We cleared our throat. Was it that soon? we thought. We had completely lost track of time in Purity Control. "That's...that's not a lot of time," we said. "It's time enough. I'll find her. You will come with me. It'll just be you and me on this assignment. This operation is best conducted with a small group. If we go in with a full blazing army -- as seems to be everybody's style nowadays -- she'll know we're coming and hide even deeper." The words didn't seem to be coming from his mouth. It was as if Mulder had detached himself and allowed a stranger control over his body. He stood up, his bony frame jerking itself straight. "We better start right now. Come on." "No." Mulder lifted his hand slightly as if he was going to slap us. "We wish to tend to a few matters. Then we'll come with you." He lowered his hand. Then he turned away and left the Oval Office. "This world...is more than anybody can stand," Byers murmured. "Yes, sir." We paused before saying, "What did Mulder mean when he said..." "Someone I knew became an Error after the Joining," Byers told us. "I...we...I had to put her to rest." That was all theyo would say. We nodded, then said, "There are a few matters that need to be cleared up." "Such as?" "The Irregulars had a leader -- Prospero. Do you know..." "Prospero never existed. He was just a myth created by Bosola as an inspirational tool." Byers shook theiro head. "A lot of people seem to be relying on myth nowadays." "I see." "Is that all?" "One more thing, sir. There was an Irregular we knew. Her name was Miranda. We would like to know what happened to her." "Actually...we know exactly what happened." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Modern-day surgery leaves no scars. However, you could tell that an operation had been performed on Miranda. As she laid in the bed of her guarded cell, she seemed different than before. Her skin was still the same wan color. In fact, she looked even sicker than before, but now there was also the sense of...loss. "They did something to my tumor," she said. "They haven't cured it. It's too far gone for that, but they put some kind of...barrier around it. My abilities are gone." She passed a hand over her forehead. "Of course, they could have just killed me. Or given me Purity." That was the fate being met by all the Irregulars -- death or Purity. Other Alones still had an option. They could either accept Purity or be taken away to one of the new detention centers in Alaska. Some had decided to be Joined. Others still clung to their identity. We didn't know whether to admire the latter or not. "Luckily, I have a friend in high places," Miranda continued. "Who?" Miranda smiled. We sighed. "Miranda...Prospero doesn't exist." "Oh, yes, he does," she insisted, still smiling. "I've seen him. He told me that he'll protect me." We said nothing to contradict her. "How are you, Arthur?" "We are Joined again." "Do you miss being an Alone?" "We do. But I'm afraid that we have ended up hurting people close to us." She reached out with one of her tiny hands. We held onto it. "Just because you hurt them," she said. "doesn't mean they don't need you anymore." We and she held hands for a long time. Then we said, "We have to go now." She pulled our hand to her lips and kissed it. "It's coming," she said. "The High Priestess still lives." "Yes. She does." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX After seeing Miranda, we went back to our house and to Sharon. We told thema what we were doing and why we were doing it. "Are you sure you want to do this?" theya asked. "What do you mean? Do you think we're not up to this?" "No, no. We mean -- are you sure this Scully has the virus?" We realized that we had not seen any concrete proof of the virus's existence. This mission was being carried out on the vague basis of the Representative's "sources." Yet we simply could not imagine Dana Scully's plan resolving any other way. It was the only truth that could fit with her cold words and cold eyes. And besides -- "We can't take the chance. Not with so much at stake." "What about this Mulder? Does he believe that she is capable of this?" "Yes, he does believe." That was the most convincing part of all. If Mulder could see someone who had been so important to him as a threat...if he could now see a friend as an enemy...if he was willing to do this... "You should go then," Sharon told us. We nodded. Then we asked a question. "Do we what? "Do you still need us?" Theya looked down at the floor. "Maybe that's a question we should ask you," theya almost whispered. We thought about Julia. We looked at the woman before us. We placed a hand on theira cheek. This time, theya didn't flinch at our touch. Instead, theya pressed our hand tighter against theira face. "We need you more than ever," we said. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX As we and Mulder drove to the Off-Zone, we asked about our dreams. "Is this important enough to talk about now?" Mulder replied. "It's important to us." Mulder rolled his jaw around, then said, "Your dreams happened because of Skinner." "Skinner?" "The man with the nanotechnology in him. Or, as the Church calls him, Walter the Sacrifice." "I see. But what does it have to do with our dreams?" "It was the one flaw in Scully's plan. When Skinner let the virus invade his body, it took over his very consciousness as well. The virus absorbed that as well as the anti-viral agents. The combination of all three resulted in the virus becoming the new biological entity that created the Joined." "You mean...Purity's consciousness is Walter Skinner's consciousness?" "Not exactly. Skinner's mind was the base element for the collective mind of Purity. His identity became diffused until what made Skinner got lost. Or mostly lost, as it seems." "We've seen him. We've seen him in our dreams." Mulder smiled, the last time we would see him do so for awhile. "He's still alive and kicking in there. But he's nothing more than a dream now." "But why did we see him now?" "It wasn't 'you' who saw him. Not the you that is both Arthur Rush and Purity. It was the Arthur Rush who had a few seconds with his own mind in this world before Purity overcame him. It was just a few seconds, but that's enough for anybody to create just a glimmer of his own identity." We closed our eyes for a second. "The Chain Ceremony." "Yes. When you let go of Purity for the Ceremony, you allowed Skinner to come into you." "But how did that allow us to dream of Scully and Julia and all the rest?" Mulder shrugged. "I don't know." "Then how are..." "I don't want to talk about it anymore. I don't want to talk about dreams or Skinner or anything else. I just want to finish this job and never see you for the rest of my few remaining days. Got it?" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX We have worked with many skilled investigators, but none of them and them were as good as Fox Mulder. As he shifted through the ruins of The Off-Zone, clues seem to literally jump out at him. He tracked down the smallest signs and hints pointing to the location of the High Priestess. It was a bewildering and amazing thing to see. What we could only see as a chaotic mess, he could see as an exact structure. His guides through this structure were a sharp intelligence and an uncanny intuition. We would have admired the process more if it weren't for the distant, inhuman manner in which he performed his tricks. The search continued throughout the day and into the next one. He didn't sleep. We, on the other hand, needed a few hours of rest. It wasn't just a matter of weariness. We just wanted to shut out The Off-Zone for awhile. The area was too depressing to behold now. Even in its previous ailing state, it still had life and vitality. Now, it was nothing more than charred rubble and streets where only soldiers walked, looking for any Alones who had escaped the crackdown. So, for awhile, we slept. We dreamed. "Don't let that stupid bastard do something he'll regret." "Huh?" "That asshole used to go so far on faith. Where is that faith now?" "But...what else can he do? Scully has become insane. She wants to destroy us and us all." Skinner rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding? What's the one thing you've learned by now if anything?" He waited for our answer. As we tried to understand what he was talking about, we felt a hand shake our shoulder. We were jarred out of our dream. It was just then that we realized the answer. "Things are not always what they seem." Mulder jerked his head back. "What?" As if we were still asleep, we slowly said, "Things...are not always what they seem." Mulder stood up straight. We looked up at him from the P.T. in which we had been sleeping. Behind him were a wealth of stars in the sky. In a few hours, tomorrow would be here and bring the Two Worlds Festival with it. For a long moment, he just stared down at us as if our words had affected him. Then he said -- "I found her." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX From: "David Hearne" Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 10:32:48 -0500 Subject: xfc: The Seventh Age (23 of 26) Source: xfc From: "David Hearne" TITLE: THE SEVENTH AGE (23 of 26) AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PART TWENTY-THREE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The hiding place was located in an underground storage room missed by the military. To reach it, Mulder and we had to go through a long network of tunnels. The tunnels were full of traps and alarms, but Mulder bypassed them all as if he had built them himself. We and he eventually found a locked wooden door. One hit of an Entrance-Maker turned it to splinters. We found three people in that room. They were surrounded by some of the discarded scientific equipment we had seen in the sanctuary of the High Priestess. Like before, they were arranged into abstract sculptures that glimmered in candlelight. Alex the Traitor was kneeling before Julia. She was feeding him out of her hand. Both of them turned to the exploded door and stood frozen in shock. An old woman sat at the far end of the room with her back to the invaders. She didn't stir a muscle as Mulder and we strode in. Mulder didn't stop to look at anything. He headed straight towards Scully without slowing down. He brushed against glass beakers, pushing them over to shatter on the floor. When Julia and Alex the Traitor saw the gun in Mulder's hand, they almost charged at him. They halted when we got in their way with a Neutralizer poised to fire. "Arthur, stop him," she pleaded. She had her own face now, a face that was crying. We said nothing. We kept our eyes on her and Alex the Traitor. From the quick sound of Mulder's steps, we were sure that he would shoot her as soon as he was within touching distance. This was not something we wanted to see. Mulder stopped. We tensed ourselves for the shot. We didn't hear it. We slowly turned our head in their direction. The old man stood over the old woman sitting on a rug. He had little tremors over his neck and the hand gripping the gun. The woman, on the other hand, could have been a statue. She waited for whatever he was going to do next. He did nothing except stand there and shake in his clothes. Finally, she turned and thoughtfully examined the gun. It was an old piece of weaponry with rust on it. "I see you finally got a gun you didn't lose," she said. We stared at that side view of Scully's face. We had expected the righteous anger of a prophet. Instead... ...she looked sad. Tired. Old. She looked up at a man as sad, tired and old as she was. If you hadn't been at the Church on the night she shunned him, you would have sworn that this was the first time in years they had seen each other. In the space between their eyes, we saw the years of togetherness and the years of being separate. We saw all the nights they had spent dreaming of the other, whether in love or in hate. Now, they were two people just facing each other, knowing they had a bond that everyone wishes for and knowing the price that such a bond exacts. He had the means to decide what that bond counted for. He had the means, but he didn't have all the control. "Why are you here, Mulder?" He muttered something we couldn't hear. Scully could, though. "I see. Do you believe that?" He said nothing. "If you believe it, then you should shoot me right now. If you believe I'm a monster, then kill me. Because if you don't follow your beliefs, then you have nothing." Julia wept. Alex the Traitor pressed his head against the floor and beat at it with his hands. Then, a change came to Scully's face. What we saw was something that could never been lost with the passing of youth. It negated all the scars of age and violence on her face. It was something that could survive even in this dark room located under a wasteland made by an unforgiving world. She looked up at him with hope. "But before you kill me, you should look at yourself. Ask if you are completely lost to despair. Is there any part of you that refuses to bow down to darkness? Are you just the worthless old man I said you were? If that's true, then please shoot me. Because I couldn't live in a world where Fox Mulder has given up for good." The gun remained pointing at the ground. Then it rose. It lifted itself up to Scully's head. She leaned forward to let it press tightly against her withered skin. Mulder closed his eyes. She kept her eyes open. Fear burst suddenly and hotly inside us. We wanted to rush forward, scream, shoot Mulder with the full force of the Neutralizer. Yet, we could do nothing. We knew that it was not our decision to make. That's because only Mulder could have given an answer to Scully's question. And he did have an answer. "I did give up." He opened his eyes... ...and lowered the gun. "But you didn't," he said. "I can't believe that you would." Alex the Traitor looked up. Julia stopped weeping. "I did give up," Scully said. "For awhile. But I have found a new way to go now. You have to believe me when I say that it's not what you've been told." "I do believe. I..." Mulder dropped to his knees. The gun clattered onto the floor. Scully had to catch him before he fell completely over. He hadn't fainted. He just no longer had the power to hold himself up. We watched her hold onto Mulder. Her eyes were shining with a hope fulfilled. We could have done the execution ourselves, then. Like Mulder, though, we now believed. We looked at this woman and knew that hatred had not overwhelmed her soul. "Thank you," Julia said. "Thank you." Alex the Traitor said nothing, but smiled and placed his hands against his chest as he rocked back and forth. Mulder pulled himself just far enough away from her so he could look into her blue eyes. "This changes nothing, I'm afraid," he said. "They're coming. They probably put some kind of tracking device on Arthur. Isn't that right, Arthur?" "Yes," we said. "we hadn't thought of that, but ...yes, they and they probably did." For some reason, we didn't feel concerned. "Nowhere to run now, Scully. For both of us." "But you'll be here when they come, right?" she said. "I ain't going anywhere. That's a fact." "Then let's just wait." We and they all waited. In a few minutes, a whole platoon of troops had stormed into the hiding place. Their and their entrance smashed almost all the scientific equipment in the room. We, Julia and Alex the Traitor scurried to a corner to get out of their and their way. We tossed away our Neutralizer and held our hands up. Mulder and Scully faced the invasion with no fear or concern at all. They looked completely at peace. Neither did their mood changed when a gloomy Byers walked in after the troops had secured the room. However, when the man in dark glasses entered, their eyes widened and they both let out the same obscenity at the same time with the same intense volume. The man in dark glasses smiled and pulled two items from theiro pockets. We then realized what theiro scent was. We had smelt it before in the presence of Rebecca Sharp. It was the odor of burning tobacco. Theyo placed the cigarette in theiro mouth, lit it up and blew a puff of smoke at Mulder and Scully through theiro grin. "Hey, there. Miss me?" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX From: "David Hearne" Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 10:36:36 -0500 Subject: xfc: The Seventh Age (24 of 26) Source: xfc From: "David Hearne" TITLE: THE SEVENTH AGE (24 of 26) AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PART TWENTY-FOUR XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Mulder and Scully got up to their feet, giving the man in dark glasses the look fighters exchange before a bout. "We're flattered that you recognize us," the man in the dark glasses cheerfully replied. "We looked a lot older when you saw us. We *were* a lot older." "I shouldn't be surprised to see you here," Mulder said evenly. "I would like to know how it's possible, though." "Don't know? Well, then..." Theyo made a motion to the troops. They and they quickly marched out of the room, but would be close enough to respond at a moment's notice. "Here's a little hint. And a little secret just between you and us." Theyo took off theiro glasses. We saw brown eyes -- brown where they should have been white. The brown color surrounded irises black as midnight. The gloves were removed to uncover webbed hands. Beneath the hat were green scales on top of the smooth, bald head. "Get it now? Or do you need more help?" Mulder stared at the man and whispered, "Doctor Joe Ridley..." "M-hm." "You found his research notes." "Stuffed away in an old bus locker, would you believe it?" The man blew out another plume of smoke and noticed our confused face. "We think the rest of the class needs catching up. For your information, Mister Rush, Doctor Joe Ridley was a pioneer in age-reversal experiments. Unfortunately, his research data was stolen by a man who was later shot by...well, guess who?" Theyo pointed at Mulder with a flourish. "It was thought that the work had been lost forever, but after the Joining, we had a little more time to search for it. And with the benefits of Bio-Tech, we were able to complete the project." Theyo looked at theiro hands. "The treatment requires the cells of a salamander. As you can see, there are certain side effects..." Theyo looked up and smiled. "But it's worth it to know your twenties again." Mulder looked at Byers. The Representative turned away. "Ah, you're not going to chew out Byers, are you?" the smoking man said as theyo put back on theiro dark glasses and hat. "Theyo are just being practical. You can't deal with Top Level unless you deal with us. In fact, we got just about every aspect of the Joined power structure under our thumb." The eyebrows lifted above the dark glasses. "And just to be safe, we control the opposition." Byers turned sharply towards the smoking man. "What do you mean by...?" Then the realization hit themo like a sharp pain. "You're Prospero." The smoking man exhaled another mouthful of soiled air. "Why should you squash rebellion when you can bend it to your own purposes?" "You had the Irregulars kill Michener and White," we said, a little dizzy. Maltese had been half-right. The Irregulars had been real, but they really had been a creation of Top Level. "We had been suspicious about Michener and White. They and they...or we should say, they seemed different, somehow. A discrete medical check revealed their secret. Maltese escaped before we could find out about him. And Armstrong...well, Top Level was nervous about The Gold House being revealed so we and we had it bombed. We guess that letting himself get blown up was Armstrong's way of protesting the decision. In any case, the Irregulars have been very useful -- giving the Joined a hate object and giving the Alones a vent for their anger. However, the time came when they had to be discarded. If we hadn't put an end to them, they could have become an actual rebellion." "Just who are you?" we demanded. "We're your history. That's all you need to..." The screech didn't make the smoking man flinch. Nor did theyo react when Alex the Traitor charged at themo with his long dirty nails. "Alex, no!" Julia called out. Alex the Traitor gave no thought to her warning. He should have. The moment he touched the smoking man, his intended victim glowed with a white light. The Aura extended no further than an inch around theiro body, so everybody else only received a momentary blinding. Alex dropped to the ground with a wood-like thunk. His skin was stretched tight over his bones to the point of transparency. His eyes were gone and all his teeth were exposed. He had stiffened into his last murderous pose. The smoking man looked down as if theyo had just noticed the body. "Speaking of history...hello there, Alex." Julia covered her face. Byers turned away in horror. Scully closed her eyes and whispered words. Only Mulder's expression didn't change. "In any case," the smoking man said. "all the holes have been sewed up and the thread is once again yours truly. That brings us up to the important matter at hand. Byers, would you leave now?" "What?" "It's time for the grown-ups to talk alone." Byers trembled all over. "If you think that we're going to just step outside..." "That's exactly what I think, John-Boy." Byers just stood there and trembled, ready to hurl themselves at the smoking man as well. Then theyo heard -- "John?" Theyo turned and saw the kind, forgiving expression on Scully's face. "Go," she said. "We'll be all right." Theyo sent back a look that spoke of the need to do so much more. Scully just nodded in understanding. With defeat dragging at theiro body, Byers shuffled out. "And you..." the smoking man said. "You're Julia, aren't you?" She lowered her hands and looked hatefully at the smoking man. "Funny. You don't look like a good enough fuck to make Joined become Alones." "You'll never know otherwise," she snarled. "Trust us, my dear. We know pleasures far better than what you can provide. Would you mind following the Representative?" Julia looked at Scully who gave her a nod as well. Julia went towards the door. She stopped to touch us on the hand. "Arthur, I..." "Mister Rush will stay here," the smoking man told her. "Theyo have been involved in this matter so long that theyo are entitled to witness the final act." We squeezed back her hand, motioning her to leave for her safety. She left, holding her hands over her elbows. "Now," the smoking man said, stepping over the burnt corpse of Alex the Traitor. "let's get to the real business." Mulder said, "You mean, you came here with a purpose other than showing you're the world's best-preserved asshole?" "We came here for the virus." Both Mulder and Scully showed the blankest expressions we had ever seen. "Oh, we know all about that. We know that Scully was planning to release it tomorrow. We would like to have any available containers of it." "Are you going to tell us you are acting in the public good again?" Scully asked. "We couldn't give a shit about the public good. Arguably, we never did." "So, why do you want it?" "We've been considering whether or not to release it ourselves." We took a step forward, ready to do...anything, we suppose. Anything to harm or stop this man. It was a reflex action on our part, arrested by the smoking man lifting a single finger in our direction. "Don't be foolish, Mister Rush." Theyo dropped the finger. We made no further movement. "Uh...I may be a little slow," Mulder said. "but isn't this virus supposed to be harmful to the Joined?" "That's what we know." "So, why would you..." "Speaking for ourselves, we already have facilities that will protect us through any plague. As for everybody else... well, like we said, we're considering our options." Scully looked at the smiling face and whispered, "Why?" "You ask me that? You? The Origin herself? Oh, come on, Scully. When you realized that you had created a whole new species, didn't it give you an indescribable sense of power? And weren't you trying to wield that power again by wiping this species out?" "But you want that power instead." The smoking man tilted theiro head down in an almost bashful-looking way. "We used...or I used to tell myself that I did all the horrid things in my past because of my duty to the whole human race." Theyo looked back up and took another puff of theiro cigarette. "We know better now. We just want power. And power is entitled to those who want it. The idea of reshaping the world for the seventh time...it's enthralling. We could start literally from square one and mold the future in our image. At the very least, we would have let you play out your little apocalypse and then taken control of the survivors. But now...now, the choice can be ours. We could let the Joined become the dominant species or allow the Alones to rise again. It's an opportunity not to be missed." "You're not going to get the opportunity," Scully said. "You won't even be able to find the virus." "Oh, we will. It's somewhere nearby, we know. Of course, you could just tell us where. Maybe you'll do it after we tortured...oh, I don't know...that Julia woman for starters." The smoking man pointed at us. "And then themo maybe." Theyo jabbed Mulder in his chest, making the old man jerk back a step. "Mulder would be the next-to-last in line. You being last, of course, Scully." Theyo held the cigarette parallel to theiro face, rolling it slightly in theiro hand. "So...how long is it going to take before you've realized we've won again?" Mulder and Scully looked at each other. They looked at each other for a long time. Then Scully smiled. Then Mulder smiled. Scully chuckled. Mulder chuckled. In a few seconds, they were both roaring with laughter. It was probably the first time they had laughed in years. They probably never laughed that loud ever. We found ourselves laughing with them because we had realized just what was so funny. The only one not laughing was the smoking man. The smile was gone from theiro face. "What the hell... "What... "Shut up... "What the hell are you laughing at... "Stop it... "I said, stop it... "WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!!" Finally, Scully had settled down enough to talk. Her face had become an agreeable shade of pink. Mulder was leaning on her shoulder, still laughing. "We're laughing...we're laughing because there's a very good reason why you won't find the virus." "What? What is it?" "It doesn't even exist, you stupid son-of-a-bitch." Mulder fell to the floor, laughing like a madman. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX From: "David Hearne" Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 10:26:09 -0500 Subject: xfc: The Seventh Age (25 of 26) Source: xfc From: "David Hearne" TITLE: THE SEVENTH AGE (25 of 26) AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PART TWENTY-FIVE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "You're lying." "Oh, no, I'm not." "Don't play games with us. We've seen the proof. Our sources found..." "Your 'sources' saw what I wanted them to see. You got fed exactly what I wanted to stuff in your mouth." The smoking man stared at Scully through theiro dark glasses. Then theyo looked down at Mulder still rolling on the floor. Theyo turned away and walked to a corner. Theyo seemed to be thinking intently as theyo smoked. Scully let themo take theiro time. Meanwhile, Mulder and we had finally exhausted our laughter. The smoking man tossed down theiro cigarette, stomped on it and turned to Scully. "All right. So, the virus is a fake. What is your church about anyway?" "What you have seen of the church is only its front. Our efforts have gone into places you haven't looked." "What does that mean?" "You know about what we have been doing at the Gold House. What if I were to tell you our efforts have been much wider than that?" The smoking man's mouth tightened. Mulder sat up and looked at Scully like a child hearing a great story. "You must have assumed that Julia used the Gold House because it was the only place in D.C. where an Alone could perform her kind of subversion in secret. Right?" "Now, you're telling us we were wrong," the smoking man mumbled. "Very wrong. You think that Top Level had the only hiding place in the Joined community where people show their forbidden desires? There are a dozen other 'Gold Houses' in the D.C. area alone. Julia has been to most of them." The smoking man sucked in theiro breath at the same time as us. Of course, we thought. It was ridiculous to think that we were the only one who been drawn into this new life. How many others had encountered the same doubts as we had? How many had the same dreams? "It's not just dissension of the sexual kind. These secret places can just be where people speak ideas they don't express in public. They're rediscovering the past that Purity has thrown away. They're extending themselves beyond the confines of Joined thinking." "So...you're saying that there are other Joined people who have become Alones." "I didn't say that." "But you said..." "Armstrong was still a Joined when he died." We could actually see one of the smoking man's hands shake. "Apparently," Scully said. "the 'psychology of the virus' can change. Armstrong had become something new. A Joined with the attributes of an Alone. He...or theyo...or whatever he was...Armstrong was not the only one like this. There are signs of these changes in other Joined people as well. I guess we'll have to come up with a new word for them." The smoking man tore out another cigarette. Theyo shoved it in theiro mouth and tried to light it. "And just how many of these blessed rebels are there supposed to be?" theyo snarled. "I don't know. I only know about the ones who have made contact with the Church. Undoubtedly, there are many more who have arrived at this point through their own means. All I know is...they're everywhere. All over the world." The smoking man stopped trying to light the cigarette. Theyo just left it hanging ridiculously from theiro mouth. "But a lot of them found the way to us like Arthur did. Through dreams." "Skinner!" we exclaimed. "Skinner gave us these dreams. He led us to you." Scully smiled and nodded. "Alive and kicking," Mulder said in wonder. "That's the church," Scully told the smoking man. "The real church. Not some cult with grand dreams of the apocalypse. It's people who want their freedom. What you saw was just the cover. A distraction from our real efforts." The smoking man pointed a trembling finger at Scully. "You knew all along. You knew that we were Prospero." "Oh, no. I didn't know it was *you.* But I did know the Irregulars were a pawn of some rat bastard." She tilted her head to the side. "Actually, it was perfect for our goals that you were Prospero." "What do you mean?" Scully walked right up to the young man. She reached up to theiro face and pulled the glasses off. Those lizard eyes stared back helplessly as she tossed away the glasses. "You believed the story because you could imagine the worst of me. You could buy the idea that I would kill millions of people out of some religious delusion. You thought that all the shit in my life had finally broken me, right? All the shit *you* did." The smoking man said nothing. Theyo didn't have to say anything. You could see the answer in theiro face. "Well, you didn't break me. You understand me? You didn't...break me." "No," the smoking man said. "You're lying. We know you're lying. You are planning something for tomorrow. We know that." "As a matter of fact...I am. It's already been done." Scully turned and walked back to Mulder. "While you've been chasing after imaginary viruses, the Church has been busy with the culmination of its work." She looked back at the smoking man. "I won't tell you what it is, but maybe Miranda will." "What about her?" "Miranda hasn't told you, but she has been using her powers to infiltrate the Bio-Network. She's planted something in it...something buried so deep you won't be able to get at it." "That's ridiculous. Miranda wouldn't do anything without telling us..." "Why? Because you've made her dependent on you? Turned her into some kind of surrogate daughter?" The smoking man looked away. "Oh, I know all about it. You made her feel loved, but all the time you were just using her." "But why didn't she tell me?" "Because I told her not to. I told her of my doubts. She didn't believe me. She said that once the work has been revealed in its fullness, you would understand and support it." She sighed. "Guess she's in for a revelation about you, isn't she?" The smoking man stood there quietly for a long time. Then theyo picked up theiro glasses and put them back on. "Well...it seems that we've lost this round." "You've lost the whole fight, that's what." The smoking man's smile returned as theyo lit theiro cigarette. "Is that what you think? Miss Scully, the fight is far from over. Unlike you, we've got a lot of years left. Whatever damage you've caused, we can fix it." "I'm not talking about the future. The fight between us is over, the one that started when I first saw you in Blevin's office. We're through. This is it. I'm sure you'll find some way to keep on scheming and planning until the end of time. But let me tell you this -- you'll always find somebody in your way. And that person will always stop you. "Now...say good-bye." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX We looked up at the night sky, admiring its sheer vastness and the mysteries waiting there. We were standing outside on an Off-Zone street. With us were Byers, Julia, Mulder and Scully. The smoking man and theiro troops had long since left. "I feel...very tired," Scully said. "Then maybe you should rest," Byers told her. "You, too." "No. No, we're far from a rest." Theyo looked at Mulder and Scully. "We know we can't be forgiven..." "Don't apologize, Byers," Mulder said. "What you've done is nothing compared to what I did. Or what I didn't do." Mulder then held out his hand. Byers shook it. Scully went up to the Representative and kissed themo on the cheek. "Good luck, Byers. I hope by tomorrow your job is easier." "We know it will be. Thank you. Thank you for everything." With that, Byers got into theiro private P.T., and theyo were driven away. "So, what have you done?" we asked Scully. "What did Miranda do to the Bio-Network?" "She left a message. You'll see it. Everyone will. Of course, Miranda is going to realize how she's been used..." "We'll take care of her." "Thank you." "But I wonder who will take care of you." "Ah, hell," Mulder said. "She doesn't need anybody. She's a real independent kind of gal." Scully turned to Mulder. The two old people looked at each other. "Got any place to stay?" she asked quietly. "Not really." She hooked her arm around Mulder's. "Come with me," she said. "All right." Then Mulder turned to us and said, "I guess I'll be seeing you around, Arthur." "Of course, Mulder," we replied, knowing we and he would never see each other again. Scully said, "I don't know if all of this was worth it, but...we'll know by tomorrow. In any case, Mulder and I are done. Everything is in your hands now." "Thanks for the trust," we told her. She smiled at us and said, "I'm glad I have trust to give." With that, she and Mulder walked away. We watched them until they were out of sight. Just before they vanished into the darkness, Mulder rubbed her bald head and said something. She slapped him on the arm. That left us with Julia. "You need to go, too," Julia murmured, not looking at us. "Yes. I need to go home." She nodded. We took her by the hands. "You gave us something wonderful, Julia. It's just that...we didn't have to come here for it." She lifted her head, looked at us and then smiled. "If you've learned that," she said. "then I have no reasons to be said." She kissed us on the forehead. Then she walked away. We left The Off-Zone and never came back. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Sharon met us at the door. Theya waited for us to tell thema what happened. Instead, we said, "You've had the dreams, too, haven't you?" Theya crossed theira hands together behind theira back. "We didn't know how to tell you." "Is there anything else you want to tell me?" "Just that ...we were too ashamed to tell you how we really felt. How we felt when you touched us in the Chain Center." We freed theira hands from behind thema and we kissed theira palms. Theya shivered, but it was not a reaction of disgust. We felt the same shivers as we kissed thema on the neck, on the cheek, on the mouth. Theira lips pressed back on ours. Inside us and us, the blackness felt the same pleasure. And wanted to feel more. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX From: "David Hearne" Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 11:08:24 -0500 Subject: xfc: The Seventh Age (26 of 26) Source: xfc From: "David Hearne" TITLE: THE SEVENTH AGE (26 of 26) AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PART TWENTY-SIX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX If you had been watching a Bio-Imager at the time, you would have seen Co-Administrator Johnson giving a speech about "the great gift of Purity" and "that wonderful day on which the Joining occurred." Suddenly, the image was scrambled and replaced by the face of Dana Scully. Of course, it didn't matter if you weren't watching Bio-Imagers. Anybody connected to the Bio-Network at the time got the same message, whether they were making a call or pulling up information. Even the great crowds at the Two Worlds Festival got to hear it. We only wish we could have seen the look on Johnson's face when theiro image was suddenly overtaken on the enormous Bio-Imagers placed on the stage. She didn't speak for very long. Maybe two minutes at most. She talked to everyone who had been in hiding -- the people who found their thoughts and needs not in alignment with the world. To everyone who thought they would have to remain in secret forever, she told them of the others who felt as they did. And their numbers are great, she said. She told them of the importance of hope and the promise of change. You can make this a different world, she assured them. Just speak out and you'll find your voice is just one of millions. Speak out so the world will know you. She vanished. And they did speak out. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The smoking man had rushed over the moment theyo got the word. Theyo found us and Sharon in Miranda's cell. Miranda was now wearing clothes Sharon had brought. She didn't look at the smoking man when theyo entered. "What are you doing?" theyo snapped. "We're taking Miranda away from here," Sharon said. "You have no authority to do that," the smoking man told thema and pointed at the guards. "If you think they and they are going to let you go..." "Get out of our way," Miranda said. Theyo looked at her. She lifted her head to reveal the hatred in her eyes. She said, "'Tis a villain, sir, that I do not love to look upon." Then she headed for the door. The smoking man stepped aside. What else could he do? Miranda left with Sharon and us. We hazarded a look back at one of the most powerful people in the world. Theyo looked just like Mulder did. Mulder without Scully. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX There isn't much that needs to be told after this. Or maybe there's too much to tell. The world is changing in ways that are both frightening and joyous. The Seventh Age has really ended after all. Sharon and we have made a new home far away from D.C. Miranda spent her final days with us and us. We hope that she found some peace there. We have decided to keep our Purity. So has Sharon. It feels like too much of us and us to let go. Other members of the Joined have decided to do the same. Some haven't. Both races and the Alones are creating history. What else to say then? We did have one more of those dreams. In it, we saw Mulder and Scully. "I believed it, too," he said. "I had believed you had gone insane." "In a way, I did," she told him. "But you could never have been the monster they said you were. I only realized it at the very end." "Well...I know why you believed it in the first place." Mulder said nothing. "When I saw you at the Church...I was still angry with you." "Even though you were the one who ran out on me?" "We've ran away from each other before, Mulder. The difference here was...one of us didn't come after the other." Mulder nodded. "Right." "But you did come. And you did it just in time." "And I'm glad that I still had trust to give." Scully smiled and placed her head on Mulder's chest. "I thought you should see that," Skinner told us. "Just to let you know how they are." "Thank you." "So...I guess I better get going." "Going?" "Son, I died a long time ago. I should act accordingly. I stopped by one last time to let you know you did good." "Thank you." Skinner began to fade away. "By the way," we said. "is this a happy ending?" Skinner's smile hung in the air before it dissipated like fog in the sunlight. Before he was completely gone, we heard him say -- "Damn straight." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX AUTHOR'S NOTES: "It would be a kinder, loving world to die in." -- John Cale Two things to mention -- if you are missing any parts of this story, please let me know and I'll e-mail them to you. Or you could try www.xemplary.com for the whole story. And I should now list all the songs mentioned in this story. Here's hoping I get them all -- "Reality Used to be a Friend of Mine" by P.M. Dawn; "Nowhere to Run" by Martha and the Vendellas; "Heart-Shaped Box" by Nirvana; "Up on Cripple Creek" by The Band; "Head Like a Hole" by Nine Inch Nails; "I Cover The Waterfront," which has been covered by a variety of people; "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins; "Aenima" by Tool; "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa" by Otis Redding; "Living for the City" by Stevie Wonder; "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy; "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Hank Williams; "It's Just the Motion" by Richard and Linda Thompson; "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus; "Hellhound on my Trail" by Robert Johnson; "I've Got No Time to Cry" by Iris Dement; "The Message" by Grandmaster Five; "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen; "Like a Sex Machine" by James Brown; "Concierto de Aranquez" by Miles Davis and Gil Evans; "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince; "Elevators" by Outkast; "Funny How Time Slips Away" by Al Green (though it was originally a Willie Nelson tune, I think); "I Believe to My Soul" by Ray Charles; "Yang: As Private I's" by P.M. Dawn; "Tutti-Fruitti" by Little Richard; "Shakin' Street" by MC5; "Anarchy in the U.K." by The Sex Pistols; "She Cries Your Name" by Beth Orton; "Roadkill" by Rickie Lee Jones; "I Got a Woman" by Ray Charles; "Atomic Dog" by George Clinton; "Doctor Feelgood" by Aretha Franklin That should be it. Oh, yeah. There's a reference to "Snoopy and the Red Baron" by a group whose name I've forgotten. And Stoddard quotes "What's the Buzz" from "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Time Has Come Today" by The Chamber Brothers. Whew. Anyway, that's all good music. (Well, okay, excepting Andrew Lloyd Webber.) May none of it become faded memories. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX