Hello?
Hello. May I speak to Mr. Zachary Llosa?
It's "Yosa," not "Losa." Speaking.
Hello, Mr. Llosa.
I'm calling on behalf of the VinylRight Corporation,
which would like to put a crisp $100 bill into your hand
by 5:00 tomorrow evening.
Yeah, listen, I'm really not interested at this time.
Yes, sir. $100.
All for allowing us the privilege
of introducing you to VinylRight siding,
the thousand-year siding
that never needs painting or maintenance.
Look, man, I'm really not interested.
Manufactured in America from space-age polymers,
it beautifies while it protects,
while it adds to the resale value of your home.
Look, I said I'm not interested. I have to go now.
I have to go. Sorry.
Yo, Gary.
Dial and smile, Gary.
See, if you're not smiling, they can hear it.
If you're not smiling,
they can hear it.
Jerk.
Yes, Mr. Valenzuela,
I'm calling on behalf of the VinylRight Corporation.
We would like to put a crisp $100 bill into your hands
by 5:00 tomorrow evening.
Hello?
M-Mrs. Edith Loach?
Yep, that's me.
Hello, Mrs. Loach.
I'm calling on behalf of the VinylRight Corporation,
which would like to put a crisp $100 bill into your hand
by 5:00 tomorrow evening.
You want to give me $100? Why?
Hello?
Did I win something?
Yes, ma'am, $100.
All for allowing us the privilege
of introducing you to VinylRight siding,
the thousand-year siding
that never needs painting or maintenance.
Manufactured in America from...
Hello?
Manufactured in America from space-age polymers.
It beautifies while it protects, while it...
While it...
Hello? Hello?!
Mrs. Loach...
listen very carefully.
It's here.
Sir, Agents Mulder and Scully are here.
Send them in.
Sir?
Agents, have a seat.
I need you to go to Chicago as soon as possible
to perform a threat assessment.
A threat assessment for whom?
VinylRight. They make siding.
Their telemarketing hub in Oak Brook
was the focus of an anonymous, audio-taped manifesto,
one which threatened violence.
Apparently, several years back,
they had an incident in another office--
a disgruntled employee with a gun.
They feel they can't be too careful.
Why can't the Chicago field office take care of it?
Because I prefer you did.
Because the manifesto
contains bizarre overtones...
claims of a paranormal nature?
It speaks of a monster stalking employees.
Your insight into such claims should
aid in assessing the threat, if any, posed by this person.
Monsters.
I'm your boy.
I must have done something to piss him off.
What do you mean?
Get stuck with this jerk-off assignment.
Or have I finally reached that magic point in my career
where every time somebody sees Bigfoot
or the Virgin Mary on a tortilla,
I get called out of my basement ward
to offer my special insight on the matter?
You're saying "I" a lot.
I heard "we."
Nor do I assume that this case is just a waste of our time.
Not yours, anyway.
There's no reason both of us should go to Chicago.
I'll take care of it. Mulder...
I'm monster boy, right?
This was forwarded to us
by a local radio station.
Whoever sent it wanted them to play it over and over again,
24 hours a day.
They elected not to.
Attention, people of Illinois,
this is a warning of the utmost urgency.
At VinylRight,
12340 Wabash Terrace in Oak Brook,
there is a monster,
an evil one that preys on the people there,
but they can't see it because it hides in the light.
I see it.
I know where to look.
I can't be the only one.
We all must hunt it down and kill it,
because if we don't...
it will take us all.
You recognize the voice?
We have 96 employees.
Anyway, I'm hoping it's not one of our people,
though I don't know who else it would be.
Your company had a violent incident in its recent history?
We have a plant in Kansas City.
Back in '94, one of the warehouse guys
came in with a gun, threatened everybody.
I think it was over a woman.
May I borrow the tape?
Keep it.
So, I know our home office has to call you guys
for insurance reasons,
but this is probably just a crank, right?
Some guy making a joke?
Well, it's best to err on the side of caution.
Can you hire security for the building?
If you think we need to.
I'm also conducting my own internal investigation--
interviewing employees, seeing if they're happy.
Use your best judgment.
I'll be in touch.
Scully.
Hi. It's me. I need you to check on something.
What?
It's a phrase, "hiding in the light."
It's on this tape that I'm looking into.
On the case that's a total waste of time?
Yes, and I didn't say that it wasn't.
Uh, "to hide in the light" or "hiding in the light"--
some form of that.
I think it's in... it's in an old case file somewhere
that I got hidden away.
Which one? There's hundreds.
I'm not sure, but I appreciate it.
"Hiding in the light."
Nancy Aaronson, come to my office, please.
Uh-oh.
Now I did it.
Nancy...
Yeah?
Nancy Aaronson, come to my office, please.
What, Gary?
Don't.
Don't what?
Gary, I love you, buddy,
but you're really, really weird.
Dial and smile, Gary.
Mark Backus, come to my office, please.
See?
Nothing to it.
He just wants to say "hi" to everybody.
He's going alphabetically.
Hey, Gary.
Gary Lambert!
...Wabash Terrace in Oak Brook, there is a monster,
an evil one that preys on the people there.
But they can't see it because it hides in the light.
I see it.
I know where to look.
I can't be the only one.
...urgency.
At VinylRight, 12340 Wabash Terrace in Oak Brook,
there is a monster...
an evil one that preys on the people there.
But they can't see it because it hides in the light.
I see it.
I know where to look.
I can't be the only one.
We all must hunt it down and kill it,
because if we don't...
it will take us all.
Mulder.
"Hiding in the light."
That was a phrase spoken by one Jerrold Resnick
to a Lakeland, Florida, police investigator
on August 9, 1992.
What was he describing?
Well, Mr. Resnick was a deacon of his local church,
and apparently he was concerned that there was an evil presence
amongst his fellow parishioners
and that he alone was aware of that fact.
He was trying to warn them?
Not as such.
He showed up for mass one Sunday with four handguns.
He began wounding people,
saying, "the afflicted ones wouldn't bleed."
He committed suicide a week later in his cell.
Scully, at the risk of you telling me "I told you so,"
I think it's time for you to get down here and help me.
I told you so.
Hello? Hello?
Shh. Get down.
Get down.
Who are you?
Who's the agent in charge?
Agent Rice-- tall guy in the suit.
I'm Scully, Agent Mulder's partner.
What can you tell me?
Not much. TV news got the call.
A man's voice told them
that we needed to broadcast a "stunning revelation."
Since then, we keep ringing the phones, but nobody answers.
Who's inside? We can't be sure of the total.
It happened over lunch hour, so it could've been worse.
The lot's only got 18 cars.
One of them's a rental registered to Agent Mulder.
We're about to try him on his cell phone.
No. Not until we get a clear idea of the situation.
There's a small cafeteria in the building.
We think our guy's got everyone barricaded there.
He couldn't have picked a better spot-- one door, no windows.
We're not going to get a clear idea of the situation
unless someone in there talks to us.
If you make a phone call right now,
it could compromise Agent Mulder.
Sir, we need to find another way.
Move!
Now, get down.
Down.
Everybody stop crying.
Just shut up!
Everybody needs to be afraid of him.
He's the one that's out to get you.
I'm protecting you.
Gary, what are you talking about?
Shut up!
I'm not addressing you.
I'm addressing the actual people over here, okay?
I'm not talking to you or you or you!
Why should we be afraid of Mr. Pincus, Gary?
I'd really like to hear what you have to say.
Who are you anyway?
My name is Mulder.
You said that already.
What are you doing here?
Applying for a job.
Oh, man.
Did you come to the wrong place.
I get that.
Why should we be afraid of Mr. Pincus, Gary?
Because he's a monster.
Only, you can't see that,
because he's clouded all your minds,
but he means to take us all,
one by one,
harvest our souls,
make us into his zombies...
robots made out of meat.
Oh, God Almighty.
Gary, I want to believe that you're protecting us,
but, uh, I'm kind of afraid of that rifle.
It makes it hard for us actual people
to concentrate on what you're saying.
Why are you talking to me like I'm a three-year-old?
Don't act like you understand
what I'm talking about, because you don't.
But you will.
Shh!
Everybody hold their breath.
Oh, you sons of bitches.
Oh, Gary, what are you doing?
Gary!
Shots fired.
I say again, shots fired.
Everybody hold your fire! What's going on?!
He made us. He's shooting through the ceiling.
Sounds like an A.K.
We got to find out what the hell's
going on in that building.
I'm calling your partner.
No. If it was safe to do so,
he would have called us already.
Agent Scully, we don't have a lot of options here.
It's just my cell phone.
Let me get it.
Put your hands behind your head.
You happy now?
Huh? You want to mess with me some more?
Hello? Hello.
Is anybody on the line?
We heard gunfire.
Is everyone all right?
I just shot a zombie.
Everybody thinks I killed him, but I didn't.
Who am I speaking to?
The guy that's going to start killing
actual people if you don't put me
on the damn TV!
I think he just shot a hostage.
Who?
He's still asking for his 15 minutes of fame.
Give it to him.
Get it out of sight.
You want to know why it jumped at me like that?
It's not an it, Gary.
It's a he.
It's a man you just killed.
What was his name?
Mark Backus.
Wrong!
It stopped being Mark Backus when he turned it into a zombie,
and then he instructed it
by means of mental telepathy to attack me.
And so I shot it.
I had no choice.
But it doesn't matter, because it was already dead.
He wants us all like that--
insects, not people.
Mindless drones.
He wants to take away who we are...
to control us...
so we'll be his eyes and ears and spy on each other
and help him do his dirty work.
Gary...
if I'm the monster...
what do you need these people for?
Why don't you just let them all go?
You just wait till I put you on TV.
Then they'll see
what you are.
Answer the phone, Gary.
Dial and smile.
Okay, we're sending you the cameraman now.
Just stay calm.
Finally. Let's do it.
Warren, that is exactly what we're hearing.
All you people
put your butts against the door.
Hurry it up. Go!
You, get over by the counter.
Move it!
...to an actual live feed from the...
...that this person or people
may have something very important to say.
You see who's getting hurt if you bust down this door?
Apparently, so far, there's been
very little communication
between the police and the people...
Is he getting this?
Yeah. Closed circuit's bouncing it
right back into the building.
He thinks he's going to be a star.
All right, show us the room.
What are you doing?
Hold on. My battery cable is twisted.
Well, untwist it! And hurry the hell up!
There. Right there.
The exterior wall is clear.
Entry team into position.
Very rapid bursts.
All right, men, move in, move in!
Lie down on the floor.
Do it!
Excuse me. Warren, I'm getting a signal
that the cameraman is in place,
and we're about to switch to our live feed...
Okay, we're going to cut inside.
Yes, here it is.
Here we go.
People of America...
a monster walks among you.
Go. Pan over.
Get up.
Now, I'll show it to you.
No, Gary.
Get out of the way.
Don't do this.
Get out of the way!
Don't do this, Gary.
Get out of the way!
Put down the rifle.
Get out of the way now!
There.
Look at it.
Look at it!
See?
No!
Let me see your hands!
Clear! All right, move it!
Move it, move it!
Now you know.
You look exhausted.
No, I'm fine.
Agent Rice has the situation in hand.
Let's get you out of here.
Mulder?
I can't begin to thank you.
I owe you my life.
We all do.
Do you have any idea why he fixated on you
the way he did?
No, not at all.
I feel like I barely even knew the man.
I mean, I try to be a good guy
to work for.
You mentioned another incident with another employee
at a plant in Kansas City in 1994.
Yes.
Were you at that plant at that time?
Well, I wasn't there when it happened, but yeah.
Did I mention that?
What about Lakeland, Florida?
Have you ever lived there?
I've been there. I have relatives there.
Was there anything else?
Uh, no, Mr. Pincus.
Thank you very much for your patience.
What's going on?
I don't know.
Mulder, why didn't you take the day off?
Close the door.
There was a reason the phrase "hiding in the light"
seemed so familiar to me.
I found it or variations of it in five other X Files.
"Hiding in plain view,"
"hiding in the open," "lurking in the open."
All to describe some sort of manifestation of evil
which goes unnoticed by everyone
except the claimant in each case.
Have you slept?
Seven cities in all, dating back ten years.
VinylRight has offices
within 50 miles of four of those cities.
Greg Pincus has worked for VinylRight
for guess for how long-- ten years.
What exactly is it you think you have here?
What if Gary Lambert was right?
Mulder, you're not serious.
Just bear with me for a moment.
I mean, what if such a creature existed
that could camouflage itself
by clouding the minds of its victims?
There are antecedents for it in nature--
right?-- in the insect world.
Mantids, for instance--
they're said to be able to hypnotize their prey.
No. What if it could induce
a visual hallucination--
a sort of temporary conversion disorder?
Well, what you're describing would be
more like some kind of a visual agnosia,
an inability to recognize what's before one's eyes.
Only, Gary Lambert could see through it somehow,
as could the others--
maybe because of some heightened adrenaline level
or maybe just because he knew where to look somehow.
Mulder, he was disturbed.
Yeah, but did he see it because he was disturbed,
or was he disturbed because he saw it?
He was mentally ill.
This monster was-was a sick fantasy,
a product of his dementia.
I saw it, too.
Does that make me disturbed?
Demented?
Does that make me sick, too?
No.
No, I mean, this...
this kind of thing is not uncommon.
You...
you went through a terrible ordeal,
and sometimes people in close associations,
under tense conditions, uh,
the delusions of one can be passed on to the other.
Folie à deux?
It's not that, Scully.
It's not Helsinki syndrome either.
What I saw was real, and there may be a way to prove it.
How?
Lambert pointed out certain individuals
he said had been victimized by Pincus, turned into zombies.
The man he shot, Backus, was one of them.
If you could autopsy the body...
No, no. Absolutely not.
Scully, if this is all in my mind, as you say it is,
I would be very grateful if you would prove that.
Mulder, I am not going to serve the delusions
of Gary Lambert, a madman, by giving credence to them.
Then I'll prove it without you.
Mulder...
So, what are we looking for?
I'll know it when I see it.
What's this about?
Lambert was tracking his boss's movements
over the years.
Stalking him.
Gathering evidence.
What is it?
Did you see her? You see where she went?
Who?
You mind telling me what's going on here?
Sir?
You wanted to see me?
Yes. I was hoping you could give me some insight
into Agent Mulder's recent behavior.
Sir?
Why is he back in Illinois?
I thought that case was closed.
Agent Mulder believes that there may be a connection
between the Oak Brook incident and several other cases.
But you elected not to join him.
The Chicago field office has been in contact with him.
They describe his behavior as being erratic.
To the best of my knowledge,
Agent Mulder is currently working
on a legitimate investigation.
I will join him in Illinois immediately.
Don't you have an autopsy to do first?
This body Mulder sent to Quantico...
Mark Backus,
the shooting victim--
you're scheduled to do an examination.
Or didn't you know that?
I'll get right on it, sir.
Is there something
you want to tell me, Scully?
No, sir.
Let's start with the photos.
In fact, let's just do photos.
External exam only.
This guy came an awful long way just to have his picture taken.
Knock yourself out.
Case number 98-6522, Mark Backus,
45-year-old Caucasian male.
There are three one-centimeter gunshot entry wounds
on the left anterior chest wall
with some burn stippling present.
Come on, Mulder.
Judging from the corpse's
resolved rigor and fixed lividity,
as well as the decompositional bloating,
I'd place the time of death between
48 and 72 hours.
No.
This man died late yesterday afternoon.
Are you sure?
Absolutely.
Sure looks to me like he's been dead longer than that.
I want to do that, too.
All right. Are you ready?
Yep.
Come on.
Suddenly, I became aware of this...
presence...
and I could feel it creeping toward me.
It was terrifying.
And the next thing I knew,
this madman's inside my house.
He breaks my window, kicks in the door,
and the whole time, he's screaming about monsters--
I mean, even worse than Gary.
Miss Starns, I apologize for this incident.
I assure you it will receive my utmost attention.
Why don't you take the rest of the week, Gretchen.
Thank you, Mr. Pincus.
That man has no business carrying a gun, if you ask me.
You got to her, too, didn't you?
Agent Mulder...
I was too late. You changed her somehow.
You infected her.
Agent Mulder,
think very carefully about the next words
that come out of your mouth.
Once again, I apologize.
There's no need.
I'm well aware of the stress Agent Mulder has been under,
and I'm, uh... well, I still consider him a hero,
which is why I want to handle this privately.
We appreciate that.
For my part,
I'm happy to let this entire matter drop.
I'm sure I can persuade Miss Starns to do the same,
provided Agent Mulder is amenable.
You don't see what's going on here.
I'm afraid I do.
Lambert knew your secret.
He knew you were sucking the humanity
out of these people, feeding on them!
Agent Mulder, that's enough.
I don't want to hear another word out of you.
If you care about your career, then you'll knock this crap off!
Because I guarantee I will not stand
for another second of this of you!
Get out of the way! No! No!
Look at it! Stop!
Look at it! Look at it!
Stop struggling!
Stop it.
Five years together, Scully.
You must have seen this coming.
Did you examine Backus's body?
What did you find?
More or less what we thought we'd find.
"More or less"? What is that supposed to mean?
The body showed signs of decomposition
beyond what we expected to find,
which, in and of itself,
means nothing, really.
Time of death is notoriously hard to quantify.
Or that Lambert was telling the truth
and that man was dead before he was gunned down.
No. Mulder...
Scully, when that monster...
Pincus-- whatever the hell you want to call it--
when-when he attacked that woman last night,
he did something to the back of her neck.
H-He bit her there, or he injected something in there.
There's got to be evidence of that.
You got to check for that.
Mulder, the case is over.
There's no more evidence to be gathered.
There's only my hope
that you'll be able to see past this delusion.
You have to be willing to see.
I wish it were that simple.
Scully, you have to believe me.
Nobody else on this whole damn planet does or ever will.
You're my one in... five billion.
Well, you just made it.
I was about to ship him.
Full autopsy this time?
No. Let's flip him.
Flip him over?
Yep. Give me a hand.
We can do without these, huh?
What do you say?
Sorry.
There we go.
Sleep tight.
Don't let the bedbugs bite.
Nurse?
Nurse?!
Nurse!
It's here!
Nurse!
It's here!
It's here! It's at the window!
What's here?
There is something... there is something at the window,
and it's trying to get in here.
Please unstrap me so that I can stop it.
Sir...
Sir, we're three floors up.
There's nothing at the window.
Just... un-undo my straps
so that I can check.
I can show you...
No, don't! No!
Just, please...!
Please.
See?
Nothing's going to get you.
Okay. Just, uh...
just untie me anyway,
please.
What are you doing?
You just need some fresh air.
I can't be running in here all night, okay?
Help! Somebody help!
I'm very sorry, but it is after hours,
and Mr. Mulder is resting.
I'll have to ask you to come back in the morning.
Well, I've come a long way, and I know he wants to see me,
so what do you say?
I'm sorry. Really.
It's hospital policy.
Help! Help!
Agent Scully, I have to say,
I'm at a bit of a loss here.
Do I infer correctly from this
that you believe there's some... merit to Agent Mulder's claims?
I believe that Agent Mulder is mentally sound
and fit for duty.
Aside from that belief, I can only present to you
the few hard facts that I've been able to gather.
That, as per Agent Mulder's assertions,
a toxin has been found to have been injected
into the spine of the shooting victim, Mark Backus.
As of yet, we've been unable to identify it.
Furthermore, Gregory Pincus
has apparently disappeared without a trace,
along with half a dozen other key witnesses
integral to this investigation--
among them, Agent Mulder's nurse at the hospital
and several VinylRight employees.
Men and women described by Mulder as zombies.
I personally can vouch for the fact that there was
an intruder in Agent Mulder's hospital room.
Describe this intruder.
It was dark.
You must have gotten a glimpse. What did you see?
What did you tell him?
The truth...
as well as I understand it.
Which is?
Folie à deux.
A madness shared by two.
Mr. Jaycox, may I take a few moments
to tell you about the advantages
of WeatherRight replacement windows?
They keep down high heating and cooling costs.
They beautify...
They beautify and add value to your home as well as...
Mr. Jaycox...
it's here!