We open on a closeup of a desk, littered with pens, scissors, paperclips, and several sharpened orange pencils. It can surely only belong to one person. Two red-edged FBI Field Office Criminal Investigative and Administrative Files sit side by side atop a tan leather desk pad. We see MULDER's signature on the file covers. A voice. It is MULDER's.

As his voice-over starts, a hand starts methodically placing large photographic prints in an untidy stack atop the files. First 3 photos of UFO sightings.

MULDER: (voice-over) My name is Fox Mulder. Since my childhood, I have been obsessed by a controversial global phenomenon.

Next, a head shot of a young Samantha; a photo of 12 year-old MULDER dressed in a Star Trek outfit standing next to his sister, her left arm around his shoulder; and finally a blurry photo of 4 aliens, their outlines silhouetted behind a white screen

MULDER: Since my sister disappeared when I was 12 years old, in what I believe was an alien abduction.

A photo of MULDER and SCULLY is placed on the pile, followed by MULDER's FBI Special Agent ID and badge. Next a series of photos of characters from key X-Files investigation: The Flukeman from "The Host", George Peacock from "Home", Eugene Victor Tooms from "Squeeze"/"Tooms", and . A photo of a boy and younger girl on his back [unknown, any help here?] is followed by another showing 3 flying saucers in the sky.

MULDER: My obsession took me to the FBI, where I investigated paranormal science cases through the auspices of a unit known as the X-Files. Through this unit I could continue my work on the alien phenomenon, and the search for my missing sister.

Next, a photo of MULDER and SCULLY standing together outside in the rain from "The Pilot". Then SCULLY in scrubs as she performs an autopsy, MULDER watching on. Another shot of MULDER and SCULLY working a case, followed by SCULLY's FBI ID and badge. A shot of MULDER lying gravely ill in a hospital bed, SCULLY at his bedside holding his hand with her head on his chest. A shot of MULDER and SCULLY outside at night, guns drawn. MULDER kneeling, holding a stricken SCULLY in his arms. Finally, a recent photo of MULDER and SCULLY embracing, his chin on her forehead

MULDER: In 1993, the FBI sought to impugn my work, bringing in a scientist and medical doctor to debunk it, which only deepened my obsession for the better part of a decade, during which time that agent, Dana Scully, had her own faith tested.

We see the stack of photos start to smoulder, smoke rising towards the camera.

MULDER: In 2002, in a change of direction and policy, the FBI closed the X-Files, and our investigation ceased.

The smouldering photos suddenly burst into flames. The topmost photo of MULDER and SCULLY starts to bubble and curl as it is engulfed in the fire.

MULDER: But my personal obsession did not.

We cut to amateur footage of 3 black helicopters flying low over a 2-storey building and metal roadbridge in pursuit of a flying saucer.

Amateur footage taken whilst driving along a highway showing a triangular spaceship flying over the countryside.

Ancient rock paintings showing primitive drawings of alien visitations. A Biblical painting showing a flying saucer hovering atop a mountain, rays of light emanating from its underside illuminating an individual on the ground. Finally, footage taken from a high-rise office block window, several storeys up, showing 4 spaceships flying in formation over a large city.

MULDER: There are 10,000 sightings each year in North America alone, and so it's been since the dawn of time. Stone Age and even biblical references, into our modern age.

Black and white footage of a small single-seater plane flying over a snow-capped mountain range. Video taken from inside the cockpit showing 9 spacecraft flying in close formation.

The front page of the Roswell Daily Record newspaper from Tuesday, July 8, 1947, with headline "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region" and subtitles "No Details of Flying Disk Are Revealed" and "Roswell Hardware Man and Wife Report Disk Seen".

The front page of the Roswell Daily Record from Wednesday, July 9, 1947, with headline "Gen. Ramey Empties Roswell Saucer" and subtitles "Sheriff Wilcox Takes Leading Role in Excitement Over Report 'Saucer' Found", "Send First Roswell Wire Photos from Record Office" and "Ramey Says Excitement Is Not Justified. General Ramey Says Disk Is Weather Balloon".

MULDER: In 1947, Kenneth Arnold saw nine unidentified craft out the window of his small plane, followed by the historic crash at Roswell and its legendary cover-up.

Grainy black and white nighttime footage of 15 or more small white craft flying in close formation behind the Capitol. Footage from inside the United Nations chamber, the United States representative holding a 2-foot wide flat disk

MULDER: In 1957, UFOs were spotted over our nation's capital. The Pentagon held press briefings.

Amateur colour footage taken from the ground showing formations of 4 and 3 fighter aircraft pursuing 3 bright white flying saucers.

MULDER: Multiple witnesses in 1967 at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana see fighters scramble but easily outrun by UFOs that climb upwards of 200,000 feet - twice the service ceiling of our highest-flying spy planes.

Footage of astronaut Edgar Mitchell getting into his spacesuit with the help of a NASA technician. Mitchell descending the steps of the lunar lander onto the surface of the moon. Grainy footage of a supposed alien autopsy. News footage of Cyrus Vance and Gerald Ford. News releases and printed statements from Congressman Gerald R. Ford, House Republican Leader, stating "anxious to see a congressional investigation of UFO's", and that a secret subcommittee had held hearings in 1961 about the subject.

MULDER: Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the Moon, cites secret studies on extraterrestrial materials and bodies. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and future president Gerald R. Ford validate the UFO phenomenon in official government memoranda.

A flying saucer drops below the cloud layer into a rough and mountainous area of New Mexico, smoke pouring from as it descends in a tight arc before slamming hard into the earth and skimming along the ground, churning up the surface and damaging the craft.

MULDER: But now people only laugh, and only Roswell is remembered.

A closeup camera shot panning around the crashed craft. The upper surface mostly intact from the crash whilst smoke billows from the wreckage.

MULDER: But we must ask ourselves: are they really a hoax? Are we truly alone?

We see an alien hand touching a blackened window from the inside of the craft. A survivor.

MULDER: Or are we being lied to?

A lot of exposition to start the new mini-series, bringing new viewers up to speed and reminding us old viewers of what drew us to the series back in the 1990's. As the opening credits roll we are greeted with an almost-original version from the first season, albeit with the welcome addition of Mitch Pileggi as Skinner.

Day. Clouds cast dappled spots on the ground as the sun shines behind them. A freight train meanders slowly around a long, lazy bend in the distance. A green military bus drives along a deserted road. The driver's eyes are fixed straight ahead. As the camera pans back we can see the bus is empty except for two passengers. Paper-obscured side windows let yellow-tinged light into the bus. A young bespectacled man in neat army uniform sitting at the front. A stern man wearing a black suit and tie and crisp white shirt sits behind him several seats back. Remaining in his seat the young man turns his head toward the MAN IN BLACK.

DOCTOR: Can I ask how much longer?

MAN IN BLACK: Two shakes of a lamb's tail, Doc.

The bus suddenly hits a divot as it leaves the blacktop. The DOCTOR looks apprehensive about what is to come. The bus rolls to a stop in front of a low wire fence on a level area of ground. The door opens. The DOCTOR is first off the bus, holding a large black medical bag and his cap under his right arm. He straightens up and stops, staring into the distance. The MAN IN BLACK, tall and angular, joins him at his side, unperturbed. He puts on his black fedora and quickly sizes up the unsure DOCTOR.

MAN IN BLACK: Step quick.

The MAN IN BLACK walks off. Over their heads we see the wreckage of the crashed spacecraft in the distance. A military truck and a couple of Jeeps are already parked at the site. A dozen or so armed soldiers are milling around the site and guarding its perimeter. Smoke is still billowing from the wreckage.

The DOCTOR follows the MAN IN BLACK slowly down a dirt track towards the crash site. We see a large chunk of the craft was broken off during the impact. Men are digging in the ground around the craft with shovels. Floodlights have been erected to let work continue into the night. The DOCTOR and the MAN IN BLACK finally reach the doomed spacecraft and stand together in front of it, awestruck.

A quiet glass-walled observation room adjoining an operating theatre. Through the glass we see 4 surgeons already at work. The camera pans slightly around and we see the back of someone dressed in scrubs, her shoulder-length red hair neatly tied back in a ponytail. She's looking up at a monitor hanging from the ceiling whilst scrubbing her hands under running water in preparation for surgery. The monitor is displaying a photograph of a young male patient, revealing his name as Elijah Williams. A NURSE in surgical scrubs and gloves standing in the doorway finally interrupts the silence, and the camera stays fixed on her.

NURSE: Excuse me. Dr. Scully?

SCULLY: Yes.

NURSE: You have a phone call.

SCULLY: I'm just heading into surgery.

More surgeons pass behind the NURSE and enter the operating theatre

NURSE: That's what I told him, but... but he said it was important.

SCULLY: Who is it?

NURSE: He says his name is Walter Skinner. Assistant Director, FBI.

The NURSE leaves and she follows the surgeons into the operating theatre. As the camera pans back around to the redhead, we finally see SCULLY's face properly for the first time. She turns slowly and stares long into the distance. It must have been a long time since she's heard that name.

JIMMY KIMMEL is interviewing BARACK OBAMA on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The camera pulls back slowly and we see that we are watching the show on a laptop computer screen. A web browser displays the "mindquad" website. A search box shows the most recent search to have to been "president alien admission". The title of the video playing is "Jimmy Kimmel Live - Barack Obama Talks UFOs."

JIMMY KIMMEL: If I was the president, the moment I was inaugurated, my hand would still be hot from touching the Bible, and I would immediately race to wherever they hold... have the files about Area 51 and UFOs, and I'd go through everything to find out what happened.

BARACK OBAMA: (Laughing) The aliens won't let it happen!

The camera pulls back further. We hear a cellphone vibrate. We see MULDER sitting in front of the laptop as he picks up his phone and answers it.

MULDER: My life's become a punch line. What's happening out there, Scully?

Out of surgery, SCULLY is standing in the observation room still in her scrubs

SCULLY: A.D. Skinner's looking for you.

We see more of MULDER's (home) office. A lot of things that we might remember from his basement office. Filing cabinets against the wall. The orange pencils have been tidied up into a tin on the desk.

MULDER: Why doesn't he just call me?

SCULLY: He doesn't know how to reach you, Mulder. I barely know how myself.

MULDER: What does he want, Scully?

SCULLY: He wants to know if you've been watching someone called Tad O'Malley on the 'net. Apparently he's reached out to us from the FBI.

MULDER: Hold on. I'm bringing him up.

MULDER searches for the name and a new video starts playing on the mindquad website. We see a smartly-dressed talk-show host, TAD O'MALLEY, sitting behind a desk. A video of the burning World Trade Center is playing behind him as he talks to the camera.

O'MALLEY: (video) It comes down to this. It's a mainstream liberal media lying to you about life, liberty and your God-given right to bear firearms.

We can safely say that MULDER's first impression is not favourable.

MULDER: Why would I watch this jackass, Scully?

O'MALLEY: (video) 9/11 was a false flag operation. It was a warm-up to World War III. Now, hear me on this. It's all part of a conspiracy dating back to the UFO crash at Roswell...

MULDER: (interrupting the video) I thought you were done with UFOs. The stranglehold they put on your very existence, I believe is how you put it.

SCULLY: I'm just the messenger, Mulder. Apparently this guy is desperate to meet.

MULDER: Tell Skinner to set it up.

SCULLY: Seriously?

MULDER: And don't pretend I'm going alone.

A busy city street intersection. Day. From behind we see SCULLY, smartly dressed and hair hanging freely and dancing in the breeze, staring at the Capitol Building from a distance. A car pulls up at the kerb behind her and she turns. MULDER gets out from the passenger door. He's wearing shades, is unshaven and wearing a T-shirt and lightweight jacket. It feels like they haven't seen each other for a while.

SCULLY: Uber?

MULDER: Hitchhiked. Relax, Scully. I'm kidding.

SCULLY: I just worry about you, Mulder.

MULDER: Not to worry, Doc. I'm taking good care of myself.

SCULLY: It's good for you to get out of that little house every once in a while.

MULDER: It certainly was good for you.

SCULLY takes a moment before smiling back at MULDER wryly.

SCULLY: I'm always happy to see you.

MULDER: And I'm always happy to find a reason.

They share a moment and smile at each other.

A black stretch limousine pulls up alongside the kerb, interrupting the moment. MULDER and SCULLY look at each other. The driver and O'MALLEY get out. The driver stands by the car whilst O'MALLEY approaches Moose and Squirrel.

O'MALLEY: Fox Mulder?

MULDER: Yes.

O'MALLEY extends a hand as he heads towards MULDER. They shake.

O'MALLEY: Tad O'Malley.

He turns to SCULLY.

O'MALLEY: And you must be former agent Dana Scully.

O'MALLEY shakes SCULLY's hand.

SCULLY: Yes. That's... quite an entrance you make there.

MULDER: She shot men with less provocation.

O'MALLEY: Funny. I heard you were funny. Join me for a little ride?

MULDER: I'd be happy to talk to you, Mr. O'Malley, but right here is fine.

O'MALLEY: Allow me my small precautions. Low-flying aircraft often employ what they call "dirtboxes" to record conversations that I prefer private.

MULDER looks skyward

SCULLY: Aircraft employed by whom?

O'MALLEY: I'm afraid I can only speculate. Shall we?

MULDER ponders, hanging back with SCULLY as O'MALLEY gets back in the car. SCULLY gives MULDER a look before following O'MALLEY to the car. MULDER follows moments later. Inside the limousine O'MALLEY retrieves a bottle of Louis Montreuil champagne chilling on ice and presents it to his guests.

O'MALLEY: Because... why not?

MULDER: None for me, thanks. Scully?

SCULLY: I take it you have enemies.

O'MALLEY: Well, not always of my choosing, Dana.

MULDER tries the lower the window. The switch does nothing.

MULDER: Air's getting a little hot in here.

O'MALLEY: Oh, I'm sorry... those don't roll down. I had the vehicle bulletproofed.

MULDER: 'Cause you never know when a gun-toting liberal might go Hinckley.

SCULLY tries to steer the conversation back on track whilst the men continue to size each other up.

SCULLY: You'll have to excuse him. How can we help you, Mr. O'Malley?

O'MALLEY: I'm not some Johnny-come-lately to the UFO phenomenon, Mr. Mulder. Like yourself, I'm a true believer.

MULDER: No, I only want to believe. Actual proof has been strangely hard to come by.

O'MALLEY: You ran the X-Files. You were the X-Files. You all but wrote the book.

MULDER: I'm afraid that book is closed.

SCULLY: As are the X-Files. For better or worse, we've... moved on with our lives.

MULDER turns to look at SCULLY.

MULDER: Yes, we have. For better or for worse.

SCULLY's eyes turn towards MULDER, but she doesn't make eye contact with him. Clearly some tension there.

O'MALLEY: Well that's beside the point.

MULDER: What is the point, Mr. O'Malley? And how does a man with your conservative credentials count himself a believer in UFOs and 9/11 false flag conspiracies?

O'MALLEY: I take it you think my message is disingenuous?

MULDER: Conspiracy sells... it pays for bulletproof limousines.

O'MALLEY: You think I do it for the ratings?

MULDER: I think you're The O'Reilly Factor with a shopworn little gimmick.

O'MALLEY: What Bill O'Reilly knows about the truth could fill an eyedropper.

MULDER smiles at this, clearly surprised. He shares the look with SCULLY, before directing the conversation to test O'MALLEY's knowledge on the subject.

MULDER: The Kelly Cahill incident.

O'MALLEY looks confidently back at MULDER

O'MALLEY: Kelly Cahill and her husband were driving home in Victoria, Australia, when a craft appeared overhead. The Cahills lost an hour of time, and Kelly was hospitalized with severe stomach pain after discovering a triangle-shaped mark near her navel.

O'MALLEY: As I said... my interest is real. What I need is your expertise.

SCULLY: Our expertise for what?

O'MALLEY: I'm rattling some pretty big cages in the intelligence community, but I'm prepared to go all in - prepared to blow open maybe the most evil conspiracy the world has ever known.

SCULLY: That's quite an assertion, Mr. O'Malley. What's stopping you?

O'MALLEY: If I'm putting my ass out there, I need to know it's hanging by more than just a very slender thread.

MULDER turns to SCULLY

MULDER: Apparently, he has something to show us.

O'MALLEY: Something... and someone.

A long gravel track cuts through a field lush with grass. O'MALLEY's limousine approaches from the distance, dust thrown up behind the car. The car comes to a stop outside a small rural farmhouse at the side of the track. O'MALLEY, MULDER and SCULLY get out and approach the house. The driver gets out and waits with the car.

SCULLY: Aliens couldn't find this place. How did you, Mr. O'Malley?

O'MALLEY: A man in my position finds himself contacted by interesting strangers.

Inside the house someone notices the threesome approaching the door and puts on a lightweight long cardigan, before heading to the door and opening it.

O'MALLEY: Everyone, meet Sveta.

The door opens and we see SVETA, a beautiful brunette with long hair falling around her face.

O'MALLEY: Sveta, this is Dana Scully and Fox Mulder.

SVETA smiles and shakes the hands of MULDER and SCULLY

SVETA: Hi.

MULDER: Hi.

SVETA: Hello. Welcome to my home.

O'MALLEY: Sveta's who suggested I call you.

MULDER: And how would you know to do that?

SVETA: You probably don't recognize me.

MULDER smiles at SVETA

MULDER: No, I think I'd remember.

SVETA: You interviewed me and my family when I was just a little girl. Right after my first abduction. Please, come in.

MULDER looks away slightly, trying to remember the meeting.

They enter the house. Standing in front of them, SVETA pulls up her top to expose her abdomen. We see 6 belly-button-sized deep circular scars around her navel.

SVETA: These are from over 20 years.

MULDER and SCULLY are seated at opposite ends of a 3-seater sofa. O'MALLEY has a chair.

O'MALLEY: You both probably recognize the classic scoop-mark scars.

SCULLY: How many times have you been abducted, Sveta?

SVETA: I lost count. And then there are the screen memories they implant.

O'MALLEY: The memories implanted over actual memories to make abductees forget.

SCULLY: I'm familiar with the syndrome.

SVETA: They aren't always effective, and things come back to me sometimes.

SCULLY: Like what kind of things?

SVETA: Tests they do. Harvesting and stuff.

We see close-up flash images of a foetus and SVETA lying on her back in considerable pain.

SCULLY: The aliens made you pregnant?

SVETA looks at O'MALLEY. He nods slowly.

SVETA: A number of times. But they take the babies before they're born. Those are the memories they can't remove.

SCULLY: They removed your unborn fetuses?

SVETA: Through here. They do everything through here. Even with the DNA.

SVETA points to her navel and the half-dozen scars on her abdomen.

O'MALLEY: Tell them about your DNA, Sveta.

SVETA: I have alien DNA. For sure.

SCULLY: Have you had a doctor confirm that?

SVETA: No.

MULDER nods to himself before turning to SCULLY.

MULDER: Something you could test? Dana?

SCULLY stares back at MULDER.

The 1947 Roswell crash site. The crashed craft is embedded about a quarter in the ground at an angle of 45 degrees or so. A group of 7 armed soldiers jog past the wreckage and form up with a more armed soldiers, who lead the DOCTOR and MAN IN BLACK toward a cleared area of ground. They notice some small dark pools of blood on the ground. They approach closer. The DOCTOR takes the lead. The MAN IN BLACK follows whilst the soldiers stay back, weapons drawn. In the grass a few yards in front of them lies a black-eyed grey alien, trying to crawl away from them on its belly. It turns its head back towards the approaching men.

DOCTOR: Oh, Lord. Oh, good Lord.

MAN IN BLACK: Damn thing could be dangerous.

The MAN IN BLACK takes a handgun out of his jacket and fires twice at the alien.

DOCTOR: What are you doing?!

Suddenly the armed soldiers all open fire and unload multiple rounds into the alien's body.

DOCTOR: For God's sake! What have you done?!

The alien lies facedown and motionless on the ground, it's body riddled with bullet holes.

SVETA is sitting on the side of a hospital bed in a room full of medical equipment. SCULLY is shining a pen torch into SVETA's mouth whilst she takes a mouth swab.

SCULLY: I'm gonna take a swab. If you'll roll up your sleeve I'll get some blood, too.

SVETA rolls up her left sleeve.

SVETA: I know you're doubtful about this.

SCULLY: What makes you say that, Sveta?

SVETA: I'm kind of a mind reader.

SCULLY: Is that a personal trait, or is that what happens with alien DNA?

SVETA: I can move things. With my mind.

SCULLY wants proof to back up such a claim.

SCULLY: Would you care to demonstrate?

SVETA: I can't do it all the time.

SCULLY: So it just... happens whenever.

SVETA: I don't know how to control it.

SVETA : You were a couple before.

SCULLY: I'm sorry, what?

SVETA: You and Mr. Mulder. You were together, but now you're not.

SCULLY's demeanour suddenly changes, from that of someone taking SVETA's claims with a pinch of salt to someone quite uncomfortable about what she might find out.

SCULLY: You reading my mind, Sveta?

SVETA: He's been depressed. What you diagnosed as endogenous depression. It's what killed your relationship. And you have a child together.

SCULLY jabs the needle into SVETA's arm with more than degree of extra force than is necessary. SVETA winces.

SCULLY: That's enough.

SVETA: Do you believe me now?

SCULLY: Why don't you tell me.

SVETA: You don't know what it's like to be abducted. To be taken against your will. You don't know.

SCULLY moves closer to SVETA and stares directly into her eyes for a few seconds.

SVETA: Well... maybe you do.

MULDER's house. Day. We're in a similarly rural location to SVETA's farmhouse. We hear a helicopter approaching. MULDER opens a screen door and steps outside onto a covered porch. The helicopter lands and O'MALLEY and his driver/bodyguard get out. O'MALLEY approaches the house. MULDER descends the 8 steps from the porch into his back yard to meet him. They walk and talk back towards the waiting helicopter.

MULDER: I was right about one thing. Conspiracy's made you a very rich man.

O'MALLEY: One way to look at it. What's made me rich is my pursuit of the truth.

MULDER: My pursuit's not been so lucrative.

As they near the helicopter O'MALLEY stops. MULDER takes another step before turning back to him.

O'MALLEY: I feel I need to warn you. When we arrive at our destination, the people we're meeting are very paranoid about the work they do.

A large, mostly empty warehouse. A scientist in a blue laboratory coat is slowly making his way towards the entrance. Outside, O'MALLEY leads a blindfolded MULDER to the warehouse's entrance, a pair of large, heavy, metal doors. Two suited men open them.

O'MALLEY: I want to prepare you for what you're about to see, Mr. Mulder.

They stop in the doorway. O'MALLEY removes the black hood from MULDER's head, who takes a moment to adjust his eyes before scanning the inside of the warehouse.

MULDER: A Faraday cage? For what?

O'MALLEY: Do you know what an ARV is?

MULDER: That's what you brought me here to see?

The scientist, a middle-aged Japanese man with greying hair, reaches them as they enter the building.

O'MALLEY: This is Garner. He'll walk you through the science.

GARNER turns and leads the two men towards the Faraday cage at the other end of the warehouse.

MULDER: That's an alien replica vehicle?

GARNER: Given your background, I would've thought you'd seen one before.

MULDER: No, never. Not like that.

GARNER: What we're showing you we do at great risk. Colleagues have had labs burned to the ground and work destroyed by our own government.

We see an overhead shot of the Faraday cage containing the ARV. 6 scientists in blue lab coats are in the enclosure. The triangular ARV's upper surface is covered with many small rectangular panels. Its three cockpit windows are orange-gold. One of the scientists opens a gate for GARNER, MULDER and O'MALLEY to enter.

MULDER approaches the craft with eager anticipation and touches a panel on the leading edge near to the nose. He looks like a kid in a candy store for the first time. The craft slowly powers up and smoothly rises off the ground, almost silently. Its landing legs retract and the craft rises to a height of a few metres, where it hovers. MULDER has to let go as it rises up just out of reach.

GARNER: It's running on toroidal energy - so-called zero-point energy. Simply the energy of the universe.

MULDER: You're talking about free energy?

O'MALLEY: That we've had since the '40s.

GARNER: No fuel, no flame, no combustion. A simple electromagnetic field. Technology kept secret for 70 years while the world ran on petroleum.

MULDER: Oil companies making trillions.

GARNER: What I'm gonna show you next is the most unbelievable part.

GARNER motions to one of the other scientists. The craft's surface shimmers and flickers and disappears in a matter of seconds, leaving MULDER, O'MALLEY, GARNER and the other scientists moving around in an apparently-empty Faraday cage.

MULDER: Gravity warp drive but... how?

GARNER: Element 115. Ununpentium.

MULDER: Where did you get it?

Back to 1947 and Roswell crash site. Night. Under floodlights, the DOCTOR wraps the lifeless alien in a clean white sheet and picks up the body in his arms. Escorted by armed soldiers he carries the body away from the crash site towards a waiting truck. The MAN IN BLACK signals for the soldiers to stop as they reach him. The DOCTOR continues on.

MAN IN BLACK: Where are you going with that thing?

Clearly more determined, the DOCTOR answers back over his shoulder as he walks past.

DOCTOR: I'm a man of medicine, sir.

MAN IN BLACK: It's dead. It's done now.

The DOCTOR stops and turns back towards the MAN IN BLACK.

DOCTOR: Then why even bring me out here?

He turns away and continues towards the waiting truck with the alien body in his arms.

Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital. SCULLY is in the empty operating theatre, sitting on a bed taking blood from her left arm. As the camera pans around we see O'MALLEY lurking in the doorway.

O'MALLEY: Testing yourself for alien DNA?

SCULLY: High cholesterol.

O'MALLEY: Sorry to barge in on you like this. It looks like you've had quite a day.

SCULLY has blood spatter to the front and left of her neck. Her scrubs seem fresh. They walk through to the adjoining monitoring room that SCULLY seems to consider a second home.

SCULLY: The usual around here.

O'MALLEY walk in and looks up at the monitors suspended from the ceiling in the room. X-rays, a photo and details of Lucas Moore - another patient - are on the displays.

O'MALLEY: Doesn't look so usual to me.

SCULLY: It's a disease called microtia. Children born without ears.

O'MALLEY: You operate on these kids?

SCULLY: I assist the surgeons, who are really doing God's work. Giving kids what their biology neglected.

O'MALLEY: So it's a genetic deformity?

SCULLY: Possibly, but not conclusively. It's most common in Navajo Indians.

O'MALLEY: What's so striking is how alien it looks.

SCULLY: I assure you that is simply a random coincidence, Mr. O'Malley.

O'MALLEY: You mean, unrelated to your previous work experience?

SCULLY: Far, far from that experience.

O'MALLEY: Do you miss it at all? The X-Files?

SCULLY: As a scientist, it was probably some of the most intense and challenging work I've ever done. I've never felt so alive.

O'MALLEY: You mean working with Mulder?

SCULLY: Possibly one of the most intense and challenging relationships I may ever have. And quite honestly, the most impossible.

O'MALLEY: Yeah. I got that impression.

SCULLY: Are you here for a reason?

O'MALLEY: I needed to know you weren't upset by Mulder putting you on the spot with this Sveta business.

SCULLY: No, it's fine. I'm... used to it.

O'MALLEY: And I just wanted to see you again.

The rural farmhouse. Night. A knock at the door. Putting on a robe, SVETA turns on a couple of table lamps and takes a look through the window to see who it is. She opens the door.

SVETA: How did you get here?

MULDER: Hitchhiked.

Inside the farmhouse a little later. MULDER and SVETA are sitting at the dining table.

On a side table we see framed black and white photos of (possibly) her grandparents, and a larger photo of (possibly) SVETA as a young infant being held by her mother.

MULDER: There was a moment you were being asked about your abductions... about your pregnancies, how the aliens took your babies and before you answered, you looked at O'Malley. Why?

SVETA: Because it's not exactly the right question.

MULDER: I'm sorry, I don't understand.

SVETA: Because I don't believe it's aliens who were taking them.

MULDER: But you said you were abducted.

SVETA's eyes start to well up. She is clearly finding it difficult to talk about her experiences.

SVETA: This is difficult. These are very difficult memories, and this is... very dangerous answers.

MULDER: Well, everything stays between us, Sveta.

SVETA: The things I've experienced... they've affected my entire life. They've made it impossible to have anything like a normal existence.

MULDER: What are you afraid of?

SVETA: That it only gets worse.

MULDER nods in understanding.

MULDER: Sveta, who took your babies?

SVETA: Men.

MULDER: Men? Humans? You saw their faces?

SVETA's voice starts to break. Her eyes more tearful. She takes a deep breath.

SVETA: Yes. They took me aboard their ships, and...I was afraid they would kill me if I ever told anyone the truth.

MULDER: It's why you... didn't see a doctor...

SVETA: Who can I trust? They would call me a liar when they're the liars.

MULDER: You can trust me.

SVETA: You worked for the government.

MULDER: Technically, but not for years.

SVETA's eyes are wide, focused intently on MULDER.

SVETA: But you always wondered... if they weren't lying to you too.

MULDER looks at her in silence.

Inside a moving car. Night. A cellphone vibrates. The incoming caller is displayed as Mulder. SCULLY picks up the phone and answers. We see she is sitting in the plush black leather backseat of O'MALLEY's limousine.

SCULLY: Mulder.

MULDER: Scully, listen to me. I've been misled. We've been misled.

SCULLY: Mulder, hold on a second.

MULDER: No, just... just listen to what I'm saying. What if everything we've been led to believe in is a lie? What if there is no alien conspiracy?

SCULLY leans toward O'MALLEY who is sitting in the backseat with her. He's removed his tie and the neck of his shirt is unbuttoned. She hands him her glass of champagne to hold.

SCULLY: Can we pull over a second? I've got to get out.

The limousine pulls over to the kerb. SCULLY steps out of the car onto a well lit street in Washington, D.C.

SCULLY: Mulder, what are you talking about?

MULDER: I'm talking about everything we've been led to believe. Our work, the X-Files, everything.

SCULLY: Can we talk about this soon?

("soon" feels like a very odd word to use here. Later or tomorrow would surely be more natural?)

MULDER: I know why O'Malley came to us, Scully. (O'MALLEY has gotten out of the car and places his hand on SCULLY's shoulder). And that girl is the key, Scully. Sveta is the key to everything.

SCULLY: Couldn't you be jumping to conclusions?

MULDER: I can't do this over the phone right now, Scully. I got to go.

MULDER is standing outside the farmhouse with SVETA.

SCULLY: Mulder, where are you going? Mulder? Talk to me.

Day. The door to the old basement X-Files office opens. The room is empty aside from a stepladder and some upturned brushes for sweeping the floor. No desk. No filing cabinets. MULDER's old "I Want to Believe" poster lies on the floor. 30 or sharpened orange pencils are still firmly embedded in the ceiling. We see a few large rectangular holes in the ceiling caused by fallen tiles that are lying on the floor. Welcome home MULDER.

SKINNER stands in the doorway as MULDER enters. SKINNER follows. He doesn't look a day older than when we last saw him.

MULDER: Where are they... the files?

SKINNER: I don't know where they are.

MULDER: You said no one had been down here - it hadn't been touched.

SKINNER: Not for 14 years since you and Scully left the Bureau.

MULDER: I need access to the X-Files.

SKINNER: Can you tell me what this is about?

MULDER: It's about controlling the past to control the future. It's about fiction masquerading as fact. Now, you owe me some answers, Skinner.

SKINNER: You just calm the hell down, Mulder, before we both get pissed off. I don't take orders from you.

MULDER: No. Who do you take orders from?

SKINNER: Why do you think I called you? Because I was looking out for you - like I've always looked out for you.

MULDER starts to get angry.

MULDER: A decade of my life in this office.

He lashes out. He manages to rip the I Want to Believe poster into two pieces whilst kicking the fallen ceiling tile it is lying on top of.

MULDER: And all the time, I was being led by my nose through a dark alley to a dead end, exactly as they planned.

SKINNER: You're blaming me for that?

Now MULDER is getting angry with himself.

MULDER: No, I'm blaming myself. I'm sure they lied to you, too.

SKINNER: There hasn't been a day since you left that I haven't reached for my phone to call you, Mulder, wishing that you were still down here. Since 9/11, this country has taken a big turn in a very strange direction.

MULDER: How they police us and spy on us, tell us that makes us safer? (MULDER shakes his head.) We've never been in more danger.

SKINNER takes a few steps closer to MULDER and offers up a challenge.

SKINNER: Then do something about it, Mulder.

MULDER takes out his cellphone and dials a number in his contacts list before heading for the door. SKINNER's cellphone rings straight away. MULDER stops in the doorway as SKINNER takes his phone out of his pocket and looks at it.

MULDER: Now you've got my number.

MULDER walks off down the corridor, leaving SKINNER standing alone in the X-Files office.

The Truth Squad with Tad O'Malley studio. He's wrapping up the broadcast, talking to the camera. The large video screen behind him is playing footage of a police SWAT house preparing to enter a house.

O'MALLEY: So if you own a registered firearm, you will actually be targeted as an enemy by your own government in the likely imposition of martial law.

He turns to another camera and gets up out of his chair, walking around to the front of his desk.

O'MALLEY: But I'd like to end the show on a brighter note by pointing out the heroic work being done by a friend of mine. Literally putting kids back together who are born without something we all take for granted. At Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital in Washington, D.C., Dr. Dana Scully - working to mend the lives of unfortunate children.

Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital. SCULLY is standing with her arms folded, watching the live Truth Squad broadcast on her laptop. The nurse calls to her from the doorway, holding a piece of paper.

NURSE: Dr. Scully? (SCULLY quickly closes the laptop) I've got your test results back.

SCULLY: Thank you. (SCULLY carefully looks at the test results. She notices something. She calls the NURSE back) Nurse? I need you to do something.

NURSE: Of course.

SCULLY marks up the test report with a pen

SCULLY: I need these samples retested.

NURSE: Was there a problem with them?

A surgeon in scrubs calls to SCULLY from the corridor before entering the operating theatre.

SURGEON: Dr. Scully? We need you in here.

SCULLY smiles to the NURSE

SCULLY: I just want them retested, please. Thank you. Oh... and I'm expecting a call... well, I'm hoping for a call... from somebody named Mulder.

Night. MULDER is standing on a well-lit tree-lined path. We see the Washington Monument illuminated in the distance. Footsteps approach MULDER from behind. It is an old, grey-bearded man. It's the Roswell DOCTOR.

DOCTOR: Is the hour absolutely necessary?

MULDER: It was important that I see you.

DOCTOR: We made an agreement about our meeting in unsecured environments.

MULDER: I took the usual precautions. I'm assuming you did too?

They both look up as they suddenly hear an aircraft flying directly overhead. We see the plane's lights against the night sky. They keep watching until it's no longer close, then resume their clandestine conversation.

MULDER: I've been standing here for over an hour. I haven't seen a soul. I called you because you said, if I ever put the pieces together, that you would confirm.

DOCTOR: And have you put them together?

MULDER: I've met someone. I've seen something.

DOCTOR: Because you weren't even close. Warring aliens lighting each other on fire and other such nonsense.

MULDER: I was being cleverly manipulated.

DOCTOR: And what brings this new clarity?

MULDER: I saw an ARV, running on free energy. I saw it disappear.

DOCTOR: That's what they all seem to do.

MULDER: But the technology exists. It's existed since Roswell. And it's been in use, being used on humans in human testing, the taking of men, women and children that's misreported as alien abductions.

DOCTOR: So you believe you have the "how".

MULDER: Yes. And I think I know the "why".

DOCTOR: The "why" is more complicated than you may ever know, Mr. Mulder.

MULDER: 60 years ago we were warned about the military industrial complex gathering too much power.

DOCTOR: This is old news.

MULDER: The countdown has begun. It began in 2012 but no one knew.

DOCTOR: Tell me something new.

MULDER: Alien technology being used against us. Not by aliens, not with aliens, but by a venal conspiracy of men against humanity.

DOCTOR: You're wasting my time.

MULDER: What are the tests for?

DOCTOR: You tell me, Mr. Mulder.

MULDER: Ten years ago, you came to me, saying you couldn't take your secrets to your grave, that you couldn't live with it.

We see flashbacks of the young DOCTOR present at abductions whilst medical procedures are being carried out.

DOCTOR: I'm a man of medicine. I didn't know how my work would be used. The lies are so great, Mr. Mulder. The truth must be unassailable.

MULDER: So let me tell the world.

DOCTOR: They'll make a mockery of us.

MULDER: Then let me take that bullet.

DOCTOR: And these men are capable of that. You're nearly there. You're close.

The DOCTOR starts to walk away, but stops and turns back towards MULDER. He pauses for several seconds.

DOCTOR: Roswell. That was a smokescreen.

The DOCTOR turns and walks away

MULDER: (to himself) So I've been told.

MULDER turns and walks off in the other direction.

Night. A silver SUV pulls up on the grass outside MULDER's rural house. It's SCULLY. She gets out as MULDER opens the door to greet her. SCULLY climbs the steps onto the porch.

MULDER: What are you doing here, Scully?

SCULLY: Mulder, you hang up on me, I don't hear from you all day. You're on some jag about the X-Files...

MULDER: I figured it out. It all makes complete sense. All these years we've been deceived.

SCULLY: (shaking her head) I don't know what you mean.

MULDER: I... I couldn't call you because it's gonna sound crazy.

SCULLY: That's why I'm here, Mulder, as somebody who cares about you. As somebody who's worried about you.

MULDER: All right just listen to me, all right?

SCULLY: (Firmly) No, you listen to me, Mulder.

MULDER takes SCULLY by the shoulders

MULDER: Scully, you got to trust me on this.

SCULLY: I have seen this before. You're on fire, believing that you're onto some truth, that you can save the world.

MULDER: This will finally be their undoing.

SCULLY: It'll be your undoing, Mulder.

MULDER: This is my life. This is everything. This is everything I believe in.

SCULLY: You want to believe. You so badly want to believe.

MULDER: I do believe. I believe that Tad O'Malley is right. This is not an alien conspiracy. It's a conspiracy of men.

SCULLY: Tad O'Malley is a charming man full of charming B.S., Mulder.

MULDER: No, he woke me up.

SCULLY: How do you know he's not playing you? He's a player.

MULDER: He's been a godsend.

SCULLY: What are you talking about?

MULDER: The truth is out there Scully, and Tad O'Malley's gonna broadcast it.

SCULLY: Mulder... listen to me. As your friend, and as a physician, you are on dangerous ground here.

MULDER: I know what I'm doing.

Suddenly we hear SVETA's voice through the screen door.

SVETA: Is everything... okay?

We see SVETA standing inside MULDER's house. SVETA looks at SCULLY. SCULLY's mind starts to run the numbers. This isn't going to end well.

MULDER: (nodding to SVETA) Yeah, everything is okay.

MULDER: (Turning back to SCULLY) She's the key to everything. Sveta... is the key.

SCULLY's manner changes from one of concern for MULDER's wellbeing to one of disillusionment. She looks crushed, her mind having raced ahead to the wrong conclusion.

SCULLY: You know what you're doing.

SCULLY turns and slowly heads down the porch steps. MULDER knows what she's thinking. He rolls up his sleeves and tries in vain to call her back to explain.

MULDER: Scully...

SCULLY ignores him and walks back to her SUV, parked a short distance away on soft grass. She probably regrets not wearing flats.

She gets into the SUV and sits in the driver's seat, staring back up at the house.

Moments later outside MULDER's house. SCULLY is putting on her seatbelt and about to leave. The lights of another vehicle approach from behind. It stops, and she sees O'MALLEY get out of his limousine in her door mirror. Not someone she wants to deal with right now. He approaches her door and knocks on the window.

O'MALLEY: Hey. Where you going? (She lowers the window.) You're not leaving are you?

SCULLY: (regaining her composure) I just need to get out of here.

O'MALLEY: Stay. It's important.

SCULLY: Don't tell me what's important, please. I just need to leave.

MULDER approaches SCULLY's car. O'MALLEY turns to him.

O'MALLEY: Wasn't she invited?

MULDER: I would have invited you, Scully, but I didn't think you'd come.

SCULLY: I shouldn't have come.

O'MALLEY: Then what are you doing here?

SCULLY: Mulder, what are you up to?

Later inside MULDER's house. SCULLY and O'MALLEY are sitting on a sofa in his living room. SVETA in a dining chair. SCULLY's arms are firmly crossed across her chest. MULDER stands as he delivers his theory.

MULDER: The tentacles reach far back into the last century, but it wasn't until victories in Europe and Japan and the onset of the Cold War that political and economic conditions became perfect for actual execution.

MULDER sits down in a vacant dining chair.

MULDER: A conspiracy bigger and more secret than the Manhattan Project.

O'MALLEY: More odious and far-reaching.

MULDER: No sooner had we defeated Germany than a new threat started appearing in skies over America, drawn to Earth by the latest threat to extinction - the H-bomb. Explosions acting as transducers, drawing alien life forms through wormholes in spaceships using electro-gravitic propulsion. Advanced extraterrestrial species visiting us, concerned for mankind and the threat of our self-destruction, forestalling our annihilation through their own self-sacrifice. The crashes at Roswell. More importantly, places like Aztec. World leaders signed secret memos directing scientific studies of alien technology and biochemistry. Classified studies were done at military installations, S4, Groom Lake, Wright Patterson and Dulce - extracting alien tissue. Tests were done on unsuspecting human subjects in elaborately staged abductions, in craft using alien technology recovered from the downed saucers... including human hybridisation through gene editing and forced implantation of alien embryos.

SVETA: Why do such a thing and lie about it? Our own government?

MULDER: Your own government lies as a matter of course, as a matter of policy. The Tuskegee experiments on black men in the '30s, Henrietta Lacks...

SVETA: What are they trying to do?

MULDER: That's the missing piece.

O'MALLEY: But it's not hard to imagine... a government hiding, hoarding... alien technology for 70 years, at the expense of human life and the future of the planet.

O'MALLEY now stands, ready to continue detailing the theory to SVETA and SCULLY.

O'MALLEY: Driven not only by corporate greed, but... a darker objective.

MULDER: The takeover of America.

O'MALLEY: And then the world itself - by any means necessary, however violent... or cruel... or efficient. By severe drought brought on by weather wars conducted secretly using aerial contaminants and high-altitude electromagnetic waves. In a state of perpetual war to create problem-reaction-solution scenarios to distract, enrage and enslave American citizens at home with tools like the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act, which abridged the Constitution in the name of national security. The militarization of police forces in cities across the U.S. The building of prison camps by the Federal Emergency Management Agency with no stated purpose. The corporate takeover of food and agriculture, pharmaceuticals and health care, even the military, in clandestine agendas, to fatten, dull, sicken and control a populace already consumed by consumerism.

O'MALLEY: A government that taps your phone, collects your data and monitors your whereabouts - with impunity. A government preparing to use that data against you when it strikes, and the final takeover begins.

MULDER sits in his chair, nodding.

SCULLY: The takeover of America?

O'MALLEY: By a well-oiled and well-armed multinational group of elites that will cull, kill and subjugate.

SCULLY: Happening as we sit here?

O'MALLEY: It's happening all around us.

MULDER: (looking at SCULLY) The other shoe waiting to drop.

O'MALLEY: It'll probably start on a Friday. The banks will announce a security action necessitating their computers to go offline all weekend.

MULDER: Digital money will disappear.

SVETA: They can just steal your money?

MULDER: Followed by the detonation of strategic electromagnetic pulse bombs to knock out major grids.

O'MALLEY: What will seem like an attack on America, by terrorists or Russia.

MULDER: Or a simulated alien invasion using alien replica vehicles that exist and are already in use.

SCULLY: An alien invasion of the U.S.?

MULDER: The Russians tried it in '47.

SCULLY shakes her head slowly

SCULLY: You can't say these things.

O'MALLEY: (nodding) I'm gonna say them tomorrow.

SCULLY picks up her jacket and stands.

SCULLY: It's fearmongering claptrap, isolationist techno-paranoia so bogus and dangerous and stupid that it borders on treason. (To O'MALLEY) Saying these things would be incredibly irresponsible.

MULDER: (To SCULLY) It's irresponsible not to say it.

SVETA: Especially if it's the truth.

SCULLY: Your test came back negative.

MULDER: What do you mean, negative?

SCULLY: She has no evidence of alien DNA.

The disappointment is clear on MULDER's face. SVETA looks shocked and confused.

Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital. SCULLY is watching the progress of microtia patient Samuel Walker undergoing surgery. She looks down at her closed laptop on the bench. Making sure no-one is watching her, she surreptitiously opens it and browses to the Finder Spyder search engine. She enters the search term "Truth Squad With Tad O'Malley Show". The latest show starts playing.

O'MALLEY: (video) I promised you the truth today, but that truth has come under assault.

Cut to SVETA at an undisclosed location, talking to numerous reporters with microphones and recorders.

SVETA: Tad O'Malley tried to put words in my mouth. He paid me to create stories about alien abductions. He is saying lies and stories for his TV show so people will watch. I am so sorry if I misled anyone.

MULDER is also watching the video stream. As he is watching we see that the video of SVETA's admission is playing on the large screen behind O'MALLEY in the Truth Squad studio.

MULDER: They got to her.

MULDER slams his laptop shut in frustration.

O'MALLEY: These are the depths our government stoops to. We must be making them very afraid.

Cut back to the hospital. The NURSE appears in the doorway holding the new test results.

NURSE: Dr. Scully? Your test results came back in.

Day. MULDER runs up to the front door of SVETA's farmhouse, calling out her name. He opens the front door and enters, searching each room in turn.

MULDER: Sveta? Sveta?

Not finding her in the house, he opens the back door and heads into the garden.

MULDER: (shouting) SVETA?

There's clean washing on the line, but no sign of SVETA.

The warehouse containing the ARV. 2 Humvees crash though the warehouse doors, knocking them off their hinges. The scientists are in the Faraday cage examining the ARV. They turn around in shock. GARNER opens the mesh door of the cage and heads towards the vehicles, irate.

GARNER: No! No! No!

The vehicles come to a screeching halt. Several armed soldiers get out, training their weapons on the scientists.

GARNER: Stop! You can't! You have no right...

One of the soldiers punches GARNER in the face, knocking him to the ground. Other soldiers enter the Faraday cage and place magnetic explosives on the ARV. Just as swiftly as the explosives are set the soldiers head back to their vehicles and speed out of the warehouse. As the vehicles speed out of the warehouse's doorway the charges explode, destroying the ARV and engulfing the helpless scientists in a huge fireball.

Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital. The surgeons and SCULLY have just finished another microtia surgery and are exiting the operating theatre, taking off their masks and gloves. SCULLY stops and takes a moment in the side room adjoining the operating theatre.

SCULLY turns towards her laptop. Using the Finder Spyder search engine she quickly enters the search term "Truth Squad with Tad O'Malley" and tries to load the site but is immediately met with an error:

ERROR - 404

Site Temporarily Unavailable

SERVER_ERROR#7108QF87C

She pauses to think about what might be going on.

Later. SCULLY is walking through a well-lit underground parking garage to her SUV. She unlocks her vehicle using her remote key fob and is about to get in when she realises there was something on the tailgate window as she walked past. Someone has written "DON'T GIVE UP" in the dirt on the window with their finger. MULDER suddenly emerges from beside a pillar behind her vehicle.

MULDER: There's something called the Venus Syndrome. It's a runaway global warming scenario that leads us to the brink of the Sixth Extinction. Those with means will prepare to move off the planet into space, which has already been weaponized against the poor, huddled masses of humanity that haven't been exterminated by the über-violent fascist elites. If you believe in that kind of thing.

SCULLY: You look exhausted, Mulder.

MULDER looks tired. SCULLY looks tired too, but there's something else too. Her voice is weaker than usual.

MULDER: It was a long day at the office...

SCULLY: I don't know if you saw, but... Tad O'Malley pulled the plug.

MULDER: They're very good, these guys, you know?

SCULLY: And what about Sveta? Where is she?

MULDER: I'm sure they scared her to death.

SCULLY: We need to find her, Mulder. We need to protect her, no matter what.

MULDER: Why? You said her tests came back negative.

SCULLY: I ran them again. In fact... I sequenced her entire genome because I didn't trust the initial results.

MULDER: Are you saying she has alien DNA?

SCULLY: And I sequenced my own genome... because of my history and... because we have a child together.

MULDER: Scully... what are you saying?

SCULLY: I'm saying she's not the only one. I'm saying someone has to stop these sons of bitches.

SCULLY's cellphone suddenly bleeps as it receives a text message. MULDER's cellphone bleeps at almost the same time.

SCULLY: (Checking her phone) Skinner.

MULDER: (Checking his phone) Skinner.

SCULLY's message reads:

Skinner

Situation critical. Need

to see you both ASAP.

MULDER: Scully, are you ready for this?

SCULLY: I don't know there's a choice.

MULDER nods gently.

Night. SVETA is driving alone along a dark highway. She has packed bags next to her in the passenger seat. The electrical systems in the car start going haywire.

SVETA: Oh, no...

The car cuts out. She presses the accelerator repeatedly but gets no response.

SVETA: Please! Please don't quit. No!

The car rolls to a gentle halt in the middle of the road. She tries to restart it. The car remains dead.

Suddenly a bright green shaft of light penetrates the car from above, entering through the sunroof. SVETA looks up in horror and awe through the glass in the roof. We see the shaft of light is coming from a bright circular feature on the underside of a triangular-shaped spaceship hovering overhead, similar to the ARV we saw earlier in the warehouse.

SVETA cries out in horror

SVETA: Oh, no. No!

The spaceship slowly descends until it is only about 25m above SVETA's car. The beam of green light suddenly stops. The car is now illuminated brightly in white light. SVETA fights to get out of her seatbelt and open the car door. She cries out as she panics.

SVETA: No!

Finally, SVETA manages to open the door and starts to get out, but it is too late. The car explodes in a huge fireball, a mushroom cloud of smoke rising into the night sky. The spacecraft slowly and silently rises up into the sky and out of view, leaving burning wreckage scattered across the road.

Night. Flames crackle in the fireplace of a well-appointed drawing room. "Carpe Diem" is embossed on the fire surround. From behind we see the mottled left hand of a well-dressed old man holding a cellphone to his ear. As the camera pans around to show his face, we see that it is the CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN, seated in front of the inviting fire. He has survived. We see a tracheostomy tube through his open shirt collar.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: (On phone) Yes. (Pause.) Yes. (Pause.) I see.

He closes the call and puts the phone down. An assistant walks over to him holding a lit cigarette. The CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN looks up at him.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: We have a small problem.

The assistant places the end of the cigarette in the tracheostomy tube. The CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN inhales deeply. The cigarette burns brightly.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: They've reopened the X-Files.

He exhales slowly through his tracheostomy tube, staring into the fire.

Fade to black.