Character-labelled dialogue prepared from the official DVD subtitle track.
At times, I almost dream. I, too, have spent a life the sages' way... And tread once more familiar paths. Perchance, I've perished in an arrogant self-reliance an age ago, and in that act, a prayer for one more chance went up so earnest, so-- instinct with better light let in by death... That life was blotted out not so completely... But scattered wrecks, enough of it to remain dim memories... As now... When seems once more... The goal in sight again.
Federal agents! We are armed! FBI! Move, move, move! Keep down on the ground! We have warrants to search for the possession of illegal firearms! We are under orders to serve warrants for the arrest of vernon warren, also known as vernon Ephesian. Move it, move it! Come on, come on, let's go! Move, move, move!
[ agents yelling ]
Somebody tipped Ephesian off.
He's somewhere on the compound. Ephesian?
Nothing. We've covered 90% of the compound.
We have to find him.
There's no sign of the weapons. They've hid them somewhere.
Where haven't we covered?
We could check the machine shop again. Maybe they've got trapdoors.
Mulder. Mulder! Tear it apart. Mulder? Mulder, where are you going? Intelligence reported no hiding places beyond the yard. Did you see someone?
[ woman's voice ]
I am he that liveth and was dead. And, behold... I am alive forevermore.
[ voices continue, indistinct ]
[ voices continue ]
[ woman praying ]
Amen.
[ woman continues praying ]
FBI! No!
[ gasps ]
It's okay. It's okay--
Bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms transmission... Received 0230 hours, 5 november '96, apison, Tennessee. Confirmed telephone trace from within seven stars compound.
B.a.t.f. This is agent Kiley.
I'm not gonna talk long. I can't even believe I'm doing this. Brilliant. Look, vernon-- he's got a lot of good ideas. He's right about a lot of things, but he's doing stuff to kids now that-- it ain't good. I'm telling you, it is not why I signed on.
[ Kiley ]
Okay, okay, easy. Can you tell me your name, sir?
Call me sidney. Vernon-- he's hurting little kids around here bad. It ain't right. And the guns-- my god, you could beat the whole korean army here. God, I can't talk no more. I got-- [ dial tone ]
[ tape stops ]
This call capped off an 18-month b.a.t.f. Investigation... Of the temple of the seven stars led by vernon Ephesian. The sidney call convinced the attorney general to give the go-ahead for this raid.
A.t.f. Intelligence reports were weak. Our man, spooky, found Ephesian in a bunker a.t.f. Didn't even know was there.
[ agents continue ]
How did you know that?
Knock it off! The reports are valid. Illegal activities were going on at the seven stars compound. Somehow, they were alerted in time to hide the evidence. Ephesian and his wives are being held on charges of possession of dangerous chemicals. You know their attorneys will be pushing for a quick arraignment. They'll be out of here in less than 24 hours if we cannot charge them. Agents on site will continue to search for evidence of illegal firearms. And, even more critical, find the informant sidney. If they found out that he tipped us, it's likely we're looking for a murder. All right, go. Agent Mulder, agent Scully, you were assigned to this operation... To investigate claims of Ephesian's paranormal abilities: channeling, astral projection.
We believe Ephesian is a paranoid charismatic sociopath. He is obsessed with the book of revelation... And will use his knowledge of biblical text to get anything he wants from his followers.
Ephesian had six women on the verge of suicide. You witnessed it. My concern is if the temple members are released, any subsequent federal investigation will ignite Ephesian's paranoia... To such a degree that we won't have another waco on our hands; we'll have jonestown.
I knew you were coming. I've known for nine centuries. It was written in the revelation of jesus christ. "behold... "the devil shall cast some of thee into prison that you may be tried. "you'll have tribulation ten days. "be thou faithful unto death, and I'll give thee a crown of life."
But that message was to the church at smyrna. It's my understanding that your temple is the reincarnation of the church at ephesia.
Mine is the temple of the seven stars, all seven churches receiving the revelation. And the members are not a reincarnation of the church.
Are you?
Oh, yes. I was present to hear apostle john mark deliver his message of the apocalypse.
Vernon, if sidney was unfaithful, did he receive a crown of life?
There are no members of the temple named or nicknamed sidney.
But I know you don't believe. I don't care if you think I'm jim jones or david koresh. I don't need you to believe or even like me. But just for a moment, I'd like you to put aside your investigation... For your own souls. It is vital that you understand that very, very soon... All unfaithfuls, all disbelievers, all beasts-- if that means me or... This "sidney"... Or... You. All will be destroyed by god's mighty men. It is what has been told by god will happen. It is what has been told by god we must do. Do this and "the lord shall preserve you from all evil. "he will preserve your soul. "the lord will preserve your going out... And your coming in."
Skinner said no one else has come up with anything. As you can see, they've started to release members of the temple. The compound remains under federal control though. Time is flying. We've got six wives to question. My estimate is 12 more hours of fire and brimstone, and not a second about sidney.
Let's start with her.
My name is Melissa Riedal-Ephesian. I'm 25.
Melissa, do you understand your right... To have an attorney present at this questioning?
It's okay.
Where are you from?
I-I don't know.
What about your family? Where do they live?
M-my real family's here.
How long have you lived there?
A year.
How long have you been married to Ephesian?
A year.
Does it bother you that he has other wives?
"and on that day, seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, "'we shall eat our own bread, we shall wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach.'"
That's quite a faith you have in vernon, Melissa. I'd have a tough time if my husband had so many children with other women. Do you have a child by vernon?
Someday. Vernon has to wait until god tells him when the right soul is ready to be reincarnated. That's why vernon's children are the most sacred members of the temple.
We were told that vernon's been hurting the children.
Have you ever witnessed any child abuse at the temple, Melissa?
Look, I don't know where you two are getting that from. I saw a couple things. It could have been anything.
Melissa?
Melissa? No. I don't know nobody called that.
Sidney?
What is this, the mccarthy hearings? No, no. Don't-- don't know anybody by that name. No. I saw a couple things. It could have been anything, right?
Sidney, can you tell me who the president of the united states is right now?
[ scoffs ] who's the president of the united states? What the hell kind of dumb question is that? That is a stupid question. Harry truman.
You're claiming sidney is a past life just because she mentioned joe mccarthy?
It's not just that. Somehow I just knew.
[ door opens ]
Ephesian and his wives are being arraigned tomorrow. That's about 15 hours to come up with something. "
Come up with something"? We found sidney. Voice spectrogram confirms... Melissa Riedal's vocal pattern matches the a.t.f. Sidney call.
Melissa Riedal is not cooperating.
But there is a personality within her that wants to. We need a psychological catalyst. I suggest we take her back to the compound. Maybe exposing her to that environment without Ephesian present... Will somehow enable Melissa to talk or a personality inside her.
Agent Scully, could this be some kind of a stall or staged diversion? It's my understanding that multiple personalities are rare.
They're extremely rare. In fact, many in the psychiatric community... Do not believe that dissociative identity disorder exists.
What we witnessed meets the criteria established in the d.s.m.-iv. The presence of two or more distinct personality states... That recurrently take control over behavior, including the protector identity, sidney. The inability to recall important personal information. She couldn't recall her own hometown. Transitions from one personality state to another... Are usually a matter of seconds and are often caused by psychosocial stress. Sidney appeared when we mentioned that children had been abused.
But you remain unconvinced?
I believe the disorder exists, but under these circumstances, I would have to know more.
If Melissa has multiple personalities, would her-- his testimony even be admissible?
Judicial precedents have established that dissociative personalities are responsible.
Yes, but we are responsible for Melissa Riedal.
What we are responsible for is the potential loss of 50 lives.
Do it.
You didn't even have the courage to tell Skinner what you really believe: that Melissa Riedal is being invaded by her past life incarnations.
Because he wouldn't believe me.
I don't believe that you feel responsible for those 50 lives... Or Melissa Riedal. You are only responsible to yourself, Mulder.
You're safe with us, Melissa. The murderer's not here.
We know that events occurred here that may be painful. You may not want to talk about them they may be so painful. You may be afraid to remember. But to help the others... To help the children and to help yourself, we're here with you to listen... To Melissa, to sidney, to whoever may need to talk.
[ crying ]
Melissa? Melissa?
Why you call me that?
What should I call you?
Lily.
What?
Can you do this?
Melissa-- lily... It's okay to tell me.
[ sidney ]
Look, leave the kid alone. Hear me? She doesn't want to talk. Right? No way. I'm sending her home.
Sidney, you can all go home. You can all be safe, if you just tell us where they hid the guns.
What's wrong?
[ southern accent ]
The weapons were placed in the bunker, which they had built the night before.
That's why they weren't on the a.t.f. Reports.
The federals would arrive in the morning, just before the sun. Realizing the government's might and number, most believed they, indeed, would never again... See the light of day... Just as they had watched their brothers die days before on missionary ridge. We had received word... Of general cleburne's retreat from the union army. As a nurse, I had been ordered from Hamilton county to meet the troops, but... In actuality, I was searching for him, knowing that he would attempt to remain in Tennessee... Rather than retreat to dalton. I found him here... Amongst the others who had been lost... As general thomas pushed through the confederate line. The federal troops would appear from that direction. Rather than retreat any further, they fought them, hiding us in the bunker. Inside, I could smell the smoke, hear the rifles, feel the bodies as they dropped onto the ground above. Every last one. 26th of november, 1863. I was here... As were you. This is the field where I watched you die.
Who are you calling?
I'm arranging for a therapist trained in hypnosis to be at the command center.
Because hypnosis is used in the treatment of dissociative identities... To bring forth a patient's various personalities?
She wants to talk, Scully. It's a matter of getting it out of her.
No, it's about regressing her to a past life. Don't do this to her, Mulder. This poor woman's mind, her life is in shreds. Just being married to Ephesian indicates she is susceptible to suggestion.
You-you were there, Scully! You saw it. You heard it. Why can't you feel it? How could I know about a bunker in a field where I've never been?
And why is it that vernon Ephesian is, reported by you, a paranoid sociopath... Because he believes that he lived in greece a hundred years ago, and you're not, even though you believe you died in that field?
I'm talking to Melissa. In the last year, at the temple of the seven stars, is there anything that happened that you thought was wrong, that hurt you?
Yes. There was a... Woman who came to the temple. She and her son had been living on the street.
What was her name?
Elizabeth. Her son was scott. Vernon took a liking to the boy. He said that he was a prophet returning. He took the boy away from his mother.
[ therapist ]
Took him away? How?
Vernon's children are the grandchildren of god, kept separate from the others. The mother's heart was broken. She was afraid. The mighty men-- late... Night... Liz sneaks in to see scott. Oh, he was happy. She brings him butterfingers she stole from the kitchen. Vernon-- vernon-- vernon, catches them. The mighty men-- they pull her away and beat her... In front of her son. The boy-- "no, no, mom!"
[ crying ]
Vernon-- vernon-- vernon pulls him by-- vernon pulls him by his hair... Pulls down his pajamas, and hit him. "you're not a child of god." "garbage," he calls him. He told him to sleep in the trash... With the rats. The mother-- the mother cries, but vernon beats him... In front of her. [ whimpering ] no, no, no.
[ sidney ]
Look! Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant move! What do you want to know? Just-just leave Melissa alone. She doesn't need to go through that anymore.
[ mouths words ]
Where are the guns?
The b-bunkers. Yeah. The civil war bunkers. Vernon-- vernon-- vernon and his goons know, but I don't. I really don't.
Maybe there's a map of the battlefield in the records.
You know how to find the other bunkers.
Mulder--
Melissa. It's me, Melissa. I want you to go back... Back to the field.
[ sobs ]
Oh.
[ southern accent ]
Your eyes may have changed shade... But it cannot color the soul behind them. We have come together in this life, this time... Only to meet in passing. It is so heartbreaking to wait.
[ crying softly ]
I miss you.
Mulder, this is a product of her illness. She couldn't answer the question on the battlefield. She gave us no specific names, no information to prove her validity. There is nothing we can use to prove this is the truth.
There's one way.
Mulder, Ephesian's arraignment is in two hours. There is no time to be doing this.
Wouldn't you, Scully? Wouldn't anybody?
[ therapist ]
I want you to go into your past, beyond your life as Fox Mulder. What do you see?
[ moans ]
Ghetto streets. Shattered glass. Bodies of the dead. I'm a woman... A jewish woman. Poland. My son is with me.
[ therapist ]
He is Samantha.
Samantha? I thought Samantha was your sister.
In this life... She is my son. I see my father. He's dead in the street. He is Scully. But now-- he's gone on now. They're waiting for us. The souls... Come back together. Different... But always together... Again and again... To learn. I can't go to my father.
[ sighs ]
Gestapo is standing next to him. An officer. He is cancer man. Evil returns as evil. But love-- love-- souls mate eternal. My husband... Is taken away from me... To the camps. He is Melissa. We're always taken away. I'm rising. I'm rising now. I'm rising now... High above... My body... Above the field. My face is bloody. Near the bunker. The federals are gone. My sergeant is also dead. He is Scully. Sarah holds me. She is sad. She is Melissa. She lives... Near the battle. Hamilton county. Her name is kavanaugh... Sarah kavanaugh. And my name... Is Sullivan biddle. She doesn't know. She doesn't know... That-that I'm waiting for her... That we will live again. We will live again. God-- oh, my soul is tired.
Mulder, it's Scully. Do you see any bunkers in the field?
My soul is tired. I want to rest.
Ephesian's being taken down to his arraignment. He and Melissa are going to be released soon.
Dana... If, um... Early in the four years we've been working together... An event occurred that suggested or somebody told you that... We'd been friends together... In other lifetimes... Always... Would it have changed some of the ways we looked at one another?
Even if I knew for certain... I wouldn't change a day. Well, maybe that flukeman thing. I could have lived without that just fine.
[ sarah ]
We have come together in this life, this time... Only to meet in passing. It is so heartbreaking to wait.
[ sarah sighing ]
I miss you.
I don't believe in it.
Why?
Those tapes are saying we chose the lives we live before we're born... And who we live with. It's a nice idea. It's a beautiful idea. I want to believe. And if I knew it were true, I'd want to start over. I'd want to end this pointless life.
Sarah... If it were true... No life would be pointless.
[ door opens ]
Melissa... It's time to leave. Get out of here.
All right, let's go.
I've reported to investigators on site about the possible existence of other bunkers.
The field is not the property of the seven stars, so the b.a.t.f. Is continuing to search.
Mommy! They're home!
[ chattering ]
Agent Mulder, the attorney general is furious as is. There's no way we're gonna get a go-ahead for a second move on the compound.
Ephesian preaches and his followers believe... That the FBI and the a.t.f. Are the devil's army, prophesied in revelations 12:17... To make war on "the seed which keep the commandments of god... And the testimony of jesus christ."
Revelations tells of christian faith defeating that army.
You're saying he'll attack the a.t.f. Agents searching for the bunkers, believing, as prophesied, he'll win?
I would be saying that if I thought he believed in revelations in its entirety, but he hid the weapons.
Ephesian knew he couldn't defeat us.
If he doesn't believe that he can defeat the devil's army, he may think that by denying himself and his followers to the devil-- by denying himself. You understand? He will achieve for them the reward of life forevermore, and our worst fears will be realized.
All members to worship. The lord shall preserve you from all your evils. He shall preserve your soul. All members to worship. The lord shall preserve you from all your evil. He shall preserve your soul.
Marvel not, my brethren, that the world hate you.
[ latches door, cocks rifle ]
[ Ephesian ]
We know we've passed from death unto life... Because we love the brethren.
No, I will not remove our people. We're close to finding the weapons.
All I want is a cooling-off period.
Ephesian's gathered all temple members in the worship hall. A parabolic mike we have aimed at the compound just picked this up.
[ Ephesian on tape ]
Marvel not, brethren, that the world hate you.
[ door latched ]
We know we've passed from death unto life... Because we love the brethren. Hereby perceive we the love of god... Because he laid down his life for us.
[ typing ]
The temple began running an interference frequency.
First epistle of john, chapter three: "he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
Okay, Mulder.
[ Ephesian ]
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life. My little children... Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and truth. And hereby, we know that we are the truth. We shall endure.
Man down! Man down! Get him out of there!
Cease fire! Hold your fire!
[ agents chattering ]
Is there contact with the temple?
If you call that "contact."
He should be transported right away.
And enter in through the Gates into the city! For without are dogs... And sorcerers... And whoremongers... And murderers, idolaters. Whomsoever loveth... Then maketh a lie.
[ agents shouting ]
Mulder, no! You're dead!
What is he doing?
[ sobs ]
Behold, I am alive forevermore.
At times, I almost dream. I, too, have spent a life the sages' way... And tread once more familiar paths. Perchance, I've perished in an arrogant self-reliance an age ago, and, in that act, a prayer for one more chance went up... So earnest, so-- instinct with better light let in by death... That life was blotted out not so completely... But scattered wrecks, enough of it to remain dim memories... As now... When seems once more... The goal in sight again.
Try another character, phrase, or keyword.
The dialogue comes from the official DVD subtitle track supplied by Boggsfiles. Speaker and scene attribution was cross-checked against character-labelled reference material. Subtitle wording is preserved while capitalization and spacing are standardized for easier reading.