Season 5 · Episode 13

Patient X

Character-labelled dialogue prepared from the official DVD subtitle track.

Production code5X13Original airdate · March 1, 1998

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265 dialogue entries

Scene 01

Fox Mulder

Before the exploration of space, of the moon and the planets, man held that the heavens... Were the home and province of powerful gods, who controlled not just the vast firmament, but the earthly fate of man himself. And that the pantheon of powerful warring deities... Was the cause and reason for the human condition, for the past and the future... And for which great monuments would be created on earth, as in heaven. But, in time, man replaced these gods with new gods and new religions... That provided no more certain or greater answers... Than those worshipped by his greek or roman or egyptian ancestors. And while we've chosen now our monolithic and benevolent gods... And found our certainties in science, believers all, we wait for a sign, a revelation. Our eyes turn skyward, ready to accept the truly incredible, to find our destiny written in the stars. But how do we best look to see? With new eyes or old?

[ speaking Russian ]

[ both speaking Russian ]

[ in Russian ]

[ fire crackling ]

[ glass shatters ]

Friend

Mama!

Dmitri

Papa! Mama! Papa! [ continues in Russian ] mama! Papa!

[ shouts ]

[ shouting in Russian ]

Burning Man

[ man screaming ] aah!

[ shouting in Russian ]

[ gasps ]

[ boy screaming ]

[ screaming continues ]

[ door creaking ]

[ Russian ]

Dmitri

Da.

Scene 02

Alex Krycek

Too bad for you.

Soldier

It-- it's like the flesh is cooked. All the way through.

[ man shouts in Russian ]

[ Russian ]

[ chuckles ]

Alex Krycek

Your authority isn't recognized here. Only your lies.

Marita Covarrubias

These are u.n. Peacekeepers. This is a mission of mercy.

Alex Krycek

This is a mission of fear. Yours and the men you work for.

Marita Covarrubias

I don't know what you're talking about.

Alex Krycek

You go back and tell them what you've seen here, what you've found.

Marita Covarrubias

My name is Marita Covarrubias. I am a special representative to the secretary general of the united nations.

Alex Krycek

I know who you are, and I know who you work for. You go back and you tell them--

Marita Covarrubias

Tell them what? What happened here?

Alex Krycek

Tell them it's all going to hell.

[ Russian ]

[ groaning ]

Marita Covarrubias

Does the boy know? Did he see?

[ spits ]

Alex Krycek

You tell them to kiss my American ass.

Scene 03

Cassandra Spender

During my last several abductions, I have experienced no fear whatsoever. And it was the absence of fear that allowed me... To communicate with them, and them with me. They've told me that I am an apostle, here to spread the word of a dawning of a new age of supernatural enlightenment.

[ murmuring, applause ]

Lagerqvist

Sensibly, it's not a question of truth versus fiction... But of truths which are incomprehensible, because we have no physics, no real language... For explaining patient x's story, much less the existence of extraterrestrials. Nothing to prepare us for the ontological shock that is bound to follow.

Woman

We quibble and we jaw about the need for proof, for evidence, as if it would serve some purpose, as if it would make a difference. When what we should be seeking is exactly... What this woman is describing-- not if they are here but why... And what their business is.

Fazio

In my conversations with her, she believes this business-- the abductions and the experiments-- are due to their plans for us. And that we are not simply breeding cows for them, as some have suggested, but subjects. Much like we think of our relationship with God. And that there are sights... What she calls "lighthouses" around which will be great activity.

Fox Mulder

All-- all this conjecture-- the ontological shock that you speak of-- for which we are so ill-equipped is, in my opinion, not only false but dangerous. This woman-- this woman presents no good or credible testimony... Apart from the feel-good message that she promotes.

Fazio

You think she's lying?

Fox Mulder

No, I don't think she's lying. I think... That if you prepare people well enough to believe a lie, they will believe it as if it were true. And if you tell them a really big lie-- like there are aliens from outer space-- much more than a small one, they will believe it. And if you suggest to them that these aliens are doing bad things to them, the power of this suggestion will be to make certain people believe... That certain psychopathologies and neuroses that they're suffering from... Can now be attributed to that.

Lagerqvist

Mr. Mulder-- agent Mulder, she has physical ailments.

Woman

Are you discounting any belief in the existence of extraterrestrials?

Fox Mulder

No, I just question mindless belief.

Fazio

But you've cited evidence. You've made claims yourself.

Fox Mulder

What I've seen, I've seen because I wanted to believe. I-- if you look too hard, you can go mad. But if you continue to look, you become liberated and you come awake, as if from a dream, realizing that-- that the lies are there... Simply to protect what they're advertising-- a government which knows that its greatest strength... Is not in defense but in attack.

[ murmuring ]

Fox Mulder

It's strongly held by believers in UFO phenomena... That there is military complicity or involvement in abductions. But what if there is no complicity? What if there is simply just the military seeking to develop an arsenal of weapons... Against which there is no defense? Biological warfare, which justifies in their eyes... Making an ass out of the nation with stories of little green men. A conspiracy wrapped in a plot inside a government agenda.

[ murmuring ]

Fox Mulder

Dr. Werber?

Dr. Heitz Werber

It's been some time.

Fox Mulder

Almost five years.

Dr. Heitz Werber

I came down expecting to hear... How your work had progressed. I'm... Surprised, to say the least.

Fox Mulder

A lot has changed.

Dr. Heitz Werber

You seem to have abandoned something you believed so completely. In spite of what I know about you, from our work together, the memories I helped you recover about the experience with your sister.

Fox Mulder

Well, I've come to distrust a lot of things. I've-- I've come to distrust those memories.

Dr. Heitz Werber

I'm sorry.

Fox Mulder

For what?

Dr. Heitz Werber

I've taken a lot of criticism for my work with alien abductees and in the field itself. The regression hypnosis work I did with you--

Fox Mulder

No, I'm not questioning your methods, dr. Werber. I'm questioning myself and how I was tricked. How I was led to believe, through an elaborate staging of events, that my sister had been abducted.

Dr. Heitz Werber

A man with faith can indulge in the luxury of skepticism.

Fox Mulder

I don't think you understand. There's just too much evidence that it's all been a lie. The conspiracy is not to hide the existence of extraterrestrials. It's to make people believe in it so completely that they question nothing.

Dr. Heitz Werber

So, you and I have just been advocates of insanity all along? Is this the extreme possibility you believe in now?

Fox Mulder

Yeah. Is patient x any more credible?

Dr. Heitz Werber

I hope so. I'm her doctor. I think you should meet her. I think you might change your mind.

[ Russian ]

Scene 05

CASSANDRA SPENDER'S HOSPITAL ROOM

Dr. Heitz Werber

Cassandra.

Cassandra Spender

Oh, hi. Fox Mulder.

Fox Mulder

Hi.

Cassandra Spender

I am so glad to finally meet you. You are a hero of mine.

Fox Mulder

I am?

Cassandra Spender

I read about you in the news about three years ago. How you helped that man who escaped from the hospital. Um, duane barry. How he had held those people hostage at the travel agency, because he was being called by aliens, and you were the only one who believed him.

Fox Mulder

You may not like me as much as you like that story.

Cassandra Spender

Oh, that story saved my life.

Fox Mulder

How's that?

Cassandra Spender

I have been a multiple abductee for over 30 years. I had been afraid to seek help. Nobody would ever believe me, really, until I read about you. That's how I came to meet dr. Werber.

Fox Mulder

Cassandra--

Cassandra Spender

He told me that you had been through hypnotic regression yourself. That's how you discovered that your sister had been abducted.

Fox Mulder

Cassandra.

Cassandra Spender

Yes.

Fox Mulder

Are you here voluntarily?

Cassandra Spender

Um, yes, under doctor's supervision.

Fox Mulder

Hmm. Whatever it is that you're afraid of, I suggest you check yourself out of here as soon as you can... And start living your life, okay?

Cassandra Spender

Uh, now's not a real good time.

Dr. Heitz Werber

Cassandra is experiencing a sensation that she's about to be called.

Cassandra Spender

Now is a time of war and stress among the alien nations. The-- the different races, they're in upheaval. I will be summoned to a place, just like duane barry.

Fox Mulder

The man you're talking about died because of what he believed in. He died in a room after I'd been interrogating him, after he received a visit from some men from our government.

Cassandra Spender

Oh, I'm sure the government's involved. They don't want us to know about it all.

Fox Mulder

Cassandra. There was a time when I would have believed what you're saying, without a doubt.

Cassandra Spender

There is no doubt, mr. Mulder. I know what I've experienced. I-I have been through the terror and the tests more times than I can count. I have had an unborn fetus taken from me. But they're not here for the reasons that you might think. They're here to deliver a message. Except something has gone wrong. There are-- there are other forces at work. They're going to be calling me. I can feel it. And you of all people need to know about this... Because you're the one that can do something.

Fox Mulder

I'm not.

[ breathing heavily ]

[ footsteps approaching ]

[ breathing heavily ]

[ door unlocks ]

[ Russian ]

[ door opens ]

[ Russian ]

[ murmurs ]

[ Russian ]

Scene 07

UROFF-KOLTOFF STAR OF RUSSIA, LEAVING VLADIVOSTOK

Alex Krycek

We're gonna take good care of you.

Scene 08

FBI HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Jeffrey Spender

Agent Scully, my name is Jeffrey Spender. Special agent Spender.

Dana Scully

Is there something I can help you with, agent Spender?

Jeffrey Spender

I feel kind of funny approaching you like this. I just haven't been able to reach agent Mulder.

Dana Scully

About what?

Jeffrey Spender

About somebody he's been talking to. Somebody who claims to be an alien abductee, who I'd really prefer he weren't talking to.

Dana Scully

You gonna tell me who this is?

Jeffrey Spender

This is going to sound weird. Uh, it's my mother.

Dana Scully

Your mother.

Jeffrey Spender

It's a very long story. She's an exceptional person. But for reasons that are probably kind of obvious, I'd rather this didn't get out. Appearances being what they are.

Dana Scully

Is this part of a case?

Jeffrey Spender

No.

Dana Scully

Then why is he talking to her?

Jeffrey Spender

I don't know. She just called me, and she's-- she's a very disturbed woman. This is something that caused a lot of pain about 20 years ago. I'm just trying to save myself any extra humiliation. I'd like to build a reputation here, not be given one.

Dana Scully

I think I understand.

Scene 09

EAST 46TH STREET, NEW YORK CITY

Marita Covarrubias

Whatever happened in Kazakhstan, there was no one left to give an accurate account.

First Elder

How many bodies were there?

Marita Covarrubias

Forty-one. All burned beyond recognition. The result of some kind of intense biochemical reaction, none of the u.n. Medics had ever seen. Not in the gulf or on any battlefield. The corpses were literally carbonized from the heat.

Second Elder

A new weapon being tested?

First Elder

There's no intelligence on that.

Marita Covarrubias

There's no clear data on the victims or their relationship, but I found at least two of these among the dead.

Well-Manicured Man

I think it's fairly certain that all the victims had them-- that what was taking place was a staging... For a group abduction.

Second Elder

What the hell is that?

Well-Manicured Man

In the final phases before it begins, there'll most likely be assemblies.

Second Elder

We're years away from that.

First Elder

If we're to believe their timetable.

Well-Manicured Man

Unless it's already begun.

Second Elder

We're 15 years away.

Marita Covarrubias

I don't think this was planned. I think something, or someone, set this in motion. An act of war, against us and our plans. Krycek was at the burn site with a unit of Russian soldiers.

Second Elder

Alex Krycek did this?

Marita Covarrubias

He was there. Probably acting on the same data we got. Whether he had any direct involvement in what happened, he knows what caused it.

Well-Manicured Man

Knows how?

Marita Covarrubias

He captured a boy at the site. A survivor. Someone who saw.

First Elder

What does Krycek want?

Marita Covarrubias

I don't know.

Second Elder

How do we find out?

[ phone ringing ]

[ ringing continues ]

Well-Manicured Man

Yes.

Alex Krycek

Well, look who's answering the bat-phone.

Well-Manicured Man

Alex Krycek.

Alex Krycek

Are those guys too cheap to offer you a pension plan?

Well-Manicured Man

Where are you?

Alex Krycek

I'm in town, actually. New York city.

Well-Manicured Man

Just tell us what you want.

Alex Krycek

You've been working on a vaccine... Against the black oil.

Well-Manicured Man

Unsuccessfully, you know.

Alex Krycek

Yeah, well, I figured you and your buddies must have been busy while I've been gone.

Well-Manicured Man

Our research continues.

Alex Krycek

I'll take everything you got.

Well-Manicured Man

In exchange for?

Alex Krycek

The boy.

Well-Manicured Man

Why is that in our interest?

Alex Krycek

Because without what he knows, you ain't gonna need any vaccine.

Well-Manicured Man

What does he know?

Alex Krycek

That's my opening offer. The longer you wait, the skinnier this kid gets.

[ footsteps approaching ]

Scene 10

Dana Scully

Shouldn't that be my picture next to that headline? Or is that just you having a little fun?

Fox Mulder

Do I look like I'm having fun, Scully?

Dana Scully

You look constipated, actually.

Fox Mulder

That would make sense. I've had my head up my rear end for the last five years.

Dana Scully

This wouldn't have anything to do with Cassandra Spender.

Fox Mulder

Cassandra Spender is living proof that the truth... I've so boldly been seeking for the last five years... Is the truth of a madman.

Dana Scully

How's that?

Fox Mulder

One more anal-probing, gyro-pyro, levitating, ectoplasm alien antimatter story... And I'm gonna take out my gun and shoot somebody.

Dana Scully

Well, I guess I'm done here. You seem to have invalidated your own work. Have a nice life.

Fox Mulder

How do you know about Cassandra Spender?

Dana Scully

Her son accosted me in the hallway. He's an FBI agent.

[ chuckles ]

Fox Mulder

Whew. Great.

Dana Scully

He's of the same opinion as you, by the way, that she's not well.

Fox Mulder

You know, you try to reveal what's hidden, you try to incite people with the facts, but they'd rather believe some insane nonsense, refusing to believe what our government is capable of.

Dana Scully

You've come a long way, Mulder.

Fox Mulder

Yeah, and still nobody believes me.

[ inhales ]

Fox Mulder

What?

Dana Scully

Cassandra Spender was abducted at Skyland mountain. That's where I was taken. Where duane berry took me.

Fox Mulder

The woman is a nut, Scully.

Dana Scully

It says here that she has an implant... In the base of her neck.

Fox Mulder

Where the government no doubt removed her brain. Isn't that what her son stopped you to say, Scully?

Dana Scully

Oh, no. He, uh, he asked if you'd please not talk about this with anyone.

Fox Mulder

Wish granted.

Scene 11

[ engine idling ]

Driver

Hi. I'm looking for a-- I'm-- I'm looking for a--

Toll Collector

You're looking for what?

Driver

A mountain, I think.

Toll Collector

You and everybody else.

Driver

How's that?

Toll Collector

Oh, you're a little late to the party. Six dollars. I hope you find some parking.

[ door opens ]

Scene 12

Dana Scully

Cassandra? Ms. Spender?

Cassandra Spender

Oh. Yes? Do I know you? Of course I do.

Dana Scully

I don't think so.

Cassandra Spender

No. No, I'm sure of it. Are you a doctor?

Dana Scully

Ah, yes, but not a practicing one.

Cassandra Spender

No?

Dana Scully

My name is Dana Scully, and, uh, I'd like to ask you some questions.

Cassandra Spender

Questions about what?

Dana Scully

May I? Um-- I think you should know that I, uh, I learned about you from your son.

Cassandra Spender

Jeffrey?

Dana Scully

Yes. I'm an FBI agent, and he asked that I protect against your story getting out.

Cassandra Spender

Oh.

Dana Scully

I guess I'm betraying that by coming here, but, um, I don't--

Cassandra Spender

Uh--

Dana Scully

I'm here for more personal reasons, actually. I took the liberty of reading your medical file.

[ exhales ]

Cassandra Spender

You're feeling it, too, aren't you? Here. You wake up at night, knowing you need to be somewhere, but you don't know where it is. Like you forgot an appointment you didn't know you had.

Dana Scully

That's not why I'm here.

Cassandra Spender

Oh.

Dana Scully

I'm here because I, uh-- because I wanted to tell you that you should-- that you should not remove the thing that you have in your neck. Not without possible consequences. I became very ill.

Cassandra Spender

I'd never dream of removing it. I wanna go. Wherever it is. Oh, they have... So much to teach us. You, being a doctor, would want to know... They're great healers. Maybe that's why you were chosen.

Scene 13

SKYLAND MOUNTAIN SUMMIT

Driver

Oh, my God!

Burning Man

Help me! Help me! Help me! Please! Help me! [ groans ]

[ screaming ]

[ police radio chatter ]

Fox Mulder

And there was no indication beforehand? Are there any survivors?

Dana Scully

No. Not as of this moment.

Fox Mulder

The smell.

Dana Scully

They've all been burned. There are plenty more who are still being bagged as we speak.

Fox Mulder

Any preliminary theories?

Dana Scully

Well, it appears they all came by car. Most of the dead are congregated in a wooded area a short distance off the road.

Fox Mulder

Self-immolation?

Dana Scully

Well, there's no evidence of that right now. There's no accelerants, no incendiary device.

Fox Mulder

What was the relationship to each other? Were they families?

Dana Scully

Well, there's no way to ID their bodies right now. It's gonna be a painstaking dental process. Mulder, why are you tiptoeing around the obvious fact here? I mean, this is Skyland mountain. We're right back here on Skyland mountain.

Fox Mulder

And you think it's related to your abduction from the same place?

Dana Scully

Well, you can't deny the connection.

Fox Mulder

You think this is some kind of abduction scenario?

Dana Scully

No, I'm not saying that.

Fox Mulder

Do you have any evidence of that?

Dana Scully

What do you mean by "evidence"?

Fox Mulder

That's what I'm asking you.

[ sighs ]

Dana Scully

Well, are you gonna give me your theory, then?

Fox Mulder

No. I'm gonna give you an explanation.

Scene 14

SYNDICATE HEADQUARTERS

Marita Covarrubias

This is the same scene we saw in Kazakhstan.

Second Elder

What the hell is going on? This is our own backyard.

First Elder

This is no good. I don't like being kept in the dark on this.

Well-Manicured Man

Someone's going to great lengths to sabotage our work.

Second Elder

Who?

Well-Manicured Man

One way or another, we'd better find out, before it's determined we're unable to handle this ourselves. To put a stop to it, before the colonists intervene.

Scene 15

CASSANDRA SPENDER'S HOSPITAL ROOM

Newsreader

More on our top story this hour. In the Northern part of the state, last night's mass death in the forest... Just inside the national park at Skyland mountain. Again, authorities have now released a fairly complete list of the dead... Gathered from vehicle registrations, hoping relatives or friends will come forward... And help to explain the cause--

[ door opens ]

[ woman on TV continues, indistinct ]

Dana Scully

Cassandra? You called us?

Cassandra Spender

This is not supposed to be happening. I knew these people.

Fox Mulder

You knew them?

Cassandra Spender

Th-they were friends of mine.

Dana Scully

Friends from where?

Cassandra Spender

From a long time ago. It's not supposed to be happening. Not like this. You have to do something about it.

Fox Mulder

What would you like me to do?

Cassandra Spender

You have to stop it.

Fox Mulder

Stop who?

Cassandra Spender

Oh, I don't know.

Jeffrey Spender

Agent Mulder, my name is Jeffrey Spender.

Fox Mulder

Oh, son of... The prophet.

Jeffrey Spender

I asked you to leave her alone.

Dana Scully

Your mother called us about the incident in Virginia. She said that she knew some of the dead.

Jeffrey Spender

Of course she did. They were in the same ridiculous cult that she used to be.

Fox Mulder

There you have it.

Dana Scully

She was in a cult?

Jeffrey Spender

A UFO cult who believed they were going to be carried to immortality... In some kind of flying mother wheel.

Fox Mulder

I'm sorry. We won't be bothering you or your mother anymore.

[ liquid pouring ]

Scene 16

UROFF-KOLTOFF STAR OF RUSSIA,

Marita Covarrubias

You think you can pull this off, don't you?

[ moaning ]

Alex Krycek

If they give me what I want, I'm gonna rule the world.

Marita Covarrubias

We've got them on their knees, alex.

Alex Krycek

Yeah.

Marita Covarrubias

Let's get out of this hole.

[ door creaks ]

Well-Manicured Man

Well-- where's the boy?

Scene 17

X-FILES OFFICE

Fox Mulder

Are you ready for this? I've been going over the initial forensics and pathology reports... From the incident at Skyland mountain. And while the event itself remains unexplained, I think it's less than a mystery who's involved. At least for me. And certainly for you. Our pathologists here haven't finalized their reports, but I was able to have three victims selected at random for x rays. That's how I found these-- small pieces of what looks like metal... In the charred cervical tissue here, here and here. Implants. I followed up with the families of the three victims, and I found that none had any cult associations, but two out of the three belonged to the local mutual UFO networks. And both of them claimed abduction experiences, and both of them were being treated by a medical health practitioner... Over the past few months.

Dana Scully

For what?

Fox Mulder

Take a look.

Dana Scully

"major depressive disorder... "characterized by periods of sustained anxiety and paranoia. "patient believes he will be contacted or called to an undisclosed place... Where he will be abducted by aliens."

Fox Mulder

The implants triggered those responses. Those people were led to Skyland mountain.

Dana Scully

By whom?

Fox Mulder

By the same government that put the implant in you, to function as a homing mechanism.

Dana Scully

Mulder, that doesn't make sense.

Fox Mulder

Why not? A tracking system using military app. Satellite technology to monitor test subjects, or to stage what people might otherwise believe are alien abductions.

Dana Scully

But they weren't abducted. They were led to their deaths. And for what purpose?

Fox Mulder

I don't know that yet.

Dana Scully

You know, Mulder,

[ phone rings ]

Dana Scully

Maybe you shouldn't be so quick... [ ringing continues ] to rule out what Cassandra Spender has to say.

[ ringing continues ]

[ ring ]

[ picks up receiver ]

Fox Mulder

Mulder.

Marita Covarrubias

Agent Mulder?

Fox Mulder

Yes.

Marita Covarrubias

This is Marita Covarrubias. Is this a secure line we're on?

Fox Mulder

Yes.

Marita Covarrubias

You were at Skyland mountain. Are you aware of a u.n. Report on a similar incident in the former soviet union?

Fox Mulder

No.

Marita Covarrubias

I was in Kazakhstan, agent Mulder. There is a connection. I have someone who knows it. I have him with me now.

Fox Mulder

Where are you?

Marita Covarrubias

At a pay phone on scudder road, just off the I-90. Come here, wait for my call... For directions.

[ gasps ]

Fox Mulder

Marita? M--

[ receiver clatters in cradle ]

[ ringing ]

Scene 18

CASSANDRA SPENDER'S ROOM

Jeffrey Spender

Hello?

Fox Mulder

Who's this?

Jeffrey Spender

This is special agent Spender. Who's this?

Fox Mulder

This is Fox Mulder.

Jeffrey Spender

Why are you calling here?

Fox Mulder

I'm actually looking for agent Scully. I haven't been able to reach her, and she said--

Jeffrey Spender

She's not here. Nor is my mother.

Fox Mulder

What are you talking about?

Jeffrey Spender

She's gone from her room.

Fox Mulder

Gone where?

Jeffrey Spender

Look, she's just gone. Don't you get it? She's got nowhere to go.

Scene 19

Amazed Woman

Look!

Stunned Man

There! There it is!

[ man screaming ]

[ man continues screaming ]

About this transcript

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.