On
a stormy night in Ellicott, NY, Gary Sacks drives up to a house and
enters. An older man, his father named Arlen, is in a wheelchair in
the house. They discuss whether Arlen should be in a hospital, and
about how the locks have to be checked every night. Gary says his
father doesn't owe "Stytes" anything. When Gary leaves the
room we see that a window is open. Arlen's heart monitor begins
beeping faster and faster. Gary, in the kitchen, hears the heart
monitor beep flatline. Arlen's wheelchair is overturned and Arlen is
missing. Some sort of reptilian creature the size of a man jumps
Gary.
Scully is in the
X-Files office, cleaning out Mulder's desk, looking at memorabilia
from past cases. Doggett enters. She's not staying – her doctor
told her to begin her maternity leave. She gives Doggett her
medallion commemorating the Apollo 11 space flight. Mulder once gave
it to her, symbolizing teamwork and partnership. She thanks Doggett,
saying she wouldn't be here without him. They hug. Doggett wants to
be sure that this pregnancy leave is just a leave, and that Scully
will be coming back. She just smiles at him. Another agent enters, a
young woman named Harrison. She has a murder in up-state New York to
be investigated. She has been assigned to work with Doggett on The
X-Files. In Ellicott, they see Arlen's body being removed. It was
found in the woods near the house. Arlen was the groundskeeper of an
estate. His son, Gary, is missing and is a suspect. On the frame of
the open window, and on the floor, Doggett finds traces of slime.
Harrison is young and enthusiastic, but clearly inexperienced. It's
her first time in the field. Kersh gave her the job. Doggett says
she is being used, but Harrison counters that she begged for the
assignment. She was in accounting and processed Mulder and Scully's
expense vouchers. She is excited to be part of this case. She knows
about liver eating mutants and aliens shedding skins. More slime is
found where Sack's body was found.
Mulder picks up
Scully to go to the hospital. She is feeling strange about
everything, especially leaving work. She feels like a deserter.
Mulder senses that she is concerned about Doggett. He "watched
her back," but Mulder says Doggett can take care of himself.
Doggett is looking through the woods and approaches a large mansion.
It appears deserted, with cloths over light fixtures and furniture.
By a computer Doggett finds a book by Robert Leakey, The Sixth
Extinction. Something moves down the hall and Doggett draws his gun,
but it is Harrison. He hushes her and tells her to draw her gun. He
sends her outside to the front door – whatever it is in the house,
he will try to flush it out. She goes outside and discovers the
reptilian creature on the wall above her. Doggett hears gunshots and
rushes outside. Harrison is gone. Walking through the grounds, he
steps in a trap door in the ground and falls in.
Other agents are
searching the woods, lead by Skinner. Scully phones and asks if it
the report of Doggett being missing is true. She wants to come and
help, but Skinner tells her to stay put. Doggett wakes up in an
underground passage. He picks up his gun and draws a flashlight. His
cell phone reports no service. Mulder and Scully are at the morgue.
Arlen Sacks died of heart failure after being blinded by some kind
of substance. Mulder says it is venom, based on the sample Doggett
and Harrison sent back. Doggett breaks through a metal gate across
the passage. He finds a wine cellar, then hears a noise. The reptile
jumps him,. But he fires his gun and drives it off. Harrison comes
into the room. Both of then had their eyes sprayed and their vision
is blurry. She has also found Gary, who is comatose nearby. Doggett
thinks somebody provided the trapdoor to provide meals for the
reptile. Bootleggers probably built the tunnels during the
depression. Mulder drives up to the search location and talks to
Skinner. Police found Doggett's car parked at a convenience store
some distance away and the search is being moved.. Mulder decided to
do his own search in the woods. Doggett is trying to climb out of a
manhole , even though his vision is blurry Mulder approaches the
mansion Herman Stytes, who says he owns the property, approaches
Mulder. Mulder asks if Herman has seen any dangerous animals. Mulder
gives his name as Alvin Kersh. Herman says he is a biologist. Mulder
thinks that the reptile is a man, using some kind of reptile venom.
Mulder walks away. Doggett gets to the top of the manhole shaft, but
Stytes steps on his hand, causing him to fall back.
Doggett thinks that
the man is some kind of scientist. Doggett tells Harrison to stay
with Gary while he looks for a way out. Harrison, however, discovers
that Gary is gone. Did the thing take him? Mulder is watching the
mansion when Scully calls. She says Stytes called and complained
about Mulder impersonating Kersh. Scully thinks this is some sort of
reptile attack. Mulder found his Apollo medallion on the grass on
Stytes' estate, so he knows Doggett is nearby. The bacteria in the
slime is breaking down the dissolving the body of the victims,
according to lab tests. Doggett and Harrison are making their way
through the tunnels. She is completely blind. Doggett catches a
glimpse of the reptile and shoots as it crawls along the walls. Gary
is in the same room with them, his body largely dissolved. Scully
reports to Mulder that Stytes is a cryptobiologist who published a
monograph last year claiming to be on the verge of creating a new
species of reptile. Mulder sees something slithering around the
grounds and chases it. It climbs the mansion wall and disappears.
Mulder pounds on the mansion door, which is locked. The reptile is
just inside, and transforms in to Stytes. Stytes opens the door.
Mulder wants to know where it is. Mulder and Stytes find Doggett and
Harrison in the tunnels. Doggett reports that Stytes is protecting
the reptile but Harrison claims that Stytes IS the reptile. Stytes
locks them in, then transforms in to the reptile and stalks them.
Doggett can't see but Mulder directs him how to fire his gun to kill
the reptile. When it is dead, the reptile transforms back into
Stytes.
At Washington DC
Memorial Hospital, Doggett is recovered, having received anti- venom
treatments. Harrison is recovering, but she has decided that she
will not return to the X-Files. Mulder wants to return the Apollo 11
medallion to Doggett, but Doggett wants to give it to Harrison.
Mulder and Scully visit Harrison, who asks a typical fan question
– when Mulder went to Antarctica to save Scully from the alien
spaceship, and his snowcat ran out of gas, how did they get home.
Mulder and Scully don't answer, but begin quibbling over whether it
was really a spaceship, enjoying themselves.. Doggett listens at the
door briefly, and walks off, alone.
