The X-Files s02e18 Episode Script
Fearful Symmetry
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah, okay.
¿Qué pasa aquí? Huh? Santa Maria.
Ese loco.
- What the hell is that? - I don't know.
Hey! Get out Get out of the way! Ray! Get over there! Ray's hurt bad, man.
- Somebody call it in! - Hurry up! Get an ambulance! This is Wesley Brewer out on Route Seven.
Looks like about an 8:00 E.
T.
A.
On that trailer pickup.
This fog's gonna slow me down.
Ten-four, Wesley.
See you when you get here.
Mother of God! Mom, is she gonna die? I'm sorry, sweetie.
She was just lying there when we found her, Officer.
They're doing their best.
- Come on, folks.
Stay back.
- No, Mom! Thank you.
Sir? Stay back.
You saw nothing when the window broke? No one outside? - No.
- Nothing.
We heard a noise like thunder, then glass everywhere.
Okay.
Thank you.
What did the janitors say? They claim they didn't see anything.
The security monitors don't have a recording of anything either.
Just a giant implosion of glass, like some kind of giant shock wave.
What the janitors described sounds more like a sonic boom.
No sonic boom did this.
The construction worker who was killed had his spine crushed like a string of seashells.
A circular abrasion on his torso in roughly the shape of an elephant's foot.
Other workers at the site said they felt the ground shake, followed by a faint whiff of animal odor in the wind.
If you're suggesting the elephant did this, it defies logic.
- Somebody would have seen it.
- If somebody would have seen it, we wouldn't be here.
Another vehicle would have left evidence of a collision, distress to the metal or paint.
I can see signs of neither of those things.
I'd be willing to admit the possibility of a tornado, but it's not really tornado season.
I'd even be willing to entertain the notion of a black hole passing over the area or some cosmic anomaly, but it's not really black hole season either.
If I was a betting man, I'd say that it was a An invisible elephant? I saw David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear once.
- Agent Mulder? - Yeah.
Ed Meecham, Fairfield Zoo.
Sorry for the holdup.
We had trouble transporting Ganesha's body this morning.
- This is Agent Scully.
- Hi.
Have they determined what he died of? She.
Ganesha was a 12-year-old Indian female.
Near as I can figure, she ran herself into exhaustion.
- How did she escape? - Well, now there's a puzzle.
When I got the call this morning, I expected to find her cage open, but it was locked tight, just like I left it.
- Any idea how she could have escaped the locked cage? - No, sir.
No signs of tampering either.
I've read about the elephant rebellion in zoos across the country.
A high incidence of elephants turning on their keepers, destroying their pens.
Was Ganesha ever a problem like that? Elephants are very big, very willful animals.
So you're saying there were problems? The person you want to talk to about that is Willa Ambrose.
- Ambrose? - She's a naturalist.
She was hired by the board of supervisors last year to oversee things.
Now she's supposed to be the reigning authority.
In your opinion, the damage here on the street, could this have been caused by an escaped elephant? - In my honest opinion? - Yeah.
Sure.
Will you excuse me? What you lookin' for, Mulder? A local paper.
I want to see if David Copperfield is in town.
Excuse me.
We're looking for Willa Ambrose.
- There.
- Thank you.
- Ms.
Ambrose? - Yes? I'm Agent Dana Scully.
This is Agent Mulder.
We're with the F.
B.
I.
How can I help you? A federal employee was fatally injured last night.
There seems to be a case developing around the elephant that escaped from your zoo.
It was my understanding that the eyewitnesses to the accident said that they didn't know how the man was killed.
Actually, what we're trying to determine is how Ganesha escaped.
- What did Ed tell you? - He found the cage locked, the same way he'd left it.
What more can I say? I don't want to belabor this, but a man was found trampled to death.
An animal from your zoo was found 43 miles from here.
No one's looking to place any blame.
We're just trying to understand the facts that led up to this incident.
This is where Ganesha was held when she wasn't in her habitat.
- Who has keys to this lock? - Only myself and Mr.
Meecham.
Otherwise, this is a restricted area.
Elephants aren't particularly good jumpers, if that's what you're thinking.
No.
I was just wondering why such a small pen for such a large animal.
The zoo was built in the 1940s.
The pens and habitats are all too confining.
I was brought on to expand and create more humane environments.
Unfortunately, these things take time.
Those, uh, chains on the ground there? Those are tie-downs.
They're meant to restrict the animals's movement.
- I disallowed their use when I came to work here.
- Disallowed their use by whom? It was Ed Meecham's practice that reflected an old, nonprogressive zoo policy.
How's your relationship with Ed Meecham? I'm his boss and a woman, and Ed doesn't like that much.
Would he be vindictive enough to let Ganesha go as an act of sabotage? Well, if he did, that would be foolish.
The facility is running at a deficit and in danger of losing its funding.
- Have you spoken about the incident with Ed? - No.
I think Ed's got enough dealing with the W.
A.
O.
- The W.
A.
O.
? - The Wild Again Organization.
They're a radical group that believes any captive animal is a crime against nature.
Believe me, they're going to have a field day with this one.
Excuse me.
The W.
A.
O.
Believes only tragedy results from keeping animals in captivity.
In the wild, an elephant like that would roam an area of 20 square miles minimum.
Ganesha weighed in excess of 5,000 pounds, and she was being held in a 50-by-50-foot cage.
And you consider that inhumane treatment? It's like you or I living in a pickle barrel.
According to F.
B.
I.
Files, you've been arrested over a dozen times for activities involving the kidnapping of circus and zoo animals.
The W.
A.
O.
Sees it as liberation.
Hm.
Were you involved in the liberation of Ganesha? That would make me an accessory to murder, wouldn't it? Endangering these animals is against everything we believe.
These are incredibly spiritual creatures.
Their rituals and behavior are linked to a past no man ever witnessed.
Did you know they actually bury their dead? They can visit an elephant graveyard centuries old and know instinctively where the bones of their ancient ancestors lie.
What do you think Ganesha was running from? You wanna see what she was running from? I'll show you.
Get up! Pull! I got it.
This is how Ed Meecham treats these majestic animals.
- This is still going on? - Meecham's a barbarian.
He's been torturing animals at the Fairfield Zoo for years.
We figure he's still at it.
Eventually, we're going to get some proof.
We're here to put pressure on the zoo.
We're keeping track of what goes on there.
We're keeping track of what goes on there.
Even though Willa Ambrose claims she's put a stop to most of his old practices? Whatever Willa Ambrose's intentions, she's too preoccupied to really know how Meecham operates.
Preoccupied with what? A lawsuit she's fighting against the Malawi government over a lowland gorilla named Sophie.
Willa rescued her from a North African customshouse ten years ago.
Raised her like a child.
Now the Malawi government wants her back.
Will they win? This is a perfect example of man's imperialism over the animal kingdom.
The craven impulse to turn animals into objects for our own selfish pleasure.
I thought you said she rescued this gorilla.
Rescued her so she could spend her life behind bars.
Her obligation should have been to return the gorilla to the wild.
All animals should run free.
Even if that means trampling a man to death? Maybe he should have gotten out of the way.
I'm sure he would have if he'd seen it coming.
Thanks for your time, sir, and we'll get back to you soon.
It's all happening at the zoo, Scully.
Well, we found our suspects.
You think they busted out the elephant? You heard the man.
"All animals should run free.
" What about the eyewitness accounts, the security tapes, the fact no one actually saw an elephant until it was miles away from the zoo? The lights they were using at the construction site were mercury vapor, They can restrict a man's ability to adjust his vision to the dark.
And those security cameras are poor quality.
A gray elephant may not have registered on tape in the dim light in front of the building.
I'm not buying it, Scully.
I think these guys are all talk.
These guys are dedicated to exactly this kind of activity, unabashedly.
- Did you check out the night vision camera on the shelf? - No.
Wouldn't surprise me if they tried to capitalize on their success.
- By doing what? - By liberating another animal.
Willa Ambrose said that the zoo was in trouble financially.
The loss of another big exhibit could shut them down entirely.
All right.
You keep an eye on the W.
A.
O.
And where are you going? Talk to the animals.
Beam me up, Scotty.
Anybody ever tell you the camera loves you, Frohike? Yeah, the arresting officers at the "FreeJames Brown" rally.
So what's this costing the taxpayers, Mulder? Uh, about 150 bucks an hour.
Ouch! Almost as much as Bill Clinton's haircuts.
- Where's Langley? - He has a philosophical issue with having his image bounced off a satellite.
- What are you doing in Idaho? - I'm in Fairfield.
What do you know about it? They got a little zoo there.
Lots of strange lore.
Animals escaping, disappearing without a trace.
- Any idea why? - You're not far from the Mountain Home Air Base.
- Major UFO hot spot.
- Weird fact, Mulder.
No animal at Fairfield Zoo has ever brought a pregnancy to term.
Not a cub or a chick.
The woman who runs the zoo has a gorilla that knows sign language, supposedly with the vocabulary of 1,000 words.
If that's the lovely Agent Scully, let her know I've been working out.
I'm buff.
I'm buff.
- Mulder.
- Mulder, it's me.
I was right.
I just followed the kid from the W.
A.
O.
To the zoo.
He's just about to make it over the fence.
All right.
I'll be right there, Scully.
What the hell are you doing here? There's a member of the W.
A.
O.
On the premises.
Come with me.
What's going on? Sophie, calm down.
I don't know what you're talking about.
You have no idea what he was doing at the zoo? If you're asking did I have any idea of his intentions, the answer is simple not the slightest.
What if I told you I saw this camera on the shelf yesterday? Guess I never noticed it before.
A tiger is missing, and a member of your organization is dead.
For such a principled man, you show an amazing lack of emotion.
If the tiger killed this person, then it was a natural act.
If I find evidence that he was releasing those animals under your orders, I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life behind bars.
Scully? You know, that guy really pisses me off.
- You okay, Scully? - Yeah.
You calmed down? Have they found the tiger yet? No, but I took a look at the cassette from the kid's recorder.
- He wasn't killed by the tiger.
- What? Unless it's trick photography, that kid was killed by some kind of phantom attacker.
You saw his body.
That kid was mauled to death.
He had deep claw marks on his chest and back.
I can't explain it either, but I know someone who might be able to.
Excuse me, Ms.
Ambrose? Can we have a word with you? I don't know anything more than I've told the police.
I have nothing to say.
Is this where you keep Sophie? Sophie is ill.
Do you think we could meet her? We're not here to try to take her away from you.
About six weeks ago, I had to take Sophie out of her public habitat.
She'd become so withdrawn and depressed.
She'd curl into a ball in the corner of her cage and just shiver.
- Did you ask her why? - All the time.
- What did she say? - "Light.
Afraid.
" Literally, she's afraid of the light.
- She speaks to you? - Over 600 words using American Sign Language.
She understands over a thousand.
I'll show you her vocabulary list.
Is this who you wanted to speak to? It's basic investigative procedure, Agent Scully interview all possible witnesses.
Gorillas are highly sensitive creatures, and Sophie's use of language skills makes her even more so.
Why would she be afraid of the light? You've obviously heard about the trouble with the Malawi government.
There's a chance that Sophie could be taken away from me, and I think that she knows that.
- Are these Sophie's? - Yes.
- What do they mean? - Until recently, Sophie desperately wanted a baby.
The brown object in the center is her expression of that.
Have you tried to mate her? We were looking for a suitable partner, but under these stressful conditions, I didn't want to put her through it.
- Do you have a veterinary facility here? - Yeah.
This may seem like a rather strange request, but it might explain what's going on.
I'm going to need your help too, Scully.
I hope you know what you're getting us into, Mulder.
I'm pretty sure of what we're going to find.
This isn't exactly in my job description.
Ah, next thing you know, they'll be doing it on MTV Sports.
Okay.
The elephant's cavity is clear.
I'm ready for you.
- The knife's right down here.
- Okay.
I've been told there's never been a successful pregnancy at the Fairfield Zoo.
Sounds like you've been talking to Kyle Lang.
- Well, is it true? - Yes.
But I don't think for the reasons Kyle claims.
Not because Ed Meecham has done anything to these animals.
- Why then? - Because bringing a pregnancy to term in captivity is always difficult.
- But a perfect failure rate? - I know.
It's one of the things I was determined to change when I came to the zoo.
Was an attempt ever made to mate Ganesha? No.
Mating an elephant out of the wild is rarely successful.
There have only been six elephants born in captivity over the last ten years.
Here's the uterine tissue, but I'm still not clear on what you expect to find.
You're right, Mulder.
The signs in the uterus and the ovaries are unmistakable.
So, what did you find? This animal had been pregnant.
- What are you talking about? - There's evidence of hyperplasia, - and the corpus luteum is ruptured.
- That's not possible.
Neither is an invisible elephant.
What is going on here? Whatever it is, it's been going on for some time.
And I think you'll find evidence of the same thing when your tiger returns.
I still can't believe you bet on the Chargers.
- You hear that? - Hear what? - Where's the tiger? - Somewhere inside the construction site.
- He's got two men trapped in there.
- Put the gun away, Ed.
You want to be responsible for another death, Ms.
Ambrose? I think we can capture this cat without any harm to anyone.
- This is no time for wishful thinking.
- I'm ordering you, Ed.
Yes, ma'am.
Lead the way.
Thank you.
How'd the tiger get all the way across town without being spotted? I don't know, but we'd better find her before Meecham does.
Hey.
Shh.
It was just here.
It's all right, Willa.
They don't all talk and draw pictures.
This last incident has left the board with no choice but to withdraw all funding.
If that's your decision, then there's nothing else I can say.
I'm sorry.
It really is a shame.
It's too bad.
I'm out of a job.
They've cut off all funding.
The animals are being shipped out to other zoos starting Monday.
I'm sorry.
It could not have happened at a worse time.
You mean for Sophie? What I had going for me was my position here, having a place for her.
Have the results come in on the tiger? Agent Scully just finished the test.
The tiger had been pregnant too.
It's impossible.
There's no chance those animals could get pregnant.
What if they'd been artificially inseminated? That's an extremely fine and complex process.
I would have known.
Unless it was done somewhere else.
- Where? - What do you know about alien abduction? You're You're kidding me.
You think that these animals were taken aboard some spaceship? I don't know where they're being taken, but there's some problem getting them back, due to what is probably an astrological variation, a trouble with the time/space continuum.
These animals that are being taken from locked cages are being returned roughly two miles west-southwest of this zoo.
Aliens impregnating zoo animals.
- Yes, and harvesting the embryos.
- Why? Maybe their own Noah's ark to preserve the DNA of these animals that we're depleting to extinction.
Whatever it is, that's probably the reason you've never had a successful birth at this facility.
I think that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
I understand that you might think it's ridiculous.
Maybe you should ask Sophie.
You think this is what she's so afraid of? I believe she's pregnant, and she's afraid of them coming for her baby.
Sophie, come here.
I want to ask you a question.
It's okay, Sophie.
Come here.
What'd she say? She says, "Man, woman hurt.
" She thinks you or your partner are going to hurt her or me.
Sophie.
Man, woman are here to help you.
They want to know about Sophie's baby.
- Can I ask her a question? - Yeah.
Will you ask her if she wants to leave here? Sophie, do you want to leave here? She says, "Light.
Afraid.
" Sophie, what are you afraid of? Tell me.
What did she say? She said, "Baby go flying light.
" I just finished up in the infirmary.
The sheriff's deputy came looking to serve you papers.
I think it's about Sophie.
What am I gonna do? You can't leave Sophie here, not if you want to protect her.
I have nowhere to take her.
Excuse me.
Willa Ambrose? - Yes.
- I'm serving you with a court order to release a gorilla named Sophie into protective custody.
- What are you doing here? - I've come to ask for your help, Kyle.
Help with what? Sophie.
They've taken her into protective custody.
Let her go, Willa.
They're putting her in an iron cage as we speak, without bars, without windows.
It'll kill her.
Sophie's been behind bars her entire life.
Let her go home.
She'll have the freedom she deserves.
Freedom to what? Be killed by poachers and have her hands cut off as souvenirs? - She'll be in a preserve.
- She's mine, Kyle.
I won't let her go! Please.
Come on.
We can find a place for her here.
Aprivate reserve.
You know people.
That's against everything I stand for.
She's pregnant.
- What? - Sophie's pregnant.
I don't believe you, Willa.
It's true.
What if she was? Is the baby going to live its life behind bars too? Look, Willa.
She doesn't belong to you.
She's not your child.
She belongs with other gorillas, not selling tickets for a zoo.
You won't help me? No.
Wanna see something interesting? Where'd you get this? I was looking for a pen to finish my report in Willa's office and that was in her drawer.
It's a small world after all.
It's okay, Sophie.
Sophie.
Sophie.
Don't worry.
I'm with you.
I love you too.
Willa? Willa, you here? Willa, where are you? Willa? I told you.
It happened exactly the way it did with the tiger.
I heard the animals going crazy.
I got out of bed to check on Sophie, and she was gone.
That's when I found Kyle.
Do you have any idea what he would have been doing at the zoo? No.
A witness says you visited Kyle's office yesterday.
- Is that true? - Yeah.
For what purpose? Basically to tell him that he'd won.
That the zoo was being shut down.
That Sophie was taken into protective custody.
Did you ask him to help you take Sophie to prevent her from being taken from you? No.
That would be against everything Kyle believed in.
But he helped you to rescue her originally, isn't that correct? He had a connection to you and to this animal that went back several years.
Whatever connection he and I had, it was over long ago.
But you asked him anyway to help you.
No.
Then what was he doing here last night and why did he give you this note? I don't know.
I told you.
Did he make it a habit of visiting the zoo? If he did, it was probably late at night after he jumped over the fence like a good W.
A.
O.
Soldier.
Anyway, why don't you ask Agent Mulder what he thinks happened? He seems to have a novel theory.
Maybe it was alien abduction.
Scully, can I talk to you for a second? You think she's telling the truth.
Why do you say that? Kyle Lang's death and the disappearance of the animal - match the previous incidents.
- Yes.
And you've been pushing this alien abduction angle.
I still am.
But in this case, Willa's reactions are all wrong.
- To losing Sophie? - I think she knows where Sophie is, and Kyle Lang died because he knows what she's capable of.
- You think she killed him? - I think she'd do anything to protect that animal.
Even wait atop a stack of crates for her former lover to walk underneath? An examination of the body will give a lot clearer picture of what happened.
You do that, and I'll check out the warehouse.
Looks like you're in a hurry.
Well, there isn't much to hang around for, is there? I'm afraid there is.
I found evidence that Kyle died a wrongful death.
He was hit with a cattle prod.
There's going to be an investigation, so I have to read you your rights.
It was an accident.
Kyle surprised Ed.
He wasn't supposed to be there.
Ed Meecham took Sophie? Yes.
There was no one else to turn to.
Where is she, Willa? Ed has her.
She's in some building on the road to Boise.
Put it down, Ed.
There's been enough violence, don't you think? - I didn't kill Kyle Lang.
- Put down the gun, and we'll talk about it.
I was only doing what she paid me to do.
Where's the animal, Ed? - Down the hall.
- You show me where.
We're gonna go there together.
Come on.
What is she doing? She's throwing herself against the door.
She's gone crazy.
She's scared.
Yeah? Well, she's gonna kill herself.
Okay, Ed.
You're going to have to save her.
Take your tranquilizer gun.
I'll be right behind you.
I've only got one dart, so you gotta get her out in the light.
Do you see her? I think she's over in that corner over there.
Hey, Meecham! I'm not going to hurt you.
Mulder? Mulder? - Ow! - Sorry.
Lie still.
- Where's Sophie? - Get a paramedic.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Meecham.
Meecham's been arrested.
We picked him up on the way to Boise.
That's how we found you here.
- They took Sophie.
- Who did? - Where's Willa? - She's outside.
She's going in to make a statement about Kyle Lang.
I've got to talk to her.
- Where is she? - She's gone.
- What did he do to her? - It wasn't Ed.
She tried to tell me something.
- What is that? - That doesn't make any sense.
- What does it mean? - "Man save man.
" We've just received a report of a large animal spotted down on the interstate just west of the service road off 99.
- That's her.
- She's heading back towards the zoo.
Unit 12, we have trouble reported at the junior high.
- Where is she? - Over there.
- What happened here? - Animal got hit by a car.
Ran off into the field.
Unit 21 is in the area.
E.
T.
A.
Five minutes.
No! No, no, no, no! No! Sophie? Sophie? Oh, no, no! Willa Ambrose and Ed Meecham have been charged with manslaughter for the death of Kyle Lang.
Though the courts will rule on this matter and justice will no doubt be served, the pall of a greater tragedy remains.
The motives of the silent visitors who set these events in motion remain unclear.
Could this be a judgment on a global rate of extinction that has risen to 1,000 times its natural rate in this century? An act of alien conservation of animals we are driving hard toward oblivion? And if so, might it follow that our own fate and existence could finally be dependent on the conservatorship of an extraterrestrial race? Or in the simple words of a creature whose own future is uncertain, "Will man save man?"
Okay.
Yeah, okay.
¿Qué pasa aquí? Huh? Santa Maria.
Ese loco.
- What the hell is that? - I don't know.
Hey! Get out Get out of the way! Ray! Get over there! Ray's hurt bad, man.
- Somebody call it in! - Hurry up! Get an ambulance! This is Wesley Brewer out on Route Seven.
Looks like about an 8:00 E.
T.
A.
On that trailer pickup.
This fog's gonna slow me down.
Ten-four, Wesley.
See you when you get here.
Mother of God! Mom, is she gonna die? I'm sorry, sweetie.
She was just lying there when we found her, Officer.
They're doing their best.
- Come on, folks.
Stay back.
- No, Mom! Thank you.
Sir? Stay back.
You saw nothing when the window broke? No one outside? - No.
- Nothing.
We heard a noise like thunder, then glass everywhere.
Okay.
Thank you.
What did the janitors say? They claim they didn't see anything.
The security monitors don't have a recording of anything either.
Just a giant implosion of glass, like some kind of giant shock wave.
What the janitors described sounds more like a sonic boom.
No sonic boom did this.
The construction worker who was killed had his spine crushed like a string of seashells.
A circular abrasion on his torso in roughly the shape of an elephant's foot.
Other workers at the site said they felt the ground shake, followed by a faint whiff of animal odor in the wind.
If you're suggesting the elephant did this, it defies logic.
- Somebody would have seen it.
- If somebody would have seen it, we wouldn't be here.
Another vehicle would have left evidence of a collision, distress to the metal or paint.
I can see signs of neither of those things.
I'd be willing to admit the possibility of a tornado, but it's not really tornado season.
I'd even be willing to entertain the notion of a black hole passing over the area or some cosmic anomaly, but it's not really black hole season either.
If I was a betting man, I'd say that it was a An invisible elephant? I saw David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear once.
- Agent Mulder? - Yeah.
Ed Meecham, Fairfield Zoo.
Sorry for the holdup.
We had trouble transporting Ganesha's body this morning.
- This is Agent Scully.
- Hi.
Have they determined what he died of? She.
Ganesha was a 12-year-old Indian female.
Near as I can figure, she ran herself into exhaustion.
- How did she escape? - Well, now there's a puzzle.
When I got the call this morning, I expected to find her cage open, but it was locked tight, just like I left it.
- Any idea how she could have escaped the locked cage? - No, sir.
No signs of tampering either.
I've read about the elephant rebellion in zoos across the country.
A high incidence of elephants turning on their keepers, destroying their pens.
Was Ganesha ever a problem like that? Elephants are very big, very willful animals.
So you're saying there were problems? The person you want to talk to about that is Willa Ambrose.
- Ambrose? - She's a naturalist.
She was hired by the board of supervisors last year to oversee things.
Now she's supposed to be the reigning authority.
In your opinion, the damage here on the street, could this have been caused by an escaped elephant? - In my honest opinion? - Yeah.
Sure.
Will you excuse me? What you lookin' for, Mulder? A local paper.
I want to see if David Copperfield is in town.
Excuse me.
We're looking for Willa Ambrose.
- There.
- Thank you.
- Ms.
Ambrose? - Yes? I'm Agent Dana Scully.
This is Agent Mulder.
We're with the F.
B.
I.
How can I help you? A federal employee was fatally injured last night.
There seems to be a case developing around the elephant that escaped from your zoo.
It was my understanding that the eyewitnesses to the accident said that they didn't know how the man was killed.
Actually, what we're trying to determine is how Ganesha escaped.
- What did Ed tell you? - He found the cage locked, the same way he'd left it.
What more can I say? I don't want to belabor this, but a man was found trampled to death.
An animal from your zoo was found 43 miles from here.
No one's looking to place any blame.
We're just trying to understand the facts that led up to this incident.
This is where Ganesha was held when she wasn't in her habitat.
- Who has keys to this lock? - Only myself and Mr.
Meecham.
Otherwise, this is a restricted area.
Elephants aren't particularly good jumpers, if that's what you're thinking.
No.
I was just wondering why such a small pen for such a large animal.
The zoo was built in the 1940s.
The pens and habitats are all too confining.
I was brought on to expand and create more humane environments.
Unfortunately, these things take time.
Those, uh, chains on the ground there? Those are tie-downs.
They're meant to restrict the animals's movement.
- I disallowed their use when I came to work here.
- Disallowed their use by whom? It was Ed Meecham's practice that reflected an old, nonprogressive zoo policy.
How's your relationship with Ed Meecham? I'm his boss and a woman, and Ed doesn't like that much.
Would he be vindictive enough to let Ganesha go as an act of sabotage? Well, if he did, that would be foolish.
The facility is running at a deficit and in danger of losing its funding.
- Have you spoken about the incident with Ed? - No.
I think Ed's got enough dealing with the W.
A.
O.
- The W.
A.
O.
? - The Wild Again Organization.
They're a radical group that believes any captive animal is a crime against nature.
Believe me, they're going to have a field day with this one.
Excuse me.
The W.
A.
O.
Believes only tragedy results from keeping animals in captivity.
In the wild, an elephant like that would roam an area of 20 square miles minimum.
Ganesha weighed in excess of 5,000 pounds, and she was being held in a 50-by-50-foot cage.
And you consider that inhumane treatment? It's like you or I living in a pickle barrel.
According to F.
B.
I.
Files, you've been arrested over a dozen times for activities involving the kidnapping of circus and zoo animals.
The W.
A.
O.
Sees it as liberation.
Hm.
Were you involved in the liberation of Ganesha? That would make me an accessory to murder, wouldn't it? Endangering these animals is against everything we believe.
These are incredibly spiritual creatures.
Their rituals and behavior are linked to a past no man ever witnessed.
Did you know they actually bury their dead? They can visit an elephant graveyard centuries old and know instinctively where the bones of their ancient ancestors lie.
What do you think Ganesha was running from? You wanna see what she was running from? I'll show you.
Get up! Pull! I got it.
This is how Ed Meecham treats these majestic animals.
- This is still going on? - Meecham's a barbarian.
He's been torturing animals at the Fairfield Zoo for years.
We figure he's still at it.
Eventually, we're going to get some proof.
We're here to put pressure on the zoo.
We're keeping track of what goes on there.
We're keeping track of what goes on there.
Even though Willa Ambrose claims she's put a stop to most of his old practices? Whatever Willa Ambrose's intentions, she's too preoccupied to really know how Meecham operates.
Preoccupied with what? A lawsuit she's fighting against the Malawi government over a lowland gorilla named Sophie.
Willa rescued her from a North African customshouse ten years ago.
Raised her like a child.
Now the Malawi government wants her back.
Will they win? This is a perfect example of man's imperialism over the animal kingdom.
The craven impulse to turn animals into objects for our own selfish pleasure.
I thought you said she rescued this gorilla.
Rescued her so she could spend her life behind bars.
Her obligation should have been to return the gorilla to the wild.
All animals should run free.
Even if that means trampling a man to death? Maybe he should have gotten out of the way.
I'm sure he would have if he'd seen it coming.
Thanks for your time, sir, and we'll get back to you soon.
It's all happening at the zoo, Scully.
Well, we found our suspects.
You think they busted out the elephant? You heard the man.
"All animals should run free.
" What about the eyewitness accounts, the security tapes, the fact no one actually saw an elephant until it was miles away from the zoo? The lights they were using at the construction site were mercury vapor, They can restrict a man's ability to adjust his vision to the dark.
And those security cameras are poor quality.
A gray elephant may not have registered on tape in the dim light in front of the building.
I'm not buying it, Scully.
I think these guys are all talk.
These guys are dedicated to exactly this kind of activity, unabashedly.
- Did you check out the night vision camera on the shelf? - No.
Wouldn't surprise me if they tried to capitalize on their success.
- By doing what? - By liberating another animal.
Willa Ambrose said that the zoo was in trouble financially.
The loss of another big exhibit could shut them down entirely.
All right.
You keep an eye on the W.
A.
O.
And where are you going? Talk to the animals.
Beam me up, Scotty.
Anybody ever tell you the camera loves you, Frohike? Yeah, the arresting officers at the "FreeJames Brown" rally.
So what's this costing the taxpayers, Mulder? Uh, about 150 bucks an hour.
Ouch! Almost as much as Bill Clinton's haircuts.
- Where's Langley? - He has a philosophical issue with having his image bounced off a satellite.
- What are you doing in Idaho? - I'm in Fairfield.
What do you know about it? They got a little zoo there.
Lots of strange lore.
Animals escaping, disappearing without a trace.
- Any idea why? - You're not far from the Mountain Home Air Base.
- Major UFO hot spot.
- Weird fact, Mulder.
No animal at Fairfield Zoo has ever brought a pregnancy to term.
Not a cub or a chick.
The woman who runs the zoo has a gorilla that knows sign language, supposedly with the vocabulary of 1,000 words.
If that's the lovely Agent Scully, let her know I've been working out.
I'm buff.
I'm buff.
- Mulder.
- Mulder, it's me.
I was right.
I just followed the kid from the W.
A.
O.
To the zoo.
He's just about to make it over the fence.
All right.
I'll be right there, Scully.
What the hell are you doing here? There's a member of the W.
A.
O.
On the premises.
Come with me.
What's going on? Sophie, calm down.
I don't know what you're talking about.
You have no idea what he was doing at the zoo? If you're asking did I have any idea of his intentions, the answer is simple not the slightest.
What if I told you I saw this camera on the shelf yesterday? Guess I never noticed it before.
A tiger is missing, and a member of your organization is dead.
For such a principled man, you show an amazing lack of emotion.
If the tiger killed this person, then it was a natural act.
If I find evidence that he was releasing those animals under your orders, I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life behind bars.
Scully? You know, that guy really pisses me off.
- You okay, Scully? - Yeah.
You calmed down? Have they found the tiger yet? No, but I took a look at the cassette from the kid's recorder.
- He wasn't killed by the tiger.
- What? Unless it's trick photography, that kid was killed by some kind of phantom attacker.
You saw his body.
That kid was mauled to death.
He had deep claw marks on his chest and back.
I can't explain it either, but I know someone who might be able to.
Excuse me, Ms.
Ambrose? Can we have a word with you? I don't know anything more than I've told the police.
I have nothing to say.
Is this where you keep Sophie? Sophie is ill.
Do you think we could meet her? We're not here to try to take her away from you.
About six weeks ago, I had to take Sophie out of her public habitat.
She'd become so withdrawn and depressed.
She'd curl into a ball in the corner of her cage and just shiver.
- Did you ask her why? - All the time.
- What did she say? - "Light.
Afraid.
" Literally, she's afraid of the light.
- She speaks to you? - Over 600 words using American Sign Language.
She understands over a thousand.
I'll show you her vocabulary list.
Is this who you wanted to speak to? It's basic investigative procedure, Agent Scully interview all possible witnesses.
Gorillas are highly sensitive creatures, and Sophie's use of language skills makes her even more so.
Why would she be afraid of the light? You've obviously heard about the trouble with the Malawi government.
There's a chance that Sophie could be taken away from me, and I think that she knows that.
- Are these Sophie's? - Yes.
- What do they mean? - Until recently, Sophie desperately wanted a baby.
The brown object in the center is her expression of that.
Have you tried to mate her? We were looking for a suitable partner, but under these stressful conditions, I didn't want to put her through it.
- Do you have a veterinary facility here? - Yeah.
This may seem like a rather strange request, but it might explain what's going on.
I'm going to need your help too, Scully.
I hope you know what you're getting us into, Mulder.
I'm pretty sure of what we're going to find.
This isn't exactly in my job description.
Ah, next thing you know, they'll be doing it on MTV Sports.
Okay.
The elephant's cavity is clear.
I'm ready for you.
- The knife's right down here.
- Okay.
I've been told there's never been a successful pregnancy at the Fairfield Zoo.
Sounds like you've been talking to Kyle Lang.
- Well, is it true? - Yes.
But I don't think for the reasons Kyle claims.
Not because Ed Meecham has done anything to these animals.
- Why then? - Because bringing a pregnancy to term in captivity is always difficult.
- But a perfect failure rate? - I know.
It's one of the things I was determined to change when I came to the zoo.
Was an attempt ever made to mate Ganesha? No.
Mating an elephant out of the wild is rarely successful.
There have only been six elephants born in captivity over the last ten years.
Here's the uterine tissue, but I'm still not clear on what you expect to find.
You're right, Mulder.
The signs in the uterus and the ovaries are unmistakable.
So, what did you find? This animal had been pregnant.
- What are you talking about? - There's evidence of hyperplasia, - and the corpus luteum is ruptured.
- That's not possible.
Neither is an invisible elephant.
What is going on here? Whatever it is, it's been going on for some time.
And I think you'll find evidence of the same thing when your tiger returns.
I still can't believe you bet on the Chargers.
- You hear that? - Hear what? - Where's the tiger? - Somewhere inside the construction site.
- He's got two men trapped in there.
- Put the gun away, Ed.
You want to be responsible for another death, Ms.
Ambrose? I think we can capture this cat without any harm to anyone.
- This is no time for wishful thinking.
- I'm ordering you, Ed.
Yes, ma'am.
Lead the way.
Thank you.
How'd the tiger get all the way across town without being spotted? I don't know, but we'd better find her before Meecham does.
Hey.
Shh.
It was just here.
It's all right, Willa.
They don't all talk and draw pictures.
This last incident has left the board with no choice but to withdraw all funding.
If that's your decision, then there's nothing else I can say.
I'm sorry.
It really is a shame.
It's too bad.
I'm out of a job.
They've cut off all funding.
The animals are being shipped out to other zoos starting Monday.
I'm sorry.
It could not have happened at a worse time.
You mean for Sophie? What I had going for me was my position here, having a place for her.
Have the results come in on the tiger? Agent Scully just finished the test.
The tiger had been pregnant too.
It's impossible.
There's no chance those animals could get pregnant.
What if they'd been artificially inseminated? That's an extremely fine and complex process.
I would have known.
Unless it was done somewhere else.
- Where? - What do you know about alien abduction? You're You're kidding me.
You think that these animals were taken aboard some spaceship? I don't know where they're being taken, but there's some problem getting them back, due to what is probably an astrological variation, a trouble with the time/space continuum.
These animals that are being taken from locked cages are being returned roughly two miles west-southwest of this zoo.
Aliens impregnating zoo animals.
- Yes, and harvesting the embryos.
- Why? Maybe their own Noah's ark to preserve the DNA of these animals that we're depleting to extinction.
Whatever it is, that's probably the reason you've never had a successful birth at this facility.
I think that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
I understand that you might think it's ridiculous.
Maybe you should ask Sophie.
You think this is what she's so afraid of? I believe she's pregnant, and she's afraid of them coming for her baby.
Sophie, come here.
I want to ask you a question.
It's okay, Sophie.
Come here.
What'd she say? She says, "Man, woman hurt.
" She thinks you or your partner are going to hurt her or me.
Sophie.
Man, woman are here to help you.
They want to know about Sophie's baby.
- Can I ask her a question? - Yeah.
Will you ask her if she wants to leave here? Sophie, do you want to leave here? She says, "Light.
Afraid.
" Sophie, what are you afraid of? Tell me.
What did she say? She said, "Baby go flying light.
" I just finished up in the infirmary.
The sheriff's deputy came looking to serve you papers.
I think it's about Sophie.
What am I gonna do? You can't leave Sophie here, not if you want to protect her.
I have nowhere to take her.
Excuse me.
Willa Ambrose? - Yes.
- I'm serving you with a court order to release a gorilla named Sophie into protective custody.
- What are you doing here? - I've come to ask for your help, Kyle.
Help with what? Sophie.
They've taken her into protective custody.
Let her go, Willa.
They're putting her in an iron cage as we speak, without bars, without windows.
It'll kill her.
Sophie's been behind bars her entire life.
Let her go home.
She'll have the freedom she deserves.
Freedom to what? Be killed by poachers and have her hands cut off as souvenirs? - She'll be in a preserve.
- She's mine, Kyle.
I won't let her go! Please.
Come on.
We can find a place for her here.
Aprivate reserve.
You know people.
That's against everything I stand for.
She's pregnant.
- What? - Sophie's pregnant.
I don't believe you, Willa.
It's true.
What if she was? Is the baby going to live its life behind bars too? Look, Willa.
She doesn't belong to you.
She's not your child.
She belongs with other gorillas, not selling tickets for a zoo.
You won't help me? No.
Wanna see something interesting? Where'd you get this? I was looking for a pen to finish my report in Willa's office and that was in her drawer.
It's a small world after all.
It's okay, Sophie.
Sophie.
Sophie.
Don't worry.
I'm with you.
I love you too.
Willa? Willa, you here? Willa, where are you? Willa? I told you.
It happened exactly the way it did with the tiger.
I heard the animals going crazy.
I got out of bed to check on Sophie, and she was gone.
That's when I found Kyle.
Do you have any idea what he would have been doing at the zoo? No.
A witness says you visited Kyle's office yesterday.
- Is that true? - Yeah.
For what purpose? Basically to tell him that he'd won.
That the zoo was being shut down.
That Sophie was taken into protective custody.
Did you ask him to help you take Sophie to prevent her from being taken from you? No.
That would be against everything Kyle believed in.
But he helped you to rescue her originally, isn't that correct? He had a connection to you and to this animal that went back several years.
Whatever connection he and I had, it was over long ago.
But you asked him anyway to help you.
No.
Then what was he doing here last night and why did he give you this note? I don't know.
I told you.
Did he make it a habit of visiting the zoo? If he did, it was probably late at night after he jumped over the fence like a good W.
A.
O.
Soldier.
Anyway, why don't you ask Agent Mulder what he thinks happened? He seems to have a novel theory.
Maybe it was alien abduction.
Scully, can I talk to you for a second? You think she's telling the truth.
Why do you say that? Kyle Lang's death and the disappearance of the animal - match the previous incidents.
- Yes.
And you've been pushing this alien abduction angle.
I still am.
But in this case, Willa's reactions are all wrong.
- To losing Sophie? - I think she knows where Sophie is, and Kyle Lang died because he knows what she's capable of.
- You think she killed him? - I think she'd do anything to protect that animal.
Even wait atop a stack of crates for her former lover to walk underneath? An examination of the body will give a lot clearer picture of what happened.
You do that, and I'll check out the warehouse.
Looks like you're in a hurry.
Well, there isn't much to hang around for, is there? I'm afraid there is.
I found evidence that Kyle died a wrongful death.
He was hit with a cattle prod.
There's going to be an investigation, so I have to read you your rights.
It was an accident.
Kyle surprised Ed.
He wasn't supposed to be there.
Ed Meecham took Sophie? Yes.
There was no one else to turn to.
Where is she, Willa? Ed has her.
She's in some building on the road to Boise.
Put it down, Ed.
There's been enough violence, don't you think? - I didn't kill Kyle Lang.
- Put down the gun, and we'll talk about it.
I was only doing what she paid me to do.
Where's the animal, Ed? - Down the hall.
- You show me where.
We're gonna go there together.
Come on.
What is she doing? She's throwing herself against the door.
She's gone crazy.
She's scared.
Yeah? Well, she's gonna kill herself.
Okay, Ed.
You're going to have to save her.
Take your tranquilizer gun.
I'll be right behind you.
I've only got one dart, so you gotta get her out in the light.
Do you see her? I think she's over in that corner over there.
Hey, Meecham! I'm not going to hurt you.
Mulder? Mulder? - Ow! - Sorry.
Lie still.
- Where's Sophie? - Get a paramedic.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Meecham.
Meecham's been arrested.
We picked him up on the way to Boise.
That's how we found you here.
- They took Sophie.
- Who did? - Where's Willa? - She's outside.
She's going in to make a statement about Kyle Lang.
I've got to talk to her.
- Where is she? - She's gone.
- What did he do to her? - It wasn't Ed.
She tried to tell me something.
- What is that? - That doesn't make any sense.
- What does it mean? - "Man save man.
" We've just received a report of a large animal spotted down on the interstate just west of the service road off 99.
- That's her.
- She's heading back towards the zoo.
Unit 12, we have trouble reported at the junior high.
- Where is she? - Over there.
- What happened here? - Animal got hit by a car.
Ran off into the field.
Unit 21 is in the area.
E.
T.
A.
Five minutes.
No! No, no, no, no! No! Sophie? Sophie? Oh, no, no! Willa Ambrose and Ed Meecham have been charged with manslaughter for the death of Kyle Lang.
Though the courts will rule on this matter and justice will no doubt be served, the pall of a greater tragedy remains.
The motives of the silent visitors who set these events in motion remain unclear.
Could this be a judgment on a global rate of extinction that has risen to 1,000 times its natural rate in this century? An act of alien conservation of animals we are driving hard toward oblivion? And if so, might it follow that our own fate and existence could finally be dependent on the conservatorship of an extraterrestrial race? Or in the simple words of a creature whose own future is uncertain, "Will man save man?"