IC Inbox - Mask or Menace

[starbuckaroobanzai]

Re: Hello

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sent at 8:28 PM (two minutes ago)
FROM	Dana Scully <d_scully@fbi.gov>;
TO	<trust_no1@mail.com>;
CC
Thank you for your email. I am out of the office for an indefinite period and unable to respond at this time. I will review your message following my return. If you require immediate assistance, please contact Assistant Director Walter Skinner at w_skinner@fbi.gov. Thank you for your understanding. Best regards, Dr. Dana Scully, MD Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
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Comments

[acclimatized]

Hey, I have a question for you. Are you free?

[starbuckaroobanzai]

[Well, I have been whisked away across the boundaries between universes by a shadowy governmental and military entity which has injected me with a poorly-explained technology used to track my current allegiance or lack thereof to said governmental and military organization, which may have selected me based upon either undisclosed criteria or pure chance, though it remains possible that everything we have done and ever will do, every aspect of our very existence was preordained by the laws of physics acting in accordance with the first arrangements of particles established at the creation of the universe, but—']

Free enough. I'm on my lunch break. What can I do for you?

[acclimatized]

[ are you having one of those days scully? ]

This is going to sound a little strange, but do you believe people can be contacted by the divine? You know... to spread the word and all that?

[ if you weren't, then surprise! you're now having one of those days. ]

[starbuckaroobanzai]

[O h     g o o d.]

If you mean do I think that there are things God wants us to know and to do, and that He communicates these things to us sometimes, then yes, I'd have to say I do.

[At least this is one she can answer on faith — which is to say, at least it's not about aliens, or something like that.]

[acclimatized]

Then what about other forces in the universe? Do you think they operate in the same way as God?

[starbuckaroobanzai]

Assuming for the sake of argument that they aren't the same thing, I'd have to say I don't know. I've worked cases in which people claiming to be alien abductees claimed to have received orders and instructions via subcutaneous implants installed during their previous abductions. I can't confirm their stories but I've experienced plenty of peculiar things myself.

[acclimatized]

What sort of things?

[ he watched x-files, he'll know if you're lying! ]

[starbuckaroobanzai]

Things I couldn't explain. In which I couldn't help but find meaning. Behaviour I couldn't entirely explain. I've seen and heard things which I can't help but think in spite of everything I hold true to have been forewarnings of something to come. Sometimes I've found myself places with no memory of how I got there or why I went.

[At home she'd never have admitted this, not to anyone she's more or less just met, but here odd experiences just happen, and the point at which disbelief sets in occurs much further down the line than it used to. Maybe that's a good thing. She doesn't really know. Maybe all it does is make her sound like a crazy person.]

[acclimatized]

Has this happened to you recently or a while ago? Sorry for all the questions but it's incredibly interesting since I have never really had anything like that happen to me. I guess you could say I'm curious about the whole thing.

[starbuckaroobanzai]

That depends on which instance you're talking about. Some are recent, sure; a few months maybe. I've been having experiences I couldn't explain for years, though. Comes with the job, I guess; that is what we look for.

1/24

[sizetwelve]

[ Since John is still treating her like a warden, even when on good behavior, Mary decided to humor him by leaving early in the hopes he might think she trusts him. She doesn't, of course, so she'll be lurking outside when Scully to comes by (she needs to be sure Scully is actually coming by, and that she isn't an excuse).

Well, she can surely trust her fiancé in the hands of a former FBI agent, right? Mary will wait until Scully's been inside for a bit before leaving and texting her, so it isn't obvious she was watching. ]

Thanks so much for spending time with John, he's been going crazy cooped up. I would have been there to greet you, but I don't get as much time out of the house as I'd like these days so I'm running all my errands at once.

He's been a bit off since Tuesday, so if you could just keep one eye on him and don't let him near anything electronic, that would be great. Let me know if there's any trouble.

backdated to the 28th january

[acclimatized]

I'm sorry about the other night. I wasn't really myself. I think it was the lightning storm but it's still no excuse.

I'd make it up to you but I think dinner is off the cards for now. Coffee?

> video;

[starbuckaroobanzai]

[It takes a moment's decision, a heavy sigh, and a few seconds of fumbling to switch over to video, but Scully feels it's appropriate. Necessary, really, that he sees what she's saying and that she means it. And so there she is, wearing her work scrubs and a wan but not unfriendly smile, giving a little shrug of the shoulders. When she speaks the words are careful, deliberate, clearly planned in terms of content if not diction.]

I want to tell you something and then I'll give you your answer.

[She presses her lips together, eyes to the side, both uncomfortable in front of the camera and reminiscing.]

What I told you, that I believed you, that was true. I believed that you believed it, and I know--

[A soft, intruding laugh and a shake of the head. This is going to sound crazy.]

A few years ago, on a case, I was exposed to a subliminal signal inserted into television programming. I saw, I was certain I saw incontrovertible evidence that I was being betrayed, I was being set up. I believed it. I nearly shot my partner, I was so sure. So I just... I wanted to say, and I couldn't think of how to say it, but I wanted to say that you don't have to apologise to me.

[She smiles again, small, tired. Sad. Sad for him, mostly. It isn't as though she isn't empathetic, even without having been through something similar.]

So yes. To the coffee. I'd be delighted.

[acclimatized]

[ over the past couple of hours, john has been making a lot of apologies. scully's was the one he was dreading most of all – she rescued him from a hornet and how did he repay her? by waving a knife in front of her face and demanding her help. he's still writhing from the memory.

so when she responds with video, he's a little surprised. heaving a sigh, he switches on the camera as well with a sheepish look. he can't hide behind text forever and, although he tries to put on a brave face, his eyes are red-rimmed with fatigue and misery. it's been a long week. ]

So what you're saying is that... you're used to all this. [ his knowing smile is hidden behind his linked fingers. clearing his throat, he focuses on a corner of the screen instead of looking straight at her. ] I wanted to apologise though. It's like you said... I was susceptible to whatever that storm did and acted out. It might've been better if it was mind control; it'd remove the possibility of this happening again.

[ with a sniff, he manages to pull his eyes away from the corner and looks at scully. ]

Have you got a place in mind?