****************************

"I hadn't realized this before, and I'm not often caught
unawares. Until this moment, watching over your sleep, I could
recall a single instance only in which I've harbored this
particular emotion."

"Oh, I'm not in love, nothing quite so melodramatic."

"Nevertheless, a solitary instance, now two, over the span of a
lifetime. Quite remarkable, don't you think? Yes. Yes, it's quite
remarkable."

"I don't remember this with Diana. Not even in the briefest of
flashes. Not with any of the nameless souls in whom I've taken
transient but restorative comfort and physical pleasure."

"No. Not even under more important circumstances, highly charged
situations, have I experienced such a thing. Not in the case of
young Alex, so promising yet ultimately untrustworthy. Not with
my English colleague, nor even Bill Mulder. Necessity has always
preempted sentiment."

"I am a pragmatic person. I suppose you might disagree, but only
because you haven't sufficient knowledge of the magnitude and
scope of the whole. If you did, surely you would see this as I
do."

"Did I ever feel this way over Cassandra, or with the boy,
Jeffrey? Certainly not. Teena Mulder? Ah. In the end, no. Not
even with her."

"I am quite nearly the perfect pragmatist. Until this moment,
I've only wavered in one case. My son."

"Remarkable. It really is quite remarkable."

"The irony, of course, is not lost on me, yet it is beside the
point. What has been done, had to have been done. There has never
been an alternative."

"Thus, it begs this question.  Why do I feel remorse for what has
happened to *you*, Miss Scully?"

***************************

A tacit observer to this private encounter, you, perhaps, would
note instantly several contradictory things about this man. His
formal deportment and the respectful distance maintained at all
times from his companion, for but two examples. So out of place
with the informal air and intimate nature of the setting. The
soft timbre of his voice strikes discordantly in your ears, due
to the utter lack of any accompanying gentleness. Alert now, you
feel the sharp bite of his precise diction, keenly at odds with
the hypnotic cadence of his speech, a slow rhythm induced and
enforced by a chemical dependence on nicotine.

Of the woman, you note initially only that she seems too still,
almost rigidly so, merely to be sleeping. Next, you might find
her white sateen nightclothes a little too frilly for her taste,
somehow unbecoming a woman of her serious mien, although you have
no evidence whatsoever on which to base such a determination. Yet
your intuition, your instinct fairly sings in protest at this
detail. To you, and let us be fair, to anyone who might so
witness this, laid out as she has been on top of the coverlet, in
her unearthly stillness, the woman might appear to have died. In
this conclusion, though forgivably so, your intuition would have
betrayed you.

You might be relieved to learn that she is, indeed, alive.

That is, until you discover the predatory glint in the man's
eyes, coal black and devoid of warmth or hint of compassion. Your
gaze ricochets back and forth off of each of them, the innocence
of the scene dissolving, fear rising, unbidden, in your throat.

*****************************

"I told you that I'm dying. You dismissed my confession,
reflexively I think, as misdirection, at best."

"It was just such skepticism that drew my attention to you, all
those years ago. Anyone with the backbone to reinterpret Einstein
would have come to my attention eventually. When it turned out to
be a twenty-year-old woman who showed such audacity? Well, that
was when I sought you out."

"Your skepticism has, in the main, served you well, although not
in the way I had initially hoped. You have reined in Agent
Mulder, but your pairing has made him more focused, a danger to
himself. I know you see that. To himself, as well as to others."

"It was such an innocent phrase at the start, 'your pairing'."

"This particular turn of events was unforeseen. Unfortunate. It
has proven troublesome for me, among my colleagues. Because of
this, I have been unable to protect you as well as I would often
have liked. Nevertheless, in a personal sense, the satisfaction
it has brought me is considerable."

"You could not dismiss my confession entirely this evening,
peradventure it might be true. Sadly for myself and, at the risk
of pride, for us all, it is true, Agent Scully. Unfortunate for
you and for Agent Mulder in particular, I'm afraid. The day is
near when I shall no longer be able to protect you as well as I
have done, from what is to come."

"You, however, can be of help to me, Agent Scully. You have begun
to help me even now, I stand corrected."

***********************

His chuckle is mirthless. Recognition of this fact occurs to you
only because his laughter seems so ill timed, arising at moments
when there is nothing even remotely funny or ironic to be
perceived.

Your attention focuses on his throat, the offending vocal cords
within. Your mind envisions cancerous cells beginning to invade
and bring ruin to those tissues. An extreme solution simply to
stifle such obscene merriment, surely.

But you simply can't take the chance that you might have to
endure the sound of his laughter again. Ever.

***********************

"Dana, may I call you that? I do feel as if I've earned the
right. After all, I am the one who has led you to where you ought
to be. You and Agent Mulder both are too mule-headed to have
gotten here on your own. Where you both need to be, where you are
destined to be. There is no need to thank me. It was the
pragmatic alternative. It needed to be done. That is simply what
I do, after all. I see things that need to be done, and I cause
them to happen. It's a simple task, really, given the proper
resources."

"I believe in destiny, you know. Fate, if you will. Humankind are
creatures of fate, on the whole. There are those select few of us
who come into the ability to manipulate, to control destiny. I am
one such person. *You* are one such person, Miss Scully. I saw
that long ago."

"I have lied to you about the purpose of our little trip. I'm
afraid that was necessary. It is my hope that you might never
need to know the reason for this deception, although I know Agent
Mulder will not willingly let it rest. I am certain that he will
come to see the higher purpose of your presence here, eventually.
The evidence, I hope, will be impossible to ignore."

"I have lied about many things this evening, in order that I may
do what has to be done. For you, Miss Scully. For all of us.
Still, I suspect that you would not have gone along with me, had
I but told you the unvarnished truth."

"I was lying, I suppose, when I told you that it was high time I
quit smoking. It seems that all I have really done is to quit
lighting the blasted things."

"However, I did not lie about my affection for you, or of that
toward Agent Mulder. Nor have I misstated the honorable nature of
my intentions, Miss Scully. On that, you may rest assured."

**************************

The man is dying. He has no reason to lie about this. She is
asleep, and he is unaware of you, the proverbial fly on the wall.
For this inattention, number yourself among the fortunate.

You have heard enough in the past few minutes to recognize that
this is a singular moment in his life. He is stating the
"unvarnished truth," insofar as he is able to do this so late in
such a fabricated life.

This man is dying. And yet, you feel not the slightest scrap of
pity. Why?

He grinds an unlit cigarette beneath the toe of his shoe merely
out of habit. What makes you certain that, whether a cigarette or
a human life, he would treat each with the same habitual
disregard?

***********************

"I've been a destroyer all of my life. I did not lie about that,
and you would, no doubt, agree. Nor was I dissembling in telling
you that I'd like the chance to create rather than to destroy, at
least once before I die. I now believe that I will have that
opportunity."

"I was, however, unduly modest about one thing: my legacy. If
humanity survives what is to come, *that* will have been my
legacy."

"I am not afraid to die, Miss Scully, but I do not wish it. There
is too much yet that needs to be accomplished. The "God Module"
experiment has proven only a qualified success, so far. It would
appear that we, as a race, are not yet able to sustain and
survive unassisted the heightened brain activity it spurs."

"Mulder would surely have died from this had I not taken his
burden upon myself. I did that for him, I want you to know, as
well as for the greater good."

"However, I am highly confident that this weakness in me, in us,
may be rectified with your assistance. If, after this, I recover,
and survive, Miss Scully, that will be your legacy. Or, more
precisely it will be the legacy of you and your child."

*******************

At intervals, in the periphery of your vision, the woman's body
seems to twitch. Yet, upon an occasional closer examination, she
remains as she first appeared, still as a corpse.

Then.

There.

Something moving just beneath her skin.

A vein in her neck swells and pulses briefly, then recedes.

Minutes go by before another pulsing briefly swells the soft
flesh of her inner arm. It's not just a pulse, though, or a
throb, but a wiggle.

At this observation, your own skin crawls.

********************

"Parenti is a fool, a charlatan. If all was still running with
the same efficiency in the Project as before the unfortunate
incident at El Rico, by now he would have been removed."

"I permit him to remain only because of his minor contributions
and, at that, only because finding a replacement is somewhat
difficult at this late hour."

"There was a time when I had hoped that, someday, you might join
the Project, Miss Scully. Initially, I believed that you might
even come aboard willingly. As I've said, at first, the course
that your relationship with Mulder has taken was seen to be
beyond the realm of possibility. In that, obviously, we were
incorrect."

"Doctor Parenti was somewhat smug when he finally informed us
that you had come to him on your own with the ova Mulder had
stolen from the Allentown facility. Moreover, that you had chosen
Mulder to be your donor, the potential father."

"The good doctor must have imagined that this happenstance would
gain him leverage, power. He, also, was incorrect. Grossly so."

"His work with you was unsanctioned, at first. I must apologize
for any discomfort that may have caused. You see he fancies
himself a maverick among us. The Project has no room for
mavericks, especially one who might, through clumsiness or
stupidity, endanger you."

"You needn't worry about Dr. Parenti any longer, Miss Scully. He
has been brought to heel."

"It surprised us, you know, when you decided to re-investigate
avenues for conquering your infertility. We have underestimated
your drive and determination with alarming frequency, I think.
This underestimation ceases here and now, I promise. I appreciate
your strength, Miss Scully. I may well be the only one who does."

***************

For the first time, utter quiet descends upon you, as he finally
pauses in his monologue, leaning his head back, rolling it lazily
atop his shoulders.

Bereft of his voice, the room is impossibly hushed. No air
circulates. No birds sound in the pine boughs just outside.

There is no obvious evidence of human presence for miles in any
direction.

Such quiet seems unreal, manufactured, unnatural.

It is not, in any sense, a relief, however, when his voice
resumes.

***************

"Restoring your fertility is not as simple a matter as curing
your cancer. Parenti was never the answer to your prayers. I am.
But, I couldn't have just told that to you or to my son, now
could I?"

**************

Your gratitude that he does not, again, attempt laughter is short
lived. The smile that overtakes his face is grotesque, perverse.

**************
 

"There are so few on this earth who are even aware that the
technology exists which will accomplish this feat. Fewer still
those who understand how to utilize it. A handful, I think. Since
he understands only its more deleterious applications and
utilizes even those crudely, I take the liberty to rule out young
Alex from among that number."

"This is the true reason you are here with me, Dana. The reason I
had to be certain you would come. It isn't for the betterment of
mankind, at least not directly. This I do for your own happiness,
your own good."

"Ideally, this procedure should be performed in a more
appropriate facility. However, since this is the first time the
procedure has been attempted, that which is "appropriate" is
somewhat of an unknown. And, as you know, even in hospitals,
conditions are rarely if ever ideal. That is the sorry state of
medicine, these days, I'm afraid."

"Well, this cabin will simply have to do."

***************

The room has shed every vestige of whatever rustic charm it may
ever have held.

Your greatest desire now is to lift the sleeping woman into your
arms and spirit her to the nearest hospital, if only you knew
where that was, if only you had the means to get her there.

You are an enforced witness. To what you're not yet certain. You
fear that you may be witnessing an execution.

You search desperately to find an alternative that doesn't seem
to defy all reason.

*****************

"We've no need to go to such lengths to acquire the science I've
told you about. The DARPA information was ours to begin with."

"A dead end, I'm afraid, although I knew the possibility it
wouldn't be was one you could not afford to ignore."

"This has provided us with a unique opportunity to root out and
patch a small leak in the Project, at the same time making
possible your contribution to the survival of humanity. A chance
to kill two birds with one stone, if you will forgive such an
unfortunate choice of words."

"No sacrifice is truly altruistic, as I've told you. We give,
expecting to receive, as do you."

"You expected to receive a scientific miracle which,
unfortunately, will remain elusive. However, in exchange, I am
giving you much more than that, at considerable personal risk."

"Why am I doing this, then? The crude answer is that I am doing
it because it is within my power to do so and I wish it. I'm
doing it because I can. The Droit du Seigneur."

"In its most peculiar sense, it never existed, you know. A myth,
at least as an artifact of legal history. In reality, if a Lord
wished the sexual compliance of the wife of one of his vassals,
he needed only to take it. No codification of law was ever
necessary to make that possible."

"In its broader, less lurid sense, the Droit du Seigneur has been
with us always. Indeed, it has taken on particular importance in
this modern age."

"I myself have had to become liege lord to billions. That which
I've needed to do in order to further the survival of our race, I
have, quite simply, done. This exercise of power is the
embodiment of the right of the liege lord. It is, I suppose, what
I am exercising now."

"There is another half of the explanation, however. I am doing
this not only because I can, but also because it must be done. In
this sense, I may have overstated the fallibility of my
altruistic impulse."

"You may wonder why I have chosen to expend this altruistic
largesse on you, Miss Scully. My reasons are two-fold, one
admittedly selfish, the other not."

"My affection for you is special indeed. I have given you back
your life following your illness, and now I'm restoring your
fertility. I will have fulfilled every father's dream. I am doing
this only because I wish to secure your happiness. And that of my
son."

"My other reason, selfish though it may appear, has an altruistic
component to it, as well."

"I would like to live long enough to know my own grandchild."

*****************

It is becoming imperative to you that this woman awaken.

Would you still feel this way if you knew that the man hopes as
you do?

For the first time in what seems hours, he rises from his chair
and closes the gap between them in three muffled strides.

As he reaches out toward her unguarded throat, a scream rises and
dies aborning on your tongue.

With a dexterity that both surprises and sickens you, he lifts
the small gold necklace from the delicate contour of her
clavicle.

You peer until you recognize a small gold cross. In the next
instant, you are praying to all that it represents that she
should come to no further harm.

******************

"It might seem ironic in the face of this technology, given its
origin, but I believe, Agent Scully, that it is your faith which
will make all that I hope to achieve possible."

"Originally, I'd thought your faith to be a holdover from your
youth, something you would discard as you moved through
adulthood. Even if some vestige of it remained, I'd supposed it
would merely be one more element in the remove between you and
Agent Mulder, one more roadblock in his pursuit. The truth has
been quite to the contrary."

"Your faith has made you more determined, more fierce in your
devotion to his myopic "quest." Your faith has buoyed each of you
in times of crisis.  It has matched the strength of Agent
Mulder's own misguided beliefs, complemented and reinforced them.
Instead of becoming liabilities, your separate faiths have become
a bulwark. This has made the two of you troublesome, at times, to
say the least."

"Now, however, I'm counting upon your faith. I'm counting on it
to pull you through that which is to come. You will need it. I
can assure you of that. Your faith in God. Your faith in Mulder,
in the strength of your partnership with him. I am counting upon
all of this, so that my efforts with you will not have been in
vain."

"You'll need your faith in the partnership to survive the
friction our little trip is certain cause between the two of you.
This was unavoidable, I'm afraid. Yet, none of us can afford to
allow Mulder to indulge in his petty fits of churlishness where I
am concerned."

"I have also done my part to fortify you in your resolve with
Mulder. When I told you that, though you would willingly die for
Mulder, you wouldn't allow yourself to love him, I could almost
see the desire to prove me wrong rising in your eyes. Really,
Agent. It is far too easy to manipulate you like that. It is a
weakness, possibly your sole weakness. I find it childish, most
unbecoming. Most like my son. He probably finds it an alluring
trait. Well, if it must, then so be it."

"Hmmm. I suppose you'd have to say that I'm playing God with your
relationship, wouldn't you? Well, since no god exists, then
someone has to play Him. Why not me? I've certainly had a lot of
practice."

"You will need this misguided faith, however, in order to give
you the strength to see events through to the conclusion I have
orchestrated."

"That this particular miracle will have been made possible by
nanotechnology is of no moment. It is your belief in the
possibility of miracles which will move you to continue to seek
the one you now think is out of reach."

******************

It is nearly dawn. The darkness outside has softened into a muddy
gray among the silhouettes of the pines.

It is not at all clear to you, however, whether the coming dawn
heralds the end of this particular nightmare, or simply the
beginning of its next chapter.

The woman's posture has become noticeably more relaxed in the
past minutes.

As you notice this, you follow suit, relaxing, but only momentarily.

For you have become aware that he has noticed this as well.

*******************

"The...treatment seems to have run its course, Agent Scully.
You've done well. Then again, so have I."

"You ought to congratulate me. Your infertility will have been
cured. One might even say miraculously. Certainly, of the
"treatment" there will be no discernable trace. Your body will
simply absorb and dispose of them, as with any normal biological
process."

"I'm sure, when the time comes, you will be better able, more
receptive to expressing your gratitude. Without meaning to sound
crass, I know exactly the form your gratitude should take. A
trifle, really. Just a small amount of cellular material taken
from your unborn child's brain stem. An operation that won't take
more than an hour or so, I should think. Mulder will know. A
trifle, yet gratitude sufficient to keep me alive."

************

Your work as observer is nearly done. You see? No real harm has
come to any of the participants in this little drama.

The woman, it appears, will not only recover from the "treatment"
to which she's so recently been subjected, but will also regain a
precious part of her soul which, for years now, has been denied
her.

The man, in what might soon seem, to your mind's panicked search
for meaning and redemption in this sordid little episode, a
reasonable exchange, has found a way in which, by helping
another, he might stave off his eventual demise. How could the
woman object to this, you might end up asking.

And you? You have suffered no physical harm from this little
task. Consider your witness here a public service, a civic good
deed. Feel free to repeat that to your therapist as you both try
to untangle from the nightmares that are sure to follow.

*************

"Well, Miss Scully. It will be light soon, and we have a long day
ahead of us. I'll go make some coffee."

"I wonder how you'll take it?"

-End-