The X-Files

Look, Ben, this is what infuriates me. Don't you see? lt's so painfully obvious.

Why do you think our stock's in the toilet?

Because you're cutting research in half.

You've forgotten what the adventure's about.

The industry's changing. We need to make some hard choices.

- Save your sound bite for the press! - Let's not relive the stockholders' meeting.

You're killing me! You're killing my company!

Eurisko is not your company, Brad. Not any more.

And you damn well better grow up and get used to it!

You're gonna regret this.

New paragraph.

As l'm sure everyone on the board will agree,

Eurisko has to face head-on the realities of an increasingly competitive world.

Since the unfortunate departure of Brad Wilczek,

l have made recommendations which l believe will reposition Eurisko as an industry leader.

At the top of this list is the immediate termination of the COS project.

lts disastrous performance over the past three quarters and projected losses well into 1994

leave us no other choice.

Hello? Hello!

At the tone, Eastern Standard Time

will be 7.35pm.

What the hell...?

Damn.

File deleted.

X-Files Season 1 Episode 07 - Ghost In The Machine

Mulder.

Jerry?

You're Dana Scully, right? Jerry Lamana.

- We worked together in Violent Crimes. - ''Worked together''! We were partners.

That's $8.50, please.

- Jerry, what are you doing here? - Looking for you. And l'm buying you lunch.

- No, really. - Look, it's on me.

Here.

- Cause of death was electrocution. - And it wasn't accidental?

Looks like some kind of elaborate booby trap, but we don't know a whole lot more.

Engineer just found him 12 hours ago.

- Who's running the investigation? - Either of you know Nancy Spiller?

The forensics instructor at the Academy!

- We used to call her the lron Maiden. - On a good day!

Anyway, she's putting together the squad and

l took the liberty of mentioning your name.

Look, Jerry, l'd like to help you out, but we're not on general assignment.

Because of the X-Files ?

Look, the truth is l could use a little help on this. l don't wanna drop the ball on this one.

You won't drop the ball.

Drake wasn'tjust the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

He was a good friend of the Attorney General's.

Another feather in my cap would be nice cos the one l got is looking mangy.

- Yeah, but, Jerry... - Look,

l wouldn't ask if it wasn't important.

- How come you went your separate ways? - l'm a pain in the ass to work with.

- Seriously, Mulder. - l'm not a pain in the ass?

We had different career goals.

Jerry wanted the fifth floor.

- And you? - l was gunning for a basement office

with no heat or windows.

Well, l know where you ended up. What about Jerry?

He ran into a little bad luck in Atlanta working Hate Crimes.

- What kind of bad luck? - He misplaced a piece of evidence.

Sent it to the cleaners.

By the time he got it back, a federal judge had lost both hands and an eye.

- 29? - Uh-huh.

- Going up. - Must be for the visually impaired.

How about that? A politically correct elevator.

Third floor.

Fourth floor.

- You OK? - Yeah.

What was that?

- Yes? - Hello?

- Security. Who's this? - This is Agent Dana Scully.

- Do you have a problem? - Fifth floor. Sixth floor.

Actually, l think everything's OK.

Ninth floor. Tenth floor. Eleventh floor.

See here? Someone has tampered with the servo.

They switched the ground to the negative,

- so when he put the key in the lock... - He completed the circuit.

lt's fused. lt takes a lot ofjuice to melt a steel key.

And to throw a 180-pound man ten feet.

The servo switch - could it have been moved manually?

We didn't find any prints in the surrounding area.

Sure. lt could have been switched manually, but whoever did it had to override the COS.

- What's the COS? - The Central Operating System.

lt runs the building.

lt regulates everything from energy output to the volume of water in each toilet flush.

This is Claude Peterson, a building systems engineer. He found the body.

lf you wanted to override the COS, what would they...?

First you'd have to break the access codes, which... well, let's say it wouldn't be easy.

We'll need a list of the people with that know-how.

l can tell you right now, it'll be a short list.

- Would you be on it? - Me?!

Hey, look, l'm just a glorified building super.

All l do is monitor the system, make sure it's functioning properly,

like when l saw the overload in Mr Drake's office.

What about the phone lines? Does the COS monitor all calls?

- Yes, it does. Why? - l'm just wondering.

OK. Look, can l go now?

Why'd you ask him about the phones?

Phone's off the hook.

Maybe Drake was talking to somebody right before he did his Ben Franklin impersonation.

Taught him everything he knows.

Come in.

lt's past three.

l'm just looking for my profile notes.

Maybe if you cleaned your desk more than once a year.

They were right here. l'm telling you.

We're late.

There are a couple of elements for us to consider.

Both the statistical rarity of homicidal electrocution

and the complexity of the crime indicate a certain devious premeditation.

After all, there are much simpler ways of killing someone.

All of which leads me to believe that our guy was some kind of sociopathic game player,

maybe even a recluse,

since he designed a trap, not only to avoid detection,

but to avoid contact with the victim.

ls that your profile?

Forget it. No.

Drake's final phone call supports this theory.

At the tone, Eastern Standard Time will be 7.35pm.

Drake's estimated time of death.

Why would Drake call for the correct time just before he died?

lt was an incoming call

from somewhere in the Eurisko building itself.

Whoever set the trap wanted to make sure that Drake took the bait.

- Excellent work, Agent Lamana. - Thank you.

Jerry, what the hell are you doing?

- Hey, don't get all bent out of shape. - That was my profile.

Look, l didn't think you'd mind.

Anyway, they were just notes. l filled in the blanks.

Jerry, you went into my office and you stole my work.

Look, you're on this case cos l asked you to help me out, and you helped me out.

What is the big deal?

- What did he say? - He apologised... in his own way.

l just got off the phone with Peterson, the systems engineer.

One name! Brad Wilczek?

He said it would be a short list.

And it's headline news how much he despised Drake.

That just seems too obvious. To kill Drake would be so brazenly egomaniacal.

And fully consistent with Jerry's excellent behavioural profile.

Fully.

This is what a 220 lQ and a $400-million severance settlement buys you.

Yes?

Brad Wilczek? We're with the FBl.

What took you guys so long?

Would you mind taking off your shoes?

You can divide the computer science industry into two types of people: neat and scruffy.

- Benjamin Drake fit into the first category? - Neat people like things neat.

They wear nicely pressed suits and work on surface phenomena.

Things they can understand: market shares and third-quarter profits.

And you had a different vision for the company?

l started Eurisko out of my parents' garage. l was 22 years old.

l'd just spent a year following around The Grateful Dead.

You know what Eurisko means?

That's from the Greek, isn't it?

''l learn things''.

Not exactly. lt means ''l discover things''.

But Ben Drake wasn't interested in discovery.

He was a short-sighted, power-hungry opportunist.

Let me show you something. Smart home.

From this prototype l have access to every square foot of my house.

This place is as safe as Fort Knox and as energy efficient as your average igloo.

We were two years ahead of Microsoft

when Drake, in his infinite wisdom, killed the programme.

ls this system related to the one in your corporate building?

Variation on a theme.

How many people know the system well enough to override it?

Finally the bonus question. Not many is the answer.

Could someone have hacked into the system?

Not your average phone freak, that's for sure.

But there's plenty of kooks out there. Data travellers, electro wizards, techno anarchists.

Anything's possible.

- Could you have done it? - Of course. l designed the system.

That's why you guys are here, isn't it?

l'm your logical suspect.

You don't seem too worried.

lt's a puzzle, Ms Scully.

And scruffy minds like me like puzzles.

We enjoy walking down unpredictable avenues of thought, turning new corners.

But as a general rule scruffy minds don't commit murder.

Some see genius as the ability to connect the unconnected.

To make juxtapositions. To see relationships where others cannot.

ls Brad Wilczek a genius?

l don't know.

But l do know this for certain.

He has a predilection for elaborate game playing

and knowledge of the Eurisko building.

And he has a demonstrable motive for killing Benjamin Drake.

The question remains.

But if he's so clever, how do we nail him?

End of field journal, October 24th 1993.

File opened.

From the outset, l knew Eurisko would expand effectively,

not by traditional Western structures, but by employing certain Zen beliefs

and other Eastern philosophies.

and other Eastern philosophies.

Eastern philosophies.

Eastern...

Would you give me a second?

Look, l'm here with my hat in my hand.

l screwed up. l'm sorry. What more can l say?

All you had to do was ask. l would have helped you with the profile.