When we last saw our favorite X-Files agents, Mulder was emerging from a sewer system clutching the ilbal and Scully was storming a New York hotel room with a team of armed FBI agents. Read behind the jump to find out what happened next with our look at Topps’ The X-Files #11; “Feelings of Unreality: The Ancient of Days”.
Synopsis:
We open several days later on Halloween over at Quantico where more armed agents are charging inside, responding to an alarm. Bursting through a door they discover a man clothed all in black and two of their colleagues already on the ground. The man flings himself at glass protecting Project Nightlight - glass that should be tough enough to “stop a tank shell” - causing it to crack. The agents immediately open fire and the suspect dives through a closed window and vanishes into the surprisingly lush woodlands that apparently surround the FBI training academy (insert skeptical eyebrow raise here).
An hour later, Mulder and Scully discuss the incident as they watch Colleen Dunne undergoing an MRI scan. Tests have suggested that she has temporal lobe epilepsy however as her medical records are missing they still know very little about her, and the two men whose bodies were discovered on her hotel room floor have yet to be identified. Scully is, oddly, more interested in the properties they have discovered about the ilbal, comparing it to the Mitchell-Hedges Skull (since debunked as a fraud) only “one step further”. She admits to Mulder that she owes him an apology for not recognising the conspiracy he uncovered sooner, but exasperates him by suggesting he rephrase his report. “We’ve finally got something” she tells him, asking him not to provide an “excuse to discredit [them]” by suggesting their evidence came from knowledge gained via cannibalism. Mulder is unhappy but appears to admit there is reason behind Scully’s suggestion, and the two of them split up once again to pursue different lines of enquiry. Mulder’s attempt to discover more about their intruder immediately goes south when he is knocked down by the black clothed man as he leaps through an open window and back inside Quantico.
Meanwhile Scully is consulting with Dr. Stuart Gordon (is Stefan Petrucha a fan of classic horror films?) whom it turns out, has been creating a device that can induce similar effects to those Scully believes the ilbal may be capable of creating. Dr Gordon suggests that alien abduction experiences may be “linked to excessive bursts of electrical activity in the temporal lobe”. This is a theory similar to that of sleep paralysis being the cause of alien abductions, and previously of demonic visitations in the night. He explains to Scully that he can recreate the effect using a special helmet that can “mimic the firing patterns of neurons in the temporal lobe”. He then invites Scully to try the machine for herself.
Back at Quantico, the intruder uses a chair to smash the glass and retrieve the ilbal. Mulder gives chase in his usual style, getting himself injured along the way, when a voice from a side room calls the intruder - now named Agent Peck - inside. The voice belongs to Colleen Dunne who rambles about the “eidolon” while staring into the ilbal like a fortune teller looking into her crystal ball. She touches Mulder’s head and we see his eyes roll backwards. Colleen tells Mulder that she always wanted “a way out of what you think is the world”, but invites him to “go first”, passing him the ilbal to put on.
We see Scully lying in Dr Gordon’s chair with the helmet over her head. In dialogue eerily reminiscent of the hypnosis scene in "The Red and The Black", Scully mumbles to the doctor about how all she feels is “a little silly” and that she’s “just not a good subject for…”. Suddenly her skin feels tingly. Then she screams. Next time we see her, Scully is surrounded by little grey aliens with red eyes who are grabbing at her all over. Scully tries to remain rational by describing her experience, very much like when she was stung by the accursed bee, but panics when she realises the screaming she can hear is herself. Dr Gordon helps her remove the helmet and she admits her shock at how real the experience was. Heading back to Quantico, Scully theorises that the effects of a machine like Dr Gordon’s could be broadcast at a distance and targeted, admitting to herself that she’s “thinking like Mulder”. She also realises that if Mulder were to have “high lability” - a feature of those prone to vivid experiences such as alien abduction - that “who knows what effect something like the ilbal would have on him.”
Scully arrives and discovers first of all that Charles Adlard doesn't think she can park, and secondly that the unconscious bodies of those who attempted to stop the intruder are scattered around. Calling for back up she rounds a corner to find her partner already wearing the device. We catch glimpses of the visions he sees, weird blurred images that merge together and a voice that says “welcome to the Borderlands”, as we see Mulder drifting through a bizarre beyond towards a sphere of light. To be continued…
Letters:
This month’s letters page begins with announcement from Stefan Petrucha that his daughter, Maia Kinney-Petrucha was born healthily on October 3rd. That means she’s currently approaching her 20th birthday if you didn’t feel old enough already today. Stefan also comments how much he enjoyed the recently aired episode “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose”. A few letters are of interest this month. Caroline O’Conneel from Dublin points out that Scully’s surname means “scholar” - very appropriate. There are discussions on the works of Ambrose Bierce and Barry Malzberg, and another on the concept of “faery folk” - the legends surrounding whom are suspiciously similar to UFO lore. Finally Petrucha mentions some of the subjects he will be tackling in future episodes: the “little gods” (as in the Cottingley Fairy Photographs) and the 1896 Mystery Airship. For now come back in two weeks to discover the final chapter of “Feelings of Unreality”.