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leiascully · 6 years

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Fic: Between A Rock And A Hard Place (Part 5/5)

Timeline: Season 10 (replaces My Struggle in the All The Choices We’ve Made ‘verse - Visitor + Resident + etc.) Rating: PG Characters: Mulder, Scully, Tad O’Malley, Sveta (established MSR) Content warning: canon-typical body horror (mentions of abduction, forced pregnancy, etc.) A/N: I’m collecting all the related stories that go with Visitor/Resident under the title “All The Choices We’ve Made”, because it felt right at the time. This story is an alternate My Struggle that reflects M&S’ growth/change in the ATCWM ‘verse. I’m weaving canon dialogue into the stories in an attempt to keep the reframing plausibly in line with canon.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | AO3

It's not a surprise the next day when they emerge from the Hoover Building, where they've been supervising the setup of all of the new computers, to see Tad O'Malley's gleaming black limo. The door opens. They get in.

"Glad we caught you, agents," O'Malley says with a grin.

"We're not hard to track down," Mulder says.

"It's the chip in my neck," Scully says dryly, and Mulder isn't sure he's ever heard her joke about it before. But maybe she's spitting into the wind too, reminded of how whoever is behind all this has tampered with her at a molecular level. He admits it is easy to direct (or misdirect) that frustration at Tad O'Malley.

"Hi," Sveta says, waving at them from across the car. O'Malley hasn't brought out the champagne this time, but she's clutching a bottle of Perrier.

Mulder leans back against the leather seat. The car certainly is plush. The perks of selling out, he imagines.

"I didn't think you'd come, Agent Scully," O'Malley says. "After all, your work is so important. So I took the liberty of coming to you." He opens a small fridge concealed under the seat. "Perrier?"

"Thank you," Scully says, accepting a bottle. "What are you doing here, Mr. O'Malley?"

"Exposing a global conspiracy that's crushing the soul of America," O'Malley declares. "Agent Mulder knows what I'm talking about."

"You're ready to make a move?" Mulder asks.

"The Truth Squad with Tad O'Malley with a world exclusive," O'Malley tells him. "The story to end all stories."

"Why don't you give us a preview?" Scully says, settling into her seat.

O'Malley leaned forward. "We begin with a war. The Civil War. The United States splits in two. A new government forms. They mint their own currency. They make their own laws."

"They perpetuate the enslavement and genocide of millions of people," Scully murmurs.

"That enslavement creates the haves and the have-nots. And the halves begin to believe, to truly believe, that they are above the law. That they can meddle with the fates and lives of people they start to consider subhuman: black, white, Native American, and everyone else. An experimental program to create a better person through a variety of methods, including surgical intervention and selective breeding."

Sveta shivers. Scully looks at her compassionately. She reaches for Sveta's hand.

O'Malley doesn't seem to notice their discomfort. "The shadow government continues to exist after the war. The genetic engineering of a superior human continues in the shadows of the shadow. And they have other secrets."

"It all sounds like a ghost story," Scully says in that even voice that immediately sends Mulder into full alert. "Designed to scare children."

"Children should be afraid," O'Malley tells her.

"Everyone should," Mulder says, and he sees the shiver in her eyelid that means she's trying not to roll her eyes at him. "It's a conspiracy bigger and more secret than the Manhattan Project, with tentacles reaching back into the very roots of America."

"The metaphor is mixed," Scully says.

"All the more apt," Mulder tells her. "The Civil War set the stage and World War I gave us access to new technologies, but it wasn't until victories in Europe and Japan that the drama really ratcheted up for the rest of the world."

"Political and economic conditions became perfect for execution of the larger plan," O'Malley declared. "The success of the program in the former Confederate states had spread to the re-United States. Agents of the conspiracy, swearing their allegiance to President Grant, had infiltrated the highest levels of government. World War I and World War II had weakened the European powers that might have held the US in check. As it was, they were delighted to accept the offer of help from the United States, and if it came with a price, they were happy to pay it. Their scientists began working with our scientists. The project stretched those insidious tentacles to grasp the entire globe."

Mulder grins. This is his wheelhouse. Even as much as he's been jerked around and lost his faith, it's still exhilarating to put together the pieces of the puzzle he worked at for half his life. "Paper Clip. Experiments in the aftermath of the atomic bombings. The crash at Roswell leading to cannibalized alien technology and cannibalized alien corpses, all resources that furthered the project."

O'Malley breaks in. "The bomb was the latest threat of extinction, but not the first. The energy of the explosions acted as transducers, creating wormholes that drew in alien ships just like the one that crashed at Roswell, ships that ran using electro-gravitic propulsion. Sacrificing those alien lives with their extraterrestrial biology and their advanced technology delayed our self-immolation on the altar of democracy."

"World leaders signed secret memos directing scientific stuff of alien technology and biochemistry," Mulder puts in. "All in the name of furthering the project, creating a new species that could survive alien invasion or whatever else might wipe us out. Classified studies were done at military installations, extracting alien tissue. S4, Groom Lake, Wright Patterson, and Dulce: all part of a network of black sites where tests were conducted using advanced alien technology recovered from the ships." He glances at Sveta. She has one hand over her mouth. "Tests including human hybridization through gene editing and forced implantation of the resulting embryos in unsuspecting human subjects." He swallows and tries not to look at Scully, but can't help meeting her eyes. "Embryos with extraterrestrial DNA."

Sveta gasps. "Why do such a thing and lie about it? Our own government?"

"Aliens aside," Scully says, "the American government has conducted experiments on unsuspecting populations as a matter of policy. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study lasted for years beyond the point where they could have cured the patients. The scientists in charge chose not to inform their subjects because they were African-American. They let them die horrible, preventable deaths, claiming it was all in the name of science. Genetic material was extracted from a sample of a tumor taken from a black woman named Henrietta Lacks and used without her consent or her family's. Other people have been sterilized against their will, or stolen from their families. I doubt we'll ever understand the full extent of the violence done to the indigenous peoples of the Americas." She exhales loudly. "While I cannot substantiate all of Agent Mulder's claims, I have found evidence of anomalous genetic material being implanted or otherwise introduced into the DNA of numerous subjects, including myself. And you."

"What are they trying to do?" Sveta asks.

"That's the missing piece," Mulder tells her. "We've learned so much, but some part of this eludes us."

"But it's not hard to imagine," O'Malley breaks in. "A government hiding, no, hoarding alien technology for seventy years, at the potential expense of all human life and the future of the planet. A government inside the government, secretly preparing for more than a hundred years for the long-awaited event."

"The takeover of America," Mulder says, feeling sick to his stomach.

"And then the world itself," O'Malley says with an almost religious fervor. "By any means necessary, however violent or cruel. Severe drought brought on by weather wars conducted secretly using aerial contaminants distributed via chemtrails and high-altitude electromagnetic waves. Perpetual war waged overseas, a drain on our resources and our energy engineered by politicians to create problem-reaction-solution scenarios to distract, enrage, and enslave American citizens at home with tools like the Patriot Act, the National Defense Authorization Act, and pure old-fashioned jingoism, abridging the Constitution and its promised freedoms in the name of national security. Every dissident, every minority: a terrorist in situ. Vietnam, but this time they're doing it right."

"Militarize the police forces," Mulder says slowly. "Martial law. FEMA building prison camps. Mercenaries fighting under our flag, but not under our orders."

"The corporate takeover of food and agriculture," O'Malley says smugly. "It's already begun. Monsanto. Dicamba. They've got pharmaceuticals and healthcare in their pocket too. An insurrection of men and women with clandestine agendas to dull, sicken, terrify, and control a populace already consumed by consumerism."

Mulder leans over to Scully. "I didn't really like Wall-E," he whispers. She shakes her head at him.

"A government that taps your phone, collects your data, and monitors your whereabouts with impunity," O'Malley says with a flourish. "A government preparing to use that data against you when it strikes and the final takeover begins."

Mulder nods slowly. There is a seed of truth in O'Malley's conspiracy-addled rant. He's been seeking it long enough to know it when he sees it. The nation is poised on a precipice. All the rest of it is lies, smoke and mirrors, a way to turn the paranoid and the credulous into easy money. But somewhere, under eighty mattress-thick layers of right-wing garbage, is a pea-sized truth, and he's the princess shifting uncomfortably.

"The takeover of America?" Scully asks.

O'Malley leans forward. "By a well-oiled and well-armed multinational group of elites that will cull, kill, and subjugate."

"Happening as we sit here in this car," Scully says.

"It's happening all around us," O'Malley tells her.

"It's been happening for years," Mulder murmurs. "The other shoe waiting to drop."

"It'll probably start on a Friday," O'Malley says. "The banks will announce a security action necessitating that their computers go offline all weekend."

"Digital money will disappear," he says.

Sveta looks startled. "They can just steal your money?" Scully squeezes her hand.

"While the banks are vulnerable, they'll detonate strategic electromagnetic pulse bombs to knock out major grids. Traffic lights, security systems, everything: gone. Hospitals will be on backup generators indefinitely. It will seem like an attack on America by terrorists or Russia."

"Or a simulated alien invasion featuring alien replica vehicles already in use," Mulder murmurs.

"An alien invasion of the U.S.?" Scully says.

"The Russians tried it in '47," Mulder reminds her. "Or they took credit for it, anyway."

"They'll take more than credit this time," O'Malley says. "This goes worldwide. Everything that has happened for the past seventy years has been engineered by this global conspiracy, these shadow players. The structures they've built are designed to crumble, tearing America apart at the seams. They'll build a new world on the ruins of our current one. It will happen soon, and it will happen fast."

Scully shakes her head. "You can't say these things," she tells O'Malley.

"I'm gonna say them tomorrow," O'Malley says with an almost religious fervor in his voice.

Scully frowns. "It's fearmongering, isolationist techno-paranoia so bogus and dangerous and stupid that it borders on treason. Saying these things would be incredibly irresponsible."

"I hate to say this, Scully, but if this is true, it would be irresponsible not to say it," Mulder says reluctantly.

"If it's the truth," Sveta says, "you have to say it."

"It's not the truth," Scully says.

O'Malley grins that smarmy grin. "Agent Scully, with all due respect, I don't think you know what the truth is."

"The only thing I don't know is where you're taking us," Scully says, ice in her voice. "Except on a wild goose chase."

"It's lunchtime," O'Malley says. "I thought you might want something to eat."

It's clear from the look Scully gives him that there is a long, long list of people she would rather have lunch with before she deigned to have lunch with Tad O'Malley. In fact, it might be approaching seven billion people long.

"I think what Agent Scully is trying to convey is that we've got to decline your invitation," Mulder says.

"You believe me," O'Malley says to Mulder with certainty.

Mulder looks at Scully. She looks back at him, her eyes tight just at the corners. "I might have, back in the day. My doctor says paranoia is bad for me."

O'Malley sits back, disappointed. Scully's shoulders loosen. She glances at him and there's something between approval and gratitude in her eyes. He smiles at her.

There's a pinging noise. Scully checks her email on her phone. Her brow creases. She scrolls through something, then flicks back to the top and reads through it again. "This is strange."

"What?" Mulder leans over.

"Sveta, the lab retested your samples. A new tech was running the machines, and a number of test results were compromised. In fact, they retested your samples twice to be sure. Your DNA shows no anomalies." Scully looks up. "Whatever's been done to you, it had nothing to do with this project."

"Nothing?" Sveta and O'Malley ask at the same time.

"That can't be right," O'Malley says. "Retest her."

"I don't want to be tested again," Sveta says.

"You're my evidence," O'Malley tells her angrily. "You have to."

"She doesn't have to do anything," Scully tells him. "She's under our protection now."

"We'll see about that," O'Malley says. He presses a button. The driver pulls over. He opens the door. "Goodbye, agents. Goodbye, Sveta."

"What will you do?" Sveta asks him as she climbs out of the car.

"I'll do what I do," O'Malley says. "I'll tell the truth."

The car door slams shut.

Truth Squad with Tad O'Malley the next day is a runaway hit: high ratings, viral content, memes, gifs, and a media uproar. "I promised you the truth today, but that truth has come under assault," O'Malley says, looking into the camera, and they roll footage of Sveta confessing to reporters, accusing him of telling lies.

"I am so sorry if I misled anyone," she says tearfully, wringing her hands in front of her.

"They get her?" Mulder asks.

"She should be safe," Scully tells him. "They'll work on relocating her."

"Material witness?" Mulder asks. "That's a bit of a stretch."

"It won't be by the time all of this is over," Scully says grimly. "I went to the hospital to collect the samples and had our labs run them again."

"And?" Mulder says.

"Sveta and I share a lot," Scully says. "Including anomalous genetic material."

"O'Malley must be furious," Mulder says, propping his hands on his hips as he thinks.

"Rumor is they're going to pull the plug," Scully says. "No more truth, no more Squad."

"To his followers, that'll feel like a sign," Mulder says. "A shot fired across their bows."

Scully shrugs. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Either we embolden a liar, or we enrage his base."

"Politics have never been our strong suit," Mulder says. "You know, there's something called the Venus Syndrome."

"The plant, the planet, or something else I'm afraid to ask about?" Scully asks.

"The planet," Mulder says. "It's a runaway global warming scenario that leads us to the brink of the Sixth Extinction. Those with the means will prepare to move off the planet into space, which will have already been weaponized against the poor, huddled masses of humanity that haven't been exterminated by the über-violent fascist elites. If you believe in that kind of thing."

"Honestly, these days it sounds almost plausible," Scully tells him, leaning on one of the desks. Whoever has funded the untimely revival of the X-Files has been generous: they have two normal desks and four standing desks scattered around the office. It's much too flexible a workspace for two people.

Their phones go off almost in unison. They both reach for them.

"Skinner," Scully says.

"Skinner," Mulder confirms. He reads the message: Situation critical. Need to see you both ASAP.

They look at each other.

"Scully, are you ready for this?" Mulder asks.

"I don't know there's a choice," she says, but she sounds fierce and proud.

There are wheels turning somewhere. He can almost hear the gears of the world grinding. They won't get caught in the teeth this time, won't get torn apart. Whoever is behind everything they've been through will be exposed, finally and totally, brought to light. They'll have to open the wound to clean it out, but that's all right. They've finally learned how to heal. He opens the door for her and they stride toward the elevator together.

#xfiles fic #the x-files fic #xf alternate season 10 #xf revival fic #mulder x scully #my fic #atcwm verse

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houstonlocalus-blog · 7 years

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Infatuation With Culture: An Interview with The Black Angels

The Black Angels. Photo: Alexandra Valenti

In the midst of touring their fifth studio album, Death Song, Austin band The Black Angels have found their calling as one of the most prominent psych-rock band of recent decades. With opening support from New York noise rock trio A Place to Bury Strangers, their show at White Oak Music Hall on Thursday is sure to be a loud one. Prior to the show, vocalist Alex Maas spoke to Free Press Houston about their new material, how artists can get their music heard, and the band’s powerful love of sushi.

Free Press Houston: NPR started streaming your new album Death Song before anyone. The days following its release, were you keeping up with the reviews and thoughts from the listeners?

Alex Maas: A little bit, yeah. There’s a lot of stuff we do that I try not to look at too much. There’s not much more that we could do than make a record and put it out there. We just hope that the people are moved by it someway, whether it’s positively or negatively. But from what I’ve heard, people are enjoying it, which is good. It’s out of our control now, it’s out of our hands. But I have a good feeling.

FPH: This album seems to get pretty deep and dark from the beginning, especially with the lyrics “Everyone is held hostage” in the song “Currency” and the layout of the last two songs, “Death March” and “Life Song.” What exactly is Death Song about?

Maas: Let me refer back a little to what I have been talking about: I had this infatuation with Native American culture. With a lot of those cultures, the people were encouraged to write these chants that they would recite during trials and tribulations, or fear, or panic — just torturous times. They were encouraged to write these chats from a young age for later on in life to help them get through things. These chants were called “death songs.” I think this record has a similar theme. These songs are our musical chant to get us through these insane, toxic times. In terms of a theme for the entire record, it’s hard — I’m so inside the record to pick one theme, but I would say greed and corruption, or failure of communication between us and the state and government. There are so many themes on this record, but in terms of overall — I think if you’ve listened to Passover, you can hear that infatuation with culture.

FPH: It seems like your band is one of the biggest modern touring Texas rock bands alongside Spoon, also from Austin; do you ever feel pressure thinking about that, if at all, that you are carrying a torch?

Maas: No, I think Willie Nelson does that. Honestly, in terms of carrying a torch, Spoon is very active in music, and they’ve been a great band for a long time. Maybe we’re carrying a specific torch for something, but there are bands that carrying ones that we can’t. We wear our influences on our sleeves. We’ve never been like, “Oh, we’re not into the [13th Floor] Elevators. We don’t love Clinic or the Velvet Underground.” I think it’s not fair to our fans and ourselves if we keep our influences in our pockets. The more we spread this message of modern day bands and bands from the past, and how they’ve influenced us, the more people we’ll get turned onto this kind of music. Then, the community will grow. We’ve always wanted to create a platform for like-minded people, and we try to do that in every way possible.

FPH: My first time getting to see the band was at Levitation back in 2015. Before your set, I overheard someone talking about your band, saying, “At first I thought the band was doing what the 13th Floor Elevators were doing decades ago, but then I got it!” Have you heard anything else like that in the past?

Maas: You know, I never expect anyone to understand what we’re doing, you know? We understand what we’re doing. In terms of people understanding our music, I don’t expect anyone to understand every piece of art, you know what I mean? If someone thinks that we’re ripping off the 13th Floor Elevators, I’d ask them to tell some some examples. I mean, totally, the band was amazing. If we’re information seekers, we’re going to find out what instruments and amps the band used. Just like all art, it’s derivative of something else. I mean, everyone has their own opinion, though. I can’t say if they’re right or wrong, but I feel like we’ve evolved into something, to me, at least, unique. But that’s my opinion, and it’s no more valid than anyone else’s.

FPH: Well, how was the band received during the first few years? How long did it take until you were able to break the the restraint of being a “local band”?

Maas: There’s so many bands in Austin. I don’t think we were even perceived at all. I don’t even think that was a mission. Honestly, we’re not even that perceived now. No one really knows about our band. We’re not Kendrick Lamar or U2. If you line up 100 people, maybe 1 will know who we are. So in terms of that, I still don’t know if we’re perceived at all. We’re not on a major scale radar, we don’t have these million dollar videos with hot women bouncing around in Lamborghinis. Maybe we’ll never be a band that becomes popular, but when people did start taking us seriously is when he started to hit the road. Whenever people noticed that we worked hard and played a lot of fucking shows. That’s how I determine how serious people are about what they’re doing: touring a lot out of the year and just serious about their business. They need to be passionate and believe in what they do. That’s how I judge a band.

FPH: What about Grand Theft Auto? Do you think the inclusion of “Black Grease” had spawned a group of fans that wouldn’t have known about you without it?

Maas: We’ve been doing a lot of theme deals. It’s had to have added some new fans. We’ve done other themes for television and film, so I can’t say Grand Theft Auto made our band. I’d like to say that our hard work had something to do with it! The state of the music economy is in a depression, so young musicians need to do whatever they can to get people to hear their music, whether that be doing stuff for video games or film. There are lots of ways and outlets to get people turned on to your music. But no, we were grateful to be asked to be included in something larger than ourselves. Again, I can’t really comment on what that has done for our band. I’m not sure who plays that game and if they got turned onto our song specifically. I have no idea, man.

FPH: How important is sushi to the Black Angels? I understand that the band is fueled by sushi. Where are the best spots around the country for it?

Maas: Yes, sushi is very, very important to us. That’s a funny and interesting question, because we all do love it. I find the biggest pieces and the freshest stuff in Vancouver. In Vancouver, I always feel like it’s the best. That’s some of the best sushi I ever had for the price and amount of fish you get. I have yet to find a place better, but I love it here in Texas. I mean, we’re in a band, so we don’t have an unlimited amount of money, so we try to find cheap sushi that won’t make us sick. Seattle and San Francisco have good sushi, or all across the West Coast. But Vancouver, man. I think they hands-down have some of the best sushi I’ve ever had.

FPH: Well, you are going to at the White Oak Music Hall with A Place To Bury Strangers on May 18. Are you going to be circling a sushi restaurant like Uchi while in town?

Maas: Oh, there’s Uchi, too. That place is great, but it’s very expensive. Sushi is something you eat before you go.

The Black Angels will perform at White Oak Music Hall on Thursday, May 18. Tickets are between $20-$24 and doors are at 8 pm.

Infatuation With Culture: An Interview with The Black Angels this is a repost

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