Metamorphosis In Hell:
Mulder's Dangerous Gamble To Rid the World Of AIDS
"Mulder! Stop it!! I'm not listening to this stuff anymore! If you want to go off on a wild goose chase in your futile attempt to save the world from itself, then by all means, do so. But you'll do it alone! Skinner's already told you that you'll probably end up dead---and that means dead, Mulder---so if you want to be a stubborn fool and get yourself deformed and completely ruined for nothing, then you'll do it without me!! Is that clear???" Scully appeared to be on the rampage, with her partner, Fox Mulder, as the unfortunate target. However, a closer look at what the two FBI agents are discussing will give one the idea that Dana Scully, fire and brimstone aside, has the right idea in this argument.
"Are you quite finished?" asked Mulder, trying to suppress an impish grin.
"No, Mulder, as a matter of fact, I'm not!" Scully straightened her blouse and planted her hands firmly on her slim hips. "It's come to my attention of late that you take me for granted, Mulder. You think you can just snap your fingers and all of a sudden, I'll experience this wondrous ray of realization that what you're doing is as freaking noble and selfless as you seem to think it is! Well, you want to know something, Fox William Mulder? You're on a one-way road to hell and I'm not going to be able to save you this time! Do you understand what I'm trying my hardest to tell you? Stop laughing!! This isn't funny!" Scully strode angrily to her front door and motioned toward her browbeaten partner, "Here's the door, buster. I strongly suggest you leave. Now!"
Mulder grabbed his briefcase and slunk over to his fuming partner, grabbed her around the waste and then, after playfully deep dipping her, said airily, "I love it when you go off like a live cannon."
Scully wrestled herself away, straightened her touseled hair and tossed Mulder's coat at him while bristling, "Have fun with those bogus surgeons and treacherous promises that those liars keep shoving down your throat. Just don't expect me to be here waiting for you when, and if, you come back."
The day had not begun like this. When Mulder had arrived at Scully's small but tasteful apartment, briefcase in hand, both agents were in very amicable moods. Scully had just returned from her parents', where she'd spent the Christmas holidays. Spending quality time with her seldom-seen relatives meant a great deal to her and she returned to Washington refreshed and revitalized. Mulder had stayed with his mother, who couldn't get over her relief that her son had recovered from that terrible alien virus attack of a year before. The two of them were careful not to talk about either Mulder's late father or sister, Samantha and had a relatively stress-free holiday season. Both agents returned, ready to assume work on various X Files.
But then something went terribly wrong with their relatioship. Prior to the holidays, both Mulder and Scully were growing closer and closer, kissing occasionally and spending a lot of their free time together. Both held a measure of caution and a slight apprehension, but after working together for so many years and always feeling a strong attraction to one another, it was just a matter of time before the two began a tenuous relatioship. That is, until Mulder started delving into a case that both had originally agreed to let lie, for many reasons. Once that Pandora's Box was opened, there was no going back for either one of them.
The case in question was a particularly nefarious and dangerous one and even Skinner had warned both Mulder and Scully that it may very well prove fatal to either one of them, or even both. The sheer insidious nature of the elements involved smacked of degradation and certain aspects were nothing short of an aberration.
So what was this toxic case that threatened to tear the two formerly loving agents apart and destroy the entire X file project? Well, it had to do with AIDS and the fact that Mulder and Scully had received a cryptic message from sources unknown, stating that, with a slight and insignificant contribution from both of them, then a cure for this fatal disease would be immedicately available and could potentially save millions of lives. The best thing about this finding is that it also prevented HIV in humans, so that if people made a potentially deadly mistake by having unprotected sex, they could take a pill to erradicate the virus before it took hold and robbed the person of his or her life.
However, the big problem with this miracle cure was that someone, a test subject, had to be transformed into a mutant creature, one which still possessed human characteristics, but would be, for the most part, unrecognizable as the person he or she was before the body and mind-altering medication was administered. Why did someone have to be changed so drastically? Was the transformation to be permanent? These were questions that Mulder and Scully still had to learn. But Dana Scully, who loved Fox Mulder more than she could adeaquately put into mere words, balked when she discovered just what being morphed into an alien being meant for the person chosen. Mulder had quickly volunteered to be the test subject, before all of the facts were in and it made her so scared and angry that she could not contain herself.
As a physician, Scully knew all about the human body and the effects that various drugs and treatments had upon it. Therefore, when she read the procedure for turning Mulder into an inhuman entity that would absorb the AIDS virus and then render it harmless, she hit the proverbial roof. "Mulder, do you know what you're volunteering for??? In order to erradicate the virus, it has to be injected into something less than human---something that doesn't resemble a normal person. Mulder, I won't know you! And the transformation is PERMANENT!!! Don't you see that?? My God, Mulder! If you care about me at all, you'll reconsider being the test subject!"
But Mulder knew he was doing the right thing. "Look, Scully. What I'm about to do is going to save a large portion of the earth's population from the ravages of HIV. Don't you get it? Millions are dying and millions more will die. There are thousands of people walking around who don't even know that they're sick. Am I supposed to turn my back on them all, just to play it safe? Is that what you love about me, Scully? My selfishness, my unwillingness to be a part of the solution instead of the problem? I don't think so. You admire me because I take chances, because I give a damn about humanity and want to leave this earth better than I found it. Please try to understand. This isn't about you and it isn't about me. It's all about the future of the planet." Mulder, exhausted from all the arguing, walked away from his distraught partner. As he left, Mulder turned one more time toward Scully and said quietly, "If you really think objectively about this, you'll agree that I'm doing the right thing."
But Scully was not convinced. After Mulder left, she sat down at her desk and poured over the many notes that noted scientist, Ralph Endicott had written that told of every detail of his special "surgery" and the benefits of said procedure: This is what he had compiled, after ten years of careful study, which involved experiments with chimpanzies:
Objective: To erradicate HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in humans, it has become necessary to perform a unique and some would say, overly radical operation on a test subject, in which he or she undergoes a complete metamorphosis. This drastic change will alter a normal homo sapien, so that he possesses the characteristics and physical traits of a creature not unlike that of documented aliens who have been discovered on this earth during various points in our modern history.
The operation will alter facial features so that the subject has the appearance of a half-simian look, merged with the classic large, dark pooled eyes and a head of twice its normal size, due to the fact that parts of the brain will be more highly developed and thus will require more skull room. The body will shink dramatically, as fat is suctioned out and muscle tissue removed, giving the subject a decidedly non-human physique. This may sound overly macabre and cruel, but no pain will exist past the first five days pre-op and when the subject has recovered sufficiently, then trials with the HIV virus will begin. It is my belief and the belief of my colleagues that this altered human being will possess a natural antibody to the virus that causes AIDS, because in transforming said subject, the metabolic process and the propensity for acquiring AIDS, is diminished to nearly zero occurrance.
That sums up the procedure and the reasons for such a dramatic interference in the inner workings of the human body. Now it can be seen and understood the reasons why Dana Scully was so adamantly against Mulder being the test subject. However, try as she might and threaten as she would, Mulder was determined to do what he could to rid the world of AIDS deaths in his lifetime. Unknown to Scully, Mulder's favourite cousin had succumbed to the disease ten years previously, just shortly before he met Scully. Mulder never talked about Brad, as it hurt too much, but Scully had noticed that Mulder often wore a red ribbon on his lapel.
* * * * *
The day that Scully was dreading, but Mulder was cautiously anticipating, arrived sooner than either of them expected. Although Scully had been certain that she'd have absolutely nothing to do with this horrific experiment, she found that she could not just desert her partner when he was about to embark on something that could very well have dire consequences. She realized that when you love someone as much as she did Mulder, one has to take the negative with the positive. There certainly wasn't much to feel positive about as far as this surgery was concerned, but Mulder was still Mulder---the love of Scully's life. Why had it taken them so long to get together and why now, when it could be too late for them?
* * * * *
With Scully at home, trying desperately to forget what was about to transpire in a secluded hospital on the outskirts of town, a hospital known only to certain members of the FBI and the American Medical Association. Mulder had been given a thorough physical and was being readied for the previously untried surgery that would metamorphosize the 35-year-old healthy, muscular and emotionally stable man into what would essentially be a receptacle for a cure for AIDS. As Mulder lay, still conscious, on the gurney that would transport him into the operating room, he felt cold fingers of apprehension running up amd down his spine. His stomach lurched and he feared vomiting. Still, he knew that what he was doing was the right thing---that if he couldn't save his sister from dying at the hands of aliens, he could, just maybe, release the world from the deathly grip of AIDS.
Just then, Mulder's surgeon appeared beside him. Dr. Brueller was a forty-five-year-old plastic surgeon who'd made a lucrative living for himself by nipping and tucking countless celebrities and polititians. His patients rarely, if ever, died on the table or even afterward, so the prospect of performing a specialized operation on a healthy young man who might very well not survive, did not exactly fill him with giddy apprehension. "Hello, Mr. Mulder," Dr. Brueller said in his most chipper voice. "Are you just about ready?"
Mulder, who had an IV in his right hand filled with saline solution, nodded and said, somewhat nervously, "Will I recognize myself at all when I come out of this?" He was more than a little nervous, but kept telling himself that this was for the greater good, no matter what happened to him.
"Well, son, that depends," the surgeon responded. "Do you want to recognize yourself?" Then he laughed, showing two rows of dentures. "Just a little plastic surgery humour." He then motioned for two nurses to wheel Mulder into the operating room, where he would spend the next nine hours undergoing a procedure which had only been talked about in science fiction anthologies.
* * * * *
Try as she might, Dana Scully could not just walk away from Fox Mulder. The two of them had too much history under their belts----substantial history, along with a healthy affection for one another and a love that transcended most between a man and a woman. Scully felt that Mulder was another part of her, an extension and she knew Mulder felt the same way about her. So how could she just leave him, even if he was engaging in something so terribly dangerous and frigthening that it might take him away from her forever? Wasn't it best to use any quality time that they might have left, rather than let petty grievances rule their worlds and rob them of precious time. With those thoughts milling about in her head, Scully picked up the phone to call the hospital. She wanted to know whether or not Mulder was in surgery and when would they be finished with him. Upon hearing that he had just been wheeled into the operating room and would be in there for a very long time, Scully decided to pay a visit to her close friend, Wanda Wright, an old high school buddy on whom Scully had become quite emotionally dependant during the past few weeks, since this nightmare with Mulder began.
Wanda, a tall, thin natural blonde, with an unfortunate history of eating disorders, but with the kindest and most gentle heart of anyone Scully knew, lived with her younger brother in a small house on the edge of town. Because she was frequently admitted to the hospital following bouts of self-starvation, her parents didn't want her living alone. Fortunately, Vance was at work when Scully called on Wanda. She wanted a chance to talk to her friend alone.
"Dana!" Wanda cried with joy, upon opening her door to find the petite redhead standing on the porch. "Come on in for heaven's sake! What brings you around?"
Scully felt a pang of guilt stemming from the reality that she didn't spend much time with Wanda these days. It just seemed as though the young woman was beset with so many emotional problems that Scully found talking to Wanda for any length of time a trying experience. Still, she was so sweet and open-minded that Scully was able to overlook Wanda's shortcomings now and again. "Hi yourself," Scully responded, giving her pal a big bear hug. "You've been losing weight again, I see," Scully noted, then immediately regretted saying that. Sometimes she just didn't think and this was one of those instances.
After the two had enjoyed tea and crumpets---Wanda had lived in Manchester, England, for the past few years, until she got homesick for her family, dysfunctional as they were----both she and Dana began chatting about Mulder and his surgery. Wanda had met Mulder once, but had been very shy around such a good-looking man. "You're so lucky to have him," Wanda gushed, buttering a crumpet, looking hard at it and then placing it back down on the tray. "I bet he's very loyal and kindhearted. He looks to be."
Scully could hold back the tears no longer. Those last two sentences of Wanda's opened the floodgates and she blurted out, "Oh, God Wanda. Mulder's doing something really, really crazy---more bizarre than usual. Wait until I tell you! Even I can't believe it!"
Wanda put a comforting arm around her distraught friend and said softly, "Hey, Dana, don't get so upset. Just what is he doing? Surely it can't be that bad."
"Oh, but it is! He volunteered for this terrible experiment, one that involves surgery to alter his mind and body. i couldn't stop him, Wanda and ended up yelling at him. I was just so desperate! I love him and now I've lost him. There's nothing I can do---I feel so helpless."
Wanda did her best to comfort Scully and then said softly, "Well, if the two of us put our heads together, then maybe we can do something to stop this. I'm not exactly sure what's happening to Mulder, but from what you're saying, it's pretty bad. Just don't cry, Dana. You'll make yourself sick."
* * * * * *
Mulder's surgery was just about finshed. It had taken a little longer than expected, as there were a few complications, but, as he lay, semi-conscious in the recovery room, Mulder was vaguely aware of his surroundings, but noticed that his thoughts were beginning to cease---he was gradually losing everything that made him Fox Mulder and becoming something completely different, something that would, hopefully, bring the AIDS cure that everyone wanted.
Dr. Brueller, exhausted after performing the lengthy and complex surgery on Mulder, disrobed from his sweats and splashed water on his face. His face was somewhat tense as the full reality of what he'd just done hit him with the force of a megaton nuclear explosion. "God, what have I done? That---that thing in the recovery room isn't even close to being human. I just have to keep thinking about the HIV cure that will be culled from all of this. Still, I feel a bit like Dr. Frankenstein----is this ethical after all?"
Brueller would have his answer soon enough. After two hours in recovery, Mulder, or rather, what Mulder was now, was wheeled back to his room. He was still only semi-conscious, but Skinner had been summoned to get a look at one of his best agents. He was about to get the shock of his life.
...to be continued
