(Untitled)

[he_believes]

The door swings open and in, letting in the tail end of a conversation

Comments

[she_questions]

"Mulder..."

Scully sighs at the camera lens in her face, her expression in the view finder speaking volumes.

"Can I ask you a question?"

[he_believes]

"Yes," he replies immediately, staring through the device instead of at her directly, "I did store this in my office in anticipation of the door opening up here again."

[she_questions]

She hesitates a moment. Of course he did.

"No, that's not what I was going to ask."

She turns her back on the camera and heads straight for the bar. "Vodka tonic, slice of lemon please." The scientist in her thinks, you can either rail at the impossibility of a bar at the end of the universe, or you can relax and have a drink. Her options at this point are clear. She settles into a bar stool, watching him pan around the room.

"Who do you think you're going to show that video to when we get back?"

When he pivots back around and focuses on her, she gives him a tight smile.

"I mean, who's going to believe you, other than myself?"

[he_believes]

"When I return with solid, photographic evidence? When I bring back a tape that shows two federal agents stepping from the basement of the J. Edgar Hoover building to a bar in outer space?"

He pans to the Observation Window.

"Who wouldn't believe that? Who wouldn't want to?"

[seat_five_girl]

Japanese schoolgirl drinking soda through a twisty straw phenomenon too.

[he_believes]

Mulder never turns down a good phenomenon! So on his way round the bar, he stops by her table, camera trained on her face.

"I'm Agent Mulder-would you consent to answering a few questions about your experiences with Milliways?"

[seat_five_girl]

Mulder gets a wide eyed stare.

"Agent of what, exactly Mulder-san?" asks Ako eventually.

[he_believes]

"Special Agent."

He fumbles in his pocket for his badge without taking his eye from the camera. This makes for a rather impressive balancing act.

"I'm with the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation."

[doyousmellfudge]

"I wouldn't count on that actually convincing anyone," remarks an overweight, bespectacled man on the tail end of middle age.

[he_believes]

"One tape? Maybe not. But I intend to accumulate enough evidence to make doubt impossible. This is just the beginning."

All of this is delivered through the camcorder's viewfinder, which he now trains on the man.

"On that note, care to answer some questions?"

[doyousmellfudge]

Artie doesn't say a word, yet. He does, however, give Scully a sympathetic look.

[she_questions]

Scully looks at the gentleman and gives him an apologetic look.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Special Agent Dana Scully, this is Special Agent Fox Mulder."

She offers a hand in greeting, gracefully placing herself between Mulder and Artie, in case things get testy over the camera.

[a1enzo]

A specimen at a table behind Scully is:

• green.
• similar to plastic in apparent texture.
• shaped like a tall, muscular, teenaged human boy, but lacking in fine detail such as hairs and nostrils, again like a plastic mannequin.
• wearing a blue jumpsuit with a slightly military look to it, and black combat boots.
• leaning into the camera's field of view and making faces.

[he_believes]

Deadpan: "Fascinating."

[a1enzo]

"Blaaaa la la urk!"

He leans a bit too far and has to act quickly to keep his chair from falling over.

[he_believes]

The tone as Mulder continues is detached, clinical. It's the tone of someone who's made a lot of case notes into voice recorders.

"Though this subject is humanoid in form, it appears demonstrate inferior motor skills."

[good_dug]

And oh my goodness but speaking of dogs talking through mechanisms in their collars, there's one right there, making an immense effort to climb onto a table, whining softly as his claws scrabble on the wood.

Up there, in the rafters, there is a cat. And he is going to get it. Somehow.

THUMP

"Ow!"

Whimper

...when he's not busy falling off said table, that is.

[he_believes]

Mulder is torn. His determination to capture validating evidence of paranormal phenomena is battling his desire to pat the adorable puppy.

The camera wins.

"You just said 'ow'. You said 'ow', didn't you?"

[good_dug]

Dug rolls onto his feet, peering myopically at the man in front of him with huge, despairing eyes. He takes a hobbling step forwards, limping theatrically on one front paw.

It is probably worth noting that due to the fact Dug fell on his back and is roughly the size, shape, and density of a lead balloon it is unlikely that there is actually anything wrong with said paw. But still! Big fuzzy puppy! Limping! Whining!

"I said ow because I fell and it hurt," Dug explains, hanging his head.

Aww, look at the sad dog.

You should feed it!

[he_believes]

"I saw."

If he doesn't quite sound as sympathetic as he should be, it's because he's busy trying to recall a precedent for giving the Turing test to a canine.

"I think you'll be okay. It didn't look too bad."