William Gibson's "The X-Files" episodes
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"Kill Switch" and "First Person Shooter" are episodes of the popular American television series The X-Files notable for being written by William Gibson[1], together with science fiction novelist Tom Maddox. The authors and long-time friends had discussed various collaborations before and approached the production company with an offer to write an episode.[2] The result was "Kill Switch" (5x11), which first aired on February 15th, 1998. The episode made frequent appearances in reruns and its success encouraged Gibson to continue working in television, resulting in "First Person Shooter" (7x13), a second collaboration with Maddox which aired two years later on February 27th, 2000 on FOX.[3][4] Both episodes deal with recurrent Gibsonian themes: alienation, paranoia, the will to survive, emergent technology, the evolution of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and transferring one's consciousness into cyberspace.[5]
"Kill Switch" was written outside the giant backstory or mytharc of the series as something of a once-off, which Gibson intended to be reminiscent of the "dark visions" of filmmaker David Cronenberg and to contain "many obvious pokes and prods at high-end academic cyberculture."[6]
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[edit] "Kill Switch"
[edit] Plot summary
The episode begins at Metro Diner at night. We see a man with a laptop computer, who is trying to get access to some files but the message "Access denied" appears over and over again. Meanwhile several criminals receive anonymous phone calls about the whereabouts of their enemies - they are supposed to be in the Metro Diner. Two policemen receive a similar phone call. As the man with the laptop gains access to the files and the screen says to press enter, the policemen appear and order everyone onto the floor. The drug dealers take their weapons and heavy gunfire begins.
Agents Mulder and Scully arrive at the scene of the crime and identify bodies of the criminals. Mulder also identifies the man with the laptop - he is Donald Gelman - "a Silicon Valley folk hero. He was writing internet software even before there was an internet." Mulder hides Gelman's laptop under his coat and takes it into Scully's car. He also finds a CD and puts it into car stereo. "Twilight Time" by The Platters starts playing. The agents take the laptop to the Lone Gunmen for analysis. They cannot break the security code and Scully suggests that they should check Gelman's e-mail account. They find an e-mail sent by someone named Invisigoth. It says that someone named David is missing. Moreover, the message contains a standard ID number for a shipping container.
Mulder and Scully find the container. When they approach it a girl runs out of it but Scully catches her. The container is full of state-of-the-art computer equipment. The girl warns the agents that an armed Department of Defense satellite has pinpointed their location. They leave the place immediately. A green laser descends from the sky and destroys the container. Inside the car, the girl admits that she is Invisigoth (her real name is Esther Nairn) and Mulder realizes that Gelman has created artificial intelligence, thus fulfilling his dream. Invisigoth describes how the AI works - it monitors all communication and recognizes her voice so she cannot make any phone calls. Moreover, once the AI locates its enemy it destroys them using the satellite. According to Invisigoth, Gelman was creating "Kill Switch" - a virus that could destroy the AI, but the AI killed him using drug dealers in the Metro Diner. The only way to destroy the AI is to find its hardware, the computer on which the AI is stored. It turns out that David is Invisigoth's friend and he also worked with Gelman. Later, Mulder, Scully and Invisigoth visit the Lone Gunmen.
Mulder uses his governmental source to find a secret T3 line, one that the AI uses to access the Internet. He also finds the trailer that is connected to the line. Meanwhile, Invisigoth forces Scully at gun point to drive to David's residence. However, they only find a destroyed house there. Esther admits that she and David had been planning to transfer their consciousness into cyberspace and enter the AI. But Gelman was against the idea because he considered it too dangerous. Inside the trailer Mulder finds a lot of computer hardware. He also finds David’s dead body - he has a virtual reality helmet on his head. Suddenly Mulder is constrained by moving cables and wires and experiences a strange vision: he finds himself in hospital where nurses threaten to amputate his limbs unless he reveals where the Kill Switch is. Meanwhile, the AI locates Scully and Esther in their car near a bridge. They become trapped so Scully tells Esther to throw the laptop into the water. One moment later, a green laser hits the water.
Scully and Esther go to the trailer in which Mulder is trapped. It turns out that Esther still has the CD with Kill Switch so Scully puts it into the drive because the AI wants it. The AI releases Mulder, and Scully removes a virtual reality helmet from his face. She takes him outside but Esther stays in the trailer. She instructs the satellite to locate the trailer's position. Then she puts the virtual reality helmet on. One moment later, the green laser destroys the trailer. Mulder tells Scully that Esther's consciousness probably joined the AI. Later, the Lone Gunmen get a strange message on their computer reading "Bite me".
[edit] "First Person Shooter"
[edit] Plot summary
We see three young men wearing futuristic costumes. They are preparing for a battle and take automatic weapons. They seem to have a lot of fun. It turns out that their battlefield is in fact a virtual reality game. In a control room, Ivan and Phoebe, the workers of First Person Shooter Company, are monitoring the players' vital signs. Suddenly, motorcycles appear in the game. Three men shoot at them and the motorcycles explode. One of the players encounters a beautiful female warrior in a sexy leather outfit. She says "I am Maitreya. This is my game." and then kills him. Ironically, "Maitreya" means "loving one" in the Buddhist religion.
Mulder and Scully visit the First Person Shooter development company headquarters. They meet the Lone Gunmen, who work as consultants to the game. All look at the body of one of the players. The wound shows that he was shot. Ivan says there is no way a real gun could have been brought into the highly-secured building. The agents are shown a video from the game. They see the female warrior killing the player and Mulder takes the printout of the female. He shows it to a detective as he believes she might be a killer. Daryl Musashi, the creator of the game, comes to the building. He enters the game in order to kill the mysterious female. However, she finds him first and cuts his hands and head off. Meanwhile Scully performs an autopsy on the first player. Then, the remains of Daryl Musashi are brought in and Mulder receives a call from the Sheriff's Department. A woman similar to the one in the printout has been picked up.
Her name is Jade Blue Afterglow (played by Krista Allen) (see Jade-Blue Eclipse[citation needed]) and she tells the agents that the medical imaging place in Culver City paid her to scan her body. Mulder and Scully go back to FPS headquarters. It turns out that the Lone Gunmen are trapped inside the game and somebody is shooting at them. Mulder enters the game in game combat gear to rescue them. He sees Maitreya and follows her. Phoebe admits that the beautiful female warrior was created by her. Pheobe was creating her own game in her own computer. But somehow the warrior jumped programs.
Eventually, Scully puts the suit on and enters the game herself. She finds Maitreya and fights with her. However, it is very difficult as Maitreya multiplies and finally she comes in a tank. Phoebe admits there is one way to stop it but it will erase the whole game. Byers (one of the Gunmen) types the command and the game completely disappears but the agents are both safe. During Mulder's voice-over we see that in the control room one of the monitors is still active. Ivan sees a message reading "Data Acquisition." He sees the image of a digital character. She is wearing Maitreya's leather outfit but now her face is different. In fact, it is Agent Scully's face.
"First Person Shooter" was directed by series creator Chris Carter.
[edit] References
- ^ Alexandra DuPont Interviews William 'Freakin' Gibson!!!! (Interview). Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
- ^ Tom Maddox Unreal-Time Chat (email exchange). Shop Talk. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
- ^ Fridman, Sherman (2000-02-24). "X-Files" Writer Fights For Online Privacy (news article). News Briefs. Newsbytes PM. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
- ^ Johnston, Anthony (August 1999). William Gibson : All Tomorrow’s Parties : Waiting For The Man. Spike. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
- ^ Strachan, Alex. "Gibson writes this Sunday's X-Files", Local Entertainment, Vancouver Sun, 1998-02-14. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
- ^ Silberman, Steve. "William Gibson to Write X-Files Episode". Wired, 1998-01-13
[edit] External links
- Kill Switch at the Internet Movie Database
- First Person Shooter at the Internet Movie Database
- Kill Switch at TV.com
- First Person Shooter at TV.com
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