Original subtitles

Look, Ben, this is what infuriates me.

Don't you see?

It's so painfully obvious.

Why do you think our stock's in the toilet?

Because you're cutting research

and development in half.

You've forgotten what the adventure's all about.

Like it or not, the industry's changing.

We need to make some hard choices.

You save your sound bite for the press.

Let's not relive the stockholders meeting again.

Don't you get it?

You're killing me.

You're killing my company!

Eurisko is not your company, Brad, not anymore,

and you'd damn well better grow up and get used to it.

You're going to regret this.

New paragraph.

As I'm sure everyone on the board will agree,

Eurisko has to face head-on

the realities of an increasingly competitive world.

Since the unfortunate departure of Brad Wilczek, I have made

certain recommendations which I believe

will reposition Eurisko as an industry leader.

At the top of this list

is the immediate termination of the C.O.S. Project.

Its disastrous performance over the past three quarters

and projected losses well into 1994

leave us no other choice.

Ah...

Hello? Hello!

At the tone, Eastern Standard Time will be 7:35 p.m.

What the hell?

Damn.

File deleted.

Mulder.

Jerry?

You're Dana Scully, right?

Jerry Lamana.

Jerry and I worked together in Violent Crimes.

Worked together? What are you talking "worked together"?

We were partners.

That's $8.50, please.

So, Jerry, what are you doing here?

Looking for you, and I'm buying you two lunch.

No, really...

No. It's on me.

Here.

Cause of death was electrocution.

And it wasn't accidental?

It looks like some kind of elaborate booby trap,

but we don't know a whole lot more.

Building engineer just found him 12 hours ago.

Who's running the investigation?

Either of you know Nancy Spiller?

The forensics instructor at the academy?

We used to call her the Iron Maiden.

On a good day.

Well, anyway, she's putting together the squad,

and, well, I took the liberty of mentioning your name.

Look, Jerry, I'd like to help you out,

but we're not on general assignment.

Because of the X Files.

Look, the truth is,

I could use a little help on this.

I don't want to drop the ball on this one.

You won't drop the ball.

Drake wasn't just a CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

He was a good friend of the attorney general's.

Another feather in my cap would be really nice

right now 'cause the one I got is looking a little mangy.

- Yeah, but, Jerry... - Look...

I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important.

How come you two went your separate ways?

I'm a pain in the ass to work with.

Seriously.

I'm not a pain in the ass?

We had different career goals.

Jerry wanted the fifth floor.

And you?

I was gunning for a basement office

with no heat or windows.

Well, I know where you ended up.

What about Jerry?

He ran into a little bad luck in Atlanta,

working hate crimes.

What kind of bad luck?

He misplaced a piece of evidence,

bagged and everything.

Sent it to the cleaners.

By the time he got it back, a federal judge

had lost both his hands and his right eye.

- 29? - Uh-huh.

Going up.

Must be for the visually impaired.

How do you like that?

A politically correct elevator.

Third floor...

fourth floor...

You okay?

Yeah.

What was that?

Yes?

Hello?

Security. Who's this?

This is Agent Dana Scully.

Agent Scully, do you have a problem?

Fifth floor...

Uh, actually, I think everything's okay.

- All right. - ...ninth floor...

- Thank you. - ...tenth floor, 11th floor...

See here?

Someone has tampered with the servo.

They switched the ground to the negative

so that when he put the key in the lock...

He completed the circuit.

It's fused.

It takes a lot of juice to melt a steel key.

And to throw a 180-pound man ten feet.

The, uh, servo switch... could it have been moved manually?

We didn't find any prints in the surrounding area.

Sure, it could have been switched

manually, but whoever did it

would have had to override the C.O.S.

What's the C.O.S.?

The central operating system.

It runs the building.

Regulates everything from energy output

to the volume of water in each toilet flush.

This is Claude Peterson, he's the building systems engineer.

He discovered the body.

If somebody wanted to override the C.O.S.,

what would they...?

Well, first he'd have to break the access codes,

which... well, let's just say it wouldn't be easy.

Well, we're gonna need a list

of all the people with that kind of know-how.

I can tell you right now,

it'll be a pretty short list.

Would you be on it?

- Me? - Yeah.

Hey, look, I'm just a glorified building super.

All I do is monitor the system,

make sure it's functioning,

like when I saw the overload in Mr. Drake's office.

What about the phone lines?

Does the C.O.S. monitor all phone calls?

Yes, it does. Why?

I'm just wondering.

Okay, um, look, can I go now?

Okay.

Why did you ask him about the phones?

Phone's off the hook.

Maybe Drake was talking to somebody

right before he did his Ben Franklin impersonation.

Taught him everything he knows.

Come in.

It's past 3:00.

I'm just looking for my profile notes.

Maybe if you cleaned your desk more than once a year.

They were right here, I'm telling you.

Come on, we're late.

Now, there are a couple elements

for us to consider here.

Both the statistical rarity of homicidal electrocution

and the complexity of the crime

indicate a certain devious premeditation.

After all, there are much simpler ways of killing someone.

All of which leads me to believe

that our guy was some kind of sociopathic game player...

maybe even a recluse,

since he designed a trap

not only to avoid detection

but to avoid contact with the victim.

Is that your profile?

Forget it, huh?

Drake's final phone call supports this theory.

At the tone, Eastern Standard Time will be 7:35 p.m.

Drake's estimated time of death.

Why would Drake call for the correct time

just before he died?

It was an incoming call.

From somewhere in the Eurisko building itself.

Whoever set the trap

wanted to make sure that Drake took the bait.

Excellent work, Agent Lamana.

Thank you.

Jerry, what the hell are you doing?

Hey, don't get all bent out of shape.

Jerry, that was my profile.

Look, I didn't think you'd mind.

Anyway, they were just notes.

I filled in the blanks.

Jerry, you went into my office

and you stole my work.

Look, you're on this case

'cause I asked you to help me out

and you helped me out.

What is the big deal?

What did he say?

He apologized... in his own way.

I just got off the phone

with Peterson, the systems engineer.

One name? Brad Wilczek?

He said it would be a short list.

And it's headline news how much this guy despised Drake.

That just seems too obvious.

To kill Drake would be so brazenly egomaniacal.

And fully consistent

with Jerry's excellent behavioral profile.

Fully.

So this is what a 220 IQ

and a $400 million severance settlement buys you.

Yes?

Brad Wilczek?

We're with the FBI.

What took you guys so long?

Oh, and do you mind taking off your shoes?

You can divide the computer science industry

into two types of people... neat and scruffy.

I take it Benjamin Drake fit into the first category.

Neat people like things neat.

They wear nicely pressed suits

and work on surface phenomena...

things they can understand...

market shares and third quarter profits.

And you had a different vision

for the company?

I started Eurisko out of my parents' garage.

I was 22 years old, just spent a year

following around the Grateful Dead.

You know what Eurisko means?

Mm-mm.

That's from the Greek, isn't it?

Um... "I learn things."

Not exactly.

It means "I discover things."

Unfortunately, Ben Drake wasn't interested

in discovery.

He was a shortsighted, power-hungry opportunist.

Let me show you something: a smart home.

From this prototype, I have access

to every square foot of my house.

This place as safe as Fort Knox

and as energy efficient as your average igloo.

We were two years ahead of Microsoft and Cebus

when Drake, in his infinite wisdom, killed the program.

Mr. Wilczek,

is this system related

to the one in your corporate building?

Variation on a theme.

In your opinion,

how many people know the system

well enough to override it?

Finally, the bonus question.

"Not many" is the answer.

Could someone have, uh, hacked into the system?

Well, not your average phone freak, that's for sure.

But there's plenty of kooks out there.

Data travelers, electro-wizards,

techno-anarchists.

Anything's possible.

Could you have done it?

Of course.

I designed the system.

That's why you guys are here, isn't it?

I'm your logical suspect.

You don't seem too worried.

It's a puzzle, Ms. Scully,

and scruffy minds like me like puzzles.

We enjoy walking down unpredictable avenues of thought

turning new corners...

but as a general rule,

scruffy minds don't commit murder.

Some see genius as the ability to connect the unconnected...

to make juxtapositions,

to see relationships where others cannot.

Is Brad Wilczek a genius?

I don't know.

But I do know this for certain:

He has a predilection for elaborate game playing.

He has an intimate knowledge of the Eurisko building

and he has a demonstrable motive

for killing Benjamin Drake.

The question remains.

But if he's so clever, how do we nail him?

End of field journal, October 24, 1993.

File opened.

From the outset,

I knew that Eurisko would expand effectively,

not by traditional Western structures,

but by employing certain Zen beliefs

and other Eastern philosophies...

...and other Eastern philosophies...

...Eastern philosoph...

...Eastern...

Will you give me a second?

Look, I'm here with my hat in my hand.

I screwed up. I'm sorry.

What more can I say?

All you had to do was ask.

I would have helped you with the profile.

You don't know what it's like, Mulder.

What what's like?

You heard about Atlanta?

- Yeah... - They got me on six months probation.

I gotta file daily reports like some cheery new agent.

That was bad luck.

That could've happened to anybody.

Not to you.

Don't run yourself down, Jerry.

You're a good agent.

We did some good work together...

Come on, let's face it. I was tagging along.

- That's not how it was. - How would you know, Mulder?

You were too busy dazzling them up there on the high wire.

Mulder... take a look.

We borrowed this

from the voice biometrics lab at Georgetown.

It's a computer spectrogram

capable of identifying individual speech patterns.

This is the recording

the central operating system made

of the phone call Drake received

just before he died.

At the tone, Eastern Standard Time will be 7:35 p.m.

And this we spliced together

from a series of lectures Brad Wilczek gave

at the Smithsonian last year.

At the tone, Eastern Standard Time

will be 7:35 p.m.

Now we'll stack them.

At the tone,

Eastern Standard Time will be 7:35 p.m.

You're saying this is the same person?

I'm saying that both voices are Brad Wilczek's.

He may have disguised his voice electronically,

but he couldn't alter the form

that's unique to his own speech patterns.

Which means that he was the one that killed Drake.

He had the motive and the means.

And now we have the physical evidence.

Judge Benson lives in Washington Heights.

I can get a warrant in less than an hour.

Someone has to make sure Wilczek stays put.

I'll go with you.

No. Let me bring him in alone.

I need this one, Mulder.

All right.

Come on, come on, let me in.

Damn!

Mr. Wilczek!

Going up.

Second floor, third floor, fourth...

Can I help you?

FBI.

Welcome back, Brad.

You're not equipped

with a voice synthesizer.

What is my user level?

That is now at the discretion of the operating system.

Going up.

Second floor, third floor, fourth floor

fifth floor, sixth floor, seventh floor, eighth floor

ninth floor, tenth floor,

11th floor, 12th floor, 14th floor

15th floor, 16th floor...

What the hell?

What are you doing?

Sorry. Those commands are not available

at your current user level.

Try again.

...23rd floor, 24th floor...

What are you doing?!

What are you doing?!

...27th floor...

...28th floor...

29th floor...

30th floor...

29-30, 29-30, 29-30, 29-30

- Son of a... - 29-30, 29-30, 29-30, 29-30

29-30, 29-30, 29-30, 29-30

29-30, 29-30, 29-30, 29-30

29-30, 29-30, 29-30, 29-30

29-30, 29-30, 29-30, 29-30...

Oh, man.

Going down.

No!

Don't do this!

Oh, my God.

Program executed.

I heard about Jerry.

I'm sorry.

I don't think Wilczek did it.

What?

It doesn't make sense.

Why would he go back to Eurisko?

To destroy evidence, to cover his tracks.

If you were going to destroy evidence,

would you pose for the cameras?

Mulder...

you've been through a lot...

more than I think even you realize.

I think Wilczek is smarter than this.

He just signed a confession.

How much proof do you need?

Excuse me, sir, this is a crime scene.

You're gonna have to leave.

I know. I ordered the subpoena.

That subpoena's been obviated.

What are you talking about?

Unless you've got a code five clearance,

I'm going to have to ask you to turn back.

Thanks for coming.

I'm here against my better judgment.

In the future, I must insist

that you respect the terms of our arrangement.

I need to know why Brad Wilczek

is the subject of a code five investigation...

what the Defense Department wants with him.

What do you think they'd want

with the most innovative programmer in this hemisphere?

- Software. - Yeah.

For years, Wilczek has thumbed his nose

at any contract involving weapons applications.

He's a bleeding heart.

What kind of software?

How much do you know

about artificial intelligence?

I thought it was only theoretical.

It was, until two years ago.

Do you remember Helsinki...

the first time that a chess-playing computer

ever beat a grand master?

That was Wilczek's program.

And the rumor was that he did it

by developing the first adaptive network.

An adaptive network?

It's a learning machine...

a computer that actually thinks.

And it's, uh, become something of a Holy Grail

for some of our more acquisitive colleagues

in the Department of Defense.

They make me wear shoes all the time.

What else do you want from me?

I want you to tell me why you're willing

to spend the rest of your life in prison

for a crime you didn't commit.

What are you talking about?

I'm guilty.

I know you're innocent.

You're protecting a machine...

the central operating system at Eurisko.

If I'm protecting anything, it's not the machine.

Then what?

After the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,

Robert Oppenheimer spent the rest of his life

regretting he'd ever glimpsed an atom.

Oppenheimer may have regretted his actions

but he never denied responsibility for them.

He loved the work, Mr. Mulder.

His mistake was in sharing it with an immoral government.

I won't make the same mistake.

But your machine killed Drake.

And it killed my friend.

I'm sorry about what happened, but there's nothing I can do.

And you talk about morality.

You're afraid of the government

but you're willing to accept the risk

that your machine will kill again.

The lesser of two evils.

What about a third option?

You created that machine.

Now you tell me how to destroy it.

Wilczek can create a virus

that will destroy the system.

Mulder, don't you see?

Blaming the machine is an alibi, and a bad one.

But it's the only thing that makes sense.

The C.O.S. Project

was posting big losses for Eurisko,

and Drake was about to terminate the program.

So the machine killed Drake

out of self-defense?

Self-preservation.

It's the primary instinct of all sentient beings.

Mulder, that level of artificial intelligence

is decades away from being realized.

Then why was our government

trying to usurp Wilczek's research?

Mulder, I think you're looking for something

that isn't there.

And I think it has something to do with Jerry.

Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea

if you talked to someone.

You're probably right.

Where are you going?

To talk to someone.

How much time do you need?

Hello...

Oh, my God...

This is Special Agent Dana Scully

I.D. number 2317-616.

I need you to run a quick trace on a number for me.

Yeah.

202-555-6431.

Yeah. That's my number.

Somebody's accessing my computer.

Mulder!

Scully, what are you doing here?

Someone or something's been scanning my computer files

tapping my phones.

I traced the line.

It came from somewhere in there.

It's the machine.

How can we get in?

You remember the Trojan Horse?

Open sesame.

Oh, what the...?

Mulder!

So much for the element of surprise.

What do you say we take the stairs?

28 down, one to go.

Oh, great.

Mulder?

Trick or treat.

No. Don't.

What are you doing?

I don't want to make the mistake Drake made.

Damn.

What are you looking at?

There should be a way for you to drop down and open the door.

Come on, Scully.

Scully?

Agent Mulder?

What are you doing here?

The machine's been acting all crazy.

Power surges, shut-offs.

That's why I'm here so late.

Where's the B port?

Oh, it's right back here.

Look, are you sure you know what you're doing?

Because, if you don't, it's my job on the line.

Damn.

System access granted.

User code, level seven.

Now I can put in the virus.

Not bad, Agent Mulder.

You know, I've been trying

to access the CPU for the past two years.

Now, please, take out your gun

and remove the clip.

Careful.

Defense Department?

Let's just say our paychecks are signed by the same person.

Now give me the diskette

and step away from the console.

You don't want to test my resolve, Agent Mulder.

Put down the gun.

Look, you may think you know what you're dealing with...

Shut up and drop the gun!

You're making a mistake, Agent Scully.

Compromising your sworn duty.

This operation is more sensitive than you can possibly imagine.

Don't listen to him.

The technology in this machine

is of enormous scientific interest.

The machine's a monster, Scully.

It's already killed two people.

They won't be able to handle it any better than Wilczek did.

Make no mistake...

you will be held accountable.

Mulder, put in the disk.

What are you doing, Brad?

Don't do this, Brad.

Brad...?

Brad, why are you doing this?

Brad...?

Brad...

Why?

I checked with Congressman Klebanow

and the Department of Corrections Subcommittee.

I even petitioned the Attorney General's Office.

You won't find him.

They can't just take a man like Brad Wilczek

without an explanation.

They can do anything they want.

Where is he?

In the middle of what we in the trade

call "hard bargaining."

Wilczek won't deal.

He'll never work for them.

Loss of freedom does funny things to a man

and remember, Wilczek confessed

to two murders, and you effectively destroyed

the only evidence

that could have exonerated him.

What else could I have done?

Nothing.

Unless you were willing to let the technology survive.

The Department of Defense still hasn't found anything?

They've been on it for five days.

Wilczek's virus was thorough.

It left no trace of the artificial intelligence.

The machine is dead.

We've pushed the pulse code modulations to the limit.

Nothing.

A "B" port crashed.

We've combed the parsing subroutine.

Yes, sir. Twice.

No, sir, still nothing, but I'd like to request...

Yes, sir.

No, I understand.

Yes, sir.

Well...

six more hours

before we have to consign the whole damn thing

to the metal shredder.

We'll do what we can, sir.

Proximity detectors burned; no capacity.

I can't follow his circuitry at all.

I'm going to figure this thing out

if it kills me.