MULDER: A forty-two year old real estate agent murders four strangers with his bare hands? That's not supposed to happen anywhere.

SPENCER: No. Since colonial times, there's only been three murders in this area. In the last six months, seven people have killed twenty-two. Per capita, that's higher than the combined homicide rate of Detroit, D.C. and Los Angeles. This town is not any of those places. In Franklin, you'll never have to pull off the road to make way for a celebrity driving with a gun to his head.

MULDER: In each incident, the suspect was killed?

SPENCER: Suicide by cop. Each incident occurred in a public place. The suspect went crazy and refused to desist when ordered. Officers used deadly force in order to save lives.

MULDER: Perpetrators of mass murders are divided into two classifications... the spree killer and the serial. The sudden violent outburst in a public locale and the suspect's disregard for anonymity or survival define the Franklin incidents as spree killings.

MULDER: I'm convinced an outside factor is responsible, but I must concede frustration as to a determination of the cause. A residue discovered on the fingers of the most recent perpetrator was analyzed and reported to be an undefined but nontoxic organic chemical found on plants... perhaps remaining from gardening. There have been reported abductee paranoia in UFO mass abduction cases...

SCULLY: I was wondering when you'd get to that.

MULDER: Mrs. McRoberts?

McROBERTS: Yes?

MULDER: This is Sheriff Spencer, and I'm Agent Fox Mulder with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. May we come in?

McROBERTS: I'm late for work.

MULDER: You can blame me.

SCULLY: Several anomalies were discovered in post-mortem analysis that were undetected in previous autopsies. Levels of adrenaline are known to be high in cases of violent death, twice as much as in victims of natural death. This subject's levels were two-hundred times normal. The adrenal gland displayed extensive adrenal hemorrhage, yet not from disease, but rather from wear. Other physiological evidence present indicated intense phobia. Analysis of the vitreous humor extracted from the eyeball indicated the presence of high concentration of an undetermined chemical compound. This compound, at its base, is similar to the substance analyzed earlier on a perpetrator's finger. Although further qualitative analysis must be performed, it is my opinion that this chemical, when reacting with adrenaline and other compounds secreted during phobic episodes, creates a substance to lysergic acid diethylamide... L.S.D.

BYERS: In our April edition of "The Lone Gunman," we ran an article on the C.I.A.'s new CCDTH-twenty-one thirty-eight fiber-optic-lens micro-video camera.

LANGLY: Small enough to be placed on the back of a fly.

MULDER: Imagine being one of those flies on the wall of the Oval Office.

FROHIKE: Been there, done that.

MULDER: Have you ever come across this chemical compound?

LANGLY: L.S.D.M. Obviously, you haven't read our August edition of "T.L.G."

MULDER: Oh, I'm sorry, boys. It arrived the same day as my subscription to "Celebrity Skin."

FROHIKE: So, Mulder, where's your little partner?

MULDER: She wouldn't come. She's afraid of her love for you.

FROHIKE: She's tasty.

MULDER: You know, Frohike, it's men like you that give perversion a bad name.

LANGLY: L.S.D.M. is sprayed on the plant, which invokes a fear response in the pest. You know, "get out of here, there's danger." The insect reacts and leaves the plant.

MULDER: Why won't they release it? Is it possible it affects humans in the same way?

BYERS: Possible?

MULDER: Scully. Are you familiar with subliminal messages?

SCULLY: You mean like... sex in ice cubes in liquor ads? That's paranoia.

MULDER: No, it's a fact that some department stores use subliminal messages in their ambient music to deter shoplifting. And the Russians have been using advanced electroensephelographic techniques to control behavior.

MULDER: They've done it before. D.D.T. in the 50's, Agent Orange, germ warfare on unsuspecting neighborhoods.

SCULLY: Yes, but why, Mulder? Why would they intentionally create a populace that destroys itself?

MULDER: Fear. It's the oldest tool of power. If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above.