Mulder, Scully, Al, Sam, and Robert returned to the FBI building after
renting a car. With only two hours to their death, the two agents wanted
to go over the Mutation Project reports to see what they could use to their
advantage. Al and Sam had insisted that the two remain behind until the
situation was over, but they insisted that they had tempted fate before
and that they weren't going to stop now. Deep down, Al wanted to tie the
two to chairs. He could do that now, thanks to Robert, but he thought better
of it. He had observed situations similar to this, and rather than get
overly involved, he decided to stay on the sidelines. He had done it for
twenty-five years, and he had grown comfortable with that.
Satisfied, Mulder and Scully hopped into the rental car and headed to
the Phoenix Foundation with Al, Robert, and Sam in the back seat. Scully
thought back to all the times that she had been on the verge of death,
and she was scared. Al kept sounding her death knell, but, after all the
experience she had with death, she was at least happy to know someone was
keeping track. Once she was in a situation, all time was lost on her. She
figured that, when the hours became minutes, she would go off and do something
else to avoid the death she felt would come.
After parking the car, they all made their way to the Mutation Project.
They were met by Thorton and MacGyver, and as they entered the reception
desk, Pete held out his ID card that was strung around his neck. He was
cleared, and the person behind the desk smiled at MacGyver. She knew him,
Scully knew, but paid no attention to it.
It was a slow journey. At each door they approached, they encountered
two men, one in front and one behind. Each one checked Pete's ID, and it
seemed as if they would never get there. Then they approached a long hallway,
with labs situated on either side. They did everything from dissecting
the mutated DNA to experimenting with treatments. But their was only one
room where the accident victims were held, and that room was situated at
the end of the hall. Again, they had to go through two guards, and after
entering the room, Scully felt that it had been worth the wait.
Inside, equipment lined the walls and bodies filled the room. She took
a head count and noticed that there were thirty people, each one covered
by a blanket up to their necks. Some were in their gel state, while some
were partially there, and others looked completely human. All had tubes
leading from the equipment to their arms that were held up above everyone's'
heads by metal loops hammered into the ceiling.
Scully found that there were no heating ducts or windows in the room,
and she saw no other doors in the room; they way they came in was the only
way they were getting out. She wondered, "How is Hayes going to get passed
all that security?"
It was Mulder who replied. "He can change into anything he wants; I
suspect it'll be very easy."
"We need to set up a defense," Sam said. "That door's the only way in,
so we'll have to guard it closely."
Mulder replied, "It's not guarding the door that's the problem; it's
catching Hayes. We fought him twice and he's yet to be beaten."
MacGyver pulled out something from his pocket. It was a box of Jell-O.
"I think I can arrange that."
Pete "looked" at him expectantly. "You have an idea," he said with confidence.
MacGyver looked at his former employer. "Pete, I need a snowblower,
a large bowl, and about fifty boxes of this Jell-O. If we can get Hayes
to morph into his natural state, I think we can pump him full of Jell-O.
The Jell-O will act as a hardening agent, and I think it'll stop him long
enough to put him in isolation."
"Good idea MacGyver," Pete said, and took off.
"Yeah," Mulder said. "Good. Let's hope it'll work. If the Jell-O won't
stop him, we can slow him down with our guns."
MacGyver winced. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
