SLEEPLESS

                       Closing the X Files and separating you and Scully was only the beginning...the truth is still out                                        there and has never been more dangerous.

New York City - and a male (Dr Grissom) in an apartment witnesses a fire engulf his room and there is now way out for him - but he manages to call 911. The fire crew arrive and seem puzzled as they stand outside apartment 606 - there appears to be no fire. Nevertheless they get through the door and a male lies dead on the floor....

We then switch to Mulder picking up a newspaper and cassette tape left outside his apartment door. The paper features an article on the death of a prominent doctor, Dr Grissom, who was a pioneer for sleep disorders, and the cassette features his 911 telephone call in which he tells them he is trapped in a fire. Mulder plays the tape for Assistant Director Skinner who agrees that he can look more closely at the case - although this would be with his new partner Alex Krycek. Krycek tells Mulder that forensics found a fire extinguisher on the floor, and that the walls and floor were all covered with ammonium phosphate - yet there was no trace of a fire. Mulder, not pleased at being given a new partner, calls Scully and asks her to join him in New York for an autopsy.

After ditching Krycek the first port of call for Mulder is the Arisson Sleep Disorder Centre in Stamford, Connecticut, where Dr Grissom worked. Mulder is told that there are thirty eight types of sleep disorders. He learns that this centre had looked into treatment for the disorder - by modifying brainwaves patterns externally through the electrical stimulation of the lobe, which creates simple visual and auditory hallucinations. Scully, who by this time has carried out the autopsy on Grissom, tells Mulder that he did not die of cardiac arrest, and that his body was exposed to extremely high temperatures. Whilst there were no epidermal burns when she opened his skull she found hemorrhage that can only be caused by intense heat - it was as if he believed he was burning.

Meanwhile in Brooklyn, New York, a lone male (Henry Willig) is surprised when another male, whom he calls preacher, appears in his apartment. He is aware that this preacher killed Grissom - and he then sees what appears to be a group of Vietnamese and army personnel appear - and they shoot him dead. Mulder and Krycek turn up at the murder scene and whilst the cause of death is said to be a burst anurism, an autopsy reveals 43 small internal hemorrhages, with the medical examiner saying he was sure they were gunshot wounds. The ME also notices a scar on the back of Willig's neck, which he says may have occurred during the Vietnam war. This of course provides the link between the victims - both were stationed in Vietnam at the same time, and at the FBI library they further discover that Willig was one of 13 original members, and only one of two survivors - the other being one Augustus Cole.

Cole is traced to the V.A. Medical Centre in North Orange, New Jersey, where the agents are told that he was admitted 12 years ago. As they walk to his cell Mulder is told that he was non co-operative and kept in isolation - yet Cole is not in his cell. The nurse tells the doctor that he discharged Cole 2 days ago, and whilst the doctor acknowledges that it was his signature on the required document - he cannot recall doing it.

Mulder seek further information and makes contact with X, who provides him with data of a top secret military programme - which was based on the idea that sleep was a soldiers worst enemy. Mulder asks whether they were looking at sleep deprivation yet X responds by telling him that it was about sleep eradication - and that sustained wakefulness also heightens aggression. Mulder is told that Augustus Cole had not slept for 24 years and that there was another man who Mulder should seek out - Salvatore Matola - who was reportedly killed in action.

Meanwhile the Police trace Cole to a motel following a robbery at a drug store - however the two cops that catch him end up shooting one another and Cole escapes. Scully, who has been analysing the reports sent in from Mulder, relays that the programme was a highly experimental neurological procedure designed to induce a permanent waking state. The procedure involved the cutting of part of the brainstem which would explain Willard's scar - and that Cole should have one too. She adds that the post operational treatment was a regiment of synthetic supplement to replenish the organic defects caused by a prolonged lack of sleep - consistent with the anti depressants Cole robbed from the pharmacy - it is these drugs that maintain serotonin levels in the blood. From this Mulder builds a theory - what if Cole had developed the ability to project his unconscious through telepathic images - maybe he has the ability to externalise dreams and alter reality.

Mulder and Krycek then manage to trace Matola to a cafe - and he is all too aware of the deaths of Willig and Grissom. He tells them that when they were in Vietnam not having sleep meant nothing could touch them - they could have 24 hour patrols, night ambushes and they would never get tired. However he recalled that they didn't stop and soon the entire squadron went AWOL - they no longer took orders they simply made up missions - and it didn't matter who they killed. However Matola said that one of the squadron members - Cole aka the preacher - told them that they would all pay one day. We also learn that Grissom was not part of the squadron - he, along with Dr Girardi, made them what they are. Mulder immediately realises that Cole would be after Girardi, who would be attending Grissom's funeral.

At Bronx railway station Mulder awaits Girardi's arrival - and when he sees Cole approach the Doctor Mulder begins to shoot. However we then see Krycek shake Mulder - he had been hallucinating - however Girardi has disappeared. It transpires that Cole has managed to kidnap Girardi and he is tied up. Cole rants and Mulder/Krycek hear screams and run to the scene. Mulder reasons with Cole and asks him to testify against the government - however Krycek shoots Cole. Things get worse for Mulder when he and Scully realise that all of the evidence relating to this case had been stolen......

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