KILL SWITCH

     One man alone achieving the equivalent of Copernicus, Magellan, and Darwin.

At a diner in Washington, D.C., a man tries to access files on a laptop computer, but is repeatedly denied. Meanwhile, several drug dealers receive anonymous phone calls about the whereabouts of their competitors; they are told that they are at the same diner. Two U.S. Marshals receive a similar phone call about an escaped prisoner. The drug dealers arrive in pairs as the man attempts to gain access to the files. Just as he does, the two Marshals appear and a shootout ensues.

Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) arrive and identify the bodies of the drug dealers. Mulder also identifies the man with the laptop as Donald Gelman, "a Silicon Valley folk hero" who aspired to create an artificial intelligence. Mulder takes Gelman's laptop and finds a CD inside. When he puts it into the car stereo, it plays "Twilight Time" by The Platters. However, the agents take it to the Lone Gunmen, who discover that the disc contains a large quantity of encrypted data. The trio, however, are unable to decrypt it. Upon Scully's suggestion, they access Gelman's e-mail account and find a message sent by someone named Invisigoth, saying that someone named David is missing.

The message contains a BIC code for an intermodal shipping container, which Mulder and Scully locate. When they approach it, a woman uses a Taser on the Agents and attempts to flee but is captured by Scully. The container turns out to be full of state-of-the-art computer equipment. The woman, the "Invisigoth" (Kristin Lehman) they've been looking for, warns the agents that a laser-armed Defense Department satellite has pinpointed their location. They quickly leave the area as the container is destroyed, supposedly by a "Particle Beam" shot from a defense satellite. The Agents bring Invisigoth to meet the Lone Gunmen. Invisigoth, whose real name turns out to be Esther Nairn, tells the agents and the Lone Gunmen that Gelman succeeded in creating an artificial intelligence. She reveals that once the AI locates an enemy, it destroys them using the satellite. According to Esther, Gelman was creating "Kill Switch", a virus that could destroy the AI. However, the AI learned of Gelman's plans and killed him by luring the drug dealers and the police to the diner. The only way to destroy the AI is to find the computer on which it is stored. It turns out that David is Esther's friend, and also worked with Gelman.

Mulder uses a government source to find a secret T3 line in Fairfax County, Virginia—one that the AI uses to log onto the Internet. He also finds the trailer that is connected to the T3 line. Meanwhile, Esther forces Scully to drive to David's house. However, they find that the house has been destroyed. Esther admits that she and David had been planning to transfer their consciousness into cyberspace to enter the AI. Gelman, however, thought the idea was too dangerous. Esther also admits that she and David were in love, and were having an affair behind Gelman's back. Meanwhile, Mulder finds much computer hardware inside the trailer. He also finds David's dead body, with a virtual reality helmet on his head. Suddenly, Mulder is constrained by moving cables and wires, and experiences a strange vision in which he is in a hospital where nurses threaten to amputate his limbs unless he reveals Kill Switch's location. Meanwhile, the AI locates Scully and Esther driving near a swing bridge. They become trapped on the bridge after the AI manipulates its drawing mechanism, causing Scully to persuade Esther to throw the computer into the water below. Just as it hits the water it is destroyed by the defense satellite's laser strike.

Scully and Esther find the trailer in which Mulder is trapped. Esther reveals that she still has the CD on which the Kill Switch is stored. Scully puts it into the drive into the AI, which then releases Mulder. She gets him out of the trailer, but Esther stays inside. She uses the satellite to locate the trailer's position, causing the missile to destroy the trailer, killing her. 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". Just before the credits, we see a trailer in North Platte, Nebraska similar to the one where the AI lived, with automatic security cameras monitoring a boy who approaches the trailer to retrieve a football.

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