F-EMASCULATA

                   F-Emasculata is a bug that carries the parasite - in this case a deadly parasite that attacks                                        the immune system.

We begin in the Guanacaste Rain Forest, Costa Rica, and one Dr Robert Torrance collecting samples of insects. He spots a group of vultures  circling an elephant and goes to investigate - finding what appears to be blisters on the elephants skin. The Dr squeezes one of the boils and it squirts some puss onto his face. He immediately radios the filed base of the bio diversity project and states that there is a medical emergency that requires immediate evacuation. Within a small space of time he too has blisters on his face, and is found dead several hours later by army personnel.

We then move to Cumberland State Correctional Facility in Virginia, and the focus is on one of the prisoners, Robert Torrance, who shares the same name as the scientist in the rain forest. Torrance receives some mail and inside is some form of carcass - and before long he too has blisters on his face. 2 other inmates attend and clean his room following the removal of the body - and whilst they question what is going on they have their own plans of escape to follow and before long they are out of the facility in a laundry cart....

We then see Mulder and Scully turn up at the prison - a case of two escaped convicts given to them by Skinner. However they find it strange when they come into contact with men in white suits - the National Guard have taken over the prison.

The two convicts make it to an out station and steal a mobile home from a family. It seems that one of the men, develops the boils, and the other, Paul, rings his partner to tell her that he is coming home. Scully meanwhile meets Dr Osmore, who claims to work for disease control. He tells her that a flu like illness has spread and fourteen people have been infected, and 10 are dead. He goes on to state that the two men who escaped may also be infected. Scully concludes that some deadly contagen is sweeping the prison and 36 hours after infection it proves to be deadly - however the exact nature of the disease is yet unknown.

Following a lead the Police arrive at the gas station where earlier the convicts had been. Mulder finds the attendant, who has developed the boils, and a chopper with men in white suits arrives to remove him. Mulder uses his head and goes to the public phone and asks the operator for the number called previously - he has an address to which the convicts may be going. Meanwhile the convict arrives at his partners, telling her that he has someone else with him who is very ill....It isn’t long before the ill convicts blisters burst all over the woman, and when the armed forces turn up they take the woman into custody - but Paul has disappeared.

Back at the prison Scully sneaks into the incinerator and spies the body of Torrance, and Osmore tells her that the bags should not be opened - they may both now be infected. Scully then investigates the original package sent to Torrance, and finds that it was sent from Arkansas by Pink Pharmaceuticals, the biggest manufacturer of drugs. She also finds some form of insect in one of the wounds of the dead. Later on Osmore confides that he has been infected. He explains that Pink Pharmaceuticals are responsible, and that he works for them. He tells her that they finance explorations for new species in the rain forest - as they may have potential drug properties. He says that 3 months ago a field endemologist disappeared in Costa Rica (Torrance) - but that he managed to send in samples of an insect - emasculata. The interest for his company was in the dilating enzyme it secreted. Effectively F-Emasculata is a bug that carries the parasite, in this case a deadly parasite that attacks the immune system. Scully adds that the contagen spreads when the pustules erupt, and that the larvae expelled goes into a new host, She concludes that she may also be infected - but tests prove negative.

Back at FBI HQ Mulder meets with Skinner, and feels that he has been mislead by whoever the case originated from. He argues that they were sent to find two prison convicts without the knowledge of a contagent that kills in 36 hours. The smoking man is also there, and he says that in 1988 an outbreak of fever in Sacramento - the truth would have caused panic and panic costs lives - you control the disease by controlling information. Scully tells Mulder that the company are trying to clean up the mess made, and that the government know about it. Mulder meanwhile confronts the convicts partner to locate his whereabouts, and he learns that the man is boarding a bus. On the bus his infection is confirmed, yet Mulder and the attending National Guard contain the situation. Scully tells Mulder that all evidence has been destroyed at the prison - the only evidence left is the convict on the bus. Mulder manages to talk to him, but before he has any answers the convict is shot...

Back at the FBI HQ Mulder rants about the cover up to Skinner, who responds by telling him to leave it as he didn't know who he was dealing with. Scully adds to Mulders woe by confirming that they cannot prove a thing, stating that the missing scientist, Torrance, shared a name with the original prisoner who received the package, the latter being the company's failsafe so that they could claim there was a postal error. The episode concludes with Skinner warning Mulder to watch his back, as this was just the beginning.....

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