Dana Katherine Scully (
faithfulskeptic) wrote in
what_wings_dare2022-09-09 06:57 pm
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🅧 Please explain to me the scientific nature of 'the whammy'

[ n a m e ; ] | Dana Katherine Scully |
[ c a n o n ; ] | The X-Files |
[ g a m e ; ] | spicy times in ![]() |
{ ACTION / NETWORK / VOICE / WHATEVER WELCOME }
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"I think my parents stopped feeling safe. That autumn there were a series of murders," she admits. "We didn't even finish out the school year."
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Not surprising, considering he was half a world away by then, but it's still strange to hear about it now, and know - distantly - that death had found its way to Dana Scully's door.
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"It involved someone from the store, actually. Not Carinda-- one of the other employees, a man calling himself Sunlight." Easy, casual, just things that happened. She tries not to picture him. She manages, through long practice, not to shudder.
"He was trying to build a cult-- he was utterly delusional-- and he murdered several people who didn't turn out to be the cultists he wanted. They were made to look like accidents. Mostly teenagers-- I imagine they tried not to let it get much publicity, out of respect for the families."
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If she'd asked before explaining, though, he'd never have thought he was capable of starting a cult, let alone committing serial murders. That he hadn't heard about it isn't surprising - even if it had garnered media attention, it probably wouldn't have crossed the Atlantic - but it's disquieting to encounter the subject now. "How close were you to the victims?"
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"Not very," she finally says, because it's true enough. "We were so new in town we didn't know many people, not before school started, and the deaths had started before we moved in though everyone thought they were accidents. I guess we were close to it because my sister and I spent time at the store, but we didn't really know the kids who died."
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"Our parents weren't thrilled with how often we went to begin with," she says with a shrug. Just childhood mischief, really. Getting drawn into psychic cults by self-declared Nephilim. Who couldn't relate?
"I was certainly closer than I should've been. I guess I had no room to criticize your looking for trouble," she adds with a rueful smile.
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"We moved back to California, I went to medical school, and then... the FBI was recruiting pathologists." She shrugs a shoulder. "I'm glad you didn't run into any trouble with Sunlight, at least."
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"Or he was trying to gauge whether she'd be a good cult target. I'm not sure that's better." It's an awful thought. She hesitates a little, before adding.
"Carinda wasn't involved-- I really believe she had no idea before it all came out. I don't know if you ever ended up talking to her but... I think she meant well."
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"A little," he says, because probably he did, who would go back and check. "We spent most of our time in one of the classes. I didn't develop any magickal powers, unfortunately."
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She hasn't forgotten that either, though-- all these years later-- she knows better than to ask.
"Anyway-- as terrible as it all was, I can't imagine the story got too far. I suppose in some ways the experience lead me to embrace science-- seeing what unchecked superstition can do to a community."