The Virus

Nobody can read Chris Carter’s mind about how the continuity of The X-Files fits together. Some people have wondered whether he has a consistent vision of how it all works. A close examination of the mythology arc episodes, however, plus those few statements that have been made on the subject by Carter, produces a picture that, if not definitive, at least holds together, in my opinion.

Here, then, is my interpretation of the core of The X-Files mythology arc:

A virus, also known as the Black Oil, appeared on Earth millions of years ago. It may have evolved here. More likely it arrived by meteor or some other means. It has been said that it was the first intelligence to "walk the planet." The virus, looking in its natural form like oil, has the ability to enter other living things and take over their bodies. As a result, the virus must be considered to be intelligent.

Another group of aliens, these humanoid, also arrived long ago, in excess of 35,000 years ago. The Black Oil apparently took control of some or all of these aliens. One group of the aliens left (probably under the control of the virus) and others remained on Earth, in hibernation in various secret underground locations. Now, the main body of aliens is returning in a colonization force. Their advance party is here and has been working with the Consortium (a.k.a. the Syndicate) for over 50 years. Their goal is to take over the bodies of the entire human race, a kind of slavery from which there would be no escape. It seems likely that this second group of aliens represents what is commonly called the “Grey Aliens,” under the control of the virus.

Intelligence agencies first learned of the aliens at Roswell, NM in 1947 and of the colonization plans in 1973. Powerful men of many governments around the world realized they had no way to stop the colonization. Instead they formed their own organization and negotiated an agreement with the advance group of aliens – in exchange for assistance from the Consortium, the members of the Consortium and their families would be protected and not occupied by the Black Oil.

The method given to them by the alien Colonists was a plan to create a human-alien hybrid that would be immune to the virus. Once a successful hybrid was developed, the members of the Consortium could be given gene therapy to also make them hybrids. The Consortium used the code name “Purity Control” for this plan. German and Japanese scientists who had performed unethical research on humans during World War II were employed to continue their work in the Purity Control project. The extensive work in cloning and the use of abductees as sources of genetic material was all part of this effort. For some reason, the aliens were not able to conduct the DNA research and development themselves. They provided information and guidance to the research efforts of the Consortium. This supervision included fairly direct involvement of alien “Bounty Hunters.” Luckily for the human race, the genetic techniques required were far in advance of human skill in the 1950s. The Colonists were apparently content to wait, possibly because most of them were in suspended animation.

For some members of the Consortium, at least, this cooperation was a sham – a delaying tactic to allow time to develop a defense against the invasion. Enormous resources were put into an effort to develop a vaccine against the Black Oil virus. This vaccine, if it could be developed, would both protect humans from being invaded by the virus and would expel the virus from people who were already inhabited.

The alien plan, however, also had hidden agendas. Humans, once enslaved, would be used to gestate Grey aliens, a process that would result in genocide because the process kills the human host. The Greys, apparently also the source of the DNA used for the hybridization experiments, were seemingly more preferable to the intelligent virus, possibly because the Greys have powers not possessed by humans, such as the ability to shapechange and extraordinary mental powers. While many of the human abductees were experimented on and released, others were taken to secret alien installations, such as the ship buried beneath the ice in the Antarctic, and turned over to the Colonists. The Consortium may have thought that these abductees were to be infected and serve as the army of invasion, but in reality they were infected as hosts for incubation of more Grey aliens, then frozen until the time was right for their hatching.

The Corn and the Bees were another element of this plan, although their role is unclear. The Consortium may have told the Colonists that bees carrying the virus could infect humans, or that the bees could insert the virus into the corn during polonization. The Consortium may also have hoped that the corn could be used to distribute the vaccine around the world. It is interesting to note that bees do not pollinate corn; this may have been an elaborate deception used by the Consortium to misdirect the Colonists.

The Consortium had begun as a covert alliance of intelligence operatives, managing the research and covering-up the work of Purity Control. Over the years, however, the Consortium became a shadow organization, accumulating power and influence across international borders. By 1990, the operation ceased to have members accountable to any one government. Their only chain of command was their own internal structure. Conrad Strugholdt, a German industrialist who had fled his homeland to Northern Africa, became their acknowledged leader.

It is possible that the Cigarette Smoking Man was one of those members of the Consortium who was not ready to surrender to the Colonists, but who rather was ready to go to any length to hinder their invasion. While his motivations and agendas are far from clear, it is possible to interpret his actions as working within the Consortium to defeat the Colonists, and to undermine those members of the Consortium who were ready to collaborate.

To protect against exposure, the Consortium employed methods of disinformation, using covert control of government agencies to hide their work. They also, at times, used agents of the Colonists themselves – the alien Bounty Hunters. Directly involving the aliens like this was dangerous. They could help to stem a leak or threat but they also, at any moment, might discover the secret that the Consortium was working to develop the vaccine. Discovery of this threat by the aliens would certainly speed up the timetable for colonization and likely result in the deaths of all of the members of the Consortium.

For the Consortium, the ends came to justify the means. Their secret symbolized the only hope they had of avoiding enslavement when the planet was overtaken – certainly for themselves, and some of them hoped for the rest of the human race.

Into this critical scenario came several new factors in the 1990s.

1. A new group of aliens arrived at Earth, ready to contest the colonization of the Black Oil. Who they are and what their own agendas may be are poorly understood. They are ruthless, however, in opposing the Black Oil, often killing humans rather than allow them to be taken by the Bounty Hunters. It is possible that the Consortium came into contact with these aliens as well, but may not have realized for some time that they were a separate group. (One possibility is that this second group is made up of Greys who are not controlled by the virus.)

2. Agent Mulder discovered The X-Files and, with his partner, Agent Scully, began putting pressure on the Consortium, threatening to expose Purity Control.

3. The Consortium was shocked to learn that Grey aliens could incubate inside humans. After years of acceptance of the Colonist’s plan at face value, the Elders began to suspect that they had been deceived.

4. The Russians developed a weak vaccine that had some effectiveness against the virus, but it seems that the Consortium was unsuccessful in reproducing it.

5. Research efforts finally developed a successful human-alien hybrid, Cassandra Spender.

The success with Cassandra triggered a cascade of events. The Colonists were thus ready to move ahead and the Consortium had to admit defeat. As had been agreed so many years before, the members and their families gathered in an aircraft hangar to be taken into protection by the Colonists. When the aliens arrived, however, they were the “new” aliens and the members of the Consortium were killed, rather than let them be taken by the Black Oil.

Where things stand now are far from clear.

The invasion did not begin immediately. Possibly the Black Oil aliens are uncertain how to proceed, since their human collaborators are now dead.

Mulder has now been taken by aliens. Which group of aliens is Mulder with, the Colonists or the “new” aliens? In Russia, Mulder was infected by the Black Oil and had the virus expelled by the vaccine. Scully has also been infected and had the virus expelled. This would make both of them virtually unique to the two groups of aliens.

The Cigarette Smoking Man received a tissue transplant from Mulder, one that his body apparently tried to reject. Some immunity to the virus may have transferred to him. Does Mulder have any alien DNA in him? Alien hybrids, remember, have enormous regenerative powers. If the Smoking Man also received alien DNA from Mulder, he may well recover from being pushed down the stairs.

This is where the new season of The X-Files begins. In the past, we have several times thought that we were going to get “all the answers” in The X-Files. Unfortunately, we have usually ended up with more questions than we had answers.