“First Person Shooter” is episode thirteen of season seven of The X-Files.
Three young men with guns are getting psyched up to enter a place as they are monitored by a man and a woman. The place is a city and bikers appear, disappearing completely when shot. This is a game and, with that stage clear, they move onto the next. One of the three is taken down by their opponents; it seems an electrical shock makes him stay down. Of the two left, one enters a building. Then is approached by a woman with an… interesting costume. He asks who she is. She says her name is Maitreya and this is her game. A flintlock appears in her hand and she fires.
Mulder and Scully arrive at the FPS corporate offices in Inland Empire, California. They have to enter through quite strict security and sign NDAs. Scully asks about FPS. Mulder tells her it’s First Person Shooter. Video games? No, digital entertainment. Scully says it’s easier to get into the Pentagon.
The Lone Gunmen are already there. Scully wants to know why she and Mulder are, and is not impressed by their hyperbole. Frohike admits there’s been a little accident. Like an industrial accident. As to how the victim died, it’s not exactly clear. The Lone Gunmen are there as consultants; Langly did a bit of programming for the company. They have stock options; the IPO is next week and the game ships on Friday. Scully says a dead body is between them and untold riches. Well, yes.
Scully is taken to see the dead body. She says the man has been shot. One of the two people monitoring the game, Ivan, says no. To be shot requires a gun and no-one could get a gun past security. Scully picks up the massive weapon that was being used in game and asks what that is. A laser blaster. Harmless. The dead man, Retro, has been shot through his stunsuit, which is rigged with pain and paint for when a person is shot in the game. Bleeding edge technology. Scully dips her fingers in Retro’s actual blood.
It’s explained that the three were playing against the game. Computer generated images projected into the game space. Nothing is real; all is virtual. The woman, Phoebe, says she was in the control booth with Ivan. Retro was in the zone when suddenly he was dead. Scully is going to call the police, despite what Ivan wants. They have a dead body. Mulder asks Phoebe what happened, what did she see. Phoebe seems uncertain.
In the control booth, she explains she’s not even sure she saw something. The game crashed and Retro’s vitals spiked. They don’t have any visuals. Mulder asks about wireframe. Phoebe tries that and there’s a wireframe of a woman standing over Retro. Mulder wants a texture wrap and Maitreya is displayed. Mulder wants a printout.
Retro’s body is taken away and the detective is asking Scully to confirm she has no murder weapon, no forensic evidence, no motive and no suspect when Mulder arrives. With an image of a suspect. Scully is not impressed; the woman could have been in any video game. Mulder says she isn’t. Nor is she in this one. Scully says she isn’t real; just an immature hormonal fantasy. Ivan arrives back with a Daryl Musashi. Scully has never heard of him. Scully asks if Mulder wants an autopsy of Retro. Yes.
Daryl’s method is significantly better than the other three players. This doesn’t stop Maitreya from appearing, chopping off both of his hands, followed by his head.
Scully is doing the autopsy and has only concluded that Retro was killed by something that penetrated a three-ply Kevlar suit and left no trace evidence when Mulder arrives. Scully thought maybe the suit had malfunctioned. It hadn’t. She also wonders wat sort of moron likes these stupid games. Mulder indicates himself. And he has another body.
There’s a character in a video game who wasn’t programmed into it somehow running around and killing people. And the printout of her that Mulder gave to the police results in a real live person being brought in.