Dwight and Angela had never seen any of the documentary footage before this, and it was strange seeing their coworker on screen, staring right at them and talking. It was an interview, what the director insisted upon calling a "talking head," shot in an unfamiliar office.
"Jim's nice enough. I don't... I don't know how well he's fitting in here. He's always looking at the camera like this." It was Karen. Imitating Jim. Quite well, actually. She continued, "What is that?"
Deanna Sullivan paused the video. "You recognize her, of course."
"Of course," agreed Dwight. "It's Karen."
"And, she's right about those annoying faces of Jim's," Angela added. "I just don't see why this is suspicious."
"This is Karen last summer. Please watch her behavior in these film clips from the months following."
Most of the clips seemed to show similar scenes. Karen working, Karen talking to Jim, Karen trying to work but being distracted by Jim's foolishness..... Angela shook her head. Clearly Karen had been a better, more devoted worker before Jim's bad influence.
"Her clothes..." Angela's head tilted to one side...."They look different....not as whorish in the fit as what she wears now."
"Yes," Muller replied. "We have noticed that her clothing does not fit as well as it did in Stamford. Please, watch the rest before you decide."
The footage showed scene after scene of a confident, moderately aggressive Karen in Stamford. Soon enough, the footage revealed scenes in the Scranton office. Angela stiffened at the scenes of Karen's insubordination on the Party Planning Committee, and Dwight gave her hand a little squeeze of comfort. Then, a scene of Karen and Jim in the kitchen showed some obvious tension.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Jim was clearly trying to get Karen to look at him.
"Such a GIRL," Dwight muttered. On the television, Karen was still not looking at Jim.
"No." she replied simply, turned her back on him and left the room.
After a few more brief scenes of Karen's workplace activities, they saw Jim, sitting alone. Dwight and Angela saw the pinatas and noted that this must have been the day of Dwight's glorious return, a phoenix rising from the ashes of Andy's treachery.
"Do you still have feelings for her?" Karen asked. She did seem quite direct in all these scenes, that was certain.
"Yes." Jim answered, in almost a whisper. Karen rose and stalked out of the room and then the office, an unmistakable look of hurt and anger on her face. Muller paused the video.
"This is the moment where it all turns. From what you have seen, it would appear that Karen's departure from this party should have also been her departure from her relationship with Jim. However.....well......I'll let you watch the rest of the footage, here. Keep in mind that we have not been able to determine where Karen went when she left the office that day."
The next scenes showed several comments from Karen and Jim about a weeklong "talking" session. She hugged him awkwardly at his desk. She loudly introduced herself to Todd Packer as "Jim's girlfriend," she cornered Pam in the kitchen and demanded to know if she was "still interested in Jim." and it went on. and on.
"This is......strange." Angela spoke first. "She almost seems like a different person."
"Exactly." Muller nodded slowly. "We aren't sure why it is, but the evidence seems clear: The Karen Fillipelli you see today is not the Karen Fillipelli we met a few months ago. Our mission is to find out why."
"Do you think..." Dwight looked around nervously, "She could be a Cylon spy?"
Angela let out an angry sound. "DWIGHT. Don't be foolish. Cylons are make-believe."
"Yes, Dwight, that is science fiction." Dwight's face fell, but Muller continued. "But we really need to be sure that she is not a shape-shifting alien assassin. Because those are real. And deadly."
Sullivan cleared her throat. "We have prepared a list of possibilities, along with some methods for ruling them out. We cannot perform these tests ourselves without attracting suspicion. But you two, as coworkers of the subject, have a certain access that we do not."
Angela skimmed the list. "Escapee from secret government clone farm? Robot Replicant? Amphibious Cannibalistic Monster? Honestly....." she shifted abruptly and looked up in alarm. "Demon possession? Do you really think she could be.....a slave of Satan?"
"That can be your first task, Angela. I know that you have the means to test that particular theory." The women locked eyes, and Angela nodded slowly.
"Yes. I can test this easily enough tomorrow morning."
Dwight was growing impatient. "What is my first task?"
Muller leaned forward. "This will prove more challenging, Dwight....now, here is what I want you to do....."
Author's Chapter Notes:
Chapter title is from XFiles 1x16, "E.B.E."
Maybe Once is the author of 13 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 1 members. Members who liked Monkey, Possum, Moose and Squirrel also liked 14 other stories.
