impatiently and receives only silence from the speaker. He calls out for
service and the neon "open" sign instantly flickers out. Angered, the guy
honks his horn. The microphone clicks on and a man says the restaurant is
closed. The driver doesn't give up easily and yells threats to the speaker.
The voice at the other end sheepishly tells him to drive through. The guy
pulls up, but no one is there. So he leans out of his car to get a better
look. In one quick instant, a monster appears in the window and ferociously
yanks the guy from his car. The driverless car, still in gear, creeps
toward a curb. Three days later, Lucky Boy employee Rob Roberts pulls up to
the restaurant and gives himself a pep talk before heading in. He works at
the front register as Mulder and Scully approach, flashing their badges.
They ask Rob's manager to round up the employees for questioning. They
inform the group that a Lucky Boy Burger promotional button was found on a
body in the trunk of a car. The employees, including Rob, all pull out
their buttons. A thuggish-looking Derwood Spinks hides in the back,
claiming he left his button at home. His co-workers eye Derwood
suspiciously. Mulder and Scully clear out the restaurant and search the
kitchen. They don't see Rob outside as he switches on the drive-through
microphone and listens to their conversation at the menu board. Mulder
theorizes that the victim's brain was sucked out by a tongue or some kind
of proboscis. Scully is not convinced. Mulder spots dried blood under a
counter. He is squeamish that it is brain matter. Scully notes that it is
merely ground beef. Rob isn't settled by this news.
Rob comes home and rushes into the bathroom where he pulls from the bathtub
a Lucky Boy uniform soaking in pink water. He cannot scrub out the blood
stains and decides to dump the shirt. He is about to remove the trash bag
when there is a knock at the door. Mulder wants to ask Rob a few more
questions about his closing up the restaurant on the night of the murder.
Rob complies, telling him that he dumped thirty-five pounds of spoiled beef
that night. Out of the corner of his eye he catches the bloody water
seeping out from the trash bag but Mulder doesn't see it. After Mulder
leaves, Rob tosses the wet bag into a garbage truck outside. He realizes
his hands are covered with dried blood and sucks his fingers, enjoying the
taste. While doing so he notices a man parked across from the apartment
building watching him. Rob nervously approaches, thinking the man is
Mulder. The unidentified man tells Rob to get lost.
Back in the apartment, Rob's answering machine tapes a message from Dr.
Mindy Rinehart, a psychiatrist assigned by Lucky Boy to aid its employees.
He ignores the message, intently watching the man staked outside the
building. Rob goes in the bathroom and pops out his triangle-shaped, shark
teeth. As they clink in the sink, his stomach loudly growls. Later that
night, Rob tries to overcome his hunger. He chomps on appetite suppressant
gum and memorizes the words of a videotaped motivational speaker. But he is
still starving. He goes outside to the man in the parked car and opens his
toothless mouth. Needle-sharp teeth spring into place as he lunges at the
man.
Rob is asleep on his couch the next morning when Derwood breaks in. He
tells Rob that he has been fired from Lucky Boy. He also says that he found
Rob's prescription bottle of diet pills in the restaurant the morning after
the murder. He shows Rob the bottle and the bloody thumbprint on its cap.