Although the Texas Rangers are the folks responsible for investigatin' all the goin's on of the Weird West (leastways on the Confederate side o' things), the average Ranger just has to worry 'bout not getting herself killed while she defends the common folk from the evils of the Reckoning. Only a few Rangers have been selected to really dig into the "why" of the Weird West. These Rangers make up the X-Division.

To be a member of the X-Division, a body has to have an above average understandin' of the Weird West. He also needs the ability to put two 'n two together better'n most folks, and he needs a passel o' guts. This is because while reg'lar Rangers just try to kill evil varmints, the X-Division tries to study 'em first (and then kill 'em). While this may seem a mite crazy to some folks, it has its rewards. The folks in the X-Division are the ones that discovered how to get rid of prairie ticks and tummy twisters, f'r instance.

The X-Division also serves an experimental purpose. See, the Pinkertons and the Rangers both know that tellin' folks about the truth of the Weird West can make things even worse. Tell a group o' concerned citizens that you just killed a headless horseman in their town and you might start a panic. But if you tell it to folks just the right way, you'll have the opposite effect. Instead o' bein' scared that a headless horseman's been runnin' about, they'll be right proud to have been involved in the killin' of it. This makes things better, not worse. So the X-Division has the job of spreadin' the truth in just the right way to lift everybody's spirits and not cause a panic.

O' course, this don't make the X-Division very popular with the People In Black. The People In Black are the Pinkerton's answer to the X-Division. They're special Pinkerton agents trained to investigate the "why" of the Weird West. However, while the X-Division believes in tellin' the truth about things, the People In Black are even more secretive than reg'lar Rangers or Pinkerton agents. As a consequence, the People In Black view the X-Division as a bunch of loose cannons who will panic the citizens with Weird tales, while the X-Division views the People In Black as a bunch of secretive spooks who inadvertently keep the fear levels high with their covering-up of the truth. As you might expect, there's an intense rivalry between the two organizations.

(It should be noted that both organizations -- the X-Division and the People In Black -- are correct. Telling the truth does help lower the "aura of fear" of a given place, but only if it's done right. Done incorrectly, telling the truth will actually increase the "aura of fear." The X-Division focuses on the consequences of proper tale-tellin', while the People In Black focus on the consequences of improper tale-tellin'.)

Oh, and one last thing... The Rangers, while not as secretive as the Pinkertons, are still pretty hush-hush about the Weird West. And a lot of the folks in charge of the Texas Rangers would like to see the X-Division shut down. In fact, the only thing that keeps the X-Division open and active is that a few influential people (like Robert E. Lee) think the X-Division needs to be given a chance. This means that, not only do X-Division agents have to fight the Pinkertons and the People in Black to reveal the truth, they often have to fight the regular Rangers as well.

     Ranger Mulder
     Ranger Scully


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