"It honestly felt a bit like an excerpt from a longer work." That's an interesting observation. I wonder if it was meant to be at one point.
"We drop in on the story and meet a whole bunch of new characters without any real introduction. It took me a couple of read-throughs to get everyone straight in my head." That's always the case for me with large casts of characters. LOL. I assumed that was because it was a mystery, so figuring out who the characters were was part of solving the mystery for the reader? If she had revealed too much too soon, it would have ruined the tension she was trying to build.
"I would have liked to know more about Roz, the hybrid, and how they joined up with her, too." Yes, and about how Mulder interacted with her, given that she looked like the clones he had encountered before. She deserves a story of her own. Have you read badforthefish's big mytharc story, Human Credentials?
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"We drop in on the story and meet a whole bunch of new characters without any real introduction. It took me a couple of read-throughs to get everyone straight in my head." That's always the case for me with large casts of characters. LOL. I assumed that was because it was a mystery, so figuring out who the characters were was part of solving the mystery for the reader? If she had revealed too much too soon, it would have ruined the tension she was trying to build.
"I would have liked to know more about Roz, the hybrid, and how they joined up with her, too."
Yes, and about how Mulder interacted with her, given that she looked like the clones he had encountered before. She deserves a story of her own. Have you read