Prelude

Leon turned on his comm device and in it saw the familiar face of his at-home agent, Hunnigan. He almost smiled. "Alright, Hunnigan," he said. "Where is it that I'm going?"

"Well, Leon, you're going to a small town in the southwestern United States - it's called Night Vale."

"Night Vale?" asked Leon. "That sounds ominous."

"It is," said Hunnigan. "This town doesn't really exist, according to our records. It's not supposed to be there."

"But it is there," said Leon.

"That's not where it stops getting weird," said Hunnigan. "Radio broadcasts have been being picked up by passersby on the nearby interstate, and what they hear is of impossible things, like angels and miniature cities. Not to mention the fact that any flights going over this area seem to be disrupted in some way, from unexplained delays to complete reroutes."

"Basically, you're telling me that weird things are going on here, and I need to find out what?"

"Basically," said Hunnigan. "The things that are going on there are unnatural, and though we don't have any evidence that could lead to hints of bioterrorism..."

"I understand," said Leon. "It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Yes," she said. "Especially after the whole incident with the Los Illuminados. A simple assignment, turned more complicated by bio-weapons..."

"I understand."

"You will be set down near the edge of the town. From there, your primary objective will be to find a man named Carlos. He was apparently sent to Night Vale to research it about a year and a half ago, but not long after he arrived there, all communications with him were cut off. From what side, I don't know."

"I'm on it," said Leon. He signed off as the helicopter began to touch down onto the hot sand of the desert. Dust swirled all around the copter as Leon jumped out and the blades began to slow. He crouched as he walked out from under the spinning blades and stood up, shielding his eyes from the dust billowing all around him. As it duded down, he saw that he was surrounded by a group of them in black outfits, almost as if they were a part of a SWAT team. The strange part of their appearance was the wrappings around their faces, like the facial shroud of a ninja, with only their eyes showing. They held large automatic guns, all pointed at Leon and his helicopter.

"Halt," said one of the ninja-police. "Sheriff's secret police."

"What?" Asked Leon.

"By orders of the sheriff, we are here to arrest you for violating the helicopter color coding regulations, passed recently by the Mayor and City Council."

"What?" Asked Leon. "No, I think you have it wrong. I'm from the US Government. We have a permit to fly here."

"We do not have any such records," said the shrouded man. We're going to ask you to come with us." Leon looked back to his helicopter, from which he could see the pilot was unsure of what to do.

"Fine," said Leon, softening his stature.

The secret police swarmed in around him and two of them roughly grabbed his hands, shoving them into his back and handcuffing them. Leon turned his head and could see the helicopter being surrounded as well. The pilot looked unsure of what to do for a moment, but as they drew their guns and pointed them at the helicopter. They began to fire as the rotor blades began to spin, and it began to take off. Leon strained his neck, trying to watch as he was hurried away by the crowd of secret police, but he could mostly just hear the explosion and feel the heat of it as the helicopter crashed into the desert sand.

The secret police around him fell to the ground by the impact of the explosion, and Leon took his opportunity. He gave a swift punch to one of the men holding him, and landed an elbow in the face of the other. The policeman that he had punched began to recover and Leon dealt him a blow to the side of his head with his boot.

There was a great deal of sand in the air, all kicked up by the explosion and the helicopter's attempted takeoff, and in the confusion and relative blindness of the secret policemen, Leon took off toward the direction of the town. He glanced over his shoulder and could see a fire blazing, and the confused policemen beginning to get their bearings again. He scrambled forward, running toward the small mass of buildings ahead of him. As he reached them, he saw a small road that led out of the town and stretched into the desert, off to a nearby canyon. He could see behind him the secret police marching back toward town, apparently no longer interested in him. He walked to the road and continued along it toward the town. He could feel the sun on his back, and he realized that he wasn't even quite sure what his mission was here, at all. He would have to start by finding Carlos.

He came upon the first couple of buildings, but not before first finding a small sign on the side of the road that said simply, "Welcome to Night Vale."