This story is not mine in the slightest bit.
It was thought of into existence by the lovely Haley Fox (aka thewheelsonthebusgofuckyourself on tumblr) and was written and adapted by me.
CLICK HERE for a link to the original work. CLICK HERE for a link to the 8track playlist. CLICK HERE for the link to the Youtube playlist.
And please remember, that every chapter and chapter title relates to a song, which you can listen to by clicking the chapter title, okay?
Thank you and goodnight, dear listeners.
01. we understand the lights
These yellow flyers have been around for awhile, and if there is anything Cecil Gershwin Palmer hates more than Steve Carlsberg, it is StrexCorp Synergists Incorporated.
Look around you: Strex.
Look inside you: Strex.
Go to sleep: Strex.
Believe in a smiling god.
StrexCorp. It is everything.
Cecil scoffs, crumpling up the yellow StrexCorp flyer and hurling it into a nearby trashcan.
A Smiling God? Really?
If that was the type of God those Synergist jerks were trying to force upon the good people of Night Vale, then Cecil isn't going to believe in any type of God. Not that he believes in God anyway, because Cecil only acknowledges the supposed Man Upstairs the same way he does the Angels. Ya know, the ones that are all named Erika, live with Old Woman Josie out by the Car Lot, and no one in Night Vale acknowledges because the City Council tell them Angels don't exist (and who would go against the City Council anyway, everyone knows they always tell the truth about things like that right?)
Yeah, those Angels.
Cecil thinks about the Parade that is going on tomorrow (not that it was an actual parade, ya know, but what other word could be used as a cover up for a corporate takedown?) and about how worried he is for his beautiful Carlos the Scientist and Tamika Flynn, the Savior of the Summer Reading Program.
They are going to be communicating by Morse Code (he's been practicing his skills for about a week now and not to brag or anything but he is still as good as he was back when he was in Boy Scouts) in his broadcast tomorrow, informing the citizens of Night Vale to meet Tamika and the other children at Radon Canyon to begin planning the attack on StrexCorp.
Radon Canyon is the perfect place, Cecil thinks, because no one dares to go there, not even the City Council, so why would StrexCorp even think to look there for the Summer Reading Militia?
His tattoos shift all over his body as his worry spikes suddenly. Hopefully Tamika won't need him to use his Eldritch form during the rebellion, because he hasn't yet revealed his form to Carlos and he doesn't know what the Scientist will think about it.
Thirteen-year-old Tamika Flynn stands atop the roof of the Night Vale Community Radio building, clutching tightly to one of the bars of the radio tower as she looks out across her beloved town through a pair of binoculars. At the steps of Town Hall, she sees that several of those StrexCorp Synergists are holding a meeting to try and rally the townspeople.
For the love of City Council, did they really think anyone would fight for them against her? Because if they did they were surely mistaken.
She is a child of Night Vale for Christ's sake, no one can bring her and the Summer Reading Militia down without a fight. Sure, the 'Parade' tomorrow might cause a little bloodshed, but wasn't bloodshed worth the sacrifice of getting rid of StrexCorp once and for all?
She definitely thinks so. And Cecil must to, or he wouldn't be helping her and the other children out like this. Then there is Carlos . . . what is Carlos supposed to be doing? She doesn't know. Cecil prefers to keep him out of their plans for now, until they really need him, but hopefully they can recruit the Scientist to build them some very science-y weapons.
In his rented lab next to Big Rico's Pizza, Carlos the Scientist is sitting in front of a magnifier and working on a very real, very troubling problem (because why don't clocks work in Night Vale?) and he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why his watch was the only one that works.
On the table his phone buzzes, and a notification pops up saying that he has a message from Cecil "you absolutely need to check out this video of cats that I found because it's really hilarious" so Carlos does and, yes, it is really hilarious. He then quickly gets back to his work, but not fifteen minutes later, his phone buzzes again, and this time it's Cecil telling him "i'm out front, let's go have dinner at Arby's" so he packs up his things and heads outside.
True to his word, Cecil is there, standing by Carlos' truck, but he looks sadder than Carlos would have liked, and he knows it was about the Parade tomorrow even though Cecil won't tell him much about what might or might not happen. He hates being kept out of things like this, but Cecil insists on protecting him (how terrible Night Vale would be without perfect and beautiful Carlos and his perfect and beautiful hair).
Carlos drives the truck over to the Arby's in silence, Cecil fidgeting with his phone and fingers beside him in a way that instantly tells Carlos that his boyfriend is nervous about something. So after ordering their food, he takes Cecil's hand and they lay out the blanket in the back of the truck and sit under the lights of the Arby's sign as they eat.
"I'm worried about you," he finally says, and Cecil looks at him, all scared and kitten-eyed, his third eye blinking rapidly as if to keep tears away. "We don't know what's going to happen at the Parade tomorrow. People might die. We might die. Strex could take over and-"
Cecil cuts him off with a kiss and says he's worried about Carlos too.
He wants to talk more about everything: the plans, the rebellion, what Cecil's planning for his broadcast tomorrow, Tamika and the children of the Summer Reading Militia, but then his boyfriend says something about "non-Strex approved sex" and he just has to know what that's all about, so they pack up everything and head home where they do have some very lovely, non-Strex approved sex that almost breaks their bed.
Almost.