Carlos the scientist was having a rough day.
First his boss had called Carlos to his office to tell him that the data from the testing Carlos had done on the local water supply was faulty. "I assure you, I took only the most careful precautions-" Carlos tried to explain, but his boss silenced him with a stern glare.
"The radiation in these samples is off the charts," he said curtly, throwing the file down, "Which is utterly impossible, considering there isn't a lab or power plant giving off radiation for a radius of at least two hundred miles." Sitting down, "Do it again."
So Carlos had called up his partner in crime, Brad. Brad also happened to be Carlos' fiance, something their boss disapproved of, but couldn't prohibit. Ever since they had announced the engagement, Boss had been acting oddly cold towards Carlos. If Carlos didn't know better, he would have said Boss was jealous.
Unfortunately, Carlos could only get ahold of Brad's voicemail. Reluctantly, he set out to redo the testing by himself, loading the equipment into his car and slamming the doors loudly so Boss would hear how displeased he was.
It took a good half an hour to navigate his way through the heavy city traffic and out into the suburbs. Carlos had to turn on the radio when he passed through the most recently built town, which was completely silent and devoid of life. He nervously tapped on the steering wheel, slightly jittery both from nerves and from the large iced coffee he had consumed to keep himself awake.
The well was about twenty minutes outside of the suburban town, and Carlos reached it around two in the afternoon. He pulled the car up next to the construction site and put it in park. Although all the construction equipment was still there, the men who were normally milling around were absent. Carlos assumed they were on a break.
He had been hired by the contractors from the suburban town to test the local water supply and make sure it was okay. He had been reluctant to take the job at first, since the rest of the water in the area was completely clean. He hated taking boring jobs.
However, the manager had called Carlos up the day after his initial proposal, sounding quite panicked, and begged him to come out and test the water. According to what little bits of his speech Carlos could make out through the man's frenzied tone, four of the men on the construction site had gotten fatally ill in the past week; three of them had died and one was currently being quarantined at the local hospital for unknown causes.
His interest peaked, Carlos had agreed to take the job and had recruited Brad to help him. The water had tested high in radiation the first two testings, and it had spiked even further by the time of the third test. Frustrated with the results, Carlos had finally turned them in to Boss despite their probable inaccuracy.
And now, because of his hastiness, he was back at the job site without his faithful partner. Sighing, Carlos unloaded the testing equipment from his trunk and dragged it over to the exposed well.
He frowned. It was unlike the construction workers to leave their tools strewn about the ground in such a careless manner. He wondered what had been so important that they had run off and left their things scattered about.
Pushing aside a couple power drills, he laid out his briefcase and began to unbuckle it, but something made him stop.
In the sky overhead, a black helicopter flew past, traveling far faster than any helicopter Carlos had ever seen. He shaded his eyes to look up at it, squinting against the harsh afternoon light. The aircraft soon vanished from his sight over the horizon, heading away from civilization into a part of the desert Carlos was certain was uninhabited.
He shook his head to clear it, thinking that he was going crazy. Black helicopters speeding out into the middle of the desert? Please. Back to water testing.
On the fourth try, his results were the same: High in radiation, dangerously so. Higher than the other three tests had been, in fact.
"Grr!" Carlos growled, frustrated. He threw himself down in the sand in a fit of exhaustion. I just want to lie here until answers come to me, he thought, Someone give me answers.
As if on cue, his cell phone suddenly beeped. Carlos sullenly pulled it out of his lab coat pocket and glared at the screen. It was a text from Brad.
"Carlos," it read, "Sorry I couldn't make it to testing today, I had a doctor's appointment." (He didn't tell me about any doctor's appointment, Carlos thought sulkily) "I got a call from Boss though, he says government environmental monitors have been keeping an eye on the site. Apparently there's been a lot of radiation found in the area recently, and it gets stronger the farther Southeast of the city you get. So it looks like you were right about the radiation, but Boss wants you to head Southeast and see if you can find the source. Sorry I can't come with you, I have business in town. I'll see you tonight."
Carlos considered texting Brad back, but he was slightly annoyed that Brad hadn't mentioned his "business in town" any sooner.
Heaving a sigh, Carlos loaded his equipment back into the car and set out along a winding desert road heading due Southeast.
Carlos had been driving for at least three hours, and still he had found nothing. He was long out of cell phone range, and even his radio was starting to play static.
The stars were beginning to emerge, circling overhead as an old Waylon Jennings song crackled on the stereo. It would have been a beautiful sight if Carlos weren't so lost.
Suddenly, a mountain loomed out of the darkness in front of him, blocking his view of the stars. Carlos slowed down, staring up at a long range of mountains which he was sure hadn't existed before.
He swallowed, took a deep breath, and pressed on the accelerator. He would go over that mountain, and he would finish the job. Carlos the scientist had never given up on an assignment, and he didn't plan on starting anytime soon.
It took about thirty minutes to climb the steep, rocky mountain, during which time the radio's music had faded out into nothing but static and oblivion. The last signal of civilization had finally switched into nonexistence. Carlos was alone.
His car came to rest on a plateau at the top of the mountain, and Carlos could see that it dipped down in the other direction almost immediately, the road even narrower on the other side.
Hopelessly, he put the car in park and turned off the ignition. Running his hands through his hair, he leaned back with an exasperated groan. He was about ready to scream, and he decided he needed some fresh air.
He stepped out of the car into the brisk desert night, feeling the wind whip through his hair. He looked up at the stars and it nearly took his breath away. Suddenly, he noticed a light out of the corner of his eye.
He frowned. Was it possible...? He put his hands in the pockets of his coat and moved to the edge of the plateau.
Gaping, he stared down at the scene before him.
Spread out beneath the mountain was an entire town, nay, a veritable city. He could see a library, a school, even cars and apartment buildings! Strangely, there was no clock tower, but that was a minor detail he could live with.
He excitedly clambered back into his car, rubbing his hands to get warmth back into them. He had discovered an entire city that didn't exist on the maps. A whole civilization, hidden from the prying eyes of society. He could hardly believe his luck. Although he hadn't spotted anything that could have been the source of major radiation at first glance, he was sure this was the place he would find it. After all, there was nothing else in this barren desert.
He made it down the mountain in half the time it had taken him to climb it. When he finally got to the city, he pulled into the nearest parking lot, which happened to belong to the local radio station.
Carlos cautiously opened the car door and stepped out into the parking lot, which consisted of only one other car. Almost as soon as his feet hit the ground, he heard a gunshot behind him. He immediately dropped to the ground and covered his head with his arms.
"Don't worry, mister!" called a high-pitched voice, "I'm not shooting at you, just stay down!" Carlos peered out from beneath his arms and saw a small girl, maybe eight years old, scampering across the parking lot in a lavender dress, a shotgun in her hands.
Alarmed, Carlos looked at what she was chasing. He couldn't make out the exact figure in the darkness, but it had at least six limbs and was about the size of a dog.
The girl stopped running about two meters from Carlos, planted her feet, and fired three shots in quick succession at the beast. It jerked, fell down, and lay still.
The girl grinned, proud of her achievement. She swung the shotgun up onto her shoulder and turned to Carlos to help him up.
He stared down at her, feeling oddly intimidated. "Thank you," he said awkwardly, "I'm Carlos, I'm new in town. Can you point me in the direction of the nearest lab?"
She stared back at him. "Mister, we don't get visitors in this town. And the closest thing we have to a lab is the Department of Earth Science, but that was shut down before I was born." She tilted her head at him curiously, "What are you?"
"I'm a scientist," he replied.
"No," she said, "I mean, what are you? Are you human?"
Carlos laughed nervously. "Of course I am. What else would I be?"
Before the girl could reply, a man's voice called out from the doorway of the police station. "Ellis!" shouted the voice, a strangely deep, calming voice, "You little devil, stop bothering that poor man!"
The girl gave a low growl in her throat, but scampered away across the parking lot. Carlos looked over to see a man walking towards him. A beautiful man, but there was an odd aura about him that Carlos couldn't quite place.
Carlos cleared his throat and walked to meet the strange, beautiful man.
"Hello," said the man, shaking Carlos' hand firmly and flashing him a brilliant grin, "My name is Cecil. Welcome to Night Vale."