The inquiry begins
It was a typical Monday morning for all the citizens of Oregon. The day started out like any other, kids off to school, parents off to work, but for one, it would be the most nerve-wracking time of his career. A week ago, Congressman Lock got an email saying that he was subpoenaed to testify in a special inquiry, about which he had no clue, and that he was due to give evidence today.
"Jennifer, please re-schedule all my appointments today, I have something I need to take care of urgently" requested Lock.
"Of course, sir" acknowledged his secretary, Jennifer. Lock thought she was a life-saver. Truth be told, he could not get through the day without her help. He secretly thought she should run for office, and that she would be good at it. When he told her this, she calmly accepted the compliment, but told him that a life in office did not interest her. Lock made his way to the place where the inquiry would be meeting in his car, and on the way, he wondered what it was about. His most immediate conclusion was that it would be about the Cipher War. Nasty business, that. A flying triangle descends upon the Earth with his army of monsters and lays waste to the planet almost without effort, and in a short space of time, was magically scrubbed clean.
"No, it can't be" Lock muttered to himself. An official inquiry into the events of the war concluded that it was the result of an astronomical anomaly that took place once in so many years, and that it was sheer luck that humanity escaped unscathed. The President herself assured the populace that the given explanation was the truth, and hard data provided by NASA confirmed it. If that was the case, why was he so uneasy all of a sudden? He arrived at the meeting point, and made his way inside.
"Can I help you, sir?" asked the receptionist at the courthouse.
"Yes, Congressman Lock. I was summoned here" addressed Lock. The receptionist looked over his appointment list, and saw the name Lock.
"Ah, yes, Lock. You're in Courtroom C. Just follow the signs and you'll find it in no time" answered the receptionist. Lock thanked him, and made his way to the courtroom. When he got inside, it looked less like a courtroom, and more like a tribunal. Lock did not like where this was going. If that wasn't bad enough, Lock was also frisked by the bailiff.
"What was that about?" Lock demanded to know. He had passed through the metal detectors on his way in and they didn't go off, proving he did not bring any concealed weaponry.
"He's clean, no bugs" the bailiff stated, addressing the judges rather than Lock, which he found very rude.
"Do you know why we have called you here?" inquired the centre judge. The panel consisted of five judges, and no jury. Strangely enough, the judges were masked by anonymising technology usually reserved for witnesses in high profile cases.
"No, so please tell me" requested Lock.
"We have questions pertaining to the events leading up to the Cipher War, questions we are hoping you can answer" explained the judge to the center left.
"There are those among the political sector who are more than sceptical about the results of the official inquiry into those events. We are acting on their behalf" further explained another judge, this time, the center right.
"Does the President know about this?" quizzed Lock.
"No, and for the purposes of this inquiry, she cannot. We believe she may be compromised, or acting on the behest of another agency" answered the left most judge.
"We'll get to them later. Right now, we want to ask about the first time Bill touched down on Earth" rectified the right most judge.
"What, are you telling me the Cipher War wasn't the first incursion?!" asked Lock, dumbfounded by what he had heard.
"No, our line of investigation into the origins of Bill Cipher have pointed us to a small town in Roadkill County, Oregon called Gravity Falls. That is where you come in" clarified the center judge. Lock thought about this for a moment.
"Gravity Falls. I've never visited the place, though I have heard tales of strange goings-on, weird sightings of impossible things. I just dismissed them as superstitious nonsense" mused Lock.
"The overall nature of the town itself is not the subject of this inquiry. We want to know about a specific incident that occurred last summer, the incident dismissed as a mining disaster" inquired another judge.
"When news got to me of that disaster, I called the town mayor. He assured me that everything was alright and that no-one was seriously hurt, but he wouldn't give me any details, no matter how much I pressed him" testified Lock.
"Interesting, so you know about as much as we do, which is to say, virtually nothing. Can you honestly tell this court you are convinced that Gravity Falls' mayor told you the truth?" interrogated another judge.
"Given recent events, and what I've just heard here, no, I am not convinced" answered Lock.
"Then you believe the town may be hiding something?" further asked the center left judge.
"Maybe, but without evidence, I cannot launch an investigation of my own" conceded Lock.
"Then there is one other line of investigation we would like to pursue. Following the war, there have been rumours of a secret organisation conducting research outside official government channels that may have led to the Cipher War. It is this organisation that we believe the President may be in league with" explained the center judge.
"And where is your evidence to support such a claim?!" demanded Lock.
"Her behaviour is suspect. Aside from the given explanation, which we believe is really far'fetched, she has refused to comment further on the war and its aftermath" countered the left most judge.
"The further this remains unaddressed, the louder the voices demanding answers become. We cannot leave this, or count our blessings that we are still here now, having this conversation, forever. Action is required" added the right most judge.
"I know nothing of any black ops organisations in my constituency" assured Lock.
"Maybe so, but we believe this institute is everywhere. The reason you were checked for bugs upon your arrival was so that we could speak without them listening in" explained the judge on the center left.
"You think I could be a part of this?!" accused Lock.
"We cannot afford to take chances, not when the security of our nation is at stake. If such an organisation exists, it could jeopardise everything we have worked hard to build" retorted the center right judge. Lock had had enough.
"So far, all I've heard is conspiracy theories. Unless you have tangible evidence that there is a cover-up, I'm leaving, now!" insisted Lock. The judges talked amongst themselves.
"It is clear to us that you can add nothing new to our investigation. You may leave as you see fit" dismissed the center judge, and Lock stormed out, angered at having his time wasted like this. When Lock left, the councillors summarised what they just heard.
"He either knows nothing, or is complicit and not co-operating. We should not have summoned him, that would surely alert Excalibur of our inquiry" concluded the left most judge.
"In either case, he was right about one thing, all we have to go on is theories. We need something more tangible if we are to expose them" added the center left judge.
"Where would you suggest we start? You heard Lock, Gravity Falls is not talking to anyone regarding the first incursion" rebutted the center judge.
"What about further afield? There have been whispers of strange happenings in the Tri-State Area prior to the war. Maybe the locals there would be more co-operative" suggested the center right judge.
"It could be risky. Excalibur may be operating there" responded the center left judge.
"Excalibur could be operating anywhere. This whole investigation is being conducted as though they have eyes and ears in all things" replied the center judge.
"Is there any specifics as to where in the Tri-State area these happenings occurred? A more centralised field of investigation may cut down the time it would take to gather what we need" inquired the right most judge.
"I've narrowed it down to two locations; Swamp City and Danville" answered the center left judge.
"Then there's the disappearance of a boy native to Echo Creek that was never explained. Could Excalibur have had a hand in that?" asked the center right judge.
"We should split up. One judge each should go to those locations. In the meantime, the remaining two will go to Gravity Falls and see if we can coax any information out of the locals. Maintain radio silence, we'll meet again in a month or two and share what we've gathered by then" instructed the center judge. They all agreed, and separated to carry out their assignments.
Back at his office, Lock was exhausted from his rather pointless interrogation by those conspiracy nuts, but he was still eager for answers.
"Jennifer, get me the mayor of Gravity Falls on the phone. Tell him I won't take no for an answer" asked Lock. Jennifer did so, and Lock took the call in his office.
"I already told you, it was a mining disaster, case closed!" insisted Mayor Tyler down the phone line.
"And I'm sure it had nothing to do with Bill Cipher. You better give me some answers. What happened that time?!" demanded Lock.
"We were sworn to secrecy about the events in question. That is all I will disclose. Goodbye" concluded Tyler, and he hung up. Lock slammed the phone down in frustration. He then came to a dark conclusion, but one he felt necessary. He buzzed Jennifer on the intercom.
"Jennifer, order an investigation into Gravity Falls. I want to know everything about that place, especially what happened last summer" ordered Lock. Jennifer acknowledged the order.
At the Excalibur Institute, Albert was re-organising his garrison after the battle at Butterfly Castle, which saw Bill's accursed book destroyed once and for all. The new recruits were sworn in, and Kilstone was busy briefing them on who Excalibur were, and what they did.
"They're a little green, but I'll get them into shape within the month" updated Kilstone.
"Good, and the other matter?" replied Albert.
"We've found no evidence that Bill left anything else behind that could see him return. Personally, I think we've seen the last of him" Kilstone responded.
"This entire institute was founded on the premise that Bill was never truly defeated. We cannot afford to let our guard down" Albert reminded Kilstone.
"Captain, if I may say so, it would be a waste of resources pursuing this any further. If anything Bill-related pops up, we'll deal with it as we always do" countered Kilstone.
"Maybe you're right. I've just spent so long fighting him, I've grown a sense of paranoia" Albert conceded. Just then, Albert's yeoman buzzed on the comms.
"Excuse me, sir. You have a caller waiting in your office" said the yeoman.
"On my way" Albert acknowledged, and left Kilstone to the new recruits. When Albert got to his office, he took the call. Albert was disturbed by what the caller had to say. Albert thanked them for updating him, and he hung up. Albert then proceeded to call his superior, Major Smith. Of course, that wasn't his real name, Major Smith was just a title, but whenever they had correspondence, Smith's identity was obscured for security reasons.
"What is it, Captain?" Smith asked.
"Sir, Congressman Lock of Oregon has started asking questions about Wierdmageddon. He seems to believe there's more to it than the official story" Albert briefed.
"Does he suspect anything?" inquired Smith.
"I don't think so, but according to my agent, he has ordered an investigation into the town itself" Albert answered.
"That is troubling. Does he suspect anything about us?" quizzed Smith.
"I don't know, sir. It may be possible" Albert replied.
"Keep out of his way until further notice. I'll make preparations to ensure the truth stays hidden" Smith instructed. Albert acknowledged the orders, and the call was terminated.
Author's note: I hope everyone had a good Christmas and will have a great New Year. This is my first fic of 2018, hope you enjoy it. If any of you are worried about the lack of Gravity Falls characters in this chapter, more will come that will feature them, this is just setting the stage, if you will. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing. Alex Hirsch and Disney own Gravity Falls. Enjoy.