Because there are seven weeks to cover between this chapter and the next if I want ch. 25 to take place on day 365, I have decided to write a short multi-ch. fic that covers that period of time. It's called Calls Between Families and each chapter will consist of phone calls that took place during each week. Chapters one and two will be up shortly. Also, a long time ago I had written a oneshot that took place after ch. 5 but never posted it until now. It's called Observations of a Radio Host and is Cecil's point of view of the conversation he and Carlos had about the moon. You will need to read CBF to fully understand ch.25 and on, but OoaRH is just a new perspective on old events. I'd like it if you read both, but only the former is necessary for full understanding. Thank you so much for sticking with this story thus far and I hope you continue to enjoy it.
Sorry for the update, but I just redid the math and it's six weeks between the chapters, not seven. I will adjust CBF accordingly.
Day Three Hundred and Two in Night Vale.
Director Deacon's been here for a week now and dios míos these have been a busy seven days. Right off the bat he asked for a tour of the lab. Everyone clears out pretty quickly on Mondays – no one likes them and I was staying late as it was – so we were the only ones there.
Showed him the main and back labs along with the copying machine. I did a quick demonstration of the copying machine using what was left of my pb&j sandwich. The director seemed impressed and nothing blew up, so I think that was a success.
After that I gave Director Deacon a copy of recent experiment results to look over. He pocketed them, saying he'll review them later.
Not much else happened that day. Tuesday is when things started getting busy. I'll just do a quick run-through of the week:
Tuesday – I introduced the director to everyone on the team. As soon as that was finished, something blew up in Dr. Vorpal's workspace. There was a weird light turquoise smoke that emitted from her experiment that quickly disappeared once Dr. Cameron hit the button for the ventilation system. Dr. Vorpal was dazed for a few moments, but recovered quickly. The rest of the day was spent chasing after the mini tornadoes that popped up again.
Wednesday – as I'm completely ignoring Town Council's decision to cancel a day of the week – Dr. Vorpal's dazedness continued. She kept forgetting where she put her keys, hung up her coat, and so on. Dr. Nolan unofficially decided to watch out for her. I think he might like her, but it's not my place to spread gossip like that. Anyway, we made sure Director Deacon went to Big Rico's that day. Don't want a repeat of the time loop from Hell. Tornado chasing continued.
Thursday – Dr. Vorpal started getting better. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at that. The mini tornadoes disappeared, thank goodness. I gave the director a tour of Night Vale and we ended up running into Cecil. Managed not to make a fool of myself in front of my boss – I was even able to ask Cecil to show Director Deacon around the radio station.
"Anything for Carlos' boss!" He said.
*slow sigh*
Friday – That was the day of the station tour. It ended up taking the entire day due to some weird time fluctuations. The director and I got back to the lab shortly before dinner, and the entire team went to Crane's to eat. Haven't done that in a long while, so that was nice.
Saturday – Full to the brim with random experiments. Not too much happened, but there was a lot of running around.
Sunday – There was a Council-mandated day of rest. Some experiments were still accomplished because this town hasn't quite figured out what exactly out of town scientists do, but not a lot.
Which brings me to today. Got another call from Teddy Williams – the bowling alley owner – about the miniature people living under lane five. He claimed they were forming an army that was nearly ready to attack. Wouldn't let me, Dr. Green, or the director leave until we "investigated" for half the day.
We've spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what was in that explosion that Dr. Vorpal set off. She's been having some more memory lapses, but not enough to be concerned about.
…I hope.
That's all for today. This is Dr. Carlos Munoz, recording from Night Vale.
XxXx
Day Three Hundred and Nine in Night Vale.
Director Deacon's still here. This week's been less busy than the last, luckily. Just a typical week in Night Vale – Well, as typical as this place can get.
The sun's been setting twenty minutes later than normal and –
*door clicks open and shut*
Sam? What's wrong?
*long sigh*
It's Grace. I-I think she's getting worse. I asked her if she wanted to go out on a date yesterday. She said yes, but when I brought it up today she looked at me like I was nuts. I'm really worried about her.
Me too. You keep an eye on her, and I'll try and see what went wrong with her experiment last week. If it boils down to Night Vale weirdness, I'll call Cecil. Maybe this has happened before.
Any excuse to talk to him, huh?
No – I –
Relax, Carlos. I was just pulling your leg.
*door clicks open*
Thanks.
*door clicks shut*
Great. I should probably get started.
That's all for today. This is Dr. Carlos Munoz, recording from Night Vale.
XxXx
Day Three Hundred and Sixteen in Night Vale.
Cecil wasn't much help. He tried – he looked everywhere he could for memory loss reversal , but aside from a ritual that requires an unspecified sacrifice there was nothing that could help. Shouldn't risk the ritual – who knows what we'd have to sacrifice?
Knowing Night Vale, it could be anything from a toenail clipping to the lives of everyone in town. The entire team – including Director Deacon – wants Dr. Vorpal to regain her memories but the risk isn't worth taking.
As of today, Dr. Vorpal's most recent memory is from right after Dr. Donovan left. She doesn't recognize Dr. Ford or Dr. Nolan, and doesn't remember Dr. Jacobs' death. She's been in this condition for a few days, so we're hoping it's stabilized at least for now.
We just lost Dr. Bering and now this? At least this doesn't seem to be killing Dr. Vorpal. It's a small consolation, but it's someth-
*phone rings*
Hang on a sec.
Cecil? Did you find something more about the ritual?
Really? What?
Yeah…My team and I have been studying them pretty much since we first got here. Didn't you say the "secret" police created them?
How'd you even know I was using air qu – whatever. You were saying?
…Think I get that. How long until the next re-education?
This Friday?
Might work – Dr. Vorpal hasn't gotten worse for a few days. She might not lose any more memories by then.
Thank you so much! You might've just saved her. I'll let you know if it works.
Goodbye.
*phone clicks shut*
Cecil has an idea – it's a bit of a long shot, but it might just work.
Apparently the mini-tornadoes appear every time someone gets re-educated. The spinning helps keep the memory wiping from going out of control. Many disturbing implications aside, it might stop Dr. Vorpal from losing any more of her memories.
This is Night Vale logic at its finest, but at this point I'd be willing to try anything that doesn't result in someone's death.
The next re-education, however, doesn't occur until this Friday. Fingers crossed that Dr. Vorpal doesn't forget anything more.
Should go inform the rest of the team now.
That's all for today. This is Dr. Carlos Munoz, recording from Night Vale.
XxXx
Day Three Hundred and Twenty-Three in Night Vale.
Good news and bad news.
Good news is that the mini-tornado plan worked and Dr. Vorpal's memory hasn't deteriorated at all over the last few days.
The bad news is that between last Monday and Friday she forgot everything up to deciding to sign up for volunteers to go to Night Vale. She wants to go back to Eureka as soon as possible.
Director Deacon's leaving as well – he only planned on observing us for a month due our one-year funding being nearly up.
That means I have to head back to Eureka as well. I have a week to decide whether or not to make a case before the board to get another year's worth of funding.
At this moment, I'm not sure what I'll decide. Three people have died, two chose to leave, and one has gotten a chunk of her memory wiped. On the other hand, we've barely scratched the surface of what we could learn from Night Vale. So many things that seemed creepy or bizarre have turned out to be useful or benign, and there's still so much we don't understand yet.
And…
*slow sigh*
If I'm truly being honest here – which I should be – there's another, non-science related, reason. If the funding was to run out and we were to leave Night Vale for good…I – I know I'd miss this town, and Cecil most of all.
I care about him – a lot. But are my personal feelings worth putting the rest of the team's lives at risk?
What I think I'll do is ask each of them if they want to stay or go, and base my decision on that. If I get all stay's or all go's, my decision's made. If it's a combination of both, I might flip a coin or something. I don't know.
And if I decide we stay for another year, Director Deacon said that he'll let me pick from the volunteers for additions to the team. I'll make sure to fully brief them on what they'll be in for – don't want them to not know they're putting their lives at risk.
I should start packing. The meeting's not for a week, but Director Deacon, Dr. Vorpal, and I are heading back to Eureka tomorrow. From one home to another.
That's all for today. This is Dr. Carlos Munoz, recording from Night Vale.