A pteranodon. How the hell does a pteranodon get loose in a modern city? Carlos barely knew what a pteranodon was, let alone how to react should you find yourself facing one.

As it happened to be though, the answer was not to play dead, as it is with some large animals. Now Carlos was running as fast as he could towards the City Council meeting hall, where he meant to weigh in on the issue of the door. The pteranodon, however, having the unfair advantage of flight, was gaining quickly, so the scientist ran faster.

After a few more seconds, he noticed the pteranodon had stopped, and was now looking at something on the ground. I must have dropped something. Carlos felt his pockets and realized what he'd dropped.

His lavender chewing gum was no longer in his pocket.

He sighed. Well, I suppose that it's better that that get eaten rather than me. Lavender chewing gum is very hard to find, and Carlos doubted they carried it in Night Vale stores.

However, now the pteranodon's attention shifted back to him for a moment, so Carlos ran yet again. His running was quickly halted when he tripped over something.

First glancing around for his winged pursuer, then deciding that the coast was clear, he examined the object. It was black, rectangular, and smooth. He felt around it, and found no bumps or what would be imperfections. The oils on his skin wouldn't smudge the surface, which he could not identify the material of. A little electric current would spark up when you touched a corner.

Then there was a screech that reminded Carlos to run again. Picking up the rectangle, Carlos started again in the direction of the meeting.

When he got there he burst through the doors, just in time to hear Old Woman Josie say, "That old door. Oooh, that door! Someone's gonna get some kind of lead poisoning!"

The City Council members were all standing behind podiums, all 12 of them. To anyone average citizen of Night Vale, Carlos supposed, they looked normal. To Carlos though, they were incredibly strange. Of course they looked humanoid, but they had these weird markings, that all seemed to be invisible, but still visible. Can anyone else see those?

The City Council nodded in perfect synchronization. In unison, they all proclaimed, "You make a valid point, Old Woman Josie, and for that, we have to agree with you. We will take down the lead door to prevent lead poisoning."

Carlos couldn't say anything, he just looked down at the rectangle in his hands in despair. "There is no time. No more time." He had wanted to tell them all about the readings he had taken on the door that morning. What was behind it appeared to be some form of radiation, but he wasn't 100% sure if it was dangerous yet. Radon Canyon, however, is also a scientific miracle in itself. Tampering with anything, even just removing a door, could damage the sensitive environment.

Once the City Council reached a decision though, there was no going back, so Carlos left the meeting hall and walked back to his lab.

He was greeted by Dana, who aside from being his favorite intern, was now his last surviving one (Some people just can't handle the science necessary in today's society.). "So Carlos, what's new?"

"This." He placed the rectangle down. "Grab me a fresh lab coat and some safety goggles. We've got some tests to run."

He determined that the rectangle was some sort of odd rock. Dana told him it was made by a small up-and-coming company in Desert Bluffs after doing further research. Supposedly if you had the right materials, you could turn it on and it would function as a computer tablet "to make you more productive".

Carlos sent Dana out to go get him some of this chemical (which was only made in Desert Bluffs). Then he turned on the radio.

There was a great deal of static, so much that he could barely hear Cecil. "Alright! I don't think he's going to stop, and he's started to levitate, so, let's go to the weather."

["Closer" by The Tiny: watch?v=S6kPXH9HJvE]

Carlos loved indie music, so he really didn't mind not knowing the weather forecast.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have just received word from Secret Police that the rip in space-time that opened at last night's PTA meeting has been sealed at last. The final missing pterodactyl has been returned to its own timeline in either prehistoric or alternate-universe Night Vale."

"The creature's lifeless body was found a dozen yards outside of the Dog Park entrance, stripped of all flesh, and with most of the organs inverted and strung around its exposed skull like an old fashioned soft meats crown, as worn by the 18th century religious leaders who settled our fair burgh."

"The dinosaur's body was returned to the vortex, the gateway closed, and the PTA meeting rescheduled for next Tuesday at 6:00 PM. That meeting will continue to address the important issue of backpacks, and whether or not they are causing autism."

Carlos and Dana sat by the tablet, listening intently. The chemical retrieved had made it work, and it happened to turn out that the device also functioned as a radio.

"I know for a fact that backpacks don't cause autism," said Dana firmly. "It's obvious, but there are some people who may or not be... ignorant of what backpacks really do. I mean, how else would we keep the kids silent and conforming?"

The scientist was about to say something, but let it go. He was finally getting used to the weird and dangerous lives of children in Night Vale, which were now a little safer without dinosaurs terrorizing the city. Carlos just that should another PTA meeting cause a rip in time, that it brought through something a little more studiable.