Citizen Brown

Ch 4

When he got there, he saw that his father was near the monitors. George was overlooking everything, which really didn't surprise Marty all that much.

George was startled to see Marty, "Try and warn your old man next time, okay."

Marty gave him the timesheet, "Um I saw mom downtown. She told me to give this to you."

George replied, "Thanks."

Marty asked, "Say, what gives around here?"

George answered, "Oh, you know...the usual. Keeping tabs on Hill Valley through my trusty bank of monitors. Always on the lookout for interesting footage!"

Marty perked up, "Interesting? What do you mean by 'interesting'?"

George stated, "What kind of silly question is that? I've been gathering candid documentary footage for Citizen Brown's promotional videos for over a year now! I know your mother doesn't approve of my work, but... Wait a minute. You said that you saw Lorraine?"

He went back to the timesheet and read it to himself.

Marty asked, "What was that?"

George answered, "You know your mother's...problems. If she slips up again, it could mean demerits for the whole family, your brother and sister included." George turned to his monitor and added, "There she is! Polishing the statue in the park...just like the schedule dictates. Whew! Then everything's fine! Unless...how was she when you spoke to her? Lucid? Sober?"

Marty asked, "Mom's a dru...?"

George shushed him, "I don't know for sure that your mother lapsed back into her old ways. But she has been acting very odd lately. Almost as if she didn't like my constant supervision. Confidentially... I suspect she's got a flask hidden somewhere. Probably very near the spot where she's working right now. Do me a favor, son, will you? See if you can worm the truth out of her. She won't confide in me, but she may be...less guarded with you. Double rations this week if you help out your old man...whaddaya say?" Before Marty could even say anything, he added, "There's a good boy!"

Marty told him, "Okay, dad, we need to talk. What were you hiding when I came in just now?"

George replied, "Hiding? I don't know what you're talking about, son."

Marty stated, "C'mon I saw it. It was a videotape, right?"

George stammered before he finally sighed, "I might as well show you. After all, you'll be eighteen soon..."

Marty asked, "Tell me what?"

George answered, "Hill Valley under Citizen Brown is not quite the contented town you led to believe it was."

Marty stated, "You're kidding!"

George responded, "This isn't a criticism of the Great Man himself, of course, or his sainted wife Edna! No one's worked harder than they to apply the most advanced social planning techniques to our municipality, but..."

"What?" Marty asked.

"Confidentally, not everyone appreciates it. A great many citizens - perhaps even the majority - actively resent the Brown administration! They don't say so publicly, of course, but in private... Well...just listen!" George answered.

That's when he went over to the monitor and played the videotape. True to George's words, there was a lot of people who did resent the Brown administration.

George frowned, "Well, you get the idea."

Marty asked, "Yes but what about Estelle? Surely she would want to stop her brother?"

George told him, "Yes, she was fiercely against the Brown administration taking over. She claimed that her brother would do anything harmful. She did, at one point, was going to form her resistance but..." He sighed sadly, "She...died two years ago. Her resistance idea never bore fruit."

Marty froze for a minute. He never knew. He officially hated this timeline. He was holding back his tears.

Marty sniffled, "Sounds like people can't stand what the Browns have done to Hill Valley, or Estelle either."

George confirmed, "Yeah, only about 60 percent."

Marty asked, "Does Citizen Brown know?"

George answered, "He should. Whenever I send copies of my raw footage to the public relations department over at the courthouse, I got a memo telling me how much Citizen Brown thanks me for my service. But how could he see those videos and not do anything about it?"

Marty offered, "Maybe you should take those tapes directly to Brown."

George shook his head, "Oh, I don't know about that. I mean, sure, he might appreciate my bringing those problems to his attention and reward me for my public service. But then again, they said it's never wise to be the bearer of bad news."

Marty stated, "Why not give those tapes to me? I could take them to Citizen Brown."

George replied, "Thanks for offering, son. But I don't want you involved. Citizen Brown won't like what he sees on those tapes. I don't want you to get the brunt of his displeasure or the people that I recorded on those tapes. It's too dangerous."

Marty changed the subject, "It's about mom. How'd she get like this? She's not like this in my...my perfect world."

George explained, "You're right, it is a real puzzle. Because of course we both know Hill Valley is a perfect world. But for some peculiar reason, the harder I try to get her conform to the rules, the more she slips up."

Marty told him, "She's thinkin' about signing up for the Citizen Plus program."

"Is she now?" The matriarch asked.

"You...you aren't going to let her go through with it, are you?" The youngest McFly asked.

George admitted, "Well, from what I hear, it's a fairly drastic procedure which completely reshapes the subject's personality. On the other hand, if Citizen Brown recommends it, it's got to be a good thing!"

Marty told George, "Well, from what I've heard, I'm a bit of a square..."

George started to say, "Where have you heard..." That's when he gasped. He replied, "You've seen Annie, haven't you?"

Marty confirmed, "Yeah and I'm trying to figure out what happened between us. I've never seen her like this."

George responded, "Well, you never did tell me what happened either, son. You were upset - too upset to even speak. The next thing I knew, you were back to normal and Annie... well she kept doing demerits."

Marty thought of that for a minute. He couldn't help but wonder what happened. He could ask Annie but she didn't seem too keen on listening.

Marty changed the subject, "How exactly does this set-up work?"

George brightened, "I'm glad to see you taking an interest! Each one of these monitors is connected to multiple cameras, of which I've strategically 'jacked' into the Valley - with official clearance of course! I can switch between cameras with these buttons. There's also a VCR for each monitor. I keep a record of everything I see, so if I happen across something...intriguing. I can keep it on file."

Marty told him, "Well... I will leave you to your snooping."

George replied, "Supervising, son. Supervising."

Marty quickly picked up his guitar, learning from his dad that he and Lorraine had convinced him to give up. Marty then left his dad and the house. He went back to the town square.

...

Wishmaker1028: Chapter 4 is done! We are doing awesome. Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!