An Entire Year of You

Chapter 3: The Town Meeting

Setting up a town meeting was surprisingly easy. Carlos expected to have to wait at least a couple weeks after requesting a room, but the city council, eager to find out what an interloper was doing mooching around their town, insisted he give his talk that day. They granted him an hour to run back to his apartment, get a quick shower, and run back. At ten to four he signed into the quest book and tried to make small talk with the receptionist, Sarah, though she didn't seem remotely interested. In fact, she only rolled her eyes at him. At 5pm, he went on stage without notes.

Carlos swallowed his nerves as he faced the crowded room. It felt so different from the talks he gave at the university. For one, lecture halls were rarely full, students being the way they were, but it seemed that everyone in the town had dropped their evening plans to attend the meeting. Secondly, at the university he was in a position of authority. Of course, there were always a few people who talked during his lessons, but that was fine. Everyone else was there to learn, so they stayed quiet and asked questions if need be. It was all quite a calm affair. In Night Vale, not only was he a nobody but he was an interloper, and everyone in the room was far from quiet. The crowd was yelling. Some were shouting questions, some were screaming at him to leave, and others were just yelling random words and phrases presumably just to blend in. There were only four people who were silent: two expressionless suited men that were stood by the door, Josie, who was sat on the front row warmly smiling, and a man who was sat right at the back who immediately caught Carlos' eye.

The man at the back was extremely hard to describe. Carlos could probably spend the whole year trying to find the right words and he still wouldn't be able to. He wasn't short by any of stretch of the imagination, but he wasn't overly tall either. He was an average build, not particular fat or particular thin, not overly athletic but not out of shape. He looked young, perhaps a few years older than Carlos, but his eyes seemed as if they held the secrets of someone who'd living for hundreds of years. He didn't smile, but he didn't express the anger or fear that everyone else did. On his lap sat a recording device, clear for Carlos to see. The man must have noticed Carlos staring, because a grin flashed momentarily across him face, before he quickly concealed it again and nodded for him to speak. Carlos stepped towards the mic. It was now or never, ready or not.

"Hello everyone." He began. The room get yelling, burying his voice beneath the noise. "Um, excuse me everyone, hi, could...could I please have your attention?"

He waved his arms frantically, but it was no good. The room couldn't be tamed. The man at the back loudly cleared his throat. With that, the room finally fell silence.

"Thank you." Carlos nodded gratefully. "My name is Carlos Cienca, I'm a scientist from out of town."

"Get out of here, interloper." An old man shouted. All heads turned towards him with annoyed glares. "Oh, are we not doing that? Okay. Sorry Carlos, keep going."

"Okay. I'm here because Night Vale is by far the most scientifically interesting town in the US, maybe even the whole world. I'm trying to figure out everything that's going on this place and how it all works, along with a few other scientists who I'll be working with. I'm hoping you'll let us all do that in peace. In fact, I hope I'll be able to get to know some of you." He grinned. "I'm happy to take any questions. Please, fire away." The room erupted again. "One at a time please."

The shouting stopped and hands shot up. Virtually everyone in the room had something to ask. There was no way Carlos was going to get through them all in his allotted hour.

"Um, okay. You." He said, pointing a woman in the middle of the second row.

"Are you a Russian spy?" She asked.

"Um...no?"

"Shame. That would have been interesting." She sighed.

"Right. Next?"

"Can I become a scientist?" asked an old man who looked like he had come straight from a farm.

"Of course." Carlos replied eagerly. "I mean it'll take a lot of hard work and specialised education but I'm happy to help tutor you and give you any references you need and-"

"I'm not sure about the whole clearing thing though. Is that mandatory?"

"I'm sorry I don't understand. Clearing?"

"Yeah, that thing with all the personal questions."

"No that's not...are you thinking of scientologists?" Asked Carlos.

"Is there a difference?" The man shrugged.

"Quite a big difference, yes."

"Oh...I'm not really interested in becoming a scientist then." The man waved dismissively.

"That's fine. What about you?" Carlos pointed at the man with glasses who was sat in front of the man with the beautiful eyes, next a young girl in a wheel and a blonde woman, presumably his wife and daughter.

"Hey, my name's Steve. Real nice to meet you." Steve greeted.

"Nice to meet you, Steve." Carlos smiled.

"I was just wondering if you were planning to do anything about the helicopters?" The two suited figures fixed their eyes on him, as did the man at the back, and Carlos wondered whether answering at all would somehow jeopardise both of their safety. Still, there was no reward without risk, and he promised to answer questions, so he continued.

"Helicopters?" he asked.

"Steve, I'm not sure that this is a great idea." The blonde woman hissed through gritted teeth.

"Yeah." Steve continued unphased. "See we're all kind of used to the Sherriff's secret police and the world government flying around. It's kind of bummer but it's the only real way of keeping us all safe, you know?"

"Absolutely." Carlos agreed, though he didn't know at all.

"But lately there have been helicopters all over the place with complex murals of birds of prey diving. They're really hard to spot but when you do see them you've got to try and run home before the screaming starts. It's very inconvenient when you've got kids. Are you going to do anything to fix that?"

"Well, I'm not really here to fix or change anything about Night Vale. I'm just here to investigate." Carlos explained.

"Oh...well could you at least investigate the helicopters?" Steve asked hopefully.

"Sure, I can do that." Carlos smiled. The suited figures scowled, and an overwhelming feeling of dread began to rise from the pit of his stomach. "Um...that concludes this meeting." He said, though there was still almost forty-five minutes left so his hour. He jammed the microphone back in the holder and rushed off stage as calmly as possible. Muttering filled the room. Some left, but many sat discussing the evening's proceedings amongst themselves until they were ushered out. Carlos stayed in the back until every last one of them was gone.

"Thanks for having me tonight." He said to Sarah as he sighed out of the guestbook.

"Whatever." Sarah replied as she chewed her bubble gum.

"Hey, Sarah. The man sat at the back of the hall tonight. Is he-"

"There were several men sat at the back of the hall tonight. Care to be more specific?" Sarah interrupted.

"Well..." Carlos racked his brain for the right word. Sure, he would have loved to be more specific, he just didn't know how to be. "I'll see you later, Sarah." He mumbled in defeat.

"Sure, see you later." She groaned.

Carlos did not see Sarah later, no-one would. Sarah disappeared later that night under mysterious circumstances, as citizens of Night Vale often did.